Picking Daffodils in The Rain © 2014 Molly Lin Dutina
I ran out the door to pick daffodils before the rain beat upon them. Wandering up the hill I looked over the white Trout Lilies, Then noticed something most unusual! The time for tapping maples has passed Yet here bubbles sap - at base of the walnut tree? No! Rain is simply percolating through the rugged bark! In concert with gravity it creates a bubble fountain of joy.
We lived near a firehouse when Emily was small. We often talked about fire trucks and the ambulance. She insisted it was an “Ambliance.”
When we went to the zoo we saw the “Efalant.”
The delight and challenges of toddler language!
At the grocery Jeff made me nuts one day. Sitting in the cart he kept asking for “Woo Bea.” I kept telling him if I could only understand him I would gladly buy that. Finally, I got it!
Many, many years later we took Jeff’s son for a walk. We had him in a stroller because the walk was about a mile in length and he was quite small.
He could not wait later that day to tell his Dad he saw a “Cowpidar!” I love those chubby knuckles!
Exceeding Expectations © Molly Lin Dutina 21-2-9 As forecast the snow fell in the night surpassing the expectations of excited meteorologists There are no rough edges on our world this morn only smooth brush strokes from the palate of Jack Frost he was heavy handed with his snow flat surfaces are now domed the squirrel baffle on the suet post resembles the Pope’s miter cap the dog labors to walk at all Finally we let her off leash and she ran in laps like a maniac leaving few traces of her joyful gallop when we got the bird feeder filled the chirpers seemed delighted all other foods were buried Soon leaf blowers, shovelers, plow trucks snow blowers all joined the chorus of removal It will be days before the entire pavement is seen again unless some winter exceeds Expectations once again!
You know, we thought the pandemic was hard. Trying to keep a positive mind and overall positive attitude. Then the unexpected snow accumulation came totaling 9 inches and then a day or so later another 3 inches. Unlike most snows over the years in Cincinnati, it has not all melted yet. Now we have a fresh 2 inches while we wait for the forecast 8-12 inches more this afternoon. The Pandemic is still here and variants are beginning to overtake the USA. People were celebrating Valentine’s Day in bars and restaurants as if nothing was going on. (We saw on TV.)
I read and heard a few quotes in the last 36 hours that are helping me a bit.
“The days you keep your gratitude higher than your expectations are fine, fine days.”
Ray Wylie Hubbard on Austin City Limits
“You’ve got to remember: you must have a forward-thinking, positive outlook at all times.”
Eastbound from Flagstaff by Annette Valentine
Those are easier written than lived! Gratitude that we have snow but also an “electric broom”, snow shovel and blower. Gratitude that the snow plow came down our street plowing and salting the surface twice so far today. Gratitude that the dog does not need to be walked MORE.
Forward thinking, positive outlook. That is difficult when all construction on the new house has totally stopped due to weather. Maybe they can begin again next week if the thaw forecast for next weekend actually occurs! We positively have not put this home on the market yet. If we change our minds it will be the most clean this building has been since we moved in, I think! Forward thinking? Well, Bob continues to want to arrange the furniture in the new building though we do not have a move-in date for certain yet. Someone is to come this week and give us an estimate on packing and moving. The realtor is to come also and give us advice about showing the property. I do wonder if either of those appointments will be kept though!
I won’t even elaborate on the futility of trying to get a Covid-19 injection appointment. Our names are on a list with the Board of Health. Hopefully they will call sometime soon?
The neighbor who helped clean part of our driveway loved the chocolate frosted walnut brownies I shared. Wonder if I should make more of those or the chocolate layer cake they loved once? I am certain when the wave of snow today arrives he will help once more.
How does your gratitude fare in the balance with your expectations? Is your forward thinking suffering with the weather and pandemic or are you staying mostly positive at all times? As we struggle on to be our best selves, may the Lord give us wisdom and strength for the journey!
“A wise warrior is better than a strong one,
Proverbs 24:5-6
and a man of knowledge than one of strength;
for you should wage war with sound guidance—
victory comes with many counselors.”
Intercession © Molly Lin Dutina 1982
Please hold my hand and go with me to the Throne of Grace. I need, I hurt, I ache seems all that I can say. Please use your objectivity to plead for me my case. He has, He knows, He heals come with me to that place. And as His Spirit takes us to the very heart of God we’ll return with rejoicing Knowing that He knows and is moved to help us obey.
One of my sweetest moments was when a friend embroidered this poem for me and framed it. I have kept it to this day.
Please pray for Mindy who remains very ill. Unless her liver “pinks up” she will need a transplant. She has had multiple surgeries this past year. Hospitalized eleven times I think? Married, age 45 and mother of two young girls.
Self-Discipline © Molly Lin Dutina 80-9-21
I search for You, Lord, but my heart really is deceitful. I am amazed that this morning my flesh is sleepy, again! My spirit is eager to go, but in order to mesmerize my brain into sleep I recoil from interaction with You to mere deadly mental assent. Flesh, I speak to you in Jesus’ name. Line up with God’s word. I shall not want for sleep. He keeps me in His love. Brain, I speak to you in Jesus’ name. Wake to the words of life that will nurture you. Father, I thank and praise You for Your love and discipline. Even for the alarm clock across the room.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
-Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV
We traveled to Ireland to celebrate my belated 60th birthday. When we went walking the first morning my ears immediately perked up to the lambs in the distance. They were crying and as they did it pierced my heart. I could not help but remember that I am under the care of the Great Shepherd, no matter what continent or island I am walking upon.
In the Old Testament God is called the Shepherd of His people.
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters” Psalm 23:1-2
In the New Testament Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd in John 10:11.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
As we meandered through the lanes of Glendalough I could tell by the cries we were getting closer and closer to the lamb. Then we turned a corner and there it was! Bob caught this tremendous photo of it on the hillside. There were other ewes and lambs around it.
Right after he snapped the photo I busted out the laughing as the lamb sneezed, and then rolled a bit down the hillside. What a sense of humor my God has!
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
-Helen Keller
I have had a chronic pain condition for so many years, at the moment I have lost track how many. I cope with that and osteoarthritis among other things. So hard to think when ill. Or plan, or organize two thoughts in a row. That would apply during a flare up. Then there is acute pain. Usually short lived like a broken arm or smashed thumb in a door. Lately I have had a “virus” that was going around. Now we are into week 3 and the thing has settled into what seems to be an ear infection. Blood work is fine. Second Covid test is negative. I still feel like I’ve been hit by a dump truck.
Trying to stay cheerful is difficult. Trying to carry on as usual, forget it. No appetite, dizzy, nauseous and never mind … the list is too long.
The world is full of suffering and of overcoming. I often console myself remembering that I do not live in a refugee camp. I am not living in the tent I saw in the woods the other day. I am a woman who is loved and safe and this, too, will pass, eventually.
Helen was about the same age as my paternal Grandmother. Thank you, whoever saved Helen Keller’s quotes. We all need to be reminded that we have sources within ourselves or ways we can learn to cope and overcome. Some days you just need to stay in bed!
There are signs like this is almost every city around the world.
Like in Ireland, in Gaelic’
Why is this important? Important enough to hang a cardboard copy in my office?
Just this morning I was reading Isaiah 55 and in verses 8 and 9 He said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” declares Yahweh. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Yes, I must yield to His ways if I am to have the BEST life!
That is deeper than her legs are long! Enough said.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 