too heavenly minded to be any earthly good?

i have grown up hearing the phrase, "you're just too heavenly minded
to be any earthly good."  of course, they weren't saying that to me!

it is confusing, though, to think we could possibly be that way.  if
someone has truly set her heart "above, where Christ is seated at the
right hand of  God. . . and her mind on things above, not on earthly
things," then she will do as Jesus did.  (colossians 3:2)

He was of tremendous earthly good.

He loved little children, prostitutes, and tax collectors but had no
patience for religious people who lorded it over the humble and
judged the sinners.  He went about doing His Father's business,
healing and restoring bodies and hearts.

He told us to seek His kingdom, to stop worrying so much about
tomorrow, and to not judge others but to pay attention to the  log
in our own eyes. (matthew 6 and 7)

sheesh, how will i have time to worry about everybody else's sins,
when i have so many of my own, which brings me right back to
being "too earthly minded to be any heavenly good." :)

now that's something i do very well.

love,
lea

boys, boys, boys!

in the past few weeks, i have mixed up three boys' names.
not my own sons, of course, but the ones circling around my
girls.  i can no longer even remember which boy is 'friends'
with which of my girls.

"mom!  that's bobby, not billy!  he's here to take hailey out
to dinner, not me!!   sick!!!"

the trouble is, they seem to think that i can keep track of
'friends' from two and three years ago.  that is simply not
possible for my small mind.

"mom!  that's billy, not bobby!  he used to like sunday, not
me!!  ew!!!

(billy?  bobby??)

so, from now on, when a new boy walks in the door, i will
give them a test like, "hey bud, would you please bring the
groceries in from my car?" (the ones YOU will be eating.)

if he does, i will try very hard to learn his name, but if he
can't pass my daughter's test, i won't try very hard to
remember it.  :)

love,
lea

"rejoice, o young man, in your youth, and let your heart
cheer you . . . "  ecclestiastes 11:9

snakes on a plane!

dear emily,

this is a "sabbath" repost for the weekend.

remember the commercials for the movie, "snakes on a plane?" i don't
know anyone who actually watched it, but i have lived it.  most anyone
who has flown with a baby understands just what i mean.

the fear rises as you stumble down the entry ramp toward the cabin
door.  you smile nervously (with your ticket between your teeth) at the
skinny young flight attendant who is not happy to see you carrying your
15 pound baby, his 25 pound diaper bag, dangling his pacifier from your
pinky.

you are praying that your seatmate is an understanding and helpful mom,
maybe even your own mommy. . .

6 ABC
7 ABC
8 ABC

 . . . but, instead it is a pair of bifocals, glaring at you.  the expensive
pinstripe suit and snakeskin shoes defy you to disturb the very important
work being done on their laptop.

your sweet baby is picking up on your increasing stress and is already
getting a little fussy and hungry.  the thought of nursing him with an
uptight executive sitting next to you, makes you want to wean him.

then, horror of horrors, your precious baby throws up all over mr.
reptile shoes, who hisses with displeasure.

your baby, however, is now content and sleepy, and you no longer
care about any snakes on the plane.

love,
lea

"can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion
on the child she has borne?  though she may forget, I will not forget
you!"  isaiah 49:15

they're heeeere!

dear emily,

this is to make you feel better about your little ones' clutter.
unfortunately, it just gets bigger! :)

entry hall:

mud room:

living room:

kitchen table:

"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have
made my lot secure.  the boundary lines have fallen for me in
pleasant places; surely i have a delightful inheritance!"
psalm 16:5,6

love,
lea

to do or not to do!

i just read a sweet encouragement from debbie at heart choices.
like many of the amazing blogs i read, this one sparked a thought.
some of you have explosions of incredible insight, but i am  just
thrilled with a tiny sputter.

there is a story about a young boy, robbed of speech and thrown
into the fire and water by a demon.  the disciples were unable to
deliver him from this terrible torment because of their unbelief.

Jesus displayed His sympathy and love by asking the father about
the history and condition of the boy.  the father said "if you can do
anything, take pity on us and help us."

"'if you can'?" said Jesus, "everything is possible for him who
believes."  immediately, the father exclaimed, "i do believe; help
me overcome my unbelief!"  matthew 9:14-29

jesus took the boy by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he
stood up.

i need help with my faith, too.  but my constant cry is, "Lord, i am
willing.  help, me to overcome my unwillingness!"

to do what i should do . . .  but don't want to do.   to NOT do  what
i shouldn't want to do . . . but still want to do:  that is my question!
i will leave the "be-ing" of shakespeare to the more mature.

i am obviously still a baby,
lea

dear emily,

i am so ashamed of myself.  sweet trish at notes of sincerity sent
me the loveliest gift for which i have not properly thanked her.

let me go to the mountains and i lose my head.

here are some photos of the darling bracelet and note she sent
me.  please go visit her adorably creative and sincerely amazing
blog.

i have the sweetest angel to wear such a pretty bracelet.   she

just went to the mission field with her parents and will love the 

surprise!

thank you, trish!!!

love,

lea

"to whom much is given, much is required."  luke 12:48

be good? or be a blessing!

dear emily,

this is a 'sabbath rest' repost from november.

my children were ornery little widgets, but they never heard me say,
"be good."  'good' seemed like such a nebulous, lack luster term for
what i wanted from them.

instead, i always urged them to 'be a blessing,' which required
more action and thought.  they understood this included kindness,
cheerfulness, obedience, and helpfulness, all actions we practiced
daily at home.

this required me to conform to the same standard, and i assure you,
they would let me know when i was grumpy or impatient.  all of us
continuously fell below the benchmark, but we asked forgiveness
and then tried harder to be a blessing to one another.

because i expected this kind of behavior at home, it was natural
for them to act the same way when we ventured out.  many tired
mommies slacken standards at home but then have unrealistic
expectations of their children when in public.

consistency is a vital key to training up children in the way they
should go.  it's difficult and tiresome, but the reward is happy,
respectful children who are allowed to go many exciting places
with mom and dad.

now that my urchins are mostly grown up, i hear this a lot,
"mom!  you can't say that in public!"

love,
lea

"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
galatians 5:24

emerald lake

thank you for visiting my trail in the joyce's pretty friday's hike.  if you
meander over there, you will see many more exquisite sights.

hailey and i took a gorgeous drive with my parents to emerald lake.
i'm disappointed that my photos don't quite reveal the deep green hue
of this lovely spot.

just on the other side of emerald lake, our front tire took an ugly
puncture from a sharp piece of slate, no doubt the wicked witch of
the west's maniacal scheme.

so, dorothy and company hiked on to the emerald city for a ride back
with the wizard . . .

. . .the end.

"the foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of
precious stone. . . the fourth was emerald."  revelation 21:19

prenuptials

dear emily,

i was a mature and seasoned 21 year old when i married hans.
we had dated all through high school and separate colleges, so
it was time for us.  if absence made the heart grow fonder, we
were absolutely sick with fondness.

the truth is, i think we made other people a little sick with our
fondness. :)

hans has been the love of my life and the captain of my ship,
always encouraging, ever faithful, and completely entertaining.
but most importantly, he never says, "no" to me.  :)

the view from my kitchen/coffee nook:

as we approach our thirty year anniversary, i have been thinking
about the importance of 'prenups.'  i brought very little to the
blessed union besides my heart but still considered it very, VERY
important that he promise me, "i will never, ever take you camping."

we passed this sign on a hike last week, and it made me smile.

seriously?  two weeks??

love, lea

"love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  it
always protects, always, trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres."
1 corinthians 13: 6,7

ps.  p. j.'s clever and loving post about her wonderful  husband
prompted this!!!

mission fields

dear emily,

several of my kids have been on mission trips to peru, ecuador,
honduras, mexico, and soon brazil, but i have never had the
courage to do so myself.  when they return, they are always full
of exciting stories of miracles and acts of kindness that make my
heart sing.

but, i never go myself.

when we arrived in crested butte, i asked hans if i could stay a bit
longer after they all left.  it seemed a good thing to be alone,
spending time to refresh my soul in the Lord's care, and hans was
happy for me to do that.

but, circumstances have changed, and now three of my kids will be
home, two giving concerts friday and saturday.  i wrestled with this
in prayer a bit.  "but, Lord, it seemed good for me to have this brief
time here, alone." instead, i will fly home where i should be.

'good' is sometimes the enemy of 'best', and though i am too timid to
fly south and tend my south american neighbor, i am always happy
to care for my own children.  for now, i guess that's still my mission
field and one i dearly love.

love,
lea

"having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,
let us use them."  romans 12:6

blog poser

dear emily,

every now and then i join "blessed is the kingdom" and repost an
old piece as a 'sabbath rest.'  i thought that a new blogger might be
encouraged by all the sweet comments i received after writing this.
the blogging community is extraordinarily generous in their help
to 'newbies.'

ok, i can't take the guilt any longer.  i am a blog poser.  i never even
visited a blog before i started pretending and even made fun of those
kind of people!

wait, that's not quite true, shelby had me read the pioneer woman's
love story, but that was really a western harlequin romance with
awesome recipes and beautiful pictures of super cute kids.

my friend margaret writes a funny, insightful blog about being single
in a crazy, married world.  i thought to myself, "i can do that.  i know
a little bit about raising a circus, i mean family."  next thing i knew, i
was a blog poser.

since then i have had a few entertaining comments, "i can't seem to
get you on my blog roll.  i guess i will just have to put you on my old
fashioned blog roll."  umm, ok.

...or, "i have tried to update you to my sidebar but can't seem to find
you.  do you have your blog set up to do a sitefeed or a feedburner?"
...  sidebar?  sitefeed??  FEEDBURNER???

the only feeding and burning i know is cattle, children, and trash.

love,
lea

". . . You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them
to little children."  luke 10:21

joyce's 'friday pretties' party

welcome to 'friday pretties, hosted by joyce,  who is just the
prettiest thing herself.   please remember her mother and sister
in your prayers.

"through the dancing poppies stole a breeze most softly
lulling to my soul."  -keats

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  ecclesiastes 3:11

love,
lea

delightful surprise!

hans and i were sitting on the covered porch watching the evening
rays filter through the soft rain.  it was pleasingly cool enough for
light jackets.  the fresh, clean scent was heavenly, and we were both
as content as two well fed cows.

and then our hearts leaped out of our chests, as we beheld the most
gorgeous rainbow appear.  rainbows are a sign of beauteous hope,
and i consider it an awesome privilege to see one.

i may never go home, now.

does anyone else see that pot of gold?

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds. . ." genesis 9

love,
lea

i love a parade!

i have enjoyed visiting many of your fourth of july celebrations
and have a few photos of our very busy day.

the day before, shelby and hailey made 'puppy chow' to snack
on during the fireworks.

we started out the 4th with a sweet worship service at our little church,
"oh be joyful" then moved onto the town's colorful parade.

our best friends saved us perfect seats to watch the festivities.

        

       the crowds filled the street from one end of town

to the other, where you can see mount crested butte.

all the parade prerequisites were in place:

army! air force! navy! marine! 

babies,

clowns,

horses,

and men with 25 foot long skis.  :)

i kept thinking of the verse, "now rejoice in the Lord always,

and again i say, rejoice!"  phil. 4:4

love,

lea   

 

we flew to our paradise in record time and even brought jackson
who was a good little flier.   after stocking up on groceries, airing
out the condo, and unpacking we are now joyfully in mountain
mode.

hans and i took an hour long walk yesterday, which is a little
adventurous for our first day at this 9,000 foot height.  it ensured
a really good night's sleep, though.

he surprised me with a new camera, and i am having so much fun
in this gorgeous environment.  every way i turn, i see something
glorious.  i, of course, have no idea what i'm doing, but do know
that practice makes perfect.

happy fourth of july!  in a few days, i will post some photos of
crested butte's fun parade and fireworks' display.

love,
lea

"i will lift up my eyes to the hills-
where does my help come from?
my help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth."
psalm 121