Though I walk...

Last night we went to celebrate a BIRTHday…it was 11 years…but all the same a celebration of a little boy’s birth!  His actually birthday on 3.14…so only fitting he have a PI party.   So that is what we had…pizza pie and cherry and pumpkin pie...

After the party we headed home only to see as we drove through the gate that off to the east directly behind our house were all kinds of emergency vehicles!   With the amount in attendance—one knew it surely wasn’t good! Hearing from the neighbor…it sounded like a motorcycle and a car were involved and the motorcycle ended up over a drop into the creek nearby…also sounding like the motorcycle rider didn’t make it.  Hmmm think of my choice of words...didn't make it!   What is "it"???

This morning, I thought of the motorcycle rider and how ONE MOMENT had changed his (I say his though I don’t know that for sure) life…his family’s life…the other driver’s life…the emergency responders that had to deal with this…sometimes that one overlooked though when you think about it…those are hard times too!  Those individuals have seen some things that no one would ever want to see…

And with that…my mind goes to my son-in-law and love…Jay Sheridan…one who in a moment…his life and those around him changed!   His life deeply intertwined with all…making the responder’s feel this on a deeper level…and this morning the preaching from Mark on Palm Sunday…but another sermon I listened to talked about Psalm 23…though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…and I felt that shadow this morning…just as I did March 9, 2011…and sometimes those valley's just have to be walked through...some moments crawling but...one step at a time all the same.

One of the songs on the Palm Sunday service sang "In Christ Alone" written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend…and I think of this past night…and these words that hit me hard but seemed to add to this writing that seems to pour from my fingertips…

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

From life’s first cry to final breath…and I think of this thing I call my “Faith”…and I had thought the other day when someone was describing someone they said they are very religious and didn’t seem to relay a positive note…religious…that doesn’t seem to describe this “Faith” that I hold…this One called Jesus…to me I tend to think of how in Jesus’ day…that those who ended up persecuting Him…were "religious" to a fault if you will…I had asked myself earlier in the week…how would someone describe me?

I think of this “Faith” I have…it is something that I believe in this Jesus who died for a sinner like me…a sinner like you…and this week ahead…looking back in the life of Jesus…whooo what a week!!!

I return to the song…In Christ Alone…a song I love…as I make no claim to be perfect or anywhere near…yet I have been given a peace that cannot compare…my Faith is built on the foundation of LOVE…and I listen to an amazing version sung by Alison Krauss: In Christ Alone Alison Krauss

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

And just like that, I flash back to the Palm Sunday sermon…and there is a short talk given by the pastor this week...Dick Foth...who I so appreciate his story telling…the experience he brings to his messages…but this short video summarizes his sermon from Mark 15 in a few minutes… https://www.timberlinechurch.org/srecap-mark-where-bullies-meet-believers-dick-foth/

The questions asked…Who cares?  Whose in charge? What do you believe?

I think back of walking in the valley of the shadow of death…and how I was reminded this morning that if there is a shadow…there is LIGHT!!!  But some of those who cared in that time…were those who were just there…Pastor Foth had made the comment of something about in this time there really is nothing that can be said…but there is plenty that shouldn’t be said…that can be said in much!!!

I snapped a pic last night as a sight out my back door…one I care not to see…but there in the shadow of the light of the moon…

and I come back to this “Faith”....and I do not include the rest of this verse in the picture...Your rod and staff comfort me...but Faith….this thing hoped for yet not seen…and in this Faith that I choose to believe...that this death is not the end…but yet the beginning!  And I decide to add another capture of this almost same view but in a different light…

This writing...a collection of thoughts building...probably a little longer so perhaps I add as a blog… many of those as of late have been tributes to one gone on…but love all the same for those who have walked through the shadows…but I thought how sometimes… words just come that seem words to share…maybe just for one…maybe just a conversation with me and my Lord…but if nothing else…please join me in prayer for those whose lives have been instantly changed…to maybe be the one who is just there...and also to be reminded that this could be any of us.  

Take in this Holy week and remember it may seem Friday BUT (and a mighty big BUT)…Sunday’s COMING!!!

lyp

Oh Marilyn

My Grandma Bessie's sister Opal's oldest daughter...Marilyn...I don't remember her as a Roth...Always a Davis...married to that guy Larry who all tough on the outside...but a big heart on the inside...maybe don't tell him we know!    He spent time caring for Marilyn in her last days on this earth...to which I start writing to say goodbye.

Marilyn had three sons...Ron, Tom, and Hank...and though I haven't been around them in later years...I knew them better in earlier days...good times with Ron and Kathy...Marilyn's baby sister who left us way too soon.    Tom coming to spend some time with us in Colorado and then Hank came and visited as well...but Ron's wife Anita shared the updates (thank you Anita)...of what going on in their life...and I think Oh Marilyn...and I think of laughter...

I think of the last time I seen her I think, and I did have some pictures of her and her sister's...One I loved was her and Nyla (always the cool one)...during another celebration of life of her sister Rhonda's husband...Jack...so many goodbye's...

I ramble on here...and think how these blogs have been more thinking of those who I seem to be reflecting on their life than anything else...but maybe that is okay...a place to give a moment of love for one that has lived and been a part of our life...a part of who we are...a reminder of how this time on this earth is fleeting...unknown...

Marilyn was one of the "elder's"...a keeper of the family tree.   One who would make others do skits and such that they didn't always want to but somehow...she convinced them that it would be fun...or at least something they needed to do... Her smile and laughter are part of what I remember most of her...I did a search for her pics and they pulled up one's of her baby sister Kathy too...and I think all had a beautiful smile...a gift from their mama!

When I searched pics there was one that wasn't from this time maybe a reunion...but it makes me think of the past...the future...how you loved history...

You with a chocolate covered strawberry that you were excited to enjoy...laughing at me taking your picture with your napkin on your chest...just keeping it clean...with Kathy's daughter talking to you...

and I thought how you loved to laugh and play...I know I only seen glimpses...but this last time I seen  you...these snapshots...maybe not the greatest capture...but I keep in my memories...you playing cards...you taking time to appreciate the flowers...the food...and the family...a reminder to us all...

Marilyn...you will be missed...though none of us would wish suffering on you...I think of you raising those four boys (haha sorry Larry I include you)...those younger siblings...and how sometimes your "innocence" I'm sure a protector from some of the things you lived...I missed your farewell but thought of all that were there...and those who loved you and said goodbye from afar...and so I send love and prayers to all...and maybe today stop and play a game and just laugh the whole time!   lyp

Randal Scott...

 Today your birthday...you my cousin...my friend...many times like a brother.    Today I think of you on your birthday and how I have not written about you since I got the news you have left this life...

I think of a favorite picture of you with my Dad.     How he loved you and I wonder about Heaven and what it is like and if you two are reunited...

This morning as I thought of you...the sun was working at coming up and I thought there it is...Randy's sunrise...and I turned my camera and there was a bird in the tree...a sparrow joining me in watching the sun come up over the hill.  

I think of days gone by...Growing up with you down the road...times when I wasn't sure I had another friend...there you were playing basketball with me at recess.    You doing a Cheech and Chong routine while milking the cow and I remember sitting and laughing so hard.   You putting on heavy boots to run in so you could jump higher playing basketball.    I think about how strong you were.  How funny you were...There a picture that I came across...of days gone by...you messing around but still taking care of others...

I remember then how your life forever changed...that truck that you had worked on and made so sweet...and then there you were in a wheelchair.    I remember weekends driving to Denver as you went through rehab and then you came home and fun times still...I still remember one night in Fargo's parking lot and again laughing so hard at you...of you coming and spending time with me and my family...helping do what you had such a gift for...fixing those motors...and such special times we had...

And this morning I asked why do we disconnect...lose touch from those that are so special to us...so many years pass by so quickly and before you know it...here we are...and though we spent some time texting and a call here and there...still I didn't make the trip to see you...and I think of if I had...what would we have talked of?    I think of how God sent a couple angels in those last days...strong women who were such a blessing to be there with you!   I think of you now free from the confines of a chair that held you for so many years.    A bittersweet...but I feel you a Believer in Jesus...and you went on running and jumping to Heaven!   

So I think of you not just today the day you were born...but I think of your life and how thankful that I am for you my cousin...my friend...at times my big brother!   Thank you!  Love you Randy!!!  

Eleven years...

 

March 9, 2022

Wednesday…a snowy Wednesday…and I think of you...Jay…of writing a letter to you…you where there is no sadness nor pain…I read and sing, “How Great Thou Art”…taken from my thoughts…playing over and over in my head…and I read in the book given to me…”Then Sings My Soul”…and there the very words I had sang…oh when your soul sings…it seems to carry the tune much better!

I read a writing of the song’s history and it talks of a poem written by a 26-year-old man…26 catches me…Jay 26 years old…a young man by any means…Eleven years since that fatal day…fatal…I look up the definition…causing death…death in the eyes of those remaining…but not in the hearts of those believing!!!

I go back to thinking of how this poem written by this young man…ended up touching one life and then another and then another…I think of you today Jaybird…wondering why I refer to you now as Jaybird…perhaps since you flew away…I came across a picture yesterday…titled “Snowy Days and Steller’s Jays” photo taken by I believe Lori Fredrickson from Wyoming...but this photo captured me as I had never seen one before...And I laugh as I research more on this bird as it says, “Steller’s Jays are large songbirds with large heads, chunky bodies, rounded wings, and a long, full tail.”   Yes, I hear you giggle…

Yesterday I spent time with your daughter…she has pieces of you scattered in her personality…pieces of her Mom…of others…yet her own unique person.   And I think of how like a poem written a long time ago…continues to touch lives today…and I think of how you touch the lives of those that remain…and that for many is your laughter...your heart...your words...and yet your story remains…and perhaps that is one of the reasons why I continue to talk of you…to think of you…to remember you…

I don’t understand still…and maybe it is for me not to ever understand the why's…why a young man would be taken from his wife and child…his parents...his siblings...his friends...yet was talking about you the other day and this person said they felt like something was spared from happening…and I know that even though a hard one…that you, Jay, would step up and say I can go…I don’t know what happened…what was kept from happening…but in this conversation we talked of how your wife and child…your family and friends…knew you loved them…that you didn’t leave because you didn’t love them.    I think of many that do not have that comfort in knowing that their daddy loved them…that their spouse loved them…and their friend loved them…and their child or brother...or son-in-love...and I am reminded of the verse…

No greater LOVE 

than this who lay down one’s life for his friends.

John 15:13

These very words carved on your stone…and though I didn’t know you a long time in terms of years on this earth…I knew you enough to know that you would lay down your life for a friend…for a child you didn’t know…yes even for me… ole “Sweetness”…so on this cold and snowy day…I lift my tea cup and I toast you and give thanks for you and think of you taking in Heaven without us…I think how my Mom I am sure adores you…and I am thankful to be part of the ripple that your story has touched in my life…reminding me of the things that matter…and the things that really don’t…and I thank God for you on this cold snowy Wednesday…

And though I won’t join others who will gather at your grave to remember you…you remain 4EVER in my heart!!!

lys

I'm there...

 Yesterday a Kelly day...some days you don't know it until the close of day...but when you look back...

Kelly my cousin...his mom and mine sisters.   We the same age...in fact this year he would be 60!  Kelly was the one that was always cool it seemed...one of the funniest guys with that dry sense of humor...I keep looking at this pic and him just looking right through me almost with that smirk...humoring me with a pic that I cherish...

 I have a picture from when we were kids...even then while the rest of us geeks for sure...he was still looking cool...

Anyway...back to my day...I had seen there on my timeline a message from Kelly to me August 25, 2010 saying simply, "I'm there".    Me trying to figure out where there was.   That it would show up on this day when I had read a devotional and the reading was Psalm 139...and there I had written 10/20/16 Ryder Kelly Petrie by the verse...

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.   I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works,  And that my soul knows very well."  Psalm 139:13-14

Ryder Kelly the son of my cousin Vonnie's son Bret...who if Kelly would have had a son...I am sure would have been a lot like Bret...or maybe for fun he would have been like Vonnie...but  later in the day I get a picture from Vonnie...Yvonne I suppose to some...saying Little Kelly...Axell...and after chatting with Vonnie...I share and think yep Kelly...a part of you there indeed...

So I share with my brother who said he on his mind too...rode Kelly's Harley...and so this morning and open tab on my computer and it is the message from Kelly..."I'm there"...and I go to see where there was when I think...maybe there is more than just where we were 11 years ago...and I feel love transcends...and so I feel a nudge to remember you Kelly and share with others...that you a special part in our lives...

And I find where we all were...at my brother's at the "cornpalooza" and thinking Jo had said we need another...and I came across a picture from there when looking...treasured memories for sure...

And I come across a blog I wrote for you when we said goodbye...I remember parts of that day...and I remember hearing the motorcycles pull up while your niece played Amazing Grace...and how it hit me...and I see pictures and video of my great niece this morning...and I think of all of us getting older and these little ones...and this song on the blog Forever Young...and the song written by Bob Dylan seems to be a prayer and a thanks to the LORD for letting us feel a visit from one we love...

A reminder that we may stay forever young...with childlike faith and love for life...and I sing along...

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

May you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young.

lyp

Abundant...

 As I read John 10:10…My thoughts go to the killings in Boulder…such a different meaning taken on when the word kill is used…my prayers for their families…for the police officer said to have 7 children.   And a writing seems to come as I look at those who were killed…

Just like that…lives forever changed…and though there were 10 individuals killed…and that word just has such a haunting to it…and as I seek a definition of the word as mine seems to say to take another’s life…I find a search that asks if killed is a verb…and then it goes on to say, “extinguish the life of”…so many lives forever changed!     

I read what is written of each of these individuals…each a unique individual in their own rights.   In one place I had looked, the news seemed to give that of what Facebook postings had to say…yet others were given a few short sentences in what someone who cared about them said…and I pause and wonder…what would be said of me?  Though this not about me…it is something to reflect upon…isn’t our life more than a summation of a few words…or is it!

One of the most mentioned is a police officer, Eric Talley… Officer Talley leaving behind 7 children…and I do the math of him being an officer for 10 years…and I think of another police officer in my circle…killed 10 years ago…as in life…one leaves and another begins.   I thinking and praying for new officers who are beginning…and my heart goes to this family of love…this family of blood…this family of duty…  

I see the headlines…some trying to instantly make this political…to fit in with agendas…yet LIFE isn’t supposed to be about political and agendas…it is about the dashes…the love…of what we did in this life while here on this earth…and I look back at the verse…John 10:10…life abundantly!   ABUNDANT…a word that could take on so much…yet I find in definitions one that says…

SHEFA (ABUNDANCE): Shefa is a word in Hebrew literally meaning Abundance. This holy symbol is the symbol of abundance in its highest form - as a Divine principle of the flow between Creator to His creation.

In having a faith in Jesus…I believe there is MORE…more than just this life of a dash between the dates…I picture a baptism of my granddaughter…at her daddy's mass...(I put a link to another writing of that time https://pennify.blogspot.com/2011/03/point-of-light.html)…and she would use the signing taught to her by her aunt…and as the water sprinkled upon her she signed for more…though the choices made during the dash determines what comes after the date and the dash and the date…there it does not stop…I know some think I use the dot…dot…dot…way too often...of my sentences running together…Although…life is a continuation…sometimes a single period will not suffice…life doesn’t always just simply stop…there is MORE…ABUNDANT!!!

Yet there are those who come to try and steal and kill…to destroy…and that is nothing but evil!    It can be fought all day of this or that being the cause of death…yet bottom line is it goes back…back to the garden when we began with our “free” choices…to live as we thought fit…not always taking the path of love and good…but instead hate and evil…Though during this season…coming upon Easter…we are reminded there is more…Jesus “killed” so that mine and your dot-dot-dot…my ellipsis more formally defined…could go on beyond my dash—why?  Because death has been defeated!   There where One named Jesus took the bullet if you will…for me…for any who would choose to believe…

I pray for peace and comfort for lives "extinguished" in what seems way too soon… and this prayer extends beyond just those 10…others I know who have given goodbye’s sooner than they would like…of families I have seen and felt some of the pain they are feeling…and during this time…may prayers be made for peace and comfort…prayers I have felt in times as this…prayers for strength to get through the hard days ahead…and prayers that they will feel the “Good Shepherd”… (talked of there in this Book I have opened by a man named John…who seemed to be a part of Jesus’ inner circle)…that the LORD…our Shepherd…may be close by their side…allowing them to “find the green pastures”…That they may have life…and have it more ABUNDANTLY…lyp

Farewell to Winter...

 A day behind...as it is now the first day of Spring...yesterday after a beautiful walk by the pond I had written...

Farewell to Winter…as I walk around the pond and listen to the serenade of the birds…a lone duck swims across and almost as it seems to see me…it retreats…I look at my barn…no it is not mine…but it is one I love to walk past.   It still covered in snow…though it continues to melt away and give way for precious moisture for the coming growth of spring time…SPRING…a new season…one of new life…new birth…and I ponder my favorite…and it very well could be…though I love fall…it is one of goodbye…of harvest…even though I think perhaps I in the fall of my life…yet still bouts of Spring seem to emerge…

Winter is past I read in Song of Solomon...and so I place it on the snow covered barn picture that appears as though a chilly winter when in fact...the sun shining!   

And a few other pics I capture on my phone...a glimpse of the moment...and prayers for the new season that awaits...may we enjoy the spring time...may we be made new...the grass is coming...breathe in the season!!!

lyp