Honey from the Rock

I made happy waffles this morning!

 Psalms 81: CEB "But I would feed you with the finest wheat. I would satisfy you with honey from the rock." 

    This scripture stopped me this morning. I understand being fed with the finest of wheat. I've lived most of my life in the bread basket of America. The Great Plains, where the wheat fields flow their golden color for miles and miles every year. We feed the rest of the nation and world. Fine wheat with a high protein content makes the best bread. I understand that. So the Psalmist was saying God would feed me the finest, the best wheat because He is the bread of life. 

But what does honey from the rock mean? I don't usually think of honey coming from rocks. That's not the usual place bees make their hives. Could it be that's the whole point of this phrase? In a place you least expect it to come from, a rock, God can bring sweetness. In those places that could crush you or make you stumble and fall, God can bring honey. 

    Today marks the second anniversary of my surgery for me. Two years ago today, I was being rolled into an operating room and didn't come out till almost 12 hours later. The surgery was not only long, but to quote the doctor in her report, it was "most difficult." As my body lay on a bed for the next few days, I was probably somewhere else. I don't know where, as I have no memories of those days up to and shortly following February 11, 2021. It's just a white cloudy fog. But finally, on February 14th, my eyes opened, and the fight to stay alive and regain all that was lost began. It was a HARD place to be, and I had already been through many hard places in my sixty years of circling the earth. But this was a new hard place. This rock almost crushed me. I remember asking my son Tyson to play me the song "Come On." by Brooke Poindexter. If you've never heard it, it's worth looking it up on YouTube. It became my last cord on the rope to hang on to. The beginning lyrics, "I can feel the eyes of heaven, the angels and the saints, all who've gone before us surround us here today...If you listen close, you'll hear heaven cheering for me... Come on, Come on, Come on, Come on..." 

     It was as if I could hear Jesus and Todd and others even here on earth cheering me on from the sidelines, "Come on! You can do this. You can win! Don't quit, don't give up!" I also remember my son's voice as he grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, Mom, you can fight this; you can live!" Those might not have been his exact words, but that's the feeling I remember. So many pulling for me to "Come on!"

    This morning, as I reflect on all I've been through these last two years, I have to smile and say that in the crushing and hardness of those rocks, there was honey to give me strength. A sweetness that's only understood once you've passed through the crushing and the fight to carry on. So I made some happy waffles this morning and played Brooke's song, "Come On." I'm finding some honey in the rock. 

Come On

https://youtu.be/nCMDH2rjnOI

Another great song:  Honey in the Rock

https://youtu.be/UiApoXKRYFc

    

Because I Can

  I was out for a walk around the campground, walking the loop, I call it. Trying to get a little bit of exercise, playing music through my headphones to keep me walking at a good pace. Since I'm easily distracted and tend to slow down and lallygag, music helps me keep going, as I will walk in time with the music. As I was walking, a couple of young children who live here in the campground stopped and asked me, "Why are you walking?" Since this was the second lap around the campground, I'm sure they were wondering why I was walking by again. I responded, "Because I can." 

 I think back just barely two years ago, I wouldn't have been able to do this. I was either in a wheelchair or walking with a walker, trying to gain strength in my weakened limbs. You could hardly call it walking, it was more of a shuffle. But today, I can walk, so I do.

    It reminds me of a song I learned recently written by Tim Timmons. Part of the song says, "I'll praise You, not that I have to, not that I ought to, but that I may." 

    Praising the Lord should always be 'that I may" and let me add, 'that I can.'

  

  During some very dark days of my life, when I lifted my voice and sang praises to God. Someone asked me, "How can you sing at a time like this?" My response was, it's my lifeline, the only thing that's keeping me alive and going. It truly was a "that I may" time. Putting my focus on Jesus for even the length of a few songs, strengthened me just a little more to keep walking through the darkness that was all around me.  Psalms 34:1-4 "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears."

Then Mary said, “Roger that!”

I recently heard someone use the phrase "Roger that."  My curious mind got to thinking.  I wonder where that phrase came from, and why.  So I did a little search online to discover the answer.  Roger is used in the US Military phonetic alphabet for the letter r.  It became equivalent to saying received.   Some have even stretched it to mean the acronym Received Order Given Expect Results.  

   Receiving an order and carrying it out almost seems nonexistent in the rebellious world we live in.  People seem more at home bucking orders than obeying them.  This happens from young children rebelling against their parents at every command to people undermining and not carrying out duties and commands at the workplace.

    I thought about the young girl Mary in the Bible.  What if she would have not received the message the angel brought her?  The story is told in Luke 1: 26-38.  An angel appears, which would be frightening to anyone.  He did have to tell her not to be afraid.  Be real. If an angel suddenly appeared, you'd be shaking a little too, and maybe let out a little screech of fear.   After the angel brought her the message, she only asked how this was gonna happen, not if it was going to happen, which would have been doubting.  After the angel explained to her further, her words are "Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word..."   That's a little old English for our ears, so let me put it in Kelley's version for today, "Wow! that's amazing! Incredible! Roger that! I’m your girl Lord, let it happen to me!"   Not a actual greek translation, but do you get the point?  Roger that!  Message received and I'm expecting the results to happen in my life.

    You and I  don't need an angel to appear to us with a message like Mary did. But every time we open up our Bibles God is wanting to speak to you and me.  Are you listening?  When you hear the message,  you need to answer, "Roger that."

He Walked with Me Through

The book is now available on Amazon.com

 These last few weeks have been pretty busy with my eyes glued to a computer screen doing the last edits and formatting on my 1st book called, “He Walked with Me Through”.  On Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 it went live (available) on Amazon.  

    This is the story of Todd’s accident, TBI, and the bizarre life that followed for me, struggling through being a caretaker, and then later a widow.  Even though it’s not a happy story, I still hope it can bring hope to the reader.  Even through the darkest times, God can walk with you.  We don’t always get delivered out of the darkness, but He always promises to walk with us through it.   Then as we take one step at a time through the dark valley, we make progress towards the light and the beauty again.

   I’ve dreamed for years of writing and publishing my writings.  It didn’t just happen, I had to make it happen, and do the work, but the dream has come true.  I’m still dreaming.  I have at least three more ‘books’ floating around in my thoughts, and working on getting them down on paper.  

    Thanks for reading!