October 2013 – Wildflower Muse

Life Is Good.

That slogan has made me cringe and inhabited my mind , dredging up murky questions.

It seems so blithe and innocent. Like a perfectly loved summer child.

But where is the goodness of life in pain? In terminal illness? In lethal disorder?

Life is good for my just turned two year old. He blows out candles and runs into Daddy’s arms and eats cookies. He laughs and crys and tells me where his ouchies are. He insists on his monkey pajamas and begs for juice. He whirls around corners on his trike and writes long pages of tiny squiggles. He talks and laughs and feeds the rabbit.

But how can life be good for the single Mom struggling with all her energy and power to make ends meet? Or the single Dad juggling work and house and kids? For the children that miss their parents dreadfully? For the little ones, starving, or beaten; abused, or spoiled rotten? For the soul that has been crushed again and has no strength to get up? For the hospital rooms full of sick beds and the countless homes facing life and death.

And how in the WORLD can people walk confidently around in the streets with ‘Life Is Good’ em-blazed on their t shirts? Do they actually have such a happy carefree life that they can honestly say that Life Is Good?

Or could it be that they have chosen to rise above circumstances and embrace hope and bear evidence of a Good Life among the ruins of our universe?

Hundreds of years ago, a man named Paul was stoned by religious folks, dragged outside the city, and left for dead. Disciples of God gathered around him, and he stood up and walked back into that same city. The next day, he left with a friend to share the Good news of salvation, and the power of God to more folks in other cities.

I can’t imagine that ‘Life Is Good’ really described Paul’s life. What is good about being hated? Knocked unconscious with brutal rocks? Dragged out of a city that God led you to? Being ‘rewarded’ for following God with excruciating pain? Making enemies when you only wanted to share God’s love?

And yet, when Paul got home , he was rejoicing in everything God had accomplished through them, fully believing with joyful trust that He is Christ, the Messiah…the reason that

LIFE IS GOOD.

Because Life is a gift from God.

And God is Good.

Circumstances in life can be really crummy and they really truly stink and sometimes you really, really don’t want to go through the effort it takes to keep breathing and the discomfort and pain and fear that are inevitable. Life sometimes falls apart and shakes the very roots of your soul with it’s terrifying tremors. Voices of doubt declare that you’re too messed up and a total failure.

And the very sight of a ‘Life Is Good’ slogan makes you shake your fist.

Stop a minute and believe the ONE thing will always be true.

NOTHING!

will change it.

God is Good.

because of Him,

Life really IS Good!

Praying you would have the courage to choose the GOOD LIFE today.

We needed some autumn colors in our house. Some country mood. Some crafty project. So we broke out the crate of scrap paper from behind the bed. (it’s no wonder it kinda collects dust bunnies since it’s a stand on your head, stretch your ribs, blood rush to your face kind of dive to haul it out!)

I had seen an idea to create your own scarecrows with old Pringles cans on a web sight recently. Since I didn’t have the patience to go find it again, I gathered supplies we had in our house and relied on my memory and imagination. We spread out on the living room floor under the furiously whirling ceiling fan and picked out bright sheets of paper. I love doing crafts with my kids, but their attention span seems a nanosecond. Maybe that’s a slight stretch since a nanosecond is actually only 1 billionth of a second, but you get the idea… sometimes it feels that way!

Out of the tearing paper and ‘It’s OK, Kierra, just relax.’ and the ‘Kobe! Do not play with glue’…

These little guys emerged. I was slapping them together at the end, so I’m sure if you have creative kids and more time and concentration, yours could evolve quite a bit more handsomely 🙂

1. Use an empty Pringles can for the body. (we used an empty powered drink tube)

2. Cut paper (or fabric) into strips and glue around the can to create the body.

3. Use burlap fabric scraps or torn paper scraps to patch the clothes.

4. Add a mouth, nose, and eyes.

5. Add suspenders or buttons or both.

6. Crumple a wad of paper and tape it to the lid of the can.

7. Cut a big round circle of paper (or felt or burlap) for the hat.

8. Cover the lid (including the paper wad 🙂 with the round paper and secure it with a piece of string. Trim off any excess hat paper and turn up the edges a bit to create a brim.

9. Use long strips of paper for the arms. Fold a small tab over on one end of the strip. Glue it to the side of the body. Then let the ‘arm’ hang down over the tab. I put a few folds in one guy’s arm to add some wiggle.

Enjoy your festive scarecrows! 🙂

Hint: (I’d love to see what your kids create 🙂

Month: October 2013

LIFE is GOOD?

The Festive Scarecrow