Something Special From An Anonymous Friend - "The Card"

THE CARD 

I'm looking at 

“The Card”

It's a Father’s Day card. I picked it out for myself.

 

The effects of dementia are gradually debilitating my wife, my lifelong marriage partner. I used to depend upon her to lovingly and thoughtfully forge a path of remembrance to every special event, holiday, anniversary and birthday, with care and joy. She can’t do that any more. I never wish to exaggerate her condition, but her memory of such things is little by little being pillaged, robbed and destroyed. 

 

Today I bought my own Father’s Day card. These days, I do the same on my birthday, Valentine’s and anniversary. But, back to “The Card.” I stood in the gift card isle of the store. “Father’s Day,” the gift card section said. I grabbed a card that said, “To My Husband…” I didn’t read it. I just saw the top part of the card and grabbed it. I thought I might surprise myself for her. 

 

With the card now in hand, I sat down with her and told her that I had this Father’s Day card for me, from her. I asked her, “What would you like to tell me on Father’s Day?” She thought a minute, trying to grasp the meaning of my words. She said, “What would we do without you?” So I wrote in the card, “What would we do without Dad?”

 

“What else would you like say?” She strained to coble together a thought; piece together a sentence that made sense to her. I helped her out a little. “Ah, you are the love of my life?”

“Yes,” she said.

 

We laughed as I told her that actually I was the only love of her life. It got a little silly, “Of course, I am the love of your life. I’m really a pretty special guy.” We laughed. Then I wrote, “You are the love of my life. I love you!”

 

I asked, “How about a couple smiley faces? You always like to do smiley faces.” She smiled and affirmed that was what she wanted to do. I drew two smiley faces and wrote,  

“Happy Father’s Day,  Love,    ”

I put “The Card” in the envelope without reading it. Then, later on at a gathering of our children and grandchildren, I opened the card and read the whole thing as if I’d never seen it. 

 

It’s a new season of love for us. Pretty sure I know how it might end. I know what season we’re in. I’m trusting God in this season. I’m embracing this season as from God’s hand. I will honor God in this season. I will honor the woman, the lifelong partner God has given to me and to our family. I signed up for this some 50 years ago.

                         - Anonymous  

MY LADY FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY

I have a lady friend whose birthday is just around the corner. 

She has been with me in the good times and the bad. 

I can honestly say that, next to the Lord himself, 

I would not be the man I am today without her.

 

She has stood by me in some pretty tough times. 

I remember when I was in Vietnam, she made all the difference 

in my ability to keep on when I got weary. 

Those were some tough days for both of us.

 

Later, when I got married and started a family 

(some of the best times), she was unbelievable. 

She encouraged my every opportunity to excel 

and make good on promises made to provide.

 

In all probability I really don't thank her enough. 

Sometimes we take friends for granted. 

I read an acrostic recently. 

I'd like to dedicate it to my very special lady friend,

who I have known, loved and appreciated for years:

 

F - Fight for you

R - Respect you

I  - Include you

E - Encourage you

N - Need you

D - Don't deserve you

S - Stand with you

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS LIBERTY

IT’S JULY 4 AND…

YOU'VE BEEN A GREAT FRIEND TO ME. 

(Proverbs 18:24b)

Ten Ways To Cultivate A Spirit Of Joy

A Few Kindly Chosen Words

  

 Keep a child's perspective on life - livin' in

wide-eyed wonderment, anticipation and dependence

Take time out for a few quite moments with God every day - 

get to know well the one who created you

Throughout the day, come back to the center, 

where God dwells deep within your soul

Take a walk with God - Spend time talkin' with Him;
Even Better, just stop an' listen to what He has to say

Call to mind God's mighty deeds in your life - 
give Him thanks!

Enjoy your children, your grandchildren -

listen to them; help them picture their special future

Do random acts of kindness; senseless deeds of compassion

Take time to make a new pard -

you never know when a man will be in a need

Encourage someone who is down, hurting 

Show the woman you love true devotion and appreciation -

you'll never be able to measure the dividend

RWHollar April 30, 2011

Response to Spiritual Classics; John Henry, Newman; Corporate Disciplines,

Celebration– Pg 332

Doin' What I Was Created To Do

It’s a quiet unmolested mornin’. Only the song of a few sparrows flittin’ here and there fill the air. ‘Cept the grouchy sound of a Bell’s vireo, chatterin’ and gripin’ over some happy bird’s life.

The smell of spring mingles with the aroma of fresh brewed coffee sittin’ on the stand next to me. Hard to resist taken a seat in my favorite back porch chair. Ahhhh. Jes plain peaceful. I’m sittin’ relaxed, quiet; listenin and breathin’ the Lord’s good air. My elbow bends, automatic like, to draw up a sip of that steamin black brew.

My eye catches movement above me. Cat like reflexes turn my head up to the edge of the porch roof; pointy little nose, whiskers shining' in the sun light and two big eyes embedded in a furry little face are leaned over the edge. A Fox squirrel is starring me down from his loft, about five feet up. His head disappears in a few seconds, then reappears. Seconds later...gone again...but not far. He takes to the air from the roof to the fence line. He scampers across the top of the fence and catches the first branch he sees. Up he goes, into his element.

The tall standing Red Oaks, Post Oaks and Black Jacks are nothin’ more than a maze of trails and back roads to that little ol’ Fox squirrel…just a playground. Gray coat and golden belly, the little feller winds his way through that maze of limbs and branches, dodging leaves and Jays.

He chatters his way along a crooked, snarled trail of branches and twigs. Up one limb, down another; leaps four feet onto a tiny twig that would hardly hold one of those sparrows. I see panic in his eyes as he is scrabblin’ to land on another more suitable perch. Then he stops. Tail twitchin’, curlin’ and straightening. Off again. In a flurry of furry moves he disappears into that leafy maze – I’m lookin’ at branches movin’ but he’s clean outa sight.

“Now, Lord, where you recon that little feller is headed?” 

Much to my surprise, the Lord answered me. “Well,” he says, “I ‘spose the same place as you.”

“Huh? I mean ‘xcuse me Lord?”

“Whatcha got planned for your day pard? Lots of runnin’ and scramblin’, tail twitchin’ and nail bitin’ leaps onto thin branches? – That little feller is jes doin’ what I created him to do. How ‘bout you?”

Now, a smart man knows when he’s licked. Liftin’ my eyebrows into those trees, lookin’ jes over the back lip of that cup I’m drawin’ up to drink from, I take a long slurppy sip of hot coffee. Thinkin' real careful like.

A feller needs to consider carefully what he’s fixin’ to say to the One who created all I’m takin’ in this mornin’. I'm thinking', “Better get this right Doc.” 

A few quiet moments pass.

“Well, Lord, I’d be pleased to be at your disposal today. I’m gonna spend some time in this Book of yours by my side and I’ll be listenin’ to what you got to say.”

“SHOW ME LORD, WHAT I WAS CREATED FOR TODAY.”

Whatever I do Lord; I’ll do it with all my might and give my all to honor you today.

(Ecc 9:10; 1Co 10:31)

(c) Photos & Verse according to RWHollar

March 31, 2017

www.bootheelramblins.blogspot.com

Here Comes The Rain

Here Comes The Rain

Painting by Jack Terry

 (Verse according to RWHollar)

Lightin’ a shuck, we’re runnin’ hard for shelter;

Here comes the rain pourin’ down helter skelter.

Thunder cracks, lightnin’ flashes and steed bolts with power;

The line shack’s in view, but further ‘an I remember.

Yellow slicker a’ flyin’, rain beaten our face;

Horse and rider in dead run, to find a dry place.

Beatin’ hooves, mud flyin’, soaked through from the storm;

Got one thing in mind. Get safe, dry and warm.

(c) RWHollar
May 23, 2016

Zachariah 14:7

Zachariah 14:7

Painting by Larry Dyke

 (Verse according to RWHollar)

May 23, 2016

A cracklin’ fire burned near where I was standin’,

The mornin' light rose high in a hazy horizon.

A river flowed fast, her path to abide,

Gurglin’ and bubblin’ ‘tween rocks on each side.

Green phosphorus leaves come alive in the day,

Before daylight was showin’ they'as colorless and gray.

Night turnin’ to day was inevitable and then…

My thoughts turned to Scripture, Ma’ read when I was ten.

“On that day no sources of light will shine,

It will only be daylight, and then all the time.

Only the Lord knows how this could be,

Guess it'll be Him, given us all light to see.”

Now old Zachariah, he had an eye for the future;

But you gotta listen to the Lord to get that same picture.

Those on the good side sees HIS brightness of day;

But there’s a dark side too, where others will stay.

Sun’s up now; the campfire's a'smolderin’;

Oil lamps' snuffed out and the day's breeze is blowin’.

Its clear there’s a God and His Word we can’t bend.
I’m trustin’ He’s faithful, right down to the end.

(c) RWHollar
May 23, 2016

Dewdrops And Trickles

Not every written word in western life turns out to be "Cowboy Poetry." Sometimes the thoughts a man has when he's sittin' quiet and alone just have to follow a logical path. Somehow that path turns into a kind of philosophy about how things work. Sometimes it’s real clear. At other times the thoughts just have to meander awhile. Eventually a man ends up where he didn't know he was goin'. Fer example: I was thinkin' recently, "How can one Scripturally motivated prayer every day make a difference in anyone's life?"

As I was sittin’, contemplatin’, the Lord said to me, “Son, when you come to your secret place of prayer and devotion, I’m going to make sure you don’t leave empty-handed. When you open My Word and I show you an insight, you can be sure that it will impact the life for which it was given. It might be yours. It might be a child, a nation or a friend. You take that insight and pray it over them. The next day will be the same; then again and again, till one thought turned prayer becomes two, three, and four. Years down the road those daily insights, dewdrops of mercy, have turned into little trickles. Those trickles turn into streams and streams turn into to creeks. Creeks turn into rivers flowing from on high, over falls and then empty into great gorges moving steadily to mighty oceans.” That's what God said.

So it all begins when one little dewdrop of water falls quietly, unnoticed and unseen. That dewdrop falls silently, softly, unnoticed into a leafy forest bed, one upon another. One by one the drops form a trickle moving slowly, steadily down ancient pathways. Leaves and branches form tiny estuaries of mist and dew leaving small watery trails behind them.

An insightful pilgrim travelin' Oregon soil captured exactly this scene as he took in the beauty of Wahcella Falls:
 "Many powerful amazing things start from secret sources…No one may know all the good things you do quietly every day [the God thoughts you have or the prayers that you pray]. But some day their result will pour forth in glory [Behold, a small drop can become a grand story.]” (1)

A prayin' dad, a prayin' mom, granddad, grandmother – these come quietly day by day with a steady drip, steady prayers that become a silent, secret trickle. Those dewdrops, all taken together, one by one, over time become mighty powerful rivers and finally great oceans of prayer.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that God is found mostly in quiet, out of the way secret places. He speaks to men not so much to write books, give grand speeches or eloquent sermons. God intends mainly to simply set His folks to prayin' in secret.

From a Scripture thought comes a prayer; 

A dribble that's a drop, great things to be heir.

One dewdrop upon another until soon they become a trickle. That tiny trickle wanders through a wilderness seemingly without direction. It knows not its final destination. Somehow that trickle finds an infinite irresistible force, a river, an ocean that can’t be stopped and proves eventually its majestic and mighty power. (2)

Yep, “dewdrops and trickles” is how one Scripturally motivated prayer day by day can make a difference. And that's why God says we should pray without ceasin'.

_____________________________________________________________________

1 Ken Duncan, (Australian photographer), Walking With God In America, 2008, Thomas Nelson Publishers, (Pg. 121).

2 Some thoughts here were inspired by Karl Rahner (1904-1984); The Contemporaries Meet The Classics On The HolySpirit; Compiled by Randall Harris; 2004, Howard Publishing, (Pg. 40).



DEWDROPS & TRICKLES

This piece comes straight out of my Morning Watch notes, April 4, 2013.

It was one of those pensive morning times with the Lord; one of those

times when He just dumps a load and you do the best

you can to pick it all up.





© RWHollar, www.bootheelramblins.blogspot.com, January 19, 2014