Simple Blessings

A shipment of Colorado peaches came into the church not too long ago. Someone had ordered them and couldn't pay for them, or maybe they changed their minds. I don't know the story. What I do know: there were some peaches from Colorado that needed to be bought, taken home, and eaten.

I REALLY wanted to buy some of these AMAZING peaches, but really didn't want to spend any money. They're not cheap. So I didn't respond. Even my husband was pleased that I didn't buy any. Local peaches are much cheaper, but not nearly as juicy and delicious! I would settle for what we had.

A couple nights ago as I was leaving church, my friend Debbie had a tray of these peaches. She walked by me and I secretely began drooling over them. I stopped, gasped for breath, and said, "Peach Pie!". It was a reminder to an event that happened about a year ago when we came to visit the church. I brought a peach pie made from Colorado peaches to Wichita to share with Debbie and her family. Yes - it made the long trip on the interstate even with me constantly whining to my family - "Watch out for the pie!".

Debbie hadn't forgotten about that pie from last year, so she turned over to me the complete tray of peaches and encouraged me to make a peach pie. Debbie had a lot on her plate and the last thing she needed to do was take time to prepare the peaches for pie. I had the time to clean up and prepare the peaches, so the exchange was made and I walked out of the church with a tray of large, colorful, juicy Colorado peaches.

I made the pie the next morning and took it to work to share with Debbie. I froze 8 cups of prepared peach slices for Debbie to use in the future. And we got to enjoy a couple peaches for breakfast.

God is so good to me to allow me to still have some peaches after not paying for them. Debbie got her peach pie, with another potential pie in the freezer, and she didn't have to take the time to prepare the peaches. We all got what we wanted.

The point is I knew I wasn't supposed to spend the money, even though I really wanted to. God blessed me and gave me my heart's desire to have just a few of those yummy peaches, and I was able to help a busy friend in the process. God is just so good to us! When we give up what we want God offers us simple blessings in exchange.

Thank you, God!

Looking Back

Reading about Abraham in the Old Testament is a favorite story for me. I love Abraham and his amazing, incredible faith in what God would do for him and his family. Here God calls him out of his homeland and tells Abraham to go to a new, foreign land he'd never been to or seen before. Abraham had no map, but He had God.

I've caught myself twice in the last 24 hours saying something about my "homeland" (Colorado). As I've said before, when we tossed around the idea of moving to Wichita, Kansas, I had to look on a map just to see where Wichita was! I had no idea where this new land was that God was calling me to. I had lived in Colorado 12.5 years and it had definitely become my "home"land.

Yesterday I jokingly confessed to my friends that I still had my Colorado driver's license, just in case I was called back home. Today, I told a friend that I still have my cell phone number as a Fort Collins, CO number (970 area code) because it's the one thing that still helps me feel connected to Colorado.

Can you imagine Abraham living in Canaan, the land God had called him to, the Promised Land, yet he still sighs, looking back towards the land of Ur, wondering what life would have been like "back home"? Ludicrous! I believe Abraham would have been dishonoring to God by not appreciating the present. What makes Abraham's testimony so strong is that he DID NOT look back!

I feel I am dishonoring God by looking back at what we left behind. I sincerely need to stop looking behind, over my shoulder at what I've left behind and keep my eyes on the horizon -the future! (Remember the story of Lot's wife who looked at what lied behind her? ... sure don't want that same outcome!)

God is going to do great things here in Wichita. I only need to thank Him for where I am and appreciate where He's going to take me next. With God, it's got to be a more promising future than the wonderful past I've left behind.

My Boy, Lewis - What I Want

All three of them are born from Greg and I, yet they are all so different.

Lewis - he has been texting me from school this morning.

"Can u call the school code tell them to tell ms zipfel that i can watch the movie?" (don't know what "code" means...)

I answer, "What movie?" (he obviously forgot to have me sign a permission slip....)

Lewis: "O the movie is kite runner" (so I check online to see what this movie is about...)

I call the school and leave a phone message for Ms. Zipfel. I write Lewis to tell him I took care of it.

Lewis: "Thanks mom love u!"

I write him back to remind him to go see his guidance counselor about a class he's supposed to be taking to graduate on time in May.

Lewis: "Ok o i got my school pictures!" (Do you think he'll remember to go see Mr. Burman, the school counselor?)

Lewis: "Ill show u when i get home luv v" (I think he means "u").

Lewis is a 17-year old sweetie. Has a great smile after getting those braces off. He's not on any organized sports team, but he's everybody's 1st pick on the open field. He is intently interested in geography, history, and now politics. He is NOT interested in homework, cleaning up after himself, and eating healthfully.

Back in kindergarten, Ms. Lauer said, "Lewis marches to the beat of a different drummer." How true. Spoken like a prophet. I know that God has a great plan for Lewis, and Lewis will do well in whatever area he decides to focus on. But I wonder if we, Greg and I, have created an environment where he won't want to leave? Have we made living at home so comfortable that he won't try life on his own? When I was his age I hated being at home! Lewis hardly leaves, unless it's for school or work.

The move to Wichita was a hard one for Lewis especially last year. He left behind quite a few (hundred) friends, as Greg and I did as well. I wonder if Lewis might still be trying to "find" himself here - which social circles he belongs and is accepted in, how far to venture in a city four times the size of the one we left, etc.

As a mother, I want what's best for Lewis. But also - I want Lewis to want what's best for Lewis. I want Lewis surrounded by friends that bring out the best in him. I want Lewis to ...

But it's not always about what I want... It's about what God wants and how Lewis, and his mother, will submit. The Bible tells me that God has great plans for Lewis; plans to prosper him, not to harm him (Jer. 29:11). The Bible says no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9). The Bible tells me that Lewis is wonderfully made...each day Lewis lives has been determined by God Himself in advance (Psalm 139). The Bible tells me that God has a job description for Lewis to do good things (Eph. 2:10).

I believe Lewis will always march to the beat of a different drummer, to a sound different and maybe unfamiliar to those around him. And I hope his dad and I will be right there on the sides of the parade encouraging him and spurring him on to be the best he can be, whether he's living at home or not. That's truly what I want...

The Annoying Head-on-a-Wall

The family dog - our sweet precious Jacki-Wacky. Seriously she is bored nearly all the time so she spins to catch her tail. She barks. She growls. She whines. She absolutely LOVES her kennel where she spends her time when home alone, and when we've all gone to bed. There is one thing, however, that drives her insane: Critters. Even BIG critters!

We have a deer head on the wall in Cameron's bedroom. It was killed by a hunter-friend of ours many years ago. The meat long ago ingested and digested. Because this friend has MANY trophy heads and body mounts, this one particular mounted head didn't make it into the trophy room so it was laid on the floor of their basement home office. While working for these friends in their home office years ago, I constantly and consistently tripped over this deer head over and over. One day, around Cameron's 13th year birthday, I asked my friend Randy if Cameron could put this head on the wall of his bedroom, to give it a proper home. Randy agreed as he loves all three of my boys (they call Randy "Uncle Fester"). The deer head was promoted then from Uncle Fester's basement office floor to Cameron's newly painted bedroom wall. The precious deer head moved with us to Wichita as well last year and is still proudly mounted in Cameron's bedroom.

We've had the deer head for 2.5 years now...and the dog is still bothered by it. Just moments ago, I was again startled by a familiar sound: I'm sitting in the main floor hearth room and above me I begin to hear growling, snarling, barking, and spinning sounds. You see, Jacki looked up and "found" this head AGAIN! She has seen it for years, but something stirs within her occasionally and she must go into Cameron's bedroom on the 2nd floor and begin yelling at this dead head for no apparant reason. It just bothers her.

I'm home alone. I didn't make any deer animal sounds (that would be interesting). There is no smell. So why did she go up there just now bothered by and threatening the dead deer head AGAIN!

Maybe dogs aren't too different from humans. There are things in my past that for no reason, enter my mind and cause my blood pressure to rise or my pulse to race or my anger to burn. Why? What was it that triggered my mind and my memory to think or dwell upon something that makes me "spin" in my mind, "bark" at my family, "growl" at those who are only trying to help?

Maybe I'm bored....

Or maybe I just need to get over it! If it's not going to go away, then I better learn to live with it. If it can't be removed, then quit looking at it! If it belongs to someone else, then stop picking it up!

It's fun to look at my neurotic dog, try to diagnose her, and even learn a few lessons from her. As much as I complain about this crafty canine, she is a lovely part of our family. I believe we're all a little neurotic...just like her. Spinning, growling, barking, and snarling at those things in life that aren't real anymore.

Most of the time these things that bother us are better left dead. Let's stop mounting them in places where we remember them, and instead give them a proper burial, never to be seen (or heard from) again.