Getting Unstuck

     This morning Peanut got stuck in backward sneezing mode.  If you have ever had a short-snouted dog you understand.  Here is a demo of some other dog in this horrible dilemma:  

Demo Here

Pretty amusing, huh?

     So this, of all things, had me thinking about spiritual battles.  Life will just be happening and all of a sudden WHAM!  I’m struggling.  I pray and I read God’s word and try to seek my answers.  The thing is I’m fighting the same battle as I did last week.  Maybe with a different person or situation, but if I narrow it down and dissect it, it’s the same.  If you’ll notice in the video of the poor honking dog, his person simply bent down and held his nose and he stopped. 

     I have people like that.  Even though they probably had to say the same thing to me last week, they are ready and willing to listen to me struggle this week as well.  They seem to do it effortlessly and they never show that they are tired of helping me with my spiritual spasms.  Thank God for true friends.  You know who you are out there and I love you. 

To Really Understand...

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.   James 3:1-6

     I never seem to have the time to read books for grownups these days.  Children’s literature isn’t void of meaning for me though.  As of late, the kids and I just finished a wonderful book entitled The Giver by Lois Lowry.  It’s about a world of the future where anything inconvenient or unpleasant has been annihilated from existence.  The people of this world no longer feel happy or sad, they just exist.  They don’t feel love or hatred or have the ability to do anything out of appreciation or spite.  They are given their role in life and on the surface, happily carry it out without purpose or meaning.
     The main character of the book is a twelve year old boy named Jonas.  At the ceremony of the twelves, he is given his life job.  He is to be the receiver, later the Giver.  This is a privileged position in the society and only certain types of people are called to do this.  In his calling he will receive memories from the current person who holds the position of the Giver.  These memories have been passed for generations from one Giver to the next.  They are the feelings and occurrences that no longer exist.  Things like pain, snow, love, sickness, rain, and numerous other things that got in the way in the past.  The Giver is the only one that knows these things and must carry the burden of them alone.  Once the current Giver shows the new one a memory or a feeling then it belongs to them and the former Giver no longer has it.  Understanding between the old Giver to the new one is as easy as that.
     One of these days we will reach a society where we will truly understand one another.  No conflict, no hurt feelings, just harmony and perfect peace.  Until that time we must do our best to love one another in spite of our different opinions and ways of life.  We can’t “give” our ideas to each other as we are limited by a tongue that doesn’t always get it right and a heart that isn’t always ready to receive.  While I wait, perhaps I could take the time to try to understand people who think differently than I do.  I can use this time to learn patience for others that do not.  I can work on loving like I want to be loved, and wrapping my head around a viewpoint other than my own.  Lastly, I could probably learn to sit quietly and listen for a change.





All of Creation Sings His Praises

For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
 the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Isa. 55:12

The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God.

For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity.

As long as this exists, and that should be forever, I know that there will be solace for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances.  I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer.

Diary of Anne Frank
                                                                                                                                                February 23, 1944

Heavenly Thoughts

     Pondering heaven last night with some brothers and sisters, there are so many questions.  One that really stuck with me as I walked away from our conversation was not about the place, heaven, at all.  The biggest question I have is what will “we” be like?  The people, the souls that will exist there.  The bible mentions a new body, and is very vague as to what that means, but that’s not really where my focus is.  I wonder about my thinking, my being, me.

     I was thinking about this life here on earth and the trials and tribulations, the good times, the every day.  It’s getting us ready for something, if we are staying the course.  As Paul says, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  We are transforming if we keep pushing toward our goal to be more Christ-like, right?  So we need not worry about heaven having this or that FOR us.  Ultimately I believe all of our selfish whims will be gone.  We won’t want or need anything.
     Sometimes I have felt in the past that I might not enjoy heaven because sitting around singing praises all day didn’t sound very fun.  I know now that I have just barely touched on what true joy is here on earth.  I think I know joy, but not the joy that God has for me.  I can only get a fraction of that here.  A wedding day to the love of my life, the first time I held my babies, a handpicked flower and word of devotion from the ones I love most…these are hints of the joy that will constantly fill my heart in heaven. 
     He didn’t fully explain heaven to us, I believe, because He can’t.  We wouldn’t get it.  We aren’t going to be the same.  A timeless, thingless world with no worries about losing any of our precious commodities is something that we can’t fathom.  It will change our focus completely.  It motivates me to keep my focus and to try harder to become my finished self.  I can’t wait to face the unknown, I trust Him that it will be more than I could ever want. 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 

Galatians 6:9

The Broken Fence

     Isn’t it sad how we can live so close and be so far away sometimes?  The answer is an open heart, a willingness to give, tear down the fences and most importantly let go of pride and really listen.  I must ask the Lord to reveal to me my part in what is wrong and to be obedient to change the wrong in what I do.  Only then is it love, when I give of myself expecting nothing in return.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.



Turning 40!

This morning while having my coffee and thinking about how to make this a fun day, it is a monumental event of course, you only turn 40 once.  We have to do school, having missed for vacation, there is really no more playtime left.  Then I have to clean up some around here because we have bible study here tonight, and it’s a pigsty.  Then I guess I have to cook the family some dinner.  So, since I can't have a total "ME" day.  I decided to count my blessings today literally.  My inspiration comes from the book “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp.  This way I’ll be sure to see the many blessings of an otherwise ordinary day. 

1)    A wake-up kiss and happy birthday wish from my favorite person.
2)       A willing daughter to make me breakfast before the sun came up.

      3)      A son who found the time to give me a flower.
       4)      Vanilla creamer in my coffee.
       5)      Crisp fall morning and frisky dogs.
       6)      Happy Birthdays on FaceBook
       7)      My sisters and their love toward me. (All 30 or so, of them).
       8)      Starting school late, because we can.
       9)      My daughter praising the Lord because her math was easy.
       10)      My son willingly being my shopping buddy this afternoon, even though he wasn’t getting anything.
      11)   A new plaque that says “Greet each day with thanks” to put on my mantle.
      12)   A clean house with cozy lamp light and candles.
      13)   Bible study with loved ones and The Truth Project.
      14)   Cousins giggling.
      15)   Chinese take-out the day before some healthy eating starts.

What better gift than to realize what you already have.

A Mountaintop Experience

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:6-8

    Finally I got to put my arms around and touch the hands of my sisters.  For four years we have laughed, cried, prayed, rejoiced and loved one another.  It was an experience not of this world and one I will never forget.  I continue to relive it, I even dreamed we were still together last night.  Everyone was so excited as the ladies arrived.  They would stop whatever they were doing and run out to greet them before they could even get out of the car.  Some even chased the cars as they were leaving on the last day.  I won't mention any names.  It was truly as close as earth can come to heaven.

Back when this began, I was struggling with my weight again and chose to start a program.  I knew that the program alone wasn’t what I really needed.  I didn’t know what I needed, so I prayed.  I asked the Father to give me whatever it was that would help me to lose the weight, then I waited.  Within two days He answered my prayer.  He led me to a discussion group on the program’s website, a Christian Support Group.  Now here we are, around 30 of us, such good friends.  They all mean the world to me.

What better place for us to unite than the mountains!  High in the Smokies, we spent the weekend laughing, talking, lots of eating, worshipping, some crying.  I felt Jesus in this place and when it was time for me to go, a bittersweet feeling overcame me.  God was truly with us and I know that He worked just as hard as the committee to orchestrate our time together.  His presence was so powerful.  I sure didn’t want to come down from that mountaintop!