There are approximately 924 things I feel the need to tell you about today… sooo I’m sorry or you’re welcome depending on what you’re in the mood for….♥

I did a little Easter decorating last night and by that I mean somewhere in the neighborhood of 8:42 pm I plunked two fabulous vintage Easter post cards down among my teal mason jars and brushed my hands together in a done fashion. I always find myself in that moment around 1-4 days before a holiday thinking, “hmmm… such and such holiday is right around the corner and I really should go up in the attic, bring down the decorations and do this place up right.”

And then I have a Cadbury egg, sit down on the couch and call it a night.

But at least this year I have postcards thanks to this sweet gal and new friend, {HI!} also known as the redeemer of my Easter decor…who knows, maybe she will spur me on to greater things this year…!

Friendship is a topic that lingered on my mind the past week. I’ve heard news of old friends having babies and lamented the fact that I hadn’t been more in touch. And a few weeks ago I was feeling like no one wanted to be my friend (again watch out for that “feeeeling” word…) only to find a few weeks later- what I thought were pitiful pleas to God had been answered by the provision of new (and old) friends all right in front of me- they’d been there all along, but I just had trouble seeing them. Funny how He answers by beckoning us to just look a little closer sometimes. One thing that’s becoming clear is that we’re not meant to do this life alone. We need God and other people (as much as we might hate to admit it sometimes!)

And though a man might prevail against him who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. ~ Ecclesiastes 4:12

I know I’ve certainly been gaining some strength (and achy hamstrings) from walking with my new-old friend in her neighborhood this week. Let’s just call it a God-thing ♥

And another case in point, a friend by my side may have made me less liable to get hit on in the kitchen wraps aisle of the Wal-Mart last Friday… Poor guy- all he had to lead with, in an accent from probably well below the equator was, “Excuse me, are you married?” at which point my Spidey-sense antennas went off like crazy as I stammered out YEP! I am married! Thank you. Goodbye. And I grabbed my freezer paper and bolted for the checkout lane not caring that he also said I looked “good”. Obviously he had some low standards that day as my hair was sporting a semi wet 2 day old up-do because it had been raining and I was rocking [insert sarcasm here] old jeans and a black hoodie jacket. So yes, please I’ll take all the friends I can get because I hear there’s safety in numbers.

What else? (Gosh what else could top that? right?) Well, the boy and I road tripped to Farmville this past Saturday. He needed to polish his map reading skills and I needed wanted to go to the junk store. It was a win-win situation for everyone involved, even for the husband- because when I laid out my two choices- shopping a few counties over or staying home and moving furniture in the living room, I got a kiss and a hug and a blessing to be careful!

And his view from the couch stayed put.

Somehow, I have no pictures of our lovely spring weekend {P.S. it snowed here Saturday morning… I don’t want to talk about it… even if it was only a few lazy flakes for an hour…it’s just not right}

While in Farmville at the junk store I bought old keys and bingo cards. This big spending took no less than 2 1/2 hours in which time I also considered buying a 1970s GE wall clock with a rad tiffany blue, coral and black faux tile pattern,  old black and white snapshots of a long forgotten family and pretty much everything else sporting a faded turquoise color in that store. (it’s a sickness… I’m aware) I know my purchases make no sense whatsoever but all will be revealed in due time.

This morning I read this:

My mom’s birthday is coming up next week and thus the need for a cake…Mmmm… the aroma when they’re baking… the sweet smell of vanilla and sugar… the buttery goodness… the beautiful ways they can be decorated… though truth be told we usually default to chocolate iced yellow sheet cakes and if I want to get really fancy I make a round layer cake with chocolate icing… because we’re so fancy here.

Except for that one time my mom made this cake somewhere around 1984. 

That verse -though I’ve read it a hundred times- suddenly struck me that to taste something is to internalize it. You have to want to know if it’s good or not. And you won’t know how it is simply by looking. Or hearing someone else talk about it. You have to make an effort. Actually it kind of applies to friendship too because you have to step out of your comfort zone to connect and it feels risky and vulnerable at times. But oh the blessing when you find those true confidants this side of Heaven. 

And as a bonus it also got me thinking about how much the bible uses language describing all our other senses and how engaging them makes for such a richer and more satisfying walk with God…

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. ~ Proverbs 27:9

Let my prayer be accepted as sweet-smelling incense in your presence. Let the lifting up of my hands in prayer be accepted as an evening sacrifice. ~ Psalm 141:2

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”~ Genesis 16:13

 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt?  Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. ~ Luke 24:38-40

 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ~ John 10:27

Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is. ~ Psalm 66:1-2

What an invitation we have to a sense-filled faith rather than a sensible faith. Because faith, as God designed it really doesn’t make sense at all- it doesn’t compute or follow the rules. Kings coming as babies… 5,000 people fed with 5 loaves and 2 fish… losing your life to gain it… But we’re called to this faith and long for it just the same.

Let the message about Christ in all it’s richness fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ~ Colossians 3:16

Because faith that made sense really wouldn’t be faith at all.

“The safety of the tinted bird is to be on the wing. If it’s haunt be near the ground- if it fly low- it exposes itself to the fowler’s net or snare. If we remain groveling on the low ground of feeling and emotion we shall find ourselves entangled in a thousand meshes of doubt, despondency, temptation and unbelief.” ~ J.R. Macduff, Streams in the Desert

But what if we abandoned the sensible faith for the big faith? The one where we trust how much He will take care of us because we see how he takes care of the birds of the field? The full body experience of tasting and hearing and touching…taking in all the glorious sights and sounds and wonders of God?

{Quote on the wall: Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry…}

It was long I know but thanks to you few brave friends who were faithful to the end of my ramblings today. 

 

You deserve cake.

♥

Linking up here: