A Truly Good Life

I Timothy 6: 18-19  "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."


This is #BirthdayWeek. My husband's comes first, then a week later, mine. A couple of years ago, I found the perfect thin, artificial Christmas tree for a corner of my home below the stairs. It sits in a beautiful pedastal pot. I loved it so much, after many years not putting up a tree, I decided to decorate it for the coming up holidays after Christmas.

A Valentine's Day tree, a St. Patrick's Day tree, an Easter Tree.

Then, once those passed and the weather began warming up, I took the tree down until the late fall, Thanksgiving week.

But not this year. COVID19 keeps us home bound and I just like my crazy tree. So, I decided to decorate it for #Birthdays.

It required a trip to Dollar Tree, one store I can count on to be open for some "essentials."

What can I decorate a tree with for birthdays? Balloons and bows!

Found a cute changeble date calendar at Dollar Tree

I share a birthday with a friend I've known since 2nd grade. That is a very long time! She lives in Michigan. Purchasing a beautiful card and writing a note, butterfly stickers on the envelope, I got it in the mail early...

Then it dawned on me, I forgot to put a stamp on it. I can't blame this on the "virus," can I?

I received the most beautiful, special birthday card today from my sister and a surprise visit from co-workers.

Celebrate Good times, Good friends, family.

~~~

Walking around my neighborhood, I stopped to take a picture of this driveway artwork. #COVID19 inspired, the heart also reminds me of hands on each side, holding the world. Yes, it is temporary, just like my tree, a reminder of so much to be thankful for because the world is spinning fast and right now, we're hunkered down in our own little world, zooming and coloring, sewing masks and binge watching all of Netflix, baking bread, gardening...

What are you doing you wouldn't have done before COVID19?

Celebrate health, privilege, opportunity, talents, discoveries in our world, in yourself, in God.

How is Your relationship with Him?  Have you got the time?

~~~

At the beginning of this week,  a minimum of 16 chrysalises spread themselves from one end of my butterfly garden to the other. COVID19 afforded me the time to watch, chart and capture the event of metamorphosis in each step. I learned that some are not successful. One butterfly emerged damaged, unable to fly. I did the research on what to do and settled on leaving it up to nature, partially. I did give it some honey water which it gladly drank from and I kept it close to many flowers it walked on and hopped around with its curled up wings.

I also experienced a butterfly that could not emerge from the chrysalis. For many hours it struggled and though I tried to help the process, it as well did not survive.

Yesterday and today, many birthdays happened. Chrysalises opened up everywhere and healthy Monarch butterflys emerged to check out the world from a much different perspective.

A hummingbird made a nest in the middle of my front patio on a butterfly ornament.

My best friend put her beloved pet down today.

The governor and mayor reported the new statistics and crowds gathered at the beach to "protest" lockdown and closed recreation areas.

Celebrate life, love, gifts, freedom.

Life consists of good things and things we make good.
Life is constant and changing.
Life is fleeting and precious.
Life is worth living...at home, in the garden, with each other and family.
Hopefully, we'll be able to have beach bonfires again soon.
With God, we can take hold of life, the good and the not so good, with hope.
Make life good by being good to each other.

God makes all things good in His time. He celebrates us and doesn't forget a stamp! (He doesn't need one)!

Heaven is the hope we hold on too. Let us reflect that, in the good and not so good. In this COVID19 time, may we look back and say, that was not so bad, this is the good that came from such as time as this...

Lord, we thank you for the good times and yes, we can, with faith, give thanks even for the hard times, the sad times and dissappointments. In You, all things work together for the good to those who call You Lord. We pray for strength when our days seem long or uninspired. We thank You that You bestow grace on us, when we least expect it and forgive us always. Help us Lord, to be generous and help others see the Good in life, a life lived for bringing You the Glory. Thank You Lord for one more year. May I bring You praise and glory to the best of my human capabilities and may You Lord be seen in my goodness, not of myself, but because You are Good to me. Grace Upon Amazing Grace.
Amen.

The Prayer Garden

Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O Lord, Thou wilt hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch. 

I don't know why, but something called me outside this morning. I knew what that meant--I'd be lolly gagging with the flowers and bugs and not getting my walk in before the heat. Still cool, I grabbed my coffee and camera and went out back to sit and chat with the Lord. A dialogue happens while walking too, but a garden...well it just seems like a natural place to connect. 

OK God, here's the deal. You are so awesome in all things that You orchestrated this week. How can I not trust you?  And here I am, asking for just that, ... a little more faith, guidance, some peace.

The Tiger Swallowtail moves in on the end of that thought and for once...actually lands and stays on a zinnia right in front of me. I know this guys name for sure. He's been with me for 8 years now, coming alongside me in my grief, healing and purpose. I take his picture in his graceful pose and I name him Grace butterfly. I feel the bubbling up of faith and trust and I can't help but be thankful. 

In less than the time it takes to fly from one flower to the next, his buddy comes soaring in. Bright orange and white, I am thinking it is a Monarch.  Making his appearance quite regularly these last few weeks, today he is not at all camera shy. Diving in, he takes a look around and pops over the fence, around the tree and continues the relay. I hear God tell me something;  this guy has a different name. The butterfly provides for me an opportunity to take his picture many times. His name is Provision. 

How many more can I capture this morning Lord? What else are you giving me, that I asked for, sought for, knocked this morning for?  I am overwhelmed and blessed. 

When we think we don't have any peace, maybe we're just focusing on the negative, not seeing the goodness. It's there, really. Push back the clutter, the midnight minions that worry us  and ask God to open up your eyes to see Him. He waits for the discovery, down in the mess of fallen leaves...but also near the root, where life springs forth. 

The white flag of peace, waving in the earth, another attribute of the Lord along with His sovereign Grace and Provision. When I look in my garden at any given time, I see these guys. They love to fly in pairs, playing off each other and enjoying the flowers.  Now I name her Peace. She flies through and I know she wants to visit everywhere;  to go around the world in her life time,  fly into classrooms and executive board meetings, into huts and alleys, homeless shelters and NICU's, cemeteries and slums, GOP debates and over oceans where people are lost or sailing away to look for her. Peace, it's not elusive. It's so much like the butterfly, something that became transformed, a beautiful hope. 

The hummingbird reminds me to keep busy, keep praying, keep believing, knowing and sharing the GRACE that meets me every morning.  He hears my prayers and PROVIDES His mercy, within His will and timing. It is OK that I ask Him again, for I am weak at times, many times...I live in this crazy world, still human every morning but graced. Each day I ask for continued strength. The PEACE of God, I read and cling to in His Word and know it. I recognize His voice.  He promises that His goodness is sufficient. I am among the transformed and He gave me a new name as well. I continue to eagerly watch  and listen to His voice of Love. 

These guys, clipper butterflies, too numerous to count, I named my  PRAYER WARRIORS; my church, my closest friends here and a far. I love you and your strength. Your  love and support in return cannot be captured in a blog or a few pictures. 

Lord, I am just thankful for so much this week. To want to express it in my writing, sometimes  does not feel like enough. I never want to stop being overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and how You minister to me. Keep flying in Lord.  What ever words I can come up with, may it be all for Your Glory. Not just working in me, but  Lord, my family is seeing You as well. Your goodness flies all over this world and may those who seek your GRACE, Your PROVISION, Your strength in FELLOWSHIP  and Your PEACE, find it soon and continue until Your Glory returns. Amen.  

~~~

When I came in from my garden, the morning sun ablaze now, I postponed my walk.  Logging  back into my Facebook account, an old classmate sent me this picture, the exclamation mark to my prayers.  God is good. 

In The Sky Above (Chino Hills).

Acts 2:19a "And I will grant wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath."  


I decided to go.  No, I did not know her personally.  CommUnity-Unity.  I come, united in purpose, to mourn, remember, pray, light a candle. 

The flame keeps going out, the wind a hindrance. 

Yet that stranger persisted. He handed me another candle, protected by a plastic cup. 

I scootched it up so the wick was below the top of the cup, protected and the flame remained. 

CommUnity. 

Guitar strums plunked and a voice sang out.  An Irish dialect read scriptures; Parish Priest of the Holy, of the Redeemed, of those left to do the dialoging, listened as CommUnity. 

And I prayed, asking, why God, is this really happening again? Words reminded us, "Tragedy brings us closer to the Lord or it pushes us farther away. I pray you make the right choice. She would want that from you today." 

 I stopped asking, for I know that to be true. 

I stood behind, on the hill above the valley of the green basketball court designated for the stage, the candle-holding crowd wrapped around in a U, a Unity of honor and support for the family.  

I saw, from my perspective, the whole of the gathering, the trees, the earth below, the sky.  I could take it all in. 

And I did. 

The hummingbird did not flit and zoom, did not do a fly by.  

She hovered. Right in the middle of it all. 

Not for a few seconds, but for many minutes. 

Word-filled, comfort-giving, scripture-reading, candle-lighting, Amazing Grace singing, minutes.  

She moved, a few inches this way, a few inches that way.  I'm sure, a nest waited somewhere for her, a nectar-filled feeder beckoned for her, her mate lingered somewhere.  

Yet, she had business to do. She needed to do something very important. She needed to watch over the Unity gathering, She needed to declare His glory. She received her assignment that day, and she obeyed her Creator. 

Apparently, she was witnessed by more than just myself. 

Then we become His witness, testifying of the Sweet Nectar that is life-giving.  

I believe in the supernatural works of the Lord. I believe in the Creator of Nature doing something Super. 

A hummingbird sign, a wonder, a Wonder-filled glimpse of His love. 

The song continues, "when we've been there, ten-thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days, to sing God's praise, then when we've first begun." 

I felt the presence of the Lord, for He is a Light that never burns out and a giver of peace. He manifests within nature, in a tiny hummingbird above a grieving crowd, a soaring eagle above a soldier's brave duty, a ladybug on a headstone in the dead of winter, a rainbow of promise, or in a rabble of Swallowtail butterflies guiding me on the path of His plan.  Today, this hummingbird moment comforted.  For those who made the connection, we will crave the sight again, crave the God-wonder-sign who fills our hearts with hope. 

Thank you lady hummingbird for giving us hope in such a broken, sorrow-filled world. We are grateful Lord for showing us a glimpse of Your Glory through our tears. Lord, You created us to be Your ultimate sign of wonder, to be super-natural in an un-natural world bent on blocking You from our view, snuffing out our light.  I pray for the broken-hearted from yet another senseless tragedy. May we hover close to Your desire for us and walk in a path that gives hope and healing, lighting candles in the darkness. May many hummingbirds (Your Spirit) hover for many days to come and heal the broken hearts of Isla Vista, Chino Hills, the World. Amen.  

Written in memory of Chino Hills own, Katherine Cooper and the other victims of the UCSB tragedy.
                                                                                 
                                                                                      ~~~


Blessing: WestCoast magazine published this story in their July issue.