restore

Pause before you Pitch, Remember to Reach, Reminisce, then Recycle or Restore

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I’m glad I hesitated before putting a bag into a clothing donation bin, a bag that I figured was all new 1970’s fabric – IT WASN’T. I paused before I pitched. In the bottom of the bag was embroidery plus crocheted hot pads for use or decoration. The embroidery was done but not yet sewn into a functional item like a tablecloth or fancy hanky, the fabric “Made in USA”, and the embroidery, beautiful peacocks of blue stitches with flowers of pastel colors, and those French knots were perfect and immediately it was my remembrance of my Grandma who taught all of us how to sew by hand, and make beautiful things out of thread. 

I can see myself practicing these types of embroidery French knots, they were fun as a challenge. I immediately realized this was likely my grandma’s work, maybe my aunt’s, but likely grandma’s who also had made me a beautiful pillowcase for my young birthday of an embroidered doll with lace skirt. That doll, like the peacocks in this fabric, had the neatest stitches and those fancy French knots. 

Pause before you Pitch, Remember to Reach, Reminisce, then Recycle or Restore…

There are so many things we have in our overloaded lives, things to keep, but in cleaning up 125yrs of farmhouse, you do have to pitch the decaying items, and recycle the paper and preserve the past treasures, even maybe restore one or two.

I’m glad for the remembrance and reminiscing, I will frame them perhaps, it’s interesting that my family and I might be the only few who understand and see this memory – it is cherished on the very small audience scale and like each little stitch, it was done not for world-shaking activity or applause, but for enjoyment and beauty. Yes, I’m glad I paused before pitching that bag. I can’t save everything – so I also have to be willing to give a lot away – it might become someone else’s dream to restore it, my role this time is to preserve the stuff worth preserving – even if temporary – even if to give away – to just to pause before pitching…  and yes I will plan to make good use of the thrift store donation places – save the opportunity for someone else’s dream…

But before you pitch – it is good to reminisce with the people who know those items.  And on the flip side – I find myself trying to reduce my footprint of “stuff” – save what is worth saving and parse down the rest so that good intentions are not caught in clutter.

What about people encounters (not items) and what about blessings or warnings we find in our interactions? Do we also practice caution over what we say or throw away flippantly? Do we also NOT pause before we pitch away the frustrating scenarios, get rid of them and move on? Then do we knit the good thoughts into our hearts of “random strangers”? What about our prayers and giving good vibes that we can share with others we “randomly meet” without knowing what each interaction is about? We can leave that up to the Lord for storing in their hearts, we just be the good stuff and not the junk they encounter. Will the conversation that day be something like a stitch in their tapestry of life? It is all important how God makes these stitches – even if only one or two share them.

I hope so – I hope we pause before we pitch, remember to reach, reminisce then recycle and move on – or restore a connection lost…

I hope our day is as pretty as a peacock – and not cluttered with concerns… We are to be His Hands and Feet and fruitfulness and filling stitches of strength and beauty. He makes all things beautiful in His time.

Amen

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Ecclesiastes 3 KJV
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Restore and Repeat, until Matthew 24 Happens

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Well, I won’t really know until it rains, but I restored a little sanity to my situation in the laundry room. The sag saga situation continued for many years, like the sagging of the ceiling board with the heavy water soaked in (this year after last year’s drought). And the siding separated and the foam fizzled and me, well I pushed off the problem but now it became paramount before we potentially could get paralyzed by plummeting by the power panel. Now that would have been bigger problems! “The sky is falling” is nothing compared to worse. Sounds funny but true.

So I found the people who took on the job with unknowns after 3 repair people balked, one place relentlessly pursued with their pricey price. And these folks – well it was a sign from God, that I perceived at least – a perhaps at least – this phone number placement in peculiar timing, on a poster board by a parking lot, peculiar and pertinent when my friend mentioned she needed painting. I took the photo, she placed the phone call and the people painted. The participation of placement allowed me to tap into them as a possibility of personal property repair folks too, for my sagging laundry room ceiling and broken AC removal, and replacing siding (it matched so well). Yes, I finally took the plunge and paid for the patching. I hope the rain rolls instead of seeps. I hope the siding slides the sheets of soaking snow and sprinkles. I hope it is fixed, but at least it is new and not sagging, and we maybe we start again. Won’t know until it rains and no, I am not dragging a hose up there to find out…

Rain, Restore and Repeat.

That’s life.  You don’t know how water seeps in everywhere, let alone when it is going to rain or be a drought, and this is the truth about life too. You don’t know the future damage or bliss, but you can be prepared to tackle that then. It is a good time to “push off” the worry. We don’t know what’s going to go bad around the corner, so don’t worry about it now and just deal with it then. So just cover yourself now and keep moving… Rain restore and repeat. If you did it once, you can do it again. And that goes for repairs, for packing and unpacking (keep praying for my friend who moved, please), for cleaning (and yes I have lots of cleaning now from construction dust), for life…  Restore and Repeat. Rolling with it all the way…

My friend completed her move across the country but not the unpacking – she is awaiting more things to fall into place but for now she has a place and a mission with her grandkids. I took the opportunity to mark up the month of June writings with green highlights for each devotion that pertained to her and her moving – it was a process for sure but even though new things popped up, the old ones have moved on – and each day is fresh with the Lord’s mercies new each morning. The writings of June show that life moved forward but God was there each step of the way. And now, I know she is in a new place with new rest and new mission. She can do the restore and repeat situation again if she has to – she can and we all can. Just look at the Lord’s help – know them previously and know He will be there every day moving forward, every moving box, every rain drop, every tear drop. “Put one foot in front of the other”.  The Lord knows not just rain, restore and repeat – the Lord KNOWS REIGN – and He will be there – in being sovereign, reigning, restoring and repeating.

Some day “the earth will dissolve as snow” – well not really – the scripture doesn’t say that song lyric – scripture says “the earth will pass away” – “disappear” – the “sky is falling” is not true – the earth will roll away but we won’t be on it then – and so honestly can we worry about that now? NO. Just get on the Jesus Train and keep chugging along. Just know that the Lord will REMAIN and His Word endures for ever.  So in the meantime, just restore and repeat. and “get up and do it again” until Matthew 24’s prophesy by Jesus goes down. Not the sky but the save.

Restore and Repeat.

Really.

Amen

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Matthew 24 NKJV

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.

“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

The Coming of the Son of Man
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

No One Knows the Day or Hour
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

RESTORE and RENEW, Rebuild FOR the Lord, as per Prophet Haggai

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I could have called this devotion: the cat been PROMISED that I clean out Christmas decorations and RESTORE more room in the windows!!!! She needs her space RESTORED!!!

Time to REBUILD. 

Of course best time is spent in REBUILDING FAITH.

So, as per Prophet Haggai, we are learning about RESTORING PEOPLE’S FAITH AND REBUILDING GOD’S HOUSE! This is a chapter of the Bible timeline we rarely hear much about, the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem after so much exile and destruction. It was worth it!!! And this was the now rebuilding that would last into the Roman era.

“I am with you,” declares the Lord.

In our perusal through the old testament prophets, it’s been a rough road for the people of Israel and Judah, exiled and then allowed to return to their temple area (original building by Solomon hundreds of years earlier) but they didn’t restore the temple first, they restored their own houses first… And, as the Lord reminded them, they only scraped by… 

The Lord then sent the prophet Haggai to remind them: “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Let us absorb this message – it us SO IMPORTANT to take care to RESTORE. Restore one’s health, one’s attitude, one’s prospects, BUT FIRST RESTORE YOUR REACHING OUT TO GOD. Restore the praise in your life. Restore the devotion and prayer life and yes, even your schedule for communicating with God directly… That’s the RESTORE message here…

Take this “midwinter break”, to decompress, allow downtime in order to gear up for “up time” – RESTORE faith and fellowship and fuel up… mostly, serve the Lord in Your FIRST resort not last…

There is a time to rest (but don’t over-indulge) then take a time to rebuild… And like God’s lesson to Haggai to tell the people, don’t neglect the Lord because God can bless you even more to abundance when you listen to His Plan first….

Our 1st and best restoration? Listening to God!!!

Amen

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Haggai 1-2:8 NIV

A Call to Build the House of the Lord

In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”

THEN the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.

The Promised Glory of the New House

In the second year of King Darius, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”