Category Archives: Uncategorized

In the Cupboard

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Yesterday I had a chore to do. It was a chore that I’ve been putting off for…well, for too long. You see, last fall, we remodeled half (yes, half) of our kitchen. It used to be a verandah years ago, and when it made the switch into a kitchen, it was done somewhat hastily. At least it was not done perfectly. All the walls did not meet up with the ceiling just so, the way they should have done, and there were little places where I could see the outside shining in through the walls lower down….where the cupboards were to be built.

So…this past September, we knocked the walls down in the office end of the kitchen, where I am now typing this story. And we redid the windows, doors, walls and ceiling to its now glorious state of sealed perfection…in the office end of the kitchen. The kitchen end of the kitchen, however, has yet to be done, as the dollars avail themselves. This brings you up to date.

So yesterday was the day I chose to “do” the kitchen cupboards. The reason I had to “do” them was a mouse problem. And now you know why I’d been putting it off. Here in the tropics, our house is very wide open to the outside. We want it that way! We made it that way. But those little holes in the walls of the kitchen where the light shines through have also been doorways, now and then, for…mice. And this would be the third time in 6 months that I’ve had to remove all contents of three cupboards and two drawers and sterilize them and the cupboards, etc… So who wants to do that…again, right? So here I was with my chin set stubbornly to the task. The day had arrived. I had the time, and I was going to DO it! I had decided that I would not get all grossed out by it, but would try my level best to apply the thing I wrote about last time: experiencing God’s presence and including Him in the job at hand. (After all, mice were His idea, one presumes.)

So there I was, was down on the floor, having cleared out the contents, and was busy vacuuming up the …leavings of the dear little creatures God made. And I was just being objective about it. Having realized by then that there were 2 cupboards that the mice did NOT go into, I began to wonder why. Hmmm…are there holes in the wall behind those doors? Yes, one or two. But the mice apparently did not like it in those two cupboards. Why? Hmmm…Let’s look closer. Okay. There is no place to hide in there. There are enough objects in there but they are neatly stacked, with no way to actually climb inside of them. No place to hide! So the thought arrived: “If the yucky cupboards weren’t so flaming mouse-friendly, the rodents wouldn’t hang out there, you know. They wouldn’t be interested in staying and setting up house.” Hmmm… hospitality stations for rodents. Yuck! I had my bees wax pots in there for refining the wax from my honey, for candle and soap making. And there were other bits and pieces. And in the other mouse condo I had Tupperware type plastics. I always start out by putting them all away religiously with their lids on tight, etc… And then, somehow, over time, I get in a hurry now and then and I end up flinging them in there any which way, and quickly slamming the door (with my foot, yet!) before they all fall out. (moral: keep less plastic stuff and throw away everything that has no lid and every lid that has no bottom. But this was no revelation. I come to that conclusion every time I clean that cabinet. And I DO throw away the parts without mates. Still…)

But here’ the real thing. I then got to thinking how my soul (my mind, will and emotions) might also be susceptible to a similar scenario. Surely there are areas in/habits of my being that could potentially be hospitality stations for ideas or feelings that are not God friendly. And if they’re not God friendly, then they’re not truly me friendly either, because God truly does know my heart inside and out, and knows not only what is best for me but what will delight me and bring me the most peace and make me able to truly love others, with His love, the best.

So…I am now, more than ever before, on the prowl, torch in hand, eyes narrowed, in search of those areas of laxness, weakness, or double-mindedness in myself where there might be little holes…just like the fence hole the agouties got through in Decemeber. See God can even use rodents to teach us, if we’re open to the possibility! And because of the creative classroom aspect of yesterday, the disgustingness of the situation was offset by the blessing of the experience. God is so cool!

Until next time,

Clover

Work or Play

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A couple of people I know have said that they think that all of us Leas are workaholics. Well, maybe we don’t quite definitively separate work and play, but you see, this has its upside! The trick is to include God, in everything. That is the mystery that lets us enjoy whatever we’re doing, work or play. Not that I do this all the time. God knows full well that I don’t! But He also knows that this is my objective…It’s where I’m headed. Some days I get closer than others. And…this blurry line between work and play can work the other way too: Play can become creative…with purpose. Purposeful play! I LOVE it!

Of course, you say, there is a place for simply resting in the Lord, which is the intention for the Sabbath day. True! But I’m sure there is a way to rest in Him and His Love at all times, on all days. I’m just not there yet. When we’re yielded to God’s Spirit, then what we put our hands to seems less like work-work…because it is actually God’s Spirit within us that is accomplishing the “work!” We follow His lead. We lean on Him, we rest against His heart. “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.”

My favorite kind of day is the one that allows me to just follow His lead all day long, with no deadlines, no “bookends,” as I call them, no interruptions: Doing a bit of this and a bit of that, or perhaps a lot of one thing, but in Him and by His Spirit…as the Wind blows. So there’s actual enjoyment in the doing, rather than the drudgery of a task that “must be done.”

Now, I realize that this is probably more easily accomplished at my age and stage of life than it is for a young mother, for instance, with her hands so very full. Still, the principle can be applied and some wonderful peace gained by its practical application – even if only in small increments.

Will it really work? Well, God is not more faithful to one person than to another. God is completely faithful and true to His Word, the Truth, Love, Wisdom, Mercy and Power that defines Him. So what makes the difference between one who grows in faith and prospers in these character traits and one who doesn’t? The answer is simple: The USE of them! It’s the Law of Use. What I use will, like a muscle, become developed and stronger. If I don’t use it, it will atrophy. Does this mean it’s no longer my muscle, created to be used? Of course not! But I have to be the one who uses it. So God gives us His Word, Faith, Love, Mercy, Truth, Wisdom and Power. He plants it all within us when we receive His Life to fill that gnawing, hungry void within. We must make that initial choice to receive His Life, made available to us through His Son.: Right Choice #1.

Then, our whole lives long, we build together, with Him, His track record in our lives. Every choice toward His way lengthens and fills the track. Every choice toward our self way opens the options of detour. Sometimes the detours lead us into a labyrinth of detours that completely distract us from His higher ways which He knows will truly bring peace and delight to our innermost hearts.Yet, if we allow Him to, even then He lovingly leads us back to where we went off the track and sets us down, headed in the right(eous) direction once more. I speak from experience! I’ve personally tested God’s mercy and patience and love soooooo many times! And each time I’ve been just amazed at how He, so impeccably faithfully, meets me where I am – in my misadventure – and sets me straight in Love.

We people are not nearly as likely to act this forgiving and merciful way with our loved ones. We get confused. We see them somehow as reflections or extensions of ourselves. We take their shortcomings personally. We might react in unloving ways, at least for a time,until we realize once again the futility of unloving ways.

But God never responds in unloving ways. Not even in disappointment! His patience is extreme to the end of infinity, as are all of the qualities of this great I AM. And…to this eternal I AM we sometimes say, “No thanks.”?!?!?(Don’t say you don’t. We all do. “All saints have their moments…” to quote a poem of mine.) But isn’t this really pretty preposterous? No wonder Jesus referred to us as sheep!

If you’ve ever raised sheep, you’ll know that, in oft frustrating ways, they’re not the smartest creatures in God’s portfolio. Oh, yes, they have endearing qualities. They do! And they’re wonderfully reliable creatures of habit. They are! But they need a shepherd to keep them safe. Goats, on the other hand are wily and self-serving. They are shrewd and careless, eating everything in sight. I’ve raised goats too. I’ve seen the difference in these two species.

Anyway, I digress. The kitchen calls and so does the garden. And so, just now, did one of those sheep above our house. He called to be let out of the gate, to be led to graze on the soft, green grass below us on this lush, tropical hillside. (A goat would simply keep leaning against the fence hard enough to bend it or slant it so he could get over it. Or he’d climb part way up a tree and jump… Goats!)

Sheep need a shepherd. Thank You, God, for providing us with none other than Your Remarkable Self, to lead us to the green and restful pastures that we long for!

as always,

Clover

PS on Garden of Heart

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While up in the garden, I realized that I’d left out a main point I had wanted to make in the last garden post. So I’ve re-edited that post to include the left out bit too.

Thanks for bearing with me while I learn how to be a blogger!

Clo

Garden of the Heart

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How it has rained and rained this autumn and winter! Not usually all day…or even most of the day. In fact, often only at night… which is very thoughtful of it. And all the vegetation here in the tropics responds in a major way to rain! And I do mean, “major.” And I do mean “all” the vegetation. It grows and grows and sometimes I wonder how it can do it so fast: all of the flowers, fruit trees, shrubs, vegetables, herbs, and the weeds!

The rain kept me out of the garden before Christmas for a few days…too muddy. The garden is banked into a hillside, so all I’d have done would have been to slip and slide around with mud caked to my boots up past the ankle, and plenty on the butt, I’m sure, from falling down. (Been there. Done that! Ask the kids!)

So….I went up a few days later to survey my glorious garden when the ground was not quite so soft and slippery. I went up expectantly….anxious to behold my four, rapidly expanding sugar- baby watermelons. I opened the gate, looked lovingly up the hill and saw…no watermelons. No watermelons at ALL! Not even the vines upon which they’d been growing! In total disbelief, as in, “Am I dreaming?” I got closer to the ground to examine the shocking situation. And there, to my horror, lay the telltale signs… strewn in disarray where once my precious melons had been flourishing. There on the ground lay small shreds of green melon rind…with large tooth marks in them. Upon further inspection, little paw/claw prints could be seen in the moist earth. AGOUTIES! And all these years I’ve gushed endlessly to guests about how “cute they are with the clicking of their little toenails on the driveway and the way the sun shines with translucence through their round, pink ears.”

Let me tell you, these rodents have completely lost every TRACE of cuteness, as far as I’m concerned. They have taken a fast free fall into the rat category here on Gingerbread Hill. Agouties are large, round, glossy, guinea pig like creatures who WERE cute when they’d stuck to minding their own business. But no longer. Sigh. No watermelon in our Christmas fruit salad breakfast. No watermelons at all…up there…in the garden.

So I was discouraged. Poor, pitiful me! I didn’t even want to GO into the garden anymore. I wanted to take my toys a go away! As a result, without anyone tending it lately, everything’s been growing like mad, and especially the weeds. Yet, wonder of wonders the pineapples, zucchini, carrots, and pumpkins are all still fine and happy, though crowded by weeds.The hole that those creatures got through has been repaired. (Actually, it was fixed immediately.) And just now I’m heading up there to do some damage to the weeds. At least that’s my plan.

In the Song of Solomon 2:15, there is warning to watch out for “the little foxes that spoil the vine.” Regarding the garden, I really should have been checking the fence for gaps or holes, down low to the ground, large enough for an agouti to squeeze through. Regarding the garden of my heart, this object lesson reminds me that it is really not the big, obvious things that jam me up in my faith/love walk. It’s the little things that are so easily dismissed as nothing, really. It’s the little things that try to nibble at “de vine” of God’s Life in me. Sometimes I’m too easy on myself with the little things. I need to be more vigilant and more loving in all the little daily matters and in the way that I respond to them: The little offences of my own, indulgences, disobediences, distractions, reactions, etc…including how I respond to those unexpected, little, testy things that come at me from the outside that I may not recognize as challenges to my faith. So I can learn a thing or two from those little agouties that spoiled my melons.

Back to the garden: Whenever I’m in the weeding mode, I consciously place myself in God’s hands for Him to do the necessary weeding in my life. As I pull the unwanted plants up from the roots, I pray that He’ll point out to me what things in my life need to be rooted out. Weeding is useless unless the ground is soft and moist. Rain makes it that way. Likewise, weeding my heart is useless unless it’s been watered with God’s Word and Love, and tended by the two-way prayer times we have together, He and I. I pray and listen. I pray with a pen in my hand, ready to hear. So this becomes a record of my prayers and the answers to them: The answers I hear in my spirit and the answers that unfold in time as I realize that my prayer has been answered!

For me, time in the garden is welcome growing time…even when I’m working hard at weeding and pruning! Weeding and pruning is all about helping the good, fruit-bearing stuff to grow. And I must take stock on a regular basis to see what’s getting in the way of the Godstuff that I want to freely grow and increase in my life for those I love! So gardening can happen on many levels. Add to that the glorious green breeze on this magical hillside and a crimson sun setting over the turquoise sea, and I’ve got myself a delicious recipe for peace. Mmmmm…yum. Yes!

New Year!

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Well, Blessed New Beginnings to all! Thanks so much to those of you who’ve stopped in to visit and check out this new cyberspot…and for your encouraging words.A sincere word of encouragement or appreciation really does mean so much…to everyone! There’s not a soul who doesn’t need it.

I read once that people are 10 times more likely to give voice/word to the negative than to the positive things we think. How perfectly dreadful, if this is so! I’ve caught myself truly appreciating someone or something done but then getting distracted out of actually SAYING it! Haven’t you? And who can read our minds? We must put words to the Good we see! I’ve likened it to writing an old-fashioned snail-mail letter and putting a stamp on it, but never actually getting around to mailing it. These days of course we have the easy-peasy internet, and our messages are probably less likely to loiter in our drafts folder or outbox than they were in the old days that necessitated paper, envelope and stamp. But the point remains: We need to encourage each other in the stuff that counts, in the Real of Life and Love. That is actually the big idea behind this little website. It is my hope and prayer that I might be able to be of some encouragement to YOU, and for you to feel welcome to share as well.

Not that there’s anything special about this everyday lady, or that I have any corner on the revelation market. But now and then I do get the awesome privilege of seeing with a little more of God’s Light than at other times. And when this happens, I always try to write it down. So this makes me a writer: one who writes. Nothing grandiose. Just simple. If you write, you’re a writer too. Keep it up!

One of the ways I keep it up is in the writing of “morning pages”, an idea/habit I gleaned/adopted from Julia Cameron, via her books. I’m not sure how many years I’ve been doing this, but I could check as there are books and books of these morning pages, all dated and stacked on a shelf in my Tree House Room studio, which connects to our house by a little footbridge up into the tops of banana and papaya trees.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be adding some new things into the section called “My Works.” (Maybe it should be called “My Play”, as some of it is definitely playful, and creating is, for me, a joy, so it’s hard to think of it as “work”! Yet there is a discipline to staying consistent. And there is another discipline of the pruning, slashing and burning, known as editing. One must be ruthless at times in this. And I find a kind of divine grace in being ruthless with myself where my writing is concerned. But the truth is that I should be more so in other areas of my life! I don’t mean heartless, just totally honest with myself and willing to do what must be done, whether it feels good or not. It’s all too easy to blink away the little selfie things in life that simply do not serve. I am much less likely to do this blinking in my writing than in my living, as I’m a stickler when it comes to words. I really want them to say what I mean. But am I as diligent with the way I live and love? Actually, no. To be truthful, I’m not. But…I hope to be improving. “God is definitely “still workin on me” and I have every faith that He will continue to do it on into eternity. So here’s a New Year’s Toast to all the Good Work that God will be doing in us together, you and me, in this coming year! Here-Here and Now!

Sincerely His,

CLOVER

Christmas Eve

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This is Christmas Eve! Waking up this morning I went to my usual time of reading, prayer, and picked up my pen to do my morning writing. For some reason, I feel led to share with you my morning writing of today, if you’re interested in reading it:

“This day commemorates the day before life would change for “whosoever” of mankind would come to believe and receive new, true Life from the One who is the Creator of all life. It’s easy to see how people allegorize this event and the lifetime, death and resurrection that ensued. I don’t blame folks for assuming it is a sort of parable in itself…for classifying it as a religious myth to go alongside all the other stories with philosophical or moral intent. I don’t blame them at all. And, yes, stories do have power. Words have power!

But one has only to experience first-hand the reality of Christ to know that there is nothing mythical about Him. In true Reality, He is the most eternally and consistently Real being there is! He is the One who lived, lives, and shall live completely with God’s zoe Life – the Real Stuff.

When we experience His presence, His love, His mercies and grace, nothing looks like, “Kansas anymore, Toto.” He “ruins us for the ordinary.” And only the powerful evidence of this Real Life, activated by His Holy Spirit, can convince anyone else who questions it of His Truth. Yet He enables this to happen – often wordlessly! And that is one of His most endearing features…one of many! We think we have to talk, talk, talk…to talk people into opening up to Him, when all in a moment His Love can open one’s senses to percieve Him. All in a moment, His Truth can come home to the heart. All in a moment, a pinch of faith can bring healing to the body and soul. All in a moment, His Spirit can overshadow us and we, like Mary, can conceive this Life of Love, power and grace… to give birth to it through the many simple choices and deeds of our daily lives.

Words are useful to establish an historical knowledge base. God’s Word, via scripture and prophecy, (speaking the deep truths of God, via His Holy Spirit) contains His Life which is able to steer us away from the “sins that so easily beset us,” and lead us into more deeply abiding in His presence. His Love causes us to never want to leave this presence, to remain, to maintain this intimacy with Him which connects us with all other life, from people and animals to all of nature in its splendor, as being His beautiful creations.

Must I convince you of this Life, this Nativity and its reality? And is it sufficient to nominally go along with the nice little Baby Jesus and wise-men story enough to sing along with the carols once a year? Well, I think that can maybe spark a flame up in the searching heart and keep it flickering for a bit…with the wind of His Spirit blowing on it. But God loves us so much that He wants to do much bigger things in our lives than that! God loves to do big things! This is God’s joy! And it is His heart’s delight to be included in every aspect of our lives, breathing His Life into it all…creating little everyday miracles in the ordinary lives of everyday people like you and me. This is what was made possible on the day we celebrate as Christ Mass.

You might ask, “How did that make this intimate relationship with God, that you talk about, possible? Where’s the connection?

The answers are all in the Scriptures and even in the words of the true Christmas carols. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining…” Why was the world, and why is it today, “in sin and error, pining?” Because the revelation of God’s true Life had been veiled by self-centeredness and deception. The Truth was always here, but folks couldn’t see it until Christ appeared, specifically manifesting it in the lives of everyday people.

Until He came on the scene, man had to make do with substitutions, with representations, “types and shadows,” pointing toward the Real.

But with Jesus, the original Reality of Eden’s innocence re-entered the world…with the purity of God’s whole intention. And this intention was lived out by Jesus 100%…not just “to show us an example of how it should be done,” but to give us the chance to actually do it, by receiving His Life for our own! This was the whole point: to give people back the Life forsaken in Eden…to re-establish the power and Love of God’s LIfe in us and through us…to replace our substitutional self-centric living with His vibrant and infinite Real Life! To rescue us from our very selves. And who among us does not need this Rescuer? This is the Real Reason for this Season. “And this is Love: that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish (at the hands of deception,) but have (Real) Life both here and eternally…because His Real Life is infinite and eternal…never running out and continuing forever. (John3:16)

I pray that this Holiday will come to include for you the Life of Christ more fully than ever before…that the holiness of the holi day will find room in your heart to grow eternally!

Take some time this Christmastide to go a space apart.
And with the hands of prayer prepare the place that is your heart.

With God’s greatest love,

Clover

Everyday Lady

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Everyday Lady

I’m an elite extractor
of burrs from blue jeans,
bugs from beet greens,
boo-boos, by all means.
Banquets from Black Beans

With fancies unlimited, I:
transform porridge to potage,
crumbled crayons to collage,
menage melee to mirage…
Creative camouflage!

All in a day I produce:
lessons that burn a flame bright,
a feast to diaphanous light,
with music that sets the soul right,
(…if I had good sleep last night.)

I’m an elaborate enjoyer:
of lingering laughter and love,
of affections set on things above,
of being for God’s hand a glove,
of being content with enough.

I am an everyday lady:
who balances love on a limb,
with cares and commitments and whim,
sharing my selections with Him,
who makes my own lights seem dim.

I am child and a mother,
a sister, a wife, and a friend,
with no reason or rhyme to pretend
I’m not watchful for some sudden end
to all of this love that I tend.

I’m an extracting and fanciful,
unlimited, resourceful,
thoughtful, not thorough,
creative chiaroscuro
with lace in the bureau
for tonight!