He makes all things new

Spring is easily my favorite time of year (though it has some serious competition from the fall--changing leaves, crisp air, the scent of wood smoke, and hot apple cider? Come on! You can't beat that!). I love the days that get successively warmer, the birds returning to sing songs of their winter journeys, the sun that seems a little bit brighter each day, and best of all, the emergence of new life! From adorable baby animals to blossoms on the trees to little seedlings poking up to say hello, the wonder of creation coming alive after the dark cold of winter never ceases to leave me in awe.

This year we have had an exceptionally mild winter. I don't remember ever having a winter so free of cold, ice, snow, and freezing rain--as a matter of fact, I think we've had some combination of those every winter for the last several years. This winter has barely seen temperatures barely dip below freezing (which does have me slightly concerned about the mosquito population this summer. They may finally succeed in carrying me off to be their blood sacrifice. Or whatever). As a result, spring is coming early this year! Tulip trees have been blossoming for a couple of weeks, and a couple days ago I spotted trees with tiny, delicate pink blossoms. Oh, and our daffodils have already been peeping at the sun for days!

All of this has me very excited because, for the first time, I am going to make a serious effort at planting a garden. Since I will likely be moving before the end of the growing season, said garden will be in containers. I bought some little violas back in January and yesterday repotted two of them into a window box. And promptly (pre-emptively?) planted radish seeds all down the middle (the violas are at each end). I've never had radishes, so I don't even know whether or not I like them! So I decided to buy a packed of mixed seeds, and I am anxiously awaiting the appearance of little green leaves. Checking the window box at least twice today (it's out on the back deck). Even though I just planted them yesterday and know good and well that nothing has sprouted yet. What can I say? I'm excited! Sometimes I wonder, does God ever get anxious/nervous/excited when He's planted something in us and is just waiting for it to show the first signs of bearing fruit? I am sure I will be much worse when, say, the first green tomatoes and peppers appear. Does He ever get more anxious/nervous/excited when He knows we're growing and ripening and maturing, getting ever closer to who He wants us to be, to being even more like Him?

I placed orders yesterday from two different seed companies (though the seeds I needed to start already I bought on Ebay last week and promptly sent--on accident--to Texas! Always change your Paypal address BEFORE you pay!) and I am super-excitedly-awaiting their arrival. I had the hardest time deciding what varieties--and what vegetables!--I wanted to try as a first time pseudo-serious gardener, even though I was limiting my selection to dwarf and small-plant varieties (to make them easier to move if such a thing happens during the growing season). Maybe I am a little crazy for undertaking this when I know I will be moving, but I am learning to be less concerned about these (relatively safe) risks. If a cautious little turtle refuses to ever come out of its shell, it's not going to see or experience or know very much at all. I refuse to be a little scared turtle keeping my head stuck in my shell. Well, not all the time, at least. Although I think I got the risk-taking department covered somewhat when I packed up my car and moved to Texas last year. Anyway. Mixing up my dirt yesterday, the potting soil and compost and vermiculite and coconut coir was the most glorious feeling, just thinking that something so unassuming and plain and made up of dead things and decomposed things and stuff that would have otherwise been trash (like the coconut hulls used in coco coir) will very soon nourish little seedlings into bigger seedlings into plants that will burst forth in bloom and produce little fruits that will ripen and become big fruits that will feed my family and me. It always amazes me how there is no waste in God's economy.

Spring, spring, spring! I love spring! The time when we celebrate new life and say goodbye to winter and sing, "Hallelujah! He is risen!" May we let it remind us how He takes the ashes of our lives, the dark and broken things, and remakes and reshapes them and gives them life anew.
What has He planted in you? What is just waiting to burst forth, to grow, to give new life and nourishment to others?

What miracles has He done in you?

Joplin

I was reading one of my favorite photographer's blog (Shelley Paulson) and she posted about her visit to Joplin, MO about 6 weeks after the tornado hit, and I realized I never posted about it after I went. Three weeks after the tornado hit, a group from my church, Harvest Church International in Tyler, TX, went to Joplin for a long weekend to help with the relief efforts. We sorted clothes and canned goods, picked up people's yards, and went to some of the worst neighborhoods to ask people if they needed help and connect them with our partner churches.

The devastation was surreal. It was so expansive and so extensive...it was hard to know what to think or to say or to feel. So many people lost so much--but at the same time, there were so many stories of people's lives being miraculously preserved, you knew God had His angels at work. People feeling compelled to get into a certain closet, when that closet wound up being the only thing in the house still standing once the danger had passed. A high school graduation moved to a different part of town--and the football field where it was originally set to take place was directly hit by the twister. God clearly had His hand on the people of Joplin that night, even if it doesn't look like it. The intensity of that storm could have killed many more, but the Lord shielded and preserved and protected them. I don't know why so many DID die, but I thank Him for all those who could have and did not.

What was most inspiring was the gratitude and hope expressed by the residents they encountered. The waitress at the Waffle House was sleeping in her car at night with several dogs and cats, having lost everything else she owned--and she thanked US for taking time to come up and help out. In the midst of the destruction of the town, the churches were stepping up and people came together from all over the country to help their fellow man--the people of Joplin--recover and rebuild.

There really are no words to describe what it was like to drive down the main road and go from downtown to devastation in a matter of blocks. Pictures do not at all do justice to what it's like to stand in a neighborhood with the evidence of nature's fury all around you, but I will share them so that Joplin's story, and the story of God's presence in the midst of heartbreak, will be told.











This made us laugh! Somebody has a sense of humor. :)






Damaged hospital is in the background.



This was at the house with the "redneck port-a-pot."















YES.






























Joann's is one of my favorite stores. :(



A highlight of the trip was that I also got to see some friends of my family whom we haven't seen in over a decade! They used to live in NC but moved back to the midwest, where they are from, when I was in 8th or 9th grade.



Mom's friend Sherry.



Sherry's daughter Hannah. She was a toddler when I last saw her!



Mom & daughter. :)



The church with whom we spent most of our time partnering had this cross at the front of their sanctuary. Look closely. The cross was created from the debris of the storm. The cross-beam branch has bark on one side, but not the other. The main beam is part of a telephone pole. Wrapped around their intersection and piled at the base is metal sheeting.



Beauty from ashes.

ten years ago...

I was a sophomore in high school. Around break time whispers started going around--a plane hit the World Trade Tower, a missile shot into the Pentagon...nobody really knew what was going on. At lunch time (after 12:30 EST) they called us all in for a meeting and told us briefly what was going on (waiting so long was the decision of the head of upper school and virtually every teacher disagreed with him about it). After school we went to my mom's work and watched fuzzy images on a little tv there of two towers falling. Over and over and over.

Our world has shifted so radically since that day. Two wars, economic chicanery, mounting debt. If 9-11 was a wake up call, it seems our country hit the snooze button, continuing on as we always have done, and at some point, we'll cross a line from which there is no return--if we haven't already.

Thank God that He endures in the face of untold challenges and crises. And that He is merciful and if we return to Him, He is gracious and compassionate and quick to forgive. Thank You, Father, for who You are!

Ten years. A lifetime and then some.

Dear God,

I would really love it if the temperatures would cool off some (like twenty or thirty degrees), so the giant scary bugs will stop coming into my room!

Love, Beth.

my mama is a wise woman

Mom's words of advice to a friend on how to keep a marriage running smoothly for 30+ years.

"The first thing is to keep the Lord Jesus the center of your home. He has to be first in each of your hearts, and first in your home. One of the most important things is that we both agreed never to do anything that would lead to ...adultery - no flirting, no having dinner with colleagues, no emotional involvement with someone else. We chose to love each other until death do us part. That means there's NO DIVORCE, and since we both want to be HAPPILY married, we work on the relationship because we have no "back door" - no "way out if it doesn't work out". We did not approach marriage as "trying it out". We married for life. Period. Another important aspect is that we want peace and harmony in our home, so we will do what it takes to have that. We trust each other, and work to make sure we do not act in a manner that would betray our trust. Remember: the #1 thing EACH one of you needs is RESPECT. If you respect each other, you will never do anything to embarrass your partner, but you will uphold, defend, and believe in your spouse, even when no one else does. We are also best friends. I will never tell a girl friend something about my husband that he would not want told. Ron is my best friend, and I have chosen to keep it that way, even when girlfriends tried to get closer to me. Nope - he's my best friend. And, after all these years, we still flirt with each other! :) Hope this helps!"

pur water

I read this a couple days ago and got really excited, so I just had to share. A big corporation helping make clean water more accessible, and helping educate people about waterborne diseases? Yes, please!

http://blog.worldvision.org/causes/pur-genius/

Also, please pray I get some work this week. I've been told not to come in the last two days! Yuck!

today I worked...

...a full 9 hours, and thereby doubled my hours for the week (and then some!). Also, I scored a half-gallon of organic milk for only a dollar! YES!!!

work, work, work

I worked a whopping 3 hours today, for a total of 7.5 hours this week. Normally I've been getting over 20. So. I think the Lord is trying to teach me to trust Him. I hope it's working!

Also, I have been in Texas for four months, as of Wednesday. Despite the difficulties, it feels more and more like home. I kinda like it here! :-D

I was so tired today...

...I lay down for a "short nap" and wake up three hours later, having slept straight through prayer at church!

Drat.

Texas

I haven’t written since I got to Texas (except in my journal). It’s been a rough journey, and for a while the only words I had to write were not ones I wished to share. Things haven’t turned out anything like I hoped or expected. In some ways, they’ve been worse, but in other ways, they’ve been so much better. The Lord is teaching me, expecting me, forcing me to trust Him for provision, for my care. Each time I needed somewhere to go, He’s opened a place for me. When I was at the breaking point of either getting a job or going back to North Carolina, He provided one. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it’s what I needed, and I’m there for this time for a purpose. He is so good!

The last four months have been a bumpy road through intense discouragement and disappointment and frustration, but they have also been characterized by the budding of new friendships, a newfound family, and learning to trust the Lord in new, unique ways. Even in the hardest moments, when I wished for the security of what I left behind and struggled against the temptation to return to that, I knew I was where I was meant to be, and I didn’t want to leave.

I certainly don’t know the fullness of the purposes for which the Lord called me here to Texas, but I don’t want to leave until every bit of it has been fulfilled. Whether that means staying here for a few months, a few years, or the rest of my life remains to be seen, but my stubborn self is planted here and not budging till it’s time to go. I don’t know what next week looks like, or next month, and certainly not next year, but…judging from the last few years, if I knew what was coming, I’d probably run away and hide. : ) I haven’t liked much of the last few months, but you know what? Things are getting better, they will get better, and I’m not going anywhere. As long as the Lord keeps opening doors, I’m here to stay.

love, Beth.