Mimi's Perspective

The tease on the cover of the magazine said "The most simple cake ever."  I snickered.  The magazine was Martha Stewart Living.  The words Martha Stewart and simple don't belong in the same sentence in my world.  But I was curious.  Turned to page 194.  There it was...the recipe.  Cake from scratch, not from a box.  She lost me right there.  If there are more than five ingredients in the whole thing, I'm out.  The estimated time was thirty minutes.  It would have taken me a day and a half.

Later that same day, a cartoon on Facebook spoke to the world I live in.  It said something about all those mothers posting their fancy stuff on Pinterest and ended with "I took a shower and kept the kids alive."  There ya go. 

This world goes round and round thanks to the mothers who are doing the best they can moment to moment.  From this grandmother to the young mothers:  that woman in Proverbs 31 is an ideal.  Do your best.  Love the kids.  They will rise up and call you blessed.

Happy Mother's Day.

The Best Visit

   



 " Every closed eye is not sleeping, and every open eye is not seeing."
       Bill Cosby

Some may call it meditation.  Some may use the word visualization.  Others may just say imagination.  Call it whatever you want...I'm just glad I have a brain that works and a mind that can travel through space and time, to experience once again places and events that were fun and meaningful or to travel in spirit to be in the company of Jesus. 

I have scenes in my mind that give me peace and comfort in the times of life when I need His very real presence right there with me.  Sometimes I'm the lamb on his shoulders.  Other times I stand at the foot of the cross.  I reach up and grab his feet and feel the blood run over my hands. 

I had a new vision this past week.  I realized that Jesus and I just needed to visit.  You know...like the old hymn says: "And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own..."  I closed my eyes and Jesus and I went to the beach.  Just like I sit there sometimes with my earthly friend, He and I sat and talked.  We felt the breezes, listened to the roar of the surf, watched the sandpipers skitter along the water's edge.  I told Him how I felt and we chatted like the old friends we are.  His voice was calm and His spirit filled the air with peace.

"And the joy we shared as we tarried there none other has ever known."

Do you have special places you go with Jesus?  I'd love to hear about them.

A Breezy God Moment

He stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
Psalm 147:18

The ocean breezes were cool and pleasant.  We sat on the patio of a favorite restaurant, enjoying the April dusk and waiting to see the rise of the pink moon. 

The coconut shrimp were delicious.  The drinks were cold and tropical.   

We finished dinner and headed for the rail of the boardwalk.  The moon had just cleared the water. We stood for a long time, letting that scene settle into our memories.  Behind us, the band sang "Knock Knock Knockin' On Heaven's Door." 

It was the kind of night that makes us know why we live in Florida.  One of those moments when God says "I made this just for you." 

And it was good.

A Sermon

 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 
-Matthew 7: 19 and 20

"Let your life be your sermon."
- Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey in "42"

I live in Vero Beach, Florida.  The Brooklyn Dodgers came here for Spring Training when I was a kid.  I was little, but I remember hearing the adults around me say the name...Jackie Robinson.  I didn't understand why it was such an important event when he came to town.  I didn't know his skin wasn't the same color as mine.  All I knew was that Springtime was a very busy time for my family's business and a lot of people came to town to see this group of men play a game called baseball.  Daddy took my brother and me to Dodgertown to see some of the games.  The names I heard there sound like a history book of famous players:  PeeWee Reese, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella...and of course, Jackie Robinson.

Daddy loved baseball and the old Brooklyn Dodgers so much that when they were playing their last games at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, my country-boy father loaded us into the car and took us to New York City.  The year was 1957.  I was 13; my brother was 6.  We talked about that trip the other day.  Somehow, we knew we were experiencing an important transition in the life of our country but we didn't know exactly what it was.  After all, the water fountains and restrooms at many places in our town still carried the signs "Colored" and "White." 

As a movie, 42 may present a somewhat romanticized version of the events of 1947 and Jackie Robinson's entrance into the world of all-white major league baseball.  But it's gritty enough to bring home a true picture of what the man endured.  The whole point of the message here is that Branch Rickey kept telling him that he could not retaliate or lash out at the venom and hatred that was being thrown at him simply because his skin was black.  

"You have to let your life be your sermon," Rickey told him several times.  In other words, as the Bible tells us, they will know who you are and what kind of person you are by the way you act.  It's hard to act right sometimes.  Hard enough for regular people in ordinary situations.  That message that was being preached to a black man when I was just a toddler hit home with me yesterday when I saw it played out on the movie screen. To have been in the spotlight and held his emotions in control while the taunts from the stands and the other bullpens were constantly hurled his way had to take superhuman control.  The kind of control that can only come from One Who Was Bigger Than Him.  Jackie Robinson was chosen to be the one to break the color barrier because he was a man of character and faith.

When we get right down to it, we all walk a sermon every day of our lives.  Somebody is watching everything we do...our families, grandkids, friends, acquaintances, people we pass on the street.  They know what kind of tree we are by the fruit we bear.

The question for each of us is...what is my life preaching? 

Hair?

Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.
Song of Songs 4:1

I have to admit there are some cultural things in the Bible that are difficult to understand in today's world.  I don't ever want to make fun of the Bible but I know God has a sense of humor.  If you don't believe it, just look around you.

This verse jumped out at me because, for my friend and me today, hair was the subject.  I mean...when is it not?  It's really rough when two older gals have to realize they're looking dated.  As in the last decade.  "You know," she said the other day, "nobody is curling their hair anymore."  She's right.  At least they're not curling it to the extent that it's helmet hair which seems to be our tendency.

So when I read this verse, I thought "Ok...what can we learn from goats?"

First of all, no two are alike.  Second, there's lots of straight hair there.  Nothing wrong with straight.  And there are many colors.  Which obviously means that streaking our hair is ok. 

You know, I never thought about it, but that group of goats has a certain beauty all its own.  Solomon obviously saw beauty in them because he compared his love's hair to a flock of goats.

It's all in how you look at it! 

Liz Has a New Study!

Liz Curtis Higgs has a new study beginning this week.  If you haven't met Liz, you're missing a blessing...a bunch of laughs and a whole lot of Christian sister love. 

This time she's asking for our favorite Bible verses.  Will be interesting to see which ones make the top 20 as she compiles the list throughout the summer.  Click on the link below to read about her verse...it'll touch your heart.  Be part of the journey and leave yours in the comment box at the end of the blog.  I did. 

Would love it if you would also leave a comment with your verse here. 


http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/2013/04/the-20-verses-you-love-most-lets-begin/#comment-5714

He's Not Here Anymore!

He is not here; for he has risen, as he said.    Matthew 28:6

It was Saturday morning and it was dark...early before-day dark.  We had charge of our youngest grandchildren while their parents were away.  Little creatures of habit, they woke up at their usual go-to-school hour and I could hear them talking.  Maybe they'll play for a bit and I won't have to get up right now, I hoped.  Ha.  In just a minute, Nathaniel appeared at our bedroom door.  There was just enough light to see his silhouette.  He stood there, hugging his blanket, looking at the bed.

"Mimi!" he called in his three-year-old voice.  Obviously, I didn't respond quickly enough.  He looked back over his shoulder and made a pitiful announcement to his sister: "She's not here anymore!"  My feet hit the floor and I grabbed him before he could get upset.  The thought of him thinking he was alone was too sad.

Over two thousand years ago, some women who loved Jesus went in the early morning darkness to the borrowed tomb where His body had been taken when it was removed from the cross.  They were devastated when the body they expected to prepare for burial was not there.  An angel was guarding the tomb and spoke kind words to them...words that send Hope down through the ages. 

"He's not here anymore!"

He was not there, just as He had told them He would not be.  And though His body is gone, rest assured He is here.  He is everywhere, living with all of us who believe.

I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today...
I know that He is living whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer
And just the time I need Him, He's always near!

Rejoice, rejoice O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King.
The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find...
None other is so loving, so good and kind.

He lives, He lives...Christ Jesus lives today...
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives...salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know He lives...He lives within my heart!