The Light

There are days when the light flowing into the house is just right.  It illuminates. An ordinary object takes on marvelous qualities.

Isn't life just like that?

God takes ordinary people and when they allow themselves to be used by Him and infused with His Light...they shine...from within.     Ordinary people resembling their Maker and doing extraordinary things.   Even when the mountains shake all around them, and the waters roar.   God is in the midst of them.

Perseverance

I found this post in the archive, written last spring but it was never published.  Hmmm.  

Look at this beautiful tender little thing.   So lovely in all its purple-ness.   It wasn’t supposed to be….  There has been no sign of life in this little pot since I transplanted the little corms.  I had all but given up on it but couldn’t bring myself to toss it out.  

These two little pots were planted at the same time.   A friend gave me a hanging basket but I left it outside a little too long.  I knew the nights were getting colder and then one night it froze.   Many of the tender little plants perished but I knew these were a bit hardier than the rest. One year they bloomed in the garden after surviving the winter in the composter…I thought they were dead.  This time, I rescued them from the big pot, composted the excess soil, and replanted them in smaller pots to bring inside.   I planted them at the same time and kept the pots side by side on the window sill.   They received the same light, lived in the same temperature, and similar moisture….which can be sporadic at best in this house (Not all plants are compatible with that lifestyle). 

Occasionally the leaves die but the corm survives.  It can hibernate, I guess.  

This morning I saw these three little sprouts.   So small.  So timid.   The other one is so green, so lush and I’ve been enjoying its blooms for some time already.  Weeks, in fact.  It just goes to show that some plants need a little more time, patience and understanding than others.  And you can’t rush it.  You can’t make it grow.  You can want it all you want, but it will do it when it’s good and ready.   And in God’s time.  Isn’t life just like that sometimes?

God has a plan.   And you can’t make it happen.  He has a different plan for each person, likeHe did for each of these plants.   I got the exquisite joy of finding it today.  We all “bloom” at different times and under different conditions.   We have everything we need inside of us to become what God had planned before the foundations of the earth were laid.   And in His time we will bloom beautifully in the perfect spot.   And it will bring Him exquisite joy to watch us unfurl.  

NeedToBreathe

We saw NeedToBreathe on Saturday night at the Phoenix in Toronto.  One of two stops in Canada.  Sold out.
It was SUCH A GOOD SHOW!

Favorite tracks?

Loved their cover of "Folsom Prison Blues" and the unplugged version of "Slumber".  They played so many of my my favourites: "Something Beautiful", "Lay Em Down", "Washed in The Water", "Tennessee" (It was awesome live! really got the crowd going :), "Devil's Been Talkin'",  "A Place Only You Can Go"....

They played a lot of songs from the Reckoning and the Outsiders.  You could hear the crowd sing along, especially on the more acoustic songs, especially on "Slumber".  They finished that song without any amplification.  The entire room went absolutely silent in order to be able to hear them, and then slow began to stomp on the wood club floor and sing along. You could see how much the band loved that! Those moments are cool.   

Ben Rector opened and was one of the most fun opening bands I've ever seen...never having seen or heard him before.   He did a great cover of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"...not reminiscent of the 80's at all.   So fun!

Going to Toronto on our own was such a fun full day outing. Such a deep breath. A reprieve. Swallowed up by the masses and yet completely alone with each other.  For an entire day without anyone noticing.   Anticipating it for weeks..and then, just like that, it's over.   And you just have the sweet memories.

I am playing these two albums back to back all day long.   Not tired of them.

At all.