Home on the Range

My first full day has been a busy day of shopping with my sister. Something we enjoy doing together when I come for a visit. Usually I can't find anything that suits my fancy, but this time I did!  Very unlike me to spend money on myself, unless of course it's a DVD!  We even looked at shoes, and I almost bought a pair of cowboy boots.  Kinda funny when you think of where I live.  Plus the fact that although my friends in New Mexico say cowboy boots are very comfortable, I never cared to see for myself...until now.  Who knows, maybe I'll be a cowgirl yet!

Tomorrow is another day with greater challenges than a fun day shopping.  I guess it's a day of facing fears and speaking truth, sometimes not an easy thing to do.  I miss my parents, and being back stirs up memories. Nothing remains the same.

My daddy and I loved to watch John Wayne movies, so I decided to watch Hondo tonight.  I can still see him sitting in his chair, me on the floor.  Sometimes we'd watch three movies in a row.  For a long time he couldn't hear very well, but once he bought a pair of tv ears he was able to hear again.  That made for happy times.  I really miss him, and being here makes me miss him more.

Enough reminiscing tonight, or I'll be in crying again.  At least they're happy tears!

Home!

Touched down in Richmond around 2ish this afternoon after a brief blink of an eye in Atlanta.  The trip from Albuquerque to Atlanta was nice and relaxing...until me and a lot of other passengers realized we were going to be late for our next flights.  My trip from Atlanta to Richmond was scheduled to start boarding at 11:25 am, leaving at 12:05 pm.  We arrived at Gate T at 11:32 pm, and my flight, as well as my fellow pilgrims' flights, was leaving from Gate A.  By the time I huffed my way to Gate A, it was 11:50 am, but they were still boarding.  Hope the other airport trotters made it safely to their respective gates in time. I didn't know I could still walk that fast!  Maybe I should be a sprinter!  Hopefully the trip home will be more relaxing.  But I'm here, all safe and sound.

Tomorrow I'll spend the day with my sister frequenting our usual haunts. I usually like to have a taste of Martin's, formerly Ukrops, special birthday pound cake, but alas, I cannot risk tasting a single crumb else I pay the price - Celiac Disease.  Maybe one day they'll make a gluten free recipe!  Better still maybe after I retire I will develop my own recipes, but let's not hold our breath for that day.  Retirement doesn't seem to be in the cards for this gal, at least not quite yet.

Enough said for now as there's supper to fix.  It's always nice to have home cooked country-style grub!  Yummy!  My sister is a great cook, just like my mama and my grandma.  Don't you wish you were here?!

Have a good one!

Less Than One Day!

I'm in Albuquerque getting ready to turn in for the evening! It's only 9 pm here, but I have to be up and out by 4:30 am in order to get to the airport in time for my flight.  I'm already checked in, so all I have to do is make a wild dash to the Gate!  Sounds easy enough, huh?
Touch down in Richmond is about 1:38 pm, so I'll be able to rest up for my next great adventure.

I worked late last night in the hope of living early today, but somehow I had to make just one more call, then one more call, until it was already 5 pm.  Fortunately I finished packing at lunch time.  Yes, I actually took a lunch break!  Hopefully tomorrow will prove to be a great day, smooth flying, and flights on time.  I stop over in Atlanta for a brief layover, so hopefully I don't have miles to go between the gates.  I've had that experience more times than not, and this ole lady cannot handle much more of that kind of excitement.

Take care until I talk to you again!  Good night!

Call to Prayer

I just received an urgent prayer request asking for prayer for Christians being brutally murdered by ISIS forces.  Children are being beheaded as well as Western relief workers who have been taken as hostages as a message to Christians who do not convert to Islam.  My heart is broken for the families and for the people who are fleeing for their lives. Relief workers remain and stand in faith against these forces of evil.  My prayer is that the nations unite to turn back this enemy.  I also pray that we here in the United States will not forget to stand in prayer also, as God dispatches His warriors to battle in the heavenly realms.

How often we get caught up in our daily lives that we forget about the larger war outside of our scope of everyday existence.  As an intercessor I need to focus more of my time on these desperate needs, but I admit that I get my eyes on what is happening to me and mine.  But these people are mine as well, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I am asking you to stand in prayer with me especially for Relief workers from Crisis Relief International and the people of Northern Iraq.  We think it can never happen here on American soil, but it has.  The battle is not ours, but God's, and He calls us as brothers and sisters to stand for each other.

As I prepare to board my plane and fly to Virginia in two short days the reality is that I will be vulnerable to the enemy's threats. We are all at risk, each day, so it is important to always live our lives as if they were our last.  Our reaction towards such evil in the world is to hate, but hate is the very enemy we are fighting against. I cannot fathom such cruelty, and I pray I never have to face it.

And so together we stand and together we pray!

Three more days!

Wow! Could you imagine a tree house vacation!  Talk about hiding away in the trees!

Three more days, and I will boarding the freedom express, aka Delta Airlines...! Although I won't be settling high in the trees, or I don't think I will...I can hardly wait to snuggle under the quilt in my mama's room and curl up with a good book!  As a kid I loved to read.  I could read for hours on end, and Sunday afternoons after lunch were my favorite times to mentally travel to every location under the sun.  How my imagination grew wings, and I soared from one exciting location to another.  Always helping the underdog, devoting my time in serving others.  Some things never change, but for me that's no so bad!

My friend is planning a lunch or dinner with "the girls", as I am sure we have a lot of catching up to do.  Hopefully, I can take in a movie, and perhaps head off to a museum.  Not certain where my path may take me, but I know I have much to look forward to.  Just wish I had a little bit more time, but then maybe I have all I need.

I'm watching an old movie, The Time Machine, which is about....you guessed it!...time travel! Interesting concept, don't you think?  Just imagine traveling back in time.  I've always thought I was meant for the Victorian Age, friends with Jane Austin and other literary giants of that age. Imagine meeting Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.  I think I might enjoy that encounter. But then I don't know perhaps Medieval era with the knights of Camelot and King Arthur.  The fashions of the day were more along the lines of what is now called "steampunk," and I must admit I like it!  I devoted a Pinterest board to the subject of Steampunk, so check it out, as it is very imaginative and may spark a creative edge in you! 

Life is fun, or it should be!  I think we all need time away to gain a fresh perspective on life.  A time of dreaming, awakenings, and fresh beginnings.  For me there's much to be considered, so I am marking my calendar as we speak!  Three more days!

Perfect Peace

"You will keep in perfect peace him

whose mind is steadfast, because

he trusts in you."

Isaiah 26:3

Four more days before I clock out and clock in!  Thursday morning I'll be flying off for a few days of lazy days and Indian summer.  Well, at least I trust they are lazy days!  I'm not really the planning type, as I much prefer to be spontaneous when it comes to doing something.  Really don't want to worry about expectations, as I have to consider those things every day on the job, so I think I deserve a little R & R from the daily race!

What I would really enjoy doing is talking to old friends learning more about their lives.  As kids in school we dreamed our dreams, but sometimes things take a different turn in life.  At least for me they did.  I've done things I never dreamed of doing, and I haven't done the things I thought I really wanted to do.  Life happens, we make decisions, and then life goes on.  For now I am trying to keep my focus forward, taking each new day as it comes.  Hopefully while home I'll be able to find something in each day to share along the way with you.  Don't think I'll be crawling into the attic this visit, but I'm sure old memories will surface, and once more I'll be lost in time of former days.  I know it will be quiet at my parents' home, with plenty of things to do or sort through.  Time well spent, remembering.

Running Free

Sometimes as we walk this earth we encounter people who are...different, seemingly not of this world.  They are not bothered by what transpires around them, content only to be involved in their duty of the day or the work at hand.  Never complaining, always smiling, seldom speaking, yet when they do utter a sound the voice has a softness, an other-worldly, ethereal quality about it. There's something about them that you just cannot express in words...different...better almost.

I remember when I first moved to New Mexico in 1987 working in our Hallmark Shop in Las Vegas, there were days I'd be singing as I worked, merchandizing gifts to give it a "homey" quality, as I believe people like to see how a thing of beauty can be displayed in a home.  Many people would stop to talk to me, and I was so overwhelmed with the joy of the Lord that I "glowed" as I spoke cheerily, or so I was told. It was said I had an "aura" around me, but I knew it was Him. A few years ago while in the home of a person I was meeting for the first time, in Las Vegas again, I was told "no one talks like you do! You're not from around here, are you?"  Even not so long ago while visiting yet another person I was told I was described as "always encouraging," and I pray that this is true of the person I am, as I know it is the person I am called to be.  The people we are all called to be.  

My friend, recently returned from training for a new job, and she mentioned meeting a lady whom she described as "different", "something about her".  I became distracted after that, as my mind began to wander, thinking back over the person I used to be, the one I always want to be. I began to wonder what people thought when they met me for the first time. These days I am not always happy with feelings that come over me, or the words I think or possibly allow to slip from my tongue.  I will always advocate for honesty, truth, and helping the one in need, the cause uncured, or for what is right and good.  But I want to do so in the way I feel so deeply within my soul, from the far reaches of the great beyond where all truth and beauty begin.  I want to find myself again, the young dreamer who has met her One True Love, and who responds in kind to all mankind, no matter the winds of change or the turning tides of life.  I want to be "different".  I want to be known as His, without a word spoken, light upon my face, and His love shining forth in my smile, touching hearts!

Returning to Virginia is always less than easy for me, because returning brings back memories, not all good, most bittersweet.  Seeing friends from high school days when life was freer in some respects, and yet under the surface, not easy at all, just hidden away to enjoy the present moment.  I know at least one of you who understands that feeling.

While "home" away from the place I call home now where I feel "safe and sheltered," although for only a few days, I want to experience a lifetime of fresh awakenings.  I need to remember and lay at rest some disturbing "ghosts" that haunt my soul, and I want to face a few fears that have long kept me running from dreams or what "could be."  Mostly, I need rest, a time to think about  future plans, yet enjoy the days with friends and family, running free for the time I am there!

I also want to write daily entries into my blog noting what I am "seeing," perhaps for the first time, or in a long time!  I want to laugh, sing, shout, run and play!  Basically, I desire to truly have a restful time away from my hurried life here in New Mexico where I can discover who Linda is again!  Better still, I want to return home...better...different!  

So for those of you who want to see me, who want to share time with an old friend, a cousin, a niece, a sister, a mother, or a new found chum...let me hear from you!  I'll be waiting...expectantly!

Our Help

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence 

cometh my help ?

My help cometh from the Lord

who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121: 1-2

For quite a few months now, or more aptly put - years, I have been struggling with an assignment of evil against my very soul.  The enemy comes to "steal, kill, and destroy", but God comes "that ye might have life, life everlasting."  During this time I have been functioning in my daily life, succeeding and excelling in my work, supporting the ministry of the local church, and bringing encouragement to others in e-mails, letters, cards, in person in my work, and more recently in my blogs.  Then when I am alone I often go back to this place of "hiding" where I fight for the truths I believe while battling for my very life.  I have made my stand for the pursuit of holiness, and regardless of my ups and downs, ins and outs, one constant holds true - I do trust God, sight unseen, as I trusted Him as a child and came to know Him in simple, childlike faith. I have been labeled "naive", but it is not naivety, it is knowledge, proven, tested, tried, and true in the crucibles of pain and suffering, abandonment, betrayal, life and death. Childlike trust rewarded.

This is all He asks of us, but as we "mature" questions come in as we take our eyes off of Jesus and put them on ourselves, our wants, our desires, not asking Him the plan He has for us.  We come to doubt, because we do not see the results we want or when things don't happen at the time we think they should. In an instant world of convenience where everything is fast, we grow doubtful when we don't get our demands met right now.  But, to once more quote my younger son, "God is not a vending machine," nor is He a puppet master.

When we accept Christ in faith unseen, in a moment of revelation that overwhelms our souls, unless the relationship is cultivated by spending time with Him, by "studying to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," the euphoria, aka "mountain top experience" slowly begins to dwindle, the candle to fade, because satan does not sleep, and the cares of this world, our lives, come in to dampen our spirits, or in modern vernacular "rain on our parades."

Jesus speaks of this experience in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 16 where he likens our growth to seed that falls on rocky soil, shallow soil, and good soil. We are called to remain vigilant in our stand, our beliefs, in our God. We have an enemy in the spiritual realm as well as in this natural world as we watch our corrupt government making decisions more likened to a dictatorship than a democracy, as we watch church scandals or see the church members fighting against each other.  Jesus says "it is by our fruit" we will be known, by our "love for each other," yet we destroy each other, kill each other with the tiniest weapon, our tongues.  How many lives have you seen destroyed by this tiny adversary?  So we rise up in anger, or we become indifferent, not wanting to become involved we retreat rather than stand.

As believers in Christ we know that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds."  In Ephesians 6 He gives us our weapons for this unseen enemy who is behind every problem in the world, in our government, and in our very lives.  He gives us the loin girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.  If you read on you discover the one thing, the essential weapon needed to cover all of these spiritual coverings, the oil of prayer.  Without prayer these weapons will be rendered useless as much as metal in our modern day rusts from disuse or  not properly cleaning or maintaining it.

Still, knowing this, doing this, you will continue to be tested, but we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies.  We become steadfast, regardless of what we see or hear, we stand in Whom we know.  Rather than to criticize each other, we should be examining our own selves, because until our hearts are right before God, change will not come. Change begins in our individual hearts, as we pour out our fears, our failures, our desires laid down at His feet.  Hope is birthed and fears laid to rest at the foot of the cross.

At this moment my heart cries for peace, a place of rest to hear His voice.  I am learning to quiet my soul, listen for His still, small voice as the storm rages around me and rescue is not in sight for myself and others.  But I can lay it down, and I will continue to stand in Whom I have believed and the promises He has given to me, regardless of what happens next in my life to try to turn my loyalty from the Truth to the liar who deceives.  Childlike trust in His promises.

Each of us face battles, but overcoming only comes one way - by relinquishing your hold and laying it to rest, by giving it over to God in whom our help comes.  If you pick it up, then lay it back down, but leave it down. Today as you search the Word for your own answers or as you stand in faith for another one seeking the truth, ask God to give you a promise, then stand regardless of the winds of change. If you are truly seeking, the promise will come. He is not a man that He should lie.  Trust in that!

Hope

Holidays are hard for me, because my mind goes back to another time.  Sometimes there is solace in memories, other times not so.  Today is a mixed bag for me.

I woke up early feeling a need to spend some time in prayer for people, situations spanning miles, nations, time.  It reassured me of God's hand on my life, and in spite of what I do not see, an inevitable answer to prayer. So I remain saddened for the moment, resting in His grace, certain of the outcome. Hope can change anything.