For Such A Time As This

Abigail and Dolley readers today was a day I will always remember, but never want to repeat.  As days go, in this cycle we call life, this one was a doozey.  I will not bore you with the gory details, but suffice it to say that I drew upon every experience and lesson I have learned in life, faith, and business over the course of 20 years and put them to the test for the last 5 days.  I was seeking the Lord this afternoon on my way into the office and I recalled a song that had spoken to me greatly over the course of my spiritual life.

I found it on my iPod, infrequently listened to but not forgotten.  "For Such a Time as This" by Kim Hill from a Focus on the Family production.  It's from a ladies conference more than a decade ago.  There isn't a video I could find, only little 30 second snipets of the song on various web sites, so instead of showing you, I suppose I will once again try to pour it out on paper.  The song is about the spiritual journey that we as women take.

The first woman we meet in the song is the Woman at the Well, searching for someone to fill the empty space.  The next woman we meet is Mary, sitting at Jesus feet living and breathing His word, because He is our Savior and we are in love.  When I discovered this song, I was Mary.  I had been the woman at the well not long before, but I was firmly sitting at the feet of the Savior and naively believed that I would always be there.  I was wrong.

The third woman we meet is Martha - busy and working and trying to take care of everyone and everything.  The warm and intimate relationship of the past is gone and we are trying to now be worthy of the gift of His love.  He is distant and we are busy.  Been there, done that.

The last woman we meet is Esther.  Everything that has come before has brought you to this moment, when you are forced to put it all on the line and lead. Esther was called to risk her life to save her people and stand before the King to seek his favor.  Now nothing I went through today was that dramatic, but each woman that lives in her faith long enough will at one point be all of these women.

I had my Esther moment today.  I can rest in Him tonight.

Surprise! It Worked!

Abigail and Dolley readers I refer you to an earlier post I made this summer; Japanese Beetles Are The Progressives In the Garden.  In the article, I lamented that the Japanese Beetles had returned to destroy and devour.  I was determined to fight gallantly, but based on past experience did not hold out much hope.  You see they always win and in the end, I would just have to wait for them to die and then clean up the mess.  This was of course based on a dozen years of past experience in my North Carolina Garden.  That June Day, I marched bravely into battle; armed with Ortho Japanese Beetle killer and a new tank sprayer.

The stench of chemicals surrounded me as I doused everything with the pesticide.  I resigned myself to spending every Saturday morning armed for battle and mixed up 2 gallons.  I used one and to my overwhelming shock, the other remains in the tank sprayer.  The single application WORKED!  The beetles are gone and have not been back. 

So, when I recognized that they have now been gone a month and the plants they usually would have destroyed by now are thriving, I was shocked.

Metaphorically, it got me to thinking.- what if, what if - this November we stand strong in the face of battle, knowing that in the past we have lost, but hoping this time will be different.  We don't really and truly believe it will work, but it is all we know to do and by God, we are not sitting back this year and letting the Progressives destroy what we have worked for!  So we bare the stench of politics and wade with our hip boots in the swamp they have created in Washington.

We are only armed with weapons we have tried to use in the past but failed.  It is all that we know to do.  I pray this November will be for our country what that fateful chemical bath was for my garden - a total destruction of the Progressives and their agenda.  I hope that when my son looks back at the history of this country in his life time, he will see the evidence of the destruction the Progressives have caused, but will be astounded and gratified at the strong growth and strength of our country.  I hope that when he looks back, he will see something like the rose bush that inspired this blog, I hope he will never let his children forget either.

God Bless America!

Trust Your Instincts

Abigail and Dolley readers I sit amongst a new project.  It is time to paint the interior of the house.  It will be a project for the winter months, but I like to live with colors for a while before I commit.  I like to see them in the natural and incandescent light.  I like to test the furniture to see if the stuff I have already with go with the new paint.

I once heard Lynette Jennings say buy what you like and your things will go together.  I suppose we are genetically predisposed to liking certain colors and combinations and as such, if you like something, chances are it will go with the rest of your things, and even if it doesn't, who cares?  It's your house, if you love it you can find a place for it.  So trust your instincts and have some fun with it.