New Mexico Always

I grew up in Ohio. There are rolling hills and flat fields.  There are tall trees and bushes.  There are flat fields that go from empty, brown dirt to tall, green corn. There are flat pastures of grass enclosed by shaggy fences of grass and brush.  The land is crisscrossed by black asphalt bands of varying widths that carry traffic. 

Dotted among the green hills and fields there are town and cities of different sizes.  They go from little ‘hamlets’ of a few houses, a post office and a mom-n-pop grocery to full fledged cities with tall buildings and acres of paved streets and sidewalks and parking lots. 

My home town was a small city with a tall, imposing courthouse and a few buildings downtown that were perhaps three stories at the most.  When I was growing up the ‘town square’ was just a place where the two main roads, High Street and Broad, met by the courthouse.  There was nothing fancy about it, mostly just designated curbs and a little green place with a statue in front of the courthouse.  Its only claim to special embellishment was a little circus-wagon type vehicle parked in the southwest corner that sold newspapers and popcorn.  Now it has become a little more sophisticated with a pagoda for mini concerts on the northwest corner and a little park-like area on the southeast corner with benches and a couple tiny trees.  The courthouse and its sidewalks with the statue and the fountain haven’t changed a lot. 

Almost anywhere you stand in Tuscarawas County your vision is bounded by trees hills or buildings.  For the first 23 or 24 years of my life that didn’t bother me at all.  I liked the green.  I liked hiking in the woods and camping there.

Then the Lord called me to teach on a tiny mission in New Mexico.

My mother had gone with sister Grace Henry to work in the bible school at Rock Springs Mission, just outside of Gallup NM.  They both came back with tales of dry, barren, rocky, empty, mountainous desert.  Their reports of the houses was on the same order—bleak with rocky bare ‘yards’ no grass, no bushes, no flowers.

I asked the Lord why He would send me to a place I would hate.  But as always, He knew what He was doing!

I had never seen the desert.  I had never seen the wide, deep blue blue skies of New Mexico.  I had never seen the mountains, rocky and menacing jutting up from the flatness of the plains.  I had never seen the sagebrush and rabbit bush accentuated by juniper.  I had never experienced the fragrance pine and piñón smoke drifting through that of sage and juniper. I had faced into the cold bite of snow blowing across the land.  I had never stood and watched a pillar of rain with its crown of dark clouds moving across the land.  And I had never stood and reveled in the rain falling on me and the parched land.  I had never inhaled the heady perfume of wet sand and sage after the rain.

From the first time I drove across the wide land, no matter where I went my heart stayed in New Mexico.  Today when I go back to visit with Notah and his family I am going Home.

From any window in Notah’s house I can look out on the mountains.  The Manzanos loom closest, about a mile away. I see them first thing every morning.  In the distance I can see the Sandias.  On the other side, the Piños and the Ladrones rear their peaks.  And on a clear day far off to the northwest we can see Mount Taylor.

Rachael wants to move to New Mexico, but she wants to live in the mountains—up on the slopes of the Sandias where the pine is tall and the mountain lions and bears come to visit, and in winter you need a four-wheel drive vehicle or horses to get home in the evenings.   And I like that land.  It really is as awesome as the flat land between the mountains.  But waking up in the morning and seeing the Manzanos between me and the rising sun is something that still takes my breath away.

Those mountains are so close that the sun rises at our house twenty minutes later than it does other places.

FIRE!

I’ve neglected posting here, busy with lots of other things.  But last night we were treated to some nice thunderstorms and a couple good soaking rain showers. Notah and Pat watched the lightening strikes across the way while we were having dinner.

Later they took Seth and went road cruising.  Kerra went to lie down and read. Keva played video games.  I played a couple games of Facebook.  About nine-thirty I called it a night and went to get ready for bed. 

When I was standing by the bed in my night gown, Kerra yelled through the door,  “There’s a fire in the Pinos. You want to drive over and see.” Notah and the road cruising expedition were at the top of the mountain pass down 60.  They had looked down and seen the fire.  He called to tell Kerra.  So I put my dress back on and we took off. 

We went down 47 to 60 and the west for a ways. We could see the fire off to the southeast.  Kerra and Keva maintained there were three or four firetrucks or vehicles. I could separate out three; I thought there was only one.  At any rate the fire people were ‘on it’ early.

Of course we couldn’t (and didn’t want to) get close.  I’m no good at estimating distances but when we’re thinking ‘fire’ it wasn’t very far off across the landscape.

This is the third or fourth wildfire in New Mexico this spring and summer.  The first was the Whitewater Baldy Complex fire in the southwest. We had smoke in central NM for a couple weeks from this and it was a long ways off

This fire, although under control now, more than a month later, is still burning in central areas. I think at last count it had consumed more than 300,000 acres.  

The second fire that caused a lot of damage was the fire near Ruidosa, the Little Bear fire. 

Those billows aren’t clouds.  They’re smoke.   Here’s a night photo. 

This photo came through the Indian Country network because the Mescalero Apache Reservation is very close by.  They were concerned about the threat to the land and their income producing ski resort.

This fire seriously damaged the Bonita Park Nazarene Campground and Conference Center.  Notah and Kerra attend a Nazarene congregation and we heard about it first in the Sunday worship service.  At that time only the gym had been damaged.  As time went on a major part of the cabins and homes of workers was destroyed. 

This is only the third of July. And the Fourth is coming up. Lots of stupid people will be shooting fireworks. Many areas of NM, in spite or our nice sporatic rains, are tinder dry and covered with sage and juniper--combustible brush filled with evergreen resins and turpentine like sap. The potential for more fires is high

  

a 'disclaimer'

You may notice there are two blogs and an edit that happened today.  That's because I've developed a bad habit of writing my blogs in Wordprocessing and promising myself I'll get them posted.  And of course you know where it goes from there.   Even the blog for the 16th wasn't published until today, even though I wrote it on the 16th.  The other two happened 'sometime' but I didn't get the dates on them so I just let them show as today.

So don't think I've suddenly become a prolific writer today. I'm just moving things from my documents to here.  

quiet time?

³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ( KJV)  Matthew 6:33

One popular denomination puts a great deal of emphasis on what they call ‘quiet time’ and the need for reading the Bible and prayer.  Now there is absolutely nothing false about our need for reading the word and communicating with the Lord.  That is utterly and extremely vital if we are to be strong Christians and make heaven out home.

The difficulty comes in when an attempt is made to regiment our study and prayer.  A recent ‘devotion’  from one of the preachers in this group said: Everyone struggles with quiet-time consistency from time to time. Know that if you’re struggling with it, you’re not alone! The good news is that with a common problem comes some common solutions.  And following that statement is a list of things we can do to MAKE ourselves more consistent in maintaining our ‘quiet time.’  There is more emphasis on the ‘quiet time’ than on WHY our daily fellowship with God is important.

The solutions consist of making quiet time part of 1) making a covenant with God; 2) writing the ‘quiet time’ into your weekly schedule as in writing it in your day planner; 3) being prepared for Satan to oppose and interfere with your ‘quiet time’  4) maintaining your ‘quiet time’ appointment consistently for six weeks so it becomes a ‘habit’ and finally 5) depending on God’s power to make it happen.

The devotion began with a scripture.  But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.” (Matthew 6:33 CEV) The same one I quoted at the beginning of this page.

Here is where the problem comes in.  The emphasis in the modern translation is skewed away from the intent of the Word.  The emphasis is on Works (which is strange because this denomination emphasizes that our salvation is not by works…. )  The emphasis in this translation is on doing the works of God.    This takes away the true focus of what Jesus was saying. 

Many people condemn the KJV as old fashioned and poorly translated, but here is the difference right here.  Notice what the KJV says ³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  When we seek to DO before we have found the essec nce of the kingdom of  God and His righteousness keeping that time with God is very difficult.  We can only seek the kingdom and righteousness by getting intimate with God, by spending deep one on one time with Him.  It doesn't happen by 'doing the works.'

When we have been born again, consecrated to serving God in ‘spirit and in truth’ and not just trying to serve him in a superficial professing way, it is not hard to find time to read the Bible or pray.  It is something our love for Him compells us to do.

When we are born again and consecrated to understanding and serving God from the heart out, we are drawn constantly into the Word.  It honestly does become as vital to us as eating and breathing.  We become so hungry that we are pulled to God’s table, just as when we are hungry our entire focus becomes getting something to eat.

Think about it.  We don’t have to ‘schedule’ a time to eat everyday.  We come to the kitchen automatically when our stomach begins to rumble!  We don’t have to ‘schedule’ a specific time to take a breath.  It is vital to us, we automatically remember to do it. 

When we have been truly born again, when the old man has been destroyed and we are ‘new creatures in Christ Jesus’ our need for communication with the Heavenly Father becomes as compelling for us as eating and breathing.  Now just like eating, we can choose not to eat and if we do that long enough, we lose our appetite and may eventually even die.  It is exactly the same with our communication with God.  Our inner man will yearn toward that time with God, but we can ignore him, just like we ignore a rumbling stomach sometimes.  Eventually we won't feel the desire any more.

There have been those who chose for various reasons refuse to eat for long periods of time.  There have been incidents when those people died.  If we deny the hunger of our soul we will die spiritually. 

Search your heart. Are you having difficulty ‘scheduling’ your ‘quiet time?’  Do you have to remember to read your Bible?  Do days go by without your spending time with God?  Have you forgotten to eat lunch or dinner during those days?   Where exactly does your devotion lie?  Are you truly seeking after the things of the kingdom and the righteousness of God?

Religious denominations have things backward today.  The emphasis is on things and activities-- going to church regularly, attending bible study, dressing in a certain way, helping out at the food pantry or homeless outreach.  But any sinner can do those things.  Those things aren’t evidence of our relationship with God.  Evidence of our relationship with God shows in our dedication to living our lives pleasing to Him; it shows in our willingness to lay aside sins and habits of the flesh and being determined to comprehend all that he wants us to d;  it shows in our desire to spend time with Him in our 'closet' of prayer and time with the Word.  Instead we rely on providing outward evidences of our salvation—being in church services and bible studies, working in the congregation etc.

If we are having to schedule our Bible reading and prayer in order not to forget it, we are taking hold of the wrong end of the stick.   The bible reading and prayer times come AFTER and BECAUSE OF our consecration to the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  If our Bible reading and prayer times are difficult to maintain, we should be searching our heart to see how consecrated we are to the kingdom and His righteousness.

Once the consecration is there you will WANT to spend time with Him.

early morning thoughts. . .again

A while back,  at 300 AM,  I woke up with a silly song in my head, “All God’s children got a place in the choir.” It’s a funny little song that Celtic Thunder sings, but it does describe how each of God’s People has a place in His Work and His Kingdom. He has a design for all of us.  My mind went from there to my visit with Luci to thoughts and prayers for Dessie and then thoughts on the depth of the stillness in the night.  What was the neatest thing though was that in all those things the presence of God was the key point.    

Isn’t it fantastic to have your life centered in the Lord?  The thoughts of Luci and Dessie and the stillness, even the cute song, were all ordinary everyday concerns and nothing that would shake the foundations of the earth and yet there was the presence of God running like a silver glow through them all. I can’t describe how living for the Lord changes your whole outlook on life.  I can’t explain how His Presence influences your thoughts and goals and attitudes.  I can’t express how it feels to be wrapped in the giant comforter of His Love. I can’t tell you how it is to be held in the palm of His hand but it is such a great place to be.

And if you wake up early or late with a riot of plans and headaches and worries running through your head I can only wish that you would get to know my Lord.   He doesn’t take us out of the world, but He certainly takes the world out of us. He changes our focus to eternal things. He organizes our life. And that is pretty wonderful.

Rachael was telling us at dinner one night of rescuing a sparrow that had some how gotten in the store.  Company policy directed that they call ‘pest control’ and have them remove it, but she knew that the outcome of that would be the death of the sparrow.  She commented to one of her young associates that she wished they could catch it and release it outside.  

A short while later, the little bird flew into a window and stunned itself.  The two young guys that Rachael commandeered to help her thought she was a little crazy to be climbing to the top of the floral cooler to get a little bird.  An older customer got a little chuckle out of hearing their rather vehement discussion about it.   But when she held the tiny thing cupped in her hands wrapped in a Kroger T-shirt, the customer came by to see if she had caught it and both of the young associates wanted to see it before she turned it loose.  She said they both stood by her when she unfolded the shirt from around the sparrow and let it flutter to the bushes behind the store and then fly away.

Do you KNOW how many people would never have thought to rescue it and release it?  Do you KNOW how many people there are in this world who have never held a tiny bird in their hands?  Rachael gave a couple teenage boys a lesson in compassion and wonder. I’m proud of her.

I’ve held little animals and birds cupped between my palms and that is exactly the way I envision the Lord holding his own—gently enclosed in the warm safety of those two giant hands.

accomplishing a lot

Big day. It’s only 930 and I’ve cleaned up the kitchen, done two loads of laundry.  Have the third in the dryer now. Got the living room cleaned up—well, the dog toys picked up (the basket has been dumped already, but they are at least not scattered all over)

I spent last night itching all over my face and nose and head!  One of the cats, probably Spider, slept on my pillows or blankets yesterday.  I’m not allergic to cats, but they do make my eyes and nose itch if they are on my face. So first thing this morning, I folded Seth’s pants and put my blankets and pillowcases in the washer.  While I was at it I washed the rest of the dirty clothes in my basket.    I think I may have made a mistake telling Keva she could put her dirty clothes in my basket once.  I found three pair of pants, two shirts and several towels, that I KNOW I didn’t put in there.  Hmmm.

But they’re all clean now. 

Last evening was the SODA music program concert.  Seth played in the Guitar I group.  He plays really well.  I was proud of the whole group.  They aren’t being taught the country music strum and chord way, but taught real music.  A couple Beethoven pieces and a Bach—simplified for guitar, of course—a couple classical guitar pieces, several Spanish traditional pieces were all part of the program. The more difficult pieces were performed by the Guitar III group but there were some nice pieces by the I and II groups too.  The finale of the evening was a rendition of the MASH theme.  It was great.

The only thing that marred the evening was the squeaking of the doors as different ones slipped in and out.  The people were quiet and there would not have been much of a disruption if the doors hadn’t squeaked so bad.  I told Notah we should assign Keva a can of oil and send her around to oil every door in the building!

Afterward we went to the China Buffet. For a little town in the middle of NM, they have good Chinese food.

back in the desert!

This weekend we went to the Quebradas Back Country.   (http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/socorro/quebradas_backcountry_byway.html  or  http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nm/programs/recreation/rec_docs/rec_docs_socorro.Par.19376.File.dat/QuebradasGuide2010.pdf ) 

It’s one of my favorite parts of New Mexico.  Of course, I say that of almost every part of New Mexico.  You can go look at the link or take my word for it; the Quebradas is 25 miles of unpaved road from Socorro to the middle of nowhere. It’s beautiful and rough.  If you decide to go don’t take your cute little city car.  And be sure to take lots of drinking water and a full tank of gas.  Because there isn’t any any where.

Off the road there are several little even less developed roads that take you to hidden canyons and monumental cliffs. 

We drove up a little canyon that has no name as far as I know.  After a ways, Notah stopped the truck (Dodge RAM four wheel drive, with so much clearance I need a step stood to get into it.)  He said “Here, Mom, you can walk a little ways and then sit by the pool.” 

And I DID walk a ways-about a quarter mile!  There was a beautiful pool caught between the arms of rock, shaded by cotton woods and high rock walls. 

I came on the plane this year so I didn’t have my camp chair, but Notah and hit Wal-Mart (Yeah. Sorry, Rachael) and gotten me another one for just such things as this.  Seth, bless his heart, carried my chair with its handy case and sling.

Seth and Keva climbed a bit on the rocks around the pool.  Then came over and hung out under my cotton wood.  Seth must have shot ‘a hundred’ little rocks across the pool and at the rocks on the opposite side.  Keva sat under another tree and read until angry buzzing and a swarm of bees made her leave that spot.  I watched Seth shooting rocks with his slingshot—he’s pretty good—and reading and napping.  It was wonderful.

Notah, Kerra and pat went hiking up to the top of the canyon and made a big quarter circle.  They came down over to my left from where they had climbed the wall behind the pool.

The whole time was quiet.  The only sound I heard was Seth’s rock plunking in the water or clicking off the wall and a pair of doves that flew around the top of the walls, cooing to each other. 

When everyone came back Thain and Sadie went swimming in the pool.  It was deep enough that Thain couldn’t touch the bottom for most of the breadth of it.  He spent a lot of his time retrieving sticks for Notah.  When Notah stopped tossing them, he went over to one side where there was a fairly good sized limb floating in the water with only its end on the bank.  He thought maybe Notah needed that, too.  Sadie just kinda swam around enjoying the cool water after her hike. 

Bella, with her long legs and slim body, doesn’t like swimming much.  She will wade out in the water and lap some but then she comes back.  I guess Great Danes just weren’t designed to swim.

When the dogs had cooled off, Notah put them back in the truck and we drove farther up the road.  Finally it just petered out.  He turned around and went back the way we had come.

A few weeks back, they had hiked the same area and found an old grave.  They wanted to take Keva and Pat to see it

 

It is always awe-inspiring to me when I see these indications of long past explorers and pioneers who walked through this country or tried to live here. This isn't a native grave because the manner of burial doesn't fit. It is an anglo or spanish grave. How lonesome it seems to have died in such a desolate place. The stone was set up, but any writing seems to have disappeared in the sand, and years.

It was too far for me to hike.  I’m getting good, but not that good yet.  I read and watched the wind blow through the trees.

They weren’t gone long.  My first indication that they were coming back was Sadie showing up at my open truck door, followed by Thain saying he wanted some water.  Not only do you have to take water for the people, if you drive the Quebradas you have to take water for the dogs too.  

Keva rescued a baby horny toad that had been trapped in the bottom of a dry water tank.  Poor little thing!  In the process of giving it water and putting it in a warmer place, Notah was stung three or four times by a bunch of wild bees who objected to him dumping water on a little horny toad so close to their hive!

We drove back out the main dirt road and continued on to the other end where it connected with the paved road again.

If you’re a ‘camper’ who uses the nice little amenities of proper campgrounds, don’t think about camping in the Quebradas.  There are no ‘campgrounds.’ no out houses or port-a-potties, no water faucets and no camper hookups.  Take everything you will need and be sure to carry out all your trash.  Oh yeah, if you gotta go potty, be prepared to dig a little hole and then bury your TP!