numbering days.

"teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." ps. 90:12

for how vast and timeless you are,
i praise you,
exalt you,
lift you up.
for how you create, sustain, hold together,
i adore you...
...fearfully.

you're so vast,
so timeless,
so powerful,
so elusive yet ever-present.
you are a mystery.
i am in love with you.

how fast and furious is our time here...
but you know that.
how often it holds so much pain and disappointment...
but you know that, too.
all hidden in you, in your secret things.
all those secret God things.

and then there are all the little plain things of here.
foggy mornings, tea, naps, conversations, Larissa learning what a robin is!
and i learn to love all the you in the ordinary of living.
the little things...
you are there whispering your delight in us,
in the sweetness of existance.

how do we hold these things?
loosely,
and up to you...
for they are all mysterious;
the good and the bad.
mysteries hidden in the vast cloak of my God.

i cannot help but long for the day when you take off your cloak.
not so i can know any more about the mysteries hidden in it.
but really so i can see how shiny your face is.
to see what glory really is...
let my days be numbered... i cannot wait!

no need to stir.

today was the sort of day lunch had to be made on the fly. on days like these, i really appreciate what peanut butter and jelly has to offer... ease of assembly, on-hand ingredients... even with variety from which to choose, a little fruit, a little protein, a little starch, fits in a ziploc... i mean really, it's like the Zeus of lunch on the go, and today i proudly hailed it as such as i gathered and assembled.

until.
until i pulled out my natural jif.
my natural jif is a newbie in my kitchen cabinetry, but i've been impressed. an avid jif supporter through the years, of both crunchy and smooth, i've found the natural option to be just another jewel in jif's crown. it's tasty, and natural; two very happy things.
now, you must know, dear reader, that the peanut butter which stays in my house stays in a spot above my head in the cabinet. not far above my head, mind you, just a bit above my head. quirkily enough, it is just above my head enough so that each time i pull it down and it passes my eyes i read where it says "No Need To Stir". it catches my attention every time. do you have those things that you notice repeatedly? this is one of those to me. i think because it is such a funny proclamation. how often does someone or something specify "No Need To Stir"?
and then there's the oddity of no punctuation. and not just that, but each word begins with a capital letter. how funny. i wonder who decided that?

anyway, i realize that natural jif makes this proclamation precisely because other natural peanut butters most definitely Need To Be Stirred before use for consumption. it is one way in which natural jif is declaring that they are set apart from other natural peanut butters, and i must confess, i had secretly admired them even for this set apart-ness.
until.
until today.
when i opened my natural jif, it most definitely Needed To Be Stirred before use for consumption. most definitely. and i? i was disappointed.

upon reflection, i realize that i wasn't even disappointed in Needing To Stir. in fact, i don't think Needing To Stir in any way interrupted my afternoon, or caused any additional dirty silverware, or even took up much more time or concentration. i was disappointed that they had so deliberately taken the time to make such a non-punctuated, yet emphatic proclamation... only for it to not be the case in all situations. it gives me pause to question their validity in other claims. i'm not even sure what other claims jif makes necessarily, but the bottom line is, should i come up against some claim by jif, i would have to carefully consider my level of trust in said claim.
trust has been undermined.
all because they had to say "No Need To Stir".

that's all.