From the Privy

The real life of a mother is filled with little mundane moments that are filled with messages waiting to be revealed! Many times my quiet moments are only when I am in the privy. Just being real here! And often, even there, I have one,two or three little visitors following me or finding me there.

On the back of the toilet I keep some little books stacked up. However, the one I always seem to pick up is the classic devotional titled, "Streams in the Desert". And as Spring has arrived and everything is in bloom or is blossoming, I have felt this is a new beginning for our family. We have been in AZ for 6 months now and it has been the most unique time of my life. New Beginnings! I keep hearing it , feeling it , sensing it in the air. So why is it that I sway back and forth between feeling hope and excitement to loneliness and perplexity of,"Why are we here?"

So many days in my "Privy" time, God will speak to me and prompt me to pick up the little devotion book. On March 16th I was encouraged by that day's entry. I would like to share a bit of the story with you.

The Parable of the Canyon

"At first there was no canyons, but only the broad open prairie. One day the Master of the Prairie, walking over his great lawns,where there were only grasses, asked the Prairie, 'Where are your flowers?' and the Prairie said, 'Master I have no seeds.'

"Then he spoke to the birds, and they carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide, and soon the prairie bloomed with crocuses, and roses and buffalo bean and the yellow crowfoot and the wild sunflowers and the red lilies all summer long. Then the Master came and was well pleased; but he missed the flowers that He loved best of all. And he said to the Prairie, 'Where are the clematis and the columbine, the sweet violets and wind-flowers, and all the ferns and flowering shrubs?'

"And again he spoke to the birds, and again they carried all the seeds and scattered them far and wide. But again when the Master came he could not find the flowers He loved most of all, and he said,

'Where are those my sweetest flowers?' And the Prairie cried sorrowfully:

"'Oh Master, I cannot keep the flowers, for the winds sweep fiercely, and the sun beats upon my breast, and they wither up and fly away.

Then the Master spoke to the lightning and with one swift blow the lightning cleft the Prairie to the heart.And the Prairie rocked and groaned in agony, and for many a day, moaned bitterly over the black, jagged, gaping wound.

But the river poured its waters through the cleft, and carried down deep black mould, and once more the birds carried seeds and strewn them in the canyon.
And After a long time the rough rocks were decked out with soft mosses and trailing vines, and the nooks were hung with clematis and columbine, and great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight, and down about their feet clustered the low cedars and balsams. Everywhere the violets and windflower and maiden-hair grew and bloomed till the canyon became the Master's favorite place for rest and joy.

The fruit (flowers) of the spirit are love, joy, peace,long suffering, gentleness- and some of these only grow in the canyon. The canyon flowers are gentleness, meekness,long suffering; but though the others, love, joy, peace, bloom in the open, yet never with so rich a bloom and so sweet a perfume as in the canyon."

Some many times I have asked the Lord why there always seems to be so many valleys or canyons in this journey of life. And He sends little stories like this to encourage my heart.

Also there is the reminder that with all new beginnings there comes a time of adjustment and hardship. Much like when a new baby is born, the family is over- joyed yet there is a dose of stress as we readjust our lives the birth of another precious person into the family. And in addition to the transition, there is also healing that has to take place in the mother. Even the children and Dad have to heal from lack of rest due to schedules being off or having different caretakers in the home.

This is a message to myself. Yes it has been six months and it seems that things should feel more normal by now. I struggle with being frustrated because I am not where I want to be with change. However, His tender grace reminds me that I am on His time table, not mine. He is doing more than meets the eye.

So here I share my heart and story from the privy! I always said I do not pretend to be anyone other than who I am. I hope just being myself encourages someone today.
Blessings!!