Monday, November 14, 2016

Our Fireside Romance PR mix



Here's a taste of some of our music from a couple of years back. We have definitely improved and have more material to add for a new and updated version.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Back to Basics

Sunday Morning

I am currently sitting in the spacious auditorium of the Community Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Danville. Larrie has been asked to play with them thru two services today.

I am storing things up in my heart. :)



I long to be singing for the Lord, in His house, using the gifts He has given me and for His glory, yet Larrie is the one He puts in that place at the moment. I know He has a plan. More important is my personal daily worship. I guess I could go to choir practice at Shiloh , but for some reason, I do not feel drawn to do that. I am willing, but have no real unction to, or not,at this point.I think I feel like God wants the pleasure , privilege and recognition for whatever does ultimateoly come about. Having said that, if I truly felt He was leading, I would follow.

Maybe it's just not time yet becausewe are still settling ourselves.

Earlier This Week...

Larrie and I had some fun this week, driving south to San Jose to visit the Winchester Mystery House and north west to McNears Beach the next day for some pristine stillness.
Winchester Mystery House



http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/ tells the story of how this 160 room house came to be.
This woman, Sarah Winchester was a multimillionairess, heiress of the fortune that came to her family thru the GUN company that created Winchester rifles.
She lost her only baby just 6 weeks after birth and then her husband later died suddenly. She sought out a psychic to find out what was going on  and she devised that the bloodshed that made her wealthy was causing the trouble and to appease the haunting spirits that were plaguing her, she was told to keep building her house.  She hired 13 carpenters ( 13 is a common motif all thru the place) and they pretty much worked 24/7 for 38 years adding whatever room, structure, window, staircase she designed.

They are going to make a film to cover the story and there's an Ozzie company called "Blacklab Entertainment" that will be  working with them too.
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/themovie.cfm
Here is my facebook alum of our day.
McNears Beach, Marin County

On Thursday, we decided to take an impromtpu drive after Larrie checked in at a job in Richmond. We ended up in this beautiful place and spent hours there, in the blissful serenity of this bayside oasis.
An overview of where we were.

Two delightful fawns that graced us with their presence. When they pranced off, they were so incredibly graceful!

"Rocky" (I call all squirrels that, lol) climbed this stunning autumn tree and brought down some fruit, carrying his large treasure off surprisingly easily . Larrie thinks they were persimmons. Any ideas?
I explored further and found this incredible tree trunk. I took several shots and you can see the 150+ photos I took on my facebook page. This is a great example of 'visual metaphor'. I can so much in this. What can you see?

With this piece, the two island rocks in the distance, the 'wooden walking man' in between and the double stump in front shot from this angle of alignment...plays on the idea of distant planning and purpose. What story could you imagine?
Sunday Afternoon

So, church is done. Dominique spoke on being a fan versus being a follower of Christ. I want to give all for the Truth. I think I do a pretty lousy job a lot of the time, but I press on toward what is ahead. Forgiving myself  is a perpetual exercise in beleiving God's Word and the work of the Cross.

Thinking about it like that...perhaps, I am in a better place than I feel. :)
So now, I am going to write some postcards. I actually LOVE writing...letters, blogs, stories, songs, books musicals...and lately,I have reverted to the power of things tangible. Something that has passed from my hands, thru many other sets of hands even, and finally comes to rest in the palm of the intended recipient, praying a blessing on every faithful messenger along the way, who has been true to the task.

God must feel like that. :)
I used to be a consistent letter writer. Perhaps I forgot the immense value of a single letter. The New Testament is largely a series of letters. Perhaps, in the obsessed fashion of a diamond farmer (as told by Earl Nightingale in Acres of Diamonds )I have overlooking the very thing that is right under my nose!
Instead of writing my great work, one deeply persona letter at a time, I have been striving to write a best seller.

God had me on this path before. And He even reminded of it thru the book Paris Letters.  I could be getting a revelation :)

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday...be blessed!!

Lisa

Friday, September 30, 2016

There's Nowhere to Run

Today, I ran away.
Well, tried to.
There's no running from yourself.

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.

Thing is, marriage has its adjustments-especially for the second time, with people deeply embedded in their ways.

Being in a different country, far from your family and what's known and loved has its adjustments-especially if you are missing significant things.

Living in another person's home requires adjustment.

Finding your own place and a sense of belonging takes time, and in a more ideal situation would be taxing enough, but with all these added stresses...well, somedays it just feels like too much.

There's legalities, expense, social stresses and the seemingly endless need to be ressured that these adjustments are in some way worth making. Where is it all heading anyway?

Sometimes, I think if Larrie and I were both dealing with all the same newness and both had only each other to hold to, it would be better. I probably still do. making a way a new world together is a much more appealing idea for me.

But, unless we grow together, how long would it be before we recreated the same set of circumstances?

"I Never Promised You A Rose Garden", but I know where we can find one.

But, as I walked, I was praying, talking to the LORD. I don't lay blame on anyone when I pray...I don't want to complain. I talk the LORD about some of the things I feel...for my benefit. He already knows. He knows better than I do, how I feel and why. He has a much better understanding.

He reminded me of something He had shared with me a few days earlier from Ps 37.
The entire psalm is good, but on this occasion I saw this sequence that runs from
"Do not fret..." in verse 1 thru
"..trust in the LORD(v3)
...delight in the LORD ( v4),
...commit your way to the LORD(v5) ...and trust again,
..Be still and wait patiently, for the LORD (v7)
...refrain from anger...do not fret (v8)

And just how well was I going with these things??
Not so well. And why?
Verse 1 - I was fretting and that does lead to being angry with whoever you think could make a difference.

I messed up on verse 1!
The antidote is found in verses 3-7.

Trust, delight in, commit/trust, be still and wait patiently.

And I can do ALL these when I focus on God's goodness and HIS faithfulness.
When I keep my eyes on Him and His Word and not on fearful distractions (or even pleasurable ones), then  I will have unshakable peace and have my soul satisfied with the sweetest of fare.

It takes diligence and deliberate attention to practice righteousness, but it comes with such glorious promises. The greatest being to know God experientially in yourself and your life. Is 32:17 says:
The fruit of righteousn1ss is peace, 
the effect of righteousness is confidence and assurance forever.

I WANT to believe God.  I WANT to walk by faith.
The righteous shall live by faith Heb 10:38, Rom 1:17, Hab 2:4...just to mention a few.
Faith is for walking with God and all that's needed for doing that...not for getting "stuff".

I had already decided that I would keep a partial fast for as long as I felt led to-an apple and some grapes in the morning and a single meal in the evening and every time I feel hungry, I remember God and why I am doing this: I want my flesh under subjection to the Spirit and I want GOD to show up!
Evidenced in things that ONLY GOD can do-in me, in those around me and in this place.

And now, I am doing better...drawing LIFE sustaining substance from His Word.

Trust, delight in (enjoy), commit/trust, be still and wait patiently.
  
So, when you want to run away...run with perseverence .
Run to the LORD!
He IS the rose garden.
Blessings!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Ponderings

Creator's Block

I have been longing to write.
I feel so full of 'stuff', and so overdue with need to write, but it seems that whenever I have a few minutes, all those ideas just seem overwhelming-swirling in a sea of activity and memory and longing and loving.
No quality downtime. No processing time...or too little.

I am far too busy.
I have never liked constant activity outside my own space.
I am a home body. A home maker.
I need space and stillness to create from clarity.
I like to deal with the outside world in doses. Very measured doses.
I am truly an introvert.

As it is...I can create nothing coz when I get a moment, it is barely enough to re-centre, let alone create from stillness in the Secret Place.

Candid Reflections

This blog is not about appearances. Yes, a measure of restraint  because it is not about complaint either. It is just a place to share my heart. I wish I could share my whole heart, but such honesty can be so misinterpreted and recycled as ammunition that it can be scary-especially in our confused and corrupted world of political correctness, where to be 'normal' in one's thinking is becoming nothing short of intolerable.

I confess. I believe that what the Bible says about man is true and that God's ways and Word and design, are perfect. And this is my standard of 'normal'. I don't think this idea of normal is all that commonly held, tho. Our world has changed so much that a conversation about having a baby without having an intimate relationship is not considered bizarre at all. Neither the slaughtering of that same baby. Yet, there is outcry over shooting unarmed adults.
There is absolutely NO sense, it seems, of man being created in the image of God and appreciation of the depths of the audacity to think we have any right to determine the life and death of ourselves, let alone another!

My heart is heavy.
I don't want to be in such a world.

Live to Give Glory To God

I know God wants me here, on earth, now, coz He doesn't make mistakes, but I feel that the only way I will feel ok about it, is to become humbly bold in sharing the Truth from His Word. I can't just watch and stand by, as people "eat, drink and be merry coz tomorrow they die!" and feel ok.

I feel like King Solomon... what's the point of it all? It's all vanity and a chasing after the wind. Everything in this life is futile if it is temporary.

And when I get to that point, I remember other things that Ecclesiastes says about "...eating and drinking and enjoying your work...coz this is his lot..." and the gift of God is the ability to ENJOY what has been given. This isn't empty partying.  This is productivity and satisfaction in it. And also, to remember his Maker whilst he is yet in the land of the living.

The point of life on earth is to give glory to God and reveal the glory and goodness of Him who made everything, by doing all things to His glory.What does that mean?
Put simply, it means to reflect Him by living according to His authentic design and purpose. And to share with others what that is and how to do it.

Lost but not Alone

This is called "preserving sound doctrine" so that we and our hearers may be saved...but in our world today, that is to incite much hatred. Jesus said the world hates Him because He said that what they were doing was evil. They hate the Light because it exposes that evil.

Nothing has changed. To choose to live contrary to the Word of God is evil. God loves what is good. What is good pleases Him and He is the ONLY One who can truly determine what is good coz He is the ONLY One who is truly righteous. Good and evil are not relative to the times and fashions or opinions.

We all fail. We all have fallen short, not just in what we do but constitutionally, we are of an unfixable fallen state. No matter what we do to try and do right, we cannot change WHAT we are-lost.  Alienated from God.

We have no idea how wretched we are!
Our situation is hopeless and we are helpless.

We are so deluded, thinking we have any control over our lives, or our world. We actually think we are the god of our own lives! Coming to the end of ourselves is the best thing that can happen to us, but it feels like the end of the world. And then, that's often when we get mad  at the God we denied all along, rather than turn to Him.

Say 'Yes' to the Light

BUT...if we will turn to Him, through Jesus and on His terms, we will find a whole new world. A whole new US! We will know Him as Our Heavenly and Eternal Father and ourselves as redeemed and re-born, filled with the gift of His spirit.

Then, you will know what I mean.  :)
This is what matters. This is what counts.
This is why I am here.
This is why you're here.

Amen.



Sunday, September 4, 2016

Joining The Theatre!

Making History


As I said, in my first blog, part of what I love about the increasing fascination for this island of Alameda, is the fact that I feel I am now being woven into its history-and not artbitrarily. Or perhaps, it is because is has already written itself deeply into my history...more on that on another day.

Right now, I'd like to take a trip to the theatre!


The Theatre by day...
it has been adjoined by Alameda Cinema Grill and houses several cinemas as a compliment to the main one...

I recommend googling "Alameda Theatre Images" to get any real notion of what this place is like.
Seriously, these establishments are to be experienced!

By night...the visual magic is beautiful.

Just realised the top A is out in these photos. 


















I'm sure it's all fixed now lol

This theatre was built in 1932, the last grand movie palace built in the San Francisco region and was recognised as an Alameda Historical Monument in 1976. It closed in its final form as a triplex cinema in '79 and was rented out for many purposes, including a rollerskating rink and a gymnastics school. However, it was fully and elaborately restored and reopened as a wondrous multiplex cinema in 2008.

Now, if that history isn't grand enough... and it's pretty grand to see...we , Larrie and I, got to sing on that main theatre stage a couple of weeks ago. And have again since.. and will again...and again.

From the wings
Backstage

And our view, from the stage.

But how cool to be part of such a history! Our Fireside Romance  is now a tiny dot on the 'i' of a day in the history of the majestic Alameda theatre!


And here's the video to prove it! :) 


Why?

So why...
given that I struggle to maintain anything consistently, have I decided to birth yet another blog?
I don't know.

I guess I feel like I have things I really want to share, but I don't want to feel like any particular subject is irrelevant. So, if I write anything I want to about any aspect of my life as Lisa [Meredith Shah] Noble, it will be relevant and appropriate for such a blog as this.

At the moment, I feel so FULL of creative ideas and inspirational thoughts, but I am so full that I cannot seem to make any clear  and deliberate commitment to express any of it. My makeshift office is strewn with bits and pieces of creative saplings and seeds and I feel more scattered than ever!

My Current and Relentless Dilemma

This blog is really an exercise in 'thinking out loud'. A personal meandering that is sure to be longwinded as I find the eloquence I seek to identify what's going on within and walk out what it means to me to be a Noble wife ( duel meaning intended), and to live my Noble life.

A totally new life...kind of. A new adventure, at least.

The one glaring characteristic about it that is not new, is the fact that I am yet separated from persons that are precious to me, and of whom I think almost continuously. It is partly for these that I feel compelled to write. I still want to be part of their lives.

I still want them to think of me. To miss me,pray for me, share important moments with me.
I don't want to miss out. Nor do I want them to be unaware of my experiences. I know lots of people see things on Facebook etc.. but you know, I still don't feel like I have just ONE place that is a single integrated platform for the people that are the most precious for me.

Maybe this can be that. Maybe lol... no promises!

These are photos I've taken at Crab Cove...you are bound to see a lot more, since this is kinda my Alameda version of Burleigh..not that I am comparing the places, but rather, their place in my routine.

This is the pedestrian/disabled access into the water when the tide is high


Crab Cove is up the top left. 

hee hee a humble, raw, barbie


This is an internal body of water in Crab Cove and altho wildlife are in it, it is not
recommended for humans. 






Crab Cove has some fascinating history...formerly known as the "Disneyland" of its day, the impressive amusement park  facility, Neptune Beach drew enthusiastic crowds between 1917 -1939.
Sadly, the impact of the Great Depression, the completion of the Bay Bridge and the influx of motor vehicles each played their part in its decline after only a brief 22 years.
I found this gentleman, Robert Frank's Thingamabob blog helpful to get my head around the difference between what was and what is now under my feet.

https://candidbob.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-history-of-crab-cove-alameda.html  - if you'd like to know more.


The extravagant entrance to Neptune Beach  at the end of Webster  St and Central Ave.

The same entrance today. Dont' know about you , but I wish there was more evidence of what had been.
This road runs down to the Park-Wwebster Condiminiums.
The adjacent shopping centre, once part of the original property is called Neptune Plaza.

Hard to see in the current view, right? lol Prett incredible tho!


And the modern day version of the old apartments built for holiday makers back in the day-still renting. I had a look today for a studio appartment ( $1300 a month) and there's waiting lists!
A small plaque embedded in the garden by the footpath, outside the entrance to the Crab Cove Visitor centre.

Never Ending Story

No doubt, I will have more to write about this spot-Crab Cove.. but also Alameda, in general.
I feel like God is knitting a part of my heart to this island. It's stories intrigue me, and maybe, just once, without having to question 'why?' and find just cause...I should just go exploring, trusting that the Master Orchestrator has His reasons for wanting me to do so and that's why I have the inclination.

Most excitingly, I think it's because now I feel like I am becoming a part of this history.

Till next time,

Lisa...aka Mrs Noble :)