"Though He Fall"

At various and sundry times in my life I have had falls. I remember as a child of seven running on a gravel country road in my native island of St Lucia. I fell and I can still almost feel the horrible pain of my skinned up knee which still bares the scar of that. In the intervening years I have had other similar falls...even as an adult.

Two days ago was yet another one.

I was walking home from the Bible college, a chance to get a leisurely 25 minutes of exercise. About half-way home I tripped on a lombada (speed bump). I suppose I was looking off to the side at some flower (my normal thing to do), did not notice the rise in the pavement...and down I fell. For two or three seconds I fought to keep my balance and thought I was going to manage to keep from going all the way down but, no, I hit the ground, catching the brunt of my weight on my left hand, giving myself a royal abrasion only a half-inch away from my hand surgery of almost four months ago.

I managed to gingerly get up, not bothering to look around me to see if anyone witnessed it (how humiliating!) but continued walking home. Once there, I gave my hand a simple washing, smeared it with honey (where is my aloe plant when I need it?) and now I wait for complete healing. Depending on the care I give it and what little piece of dirt might still be embedded inside, healing might be slow or fast.

Falls are part of life. Once in awhile we are a bit careless, not paying close attention to what we're doing or where we're going (hello me!). But, unless we pass out or break a leg, we don't stay down for very long. We get up, brush ourselves off and keep going...perhaps with a grimace on our face and a limp in our step for awhile.

Some falls require more healing and recovery time than others, some are more painful and humiliating and some leave more scars. But healing always comes. Give it time, tears and God's power, it always comes.

The comparisons to non-physical falls are obvious. I am so thankful that we have many promises from the Lord for help, strength and healing power in those falls as well.

I love these two verses and have claimed them many times:

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. 
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with His hand. 
(Psalm 37: 23,24)

A Mother's Prayer

"Lord, make me the kind of mother who has 

the strength and courage to keep letting go 

because she's holding onto You."(A.Voskamp)
 

 

              Casting all your care upon Him because He careth for you. (I Peter 5:7)

Let The Children Come

Look at the abortion ticker on the top right side of this blog. Does it touch your heart at all? 

Do what you can to eradicate this terrible crime around the world. Protect the unborn.

And they brought young children to (Jesus), that He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them.

 

But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them.

(Mark 10:13-16)

(credit: internet)

A White Basket Of Flowers

Today we were about to throw out an old basket. I didn't have any specific use for it and it was dirty (no, I didn't want to spend time cleaning it). But then I thought "Oooh...this would make a lovely planter!"

And by late afternoon it was all done. 

Here's the basket, waiting to be worked on.

 I lined it at the bottom with plastic and punched holes in it for drainage

so it won't rot quite as quickly. Then I added a shallow layer of dirt.

On this same afternoon I bought some torenias, 2 each of 3 colors.

I placed them in the basket...

 ...then put in more dirt...

 

 ...spreading it evenly around them.

 Voila! Project done.

 Now for a formal photo session of my new babies...

 Dark purple/blue (is it indigo?)

 White

 Fuchsia

 

 Bird's eye view.

 

Now where should I put it? For now, it will sit beside our

new loveseat which my DH bought for me today, an early

Valentine's Day gift. Perfect!

  

 

                      
                            "He hath made everything beautiful in His time..." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

A Puritan Prayer

O God of the highest heaven,
   Occupy the throne of my heart,
   Take full possession and reign supreme,
   Lay low every rebel lust,
   Let no vile passion resist thy holy war;
Manifest Thy mighty power
   And make me Thine forever.
Thou art worthy to be  
   Praised with my every breath,
   Loved with every faculty of soul,
   Served with my every act of life.
O help me then to walk worthy of Thy love.
                                      -A Puritan Prayer
                                                        
 

Things Of Beauty, Things of Joy

 I won't go into the reasons of why it has been difficult to post anything recently, that would take too much time and effort. I have taken so many pictures since we returned to Brazil...more than I care to admit...that I hardly know where to begin to be organized! But who needs to be organized? That's not an outstanding forte of mine, probably never will be although I do admire it in others.

But I'm getting sidetracked. 

If it weren't for God's creation (and photography), our return to this wonderful land across the ocean would have been much more difficult. These things have brought me so much joy that I can't describe the half of it. I can't imagine having gone through the first several days here without these and I do thank the Lord for them. 

Following, are some of the pictures I took during these wonderful moments of our first several days...

  

"To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
 the oil of joy instead of mourning,
 and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
 They will be called oaks of righteousness,
 a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."
                                                    (Isaiah 61:3 NIV)