Miracle Grow???

How are your miracles growing?  

 
When I glanced at this very old photo yesterday, it made me feel warm and fuzzy.  On THAT day, it was a miracle that we captured any love-joy.  The minutes up to this photo were wild!  #2 Son was running through the blue bonnet fields like a whirling dervish.  We begged #1 Son to lasso his little brother.  Got 'em!   How I love this bunch of hugging boys!

And so they grew....now into 22 and almost 29 year old young men. 

Had I known what was ahead of me, I could not have handled it.  

Today's Jesus Calling tells it like it is...

Six months down and six to go in 2012.  Have you been part of any miracles?  I have!  

I'm not a green thumb; but have learned I CAN grow miracles.  Thought you might like to know how.  (It is readily available AND easy to use!)  Focus on God above.  As our beloved Tracy Porter espouses, "...eyes up!"   IF I focus on the overwhelming issue or the current 'whirling dervish' of life... I am sucked right up into it!

Take a moment to soak in that devotional: "rest with Me, focus on Me, I will equip you...." Oh, it works, it works, it works.

Miracles are popping up all over my family.  They are HUGE!  I wish I could tell you all of them; but some of my peeps are a tad more private than I am.  Just trust me.  Miracles DO happen!

Open up that 'miracle grow' of YOURS!!!  


Dig deep - place your 'stuff' at the cross - cover it all with prayer - and believe!  Believe that NOTHING is too hard for Him!


I've decided to track my miracles.  A little notebook is devoted to them - big and small.  Wanna join me?????  In six months, let's see how many {more} grew?  

Get planting...

 

 

 

The Harvest Season!

I cannot wait for fall.  What you say?  Summer has just begun.  Yes, BUT...fall is my most favorite time of year.  Perhaps because it is the time of my birthday, or that it was when I got new school supplies.  "See you in September" forces me to close my eyes and sway a bit.  Fall is my 'spring' - time of renewal.


AND, everything I listen to or have read in the past few days points to a HARVEST OF JOY around the corner.  Promises in the Bible, in songs, in my readings.  


Definition of harvest:

• a yield
• the consequence of an effort or activity
• the gathering
• the season

#2 Son is to return home in September - these past 10 months have  been a Season, with a capital "S", a consequence of certain "activities" of his.  The YIELD will be repentance & restoration.  And the gathering.......oh, the reunion!  


We will have one 8-hour day with him in August - his furlough, before his sentence is over.  See?  August - fall'ish.  So much to look forward to...


Today, I was led to this Psalm of restoration:

He is bringing our family out of captivity.  Better than we ever dreamed.  We are filled with joy.  We have shed many a tear, but will reap with songs of JOY!  


Can I hear a chorus of woo-hoo's please??????


JOY to you...

No-Holds-Barred

He is poetry to me.  Strong, yet restrained.  Calm and accepting.  Loving.  So filled with love, that in his presence, I can sense it.  We don't get to hold him, hug him, or even peck him on the cheek.  But the love was pinging all around us.


We had 90 minutes today...which is 30 extra.  He wears a blue smock now - an outward signal that he is a leader.  They call those in blue "Structure."  He had to be voted on among his peers and the promotion brings perks:  more visiting time, first in line at chow.


My Guy snapped a picture while we were waiting.  What you may not be able to see is the smile.  This picture speaks a thousand words.  My boy behind bars, held back, fenced in, restricted, guarded.  You can see where this is going...

And so from here we were let in through the gate to a large room - set up in a "U" - where we sat across from #2 Son.  I then became a prisoner....restrained, held back, forbidden.  To touch.  {I did sneak a hand holding when I was sure the guard's gaze was averted}.  


I stared at him.  He looked good.  No, actually GREAT - with a touch of sunburn/tan to his face...which made him appear healthy.  As I looked at him, I couldn't help but watch him watch My Guy, his Dad.  


We womenfolk tend to notice what our guys may not.  #2 Son rarely took his eyes off of his Dad.  He'd catch me staring and I'd wink.  I wanted to capture his face on film SO badly.


My Guy has been over-the-top supportive these past 7 months and #2 Son now knows the love his Dad has for him.  I'VE known of it, but #2 Son perceived a lack.  


An interesting way to spend a Saturday: arrive early, spend an hour listening to a counselor, then 90 minutes with him.  There were varying degrees of emotion.  Faces of frustration, smiles of forgiveness, and unconditional love.   A mish-mash of humanity!


We have June, July, August and 10 days in September to ramp up and become strong and able.  He'll return home to us.  Transformed. This journey is not only about him, though.  My Guy and I must be transformed.  


What is my take-away today?  Well, appreciate what you've got people.  A dear friend is going through a very rough season with her very ill husband.  She asks us to do the same: do not take anything for granted.  I don't.


I thank God for my family.  My Guy, My Sons and the extended peeps I love.  


Blessed am I!  And in a few months, our family will be FREE. 


No-holds-barred.