When my Dad passed away, I spent only tiny moments alone. Neighbors came, relatives, wow so much support, blessed…  Even now it’s only tiny moments, but early morning God gets me up to pray, to read, to write. 

I can hear 50plus years of advice already rolling thru my head from my Dad. I always could and can hear IF I LISTEN. Of course most of the time I filled and fill my ears and head with my own thoughts. We all do.

Forget-me-not.
My favorite flower is the forget-me-not, the tiniest collection of blue sweet flowers, a bouquet already made, and plentiful in the fields where they are allowed to grow. I missed them this spring, and most are mowed over now. But I found a patch at the local Botanical Garden last night. They spread their little seeds and yet their roots go deep for such a tiny plant.

Our thoughts of loved ones, when filled with good memories, are like those beautiful expanses of floral fields, yes. Hopefully good memories over take any bad, we are gifted a blessing of healing, a blessing of time, a blessing of memories. Gratefully good memories and healing thoughts have DEEP roots.

Our thoughts, when filled with the Lord, give direction to grow. Roots in the Lord are deep and He, Lord God, our Father, IS the Gardener, and Jesus the Vine. So very often our thoughts when filled with our own heart desires can clog our ears. That’s normal, we are human, therefore we should listen deeper. If we realize how human our hearts are, we realize how magnificent our Lord is, especially by Him searching our hearts deeply to the roots. We should try to remain deeply planted in His Word and know that our confidence is in Him. What is impossible for man, God will and has already done. What is so fluid and fallible in us is not only KNOWN by the Lord, but is made manageable by Him, and ALL IS FORGIVEN IN HIM when we stay in Him. 

We are remembering my Dad’s favorite things these days, flowers and birds, favorite suit coat, favorite places, favorite LOTS of things. These resonate in our memories, but his favorite things were his children, his grandchildren, his wife, his family and his friends – as well as EVERY one whom he knew he could help, whether he knew them or not. His presence was strong, actions powerful and his words so meaningful.

That’s the Lord too, He loves His children immensely. And the whispers of the Holy Spirit can move His love to and thru us.

My dad’s physical self is no longer here but the whisper of his work lingers. So true for me too, as the last physical moment for me, as I kissed his forehead goodbye, was when I went to touch his chin. What does a little girl remember when getting and giving her Dad a kiss every night as he got home from a long day work, or before bedtime? The brush of a poke from his 5 o’clock shadow. How fitting that feeling came back to me at that instant. How my memories flooded me – of him excited to see me after work, of how he cared so much, of how he worked hard in raising me and of how he loved me. Yes, when I touched his chin the poke became a poke of my heartstrings. He loved me. He really did.

My Dad was a hard working man – always – doing everything and anything for helping his family and friends and community. He is done for the day now, 5 o’clock shadow no more… but his memory lingers on. 

Forget-me-not. 
Thanks Dad.

Thanks Lord.
Amen 
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Jeremiah 17: 7-10

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”—Psalm 146Praise the Lord.Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

—

Psalm 1
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers.