Remembering Scout

This is such a joyous season of life.  In the past 20 months the hubs and I have been blessed with three beautiful grandchildren - babies we hoped in our hearts would would join us someday, and whom we knew would be greeted by joyous parents.  Two sweet little ones have joined us by birth and one little treasure joined us by adoption. 

As I write  little one #4 is due in a few days.  I find myself on pins and needles awaiting his arrival.   Later on this summer, another sweet child will be born,  making a family of three a family of four, and the eldest of the bunch will have a little sister.

My heart sings.

And my heart sings in a far away place too, because there's another one.

We never got to meet Scout.  Scout was in heaven before anyone knew God had created him or her. We won't know till we get there whether this child is even a boy or girl.  But that's ok.  Like all things our God does that is good and just and right, even the small flame of Scout's few days had purpose and meaning and was intended for greater than we could understand at the time.

So mingled with the joy, the laughter, first smiles, silly songs, blowing on bellies and this little piggies, there's a lullaby deep in my heart, a song waiting to be sung for the little one waiting on the other side.  Till then, I'm sure the angels are enjoying little Scout immensely.

Sleep Well

Sometime back I jotted down some thoughts about staying well.  I happily confess that except for a few brushes with the ickies, I've done very well this winter.  And I sadly confess that I left out one of the most important things you can do for yourself  -  Sleep.

Normally this is the part where I would post a nice photo, but alas -  I could not find any that adequately depicted my idea of a good sleep.  All the photos were beautiful younger people in white sheets shot in bright white light - NOT my idea of a good nights sleep.

In fact a good night's sleep is quite the the opposite.  Who cares what color the sheets are, because its supposed to be DARK.  And if you can't get the room dark, make yourself dark by using a sleep mask or covering your head with a blanket.  You just can't get a good rem sleep in the light.

I wasn't always this way, but after reading The Hibernation Diet, I came to realize that many factors affect our sleep, including how much light is in the room. Upon making a few changes I started sleeping sooooooooo much better.  And now that some years have passed I find good sleep to be increasingly important to function well.

And it also helps you STAY well.  When you get run down your immune system is more likely to become compromised.  And for me, when I feel that happening, sleep is my number one weapon against becoming sick.  Probably the most prominent experience happened while visiting our daughter late last year.  Sunday afternoon after a couple of wonderful days  found me coming down with something AWFUL.  Once we got home I hit the sack and slept most of fourteen hours.

Fourteen hours. And I felt fine the next day, and the day after that, and after that . . . .

So sleep. There is good reason the CDC considers sleep deprivation a public health epidemic.  Don't be a statistic. 

Little Song Soapbox

As a kid I had a lot of trouble getting the lyrics of music.  I knew a lot of tunes, but unless the song was in the church hymnal, I never knew all the words, especially if it was something I only heard on the radio.  So I'd just bee-bop along and with the few words I understood,  In retrospect it's probably a good thing we didn't have a decent sound system in the house or cars.

Now that I've been an adult for a few years I truly abhor the messages of some catchy tunes I enjoyed as a teenager.  Sure, I would hear the occasional preacher denounce this or that song - much harder stuff than I listen to - because of its bad message. At the time I didn't ask myself (and of course not the "authorities") how they knew a song was bad.  Did they take the word of someone else? Did (gasp!) they listen to it themselves?

The world may never know.  And that's ok -  not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

What gets me though is the number of older Christian tunes I now take issue with.  For all the denunciation of modern Christian music being repetitious and shallow,  there's plenty of popular old time gospel songs that fit the same bill.  I don't think any of the musicians or singers intended to create something with an improper or shallow message, but it did happen.

Take the chorus of this goldie oldie for example:

"And now its sunshine and roses,
Only a thorn now and then;
Cool Streams, warm breezes,
Since Jesus took my hand
Green meadows and laughter
Hope within a crumbling time
And now its sunshine and roses,
Only a thorn now and then."

Sunshine and roses.  Really?  I hope my brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia and the Middle East who have suffered the loss of parents, children, brothers and sisters know that.  I'm sure life is a green meadow full of laughter for them.  Tell the believers in China that the thorns are few.

And it's no wonder the so called prosperity gospel has flourished with bad doctrine like this making the charts in whats still a very popular industry.

Maybe I'm super sensitive because I'm not feeling well.  Maybe I've heard too much four part harmony as my hubby indulges in his love for this genera.  Maybe I'm more discerning about messages at this point in my life or maybe I'm just being a crab.  I don't know-  maybe I will know tomorrow.

But for now I just know that more than ever, I pay attention.  If I can understand the words I'm analyzing them.  And just because it's old don't mean its good.  And just because its new don't mean its bad.  What counts when it comes to music, any music, is the message.  What is the message it delivers to the heart of the listener?

 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.   Philippians 4:8

Welcome 2015!

Here we are.  The holidays are over.  The grandkids have all gone home.  The trailblazer is in the shop again, and on top of packing away all the Christmas decorations I'm faced with the annual "get the finances ready to do taxes" thing.

 Ahhh .  . life!  

I heard once that when you're five years old, a year represents one fifth of your life.  That's huge -  20% of your existence in a single word.  But when you are 50, that same period of time represents 1/50th of your life.  One very skinny little piece of the whole pie.

 I find my pie pieces getting skinnier and the Christmas's coming around faster as I approach 60.  I'm finding a lot of other things too - unwelcome things like hair that refuses to be tamed, weight that refuses to come off, and not being able to lift as much as I used to.  (which is a huge issue for a beekeeper!)

That's not said to complain - there are so many positives that come with it I don't think I'd trade:

the love of a beautiful family I'm proud to call my own
     GRANDBABIES!
          not flustering over small stuff
               the quiet confidence of a sweet relationship with God
                    vision and purpose
                         challenges and opportunities

What does the New Year hold?  I can't tell you.  I know what today, January 1, 2015 held:

Time with my son and his precious family
     Time with my husband and sweet inlaws
          Finding a treasure for our other son
               Communicating truth to a stranger in bad need of it - and being heard
                     
No doubt every day won't be like that -  after all it is a holiday, but I hope that  words like "loving", "blessing", "giving", "sharing", "praying", "helping" etc,  are sprinkled generously over the mundane things that make up every day life.

After all, they are the things we get to take with us when our years are over and we start fresh in God's eternal kingdom.

And if by some chance you stumbled upon this and don't have that sweet assurance of God's love in your life, get a Bible. Read the Gospel of John.  Let it sink in and find out for yourself who this Jesus is and what He did for you.