What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

"What's My Line?"

My cousin Barb Moss from Iowa wrote a wonderful poem and a "laundry list" about the rules for hanging out the laundry, based on her mother's example and washday memories from her childhood.  That stirred up similar memories from my childhood...and by the looks of her email responses, it did the same for many of the recipients of her message.  It was so well written, I asked her permission to reprint it here for you as well...so here goes:

Written by Barb Moss:

"Remembering Mom's Clothesline: There is one thing that's left out. We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty.  You have to be a "certain age" to appreciate this one....  (But you YOUNGER ones can read about "The GOOD ol' days"!!)" 

"I can hear my mother now.....

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:  (If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.) 
  1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top. 
  2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands. 
  3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes - walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines. 
  4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first. 
  5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think? 
  6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake! 
  7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!) 
  8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry." 
  9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky"! 
  10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with  the next washed item. 
  11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed. 
  12. IRONED???!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject! "

"And now a POEM ...
A clothesline was a news forecast,
To neighbors passing by, 
There were no secrets you could keep,
When clothes were hung to dry. 
It also was a friendly link,
For neighbors always knew
  If company had stopped on by,
To spend a night or two. 
For then you'd see the "fancy sheets",
And towels upon the line; 
You'd see the "company table cloths",
With intricate designs. 
The line announced a baby's birth,
From folks who lived inside, 
As brand new infant clothes were hung,
So carefully with pride! 
The ages of the children could,
So readily be known 
By watching how the sizes changed,
You'd know how much they'd grown! 
It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung; 
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe too,
Haphazardly were strung. 
It also said, "On vacation now",
When lines hung limp and bare. 
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged,
With not an inch to spare! 
New folks in town were scorned upon,
If wash was dingy and gray, 
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way. 
But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less. 
Now what goes on inside a home,
Is anybody's guess! 
I really miss that way of life,
It was a friendly sign 
When neighbors knew each other best...
By what hung out on that line."


One reason this has struck such a cord with me is that we are in the process of.....you may have already guessed it...MOVING... and, we are moving further out into the country...actually, out into the forest...and one of the first things I noticed about our new home (it is actually an older home) is that it has a clothesline! It's a little saggy and rusty looking right now, but one of my first outdoor projects when we get settled is to string up new line on those poles and put it back into use!  I can't wait to hang my sheets out on  the line to dry and then fall into that wonderful fresh off the line linen fragranced bed that I so long for!  Ahhhh!!! I can almost smell it now...can't you?

Yes, the secret is out...we are moving to what I would call our "Camp in the Woods" house sometime very soon.  Right now we are in the process of making some needed "improvements" to make it more habitable for our family...and that process will continue on for a loooooooooong time...but it is going to be a fun project house...with nature all around...so you can look forward to hearing more about "the view from my new open window" in upcoming articles.  This is the "giant leap of faith" I've been alluding to...and a big part of my one word resolution of "HOPE" for 2012...so please continue to stay tuned as the adventure begins!

Oh, and why not go string out a clothesline in YOUR backyard today?  You would actually become a part of a very popular "green" movement that is taking storm across the nation...just google "clothes on a clothesline" and see what all pops up. I was amazed!  I'm joining a "green" movement...aren't you proud of me? 
Ahhhh...I can almost smell that fresh linen right now....

Monday, January 16, 2012

"A Future and a Hope"

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

This week is going to begin a new chapter, or a new "OPEN WINDOW" in our lives.  I can hardly wait to turn the page and start reading about the new adventure that God is preparing for our family.  I won't go into the details right now, but I can assure you it is going to be fun, challenging, exciting, interesting, miraculous, and amazing!  The reason I can't share all of the details is because they have not all been revealed to me as of yet...but knowing how God has worked in our lives in the past, I am quite certain it is going to be a joyful and exhilarating journey (most of the time). 

So, dear blogger follower, please stay tuned in and keep watching for news.  And also, please keep us in your prayers...it always helps to have a lot of prayer support when starting any new adventure!

"Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road
in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:18-19


Remember, "HOPE" is my one word for 2012...
and my "HOPE" is in the Lord...
I will not be disappointed.

What new window of opportunity is God opening in YOUR life this week? Better pay attention...He may be ready to show you something new and wonderful any day now!


Sunday, January 15, 2012

MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS...

"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' Name.

Chorus:
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.

(Chorus)

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

(Chorus)

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!

(Chorus:)
On CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand!"

(Edward Mote ~ 1797-1874)
(One of my favorite old hymns of the faith...)


HOPE...
my "one word resolution" for 2012

You may ask me why I chose this word as my "one-word" resolution for 2012?

Because...
My hope is in the Lord..."On CHRIST the SOLID ROCK I stand...
All other ground IS sinking sand...


One morning this past week, after I had announced in my previous post that "HOPE" was my "ONE WORD" resolution for 2012,
I heard the following song on the radio on my way to work...and that was a confirmation that I had made the right choice to focus on "HOPE" for this year.  And then as a further confirmation, I heard the same song again that same day on my way home from work!   Does God ever talk to you that way? He does to me...frequently...through songs, scripture, other people, special little ways...some obvious, and some not so obvious unless I am paying attention...
Maybe God wants you to put YOUR hope in Him for 2012 as well...no matter what the storms or droughts or doubts or fears...Put your complete trust and hope in His unfailing grace...
"My Hope Is In You" by Aaron Shust  (click on link to hear this song)

This is my reminder from God's Word today regarding "HOPE":

"My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in GOD.
Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us."

Psalm 62:5-8 NKJV

Is YOUR HOPE in the Lord????
I "HOPE" it is!!!!



Sunday, January 8, 2012

One Word for 2012

Can you find "HOPE" in the midst of this confusion?
HOPE

A challenge has been given by several of my blogging friends to choose one word for 2012 as a type of "New Year's Resolution"...(see http://www.recoveringchurchlady.com/ for example), and so that got me to thinking about what word I would (or should) select for 2012.  My first thought was "faith", in keeping with my previous post about "Giant Leaps of Faith" into the new year(see "Giant Leaps of Faith" )...but another word kept coming to the forefront in my mind...and that was "HOPE".  Obviously, Faith and Hope go together...along with their favored sister, "Love"...(see I Corinthians 13:13), but HOPE was the word that stood out to me all through the Christmas season...and I am still clinging to it. 

Look at the picture above, which is a rather blurred view of a magnification of our Christmas tree.  I would have taken a better photo for this occasion, but we took the tree down yesterday and put it away with all of its trimmings, including the "HOPE" ornament that was so pronounced to me all through the days of Christmas.  Can you find the word "HOPE" in the midst of the blurred confusion of bright lights, tangled tree branches, and the shiny ornaments on the tree?  That's kind of the way life is, you know...a blurred confusion of bright lights, tangled dreams, and shining distractions that tend to draw us away from our "HOPE"... but in Christ we have the  "HOPE" that will not disappoint..."Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us..."  (Read Romans 5:1-6)


"HOPE" is one of the most frequently used words in the Bible...if you have a concordance just look up the word "HOPE"  and see how many references there are...and every scripture gives "HOPE"...   Hope in God when I am afraid, Hope in His promises when I have lost my way, Hope in His mercy when I don't think I can stand any more disappointments or sorrows, Hope in His love and His tender compassion,  Hope in the joy that He expresses on my behalf, Hope in the future that He has planned for my life... "HOPE" in the eternal life that He has promised through faith in His Son Jesus Christ...

"Blessed is the man (woman) who trusts in the LORD, and whose "HOPE"  is in the Lord.  For he (she) shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."  (Psalm 17:7-8)

"And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My HOPE is in YOU."  Psalm 39:7

So, I ask you, what is YOUR one word for 2012?  Do you need "HOPE"?  I will be very happy to share this word with you... "HOPE" IN GOD...HE WILL NOT DISAPPOINT YOU!