Thinking Too Hard???

Chewing the cud.

Many times I have been accused.....of thinking too hard. "Why do you think so much?" or "Stop thinking so hard," are the statements that I've heard too many times. One comment that especially hurt came from an older friend who realized that my thinking was affecting change in my behavior. When she remarked, "You really make it hard for yourself," I felt like she was condemning and belittling me. I sensed that she wanted to censure me.....from thinking.....from acting upon my thinking.....from stepping outside the box.....from just being me. 

I like to think.....to wonder.....to ponder.....to ask.....and to question. I like to look at nature, life, and Biblical concepts and then.....look deeper.....to connections, symbols, analogies and meanings. It's not hard for me. It's natural. It's who I am. It's how I was made, and it's what has been cultivated in me.  

Obviously, some sorts of thinking can lead to worry, and I confess that I have experienced the occasional restless sleep brought on by a brain that won't shut off. Worry, negative destructive thinking, and evil thoughts are indeed detrimental to relationships, emotions, health, and spiritual well-being. This is why the Father commands us not to worry or entertain evil or negative thinking. 


However, we are instructed many times over in the Psalms, and throughout the Bible, to meditate on things that are good, right, true, and lovely; values of the coming kingdom that bring goodness on earth and glory to God's name. Biblical meditation means to ponder, contemplate, and reflect on God, His works, His Word, His creation and His laws. Biblical meditation can be viewed as one examining and considering a subject from various angles, all the while looking intently through the lens of God's truth.   


Biblical meditation can graphically be compared to the process of an animal that chews its cud. Cows, goats and sheep are animals that chew their cud. After chewing a bite, moistening it, and swallowing it, these animals regurgitate and then ruminate by chewing on the partially digested food once again. God instructs us to "chew on" Scripture in this way, and to "bring it up" to talk about it and to teach it to our children throughout our day.

Chew, swallow, regurgitate, ruminate, digest.....Scripture!

In Acts 17:11, the Berean church set an example for believers to follow because of the way they "chewed on" and "ruminated" upon Scripture. They were labeled as "noble" because of their diligent study. When Paul and Silas brought their testimony that Yeshua, who suffered, died, and rose from the dead was the Messiah, the Bereans conducted a litmus test, comparing the new revelation to the former revelation that God had entrusted to them.  The Scriptures.....the Torah of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings.....were the foundation of truth to the Bereans. What the Bereans discovered was that the new testimony of Paul and Silas checked out as consistent and true with everything that God had previously revealed in His former testimony.....the "Old" Testament. 

Test all things.

When it comes to considering the Christian traditions that I have grown up with, I find it critical to apply the practices of the Bereans. When our practices, doctrines and interpretations don't line up with the Scriptures, I explore the reasons why. I observe. I question. I investigate.  Like stepping backward into a time machine, I search out historical origins, issues and practices, tracing the tradition to our observances of today. If the origins were unbiblical or pagan, I don't stop there. I make adjustments. I make changes. 

If we are going to call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, then we must do what he did and walk as he walked. What we do must be examined and tested according to the Scriptures. Our questioning may lead to needed change.  Change is hard, but we must do Bible things in Bible ways. 

Although we would be naive to assume that the Church, with its many factions, is all that it should be, we can be sure that the enemy of Messiah is ever-so-active, ever-so-sly, and ever-so-devious. He is out to infiltrate, kill, steal, destroy, and divide everything good and of God as inconspicuously as a sheep in wolf's clothing. So, let us be ever-on-the-lookout, because we are told to test all things.....like the Bereans.  

Think about it!

Sushi in My Sukkah

Celebrating the season with sushi in my sukkah.

The peace was palpable, as I sat alone in my sukkah, prepared for a late lunch with sushi, Bible, and study material.  With Sukkot/Tabernacles drawing near, it was my plan to review the meanings and traditions of this most meaningful Biblical holy day, but the scene was kind of comical to me, since we usually associate Sukkot (sue-COAT) with "Jewish," and sushi with "Japanese."  You might agree that this might look a little incongruent, but when I started to think more deeply about it, I saw a prophetic promise in this picture that excited me.....I saw a glimpse of God's glorious kingdom as it someday will be! 

My future harvest home.....with Messiah!

On one level, Sukkot is God's Biblically mandated Thanksgiving Day, a time to celebrate the goodness of God in the bounty of the Fall harvest.  For this reason it is also referred to as the Festival of Ingathering.  

On a prophetic level this harvest festival alludes to the day when Messiah will return to ingather His exiled nation from the four corners of the earth and tabernacle among them.  This long-anticipated promise of redemption is held particularly close to the heart on this holy day for God's chosen people, Israel.

Through the prophet Moses, God made an everlasting covenant of restoration with Israel before they ever crossed over into the Promised Land.  God vowed to Israel that though their hearts would wander far from Him, and though they would lust after foreign gods, and though God would carry out His prescribed curses for disobedience upon them, He as their Redeemer, would one day regather them back to Himself and circumcise their hearts so that they would love and serve Him with all their being. - Deuteronomy 30:6. 

Wandering Jew.....the centerpiece.

Such is the reason I have at the center of my sukkah, a potted plant known as a Wandering Jew!  This plant, well-known for its ability to propagate and spread, is virtually impossible to eradicate from an area where it has been planted.....unless every piece of it is removed from the area, which is near-to-impossible. Sounds much like the history and even the current times of the Jewish people, doesn't it?  God has and will always, preserve a remnant of His chosen nation, even when evil rulers, regimes and surprisingly even the church, made it their mission to exterminate the Jewish people and the traditions they have carried with them wherever they have wandered.

My centerpiece also reminds me of one particular Jew, the Chosen One, despised and rejected, cut-off and sought out to be annhiliated. But.....like the remnant of Israel that God preserves, and like the Wandering Jew plant that refuses to be extinguished, so too the light of Messiah continues to spread in and through those who take root in Him.

This Wandering Jew centerpiece is a reminder to me that Messiah will indeed regather the exiles of Israel back from the four corners of the earth to the Holy Land, the land of promise, just as He covenanted to do.  He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. - Isaiah 11:12.

A place of peace and communion.

When Messiah Yeshua returns to gather His covenant people, Israel, from their long exile, He will make Jerusalem the capital of the whole earth.  He will restore His people to their Promised Land.  The land of Israel and it's people will thrive and prosper and spread out as never before.  Messiah Yeshua, Son of God, who came as a babe during Sukkot over two thousand years ago to tabernacle among us as the prophesied suffering-servant, will tabernacle on this earth once again, ruling and reigning as Messiah, Son of David, King of Kings, and all nations will come to embrace Him as LORD of Lords.  

The sushi, the tortilla soup, the pizza and a few other foods that I ate under my sukkah during the week of Sukkot, prophetically pictured to me the nations that will one day come to Jerusalem for the feast of Sukkot seeking to pay homage to King Messiah. - Zechariah 14:16.  What a glorious day of shalom that will be.....for all who humble themselves under the covering of God's grace.  May we now take hold of the righteousness of Messiah Yeshua..... our Salvation! - Zechariah 8:22-23.

Adonai will create over the whole site of Mount Tziyon and over those who assemble there a smoking cloud by day and a shining, flaming fire by night;  for the Glory will be over everything like a hupah.  A sukkah will give shade by day from the heat;  it will also provide refuge and cover from storm and rain. - Isaiah 4:4-5. 

Dancin' with the Torah

Simchat Torah - "Rejoicing in the Torah"

As the Torah scroll was handed into my eager arms, I heard someone say, "Hold it close to your heart!"  And so it was that I pulled the written Word close to my heart, as one would do with a newborn babe.  And then, encircled by a joyous congregation, by the rhythmic clapping of hands, along with songs of praise and worship, I began to dance.  With the Torah in my heart and in my arms, I set my feet to dancing. 

Torah is Life!

I was dancing with the Words of Life!  Such was my experience in celebrating the eighth and final day of Sukkot.  The joy of Simchat Torah - "Rejoicing in the Torah," impressed me deeply and engraved precious memories upon my heart.  

The Torah of Moses, to which I clung, is a single scroll which includes the first five books of the Bible.  In recent years I have come to recognize that what gives these particular books of instruction such great significance is the unparalleled way in which God's teachings were given to Moses.  

Among all the Biblical writers, Moses was unique in that he was the only prophet through whom God spoke so directly and clearly, mouth to mouth, and face to face.  Thus the Torah, written by Moses, is foundational to the rest of the Bible, and the precepts therein set forth a precedent upon which every proceeding word of Scripture must agree.  

Our eldest member clinging to the Ancient Words!

On the eighth day of Sukkot, the men of the congregation read a final portion of the Torah.....the last words of Moses before his death.  Moses' blessing upon the tribes of Israel, at the end of Deuteronomy, bring us to the very end of the scroll.  Another yearly Torah-reading cycle comes to completion.  But then, just as we reach the end, we begin again.  We scroll back to the book of beginnings.....to Creation....to newness of life.  And then the women, the "life-givers" read....from Genesis.  We bless the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the Creator of Light and Life, the One who was and is and is coming again.

"Hold it close to your heart!"

It is significant that Simchat Torah occurs on the eighth day, following the seven day Festival of Sukkot. The Biblical meaning of the number eight represents new beginnings.  The eighth day represents a new week.  Eight people were saved in the ark to re-populate the earth.  Circumcision took place on the eighth day. Because of Biblical patterns of prophecy and providence, and because of circumstantial evidence that I have come to understand, I can't help but believe that Simchah Torah was the eighth day of life for the Messiah.   It fits so perfectly.  Read or watch more on this here:  https://jewishvoice.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/why-sukkot-is-yeshuas-real-birthday/


In taking the Torah into my arms on Simchat Torah, I thought about Messiah's eighth day of life.....the day in which the Hope of Israel received in his body the bloody sign of circumcision to confirm the Abrahamic covenant.  Likewise, it was on his eighth day that he was named....."he was given the name Yeshua ('the LORD saves'), which is what the angel had called him before his conception" - Luke 2:21, because he would save his people from their sins - Matthew 1:21.

The Living Torah, our Tree of Life, our Yeshua (Salvation) has come and He is coming again!  In Him all the fullness of God came to dwell - Colossians 1:19, and in Him all the promises of God are "Yes" and "Amen"! - 2 Corinthians 1:20.

Two wooden blocks I painted with the words of an ancient Hebrew blessing.

 Torah is Life

It is a tree of life to all who hold fast to it, and all who uphold it are happy.  

It's ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.
- Ancient Hebrew Blessing

"Trimming the Tree"

My simple sukkah - for celebrating, remembering, and rehearsing.

"Trimming the tree" for the holidays means something different to me now than it once did.  Four years ago, it meant assembling a pre-lit, artificial Christmas tree and then adorning it with ribbons, berries, balls and bows, and even some sentimental ornaments from my childhood.  But now, "trimming the tree" for the holidays has taken on a more literal meaning.  

Trimming the trees for Sukkot

Now my holiday tree trimming includes leafy greens instead of evergreens, and my tools include a saw and a pruner. Now I'm literally trimming tree branches to celebrate the Messiah, who came and is coming, to "tabernacle" with us.  Not only has my tradition changed in form, it's also changed in season.  I used to celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas, but now the Fall feels much more fitting.

My re-purposed hydrangeas.

This is my third year of observing the Biblical Fall festival of Sukkot.  Part of the joy of this commemoration comes in the form of a simple structure called a sukkah.  My sukkah is just an EZ-Up, draped with curtains and a burlap covering, and trimmed out with a leafy border. This year, I spiced up my sukkah with re-purposed ribbon and artificial hydrangeas that had previously embellished my Christmas tree.  Truly I have found child-like joy in the creativity and simplicity of communing in this lovely little space.

The timing surrounding Messiah's birth at Sukkot is fascinating in all that it symbolizes.  The first night of the seven day festival of Sukkot, otherwise known as Feast of Tabernacles, Festival of Booths, or Feast of Ingathering (the harvest) is presumably the very night so long ago when our Savior was born.....in a sukkah in Bethlehem.  Quite likely it was during the Fall on this first night of Sukkot when the shepherds witnessed the angels praising God and bringing greetings of peace and the good news of a Savior. Read or watch more on this here:  https://jewishvoice.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/why-sukkot-is-yeshuas-real-birthday/

Celebrating God's completely perfect timing!

Sukkot, which lasts seven days and occurs in the seventh month on the Biblical calendar is the seventh of the seven appointed Feasts of the Lord.  The obvious link of this appointed time to the number seven, signifies the spiritual message that Sukkot embraces God's perfection and completion in the coming and coming again of Messiah Yeshua.   The Word was made flesh to dwell, or tabernacle, among us - John 1:14.  

In the days of the Temple, during the Festival of Tabernacles, the children of Israel were required to live in booths or temporary shelters.  The Feast of Tabernacles was the third of three yearly pilgrimage feasts in which the Jews were required to go up to Jerusalem to rejoice at the Temple.  Camping in  sukkahs reminded them of the forty year wilderness experience of their forefathers when the Heavenly Father provided for every need of His Chosen, beloved, young nation.

Symbolic branches to wave before the LORD in worship.

Biblically, as believers, we have reason to join with Israel in keeping the feasts.  In unity, we live out the mysterious reality that we are one in Yeshua and that by God's grace we have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel - Romans 11:11-22.  Someday our unity with believing Israel will become a reality, and someday God's Torah will be fully on our hearts - Jeremiah 31:32-33.

The Feast of Tabernacles is like a dress rehearsal to prepare our hearts for a future Day when Messiah returns to take His rightful place in Jerusalem on David's Throne.  On that Day, Yeshua will once again tabernacle among us, but this time He will come as the Judge of all the earth, as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, as the King of kings and LORD of Lords.  At that time, all the nations of the world will be required to pay homage to the King of all the earth by making pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles - Zechariah 14:16-19.  

My branch & citrus - memories of Sukkot.

There are SO many more facts, details and symbols that I have gleaned in celebrating this AMAZING holy feast.  Truly my heart is overflowing with the richest of fare.....the eternal treasures of God's Word that leave me full of awe at the majesty and wisdom of our great God.

While I admit that it's been quite a paradigm shift for me to incorporate these new-to-me Biblical traditions into my life, I have to say it's been worth it.  I don't have to ask, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) when I can actually DWYD (Do What Yeshua Did).  Yeshua observed His Father's appointed festivals .....that's what makes them important to me.....and that's why I'm "trimming my tree" in September!

*Here's a great website if you want to learn more about Sukkot - The Season of our Joy:

hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Sukkot/sukkot.html

Shifting Shadows

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy Faithfulness, now ninety years old, is considered by many to be one of the favorite hymns.  But personally I confess, that after hearing and singing it so many times over the course of my life, I had started to become weary it.  And so it was that recently during a worship service, I was confessing this to the Lord as the song was about to begin.  Truly I wanted to sing the deep truths of the song with heartfelt conviction and without a negative attitude, and genuinely, I wanted the words of mouth to align with my heart.  So I asked the Lord to create in me a new heart that would allow me to bring a true praise offering of worship to Him.

The Father of heavenly lights does not change like shifting shadows.

As the song began, my mind explored an intriguing perspective on the lyrics that excited me and resonated with my soul.  In the musical message, I saw the sun as spiritual imagery demonstrating God's constant faithfulness, contrasted to the moon's ever-changing phases that could be likened to man's perpetual pattern of inconsistency.  




God's goodness, His life-giving strength, and His immutable character could be compared to the qualities of the sun, for just as the sun rises each morning to give its light so powerfully, freely and faithfully, so too, the Lord's mercies are new every morning.  Day by day, of every month, every season and every year, our Heavenly Father provides for our needs.  He is faithful to forgive, encourage, and give us hope for the future with the truth of His Word through His Holy Spirit.  His loving presence is constant and enduring.  Even more immutable than the sun, the Father of heavenly lights does not change like shifting shadows - James 1:17.  As the song testifies, "There is no shadow of turning with Thee." 

Waxing & waning.....our love is like the moon's shifting shadows.

In contrast to the imagery I saw in the sun, I found it fascinating to consider that man's character qualities could be likened to the moon.  Unlike the sun, the moon has no light of its own, rather, it is designed to be a reflector of the sun.  Similarly, man was created in the likeness of God to reflect His image!  As God's image-bearers, sometimes we reflect poorly, and sometimes we reflect more fully. 

Each moon cycle begins with just a sliver of reflection.  The reflective crescent grows and grows each night until the moon is full and fully reflective.  Following this fullness, the moon begins to wane until it is reduced to darkness.  How meaningful this understanding has become to me now, as I see this cyclical pattern as a mirror of mankind.  We too, wax and wane in our love for God and for our fellow man.  At times our love shines fully and brightly, but more often, like shifting shadows, we only dimly reflect our marvelous Maker.  

Yom Teruah - The Feast of Trumpets

Just as each new day is a gift, each new month provides us with new opportunities to grow in our love toward God and our neighbor.  According to the Biblical Hebrew calendar, each new moon (Rosh Chodesh) signals the head(rosh) of a new month(chodesh).  New moons are announced with the blasting of the shofar to signal time for celebration with the realization that by the mercy of God, each new month brings opportunity for rebirth and renewal.  Psalm 81:3 proclaims, "Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival."   Each full moon marks the midpoint, the fifteenth day, of each month.  Ordained by God's wisdom, a number of festivals of freedom and abundance, including Passover, Purim and Feast of Tabernacles occur during the time of the full moon. 

In Hebrew, "moon" or “month” is chodesh, meaning renewal.

There is one very special new moon celebration that occurs during the Fall of the year.  It is known in Scripture as the Feast of Trumpets but it is better known as Rosh Hashanna.  This particular new moon celebration is one of the Lord's appointed times for celebrating with the blast of the shofar.  

I find it amazingly significant that the prophetic message of this holy convocation foreshadows the return of the Messiah as the ruling, reigning, conquering King of Creation,  or as the Bridegroom returning for His Bride, or as the Judge of all the earth, or as the Redeemer of Israel - Revelation 11:15, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.  Among its many messages, the shofar blast on the Feast of Trumpets is a wake-up call, a call to warfare, a cry for help to the Lord, a signal for breaking camp or ushering in a new king.  Let us prepare our hearts.  Let us wake up.  Let us be fully alert and ready as the Day approaches.....the King is coming! - Joel 2:1

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” - Galations 4:4

 

 Abba Father,
Oh how we thank You that Your mercies are new every morning.....and every month.....and every year!  We give praise to You for Your faithfulness, even though we are so desperately undeserving and unfaithful!  May we humbly reflect less of us and more of YOU!  Fill us, we pray, with the Light of Your Word through Your Holy Spirit, because it is only through You that we are able to be who You made us to be.  Amen.

How great indeed, is Thy faithfulness!  

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
    Great is your faithfulness. - Lamentations 3:22-23

Naked Truth

I will remove from you your heart of stone.

As I was perusing clothing in a local shop, I was suddenly taken aback.....before my eyes was a naked woman strutting across the street!!!  Shocked, offended and appalled was I, while the woman behaved as though nothing were amiss!  OK, so I didn't see the scenario take place in in real time, but nevertheless, the scene with the naked woman printed on the back of a tee-shirt did offend my heart!  My spirit was grieved, not only for myself, but for society, and particularly for innocent children. Compelled to share my concerns about the effect of such images on society, I spoke to the store manager and respectfully asked him to reconsider selling such prints.

I will give you a heart of flesh.

Such was the experience I related to two confident high school art students who had been sharing about their appreciation for art with me.  I had brought up the scenario to them as I raised questions about how they critiqued the art that they saw in their museum visits.   Naively, I was certain that these bright, young students who had been influenced  with Christian training would share my conclusions about morality in art.....but alas, I was wrong.

I was struck to the core by the students' responses.  With renewed eyes, I reconsidered the art that I'd been taught to value.  I queried, "What makes art good, bad or beautiful?" "What is the moral obligation of art?" and "What about naked art?"  I pondered the goodness of some of the classic works of art that I had been taught to admire.  I questioned the church's judgement of art and my own college art training.  But most importantly I inquired, "What is God's standard for judging the art of the centuries?"  I recognized that even within Christianity we've been plagued by a moral void in the art we deem worthy.

 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.

I pondered my own deep-down sense about viewing naked art.  I recognized that even as I was told to look intelligently and maturely at the work, to see the nakedness as beautiful, as fine art, as a creative display of God's glory, that even so, there was something innately uncomfortable in seeing the naked forms.  Many times I have noticed, that there was and still is something about naked art that does not sit right with my soul.  My childlike questions about nudity in art have only been met with double standards.  I have finally realized that the art world has duped us.


Years ago, a life-drawing college course raised serious issues for me.  While the teacher seemed very professional and respectful of the human body in the way he taught us about the underlying structures of bones and muscles that created the human form, I remember how unsettled I felt in drawing nudes.  I remember how embarrassed I felt the first time we had a male model.  I didn't want to to look up.  I employed strategies to protect my eyes and heart such as finding the most modest vantage point or never quite finishing the male images.  I remember too, wrestling with the morality of drawing nude models.  After all, logic would reason that if it's OK to create naked art, then it's OK to model naked.....right?  Yikes.....such a slippery slope!


It's a well known fact that many of the so-called masters have painted pictures of naked women that turned out to be their mistresses.  Now, if all this naked art is really so up-and-up as we've been taught to believe, then why were all these illicit relationships being forged?  Apparently, the artists were not so innocent, sophisticated, mature or godly in their appreciation of the human form.  Obviously, they were looking at their models with sinful lust.....and the results are the images we put before our eyes.  So tell me, where have our sense and sensibilities been in judging these matters?

I will put my Spirit in you and move you.

In recent years I have come to recognize a confusing and deceptive force that has powerfully influenced the art of Christendom......the art of the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican Museum.  In regards their immense and wealthy art collections, I have asked the dreaded questions, "Why would this institution encourage celibacy and purity, and then alternatively collect and display naked, adulterous, paganly humanistic, and dare I say, pornographic art?" "Is this not a double standard?" "Would a true church of God glorify the flesh and seek after worldly wealth?" "Is it possible that the Father of Lies, the Deceiver, the Author of Confusion, has been working overtime in the Church?"   

Remember that in the beginning, God set a precedent in Genesis 3:21 when He covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve after sin entered creation.  Scripture reveals that to be exposed as naked is a sign of sin and shame and neediness. Our Father's desire is that His sons and daughters live in purity, holiness and modesty, with respect for one another.  He warned his priests not to approach His altar on steps, but rather to use a ramp so that their private parts would not be exposed in Exodus 20:26.  Additionally, the Lord ordered undergarments to be worn by the priests who who would minister before Him in the tabernacle.  Spiritually too, we cannot come naked before our holy God, but we must come clothed in the white robes of righteousness provided for us by Yeshua our sinless Messiah.

Follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

As our Father has laid foundational principles for life in His Torah, our Master, Yeshua, instructed us to not even look lustfully upon one another, but time and time again, Satan's lie, "Did God really say?" has duped the world.....and even the church.  Repeatedly we have failed to recognize, admit or address the core issue.....the naked truth ......sin.  Naked art exposes hardness-of-heart toward what is truly beautiful in the eyes of our Creator.  Naked art is a slippery slope that has exposed us to all sorts of evils that we have permitted into our homes and into every aspect of our lives.  

Oh Lord, As the Day draws near, heighten our senses that we may clearly heed Your voice.  May Your pure, sweet, good and perfect instructions become more clearly and deeply impressed on our hearts and minds  - Jeremiah 31:32-33.  May we ever more faithfully follow Your laws an be careful to keep Your decrees - Ezekiel 37:24.  May we know our Good Shepherd's voice and not be fooled by the voice of the enemy.  Amen.

Create in me a pure heart, O God - Psalm 51:10

Her Mother's Heart

Happy Mother's Day, Lois! - Proverbs 31 Mama

"If you see a ripe strawberry, eat it!"

While working in my garden, I spied the ripe, red, juicy strawberries.  Although they looked tempting and delicious, I kept right on working.....but her words, "If you see a ripe strawberry, eat it," kept reverberating through my head.  With that sentiment came a cacophony of sweet thoughts, memories and images, and I realized that her simple statement had touched me deeply.  Feeling inspired, I took a break from trimming and went inside to sit a spell at the computer.  I knew that the words in my head could be crafted into a special blessing from the Lord for Lois.

Lois' middle school garden and the path to her art room.

"If you see a ripe strawberry, 
eat it!".....were words Lois had spoken to her middle-school students, encouraging them to partake of the produce from the little garden she had planted outside her art classroom.  Shrubs, flowers, strawberries and even a lemon tree, are lovingly enjoyed and tended to by Lois in this mini version of the beautiful garden that Lois keeps at home.  This little piece of paradise is just one of the creative ways that Lois has sown seeds of love.....blessing others with the beauty of the garden, spurred by her gratitude for the goodness of God.

Middle school theme banner - designed and created each year by Lois.

Lois, as you can see, is creative to the core.  Wherever she goes and in whatever she does, beauty, life and creativity overflow as a sweet fragrance.  Generous with her talents, she has lavished the work of her hands and the cream of her crops on many a family member, friend or neighbor.  Her decorating skills have graced many an event, be it a party, a wedding, or a school or church function.  Her artistic skills are as varied as painting, pottery, sewing, calligraphy, gardening and flower arranging.

Along with her fearless creativity, I've always been impressed and inspired by Lois' youthful and adventurous spirit.  No lazy bones in her body!  Whether learning a new language or a new computer skill, whether walking around a garden nursery with a vanilla latte or shopping for something fresh from a farmer's market, whether traveling abroad or getting lost and following her nose to find what she can find, Lois is always discovering something fun, delicious or lovely. 

Lois with her mom en route to college.....at Four Corners.

From what I've been told, Lois has inherited her mother's green thumb and her mother's heart.  Much of who Lois is today, is founded on the wonderful experiences of her childhood.  Biblical values, practical skills and knowledge, kindness, helpfulness and generosity, along with a nose for adventure were character qualities instilled in Lois by her father and mother.

This year marks Lois' 25th year of teaching art at the Christian school where she works.  I think this Mother's Day is a perfect time to pay tribute to the beautiful nurturing heart that Lois displays.....the heart that so resembles her mother's heart.  

Her mother would be blessed.

See my son's dish from Lois' ceramics class?

PS.  Oh, and remember those ripe, red strawberries I spied in my garden?  I ate them for breakfast while working on this article.  Sliced on waffles with melted chocolate chips, butter, and just a dusting of powdered sugar.....they were delicious!  

My happy surprise in photographing this moment in my morning was noticing that there on my desk sat a ceramic dish.....a piece made years ago by my son in Lois' ceramics class!  I still love it and use it for holding coasters.  

Thanks for blessing me, Lois!