Contentment in the Moment

Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.  For I can do everything through Christ,^[d] who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13 NLT

After scrolling through photos of my summer trip to Alaska, I thought of gorgeous scenery and special time with my family. As I looked out toward my small lake and listened to a variety of birds, memories of Denali’s snow-covered peaks and the majesty of our 50^th state came to mind.

            On train trips, we watched the countryside pass by with few signs of civilization. Moose ambled across the terrain. Eagles swept through the azure sky. Waterfalls splashed into mountain streams. 

            From the ship, we stared at enormous glaciers and watched icebergs float on the calm bays. Whales frolicked in the ocean. Snow-topped mountain ranges rose in all directions. Scene after scene captivated me. I longed to return. 

            However, after returning home, the humming crickets and singing birds around my lake added a distinct background to the beauty of colorful flowers and towering trees. Thankfulness filled me for my own smaller but unique retreat that I visit each day.

            God’s handiwork has an endless assortment of creations. Oceans, canyons, rivers, mountains, insects, mammals, fish, flowers, trees…

            As amazing as Alaska is in the summer, winters are brutal. Winters in Florida are usually mild and enjoyable, but hot, humid summers are oppressive. 

Trips around the world have let me experience all sorts of climates, cultures, and countrysides. My adventures have helped me to become more content and thankful wherever I am.

Lord, thank you for the variations in your creation. Help us to be content with where we are in our ever-changing circumstances. You give us contentment, peace, and love.

Amen

A Joyful Finish

“For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty, and you gave me water; I was a stranger, and you invited me into your homes; naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink? Or a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’

“And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me!’

Matthew 25:34-40 TLB

Dolly Parton is gone!!  Headlines screamed the news. Her legacy continues with her businesses, Imagination Library for children, Dollywood, and thousands of songs. Tributes pour in from all over the world. 

            As I approach a milestone birthday like Dolly’s, I wonder how many more birthdays I will celebrate. As I ponder reality, I am not depressed about it, but I want to live and not just exist as long as I can.. 

            Dolly was a great example. She kept going until the end. 

            As long as I am physically able, I want to serve others at church, in my neighborhood, and in the community. After years of careful spending and eating hot dogs and casseroles, God has blessed me financially in my retirement. I can donate to those who need it more than I do.   

No longer do I travel to far places on mission trips. However, I can support those who do go by praying, giving supplies, and contributing to their costs. 

Each day brings opportunities to care for others. I pray for ways to make someone’s day better. Bring a smile with flowers. Drop devotionals off at doorsteps. Call someone who is lonely. 

Widows especially tug at my heart because of my own grief. After the funeral, many feel forgotten. Even though the grief lessens over time, it reappears at unexpected moments. 

As long as we are still here, we can be living for Jesus and showing Him to the world. 

My life has changed with the passing of time. My body doesn’t work as it used to, so I have to adjust but not quit. We can follow Jesus’ command to love God and others. 

Loving others well is not always easy or convenient. Jesus didn’t let that stop Him from talking to those others ignored. He healed the sick, taught the multitudes, and listened to those who were rejected. 

We can do the same as we give our time, talents, and resources. We may not be rich in money, but we all have time and gifts. Even if we are not able to get out, we can reach others from our homes by phone, email, or actual snail mail.   

Loving Father, thank you for the years we have here on earth. Show us how to make the most of each day even when we don’t feel like it. Help us appreciate the numerous blessings we have and provide ways to bless others.

Amen

Indescribable Denali

Rebecca Carpenter

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Psalm 95:1-5 NIV

Cool weather, a welcome change from steamy Florida, greeted my family and me when we stepped outside the airport terminal in Anchorage, Alaska.  As our driver gave commentary on the city, we marveled that, at 10 pm, the sun shone brightly. We were excited about our trip through the 49^th state.

            During a brief morning walk from our hotel to a path by the water, we saw lovely flowers, a mountain range across the calm inlet, and a variety of people who passed by. After breakfast, passengers loaded onto several buses for a journey to the Princess Wilderness Lodge. 

            Instead of lanes of traffic, we experienced snow-topped peaks, lakes, and lush forests. Birds flew overhead and landed along the water. Moose and eagles added to our trip. The landscape kept changing as we traveled to our home for the night. How refreshing it was to experience such untouched beauty. 

            Buses lined the street in front of a wooden lodge in a complex of rustic buildings. The picture reminded me of an alpine movie. We found our rooms up the hill in a long wooden structure. Then we returned to the main lodge. 

            The breathtaking panorama stunned all of us. In full view was the spectacular snow-covered Denali. The tallest mountain in North America put on a surprising show for everyone at the lodge. We had been told that only 30% of the people who came to see the mountain could actually see it without clouds. Of that 30%, only 10% observed the whole mountain. What a blessing to be able to experience the majesty, and beauty of it all day. 

            Tourists gathered on the deck to take pictures and look through binoculars. Even when it began getting cool, people stayed to marvel at the gift we had been given. 

            I had hoped to be part of the group who could actually see the towering peak but never imagined we would have such a magnificent sight and be part of the 10%. 

            Our time at the lodge was a wonderful beginning to a fabulous trip. God’s glorious creation was certainly on display.  

Heavenly Father, thank you for your incredible creation from the smallest flower to the largest mountain. Help us to appreciate it all, whether at home or on phenomenal journeys.

Amen

            

 

Reflections about Young Life Camp

Direct your children onto the right path,
    and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)

Back to my serene spot by the lake after a busy week with five hundred high school students at a Young Life camp in Georgia. Picturesque SharpTop Cove is located in the mountains of northern Georgia. 

            Excited students climbed off bus after bus from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missippi, and Texas to attend an amazing week of activities. Team members welcomed them with music and smiles. Work crew members grabbed luggage and led them to their cabins. Many of the wide-eyed attendees had come for the first time and didn’t know what to expect. 

            All week, energy flowed as they sang, danced, played volleyball, threw frisbees, swam, slid down a slide into the lake, maneuvered the ropes course, hiked… With no phones, the young people actually enjoyed being together and having fun. 

            Even with all the activities, godly values were woven into each day. The camp speaker gave a daily Biblical message. Five leaders shared stories about their difficult lives that God had changed. 

            Leaders spent time getting to know campers better and answering questions. Students formed relationships with new friends and enhanced older ones. 

            By the end of the week, the final message revealed how to have a relationship with Jesus. Some teens already knew Jesus, but for some campers, the concept was new. 

            Everyone who had accepted Jesus during the week, was asked to stand, say their name, and Say So. What a moving experience it was to see teens loving God and knowing their lives will be changed. Perhaps their family members and friends will too after observing them. 

            Each time I attend a Young Life event, I am thankful for all who participate in the ministry. Young people around the world have an opportunity to know about Jesus. It is encouraging to see them heading in the right direction. 

Dear Lord, be with each student and leader as they live as Christians in an often hostile environment. Show them how to live in the world but not get entangled in the world. Help us all be more bold in sharing the Gospel.

Amen

A Comforting Sanctuary

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 

Psalm 8:3-4 NIV

Hundreds, no thousands of times, over the years, I have sat on my patio and marveled at the beauty before me. It is never boring or routine. I thank God each day for providing my marvelous, lakeside retreat. 

            Recently, orange salvia supplied nectar for a tiny bee. A boisterous blackbird startled me with his thunderous caws from my oak tree. A bouquet of white Easter lilies rose from remnants I had planted over the years. Sunshine formed spotlights on motionless cypress trees. The lake displayed a mirrored image of the forest. 

            Years earlier, we selected an almost bare lot for our new home. Only seven small cypress trees rose from the shore. We imagined what it would become after the house was built. 

            Anticipation of the future, helped us focus on something besides the turmoil we faced and the reason for our move.

            Alan’s idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal disease, had progressed, and we knew he was getting worse. We searched for a community because we decided to downsize from our large home. Many of the places had extra medical care if he needed it later. However, I wasn’t ready to be in one of them alone. 

            We returned to Victoria Gardens after visiting a Parade of Homes many years earlier. This time, we actually looked in earnest.  We liked the lot on water and that the lawns were to be taken care of. 

            When we told the realtor we would take it, she told us to go home and think about it overnight. That had never happened before. The next day, she got our deposit. 

            As we prepared to move, my mom went into an assisted care facility, and my dad passed away. What a stressful time it was. 

            Alan and I looked forward to clubhouse activities after we settled in. I joined the VeeGees, a singing group. He didn’t get to enjoy the community because he quickly declined. Four months after we moved in, he passed away. 

            I wasn’t ready to be a widow and couldn’t even say the word. My world turned up-side down, but the quiet of the lake comforted me. 

            How thankful I am to have a place to escape the chaos of the world. My lake became a haven where I grieved the loss of my mom, dad, Alan, and my daughter, Susie. God continues to meet me there daily as I pray, meditate on God’s Word, rejoice, and feel wrapped in His love. Sometimes I laugh at the antics of animals, sing hymns, or even cry. But each day I feel blessed. 

Loving Father, thank you for always being with me in all seasons. I don’t always like the changes, but I know You are with me in every season of life.

Amen

My Little Garden of Eden

Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Luke 12:27 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 NIV

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV

After days away from my patio view, the beauty of my yard overwhelmed me. I felt like I had stepped into a lovely, botanical garden.

Sunlight streamed from a crystal-clear blue sky. Along the shore, at least thirty delicate, white African irises filled the area between two cypress trees with newly sprouted green needles. More irises bordered my patio.

An abundance of yellow coreopsis displayed their sunny faces in a flower bed under the oak tree next to mounds of white and green spider plants. Orange and white salvia filled the area in front of my porch. Purple society garlic waved their slender blooms on a side of my patio. Dew drops sparkled on leaves and a lacey spider web.

A chorus of birds welcomed the morning with their songs. A pair of cardinals chirped and flew from tree to tree.

The beauty of my view captured my attention and kept me from my normal devotional time. I didn’t want to miss the exquisite gift before my eyes. I always appreciated the landscape and thanked God for it, but the phenomenal blessing left me speechless.

Instead of a few pretty flowers, my yard had been transformed into my own little Garden of Eden. I could not stop staring at the magnificence of what God had done. The unexpected display reminded me of His love and care. He took my freeze-damaged yard and created a masterpiece.

Over the years, I added a variety of plants. The irises had come from our previous home. A neighbor gave me clumps of coreopsis, which multiplied and were originally planted by another neighbor. A friend gave me the society garlic from her garden. The salvia had spread from a couple of plants I purchased. I planted several specimens, but God expanded them into the abundant, magnificent showcase I now have.

The Lord can take our insignificant lives and turn them into something beautiful. As I experienced my spectacular garden, I began singing a song I learned years ago at a church divorce group.

“Something beautiful, something good. All my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful out of my life.” by Bill and Gloria Gaither.

 

After a few words, I burst into tears. My mind went back fifty years to a broken, scared young mom facing an unwanted divorce. Now nearing eighty with countless trials and disappointments behind me, God has taken my broken pieces so I could understand the pain of others and write books to comfort them.

He has been molding me for His purpose. That reality brought tears of thankfulness. I have no idea what lies ahead, but I know He will love, guide, and strengthen me. 

Father, thank you for taking my messes and using them for good. Give me strength, wisdom, and compassion to help those around me who are hurting.

Amen

Hope in the Garden for All Seasons

 My new book is out. I have copies to sell and it is also on Amazon.