The New Covenant

Monday mornings are a special time. We rise at about 5:30 and clear an area on the living room floor where people can sit in a circle. At 6am we join our friends for bible study, meditation, prayer and discussions. Our children usually join the tribal sort of circle at about 7. At around 8 we make pancakes served with things like fruit, molasses and honey. What a beautiful way to start the week. Fortunately, my boss doesn't usually mind if I come in late Mondays.

Last Monday was an exception though. I got a call from work saying "we do not have any water." I rushed from the gathering, hoping that the water issue would somehow just get washed away. It did go away, eventually. With help from several employees we started to pull the submersible pump out of the well. WHY WAS IT PULLING SO HARD!!?? Well, that's a pretty deep subject. We pulled 365 feet of hose, wire and pump straight out of the ground (a couple of hundred feet of 1 inch thick pipe filled with water is pretty heavy, we found out) Eight hours later we installed the new pump, wire, etc. Funny, the new things I keep learning at 41.

Speaking of new, I've lately been taken up with the subject of God's final and new covenant with man. It seems that God has always operated with covenants, directed towards his children, in a specific geographical place. In the final covenant spoken of by the prophets, we were to get a new heart and a new spirit, and dwell in this mystical place of rest (Christ) This is what believe is the Promised Land, wherein God's covenant people, or family dwell. The covenant is sealed with Christ's blood, and we are promised to have this covenant written upon our hearts.

To me this has become a new and glorious topic. The new covenant is Truth, which Pilot could not understand, and asked Jesus about. I could go on and on with this. I put a writing about my understanding of the covenant on our Mighty Rivers home page, if anyone would like to comment or critique.

Wake up 'miah!

Bang, bang, bang...'miah, 'miah, 'miah!! It's the sound of my two year old with a plastic dvd case in each of her hands banging them hard against the child gate that keeps her out of the boy's bedroom. It's 6:30am am, she's topless, almost bottomless and trying to wake up the boys. I guess she wants to watch the John Bunyan story again. I couldn't guess why so early. It seems that when one child gets awake they don't want to be alone. They are quite happy with stampedes, the party spirit, etc.

I started the little wood heater in our living room now. I like the smell of burning locust wood or burning any wood for that matter. My niece said our family smells like smoke every since we moved into this wood heated domicile.

So I told her to hold off on the banging and let 'miah sleep a little longer. It's Sunday morning. I've been in my office writing 'n reading the Bible half the night. Last night we watched Esther the story of the Jewish lady who is selected by King of Persia to be Queen. Nasty kidnapping as it was, God sure had his hands in this selection too. Although Queen Esther had to conform to a lot of customs and rules that were not proper in Israel, she was greatly blessed. She wisely and modestly conceals her Jewish origin till the proper time, then delivers her own countrymen from certain destruction. Wow, you never know through what kind of situtuation God plans to work.

So, like more than a few evenings lately, the master bed is crowded with Momma and all our offspring cuddled with her, and not having the heart to be disruptive, I retire to the couch or office. That's OK, my thoughts are geared towards writing anyway. Right now I'm really overwhelmed by the subject of God's final covenant with man. I can scarcely believe that this promise, and the story of God's covenants, is only now settling deep into my heart.

I love Sundays. Till next time...

Unpacking surprises

Unpacking one's worldly possessions can lead to surprises. Number one, there's just too much doggone stuff. Guess I'll have to throw some away. I know, I'll burn it in our new wood stove. Like firewood, it will heat twice, at the very least. Number two, which speaking of number two, Mom's got our youngest quite well trained on the potty. I never saw anything like it, she just rips her diaper right off and marches into the bathroom like an expert and before you know she's all done. She doesn't make a fuss about it although she sure earned cheers from Mom, Dad and siblings. Parents out there, don't laugh...this is landmark stuff so please celebrate with us.

Number two, in the unpacking surprises. I guess I was just going to comment that it was a blessing to cooperate with each other to make our few possessions organized and enjoyable again. Mom sure has a different style than myself, which isn't surprising since I don't necessarily have any style at all. Sarenna loves my new desk as you can see.

Day ended with traditional Saturday night supper at relative's. Man it's cold out 12 degrees really bites here in Virginia. The boys sure thought so today when I took them to prune burning bush plants at work today. OK, guess I can retire now that the stove door finally is shutable, after stuffing the chamber too full with too long logs, hoping they will burn all night. For a while I sat there like an idiot watching them burn and wondering how long it will be till I can shut the door. I wanted to sleep but couldn't with the stove door ajar. Time flies when you blog!

New Years Night in the Shenendoah Valley (#3)

New Year's eve was a busy one for us. We finished cleaning out our erstwhile home at 9:30pm then traipsed the last mini-van load of stuff up the second story stairs of our new place. Now the big question was, should we accept the invitation from church friends to come to their New Year's party. I piled a bunch of sleeping children into the van and away we drove into the moonlit night. I'm glad we did...we had a memorable time of fellowship, games and sparkling Concord grape juice. There is something special about celebrating the turning of a year, and a decade, with friends. This is our third New Year in the Valley, that exotic, romantic place I used to hear about in songs and lore. Now it's actually home? No way!

In our home, our hearts are warmed and filled with anticipation for God's work in our lives in the coming year. Time is a precious gift from God, which I seek, in turn, to fill with gifts that please Him. As I get older time really feels more precious. Maybe that's partly because I allow myself to look back and regret the ways that I have sometims squandered time in the past. Heaven forbid that I should waste any more hours with just random or thoughtless activities.

Today was interestingly just the usual stuff, considering that it's a national holiday and a day of spiritual reflection. We did get out an old hymnal and sang several New Year's songs. Got out of bed early to fix broken electrical items at work, cleaned out horse stalls, gave a homeless gentleman a ride to a hospital, and split firewood with my very promising wood cutting crew. Wow, something about woodsplitting makes me feel young again. I love the smell and comfort of wood heat too, in our incredible simple, yet cozy dwelling. Praise God for a warm house.

Flashbacks and Faith

I counted carefully to find that I need three more sheets of metal to finish the job. But it's late so I can finish nailing them on tomorrow, I thought. Tomorrow arrived. I stood across the road on the far side of the walnut tree, examining the roof to see whether the wind had not damaged the unfinished roofing project. Parts of the roof had shifted a bit, but there was no problem, except that it was beginning to rain. I walked to the shed where I had spent every year of my youth creating and fixing things. I found boots to wear, but they needed repair, and I remembered the need to improvise and be frugal so I fixed them up and donned them in spite of their uncomfortable fit. Then I decided on sneakers, for better traction on the roof.

Ok, the roof's done now. I'm extremely thirsty so I found a tin dipper in the milk house. It's really dirty and has a hole in it, so I plugged the hole with me thumb and rinsed the goop out, then drank from the faucet in stainless steel washing vat. A brother in law walks in, talking on his cell phone. I realize there are church problems going on, and I needed to try and heal the rift between us. It's morning and family members are tending to cows inside the barn. There's work tension in the air, people are hurrying around, but fairly friendly. I look for something to help with. The new hired man doesn't want to drive the manure spreading rig so someone asked me to take charge. I did.

It is springtime, and the first load is going out. The tractor and spreader are green. The spreader is unusually wide, and tires rubbed against the building as I pulled out of the barn. I found the job really interesting, as I had not helped in the barn for a few years. When I returned from spreading manure, a family member was seated outside the milk house door, near the cow's manger, conversing with a government official. I added a confirming word or two to the conversation and moved on.

When I awoke I pondered for hours, and days, the meaning of this full color, richly detailed dream. I don't have a lot of faith in dreams, and no, this blog is not about dreams. But for some reason there was one thing I got a strong signal on, and that is that now is the time to begin a blog.

I have lived a richly adventurous life, and I think my dream is a snapshot of details that have helped form my character and faith in God. My faith would be incomplete if it were not for years of spiritual and physical excersize that I have the pleasure of remembering and pondering. I want to share with others the joy of living and experiencing new light, growth and love, while intersperses moments from the past that make me who I now am, that enable me to appreciate the present, and that fill me with anticipation of a glorious future.

I'll sign off with a few boring questions. "Why is it that other peoples' dreams are boring but one's own are really interesting?" I also wonder whether I'm a rare person who dreams only dreams about myself, and the rest of you out there just as often dream second or third person.

Now I'll acutally sign off. It's Sunday, a beautiful day in Virginia's Shenendoah Valley, and there's love in the air. I cannot wait for today's golden moments of fellowship and sharing with friends.