Delay--Or Process?

I am an impatient person. It is one of my flaws, and I have all too many of those.

I just hate to wait. Hope deferred, as the Bible says, makes the heart sick.

Don't think I'm not grateful--I have been blessed with a career I love, and all the benefits that come with it. I just have a tendency to focus on future goals, to the point where I miss the wonderful things that are happening in my life right now.

I have reconnected with my cousin, Jay Dee, the singing cowboy and champion motorbike rider. (His dad, my Uncle Jack, was the rodeo cowboy I told you about, and Jay has the same spirit.) His beautiful sisters, Barbara Lynn and Becky, are an inspiration to me. Their courage, faith and creativity would fill a hundred blogs. They make jewelry, and many other ingeniously lovely things, and write poetry that touches the heart. Oh, indeed, they are a blessing. Google Jay Lael, and you'll see what I mean.

Here is what came out of my journaling this morning. Suppose what I see as delays are REALLY sacred processes instead? So often it is not the event that troubles us, but the way we perceive that event. Do we see some setback, large or small, as a delay? Or might we examine it more closely and, as Tony Robbins says, "reframe" it?

I know there are things you are praying for, and things you are waiting for, and maybe your heart is even a little (or a lot) sick, because you have named the challenge "Delay". Try naming it "Process" instead.

You don't have to look very far to see that God works by process. Great trees don't spring up overnight. And neither do great dreams. Would you plant an acorn and stand over the place where you buried it, wringing your hands and lamenting, "When, oh, when, will there be a tree?" (Variations on this pitiful theme are: "God must not want me to have this tree" and "Trees grow for others, but not for me.") NO, of course not! You would say, "I planted an acorn here. A great tree will grow on this very spot." You might water the ground, or even place a protective fence around it to keep it safe. But you would trust in the Process that makes a tree. So it is with dreams--you plant them, you nurture them, and you believe they will grow. You water them, often with tears, but you don't dig them up to see if they've sprouted. You trust the process.

Think about it. Are your dreams delayed? Or are they in process?

Tonight, We Glow

Even as I write, there are workmen in front of the house, putting up Christmas lights. It's very cold, and we have a light snow covering the ground. Tonight, we glow!

This is just the kind of job I can't depend on None to do. He doesn't mow the lawn, take out the garbage, or add to the family income. I don't know why I put up with him.

Snow

There's a skiff on the ground, and the sky is burdened and gray.

Let the flakes fall!

Why do I love snow so much? Well, admittedly, loving snow is something of a luxury, because I don't have to commute.

To me, snow is sacred. It mantles the ground, like a benediction of purity. It is magical. As a child, I knew, even before I opened my eyes in the morning, if it had snowed. There was a special stillness in the air, full of festive promise.

There is much to be sad about, in the world today. But the planet and the world are actually too distinctly different places, aren't they?

Think about it.

None and I

Computers. They can be funny.
Recently, thinking of joining a discount club, I filled out an online form, asking for pertinent information. I entered the usual name, address, phone number, along with my great-grandmother's lingerie size. (Just kidding, but sometimes it seems that specific!)
I soon came to the line for spouse's name.
Dutifully, I wrote "None".
A few minutes later, I received a very nice email in response, inviting None and I to come into the store and take a look around.
It quickly became a running joke here on the Triple L, as such things generally do.
None is actually a pretty great guy. He doesn't hog the covers, leave his shorts on the bathroom floor, or the toilet seat up. He never gives me any backtalk or gripes about charge card bills.
Dear None. He's my favorite kind of husband.

Happy Frenzy

Today, the crew and I are getting ready to schlep food, dogs, blankets and relatives to the lake house, where we will celebrate Thanksgiving.

May you be as blessed as we are.