bare feet / my favourite things

bare feet

there is something about feeling the earth between your toes
or the loose sand
or wet grass

Jaime always liked bare feet

at his wedding
I found him coming out of the garden
toes dancing in the coolness of the morning

he carried the smile
he's always carried
bit his lip
and still had the youthful twinkle
in his eye
that said

this is just how I like it

it couldn't be better

Jedaiah would throw off
his shoes and socks
when the first grass
began to
green
after it had  played
hide and seek with the snow
from October
'til May

my little boy would race his sisters
around the snow piles
and the laughter that
lifted in the air
was painted with
the same colours
as Jaime's
silly grin
on that wedding day

I like the mud between my toes
in June
when the sun is hot
and we play in
the slimy clay
baths

one is never
too old
or too young
to feel the earth
between
the toes

Jesus
took
a basin of water

a towel

and

dusty worn out feet

tired with the heat
of the day

and not just play

Jesus
washed
them

I wonder
if
He
liked
to
go

barefoot ?

my favourite things

sour dough / my favourite things

I have been making bread
all week

it is a busy process

I put away my yeast
and instead have starters
for sour dough

two starters
from two friends

I have doubled the amounts by adding
flour and water

mixed it smooth
to look like pancake batter

saved some 'levain'
in the fridge

and let the other be warm and grow
waited eight hours
and fed it again

all week I have been feeding my levain
and waiting

smelling it
watching for it to rise and double its size
looking for it to collapse
waiting for it to be bubbly and wrinkled

I think it is dead

It has no life
gives off no sweet odour

lifeless

useless

I checked the part
I put in the fridge
the half I fed and put aside
to rest

It still had bubbles
and a pleasant odour

I will try again

I think I watered down the food
not enough sustenance
I starved it
maybe I did not keep it warm enough
I missed a few days
didn't measure just right
I am sort of a 'throw in this and a bit of that' kind of person

but there is a better way
it is already proven
it would have made my levain grow
given it bounce
given it life

the
Red Rooster
Bakery
said

my risen dough
when ready
should feel soft
with a body to it
just like a baby's bumb

(makes me smile to remember
all my Afrikan babies and TLC)

I am going to try again

remembering
my husband's happy heart
for a good loaf of bread

I am going to make a good levain
feed it well
let some rest
and watch
for the bubbles
and the wrinkles
and the pleasant odour

time with Jesus
resting in Him
being filled with His joy
getting old and wrinkled
being a sweet savour
to those around us

feeding on His Word
waiting on His Spirit

good levain

sour dough
my favourite things





I am making sour dough bread... or rather... trying!
It is a balance between feeding my starter or starving it, watching it bubble and grow and smell yeasty or seeing it lie flat out, unmoving, useless and dead...my heart is the same way...do I let God feed me so that I am alive and growing in Him or do I seal myself off and become useless to His Kingdom and to those around me?
I want to be good levain, alive, and bubbly, so I will unscrew my cap that keeps Him out and let Him feed me by His Spirit through His Word... I want to make good loaves, over and over again!
There is a hungry world out there!
He is the Bread of Life!
 
from the fisherlady

watching the stars/ my favourite things

it was August
years ago
that Nao Takashima
from Osaka
visited us

with her came origami animals
calligraphy
Japanese lessons
and cooking

she rode to the Willow
with Jedaiah by day
and by night
we lay on the fields
and watched  the Milky Way
and the dancing Northern Lights

She had never seen the stars
nor heard of the Northern Lights

twenty-eight years
and she didn't know their existence

she had never seen the dark

in Osaka night never comes to the night sky
in the brightness of the city
the stars lay hidden

but we found them that August
in a little village of no consequence

except for pornography scandals
and weed busts
we were unknown

it was there that Nao found in the night sky
the stars that had always lay hidden from her

it was there in that little town
that she found the Light that lighteneth all men
and she grew as a tender reed
and bruised so easily

She poured her heart out in service on the farm
and in our home she created word pictures
in her tongue
to bless

but she never understood about the Shepherd

Jesus as Lord and Saviour... yes
Master and Creator of the universe... yes
Almighty God...yes
Everlasting Father... yes

But Shepherd... no

I asked her if she might calligraphy in her tongue
"Jesus, the Good Shepherd lay down His Life for the sheep"

she was deeply hurt at my request and offended

she said it wasn't possible to put the Holy One in the dirt
amongst lowly animals

It took many hours to help her see
that Jesus IS the Good Shepherd
Who lay down His life for the sheep

That He chose to put aside His royalty
and His Heavenly Home

And that we are the sheep
the people of His pasture

That the Good Shepherd always comes to find
that which is lost

and brings it Home

Nao made our word picture
at last with a joyous heart
and with understanding

the day she left
I stood and waved
while our eyes met
and our hearts joined
like the Milky Way
stretched out across the sky

She has a brightness now that will never leave her
it is as the Northern Lights
dancing that night
in a town of
little consequence

Jesus
born in Bethlehem

and the star shone
over the stable where He lay
The King of kings
came down
to us

His brightness can be seen in the darkest hour

watching the stars
my favourite things