Speechless Again

I was saddened to hear about that private plane crash in Montana. Seven beautiful young children -gone- along with their parents.

Then I read here... (you can read it yourself but I will summarize)

The plane crashed next to or in Holy Cross Cemetery near Butte, Montana. In this cemetery, there is the Tomb of the Unborn. A memorial to all those children aborted in our country.

The irony is that 9 of the people on the plane were directly related to of Irving 'Bud' Feldkamp, owner of the largest for-profit abortion chain in the nation....

I won't judge its not my place but I can't help myself from standing wide eyed and draw dropped at this news.

On some level, this reads like a page out of the Old Testament where some wicked person/nation is disseminated in God's wrath. It looks like God has exacted justice/punishment/consequences in such a tangible way. It reinforces in me that I never want to be in the hands of an angry God or God who has just had enough.

I feel there has been a paradigm shift within myself. A shift into a deeper realization that God means what He says. He means business. He knows what He is doing. And who are we to question or doubt how He chooses to punish or bless humanity.

I continue to feel stunned and speechless yet with a renewed sense of "the fear of Lord".

I can only hope the Feldkamps find comfort and repentance and that somehow this tragedy will be used to end abortion... somehow that only God can control and fructify.

Concidences... I think Not

From CNN: "Connie and Donald McCracken were watching CNN one evening last week when they learned of the tragic death of actress Natasha Richardson from a head injury. Immediately, their minds turned to their 7-year-old daughter, Morgan, who was upstairs getting ready for bed."

Morgan got hit in the head by a baseball 2 today earlier and seemed fine. The night they were watching the news about Natasha is the night Morgan got a headache. A headache became severe very quickly. With Natasha in mind the McCrackens took Morgan to the hospital. The neurosurgeon got her in the nick of time. Morgan did indeed have the same injury that Natasha had. (Full story here at CNN) Thankfully, she has survived.

If I were Liam (Natasha's husband) I would feel like at least some good has come out her death. I would imagine its like the bittersweet knowledge of knowing that deceased loved one lives on in the people who were helped through organ donation. Their loved may be gone but their heart, liver, kidneys etc live on. Natasha may be gone but will more people wear helmets now when skiing? Will more people seek medical attention when they get hit in the head? All thanks to Natasha and her freak accident...

I can't help but wonder what lies in store for young Morgan. What will she bring to the world?
Its no coincidence she is still with us. It was all perfectly planned.

Knowing and believing that leaves me a little speechless. Not the first time this week.

Sweet Peas

I love how Longwood Garden with all its elaborate and planned out gardens has carved out a little alcove for the Sweet Pea. A long time favorite of mine, I've planted them along the fence at my parents house each May for years. Whenever I sniff them I think of the Keats' poem I happened to memorize ...

Sweet Pea (Delicate Pleasures)

"Here are sweet peas, on tip-toe for a flight With wings of gentle flusho'er delicate white, And taper fingers catching at all things To bind them all about with tiny rings." ~ Keats

It continues to tickle me pink that they have filled what could have been an empty barren passageway into this special side stage of delight! And I indulge in the sweet scents each time I have been there the last few months.

On Relaxation

How is this for stating the obvious?

"When you are always tense, tensing less is relaxed."

Profound... not my quote but it really resonated with me. So much so I felt I had to blog it ;-)

Fresh Insights

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." -- Psalm 37:5-6

Does my righteousness shine like the dawn?
What is my cause? Because God is ready to make it shine like the noonday sun!

Seems to me I have read Psalm 37 a zillion times, after all it contains every single person's most bittersweet verse:

^"4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Lord knows I waited a long time to see one particular desire of my heart fulfilled. I would say that my righteousness and my causes rank in there somewhere. I just can't say I have given it too much thought lately.

There are still desires both fleshly and spiritual that I still long for. These other verses really struck me with fresh revelation this week though. They have been reverberating around in my head as I wrestle items that would seek to wreck havoc with my righteousness and trust.

Tonight I was tempted to cry myself silly as I wrestled something to ground, but what will that do to my already congested head!

Instead I'll just adore rather than wrestle. Shine Jesus Shine forget any woes is mes you heard earlier from me.

Stringing Things Together

About 3 years ago I met with a woman for some counseling. She was instrumental in helping me slay some demons. One of the verses she had me focus on was Psalm 84: 7

They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

We both knew I needed strength to do what I had to do. I would try to visualize what it would look like to go from strength to strength so that I could live it out.

Even after the "demon" was successful slayed there were still residual effects that had to be dealt with over time. Now, I am looking back and reflecting on what God has done in these past 3 years. I am seeing how "strength to strength" have been people. God has strung together a series of people who have offered tangible strength, wisdom & expertise.

I am abounding with wonder and thankfulness over the way God strings things together as I go from strength to strength and He works His wonders and answers my prayers.

Birds, Birds, Birds

Driving home from work last week, I noticed what looked like a lot of birds. I was amazed at the sheer number. That is until I got a good look at the sheer number. There were so many birds it was like a black ribbon in the sky stretching on for MILES. When I say miles I mean miles! I drove for a good 10 minutes and the birds just kept coming. They were coming as if they had been released from a cage -maybe a cage called winter? Then, I started driving in a different direction and I couldn't see them anymore.

I happen to tell the pastor about my amazement over the birds and he said he has seen them before. Sometimes they'll sit in the trees around his property. He agreed there are a lot of them! He thought it was ironic or rather providential that I brought this story up just before he was about to work on his sermon. He opened his PowerPoint slide to this verse Matthew 6:26:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

So many birds and yet God knows them all.

I saw the birds again later that week in a completely different area. So I guess they get around. But I was drawn back to the verse the pastor brought up. In the light of some of the things I worry about why do I bother? All of those birds are in his care surely I am too...

The birds also reminded me what this blog is really all about - drawing attention to the small things that really aren't that small. Those amazing things that we get glimpses of that remind to notice what is around us because hope, glory and wonder do abound in this world.