Abundance...

I know no better illustration of abundance on earth than azaleas in spring. 

Their blushing, blooming explosions paint irresistible chromatic strokes across our southern landscape.

But it's an abundance that's relatively short-lived, for much too soon, the azaleas' unassuming evergreen branches will be all that remains of her rosy beauty. 

Azaleas are a glimpse of Heaven, I'm sure of it - and as the blossoms fade, they remind me that this is not my home. 

While there is beauty all around me every day - in a smile, a whisper, a cool breeze through an open window and the sun that rises and sets in a majestic blaze - they are only a glimpse of the beauty of Christ that never fades and in His presence, a beauty I'll one day gaze on forever.

Where do you see glimpses of Heaven in abundance and beauty this day?

I {LOVE} Sunday::to wake again..

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
Psalm 3:3-5 ESV
Joining the lovely Deidra and her Sunday community...

Week{ending}...

It's like Christmas in our small town today. 

Preparations for this weekend's events have been in the works for days. Emily informed me that when she was little, she couldn't even sleep the night before. Needless to say, children who grow up in rural communities are easily entertained - and isn't that refreshing?

By the end of this weekend, all the little girls will want to be Miss Swamp Cabbage and the little boys to be cowboys. Most of us will have feasted on gator tail, swamp cabbage fritters and Seminole Indian fry bread, and cheered on the armored participants in more than one armadillo race. {One of this year's armadillos has been named after Emily - too funny.}

Jeans, cowboy boots and hats are the expected attire, and we will wander about to a steady stream of country music, dancing, gospel music and clogging from the gazebo in the park by the river. 

What does your weekend look like?

{The winner of the Dayspring Coupon Giveaway is Linda Chontos! Congratulations Linda! And thank you to everyone who participated.} 

It's not what it looks like...

I'd never noticed. The old, tattered book had been on our shelves for decades - maybe I'd never looked inside.

But there it was - a swastika in Rudyard Kipling's stamped signature inside the cover of our dusty, 1925 copy of The Years Between. 

I couldn't believe that Kipling was in any way associated with the Nazi, but what else was I to think? His use of the swastika certainly couldn't be denied, so I dug deeper and discovered the truth: 

Kipling was so disgusted by the Nazis and the sight of their flag that he removed the swastika, a Hindu symbol of good luck, from his bookbindings. It had been his trademark for nearly forty years but it was now 'defiled beyond redemption'." 

Kipling and the Swastika (kipling.org.uk)

While it may have appeared by his use of the swastika that Kipling was a Nazi, he certainly was not. 

And maybe it's just me, but I am reminded - and convicted and repent - again at how easy it is to misjudge others by appearances or outward circumstances. 

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

{Wordless Wednesday} Promise begins to bloom...

{don't forget the giveaway}

The one my heart loves {and a sweet GIVEAWAY}...

We were scheduled to share our testimony in small group Sunday morning - Louis and I - but he was ill and I had to go alone.

After thirty-five years of marriage, we are one...and to tell my testimony apart from the one my heart loves seemed odd and incomplete.

Our stories of coming to faith are clearly our own, but there's been three decades since that together love covered a multitude of sins...

and together grace carries us through.

So when I had the opportunity to partner with (in)courage and DaySpring to review one of February's (in)spired deals, I was thrilled to choose a Mr. & Mrs. Gift Set.

The "Mrs." cup from that set is my current favorite. "Can you even drink out of another cup?" Louis teases. 

I love the cups, their bold, complementary colors, and the lovely scripture and heart details inside - beautiful expressions of my love for my "Mr." And they are the perfect size for the large cup setting on a Keurig {one of the best Christmas gifts I ever gave Emily *grin*}. 

The Mr. & Mrs. Gift Set I received included a lovely and sturdy gift bag and coupon book of fun and meaningful activity ideas and expressions. It's truly a perfectly delightful set for a wedding, shower, or anniversary gift, and it's not only on sale {this month only}, you can buy 2 and get one free.

And for readers of Pollywog Creek, Dayspring is offering a $20 off coupon {good through Dec. 31, 2012, on any Dayspring purchase over $20, not including shipping}. 

To enter the $20 coupon GIVEAWAY, all I need you to do is leave a comment {on this post} by Friday, February 24th at 6 pm {EST} and tell me:

...about your favorite coffee, tea, or hot chocolate mug

or

...which of the (in)spired deals you like the most

or 

...how long you have been married

or

...how much you love me {just kidding}

I will announce the winner in my Saturday Week{ending} post.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 ESV

Disclosure: DaySpring provided the products for review, but the opinions are clearly my own.


{Comments are now closed.}

It will never work...

I almost didn't read it. I have more things to do this morning than I have time, but something urged me to take a second look.  Go ahead - read it for yourself - especially if you're a wannabe like me. I'll wait.

Y'all know my "it will never work" dream - the one where my photography and prose is published. I haven't a clue what I'm doing, my equipment is bottom-line and ordinary, I'm almost ready for social security and my current inability to wander to even the edges of Pollywog Creek make me much like a bird capturing photos of her cage. Borrrrrrring - just ask my family.

I'll delete this post half a dozen times before I gather the courage to post it, but post it, I will, because I know that you have a dream, too, and all the reasons "it will never work", and if I'm bold enough to share mine, maybe you will share yours, too.

I'd love to encourage you, as you have encouraged me.

Thank you, Jon Acuff

{Photos - from inside my "cage"}

I {LOVE} Sunday::to Thee we raise...

 


For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.
~ Pierpoint






For the beauty...

Week{ending}::in the waiting...

Looking out from the back porch this morning, I see green buds on barren limbs and wonder what happened to winter.

Except for a few days here and there - three mornings at most - it's been springlike since fall. Pollen dusts everything yellow and the azaleas are likely at their peak, and it should spring hope in me, but I've been groaning this week over the burdens and sorrows of loved ones and deadlines and busyness and the lack of sunshine and things that don't matter at all. 

I remember this morning that I'm not alone in this. All creation groans. This world of burdens and sorrows, in the pains of childbirth - it's not our home.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ~ Romans 8:18-23 ESV

As my fingers move swollen and clumsy across the keyboard, Louis fills the birdbath and waters thirsty ground and I drink in Truth. For even in the midst of sorrow's thorns and we wait for redemption, there's always fair flowers and rejoicing and grace and God's love poured out in great measure.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ~ Romans 5:1-5 ESV

This weekend begins punctuated with a question mark. With boxes of kleenex, antibiotics, God willing sunshine and vitamin C, we're taking it moment by moment. I'm quite certain there will also be a ballgame or two to watch on the tube and rally our aching bones.

And joining the lovely Sandra's Still Saturday community...

And you? What does your weekend hold?

{Photos}a few feathered friends and the squirrel that finds himself on the outside looking in.

Woodpeckers and doubt...

The Northern Mockingbird that nests in the twisted branches of our honeysuckle vine thinks he's the boss of our backyard - and most of the time, he is.

He clearly rules the realm of performances. An accomplished mimic, the mockingbird perches atop the trees and fence posts and can trill, rasp, warble, whistle and even croak like a frog in long repeated phrases. He's a one-bird-band - a whole bevy of songbirds dressed in a single frame of unassuming gray feathers.  

But the mockingbird is only boss until the red-bellied woodpeckers fly in with their shrill call and striking plumage, forcing the mockingbird to retreat into his vine-covered abode.

I'm sometimes like that mockingbird. Ordinary as I am, I can be full of confidence, "singing" away joyfully in the way I was created, and then woodpeckers of doubt fly in to peck away, calling "who do you think you are - miss wanna-be-psalmist-with-a-camera?"

But in my vine-covered abode, the lifter of my head reminds me that He alone knows the works for which He has created me that I might walk in them - boasting in His grace.

In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,
and his children will have a refuge.
Proverbs 14:26 ESV

Fair flowers...

...to charm the eye with their beauty.

It doesn't require cultivation to see azaleas' pink profusion sparkling in morning's dew or nature's delight in her nectar. It's the subtle " fair flowers" - the wind's whisper through spanish moss, the buried seeds of hope in barren ground - for which I must train my eyes.

It's the "fair flowers" heart and soul cultivates - too fleeting, too beautiful, too sacred, to capture.

A smile. A hug. A twinkling eye.

Forgivness.

Kindness.

Faithfulness.

Grace.

The joy that is my strength.

The peace that passes all understanding.

The LOVE that covers my multitude of sins.

Sorrow overload...

...with an unusual abundance of contemplative moments - from backyard swinging to waiting room sitting - I've been reading and studying and listening and wondering.

And sometimes carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
~ Helen Lemmel

The "things of earth" can be heartbreakingly heavy at times.

As David Murray recently wrote in I'm suffering from sorrow overload, not only do we care about hurting people around us that we know and love well, technology brings an awareness of pain and brokenness and grief beyond our reach - and often I'm burdened by long lists of suffering people.

Sorrow overload, indeed.

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
~ Psalm 34:17

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers wrote...

It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others.

And so I do the only thing I can with such sorrow - confident that my prayers are heard - I place these long lists of suffering people before the Lord - knowing that He is good and just and faithful and strong and mighty to save.  

And I pray I'll keep my eyes on Jesus - His mercies, His glory, His grace - and opportunities to be broken bread and poured-out wine in a season of contemplative moments.

{an unedited post  and photos from the archives that could just as easily have been written today}

I {LOVE} Sunday::to sing hymns and spiritual songs

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:18-21 ESV

Linking with Diedra's beautiful Sunday community...

Week{ending}...

As I write today's week{ending} post, I am grateful for how these Saturday entries have evolved over time and how the Lord has used them that I might continue to "cultivate an eye" for His abundant graces and mercies at work in my life. 

The rebel in me sometimes resists routines that appear to be stale and rigid, but when I catch a glimpse of how the Lord works through orderliness and disciplines - through faithfulness to persevere through the seemingly ordinary and mundane - I wonder why I ever resist.

Simply pausing to reflect on the past few days and the ways the Lord carried me through the not-so-easy moments and surprised me with glimpses of glory and unexpected blessings brings me joy and hope and encouragement for the days ahead. 

The end of the week brought last minute writing assignments with deadlines right around the corner, as well as the opportunity to work with Joe Bunting {The Write Practice} to judge February's writing contest. I expect to spend considerable time on my laptop today - hopefully while on my backyard swing delighting in the taste of spring that will likely give way to winter in tonight's near-freeze.

I also have four dozen cookies to bake for church tomorrow, and my grown-up baby girl flies home after almost a week away. I'll either spend tomorrow afternoon listening to Emily's wonderful stories or watching her sleep on the couch.   

What does your week{ending} hold? I really do want to know. 

{Photos}cardinal, pine warbler, white-winged dove, mockingbird