Is Your Song Waning?

Chronic Illness, Gardening, Uncategorized

Last week my husband and I took a short drive to our favorite spot on the lake to test out my new wheelchair on the short paved path there. Tears came as he pushed me past the late-season wildflowers.  I’ve not been able to get outside on that path all summer, and it felt so good to move along the way for even a few moments.

 

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I knew the seasons were changing because the birdsong that we might have heard there in the spring and early summer was quiet.  The fall migration had already begun for many of the songbirds.

 

But did you know there’s a reason why many local birds are silent as they prepare for the changing season?

 

After we came home, I opened my email to read an article that explained:

“Why the silence? During the non-breeding seasons of fall and winter, most birds don’t need to sing to establish a breeding territory and attract a mate. Many songbirds though, are still able to communicate with call and alarm notes. But at this time of year, their brains simply can’t produce a song.”

(From an article at the Website, Birdnote, “Birdsong Wanes with the Season.” To read the fascinating article, click here..)

 

Again, for the second time that day, the tears flowed because of what I had seen and heard outside. Or rather, what I had NOT heard.  I missed the songs, the sweet trilling, and chortling that fills up the air in springtime.

I missed my own songs that seemed to bubble and trill during the full and busy days of the spring seasons in my life.

 

Could my own Great Creator have a reason for the shrinking and loss I have felt? Could it be that the ONE who cares for each sparrow and the songs they sing, cares for the song that seems to be missing in my own life?

 

Into this same season of loss, when my singing in my own garden has stilled to barely a whisper, a new bloom sprang forth this week. It was on a plant gifted to me five years ago before I realized that the pain I was just beginning to notice would soon feel like a monster in my veins.

The daughter of my dear Ukranian Second Mom bought me this prairie plant, Perennial Statice, Limonium latifolium, that had the loveliest of whispy lavender blossoms. I waited for mine to bloom, tended it with care, even moved it to a better location when my hands were barely able to dig three years ago. I had almost given up on it ever blooming here.

Yet, during this summer of my garden inactivity, I looked out the window to see those loveliest of whispy lavender blooms floating above the untended garden.  While my song had stilled, the Great Creator had been singing His own song all along.

 

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“The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

 

Are you in a season of stillness? Does it seem that your songs have left you?

Could you join me as we listen in the place of stillness for our Lord’s own song that He has been singing over us? I would love for you to pray with me today:

 

Dear Father,

Thank You for the beauty of Your creation that surrounds us. Thank You for the lessons and pictures that are brought home to our hearts when we still to pay attention. Forgive us for the times we have rushed past the beauty that You have intended to bring to us right here where we dwell. Thank You that You have been singing Your own songs over us. Would You give us grace to receive Your songs, even as our own songs are stilled for a season? Help us to wait on You through the quiet times, just as those little birds wait for the time of their singing to return. Help us to look for Your gifts of new songs and new blooms. We are resting in the shadow of Your wings.

In the name of Your son, Jesus, we pray,

Amen.

 

He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Psalm 91:4 NIV

 

 

To all who have been praying for me as I began Physical Therapy for Occipital Neuralgia this week, my heart is so very thankful! A new technique will be given to me later this month, one which I had hoped to try several years ago. “Myofascial Release” is a promising therapy for Fibromyalgia sufferers especially, bringing relief to adhesions and trigger points in the fascia lying just under the skin’s surface.

If you are interested in more information on Myofascial Release, Dr. Genevra Liptan has written an excellent resource on fibromyalgia, The Fibro Manual, in which she denotes a chapter to explain the multitude of research done on this subject.  What a gift of grace that my therapist “randomly” brought up this technique to me this week!  May God continue His own work in His own time.

 

~~~ My heart and prayers are with all of you in the path of Hurricane Dorian this week. May the Lord watch over you with such great protection. ~~~

 

I am linking with:

#TeaAndWord

#TellHisStory

 

 

 

Published by Bettie G

Jesus follower, Wife, Mom, and Grandma, journeying through chronic illness one day at a time

Published

35 thoughts on “Is Your Song Waning?”

    1. Dear Melissa, Thank you for your kind comments and prayers! I am so grateful that the Lord brings inspiration here to you. I am praying for you this week for safety in the path of the storm also! Blessings and hugs to you.

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    1. Dear Athira, Thank you for your encouragement dear friend. I am so grateful that we have such a great God who gives us just what we need, even in the middle of the hard times. Blessings and love to you!

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  4. Dear Heavenly Father, please sending healing to sister Bettie. Allow her new therapy to work from your loving hands to the therapist and bring relief, allowing Bettie to walk that beautiful path that brings her closer to you as she takes in the beauty that surrounds her. In Your name, Amen.

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    1. Oh Dear Wendi, Thank you so much for your beautiful prayer! What a blessed hope to cling to–HIS hands moving the therapist’s hands. Thank you–I needed that beautiful thought from the Lord tonight. May you be blessed my friend! Hugs and Love to you.

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      1. It is truly my pleasure to pray for you. I started to pray for you while reading your post and God placed it on my heart to write out my prayer for you to read…….I am so thankful I read HIS signals correctly. You are on my heart Bettie.

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  5. So beautiful, dear Bettie! And the plant with the lavender flowers is so pretty. What a gift that they are blooming now when you needed to see their beauty. I’m so thankful for this new treatment coming and I hope it brings some much needed relief for you. Thank you for your heartfelt prayer, too. I prayed along with it Much love to you with many blessings! xoxo

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    1. Dear Gayl, Thank you for your beautiful support my friend. I am so grateful for all of the prayers we have been able to share. And, yes, aren’t those lavender flowers so pretty? They were just swaying in the breeze when I first spotted the open blooms. Much love and many blessings to you my dear poet/sister/friend. xoxo

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  6. I’m glad that you’re getting out and about in your new wheelchair. May it be a blessing to you. You are so inspirational in that you don’t give up but keep exploring new ways to seek relief from pain and to continue navigating your world in ways that you can. I pray God will continue putting flowers in your path, Bettie!

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    1. Thank you for your blessings and prayer Lisa. God’s grace is such a gift to meet us in the hard times! And thank you for those new-flower-blessings too. May we watch for His surprises! Blessings to you too.

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  7. I’m so glad you got to go out on that lake path, Bettie. And it warms my heart how God’s timing is so perfect, both with the article and the blooms. This is so encouraging – “While my song had stilled, the Great Creator had been singing His own song all along.” Oh, to be given grace to receive His songs that are always there if we stop, look, and listen! I pray God will bless the new therapy and give you relief from the pain you continue to suffer. Love and blessings of His songs bubbling joy in your heart!

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    1. And thank you Trudy, for pointing me in the direction of the Birdnote website! God surely brought a blessing there just when I needed it. I am so grateful that He brought encouragement to you here also. He really does have songs from His heart to give to us. May I listen more too. Blessings, love and prayers for you too!

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  8. So beautiful, dear Bettie! I love how our Father is constantly revealing how close He is. He doesn’t promise our lives lived for Him will be easy. In fact, He promises us the opposite. But the joy in the sightings of His Work bring JOY! I am praying for this new therapy, that your pain will be eased, and that you will be comforted by His sweet, gentle, and extravagant gifts of revelation.

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    1. Dear Debbie, thank you so much for your prayers and your beautiful encouragement. You are so right that “the joy in the sightings of His Work bring JOY!” Oh, may I keep my eyes and ears open for more of HIs revealing. His grace is so great for us! Blessings, love, and hugs dear friend.

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  9. Nature’s splendour always blesses and teaches. I love the information about the songbirds and that their brains just can’t produce a song during the non-breeding seasons. It feels like I’m in that season too! I’ve heard of Mayofacial Release and trust that it’s the perfect timing for you to start that new therapy Bettie. I’m so glad you got out and also have those lovely lavender blossoms (God’s love showing to you in many ways).

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    1. Dear Lynn,
      Yes, I just was so blessed in the timing of that article, and the thoughts coinciding with this quiet season. Oh, how I will pray for you in that season too. His love does show to us in so many ways. And thank you for the encouragement concerning the Myofascial Release too! Blessings and love to you this week!

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  12. Good morning dear Bettie, wow! “Could my own Great Creator have a reason for the shrinking and the loss I have felt?”.

    I am thankful for your husband and your wheels, that you were able to see and smell what remains of summer.

    I am thankful and praising Him for the technique in PT, a way He will be singing over you.

    I am thankful for you, sister, sharing your journey openly so that we may learn and grow along with you.

    Love, Julie

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    1. Oh Dear Julie, I am so grateful for your prayers along this process. He truly is bringing His gifts through this P.T.–maybe not in the way I would want, but so much better as He brings His own gifts of deeper healing and love through it all. And yes, may we stay open to Him, to hear and receive the growth that He has planned for us. I am praying for you this weekend also my friend. May He bless you with precious rest after your first full week of “guarding.” Love you!

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