Heartsease

Perhaps the following was just for me, but just by chance...

A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as fine a fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac; and so on all through the garden.

Coming to a heartsease, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. "Well, heartsease, I'm glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened." "No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a heartsease, I am determined to be the best little heartsease that I can."

What did our perfect Lord intend for you to be in this garden called "life"? How effective could we really be if we submitted to what the Master created us to be?

I found some interesting things about this ordinary flower and its powerful uses on wikepedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartsease

There is peace in knowing that we belong to God and that He formed us in our mother's womb. There is only one you!

A Proclamation of Good Things

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle..." Psalm 24:7-8

Our first real snow came last night in the form of a white, peaceful wonderland and transitioned through the night to blizzard conditions, bringing with it two baby girls sick with the stomach flu, freezing wind gusts of 35-40 mph, very little sleep, and...fear. Our current temperature is 9 degrees with a wind chill factor making that -2 degrees, snow is still falling, and the wind has not let up. Our quaint, historic home we chose for its uniqueness lacks a bit in the warmth department. Definitely a new experience for this California girl, missing home, and the beautiful people of The Rock.

So I decided to give the devil a black eye today and proclaim the goodness of God! The bible tells us to not be afraid of "sudden fear (or disaster, terror)!" However, it does say that what we ought to fear is Lord:

Psalm 33:8 states, "Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him."

Psalm 25:14, "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."

Psalm 34:7, "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."

Proverbs 14:27, "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death."

Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

So today I am thankful for many things; the protection of the Holy Ghost, the opportunity to live for God, to have been "raised" by strong, godly Christian examples, the precious blood of Jesus Christ, deep friendships, a God-fearing husband, children that have a hunger to see revival, and simple things like food in the cupboards, hot water, shelter...and on a day like today, oreo cookies and a good book! :-)

One more thing to be thankful for...blizzard or no blizzard, God is still reaching for the lost souls of this world! Thank you Jesus!

"Butterfly" Stings Like a Bee

Ok, it's Saturday night. I'm pushing the stroller, watching the winter parade in Missoula with my precious wife (alias, "Butterfly") and two munchkins. To my left I see a small fire in a cigarette trash can. Distracted, I hasten to put the fire out. And...BOOM!!! Weird-Zula strikes again! To my surprise one homeless man attacks another man and nearly crashes into our stroller! A fight ensues, cops are called, people are scattering, crowds are gathering, sirens, lights, and almost an escaping vagrant attacker; except for the stinging touch of "Butterfly." As I'm pushing the stroller, frantically trying to track my wife down, she summons the police and points out the attacker who later ends up getting arrested on an old warrant. Man do I feel safe in Montana with my precious Babydoll! You go girl! LOL!

Happy Anniversary, Babydoll!

Today marks my husband and my eight year anniversary! What an incredible journey! Babydoll, when I prayed for a husband I asked for two things...that he would have a love and burden for the lost and that he would love my son...I got so much more! Never could I have imagined the wonderful man that God blessed me with! You are kind, gentle, forgiving, passionate, and patient. You are strong in the Lord, you are a man of character and integrity, and during the most difficult of times you have the resolve to do the right thing and never ever give up. I am continually amazed as life brings out even more of the beauty in you!

Babydoll, you are such an incredible father! You are tenderhearted, uplifting, and forever encouraging our children "to become." Our children love you and respect you...not because they have to but because of the kind of dad you are to them. You are an inspiration to me and more than I could have asked for in a father to my children!

Thank you for your unwavering dedication to God! I desire to follow you as you follow Christ! Thank you for loving me! You are the man of my dreams and I am completely fulfilled! I love you! Happy Anniversary!

WEIRD-ZULA?

Keep Missoula Weird? Do my part? Seeing that we have moved to beautiful Missoula (pronounced Mi-ZOO-luh), Montana and my precious Dad and Mom-in-Law are here visiting for the very first time, we wanted to show them the best of Missoula! We had a lovely day driving through the city, seeing the large white bed and breakfast mansion off Higgins, walking through the shops downtown, warming up with coffee around Starbuck's indoor couch setting, visiting Missoula's own hand-carved Carousal, and adjoining play area (very much like McKinley Park in downtown Sac). It was great! On the way home, the men dropped Grammy, Rachel, and I off at our local grocery store for a few last minute Thanksgiving items. As we chatted and wandered through the produce section an older woman and her friend made a joke about us "chickens" to please move out of her way. Chickens? She laughed...and we smiled in return, not sure what was really funny. Just a few moments later I heard the woman call my mother-in-law over to her... I intently focused on the turnips. After some moments of whispering, a very horrified and red-faced Grammy returned quickly to us while the woman smiled strangely and waved her hands in the air. The woman had called my sweet mother-in-law over to her to tell her a dirty joke! We couldn't believe it! More on Missoula's uniqueness to come!

Bear Sighting...in Our Front Yard???

My first official blog post! This is SO exciting!!!

Bear sighting in our front yard...are you serious? Yup! Absolutely Montana serious!!! Sunday evening we had two black bears roaming about on our property! By some of the neighbors' responses, I gathered that bears walking down neighborhood sidewalks wasn't an everyday occurrence even if it is a probable event. Now I have heard through the grapevine (my children) that some non-Montanans think we actually live amongst bears, deer, elk, buffalo, etc. But we don't...sorry to disappoint you. We live in a real life city with real people, cars, stores, and houses all dropped into the middle of beautiful wildlife! It's amazing!

We live on eight acres in an old 1919 farmhouse-looking home in what anyone would consider a regular neighborhood with larger lots. The majority of the acreage is on a huge mountain that the home was built up against so it really isn't considered rural. However, the mountain is home to much wildlife that, at times, make their way into our yard at the base...almost daily deer and the two recent bear so far!