Cheryl Grey Bostrom's Blog, page 18
August 29, 2020
How to Seize a Morning
If, when I first awaken,
I lie immobile,
my thoughts a tiptoe,
my breath a prayer,
I may surprise morning
as it grooms itself with
that soft petal tongue.
If I’m oh, so quiet, I
may snag it by a foot before
it leaps out of reach,
may seize it beneath its
shoulders, its fur
soft on my palms
as I lift it,
its heft a dangling promise
that I will sing.
*****
As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him. When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” . . .
Jacob stayed where he was for the night . . . spent that night in the camp . . .
During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.
This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
From Genesis 32
*******
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
*******
And in an eggshell, posts from earlier this week:
How rivers get moody.
.
Methow River under a thunderhead.
[image error]
*****
Manna with seeds.
.
“They ate the food of angels! God gave them all they could hold.”
—Psalm 78:25
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
*****
Dependable as sunrise.
.
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love . . . with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”
—Jeremiah 31:3
[image error]
*****
Eye to eye.
.
“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends . . .”
—Romans 12:18-19
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
*****
Edge of the World.
.
(Sulphide Glacier, Mt. Shuksan, WA)
.
“For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.”
——Job 28:24
[image error]
*****
Blessings, friends. I’m glad you’re here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks
August 22, 2020
When Cancer Lands
Stage III lung cancer. She didn’t see it coming.
But when her persistent cough sent the Rev. Dr. Mary Holder Naegeli to her doctor, she exited her world of vibrant good health and activity and entered a whirlwind confinement of blood tests, biopsies, chemo, nausea, radiation, surgery, and stamina-breaking fever and fatigue.
She dubbed the inoperable tumor pressing against her aorta, esophagus and trachea The Beast.
And in her new book Deep Breathing: Finding Calm Amid Cancer Anxiety, she shares what happened from the first appearance of her symptoms to that beast’s eradication in 2014. With perspective colored by her life as a daughter, wife, mother, parent, pastor, and intimate friend of Christ, Mary walks readers through her cancer experience authentically, wisely, hopefully.
For anyone undergoing cancer treatment, Mary’s a friend you’ll want in the infusion room with you.
If you’re walking alongside someone undergoing treatment, she’ll help you love and support that person well.
And if you’re contending with a different sort of spiritual, emotional or health crisis—and are searching for perspective and truth, this book is a gold mine of wisdom and encouragement.
Was her journey terrible? Dangerous? Harrowing? Empowering? Uplifting? Hopeful?
Even joyful?
I say all of the above.
[image error]
***
*I met Mary at a writer’s conference a few years ago, when we were gathered with agents and editors to pitch and discuss our current works in progress. Mary had recovered from her cancer by then. Her optimism, insight, and depth as she talked about her experience promised what I now know, after reading, is true: her book is sure to fortify those who choose to savor it. When she asked me to join her launch team, I enthusiastically agreed. Officially launched this past Wednesday, you can find her book at the usual outlets—in paperback (at $21.50) and on Amazon Kindle for $9.99.
[image error]
*******
And in an eggshell, here are posts from earlier this week:
5:40 am, Sunday. Gonna be a hot one today, friends. Might even need to drink from a hose.
[image error]
*******
Harvest holdouts.
.
“You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong.”
[image error]
******
Miss Baker had always dreamt of a sunset ride in a fast convertible, her scarf swirling every which way.
[image error]
*******
Epiphany.
.
“Jesus answered: ‘I have explained the secrets about the kingdom of heaven to you . . .'”
—Matthew 13:11
[image error]
******
Boardwalk.
(Picture Lake, WA).
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.”
—Proverbs 3:5-6
[image error]
[image error]
*******
Myopia, Hyperopia = 20/20 vision in 2020.
.
Dear God, give us clarity.
[image error]
[image error]
*******
Blessings, friends. I’m glad you’re here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks
[image error]
August 15, 2020
When You’re Teary
The second her car pulled up, I was out the door to meet her, probably as fast as I’ve run in a decade or two. My sister, whom I hadn’t seen for eight years, had come for a five day stay.
Now I haven’t exactly been without her. We text and call and FaceTime. Regularly. Often.
But still. Nothing like wrapping my arms around my tested-Covid-free-disinfected-traveling sissy—my Maid of Honor all those years ago and my beloved friend—whose heart and history are wound into every fiber of mine.
Face-to-face across a (wide) table, or with arms locked while skywatching, or as we stared into a campfire, dug spuds in the garden, or parked in the hammock or on sofas with books in our laps, we talked and laughed and knit ourselves closer than ever. Without letters or tech as intermediaries, we passed uninterrupted hours with love the only thing in the air between us.
And we hiked. Through fields with the dogs. Along the creek, where coho fingerlings gilled in pools and bullfrogs leaped at our advance. Around ponds, where we pulled tansy until our fingers blistered.
All the while talking. Listening. Being together.
And then we drove to the end of the Mt. Baker Highway and set off on foot, just as peaks emerged from the morning clouds—and where our attention shifted to the Maker of mountains and trees and birds and sisters and friendship.
The next day she was gone, and I’ve been teary ever since.
Then, in the night, the song at the end of this post awakened me, oh, four times, maybe five. Running through my dreams. Waking me with a holy nudge that “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.“
Even when the world crumbles—or when sisters fly away.
***
Oasis.
(North Cascades)
.
“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.”
—Proverbs 25:25
[image error]
*******
Sleepyhead.
(Good morning, Mt. Shuksan)
.
“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
*******
And in an eggshell, other posts from the week:
When stems become birds.
.
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
—Proverbs 23:7
[image error]
[image error]
*******
Just because. 
August 8, 2020
I Choose Brave
[image error]
I Choose Brave . . . but how?
Fear.
Whether we admit it or not, we grapple with it at every stage of our lives. Often unrecognized, it lives beneath the surface of our days, influencing our decisions and relationships. Stealing our hope and joy.
We deny it. Dodge it. Cave to it.
Until we muscle up and take it on with all the reason and strength we can muster. We decide to be FEARLESS. We irradiate it with bravado, or anger. And sometimes we can knock it back.
Only to realize that fear, like the worst of diseases, rebounds, often with far more vigor than at first.
The bravest among us finally admit that fearlessness is a sham—something we only pretend. Instead, we can choose a courage that requires powerful fear.
Katie Westenberg understands why—and in her new book I Choose Brave, she explains how.
When I ran across one of Katie’s posts a couple of years ago, I promptly sought more of them. Learned that she’s a Washington girl, who lives a short hour from where my husband grew up. Heard how, in a thousand daily ways, she lives in courage through her fear, not instead of it. In every one of posts, she models the humility and wisdom that can only come from surrender to a holy God who translates and transforms fear.
I followed her online. Subscribed to her blog. We corresponded enough that I trust her as a friend and a sister in Christ. When she said she was writing this book, I knew it would be good.
It is. Moving seamlessly between illustrations from her own life and the lives of the most frightened brave people in scripture, Katie provides clarity on what to do with all our fear.
Get this book. Believe it. Be afraid. And be very, very BRAVE.
*******
And in an eggshell, here are posts from earlier in the week:
Abacus?
.
“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
—Matthew 7:2
[image error]
*****
In case you wondered who drinks asparagus nectar at sunrise.
.
“I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.”
—Psalm 119:147
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
*****
When your paint peels.
.
“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 46:4
[image error]
[image error]
*****
Cyclops.
.
“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”
—James 2:19-20
[image error]*******
Blessings, friends. I’m glad you’re here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks
August 1, 2020
Because Memories Change
Here’s what happened. All three of us saw it.
[image error]
How we each remembered it, at first:
[image error][image error][image error]
How we each interpreted it, over time:
[image error][image error][image error]
How our brains responded:
[image error][image error][image error]
Where our hearts landed:
[image error][image error][image error]
Why? What did we tell ourselves?
***
“As we think, we change the physical nature of our brain. As we consciously direct our thinking, we can wire out toxic patterns of thinking and replace them with healthy thoughts.”
—Dr. Caroline Leaf, Switch on Your Brain
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”
****
And in an eggshell, here are posts from earlier this week, which all dovetail with the one above. Let’s imagine we’re outside around a campfire, under a full moon, talking about how.
[image error]
Things a barn kitty knows.
.
I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
—Luke 10:21
*******
[image error]
Mud in the water.
(Bertrand Creek)
.
“And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience.”
—1 Peter 3:21
*******
[image error]
Canary Grass Concerto
(see the musical score?)
“This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres…
…He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.”
This is My Father’s World by Maltbie D. Babcock, 1901
*******
[image error]
A synesthete’s melody.
(Love heard with our eyes.)
.
“And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it. . . “
—Psalm 40:3
Blessings on your week, friends. I’m so glad you’re here.
*******
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks
