Pleasantly disturbed, again...

For some reason it feels like Friday.  I have been thinking Friday all morning.  It is, however, Thursday, and though my friend Duane stopped his weekly link-up long ago, I am feeling pleasantly disturbed.  So here, in no reasonable order are random thoughts fluttering through my head today.

Wood ticks.  While I am happy to report I have not noticed a singe mosquito yet this year, wood ticks have made their presence known. Just thinking of them makes the crawly feelings begin and I find myself scratching, swatting, checking and rechecking every inch of myself for invaders before they have a chance to take a bite and burrow in.

Rick was out taking pictures of a unusual cloudy sky the other night and couldn't resist snapping a few shots of Faith.  I was thrilled that her beautiful blue eyes were visible without the typical camera red-eye glare.

But what's that at the top corner of her eye?  I didn't recall Faith having a beauty mark.  She doesn't!  Upon closer examination, the spot was indeed a wood tick getting ready to grab hold. Here come those creepy sensations again....  I know that God has a reason for all things.  I'd be quite willing to listen to His explanation for creating these noxious pests.

Our garden tractor needs repairs but the grass is not willing to wait. So this morning, instead of my usual cycling or video aerobics workout I walked in circles with the power push mower.  Around and around and around, longing for the 54" cut of the tractor but not able to imagine how one could push such a thing.  I trod and pushed until I ran out of gas, using quads and hamstrings, triceps and pectoral muscles.  I could have used the time to sing, or pray or ponder a solution to world hunger, but instead I seem to have spent the ninety minutes numb brained, thinking of nothing at all.  Perhaps the synapses needed the rest.

Every day there has been the scent of smoking stubble drifting by as farmers burn their fields before cultivating and planting.  This is an effective and natural technique that never fails to frighten me.  No matter how safe they try to be, man can not control the changing directions of the wind and fire has a life of its own. Disturbing indeed, but the smoke and ash in the air help create stunning sunsets.

Duane Scott who first dreamed up Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays is graduating from nursing school.  I applaud his efforts and his ability to continue writing, loving, and giving God glory through his time of studying.  He has even redirected some of his excess creativity into painting.  Stop by a give him a shout at his site Scribing The Journey.  You might want to mention squirrels, one of his disturbing pleasures.

This is not a squirrel.  If you thought it was, you might have already started celebrating Thursday a bit too early.
 

Disturbed but pleasant, randomly

Slate coloured Junco in our yard

Well, since Duane Scott is hinting that this might be the very last Pleasantly Disturbed Thursday I really must jump in with my own random splatterings...

Yesterday, here in my post on Mere Christianity I quoted C. S. Lewis talking about architects not being the walls in the houses they build...

ever since I can not, simply can not get an old Burt Bacarach song out of my head --

A chair is still a chair
Even when there's no one sitting there
But a chair is not a house
And a house is not a home
When there's no one there

Around and around swirl the words, with new questions popping up.

Is a squirrel still a squirrel if the dog doesn't care?
Would they jump from the branches to sit on a chair
if the chair was still a chair?
If I put out a chair
would the juncos sit there
that keep flying about and will perch anywhere?
And what kind of name is junco anyway?
When I hear it I can think only "junk"
and that's not a nice thing to call a bird, is it?

Take a few minutes to visit Duane and add your own form of random and disturbed pleasantry.  Perhaps we can persuade him that these times of silliness are vital to our mental health!

Randomly pleasant and not too disturbed

Speaking of squirrels, (I'm sure someone must be speaking of squirrels) I'm thrilled to see them scurrying over the snow banks in the yard, such signs of life bring hope to a winter weary heart.  Faith has not noticed them yet, or the chase would be on.

By Tuesday evening we were once again unable to navigate the deep drifts that had blown across our road.  The snow sparkled in the mid Wednesday sun, the sky flashed a brilliant blue and we felt drawn again and again to the front window squinting into the distance for any sign of the plow.  By 8:00, as the sun was quickly disappearing, there was still not a glimpse and Rick prepared for calling in to take another snow day.  8:15 and there were lights, glorious, flashing, twinkling lights.  The roar of the motor was a cry of emancipation!

My mind was was rewriting that old classic song about saints:

Oh when the plows, oh when the plows
Come rolling in, come rolling in
Oh when the plows come rolling in
I can feel a rush of freedom
Yes when the plows come rolling in

Rick drove off happily to work this morning.  I'm here watching the squirrels, not leaving home, but quite content to know I could if I wanted to.

Join Duane and the gang for more random outbursts here

Pleasantly disturbed on a Friday?

I know that today is the day after Thursday, but this seems to be a day to pull random strings together into one post, so I am pleasantly disturbed on Friday.

I'm thanking and praising today over at Everyday Testimony Project and praying that many others will grab hold of the joy that arises from testifying to the greatness of our God!  Stop by and shout out your own thank you, for He Is more than worthy of our praise.

As a blogger for Compassion I am blessed to be able to particpate in monthy blogging assignments.  This month we have the opportunity to help send Emilda, a sponsored child  to the World Special Olympics. 

Emilda lives in a squatter community in the Philippines and though she has the mental capacity of a three year old, she is very fast on her feet!  In 2009 Emilda competed in the Philippine Special Olympics and won a gold medal, two silver medals and a bronze medal in track and field.  This performance qualified her to compete in the World Special Olympics in Athens, Greece this Summer. But she needs your help to get there.

Emilda's parents are unable to pay her way to Greece and neither is the Philippine government. Her need is $19,857.
You can find more information about Emilda here and your donations can be made here.

One year ago today my father slipped from the grip of this earthly life.  Today I reflect back on the struggle surrounding his last days, a time I wrote about here.  I pray that he is resting in the arms of Christ, like a contented lamb, knowing the sweet peace that comes from walking with the One true shepherd.  I pray that same outpouring of peace for all of my family.  I miss you Dad, I love you still.

This morning, the Lord reminded me to keep a cup of cold water filled, prepared to share it in His name.  If you're in need of refreshment, give me a shout, I'll pour out.

And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.  Matthew 10:42 NLT

Stop by Helen's place and visit the rest of the random gang.

Random Thursday, disturbed and pleasant...

Allowing my mind to wander, ramble, flutter about and land where it will today.

The bright white expanses of snow that surround our home have been littered with twigs and branches disturbed by the ferocious winds that prowled our area yesterday.  Paths were filled in and drifts already high have taken on extreme proportions.  We're not sure if Faith can get into her dog house and I may go pound down a path with my feet because the snow is now too heavy for me to shovel.

But the sun is shining, temperatures are rising and how can I complain if this is the life I chose?

God has been speaking to me lately through many different sources:

On Monday as I drove behind Rick to the mechanic to drop off his truck for service I hesitated to play worship discs because of the bumpy road, so instead tuned in the local radio station.  I found myself singing along with Bruce Spingsteen's Dancing in the Dark and was struck through the heart by the lyric:

You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart

Thank You Lord, I thought, for reminding me that I cannot be effective for Your Kingdom if I'm too wrapped up in my "self".

And today I ran into the following quote by C. S. Lewis:

Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less

Again, like a two by four to the side of the head... it is not about me.  It is not about me at all.

Can I share a secret with you?  I don't mean to disappoint, but it isn't about you either.

It's all about Jesus.  Will you join me today in magnifying His name, turning our eyes off of the things of this world and fixing them on Him? 

It's a glorious view. 

Stop by Duane's Scribing the Journey to read more pleasant disturbances

Pleasantly disturbed Thursday

Yesterday I wrote a poem about how I write a poem, or rather about how I don't write a poem but allow the Lord to write through me.

Now don't worry that I've gone all goofy, new-age, automatic writing, channeling spirits, over the edge on you. Just read the poem and you'll see that once I begin, He continues, the only muse I seek, the only One I need.

I suppose what I'm trying to share is that with my natural mind, all of my writing is random. Only God can take my words and convert them into something that makes sense. So Thursday is like any other day for me except any concern about sense and order is lifted.

As the nuptials of our Pleasantly Disturbed leader Duane Scott draw near I'm wondering is his beloved Southern Gal realizes she will be expected to join in this random madness. Even if she has no blog of her own Duane could post her writings for us. She may have no clue what she's missing, but then again, that could perhaps be God's way of protecting her.

Words from the song People on our Knees by Tracy Rahn have echoed in my spirit this last little while:

No more wasting time, the days are nearly over

The groom is quickly coming

He greets us with a kiss

And proclaims you have been chosen for such a time as this.

I choose to follow You, forsaking all I know

and taking up my cross

and if I die, I die, to find my life in You

Lord this is my cry.

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” Esther 4:14-16 NKJV

I had no idea that was going to pour out this morning, but I've been in that place of learning to surrender and wanting to find my life in Him. It is not always pleasant, it is often disturbing, but it is His call. I do not wish to refuse.

Join us at Duane Scott's Scribing the Journey for more of the disturbed pleasantness.

Pleasantly disturbed, random Thursday

Image via Wikipedia

Frost.. have you ever really noticed the layer of white that coats a chilly morning? Oh, I suppose most of you aren't even thinking about that yet, but it's already that cold up here.. yes, that cold.

Yet I chose this life here on the Canadian prairie, where Summer seems to be gone as quickly as it appears, and even in its harshness I find God's peace. When all is frozen and still I have no choice but to slow down, and there I can focus in on Him, the only thing of true importance.


Will it soon be time to plug in the vehicles? Yes, I said plug in, and no, we don't have electric automobiles. I remember being quite confused when Rick first mentioned that he had plugged in his car. Back home in Chicago, if someone was concerned about low temps they would remove the car battery and bring it inside to stay warm. Here, the cars are made with something called a block heater that keeps the oil warm enough to flow. That's what gets plugged in, and I am now quite used to seeing parking lots with little poles and outlets for each space. I'm sure it is hard for many of you to imagine, but when we have long spells of days hovering around 40 below it all begins to make sense.

But I'm running too far ahead of things. Yes, there was frost again this morning, but God may yet surprise us with a warm and sunny October. One year, that was our Summer, warmer then July and August. He does have a snarky sense of humour at times, must be where we got it from, eh?

Join Duane at Scribing the Journey to read more pleasant disturbedness...

Disturbed and not at all pleasant

Image by Creative Tools via Flickr

This is Thursday. A time to ramble. A time to randomize. A time to rant.

We serve a very big GOD, Who sees all, knows all and Is all. I don't like to give the enemy any more credit than in his pathetic smallness he deserves.

But...

You're messing with my friends.

Some are discouraged. Some are exhausted. Some are facing financial strain. Others are just under fire on the front lines.

Pray today for our dear friend Duane, the prince of pleasant and disturbed thinking. If you haven't heard about his accident, you can catch up on his blog Scribing the Journey .

I know he'll be reading our posts today, so let him know we love him, even though he's getting better drugs than the rest of us.

You might only have one arm to use right now Duane, but God is for you, so even in your weakness you can accomplish much.

I don't think there's a link-up today, at least not that I've heard of so far. But snoop around a bit and I'm sure you'll find the usual suspects, random and disturbed as always.

Disturbed indeed!

There is much to be done around Chez FireFly, most involving words that have to be sorted in this random brain and put into a form that will make sense for articles due and a sermon on Sunday.

Is there an enemy lurking that wishes to keep writers from writing? How many of you have met him? He's been showing his face far, far too often around here.

So this morning, I asked God to help me focus on the tasks at hand, and just as I was about to begin writing I noticed that our dog Faith has gotten covered in blue-bur seeds for the second time this morning. In the early summer these seeds look like tiny green velcro balls, by now, they are mostly brown but still sticky and they gather in clumps all over her body. Rick combed her out once before he went to work, and this second covering came not even an hour later. The longer we allow the seeds to remain, the more of her fur gets stuck and matted, so I just finished spending at least half an hour cleaning her up again!

Was I annoyed by the distraction, yes indeed. Then I remembered how God tends to us over and over and over again, washing away sin and the filth of the world that we we get entrangled in. Does He wish we would finally learn and avoid the sticky seeds? I would imagine so. Yet still in His love, He cleans us up and sets us back on our feet.

Where was I? Words, yes, words that need to come forth, to teach, encourage, and laundry in the dryer to be folded, and zuchinnis growing like crazy and...

This flower that we can't identify no matter how many google searches I do.

If you knw the name of this mystery flower, please share and allow me to check at least one thing off my list today.

Stop by Duane Scott's Scribing the Journey for more rambling by disturbed writers. And when you have moment in the midst of your own randomness, pray that I would find a moment of focus and clarity and that words would flow as He directs.

Random pleasant and disturbed

"There are things that I must accomplish this week, but it's just a jumble. I feel like I've taken a prescription medication belonging to someone else."

So said Cassandra Frear at the MoonBoat Cafe on Monday and every part of my random brain resonated with her words. The feeling has shadowed me through the week, like mist or an echo.

Have you been there? When whatever you happen to be doing the thought fills your mind that you should be somewhere else, yet you can't quite remember where? When you start to think you might need a road map to keep track of your scattered thoughts? When you are doing nothing and everything all at once?

I suppose that Thursday is a good place to be now, where random, pleasant and disturbed is called forth.

You have read many words about my mosquito issues, so I feel I must share a praise worthy report. I received this delightful metal sculpture from a dear friend on my birthday earlier this month, and Rick mounted it on the wall beside the back door.

A few days later, we noticed that our yard and surrounding area were filling with huge, real dragonflies, flying about like mini-helipcopters, as if they were coming to worship the image of their god. Not only are they interesting creatures to watch.. they eat, yes, eat.. mosquitoes, as many as they can find! The mosquito population has all but disappeared.

God and His wonderous ways have triumphed once again! Eating mosquitoes enables female dragonflies to lay their eggs which in turn creates more dragonflies that will eventually eat more mosquitoes. Eating up mosquitos, eating up mosquitoes....

Wow.. anyone remember this song from the early days of MTV?

"Fish heads, fish heads, roly-poly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yummmm!"

Okay.. now I AM disturbed...

think I'd best free you to go explore other strange but pleasant posts at Duane_Scott's Scribing the Journey

Thursday - Pleasantly disturbed

Random, so random my thoughts will not settle

so instead I'm eating cinnamon toast ala The Pioneer Woman

yes.. it's bread (at least I'm using multi-grain flax bread)

yes- it's butter (and no small amount at that)

yes- it's sugar

and cinnamon.. I drift on the aroma alone, let alone the taste

Because my refrigerator was void of yogurt, my routine breakfast

partnered with sensible cereal

I have broken free

and found delight
my taste buds dance

rejoicing

and leave me wanting more

But there is yet One

Who leaves an even sweeter lingering

and ache for abundance

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him. Psalm 34:8 The Message

Are you disturbed? Are you hungry? Stop by Duane Scott's Scribing the Journey for more tastes of Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays and maybe some cheetos too.

Pleasantly random and disturbed

The flower you see here is Canada thistle. It is a living example of the process of multiplication. Where you see one, you will soon see thousands. then tens of thousands, and in following years, hundreds and thousands of thousands. Thistles are invasive weeds, pests, like mosquitoes, but such a lovely purple colour. I mention them here for no other reason than it's Thursday and I'm pleasant and random and disturbed again.

Thursdays come quickly
they go quickly
all days are flying by

Do you know if you break up your lines of prose it looks and often sounds like poetry. Is that all there is to it?

I frequently think in fragments,
pieces not neccessarily shattered,
yet broken.
I believe this may be part of God's grand design:

We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. 1 Corinthians 9-10 The Message

Yes, there is a longing in me for that completeness, the perfection that will cancel all my imperfections.

I have had some issues with vertigo this week and eyes that do not want to focus, and somehow I know that my flesh does not want to see things my spirit already knows.

Perhaps out of dislike for the old phrase "dizzy broad" I prefer to use the word "woozey", but most often I simply say that I'm spinny. My husband laughs and smiles.. should I be offended?

Random poll for the day then:

Which word do you prefer - dizzy, woozey or spinny?

Leave your answer in the comments below. You will not win a prize but I'll love you anyway.

Come on over to Duane Scott's Scribing the Journey for more random explorations.

Pleasantly disturbed and a bit loony

This weekend I realized that the choice of a loon on our $1.00 coins makes perfect sense. I have never before been blessed to see and hear quite so many of the beautiful birds. As an added delight, there were babies in the mix!

So call me a loonie and I'll accept that as a compliment. Out in left field? A bit askew? Over the top? Off the deep end? I'll receive them all, with a smile and "thank you very much". I want to be smack dab in the center of God's perfect will and that may often look upside down to the world. It looks funny to me too most of the time, but I'm learning to ask Him to allow me to see through His eyes.

Speaking of eyes, mine have been busy reading too many books at once, while my mind twitches with thoughts of reviews I should be writing.

I just finished the novel Priceless by Tom Davis (the CEO of Children's Hope Chest) and cannot yet put into words how my spirit was stirred. Is child slavery and sex trafficking alive and well in Russia and the rest of our world? Too alive and far too well, and we can't allow the devil to continue to have his way. Pray with me that the Lord gives me the words He desires me to write, in His timing.

I am pages from the end of Pete Wilson's book Plan B and have heard the voice of God speak over and over through Pete's words. This is a book that will bring clarity, comfort and hope to those who find themselves on the flip side of where they thought their life would be. The good news is that God is still there. More on this to follow...

There are more books stacked and waiting to be opened, while grass cries to be cut and mosquitos drool waiting for me to answer the call so they may have their way with me yet again. I wish they would be a bit more random in their choice of blood options.

Yes, they are God's creatures... I know.. I know...

Come on over to Duane Scott's Scribing the Journey to join in the randomness!

Disturbed, listening, not quite pleasant

Is it Thursday already? Moments turn into hours, melt into days, and another week has passed.

God has been speaking about being "intentional" and living life on purpose, which has very little to do with being "random"... yet...

My thoughts wander where they will, landing lightly in some places, falling with a heavy thud in others.

Focus blurs. I attempt to still my own noise and listen for His greater heartbeat.

He says:

Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God

Psalm 46:10a Amplified

and He says:

I don't think the way you think. The way you work isn't the way I work." God's Decree."For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. Isaiah 55:9 The Message

I will take my comfort there. To know that He is God and I am not. For that and so much more, I am truly filled to overflowing with thanksgiving.

Join in the randomness of Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays at Duane Scott's