Category: Thoughts on Life

Ordinary Things

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

“…you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all your undertakings.”

Day before yesterday was crazy! It started out so “ordinary.” I spent the morning getting groceries and running errands–which is a several-stop, not-my-favorite project. Bright Spot: At home I was able to gobble lunch and make some scones to share with my dear Art Friend. She came to give my preps for an upcoming art event “once-over” (Bless her heart!) As she departed I scurried out the door to the dentist with beloved Mother in tow. Ok. That wasn’t tough, I love my hygienist and just getting teeth cleaned is not bad. On our way home, at a very busy intersection, waiting for the turn-lane light to go green I realize smoke is beginning to billow from under the hood of my car. The temperature gauge is at full HOT!!!  PANIC MODE! Think fast!!

Bright Spot: My bank was literally kitty-corner from this scene of descending disaster. So, in moments I was able to pull into the parking lot, stop the engine and think what to do next. An attempted phone call to the roadside assistance company yielded a frustrating “we are experiencing higher than average call volume, please continue to hold.” 10 minutes of that and “beep”— hang up, this isn’t working. Then I remember that my banker (who is also my neighbor) is probably at or near the end of her working day. I’ll give her a call to maybe get a ride home. Bright Spot: I give her a call. “Yes! I’ll pick you up… I’m only a few blocks away.” What a God-send!

So, at home, too late to call the repair shop or tow service so Deeply Appreciated Auto will have to spend the night on its own at the bank.  Bright Spot: I’m able to give the remaining scones to wonderful, helpful neighbor/banker/friend for her help saving my hips from serious trouble.

This auto trouble was a catastrophic radiator leak. Bright Spot:  Upon reflection I was able to praise God for when, where and how it happened. Given my earlier-in-the-day travels the outcome could have been a much greater magnitude trial.

The next day was spent sorting out the tow and repair situation while continuing to work on book, Art Tour and blog projects. Oh, but I needed to pick beans! So, my focus shifted to a few quiet minutes in the garden thinking about God and His wonderful ways. Deuteronomy 12:18 “…you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all your undertakings.”

Daily, ordinary, little things are to be causes of our rejoicing in the LORD. So, I am determined to rejoice in the troubles. Look for those “Bright Spots” and give God the praise for His wonderful ordering of my daily “ordinary.”

QUESTION: What has happened in your “ordinary” day that you can see God’s work and praise Him? Will you share with me?

Mystic Quiet = Fresh Goals

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Recently my now-retired spouse proposed a fishing trip to one of his favorite spots with “would you like to go along?” attached. Inwardly I sighed and thought of all the things I wanted to do at home. But immediately my deeper desire not to waste an opportunity to spend time with him kicks in and I say, “sure!”

I pack my “art stuff” and he loads his fishing gear. We fill the camper with food and folding chairs—because coffee out in the early morning sun is a ‘must.’ As soon as we pull on to the highway a sense of relief sweeps over me. The ordinary—laundry, grocery shopping, meal prep, computer work, TV, even garden veggies needing processing—drops away and is replaced with a nearly mystic calm. The next two days will be an oasis of peace. As the miles pass so does the tyranny of the urgent.

Coffeepot lake

Ahh, quiet happiness! The solitude, beauty and peace of the lake is an emotional and spiritual elixir. As the day draws to a close the wind swirls and ebbs around me. The swallows and blackbirds glide and sit by turns. What a time of peaceful renewal that makes my heart overflow with gladness for this beautiful place.

After a deep, refreshing sleep, out comes the little notebook I grabbed as I packed. I reread the only entry—just one page—made over 3 years ago.  It sets out an ambitious plan for my writing and art.  I am stunned, surprised and encouraged!  Those goals have largely been completed! There wasn’t a fancy list, just some simple things written down that I wanted to accomplish. I didn’t put in any deadlines (though some motivational experts would say that is a critical need) I just wrote down—“said out loud”—what I wanted to do with my life.

It made me realize how truly valuable it is to set goals. To “say them out loud” (so to speak) by writing them down.

So, I am determined to use this delicious slice of quiet to ponder and make a fresh set of goals. Who knows? Three years from now I may have another book or two in print? Wouldn’t that be nice?

my goals

Question: Have you written your goals recently? Are you brave enough to “say them out loud”?

 

Wheat or Chaff?

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Psalm 1

The time of wheat harvest is upon the Palouse here in Eastern Washington. The waving golden fields are being slashed into spikey rows as modern combines gather the grain and nearly effortlessly do the work that once was grueling, back-breaking labor for hundreds of men. The process of getting wheat from field to freight trains bound for bakeries all around the world is a mystery to most of us. But that was not so to the men and women who lived in ancient times. For most of human history, wheat was scythed by hand and carried to threshing floors. There the wheat stalks were flailed and flung high into the wind. The process dropped the precious grain to the ground while the wind carried away the useless outer husks—“chaff.” In other cases, the chaff would be gathered and burned.

If you were a grain of wheat, this process of “winnowing,” as it was called, would be traumatic. You would be beaten, tossed, and dropped. But if you were the chaff, not just trauma, but catastrophe. You and the wheat would be beaten and tossed and flung high. But as the wheat safely dropped to the floor, there you are, alone, to be borne by the wind to a nameless, useless end. The wheat will remain, valuable and useful. It will become food that will nourish and sustain many. You, the chaff, will be lost and utterly useless-flung to oblivion or burned with fire.

Life is harrowing and the current times seem much like a threshing floor experience. We are being beaten, tossed and dropped. The winnowing brings turmoil, trauma. The temptation is strong to become a spiritual chameleon, to blend into the world’s pattern in an effort to avoid the chaos. There is in our fallen human heart the notion that if we just go along with what the world says we won’t have any trouble. Being “righteous” in this context is scary.

But God is at work, separating the evil from the good. As John the Baptist said of Jesus at His baptism: “His winnowing fork is in His hand and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

QUESTION:

Are you wheat or chaff? Have you repented of the sin that separates you from God? Maybe you playing close to the fire, compromising with the world in an effort to avoid the scorn of others? Beware. Both paths are perilous.

Gratitude Eclipsed

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

 

Hot weather engulfing wide swathes of our country this week stir my thinking about how we are engulfed and swayed by the immediate and often lose sight of what is really important. When the heat and humidity soar we are preoccupied with how to stay cool. We find conversations everywhere focused on the communal misery of the oppressive heat. When you are enduring triple digit heat and 99% humidity, thinking about anything else is truly difficult.

It seems the same with our political climate this past year (has it been that long already?!). The waves of words and crashing craziness combined with world events that seem careering out of control have swamped me, and I imagine many others, with a high tide of anxiety about life. It has caused me to lose sight of what is true, beautiful and lovely.  I have often not noticed the beauty of daily blessings.

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Our garden is being particularly lovely just now but there I sat in my chair, staring at it all, busy mulling morosely over the political debacles unfolding, instead of praising my Creator for such a joyous panorama.

I am in good health and, shame on me, I have failed to thank Him for that good gift today. God has put so many people in my life who are delightful. I have failed to thank Him for each one. And to compound it, I have taken them for granted failing to let them know how much I love them.

He provides a comfortable and safe home for me and given me so much to do that I have grumbled about my “overload-ness” and complained about my stress. What a shame that I have not stopped to thank Him for the talent, training, time and space to do what I love. I love caring for my husband and mother. I love being able to do laundry and hang sheets on the line to dry. I love being able to cook and eat tasty food. I love being able to lie down and sleep in peace and safety. I love being able to draw and paint and make beautiful letters with my pens.  Oh, this list could go on a long time!

God is so good to me. And how have I repaid Him? With careless ingratitude stirred with sinful anxiety. I think the best antidote to this situation is a fresh reflection on Philippians 4: 4-8.

philippians 4_8

Looking For The Way Of This Mess

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

What a mess I’ve made of things! My big mouth has gotten me in trouble again and my eye rolling and huffy sighs have fanned into flame a quarrel with my loved one. I have made a poor choice and now need to know how to “back up my truck” and start on the right path instead.

TEXT

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you…he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. Psalm 32:8, 10

When I came to this promise in Psalm 32, I was struck by the personal nature of God’s word to the reader The beginning of the Psalm declares the misery of one who is living with sin and the blessed relief when it is confessed to God and forgiven. Then, God goes on to promise to give me instruction and tells me that if I trust Him by following His teaching I will be watched over by Him and surrounded by His mercy (another word for “lovingkindness”). Wow. How amazing is that?!

When I commit sin, I am definitely not going in the way God wants me to. So the question arises: how can I know my sin? Well, the Scripture is plain. When I measure myself against the 10 Commandments- not just the bare words but their implications- I am sobered and grieved at how far short of God’s holiness I fall. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 “There is none righteous, no not one!” Romans 3:10. And right now, I know my behavior has fallen way short of the way a Jesus-follower should behave. So what’s a girl to do?! Ah, listen! Hear the wonderful words from God’s lips to your heart:

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”

God’s guidance is no mystery that only special people get from God. Anyone who needs His direction can find it. “Oh, yes,” you say, “that’s easy for you to say, but I haven’t heard God’s voice. I don’t know what He wants me to do.”

Really? Have you made a regular habit of reading the Bible? If not, why not? When you have, what sorts of things do you find there? Hmm. Well, there is a lot about what God expects of those who follow Him, and there is plenty about not partaking in the sinful things the world does.

Check out Galatians 5: 14-21. The whole Law is summed up in loving God and your fellow man. Then, the writer goes on to say, “the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealously, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing and things like these…”

This isn’t an isolated passage. Scripture abounds in clear instruction on how to live in harmony with others and gives clear definition of sin. For instance, Philippians 2:3 says “do nothing from selfish ness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves…” THERE IT IS. SIN DEFINED AND THE RIGHT COURSE POINTED OUT. How much clearer can God’s Word to me be?

I ask again, have you been reading your Bible? If you have, it is there that you will hear God’s instruction and see the way you should go. Enjoy His loving care.

Question: Will you listen to God’s instruction by reading the Bible regularly? Will you bask in the comfort of His loving, kind gaze upon you as you follow Him?

Old Age Bloom

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Lately life in our fallen world has been tugging hard on me… I am feeling “old”—a very unpleasant feeling because I am subtly saddled with the culture’s preoccupation with youth and vitality. The sense of drifting off into old age is troubling. In the past few days, knowing that I am sinking into despair over this, I have asked God for a renewed sense of joy and enthusiasm and a proper perspective on aging.
Just this morning as I was downloading pictures from my camera the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder. You see, this picture of these glorious begonias was taken yesterday—November 3.

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So what is the big deal? Well….. I live in the Inland Northwest and normally by this time of year, we have had a hard freeze and sometimes even snow. Not this year! Night before last was our first frost. Yes, first frost! Wow! Even our garden flowers have been blooming wildly until just two nights ago. This planter full of wax begonias has just gotten showier when ordinarily they would have faded back near the end of September!

Back to the photo download and God’s little nudge to my inner man. I immediately thought of the place in Psalms that speaks of how the people of God display His glory in their old age.

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What an encouraging reminder of what God plans as I age. So my prayer: “Lord, I want to be a wildly beautiful display of your glory even in my old age! Thank you for the reminder that this is Your promised plan for me!”
Question: What part of growing older is hard for you? Have you asked God to help you put it into perspective?