Nancy

Puppy Tales

January 25, 2017 by Nancy 21 Comments

My guest blogger today is Finnegan, a 4-month old Australian Shepherd and Golden Retriever mix.

F-I-Double N-E, G-A-N spells Finnegan. That’s the name my family gave me when they rescued me from the adoption fair at Wag-n-Wash. My middle name is Tails because the adoption lady couldn’t decide which of two families to give me to so she flipped a coin. My human brother Liam called out “tails” and tails it was, so I got to go home with him and his family. I’m sure the other family was nice, too, but I’m very happy to be Finnegan Tails McConnell.

One of my favorite things to do is go on a walk. Someone named Grancy stayed with me and my human brothers while my human parents were away recently. When we went on walks she said I was a connoisseur of all of God’s creation. I don’t know what that means, I just know there is so much to sniff in this world!

My favorite things to put in my mouth are sticks and rocks, but everyone makes me drop the rocks. Sometimes I see a plane in the air, a magpie in the scrub oak, or a bunny crossing the road very fast. I’m fascinated by all these things and easily distracted by anything that moves or makes noise. I’m also very interested in the deer that come into our yard, but even better is the poop they leave behind! Deer poop is the most fascinating substance there is, but no one in my family will let me eat it for some reason.

I spend a lot of time in my crate where I can sleep or watch everything that goes on in my new household. When I’m out I get to play around the house with cool toys and my favorite thing: a plastic bottle. It’s amazing how easy it is to chew up a toy, however. They just don’t seem made to last. Grancy got me a Scooby-Do to play with and the stuffing is already coming out of it. Not sure how that happened!

I like to help around the house when I can. Once when Grancy was folding laundry, I grabbed a pair of underwear out of the laundry basket. Then I raced all around with it as fast as I could go! Eventually Grancy caught me and made me give the underwear back. I have to say she moves pretty well for a woman her age!

My day is made up of crate time, play time, walks, many potty breaks, and of course–meal time. I get fed twice a day and I never miss a meal. One of my favorite times of day is when I go to meet the school bus. I get so excited when I see my human brothers Peter and Liam get off the bus, and then we run up the hill to our house together. They play with me and try to train me to do things before it’s time for my afternoon nap. My other human brother, Jack, is good about taking me out for potty breaks late at night and sometimes takes me to visit his friends. Everyone says I’m something called a “chick magnet,” so maybe that’s why. I know my human sister, Ellie, thought I was pretty cute when she was home from college.

Well, that’s pretty much the story of my life so far. Finnegan, that’s me!

Picking up the Pace

January 5, 2017 by Nancy 15 Comments

"Green and Orange" (1958) by Carmen Herrera. — “Green and Orange” (1958) by Carmen Herrera.

Another year, another approaching birthday. This one had me thinking maybe it was time to consider the “R” word: retirement. Maybe I’ve already used up all the words I have to share, published all the books I need to publish, I thought…but all that was before I saw this segment on the artist Carmen Herrera on CBS This Morning.

Born in Cuba in 1915, Ms. Herrera is 101. A large body of her work was created in the late 40’s and 50’s and as one art critic exclaimed she has been “hiding in plain sight” since then. She sold her first painting at the age of 89. (Twenty years older than I will be this year!) Her current exhibit at The Whitney Museum in New York closes January 9. She recently sold a painting for $970,000 to a telephone bidder, and she still gets up every day and draws and paints in her New York studio.

“If you wait for the bus, the bus will come,” Ms. Herrera said in the interview. “I waited almost a century for the bus to come, and it came!”

Exhibit:"Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight," Whitney Museum of American Art. — Exhibit “Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight,” Whitney Museum of American Art.

So where does that leave me? Sitting at the bus stop, of course. Waiting expectantly. Thinking about my next assignment, my next project, my next marketing opportunity. My writer friends and colleagues have already started posting their “one word” themes for 2017. After the story about Carmen Herrera settled in for a few days, my word descended upon me while I was out running errands: accelerate. Not slow down, not give up, not rest on any laurels I could piece together, but accelerate—just like any marathon runner or ski racer would do with the finish line in sight. Pick up the pace. Put one foot in front of the other. Link one word to the next. Run the race to the end.

"Iberic" (1949) by Carmen Herrera. — “Iberic” (1949) by Carmen Herrera.

In the Bible I call my “real” Bible, because it’s the one with so many under linings and margin notes that I can no longer use it when selecting Scriptures to quote because I can’t see the commas and periods, I have written “my life verse” next to Philippians 3:13-14. It goes like this: But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

I know that the prize of which Paul is speaking is an award of everlasting glory. That is mine to claim already because of my faith in Jesus Christ. But what am I to do between now and then? It seems clear to me now. I’m to be like Carmen Herrera. To get up every day and allow God’s creativity to flow through me in any way He chooses. Right up until the last.

So if you see me sitting at the bus stop this year, resting briefly, please honk and wave! I can use the encouragement.

Mary, Did You Know?

December 19, 2016 by Nancy 9 Comments

"Kissing the Face of God" by Morgan Weistling — “Kissing the Face of God” by Morgan Weistling

“Mary, Did You Know?” is my husband’s very favorite Christmas song, and I love it, too. It was written in 1991 by Mark Lowry, with music by Buddy Greene, when both were part of the Gaither Vocal Band. Since then it has been recorded and performed beautifully by many artists.

One reason it captures us so is that it takes us right back to the moment described in Luke 1 when Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her, “Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:30-33).

The lyrics in the song go on to outline all the things Mary couldn’t possibly have known as a teenager in Nazareth, surprised and frightened by the appearance of God’s messenger. Things she couldn’t even know as she held her newborn son after he was born: That He would one day walk on water, save our sons and daughters, give sight to a blind man, calm the storm with His hand…that He was, in fact, the great I Am! Perhaps the most touching line in the song is, “When you kiss your little baby, you’ll kiss the face of God.”

No, Mary couldn’t possibly know all the joys and sorrows that this assignment from God would bring her. But she knew God, and she trusted Him. After asking just one quite reasonable question, “How will this be…since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34), Mary submitted herself completely to God’s will for her life. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).

Mary was called blessed among women. Yes, there was great heartache, but Mary’s assignment brought her many blessings as well. Is there an area of your life where you are struggling with something God is asking of you? Trust and submit to His will. The blessings will follow.

First published by Fellowship of the Rockies, Christmas 2016.

Lifting Our Eyes

December 6, 2016 by Nancy 15 Comments

Have you noticed that we have become a society of people looking down? And we’re not looking down at beloved small children or pets as much as we are looking down at smartphones. Looking down to check Facebook, email, Twitter, Instagram or our GPS.

Technology can be helpful and crucial, no doubt about it. But looking down all the time can not only give us a neck ache, it can even be hazardous. Who can forget the YouTube video of the woman falling into the fountain at the mall while looking down at her smartphone? And no telling how many shoppers this season will be bumped into or knocked down by another shopper walking while looking at his or her phone.

What if we all spend more time looking up this Advent season, and less time looking down? What if we shift our gaze to the angel on top of the Christmas tree, the stars that shone over Bethlehem fields, or snow-crested peaks like those of the majestic mountains all around us here in Colorado? Do we really want to miss all that glory because we are looking down?

The Psalms of Ascent in the Bible give us examples of God’s people looking up instead of down as they sought Him with all their hearts. I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? says Psalm 121:1. I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven, reads Psalm 123:1.

If ever there was a time for us to lift both our eyes and our hands in praise to our Lord and Savior, it’s at Christmas time. And the Lord is happy to help us do that. But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head, we read in Psalm 3:3

Once we are looking up again, we can share a smile with a harried store clerk. We can notice when someone needs help getting through the door or into her car. We can enjoy the birds at the feeder, the deer in the fields, sunrises, and sunsets as all heaven and nature sing. Don’t those sound like wonderful reasons to lift our eyes this Christmas?

First published by Fellowship of the Rockies, Christmas 2014.

Feeling Grape-ful

November 17, 2016 by Nancy 16 Comments

Even when grapes aren’t on my grocery list it seems I always come home from the store with some. I can’t resist those beautiful green or red orbs, now usually packaged in easy-to-grab cellophane bags.

And is there any other fruit more…well, fruitful? Grapes are not only a delicious, nutritious snack for school kids and dieters, they are used to make jam, jelly, juice, raisins, vinegar, grape seed oil and, of course—wine! In fact, 71% of all grapes grown are used to make wine, and the United States is fifth in in the world in grape production, behind Spain, France, Italy and Turkey. (If you somehow missed seeing the episode of “I Love Lucy” where Lucy visits a winery in Italy and learns to stomp grapes, find it on YouTube. It’s always good for a laugh!)

In this season of nostalgia and gratitude, however, I’ve discovered yet another purpose for grapes. No doubt you, like me, have friends and acquaintances going through difficult times this season—or maybe the person suffering is you. Two people I know have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. A wonderful couple in our community lost a son to addiction in spite of every effort to save him. Natural and manmade disasters fill evening news reports and newspapers.

In light of all this, I want to be more aware of the blessings I have been given—and to focus anew not on what I don’t have, but on what I do. This is where the grapes come in. While sitting quietly with a small bowl of grapes next to my favorite reading chair, I decided to let each grape I plucked from the bunch represent a blessing that came my way this year. Taste and see that the Lord is good…we read in Psalm 34:8. Oh how His goodness became apparent to me as I acknowledged one blessing after another…all while enjoying the fruit of the vine.

On every bunch of grapes there will be a few vacant stems. Maybe a bird ate that grape or it was sorted out of the bunch for some reason. I let the empty stems represent blessings that didn’t come my way, but went to someone else instead. Maybe to one of the people that I know is hurting. And so I was even grateful for the missing grapes.

Grapes nourish us, but then so does gratitude. It’s said a grateful heart is in itself a prayer. I hope you can join me in being grape-ful this season. Taste and see!

This blog post first appeared as a column in The Country Register, Nov-Dec 2016.

Embracing Change

November 4, 2016 by Nancy 7 Comments

We had an unusually warm and snow-less October here in Colorado, but we know a change—it is a coming! And it may happen suddenly. For now we bask in the golden hue the sunlight casts this time of year. We may grab a sweater when we leave the house, just in case, but we may leave in sandals, too!

Once the cold and snow come, those of us having fallen in love with the balmier days of fall may find the change catches us a bit by surprise. But then change always does, doesn’t it?

The dear older people I meet with in The Hope of Glory Bible study have taught me so much about change. The longer we live the more change we have to accept. Dealing with the monumental changes most of them have seen—the loss of a family home, a spouse, or a child—is never easy. Change changes us, there’s no doubt about it. But what I’ve observed in them is that change can also bring us closer to God, even if it’s a change we never would have chosen.

Our changing world and the discouraging political situation in which we find our country don’t go unnoticed or undiscussed in these groups of elders. But eventually one of them will say, “Whatever happens, God is in control.” That settles the discussion and we go on to more productive topics.

Change is inevitable, but it isn’t to be feared when we realize that all change—including whatever happens in the upcoming election—is orchestrated by the God who loves us. Wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons… (Daniel 2:20-21). And regardless of how we respond to the changes around us, it is the change within us that He values most. Having sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us, He daily works to change our hearts to be more forgiving, more trusting, and more like His own.

Whatever changes the coming season brings, we can rest in the knowledge that God does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). The sun may disappear a bit earlier each evening, but God is still in control of its rising and setting, and by His hand He changes all things according to His will.