Petals of Friendship

I don’t like wrinkles. Lucky for me, my clothes dryer has a nice feature on it called wrinkle prevent. Once the original drying cycle is complete and the dryer stops drying, the wrinkle prevent feature kicks on. This feature is intended to prevent wrinkles from settling into the clothing. Within a few moments, the dryer powers up again and tosses the clothing inside around and around with the goal to keep them wrinkle-free. The dryer continues this intermittent process for a very long time.   The magical intent of this feature helps me when I know I won’t have the chance to empty the dryer once the cycle is complete. It’s a feature I use often. However, while this feature is really nice, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t completely deliver on its promise. Some wrinkles still happen. Perhaps not as badly as they could if left sitting in a heap for hours, but still, they are there. I can choose to live with the wrinkles or try to smooth them out. One takes work, the other not so much. It give

It is a mystery.   My husband held his hand out and in it was a lovely sea shell.   He heard it land on the driveway from out of nowhere.   We both wondered where it came from. Maybe a bird found it and dropped it in flight.   Or maybe the shell was caught up by the wind and happened to find its resting place near where Joe was working.   It was the last thing he expected to see.   The shell appeared delicate in structure, and it would seem the fall alone could have chipped it, but it didn’t.   Researchers have learned that sea shells are formed with a strong and resilient design structure.   This design endures the stress of their environment and allows fractures to appear where they would do the least harm to the organism inside.   It’s all about protection.   Isn’t that amazing?   What a great picture of how God uses His strength and resilience in our circumstances.   How He takes on the stresses so we don’t “break”.   God has shown up this way in my life many, many ti

Just like a recipe that requires simmering, God started to simmer something in my soul.  A gentle way to say, I'm going to do something and I'll be easing into a full boil.  Quite a daunting thought.  He is a gentle, loving God who only wants the best for me, right?  I have to remember that.  He LOVES me.  Yet, he's had the flame on simmer for some time.  But just like it's so easy to get used to the sting of a steamy, hot shower, so it is with that simmer.  You just get used to it and you can stand it.  Well, I guess he noticed and has decided to turn up the heat a little.  I know I have a high tolerance for discomfort.  I just ignore it, thinking there must be something wrong with me.  My usual modus operandi.  But God says no to that.  He uses discomfort as a simmer in the soul, as if to say I am going to do a new work in you.  I am going to turn that discomfort into something amazing.   Amazing?  Really?  That discomfort starts to take on a name or two.  Things th