Look at that, all of August has passed and I did not post at all. What is going on in my life? Routine disrupted? Consistency disregarded? A little too self absorbed?
Maybe some of it all. August was a month filled with wonderful days spent with my niece, a day trip to the beach to spend time with family, and the regular standing doctors' appointments - mostly tests.
I guess that is enough to disrupt anything 'routine,' but oh, so worth it all!
Through it all though, I've done a lot a whole lot of thinking, contemplating, wondering.....pondering. (Love that word!)
And sitting. I NEVER thought I would be a La-Z-Boy gal, but my chair that does not look like the big puffy piece of furniture that eats up your house, has become a constant companion lately. Power naps, we call them.
My biggest struggle lately is accepting that napping is fine, and healing. This go-go-go girl just does not want to do it. God keeps showing me that people can and will heal if they rest and it is allowed. I think I am doing better....at least better than a month ago, so that is progress. Also, some good test results rather confirmed that I am heading in the right direction. Of course, I give far more credit to the power of prayer than to rest, but I accept that both are needful.
Then there came that little tug. The little one that often leads to something much larger than you expected to be heading into. Call it....warm colors. Fall colors.
BER has arrived. Karin won't allow herself certain indulgences until BER arrives. Such discipline - she must get it from her daddy. Somehow pumpkin cookies made their way into my cart yesterday. I realized it this morning. Magazines are filled with gold and orange and glorious warm browns, rather than hot pink and lime.
Bam....next thing you know, I am whipping out burlap pumpkins and harvest wall hangings.
It actually started with simply rotating the china, from rosy pink to golds and teals. (MY fall scene leans toward teal and purple, with metallics.) When I think about it though, in February, I did not expect to see fall, so this is actually pretty magnificent!
I'm not sure how the silver polish arrived on the scene, but the little bird was so dark and tarnished that he just needed a little shine.
And that made me think of Roger (even more than I normally do) - because few people - perhaps only myself.... know that he was the greatest silver polisher around. Talk about never giving up!
Thinking back, I wonder if it had anything to do with the way he loved to see a shiny and bright fire engine - with not a smudge on it. Firefighter friends....am I close on this one? Wadding something is an item he loved.
So, with all the love I could muster, it seemed that I should at least give this love of his a shot. That lasted about 5 minutes. Perhaps I could be just as happy with a little black sparrow as with a shiny silver one?
Roger's Lesson: The black stuff is just tarnish. It comes off with a little paste and elbow grease. And all the time spent? Well, just use it for good. Think about stuff while you are rubbing and buffing. It is the gently, repeating action that you are using that brings out the shine. And don't forget the crevices, use the right tool, be sure it is soft because you can't blast the stuff away or you will ruin what is underneath. And ponder. Just enjoy the time and ponder*.
*Roger knew I loved that word.
In all the busyness of life, we don't often ponder like we ought, and buffing surely keeps your hands busy in an entirely different way. Off the keyboard, and onto something of unique beauty - if you stick with it long enough to see what is underneath the tarnish.
I guess each of us is like that. All that tarnish on top....everyone has something....everyone has something different....but we all have it. But when we allow Jesus to gently buff - the beauty of what lies beneath will come out. For people - souls - that real, true beauty is Christ living within.
I could whip out my trusty can of silver spray paint and fix it up, but that would equal dressing up the outside of me, instead of letting God keep buffing away the tarnish to reveal a unique beauty.
Both take time.
I'm kind of glad that the "new" in decorating is metallics.
I'm going to pull out all of my stored silver and buff away.
And while I'm at it.....I shall ponder.
God still has a lot to teach me and I have so much to absorb!
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