OPPOSITE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--OPPOSITE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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The first thing that popped into my mind was the apostle Paul's words in Romans 7:19--For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do (BSB).

And then before I had a chance to elaborate, thoughts of other opposites crowded my mind, interrupting that first one and clamoring to be heard.

I thought of how many times I have been quick to jump to conclusions and wrongly judge things that turn out to be the opposite of what I had thought. And how the life I am living now is so opposite of what I ever thought or expected it to be. And how the dreams I had when I was a teen, of falling in love and getting married to someone I would grow old with, and having a close knit family that enjoyed each other's company and doing things together did not turn out the way I thought they would.

That was a very big opposite. I did fall in love and get married and have a family, but my husband and I did not grow old together, and the many mistakes I made as a single mom pretty much killed any chance for the strong, bonded family I had yearned for.

One very amazing opposite though is that I am still here and just got to meet my 7th great-grandson. 

There was a time, not long after my husband's untimely death, that I had a scary experience that led me to have some serious concerns about my own mortality and what would happen to my children if something happened to me before they grew up. I was so sure that would be the case I wrote a will entrusting them to the care of my best friend in the event of my demise. By the grace of God, that did not turn out to be the case.

Also by His grace, and despite my parental shortcomings, my children have blossomed and matured into responsible adults and wonderful parents, who I am immensely grateful  are not repeating the same mistakes I made. It has also made me happy to see them live out many of the dreams I once dreamed for myself.

Most of all, I am grateful to a loving God who not only allowed me to witness my own children grow up, but allowed me to see my grandchildren grow up as well, and most of them get married and have families of their own.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

SURVIVORS

All the impossibility is with us when we

measure God by the limitations of our

unbelief.  (Smith Wigglesworth)

When things are looking hopeless, and there seems to be no way out, I have only to look at the plants on my balcony to remind me to never say never.

Spotted lanternflies have been swarming all over my windows and balcony, and seemed to be doing a good job of destroying the plants out there as well.  I tried spraying with white vinegar, and with soapy water, but to no avail.

From my vantage point, things were looking pretty hopeless for them as well. 

The only plant that did not seem to be affected was the spider plant. Even though there were lanternflies on it as well, it managed to thrive.

They pretty much destroyed most of the leaves on the tomato plant and all but one of the wildflower plants. But then, when I least expected it, some buds appeared on it that turned into pretty yellow flowers.

And then some droopy looking buds appeared on one of the other wildflower plants that was looking pretty defunct. I didn't expect them to open, but they did, and opened up into two lovely pink flowers.

The most miraculous survivor of all has been the tomato plant.

It started out doing really well, but even before the lanternflies arrived, it was knocked over by strong winds during a storm--despite being anchored to the balcony rail by a bungee cord.  And then the lanternflies swarmed and that seemed to seal its fate.

By some miracle, however, the dozen or so little green tomatoes that had appeared near the top of the plant before most of the rest of it had been destroyed, survived. They did not show signs of ripening, but they did not shrivel up and die either.

Today we had another windy storm, and even though the plant did not get blown over this time, the main stalk did get bent over. 

When I went out to try and secure it back up, imagine my great surprise. One of those little green tomatoes I had given up on was starting to ripen.

The words that came to me were "Fear less--trust more."

ACCUMULATE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--ACCUMULATE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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The image that accompanied the prompt brought back memories of a very long time ago when I made some unwise decisions, my plans unexpectedly went south, and it was too late to undo them. 

I had given notice and needed to be out of my apartment in a couple of days, had closed down my business, and had given most of my stuff away, when the job I had been counting on fell through, as did the place where I was going to stay. 

My daughter in West Virginia graciously offered to let me stay with her, so not having anywhere else to go, that's where I headed, with nothing but what could be stuffed into my little two-door Ford Escort. Anything that didn't fit had to be given away as well.

A choice needed to be made. In my hurry to pack and get ready to move, I had not had a chance to finish sorting through a large pile of accumulated paperwork that included several little scraps that had notes scribbled on them. I could not bring myself to dump them, in case it might contain something important like a phone number or address that hadn't been added to my address book, so I just put it all in a large plastic trashbag. And now, because of the amount of space that bagful of accumulated papers was taking up, I had to leave some things behind that I really, really didn't want to, such as two down sleeping bags. 

Once I was settled at my daughter's house I started going through that bag. Most of the accumulated contents really could have been trashed, but there was one little scrap of paper among the many that had a friend's phone number and address on it, who I would not have been able to connect with had I lost it.  

There's a message here, I'm sure, about the value of one soul, but my five minutes are up, I'm way late for a Friday post, and my brain is feeling really tired, so maybe one of you can comment about what you think the analogy would be.

JUST SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS

The Five Minute Friday website has been down with a case of unresolved technical issues, so in lieu of an FMF post, I'm sharing some random thoughts that have been percolating in my mind over the last several days.

I had a very large spider plant that was not doing well. Repotting it in a much larger pot with fresh soil did not help, and the leaves kept dying one by one. Every day I was pulling out new ones. I could not, however, bring myself to give up on it and toss it. 

No matter how dead any of my plants may seem, if there's even the tiniest evidence of something green, I just can't bear to part with it. Instead, come spring, out on my balcony they go, where they have a chance to revive or die. My desire is for them to thrive, and usually they do.

I do not share the same feelings for all God's creations though. I know everything He created has a purpose and plan, but when it comes to stink bugs and spotted lanternflies, I can't even start to imagine what that plan could possibly be. From my perspective, they are just a very annoying and destructive plague I would love to see wiped out. 

This year it's the spotted lanternflies that have taken over. They are swarming all over my windows and balcony, keeping me from being able to sit outside, and have destroyed most of my tomato plant and all but one of the wildflowers. 

Though I can't bring myself to stomp on them, it is with great gusto that I spray them with vinegar until they are at least stunned enough that I can go out and water what's left of my plants, without having them fly into my hair or onto my clothes. 

And then I listened to a livestream where the pastor preached a message about how God's heart is for salvation--not condemntaion, and even though I'm not exactly seeing its connection to stink bugs and lanternflies, it did give me something to ponder.

The gist of the message was that God wants ALL to come to repentance and for none to perish (not even the most vile person you can imagine), and even though we have free will and not everyone will choose to do so, He is gracious, compassionate, patient, and longsuffering, and goes after us again and again until there finally will come a time when it will be too late for those who refuse to respond to His call.

Is that our heart as well, or are there some people we don't wish to see saved? Are we like the prophet Jonah who tried to run from God when God told him to go to Nineveh and preach His message to the Assyrians? They were a brutal and ruthless people and Jonah knew if he took the message to them they would repent and be saved, and he did not want that to happen.

The pastor told of a time back when Osama bin Laden was assassinated, that as he walked out of a bulding in DC, a reporter stuck a microphone in his face and asked him what his reaction was to this breaking news. His response was, "The Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked." 

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Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign LORD. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live (Ezekiel 18:23, NLT).

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9, BSB).