Skip to main content

Perseverance


Sleepy, humbled, deeply touched...

Under bitter circumstances I met her.  Life as she knew it was being drained away yet she had what I like to call the "freaky peace" - Philippians 4 peace, the peace that surpasses all human understanding.  The fact that she was barely into adulthood only spoke more loudly of God's grace in her.  This is  so rare and God set us on the path to walk awhile together in this life - for this I will be eternally grateful.

Even in the midst of tragedy she brings forth beauty, captures moments and blesses others.  God has gifted her exceedingly abundantly and in her humbleness she shares it generously.

Last night we got together for coffee & visit (which lasted until almost midnight) and she blew me away.  She had recently entered a beautiful memorial piece in the fair and, via funny story, found out she placed second overall!!! I  was so proud of her and had gone to the fair specifically to see her work & especially to see this piece.  I admired it, but in reality, it actually it captured me.  The longer I spent taking it in the more it revealed, the more I saw, the deeper it touched my heart. This piece is dear to me because it reflects what we share, what binds us and what broke us and what we carry on.  She reached behind her chair and and brought out the piece, I was so excited to hold it, then she said "it's for you".....  It was all I could do to hold back the wave of tears that were overtaking me..

My fumbling words fail so instead, let me share the gift with you.  

Perseverance - by my dear friend Crystal Joy Schneider.  I am blessed by our friendship & your gift.  Love you!






Comments

  1. As always, beautiful writing from your heart. Poppa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whoa..... Glad I read this post and saw the picture after our dinner together. Just wow

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Did something touch your heart? Please share about it.

Popular posts from this blog

It matters not

It matters little who I am. Each one of us has a story to tell, a life filled with love, loss, heartache, joy & laughter.  I am just a busted up pitcher.  Yes, the image that came to your mind - whether one you pour iced tea from, the one with the chip on the lip so it spills as much down the outside of your glass as gets in. Or the little creamer pitcher your gramma had in her hutch, the one with the broken handle that has glue globbed on it's listing side.  Or the one that you pour oil with, the one with the faint crack you overlook because you never think to replace it while you are shopping.  Oh, or maybe it's the purple plastic juice jug that hit the heating coil in the dishwasher... melted a hole an inch from the top but you never fill it that full anyway. No matter what image came to your mind, that's me.  The true value of a pitcher is not it's appearance or even its purpose but it's what the pitcher holds that is precious.  The sole purpose...

When the pain get too big

There are times when the heartbreaks of this life collide with our weakness and the pain gets so big that even breathing is hard.  It’s like being dragged under by the surf and tumbled over and over until up is down and you’re dragged along the bottom and raw wounds meet with salted surf and the searing pain of it is only a faint echo of the pain within your soul and you gasp for breath and flail helplessly, like a rag doll, until you’re eventually released upon the shore coughing up the brine of your own tears… This is where I have been. Literally on the verge of tears at every moment.   Memories, regrets, sorrow, missing, aching, loss - churning, growing to tsunami intensity threatening to overwhelm.   Today I received a devotional from a Jewish Messianic site challenging us regarding the Sabbath.   Oh, how my soul yearned for it.   A Sabbath, a rest.   But the to-do list haunted and I headed to the shower to start the day.   All the while rest...

Un-becoming

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. [Rev 19:7-8]   We’ve all been to weddings. Everything focuses around the bride. My favorite moment is to watch the groom as he catches the first glimpse of his bride, he’s overcome by her beauty – she’s prepared herself specifically and especially for this day.   Now imagine, how does the bride of Christ prepare herself to be radiant for her beloved? Righteous deeds, good works… As I pondered this passage and how it applies to this season,  I heard “Un-becoming” . I sense that this season we are in is a cleansing period, a time of preparation.   UN   becoming who we’ve become; busy, weary, anxious, overburdened, chameleon – being who others want or expect us to be. Lost, depressed, frustrated, needy.  And ...

The Cost of Freedom

  Memorial Day I once thought I understood the cost of freedom. I’d heard the family stories, my momma named for her uncle shot down over France, I’d been to the parades and ceremonies, could repeat great quotes, I’d seen the movies…   But then a few years ago I walked among the names – name after name after name, reaching far, even unto the horizon;  and the faces of sons and daughters and mothers and fathers – determination in their countenance, fear in their eyes, aged beyond their years.  One caught me as I walked by, gripped my heart and dragged me up close. He stared at me, wanting me to see, wanting to be known. Though his lips unable to speak it, his lifeless eyes told of the horrors he’d seen, the death he’d lived, the life he’d taken. He was just a boy, once full of life, now, full of death. He begged “Remember me.”  And through tears I vowed I would never forget him. Him without a name, an ordinary face – just one among many…  And then ...