Sunday, October 27, 2013

Gain

When you are mourning loss~
And oh, it comes in many forms~

loss of a child
loss of a spouse
loss of sound mind
loss of your house

loss of security
loss of mobility...
loss of acceptance
loss of tranquility

And your throat is tight from restricting the tears
And why the pain for so many years?
And the tears still come
And you wonder is their an escape from ...
 
the pain

 
Gaze upon the Bright Morning Star.
And you "will" gain.

- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)
 
 




 

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Whew!


Our baby girl is a cancer survivor.
She was only 13 months old when diagnosed.
Wilms kidney tumor.
She is 13 years old today.
We praise God.
 
Katelyn at only 13 months old.
 
Katelyn with her oncologist. 13 years old.
  
Things have sailed fairly smoothly since that horrid tragedy.
And it was tragic.
 
Yearly check-up went great.
12 years cancer-free!
We rejoice!
 
Got a phone call ...
Protein in only kidney elevated.
Life-threatening scare.

We fear rejoicing too much.
 
I am on my face in prayer.
That is one precious child.
That is one precious kidney.

 
Retested.
Normal.
Whew.

And we are grateful for prayers lifted on her behalf.
 
Week goes by ...
 
Got a phone call ...
Crystals were present.
Indication of future kidney stones?
Not life-threatening
But wearisome.
Are things going to be okay?
Why all this?
 
Retested.
Got a phone call ...
Normal.
Whew.
And we praise God.

Felt like the world's longest tennis match.
Heads going back and forth.
Where is this going to land?
 
Told that baby girl
We are putting this behind us
Till next year.
 
And your prayers are coveted.
 
These times are a gift.
These times test our faith.
These times put us on our faces
Desperate for God
And we are desperate for Him.

And because God is our joy, we can always rejoice.
Regardless of circumstances at hand.
May we never be robbed of joy.
May we never be too fearful to rejoice.
 
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Name


Because sometimes a name has to be remembered ~
It deserves remembering.
It is good.

My grandfather and grandmother are with Jesus.
Oh, how I miss them.
You know.
Few escape loss.

My grandfather was my grandmother's second husband
So none of the children have that same name.
That name rarely crosses my path ...
No more birthday or Christmas cards.
No more phone calls with that name on caller ID.
So he was not my "biological" grandfather,
But
He was mine.
I was his.

His username: Pa-Paw
His famous words: Boy Howdy!

I have found a precious relative of my grandfather's ...
She is my Facebook friend now.
Seeing that name on my screen
Is beauty
That precious last name is before me
And it is a remembrance of everything good.

I clasp my face in my hands
And I cry out to God,
"I  miss them."
The tears flow uncontrollably for a bit.
I haven't truly let myself "feel" the loss.

That name.
That precious person.
What about my name?
What will it remind people of?
Will it be beautiful?
Will it be mindful of joy?

"A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."
Proverbs 22:1
My Ma-Maw and Pa-Paw.

My Pa-Paw and his cows in his pasture. He took great joy in them.

My Pa-Paw by his garden and the watermelon he grew.

My Pa-Paw and me 1996. I am lassoed in his arms. And his whiskers were wonderful.

Sitting at my Pa-Paw's feet never tired. And oh, he could sing. And he could "name that tune"!

And he loved.

He loved double-time.

And he led. This is my husband, my Pa-Paw's shadow.

I praise God for His name ...
for the sweet name of Jesus
"that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:10-11

~Hallowed be your name
~Come together in my name
~Whatever you ask in my name
~On the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved
~There is no other name
~The name that is above every name
~Do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus
~And His name is the Word of God

What's in a name? Boy howdy! Glory!





Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Wonder

 
When you wonder:
Why?
Why me?
Why this?
Don't wander.
Look instantly to the
 
ONE TRUE WONDER
 
of the world.

The ONE who
never wanders
from us.

He doesn't wonder about us.
He knows us well.

He is wonderful.

 

 
 
Looking to God
is truly a
"Kodak moment."




Sunday, October 13, 2013

Dear Martha and Dear Mary

Dear Martha

One sitting at those precious feet
Listening to Jesus sharing
One is steadily working
Accusing Him of not caring.
 
You saw He raised your brother
Surely heard water turned to wine
Saturate the feet of Jesus, Martha
Is there a perfume too fine?
 
Sit at the feet of Jesus, Martha
The distractions will be okay
Emulate Mary; do the best thing
"It will not be taken away."
 
When giving a dinner in Jesus' honor
Let Him graciously pick up the bill
Take off those shoes; recline with Him
And your house He will fragrantly fill.
 
"Martha, Martha, 'Only one thing is needed,'"
Jesus would lovingly chide
Didn't you know by now, Dear Martha
That Jesus would always provide?
- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)
  
***

Dear Mary


One sitting at those precious feet
That will never be taken away
One complaining, "Tell her to help me"
But at Jesus' feet you did stay.
 
You saw He raised your brother
Surely heard water turned to wine
You would saturate the feet of Jesus
There was no perfume too fine.
 
You sat at the feet of Jesus, Mary
The distractions weren't a care
You poured the oil on His precious feet
And wiped them with your hair.
 
When a dinner was given in Jesus' honor
You let Him graciously pick up the bill
When others would scold, He said, "Leave her alone"
And your house He did fragrantly fill.
 
Mary, Mary, you chose the best
As Jesus would lovingly side
Because you knew in your heart, Dear Mary
Jesus would always provide.
- by Shelli Littleton (copyright 2013)
 
 
 
Our family; God's sweet provision



Friday, October 11, 2013

Soar

When you are utterly tired,
 
May God allow you to soar
 
as a butterfly.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Extraordinary

The sun looked especially beautiful this morning.
The beautiful sunrise deserved preservation.
I needed a picture.
Walked out my front door.
Stood on the front porch.
The air a little cool on this Texas morning.
Fall.
I took a photo.
Pretty.
 
Then I saw the roses nearby.
I thought, "I'll include the roses in the view."
I moved over on the porch a tad bit
to include the roses.
 
 
So, what began as ordinary:
 
 
Became extraordinary:
 
 
 
When we reach out to include others,
with love and encouragement,
as we are positioned aiming straight at the "Son" ...
we will be blessed.
We will get those roses two-fold.


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

When it Rains

 
When it rains
let a sister or brother help you take cover
so you can capture and conquer it to aid another
 
 
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort
we ourselves receive from God."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Our DC Trip

 
"Shelli, do you want me to reschedule the trip to DC?" my husband asks.
"No. I know there won't be as much to see with the government shut-down,
but the trip will still be a great experience.
We might not get to go inside the Smithsonian or other museums,
but we'll get to see amazing monuments outdoors.
It will be worth the trip."
So, I obviously went into this trip with my eyes wide open ...
 
 
This was actually our first airplane flight in over seven years;
so truly, if we didn't see anything in DC, we were totally excited about the plane ride.
We had the back seats all to ourselves on the way there and back!
Awesome! 
As we were taxiing on the runway, I asked Katelyn,
"What do you like best: this plane trip or Rock-n-Roller Coaster at Disney?"
She said, "This plane trip."
I said, "Just wait till we lift off the ground."
"Aren't we already off the ground?" Katelyn asked.
I was tickled to pieces.
"The pilot is about to put the pedal to the metal. Get ready!" I exclaimed.
She held onto the arm rests with all her might ... the pilot put the pedal to the metal,
and we were off the ground.
We laughed ourselves silly.
 
***
 
I'm going to add more pictures than some might appreciate,
but I have family members who have never been to DC.
This was my very first trip, as well.
Outside our hotel, we walked to the entrance of the Metro.
The Metro really made it easy to get around (since we had no car).
 
 
Our first day, my husband took us by Metro and on foot to the White House.
 

 
This is probably where I got my best photo:
 
 
Going home on the Metro, though I had smiles,
a precious lady looked at me and said, "Mom, come take my seat."
She could see my exhaustion right through me.
What a blessing she was to me!
 
***
 
The next day, the girls and I were on our own.
We took the Metro and got off at the Smithsonian stop.
We walked to the Capitol:
 
 
 




 
This was a good walk.
But I also discovered how out-of-shape I am.
Everything was closed down. I figured it would be,
but I was still disappointed when I saw the McDonald's closed.
And with all the museums closed, there were no public restrooms open or places to get drinks/food. So, the girls said, "Mom, let's walk over to the White House to eat at McDonald's."
So, we walked at least a mile and a half there.
We find a concession stand open on Constitution Ave;
what a sight for sore eyes! We had water!
The man said, "You'll need to head that way, pointing to the White House,
for anything 'open' ... I'm about to leave this area because
I'm not making any money here."
I love these photos:
 

 
We passed the Smithsonian on our walk.
The girls could only gaze and wish those doors were open.
But we saw this ... the Colossal Head (as I wondering, "Am I out of my mind?"):
 
 
Here are some other things:
 
 
 
 
The Treasury Department


We passed the Washington Monument. They are repairing/working on it.
 
 
As we returned to the mall area,
I looked down and saw the Lincoln Memorial way off in the distance.
I figured we'd better head that way.
We had two hours left before we needed to head back.
But directly in front of us was the WWII Memorial.
So, I gazed at it, and I thought of my precious Pa-Paw.
He received a Purple Heart; he was shot in the shoulder.
 

 
 Then, we began that long walk down to the Lincoln Memorial,
passing a closed restroom
(there was not a sign revealing the restroom was closed,
so we took a few more steps off the beaten path to figure that out the hard way!):
 
the railing at bottom of stairs was as far as one could go

zooming in

 
I was saddened to know that we couldn't walk up to the monuments.
During the shut-down, I could completely understand museums being closed.
But I couldn't understand being kept away from outdoor monuments.
There were park rangers working, not only to guard the monuments, but to guard the people from going near the monuments.
And that disappointed me.
There were people from all over this world ... I heard so many languages on that walk to the Lincoln Memorial. Their trips had been planned for probably months, maybe a year ... and they couldn't walk up to the outdoor monuments.
Broke my heart.
 
 
But as we were leaving the Lincoln Memorial, this was the view:
 

 
We were exhausted from the walking.
The temperatures were mid to high 80s. I experience much higher temps in Texas, but it was humid and with no place to head indoors for a break, it was rough on this girl.
I kept saying, "I've got to get in shape!"
As soon as we returned to the hotel, we began receiving texts from family and friends wondering if we were okay.
They had seen on the news that there had been a shooting and a car chase at the White House and Capitol.
We barely missed it.
We praised God for our safety.
 
***
 
The next day, we headed to the Spy Museum with my husband.
This was a neat experience.
It started out so educational ... learning about spy equipment, hearing spy testimonies.
But it moved from "history to Hollywood" fairly quickly.
James Bond, anyone?
 



***

We really had a good time.
The shut-down could have been a huge disappointment, and on some levels, it was.
But on the way home,
I looked at Katelyn and asked, "What was your favorite part of the trip? Mine was being with you." She said, "I was going to say the very same thing."
Some of you know we had a real scare lately with Katelyn.
She had cancer as a baby, has one kidney now,
and her kidney protein level tested high.
This could have meant her kidney was having to work too hard.
After retesting, her kidney tested normal.
We were so thankful.
Those things really help put your perspective back in the proper place.
We were altogether, all healthy.
As we boarded that airplane, heading home ... took off,
with a great viewing looking down over the Pentagon ...
I have to admit I got tears in my eyes.
I was so thankful for this chance to see so much history.
It was beautiful.
And we found out the day we left that the government ended up closing down the whole mall area ... people couldn't even walk up toward the monuments.
So, we were especially thankful for our opportunities.

***

My souvenir was a t-shirt that says: "Washington DC" ...
at home today, we headed out to Wal-Mart ...
I covered the wording on my t-shirt up with a jacket,
out of fear that I might get beat-up over
"Washington DC."


People are angry over the shut-down.
But I praise God for our country and our godly heritage,
from our founding fathers to ...
my grandfather.
I love the words on this monument:
"Our liberty of worship is not a concession nor a privilege but an inherent right."
Beautiful.

 
I hope you enjoyed this overview of our trip.
And always remember ...
In a world with shutdowns, shut-ins, shutoffs, shut-outs ...
when it's tempting to see nothing,
may we still shudder when we view God's "all" ...
omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience.
The ONE true God is still all powerful, in all places, all knowing.
In a world of seemingly nothing, there is still something.
Glory!