Petals from the Basket

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Strawberries to Remember

Lorraine Strohbehn

Guest Contributor, Lorraine Strohbehn

Today’s post was written by our monthly guest contributor, Lorraine Strohbehn (my mom).

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Our four children were young and full of energy. That was great to tap into as strawberry season arrived. What a treat those berries would be when we got them from our freezer during the winter—not to think of the meal we would have while they were fresh-picked.

A family in our church had a generous strawberry patch they enjoyed for the first picking. The second picking, if we would simply go and pick them, was their gift to our family. The very thought of those sumptuous, sweet red berries woke all six of us pretty early the morning of the picking. Because it always occurred during the week of our Bible School it meant that everyone needed to get up extra early and don their workin’ duds, and we would drive out to pick strawberries. The faithful workers filled several small buckets, had six sets of wet clothes because of the morning dew, and a ravenous hunger for fresh strawberries over ice cream.

There was no time for stemming them all, so everyone but mom got cleaned up and got into Bible School clothes and ready for an exciting day. I cleaned and stemmed a generous pan of the berries, cut and mashed some of them, added some sweetening, and put them in the refrigerator so they were ready for our noon meal following Bible School.

I followed to help in Bible School, then, at the close, there was a mad dash for home. What a time we had! Good nutrition was set aside for that day, and the table contained two items: first, a generous container of ice cream; then, a giant bowl of fresh-picked strawberries. Everyone could have all his or her heart desired. It was the meal. As we did this over a number of years, we eventually added fresh waffles for the base, as the children were older with more demanding appetites.

How eager everyone was to work, because they knew the pay was fabulous! They all did a good job. How many opportunities have I missed through the years to make work fun? Matthew 10:10 says, “…for the workman is worthy of his meat.” Sometimes the pay is simply thank you, maybe a pat on the back, maybe the words, “I am proud of you,” and maybe even ice cream with all the strawberries your heart desires.

When we know Christ as Savior, the reward we should look forward to most is seeing Him face to face and hearing the words from Matthew 25:21, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” The word good here simply means God has made each of us special (Psalm 139:13-16) to serve him in a certain way; then, our commendation comes when we use the way He made us to serve Him for His glory.

By Petals from the Basket | May 31, 2013 | Bible Reading, Family, Guest Posts |

Shh….

“Be still, and know that I am God….” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)

Life lesson #427:

I’ve been looking at the blank computer screen for almost thirty minutes. Yet, I still can’t think of one intelligent thing to say or even one topic to write about today. But I still learned something in those thirty minutes:

Sometimes, we need to be silent.

To listen.

To be comfortable with the silence.

To know that in the multitude of words—spoken/written only for the sake of speaking/writing—there is great potential for unwisely spoken/written words.

So silence, listening, and  learning will come to the forefront today.

Today, I will be still and know.

 

By Petals from the Basket | May 30, 2013 | God-and-I-Time |

Windblown Words of Experience

Last evening, I enjoyed a short walk outside. It was super windy, but it was also super warm, and it felt great to get outside and move!

As I walked, the wind kept blowing my hair in my eyes—as in: constantly! It was starting to get on my last nerve to have to keep swiping my hair out of my eyes over and over and over again, when I finally decided to just tuck that strand into the hair clip that was holding the rest of my hair up in a high ponytail—problem solved. (Feel free to throw in a “duh” here if you’d like! I deserve it!) After that, I didn’t have to mess with it, and I could concentrate on just moving forward with my walk.

How many times does that annoying “strand of sin” keep doing that in my spiritual life? And when it does, what do I do about it? Here are a few personal examples of those “duh” spiritual moments from my own life:

*The secret strands of character-revealing moments: I shouldn’t be watching this program, but maybe it’ll get better. No one else even knows what I’m watching. I’m spiritually strong enough to handle this even though I wouldn’t want anyone to know I’m watching it.

Psalm 101:3 (NIV) “I will not look with approval on anything that is vile.”

*The wandering strands of uncontrolled thoughts: What if…? I’ll bet they’re…. If only I had…. Why don’t they…?

Philippians 4:8 (NIV) “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

*The pesky strands of doubt and fear: I can’t do this. There’s no way I can do this. It’s not possible for this to happen. I need help. Where can I get some help?

Psalm 28:7 (NIV) “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.”

So, when those annoying questions or temptations keep coming your way over and over and over again, use God’s Word to just stick that annoying sin in the “ponytail holder” that was there all along and keep moving forward!

By Petals from the Basket | May 29, 2013 | Bible Reading, Family |

Just around the Bend

During the four weeks of June this year, I’m going to have a weekly focus based on character qualities and actions that begin with the four letters in the word June:

J — Joyful (a very misunderstood quality and a command from God) [Saturday, June 1–Saturday, June 8]

U — Understanding (a quality that blends empathy with compassion and love) [Sunday, June 9–Saturday, June 15]

N — Nice (a quality that requires sincerity) [Sunday, June 16–Saturday, June 22]

E — Excellent (a quality that doesn’t tell us to be the best but to give our best) [Sunday, June 23–Sunday, June 30]

June is “just around the bend,” so finish strong with the month of May and then get ready for some fun, learning, and practical ways to become—or to be more: joyful, understanding, nice, and excellent!

By Petals from the Basket | May 28, 2013 | Events |

We Remember…

On this Memorial Day, please gratefully remember the fallen.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

—John McCrae, 1915

 

By Petals from the Basket | May 27, 2013 | Events |