Bible Reading

Lately I have found myself looking for a good story to lose myself in. I looked through the bookshelf and wondered which one I could lose my thoughts to a good action story. Just then I found a book, not an ordinary book but one full of stories. The Bible!! Recently I stumbled across the book of 1Samuel. I find myself lost in the images of a woman who would want something so deeply she would give a solemn vow to God if she could just taste the blessings of motherhood. And then she was given a son and she kept her bargain with God. And all the blessings she received even after her vow was fulfilled.
And then the book just rolls along with drama. It is filled with wonder and God's promises and His wrath. I find myself going to be early to read more of what is in store for God's people. And all the while learning that God is faithful and full of hope even in our day. 2Samuel hasn't been a snooze either. King David and his action packed story is amazing.
The Bible, it's not just for study anymore. :o)

Last Christmas or a Christmas to Last

This morning I was contemplating what this snow means. It obviously is holding some people's plans off at least postponed if not cancelled. And as I bemoaned the fact that my own plans have altered some what I wondered what God had planned in all this snow. And then I prayed that God would show me today what blessings He had in this for me. I don't want to miss a thing that God would give me while I complain and feel cheated and act hateful because MY Christmas wasn't picture post card perfect. Pastor Doug resonated in my head "Time is so very short" and I thought, could this be our last Christmas before we are with the one whose birth was foretold and we celebrate at this time of year? Do I want to spend this time complaining and miss out on what the Lord has for me? NO! But then it struck me, and struck me hard....Do I want to spend ANY time I have left complaining and missing out on all the blessings even the trials hold? Christmas is but one day, and if that day is spent alone what an amazing gift it will be. Holding on to God's promises for an entire day seems like a blessed Christmas event. A day not wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of a day over packed with going and coming and worry and fretting. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow even if it's in a day altered by snow!

What Is It Like To Be A Christian

A lady recently being baptized was asked by a coworker what it was like to be a Christian. She replied, 'It's like being a pumpkin.' God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off that you may have gotten from the other pumpkins. Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc, and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for the whole world to see.

This was passed to me from another pumpkin.

I thought this was cool, given the fall season we are in. I love fall!!

From Sophie to Poor Petey (Peetie)

Seems like an IQ test doesn't it? How do you get from Sophie to Poor Petey? Well it's just a case of renaming our family does. We rush into a name for an animal and then call it a totally separate name. It confuses the vet something awful and makes for identity crisis in the home. But we do it every time. And our Sophie is no exception. The name Sophie stuck for about a week, just long enough for her to be registered at the vet as Sophie. Then it was Poor Petey from then on. But I guess I should tell the story of how we got the name Petey to begin with.
We have a friend who told a story of his pet parrot Petey. Petey was an elderly bird with limited use of his legs and wings. Petey had a disability and was afforded the status and special housing the BADA (Bird Americans with Disabilities Act) required. One day an Aunt came to visit the home. They visited for a long while and she inquired after the lame bird. She hadn't seen the limpy bird since she arrived and wondered where he was. All the family was in love with this infirmed bird and had some sort of ownership in his well being. The calls went out, Petey, Petey where are you? Here birdie, Petey come say hello. But there was nothing. The son asked, when was the last time you saw him? His mom answered with trepidation in her voice, pointing to the chair where the Aunt sat, right there! The Aunt rose slowly and to everyone's horror lay Pete Parrot, dead. With sadness the mom just stated a fact, Poor Petey.
Well the story just made us all laugh, not so much at the birds demise but the way he died.
Now to how Sophie became Poor Peetie. She has the most annoying habit of jumping up under your bum just as you go to sit down. There are hundreds of times that we have almost made a poor Petey out of her. Then when we rescue her by gyrating around so as not to sit on her we tell her she was almost Poor Peetied. And the name just stuck to her. Even Molly sits on her when they sleep together. All curled up, you will see all of Molly and just the back half of Sophie. So the name Peetie is what she will come to, and respond to. And that’s how you get from Sophie to Peetie (we feel this is the more feminine spelling). And I’m not sure about anybody’s IQ who is involved.

Sophie

I rarely find a creature I cannot love. Often my family has been the victim of my "rescue" of some animal. Over the years we have seen more than one of these turn to the upheaval of our entire home. Special food, containment or all around care has been the focus of several family meetings. We have had many fish and aquatic creatures. And I really did love having the fish tank. Many guppies were born under my watchful eye. Many, many guppies. Wow I didn't know how prolific guppies were but they are. We had an albino frog for some time. He ate live food, but it did solve our guppy overcrowding. There have been lots of lizard type pets too. A Chinese water dragon named Jake the snake was very entertaining as he ran across the room and would perch atop the drapes to peer at passers by. That unnerved the cats somewhat. Rabbits, oh the rabbits. Very cute, but very messy and when the kids came home from school to find him "expired" there was a lot of counsel necessary that night. Hamsters by the bucket load. And the “wouldn't it be fun to let them mate” phase was short lived when the kids were scarred by the eating of the young phase the mama hamster went through. The cats were almost too many to name. Every stray in the world finds their way to our home sooner or later. We've had cats named, Frog, Fish, Spike, Bandit, Elvis, Amber, Meena, Tadpole, Oreo, Rat the runt, Kitty, Mad Max and Guppy, and others I cannot even remember.
Dogs, oh the dogs I have loved and brought home to my family. Some became family members and there were a few that just were not meant to be. The dogs gotten due to the mama's emotional state were less than appropriate additions in one way or another.
We are now in the "Molly" era. Oh what a dog she is. She is unaware of her status as other than human. She is 100% adorable and a creature that has wrapped us all around her paw.
But we have had a family agreed on moratorium on new pets. The answer is NO. Not maybe, not a discussion, just no. Although Molly broke through, she was a special case.
Now I can tell you about our Saturday afternoon. In my defense I must tell that we had just picked up one son from the airport after being gone a week in Mexico. And I was only a week past the wedding of the other son, who was set to arrive home from his week in Mexico with his bride later that night. My heart was wrecked with emotion overload. Carrying the luggage to the door we heard it. A horse cry from the corner of the yard reached our ears. We all stopped to look around. There she was in the heat of the afternoon cowering behind the fence. We all walked over quickly to see what on earth would possess this creature to be out in this heat. She was tiny, we estimated about 5 weeks, and dehydrated. After rushing over the boys bent down and simultaneously they stopped, turned and waited for me to veto their action. I barked out “well, pick it up”. And with the mama’s blessing they coaxed it to them. She came right up and started purring. She is the cutest little kitten in the whole world. Covered in fleas and too skinny it was surmised she was dumped. I won’t even get into that subject.
After discussing the conditions of her staying and all conditions being agreed to by the remaining family members she was named “Todd”. After finding out Todd was really a girl the name was quickly changed to Sophie. Sophia Rose when she’s climbing the furniture. Which is being addressed in one of the “conditions” of her staying, right guys?
One thing I have learned after all the rescuing I have done over the years is how to spot a truly special animal. A special animal has character and enhances the family showing a capacity to love in return. Sophie shows all these traits and has a personality of a dog rather than a cat. Every cat we have had over the years has come in and hidden for at least two days before venturing out to become part of the family. Sophie only wants to be where we are. She has taken quite a shine to the men of the house and they are head over heels in love with her. She shows so much personality in everything she does. And I love watching the faces of my guys as they play with her and fall deeper in love every day.
So, I guess Sophie stays, but that is the last one I mean it………..

Even the Prince has a Mom

How easy it is to see the princess get married to the prince of her dreams. Isn’t that what is expected from a princess? And off to the side you see her parents so thrilled, tears welling in their eyes, the pain of losing her eased only by the joy they see in her eyes. So proud of their precious one’s new life and future, they contemplate how time flew by. Finding it hard to let go of their princess they mourn the passing of time. But what of the prince’s parents? Do they not grieve just as deeply? Raising the prince wasn’t it the same sacrifice at the altar that day? How deep it ripped his mother’s heart. How lonely she felt that day he joined together with the princess. Quickly she retreats to the day he was born. Holding him in her arms she looked down and fell in love. It was an all consuming love that enveloped her whole heart. Looking forward she made room that some day she would share his love with another. His whole life she prayed that the woman would be worthy of such a gift. That the sacrifice would be made that much easier by the fact she would love with her whole heart with a love that would envelope them both. That she would be as much the princess as he was a prince.
The day came all too quickly. She rushed in from nowhere. Swooping in and captivating all in her wake. How excitedly they looked to the future. Left on the sidelines to watch him make plans to leave the pain started. The pain was as deep as the love on that first day. But it was a lovely pain. It was a pain of hope, joy and reflection of days gone by. Carried by the enchantment of the princess a mother can let go. She once was the princess and still holding her prince she knew the joy to come for them both. Sacrifice was given the day she took a prince away. She recognized the love of this princess and gave the sacrifice willingly. And now left to watch the beauty, she is torn.
She knows that one day this princess will make the same sacrifice, silently and quietly, because there are only tears for the sacrifice of a princess. Maybe because the sacrifice of a prince is the giving up of a place saved for just that special guy in a mama’s life.
Every prince taking a princess has a mama giving up her special place.
Give it with grace and beauty to celebrate the prince that leaves a hole in the heart of his mother.

Only Flower

There is an only flower growing wild in the yard
Railing against the forces looks to be so hard
I watch her in the sun that gives warmth to who she is
She doesn’t know the only one is just the way it is
Her petals are wide, with brown, and yellow hue
She soaks up the falling rain that is the autumn cue
Lonely is this flower that grows wild in the yard
She should have grown in spring when it wasn’t very hard
Winter calls cold through the autumn sifting
Creatures warm wanting have taken to southern drifting
She grows in the yard not knowing what’s the season
She grows there lonely not knowing if there’s a reason
All the colors that she matches away have they gone
Dawn comes much later as the nights are getting long
Growing wild out of season rebels against the norm
Her strength keeps her rebelling against the autumn storm
Her green broad leaves show strength and might
They’re heavy now with the frigid cold of night
I watch as the season stands to be so hard
To my only little flower growing wild in the yard