The Farmer, Babe and God's Love

This week I walked with Mary on Tuesday and Thursday early in the morning before school.  They were beautiful mornings, quiet and with golden light.  It was great to start the day with so much beauty around me.  I was up early enough both mornings to read my devotions and then just sit and be quiet for a while.  It made me happy...

And it made me think of this clip from the movie Babe.

When I went to school that morning I sang this for Kathryn and a couple of the other teachers.  I know... I'm weird.

I've been singing the song and thinking about this all week, and I've finally made a connection.

A while back I wrote a post called The Big Lie about how one of the big lies Satan tempts us to believe is that God doesn't love us.  When I was watching the clip from Babe I finally remembered that the reason Babe won't eat is that one of the animals has told him that the farmer eats pigs.  He is convinced it is true and is sick with sadness.  The farmer tries to feed him with the bottle to show how he cares.  Then the farmer sings, and finally he dances.  He is doing it all to show Babe how much he loves the little pig.

When I thought about it, God was doing the same thing for me.  He was "singing [me] a morning golden and true."  He was splashing light and sound and color all around me to show His love and in joy in our relationship.  What a wonderful God I serve!  How full of joy my heart is!

Spring Recap

Recently my blog has fallen victim to the busyness of my life.   I had been puzzled by how busy I have felt since I thought, “I used to do all these things and it didn’t feel this busy.”  And then I realized that the big time crunch has come from my monthly trips to Indianapolis to help my aunt and uncle.  When you take 5 or 6 days out of your month it makes a difference.

Another reason my blog has suffered is because continued writing is a struggle.  It isn’t always easy to have something worth writing about.

As I wind up the school year and look forward to heading to Canada, I know that there will be much to say, so you will once again find me here, sharing what’s going on in my life.

Let me start with a recap of some recent events…

Will got his private pilot’s license and took me up as his first passenger.  We had a fun flight to Rockwood and back on a very nice day for flying.  You’ll find more pictures of our flight on my Facebook page.  The next passenger he took up was Sharon Reno, a friend from high school.  That flight was eventful in that when they returned for landing at Middle Valley another plane had had an accident (not serious) on the runway and was blocking the runway for all other planes.  Will and Sharon had to land in Dayton and had to have Mr. Reno come and pick them up since their cars were at Middle Valley. 

We quietly celebrated three birthdays...

Phil and I each had our own lunch date with Kathryn.
It was so much fun to have some one-on-one time with her.

My dad turned 77.  I still owe him a birthday dinner!

Will with his monster chocolate cake.
He once again was unable to blow out all the candles on his cake.

Phil has finished another room in our continuing home makeover.  Paint and new flooring make a world of difference.

It's empty now but not for long.  Love the green walls!

We had a baby shower for my niece Bethany who is due in May.  So happy to share a part in preparing for this new baby's arrival into this wonderful world!

And fishing, there’s been a lot of fishing and eating of fish in our home this spring. 

Phil with an unusual catch for around here... big crappie
and a walleye.  He loves fishing so much.

The Discipline of Prayer

I have long struggled with the discipline of prayer, and continue to do so.  Finding a quiet place, designating a time, being still...these are all difficult things in my life.  I know that I have grown over the years in the practice of prayer, but I still have a long way to go.  Here are some great thoughts from Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.

*  Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life.

*It is the discipline of prayer that brings us into the deepest and highest work of the human spirit.

*Real prayer is life creating and life changing.  Prayer--secret, fervent, believing prayer-- lies at the root of all personal godliness.  (William Carey)

*To pray is to change.  Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.  If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives.

*All who have walked with God have viewed prayer as the main business of their lives.

*The bible pray-ers prayed as if their prayers could and would make an objective difference.  The apostle Paul gladly announces that we are "co-laborers with God"; that is, we are working with God to determine the outcome of events.

*Moses prayed boldly because he believed his prayers could change things, even God's mind.