I have been reading alot about sabbatical and rest and all that. After the last year of high stress and such I'm feeling a wee bit drained. I've been writing fresh flowers for quite some time now and it seems good to my husband, the Holy Spirit and myself to take a rest. So there won't be much around here for the next three months. However, I would appreciate your prayers as I do the following:
1. Rest from writing
2. Refresh my spirit so that there is more to give
3. Ponder the process of huge life changing decision making that we are in the middle of.
Oh yeah, we have 4 gift sets of Fresh Flowers - an inspirational journal and King of All Creation CDs left. That's all they'll ever be, we aren't making anymore. So whoever yells first will get them. $25 for both - a steal of a deal!
And now, I am going to eat late night KD with my wonderful husband and begin resting...aaaahhhh
Monday, November 20, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
fresh flowers for Nov 15
This is an excerpt from "Heart to Heart" - a newsletter I receive. I don't think I could say this any better!
Lani
THE APPLE SERMON
Thanks to Annamarie Kresge in Virginia for this devotional!
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago . They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples.
Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding. All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.
The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"
She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister....." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"
Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world (shopping, working, reacting to others that are serving us) that is blind to His love, life and grace.
If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit. Let us live like we are worth the price He paid.
"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."
Our lives are full of brokenness - broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful, except by returning again and again to God's faithful presence in our lives.
Make no judgements where you have no compassion.
Lani
THE APPLE SERMON
Thanks to Annamarie Kresge in Virginia for this devotional!
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago . They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples.
Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding. All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.
The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"
She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister....." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"
Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world (shopping, working, reacting to others that are serving us) that is blind to His love, life and grace.
If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit. Let us live like we are worth the price He paid.
"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."
Our lives are full of brokenness - broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful, except by returning again and again to God's faithful presence in our lives.
Make no judgements where you have no compassion.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Yeah for Oxy-Clean! Mr. Sketch markers do come out with soaking and prayer!! My couch covers look lovely once again. My fabric therapy led towards making lovely cushion covers for my couch and my bed. My baby screamed all night so I wasn't so chipper today. More fabric therapy...family birthday party. Hangin' out.
Friday, November 10, 2006
fabric therapy time
4 of my 6 children are away at sleep-overs as ov 1:30 pm, Friday, November 10, 2006. My eldest has a friend over for a long-overdue promise to have a LOTR video marathon. Just the babe to contend with! Fabric therapy may actually happen.
Definition of fabric therapy - I go sew something pretty that I don't have to sew, just because I want to and it's fun!
The dirty bathrooms will wait, won't they?
Definition of fabric therapy - I go sew something pretty that I don't have to sew, just because I want to and it's fun!
The dirty bathrooms will wait, won't they?
Thursday, November 09, 2006
mindless posting
why am I up and blogging at this hour?
- cause the alarm system went off
- realized the dog chewed through the wire
- blogged while my multi-talented honey fixed the problem
- blogged while my very awake honey drank chai and read over my shoulder
- blogging while doggie goes out to do his business
need to get doggie in before doggie wakes up entire neighborhood - must be responsible pet owner
-really tired, long day, need to figure out how to remove purple Mr. Stinky marker from couch
ok done now
- cause the alarm system went off
- realized the dog chewed through the wire
- blogged while my multi-talented honey fixed the problem
- blogged while my very awake honey drank chai and read over my shoulder
- blogging while doggie goes out to do his business
need to get doggie in before doggie wakes up entire neighborhood - must be responsible pet owner
-really tired, long day, need to figure out how to remove purple Mr. Stinky marker from couch
ok done now
fresh flowers for Nov 10
3 for 1 event
copyright 2006, lani wiens
a fresh flowers original
Fresh flowers continue to pop up regularly in my day, however, getting them to the display case seems to be a bit of a difficult thing to do since my baby showed up! So, here are a few tidbits that have been running around in my head until a fuller bouquet can be made...
Halloween - a blessed event
Yup, I think I've converted. I think that there are probably more people who act Christ-like on Halloween then any other day of the year. When else do people go out of their way to spend money on total strangers? When else do people fling open their doors and give to whoever asks? When else do we have the freedom to knock on our neighbor's doors and invite ourselves in, be it ever so briefly? When else do we have the opportunity for the world to come to our door so we can love them? Hide in my basement with all my lights off and be miserly? I think not...
Home - truly where your heart is
As we contemplate the possibility of moving again, not just across town but to a whole other life style and area we have have to make some mental adjustments. What is a house after all but four walls and a roof? Any place that is warm and dry will do in the end. When we looked at the faces of our six children and each other, my husband and I realized that we can be home wherever we are as long as we can have these that are most precious with us.
Then we contemplated moving on a far more eternal scale as we said good-bye to our friends' young son. Home is really not here at all. We truly are just passing through in these temporary shells. Home is in heaven, where we'll be all that we were created to be, finally.
Dehydration
It's amazing how exciting a pee-filled diaper can be after waiting for over 12 hours to see one happen. We had some nasty flu and cold bugs running through our house over the last two weeks which hit the girls the hardest. The process of rehydration is tedious and lengthy. We needed to feed Elizabeth every 15 minutes a tiny bit of liquid, hoping it would stay in her system long enough that eventually she would absorb enough liquid to eliminate wastes once again. Dehydration in babies can be a serious, even deadly thing. While I was going through this process I realized I was feeling a bit dry myself, but in the spiritual sense.
Re-hydrating my spiritual self wasn't that different than what I was doing with my daughter's physical body. Little bits, very often and soon the wastes start coming out. Then you can handle greater volumes and then finally back to solid food again. It isn't good for us to get spiritually dehydrated, unfortunately the symptoms present themselves far too often. I have no tears left, I'm listless and have no energy to fight against the onslaught of the enemy that is trying to take over my system. My mouth is dry, there is no praise or thanksgiving being offered, and the toxins aren't being flushed out of my system. Won't take long and I'll wither up. How's your hydration level?
LARGE FAMILY BONUSES: While it's true that in a large family it's difficult to find time to yourself, it's also easy to find someone to talk to or to get a hug from because there's always someone around.
copyright 2006, lani wiens
a fresh flowers original
Fresh flowers continue to pop up regularly in my day, however, getting them to the display case seems to be a bit of a difficult thing to do since my baby showed up! So, here are a few tidbits that have been running around in my head until a fuller bouquet can be made...
Halloween - a blessed event
Yup, I think I've converted. I think that there are probably more people who act Christ-like on Halloween then any other day of the year. When else do people go out of their way to spend money on total strangers? When else do people fling open their doors and give to whoever asks? When else do we have the freedom to knock on our neighbor's doors and invite ourselves in, be it ever so briefly? When else do we have the opportunity for the world to come to our door so we can love them? Hide in my basement with all my lights off and be miserly? I think not...
Home - truly where your heart is
As we contemplate the possibility of moving again, not just across town but to a whole other life style and area we have have to make some mental adjustments. What is a house after all but four walls and a roof? Any place that is warm and dry will do in the end. When we looked at the faces of our six children and each other, my husband and I realized that we can be home wherever we are as long as we can have these that are most precious with us.
Then we contemplated moving on a far more eternal scale as we said good-bye to our friends' young son. Home is really not here at all. We truly are just passing through in these temporary shells. Home is in heaven, where we'll be all that we were created to be, finally.
Dehydration
It's amazing how exciting a pee-filled diaper can be after waiting for over 12 hours to see one happen. We had some nasty flu and cold bugs running through our house over the last two weeks which hit the girls the hardest. The process of rehydration is tedious and lengthy. We needed to feed Elizabeth every 15 minutes a tiny bit of liquid, hoping it would stay in her system long enough that eventually she would absorb enough liquid to eliminate wastes once again. Dehydration in babies can be a serious, even deadly thing. While I was going through this process I realized I was feeling a bit dry myself, but in the spiritual sense.
Re-hydrating my spiritual self wasn't that different than what I was doing with my daughter's physical body. Little bits, very often and soon the wastes start coming out. Then you can handle greater volumes and then finally back to solid food again. It isn't good for us to get spiritually dehydrated, unfortunately the symptoms present themselves far too often. I have no tears left, I'm listless and have no energy to fight against the onslaught of the enemy that is trying to take over my system. My mouth is dry, there is no praise or thanksgiving being offered, and the toxins aren't being flushed out of my system. Won't take long and I'll wither up. How's your hydration level?
LARGE FAMILY BONUSES: While it's true that in a large family it's difficult to find time to yourself, it's also easy to find someone to talk to or to get a hug from because there's always someone around.
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