From the Porch: Why is the Tree There?

Rain kept me inside all last week, but I've been able to get to the porch

for my morning coffee and prayer time for most of this week. Sitting out there, I noticed something.

All the other condos in my neighborhood have very similar landscaping. We all have hedges by the front entrance and some other shrubs that are almost cookie-cutter identical. 

My front area, however, has a cedar tree by the driveway instead of a round shrub. As I sat there a few mornings ago, I was pondering why this is. 

I'm not a fan of bright sunlit rooms in my house. I know that's not typical. I like more of a warm, softly lit vibe. Bright sun hurts my eyes; I'm just very sensitive to bright sunlight. I almost always wear sunglasses on the rare occasion that I am outside on a bright day.

This cedar tree shades my living room perfectly. From afternoon through early evening in the warmer months, the sun hits my house increasingly toward the southwest as the summer wears on. Together with the window treatments and mini-blinds, my living room has a bearable level of afternoon sunlight, filtered so well by the tree.

Some would say I was lucky to get the house with the tree when I was looking for a place to rent. I feel like it's more than that, though. I think God had this place in mind for me long ago, when the tree was just a sapling. 

Laugh if you think it silly. I don't mind. I'm sure lots of people laugh when they read my blog. I'm not sharing content that I think will draw people in. I'm just sharing my heart. I know my God orders my steps. Why wouldn't He give me a tree to shade me from the harsh late afternoon sun? 

One more thing. It's a cedar tree; an evergreen. It's green year round, just like God's love is everlasting. 

I'm counting it as one of my blessings. I thank God for the tree that gives me shade.

Be blessed, my friends!

 "I will exalt You, my God, the King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable." Psalm 145:1-3 NASB

From the Porch: Reflections on Bearing Fruit

Those of you who have read my blog for a while may have noticed I hardly ever post "from the patio" anymore. It has become more difficult to beat the sun out there in my east-facing back yard, since in my retirement I hardly get up before 8:00 unless I have an appointment. That's the main reason, and we'll leave it at that. 

So I now have a comfortable, shady little nook by my west-facing front door that is so good, thanks to some chairs I acquired a few weeks ago. It's not really a porch, but we're going to call it that.

Ah, it's good to be back. I didn't realize how much I had missed being outside with the breeze, the birds singing, and the beauty of God's creation.

Recently, as I sat on the front porch in my new plastic chair, I noticed that the petunia in my tiny little garden area is struggling, yet it has managed to bloom anyway. Even though the heavy rains in early August nearly drowned it and the extreme heat that followed the rains threatened to burn it up, still it managed to bloom. 

This caused me to reflect for a moment. When it would appear outwardly that it had become useless and needed to be discarded, it still did what God created it to do: bloom. In doing so, it was providing nectar for bees and beauty for all to see and enjoy.

I meditated on this thought for a while, as I sat outside enjoying nature during my morning prayer and devotions for the first time in many weeks. 

I believe we humans are not entirely dissimilar to my poor little plant. We have storms in life that threaten to destroy us. Sometimes we undergo sickness and pain and we feel we will surely not survive the heat of the trials we are suffering through. Yet we "soldier on" as the British say. 

As long as we have food, water, and health, we remain alive, though age and years of abuse from various types of adversity render us into an older and less than stable-looking version of ourselves. We look in the mirror and scarcely recognize the older, more "mature" face that stares back at us.

Yet if we submit to the hand of the Master Gardener, our Lord Jesus, we can still produce fruit in our lives. Even if we don't think we appear as appealing on the outside as we once did, (this is very subjective, and we are usually more critical of ourselves than others are), we still can do what God has enables us to do, fulfilling our destiny as Christians.

This is the desire of my heart; to be fruitful and useful for all the days God gives me.

Just a few thoughts from the perspective of a retired, "mature" (in age, anyway) woman.

Be blessed, my friends.

"I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5 NASB

God Knows and Cares

I have fallen behind in posting to my blog. I've really been feeling like I should post, but I felt like I had nothing to say. The last time I posted it was April; now it's the last day of August. Summer is so blah to me, and I get depressed by the way it drags on.

Yes, I'm weird. I don't get depressed in the cold, dark winter, but in the bright, hot summer. 

Anyway, today I had a neat thing happen, and I wanted to share it. The two people I chose to share it with, though, didn't respond to my text. 

This is not to fault them; on the contrary, I should have seen that my news needed to be shared with my blog readers. After all, I've been praying, asking God to let me encourage someone with my blog. I feel called to do this. He gave me something to share and I didn't pick up on it! So, even though it's hours later, I have repented and I'm now sharing it, even though it's a small and somewhat insignificant thing.

For several years, I have wanted some Adirondack chairs for my porch. Granted, I don't have much of a porch anymore since I've relocated to the small town where I now live, post-retirement. That didn't stop me from wanting them, though. 

I never managed to find two of them in the same color, or the store where they were sold would sell out before I could get them. And to be fair, most of the time once summer is underway I don't remember to look for them because I don't sit outside in the summer. It's too hot, and I'm mosquito bait anyway. 

Today, though, I ran across an ad on Facebook about a sale in a local (unnamed on here) chain store declaring the end of summer sale. I thought why not go take a look?  

I went to the store nearest my house. They had one blue chair. The sale, however, wasn't a half-price sale, it was "buy one get one free." I asked to buy the one blue chair, and they said it would be full price, because it was BOGO. 

So I bought a blue chair and was awarded a gray one for free.

I reasoned in my mind that it wouldn't be so bad. I could put one in the back and one in the front, since they didn't match.

Then it came to me: go to another of these chain stores and see if they had a blue one and see if they would trade me if they had a blue one.

Very unlikely, I thought, but what do I have to lose?

So I went to the next nearest store of this kind and they had ONE blue chair. The only one they had was inside their store, in their break area.

I know it's not important; getting a cheap, plastic lawn chair, but I breathed a prayer anyway as I stood in line in that store, waiting to ask. I prayed it rather apologetically, too, because a lawn chair isn't a big deal, is it?

The girl behind the counter said "sure," she could swap it out, as long as they still had one in their break area. 

What?!? 

So just like that, God gave me a tiny, insignificant little desire of my heart. The store worker even carried the chair out to my car and took the gray one back inside cheerfully.

I can't make this stuff up. God cares about every detail of our lives, both small and great. Even a small, unimportant detail that would not have made any difference when you really think about it. 

Are you struggling with something tonight, or whenever you're reading this? Take your concern to God. He cares. If He will make sure I get 2 blue plastic Adirondack chairs, how much more will He meet your need? 

I didn't really consider it a need, but maybe it was. Maybe it was needed to remind me that God cares. He sees me. He knows I've been struggling off and on with depression again, and I needed to know He knows right where I am.

He sees you. He knows right where you are, too. Reach out to Him.

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you." 1 Peter 5:7 NLT

I Got a Notion

I got the notion (is that a southern phrase, or what?!) to sit on my back porch tonight, even though it’s a bit cool for me (64 degrees). I’m a porch-sitter from way back; my mom and dad liked to sit on the porch in the early evening. We had a large front porch with a swing on one end. Our house faced east, so we didn’t watch the sunset. We just talked and enjoyed the cool air of the early evening. Maybe my grandma sat out there with us too; I don’t remember. But I could be a third generation “porch-sitter” if she did.

Anyway, I guess it brings back pleasant memories, as I sit here watching the sun set. Even alone, I enjoy it. The first pics are from my back porch, which faces east, and there’s not really much view, especially from the rickety old and tiny porch.

I moved to the front because of the sunset there, but it’s cloudy and probably won’t be spectacular. We shall see.

I guess, beautiful sunset or not, my message to you is enjoy the simple pleasures. I have enjoyed sitting outside for the last half hour. Now it’s getting dark, though, and it’s down to 62. I’m no longer just chilled; I’m downright cold and going inside.

Blessings to you, my friends.

Just 10 Minutes

Well, I finally got myself to the park to walk today. It might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but it was to me. I've been borderline depressed since right after Christmas and so tired (which goes along with depression) and just could not get the energy together to walk.

I managed to keep my house clean, fix myself food, and even pick up the grandkids from school some of the time, but those things used all my available energy. Many of you won't get that, but some of you will...if you know, you know.

The ironic thing is, exercise helps combat depression and gives you an energy boost, but to get to the mood-lifting, energy enhancing stage, you have to take that first step.

So I did that, late this afternoon. It was 46 degrees; a little brisk, but I prefer being cold to being hot. So off I went. It's my hope that I can do this 3 or 4 days a week.

If you're having a similar struggle, just tell yourself you'll walk for 10 minutes. Just 10 minutes. It's better than nothing; you have to start somewhere. It worked for me. I actually walked for 20 minutes. Once I was out there, it was easier to put one foot in front of the other.

It felt good to be out in nature, in the crisp early spring (late winter?) air. I took a few pictures along the way. I think I must have missed the daffodils; there were none to be found in the park. I did see some purple irises, though they were a little wilted from last night's frost. It got down to about 28 overnight.

That's all for now. This old curmudgeon can still get outside, and it does me good when I make the effort.

Blessings, my friends.

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Snow!

Well, it finally happened: we got our first real snow here on the mountain. It flurried a couple of times since the first of the year, but it wasn't enough to write home about. 

It's currently 5 degrees out, at 3 something in the afternoon, usually the warmest point in the day. This morning I got up and went to church, then came home to fix some yummy homemade soup. About 12:15pm I looked out and saw snow! It was very fine, still is, but it is so cold it's all sticking, and piling up pretty fast.

I have been kind of down lately. Not only was I "trying" to take down the Christmas decor, not very successfully, but twice in the last couple of weeks we were supposed to get snow and didn't. I worked on packing most of Christmas away yesterday, and by late afternoon I had had enough. I was exhausted and sad. I got everything put away except the tree and the kitchen window vintage ornaments with the santas and trees (oh, and the snowmen display that I leave up through February) and decided to finish up today. 

But now it's snowing! I can't take down the tree when it's snowing! I'll try again tomorrow. I'm a happy camper! You all know how I love snow! 

I'm posting some pictures of the current situation. I may add more later.

Enjoy your snow day if you got some where you are! And stay warm and safe! 

Christmas in the Hometown

I went back to my hometown for a Christmas visit last week, but I'm just now posting about it.

It was a good visit; I saw friends and family (sorry, didn't get pictures of everyone I got to see) and visited places in town that are new to me (since I haven't lived there in over 2 years). My oldest son flew in from Atlanta, so we got to hang out for a couple of days.

Interesting perspective: My children visited me lots of times in the many years I lived in Van Buren; I would take them to see new things and they would comment on how much their hometown was changing. Well...this time, my son and I were BOTH seeing our hometown as visitors who hadn't lived there in a while. We were amazed and delighted by visiting some things that hadn't changed, such as Paul's Bakery, Pizza Parlour, and Braums. Thank God those places are there! Neither of us have anything as good or nostalgic in our current homes. (Ok, it's not all about food, but we still have to partake of their goodness when we visit! IYKYK!)

We were also amazed and excited to see things that are different, like Arts on Main, which is delightful, and the beautiful downtown area that is vibrant with glorious color and is so alive with the community gathering there.

Also, finally a Chick-fil-A is coming! About time! Although, the traffic is already terrible in that area. I hope someone can engineer a solution to the traffic problem.

We drove through the City Park one night to see the lights there. It's so fun to see what they have done there; they have added some since last year I believe. We forgot to take pictures of them, though.

We also visited Creekmore Park in Fort Smith. Some of the pictures are from there. The line was extremely long, so we didn't ride the train. We just walked around the walking path.

Saturday night, after Jeremy had to go catch a plane, I watched the Christmas Parade. I thought I was videoing the very awesome VBHS marching band but found that I wasn’t! I hadn't pushed the record button apparently. I almost cried about that. They were magnificent.

So there aren’t many pictures of the parade because I was heartbroken I hadn’t captured the band’s performance.

I also walked around and took some pictures of the area close to the depot where the skating rink and tree are (can’t remember what it’s called). I hadn’t taken pictures of it lit up when Jeremy and I had seen it earlier that evening.

It was a great trip, and I'm pleased that my hometown is doing so well. I miss living there, and I miss lots of people there, but I'm so glad to be living where I am now, 10 minutes from my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids. I'm also gaining new friends and have a new church family here. I'm so blessed.

I hope you all have some wonderful experiences this Christmas season, and that you remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! ❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️