The Saga Continues

The story is told of two separate families who were both moving from their community to another.

The first couple approached their pastor at church as asked him about the community, since he had once lived there. They were especially interested in the type of people they would encounter and how the new neighborhood might be.  

The pastor asked them, “Tell me about your neighbors here.” The couple enthusiastically told the minister about their neighbors, about how kind, friendly and helpful they were. “Good news!” said the pastor, “that is exactly the type of people you will find in the community you are moving to!”  

The second couple came to the pastor with the same inquiry: “What are the people in this community like?”  

Again the pastor inquired about their current neighbors. The couple ran on and on about how awful their neighbors were; they were liars, thieves and not to be trusted at all!” “I’m sorry,” the pastor said, “the people in your new community are that very same way.”

I am happy to report that we have had wonderful neighbors these past 17 years! Even when homes have been sold and a new family has moved in we find we have had lovely neighbors.

We have found an apartment and will be moving at the month’s end. I am anxiously anticipating meeting our new neighbors and becoming a part of the community.

My place of employment is a mere 10-mile trek, a vast improvement over a daily commute of 72-miles! We will be much closer to the VA Hospital and clinic, our dentists and varied and sundry specialists!

We are downsizing from 1400 sq. feet to 700 sq. feet. You may recall that my prayer, my “word” if you will for the New Year was S.I.M.P.L.I.F.Y. and the Lord has been faithful! Now, if I will only be faithful and willing to part with “possessions”. 

We are arranging a moving sale. Our current community has a 24-hour Yard Sale spot on Facebook  so I will be downloading pictures of items for sale. We will arrange for a local non-profit agency to pick up anything left for their thrift shop.

My burning question when holding an item or contemplating selling it is this: “Do I own this, or does it own me? If I part with this, will I shortly go out and replace it or will I be able to live without it?”

Just as a matter of confirmation, when we were in Tucson last Thursday and Friday, Husband was having severe asthma, so early on Friday morning, I drove him to the VA emergency room. I don’t believe it was more than a 10-minute trek from our motel room.

As we may be brought to your mind, please remember us in prayer for this move and for journey mercies.

Simply yours,

Tamara

Luke 10:26-28The Message (MSG) 

²⁶ He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

²⁷ He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

²⁸ “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

Walking Path

America the Beautiful

Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought

By pilgrim foot and knee!
O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee

Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

Twenty-two years ago, traveling across these great United States, I witnessed first hand the "beautiful for spacious skies” and the "amber waves of grain" as we traveled across this nation in a 1989 Toyota Tercel pulling a trailer with every worldly possession we had not sold. Our trek began in Ohio.

Crossing into the state of Kentucky our then ten year old son sat bolt upright and stated, “Hey! This grass isn’t blue!” Amusing as that was, the grass was the deepest, darkest green with rolling hills and horses lounging in the pasture. We traveled on into Tennessee and found a campsite near Nashville. We had to pack it up and head to a truck stop when a tornado threatened the area! When the warning passed we went back and set up again. Most of the other campers were actually playing guitars and singing, hoping for a break into the Country Music scene.

We traveled further south to Arkansas to visit family before heading on West. We had a wonderful visit and learned most males in that area had two names, i.e. Joe Paul, Billy Bob, etc. To this day I can’t tell you where we were when we first began to hear the southern drawl, "Ya’ll want grits with breakfast?”

I would have loved being a girl raised in the south (G.R.I.T.S.). I love some of the southern euphemisms; “Bless her heart!"  "Ya’ll fixin’ to go to town?” and not to forget he plural “All ya’ll”.

When leaving southern Arkansas the next state was Texas. It seemed to go on and on for days and days! It appeared to be the flattest land in the continental United States! Husband said while stationed at Lackland AFB, the saying was you could go A.W.O.L. and still be seen for three days in any direction.

We began traveling north from Texas and into the state of Oklahoma for a very short period. We stopped at Fort Sill to absorb some of the history and local legend. As we were on no specific time schedule, we headed to Kansas where we were able to see the "fruited plains and amber waves of grain". This land too appeared flat and quite frightening when the storm clouds gathered.

Next our trip took us to Colorado where we decided to pickup Interstate 70. We began to see the "purple mountains majesty" and the signs warning about high winds… all while in a Toyota Tercel, pulling a trailer with all our worldly goods… After fighting to stay on the highway that was frequented by many trucks and the high winds, we decided another route south might be best. We were heading to Interstate 40 and traveled into New Mexico and it truly lived up to its name of “The Land of Enchantment” such wonder and beauty I had never seen.

After the enchantment of New Mexico we entered North Eastern Arizona and searched out Arizona State Highway 666 (now renumbered as State Highway 191). We came to the community of Springerville in the early evening. I called my mother who lived in the mining community of Morenci. The conversation went somewhat like this: “Mom! We’re in Spingerville and it’s only a bit more than 100 miles! We’ll be there tonight.” The reply was, “Get a room and start out in the morning. Trust me on this, start in the morning.” So we did. In retrospect I am so glad we did!

Hwy. 666 was evil! It climbed, snaked through an area that had signs stating “highway not maintained past this point.” There were no guard rails and other signs warning that semis and trailers over 20 feet in length were prohibited. There were hairpin turns, cattle on the road, Husband driving one handed saying, “Did you see that elk?” while pointing with the other. I knew we were going to die on this road! Even though we no longer have that Toyota Tercel (without air conditioning that we were moving to Arizona in…) I’m sure my fingernail impressions are still embedded in the passenger’s seat! Our son sat in the back with a blanket over his head! It was that scary!

When we finally topped the incline and began the downward trek into Morenci, I saw it: the huge open pit mine. I looked at Husband and said, “They’ve raped the earth!” It was one of the most horrific sight I had ever seen. I was appalled at what man had done to the land! Then we arrived in Morenci, my Mom met us and led the way to her home. The mining community looked the same to me wherever we went. Small homes built on terraced land all owned by Phelps Dodge (and now by Freeport McMoRan).

After arriving in town you are struck by the “tailings” from the mining effort. Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, refuse, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore – in this case copper.

Then, without warning you become blind to all this. Isn’t that like the complacent Christian, who is oblivious to sin in their life, because most certainly they are not like that person over there, are they?

After staying with my Mom for awhile we relocated to the Safford-Thatcher area and remain here to this day – almost twenty two years later!

Today, Husband returns from his “Walk to Emmaus”. He’s been gone since Thursday. My “Walk” begins this coming Thursday. Stay tuned for more details!

Tamara

PS  ⁴ Make me know Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.

Reflecting on Christmas

My email devotional from the Upper Room today spoke on how we may need to have ‘spiritual glasses, or vision remedies’ that are specifically designed to help us see the star and the angels… in the hills over Bethlehem this Advent season.  Instead, we often see fuzzy images of sugarplums and reindeer and Santa and snowmen and gifts—and maybe, just maybe we might catch a glimpse of the child in the manger. It’s difficult to see any details outside the limited realm of our personal comfort levels. (From In My Heart I Carry a Star: Stories for Advent by Derek Maul.)

Do we see the advent of Christ in this world as a means to bring God’s message of reconciliation and love to our brothers and sisters?  Or do we see it as just another way to pad our comfort and reward ourselves with layer upon layer of material blessing?  And worse, perhaps we spend the next year paying off those material blessings…

We live in a great big world full of desperation, people, war, plenty, hunger,  joy, pain, and even hope sometimes — if only we have the eyes to see… And then, only when those eyes have been spiritually opened by the transforming power of the Christ, the lowly child in the manger.

When our eyes are opened and we have clear vision we run the risk of grasping something of the pain, the tragedy, the truth, and the crying needs of those with whom we come into contact with on a daily basis. These realities ultimately define all people who have not witnessed — or allowed themselves to respond to the sign that has been given by the star and the angels.

My Prayer
This Advent, God, I ask that You shine through my life.  Light my often pale and drab spirit with Your love.  Help me to give without reservation and remove my fear.  Thank You for the confidence that You bring. ~Amen.

Can you identify one activity that, upon reflection, you might consider a distraction from the true meaning of this season?

Psalm 126:6, NRSV


Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

Tamara

Streams in the Desert

Rainy seasons in Arizona are a curiosity. Even though it is called the Monsoon Season more often than not, it is a non-soon. This year has been a blessed exception for a dry and barren desert, one fraught with savage wildfires.

An 11-year-old drought has bruised Arizona's billion-dollar cattle ranching industry, pushing one of the vaunted “Five C's” of the state's traditional economy closer to extinction. Arizona's five major resources: Cattle, Citrus, Climate, Copper, and Cotton are commonly referred to as the “Five C’s”.

I Lift Up My Eyes...

Psalm 121 (New International Version, ©2011)

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.


3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.


5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.


7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

The commute with my new position is quite substantial now. Sometimes there is a group of us who carpool together and then there are other times when I make the trek alone. It is a beautiful drive into the mountains and when I am alone the first two verses of Psalm 121 are what come to mind.

Living in the valley as we do, we are surrounded by mountains. If I’ve been away for awhile, I always feel comforted when I return and see the mountains; it is as if God is surrounding me with His love and protection.

There have been times when I’ve been at the community medical center for some rather unpleasant medical tests. During those times I look out the window and focus on the mountain and those verses that have given me so much comfort. Some of those tests have been a spinal tap and the most recent a physical cardio stress test. Not fun, but necessary at the time. Even now when I think I am facing something unbearable, I recall the spinal tap and remind myself – if I got through that, I can get through anything with God’s help!

When I am depressed and cannot pray I sometimes read the Psalms as prayers. Other times I write them out in my journal in my own words and offer them to the Lord as a sacrifice of praise.

What is it you find yourself doing when the times get rough?  Do you have a favorite scripture you cling to?  A special prayer you resort to or perhaps a devotional or meditation?

My Prayer:

Abba, Father, hear my prayer this day. Thank you for the beauty of the mountains and the comfort I feel in them. Thank you for the opportunity in this new position and for the chance to ‘stretch and grow’. Guide and direct my steps this day and may I be a blessing to those around me. In Jesus’ name I pray ~AMEN!

Yours, because we're His,

Autumn's Leaves

AUTUMN GOD, the planet turns
and the earth signals a change.
Open me to the transitions I need to face in my own life.
Be with me in the letting go,
the saying good-bye
to habits, relationships, and plans
that stand in your way of growing.
Deepen my trust that as I let go,
like the falling leaves,
I will always fall into your embrace. Amen.

- Larry Peacock
Openings

From p. 303 of Openings: A Daybook of Saints, Psalms, and Prayer by Larry James Peacock. Copyright © 2003 by Larry James Peacock. All rights reserved.

It’s cold in Arizona this morning. It is 34 degrees. I’d venture to say that the season has finally changed. It was so warm on Monday – high 80’s and today’s high is anticipated to be 68 degrees.


As I re-read Larry Peacock’s words, I am reminded of the transitions I face in my life. Today my prayer is that I let go and say good-bye to estabished habits that I need to be rid of, relationships that are toxic and those things that stand in the way of growth. May I trust fully that when I fall into His embrace, I will be caught. ~Amen!


~Tamara