I’ve been thinking about my list that we talked about earlier. I began to compile some entries of things I would like to accomplish, places I would like to see, and just some general things I would like to experience. Then I was interrupted by some philosophy on the subject.

As a whole I think lists of these kinds are a good thing. Life gets busy. Perhaps it’s good to have some of these things recorded lest a lack of being able to focus and see them before me would cause me to miss an opportunity to achieve a God-given desire of the heart.

However, I know people who allow their lists to keep them living a life of want. Their hopes, dreams, and wishes are not winged preparing them for the future. Rather they serve as weights that keep them in perpetual discontent.

I have had seasons of discontent. For me continual dissatisfaction is not way to move forward. This kind of thinking is frustrating and stagnating.

In Philippians 4:12-13 Paul says, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

1 Timothy 6: “But godliness with contentment is great gain.

However, there is the other side of the coin. Contentment can also be used as an excuse for becoming spiritually and physically dormant. I have also been plagued by the “good enough for me” mentality. This also has never proved to be a philosophy useful for moving forward.

God has a lot to say about contentment in the Bible. Contentment in Him. However, as far as I can tell God’s contentment is not about living at a standstill but about action.

I'll put a few of these things at the top of my list:

1 Timothy 6: 11-12 (Paul's Charge to Timothy)

• pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
  
• Fight the good fight of the faith.
  
• Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Philippians 4:8-9

• Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
• Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 3:12-14

• Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
  
• But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
  
• straining toward what is ahead,
• I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 37

• 1 ^[a] Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
• 3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
• dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
• 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
• 5 Commit your way to the LORD;
• trust in him and he will do this:

6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

• 7 Be still before the LORD and
• wait patiently for him;
• do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
• 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

So having said all of that here is the rest of my list in progress:

• I would like to travel to Ireland where it surely seems that God’s favorite color is green.
• …and to the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan, where God proves he doesn’t pick favorites.
• I would also like to visit Australia (I love the accent) and tour Europe.
• I have had my sights set on a hot air balloon ride for years.
• I plan to become a published author.
• Finish my college education
• Learn to make stained glass
• Build bird feeders with my sons and take up watching the birds on short winter days
• Whale watching
• Disney World. . . to be continued. I would love to hear some of yours.

Have a great day.

Shakespeare in the Parks

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. ~ Henry David Thoreau

“I’m going to take the time to do that one of these days.”

One of these days . . . is such a presumptuous phrase. I assume I’ll be given all the days I want to do those things that I want to get around to. This week an opportunity knocked to do one of those things that I've been going to do for a long time.

Every summer Montana State University goes on the road to present Shakespeare in the Parks. Each performance is offered at no charge to the public. It was a fantastic experience. The first evening I sat with my sons in a local park which was transformed into a wonderful outdoor theater. We watched and listened as the cast brought Shakespeare’s “Alls Well That Ends Well” to life.

In the distance you could here children playing in the park. Birds fluttered and twittered about in the nearby tree branches. Clouds rolled in and out creating an ever changing backdrop for the stage.

The second evening my husband joined us for “Macbeth” in a nearby town. It started out equally as wonderful. However, we soon discovered that outdoor theater is not without its drawbacks. The play included some stormy scenes and thunderous sound effects. About half way through the performance there was no more need for sound effects. Nature provided all the stormy elements. The play was called due to lightening followed moments later by a torrential downpour. Maybe you’ve heard of the curse of Macbeth.

Anyway, I was so blessed to be a part of Shakespeare In The Parks. The performances were wonderful and I soaked up the culture of the arts like a sponge. Perhaps best of all is that I was in such good company. Being joined by my teenage sons and later by my husband (. . . and of their own free will) was awesome. On the way home we talked about the plot and the characters and how some of the characters reminded us of people we know. Of course I thought to myself,“What took me so long?"

Talking isn't doing.
It is a kind of good deed to say well;
and yet words are not deeds.
William Shakespeare

Roots

Job 14: 7-9

7 "At least there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.

8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,

9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

~Robert Louis Stevenson






Jeremiah 17: 7-8

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

I know the physical, emotional, and spiritual vibrations of being uprooted.

Thankfully I also know the assurance of being rooted in God’s love. A heart (or a tree) can survive the most difficult storms if God’s hand is gripping the roots.

When it rains, it pours

When it rains, it pours! The last couple of weeks I have been smack dab in the middle of a downpour of blessings.

I have been told that the two weeks of rain earlier this year brought portions of Wyoming more precipitation than we normally get in an entire year. It’s been wonderful. The desert is a lovely shade of green, forest fires are at bay, and the crops look promising. The small lakes have water and the rivers and streams are flowing.

It’s a great head start on the season. Though nature has made provisions to make it last through mountain run-off, much of the early moisture will be long gone by the end of summer. It is evaporated, absorbed, and used. The head start, however, provides strength for the growing season and relieves effects of arid weather making future precipitation more beneficial.

I belong to a very small church in an area of Wyoming where Christianity is not necessarily in the majority. For the third year in a row we have been the destination of an amazing team of missionaries from Arizona. We now fondly refer to their time here as Arizona Week. This year Arizona Week was actually two weeks of sweat, friendship, and awesome accomplishment. We had the opportunity to work along side these folks as they rewired electricity, plumbed, cleaned, prayed, laughed, built, painted, and coached.

One of their primary goals was to help us hold a sports camp for children. Along with the teaching of soccer and basketball skills the “coaches” taught biblical truths to our young sports enthusiasts. It was a great (and exhausting) experience powered by God.

The “Arizona Team” is an awesome example of selfless love and servitude. Their time here affects my spirit much the same way that the uncharacteristic rains this year affected the Wyoming desert. Working along side of them gives me strength and encouragement for the journey and relieves the effects of spiritual dryness. I see in them the potential each of us has in being children of God.

Like a Thanksgiving feast, I take in as much as I can. The nourishment is needed for growth and I thank God for them. Also like Thanksgiving dinner and the ample rain showers I really can’t get enough to last all year. Now that I have once again been given a burst of blessings I need to continue onward and upward toward the goal. I want to be prepared to absorb the moisture when and where it is offered and to pass it on at every opportunity.

Staying in Shape

We began each day of sports camp with stretching and warm-up exercises. Sounds easy enough. I am quite active in my daily routine at work and in the garden. I live a relatively healthy lifestyle. However, it was here, at the very beginning that I realized how out of shape I had become. At first, I thought I was keeping up pretty nicely. I could meet all of the necessary requirements for warming-up. . . I thought. It was then that I discovered that I had aced the introductions to the exercises. I was not really prepared for the, “O.K., now let’s do ten of those” portion of the program.

I can’t help but make the comparison to my Christian walk. It doesn’t usually seem too tough. I am able to do all of the “necessary” things. Then I wondered. Am I prepared for what God has planned for me? Am I ready for the real application where the rubber hits the pavement? Or am I terribly out of shape despite my daily activities?

Like A Well-Watered Garden

Isaiah 58: 11

The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

A couple weeks ago I finally got a vegetable garden planted. It has been one of things that has taken up permanent residency on my list of things I want to do. I haven't had much luck in the past. Okay, it's not so much about luck. I just haven't done a very good job.

I have had these grandiose ideas about how to fill my sizable garden plot. I've been known to spend hours searching through seed catalogs and way too much time at the local green house. I have even used graph paper to design the vegetable rows and squash hills. I have discovered that with some creative hoeing you can make the water between the rows run up hill (well, sort of). I learned that having grand ideas for my garden does not make me a great gardener. It doesn't take long until I am overrun by weeds and unable to take care of the daily maintainence that such a splendid design requires. I temporarily gave up and have not planted anything the last couple of years.

While on my gardening hiatus, I realized that I missed
it. I missed working in the dirt, planting seeds, and waiting for them to come to life. Gardening puts me in the center of God's handiwork. In the garden I can clear my mind, get dirt under my fingernails and wait for the miracle of every bloom.

This year I planted about an eighth of the available space. My husband tilled the soil. My son hoed the rows and together we planted a few tomatoes, peppers, and bean plants. And zucchini . . . because zucchini pretty much grows itself.

I also ventured a little deeper into the flower bed with some marigolds and sunflowers. I was filled with excitement to discover that every sunflower seed had poked through the soil. Now I can watch with anticipation as they grow noticeably every day.

The garden is full of simple and precious lessons for me. For example: Over planning beyond my means and ability just to fill space is not a good idea. Acknowledging God's roll in everything that grows, including friendships, children, and my relationship with Him is imperative to being blessed by the results. The weedy things are much easier to handle if you tackle them as they come rather than letting them get out of control.

Have a Great Day
~Lisa

Some thoughts on lists and busy-ness

This is the time of year when I am most susceptible to the onslaught of the busy-ness virus. I’m not exaggerating when I say that busy-ness can be a viable disease in my life, especially spiritually speaking. I'm not talking about the productive and meaningful kind of busy. I'm referring to the unfruitful, running around in circles kind.

The illness of busy-ness first attacks my priorities causing me to temporarily alter the importance of things. Then, once my priorities are “adjusted” it’s easy for infection to set in. The primary symptoms of incoming toxicity are frustration, irritability, and poor workmanship. Then the nutritional deficiency (a.k.a. less Bible reading, prayer, and fellowship) begins to have effect. With these factors in place the unfavorable environmental factors become poisonous and balance is just a memory.

In short, it is much easier to nip busy-ness in the bud than it is to stop it once it’s started. I’ve found some preventative measures that seem to be working for me. First of all, when I start to feel the frenzy I spend more time being nourished by the Bible and prayer. Staying tuned in tends to give my priorities more immunity. More recently I’ve started making lists.

Lists are good for short and middle term things that I need to keep organized. Checking off the list gives me a sense of accomplishment and hope that I am making progress.

Another Kind of List

I’ve also become increasingly aware of another kind of list. Long term lists of goals, hopes, and dreams. We recently watched “The Bucket List” on DVD. It was a lot more thought provoking than I had anticipated. Without giving too much away I’ll try to say something about what I got out of the movie. The “bucket list” itself started out as a philosophical assignment to create an inventory of things to do before one “kick’s the bucket”.

I’ve never made a real “bucket list” but I have a rather rough and incomplete draft of one that simmers somewhere in the back of my mind. The list of things we want to do or to accomplish in life would be very revealing of what is in the soul. I wondered, if I had such a list, how in the end, my list of “wannas” would compare to the list of things that I actually did accomplish. In the movie the list boiled down to what brings us joy and what gives joy to others. Hmmm, something to think about.

Last year I read “101 Things You Should Do Before Going to Heaven”, by David Bordon and Tom Winters. The title pretty much tells what it’s about. I got it back out as my mind turned to the concept of lists. There are some things listed in the book that I probably wouldn’t put on my list, but it helps me get the wheels turning. Here’s a few chapter headings: Eat Cheesecake for Breakfast, Be An Answer to Prayer, Grow a New Friend, Read the Classics, Clean Someone Else’s Toilet.

I’m going to start an official list of my own. I don’t think it can hurt to record the desires of the heart. Maybe bringing these things forward a little with some focus and attention will open my spiritual ears to better hear the plans God has for me. I expect some things on the list will change as I change and my hearing becomes sharper. I also expect that some things on the list will never change.

I’m not going to make a lot of rules and regulations for my list. I’m going to allow the frivolous and impractical to sit with the heartfelt and soulful. Then I plan to listen.

1 King 19: 11-12 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

The prescription I've written myself for the prevention of busy-ness is to be still before the LORD. For me this is the most challenging and most important aspect of my lists, my thoughts and my actions.

As the list or lists develop I will share them here. Are you a list maker? I would love to hear about what's on your list. Thanks for stopping in. - Lisa

Lord, let it be so!

John 15: 1-3 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

Jeremiah 17:7-9

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."