Apocalypse Hibiscus

I dreamed last night of an apocalypse.

Dark and grey and lonely.

But I nurtured my hibiscus plant and it bloomed fragile white flowers against the gloomy, sad backdrop of nothingness and it grew taller than me.

People tried to steal it and take it, but it wasn't theirs to take.

Bonsai!

What a little beauty! Meet my hibiscus bonsai--outdoor bonsai. It loves the porch and needs the seasonal changes. Water daily in spring, summer, and fall then bury with leaves in a corner or for extremely cold climates take into the garage or basement for winter.

The ceramic pot is so pretty, the picture hardly does it justice.

The blooms are constant and just gorgeous. Sitting on my porch swing, sipping sweet tea, admiring the delicate little flowers of such a hearty bonsai...amazing.

Bonsai means "little trees in pots" and is recognized as an international art form.

A little art tree for the artist in me.

Thank you ProFlowers!

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Popinjay--Rejected

So I had a breakdown the other day, certain I was rejected by God himself.

Yes. It was a pity party. So I took my coffee outside and cried but you couldn't really tell because it was raining so hard it all just blended together. Terrible things ran through my mind, thoughts that shouldn't be running around in there. Trying to stop the thoughts was like trying to ride one of those raindrops.

And I felt some of my faith slip down off of my with the rain.

But God catches my tears and stores them in his bottle.

And He cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for me.

Why do I have so little faith?

* * *

Next week's prompt is: DAINTY

Link up...

In the Red

I'm horribly behind in my 90 day Bible reading so I don't feel I can post about it until I'm caught up. I'm still reading, but it might be awhile before I'm above water.

I went to a conference (Necon!) and had our yearly BBQ and spent over 12 hours at the fair with Zane and Patches and went to Indianapolis for a concert (Lilith!) with my friend, Toni... ALL in one week.

I almost feel like I'm a kid again and summer's over and it's time to start school again.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Popinjay--Bizarre

This week's Popinjay word is BIZARRE...

'nuff said?

Next week's prompt: REJECTED

Link up!

Be Still

There's actually a clearing in this storm that's my life.

Here's how it went down, the short version.

A verse came to Phil's mind during a meeting. He didn't tell me about it.

We prayed over our lunch and I asked for help for a certain difficult situation that's been on my heart.

A verse came to my mind. I told Phil about it. He said, "That's the SAME verse that came to my mind while I was in the meeting earlier."

So.

I guess that means I should listen.

Be still and know that I am God.

Back on Murder by J. Mark Bertrand

This week's featured CFBA book is

Back on Murder by J. Mark Bertrand.

Det. Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out.
A missing girl. A corrupt investigation. They thought they could get away with it, but they forgot one thing:

Roland March is BACK ON MURDER...

Houston homicide detective Roland March was once one of the best. Now he's disillusioned, cynical, and on his way out. His superiors farm him out on a variety of punishment details. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter.
All he has to do? Find the missing teenage daughter of a Houston evangelist that every cop in town is already looking for. But March has an inside track, a multiple murder nobody else thinks is connected. With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.

Battling a new partner, an old nemesis, and the demons of his past, getting to the truth could cost March everything. Even his life.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Back On Murder, go HERE.

Popinjay--Sharp

Popinjay has returned home.

This week's prompt is: SHARP

(Next week's word is: Bizarre)

And this is what I've got for my definition of sharp...

Taken on one of these rocks in Shell Knob, Missouri

Link up!

Day 7--Joshua

Exodus 33:11 is pretty fantastic as far as I'm concerned.

Moses has set up the tent of the meeting and the Israelites are afraid of God (and afraid of Moses) so every time Moses goes into the tent of the meeting to meet with God, the Israelites stand in their doorways and watch him enter, wait for him to come out, then worship once he's out.

And God spoke with Moses face-to-face, as neighbors speak to one another. When he would return to the camp, his attendant, the young man Joshua, stayed—he didn't leave the Tent.

Joshua didn't leave. That's important considering what I know about Joshua's story (which will come in about a week.)

Imagine spending that much time with God.

Day 6--Healing

I don't know that I'll blog every day of this 90 day challenge, but while I'm on a roll, I'm going to keep going. :)

Things weren't quite so exciting towards the end of today's reading, but the beginning was.

For I am the Lord who heals you (Ex 15:26)

I needed to hear that. Is there one of us who doesn't?

This next verse really made me pause and think--I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. (Ex 20:24)

That sounds to me like God is saying that if there's a time when there are circumstances used to show His glory and I'm involved, when it's a time that He's using me as an example, then He will come to me and bless me in those places. That sure does make getting through certain situations easier.

And finally, Exodus 23:20--I am going to send an Angel before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared."

Enough said.

Day 5--Bridegroom of Blood & Moses' Member

Today's reading was a lot to ingest. The entire life of Moses, the plagues, the Exodus out of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea...

I can't unpack all that in one tiny blog post. People smarter than I have devoted their entire lives to studying this portion of Scripture.

I can, however, say that these things stood out to me:

Exodus 4:12--Now Go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say. That's what God told Moses the moment before Moses argued (again!) that he wasn't capable of leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and the moment before "God's anger burned against him." (Note: Pissing off God is NOT the way to go about things.)

Then, there was Exodus 4:24-26 where God wants to kill Moses. Really? I've read through the Bible at least a half dozen times and totally missed this.

On the journey back, as they camped for the night, God met Moses and would have killed him but Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses' member with it. She said, "Oh! You're a bridegroom of blood to me!" Then God let him go. She used the phrase "bridegroom of blood" because of the circumcision

So Moses' wife circumcised their son and "touched Moses' member" with the foreskin?? I needed a little more explanation for this passage. There's a lot of speculation out there, but I found one article that got into the language of the phrase "Bridegroom of blood,"

Basically, it boils down to euphemisms. The Hebrew word for "feet" is also a euphemisms for "genitals." It seems most translations prefer to not pay attention to such things of language (which is why I chose the highly debatable version of the Bible, The Message, to quote from here.) So she she was actually saying (and symbolizing) was, "This blood will protect you." And that makes a lot more sense than what the other Bible scholars have been saying.

* * *

Then there's the fact that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart again and again. Which makes me wonder, since God is the same as he always has been, has he hardened my heart, or those around me, to carry through with more glorious plans?

* * *

Exodus 12:2--Can you believe that God started time over for the Hebrews before they even left Egypt?!

* * *

And one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. Exodus 14:14:

God will fight the battle for you.
And you? You keep your mouths shut!"

* * *

Finally, pay attention to the significance of the 14th day of the month in your reading.

Tomorrow We Die by Shawn Grady

This week's featured CFBA book is

Tomorrow We Die by Shawn Grady.

Chase the Angel of Death and You Might Catch Him
Jonathan Trestle is a paramedic who's spent the week a few steps behind the angel of death. When he responds to a call about a man sprawled on a downtown sidewalk, Trestle isn't about to lose another victim. CPR revives the man long enough for him to hand Trestle a crumpled piece of paper and say, "Give this to Martin," before being taken to the hospital.

The note is a series of dashes and haphazard scribbles. Trestle tries to follow up with the patient later, but at the ICU he learns the man awoke, pulled out his IVs, and vanished, leaving only a single key behind. With the simple decision to honor a dying man's last wish, Jonathan tracks the key to a nearby motel where he finds the man again--this time not just dead but murdered. Unwilling to just let it drop, Jonathan is plunged into a mystery that soon threatens not only his dreams for the future but maybe even his life. He must race for the truth before the Angel of Death comes calling for him.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Tomorrow We Die, go to HERE.

Day 4--Planned Evil

Jealousy is the first word that comes to mind when I think about Joseph's story.

His brother's were envious of him (the dreams he had that they would bow down to him) and so they planned evil. Their first intent was to kill him, but the eldest brother talked the rest out of that. So they sold him into slavery instead. Turns out, Joseph's God-given gift of interpreting dreams landed him in a pretty high position, Pharaoh's right-hand man. Joseph's brothers did end up bowing to him and because of Joseph's position, their lives were spared and they did not die in the famine that struck the land.

The verses that stuck out in this section:

Genesis 43:30 Joseph hurried out of the room because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went to an inner room to weep. Then he washed his face and came out. Regaining his composure, he said, "Serve the meal."

I relate to this because I understand not wanting to expose vulnerabilities to those who can (and will and have) hurt you.

Genesis 45:8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God.

I have to remember who is in control.

Genesis 50:19 "Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result."

Wow. I know I've heard that before, but this time it really hit home.

Ticking off the Time

So.

It's been a month since this.

And I don't know what to say.

Because it doesn't feel real yet.

Day 3--The Dreamer

Before getting into Joseph and his dreams, there was this little verse that stuck out: Genesis 31:42

God has seen my afflictions and my hard work.

Goes right along with Day 1 and Jehovah Roi--The God Who Sees.

And I guess that goes along with Joseph's story. How he was hated because of his dreams, punished because of his integrity, but in the end--and the end is in tomorrow's reading--in the end, God saw and Joseph was, I guess, vindicated.

I relate to the dreaming. I've kept a dream journal for as long as I can remember and interpret my own dreams as well as the dreams others bring to me. I didn't know it was a gift, I thought anyone could do it. I've learned otherwise.

I'm still keeping a dream journal. Probably always will, no matter how much trouble it gets me into!