New Adventures

 

Two kookaburras bobbed on a branch outside the kitchen window, noisily sharing a joke. What a wild sound! Every morning here we are awoken by the most glorious birdsongs. In amongst the chorus is a rather plain sustained note, rising to a second sustained note. Nothing pretty about it. One might think the kookaburra, and the bird responsible for these plain sounds, would be too embarrassed to make a noise, a cacophony interrupting the chorus of bright, perky and beautiful songs. But no, they seem proud to own the sounds they produce.

Yesterday was beach day. I had my first experience of body boarding. Can’t say I was a great success, though it was exhilarating and so much fun, but the recovery as I landed on shallow sand, still buffeted from behind by powerful surf, was more embarrassing than exhilarating.

Somehow, in the scrabble to stand up while being hammered by incoming waves, I maybe scraped off the sunscreen on one of my feet. However it happened, I am nursing a neon-red left foot today. How could I have allowed that to happen, when I know the pain of sunburn?

Today we are preparing to prepare for a hot Christmas. Debating a menu. Considering quantities when there will be a large family gathering here. And knowing that actually, in 30+ temps and with a pool just outside the door, we will probably all end up in the water.

So many firsts. Life is an adventure, and may the Lord keep us embracing the new every day.

Merry Christmas to all. Make memories, wherever you are. They are precious and God-blessed.

 

Joy!

 

A fresh breeze wafts in through the open door. A palm tree on the other side of the balcony waves in the wind.  The heat is on, the clouds are flying in and rain is in the forecast.

Yesterday started with a great church service reminding us that the joy of the Lord is to be received as a gift of the Holy Spirit, not to be worked up as a human emotion. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and it is independent of circumstances. A great message in these days of turmoil and tragedy.

We are packing in the activities here, seizing the days and making memories. Headed inside today for bowling and a little shopping with Flick and Greg.

May the joy of the Lord fill us all in these days before Christmas, when the angels sang of the incredible joy born in Bethlehem.

 

 

White Australian Ibis

 

Prepared to walk in the rain, we headed for the nearby mall to pick up a few Christmas things. After crossing the freeway (on an overhead bridge, I hasten to add!), we noticed a little oasis of lush growth beside the river. Nesting in trees and other foliage were the weirdest birds I’ve seen. Joey asked yesterday if we’d seen them yet. Now we have.

Australian White Ibis. We watched as they jockeyed for space, then carried on to our destination.

We’re back ‘home’ now, where we were greeted by a couple of enthusiastic pooches. The rain never came. And the heat is rising again.

Sandwiched between relaxing and enjoying family, I am still struggling to arrange details of Mom’s move upstairs to a different room. With a sixteen-hour lead time, I’m finding it tricky to know when to phone, and things are not as smooth as I could wish for.

I am praying that Mom will be able to relax and enjoy her new terrain, new care team, and new situation. That there will be intriguing and kind people in unexpected places. That she will still perceive beauty in her world.

Life is full of change. We can feel prepared, and then find things are not as we expected them to be. We encounter different ‘wild life’. We find ourselves challenged in many ways.

Good to know that God is in everything. That he goes behind and before and with. That despite the way things feel, he has a plan, and it is a plan for good.

Maranatha.

Protection

 

There is a first time for everything.

Today, it was swimming in the rain. We are so grateful to be here in Brisbane with Doug, Joey, Flick and Greg. It may be raining, but it is 29C. Not like any other December I’ve ever known.

Bailey, the dog – not a water baby – hovered nervously round his much-loved master. His eyes were eloquent: get out of that pool! Would he jump in if someone were in trouble? Maybe if his owners were. He might just give me an ‘I told you so’ glance…

I wonder how often the Lord has hovered round me, not nervously but lovingly, willing me to get out of dangerous or dodgy waters.

I am so grateful to know that I am never alone. That whatever my circumstances, the Lord hovers protectively and I remain securely in the shadow of his wing, my feet planted firmly on the rock. And if I do get into trouble, he will rescue me. Again.

 

 

Thanksgiving Leaves

 

I had not even finished setting up the Thanksgiving ‘tree’ before Ella, Joel and Callan were choosing their leaves and writing out what they were thankful for. ‘God’. ‘Friends’. ‘Family’. ‘Today’.

Profound expressions of gratitude for the things that really matter.

May I carry into the week the joyful innocence of a child, celebrating life, love and the Lord.

 

EOBs: Jesus paid it all

 

They call them EOBs.

The insurance company Mom is with emails me an EOB (Explanation of Benefits) whenever a claim is made. It details the bill and explains what amount of that bill the insurance will cover, and what will be Mom’s responsibility.

Mom is blessed to have the insurance she has. When I see the eye-watering costs associated with her recent stay in hospital and treatment for a broken hip, I don’t know how the uninsured in America manage.

Some people look at religion as a form of eternal insurance, a ‘just in case’ transaction which might open the gates of heaven for the adherent. Might cover the cost of any misdemeanours committed during a lifetime. Pie in the sky when you die.

Those who know Jesus know that the gates of heaven open when we first believe. Life on earth takes on a tinge of heaven. It doesn’t make life easy, but knowing that I walk through the valleys with Jesus strengthens, comforts and encourages me, filling me with hope and that peace beyond understanding.

Not insurance, but assurance. The gates swing open as soon as one of us sinners surrenders to Jesus, turning back from a lonely path pocked with pitfalls of sin, onto another path with plenty of pockets of sin, but walked hand-in-hand with the One who can keep me on my feet. And be there to help me up when I trip and fall.

Faith casts out fear. There is no question of whether or not my sin has been covered – of whether or not I might receive a shocking EOB at the gates of heaven showing that actually, the debt was too large for Jesus to cover.

Jesus paid it all.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I praised the Lord as the sun came up (not impressively early in a November Scotland…), and now the western sky is aglow with the final rays of the day, and again I am praising him.

Tomorrow, America will be closed for business as everyone heads to friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving, usually with turkey and the trimmings, pumpkin and pecan pies. And football games.

Since my kids were young, we always ‘put up’ a Thanksgiving tree. It’s just a bare branch with some twigs on it, stuck into a block of wood. Everyone gets a leaf cut out of construction paper, and everyone has opportunity to write out their specific thanks, in the form of a prayer, a poem, a few words, bullet points, a drawing.

I’ve just cut out another pile of leaves, as we’ll be headed to Newtyle on Saturday to meet up with the rest of the family in Scotland to celebrate Thanksgiving. It will be so special to have leaves from the six grandchildren who will be there, as well as the rest of us. Those far away will be sorely missed.

God has opened heaven’s doors and shovelled the blessings out on us over this last year. There have been a few challenges, for sure, but the thing about God is that he never leaves us to manage the challenges on our own. As he promises, he never leaves nor forsakes us. I continue to see his hand in so many ways, and stand on tiptoe anticipating signs of his loving care every day.

May God bless us all with gratitude and thankful hearts, even in the midst of turmoil or trouble. Our hearts should always swell with humble gratitude for Jesus: if we have nothing else to write on a leaf, we can always draw the cross of calvary.

Happy Thanksgiving.