Walking Through Mud

Preparing for our 50th has at times been frustrating enough to make a person "lose their religion".  Well, not really of course but the quest to get our front porch and back deck power washed and stained has been a challenge.   First of all, so much rain and so many days of it.  Joel actually put tarps up Monday night to try to keep the porch dry with the plan that he would stain on Wednesday.  Tuesday night I watched him taking the tarps back down and asked him what he was doing since it was going to rain again!  He had checked the weather channel and they said clear skies, but sure enough last night it started to drizzle so out he went again to attempt to cover the railing with tarps.  (It sticks out a bit from the porch roof.)

He had purchased the stain beforehand so at about 11 Wednesday morning he started to stain the railing only to discover that the stain was one of those solid color stains?  Say what?   He had purchased the wrong kind.........so he decided to buy a different stain at the local hardware store, but he came up with nothing.  So, off he went back to Sherman Williams to see about an actual stain.  Twenty minutes and much frustration later he left that store empty handed and headed way across our little micro city to Menard's.  He finally found what he was looking for and arrived home 4 hours after he began the task of staining our porch.  At 9:30 pm he came in the house and announced it was finished!

I was little help at all, basically encouraging him as I watched the weather all night.  I once went out to tell him that our storm free night was turning into another rain event by 8:45 pm.  I asked him if he wanted to "look at the radar" and he replied "No!"  He just kept staining away at endless rails and then the floor of the porch.  He kept thinking, God will hold the rain off until I get things done.  And God graced him with that desire.  He finished staining, put the tarps back up (with a nail gun in hand) and cleaned up, finishing just as the rain began to fall.

With 6 hours of bending, dipping, and knee walking behind him, Joel was pretty achy and stiff.  I took coconut oil and added Frankicsense and Lavender essential oils to it, rubbed it all over his back, shoulders and upper arms and off to bed he went.  He woke up today feeling pretty good and we had a good laugh over the mud walking drama to stain one little porch!  And today?  I am looking out the window at a very nice freshly stained porch, although the view is not very spectacular since the tarps are still up!  Just in case................

Sometimes it seems like we have to walk through mud to get things done.  One step forward and two steps back.  It takes perseverance to keep moving forward, whether it is while staining a porch or much more important things in life.  Our circumstances can be complicated as life or the ol' enemy gets in the way with some form of resistance.  But with persistence, hard work, prayer, and God coming in to save the day, we can get it done, and it will be worth it!

Mrs. Robin vs Mr. Joel

Persistence pays off.  Or so our neighborhood robin keeps telling us with her actions.  She is busy with nest building, but unfortunately has decided on a location that is not acceptable.  The top of the vent on our porch!  It would make for some messy porch sitting.  Joel took down her first efforts and put something up top to deter her from bringing more supplies to her decided location.  She was not happy, and was not about to change her mind.  She flew back several times with materials in her beak.  She may now have decided to find a place in the garage.  Joel shooed her out of there and closed it up, but I have been waiting to see who's will win out.....Mrs. Robin or Mr. Joel.  It seems to be a battle of the wills.  Persistence and determination.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible on this topic is found in I Thessalonians 5:17........"Pray without ceasing."

And another verse translated from the Greek ( In Luke 11) says, "Ask and keep on asking.......seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you."

Persistence and determination.  There are those who have the belief that praying once is enough.  God hears and answers as He sees fit.  I agree to a point.  But I also believe that there is something to be said for persistence.  Especially when speaking to diseases, sicknesses, etc.  That business was all covered in the blood shed by Jesus.  It is a matter of body, soul, and spirit now.  So, we persist in speaking to our mountains...........persist in believing in God's promises.......persist in faith....persist in staying in the shelter of His wings.  Yes we do.

We are persisting in prayer for our friend Linny.  I would venture to say thousands are praying for her, because, besides friends and family, the blog she has draws a million viewers a year.  Faithfully we persist in standing firm for her healing.  We lift our voices in prayer and in praise knowing God is with her.

Mrs. Robin has been a reminder to me today to pray without ceasing.  Even though I have had to chuckle at her antics.  She sat our on porch railing this afternoon and I talked to her from inside the door.  She would listen, cocking her head to one side, as I told her she would be better off finding somewhere else to raise her up and coming family.  But she would have none of it.  She is determined.  Sometimes we just know that we know that we know.  So we persist in faith.  Yes we do.

The Persistent Bumblebee

I was sitting outside Saturday morning, enjoying my favorite beverage....a cup of hot water....yeah, just one of many questionable things I find comforting......Anyway, I was sitting outside listening to a teaching from Bethel church on my iPad, hoping to take in some natural Vitamin D before the rising temperatures and dew points drove me inside.

Suddenly a huge bumblebee was in front of my face.  I jumped up and moved away and it followed me.....I moved again and it followed me again....everywhere I moved it followed. Seriously?  I quickly went inside and shut the glass storm door.  The over-sized bee hit the door trying to get to me.  Then it hit the door again..........and yet again.  Finally it moved away and I could no longer see it.  I went back outside and sat down and there it was again.....following me around until I went back inside.  Not the smartest bee on the planet but certainly persistent, it once again hit the glass over and over trying to get inside.

I spoke to the bee.  Yes, it is a bit the the west of weird, but I spoke to the bee commanding it leave.  Maybe it was the fear it heard in my voice that caused it to ignore me.  Ha!  After a few minutes of chatter I went and got our always handy spray bottle of vinegar and water....threatening to spray it.  Evidently my words did not scare the bee, but my bottle of vinegar did.  It took off, never to return.

When I told Joel about the "killer bee" that drove me out of my place of resting, he had a good laugh. Together we wondered why the bee was so interested in me.........was it my magnetic personality or was it the coconut oil that I had lathered on my skin that morning.....obviously it was the sweet smell of the oil.  You can eat it, cook with it, do "oil pulling" with it, use it as a lotion, and for its healing properties.  Evidently bees are also aware of how good it is.

Back to persistence.  That big ol' bee persisted in its quest and I was reminded of my own "quests" and the need to be persistent.  Persistence in believing that our world can be a better place to live.  Persistence that love will be our first choice when connecting with others.  Persistence in erasing the us or them mentality that permeates every part of our society.  Persistence in my quest for full healing, in my desire to know more about the Word, in my need to have a closer relationship with the Three in One and His purpose for my life and all that involves.

I hope to never encounter the over-sized bumblebee again, but I also hope to never forget the lesson in persistence he showed me.  If God can use others to send us a message He can certainly use a bumblebee to remind me to be persistent.  So, most of me is grateful for the persistent bumblebee that invaded my porch that morning.  The rest of me is keeping my trusty vinegar bottle at my side just in case.......