A Day in the Life

Well, after having an accident where a heavy bookcase lurched out of the van onto my foot, I was very happy that prayers that it not be broken were answered. The heavy bruising and swelling indicated torn ligaments. The doctor said it takes about as long to heal, but I have a much better chance of faster recovery if I will stay off it, as long as possible and keep it above heart level with ice. It also fell against my upper leg and there is a big bruise and when I said I don’t do well on crutches, I didn’t think I would be falling a few hours later scraping my back on a rocker and hard tile floor. I’m feeling some sore muscles back there.
I was so bummed as my grandsons, Austin and Jordan were over for a visit and I was in the ER nearly all of it. There went my plans to take them to the beach. Ashley filled in quite well with them and Shiloh even cooked them shrimp pasta. Isaiah was very loving, asking questions and if he could help.
Bill and the girls are taking good care of me; it is really hard for me, as I have never had to have anyone basically wait on me hand and foot. Since I fell, they are extra careful. Shiloh had been helping me and went to answer the phone, and I don’t know what happened. All I knew is, if I fell forward I would surely hurt my foot worse and there wasn’t anything to brace against or hang onto to my right. She felt terrible for leaving me, but someone had to answer the phone. And of course I had just got off the phone with Amber who thought it was her fault since I had just brought the bookcase from her house. I guess Bill heard the commotion even though he was upstairs. We have decided I may need to use the cane instead of crutches.
It is hard keeping the foot up and iced but then I think of poor Anita, my mentor, whose leg bled for 6 hours when she had a freak accident where her 200 pound son tripped and fell on her. He had a broken toe and she was in a leg cast for weeks. Well, I guess, I will figure out something from this. Makes you wonder why some things happen. Especially when you don't have insurance. But one thing I know from Anita’s teachings is to praise the Lord for all things and the first thing out of my mouth was “Thank you Lord that it didn’t fall on my toes!” It just missed them. Throbbing toes are the pits; I’ve been there before:)
Thanks to all my friends and prayer warriors who have prayed for me.
I am so blessed to have a good book to read today by Charles Brown. It is called, “Papa’s Voice” and so far I can see it is a powerful word from the Lord to His Body. Blessings to you, Charles, for sending this a just the right time, or for such a time as this. Check it out here: www.papas-voice.com Awesome!

Musings on Life, Marriage and Dancing in the Minefields

Musings on Life, Marriage and Dancing in the Minefields

Recently, Bill and I celebrated 30 years of marriage. I am blessed with a wonderful, Godly husband and I am so grateful that he is in my life. On that hot day in July, 30 years ago, we never imagined the blessings that the Lord had for us.
But to say that our life and marriage has been a wonderful waltz would be a denial of the strength the Lord could bring through trials. “Endure hardship with me” is a phrase that is written in my Bible. There is no phrase in the Bible that says, “Be a Christian, marry a Christian and live happily ever after.”
One time Bill sent me a card, and it had a picture of a Construction Zone. It was an encouraging message of our lives being a “work in progress.” If you think about it, that is what we all are, there are none that have arrived yet. We are all in construction, hopefully becoming more like the Lord.
J. Lee Grady in his article (http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/28858-warning-you-are-entering-gods-construction-zone#readmore) recently said, “We aren't used to hearing sermons about God's construction zone. Some preachers believe the journey of faith is like skipping effortlessly through LaLa Land. We don't expect people to conform to the image of Christ; we don't warn people that Christ-likeness requires brokenness; and we don't teach that brokenness comes when we embrace trials and suffering.

Yet the Bible says: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation" (1 Peter 4:12-13, NASB).”
I love Mr. Grady’s take on this and I wonder why there isn’t more teaching like “brokenness comes when we embrace trials and suffering.”?

Any growth at all in my life from early childhood onward has been through pain. If the Lord had not allowed the pain of abuse I would have been a truly spoiled brat as a young girl; I was surely on my way to that early on. But I was spared by being broken by the pain of life, which helped me to become a more compassionate person. Had I not been broken, had I had every need in my life met, I would hate to see the type of woman I may have become.
Many (but not all) of the minefields of our marriage have been related to pain of my first marriage and Bill trying to help me help my oldest daughter overcome an addiction her biological father started her on. When we truly let go and let God, Jesus was the one to bring victory to her hurting heart. She is now celebrating her 2 year anniversary of living sober and giving her testimony to that.

But there were some painful minefields along the way. We give the Lord Jesus all the glory for He does all things well. And there will probably always be a minefield of some sort in our lives, in fact, it seems as if as soon as we get past one, we see another one. That’s just the way life is, it rains on the just and the unjust. There are many hurting people in our extended family and world. We can’t dance around their pain; it is legitimate to them, even if a little extra looking to the Lord would give them a source of relief. Although it is true the old saying that “We may be the only Bible someone reads” we can’t force a relationship with the Lord on anyone. But we can make them thirsty for living water and then point them to our source.
Jesus has never allowed the pain of life to strip me of the deep song of longing within my heart for His will in my life. He has never taken away the desire to dance from me, sometimes alone in my kitchen with a song of praise to Him, sometimes at a wedding or party. Bill doesn’t believe he can dance and so he has missed a lot of joy that the rest of us have when we just get out there on the dance-floor and move around.

One day we will both dance before our Lord and King and He will tell us of all the things He protected us from, all the calamities we were spared and show us the treasure he had waiting when he brought two hurting people together that sunny day in 1980.

The Minefields of Life

“Dancing” is the word that struck me to begin post thoughts about the storms of marriage and life and how they can be overcome. One word; Jesus! Actually His name is the only word that can bring us through the storms of life, not just marriage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtTa81LyuQM
It has a beautiful message and I especially like:
So when I lose my way,
Find me
When I loose love's chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith to the end of all my days
When I forget my name,
Remind me

I’ll be writing more on the minefields of life. Right now enjoy the music and lyrics.

Dancing in the Minefields


By Andrew Peterson
Well, I was 19 you were 21, the year we got engaged
And everyone said we were much too young, but we did it anyway
We got the rings for $40 each from a pawnshop down the road
And we said our vows and took the leap nearly 15 years ago.
And we went dancing in the minefields,
We went sailing in the storms
And it was harder than we dreamed,
But I believe that's what the promise is for.
Well “I do” are two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another, I've heard
Is a good way to begin
Cause the only way to find your life is to lay your own life down.
And I believe it is an easy price for the life that we have found.
And we’re dancing in the minefields,
We’re sailing in the storms
And this is harder than we dreamed,

But I believe that's what the promise is for
That's what the promise is for.
So when I lose my way,
Find me
When I loose love's chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith to the end of all my days
When I forget my name; remind me

We bear the light of the Son of Man, so there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the Shadowlands ’til the shadows disappear
Cause He promised not to leave us and His promises are true.
So in the face of all this chaos, baby, I can dance with you.
Let's go dancing in the minefields
Let's go sailing in the storms
Let's go dancing in the minefields
And kicking down the doors


Let's go dancing in the minefields
And sailing in the storms
Oh, this is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for
That's what the promise is for.

The Missing Chapter

I have not been faithful with this blog, and for that I apologize. Bill has been painting my kitchen for an early 30th anniversary gift. He also put down a new floor. This old kitchen has never looked better. But since my computer was right in the middle of the work area I have a bit of an excuse.


Today once again I want to focus again on something by Mary E. DeMuth. She sent a link to what she calls a missing chapter of Thin Places.
Here's the link:
http://www.marydemuth.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ThinPlacesmissingchapter.pdf
I especially loved this quote:
"So the mysterious plan of God continues on. He uses France to break me so I can bless another broken friend, who then will no doubt touch another in her brokenness. It’s the Gospel of the broken, inaugurated by Jesus’ broken body on the cross, advanced through our weakness."

My take on this is: Brokenness helping to heal another's brokenness, that's what makes the pain worth it.

"Computer Thing" Or "God Thing"?

Have you ever thought that God can use your computer to be a source of encouragement in your life? No, I’m not talking about the many devotionals and inspired writings you can find. I’m talking about a computer putting words that you need right in front of you several times until you get the message.

Funny thing about computers: sometimes they work great and sometimes you really want to throw them out the window. That’s how I felt the day I was trying to copy and paste a phrase into a search engine. Let me back up and say I was having a really hard week. I was fighting feelings of depression. Some family situations were making me sad and although I was trying to be diligent with writing, I found I was just using the computer to occupy my mind.

I keep a file of quotes that I find in books or on the Internet. This file is getting pretty full as I have people from W.B.Yeats, William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, and Cowper to Erma Bombeck. As you can see my mind goes to many extremes in the course of a day. From poetry to funny things of living with teenagers and hormones, I read all sorts of articles. But recently my husband had signed a card to me with a really sweet phrase: I decided to put him at the top of my quotes file.

Every time I went to copy and paste into my search engine a research question, out of nowhere, it inserted the phrase from my husband “You are the single most important on going event in my life. All my love, Bill.” After trying several times to get the information, I gave up. Was it a computer error or was it a “God thing?” I needed encouragement that day and that was what I got. No one but God could have done that, as it was several months before that I had put the phrase from my husband in my quote file. I guess I won’t be throwing the computer out the window. Because when I needed encouragement the most, God worked with my computer to lift my spirits. A "computer thing" or a "God thing?" You be the judge.

email me at thornrose7@aol.com

Read Life in Defiance: A Novel (Defiance Texas Trilogy) by Mary E. DeMuth

I was torn between wanting the savor the book as I knew it was the last one in the Defiance Texas Trilogy and hurry up and finish so I could see who killed Daisy Chance. It was so hard to put down and go about what I needed to do during the day; my reward was coming back to the book as often as I could. I will savor it the second reading. I love everything that Mary E DeMuth has written! I will always be a fan of her writing, her overcoming spirit and her fiction story telling.
Daisy Chain (Defiance Texas Trilogy, Book 1) A Slow Burn (Defiance Texas Trilogy, Book 2) must be read first, although there is enough background for this to be a stand-alone book. But you don't want to miss a word that Mary has written. Powerful, scorching, melodic and spiritual words that will sear your soul.
I will always love Mary's characters and Hixon is still my favorite but Emory grew to be a close second. Strange how things can change from the first book to the second. And in Life in Defiance she became a woman after my own heart.

Perhaps it was a bit harder for me to read this one as I lived through seeing my own mother abused horribly when I was a young child. Not only her, but I still remember the purple welts on my brother's back. Maybe I didn't want to read deeply and find those memories and flashbacks are still deep within me; forgiven but who could forget memories like those?
I so love this trilogy that I had to email Zondervon Publisher and ask: Why would you let Mary end with only 3 books when the story's characters call out to be elaborated on in many other books; Defiance, Texas trilogy surely is only a beginning? Mary's readers are crying for more.
Mary, you are a magnificent writer and I feel you deep in my soul. I only wish I could buy all your books for all my friends and family. Blessings, peace and fruitfulness I pray for you and yours.

Has Destiny Ever Irritated You?
God will use the pain and irritations of life to bring about the destiny of our children. As Mothers it is hard to watch and times and even harder to endure when we want to jump in and take that pain for them. But we must leave our children, grandchildren and problems in the hands of the One who created them for His purpose and glory. He will bring to life that which was dead and barren. Only the Lord can mend the broken, take pieces of clay and make beautiful vessels of His glory. Sometimes the pain of life seems more than we can endure, but we must press on, for His glory and purpose."Now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning (my paraphrase) your family: "Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. "They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. "I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. Jerimiah 32:17 & 36-41

A Mother Who Dreams

“All your children will be taught by the Lord. And they will have much peace”

(Isaiah 54:13, International Children’s Bible)

I'll never forget the day my friend called me "the mother of dreams." I was discouraged; She was cheering me up. She meant it as if I was the mother of her dreams. Yet, I heard it as what I am, a "mother who dreams."

I know all the times I want to do right and fail. I think about all the times I plan to be kind and explode instead. I remember all the times I want to impart wisdom and love, but I turn into a hormonal mess. But I am a "mother who dreams" because I dream of a better life for my children. A life full of love and good things, where harmony abounds, including wisdom to help through the pain that is a part of life in the real world.
Emotional scars that I have unconsciously inflicted will be healed. Family divisions will be a thing of the past. Forgiveness and peace will overcome bitterness.
A mother will always dream big things for her children!

Psalm 31:3-4 "For Thou art my rock and my fortress; for Thy name's sake Thou wilt lead me and guide me. Thou wilt pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me; for Thou art my strength."

Happy Sunday

A great quote for the day: “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong, because someday you will have been all of these." – George Washington Carver
Happy Sunday! Bill has been ministering at Men of Destiny and we are going to another graduation ceremony today. To God be the Glory!

A Writer's Prompt

“Show me where you bleed,” the editor from a prominent magazine said in her session at the writer’s conference.
“I can do that,” I thought to myself and planned the next submission I would write for her. It was my first writer’s conference and to say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. Actually I thought I bled plenty in the manuscript she critiqued. I was about to hit the big 5-0 soon and the young, petite, blonde, “totally altogether” editor had terrified me, quite unintentionally when we had our appointment.
What was I even doing at a writer’s conference? I was totally out of my element, a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom who aspired to write at this late stage of life. I had always wanted to get a book published while I still looked enough like that glamour shot picture I had taken back when I was forty. Oh well, no chance of that; and especially not now that I am pushing 59. It took me 9 more years to get the courage to go back to a conference. I am now hooked on them; I couldn’t wait until the next year’s conference. They seem to get better and better each time.
Ten years from the time I met the beautiful editor I saw her again. Guess what? She didn’t terrify me. In fact I thought she was quite mellow and I even made an appointment with her again. She didn’t really want to see anything I had to offer but I enjoyed our conversation and her seminars. She didn’t even remember asking us to “show me where you bleed,” all those years ago. I walked through facing some personal fears about meeting with editors this year and came out smiling.