Seasons

The days are getting shorter, not in actual minutes but daylight hours.  There is a crispness in the evening air that let's us know that fall is upon us.  The leaves are turning to various shades of golden/amber and rust.  I'm starting to think more and more about soups and chili.  Soon there will be a fire in the fireplace.  Or, better yet, burn the brush pile and have a bonfire.  Again, it is time for change.

I'm thinking of that song sung by the Byrds that goes like this:

"To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven."

Seasons.... Naturally we have four of them.  But in a lifetime of the soul bought by Christ the number is dependent on God and the design He has on their life.  We are meant to change and to grow.  Sometimes with the growing first comes a dying.  Actually, not to be morbid, but I do feel like I have been in a season of dying.  Obviously, there is the aspect of the health issues that I have faced but also there has been some dying of hopes and dreams.  If I didn't believe in the Providence of God this would be a sad state of affairs to be sure.  But "for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecc. 3:1).  So, as in all things, I want to make sure that my focus is on the King of the seasons and not the seasons itself.  Sometimes this is easier said than done and there are moments when I have to speak to myself instead of listen to myself.  There is a time for everything and Ecclesiastes tells me that, "He has made everything beautiful in its time" (3:11).

So, looking to the future, next Tuesday to be exact, I have one more chemo treatment and then I'm done.  I would appreciate your prayers here as my blood counts are borderline whether they give me chemo or not.  This is to be expected as the effects are cumulative.  I do have some numbness in my fingertips and toes, also to be expected and hopefully will return to normal in time.  We are looking at the end of one season and looking forward to a new one.  This is not just for me but for my family who has gone through this time also.  I am hopeful that what we have experienced in this season is for our good and meant to bring about gospel change in our lives.

Our God is for us so that moving forward is done without fear or anxiety.  I say that today and tomorrow I might have to remind myself of it.  Either way it is true and the Lord will do what is right.  Seasons come and seasons go but the Word of the Lord will stand forever.  I might find disappointment in what I wanted at a particular time but there is never disappointment with the Perfect One.  It all boils down to this:

". . . . whatever God does endures forever, nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it.   God has done it, so that people fear before him.  That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away." (Ecc. 3:14-15).

The season is changing and our hope is in the King of the seasons.

For the Glory of the Lord

She was ours the moment she was born but we didn't get to see her until she was 2 weeks old.  Although a tiny baby she still  had a head full of hair.  This was something that most of her siblings didn't have except one.  We tease her about getting her out of a slot machine as she was born in Las Vegas in the middle of September.  It was the miracle of birth doubled with the miracle of adoption.  To think that before the foundations of the world was created Lydia Justine was in the heart of God and destined by the Sovereign One to be a Morse.  No mistakes here as God's purposes were in full swing.  He would glorify Himself by creating a life that would one day turn to her Maker and say, "thank you", "take my life and use it for your glory".  Augustine, the early church father, said it so well when he said this ~ "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee."  The Westminster Confession of Faith says that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever".   This she does as she grows spiritually into the woman that the Lord has called her to be.

This is our baby girl/woman who is turning 16.  She was the last to be home-schooled and the last one to learn to drive.  Now she is half running the house as I go through the health issues of the moment.  Lydia has a dry sense humor that always keeps us laughing.  But she is also a deep thinker even though one might not know that as she tends to be the quiet one.  There has always been drama and passion in this daughter of Eve but as the Lord has laid hold of her life there is the stirrings of something grand for the kingdom of God.  There is a purpose and a plan and we are the expectant observers of this musical symphony.  As she takes each step toward the Savior we marvel at the gifts and talents that she has been endowed with.  Lydia has always been a button pusher (in more ways than one!) but now we can hardly do anything technical without her help.  I'm even wondering now how I will put her picture on this blog post without her doing it.

This baby daughter  of ours is smart but doesn't think so, talented but struggles with the wanting to do more, kind in so many ways (just ask the nieces and nephews) and beautiful especially when she smiles.  All of these things are gifts to her from her Creator and as she uses them well she is glorifying the One who called her to Himself.  What a delight for us as parents as we get to watch this movie of her life and be a part of it.  She is the daughter of our old age but is the one who reminds us to get out of our chair and dance (maybe not literally but figuratively, although Dan did say to me once that he would dance at her wedding!).  We will do things for her and her good that would not even come into the mind because of her and our age.  This also is a kindness from the Heavenly Father as He knew what we needed and what Lydia needed.

In many ways I am excited for Lydia as she starts a new chapter in her life.  No longer will she be at home with me doing school.  She starts Clark College (a community college in Vancouver) in less than two weeks.  She will also be driving and is talking about getting a job.  I know that this will be an adjustment for me as up to this point we are usually together.  So, where I am excited for her, I am also nostalgic of the past thinking of so many memories.  Here is one that brings a smile to my face every time:   Lydia was about four years old when she learned how to ride a bicycle.  At the time we lived in LaCenter, WA and had a large circular drive.  She would go around and around this drive singing at the top of her lungs.  Her head would be thrown back with her little pom-pom piggy tails singing "Lead on King Kong eternal instead of "Lead On O King Eternal".  As she was singing, her little hands on the handle bars would be going back and forth so that her bicycle would be zig zagging all the way around the driveway.  I wondered what else she heard at church that got transcribed into something else.

For her birthday we would love to give her the moon.  But she will have to suffice with dinner out and then a trip to Sun River in Bend, OR.  We are ever so grateful for God's good gift to us in our youngest daughter.  Lydia is a very special one and is definitely a treasure.  This becomes evident to anyone who spends time with her

Dear Lord, I pray that you will continue to give to our daughter those things that you have destined to make her more Yours each day.  Give grace where needed and direction before each step.  Help her to be a shining light of your glorious gospel in which will give her joy.  Thank you for her and the delight that she brings to so many.  We love You for how You have blessed us with such a precious daughter.  She has been and continues to be a kindness from Your hands.