We are on our vacation right now, and it was a bit of fun getting here. The second leg of our flight was late, for no apparent reason, and we were stuck n the sirplane for 45 minutes with no air conditioning and a child whose bed time was well before we took off - gotta love a tired child n a hot flight.
But we did make it into town, got the rental car, and arrived at the condo we are staying at. But, for those who really like beaches, the weather has been awful. Jennifer and Sierra have been dying t get n the beach, but with wind that gusts like crazy, rain that comes and goes, and temps that jump up and down, beach weather has not prevailed.
So, I guess it goes back to - you can plan and plan, but so many things are out of our control. We cannot control the weather, the airplane, or many others things - but we can still have a restful and fun time with family - and isn't that the main point.
So today we did some shopping - Sierra picked out a nice pink shirt I will wear sometime this summer - and we got some indoor card games - we are teachng her to play "Go Fish."
Spending time like this, with family and friends, is a great way to recharge and celebrate everything we have been given.
So I am going to head out into the stormy weather, back to the room, and play a little more Go Fish before we search for dinner.
Have a great day,
1 comment:
Wow, I see by the previous blog entry that my message DID go through the first time I typed it in, and I didn't have to redo it. Now they are BOTH on there! (Feel free, Pastor E, to eliminate one of them. They are mostly alike, but you choose which one to delete.)
If it's any consolation, the weather up here has been cold and rainy. I keep telling myself, at least it isn't snow, and the moisture is good for the grass. Besides, we can't change the weather, so we may as well look at the bright side.
This blog entry brings to my mind the English poet Robert Burns. I haven't thought about his poetry for some time. He wrote, often with a Scottish brogue, about common things. His famous poem, "To a Mouse," is often quoted and became one of the central themes of John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice & Men." It was supposedly written by Burns in 1785 after witnessing the turning up of a mouse in her nest, while plowing.
I have "Americanized" his message here, changing some of the Scottish dialect, for clarity purposes, but his theme remains, we plan and plan, but what will be, will be...
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"To a Mouse"
Wee, sleek, cowrin', tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need not start away so hasty
With bickering brattle!
I would be loath to run and chase thee
With murdering prattle!
I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken nature's social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earthborn companion,
And fellow mortal!
I doubt at times, but thou may thieve;
What then? Poor beastie, thou must live!
An occasional head of grain in a bundle
Is a small request;
I'll get a blessing with the rest,
And never miss it.
Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's weak walls the winds are strewin'!
And nothing now to build a new one,
Of herbage green!
And bleak December winds ensuin',
Both sharp and keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare and waste,
And weary winter comin' fast,
And cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash, the cruel plow passed
Out through thy cell.
That wee bit heap of leaves and stibble
Has cost they many a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for all thy trouble,
Without a dwelling place,
To endure the winter's sleety dribble
And hoarfrost cold!
But, Mousie, thou art not alone
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Often go astray,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy.
Still, thou art blest, compared with me,
The present only toucheth thee;
But och! I backward cast my eye
On prospects drear!
And forward, though I cannot see,
I guess and fear!
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I find it intersesting that while we recall and often quote the line about "the best laid plans...," we seldom speak of Burns' parting verse in which he says that the mouse is luckier than man.
For all of its great loss, the mouse fares better than man, because it lives in the present only. The mouse, unlike man, doesn't brood over the past, nor worry about the future.
It's all a bit like the advice we get in Matthew 6:25-34.
"Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is the body more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Dear Lord, today I lay before you all my worries. "Let go; let God" will be my motto. Help me to remember this, one day to the next, and not just today.
Help me to live in the present, forgetting past wrongs, whether real or imagined. Keep me from worrying about the future, because you protect us in all things.
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