The Hill...

"The Benefit of Limitations (a/k/a The Hill):

In my new neighborhood, there is a hill.

It's a fairly long hill, with a gentle, ever-increasing slope

and it gets pretty steep at the top.

It's one of millions up here in the mountainous terrain of Eastern, Pennsylvania

and it's certainly not one of the most awe-inspiring or challenging.

But, from the moment I saw it, I knew that it was going to be my hill.

When we first arrived here,

 I needed to get back in shape and regain

some of my lost fitness.

My first morning in the new house,

I laced up my sneakers,

walked out my front door,

took a short five minute walk to where the hill stands

and gazed up at it.

Instantly, I knew.

No way was I going to be able to make it up that hill.

My legs knew it.

My lungs knew it.

I knew it.

And, as I stood there staring up at the uppermost portion

of its defiant slope, the hill seemed to know it too.

What I understood, however,

was that I could take 20 steps up the hill.

That I could handle.

That I could manage.

And that is what I proceeded to do,

counting each step from 1 through 20 with military precision.

Every single day.

That's the thing about me and challenges.

I never make them very hard and I never mentally push myself past my limits.

It's so different than the sort of grand, competitive challenges

I see taking place here online and on YouTube channels devoted

to weight loss and fitness.

Whereas some people say, "I'm going to lose 150 pounds and climb up Mt. Everest,"

I say to myself, "This week, I'm going to lose 6 ounces

and take 20 steps up that hill every morning."

I don't know why I think like this and,

honestly, it may not be a good thing in some people's eyes.

Some may say that my approach is, by nature, stifling and self-limiting.

How can I know that I won't make it up that hill unless I push myself

beyond what I believe are my limits and REALLY TRY?

Perhaps they have a point, but it just

doesn't seem to be my way.

All I know is that I like to set myself small,

doable goals that I know I can achieve.

I don't like to fail or to feel like I am failing,

so I make sure to never go beyond my limits (perceived or real)

but to keep plugging away at them in a consistent steady way.

Self-limiting? Perhaps. Unremarkable? Certainly.

Here's the thing. I'm a middle-of-the-road type person and

I think there has to be a place for people like me in this world, too.

We all swoon over incredible pictures of weight loss and transformation.

We are all awed and inspired by the stories of people who overcome

enormous challenges in order to race in triathlons and

perform all other manner of notable feats of triumph and daring.

But, what about people like me?

What about someone who lost an unremarkable amount of weight

(38 pounds), has kept it off, makes sure to get her daily exercise,

fixes plain old, non-gourmet veggie meals and sets her sights on an ordinary hill

every single morning?

Isn't there glory in the ordinary accomplishment

of finding a way to live a healthy life

in this crazy, mixed-up world of ours?

Let me tell you something.

That hill is my slave these days.

Where once it loomed large and unconquerable in my eyes,

every morning now I take it like it's a mere anthill beneath my feet.

Some mornings, I find that I have energy to spare and will wind my way

down the hill, turn around, and barrel up it yet again for good measure.

I'm proud of this small achievement and perhaps,

as time goes on, I will find other challenges to face and other hills to climb.

But, if it never comes to that and all I do from here on in is take that hill every morning,

I feel that I can be satisfied with this.

By staying within modest realistic limits,

I succeeded at something that didn't seem possible at first.

I would rather succeed at the small things than set my sights so high

that I consistently fail at the spectacular things.

There are those of us that don't need to shoot for the stars,

but would prefer to stay here on solid ground,

taking pride in every single bite of healthy food, every miniscule step up that humble hill,

every day of finding peace within the limits of what we know we can achieve.

Love, Lori"

I saw this on a friends' group on Facebook today and thought how many life applications we could make from this. Of course, I am in no way insinuating that we should not be 'all in' with Jesus Christ, but here's something to think about (and something I've counseled many youth on over the years):

You look ahead and see all the things in your life that you wish were better (character traits that are less than righteous, bad habits, things you lack) and it looks daunting. It looks like such a mountain to climb. It looks impossible.

Let me tell you something. Take heart. You have done the best thing you ever could have chosen to do: you decided to follow Jesus. You see, because you chose that, now you have Him to live His life thru you. All you need to do each day is to get out of your bed with a heart committed to knowing Him and making Him known. Each day is like walking up that hill. Maybe it's 20 steps, maybe it's 1000, or maybe it's only 2 steps you climb today, but the point is that each day is part of the climb. There is no 'attaining' until at last He calls us Home. So let's not be thinking that one day we will finish and be able to stop climbing while we are on earth. As long as we live here, there is a climb to make, a battle to fight.

BUT...we have the power of heaven on our side.
Before Christ, there is no power to even live one day righteously.
After we choose Him, there is all the power of His resurrection to
live that faithful life He calls us to.

Keep climbing.
Each step brings us farther from the lowlands of our flesh,
and farther into the wonderful meadows of life in Jesus,
our wonderful Guide.

Love and blessings,

Marcia

PS

Another thing to take away from this

'earthly' article on health and fitness is

"DON'T COMPARE yourself to others..."

If you are in Christ, then follow Him.

Sure, others can and should inspire us

to move on up the hill,

but please don't let yourself compare

yourself to others.

It is a terrible habit that will bring

you into bondage to yourself and

will hinder your walk with the Lord.



PSS
Still another thing we can take away from this:
please remember grace!
Just as we are not to compare ourselves
among ourselves,
we should also  have grace with
those who are not moving
as fast as we think they should,
or who are not seeming to grasp
what we think they should be by now.
Just love them,
and keep inspiring them,
and keep moving onward
in your own walk.
God has them covered.
Just like He has you covered.
He is able to move them along,
just like He is able to move you.
Let's let Him do His job,
while we do ours!

Wonderful Words of Life...

Love Does...

Love washes the dishes,

many times over,

assuming responsibility

for the hearth and home

God gave her.

Love goes the second mile

in making sure needs are met

when Mama is tired,

or because older sister has

Lyme disease and

cannot fill her role

like she once did,

or would if she could.

Love sweeps off screens 

(without a grumble)

after she had helped to
wash them a few hours
earlier, leaving them
drying in the sun,
only to find them
 sprinkled with

 hay dust

(from her Farmer daddy's

love gift to her mama last week),

that is also wafting thru the air

(all our joy is touched with pain!)

;-)

Love notices the floors that

need to be swept,

and takes it upon herself to do it

quietly without being told.

Love notices the stack of

dresses that need mended,

collected over the years

of sewing mistakes, or

outgrown clothes that never made it to the top of the pile

(CAM could use those, she said).

Love rips apart a white dress that has lain for years,

waiting to be resewn because the pattern wasn't right.

(I'll do that for you, Mama, she said. 

And I'll even sew it for you, too.)

Love makes pancakes 

on a rainy evening,

when it seems all the 

women of the household

are craving them.

(the guys are equally

grateful, too).

Love cleans up the dishes

made from said

cooking endeavors.

Love holds babies at church,

and talks to the little children.

Love kindly reaches out
to those in her life
that treat her less than kindly
and gently smooths the
relationship ripples
that Satan brings her way.

Love cares about knowing God

and making Him known

to those He brings her way.

Love willingly peels peaches

when she would rather 

have been doing other things.

And love deep cleans,

because her Mama asked her to

even tho it looks much more

glamorous to be baking.

And about baking...

love bakes because she

loves her family

(and sugar, too! :/)

and stops baking so much 

when her mama says, 

"Slow down please.
Our bodies are important, too,

and we should ration out those
lovely foods you bake!"

Love goes on a Pinterest fast

because she wants to bless her Mama

by not baking so much,

so why not remove 'temptation'

for a while til we adjust?!

Yes, I'm talking about my youngest daughter.

Love does...

and she reflects that love from

Jesus to us very well.
And though she is still growing to maturity
(aren't we all?!),
I am so blessed by the love she has
let Jesus supernatually flow out of
her heart to others.

Love DOES...
And when love does,
there is joy.

When love does,
there is harmony,
and there is rest.

Go love your people today!

"My little children,
let us not love in word,
neither in tongue,
but in deed and in truth."
1 John 3:18

In Quietness and Confidence...

My heart echoes these words loudly!

I have made this the goal of my life

for many years, through thick and thin,

over hill and dale,

through stormy weather and calm.

As a homemaker, 

I am also a keeper of the home.

It is my duty to keep my heart

with all diligence,

because out of it flow the issues of life.

If I do not appreciate my calling,

and pine for another calling

outside my home,

it shows.

If I do not daily lay aside the petty cares,

the selfish wishes,

the fleshly 'lusts that war against the soul',

including the 'lust' to have others

love me as I wish to be loved,

it stacks up and I do not become

the woman of God that He has called me to be.

Home.

Would it not be so wonderful

if that word would invoke

warm thoughts and a longing to be there

in the hearts of all those who should

hear it from our households,

no matter their age,

no matter where they are?

I surely hope that it does so to my family.

To keep the home peaceful

I have found that as the keeper of my home,

I need to be prayed up,

and continually moving forward with the Lord,

as He sanctifies me in my words and in my thoughts.

To hold onto selfishness

only results in discord and unrest 

in my home.

After a bike ride recently...

Let us choose to let Him write His thoughts upon our hearts,

and walk by faith in the places He calls us to.

He is faithful.

And will do exceeding abundantly

above ALL that we could ask or think.

If we honor Him,

He honors us in ways beyond

understanding and comprehension 

sometimes!

"In quietness and confidence

shall be your strength."

Wonderful Words of Life...

On Being a Missionary...part 1

Steve Saint posted this recently on Facebook, bringing my thoughts on this to a blog post:

I sometimes cringe when I hear us saying,

"She/he is leaving for THE mission field,"

or when we ask youth what their aspirations are,

they sometimes tell us that they want to 

be a missionary in some foreign country.

Now, please don't misunderstand me.

I think it's wonderful that I have

brothers and sisters in Christ

serving the Lord in China,

and in Haiti, 

and in in Guatemala,

and in Thailand,

and I am so very blessed to know

that they carry the love of Jesus

with them in those places of the earth.

But what about those of us who live 

in America?

What about us?

Do we not know that wherever we are

is THE mission field?

Do we not know that even now

on American soil

there are sinners dying without knowing

Jesus Christ?!

 Do we not know that we have been

created to know Him personally

and making Him known to others,

and that this happens wherever He has us?

Why is it that we seem to think that

America is less in need than other

countries?

Or that if you don't go to another country,

then somehow you missed your calling in life?

Jesus said that that fields are white unto harvest,

but the laborers are few.

Let me tell you, friends, that as a discipler of

converts in America, I KNOW this with a

deep sense of disappointment and my heart

breaks at all the masses to be reached who seem

to be passed by as the church sleeps.

Jesus also said,

"Pray to the Lord of the harvest,

that He will send forth reapers."

So...could it be that we do not pray this because

we have no vision for 'mission' 

(making Him known),

or that we are afraid He will send us?

Whether you live in America or Haiti,

Ghana or Tanzania, 

please hear this:

If God calls you to Tanzania to cuddle little babies and to tend the broken bodies

while showing them Jesus who is the Answer to their heart's needs,

then GOD BLESS YOU! Do it with all of your heart.

If God calls you to China to tend the orphans and to teach in their schools,

then do that with your whole heart!

But if God has called you to America,

to preach the Gospel,

to birth and raise children for Him,

to disciple the converts,

to comfort the sick,

to visit the widows,

and the fatherless,

to adopt the orphan,

to help the homeless,

to send your youth to pick up

surplus apples and help

your fellow churches to

dry them for Haitian missions,

to help the elderly neighbor lady

clear her house roof of snow

when it worries her in winter,

to make meals for that busy mom 

in your church,
to care for the elderly,

to have your church families

over to your house for encouraging them

(and in turn yourself!),

to raise extra rows of veggies in your garden

to donate to the food pantries,

to show younger siblings what it looks like

to have Jesus govern your heart,

to help your parents (after they have spent

years raising you and you are now a youth)

to minister in your community in the

part/work of the Vineyard where God
has called your family...

then please know that this is just as important

as being in a country other than America,
and jump in there and do it with
ALL your heart.

There are great needs here.

There are great needs everywhere.

May the Lord depend on you?

Care.

Love.

Pray.

Do.

Be.

Jesus came to preach good tidings.

The good news?

You don't have to live in your

crummy, sinful, selfishness

a day longer than today.

He died to set you free

and He rose to cancel the power

of satan's hold on us on earth.

Do we KNOW this in our own lives?

If we do truly know

my guess is that we already are

making Him known.

Stay tuned for part 2 of

"on being a missionary..."

Love Does...

I recently was listening to Joey and Rory, a couple from TN whose music is maybe not to everyone's taste, but I heard this song awhile ago, and have been kind of following their story ever since.

That's Important to Me

Joey and Rory

They introduced me to this book:

Love Does

by Bob Goff

It's been a great read so far.

We often talk about love.

But how much do we really love?

How many of those walls that hold us back 

do we let down and let people really see

the love that Jesus gives?

I want to do a series of posts

titled 

"Love Does".

Mostly I will share pictures to show you

what love does...

Love takes the time

in the busyness

of farming,

to grind mulch hay

and spread it

over the garden

for the wife.

Yes.

Love does.

Sometimes it means

inconvenience.

Well, often it means that.

Because we all 

have our ideas of how

we will spend our days.

But love "does".

It begins in a heart

that has accepted the

love of Jesus

that is freely given.

It grows in the heart

that has purposed to

do life God's way.

I can't think of a better

person to write about

as I begin this

series.

My Farmer is

truly an unselfish, loyal

and kind man.

He takes the time out of his busy days

to answer a call from me when I

am feeling overwhelmed with schooling

'the boy', 

or when I need a lightbulb changed 

or salt added to the water softener,

and when I cried a few weeks ago 

(literally)

 that we miss him so much

since the busy farming season has kept him 

busy from morning til night,

he cleared his schedule and 

went on a few outings with us.

Love does.

And I am blessed to receive that love,

purposing also to give that love

as freely as I have received it.

"This is my commandment,

that you love one another,

as I have loved you."

~Jesus

(John 15:12)

Surrendering My "If Only's"...

My heart has been pondering this phrase ever since I found it a few weeks ago.

I echo an amen, after years of walking through surrendering many "if onlys".

I do not pine.

I choose acceptance of what God surely has 

allowed in my life.

Many of my 'if onlys' are God-designed...

things He has planned for His people,

but because of the choices of others,

they have not been fulfilled in my life.

I have had choices to make over this...

I can become a stubborn, bitter old woman

insisting that I get what I 'need' to be happy.

OR

I can choose isolation, retreating from the world,

and like Heidi's grandfather on the Alps,

spend my days simply enjoying beauty for myself

and holding people at arm's length so that I

don't have to be hurt or wronged again.

When I look at those choices, I firmly say NO.

I cannot imagine what my heart would feel like

if I would choose those ways. I believe it

would be crusted over with years of poisoned thoughts.

Instead, I surrender those 'if onlys',

and I make JESUS my everything.

He is the Answer to it all...

He is the answer when I am grieving

over the brokenness of familial relationships.

He comforts the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.

He is the restorer of my soul, and the lifter of my head.

When churches disappointed, one after the other 

and I would have fainted at the loss,

He has sustained me and showed me His way

to pray, love, and BE His

in spite of broken dreams and crushed hopes.

He is the Shepherd in whose pastures I feed,

and along whose sparkling streams I slack my thirst.

I am never in want. Ever.

And when three friends husband's chose to be 

unfaithful to them in one year's time,

leaving me staggering and hurting for them,

He has given me peace and wisdom, 

compassion and love in reaching out to

bless and support them in their hurt and need.

When forces that seemed out of my control

were influencing my son contrary to what

I spent years pouring into his life,

God gave me what I needed to 

calmly face the situations,

love my enemies, and do what was

needed to protect the innocent.

In the short 40 years I've lived life,

I have had many 'if onlys'.

And you know what?

God has never let me down.

He has taught me to praise in the midst 

of the brokenness...

to love in the midst of strife...

to do His bidding even though others

feel I should do others bidding,

and to keep my faith in Him

even though reason would say

'what's the use?!'

My experience has been

that if you keep calm 

and follow Jesus,

then things unfold for you

at just the right time.

And usually they are better,

but very different from what

I would have expected.

Go ahead. Surrender the 'if onlys'. *

The marriage that didn't work out how you thought it would.

The marriage that has not come at the age you thought it should.

The ministry you are called to do that you feel incapable of.

The ministry you wanted to do that has been given to another.

The location you wanted to live in but God called you elsewhere.

The family business you wanted your family involved in but

He has your husband busy elsewhere.

The family relationships that you wish to have but

walls you didn't make keep separation very real.

The children you hoped God would give you but He hasn't.

The friendships you dreamed of having but God has you

in a lonely place working in a briar-covered vineyard.

Whatever it is, surrender it to God.

He has a way of making beauty to come from ashes.

He knows how to perfect us,

and will use whatever means He must

in order to accomplish His plan.

Love Him and love others.

He takes care of the rest

far better than any of us can!

*The troubles mentioned in this article

are not necessarily all personal to me,

but some of them are. I have been privy

to alot of women's heartaches over the

years and generalized some of them here.

Wonderful Words of Life...

Lessons from a Campfire...

Wood has to actually come into

contact with the Fire 

in order to burn.

Fire changes the wood,

allowing it to be useful to
 produce warmth,

light, and to
 prepare nourishment

to satisfy hunger.

Fire has to be ignited 

by another Source,

but it can only

continue as long

as it is fed.

So it is in our walk with Christ.

Unless the Fire of the Holy Spirit

ignites my heart, and I 

offer myself in surrender of self

to remain lit by that Fire,

it will go out.

a cheeseburger Mountain Pie in the clean open air
of Watkins Glen, NY

When that Fire burns hot in the soul,
through obedience to God
the preaching of the Cross,
and reading His Word with a quest
to follow Christ,

it moves my heart to feed the hungry
 spiritually and physically,

to rescue the oppressed,

to visit the sick and the fatherless,

to seek the sinner and draw him to Christ,

to pray in situations that I see that need God,

and to burn away the selfishness that would 

insist on creeping into and governing my life.

Sure, it hurts but it is a good hurt,

because it yields the peaceable fruits

of righteousness.

I would not live any other way!

Wonderful Words of Life...

From My Garden...

My children in the garden a few years ago.

I like to garden. I really do, but as time passes, and my responsibilities are greater, I find that my desire to garden has diminished. It is alot of hard work to raise your own food, and to keep the weeds down. The past few summers, our veggie garden has been sadly neglected, as sickness and busy schedules did not allow much time to devote to gardening. But I MISS it.

At least 10 years ago, I heard about 'no till' gardening from a book I picked up at the local library. I read it with interest and it has 'soaked and simmered' all these years as I've gardened. A few years ago, a friend recommended that I should watch the Back to Eden film, and I put that thought on the back burner but after the third and fourth mention of it over the years by others, I decided this spring I would watch it, especially after I watched this short clip and learned of Ruth Stout's gardening methods:

Ruth Stout's Garden

I was very intrigued. This makes alot of sense to me.

So from Ruth Stout's Garden, I went on to watch 

the Back to Eden film, twice! Once by myself,

and once with the whole family, 

and we are all inspired!

We decided to give it a try.

We are preparing part of our big

vegetable garden for next summer,

and planted just a little plot for some

fall vegetables for our table.

It's been alot of fun so far.

My dad gave us a huge stack of newspapers

that were in his office,

and we've been having fun 

'dumpster diving'

at a local Mennonite bulk food store

for cardboard boxes to lay down

as a weed barrier.

Building the soil through no till gardening

really makes alot of sense to me.

We decided to use what resources we have,

and since we live on a farm,

hay and straw are readily available,

that will be our main cover.

Perhaps we will use ground leaves 

when they are available in the fall.

 

I like to grow my

own food.

 I enjoy preserving

the harvest,

and serving

that food to 

my family

in the winter

months.

I like to know

where my

food comes 

from and

how it was grown.

Being sick, and extra busy for a few summers has helped me to reinforce

the knowledge that it is not a must to do this,

and it is not even possible at times

(hello! we do not live in Bible times or Victorian days

where servants were plentiful!)

But I do like it,

and I enjoy the thought

of maybe having a way

to build the soil and have less

work in the garden simultaneously.

I bought Ruth Stout's book, and hope to 

devour it soon, too.

Here is another video I came across on mulch gardening:

Deep Mulch Gardening

Happy Gardening,

and happy summer to all,

whether you garden or not!

Love and blessings,

Marcia

 

In This World...

This post as been rolling around in my head

for days,

and in my experience

for a lifetime!

I know I said I would be

away for awhile,

but I just couldn't stay

away! :-)

I think it has finally

sunk into my heart

that this world

is not going to 

be full of 

long stretches of

laughter and 

mirth

because

it is filled with

fallen humanity,

causing all our joy

to be touched with

pain.

I have been learning

what it means

to be broken with

what breaks God's heart,

and yet not become

bitter and hard

about the

brokenness,

but to let Him

fill me with 

compassion and grace,

and a willingness to be a vessel of use

for whatever purpose He plans.

Expect trouble.

If you are a child of God,

there is not a place of

true earthly rest for you here.

YES, in HIM our hearts 

can be solid and peaceful,

but the winds will beat 'round

our ship often on the sea of life,

the hail will batter our gardens

that are growing beautifully,

death comes 'too early',

brokenness touches our families

when we thought that it was

always 'out there' somewhere

where we are not.

a field of sunflowers close to my house

Jesus has told us to take heart, tho,

because He has overcome the world.

We can lay our bleeding hearts at

the foot of the Cross,

hold onto the nail-scarred Hand

He offers daily,

trust our lives into His capable leading,

and live with abandon...

serving faithfully in the

post He calls us to.

black eyed susans blooming along the way,
a gorgeous view from my front porch

We weep.

We sigh.
We want to be Home.

We grow weary.

We find  no place to

truly fit in

because we are 

strangers here.

Guess what,

we are EXACTLY where

He wants us then,

if that is our story.

Take heart...

somehow I can hear

Jesus

speaking those words

and comforting his

disciples with them.

a sunflower that volunteered to bloom her heart out
by my birdfeeder, giving me much cheer every day

I am comforted.

I am willing.

I am His,

and He is mine.

Here's hoping you all are having a beautiful summer.

Mine has been filled with broken things,

but in the midst of it all,

there have been reminders of His grace

and His beauty surrounds me,

teaching me lessons.

Little Swan Echinacea doing what He created it to do:

bring glory to Him thru beauty along the way...

I really wish I could share this beauty with you...
phlox in the evening sunshine, it's perfume
pervading the cool New York air!

The Church of the Comfortable...

Heard this today and connected with it on many levels...

The Church of the Comfortable and Tolerant

Wonderful Words of Life...

In Psalms and Hymns...

On Sunday evening, 

we attended a praise and worship service 

where this song was sung.

I Will Walk

by Robin Mark

 It spoke volumes to me, especially this phrase:

"And I will walk with you, 

And I will find a way to show Your word is truth..."

In a world where it seems few really want to hear

the simple Truth, especially among the

churched peoples who have embraced

a false gospel,

my soul grows weary sometimes

in working in the part of the

Vineyard where He has placed me.

But I will find a way to show

His Word is truth,

by my words and by my life.

God bless and keep you, my friends.