Sheshequin Shubbery

Along my drive everyday there is a section of road with a cliff down to the river on one side and a cliff almost straight up on the other.  Last winter I was mesmerized by the ice that formed on the cliff.  Thick, solid ice that clung to the rocky face.  So thick that I was sure it would be June before the ice would be melted away.  It was beautiful in all its solid icy-ness, in some places an icy blue, effected by the environmental effects on the frozen water.

Spring came and the ice soon vanished (long before June), and in its place were trickles of water finding their way down from the hill above.  Depending on the rains that fell there were sometimes waterfalls of assorted sizes tricking, drizzling, or gushing down the cliff.  

As the temperature slowly increased and the days ticked by, we noticed small bits of green appearing on the rocky cliffs.  Some places it didn't even look as if there was room for anything to have a root structure let alone a good soil to grow from.  But grow the vegetation did.  As Spring slipped into Summer, greens of all sorts flourished up and down the cliff.  Trees and shrubs bloomed and were full of blossoms and leaves.  Grasses grew tall.  And "weeds" of all sorts filled in the rocky cliffside. 

I thought of the purpose of all that foliage.  What was its purpose?  It was just going to die. It could die if it was starved of water, baked in the hot sun. It would die when the temperatures dipped and froze them all off.  Did that effect how they grew?  Did the trees hesitate to flourish because their life might be cut short?  The trees further up the hill would flourish and thrive year round as it went in and out of season, living its life.  Did the plants on the rocky cliff look at the pines further up the hill and wish they were them?

No.  Every bit of green strived to be the best plant it could be.  Sprouting, budding, shining in the sun.  I remember driving by one day and the leaves of one of the bushes fluttered and danced in the wind-simply shining and being beautiful.  God created those plants to be what they are and they delivered.

Come Autumn the leaves turned pretty colors and the grass that hadn't dried up during the end of the summer drought began to wilt.  The temperature begins to drop and ice begins to grow up and down the cliff.  Before long the ice will be thick and completely covering the cliff face and effectively smothering and killing all the foliage that just spent eight months striving to grow and go through their life cycle.  Now they are gone.  Their life, a simple, short season.  But they did everything God put them on the earth to do. 

The foliage on that cliffside will not be seen by garden extraordinaries, no tours to see their amazing colors, their timber would never build anything, their fibers won't be turned into a fancy basket.  But they flourished just as God intended.

It's so easy to look at my life and think that what I'm doing is unimportant, that times of my life have no purpose.  But God created me to be what he has chosen for me to be.  There may be times that I am flourishing, shining in the sun.  There may be times where I'm crushed and smothered with cold, hard ice.  Even if my life cycle is cut short.  The time that I'm living and flourishing I want to strive to be the best I can.  To be a shining example that I'm straight on track for what God has for me. Everyday focusing others on Christ.

I'm reminded of  a few verses:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, 

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

 plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

"And we know that for those who love God

 all things work together for good, 

for those who are called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28

"The plans of the Lord stand firm forever,

 the purposes of His heart through all generations." 

Psalm 33:11

No matter what comes our way and regardless of the ups and downs; we are safe and comfortable in the very center of where God puts us!

Fennel

 Today I was trying out yet another recipe for the fam.  Hubby wanted some eggplant - finding recipes for proper gut and overall healing is becoming an adventure!  The recipe I found looked yummy, so I started to gather the ingredients which included a bucket of spices and I popped out the front door to grab some fennel (My family comments often about me feeding them "yard" in their food!).  I wanted all of the herbs and spices to be combined very well, so they all went into the mortal and pestle.  As I was picking and de-stemming the fennel and the aroma filled the kitchen (I love the smell of fennel) I noticed my hands were thoroughly saturated with the oil and smell of fennel.  

Well, anybody that is going to be around me is going to know I've been dabbling in fennel.  It prompted me to think about my life in general.  What are my hands in and actively doing that is evident to others around me.  Am I dabbling in good things, enriching others, striving to be Christ-like, discipling, etc...

Or am I sticking my hands where they don't belong?  Pulling others down, criticizing, lying, cheating, etc...  What stink have I put my hands in that I think others won't notice?

I think of the many times God mentions people's obedience, actions, and worship being a sweet aroma, a pleasing incense to him.  I want my life to be a pleasing aroma rising up to him.  I wafting of fennel incense, a sweet cumin, warm coriander, or hot cinnamon.  

I don't want my actions, feelings, thoughts to be a stench. Every summer the road we travel to work and church is littered with roadkill and leaves a fantastic stick in the hot summer sun. The farmers whose fields fill the miles and miles around us spray their fields with a pungent manure. A skunk randomly gets a fright in our neighborhood and shares his defense with us.  All these scents, unpleasant, and something I don't want God or others smelling on me.

As I was mashing and grinding the herbs and spices together I was also reminded that there are times when we need to be put through a little pressure to get the best results.  I could have sprinkled a little cinnamon here, a little coriander there, but by grinding all the spices together, they were will mixed to spread the most efficiently over the veggies. The pressure of all the grinding and smashing brought out the oils from the fresh herbs.  Sometimes we need a little pressure, a little mixing with those around us to get the best results.  

The next time I find myself rubbed the wrong way, struggling to work alongside someone; I want to remind myself that working together, going through stresses together will only strengthen us all and working together, we can make the best aroma. 

Roux

 Ever made a roux?  I hadn't until recently when I jumped back into cooking because, well, because health and our future demanded I start paying attention and filling our bodies with nutrient dense foods.  A traumatic brain injury and a stroke will cause you to take notice of things. 

Today, as most Sunday afternoons, I was in the kitchen prepping for a busy week and making sure we had lunches for everyone going every-which-way throughout the week.  One of the minors' favorites is "Easy and Comforting Ham And Potato Soup", which requires a roux to finish up the tasty soup.

I start to make the roux:  waiting for the butter to melt, measuring in the flour, waiting for the flour to turn golden, whisking in milk, and then whisking, and whisking......and more whisking.  Every time I make a roux, I'm sure that it's not going to thicken this time; it's taken far too long and it's just going to be a thin mess.  All of a sudden, it's thick and ready to go in the soup; changing the sad looking watery potato and ham soup into a wonderfully, comforting pot of deliciousness to jar up for school lunches.

As I was whisking the roux today it reminded me of all the many times I've been waiting, doing what I was sure was the right thing, but nothing seemed to be happening.  Waiting, anticipating, wondering, and more waiting for God to show me what the end result is.  All of sudden it's there, the wait is complete, the work is complete, and I'm left wondering why on earth I doubted God and His process at all.  Like the roux, watery and thin, I doubt that it's ever going to thicken. Then I turn around and the work that God has been doing is ready for it's next venture.  Sometimes the venture is huge and sometimes it seems small.  But regardless of my assessment on the subject, God is faithful and His timing is perfect.

I was recently reminded of God's timing and not my own while studying Acts.  It's so easy to read Scripture and put our own timeline on things.  A simple day or week from one chapter to another as we aimlessly read.  But a little deeper study and spans of time start showing.  In the second chapter of Acts when they are gathering together and Pentecost had arrived it had been fifty days since Passover and Christ's resurrection. 

Five years after the beginning of God's Church, the Jewish religious rulers, including a guy named Saul, stone Stephen, creating the first martyr of the Church.  Five years the Church had been growing and spreading throughout Jerusalem, while a mere eight chapters of Biblical truths, healings, and persecutions have been shared.  

Persecution breaks out in large, Christians scatter and take God's Truth wherever they spread to.  Saul is threatening Christians and heads out on a "Politically Sanctioned" vendetta, only to have God stop him in his tracks.  He gets some hardcore discipleship and must have had an uphill battle of trying to persuade the Christians he wasn't there for their heads.  In Acts 9:22-26 we surprisingly have THREE years that have passed in three short verses.  

The rest of chapter nine, ten, and a good portion of eleven has the Apostles quite busy:  Peter's seeing visions, Gentiles are seeing visions, God's laying out facts for the new church.  But reading the Scripture without studying it, it's all in a simple blink. 

End of chapter eleven and Barnabas heads out from Jerusalem to get Saul who's been up in Tarsus getting some serious discipling and bring him down to Antioch to spend a year discipling the church there.  Six years Saul was being discipled. in Tarsus.  Six years the church has been growing, learning, teaching.  When Barnabas and Saul arrived back in Antioch they spent an entire year discipling the church there. 

Three years later Barnabas and Saul head out on a Holy Spirit sanctioned, church approved Mission Trip.  Halfway through the book of Acts and we've gobbled up almost two decades!  

It's so easy to read and not realize the time that God is diligently setting up His Church.  The patience He demonstrates as he works through the people as he brings things from a watery, sloppy pot of ingredients to a beautiful golden thick roux.  The reminder that whatever we're going through and however long it may seem, God has a plan for us and if we just let him keep whisking the proper ingredients, the proper heat, for the proper time a fantastic finished product will appear.

So, I'll stop repeating, "just keep swimming..." to myself, and replace it with "just keep whisking."