Some thoughts on 4 things I’ve learned. Being a parent is such a great gift. It teaches you so much about how we are supposed to live and our relationship with our Father. And the kids themselves teach you beautiful things, too.
Free Will: As a parent, the Lord taught me the power and purity of free will. We really don’t give Him enough credit for that one. It’s huge. And it’s like a boomerang, because you get to choose, every day, all the time, all these things. And you are attached to these choices, so you will own them, and He has grace for you to overcome and make more wise choices, and it just goes on and on. It’s a strong Father that can do that. No cajoling, no pleading, just free will. Because only what we WANT to do, with a glad and happy heart is what He longs for. ❤️
Unconditional Love: I’ll never forget learning this lesson. It was so painful. When our oldest son moved out (a longgggg time ago) the Lord showed me, that while I loved our son unconditionally, I had not shown that love to him unconditionally. It was a crushing realization, but we learn our most from our mistakes. It’s not enough to love unconditionally. You must communicate that love in a manner that shows it’s unconditional. People on the outside looking in, will judge. They will think they know better. They don’t. Nobody but you and the Lord really know. You live before Him. And Him alone. And He’s the best teacher of love and parenting. Anything I ever get right as a parent or grandparent it’s because I listened to the Lord. Anything I miss. Anything I get wrong, well, it’s because I went my own way, even though unintentionally.
Two things I learned from our sons:
Don’t rush. Be still, be slow, enjoy the moment, take it all in. Take your time. Breathe. Kind people are not in a hurry all the time. Gentle people are not rushing around. That’s it.
Acceptance: accept people for who they are, just like they are. Not as we’d like them to be. Or how we think they ought to be. But, just as they are, just like that. It might sound strange, it’s so simple a thing. Just accept. Here’s part of the dictionary definition: “the action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group. “you must wait for acceptance into the club” – this is a quality of children, right? We tend to lose it as adults, but I don’t think either of our sons ever lost it. I think they got that from their Dad, and I learned it from them.
This is what happens when you’ve had the virus and been having too much time in your head! 😅💚
Batman and I have been navigating through a bit of Covid. Nothing dramatic, but as with and illness you have to get through it, and recover and get your stamina back.
While doing that you have to sort of be distant and be sure not to expose others to your flu. And for someone like me, that’s wayyyy to much time on my hands! Worse of all for me is too much time in my HEAD! Lol!
Anywho, I came across this post I wrote probably a week or so before Covid became a big deal in all of our lives.
I’m going to try to link it here, because Lord knew I needed to hear these words tonight, and maybe someone else needs them, too!
Howdy folks, quick update from around the batcave…been sick with Covid and now a sinus infection, will be back to posting blogs soon I hope, good lord willing and the creek don’t rise… till then y’all be nice to one another, it’s a small thing that makes someone’s day.
Young men used to lie about their age to be able to fight for this country. Now they are offended by certain cartoons 🙄 We as parents have failed to protect our kids from society’s idea of what’s right and what is wrong …the world according to Batman
Recently we went a few days getaway up in northwest Georgia. The cabin had all the things we needed to enjoy a few quiet days, on the river, feeding the numerous and friendly deer, and fishing!
I, personally, left the fishing to Batman and our youngest son who came with us! All I wanted to do was take a few pictures to try to capture some memories and read my book!
It was very restful and peaceful and refreshing! There were all sort of geese along with the fish here and there. And the deer, well, EVERYWHERE!
The river was the star of the show for me. I couldn’t stop looking at it. It was in the back yard, there was all kinds of seating and it was just beautiful. The whole time of our visit it was consistent in the way it flowed and gurgled and splashed its way over the rocks. Sparkling and inviting in all of its activities!
I spent vacation looking for messages from the Lord in our time of much needed rest and recreation! For me, I came away with two things. The biggest message was the river itself, steady, flowing, lush and sparkling, ever onward without fail or ebbing, just constant. It made me think of the Goodness of God, always in front of us, so much that it’s more than we can grab hold of, more than we can really comprehend, the overflowing, never ending, always available Goodness of God! Always available to us, to jump in and get all we can, be immersed in, splash around, we can’t contain it, but it is always there for us!
He’s taught me about His goodness in a similar fashion years before.
The world is a wild place these days. A hurting and confused place. It needs the Goodness of God. It needs us, each of us, as the Church to be immersed in His goodness so much that we overflow with the love, the peace, the joy, the patience, the provision that He makes available to us, so we leave a trail of His goodness wherever we go.
He made us agents of His grace and mercy, His Kingdom way of living. It doesn’t mean we don’t fail, flail and fall, but it means He is able to work in us to bring His way of living to bear wherever we go.
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” — 1 John 3:8b
“For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 5:19-21
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” — John 10:10
Listen! Steady on she flows! The overflowing GRACE of God for us!
Listen to that, Y’all! ‘Have and ENJOY life, and have it in ABUNDANCE, to the full, til it OVERFLOWS!!’, flowing like that river, Y’all! Flowing, flowing, flowing! Steady, steady, steady, over the rocks, around the dips and valleys…matter of fact a low place just means MORE WATER!! (Aka more GRACE!!) Nothing stops it! His goodness is coming to bear in our lives! Destroying the works of the enemy!! Healing our sin problem, delivering us from the curse, sin, death and the grave! Giving us a new heart! Sending us forth as containers of His GOODNESS.
I want to add that as beautiful as His plan is, we spend an inordinate amount of time down on ourselves, down on our many ways we fall short. I’m learning though, that His grace just comes in stronger, filling in that low spot in us, in our relationships, and in our counterproductive little habits and our idiosyncrasies that trip us up. In our weakness, we need to be claiming and expecting His strength to come in, His Grace is made perfect in our weakness.
“But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!” — 2 Corinthians 12:9.
He is able to, Y’all! — “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” —2 Corinthians 9:8
We are imperfect, and that’s no surprise to Him! Just keep floating in that grace River, Y’all! That’s where you will find me!!
Every Sunday and Monday, I start the week thankful for the previous week and blessings and mercies of the Lord in our family, in our lives. It is good for me to remember and look for His hand upon our lives, with gratitude. Then I ask with great expectation for His Spirit to move upon us again, in an Ephesians 3:20 — “Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]”
Let Your River (of your goodness and grace) flow, Lord, flow right over me!! Flow over my family! Let it flow right over every person and their loved ones who read this, Lord! We look to You and your goodness!!
Oh, taste and see, the Lord, He is good!! Psalm 34:8.
Hope this post finds you doing fine! Not exactly sure how this will turn out! Just some thoughts that have been brewing. We shall see how it goes!
“4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” — Psalm37:4, KJV
Recently-ish, as I was driving to work, the thought came to me that the word ‘SURRENDER’ has a bad rap. We misunderstand it in the context of the need for it in our relationship with the Lord.
It is thought of in a negative sense, from a worldly point of view. Like losing, giving up, missing out, not being seen or heard.
But, The Holy Spirit was in the middle of teaching me a lesson. That Surrender in the Kingdom of God, leads to all kinds of GOOD things.
To surrender to God, means to yield to Him. To make ourselves available for Him, a vessel fit for His for use. Like a large, old time sailing ship, with the sails unfurled and ready to be filled with the wind to propel the ship towards its destination.
Sails yielded to the sea breeze. Ready for a journey!
In April 2015 I was diagnosed was Diabetes. It was a tremendous shock. Early on, a verse that has been important to me as I navigate this was “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” —2 Corinthians 12:9.
It was never a verse I got excited about. Just being honest. But, over these years since, I have pondered and turned and thought about it in various applications, and am continuing to learn from it. One of the best parts is the fact that He is not looking for our strengths, or what we can do for Him, or what we can bring Him. In fact, our strengths, while a blessing and definitely a gift, can also be a place we tend to forget about Him. Because much like a child, ‘I do it my own self’ sort of mentality creeps in on us. We don’t even realize it.
But, when we know our weak spots, we are more likely to make room for Him, His Holy Spirit, His strength, His way of doing things!
Surrender isn’t giving up. It’s the humility of being yielded. Fully available for our Lord’s use. In other words, it’s a power move! It’s us making ourselves available for the strength and power of God to work in and through us, — “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” — Isaiah 40:29.
One of my (many) all time favorites, has blessed me over and over and over again, is listed above, Psalm 37:4, — “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”, and it’s a great illustration of this principle of surrender, of yieldedness — at work in our relationship with our Lord. To ‘delight’ in Him, as used there, means to be soft to Him, pliable to Him, and as we do this, we are then in a position to be entrusted with the most precious, and secret desires of our hearts, the too sensitive, too precious to even speak to another, because they are so unlikely in their exquisite goodness, thosedesiresofourhearts! It’s because in that instance, our hearts have begun to beat with His. And we are in agreement for His Ephesians 3:20 goodness in our lives!!
Batman took this of our rain soaked Hawaiian Hibiscus
This Hawaiian Hibiscus pictured above is tender, fragile, and not strong at all. It is also brilliant! Gorgeous! And so pleasing to the eye!
If it was strong and sturdy and rigid…it would not be much of a flower! But, as it is, I can’t look at it without smiling and feeling joy! That is what it is here for! It is fulfilling its purpose!
If that sail boat above, wanted stronger, more sturdy and inflexible ‘sails’, it would not be effective at letting the wind fills its sails, and then going where the wind blows! It’s better to have yielded sails, able to be FILLED with the sea breeze!
Let the weak say “I am strong!”
Lord, here I am! Use me! I want to be yielded to You! Gladly will I boast in m weakness, as Paul said, for then You can be strong in me!
Pretty sure this was taken by our almost three old grandson, Lukie Poo 💚
A solitary son
No sisters
No brothers
Him and his parents
Thank God for cousins
He had so much heart
Too much to be alone
Paid his way from 10 years old
Learned how to defend himself through grit and necessity
All his life before his wife, God was preparing him for his job
There would be a woman, young, broken and beautiful who needed him and his love and his patience
Together they would beat the odds and make a life and build a family
They would together discover a stained glass faith, with solemn and steadfast prayer as it’s heartbeat
He was fiercely loyal and tenderly kind
Always forgiving
Always loving
Always kind
He once had a red corvette
Boy, was he fine in that ride!
You never had to wonder where he was
Or what he was doing
He was an open book
And a steady hand
Just a glance and you were corrected, as he gently tugged on his mustache
He was generous and frugal all at the same time
He was old school in every way and we are richer for it
As the years rolled by the world grew alarming
He wanted better for his family but knew he couldn’t stop it
So he prayed
Often three times a day
For the world, for his family, for the Church
He’d forget to eat
But never forget the coffee
His loving nature and nurturing ability caused a crowded, beautiful menagerie of a garden in the back yard. Two green thumbs. Something he inherited from his father
Without him the family cannot be the same
Of course
His was the heart that pumped the blood that fed our hearts
Now we must carry on, each with the parts of him we got
Be steady
Be kind
Pray
Love and forgive
We love, we pray, we endeavor to live in a way that honors him
He couldn’t stay another day
It was time for his reward
We understood the need to go, we do not begrudge the much earned rest
We just wish we could have him for a visit, one more time
One more hug, one more twinkling of an eye, one more slow smile, one more talk, one more walk about the yard
When it’s my turn to come, Daddy O, I hope you put the coffee on for me
My gardenia bush!! My Dad started it for me. I think about 12 years ago or so? It’s magnificent! It’s like a big ‘I Love You’ from Heaven, and I love it!
Peach here –
It’s good and Spring now! It took awhile but it’s really here now!
Yellow Hibiscus! I’m in love!
We picked up a couple of blueberry bushes and some more hibiscus (the yellow, some of them above).
Jerry got them planted this week and mulched. He is quite the gardener! Have I mentioned that I’m totally nuts about him? 😍
I just don’t think there’s anything prettier!
I don’t know if it’s the mood I’m in this year, or the age I’m getting to, but I LOVE flowers!! Flowers, flowers, flowers!
This lady is from our Fire and Ice Hibiscus and it is just stellar!! I highly recommend!
Spring is a season of transition, of hope, of promise of things to come, signs of life, renewal, newness of life, out with old, in with the new, cleaning up, clearing out.
It can be a lot. But, there’s also, a lot that it can be!
I love the holidays AND winter so much. It’s often hard for me to let go of winter and embrace the change and newness of Spring
But, I’m determined to not be that person stuck in the past. To value, appreciate and enjoy the past while fully rooted in the now, and reaching forward to the promise of the future!
Nature teaches us to embrace the cycle of life. It’s our example from the Lord for our good!
This! This is our Hawaiian Hibiscus!! When it opens it will be yellow with a pink center!!! I mean, 🤗?!
Like the flower above, the full goodness of what’s in store ahead does not yet appear, but we can trust our Good Father for the Ephesians 3:20 — “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” of life! If it’s not good yet, hold on, trust Him and SEE what He does!
More blooming going on! 🥰His first time in the water and he loves it!!! 😍Water baby! Da Sugar Boogars!! 🤗The little Easter Bunny!!These two are going to be so much fun in years to come! Resurrection Sunday!! Much fun was had by all!
We had a grand ole time on Easter Sunday with all the kids! The Dads hid the eggs and the Moms stuffed the eggs! Then we let loose the hordes and the kids found the eggs!!
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” — Genesis 8:22.
The Adventures and Musings of Peach and Batman 