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Trish Southard

Trish Southard

Tag Archives: More time with Jesus

Wisteria

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Posted by trishsouthard in cycling, Does God Speak to Us, God's best, Healing, Jesus, Places With God, walking

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Christianity, dogs, Faith, More time with Jesus, Neighborhood, Neighbors, Rain, simplify, Wisteria, Zoysia Lawn

After 100 degree temperatures all summer in Austin and very little rain, water poured from our big Texas sky all week. The neighborhood flowers and trees sprang back to life. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a violet flower and I caught a whiff of it’s intoxicating scent. I could not believe it, a wisteria was blooming in September. There were only a few cascades of the sweet fragrant purple blooms peaking out from a large tangerine trumpet vine. I pulled my bike hesitantly near the vine. This particular neighbor whipped open her front door ran across her lush emerald zoysia lawn and yelled one day when our 14 pound dog piddled on her lawn. Apparently all the dogs loved the spot and her grass was dying. I waived politely and for the last several years simply crossed the street and stayed away, even though our sweet Daisy has long since passed and even when I was on my bike. Since she is a couple blocks over, unfortunately, this was my last interaction. This is all I know of her.

“You answer us in righteousness, with awe-inspiring works” Psalm 65 verse 5.

This small sighting of great awe-inspiring beauty has me now bravely walking on her sidewalk and sniffing the wisteria on her wall. Maybe there will be another chance for us to meet. The wisteria had a second chance to bloom, so perhaps she and I will have a second chance.

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Broken steps

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Posted by trishsouthard in Hardship, Jesus, Overthinking, Places With God, walking

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Christianity, Faith, family, God, Hardship, Help, Jesus, Moms in Prayer, More time with Jesus, Neighborhood, Pray, Prayer, Walk, walking

I love to take long walks every morning, but lately, my feet have taken me much further out of our quiet older neighborhood and closer to a bridge near an overpass of a toll road. Whenever I walk by this area, the noise vibrates my skin as dust stirs and exhaust smells hang heavy in the air. One day, a black lace bra was hanging from a tree. I struggled to reach it with a limb, but I was determined to remove it from the sight of the students I see walking by every day to the bus stop. A makeup bag containing bubblegum pink lip gloss, beige eyeshadow, charcoal, navy, and bronze eye pencils were wholly dumped onto the grass with an empty quart of Fireball cinnamon whiskey a few feet away. There was a beat-up amber leather roper boot in the middle of the street. In March, fake spider and spider webs decorations are adorning a Monte Carlo, a holdover from Halloween. A rusted pole and decrepit cinder blocks hold up the air conditioner. A single violet and yellow-colored baby push walker was parked in the once gravel drive somebody had a small child. I couldn’t help but smile and remember when we had a toddler—thinking of the giggles, wobbles, and sheer sense of glee in pretty much anything. Then I saw a box of size six diapers perched on top of barely navigable broken steps to a home experiencing hardship. I was a wreck. I didn’t want to seem intrusive, but I wanted to help. What business was this of mine? I can’t stop thinking about what I could do. How can I help? I prayed and dropped a gift card to HEB on the front porch enclosed in a lavender card a few days later. I’m overthinking it every morning as I pray and ask Jesus to direct my next steps.

What Scares Me – Part 3

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Posted by trishsouthard in Comedy, Healing, Places With God, Uncategorized, Words That Heal, Work and Spirituality

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A Quiet Place With God, Bible, Christianity, Faith, God, Healing Words, Jesus, More time with Jesus, Organizational Tips, Religion and Spirituality, Restful enviroments, simplify, What Scares Me..., Words That Heal

Shoal Creek

Shoal Creek

Being cooped up.

I’m an outdoor girl.

Mothers Day or my birthday are usually a day of canoeing, hiking or horseback riding.

Studying for my big exam this spring I missed taking in the grape kool-aid (mountain laurel) air with honey suckle top notes.

The scent of flowers and birds singing all calm me.

My coursework of memorizing laws and regulations kept me from my daily visit to the creek to breathe in the fresh air-conditioner free air.

Stepping out for a few minutes this spring, a young gentlemen from the next building whistled out the mocking jay haunting melody making me laugh.

I must remind him of a much older Katniss Everdeen.

Getting out of the routine of being outside scares me. Spring seemed to rush by without me noticing.

Don’t be scared… go outside.

What Scares Me – Part 2

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Posted by trishsouthard in Healing, Places With God, Uncategorized, Words That Heal, Work and Spirituality

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A Quiet Place With God, Bible, Christianity, Faith, Healing Words, More time with Jesus, Office, Religion and Spirituality, Restful enviroments, simplify, Words That Heal

Every day I like to do something that scares me.

Choosing faith over fear, I went to work at a friends firm in Austin.

It scares me.

I’m scared in a good way.

Praying all day I can stay razor-sharp and accomplish as much as I can for our clients.

I am not commuting or working alone.

You have not to do it in your unaided strength: it is God who is all the while supplying the impulse, giving you the power to resolve, the strength to perform, the execution of His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

In a nut shell my work encompasses being a tenacious problem-solver for each person I meet throughout my day and doing it with excellence.

The Office

The Office

Healing – Part 10

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Posted by trishsouthard in Healing, Places With God, Restful Homes for Our Families, Uncategorized, Words That Heal

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A Quiet Place With God, Bible, Christianity, Church, Faith, family, God, Grief, More time with Jesus, Neighborhood, Radiance, Rejoice, Religion and Spirituality, Restful enviroments, simplify, Sorrow, Talmud, Texas, Tremble, Words That Heal

Go to Church

Find a bible-based church that’s not so large you get lost in the shuffle.

“See and be radiant and your heart will tremble and rejoice.”  (first half of Is. 59v.5)

Experience the transformative power of God’s Word.

Sorrow is better than laugher, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

Ecclesiastes 7:3

Just soak it all in.

Rest.

Worship.009

Teaching.

The old.

The young.

Cry.

Church is a safe place to weep.

The deeper the sorrow, the less the tongue has to say.

The Talmud

Healing – Part 5

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Posted by trishsouthard in Healing, Places With God, Restful Homes for Our Families, teens, Uncategorized, Words That Heal

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A Quiet Place With God, Be the hand of God, Bible, Christianity, eco-fashionable food prep, Faith, family, Food Pantry, God, HEB, Homemaking, Jesus, Lord, Moms, More time with Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, simplify, Southern Hospitality, Texas, Words That Heal

In line at the grocery store a young mom started setting items aside she could not pay for–

bananas, apples, and other veggies.  I handed the money to the cashier and she, with her many lovely long braids, and her sweet children were on their way.

I’ll never see this family again, but I assured her it was from God and He loves her.

Standing in line at the gas station one of our coaches from the high school was checking out.  It was less than $10.00 but it gave me the opportunity to thank him for all he does for the young people in our community and a simple God Bless you.

You are reading this and thinking I don’t have any extra.

Save a quarter a week till you have a dollar and give it away and bless another.

Perhaps one of my biggest adjustments to having an empty nest is the grocery store, mine is HEB.  Feeling blue grocery shopping alone one Saturday, two teen girls stood in front of me at the checkout counter with a giant bottle of chocolate syrup. The only thing I said as I slipped several dollars to the cashier on their behalf was “God Bless you” to the two smiling young faces. It ended up being on sale and just one dollar, but it was my small way of demonstrating God’s love toward others, and God lifted my spirits as I gave just a little away, my unexpected blessing from Him.

A young mom from our neighborhood texted me to see if she could pick up some food for her three small children from our churches pantry. I could not get there, but the owner of the preschool was there to help, and helped her carry the groceries to her car where she quietly handed the young mom an envelope with extra cash.  That mom called me later to say how she could not believe how God had met her need so quickly.  Sometimes our random acts of kindness are really divine appointments– God’s way of letting others know they are loved and not forgotten.

Feeling Sad?

Be the hand of God.

 

Healing – Part 4

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Posted by trishsouthard in Healing, Places With God, Restful Homes for Our Families, Uncategorized, Words That Heal

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A Quiet Place With God, Bible, Christianity, Faith, family, God, Grief, Home, Jesus, Jewish, Lord, More time with Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, Restful enviroments, Shiva, Sorrow

Yesterday I fell off my bike carrying too much on the way home from our mailbox. It was a pretty hard fall, contents of my basket flying everywhere, and blood dripping from scrapes on my wrist and leg as I rode home.

Photo by Trish Southard

Photo by Trish Southard

Share your load with others.

Todd would have been glad to swing by our box and pick up some of the bigger items on his way home from work.

Our family lost three loved ones in four years.

Multiple loved ones passing away or one is too much of a burden for anyone to bear alone.

Grief Group helped me lift my heavy heart.

Surrounded by people who have suffered the loss of a loved one, and a leader, the group gently persuades you to share your imperfect memories, portraits,  all while putting you at ease.

Our leader had us write letters to our loved ones sharing that we wished they would have remained alive longer, our anger that they missed an important event, regrets, anger and how lonely we feel without them. We then read those letters at the cemetery or somewhere significant to the two of us. We then burned or buried the letters.

Somehow I felt lighter and more at ease with each letter.

In the Jewish faith when a loved one dies, they sit Shiva for seven days.

They stay home and allow others to listen to them, care for them, and bring them food.

When others are in pain, you will find yourself more compassionate and confident to walk through it with them.

Sit beside them quietly.

No advice needed.

When others are happy, be happy with them.

If they are sad, share their sorrow.

Romans 12:15 TLB

Healing – Part 3

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Posted by trishsouthard in Uncategorized

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A Quiet Place With God, Aunt Grace, Bible, Blessing, Blessing others, Christianity, Corolla Chapel, Faith, family, Favor, God, Healing, Healing Words, More time with Jesus, Outer Banks, Religion and Spirituality, Restful enviroments, Retreat, simplify, Unplug

 

A Holly Hobby stitching gently nudged my thoughts as I passed it each day.

Whenever you’re blue

Find something to do

For somebody else

Who is sadder than you

 

Blood Moon   Photo by Colleen Lienhard

Blood Moon
Photo by Colleen Lienhard

 

Fill your friends’ and families’ darkness with God’s spectacular paint brush.

Stopping off in Columbia to see Uncle Tom and Aunt Grace is always a powerful time of prayer.  Celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary they are blessed by God. Grace stayed up till 1 am with me, and we prayed big and bold and color-filled blessings and prayers on everyone in our families.

Praying the Word of God over each one individually.

At the beach we sunned and swam every day, just the three of us, and occasionally Rick and Laura after work at Corolla Chapel.

I missed the family that had sat beside me the 27 previous years –with our Lord, or off to college, college bound and others spending their vacation elsewhere.

North Carolina was our state.  My husband born in Chapel Hill, our daughter’s summers here at her grandparents’ beach house and my summers for 27 years.

Refreshed by salt air and my family’s laughter and constant teasing, God comforted me.

Fresh sun, vivid oranges and blue streaked memories.

We played new games and visited different spots rediscovering the Outer Banks.

I checked out of email, FB, text and all the rest.

The spaciousness of the ocean and expansion of my time with my family turned my attention upward Praising God and lifting everyone, many of you who are deeply hurting in intercession to our Lord.  I am certain He is going to change your situation or your struggle.

Have faith and believe.

Look up and enjoy His favor and blessing.

 

 

 

Healing – Part 2

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Posted by trishsouthard in Healing, Places With God, Restful Homes for Our Families, Uncategorized, Words That Heal

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A Quiet Place With God, Bible, Change, Christianity, Faith, family, Healing, Healing Words, Jesus, Lord, More time with Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, Restful enviroments, Running, simplify, Sorrow, Words That Heal

Doing the uncomfortable continually all day.

Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.  Ecclesiastes 11:10 HCSB

Pain away from your flesh.

It hurts my fingers when I pull a burr from Daisy’s paw.

It hurts horribly when I pull jumping cholla off our daughter’s leg.

Remove or change to unburden your sorrow.

Teddy Bear Cholla

Teddy Bear Cholla

Change who you are, what you do and where you go.

One practical takeaway from grief group was to add a hobby or something we enjoy into our lives.

Running 3-4 times a week  began in November 2013.

I set my clothes out the night before and the decision is already made. Running has been an effective method to jump-start my morning and waken my mind to prayer and the study of God’s Word.

An almost new habit for me after a 25 year break from running.

I’ve stayed physically active biking, hiking, an occasional canoe trip on the river, and I really enjoy the stair climber at the gym.

Running forced me outside into the sunrise, singing birds and it was very uncomfortable.

The doing of the continually uncomfortable was the key to my healing.

 

A Quiet Place With God – Part 12

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Posted by trishsouthard in Places With God, Restful Homes for Our Families, Uncategorized, Words That Heal

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Brooms, Christianity, Christmas Cactus, Cobwebs, Forgiveness, Grace, Jesus, More time with Jesus, Mothers Day, Recipes of Hope, Religion and Spirituality, Restful enviroments, Spiders, Strength, Sweeping

Sweeping
All over the world  women will pick up brooms to sweep crumbs from the kitchen, the front porch, the dining room and our entry’s, even though its Mothers Day.

Starter from Aunt Grace  Columbia, SC  in 2012

Starter from Aunt Grace
Columbia, SC in 2012

Seconds ago I relocated a large spider hanging out below my Christmas Cactus with my broom.

We all sweep.

Sweeping is a quiet place for me.

I visit with God about the messes moving about in my head and He sweeps them out.

When we  confess a struggle we have and your friend or friends come along side you, lifting you to the Lord, God sweeps you clean with His grace, His forgiveness.

He fills you with His strength.

He removes the cobwebs and the spiders.

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