And a Mountain Arises, A Prayer from Psalm 125

And a Mountain Arises

A Prayer from Psalm 125

Lay it down, surrender.

Melt away the fear, the anxiety of it all.

Move me out of the way,

Yet surround me in grace.

Show me who I am not

And I shall abide in who You are.

And a mountain arises.

Even through the storm clouds;

And the wind carries its name,

Trust in Me.

Hiking, trekking, resting at times;

The leaves of the forest, even the rocks cry out,

A viewpoint to Your love. 

Eyes capture the beauty of the journey,

A travelog testimony.

From this time forth and forever.

Walk away iniquity! Go around this mountain.

Lose your way, wickedness!

Up here, streams pool Living water.

Evil, your well is rancid.

The unjust writhe in the darkness.

Clean our hands Lord, of depravity.

Bless the effort, for the mountain…

 It longs to do good.

A heart beats deep within the core,

Purposed to bring You Glory.

May the ridges of Faith

Outline Your Majesty,

Silhouette Your sovereignty.

Some fling themselves off your cliffs,

Slide quickly down a slippery slope,
No hiking Boots, no traction.

Walking the crooked paths of their own way,

Continuing to linger in the parched land,

They wander with the dead and

The doers of gross injustice.

Peace shall be.

The mountain called Trust

Will rise through the sky in Hope

And our righteousness will become His Righteousness

Renewed and upright,

Eternal and true.

Our strength is in you Lord,

From this time forth and forever. Amen.

Thoughfully yours, Coleene  

Consider...the Knee

Consider the knee...

Anatomy . the joint of the leg that allows for movement between the femur and tibia and is protected by the patella; the central area of the leg between the thigh and the lower leg. 

Most of us have two, one on each leg. 

I don't think many appreciate the knee until one day, it hurts. We rely on our feet, give shout outs and spend crazy dollars on our feet! 

PEDI, NIKE, BRUNO MAGLI

It's the knee that takes abuse. 

When we go to the doctor and he tests are "reflexes," what is it he taps?

THE KNEE...

When we get nervous, who do we blame it on?

"I AM WEAK IN THE KNEES."

 Sudden impulses of anger come, who gets the blame again?

"I HAD A KNEE-JERK REACTION."

Here's one: If someone is vertically challenged, we might say he's

-- "KNEE-HIGH TO A GRASSHOPPER"  

(A grasshopper's knee is pretty short; so is a grasshopper actually, so why did the knee get thrown under the bus?--squish.) 

BUT, the BEE'S KNEES, is a good thing?

Really? You'd have to be an entomologist to really know that.  

My husband lives with injured and sore knees. His athletisism (years ago) put them to the test, thinking he could try a sport that he really wasn't meant to play, wrestling. It happened in practice, not even a real competition. 

He didn't consider the knee, the one that forced his foot out to make the connection to the soccer ball, the sport that he excelled at.

He didn't consider the knee when he kicked the field goal in his football game that put him in the record books for his high school or propelled him over the hurdles when he ran track. 

His knees weren't asked, and sports continued. He paddled canoes in the ocean for 15 years.  A part of the sport requires swimming and waiting for an escort boat to pick you up between changes, dogpaddling like a water polo player in undulating swells; the sidelines of canoe racing. 

Waiting for the canoe to switch out paddlers...

one jumps out, the other jumps in, canoe keeps going, one fell swoop! 

Sports now? "Let's walk the 18 holes...who needs a cart?" 

Once again, did he consider the multitude of flights of stairs he walked earlier in the day at his job?  

(Why does golf with your buddies make you forget stuff?)

Multiple surgeries, casts, x-rays, wraps and braces, ice packs, more surgeries, and setting off alarms at airports; "Hey Ted, is it time to be considerate?"  

One screamed at him, puffed up and shouted loud this week!  Ouch! A word that really under estimates true pain. After consoling and convincing,  I packed the guy up, shivering in the summer heat, and we headed for the E.R. at 11:00 at night. 

The last time we visited the E.R. together, his heart was hurting. Both of our hearts were hurting, but this particular stress received a physical diagnosis, "minor" heart attack. (The "major one" had already occurred a year earlier). 

I'm a "nurse" again, taking care of the wounded, the hurting, the surrendered...

Here's another:

"ON BENDED KNEE, I PRAY."

The knee is taking action, an action of humbleness, which starts from a signal from the heart. My thought?  This needs to be done a lot more in this hurting world. 

When the knee bends, God moves. 

Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I like the part about "wide and long and high and deep;" sounds athletic, doesn't it?  Tomorrow, the Ortho appointment awaits. They'll stick a needle in and drain fluid, discuss his options and we'll consider...

 and I'll add some more strength exercises to my routine. 

Deep Knee Bends...

Ask me, an keep me accountable please for the work-out, for my knees wobble sometimes and that's where armpits come in--another under-appreciated body part; 

which reminds me, (I digress), 

I received a sting in the armpit by a bee the other day, I wonder if he had knees? 

Thought-Fully Yours, Coleene  

Joseph and the "Peach" Pits.

"Life is just the pits!"

DISCOURAGEMENT

"His stomach must be a bottomles pit!"

UNSATISFIED

"Churning, the pit of my stomach felt empty."

UNTRUSTING

The scientist found dinosaur bones in the tar pit.

STUCK WITH NO HOPE

The pitbull roamed the neighborhood loose. 

FEAR.

It sure seems the word "PIT" has a negative connotation. It's a hole, a dark place, somewhere rotten where stuff happens; death may occur. 

A young man,  17 years old actually,  found himself in one. He didn't trip, nor fall. His own brothers threw him down.  It seems they did not appreciate his status within the family, and his visions. His name was Joseph. 

Today, while peeling and washing numerous peaches, I piled the peach stones to the side while continuing the process. The peach gave the stone up easily, and the pile grew.

With slight regret, one brother decided against killing Joseph, instead they sold him as a slave to other nomads wandering through the area. 

I stripped the peaches of their mult-colored skins. Broken up, I threw them into the bowl. 

The skins went down the garbage disposal.

...and Jacob tore his clothes and put sack cloth on, mourning the loss of his son, Joseph. 

Getting the recipe out, the pot for the peach cobbler soon would be filled. 

God had a plan for Joseph; Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharoah, bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites.

Putting the dough together, following the plan,  rich with butter, sugar and spice, the recipe came together beautifully, successfully, a vision divine! 

And the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man, in the house of His master, the Egyptian. 

The peach cobbler went into the oven, setting the timer, and I watched it.

The Lord blessed the Egyptian household as Joseph became the overseer and eventually, Pharoah's right hand man, interpreting his dreams. 

The cobbler came out of the oven, the pits transformed.  The sweet juices and crusty covering, not to mention the vanilla ice cream and sweet whipped topping soon to embellish the dessert, made us anxious for the blessing.   Earlier, I picked the peaches off the ground from a tree hanging over from my neighbor's yard. 

I've released the stones from enough peach pits to make two more cobblers, one for my neighbor on whose tree they grew, and one for my in-laws whose trust now lies in others, unable to gather for themselves.  From the pits, comes testimony and service.  

Joseph's family would have to travel  to Egypt, for famine parched their land. Joseph recognized his brothers, the same ones who threw him down in the pit. Joseph though,  took portions to them from his own table; but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him. 

And God is Peachy Good! "Peach Cobbler", it may just be the result of the pits in your own life,  what you allow God to make of it.  Do you have the recipe?  You may need to get a few things: forgiveness, humbleness, accepting truth, faith. 

Offer up your "stones." Climb out of the pit. Follow your dreams and look towards the Light, the way out. God replants, and from the stone that formed a "pit," new growth waits to emerge. A lot of helping hands reach for you.  God will direct your path and clothe you in His colorful coat of glory.  

Genesis 37-45. 

RECIPE: 

PEACH COBBLER

FRESH PEACHES

peeled, pitted, and washed.

2 TLBS. BROWN SUGAR

1 TSP. LEMON JUICE

1 CUP BISQUICK

1/2 TSP. NUTMEG

1/2 CUP BUTTER, melted

1 CUP MILK

1/2 CUP SUGAR. 

Prepare the peaches. Put in a large bowl and add lemon juice and brown sugar. Mix thoroughly, you'll  get a syrup. Set aside. 

In another bowl, combine Bisquick, nutmeg, sugar and melted butter. Then add milk. Stir until all ingredients are completely blended.  It should look "chunky."  

In an 8x8x2 baking dish, spoon in peach mixture then add with your hands, the mounds of dough, covering the peachs. Bake in a 375 degree oven for approx. 45-50 min. Embellish with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. Yum.  

Enjoy, Coleene