Describe Your Perfect Day

“Describe your perfect day,” was one of the thought-provoking assignments given during the Table Topics portion of the ToastMasters meeting. As soon as it was announced, my heart began to pound, and I fervently hoped the person who’d given the challenge wouldn’t call on me to stand up and speak on that topic for at least one minute.

Any kind of public speaking is scary enough, but to have to stand up, collect your thoughts, and speak sensibly about a topic that was presented to you just seconds before, leaving you zero time to figure out what you’re going to say—and certainly no time to rehearse—makes speaking that much more frightening.

So, whenever I’m called upon during Table Topics, I just start praying that I’ll have something fairly sensible to say and that I won’t die from fright! I don’t worry about whether I’ll receive a blue ribbon (like the one shown below) for having given what those in attendance consider the “Best Table Topics” response. Oh no! I just worry about surviving the ordeal and also about “saving face.”

Thankfully, I was not called upon to describe my perfect day, but that assignment intrigued me so much that I decided I’d write out my response—after I’d gotten home and was sitting on the guest bed, with several big, comfy throw pillows at my back, a laptop on my lap, my heart beating a normal rhythm, no eyes upon me eagerly waiting to hear what I’d say…But even with most of the stress gone, I still had trouble describing what would be a perfect day for me.

Perhaps the difficulty was due to the fact that I tend to be happy with almost every day! I like my life. Sure, it would be nice to:

·  go on trips to faraway places like New Zealand or Ireland

·  win a million dollars

·  be given a new camera and some new lenses

·  see miracles done in the lives of those who are grieving or are critically ill or bankrupt

·  know that the world was at peace and that all the soldiers were back home, unharmed and with their families.

But rather than wish for things that are probably NOT going to happen, I’ve decided to be content with the life I’ve been given. So, a perfect day for me is one that holds blessings often taken for granted—for example, to be able to:

·  live independently in my own home

·  do my own work (yes, even unloading the dishwasher!)

·  walk three or more miles

·  eat healthy foods (but not in excess)

·  come and go as I please

·  rest whenever I’m tired

·  talk to/be with family and friends

·  enjoy my hobbies: reading, taking and editing pictures, writing, walking

·  feel like my life has meaning and purpose, etc.

Bottom line: I feel so very grateful for the life I do have. Although I have dreams, as well as longings for miracles, I’m content with each day the Lord gives me. However, if I were to give a lot of thought as to what a perfect day would look like, I might become discontent with the wonderful life I currently have. Thus, I’ll give heart-felt thanks for my current blessings, and if the Lord should opt to give me some of the things I can only dream about at this point, I’d certainly thank Him for putting extra icing on the proverbial cake He’s already provided for me to enjoy.

(C) 2014 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill

Lessons from Flowers

As folks who know me can attest, I enjoy photographing flowers of all kinds. I don’t delight in making or maintaining the garden itself, but I do love it when I have an opportunity to photograph the flowers in other folks’ gardens. Fortunately, sweet friends often invite me over to photograph the beautiful results of their hard work. And my husband and I are blessed to be able to travel a good bit, too. When we’re “on the road,” we’re always on the lookout for parks, botanical gardens, plant nurseries, businesses with flowers out front, hanging basket lining the city sidewalks, courtyard in the downtown area, small gardens near entrances to the hotels where we stay, etc.

Although gardens require a good bit of money, time, attention, and hard work, wildflowers don’t. Quite the contrary! They just appear in various places and seem to do very well without human intervention. Many of my favorite “flower photos” are of wildflowers--and also weeds with beautiful blooms. I even love dandelion blooms and seed heads.

Because of my love of beautiful blooms, these three verses in Isaiah 40 captured my attention: “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (vv.6-8, New American Standard Bible).

These verses point out how temporal our lives are. Even though we, like the grasses of the field, bloom and flourish for a time, we will not be here forever. We, like the grasses, will wither and fade; and those who pass by where we used to live may scarcely remember us—if at all.

Yet, God, who is eternal, created us for His good pleasure and lets us live and flourish for a season, as He does the wildflowers and the grasses of the field. In fact, Jesus referred to the beauty of the grasses of the field when He was reminding His followers not to worry about what they would eat or drink or wear. “And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?” (Matthew 6:28-30, NASB).

 

Thus, we should not worry about our lives, but simply bloom where God has planted us and let our lives testify to HIS glory and goodness.

 (C) 2014 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill

His Works

Last evening, our immediate family gathered at our older daughter’s home to enjoy family time and to celebrate the 4^th of July by having fun with some fireworks the guys had provided. We laughed and talked and screamed and covered our ears and ran around as the sparklers spit and sputtered and zoomed and boomed. After the fireworks had been used up, we gathered our belongings and hugged each other, saying what a fun time we’d had while making some wonderful memories.

But while I was still seated in one of the folding chairs, I happened to look up at the sky. The stars were twinkling in the velvety black night sky, making no sound whatsoever. How beautiful. How serene. And certainly a huge contrast to all the noise and flashing lights we’ve just experienced, I thought. And it was.

I thought about the stars the next morning when my daily Bible reading brought me to Isaiah chapter 40, where I found these words in verse 26: Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing (NASB).

While we’d been laughing and talking and having fun with manmade lights, the Creator had been providing an awesome show in the night sky, as He has been doing night after night for untold centuries. It’s sad that we rarely see it. It’s sadder still, that, seeing it, we fail to worship the One who created those stars—and everything else!

(C) 2014 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill

Note: I failed to take a picture of the night sky, but here is one that I took (through the windshield) while my husband was driving us to the fireworks show. The clouds also were created and are sustained by the Creator, as are the family members He's blessed us with! Seeing His work should remind us to praise and thank HIM.

The Creator's Works

One day a week or so ago when my daily Bible reading brought me to the 104^th chapter of Psalms, I came to these words: “O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your possessions. There is the sea, great and broad, in which are swarms without number, animals both small and great” (Psalm 104:24-25, New American Standard Bible).

Immediately, I recalled places my husband I had especially enjoyed this past May while on a trip to northwestern Nevada and northern California. One place in particular seemed to fit the Scripture passage. So, I mentally returned there to reminisce about what we’d seen and experienced in the Fort Bragg area of California. While standing on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, we’d seen not only the beautiful blue waters of the seemingly endless Pacific, but also two harbor seals sunning themselves and a migrating whale that surfaced just for a moment. We’d been intrigued by men in scuba diving suits who’d managed to get down the steep, treacherous cliffs to search around the rocks for abalone and other creatures hiding there. 

As I recalled such scenes, I realized anew that the psalmist was exactly right in giving the Creator the credit for all the wonders we’d seen on that trip—as well as those we see all around us every day! What a beautiful world He has made!

(c) 2014 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill

Searcher of Hearts

Yesterday at church, the congregation sang a song I’d never heard before. As I haltingly sang along, most of the time off key, I realized that the words were “keepers” even if I couldn’t sing them well. So, today, I did a Google search for the hymn (Searcher of Hearts, From Mine Erase) and found the lyrics and the music here: http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/h/shfmeras.htm

 I’ve printed myself a copy of the words so that I can sing along as I listen to the music. Whether or not my singing improves, I’m going to memorize the words, much like I would a poem, and use them as a prayer.

I’ve learned several songs/prayers this way: As I walk (one to three miles daily) round and round inside my house (because it’s too hot and humid for me to do that many miles outside), I hold in my hand the copy of whatever I’m trying to memorize. As I make my laps, I repeat one phrase at a time until I get it right, without looking at the sheet in my hand, and then I learn the next one. Once I feel comfortable with the second one, I say out loud the first one and the second one over and over until I can do both correctly. Then, I follow that pattern with the rest of the phrases until I’ve learned the whole thing. 

Each day, I review my recent memorizations. Then, if I have a new one, as I will have today, I begin on it. I’m never concerned with the speed with which I learn a new message. But I do focus on learning to practice, to “live by,” the words I’ve stored in my inner being. Otherwise, the memorization is only an exercise for my brain rather than a “life changer.”

I’ve always had a hard time memorizing “word for word” poems, Bible verses, and so forth. Thus, I’m excited that my new routine is helping me to exercise my mind, as well as my body, while also enabling me to store good thoughts in my mind and heart. It’s a win-win activity! I encourage you, Dear Reader, to try my new habit and see if it works for you.

(c) 2014 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill

Golden Daffodils

Prior to going to see the 20 million daffodils blooming on hillsides, woodlands, and valleys at Gibbs Garden in Ballground, GA, I visited the garden’s website (www.gibsgardens.com) to find out more about the place my neighbor and I and two of her friends (who are now my friends, too) were going. On the website, I found a couple of lines from a poem written by William Wordsworth and published in 1807.

 

Since I loved the words in the poem, I searched for information about it. I learned that the inspiration for the poem had come during a walk the poet had taken with his niece Dorothy on April 15, 1802.  The two of them were enthralled by the “long belt” of daffodils growing along the seashore. Wordsworth later wrote “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (also known as “Daffodils”), which became his most famous work.

 

Since my humble words can't compare with those of the famous poet, I'll gladly let his words speak for me. Even though, like Wordsworth, I am no longer at the site where I first saw the acres of golden daffodils, I can still see them with my "inward eye." Like Wordsworth, the mental pictures fills my heart, again and again, with pleasure. I have no way of knowing whether or not such images caused Wordsworth to praise and thank the Creator for His work, but I know that, time and time again, they motivate me to praise His handiwork and to thank Him for the opportunity to see it.

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

and twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

in such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

            

  ~William Wordsworth

 

 

Thy Servant Is Listening

Although I was tired to the bone, I felt strangely drawn to a Kindle book I’d downloaded that day. So, instead of going to bed, as my tired body wanted to do, I curled up on the sofa, with my Kindle in hand, and began to read J.C. Ryle’s book, A Call to Prayer.

I was immediately captivated (and convicted!) by his words, which he’d written in the 1800's, so much so that I read past midnight and then past 1 a.m.

I realized (1) that the book was no ordinary one, (2) that God intended me to have it, (3) that He was speaking to me through the words He had inspired His servant, J.C. Ryle, to write many years before I was born, (4) that He was making me aware of my sin of prayerlessness, (5) and that He wanted me to confess that sin and turn from it immediately and permanently.

            I confessed that sin (and others!) and then asked God to help me to put Him first in my life, to continue to speak to me, and to help me obey Him.

            I slept soundly that night and then awoke the following morning feeling rested and ready to seek God and to do His will.

            Rather than just offer a quick prayer before I began to read from the Bible, I spent several minutes just talking with my Father and asking Him to speak to me through His Word and by His Spirit. He did!  

The passage that was “next up” on my daily Bible reading plan was 1 Samuel 3, a very familiar story about the young boy Samuel who received a word from the Lord, though such words were rare in those days, due to the fact that no one really wanted to hear what God had to say about anything.

During the night, Samuel heard a voice calling his name. Naturally, he assumed that Eli, the priest with whom he lived, was the one calling him. So, he ran to Eli’s bedside and said, “Here I am, for you called me” (v.5).

Since Eli had not been the one calling the boy, he instructed Samuel to go back to bed. But once again, Samuel heard someone calling his name and hurried to Eli’s bedside, where he learned that it was not Eli who was calling him.

When someone called Samuel a third time, he made another trip to Eli’s bedside. This time, Eli discerned that it was the Lord calling Samuel.

As before, Eli told Samuel to go back to bed, but he also said that if the Lord called Samuel again, Samuel should say, “Speak, LORD, for Thy servant is listening” (v.9).

The Lord did call to Samuel again. And when Samuel said, “Speak, for Thy servant is listening,” the Lord told Samuel what He wanted him to know and to do.

As soon as I’d finished reading those words, I knew that the same Lord who’d spoken to Samuel centuries ago was the One who’d been speaking to me the night before through the words of J.C. Ryle. I knew that the same Lord was the One speaking to me through His Word that morning. I knew that He intended me to obey Him, just as Samuel had.

After an extended prayer time, I felt compelled to go to the computer to write these words rather than do the other tasks that were “calling my name.” The Lord had spoken to me, I listened to Him, and I obeyed. May that continue to be true of me—and of you, Dear Reader.

© 2014 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill

Watch for Spring!

Note: Although I wrote this article in 2003, I still search for signs of Spring, as I'm doing this year (2014, when I took the photos included in this post) and the same truths expressed here still apply.

I love being outside in this Spring-like weather. The sun is warm; the wind is gentle. The daffodils are swaying gracefully, their movements choreographed by invisible currents. The crabapple tree is in full bloom, looking (from a distance) like it’s adorned with cotton balls. The skinny branches on the almond tree, which just a few weeks ago looked like small sticks, are hardly visible now that their buds have opened, revealing the beauty within each tiny one.

As I stroll along, the sight and smell of freshly-cut grass make me smile. Even the dog trots happily alongside me, looking as if she’s smiling, too. We stop frequently so that I can photograph the surprises I’m finding everywhere--for example, the buds on the Japanese Magnolia (aka "Tulip Tree").

As I walk along enjoying the warmth, I think about the bitter cold we’ve experienced this winter. Some days were just “too raw” to venture out at all. Freezing temperatures. Bone-chilling, wet winds. Clouds so dark and heavy that mid-day seemed like late afternoon.

 But now that the weather is nice, I look longingly out the windows every day, waiting eagerly for my time outside. A writer friend adds to that longing when she says, “Go outside to write! Don’t you dare stay inside on a day like today.”

Perhaps my delight in this beautiful season helps me recognize the truth in these words of David L. Weatherford. “We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sorrow.”

Thankfully, there is a cycle to ALL of life, not in the seasons alone. When we’re experiencing a “long, dark night of the soul,” we know that light will come into our lives again. And when it does, oh, how we welcome it. When we’re feeling fearful, we know that calm will come.  And when it does, oh, how we welcome it.

          While thinking about such cycles, I reflect on these words of Abraham Lincoln. “In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all, and it often comes with bitter agony. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You cannot now believe that you will ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. Knowing this, truly believing it, will make you less miserable now. I have had enough experience to make this statement.”

          It comforts me to know that great persons, including Biblical writers, experienced cycles in their faith, just as you and I do. For example, one of the psalmists wrote, “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel…” (Psalm 73:21-24a, New International Version).

          No matter what cycle we’re in, God loves us and is with us! And even though we may feel we’ve been in the harsh grip of Winter for a long time, we can know that it won’t last forever. We will experience a Springtime! Wait for it! Watch for it!

Bud on our Crabapple tree.

© 2003 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill.

Focus on the Savior

Two children rushed to their mother and said, “It’s only 55 days till Christmas!!!”

She didn’t share their excitement over the coming of Christmas. Instead, panic swept over her as she thought of all the extra things she had to get done in those 55 days. Buy (and wrap!) gifts for everyone on the family’s Christmas list. Decorate the tree and house. Mail cards. Attend/Host Christmas programs and get-togethers.

She’s not the only one dreading the coming of Christmas. For many, the images of “perfect” people living “the good life,” especially during the holidays, bring painful awareness that they and their family don’t measure up to such perfection.

Others, who, for various reasons, will be apart from their families at Christmas, dread the pain of loneliness they’ll experience. Still others, weary and worn from the struggles of daily life, feel they have no more energy and/or resources to use for Christmas, since the holiday has become so draining—financially, emotionally, physically…

Such dread, such lack of excitement, regarding the coming of Christmas, isn’t new. In 1849 Edmund H. Sears mentioned circumstances that are much the same for us today: “the woes of sin and strife…years of wrong…man at war with man…life’s crushing load…toil…painful steps and slow…” (“It Came upon a Midnight Clear”).

 What can we do? Mr. Sears advice: “O rest beside the weary road, / And hear the angels sing,” as they did centuries ago to lowly shepherds watching over their flocks. They, like we, yearned for good news, for hope that life would get better. It was to these downcast shepherds that the angel announced the birth of Christ.

Here’s the story, as recorded in Luke 2:8-15, NLT: “That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!’

“Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.’

“When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’”

The shepherds ran into the village and found the Baby lying in a manger, just as the angel had said. What great joy they—and everyone else who heard about the birth of the long-awaited Messiah—felt.

Yet, sadly, the joy over that good news has gotten lost in today’s celebration of Christmas. But we can experience it anew if we’ll slow down and shift our focus from the “stuff” of Christmas to the wondrous gift of a Savior who loves us.

© 2012 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill