And *poof* just like that we are halfway through another year…
Welcome to July.
There’s an accomplished feeling of yes! we’ve made it through winter (such a snowy one!) but an equally unsettling feeling of hold on! what am I doing with my life?? I blinked and it’s already halfway to Christmas! There’s so much I haven’t accomplished yet! My hot water tank is still on the side porch for one and I still haven’t figured out how to use my camera…!
But time marches on with or without us…. Our only hope in this time drain is this:
Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom. ~Psalm 90:12
Hopefully we are at least learning something and becoming smarter as the years toil on by…
Yesterday I was reading on Ann Voskamp’s site where she quoted Mary Oliver’s,
“Instructions for living a Life”:
1. Pay Attention
2. Be Astonished
3. Tell about it.
What made me hone in on it even more was that I’d heard a similar message Sunday morning as our preacher talked about prophecy…. a big word I thought had much greater implications than how he simply put it: Telling someone what God has told YOU. That’s it. It’s that simple. (I wonder if Mary Oliver heard it from the bible first??)
He went on to say that to tell what you hear God saying, we have to pay attention first as well… in prayer and in those still moments where we may be driving along and all of the sudden, God says ‘hey, you should call so-and-so…’ And when we are amazed by realizing something God has done for us or a way he’s taken care of us in our lives, the next logical step is to go out and share it. That’s the essence of being a prophet. Of living a life well.
To paraphrase from 1 Corinthians 14:1-4…
We all should follow the way of love and developing our spiritual gifts but we should desire to prophesy more than anything else because when we do it, we are building people up, encouraging them and bringing comfort — and who couldn’t use more of all three of those things!
Lately I’ve been in the clouds- trying to look up more. Trying to pay attention to my surroundings instead of just having tunnel vision during my day and and iron grip on the steering wheel during my travels… and in that spirit of paying attention, I’ve noticed that the wildflowers or weeds (depending on your school of thought) along the roadside are in full bloom and I’m thinking of Aunt Joe Anne who never neglected to see them.
Riding in her old brown station wagon on the way to church she would pull over and with scissors in hand (of course it doesn’t hit me until now…but who carries scissors in their car???) and cut queen anne’s lace and black eyed susan’s at the drop of a hat to decorate for a luncheon or just for no reason but to give us kids something to hold on to. A split second in the grand scheme of time, but years later it’s left a big impression…
When she wasn’t snipping flowers from the side of the road, she was busy in her own yard. An old hand pumped well filled the watering can and around she would go watering lilies and hostas and geraniums and impatients and whatever else looked parched or peaked.
A few weeks ago, I realized there’s a similar sweet soul who always seems to be tending her beautiful flowers first thing in the morning. Weeding, watering, cutting. And her yard is a beautiful testament to that time well spent.
Unfortunately I don’t have the green thumb when it comes to growing things at my house- it has to be a hearty and established plant to put up with my absentminded watering, but I can clip flowers and buds like nobody’s business. {I’m waiting on pins and needles for my hydrangea to bloom again…} It’s all about showing appreciation for the beauty I see all around me and pushing through looking for the bright spots even when things look dim…
So until I can get my neighbor’s permission to traipse through her yard and take pictures of her beautiful flower beds, you’ll have to enjoy my climbing rose from last year. Due to an unfortunate pruning ordeal with the tree that surrounded it… it’s no longer with us. RIP little rose bush…we enjoyed you while you were here!
What small (or big!) things are you noticing and telling about this week?
♥
recollecteddesign.com 
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