Sunday's Blessing

Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

O Lord, you know it completely.

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it. 

If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 

even there your hand shall lead me.   Psalms 139:1-6, 9

 

Peace. Love, Linda

What does March have to do with lions?

February was a roller coaster ride when I worked outside at Marcal Growers. Usually, it was not as cold as this one. February would tempt us with a run of days that soared to near 80 degrees then sometimes slipped back to 50 or cooler at night. March was the same up and down ride with more warm mixed in than February. Inevitably, Martha and I would greet the first day of March with song if it came in cold and fierce. "March came in like a  lion whipping up the waters in the bay." We would sing it not once, but several times during the day until it stuck in everyone's head as they left at the end of the work day. It still sticks in my head to this day. I  began singing it early this year because February is ending a bit "lionish," if you know what I mean. However, you never know until 3/1 whether the song will be appropriate or not. If it isn't, it has to go on the shelf for another year. That's why I'm humming a few bars now, just to freshen it up a bit before I have to put it back in storage.

Both day and night belong to you; you made the starlight and the sun. You set the boundaries of the earth, and you made both summer and winter. Psalm 74:16-17

Peace. Love, Linda

Don't Look Back

     Bravery dresses in various colored uniforms and performs daily in places of prestige and high honor as well as in small shops on side streets. It looks like a soldier in the field, a mother rocking a sick baby at midnight, a teacher in front of a restless classroom, a 48 year old man leaving behind the financial industry to open a motorcycle repair shop. It's about moving forward in spite of fear. With persistent renewal of the mind, fear dissipates into less than vapor and courage emerges in full array. The three words bravery repeats often to itself are "don't look back."

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Psalms 125:1

If Ever I Would Leave You

I think I was one of the fortunate ones in high school because I had the best choral experience in the world. The songs I learned then still play in my mind when that hidden part of my brain or ether is pricked with a note or phrase that sends out a hammer that strikes a cord that starts the flow of music that soothes my soul and "this is the house that Jack built." Music is a most wonderful thing, and beautiful music, which is in the ears and heart of the listener just as "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," is a gift created by God from the very beginnings of time in the lapping of waters covering a vast new planet, in the whistle of winds dancing across the seas, in the songs of wild creatures beating rhythms with their hooves, in the trill of birds flying in the air, and finally, in the vocal cords of man hunting in the woods mimicking food about to be tagged and the rocking metronome of a mother sitting in a make shift hut awaiting her mates return humming to her new born child. Tonight, in my mental music box, I am singing "If Ever I Would Leave You." What warmth! Thank you Mr. Wade where ever you may be, you still make me sing.

...or could I leave you running merrily through the snow?

...oh no not in spring time.

           No never could I leave you at all.

...in the shadow of your wings, I sing for joy.
Psalms 63:7

Peace. Love, Linda

Sunday's Blessing

 You are the light of the world.

A city  built on a hill cannot be hid.

No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. 

Matthew 5:14-16

Peace. Love, Linda

You Never Know

Working at Midtown Cycles puts me in a position to meet and interact with a  wonderful cross section of people. It also reminds me regularly that "you never know." People's actions are not who they are; they are only outward expressions of their hearts often tainted by fear. Today and for the last week, we have been slammed. Bikes are everywhere, and we are trying to bring new people in as well as keep the ones already there with a small crew in a small facility. I think we are doing a great job, but I'm biased. As we do that, we give estimates of how long a job will take  and charge according to the parts involved and the labor. Our labor cost is $65.00 per hour. Sometimes we make out very well, and other times we don't. If we give an estimated price for an hour, and it takes much longer, which is periodically the case due to the nature of machinery and previous hands that worked on the machinery, we stick by our estimate. Today we had a rear tire, yes, another tire story, that came in botched. It was more or less rigged together, but the driver didn't know that. Therefore, when it would not go back together the way it came apart, he couldn't understand why it was a problem and thought it was the mechanics fault. His first response was unkind, to put it in more lovely terms than the words that came from his mouth. If I never saw that man again after his first response to the job taking longer than expected ( although we were not charging him any more time), I would have felt he was cold,cruel and insensitive. However, as the tire was being worked on time passed; his wife and two small children came by the shop for awhile. I began to let go of my anxiety about him, amazing how the presence of children can change the air, and talked to him like any other customer, and he proudly brought his one month old baby boy into the office for me to see. For a very tightly closed man, he showed a side that was warm and compassionate toward his children and ultimately to me. The whole episode was a very good reminder.

Samuel was reminded of this very thing when he looked at Eliab and thought he would be the newly anointed king because of his outward appearance.
But the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

Peace. Love, Linda

Melodious Reflection

A melody drifts in through the window of the car from a truck passing by in the lane next to me.  I catch a line from an old song I remember from the 70's. Every time I hear it, seldom as it may be, I reflect back to Carson Newman College, cold, rainy days and midnight fire drills. The only words I remember are "Tell me something good, oh yeah. Tell me that you like it, yeah." 

I'm making that my mantra of the week.

Tell me something good, Oh, yeah. 

I like it.

Kind words are like honey-

sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Proverbs 16:24

Peace. Love, Linda

Business is Booming

Midtown Cycles of St. Cloud, Inc. is a very busy place to work. We are a new business, but you would never know that if you pulled up to our front door and saw all the bikes parked in the parking lot out front and on the lifts inside. We are picking up business rapidly. It's heartening because it shows that even though the community has sprawled from small town into urbanness (I'll claim that word because I'm not sure it's real. I like it with the accent on the ness), it has not lost its small town communication network. Today, three people  who called or stopped by heard about us from the "guy" at Auto Zone. A few days ago, a new customer said, "I saw your cards at the campground I'm staying at." A man stopped by this afternoon saying, "My buddy at work told me about your shop." Visit Midtown Cycles is repeated in variations over and again throughout the community and leading people to our shop daily; it brings bikes in the door to be repaired and prospects for a solid business with possibilities for expansion, which will benefit us, our employees and the community. I am thankful.

                   
            Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Romans 12:11

It Happens Every Spring

Darren is bending his head over the kitchen sink and pouring a salty solution from a blue netty pot in one nostril; it streams out the other. Nice. Bella sits cross legged on the couch and eats strawberries, stopping occasionally to muster up a deep, rattling cough. The lady in the grocery store line in front of me turns her head away from the counter and sneezes into the air behind her...and in front of me. It's everywhere. It's in the air. Pollen count is up. Late February winds are stirring, and Mr. and Mrs. Mucous are partying like rock stars. Mardi Gras. 

In spite of the fact pharmaceutical companies would like you to believe allergy/ flu season is a catastrophic event. It's no big deal. 

It happens every spring, and as cold as it's been this winter, I'd say it's a sign that things are looking up!

For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Peace. Love, Linda

When the Mocking Bird Sings

The ground isn't covered with snow and ice where I live, but it's evident winter is with us and hasn't let go of its grip on the trees in the field behind the house or the grass in some of the neighborhood lawns. The red maple and green wax myrtles dot the side of the rode with hints of days to come, but the cypress trees stand tall and barren,still, and the oaks are beginning to shed. The wonder of mid February for us is that the winter hold is never a strangle hold this time of year, and the promise of new green and soft warm daily manifests itself, timid at first then bold and brazen. It's like me walking down a long, city block on a sidewalk when the block ends and an intersection pops into view and the solid breadth of building stops abruptly. I turn the corner, face into a gentle breeze, and suddenly the mocking bird sings. That's when I know it's spring in Central Florida.

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-

the moon and the stars you set in place-

what are mere mortals that you should think about them,

human beings that you should care for them?

Yet you made them only a little lower than God

and crowned them with glory and honor,

You gave them charge of everything you made,

putting all things under their authority-

the flocks and the herds

and all the wild animals, 

the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth.  Psalm 8:3-9

     Peace. Love, Linda

Sunday's Blessing

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Isaiah 55:10:12            Amen.

Peace. Love, Linda

Feeling a Little Lazy Tonight

It's a lazy night and I'm ready for my warm bed and deep sleep, so I'm sharing one of Mary's snow pictures with you. It's beautiful.

 from  Isaiah 1:18
"Though your sins are like scarlet, 
I will make them as white as snow."

I like that. Peace. Love, Linda

Caution in Taking Advice: wisdom from Sirach

When I grew up, I never knew a book in the Bible called Sirach existed because it wasn't in my Bible. Years later I found it when I bought my Harper Collins Study Bible. I believe it has always been in the Bible used by Catholics, but I am no expert on that. The wisdom of Sirach is very practical in nature and a bit hard for me to digest in places, but there are sections of the book that I value greatly. Here's one passage I favor that I think is wise advise for everyone. It's Sirach 37:7-15.

All counselors praise the counsel they give, but some give counsel in their own interest. 
Be wary of a counselor, and learn first what is his interest,
for he will take thought for himself.
He may cast the lot against you and tell you, "Your way is good," 
and then stand aside to see what happens to you.
Do not consult with a woman about her rival 
or with a coward about war,
with a merchant about business
or with a buyer about selling,
with a miser about generosity
or with the merciless about kindness,
with an idler about any work
or with a seasonal laborer about completing his work,
with a lazy servant about a big task-
pay no attention to any advice they give.

But associate with a godly person 
whom you know to be a keeper of the commandments,
who is like-minded with yourself,
and who will grieve with you if you fail.
And heed the counsel of your own heart,
for no one is more faithful to you than it is.
For our own mind sometimes keeps us better informed
than seven sentinels sitting high on a watchtower.
But above all pray to the Most High
that he may direct your way in truth.

                                                                        Peace. Love, Linda

Three Men and a Tire

There's a brave new world just waiting for each and every one of us, and my brave world looks differently than any previous brave new world I've ventured. In this new world, my responsibilities have shifted from people to parts. My daily routine takes place in one moderately small building and not across the county as my previous venture, and the scenery everywhere has changed tremendously.

A few months ago, some of you may remember a picture of my laundry room in a blog I wrote about the well known fact that the one who does the laundry has the power. If you missed it, check the archives. This is what my laundry room looks like tonight.

O.K., it's not very bright, and a little difficult to see what's under the blanket, but it all started when Ken came into the shop and wanted new tires on his Harley. He had tires that were in good shape, but he didn't like the way they handled and wanted a harder side wall. I shopped them out and eventually came up with something that fit his budget, his specifications, and they were in stock. That sounds like a winner, right? Well, baseball fans. Remember, three strikes is never good. Let me move in a little closer, so you can see what's under the towel.

I thought this shot would give you a better angle, 

but I see it could still be a mystery to some,especially

if you only look at the pictures. As I was saying, the tires were to take approximately two hours since the bags and pipes had to be removed and the tires had to be mounted and balanced. Before the afternoon was over, three strong, able bodied men wrestled, pounded, strapped, soaped, blasted, and cussed my over night visitor, but that rear tire was NOT seating on one side. Since it was cold in the shop all day, and the tire was probably stacked one on the other in a warehouse, it refused to budge, just like the drunk that wants to get thrown in jail on a bitter cold night, that tire deliberately would not cooperate because I think it knew what was in store and refused to submit to a cold concrete floor and three abusive men.  I checked in on it a view minutes ago, and just maybe, I heard a little snore. 

                                                         Oh, look, it kicked off its blanket.

Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord commanded you. "The Lord your God is giving you a place of rest." Joshua 1:13a
Peace. Love, Linda

Back At You

Riding home in the car today, I had a strange conversation with myself, inside my head, of course. I wouldn't want to talk out loud. I see people doing that in their cars and think it strange. Speaking of strange, back to my conversation. I was talking with myself as I drove back home from work. I was going back and forth in my mind searching in the background for as many uses of a particular word that had forced itself back into my thoughts, so much so it seemed to be doing back flips. I furtively looked into the back seat of the car to see if anyone was hiding out back there, but it was empty, so I went back to concentrating on the road and backing up the conversation in my head on an imaginary back up drive, so I could replay it later in the day. I took the main road, not the back road, to my house. Back in the day, I used to take alternate routes. When I arrived home, I decided to go into the back door, but I backed out on that idea and went in the garage instead. I like going in that way because I can throw all of my junk in the back room on the way into the house. Once in the house, I soon was back to business, cleaning up the morning mess and hoping the sink would not back up. It's nice to know, though, that if it had, Darren would have my back. He's good with just about anything that is back to basics. I'm running out of steam, but before I go, I want to get back into the scripture to find something that is suitable for this blog. Oh, I found it!

Psalm 41:10 It says at the top of the Psalm "For the choir director. A psalm of David." Back up a minute. Is that significant? I don't know, back to the verse.
"Lord, have mercy on me. Make me well again, so I can pay them back!"    

Oh, that David, he was so wonderfully human. Back to you!

                                        My back yard
                                 Peace.
                                                                     Love, Linda

Bureaucracy: Did I even spell that right?

I like the way Eckhart Tolle put it in his book The New Earth when he described corporations as giant egoic structures. It is essential to feed the ego at the top to survive. The corporation or bureaucracy becomes a living, breathing entity bent on self preservation and survival. The structures develop their own languages and dialects. I don't know if Tolle said that, but I did. I am leaving the house in twenty minutes to go to what is called "a behavioral interview." I find that amusing.

What do you think they do in a behavioral interview? Remember, this is job related. I am not being carried off to the loony bin or going to a psychiatrist. It's for a job. I'm going to interview to be accepted or rejected in a "pool." I love to swim. That's a behavior. I bet they have a check list of "behaviors" they watch for. I am sure that nose picking and excessive throat clearing is out, but what else do you think will bother them? I really should know, you know, it might be one of those habits I have that no one has the guts to tell me about. I do have to watch interrupting. That is an issue I work on daily. Do you think knee bouncing is unacceptable? I should enunciate clearly. Oh, and my shoes are shiny. Slovenly appearance is not attractive. Is that classified as a behavior? Well, I had better be on my way. Oh,one more thing I do know. I'm watching them. They may have some idiosyncrasies I need to know about, too. You know, like name dropping or back stabbing. It's time to quit. Really. I'm smiling, but I can tell by my proof read, the scars from my burns are showing. lol

He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Psalm 23:3

Fire Side Chat

Sometimes I say things without thinking them through. Yeah, imagine that. One of the "things" I said in a previous blog struck me yesterday morning when I was reading a chapter in the book of Amos. I said something to the effect that my favorite verses in the Bible are in the New Testament or Psalms; however, every time I spend time reading from the old testament and prophets,other than Psalms, I learn much about, not just the minds and culture of the people, but also how simple it is to please God. Therefore I retract that statement. When reading about the ghastly punishment documented in the Old Testament, that I do not like to dwell on, it appears to have taken place because of a lack of respect for humanity, indecency in the business place, and to put it in a nut shell-lovelessness (that might not be a word). God is love. We must love to stay connected to God. It is not a formula with a lot of parts, but somehow we try to make it that way, which leads me to what I want to chat about.

I have heard and know it to be true that there is a growing group of people, I would call them fundamentalists but I don't know if they would call themselves that, who believe we will all be better off when the world ends in tribulation. I don't know their philosophy in depth, but they have worked their way into high places and into the hearts and minds of men and women to forward their goals. It sounds surreal, but it's not. As strange as it might seem that these people exist, it's not a new condition to man. I read about it in Amos, and I thought I would share what the prophet Amos was told to tell those people when it happened in his time. As you read this, know that "the day of the Lord" in this passage was meant as a dark day of judgment. Amos 5 starting with verse 18 reads:

Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! 

Why do you want the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, not light;

as if someone fled from a lion,

and was met by a bear;

or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a snake.

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?

The next part of the chapter goes on to tell how little meaning is in their assemblies, offerings, and songs.

Followed by verse 24 which rolls out beautifully.

But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

How can someone wish "the day of the Lord" on anyone and say from the same mouth that they love them. I've noticed that in many of the stories of the prophets there are dual outcomes mentioned and even the word may is used at times. As evidenced in the story of the prophet Jonah, another Old Testament story I love, and you should read it if you have a chance. It's short. God loves mankind and sends prophets and ultimately Jesus of Nazareth, not to condemn the world but to save it. 

Ah well, the fire is going out, but that's my story

...and I'm stickin' to it.

Peace. Love, Linda

Sunday's Blessing

    
 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Matthew 5:44-46a

       Peace.
                Love, Linda

Dying Trees

There was a time in my life when it seemed that everywhere I moved we had big trees in the yard, and every yard had at least one large tree that died while we lived there. It was so prevalent that I started asking myself, "What is it with the dying trees?" A statistic about the trees that I felt MUST be significant was that in each yard, the deaths became more dramatic in successive order.

In our yard in Georgia, the loss of the beautiful turkey oak was eventful because the oak was the center piece of our front yard. I had planted several holly around it shortly after we moved there, but the deer took them to the ground in one breakfast gathering, so I circled it with azaleas. It died slowly, and I think it suffered.

In the back yard of Live Oak Blvd in St. Cloud, our tree death was dramatic due to the remarkably rapid decline of the live oak I viewed every morning out of my kitchen window. It was not a giant tree, maybe fifteen or twenty years old, but it was a fine tree, and that tree died as if someone placed an instant curse upon it. ZAP! and it was dead. I just couldn't believe how fast that tree declined. It was almost Biblical in nature.

The final tree death in the family was the GIANT live oak in the backyard of where we now live. It drew us to the place our house now sits because it sprawled across the entire back of our property with majesty. After our first year in the house, it began to look lackluster. It soon lost leaves out of season. Then, even worse, its leaves clung to it and began to brown when they should have fallen to the ground. We had several people try to save our tree. We put little pots of medicine up and down its fat trunk; we prayed; we fertilized; we agonized, but the tree died.

I have another tree in my present front yard that almost died, too, soon after the demise of the giant oak, but it didn't. The tables have turned just like the spring maples.

In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive. Matthew 21: 18-22

Peace.

Love, Linda 

As We Are Graying

The bristles of the straw broom moved across the smooth garage floor with a slight swish as they have done hundreds of times since I started cutting Darren's hair in 1998. Back then, he bought clippers to cut my splotchy, balding head due to chemo. It was too much for him to handle shaving my head, so my friend Chrisann did it, but I've been cutting his hair ever since. Well, we had to get some good use out of those clippers.

Tonight I noticed a blend of deep brunette and silver puffs on the gray floor. Where did that silver come from anyway? Didn't we just bring home our beautiful, baby girl and wrap her in a soft, yellow blanket and rock her in my wooden chair? Didn't I just take a picture of her and her daddy all dressed up for a father-daughter banquet? Didn't we just leave the hospital after holding our granddaughter, Bella, for the very first time? Didn't we just leave the auditorium this Christmas after four year old Bella danced and sang with true abandon in her Christmas play? Didn't we?

Time really is an illusion. As we are graying, we are still young. As we are here, we are still there.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Thanks, Mary.
Peace.
Love, Linda

A Hint of Spring

A hint of spring is in the flower bed in my front yard. 

Just past the corner of the garage, as I was strolling to the end of the driveway to pick up the garbage can and put it back behind the house, out of the corner of my eye, an odd expression, I saw something that magnetized my attention. There it was. The first azalea of the year. 

We've had lots of rain this winter. Maybe the azaleas will be lush and thick and fall to the ground in mounds of pink and white petals and cover the bushes like blankets of color so hardly any leaves will show. Whatever the outcome, where I live, when the azaleas are blooming, spring is on its way! We don't need no stinkin' ground hogs!

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the work of your hands I sing for joy. Psalms 92:4

"It's not over until the fat lady sings"

My title is not politically correct, but today's events brought it to mind. Arbitration is as long as the patience and tenacity of a cross examining lawyer. In today's case, that tenacious man was my lawyer. It's evident to me by watching him in action, he loves the circular path to truth, around and around and around and bingo-truth! I'm glad he's on my side. We did not finish at all. I did not even speak, but I listened intently. I think it was established in the mind of the arbitrator that the district did not call what they did to me discipline, but it was. Not only was it discipline but unfair discipline. We will see how it all plays out at a future date, but not too far away, I hope. I want this to be finished, but it has to play out to the rightful end, and I do not know, yet, what that end is.

Since the district side of this arbitration is paid for by your tax dollars, Osceola County, I hope you care about the outcome. I am paying for my side out of my pocket and their side with my tax dollars. I do so because I hope it will affect the instruction given to your students in this county in a positive manner, particularly if they are in high school. I will let you know when the next day is scheduled. If you see that I have not followed up with you after that date and have become totally quiet about this issue, it will only be because I have come to an agreement and cannot speak of it any more. Please don't let that issue go uncovered. You are paying the tab for this arbitration on the district's side. You should know what the district is doing with your dollars.

This is not my usual soft inspirational message because I feel this knowledge should be in your hands.

In my search, I'm not sure why this scripture stopped me. It was not what I intended to write here today, but here it is:

They said, "Lord, look, here are two swords." He replied, "It is enough." Luke 22:38

Peace.

Love, Linda

Arbitration and Abscess

Tomorrow morning at 9:00AM, I meet my lawyer at the school district office. My arbitration starts at 9:30.
I've been waiting for an opportunity to speak in front of an impartial judge for months. My day is almost at hand. Daddy always made me believe I had a voice. I will always believe Daddy was right about that.

Today, I have a most painful abscess on my back gum that has been stirring around undercover and subtle for weeks. It decided to go ballistic this weekend. It gives me moments of intense pain in my jaw and face, then subsides. My body will heal it because that's what bodies do, and the pain will be gone, most likely, after the abscess has broken and spilled its poison out to be rinsed and flushed. Not a lovely thought, but somehow it strikes me as metaphoric. Both abscess and arbitration will be memories shortly, and because of both of them, I will do things differently. I can hope that others will, too, but I cannot make that happen as I once naively believed I could. However, just as the pain in my mouth forces me to deal with the needs of my gums, I believe wholeheartedly, the arbitration tomorrow will have a similar effect. A girl can dream, can't she? However, when describing me as that pain, I am sure my opposition uses a part of the body other than the gum.

                                                                                      

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians:15 58      
   Peace.

     Love, Linda                                                                                      

The Orange Basket

Aha! comes when least expected.

I was in the guest bathroom, which I seldom use, and I looked, really looked, at a burnt orange basket sitting on the floor; it was filled with magazines and toilet paper. For the first time, I took notice of the worker's hands as they wove the basket. I could see a dark skinned woman or man with thick, black hair sitting cross legged on a dirt floor intricately weaving together pieces of a bush or tree; I do not know which. The rich color, was it added before or after the weaving began? I noticed how perfectly each row meshed together and how tightly woven each connected line was. I studied the handle and wondered if it was an added piece of material or connected to the original and stretched while it was wet. I wondered about the basket and its maker and for just a moment, I felt great appreciation for the hours of labor put into a simple, beautiful object. I paid a very small amount for that basket at an outlet store years ago, but that basket, on a scale I can't really quantify at this time, is priceless.

Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women.

Ephesians 6:7

Peace.

Love, Linda