Like a Sunrise

Image by Jonas Fehre from Pixabay

Against my better judgment, I watched the movie, Julie and Julia. It is a good story with a happy ending, but it always makes me cry. Julie Powell’s writing career took off in just one year — from writing a blog! People were almost breaking down her door to sign her to a writing contract, and they even made a movie from her book.

It makes me feel inferior.  

However, this time I didn’t wallow very long in self-pity. A dear friend shared an interview with Hugh Howey, an Indie phenomenon whose book, Wool, took off and sold millions.

He said, “One of the worst things that can happen to you is for your first book to be a runaway success.”

Wow.

The article explained it is better for an author to have a backlist of five or ten books before writing the coveted best seller. Readers can go back and buy everything else the author wrote, reducing the stress on writing the next novel.

Hugh also said, “I told myself that everything I published would be available for thousands of years, so success and appreciation didn’t have to occur in my lifetime. That gave me hope.”

Thank you, Hugh, that gives me hope too, and flows right in with my devotion in, Living Faith. Deborah Meister wrote:  “Nothing stands in the way of God’s mercy and love except our own stubbornness to resist change, to cling to our guilt or grief, or anger [or jealousy, fear, doubts, and impatience]. Right in front of our eyes, like every sunrise, God is making all things new. (Revelation 21:5)”

That includes my writing as well as my faith.

Okay, this isn't funny. Well, maybe sort of....

I woke this morning tired and a little grumpy. The vine I've been battling for two years won't stay dead. After cleaning out all but some roots, my husband and I put plastic sheeting over it last year and thought that would end it's life. When we removed the plastic this spring, the vine looked dead, but it wasn't.

As you can see from the picture, it's back, growing like a green monster.

The thought of putting who knows how many more hours ripping out its fingers, toes, trunk, and whatever else I can reach soured my thoughts. Some of the  roots are as big as my arm!

After removing seventy, yes seventy, pickup loads of debris from our yard last year, I really thought we were done with major projects, and we only had to maintain the flowerbeds and mow the lawn.

Deciding to procrastinate over one  more cup of coffee, I opened my emails and perused book sales, usually a sure fire way of making even the worst days better.

However this morning, one of the titles hit home a little too close, and I don't find it remotely funny. Well, after I think about it, maybe it is a little funny.

What are the chance of this happening on this particular day? 

I'd say God sometimes has a weird sense of humor. Then, maybe He's trying to tell me to lighten up a bit. After all, my vine isn't exactly as sinister as this one, is it?  The Vines

Hummingbirds and Dandelions

We have a hummingbird who has given us many hours of entertainment. He sits atop the feeder for hours at a time, sunshine or rain, his little head moving back and forth in constant vigilance against other birds. This must be exhausting.

How unfortunate he cannot know the supply of nectar is endless since we monitor and refill it as necessary. It will never run out.

I realized God’s blessings and grace is the same for us. There is enough for everyone and we need not decide who is worthy and who is not, or fight to conserve a meager supply.

Imagine letting go all the frenetic activity and instead “looking to see something beautiful is about to happen,” as Patricia Livingstone suggested in my, Living Faith, meditation for today.

We can also think of it this way.

Daddy and Button - A True Story

My sister told this beautiful story at the recent memorial service for my dad. Have tissues handy.

When my dad was young, someone gave him a filly that required bottle feeding. My dad eagerly agreed to the extra chore. He named her Button. It wasn't long before he could whistle her up from anywhere. They chased cows together, but also, she was a constant companion. He saved her in such a horrible snowstorm he had to crawl a fence line to find the house after leaving her in the barn. She repaid him by letting him practice trick riding and mounting at a dead run, like he had read the cavalry soldiers did. 

If anyone has had a special horse, you know that they are not like dogs or cats. They are more like friends who stay with you and work with you because they trust you. After Button was old and had to be retired, my dad was just starting his haying business, and his family. Living on the ranch with my grandparents in the same small house was too much of a strain on my parents’ marriage, so they moved out. Unfortunately, my grandad did not take this well, and in a fit of spite, told my dad he had to get rid of Button. 

My dad could find no place to put the old mare, and he didn’t have the means to board her, so he made the difficult decision to “chicken feed” her. He wasn’t there when the kill wagon came to get her. As sad as that sounds, it wasn’t the end the story. 

Heading out with a load of hay to deliver, he stopped at a café for a cup of coffee mid-morning. When he came out of the café, there was the slaughter truck with Button inside, still alive. When she saw him, she screamed and tried to get to him. He had to turn his back and walk away, choosing his family over his horse and childhood friend.

One of his favorite quotes was by R.B. C. Graham in a letter to Theodore Roosevelt: God forbid that I should go to any Heaven in which there are no horses.

My father lived a full and happy life, and he gave so much to so many.

His memorial service ended with the song, I Can Imagine. 

We imagine he is with God now in the heaven he always hoped for, with Button, waiting for our mom to join him.