:. noise .:

The prophet Elijah had just come off a big win against the prophets of Baal. [You can read the full play-by-play in 1 Kings 18. Be assured, it's riveting.]

Yes, Elijah proved beyond a doubt that Jehovah is Lord . . . yet he came away from the experience afraid and depressed. He had good reason; Jezebel the queen had vowed to kill him, but I find it quite interesting that after such a huge spiritual victory he would slide into very dire emotional straits.

Chew on that fact; mull it over; ponder it well. I will let you draw your own conclusions, because this post is about what happened next.

After some refreshment straight from the hand of God, he headed to Horeb, "the mountain of God", where he was told "the Lord is about to pass by."

Tornadic winds tore at the mountain, shattering rocks . . . but the Lord was not in the wind.
Then, an earthquake . . . but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake, a fire . . . but the Lord was not in the fire.

"And after the fire came a gentle whisper."

And there, there was God Almighty.

We are told in another place to "be still and know that I am God."

It makes sense that we must be quiet in order to know this God who speaks in a gentle whisper.

My question is: with all the noise in our everyday lives, how is it possible to hear Him? How often have we missed His voice because we surround ourselves with NOISE? We carry phones with us everywhere so we don't miss a single call. We stay connected to the internet so we don't miss any emails, tweets, facebook messages. We turn the music up loud, the TV on for background noise, we use ear buds, iPods, lala.

Really? Are we that afraid of stillness? Are we afraid of being absolutely alone . . . with our thoughts, with our God?

Turn off the noise, and listen for that gentle whisper. It could change your life.

:. for your information .:

• 1 in 91 children (formerly 1 in 150 up until 2009 and 1 in 10,000 in the early 1990s)
• 4:1 ratio of boys to girls
• 1 in 58 boys
• Fastest growing developmental disability
• A family with a child with autism will fund 3 to 5 million dollars of services throughout the lifetime of the child.
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than cancer, diabetes, Downs Syndrome and AIDS combined.
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of most of the more prevalent childhood disorders.
• Approximately 1 million individuals in the US have autism

:. the message of the cross .:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness

to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved

it is the power of God."

~ 1 Corinthians 1:18 ~

What is the message of the cross?

It is a message of hope for hopeless people. Forgiveness and cleansing. Grace, mercy and peace. It is a message of God's unconditional love. Of redemption and relationship. It is a message of joy and pardon and a new way of being. Death to self and life eternal. It is strength for the weary and adoption as sons.

The cross is God, beckoning, pleading with us to return to Him. To be reunited with the One who formed us. It is God providing the Way to become the people we were created to be.

How is it possible for all this to be considered foolishness? Who could turn down such a gift?

Please, be reconciled to Him. He is stretching out His arms to you right now.

:. carnation lily lily rose .:

I love this John Singer Sargent painting: it is a breath of June as we sit at the tail-end of winter. Spring is coming . . . and roses . . . and lilies . . . oh, and Baby Girl!
(Im)patiently waiting!

:. thirty-seven .:

Yesterday the high hit 37°. With the winter we've had, that 37 felt like 77. Forget doing dishes, forget folding laundry, forget getting ready for family dinner! I naturally headed out to the garden to soak up some much-needed vitamin D. Hhhhmmm . . . where to sit?

Definitely not HERE. Notice where the ice chunk CRASHED off the roof and SPLINTERED my adirondack chair! Yikes!

Oh, there's a dry little seat . . if I can climb over mountains of snow in my chucks. [Note to self: buy snow boots for next winter.] I tell you, the 20 minutes I spent with that wonderfully warm sun on my face was HEAVEN. I would've stayed out longer, but I really did need to get ready for the birthday buddies.

Oh, and here's what spring-time looks like on the inside of my house:

I can't wait for the real thing!