Hello Goldie

Every year it happens. Most are so oblivious with chores or work or shopping or cutting people off in mall parking lots that they have no idea the events occurring before their very eyes, provided they ever hung a bird feeder and paid attention... the goldfinch have arrived in my backyard today!

winter goldfinch by D.McKenzie

My first sighting of the year was last week at the Audobon's Edith L. Moore Sactuary, which actually brought a weird sense of "what's wrong with MY feeder stations?" dejection since there was not a goldie to be found in my myriad of feeders and awaiting finch socks. Then today, with Jaxon and Angela there to verify it: boom! Goldfinch! Six feet from my kitchen window... awesomeness!

With the hummingbirds come the end of summer; the geese prove autumn. But the goldfinch is the undeniable herald of winter in Houston, TX.

I love my life. Thank you Lord.
jim

The Peaceful Middle

Sitting here at my desk this Wednesday night, listening mindlessly to my Mandarin files on iTunes as I distract myself with constant surfing of cybersociety and reminiscing on a grand week of passage: I'm over 50 years of age now.
One of the challenges of being born in mid-December is birthday cards are often anticipated as Christmas cards, and vice versa. I risked opening one from the Captain and saw a cute picture of people from my past poised for Christmas greetings. I followed the invitation and found the other has become a woods-elf; I am thankful for that-- she has enough manmadeness in the day job. May she be richly blessed, richly blessed; and her people as well.

A precious student, who I will call the Rocker, cheerfully greeted me in the hallway today: "Guess what I got you for Christmas Mr. K? Your very own Black Sabbath CD! Aren't you excited?!" --actually... I was blessed she would invite me into her music world, with her black fingernails and Ozzie Osborn stickers and daily updates when I pass her in the mornings about the latest news from some old rocker I thought was already dead! LOL- she's precious... her parents must be a hoot. I listened to my new album titled, "We Sold Our Soul to Rock and Roll"... and folks, I believe 'em. The lyrics were scary, not like demonic scary but how some people can get so alone and lost that they give up and settle for pigslop because of something that happened in life... and they never look up. They never discover the Hidden Treasure, not because it's a mystery, because it is, but because of the paradox of Abba's mercy; because of the magnitude of a beloved, bloodied, bludgeoned, brutalized and buried and born again Jesus who restores those who betray Him with sheep words.

I have no doubt that even Judas would have had a chance to be restored, except... he never looked up.

Cyber people: do not miss this: God loves you and wants to set you free from your self-induced dungeon of despair and depravity; to be able to laugh and dance and have no guilt, not because your perfect-- you're not; and not because you're perverted and rationalize away your own sin-- you can thus never be forgiven... no, I'm talking about a freedom that this world does not understand, a freedom that comes with a blood-drenched corpse, a horrified & grieved Father and a horrible price paid... not because there was no guilt, but because there WAS guilt...  a penalty required, a penalty horribly and willingly paid... because you are His Beloved.

Now go: dance in His forest, His beach, His hillside, ...dance; dance like the weight of the world has been lifted off of you, because it has; dance like a child that has total permission to Be because you are.
His Beloved.