Month: June 2019

Copperhead Reminders

Posted on by Wendy
We sometimes become complacent and forget to be thankful for all of the blessings we have been given.

I was cooking dinner a couple of weeks ago, when my hubby approached me with his phone. He had a picture of a snake pulled up on it. He had just taken down the trash and found a small snake underneath it, he thought about killing it, but didn’t think it was poisonous, so he let it go.

But, after coming back into the house and finding pictures online, he knew it was definitely a Copperhead. They are poisonous and the little ones are supposed to be particularly dangerous because they don’t give a warning bite. They just release all of their venom when they strike.

We had a conversation with each other and our kids about being extra careful outside and not wearing flip flops or sandals in the yard. We talked about wearing closed toed shoes and watching carefully where we step. We talked about the importance of vigilance.

Over the next few days, every time I was out in the yard, whether picking blueberries or cutting hydrangeas, I was hyper-vigilant about where I walked. I didn’t zone out. I was constantly watching for the danger that may be lurking near.

At some point though, it occurred to me that I was in no more danger after the snake sighting than I was the day before. I was just no longer unaware.

Of course, I shouldn’t have been unaware to begin with. One of our dogs had been bitten by a Copperhead years before. She was thankfully okay, but it was in the fenced backyard. I had just chosen to become complacent. My hubby killed a really large one in our neighbor’s driveway.

How had I forgotten?

As the days went by, my fear of being bitten by a dangerous, ninja snake, every time I stepped out of my garage, morphed into a paying close attention stance. I stopped expecting danger at every turn, but didn’t walk around blissfully unaware either.

I was living in the moment, appreciating, but also respecting, my present circumstances. It turned out to be a gift because I began to truly appreciate the beauty around me.

I began to think about how tragedy or near tragedy, makes us take stock and really appreciate what we have, for a time. Sickness, loss or even death of someone we love, makes us savor and hold extra close, the many blessings we have been given. We become extra thankful, but life steps in and we get busy and we forget.

That Copperhead reminded me to live in thankfulness, perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Hydrangea Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
We are all meant to bloom and contribute in our unique way.

A few years ago, I started a new job; at the end of that year, a sweet family gave me a hydrangea plant as a gift. I was so excited. I’ve always loved hydrangeas, but hadn’t really been able to grow them for a long time. I had a huge one at my last house, but when we moved, I just couldn’t make them grow even though I tried a variety of spots.

They either didn’t get enough sun or got too much sun and not enough water. I could only plant them in my backyard that’s fenced, because the herd of deer that resides in my neighborhood would eat them to the ground if they had the chance.

After trying numerous times, I gave up on hydrangeas. I just planted something else.

But, when I received one as a gift, I gave it another shot and it lived. It didn’t bloom, but it lived. The following year, they gave me a different variety and I planted it as well. It also lived. Once they gave me a third one and they all lived and I got a few blooms, I was inspired to buy one myself.

I put them all in raised beds and I watered them and fed them and waited. I was thrilled when I got a few blooms. It wasn’t what I hoped for, but at least I seemed to be on the right track.

Well, this year, three years after I started, my hydrangeas are bursting forth with blooms. They are the first thing I see when I drive up into my driveway. I have so many that I have been able to cut some to bring inside while still enjoying the ones outside. And to my delight, the ones I bring inside stay fresh and pretty for well over a week.

Each time I pass a vase of them, I stop and appreciate their beauty and I am reminded at how long it took for me to have them.

There was a decade of complete failure that caused me to give up completely, but then the kindness of someone else, encouraged me to try again. When I did, I didn’t get the blooms I wanted right away, but I got growth, so I kept trying and waiting patiently with hope and a little faith.

The combination proved to be enough.

Those hydrangeas remind me of our faith walk. Sometimes we and those around us, can get discouraged and sometimes give up completely. After years of disappointment, frustration and discouragement, we can decide that we will never bloom, yet God is always at work. He often sends someone to encourage us and remind us that it’s never too late to try again.

Sometimes we need to be encouraged and sometimes we are the one who encourages and we need to remember that both sides are vital to Kingdom work, because in the end, we are all meant to bloom and contribute in our own unique way.

Some hydrangea blooms reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Piper Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
Piper often misses out because she overestimates her size.

When I leave my house in the mornings, to go to work, I put a baby gate on the stairs. If I don’t, our big dog, Sandy, will go upstairs and scratch on my kids’ bedroom doors, until he wakes them up. I have no idea why he does that, but my teenagers do not appreciate being awakened before 7:00 A.M. on days they don’t have school, and so to keep peace among all of the living creatures in my home, I use the gate.

Interestingly enough, there’s usually a pretty large gap between the gate and the wall and our smaller dog, Piper, could easily squeeze through it if she chose too, but she doesn’t. One of her favorite things to do is to go back to bed, but she misses the opportunity because Piper thinks she’s much bigger than she really is.

She will sometimes growl at the bigger dog for no good reason. She seems totally unaware of their size difference. She will sit at the door on the porch indefinitely, waiting for someone to open the door a little wider for her although she could have easily walked through the opening that was already there.

On Piper, her overestimation of her size and the limitations she places on herself are comical. She’s such a silly dog.

But, I sometimes ask myself if I do any better. What opportunities do I pass up because I’m too old, or not qualified enough, or smart enough?

Sometimes God opens a door for us, just wide enough for us to step through. But, we don’t walk through it because we would prefer it to be wide open with a neon sign pointing the way and great fanfare leading us on.

More often than not, I have found that, that is simply not His way. When we take quiet time and pray, we are able to see the open doors around us and the different paths that become lit up. We become more comfortable stepping out into the spaces He provides instead of insisting on our own preferences of wide, bright, and loud.

We begin to understand that man’s ways and God’s ways have never been the same. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

And when we see an opening, we aren’t afraid to take it. My dog, Piper, reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Binoculars Wisdom

Posted on by Wendy
When we slow down and listen, we are often surprised at the beauty we find.

At a recent visit to my parents’ house, I found myself in the kitchen. Daddy was there too and he instructed me to go to the end of the table and pick up the binoculars that were lying there.

I smiled as I did as I was instructed. My parents have recently installed new bird feeders and have been using different kinds of seed. They have been blessed with all kinds of different varieties of birds, so much so, that they keep a couple of sets of binoculars handy to get a closer look.

When I picked up the binoculars, Daddy instructed me to aim towards the pool. I did as I expected to see some exotic bird, but he surprised me when he asked if I could see the beautiful hibiscus bloom. I chuckled. It was not at all what I was expecting, but it was truly stunning.

Mama and Daddy had overwintered their hibiscus plants, nurturing them inside their home all winter long. Since they had moved them back outside, they had watered them and fed them and waited patiently for them to bloom and one of them finally had.

Daddy was like a new proud papa admiring the first bloom of the season.

I’ve often compared the wisdom of young children and older folks. Both groups seem to instinctively know that the simple things in life often provide the most beauty and joy. They allow things like new blossoms, birds, puppies and frogs, to delight them. Both walk a little slowly, allowing them to drink in their surroundings. Neither are always hurrying so much that they miss important stuff like listening to a loved one share a story.

They appreciate the details and the little miracles that many take for granted.

I thought about those binoculars and that blossom long after that day. I thought about how much beauty we are able to see when we simply stop and look closely. I thought about how God often surprises us with something completely different than we thought, when we simply obey Him, like I obeyed Daddy that morning.

“Pick them up and look in that direction.”

The bloom wasn’t at all what I expected, but it was beautiful.

I was reminded that many of us live in the in-between, hurrying stage of life. We aren’t children, but we aren’t older and wiser yet. On our quest to succeed and get everything done, we forget to look around. We forget to slow down. We forget to listen.

Yet, when we do, what we find is often stunning. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂