Scatter the flowers

  Google photo "Ready or not, here I come. ~Jesus"  ~seen on a Colo. church sign 🗲 Hide & Seek - remember that game?  My younger grandkids play it & giggle or say something not realizing they are giving their hiding place away.  The excitement of being found gets the best of them.  And then we grow up... The other day I was having people over and to my shock & dismay some of them showed up early!  I have never had friends show up early - for half a century I've only known people that were late!   I was mortified- I was still dusting the giant dust mites (I think they're bigger in the mountains) off my furniture.  But that is one of the main reasons I entertain - it forces me to clean my house.  I will also clean if my baby grandkids are coming.  I no longer do it for health reasons for myself - no time.  Cleaning out the refrigerator is another thing I put off - unless of course I'm going to Costco and I'...

photo source   "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time."  ~ Thomas Jefferson   Freedom.  Yesterday, we 'celebrated' it.      Because of July 4th we drink more coffee than tea.  Phew!  Though I do love my tea parties. Webster defined it as  'the state of exemption of the power and control of another'. Sadly , to many, this word is watered down, superficially used and contemplated, exploited & taken for granted.  But to too many, in other places & times, this word is life altering, cherished, fought for, and sought after.     I, for one, have rarely been asked to give up my freedom.  In my mind, in my past, this has been someone asking me to stay after for another meeting, or making me wait for something- thereby robbing me of my time.  Not being able to speak my mind freely as a teacher felt restrictive to me.  I feel when I owe taxes the freedom to not be able to spend my...

  "If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it." ~ Ironman to Spiderman   Everybody likes a superhero.  They right the wrong, use their amazing gifts, punish the bad guy, ALWAYS have the best quotes, and definitely have the most distinguishing attire.  Their confidence helps them dive right into a scary situation with no fear, and their reliability is unthinkable.  They are part of a team, and have learned to work together to combat & conquer evil with each of their strengths.   Hmmm.... if only we, as Christians, who actually have the REAL power, the REAL strength, the REAL foundation of courage & righteousness, and the REAL faithfulness in us, could learn to live their life of fearlessness.  (Disclaimer: I'm not saying Spiderman and Ironman aren't real.)  And as much as I HATE spiders, I found a crazy amount of correlation between Spiderman movies & our lives.  I'm thinking the writers of these superhero ...

"Automat" Edward Hopper ~1927 "Ah, look at all the lonely people." ~ the Beatles 💔  Loneliness.  It's been around since Eve ate the fruit.  David wrote about it when he asked of God, "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted" (Ps 25:16).  He knew the God who "healed the brokenhearted and tied up their wounds" (Psalms 147:3) and confidently called on Him.   As I mentioned in a previous blog , according to t he United States Surgeon General in a report recently put out, we have a health crisis on our hands... 💔 We are soooooo connected (or so we think) - on average about 2.5 hours per day.  But in reality, behind that screen vulnerability can be hidden, according to some researchers .  We don't need to put ourselves out there in the same way we would in person.  We have much more control on a computer. In a survey from the scienceofpeople.com , one reason for increased loneliness are working long hours- an area t...

photo source "...And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice." ~ Ronald Reagan   I've always loved red poppies.  They remind me of places I've traveled and they just seem to pop up wherever.  But did you know that the red poppy is an international symbol of remembrance?  On Memorial Day, many across the globe wear red poppies to remember those who had given their life in service to their country.  This weekend is not a holiday for celebration of those who are currently serving their country (that is Veterans Day), but rather a solemn reflective time of gratitude and honor to those who died serving their country.   After the devastation of WW1 throughout western Europe left the landscape destroyed, red poppies sprung up in France and Flanders, Belgium inspiring a war-fatigued brigade surgeon to write a poem honoring...