tending the gift...

I have this beautiful bonsai tree that was entrusted to my care a couple of years ago. It has the most delicate white flowers and deep-green, shiny leaves and has flourished and thrived in various locations in our home. I would meticulously snip the wilted flowers from the tree and trim the wayward branches back into its original shape. This was almost a religious ritual with me until I rearranged the furniture in my living room this past winter. I placed my beautiful bonsai on a pedestal table behind the love seat. It seemed to be the perfect place for it: close to the window; not too much light or heat from the fireplace and away from the inquisitive fingers of my six grandchildren. This past week I noticed my little tree was drooping and it’s leaves were falling off. When was the last time I watered it? When was the last time I trimmed the flowers or branches? I couldn’t remember the answer to either question. The corner where it had been placed also seemed a little dark now that the season had changed. During the winter months, it would get more artificial light, but this tree needs a lot of natural light. And as it had been tucked, safely away in the corner, it became an afterthought rather than a routine. I moved my bonsai back to the dining room table and began to tend it…snipping the flowers and dead leaves…watering it’s parched soil…apologizing in my heart to the friend who had entrusted me with such a beautiful gift.

We have each been entrusted with the precious gift of salvation. Early in our journey we are so excited and enamored with the beauty of the gift, we are eager to tend it. But sometimes we allow the cares of this life to rearrange the furniture of our souls and our gift is placed in a corner. We don’t pick up our Bible as often…we don’t fellowship regularly…we pray only when we have a crisis. Our walk becomes sluggish and lifeless…our spirit parched and dry. I wish I could say I have never been there, but I have…and not too terribly long ago. I thank God I have friends who hold me accountable and tell me when I’m veering off the path. They are the reflection of God’s natural light that I so desperately need. I begin to perk up and feed on His word and allow His Living Water to refresh and revive me. He gently prunes the wilted flowers and dead leaves from me and I begin to flourish just as my bonsai is now flourishing with less than a week of tender care.

Are you in a dark corner in your journey? Allow His word to comfort, heal and nourish your soul…

Psalm 119:25 NKJV

My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.



May God our Father lavish His everlasting love, grace and mercy upon you…may your soul be revived according to His word…you are so very loved!

In His Love and Service,

~Pat~

matthew's birthday....a mother's lament

***composed on April 27th, 2006***

I haven’t written much lately…I have been busy with an extra little body in the house. The early morning hours I would normally spend writing or doing my personal devotions are now spent watching Ashley snuggled up on the couch with a pile of blankets and her pink bear as she desperately tries to avoid the advancing “kisses” of Max. She giggles and covers her head as Max wags his tail wildly…loving every minute of this “catch me if you can” game. I try to stifle them with my finger to my lips, but my “shushes” fall on deaf ears…all four of them! And soon, I just give up and figure Debbie and Arron will both be awake sooner than they anticipated! Today was much the same as it has been for the past two weeks…Ashley padding up the stairs waiting at the “doggie gate” with pink bear and blankies in tow and Max standing there to greet her with tongue and tail wagging in synch. But instead of the warmth I usually feel in my heart, today I was actually saddened by the sight. I desperately wanted my son to see what he is missing. You see, today is his 26th birthday and, rather than celebrating with his beautiful wife and daughters, he chose a different path. He abandoned them to pursue the lusts of his flesh in a dark and seedy life filled with drugs, gambling, pornography and everything that goes along with those activities. Meanwhile, my daughter-in-law struggles to even make ends meet. I am so thankful I am able to help in this small way to ease the burden caused by Matthew’s choices. I’m sure he buys into the lie that his girls and his wife are better off without him, but deep in his heart he knows it isn’t true. He knows because he has dealt first hand with this situation as a young child of only 9 years old. That is when I abandoned my first husband and my three young children to pursue the lusts of MY flesh. I justified that they were better off without me, but it was not and still is not true. Even today I catch myself saying that at least it was only for a few months rather than two or more years, but that too is a lie to make my flesh feel better. The truth hurts…but it is only the Truth (Jesus Himself) that will set you free...and for that I am so very thankful...

John 8:32 NKJV

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “ I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”


May God our Father lavish His everlasting love, grace and mercy upon you…may His truth free you from the bondage of your past…you are so very loved!

In His Love and Service,

~Pat~

and He gave me lilacs...

**Written on May 20th, 2002***

Ever heard the saying, “good things are worth waiting for”? If you are not blessed with the gift of patience, then this “saying” does nothing but promote frustration! I know…I am so completely impatient!! This evening, as I gaze out my back windows down into my back yard, I am blessed with something I have not seen in over three years…lilacs. Beautiful, fragrant lilacs! I planted those bushes three years ago and this is the first year they have produced flowers! I am humbled by their beauty and simplicity…but I am even more humbled by knowing these lilacs and their lengthy maturity cycle was all part of God’s plan. He knew that I would plant those bushes even before I did…and He knew that I would run out there each year hoping for buds and that I would become disappointed when I saw none. He knew that I would contemplate just digging them up because “they’re never going to flower”. He knew that this year, for whatever reason, they had completely slipped my mind. He knew that I would be gazing out my window onto my back yard and at that very minute I would be “wowed” by His awesome work! I have lilacs for the first time in my life…they are the product of much pruning and nurturing and waiting. Waiting for them to produce their beautiful, fragrant flowers. And then it dawned on me, God has been teaching me about His love and patience for three years now. I was not yet walking with Him when I planted those bushes…I was still playing footsies in the world. The next year I was leaning towards Him more but had not taken my “leap of faith” yet. Last year I was just beginning my walk with Him in earnest. And this year, after much pruning, nurturing and patience, I have begun to “blossom” in my faith. Only God could take my lilac bushes…HIS lilac bushes…and show me what He has known all along…

NIV Luke 8:15

Jesus explained the parable of the sower:

“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering, produce a crop.”

Thank you, Father, for loving me enough to nurture me and prune me so that I might blossom…thank you for not “digging me up” when I didn’t bloom right away…
Amen.

May God our Father lavish His everlasting love and grace upon you…may He give you lilacs in your garden of faith…you are so very, very loved!

In His Love and Service,

Pat

Maggie...

This is from my archives and was written on May 11, 2002*** enjoy :)




Last night I finally met Maggie on the streets of Tacoma. I have known of her for over a year , but had never had the pleasure of meeting this kind, gentle, trusting and loving lady. She was all I had imagined her to be...and more. She welcomed me as though we had been friends forever…this was the exact same greeting she gave all those she encountered last night. Just looking at her makes you smile and your heart melt…you are drawn to her. You see, Maggie is a very large, very gentle and very loving Rottweiler dog. And as I watched the throngs of people approach her to offer a pet, a nuzzle and to share their food, it dawned on me how marvelous God’s plan is. The Lord uses Maggie as a means to break down the inhibitions in those He is trying to reach. Humans often have a hard time reaching out and trusting other humans for any number of reasons…past hurts; shyness; deep seated anger in our hearts; isolation; fear. The Lord knows this…and that is why He created Maggie as my dear brother Guardrail John’s companion. I watched as some of the hardest street folks I know down under that freeway warmed right up to Maggie. Their hardness seemed to literally melt away and was replaced by a softness that I am hard pressed to explain. It was in that time of “softness” that John and several of his brothers were able to strike up a conversation and truly minister to these folks. God was working through Maggie and reaching some of the most unreachable folks. Only He could take a large, unapproachable breed of dog…one which is feared by many, and create a “Maggie”. She mirrored to those hardened, often feared and unapproachable folks what God can, and will, do in their lives if they will just ask. You see, when God looks at us, He doesn’t see a “Rottweiler”, He sees a “Maggie”….

NIV Psalm 66:5

“Come see what God has done, how awesome His works in man’s behalf!”


May God our Father lavish His everlasting love grace and mercy upon you...may you look at others through His eyes...you are so very loved!

In His Love and Service,

~Pat~

my mother's hands...

Just a few moments ago, I was using an emery board to smooth out some rough spots on my fingernails. And as I was smoothing, a mental image came to me of my mother sitting at the kitchen table filing her nails and applying her makeup. I remembered her hands…and I could actually see them detail upon detail. And then I looked down and realized my hands are HER hands! I have my mother’s hands! I have not seen those hands since I was 12 years old, yet that is the part of my mother’s physical body that I can see vividly in my mind’s eye. Those hands would hold me close when I was very little and scared; they would apply “heat to the seat” when I was naughty (which was often!); they would prepare meals to nourish me; they would wash me when I was dirty. They represented love. And although my childhood was anything but perfect, God chose today, for whatever reason, to show me my mother’s hands were His hands…and my hands are His hands…and your hands are His hands…

Psalm 139:5-6 NIV

You hem me in—behind and before, O Lord; You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

May God our Father lavish His everlasting love, grace and mercy upon you…may you find comfort in His hands…you are so very loved!!!

In His Love and Service,

~Pat~

routine maintenance...

It’s Saturday and I don’t normally write on weekends…at least not for others to read. But today I was stirred in my spirit to put some thoughts down. My husband is outside pressure washing the deck. It has not been done in a very long time so it had taken on the appearance of old grey barn wood instead of the beautiful golden amber color of fresh cedar. There was moss that had died and hardened onto the side rails giving it an even more rustic and weathered look. We had begun to think we needed to replace the entire deck due to its appearance. But upon inspection, we found the support beams were solid and the overall structure was still very sound…it just LOOKED dead, dirty and decaying. But as my husband moved the wand of the pressure washer over the wood, the stains, dirt and grime of neglect began to disappear only to reveal the original beauty of the wood. And as I watched, mesmerized by the transformation, I was once again reminded how dirty the world is in which we live. We cannot go through life without picking up some dirt and grime…especially if we have neglected “routine maintenance”. But if our foundation is solid in Christ, we can be cleansed, renewed and restored to the original luster by His very word. Have you gotten a little dingy…a little weathered…a little grimy? Let the word of God wash the dirt from your feet…

John 13:5-10 NKJV

After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “ If I do not wash you, you have no part of Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, no my feet only, but my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”


May God our Father lavish His everlasting love, grace and mercy upon you…may your feet be cleansed by the truth of His word…you are so very loved!

In His Love and Service,

~Pat~