An Easier Yoke

I don't mean for this to be all about pain and suffering, but it's our common denominator as people, isn't it? We are all broken, everyone you see is going through something hard, or just has, or will soon. How do we ever lose sight of compassion? I love this quote from a friend; it illustrates well a pain we all know or will know:

"Hurting is the blood that drips down to my fungus-infected feet." --J.K.E

I kinda doubt that Jesus had athlete's foot, but this is just a smidgeon of the pain that Christ felt as he hung on the cross for us. Just think about that: your pain times the population of the world... But He died so that our pain wouldn't kill us. Instead, he takes it on for us and we live--we actually find rest for our bleeding souls.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." --Matthew 11.29-30

Have some compassion today, people. Be gentle and humble in heart...it's a much easier yoke to bear. God loves you.

You Are Grace To The Brokenhearted

My life has theme songs. That's all there is to it.

Presently, I hate the inside of my house. It's old, it's been jacked up, it needs to be painted and "finished" and there is cream carpet in the dining room. I have four kids. Cream carpet plus four kids equals "what smells like pee/spoiled milk/wet dog?" (We don't have a dog.) So the house is incessantly below my standards. Not to mention the normal large-family stuff of laundry and toys and school papers and what-have-you cluttering up the world. It's like quicksand--the quicker I move to get out of this pit, the worse it seems to get!!! And the thing is, I thought my job as a wife and SAHM (stay-at-home-mom for those of you who don't subscribe to such blogrings), which I have been happy to embrace, was to keep everything in order...and a bunch of other details that I'll save for my resume...which means, in every direction I look, I'm a failure. I'm hard-pressed to find a success on my long list of expectations for myself...except that my kids are cute, happy, smart and haven't managed to kill themselves yet, although Z gives a daily go of it. "...Times are tough, the goin' rough, like there never was a Master Plan."

This crisis sits patiently next to the recent one I've gone through in my marriage, reminding me that there is hope within brokenness, a light at the end of the tunnel, if you will.

This is the song that encourages me today, in view of my struggles in my JOB and crisis in general. Thank you, Lost Dogs, for preachin' it to me again and again...God speaks to me in Rockabilly.

Blessing in Disguise-- Lost Dogs

How often do you spot the angels

Or feel the unseen hand?

Most times are tough, the goin’ rough

Like there never was a master plan

Those steadfast doors don’t open

And you pray but you don’t understand

You’ve got to...

Hold fast the hope that’s in you

Don’t always trust your eyes

Sometimes it takes a long time to see it as a

Blessing in disguise

We live upon this dark surface

And God, He moves upon the deep

What is concealed will be revealed

There is no promise He won’t keep

Some are confused by the shadows

We’re awake now but we’re half asleep

Hold fast the hope that’s in you

Don’t always trust your eyes

Sometimes it takes a long time to see it as a

Blessing in disguise

Sometimes the dark can move our hearts

To lean for the light of the Son

And our ways don’t become His ways

Until we are undone

Hold fast the hope that’s in you

Don’t always trust your eyes

Sometimes it takes a long time to see it as a

Blessing in disguise

And after you’ve been broken

You may not realize

That you are grace to the broken hearted

And a blessing—a blessing in disguise

Thank you, LORD, that you bind the brokenhearted, that you are renaming me an oak of righteousness, a planting of YOU, for the display of your splendor. This is the year of the Lord's favor.

Signs...and Wonders

*Disclaimer: there were some pretty sweet pictures of Yellowstone as part of this entry, but they were back-linked to another blog that I deleted, which then deleted the pictures here. I would just get them off the hard drive, but our hard drive crashed, and I'm still waiting for all my pictures to be extracted. Someday I'll get them back up...

I have been feeling the pull to write, but not having a lot of time alone, and being a perfectionist (defeated perfectionist if you will), I don't think I can get all my "deep thoughts" down before someone needs me again. I have a great story to tell: a story of betrayal and redemption and drama and rejoicing!! But I'll just have to rest in the fact that God knows I want to write, God knows I have a story to tell (He's the author, afterall!) and He knows what it's gonna take to get the two things together.

For now, I will be simple and sweet...

In Yellowstone, I was struck with irony when we were driving about on roads that were flanked with--yes, buffalo--but also caution-yellow, diamond-shaped signs that read "ROUGH ROADS AHEAD" followed by, "VERY ROUGH ROADS AHEAD" and then, "EXTREMELY ROUGH ROADS AHEAD".....until finally you came around the bend and saw this:

(insert awesome picture of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone here!)

We had traveled the "extremely rough roads" and we were on top, looking down into the valley! This breathtakingly beautiful expanse that is so huge it threatens to swallow you up. As you stare in awe and the peripheral caves into your focal point and the thunder of a waterfall roars next to you, drowning out all your fears and your doubts, you realize God is very big and I am very small--certainly he is in control and knowing--as even all of this was formed with but a whisper from His lips, and I can rest, not knowing, not seeing, not being capable, or able, or confident in myself.

GOD ALONE IS MIGHTY AND WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE!!

Psalm 93

1 The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed in majesty
and is armed with strength.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be moved.

2 Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.

3 The seas have lifted up, O LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the LORD on high is mighty.

5 Your statutes stand firm;
holiness adorns your house
for endless days, O LORD.

A-Camping We Will Go!

We are going camping in Yellowstone this month, so I'm looking for ideas for making meals for six on a 2-burner campstove, surrounded by DIRT really, really easy. I've had a little practice, but am FAR from the professional campers my parents seemed to be (hmmm...although...maybe they were at the advantage with 1/2 the kids and twice as many vehicles, one being a truck with what we called a "Gypsy Wagon" on the back.) So any suggestions on how to camp with and feed 4 kids in Yellowstone in particular would be greatly appreciated!

Meanwhile, I found a great website that I don't know why I didn't consider right off the bat...after all, the Boy Scouts wrote the book on camping, right?! Not only are there a TON of recipes that are practical for roughin' it, but there are some really good recipes on there for every day. Easy, delicious, and great for "feeding the troops" if you will....

Like this one (I can't believe I found it)...Funnel Cakes are only my favorite dessert (from childhood...and the only good ones were at Disneyland), and now I can have it while CAMPING? What better treat after the kids are down and we sit by the fire, exhausted after a long day of trying to get our kids to nap in a tent and not wander off to be eaten by bears, and all that other fun stuff camping with toddlers comes with. Ahhhhhhhhhh..........

Title	Funnel Cake
Ingredients	10 cups flour 2 packages dry egg mixture 1 package dry milk mixture (enough to make 1 quart) 5 teaspoons baking powder 2 1/2 teaspoons salt Combine before trip.
Equipment	Frying pan or simple pot
Instructions	Use 1 cup mixture and >1/2 cup water, mix completely in plastic bag. Should be more than enough for one person . Drop in hot oil from corner cut from plastic bag and cook until light brown, turn once. Top with sugar or fruits if desired.

Wonka Wisdom

"The most important thing we've learned

So far as children are concerned

Is never, never, never let

Them near your television set

Or better still, just don't install

The idiotic thing at all. . .

They sit and stare and stare and sit

Until they're hypnotized by it,

Until they're absolutely drunk

With all that shocking ghastly junk. . .

'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,

'But if we take the set away,

What shall we do to entertain

Our darling children? Please explain!'

We'll answer this by asking you,

'What used the darling ones to do?

'How used they keep themselves contented

Before this monster was invented?'

Have you forgotten?

Don't you know?

We'll say it very loud and slow:

They used to read.

They'd read and read and read and read and then proceed

To read some more."

- Roald Dahl

'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'

"Luck" has had nothing to do with it...

We renewed our vows to each other this St. Patrick's Day, after 10 years of marriage and surviving more than a couple of marital crises...

My Beloved, this is my covenent to you and our God:

I will be faithful to God by seeking His truth and guidance daily

I will be committed to honesty and integrity.

I will connect regularly with God-fearing men in our community to help strengthen my faith in the Lord.

I will be committed to maintaining sexual purity and obeying His commands.

I will be faithful to you, Beloved, by loving you as modeled in Ephesians 5, "just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her to make her holy..."

I will love you as my own body and self.

I will continually lift you up in prayer, and will pray with humility, out of submission to God, so I may admit when I'm wrong.

I promise to continue taking spiritual leadership in our home as God has placed me as your head.

And, I will be proactive in planning for our future together, and the future of our children.

I love you!

~~~~~~~~~

My Lover, my Husband:

My promise to you is to--first and foremost--be faithful to our Lord God.

I will try to always be teachable, keeping a soft heart toward God.

I will strive to understand His Word, listen to His voice, and always be obedient.

I promise to be faithful to you emotionally, physically and spiritually, regarding you as my head, submitting to you in everything as to the Lord.

I will continue in my quest to be a wife of noble character, so that everything I do will bring glory to God and will bring good to you all the days of my life...

I love you!