pesky little things, aren't they?

But I see dandelions and I remember good things.  When I was a kid, my grandma used to tell us that as soon as the dandelions came out, we could go outdoors barefoot.  Dandelions, for good or bad, will always be associated with my grandma and the feeling of walking in tall grass barefoot.

When I see dandelions I'm also reminded that beauty and usefulness are in the eyes of the beholder.

Most people want to kill these weeds - eradicate them from their yards in order to maintain an ocean of perfect green-ness.

Others see them as a food source.  My local supermarket sells dandelion greens in the salad section.  Tea from this herb settles an upset stomach.  The blossoms can be made into wine.

Some also see this plant as a cheerful and triumphant announcer of summer.  It's hard to be cranky when you look at such a cheerful yellow (and persistent) blossom.

We need to remember that about people also.  The student population that I work with - many people would choose to not give birth if they knew they would be having a child with this level of disability - but like the dandelion, they are part of God's creation.

My job is to teach these people to do jobs - "employment training specialist" - we go to job sites and learn skills.  How many people know that at a particular hospital in our town, when they preregister for surgery the packet of paperwork is collated and  stapled by either the students I work with or others like them?  Or a few churches - does the congregation know who cleans their church (in the case of my classroom, I know that they do and appreciate).

For the most part, the students I work with are a joy (like all of us, they have good days and bad days).  They are cheerful and triumphant announcers of the strength of the human spirit.

In some ways, we are all dandelions - sometimes we're unappreciated, other times we're valued for who we are and always, we have the opportunity to spread brightness and cheer to our little corner of the world.

That's the title of the exhibit that is at Meijer Garden every year. Here is a photo of the little house where they keep the opening cocoons...

Like flowers, these "bloom" every year. If you're in the area, it's well worth seeing! (Quick!  Monday's the last day...there's still time.)

Thank You for StrawberriesThank You, God,
for giving us food of all kinds,
shapes, colors, aromas, textures, and flavors.
I praise You for strawberries!
And I delight in crisp yellow peppers and juicy oranges!
I praise You for giving us taste buds--
You didn't have to do that!
I praise You also for those edible pleasures
that I sometimes abuse.
Today I ask for the grace
to appreciate the daily sustenance You give me
and to appreciate it so much that I don't feel the need to be greedy.
Maker of everything delicious,
all day long I will notice Your genius and generosity,
and I will honor You with my appetites and my attitude. Amen.

Heather Kopp | Source: "The Dieter's Prayer Book" © 2000 by Heather Harpham Kopp. Used by permission of Waterbrook Press.

From BeliefNet prayer of the day 

to avoid SPAM email MzEllen at

ellen(at)mzellen(dot)com

I believe it was Mark Driscoll that said something to the effect that we should not so much be examining the Word of God, but rather letting it examine us.

It is when I come to God's Word with an attitude of letting it change me that I am most affected by reading or hearing. The Word of God can be either a life-changing event, or it can be an intellectual exercise (literature). For me, it has, at various times, been both.

The Word of God is indeed ancient - the oldest of the Words were most likely penned by Moses, the most recent Words are nearly 2,000 years old. The Words may not have been directly written for us, but certainly we can glean from them what the Spirit wills. All Scripture is God-breathed, effective and true.

It has been only recently that I have delved again into the Old Testament - I know the stories that I heard as a child, but as an adult, my reading has mostly been in the New Testament - for Christians. But there is so much in the Old Testament - when I read it with an open heart, things leap off the page in a way that I had never experienced.

With that heart, when I pray that God show me - He does. When I read so that I can cross the next passage off of my "read this" list, it becomes a literary experience.

Lord help me to remember to bring my mind and heart, open, to the Word.

Access is not cooperating, so that's on the back burner for a little bit (I got dinged 20% today for not having a project in, and I knew it and it just didn't happen for me)

I thought "draft" for my web design class meant "draft" - what it means according to this instructor is "almost finished".  By this weekend.  Yikes.

I have to make a decision about graduation (I got my associates degree, finally) - do I want to do the walking down the aisle thing for a 2 year degree that took me 5 years to get?  (If I do, it'll be with the extra "stuff to wear" for being in the international honor society for 2-year institutions).  I want to get the "stuff" even if I don't walk, just to have it.

And (of course) grocery shopping, getting caught up on laundry, etc., etc...

I posted these Scriptures last year on Good Friday, looking at the last words of Christ, and reflecting them into both the Old and New Testaments.  These words were true when they were written, true a year ago and just as true today.

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

“God sent me before you to preserve for
you a remnant in the earth, and to keep
you alive by a great deliverance.” Gen. 45:7

“…Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors….”

Today you will be with me in paradise

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him. Psa. 91:15″

And it shall come to pass that
everyone who calls upon the name of the Lords hall be saved.” Acts 2:21

Woman, here is your son…here is your mother.

Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Psa. 22:9-10

“If anyone does not provide for his relatives,
and especially for his immediate family,
he has denied the faith and is worse than an
unbeliever. 1 Tim 5:8

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
Psa. 22:1

“He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,
in order to present you holy and blameless
and above reproach before him” Col. 1:22

I am thirsty

If your enemy is hungry, give him
food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water
to drink. Prov. 25:21

They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave
me sour wine to drink.
Psa. 69:21

I tell you the truth, anyone who gives
you a cup of water in my name because you
belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
Mark 9:41

It is finished.

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.” Jer.:13:31

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need
to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins,
and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their
sins once for all when he offered himself. Heb 7:27

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth. Psa 31:5

“…and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?” John 11:26

Prevention Magazine has a "weight loss simulator".  Get a user name and password, enter some basic information and preferences and it will show you a general picture of where you were, where you are or where you want to be.

This is my starting weight.

This is where I'd like to end up.