“Beware the barrenness of a busy life” dad always warned. Dads gone and here I am, busy.
These were my thoughts as I watched the humming birds chase each other around and around the feeder while getting nothing. sometimes I resemble those hummers. Sometimes I learn not to be like those birds. Good thing, I would always be exhausted.
The barren life of busyness, it spreads like a virus into all areas of life. I think the only pill that completely works for that is called “quitit“. Second runner up is called ‘takeabreak“, but it’s not as effective. Lately I have had some success with “justsayno“.
As much as I would love the ultimate rush to fly like a hummingbird, I’m taking time to grow my relationships. Out of 7 of us siblings, we will have 4 major building projects going on this year. We will help one another when we can. My wife and I still talk on deep levels as well as laugh together. We adjust our strides with each other often. Our handicapped daughter is loved on a lot as well as the rest of the family when possible.
Above all, my stride with God is important as well as sitting down to hear, talk and reflect. I have been dwelling on this promise. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4
Stop by some photos and I’ll share a “takeabreak” pill (Click to enlarge slides)
Look, a humanRuffled Grouse visitsawing live edge siding for cabinlate summer fawntaking the neighbor fishingFishing is always good, sometimes the catching is iffy
Just some food for thought, something to munch on. Have a great rest of the week.
I have a heart condition. It’s a secret to most. Those who have deeply known me over a long period of time know I get a seasonal depression. It stalks me each winter, trying to spread into my winter season of life. Eyes dim, thought delays lengthen, shorter strides gimp as the former wings of my heart and soul grow slowly defluttered. I want a good heart again.
I want to walk through the woods with unspeakable joy again.
I want to see the un-see-able as I gaze through the treetops into the heavens, past the galaxies again.
I want to rescue desire and wonder to mountains above, to wrist away warring-fear-demons smog. Again.
I want my acidic tears of grief to be purified by joy into refreshing life drops where they fall again.
I want my hearts strong rhythm refreshing and cleansing every cell, so what’s dying may live again.
Oh Lord, I need your heart to beat in me again. You can have mine.Again.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”Psalm 51:10
Again
Ahh, the heart of new life
Oh friend, have you ever searched your heart and found it shriveling? After the rocks of life have so cracked the looking glasses of reality, how do we see clearly? Eternity is seen with the heart, but only clearly with the creators heart in us is life and eternity in focus at the same time.
Some reflective Thoughts as I watch the sunset on and beyond. Life is on and beyond
I’ve been sick. too sick to think with any speed or accuracy I guess. Long pauses are my friend. Lot’s of things like questions, coughing spells and too many vitamins give me the mind muddles. I have a sneaky suspicion that those little viruses that cause me so many problems are a lot like what the preachers describe as the character of sin in one’s life. “Sin will take you further than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay.” I suspect another point would be that sin creates a “mind muddle” on the spiritual end of things. What do I know? I have a muddled mind.
The ironic part of being sick, with high fevers for awhile, is there is so much time to think. Let the beauty of that statement sink in (believe me, I’ve tried). Right now, deep thinking works about as well as shoving off from shore in a canoe with no paddle. I have experiences there and it’s a good idea to bring your fishing rod for something to do until you drift to the end of the lake. Remember to bring your cell phone to let the family know you might be late for supper and possibly breakfast.
This downy woodpecker has a muddled mind. See his beak? He keeps beating out tunes on my grill cover
Now my fevers are gone and recovering is real slow. I have actually gained some insight about myself, God and life in general. I felt good one day, rushed outside, worked in the garden and went on a photo-shoot to the lake. I’m quite sure it was the garden work that cost me about two weeks of extended recovery time. More thermometer in mouth and parking under blankets on the recliner in front of the picture window time. Again. Sigh, a familiar reoccurrence.
I think much of my time looking out the window was in worship on the lowest level one can get. Seriously; on my level of muddled mind, all I could do was look out the window and see the trees, birds, sky, new buds and leaves and say “wow”. Nature is sure beautiful. Look…Oh look! that squirrel is climbing a tree! “They do that sometimes” said my wife.
My prayer has been “thank you Lord for making such beauty, and thank you for even a muddled minded sickly guy being able to enjoy it.”
I’m getting better every day. I can get out for short periods of time, rest awhile and go again. I can now take off the 30 foot retractable dog leash off my ankle without getting dizzy bending over. This means I am more responsible now for how far I go beyond the deck. If you do not hear from me in awhile, again, I am probably in the canoe.
I do have a few pictures to share from a few of my short outings…enjoy and stay healthy!
Click on any picture to enlarge and for slide show.
I picked up a small stone and tossed it into the center of the smooth surfaced pond. I began to understand. I waited until all the little ripples had dissipated, the frogs had quit but began to croak again. The surface was once again as still as the morning air. Once again I could see the fluffy white clouds moving in the waters reflection. I picked up a fist sized rock and vaulted it high to land in the center of the pond creating a big splash and bigger waves that eventually swayed the cattails, and small willows on the sides of the pond. Now I understood. I was five.
Maybe mom helped my understanding when she disciplined me for sassing her. Maybe my little brother helped by doing what I did and was disciplined, then I was disciplined again for being his example while mom cried. Maybe the time my little brother killed a chicken with a board; not on purpose but in trying to scare the chickens one got in the way. It was quite small but that was supper. The weight of the board was enough to kill even if it was the chickens fault for getting in the way. I threw another rock in the water, each time knowing and feeling the ripple effect. One thing changes everything. One sin and I can’t seem to quit. One funny thing and everything is funny. A pebble quiets frogs. Think what a monster could do. I’m hungry – I must go home.
60 years later I watched in horror as some watched in glee, as a man signed many many documents changing hundreds, then thousands, then millions of lives. Now world economies and massive gains and losses on many fronts are in the waves. The weight of a signature in the name of ideology has been around for centuries. I watched a squirrel bury an acorn; possibly food for later or a giant oak tree. Cause and effect effect effect effect effect effect …..only God knows. Only God can interject. Only God can keep track of it all. Only God’s signature has more weight. Meanwhile, we are at the edge of times pond waiting.
It’s true from Adam and Eve if you can believe what God said; “eat of this fruit and you will die.” You meaning you and everyone following. You; meaning plants, animals, bugs and all of nature. You; meaning thistles, killing to eat, killing each other (by the first generation). You; meaning decay of the mind, will and emotions inside as well as the exterior. You; wait until what’s bad is good, good is bad, the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent. You; declaring rocks are the problem, waves do not exist, you do not matter except to exist as matter. Now we have cyberspace rocks; “Oh Lord Save Us”.
Turns out He did save us; if we can believe God.
So here I sit with my thoughts. How much weight can a signature have? How much weight does God have when he says He signed for us? It’s the gospel truth. He signed with all his lifes blood and that’s as serious as one can get. He promised“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…”(Isaiah 49;16). He delivered. Doubting Thomas like many of us would say “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” (John 20:25).
(26) A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” (27) Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (28) Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (29)Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
God’s signature is everywhere if you believe. God’s signature is nowhere if you don’t. Oh that we could all be five and understand.
When a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? I say, ask the beaver, his signature is all over it.
These were my thoughts as I Wandered around on foot to the lake and through the woods with a camera a couple days ago after almost 5 inches of rain melting massive amounts of snow….The signature of God is everywhere in nature. I am glad he has inscribed my name on his hands. I believe he honors his word. I understand effect effect…. Maybe it’s because I am walking the same exact land and stand in the same exact places as when I understood. Please understand, because sometimes I am five.
Click to enlarge and for slideshow. 4 of these pictures were taken earlier this spring of the beavers.
Several of you have wanted to know more details of my cousins daughter surviving a plane crash in Alaska last month. You may have seen something on the news or googled “plane crash on a lake in Alaska”. Notice the open water in the background if you clicked on the link.
Ashley and Glenn talk some about this in their local rural church. It’s very much worth hearing their thoughts then and today. There is a long journey ahead to get back to the top of a mountain.
This is a “before” picture. I hope it can happen again Ashley!
As a backdrop, keep some little tidbits of information in the back of your mind.
This from a text today: “The hardest part about telling the story is that it takes so long to set up the story that many of the miracles were not even mentioned. Lake Illiamna is the 7th largest freshwater lake in the world. 1) Had the pilot started the turn 10 seconds sooner (which equals 1/2 mile), the plane would have crashed in open water. 10 seconds later and they would have crashed in the rocks. It was perfect timing to crash onto 30 inches of ice in a bay. 2) The plan crashed in the middle of a turn, hitting wing first. This caused the plan to cartwheel, which caused the engine and battery to be ripped off, so that there was nothing to ignite the leaking AV fuel. 3) God allowed for one of the texts to make it out, which gave coordinates and situation. Just that small detail shaved off an hour or more of search and rescue response. 4) There is the triple A battery, that was in someone’s pocket, which was nearly sliced in two, protecting an upper thigh from a potentially deep cut”
The list goes on and on of seemingly small details of life and death significance.
This interview, in their local church, is a part of the palm Sunday service. Pick up the conversation with Ashley at 39:45 and Glenn’s challenge as a father at 57:30. going into this. Understand this is someone with a very recent miraculous survival story. (Scroll to Ashley talking at 39:45 and Glenn at 57:30)
Scroll to Ashley talking at 39:45 and Glenn at 57:30
When asked if there was anything else I should put in this post, Glenn asked for this prayer of encouragement from Colossians 1 :9-11. “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience”
Ask questions in comments, and, yes an account is being set up to help pay emergency evacuation and medical bills beyond what insurance will cover. I will post that later on my regular garyfultz blog
They do. They drift. Okay, so do I, maybe, I guess…Lot’s of life applications here.
I thought of this while shoveling out our driveway and then three more driveways on our road. The winds created a ground blizzard and made huge packed drifts where cars and trucks once passed through. All our drives are 100 yards long (give or take some distance). At this point I need to show you a picture of my shovel in case you think a retired guy is superhuman. Disclaimer: I wrote that for me as I know it never crossed your mind.
My snow shovel. Yep, snow piles are everywhere this year.
Think about how easy it is to drift in life. Life’s storms and winds come up and change our direction. things pile up and our energies are used just to cope and get by.
I write this to encourage those of us who write to consider how grounded we are to the message we have set out to get across. It’s easy to drift with the winds and react to the times. If we write just to be read, it is like me shoveling snow (with the skid steer bucket of course) because I like shoveling and piling snow. Anywhere, everywhere. It’s fun! I’m afraid I have accomplished many things in life needlessly.
Truthfully, I have heard many public speakers who just like to hear themselves talk. I have read many a blog with a sigh thinking “and your point, encouragement, entertainment value or motivation is…?”
My last point is a spiritual consideration directed at those who follow Jesus.
I use a skid steer to shovel snow as it’s not humanly possible to move that much snow after a storm with hard packed snow drifts. We have no business tackling jobs without making sure we are onboard with God’s will and God’s power (not from asking God to be onboard with us). This is the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is from a conviction that this is what God wants us to be about. This is from our walk and living relationship with a risen Christ in us.
When we drift from operating on God’s leading and his power, we fall into the big drift of powerless mediocrity.
So, watch out for those prevailing winds of time, the storms and blizzards of life and the drift that so easily happens. “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we donot drift away.” Hebrews 2:1
“Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.” psalm 127:1
Take a walk 2) have a talk 3)get right 4)Stay tight!
It’s still dark out as I try to read the outdoor thermometer. Close to 40 below zero but getting warmer, all is frozen except for some wildlife and birds. I have no idea how a deer’s ears or the chickadee’s feet do not freeze. I park myself in an easy chair in front of the picture window, open my bible and let the Lord speak to me through his word. He does.
In Matthew 19:13-15 I read where people brought their children to Jesus. He laid hands on them and blessed them. In our culture today it would have been a moms club that got together, collected the kids and marched them to Jesus. However it happened the disciples were not in on it as they were rather miffed. Jesus’ time was too important for that. Another flaw in their religious thinking was toppled as Jesus told them that the kingdom of God was made up of children such as these.
I immediately asked the Lord if he would lay his hands on this old guy 2000 years later and bless him. I immediately received a response. “I did that when you were a child, don’t you remember?”
A flood of memories came to mind through the years. Instances of intimacies with the Savior, incidents unexplainable apart from the hand of God. My parents had often presented us (and a slew of other children) to Jesus. “Age aside my child, you can still bring people to Jesus.”
Yes Lord, I am willing to bring someone to you today.
I watched the morning sky lighten to lavender then rose and finally blue. It’s 10 degrees warmer and light enough to take a picture of the thermometer. A deer walking the perimeter browsed on spruce bough ends as the chickadees came to our outdoor-left-over Christmas tree (click any picture to enlarge for slide show)
The phone rings and I get my winter clothes on and go help my neighbor quickly get to Emergency (another ongoing story for sometime).
Beauty in the cold morning as the sun crawls down the spruces
What great lengths are you willing to take to live the life for which you were created?
Cut a hole in the wall, frame openings and put windows in your life. Get a big window, not a peep hole. Know what’s happening outside your space.Next: open the window and throw any insulting parrot voices out and close the window (Not your spouse or kids, but perhaps your television).
Build a deck to sit on and watch the world in it’s context, go by. Meditate on the words of Jesus because they have the substance of life. The words of God give us the context wherein (and within) we were created to live, wherever we happen to reside, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves.
Take walks in nature. It’s as close to God’s garden as we can get, understanding that nature is not God but it’s a great place to meet and talk with him. There are overt hints of God’s character, creativity and lessonsof life and insight to gain from God’s creation. Take a peek at some of my nature and deck views this autumn. This is often my physical context. Sometimes God’s context for me is seen through the camera window framed.
All nature is in context with God’s word
Click on any picture for a slide show and to enlarge smaller pictures. I tried some catchy captions which will appear at the bottom of each picture. You might come up with better ones.
These were my thoughts as I spotted a deer peeking at me through a hole in the woods (header picture). All of nature is in the moment. No matter the season or food source or conditions, life is moment by moment. As the leaves fall outside, I am reminded that my life is like a vapor that appears and then disappears (the big context James 4:14). In the moment I want to be in context of God’s words to me through Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
I want to live in God’s context.On the deck, at home, driving down the road, in the grocery store, talking with the neighbors and in anything I may post or read online.The life and words of Christ in me is the context which begs me to cut a hole in the wall.His love within me compels me to view the world as needing his love.
Gary
ps: I posted some pictures for free download on my unsplash site here
“Come play with me” He said. OK I read his mind. I may have confused it with “get off my deck” but his chirps sounded more inviting then that. Does anybody you know speak hummingbird? In my world I sometimes forget how to speak wife…
There is no way I can relate to a hummingbird. If I could fly and try to land like that, there would be a hole right through the glass feeder. I can only marvel at the little winged design and wish I had wing (arm) muscles like that. Am I doing what I was created to do? My arms may not flap well but they can help my neighbor get his firewood up for the winter. I can help the widow down the road get ready for fall and winter. I can take my neighbor fishing.
Hovering and drinking some good nectar for fuel to catch bugs while being alert for danger. I can only do one at a time usually. I know people who hover. They are another danger but that’s another conversation.
I used to wish I could fly. I later on wished I could fly like a hummingbird. Now, I’m OK just watching and living longer. “What are my passions Lord that can bless others in ways where I really fly?” May I never bury my talents!
Unbelievable maneuvers.
Hummingbirds have the ability to be aware of everything around them. They seem to be able to drink nectar and avoid danger or bullies in an instant. I have so much to learn in this area. Am I aware of others and their needs or just focused on mine? Am I aware of dangerous lies dispensed so liberally in our world, even churches? Am I aware of drifting toward a prayer less life and the worries and fears that can sting? Like the Hummingbird, I must put on the brakes and flee these dangers.
The black hornet was guarding the feeder so I got a fly swatter and took care of the danger, I do have something in common with the hummingbirds. I strongly dislike and am afraid of bees, especially Big Black Hornets.
Photography gives us a lens and frames what is intended to pass on to the viewer. Jesus Christ our creator gives us a clean lens and the right framing in focus. I am convinced we were created with a fixed focus where we only see clearly when our eyes are fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
My hope is that we will all begin to see Jesus Christ, all he created, and his amazing grace and sacrifice for each of us clearly. So much of life is unclear and we see through a very dirty lens and look at life from such a wrong angle (ours) until it is washed clean and our lens turned to follow Jesus.
Clear enough?? And we get to feed on what God provides. He really does provide, and provides on so many levels. Eyesight, awareness, spiritual food, physical food, Truth dispenser, His perspective framed by is Word, peace, Love and joy…For more hummingbird pictures, click on my other blog Hummingbird Picture Problems
Gary
PS: I want to see a movie where a human being somehow can be inserted into a hummingbird body to understand and save the hummingbirds from certain extinction (or some involved action plot). I want it in 3D along with Dramamine and a barf bag better than what the airlines provide. If I was strapped into an interactive chair that moved with the action, you might as well plan my funeral. Seriously, these little midgets in the bird world have moves that would kill most humans. Maybe someday?? After the trumpet??
The Sun Shines through even on an old life battered, seemingly barren tree (even me)
Don Merritt’s post on Praise (click here..great stuff Don) hit my insight bone this morning. I have often thought: “what causes the first frog to croak, or the first cricket to sound off, the first wolf to begin it’s blood curdling moan and all the others join in?
A friend of mine tells about walking out on the dock one frosty morning. The lake was evidently super cooled. The moment he stepped onto the dock the vibrations triggered the whole lake to instantly freeze over in a thin layer of ice. The sound of snap, crackle and pop of a lake freezing over in a couple of seconds will be indented in his memory forever. What causes the first molecule of water in the lake to freeze come winter to ice over the lake in a few moments?
What causes a whole congregation to lift up a raucous praise to the Lord or a moan before the throne in one accord? What causes my eyes to lift to the Lord in a burst of heartfelt praise from depths of my soul? Maybe, when the sun peeks out in my Life after a long storm? When a prayer is answered to my relief? When something works out? When…?
This morning my heart was “super cooled” in a good way. I was ready in my spirit to Praise my Lord and Savior and Don let out the first croak. May all God’s people be ready in their own hearts to join in. May the world hear our sound of unified praise. Oh, it’s not the song leader or the praise band in church (many times they get in the way). It’s God’s people whose hearts are “super cooled” and ready to break loose in praise, in loving God through a kind spontaneous act or smile or something creative. It’s something God has prepared in you because you have been walking with HIM. Daily.
That’s it isn’t it? Our walk with God in obedience. Our Hope in Christ. Our Love for one another. Our eye’s fixed on Jesus as we run this race through life. Our morning coffee time in the Word and prayer. A prepared heart set for whatever life brings each day. Please someone, step on the dock of our little lake. God has “super cooled” my heart (Thanks Don)
May we all be in the process of becoming “Super Cool” before the throne.
Gods Ways are...Different 