Someone should bottle the fragrance of Lily of The Valley! Oh my goodness. Sure wish they would bloom all summer long! No wonder Christ is compared to this fragrance.
He’s the Lily of the Valley (start at about 47 seconds)
Category: Family
The Ugly of Spring Frost
Hard frost unkind to our trees!
Not certain Ginkgo will bounce back. And the Yellow Poplar did not fare well either.
How Can I Express My Gratitude? Let’s Worship
What can I say about the Resurrection? I have been redeemed and given access to my Heavenly Father – free, unmerited access. I can go to Him at any time with no middle person. Direct contact with the Holy.
The curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom during the crucifixion. No longer limited to only the High Priest once a year, but open to me. Open to all those who believe that Jesus is Lord and risen from the dead.
And the SAME POWER that rose Jesus from the dead now lives in us! His promise before the crucifixion is fulfilled.
And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.
Romans 8:11 HCSB
How can this happen? In John 16:5 Jesus said He was going to Him (God) who sent Jesus to us. Verse 7 reads “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” The Advocate is the Holy Spirit. Jesus returned to Heaven to give the Holy Spirit access to us. He died for our sins that we could be indwelt by the Spirit.
Years ago there was a popular Christian song called The Champion. You can likely find it on YouTube. In it the enemy of our souls thought he won by killing Jesus. Then to his horror found out that Jesus lives in and through each of His believers. Ha! The last laugh is on him.
Instead of one Christ, there are now millions of Christ followers walking around with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside. THE SAME POWER THAT ROSE JESUS FROM THE DEAD DWELLS IN US!
That is something to celebrate. Live into that! Pray with that power! Smile! Your are His and He is yours!
May the truth of the resurrected Lord resound through your heart and soul today!! Once I spoke with a Pastor who questioned if I really believed that (as In The Garden goes) He walks with me and talks with me. I was shocked! I asked him, but don’t you believe that? He did not. I was out of there in a flash!
I grew up being taught (on car trips , no less) to sing harmony on In The Garden. Now, if that song is not to your liking, how about “He Lives! He Lives!” Same idea there. “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.”
The Lord is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed! Hallelujah!!
And I do miss worship with my friends from “Having The Courage to Change!”
And last, but not least, one of Bob’s favorites!
May you experience an increased awareness of the Presence of God in and through you this Easter season and always. Blessings to you and your family.
Eerie Signs of the Times
We walked the public park trail . Found these very disturbing.
Have spent many hours here in past years with Grandgirls. So sad.
So being a rule bender, have to wonder if you can sit at the picnic table on left of photo, outside of the yellow tape?
And from the New Yorker comics ….
Why Center and Meditate?
I have a great free app on my iPad called Insight Timer. It is available for iPhone and Android. I have been trying to learn to center myself in quiet and meditate for years. This app offers a timer you can set, or guided meditations, music, sleep settings, talks, courses, etc.
For me this interest started in guided Christian meditation and also reading about research by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph. D. regarding the power of mediation to heal and reduce suffering, most notably in his volume “Full Catastrophe Living.” (What a title for today!) Then in 2006 I read J. David Muyskens “Forty Days to A Closer Walk with God.” John Main, a Benedictine monk, wrote many works. “The Way of Unknowing’, “Word into Silence”, and “The Heart of Creation” among others. In each book I read the emphasis was upon PRACTICE. This is not a sudden talent. Only practice draws us deeper and closer to God and helps us into as the Quakers call it “the center down silence.”
If you are interested in any of these titles you can likely find them used at Abe Books or new at other online stores.
The guided meditation I have listened to the last two mornings has reminded me that centering, meditation, etc. can help us strengthen our immune system. If there were EVER a time we all need strong immune systems, that time is now.
Even if you have never tried meditation before, I urge you to try it this week and the weeks to come as we battle the pandemic. One method is to recite Ps 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” Then say it again with “Be still and know that I am,” deleting one word each time until you get to “Be.”
Center your mind, slow your breathing, rest in the quietness. Let thoughts float past. Do not cling to any thought. When you realize you did cling to a thought, gently say “thinking, thinking” and return to your breath. Some say while breathing in, think “Breathing in” and while breathing out think, “Breathing out.” Whatever helps you detach from the angst of 2020 and be still.
Why does this strengthen our immune system? If we do not detach from all this fear, our flight or fright response stays engaged and soon we are weaker than we could be.
Tennessee and Decades Later
In 1975 we were expecting our first child. The photo below is from our first vacation to the Smoky Mountains. In 1982 we were learning about the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6) and starting to teach Bible study together at our local church.
I Loved You in That Creek Bed © 1982 Molly Lin Dutina
Oh I loved you in that creek bed Full of gallantry and suave My flashing debonair knight. You didn’t even know What holy armor was then. And now my love for you Far surpasses and encompasses The emotions at that creek bed. Father, show us how to flow together To the glory of Your name. You split the rocks with A blade of grass and A finger of ice. Split our shells that we might Merge in Your kingdom work.
Now in 2020, our children are adults with children of their own. We are still learning more about how to walk together in the Spirit. As we celebrate our 50th year of being married by knight continues to court me, woo and win me with his humor and grace.
I love you more than ever, Robert Dutina!
Cooking Creatively
Before the Super Bowl the stores were chock full of dips and treats. When I bought Bob some French Onion Dip I saw a container of Tzatziki Spinach Dip. Had never seen that one before! Tzatziki is a Greek yogurt sauce made with yogurt and cucumbers. I thought, “Why not try it? If I don’t like it I can use it in cooking.”
Was not as thick as I expected, certainly not as thick as French Onion dip! Just okay. So a few few days later I had some chicken to bake. Put that Tzatziki on it. Baked. Turned it and put some more on it. Baked. Added some just before I served it. Delicious! I love when I think outside the box and do not waste an ingredient!
Yum.
Celebrate Love with the Right Language
In 1992 Gary Chapman wrote a book entitled The Five Love Languages. The premise was to explain how people give and receive love. All these years later, it is still a great teaching tool for marriage enrichment.
The 5 love languages are:
- Words of Affirmation.
- Acts of Service.
- Receiving Gifts.
- Quality Time.
- Physical Touch.
So do you know what your love language is? Do you know the love language of those who are most important to you?
Bing has hundreds of flow chart images that describe the 5 Love languages and list examples. You might want to check those out if you have no idea what I am writing about. It can make a big difference in your relationships to know what speaks love to your significant other! There are even free online quizzes you can take to determine your language.
I bought this t-shirt for Bob to convince others how much I approve of his husband skills! He doesn’t much like to wear it though. His husband skills are wonderful, t-shirt or not. We often spend quality time together, taking a long drive, viewing his 2019 photo project of one photo a day (and editing out the other unused 3,000 photos 🙂 )! There is nothing better than holding his hand and traveling together through life. September will make it a 50 year anniversary journey!
The Machine and Family Language
To Grandma Rush the automobile in the drive was “The Machine,” as foreign-other as a horse and buggy would be to me. She never called the personal vehicle a car – for she had ridden the street cars and they never parked at your home! That was by German Grandmother.
There are so many sayings from my parents and grandparents. They randomly surface, but wow, I wish now I had realized how unique those sayings were and had written them down. Every family seems to have some sayings that others are unfamiliar with.
I remember when we were planning to go to Ireland and I bought a little book about the language. As I read through it I was amazed how many of those phrases we used in my family of origin. My Great Grandmother was Irish and I never knew her, but her language come down through the generations.
Saying someone was old was expressed as ‘no spring chicken.’ To express humidity my mother (along with the Irish) would often said ‘It is close.”If your left hand itches you’re about to receive money. “Pull up the covers” means bedclothes. The colander is a strainer. Growing up I never knew a housecoat was a dressing-gown!
And then there was the refrigerator that Mom always called an “ice box.” When I slip and use that term my granddaughters look at me with wonder, not understanding the term at all! See photo below if you do not know what I am talking about.
Hoping this stirred some fond verbal memories from your childhood, too!
Complaining About The Heat?
With only one or two days of typical heat and humidity, it seems we are all complaining about the weather in Ohio. I came across this poem I wrote April 9, 2018. Perhaps it might refresh your spirit?
Each twig is crusted with snow this April morning
The junco never looked so lovely
Jumping from branch to branch he blends
With grays and whites of early spring
That looks more like winter
The white hyacinths in full head of flower
Are also topped with a snow cap
It is a wonder their stems can hold such a load
The more sensible daffodils
Just bow and then rise with the thaw
Birds changing branches cause snow loads to
Plop to the ground
The birds are often unseen
Discerned only by lumps of falling snow
As temperature rises there are more plops than visits
The people generally complain
About the hold winter seems to have upon us
But I find the snow preferable to
Long rainy days of cold and wind
Nothing else paints a landscape quite so lovely
Soon I will be transported
By airplane and car to the height of summer
Days in the 80s and 90s
Sun, sand, shells and warm breezes
This morning I say good bye to winter
With a nod to her majestic painting
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 