Lilies of the Field

It is a rainy day – I used to call these pajama days. When I first started a magazine, one of my goals was to find a job that allowed me to stay home, wear my pajamas, play the piano, write, and…talk to my dog. And I did for the first five years till things spilled over to the kitchen table, the dining room table, the guest room and the garage. I finally had to rent office space. I still grieve for my pajama days.

My adult life has been, for the most part, filled with unexpected detours. I tell audiences when I speak that “This is not the life I signed up for.” (forgive the dangling preposition). Very few things in life have happened according to my plans, but the constant has been God’s faithfulness in spite of all my fears.

The present state of the world and its effect on business, money, and all the ways our daily lives are used to functioning has had me in a new battle with fear and faith.
In my quiet time this morning I read the Sermon on the Mount. Nothing I had not read a million times before, but how is it that we can read a passage over and over, say we believe and trust our heavenly Father to supply all of our needs…and then panic because we just cannot stand to not have control or at least not have a typed out action plan personally delivered via the Holy Spirit.

It seems our journeys are filled with seasons of starting over and learning and relearning the same lessons. I am grateful today for God’s great patience with me.
I was on my way out of the house this morning when I ran into this scene – Daisy and Thurber. They do not look stressed or worried over the state of the world. There is no doubt in their minds that Charles and I will take care of them tomorrow as certainly as we have taken care of them today.

I want to inscribe these words from Matthew 6 on my brain and plant them deeply in my heart:

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

Over-Came

Alexander has always been a child after my own heart. You remember him. I am talking about Alexander, the five or six-year-old protagonist of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

There are still a lot of days when I feel as though I, too, woke up with chewing gum in my hair, and chewing gum in the hair was the best part. The day went downhill rapidly from that point on. This past month was filled with Alexander kind of days. If anybody believes in spiritual warfare, I do.

We had unscheduled surgical procedures for family members, computer viruses, computer crashes, Blackberry crashes, and a shipper who was four days late delivering our March magazine. He put a whole new spin on the concept of “customer service” when he arrived at the storage unit, called me before 8 am and told me I needed to get over there to “help” him unload the magazines. Excuse me. We pay his employer well for “shipping.”
Anyhow, Kari and I managed to move 22,000 magazines from the driveway to the storage unit in about an hour and a half. Kari’s only comment amid my grumbling was, “Well. At least it is not raining.” You have to love her attitude. She is forever the sweet one with the “Winnie the Pooh” outlook balancing my Eeyore kind of outlook on life.

over∙whelm – to overpower - I am frequently overhwhelmed by the glitches and the things I can’t control.

Over∙come – to prevail (I think prevailing is very Biblical)

I finally remembered after a nervous breakdown or two exactly who is in charge of the magazine and that He has overcome the world. I decided to let Him have it. Things got a lot better after that.
I thought I would show you my most recent pics of my Denver grandchildren. I am headed to see them next weekend. Even though every muscle and joint in my body will ache by the time I head home, it is so worth it to spend a few days in their world.

Allie is almost four and Charlotte is almost one. They are awaiting a new baby brother who is scheduled to arrive in May. Allie is a typical first child. She worries about everything. Charlotte is the typical second child. She doesn’t worry about anything since Allie will worry for her.
I just love being a grandmother. Baby Boy Smith will increase my tribe to eight.