Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Yes, This is He....the Spring Wind


 
The wind had been blowing, but it had ceased.
It had been the spring wind, full of freshness and vigor.
A touch of shivering came with him,
like he had just left the face of a glacier.
He blew the newly blossoming tree limbs about,
before he rushed to tickle the robins feathers,
and the bending tulip heads.
He had played with the spattering raindrops,
and had pushed the big fluffy clouds all around the sky.
 

 
It was not the summer wind, his kissing cousin.
Not the warm, mellow caressing wind,
that touches cheeks
and cools the brow.
Nor the hot, thick, crackling wind
that accompanies summer lightening and thunder.
Summer wind is she who wears two faces,
both of beauty.

 
 
Neither, this was not the autumn wind,
the mournful cousin full of sighs,
decay and departure.
She who moans and blows the leaves,
around ankles and across the marshland,
blowing out our summer memories.
 

Autumn wind blows in only to be banished
by the fiercest one,
the winter wind,
the blustery male of the family.
 

 
This is not he that huffs and puffs,
that shrieks and pounds on doors
and windows.
The one that races through cracks and chinks
to bite noses and toes,
and send sparks skyward.
Winter wind blows rain and snow and sleet,
and holds sway much too long,
never wanting to let go,
to make room for the spring wind,
the youngest of the family.
 
Yes, this is he, the spring wind, who
like a child encourages
us to put up our kites
for it to play with and to dash against
trees or into the ground.
Spring wind rushes faster than any other,
blowing himself all out,
so he can cease like now
when it's time to go to bed,
to rest against the frozen sparkles
of a spring night.
 
Jennie
 
 

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Grateful Praise

 
"Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
this our hymn of grateful praise.
 
For Thyself, best gift divine,
To our race so freely given;
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth and joy in heaven.
 
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
this our hymn of grateful praise."
 
Folliott S Pierpoint
 


Friday, April 18, 2014

Surely, Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs.


"He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
so He did not open His mouth.
 
By oppression and judgment he was taken away,
And as for His generation, who considered
that He was cut off... out of life
for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?
 
His grave was assigned to be with wicked men,
yet with a rich man in His death;
although He had done no violence,
nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
 

 
But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief.
As a result of the toilsome labor of His soul,
He will see light and be satisfied.
By His knowledge the Righteous one, my Servant,
will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
and He will divide the booty with the strong,
because He poured out His soul to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
and interceded for the transgressors."

Isaiah 53: 7-12

Thursday, April 17, 2014

The Iniquity of Us All....Fell on Him



"Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him,
nor appearance that we should desire Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised and we did not esteem Him.
 
Surely, our sickness He himself bore, and our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities,
the chastening for our peace fell upon Him,
and by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him."
 
Isaiah 53: 1-6

Monday, April 14, 2014

Post-Surgery Update

This is Julie.  The above picture is not recent, it's just one that I like of my parents.

Mom (Jennie) is doing well!  We wanted to let you know that the surgery to re-connect mom's arm to her shoulder seems to have been successful.  The doctors have said nothing but positive things so far about how the surgery went and what the expected recovery will be.  They tested to see if there was any nerve damage and they didn't find any.  Her recovery compared to the recovery after the original accident last July also seems to be significantly better and should be much shorter.

We also want to thank you for your prayers and if you're one of the people who has offered support or brought food, we are so grateful.  Mom said that she really felt the prayers on the day of the surgery and is truly blessed to have had so many praying for her. 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Flower-starved Winter Eyes

The white picket gate is open, beckoning us in to follow the path, to amble down the stone path. Spring is my favorite time to visit this lilac garden. This little space preserved from the low-income apartments whose shadows loom over the fences on either side, or the railroad track out behind.
This Saturday afternoon there is no one about. It's early spring yet, and the solitude has not been broken by the chatter and carelessness of visiting throngs. The tulips are up but most are not blooming yet,
 while the Daffie's nod cheerful faces to greet us as we roam. The camellias are fading now, many blooms vanquished by the spring rains. But the ones sheltered under giant oaks, their blooms stop me in my tracks. Light and dark pink, red and variegated...all in perfect symmetrical shapes shinning against glossy dark green leaves. We were not expecting lilac blooms, but some early varieties have surprised us in the sunshine. A first scent wafts by as we enjoy their enchantment. A bit further on we spy some vivid crimson ahead and lift a bough or two to find a crimson laurel bush fully bloomed out, the first of its' kind for the new spring. We soak up the beauty with flower-starved winter eyes, before ambling back to the picket gate, soothed by the beauty of spring.
 
 
 
*I will be having a shoulder joint replacement surgery tomorrow, and appreciate your prayers. This post will have to serve until I re-cooperate. Thanks for your understanding.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

An April Fool's Trick


Today is April Fool's day, and it is also the insurance man's birthday. He is used to people playing tricks and jokes, but this morning nature decided to play an April Fool's joke on him.

Shoveling snow on your birthday?? On April 1st?
The other part of the joke is that yesterday was the last day to have snow tires or studs on your car : )
 
Happy Birthday insurance man!