Christmas Present

The clock on the laptop tells me it's 11:12 pm. We're finished with our rituals and gift opening. Cindy has gone to bed (she has to drive tomorrow and I'm praying the rain will stop) and the rest of us are not too far behind her. This whole weekend has been like one giant Christmas, and the day isn't even here yet.

But it has been special, in most ways good, in a couple kind of bittersweet. Brian and Mike's absence confirms again that the kids are grown up and have their own lives. We're ok with the reasons - it's just not the same without them. Thank God for cell phones. We still laugh allbeit long distance. I have to give the girls credit though - they raised the roof pretty good anyway.

So what did I get this Christmas?

I got to give love in paper bags to 160 mostly unsaved people. Dworeks loaned their van to transport candy and homemade cookie goodie bags to the jail and I was met by five other "ministers", one woman and four men, who eagerly unloaded the boxes and took them to the cells. To my knowledge it's the first time that many of us have been together in one place at one time. Sherry and I had service in the library with all the women. It was pretty special.

I saw and got to visit with a long lost friend. Not really, but time and distance makes it seem that way.

My extended family soldier boy spent the afternoon with us. He's back from basic for the first time in months.

I heard my daughters perform a fifth (or sixth?) awesome song they wrote. It made me cry.

I got to hear Brian cackle on the phone. Twice. I love his sense of humor.

I got to open Mike's present with him present by phone. His conscienciousness is really amazing.

I got snookered again by my husband. Somehow every year he manages to get me something right under my none. This time it was something BIG and I somehow managed to overlook it numerous times in the trunk.

I think the main thing I got was a new appreciation for the concept of God with us. That was what the first Christmas was all about - God with us. It's what the Christian life is about every day, God with us. Cool to think we can live Christmas out every day of the year. We don't need holly and mistletoe for that.

That being said I'm calling it a day and turning in . . .nite all.

From Today's Reading

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Hebrews 1:10- 12

Interesting that God would compare this universe to a piece of clothing, a coat or cloak in particular. We know from Scripture that one day this sin cursed reality will be replaced with new heavens and a new earth. A few random thoughts on that:

1. Garments are meant to be worn, may times made for a specific individual. So who was this universe made for? God certainly didn't need it as he exists outside time as we know it and is not bound by the physical laws that govern this universe. He certainly didn't make it for the legions that rebelled against him - they didn't rebel until after creation anyway. The conclusion is humbling - he made it for us. All the vastness of this great universe is for our benefit, our instruction and our blessing. WOW.

2. Garments wear out. And the more they are used the faster they wear out. They sag as the weave loosens and the threads become bare. Science is clear that the universe is expanding. It even has holes in it. Now, I must confess my husband's holy tee shirts aren't sucking everything in (though he's been known to stick his fingers in) but it is odd in that light that the threads always curl in.

3. The last part about God folding them up was intiguing in light of wormhole theory. (See here for a visual explaination.) God certainly doesn't need our theories to do exactly that; but it is interesting that He tells us exactly what he's going to do with this universe before he eliminates it. He's going to fold it up. Was folding the graveclothes after his resurrection a a foreshadow of this? He, himself had conquered death and folded the garments of death that bound him. Someday sin and death will be conquered for us. Don't it make sense that He'll fold up this cursed garment of time and space we live in, do away with it forever, and change it for a new one?

Raising the Dead?

My family has been thoroughly blessed by the writings of John and Stasi Edlredge the last few years. While I suspect their theological leanings may be more liberal than what we're used to, I have to say "Amen" to their explaination of God's desire to heal broken hearts and establish relationship with us mere mortals. I've always been grateful for our daughters' relationship with their Dad and reading Captivating over Thanksgiving gave him fresh insight into why it is so vital for girls to connect with their fathers. I have only read Waking the Dead so far and look forward to this next one - when I'm finished with some of these other book's I'm working on!

Last week Becky and I visited Mr. Joe. He and Mrs. Evelyn are very precious friends we met through beekeeping. He's a brilliant and quiet man who started beekeeping about the same time I did and I consider him my superior in every way.

It was a very cold and wet day we were there. While walking out to his honey house he spotted a bee in the edge of his birdbath in the water. I didn't think anything of it when he picked it out and noticed a few minutes later he had his hands cupped together. "Have you ever revived a bee?" he asked? It turns out that bee wasn't just litter in his birdbath that he was removing. He had warmed it up and brought it back to life. He proceeded to tell me exactly what the bee would do next. Sure enough, she started cleaning her eyes and face. A minute later she was getting the water off her legs and body. All the while walking around on his bare hand unconcerned about anything more immediate than her grooming.

"She's old, look how tattered her wings are" he said. I'd never inspected a bees wings close enough to tell something that intimate. The sense he had about her behavior, condition and needs were amazing. The tender care he showed for such a little of God's creatures was touching. I asked if he were concerned about her stinging him. No. As long as he didn't try to move her she wouldn't bother him and would leave on her own once she was fully recovered.

Isn't that just like God? In the grandour of heaven and the infinite majesty of His creation He finds us raggedy mortals drowning in sin at the edge of some dirty stink hole. We're dead in trespasses and sins. He takes us individually into His care and attempts to bring life to us by the warmth of His own love. We're known so intimatly by our Creator he sees every flaw and still chooses to take us into his hand where we can be cared for and given life. He's excited when we respond to Him and His desire for us is that our spirits would prosper. He wants us to have wings and promises that we will mount up as eagles when we wait on Him.

There's no question that little bee will never understand how blessed she was that day. For the most part us mere mortals are equally oblivious to the care that God has for us; the air we breathe every day, the little miracles that surround us. The difference is that we have DO have the capacity to understand, appreciate and ultimatly know our creator/caregiver in a personal and loving relationship. It's really a matter of choice, and He leaves that choice with us.

I love the choleric tendancies God programmed me with. While they have caused their share of confusion in the past (like contributing to my doubts about my salvation when I was a kid) they are handy to have in a crisis.

Example: When Becky was hospitalized for a concussion I was the one that was calm and in control on the way to the ER. Never mind she quit breathing on the way. I knew what to do and handled it. My composure was a different story when she was out of danger, but during the crises, God gave me the grace to handle it.

That being said, I've had many after thoughts since my little brush with death. One of the main things I've been hit with is that I'm probably still here because of prayer. So who prays for me on a regular basis? My family and pastor for sure. Beyond that I can't say for sure, for sure. I hate to admit that a lot of times we pray for people when we know there's a need, but not necessarily routinely.

Nobody knew I was sick. So how could they have prayed for that need? Short of the Spirit's prompting, it was impossible.

Lessons learned:

Pray whether you know there's a need or not. There probably is one even if you aren't aware of it and it's probably more serious than you realize.

Prayers from unexpected, unregarded or "other" sources are priceless. Case in point. I get a lesson from DC who is in prison about every 10 days. DC always writes and tells me she's praying for me. Is she? I like to think so. It's possible her prayers are the ones that kept my heart going. I don't know, but I sure plan to ask about it in eternity.

Pray when God brings someone to mind. This can be every time you open your email!! That's not a bad thing. God has a reason for letting you think of that high school friend, or the class bum as the case may be.

Pray through when something or someone is heavy on your heart. There's an old timey thing (I don't know if it's a doctrine or what - I need to study it out) about "praying through." As best I understand it you grab hold of the horns of the altar and don't let go till God gives you peace He's heard your prayers and will handle your request.

Once in a great while God lets you see the result of your prayers in this life. My Mom is pretty much a shut in due to circumstances beyond her control, yet her prayers for others is legendary. She prayed for a young mother she'd met briefly years ago. She had no way of knowing her baby had just been kidnapped. That baby is now a fine man planning his wedding. Back in the 50's she prayed for a baby girl she heard about in the news who was injured and orphaned in a house fire several states away. Years later God saw fit to connect the two of them. Mom's prayers for her to be raised by a loving Christian family had been answered and now that lady has a wonderful family of her own.

I suspect one of the blessings of eternity will be finding such connections and learning the results of our prayers. I love my mom's stories and want my own prayers to be such a blessing to others. It doesn't matter if I don't learn what happens here. The important thing is to PRAY.

I've lost track of how much time has passed since blessing this blog with a few clickety clicks. But then a lot has happened the last few weeks. Some parts I'd just as soon forget, others stare me down shaking their finger in my face "lest I forget."

I can't forget being ill four months partly due to heartache and stress I knowingly or unknowingly carried around. God knew how much this dumpling could take and let me get to the root of the problem in time to catch a life threatening condition. Anemia sucks. It took an overnight stay in one of Alabama's finest hospitals and 3 units of blood to get me out of danger. I take a handful of vitamins and supplements for breakfast now.

I can't forget meeting Debi Pryde and her words of wisdom. And how much fun it was jamming with Tracy at the FAR retreat even though I couldn't hold my notes as long as I wanted. (anemia - its a wonder I didn't kill myself) Next year, for SURE.

No forgetting Cindy's visit to (take over and) pull off her dad's 50th birthday event since I was in no shape to. God arranged all that. We had the best visit in years and both grew because of it. In some ways it was like getting my girl back. Call me a doting mom but while I don't worship the ground the my kids walk on, I have the greatest respect for who they are in Christ and who God intends them to be. Cindy's the oldest, and a most awesome young woman. It will be exciting to see what God's got planned for her.

No forgetting I'm married to an old man now, lol. Poor dear got his AARP invitation ON his birthday. Mama always told me, better an old man's darling than a young man's fool.

And wonder of wonders, the bee doors keep opening and opening. Went to the state association meeting 13th and 14th in Montgomery. A new amendment put me on the board of directors by virtue of being a pres with 10 state members. (sigh) A nomination from the floor and subsequent vote for a 3 year term did it regardless of local rank. So they're stuck with me whether they like it or not. There's one or two that probably don't, but they're voted out now anyway. I saw one officer publicly flinch at the 05 meeting after blabbing something where he'd lied to me. I think there's hope for the organization with the good people currently in the higher offices.

My kitchen is a wreck. I've been cleaning old wax that was given to me. And working on making creamed honey. (Yummmmm!!!!) I think I've fallen in love with the sweet stuff all over again. It's kind of interesting that Christ is described by several flowers in the Bible. I've no idea whether either make nectar for honey, but it is interesting that honey comes from flowers and just as the Word comes from God. There's some sweet goodness to that somewhere but this poor bod and brain are too tired to fully grasp it at this hour. :)

G'nite all.

This will be short and sweet.

When Capital One says "No Hassle', don't believe a word of it. They are one of several companies who have outsourced their customer service somewhere in Asia (meaning you can't communicate with the representatives). Getting anything done or any queston answered is a HUGE hassle. All the English speaking people are in the fraud department, and even they are challenged to get it right.

Don't be fooled, those bumfuddeling Vikings ARE Capital One.

Royal Thoughts

It's crossed my mind several times since studying the biology and social structure of bees that something I heard from my dear sister, Cookie, is very true. She had told me that every plot, every character, every story line Hollywood or Bollywood or "whoever" comes up with is in the Bible. It wasn't long after that ABC started showing Desperate Housewives. Yes, I watched a few episodes, more out of curiousity about the murder mystery than anything, and no, I don't watch it now. All that to say this - a Martha wannabe, Potiphar's Wife, the silly woman and Eli's wife were all there. Split them up into their respective years, put robes on them and viola! Bible characters. I think Potiphar's wife was probably the most blatantly obvious of the four original main characters.

But back to bees. Leaning more toward biology than Bible, it's crossed my mind on more than one occasion that si-fi has borrowed heavily from bees. Yes, I watch a bit of si-fi too, mostly Star Trek and Stargate. A lot of the other stuff that poses as si-fi is geeky occult not worth the trash can it needs to go in.

Queen bees have long held a particular reputation as the she-boss of the hive that everything centers around. There is some truth to that, but we'll skip the particulars for now. The important thing to understand for this discussion is that she's the key to hive cohesiveness. It is her pheremone spread throughout the hive from her to one bee, then another, then another as they go about their business, that signals "all is ok." This pheremone determines the "personaility", if you will, of the hive. I had a particularily cantankerous hive once. Replacing the queen caused it to become gentle within a few short weeks. Changes in pheremone tell a hive to prepare to swarm. Absence of pheremone causes a hive to become agitated and worrysome. You can actually hear the difference in a hive when no queen is present.

Relating this to si-fi, it's been interesting to see this concept applied to super villan races in both series mentioned. In Star Trek it was the Borg. Of course they explained it as low frequency sub space transmissions or something like that, but the concept of all within the ship or species being connected via "something" was not new. Same thing for the Raith in Stargate Atlantis. Their ships are called hive ships. Could it be more obvious?

The good part is as believers in Christ, we have such a bond. It's, He's, called the Holy Spirit. His presence in our lives is very precious as He gently (and sometimes not so gently as the need calls for) works to perfect us in Christ. One of my most striking memories is of an event that happened deep in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the early 80's. Baby Doc was still in power and the country was much safer for Americans then. My dh and our 3 month old were visiting his parents (missionaries) at the time. Dad H drove us into slums that looked worse than anything we had ever seen in Chicago. I was scared to be there. He stopped the jeep in front of what looked like a hole in a wall and we were greeted by a dark skinned man who didn't speak a word of English. We recognized him immediatly though. No, we didn't know his name or his job or anything, but we recognized a brother who loved the same God we love. We visited in his home a while and it was an amazing oasis of peace. Of course Dad H spoke Creole so they conversed, and we never got past "hello", but the bond was there non-the-less.

It's happened many times since then. Deep fellowship with someone you strike converstation with in a tire store in a strange city. (Could that be the reason for that blowout?) Finding someone with a need greater than a clump of bees in their yard who gave you the encouragement your heart desperatly needed? We are after all part of the same body. And Spirit is life.

Ok, so maybe God did that queen pheremone thing as an image of one aspect of Himself. Cool, very cool nontheless.

Wow - bee opportunities have abounded lately. I think I wrote that a reporter from the Eagle spent part of last Thursday with me. The article came out this morning. It's online here.

I had to turn down Camp Victory's request for a workshop due to a schedule conflict. Our church ladies are going to Spring Hill, TN for a ladies retreat the end of this month and Mina has asked me to share a little about honey and health. That should be fun. For anyone who's not heard her sing or speak, you're missing out. She truly sings from the heart and is a hoot to boot.

Yesterday was the first of the kids bee workday's at Landmark Park. It was windy and two kids and two teachers got stung. Fortunatly Dr. Mom (moi) had her handy dandy first aid kit and treated the boo-boos. I had to hand to to J.B. who also taught, he gave the young victims the choice jobs of the group. Our club volunteers carried out the entire program as the state and extension guys had schedule conflicts. I like teaching the home school and Christian school kids especially as you can include God's hand in all the wonders of bees and honey.

It's Thursday afternoon and I'M HOME!!! (This is where Chicken Little would start running and yelling) It feels good. Actually, it feels great. I just said bye to a nice reporter who had lunch with me. The weather is overcast and not nearly as humid. The lack of pressure is almost intoxicating. I need more days like this. A nap sounds good.

Soooo - it looks like the Eagle is featuring our little bee operation in the food section next Wednesday. The reporter is a sweet young mother freelancing on the side. It was kind of uncanny having someone who already knew my website inside out ask a ton of thought provoking questions. The nice part was that it left the door wide open to speak to her about some of the things God has shown me through all this. Hopefully she and her husband will take us up on the invitation to visit our church.

It seems every time I find myself in a rut thinking "this is going nowhere" the Lord either sends me down a particular path or in this case, put something/someone in my path. I'd have never in my wildest dreams imagined a feature article, but that's what's fixin' to happen. He gets the credit. All I've done is keep His little critters, and enjoy their produce! :-)

For what it's worth (which isn't much exept to myself) I'm switching everything to a url with the correct spelling of this blog. This blogspot stuff is relativly new to me so I'm still getting the hang of everything. All in time, all in time.

Previous posts may be viewed at www.bemusement101.blogspot.com