I Give My Song to You

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You spoke
and there was light
You breathed
and there was life
You gave
Your life for me
So I give mine back to thee

Storms rocked
my tired faith
I gave
my heart away
Your love
stayed strong and true
So I give my heart to you

You healed
my broken soul
New life
You made me whole
You gave
me words anew
and I give my song to you

Your sweet unending love is all I need
The beauty of your love enraptures me
To thank you there is nothing that I could do
but offer my life, my all to you

and Lord, I’ll sing my songs for you.

Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours

A Breath of Fresh Prayer

God certainly works in mysterious ways. I asked the Lord to help me find work this spring. After a few months of banging on closed doors and running down dead ends He led me to the job I have now. When He offered it to me, my first thought was, “You want me to work there?!” I was pleased with the manager and the fact that my cousin would be one of my co-workers, but other than that I saw it as a very secular, distressing environment. Before my first shift I remember sitting in my car, slightly terrified and praying for enough grace to get through the day. The first day seemed to go well. So I experimented. The next few shifts I sat in my car before work and this time I prayed specifically for help accomplishing certain sales goals for the company. Apparently these goals were a bit higher than average for a new employee and even better results than some of the long-time veterans were turning out. I wasn’t aware of these limitations, however (what you don’t know won’t hurt you ), and miraculously received everything I prayed for. I got excited. This is pretty cool! I took it a step further and began to develop a habit of praying over everything I could think of before and during the job: my sales, quick learning of new tasks, my interactions with everyone around me… Now, despite being constantly bombarded with various forms of twisted and depressing media, I leave work feeling sort of refreshed. It’s so strange. My dad used to impress upon us the importance of living in “a constant state of prayer” and I believe this is the secret. By keeping in constant communion with the Lord, our spirits can be edified no matter where we are, like Paul in prison, David in a cave, Daniel as a servant in a wicked city. The books of Galatians and Ephesians instruct us to live in this way:

Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” and Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.“

…and I Peter tells us why: 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.“

Prayer should be a natural to us as “taking a breath of air”. It’s certainly just as refreshing. So take a deep breath this morning and expect great things to happen. I promise… it’s exhilarating.

Second Bloggy Birthday!

Yes I am cheating. I posted this on the 19th but am setting it for the 11th since I missed my own bloggy birthday. *ashamed*

Microsoft… Works?

This is a picture of me. *cough*

…it was a rough day.
We’re still not quite sure who won that struggle.

Musical Chair

I must admit that am feeling very accomplished today. I helped my dad wire electricity in the basement, hacked the dead branches off one of our garden trees, hauled tractor-loads of composted soil up the hill (mother ordered 10 cubic yards, so we’re nowhere near finished), made lunch for the “farm” hands, installed a door (that was between typing “basement,” and “hacked”) and finished painting my Musical Chair. My grandfather had a garage sale last week, mostly consisting of the antique furniture my grandmother used to collect for refinishing. I fell in love with the one that had a wooden lyre on the back. He said I could keep it and fix it up if I wished, along with a grow light and a huge rubber plant. I think he’d rather give our grandmother’s things away than sell them. Anyway, here are the before and after pictures of my chair, but I still need to upholster it.

Before:

After:

So that’s a bit of what I’ve been up to lately. The gardens have been consuming the majority of my time so I should probably post about them in proportion. Pictures and stories to come…

Qantas

Though I cannot make today’s post Funny Friday, I decided Tuesday was sufficiently deserving of a good laugh. Not to mention that my head feels it has a midget with a hammer pounding its way out. My travel agent dad sent this to me a while ago (and Happy Birthday, brother dear!!):

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a ‘Gripe Sheet’, which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft.

The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then the pilots review the Gripe Sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said the ground crews lack a sense of humour.
Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantus pilots (marked with P) and the solutions recorded (marked with S) by the maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantus is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

P: Left inside tyre almost needs replacing.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tyre.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cock-pit.
S: Something tightened in cock-pit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Auto-pilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to a more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what they’re for.

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you’re right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly straight and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Re-programmed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cock-pit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget

St. Patrick’s Day

As told best by Lutfi, the cucumber sock puppet from Veggie Tales.

A Word on Grace

I love it.
I’m glad God has a “backspace”.

Picture by…myself.

Flower Language II

Here is part two of our flower language study (part one). I can’t imagine that a truly indifferent person would bother buying candytuft to express it. Oh well, I’m just the messenger.

 

Allspice- compassion
Amaryllis- pride
Angelica- inspiration
Bay leaves- strength and glory
Begonia- beware
Bittersweet- truth
Borage- courage
Burnet- a merry heart
Cactus- endurance
Camellia- admiration
Candytuft- indifference
Cattail- prosperity
Cyclamen- goodbye
Dandelion- happiness
Eucalyptus- protection
Flax- domesticity
Forget-me-not- memories
Gardenia- you’re lovely
Grass- submission
Honeysuckle- generous affection

Hyacinth
(blue)- constancy
(purple)- I am sorry
(red)- play/games
(white)- I’ll pray for you
(yellow)- jealousy
Hydrangea- thank you for understanding
Jonquil- love me
Juniper- protection

Lily
(Calla)- beauty
(Day)- coquetry
(Eucharis)- maiden charm
(Tiger)- wealth/pride
(White)- purity/heavenly
(Yellow)- I’m walking on air
(Lily-of-the-Valley)- sweetness/humility

Magnolia- nobility
Moss- charity
Narcissus- egotism
Orchid- refinement
Palm leaves- victory
Pansy- thoughts
Peony- happy marriage
Pine- hope
Thyme- strength and courage
Viscaria- Will you dance with me?

Zinnia
(mixed)- thoughts of absent friends
(scarlet)- constancy
(white)- goodness
(yellow)- daily remembrance