Salty Zebra

   Sometimes life isn't ideal. Let's face it, most of the time it isn't! So, we do what we need to, to make things work. In my "Making It Work" posts, I share life hacks and ideas that have helped me so that, maybe, they can help someone else too. I hope you enjoy! This is how I used to do laundry: several loads washed and then piled up on a couch  or bed followed by one massive folding session Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3  Less is more. We hear it all the time, but do we believe it? I often don’t, or at least I don’t live in such a way that shows that I do. I think it’s kind of like my purses. It really doesn’t matter what size purse I carry; I will fill it. If it is a tiny clutch, I will fill it. If it is a mega satchel, I will fill it. So, I have to be careful what size purse I use or I’ll throw my shoulder out! Turns out I have a tendency to do this with my life as well. Whether I have a little ability o...

  There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  Ecclesiastes 3:1  Our incredible, all-knowing, imaginative God created rhythms and seasons in the world. Trees require the fall to let go and the winter to rest so that in the spring they can have new growth for summer’s bounty. The moon circles the earth every month, it’s gravity pulling on us in different ways and causing changes in the ocean’s tides – but what many don’t know is that the gravitational pull of the moon actually stabilizes the earth’s rotation, keeping our seasons on track and our axis tilted properly. Even day and night are rhythms that our bodies require to live and function well – throw it off with something like jet lag and you’ll get a crash course on it’s importance. Nothing in this life lasts forever, except for our perfect and eternal God.  This week I enter a new season. Twenty-seven years ago we moved into this house and I was pregnant with our firs...

used with permission from Sara's Art Life Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23  Do you think much about your heart? You do if it aches, if someone breaks it, or if it is full. Both of my grandfathers suffered heart attacks and had heart surgeries, my paternal grandfather had several. Now, I know that the author was referring to our spiritual hearts in this passage, but I think there are correlations and I’d love to explore them with you here today.  Most of us don’t think about our physical hearts very often unless something goes wrong. When was the last time you thought about the heart beating constantly in your chest? When was the last time you told it to beat? And yet it continues, faithfully, minute after minute, hour after hour. But once something goes wrong, it jumps to the front of our minds. After you’ve had a heart attack and/or surgery, it’s hard not to think of it. In those times, we are really careful about guard...

Image is a collaboration of myself, Gemini and ChatGpt I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. Proverbs 8:17  It’s a cycle, a healthy one for once! The more we seek wisdom, the more we find wisdom, the more we want wisdom in our lives, so we seek it more and so on. The same is true with God, for “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” ( Proverbs 2:6 ) and “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” ( Job 28:28 ). All true wisdom comes from God. There is worldly wisdom as well, but it goes towards the intellectual, not the eternal. The wisdom that is represented in this verse, and the rest of the chapter, is one that calls out to us in the streets. She seeks after rulers and peasants, the intelligent and the foolish. Likewise, Jesus died for each and every one of us and His Holy Spirit cries out to our hearts with the ultimate wisdom, come to God and lay aside your sin and shame.   Wisdom s...

Image Credit Brett Wilkins Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12  I used to fear death. Especially when my kids were little, I would worry about what would happen to them if I were gone. I, vainly, thought that I knew best, could do best for them. My husband is wonderful and full of good qualities, but in that season of our lives I was the designated nurturer of the family, the one who kept the household running and the kids happy and healthy. In 2004, when we went in to do our taxes, our CPA asked us if when we finished he could share with us about what they had been up to in Liberia, West Africa? Of course we said yes, and that was when I was introduced to America’s Step Child 1 . That’s how the country was referred to because it was the only country in the world ever colonized by America (did you know that? Most people don’t. I sure didn’t!), but America now has little or nothing to do with it. After decades of civil war and unrest, gen...

Images generated by Gemini with direction from the author Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:3-4  This has been a heavy week. There has been so much on my heart and mind. I’ve shared much of it with you, but some things will forever be my quiet struggle. As an added challenge, I’m on my fourth migraine in the last week today. How do I keep track when I have so many memory issues? I’ve started putting Mickey Mouse stickers on my calendar for each migraine day 😂 ! You see, I’m a very visual person and when things are represented for my eyes it helps me so much to process and remember them. That’s part of what this post today is about, as you’ll see by the images. I spent a fair amount of time with ...

  He alone is my protector and deliverer. He is my refuge; I will not be upended. Psalm 62:6  This verse seems so simple, so straightforward, and yet it brings up questions, deep concerns in my mind, and then these lead to doubt and shame. Rather than letting things sit there, I’m going to wrestle through them with you. Maybe some of my musings will speak to you. Maybe, at the least, they will encourage you to not shove down doubts and concerns deep into your soul but bring them out to be examined. Our God is not so small that He cannot handle our questions!   My first thought was to the beginning of the verse where it says, “He alone is my protector and deliverer.” This sparked a wondering in my mind as to whether it was inappropriate to do things in our lives to protect ourselves – locking our doors or using a security system, subscribing to insurance to cover harmful situations (home, auto, travel, etc). I even acknowledged that I tend to think of my husband and my...

  From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. [Psa 61:2-3 NLT]  My husband is a hiker. He goes out into the mountains, usually into the back country where there are few trails and fewer people, and he explores. He loves finding new vistas, beautiful places to camp, quiet coves where he can sit and think. In the hiking world, there’s a concept called a “false summit.” As you’re going along on the trail, you can see the top ahead of you. You keep climbing and climbing, your legs getting weary and the weight of your pack seeming to multiply with each mile, but you can see the end and you’re almost there! But then, just as you approach the goal, you find that it was not, indeed, the top. It was merely an outcropping in the path and you’ve still got quite a ways to go. You’ve been pacing yourself for this summit, and now you don’t kn...

  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18  I am so grateful for the truth shared in this scripture and the rest of the suggested reading today. I highly encourage you to read along through Psalm 34:4-10 and 17-18 . I sought the LORD's help and he answered me   How wonderful that we have the Father’s ear, that He deigns to listen to us. Scripture gives us so many examples of people doing this, even Jesus Himself, but I am especially touched this morning by the invitation to do it myself. Seek the LORD’s help and he will answer you. What a privilege! What a wonderful opportunity! He delivered me from all my fears Those who look to him for help are happy; their faces are not ashamed. This oppressed man cried out and the LORD heard; he saved him from all his troubles. The LORD's angel camps around the LORD's loyal followers and delivers them.   The passage doesn’t say that God fixed everything in the a...

Pilgrim's Progress by Douglas Ramsey  Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22  Have you ever read the story Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan? If you have, I wouldn’t be surprised as it is one of the most famous books ever published 1 . It was written while its author was in prison for 12 years because he was a minister operating outside of the state-sanctioned church and tells the story of a man who is tormented by his sins and seeks salvation. Guided by one of the many allegorical characters, Evangelist, he escapes the City of Destruction and faces perils like the Slough of Despond, the Village of Morality and the Enchanted Ground – which were patterned after real places in John Bunyan’s community 1 . In this story, Christian, the main character, carries a burden, a physical manifestation of his inner turmoil representing the weight of sin and guilt that he bore. This burden is with him over the course of ...

  Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105  There’s a lot of wisdom in God’s Word, I mean A LOT OF WISDOM. To start with, you have the books of wisdom in the Old Testament: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. Then you have the wisdom from Jesus’ teachings and the parables He shared followed by Paul’s exposition on God’s love, grace and how to live our lives in this world. But really, none of it can be taken by itself, none of it was intended to communicate a single truth.   In the books of wisdom, you will find whole poems and insightful tidbits that lead to deeper understanding. I’ve heard it recommended to read a chapter of Proverbs every day of the month (there are 31 chapters), and this practice would certainly bathe you in an aspect of God’s wisdom, but, as I’ll discuss later, it is only one aspect. I think people can get caught up in the deep, profound sayings they read here. God is wise, that is very true, but Go...