Light After the Storm

July 26, 2015April 6, 2016 ~ Beth ~ 3 Comments

This was the light that broke forth after the storm, making the fields sparkle golden-green and the daisies by the roadside glow shining white. The contrast was spectacular between the lowering navy underbellies of the receding storm clouds, and the land beneath suddenly bathed in the piercing evening light.

We, on our walk through the fields, stopped and caught our breath in wonder. The ordinary grasses and trees were highlighted in stunning relief, and for a few minutes, the landscape was almost surreal in its beauty. The splendid effect of the most brilliant light is always the most striking when contrasted with the darkness it chases away.

So was the coming of the Messiah into the darkness of our world:

“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great Light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a Light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2) swans on lake at sunset / rejoicing hills And He, the Light of the world, continues to shine, the glory of His brilliance all the more breathtaking when contrasted with the darkness it chases away. He beckons all to step into the piercing rays of His light, and let Him wash away their drabness, robing them in the stunning beauty of His holiness.

“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46)

Come to the Light of Christ—it’s shining for you and no one is ever turned away. And if you are already walking in it, take a moment to rejoice in the wonder that you no longer “walk in darkness, but have the Light of life” (John 8:12)! How glorious to be His child!

Cradled in Feathers

July 23, 2015April 6, 2016 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

This shot of our baby swallows newly-hatched, still so tiny, cradled in downy white feathers has to be my favorite out of all the many photos I’ve taken of them. It’s not the cutest by any means—those little naked birdies are pretty skinny and ugly at this point. But I love how those helpless little ones are so lovingly cradled in the softest feathers plucked from their parents’ own bodies. It so perfectly illustrates this comforting Scripture:

“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust…“ (Psalm 91:4)

In our weakest, most needy and helpless moments, our heavenly Father cares for us with all the tender love and care of a mother bird tending her precious young. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful pictures of His love for us that I can think of. Cherish that thought, and tuck it away to remind yourself of on hard days!

Foreign Soil

July 15, 2015October 16, 2021 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

Recently we took a short weekend trip to our neighboring country to the north, and it got me thinking about being a foreigner.

Granted, driving across the border into Canada doesn’t involve a lot of culture shock. They dress the same way as we do. They drive cars and have ordinary looking houses. They speak English. In some ways it feels very much like home.

But then you’re driving down the road and you start getting a headache from repeatedly having to convert kilometers to miles. You keep gasping at how much things cost, and having to remind yourself that it won’t be nearly so bad once you apply the exchange rate. There are maple leaves on the flags fluttering in people’s yards instead of stars and stripes. You hear about people eating their french fries with gravy and cheese curds, and calling diapers napkins. My husband even claims the walleye taste different up there. And they won’t let you take eggs across the border, no sir. Even if they’re beautiful big brown and green eggs from the farm down the road. (I learned that lesson the hard way.)

And so, in the midst of many similarities, the feel of the foreign seeps unmistakably through.We really had a great time while we were there, even if we did have to eat Canadian eggs. It was the kind of weekend where your favorite memories are things like waking up to the fragrance of coffee perking and grandma pulling fresh orange rolls out of the oven, sitting with your feet up reading good books in the fishing boat between bites, and the feel of sun-baked lichened rocks on bare feet. We spent mornings drinking coffee on the deck, hot and humid afternoons soaking in the lake, and cooler evenings around a roaring fire. We fed the seagulls, made barbecued ribs and ate fresh bread from the resort bakery next door. It was wonderful!

Yet for all the wonderful memories we made, we still got excited when we drove back to the border at the end of our visit and spotted a familiar red, white and blue flag fluttering proudly above the brick buildings at the crossing. The line was long, and we slowly inched our way across the river, suspended between two countries on a bridge of steel. A sort of happy, content feeling prevailed. That was home over there and there were no doubts about whether they’d let us through or not, because we were citizens!

We still had to prove it, of course. We had to hand over our US passports and birth certificates, and they had to examine them with care, comparing the photos on each one to the corresponding face in our vehicle. They looked in our coolers, too, and took all of our leftover red and yellow peppers in case they were carrying some kind of bug that might infest American pepper crops. (Or something like that.)

But after all that, we drove on through the gate, and suddenly we went from being foreigners to being citizens with rights and privileges. The speed limit signs made sense again. Things cost exactly what they said they did. They served us ketchup with our fries when we stopped for supper. Everything felt somehow right and familiar again.I like to think that’s how heaven is going to feel someday. We’ll cross that great divide between this life and the next, and suddenly everything will feel right and familiar in a way it never did here on earth. We will be home, and it will be a lot more than just a happy, content sort of feeling—it will be glorious. I don’t know about you, but no amount of enjoyment I feel in this life can take away from the excitement I feel when I anticipate that border crossing!

“For our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)

Are you a citizen, too? I hope I see you there!

Blue Eyes

July 9, 2015April 6, 2016 ~ Beth ~ 1 Comment

I found a beautiful patch of this blue-eyed grass while I was out walking a week or so ago. They are tiny, delicate flowers and easy to miss on their long slender grass-like stems as they mingle in a sea of other less showy grasses—but aren’t they exquisite?! They are really members of the iris family, but they remind me of spring crocuses with their pointed purple-striped petals and bright starry golden centers.

This week I went walking by the same spot again and stopped to look for them—but they were faded away and gone. I couldn’t even manage to find the empty stems! How glad I was that I taken pictures of these fleeting beauties when I did—and I was sharply reminded of truth this line from Isaiah 40:

“The grass withers, the flower fades…”As I searched in vain through the grass, I walked past a great boulder that has been there for as long as I can remember, unfazed by cold or heat or any battering of the elements. It’s dependable presence struck me as comforting in the moment—and then I realized what an appropriate contrasting illustration it painted of the rest of that verse:

“…but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

Flowers of the field, here today, gone tomorrow.

The Word of God, like a rock. In all the fleeting uncertainty of this life, what a comfort that is!

Porch Tenants

July 7, 2015April 6, 2016 ~ Beth ~ 6 Comments

We’re happy to be the landlords to a pair of barn swallows this summer. They’ve tucked their neat little mud nest snug up under the eaves of our porch upon the solid (?!) foundation of a single long nail, and don’t seem to mind our comings and goings below. In return, we have chosen to overlook the mess they are making in favor of enjoying the sound of them twittering affectionately at each other in the mornings and being buzzed as they swoop through the open flyway around our heads.

Barn swallows often fall on the list of “common birds” for most people (you know, not nearly as exciting as, say, a purple martin or a bluebird)—but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these ordinary little neighbors better this year. For the first time, I’ve had a chance to observe their unique coloring and markings up close (really quite stylish!) and I maintain that there is no small bird quite so swift and elegant in it’s flight as a swallow. We’ve (I hope) developed a bit of a bond over our mutual aversion for the red squirrel who lurks around the house—and they’ve even (I think) forgiven me for taking this picture: If you will note from the first picture in this post, they built their nest just far enough away from the roof to allow their slim, stream-lined selves in and out. They didn’t really take into account the fact that they were taking up residence on the porch of a photographer, and I was a little put out with them about that for awhile. What’s the fun of having a birds’ nest next to your front door if you can’t even photograph what’s inside? Then, a friend had a genius idea: what about using a mirror? (Thanks, Tami!) I can’t believe I never thought of that myself! A few gymnastics with a small mirror and a camera on top of a dining room chair later, we got this peek at the five prettiest little freckled eggs you ever saw!

I went looking for a verse about birds to pair with these photos, expecting to settle on some kind of general reference—and was surprised and fascinated to discover that swallows are actually specifically referenced in the Bible. And not just once, but four times! The following psalm was my favorite, but you can check out these links (Proverbs 26:2, Isaiah 38:14 and Jeremiah 8:7) to read the others!“How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!

My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.

How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.” (Psalm 84:1-4)Stay tuned—hopefully there will be a baby bird sequel soon!

Fireworks

July 4, 2015April 6, 2016 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

The Oriental poppies along the milk house are exploding fiery orange and black right now, as stunning as the fireworks will be against the evening sky all over our nation tonight. As we celebrate the birthday of this land we love, I offer this verse of our national hymn as a prayer, both in gratefulness for our heritage, and for the revival of her people:

“Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast;
Be Thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.”

For “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)

Rainbows

June 29, 2015April 6, 2016 ~ Beth ~ 1 Comment

It’s been a week of thunderstorms, the short and fierce kind that make us worry it’s going to hail on our newly transplanted tomato plants out in the garden, followed by brilliant sunshine that turns the freshly soaked landscape into a saturated sparkling sweep of color. It’s been glorious to watch the great white-topped thunderheads float by, billowing and building miles high, and watch the rain sweep in, pounding the earth. But most splendid of all have been the rainbows.

Multiple rainbows. Double rainbows. Bright rainbows. Pale rainbows. Whole, unbroken rainbows. Barely-there-against-the-pink-of-sunset-cloud rainbows. Pieces of rainbow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one week!I find it ironic that physical rainbows have been so prevalent on a week when symbolic rainbows are creating such excitement and discussion in the news.

You know, the rainbow has been symbolic since long before any humans claimed it for their own personal causes. In fact, it was one of the very first symbols designated in history of the world, by God Himself. It starts out as a sad story—sin is rampant on the earth and God in His righteous anger sweeps it clean with a flood. But it has a happy ending. He preserves one godly family and two of every animal and brings them back to safety when the cleansing flood has receded. He leaves them with a promise never to destroy the earth again in this manner—and the gift of a stunning sign in the heavens.

“And God said,

“This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:

I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Genesis 9:12-15)What I find particularly beautiful about this is that God didn’t just give this sign as a reminder to us of His promise. He also gave it as a sign to remind Himself of His promise. Every time He sees a rainbow, He remembers, too.

And so, in the midst of all this talk of rainbows, and in the wake of storms natural and spiritual, I find my mind turning not to modern connotations, but to the fact that God is faithful. Because this is what a rainbow really represents:

That He is in control.

That He made the earth and all that is in it.

That He can destroy it or He can preserve it—the choice and the power are His.

That He is righteous and just—and that He is also merciful.

That He keeps His promises. When you think about rainbows this week, remember that.

When I Consider the Heavens…

June 24, 2015April 6, 2016 ~ Beth ~ 4 Comments

northern lights and the moon / rejoicing hills On the evening of the 22nd, moving into the wee hours of the 23rd, we stood outside, oblivious to the mosquitoes (and believe me, it takes some pretty incredible distraction to make that possible right now), and watched one of the most spectacular displays of northern lights we’ve ever seen. They were everywhere, around and above us, even into the south, dancing and pulsating and rippling across the diamond-studded velvet of the night sky in glowing whites and greens. We were in awe.

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, there’s really only one passage in Scripture in my mind that comes close to describing the thoughts and emotions running through my head on a night like this—and in honor of the wonder that left me speechless, I will say no more and let classic opening lines of this ancient Psalm of David speak for me.“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens…When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained…What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:1, 3-4)And to that all I can say is wow—and amen!

Fatherly Vigil

June 20, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

On this eve of Father’s Day, may I introduce you to the fiercely territorial and stunningly handsome patriarch of our small lake? His lovely lady is very capable of expressing herself as well, and they often do so together, the sound of their great wings echoing all over the nearby countryside as they trumpet indignantly at any unwanted visitors to their little realm. But right now, she’s busy with other things.

Cleverly located so it’s accessible only by water or treacherous swamp, they’ve built a nest and she spends most of her time hidden away there, lovingly incubating a yet-unknown quantity of precious eggs with the heat of her body. That is her work—and we eagerly anticipate seeing the rewards of her patience soon when they bring their new family out to show off to the neighbors they tolerate (us and the ducks).

But papa has a job, too. By day, he nervously patrols the area, watching for danger. At night, he often rests in this perch away from the nest, careful not to draw undue attention to the place he is guarding, yet close enough to be ever watchful and ready to rush to the rescue. He is the protector—and I have no doubt he would put his life on the line for his offspring should the need arise (though you won’t catch me getting close enough to those powerful wings to find out!).

There are a couple fathers/grandfathers in my life, who I also happen to love very much, who would do the same—and today I wish a Happy Father’s Day to these very special men. As you protectively love your families you model the infinitely greater love of our Heavenly Father, and we are so grateful!

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:13)

Golden Slippers

June 18, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

Along a dusty meandering forest road near our home, I happened upon these lovely little yellow lady-slippers.

They were not hiding away safe in a remote bog or deep, dark forest as one might expect. Instead, they were nodding along the edge of the harsh gravel as a growling grader moved past shattering the stillness of a quiet, rainy morning. And they were popping up along the scarred ugly edges of last winter’s logging, right alongside the rejected fallen trees left behind.

Beautiful little princess feet of gold, spreading the good news of summer come even amidst the less-than-picturesque scenes of everyday dirt and destruction. Good news of renewal and hope and redemption.

So are the feet of all who proclaim the Gospel along the dirty and destructed ways of life—

“As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15)

It’s kind of like those people are wearing figurative golden slippers as they walk through those rough places, joyful royal ambassadors for the King of kings, bearing the gladdest tidings of all time.