Covid Halloween

This Halloween is really different this year with a heightened sense of awareness and skin crawling possibilities. A day Hollywood loves to capitalize on by finding ways to scare us which, for some unknown reason, we seem to love…some of us anyway. I have a large aversion to Halloween, mostly because of some experiences I had when I was a young adult but am willing to do the Trunk or Treat at the church giving children an alternative with safety.

American Halloween started as a way to celebrate the harvest but as more immigrants came, they brought their customs and the pagan traditions like Samhain from Ireland and Scotland which honored the harvest and the dead, with people dressing up like dead people demanding sweet treats. This year Halloween also has an extra factor to make your skin crawl a bit as it’s a Blue Moon. All that really means is that it is the rare phenomenon of a second full moon in one month. First one for this month was on October 1st.

This picture from the internet even looks creepy with the tree silhouette against a blue colored moon. But with the year we have had, a blue moon and in America we add in a time change, making for a night of things that seem fearful. So tomorrow we are having a fun drive thru instead of the normal walk thru for the kids to give them a different version of Halloween, and of course there is lots of candy. Due to Covid concerns, we were told to display a purple pumpkin to show that we were Covid compliant and that we are as safe as possible…so I give you the purple family with all their best smiles.

But I want to remind you as well of beauty we can also have in not having to be fearful.

With all the craziness of Covid right now, all over the world, we can lean on Christ and let him relieve us of our fears letting him drive the car for awhile. There is an old story I love that reminds of how Jesus rides in our cars; we can zoom by him leaving him standing on the side of the road, not getting any advantage of his wisdom or we can stop and pick him up, put him in the back seat and listen to the wisdom we want to listen to ignoring the rest OR… we can drive up, slide over into the passenger seat and let him drive. Although that is the hardest way…I think it is probably the preferred way.

But in all things that you do remember to always do them with Kindness as kindness is a true reflection of Love, and Love is a true reflection of God.

Different Perspective on View

Good evening friends. Hope you are all doing well. I went to the doctor today for just a checkup and I am healthy as a horse…and heavy as one. Not a good thing. No wonder my knees are bothering me. I was so discouraged when I left and then I realized how very lucky and healthy I really am. I am fortunate to not be on any medication at all, a few supplements and that is it. I have always joked that I am not fat – just fluffy. But now it’s real.

Then on K-Love radio an encouragement message came on that gave me a different perspective. Yes I am still overweight and will work on it but the reality of it is our bodies are God’s temples. It’s where He lives. And He loves His homes, all of them regardless of how the exterior looks.

We as people stress a lot on appearance. Sometimes it is for our safety against the elements but sometimes it is judgemental, not only against ourselves but against others or what we think other people may think. But since God lives in us, He knows what our innermost parts look like and that is what he is interested in. He doesn’t care about our exterior, He wants a beautiful interior.

So while we need a healthy exterior, and interior, the condition of our heart and attitude is what needs to be the most beautiful part of us. It’s hard. There is so much around us that brings up that negative vibe that causes cracks in our beautiful interior. Then we then have to, with God’s help, do some interior renovations to make it beautiful again.

Remember that God loves you, that He will never live where He is not wanted but will thrive in us if we allow it, making us bloom like spring regardless of how it may look.

With God it is always a matter of the heart. May you feel His love this evening as He brings love, peace and flowers to your heart. And as your flowers grow, remember to be kind. Kindness is the most beautiful type of flower.

Funny Words, SoCS

You know how some words sound funny when you hear them or when you speak them. Yeah, I know I am from the south and a lot of my words sound funny to those around me now here in the midwest but do you have those words that you over enunciate because they are fun to say. Linda Hill has challenged us to day with Stream of Consciousness Saturday to use a word we had to look up.

For me, one of those is in scripture and while it may sound different, it has a powerful meaning – propitiation. That’s a 5 syllable word, at least it is in the south. It’s a word that has tripped me up a bit because for a long time I didn’t really understand its significance. A devotion I read the other day with Oswald Chambers spoke about it in 1 John 2:2.

Webster’s defines propitiation “1 – the act of gaining the favor or goodwill for someone or something, something that appeases; 2 – an atoning sacrifice.”

An atoning sacrifice, that is a phrase I fully understand. Jesus sacrificed himself to satisfy the wrath of God so that we would not have to. Wow. Intellectually I understand that but my humanness asks the age old question…“WHY”.

That’s why. It is a gift of grace. Something we don’t deserve or have the ability to earn.

His love for us can not be shaken, destroyed or matched.

There are some of us who are hurting today in some form or fashion, or we have family or friends who are hurting and scared. I encourage you today to hang on to His outstretched hand. The road you are on is hard, bumpy and filled with holes but God’s love for you is strong, smooth and everlasting. And remember, it’s only temporary and He is always walking right beside you.

So feel His love and surrounding peace today. I promise the Holy Spirit inside of you knows exactly how you feel and He is letting God know even when you can’t tell Him. Take a deep breath of His love and relax in His grace. And as you go along your journey, remember to always be kind. It is a reflection of Christ in your inner being.

Been Busy

I have been so super busy since the end of September that I have not had time to even look at the computer much less get on it to write. In September I finished painting and decorating the kitchen from the grossness of tacky wallpaper…

I show this corner of the kitchen as it goes down to the basement because it shows the most wall. Tiny kitchen…way too busy a wallpaper. Time to get rid of it. So I stripped it off, and repainted and added more interesting décor.

The plants in the hangers are live. I decorated the grapevine wreath on the wall and now the room looks bigger. Then my Christmas project came in…

So since the kitchen was done, I have been getting the wooded decorations painted to hang on the fence with garland and red bows. Here are a few of the 11 balls. They go up 1st week of November. Yes I decorate early. And this year we are looking to get it done and have better things for the coming year.

So now we are varnishing them to protect them. And while the paint is drying, I am posting. As I sit on my couch and watch the feeders, I forget how big the Blue Jays are when I usually just have the Chickadees or sparrows.

It is fun in life sometimes to just stop and watch nature’s beauty that is all around you. So take the time today to see the beauty surroinding you and remember to always be kind.

One all the painting is done, I will get back to my daily words of interesting tid bits. Be safe.

Negative to Positive

Good evening family. I sincerely pray you are doing well, even those who are really struggling, I pray you can find joy and peace in His presence. I read something last week and caught myself needing it today so I had to check myself. In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young made the comment of how easy it is to become negative when life explodes around us. We all have those moments where we just vent before exploding and we jump on the negative train as it starts to barrel down the mountain. If we don’t stop the train quickly it will spiral downward gaining momentum and darkening our perspective and possibly ending in an ugly mess at the bottom.

It is hard to not be negative when nothing seems to be going right around us but God tells us to trust him. He has a plan and He has got you in His hand.

When we “go all in” with trusting the Lord, a sense of hope surrounds us and transforms the negatives into positives creating an anchor of inner peace.

God stands ever ready in every storm of our life to turn those hopeless situations into victories. We may not see the victory at first but with trust in Him we know it will eventually rise to the top.

So, I encourage you tonight to trust Him and feel His love, hope and inner peace lift you with calm reassurance as He holds firmly to your hand.

Have a blessed evening and great day tomorrow and remember to always be kind.