Last week was a 1000-MPH week – but filled with so much goodness. The devil worked so hard to steal my joy with challenges that took me by surprise and threatened to overwhelm me to pause, to “settle.” I stopped listening to what the world was saying – and worked hard at listening just to God. Spiritual whiplash? Sometimes as much as 100 times in an hour . . . but I didn’t give up or settle for less. God quieted my soul. What we carry with us from yesterday into today and from today into tomorrow – those are the things that we choose with which to define our lives. These are the good things vintaged from last week and yesterday that I choose to carry with me into today and tomorrow. I choose to disallow Satan to define me by his challenges and the missing-it moments. I chose to define my today and tomorrow by the blessings God leaves for me in the daily.

It’s Tulip Season in a town on the upward climb of a little mountain in Tennessee. A Hallelujah Song is budding to bloom – and it needed savoring, sitting over, without rush, without hurrying it along. – catching all the goodness that comes with it, like trying to catch fireflies on a summer night.

Last week, “Feed My Sheep” plans stirred my heart, so my camera and I took photos of lambs coming come for a post-Elijah series project.

“’Do you love me?’ Jesus asked Peter” – you and me, too.

“Yes”, Peter answered.

Jesus told Peter – and you and me – “Feed my lambs. . . . Shepherd my sheep. . . . Feed my Sheep” (John 21: 15-19).

Squirrels teased my ancient cat and our pup Georgie. I am hopeful a rabbit will nap in my garden this summer. I miss when Tennessee Whiskers could be found having napped under the tomatoes during the heat of the day. I miss little hoppers hopping around my garden. Maybe I would feel differently if I had a whole Tennessee Whiskers siblings and cousins over-running the garden. A little rabbit whimsy is welcome in my garden.

Spring drew on…
and a greenness grew over those brown beds,
which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night,
and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.”
― Charlotte Brontë

The rains are coming for a few days, so I diced and I stirred for a Monday Mushroom Goulash. It’s amazing in a bowl by itself, as a sauce on some steak, or even on poached eggs. A good soup does much to warm the soul!

“Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
It is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people and plants of the field
to everyone”
~ Zechariah 10:1

“The true beloveds of this world
are in their lover’s eyes lilacs opening,
ship lights, school bells, a landscape,
remembered conversations, friends,
a child’s Sunday,
lost voices,
one’s favorite suit,
autumn, and all seasons.”
– Truman Capote

I cut some lilacs before the rain comes. This is the first Spring in years its buds haven’t froze in a Pear Tree Winter. I have some safe inside in case the rains knock off their blooms. If a smell were spring, it would be lilac blooms!

Georgie (named after Georgiana Darcy) pinned me late last week as if to say, “If I have to sit on you to make you rest, I will sit on you.” So I didn’t budge for an hour while she sat guard making sure I didn’t move. Of course, I’d love for her to be the embodiment of Nana from Peter Pan. Of course, I know she really just wants to be petted and have her attention tank filled. . . my husband laughs at how good I am at translating what she says. Maybe sometimes these silly translations are not what we can easily say to ourselves.

“The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking.
Repose is as needful to the mind as sleep to the body…
Rest time is not waste time.
It is economy to gather fresh strength.”
~ Charles Spurgeon

Christians are a faith people commissioned to take the gospel to the world, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to feed God’s lambs. Yet, as we minister to the great needs of those around the world, it is equally important to not neglect the mission fields in our own communities, from backyards to school yards to church yards – all filled with children and young adults who cry out to be fed and shepherded.

Hotdogs & Prayer – reaching the lost lambs and found lambs – feeding, encouraging, praying – one hotdog and one prayer at a time.

The dogwoods are getting ready to bloom. The dogwoods are all about the crucifixion. The tulips, though, the tulips are about resurrection.

“After every crucifixion, there is resurrection,” Nik Ripkin, The Insanity of God

Remember Me Monday: #127 Link-up

“I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,
    all the things God has done that need praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
    his great goodness to the family of Israel—
Compassion lavished,
.    love extravagant.”
~ Isaiah 63:7, The Message

In the Old Testament, God repeatedly, quietly and loudly, tells his children, “You have forgotten me!”  (Jeremiah 3:32, Ezekiel 22:12, to name a few). It’s a heart cry from a father to a child who has forgotten all the love, all the saving, helping, little and big blessings – and it leaves me stunned when I realize our Father, the creator of the universe, who knows things I cannot begin to fathom, who authors storylines that leave me amazed, delights in all of us so much, He cries out, “Remember Me.”

While every day is a Remember God Day, I am inviting you to join me on Monday mornings to come by and remember what God has done for you, for your family. Maybe God sent a cardinal darting out in front of you, as if to tell you, “I’m here,” or broke a child’s fever after you laid it all down at His feet in a 2 a.m. bedside vigil. Maybe He stood with you in the wait of a prayer sent out, or brought someone you loved to Christ. Maybe He healed your broken heart, gave your courage, or you gave Him your dreams as a love offering only to have Him give them back in an unimaginable way. Maybe God helped you survive to bedtime after a crazy Monday, or forgive yourself for missing it with your kiddos –– Whatever it is, let’s Remember Him. . . in a “Remember Me Monday” love letter.

“My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
Of your salvation all the day long,
Though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord”
~ Psalm 71:15-16.

Let us delight in Him by telling the  stories of what He’s done!  If you wrote a blog post remembering what He’s done for you, join the linky. If you didn’t but still want to praise Him for what He’s done – write it in the comment section. Then visit a comment before or after yours! One of the beautiful things about the blogging community is the relationships it builds!

Rules?  Write long or short, a list or a story, include photos or not. Just Remember Him and what He has done, and let the gratitude of your heart guide you. Let’s make Monday so Rejoice, that the goodness of God spills into the rest of the week! (Link opens Mondays at 6 a.m.)

Places I’m Linking at This Week:
  Instaencouragements, Legacy Link-Up, 
Let’s Have Coffee Wednesday 
Recharge Wednesday, Scripture & a Snapshot
 Grace&Truth, Sweet Tea & Friends