Scatter the flowers

  Crosswalk image Nothing makes Satan weak in the knees more than when we are on our knees."   ~ Skip Heitzig, Pastor Death.  Killing.  Violence.  What do we do with such heavy hearts in such a dark time? With the knot in our throats and the pit in our stomachs that are weighing on our souls?  When we look around us, nothing on this broken earth can fill our void of sadness and despair.   So we look up to the One who created all things and who alone has the power to bring light and help: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.   What does help look like?  When does it come?  How much will we get?  Anger, confusion, bitterness, hostility, helplessness and fear overcome us in different ways and at different times.  We want reasons- we ask, "Why, Lord, why?" We instinctively want a reckoning- someone to pay for the injustice that has happened....

The Hobbit "I killed a goblin or two with a flash." ~ Gandalf, from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien    🏡  I came across some fall villages I had bought months ago & forgot about.  When I unpacked them I realized I had a huge smile on my face.  Now I have been building a Christmas village for 39 years now, so imagine my heart leaping for joy when I discovered fall villages!  What genius soul created that- thank you!! 🏡 I know I have a weird fascination with fairy garden world.  Those cute miniatures just make my heart happy.  It's like a hobbit world without the bad goblins, trolls or wargs.  It's like a piece of the world where sin is not allowed, no mean people can live there, food has no carbs, everyone is kind, and each house has endless coffee brewing if you just happen to stop by.  And everyone has their own pumpkin patch. Hmmm.  That reminds me of a place we read about where sin isn't allowed, where love abounds, Jesus is K...

  Google image "Good friends will stick with you until you're unstuck." ~ Winnie the Pooh Remember that time we ...? I will always think of you when I see... This reminds me of that time we ... I can't believe you remember... I recall you were the one that ... Ah, memories.  Good, bad,  life giving,  life threatening, even life endangering.  There's no greater feeling than seeing an old friend, someone we shared life with at one time or another, or still do.  They know us for us - in weakness and strength,  sound mind and sound body or unsound mind and frail body.   There is a niche in time carved out that we shared together, where we put our imprint on something somewhere.  The understanding doesn't even have to be uttered but it is because it brings back the emotion of the experience and resolidifies our relationship. Acceptance is realized and appreciated.  No one can take away that shared survival. ❔Who is our best old friend? "...

  "God loves each of us as if there's only one of us." ~ Augustine    🎵What's the one song that is your go-to, feel good, get you out of the dumps song when you're having a bad day?   The one that speaks to your soul, or had a profound effect on you during an especially challenging time in your life?   Did you know one of the songs most dementia patients remember from their childhood is "Jesus Loves Me".  It's  an emotional anchor for them spiritually, and songs like these provide comfort, reduce anxiety and promote social interaction,  providing a lot of therapeutic value, according to the National Institute of Health. 🎵This simple hymn was written to comfort a dying child, and it has comforted countless people of all ages to this day.  Think about its' content, and, though simplistic, how submerged in Scripture it is:   🎵    "Jesus loves me"- "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that wh...

  Google image They're black, they're brown, they're up, they're down. They're in, they're out, they're all about. They're far, they're near, they're gone, they're here. They're quick and slick, they're insincere. Beware.  Beware.  Be a very wary bear. ~ Heffalumps and Woozles song, Winnie the Pooh, Disney Studios 👻The Boogeyman.  Watch out for him (and his friends).  This is the season for those "spookies" (as my 3 year old grandson likes to call them).     I'm a pansy.  I've never been one to want to watch a horror flick or go to a haunted house.  I don't actually enjoy being afraid.  I've always been afraid of spiders though (so much that I even put a cartoon spider here, not a real one).  👻 I remember when I was little, or not so little, when an open closet door kept me from sleeping.  I thought the Abominable Snowman was terrifying.  The Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz, don't get me started.  How ...

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci-The Louvre, Paris "Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic." ~Rosalind Russell   💋 Women amaze me.  Moms leave me awestruck.  Female entrepreneurs are inspiring.  A woman with a servant's heart is admirable.  Any woman accomplished in the music, dance or medical field deserves their own See's Candy factory.  And to own a hockey team. Women can lead so successfully from an external "take control" stance, or they can quietly guide and accomplish the highest of endeavors.   Who Can Find a Virtuous Woman, by Julienne Johnstone 💋  This isn't a girlpower blog, just an admiration for the way God has empowered women to add richness to life, make it more meaningful, and pour love into it in so many ways. I have two of my grandkids this week while their parents are in Europe.  I know, I hear you saying now - "What? You're too old!"  I'm here to tell you that's almost true. 💋  However, as I observ...

  Google image "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first  three hours in prayer." ~ Martin Luther   Do you remember that busy signal you would get trying to call someone's landline and they were on the phone?  They were busy talking to someone else and couldn't get your call.   Busyness.  In the 70s it was a landline busy signal.  It defined the role of a successful woman back in the 80s, evidenced by a full planner.  In the 90s a car phone showed we had to be able to be reached at any time.  The 2000s brought us blackberries to signal we had to electronically manage our lives, and now- well is there a person on the planet that doesn't have a cell phone? Yet as 'connected' as we are, studies show direct links to loneliness and cell phone addiction, especially among adolescents.     But let's be honest, sometimes we just want to scroll and be left alone.  And then suddenly it's an hour or so later. At first glance...