Blue Jays and Acorns

Did you know that Blue Jays eat acorns?

I didn't until today.

We have faithfully fed the critters since we moved here. The squirrels usually rob the bird seed within a couple of days but they are fun to watch.

I haven't yet started to put seed out this Fall but I threw out some old biscuits a few days ago.
That must have brought the birds in because I got up the following morning and there were birds everywhere.

And lots of Blue Jays.

I have a love hate relationship with Jays. I love to look at them; their colors are beautiful.

But they make. THE. MOST. ANNOYING. SOUND. imaginable.

All Spring we heard them screaming at predators when their babies hatched.

And finally, in late summer, they were quiet.

Now they are back.

And they are already screaming at other birds who might get their food.

Today, as I was watching them out the window, I saw them foraging under the leaves to pick up acorns.

There are lots of acorns this year, more than plenty for all the critters.

As I watched those Jays scrambling to get as much as they could and screaming at others who might get some, I thought of how I have been just like them.

I have scrambled to get something before it was gone.

I have been stingy and screamed at others when I thought they were taking what belonged to me.

I have doubted that God would provide enough.

So.

Many.

Times.

I have been just like those Jays.

That is so humbling.

And, so, just this morning, as I sat here and thought these things the cries of the Jays aren't as annoying as they were before.

I watch them and remember the assurance of the scriptures:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Matthew 6:25-34 

And I resolve that I won't let the cries of the Jays annoy me as they did.

I will try, knowing I may fail, to remember this scripture as I watch, not only the Jays but, all the creatures who feed in my back yard.

I know it is a gift to and share with so many of God's creatures.

Diet and Exercise

I have a few extra pounds to loose from all the holiday extras.

And... I am finally rid of the sinus infection I have had for month and can start exercising again.

And... my brother was just diagnosed with diabetes.

So I don't want to crash diet. I want to make a healthy lifestyle change in diet and exercise.

I have no problem with exercise.

Actually I enjoy a regular exercise schedule and look forward to it and will stick with it.

But,I have tried and have never been able to keep an accurate calorie count or food diary. I will start strong and then loose motivation or forget.

So....my sweet daughter introduced me to this app for my iphone.

It's free and I love it.

It keeps track of my calories, exercise, water intake, my weight goal, tells me how much sodium, sugar, and cholesterol I have consumed, tells me how many calories I have left for the day, charts my progress....well you get the picture.

It is so wonderful!

And best of all it is fun and easy enough for even me to use.

Enjoying this season

I get up when I want to each morning and drink coffee and read the Bible and the news and a few blogs.
I am just a slow starter.

And for once in my life I don't feel guilty about that.

Years ago when my children were small I read some books and articles that said I should read my Bible first thing each morning, before anything else. I carried that rock in my guilt sack for many years.

I have finally learned to give myself grace for the years when I was learning how to function in real life as a Christian. I didn't have the benefit of a Christian home so I had never established a daily habit of reading the Bible or prayer. I prayed when I needed something and read the Bible in church.

And it really is true that the older you are the harder it is to establish a habit for life.

And it is especially true that it is even more difficult to take care of your spiritual needs when you have many little ones clamoring for their physical needs to be met. For several years I felt that A.L.L. I could do was the basics.

We tried to host Bible studies at different times when our children were small. But the pure exhaustion I would feel after doing my regular work plus preparing food and cleaning the house for company would leave me fighting not to fall asleep and would eventually become too much.

I can vividly remember getting my children ready for church and being in such a frazzled state by the time we arrived that it was extremely difficult to focus on worship.

Once Tracy attended a men's study and breakfast before church on Sunday's. I was pregnant and had our three little ones to ready for Sunday School and church. I was so angry at the church for not thinking of the mothers who were just like me when they decided upon the time for that study. Tracy stopped going and many men didn't understand why..... but their wives did.

We live here in the Bible Belt now and I watch as families hustle to church on Sundays and again on Sunday night and then again on Wednesday night. Most Sundays are not restful for families with children and Wednesday can be a nightmare for mother's who work and have to feed their family before church.

We thought the answer might be in the 'family integrated' church movement. I remember purchasing this book many years ago and being so excited. The problem was finding a church that shared our values and ideas. When we lived in Colorado we thought we had found just that and were excited to be part of a new, and exciting, church movement.

And, I am sure you know the rest of the story. We were disappointed in leadership and frustrated at the way women were given specific roles. My heart would go out to the women who had large families and small children who would come to church, sit on the pew with their little ones, noisy and squirming (many of these women ended up in the hallway chasing their children during the sermon), and then help prepare tables of food for the fellowship meal. Then while the men put away tables, fellowshipped, had their 'men only meetings' or watched the children play on the play ground, the women washed utensils and ensured the kitchen was clean. Needless to say that before long 10% of the church was doing 80% of the work because many families with many small children left without eating or as soon as the meal was over because they were so overburdened.

So there were gaps in the ministry and shepherding of many in the family integrated church.

After the experience we had I began to evaluate the value of a nursery. I know that many times when I arrived at church with my little ones I would be so happy to turn them over to the nursery workers so that I could have an hour to worship and focus on the Lord. Many times it was the only time all week that I could do that. And I must admit that, while I dislike the idea that some have to work on Sunday so that I can eat at a restaurant after church, I greatly enjoy it now and enjoyed it even more when my children were small. It was such a treat and I got one meal over with and someone else cleaned up.

Loving the church and juggling family duties can be hard and I wonder what a healthy balance is.

At the stage of life I am in now I am evaluating my place in the church and my desire to help others with small children. I feel I had all the answers when I was younger and the older I get the less I know. But I do want to help others who may be struggling and I am trying to seek God in this.

And I am enjoying my life right now. Probably more than I should. I love my solitude and my lack of a schedule. I realize it is just for a season but we all like some seasons better than others.

I don't know how many times I have thought about what I would do if I were told I only had a short time to live.

In the course of life we think about what we would do in our last days, hours, moments.

Spend loads of money, take an exotic trip, buy a fancy sports car, repair broken relationships, speak words of forgiveness, love, and encouragement to the ones we love. There are so many things that come to mind.

And then one day I realized that each day gone was one we did not have.

We are dying from the time we draw breath from our mother's womb. We don't think about death much in our culture unless we come face to face with it and loose a friend or a loved one.
But death is a part of living.

It is something that is happening to all of us, whether slowly or quickly, we are all dying. No matter how many years we are afforded on the earth our bodies are deteriorating before our eyes.
If we live long enough we will be the old lady shuffling slowly in the grocery aisle slowing us down or the old man holding up traffic as he tries to park his car.

As a culture we have tried to separate ourselves from the unpleasantness of old age and death. By placing our elderly in nursing homes or 'assisted living' centers we don't have to take care of, or see, the deterioration of age unless we decide we want to.

And, while years ago families not only nursed their elderly until death, they also dressed and prepared the body for burial. That task we have also rid ourselves of by using funeral homes to prepare our dead and host our wakes.

We don't like to think of death.

But, in it's proper place, death has great impact upon our thinking and upon how we live our lives. If we are faced daily with the fact that we are aging, and in fact dying, we may behave differently. Instead of losing our temper because the old lady on the road in front of us slowed us down we might better be able to realize that if God gives us the life we so desire that we will someday be that old person.

There is nothing so sad as an old person plagued by regrets. Someone who feels that their life was miserable. It is as if they are a victim of their own minds.

God has been doing a new work in my heart and this is just a piece of it. Just a few thoughts that I have been ruminating upon. I don't want to have regrets someday of not spending time with people I love or doing things that I have dreamed of.

Of not laughing, traveling, eating, singing, loving.

So, if you started each new day you were given with the thought that it may be your last, because we aren't promised a tomorrow,  how would you live differently?