Carry me

We just got back from a wonderful beach vacation ❤

We haven't taken a family vacation for about five years, it seems. So, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The downside was that we got there when a hurricane was hitting the gulf. But it was a Category One and we weren't directly in it's path. When we arrived, the water was all the way up to the dunes and as muddy as the Mississippi River.

Even though the conditions were not ideal for relaxation, we figured we'd never be at the beach again during a hurricane so we tried to make the best of a bad situation. It was definitely exciting. 😅

So, we went shopping and drove to see sights the next day because the beach was too wild to enjoy. Wind and waves, wind and waves. But by the next day, we could go sit on the beach and listen to that wonderful relaxing sound of waves rolling in and splashing on the sand.

By the last full day we had to enjoy the beach, it was finally the way I imagined our vacation would be. The brown water cleared up as the shoreline receded from the dunes and there were more folks enjoying the day alongside us on the beach.

There was a little girl there about seven or eight years old who spent the majority of the day using a skim board directly in front of us. She had some pretty good skills, I must say!

As we were about to leave the beach and go eat dinner, I noticed that she and her daddy were walking out into the ocean together. Each time a big wave came, they'd jump and walk on farther out. Eventually, he was holding her hand and then finally she was riding on his back with her arms wrapped around his neck. (How I wish I would have snapped a picture of this!)

I was reminded of a dream I had right before we went on vacation where my dad was with me and I was hugging his back in a similar way and he said, "What a wonderful surprise!" Then he called me by my nickname he rarely uses these days. When I awoke from the dream, I pondered it and realized it's been a long time since he called me that and I haven't hugged his back since childhood.

Seeing the little girl in the ocean with her dad brought back to memory the safety I felt riding on my Daddy's back when I was young. I completely trusted that he would carry me safely to our destination, wherever that might be.

I took a break from my daily Bible reading while we were traveling so when we got home, I settled back into my routine. I was taken aback by some of the first verses I read considering the little girl riding on her Daddy's back was still fresh in my mind.

"Listen to me, family of Jacob, everyone that's left of the family of Israel.
I've been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, 
And I'll keep on carrying you when you're old.
I'll be there, bearing you when you're old and gray.
I've done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you." Isaiah 46:3-4 

Honestly, I read it over and over. I found great comfort in those words. ❤

I know that God demonstrated this to me before we left for vacation with the dream and while we were at the beach with a picture of a little girl clinging to her Daddy's back with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he walked her out into the great depths of the ocean. The water was over her head but it was not over his.

No matter what the future holds and even when I'm old and gray, I know He will carry me. 

PS. I'm not that far away from old and gray...tee hee  ❤

Humbled

About five years ago, as I walked across the basement floor toward my Sunday School classroom at church, God spoke to my spirit, "You need to humble yourself."

Humble myself?

What exactly does that mean? It concerned and confused me because I didn't feel that I thought of myself more highly than others.

I was raised in a humble home getting the things in life we needed and not much else. I'm from a big family raised in a little town. I started working at 13 years of age as a waitress at the local YMCA (back when you could work that young!) and have never been one for fancy things.

My first car was an old Toyota Corolla that you could start with a butter knife!

Plus, I never finished college. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life at that age.

So, I pondered this instruction from God and wondered what exactly it was He saw in me that He didn't like and I needed to change.

Unknown to me at that time, I was coming into a season of life where I would be humbled. I would be humbled to the point where nothing was what I thought it was in my life and only God was who He said He was.

As I look back now, I know why I needed to humble myself. It wasn't that I thought too much of myself compared to others. The problem was I didn't think ENOUGH of who God is and who He is not.

He was the one with me 24/7 during the most difficult time of my life. He was the one by my side when I was alone. He was the one I cried to daily begging for help during my darkest hour. He never left me. He never forsook me. He loved me at my lowest and through the darkest time of my Christian life.

I couldn't have imagined thinking any more highly of God at the moment I walked across the basement floor at church that morning five years ago. He was in a very high place in my life. But during the season of testing that followed, He rose above ALL else. He took His rightful place in my heart, mind, spirit - my entire life. 

How humbled I now am because of who HE is.

He is everything to me. He is perfect. He loves in a way that we can't comprehend. He parents His children in the most wonderful way. Teaching us the difficult things in life.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 1 Peter 5:6 (ESV)

The heart of it...

My parents always sliced a watermelon when I was young. 

We kids would grab a slice, sit on the porch together and a seed spitting competition would begin! Definitely a happy childhood memory! 

At some point, when I became an adult and paid for my own watermelons, I decided that scooping it out into a dish was my preferred way to eat it. Slices are too messy.

Once, when we were staying with my in-laws, I bought a watermelon and helped myself to some in my usual way. Later on that evening, my father-in-law took the foil off the partially eaten watermelon sitting in the fridge and with great shock at what he uncovered said, "Who took the heart right out of the watermelon?!"

I said, "Umm....me." Suddenly realizing that he was old-school and thought scooping the heart out of it was the WRONG way to eat a watermelon!

He might be right. 😉

The heart is the best part and when it's gone, the rest of the watermelon is not quite the same. It's still good but it gets more distasteful the further you get from the heart and the closer you get to the bitter rind. Then what's left gets thrown out.

Sometimes, we do this same thing in life. We take the best part and leave the rest. I guess it's human nature.

As a woman, I know that this happens to us. We give and give of ourselves until we have nothing left taking care of our homes, families, spouses and working jobs. Then we walk around feeling empty because the heart is gone and that's a tough place to be. Empty, numb and sometimes bitter.

When we get so far from the heart of things, we just want to get the sweetness of life back. We want to get back to the heart of it all.

I'm so glad that God gives the best part instead of taking it.

When we have nothing left and it seems that all the good parts have been scooped out, is when He fills us up again...to overflowing.

He never fails.

Trust Him.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIV

Roots

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but I get picked on a lot. ❤

It seems that my childhood stories (and some from adulthood) get twisted and used against me.

All in fun, of course!

One of those stories is about roots. It usually comes up something like this...

We are eating a meal and someone complains or makes a comment about something we are eating. Then somehow it turns into a question geared toward me, "Didn't you used to eat roots?"

Then I argue, "No! I did NOT eat roots!"

They all laugh at me. Then I go into the "roots" story explaining that when I was young, my dad was a part time pastor and worked full time in the lead mines. At times, he was either laid off or on strike and had to provide for his large family. One of the things he did during these times was dig ginseng roots. They are interesting looking and worth quite a lot.

When we kids got home from school, he would make us clean buckets of roots with a toothbrush. After they were washed, he laid them on the roof of our house to dry in the sun. Then he sold them. I remember how proud he was once when he got his check and was able to buy groceries!

I have to say that even though it's a joke on me now-a-days, I'm sure this work ethic displayed for me by my dad greatly impacted my life. He found a way to get us through those difficult times.

It's no joke to me that these are my roots. I'm glad they are.

I'm thankful for parents who worked hard and made an honest living as an example for their children. Even if it makes for a funny story later in life ❤

Plant your roots in Christ and let Him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful. Colossians 2:7-9 (CEV)

Maybe we're lame...

I ran away from home once before I was even old enough to be in school yet. My mom made me angry because she wouldn't allow me to wear a blue ruffled dress I'd received and I felt strongly that I should be able to wear it around the house if I wanted to.

So, I went outside and stewed over it.

My oldest sister, Kathy, saw me sitting on the sidewalk and asked what happened. I explained my plight and she said she'd run away with me if I wanted to. I gladly agreed and thought it would be a good way to get even with Mom.

She took me to the creek about a mile down the road where we spent the day skipping rocks and catching tadpoles and crawdads. Finally, I got tired and hungry. She suggested we eat some crawdad tails but I scrunched my nose up at that idea.

"Good," she said, "cause I forgot to bring ketchup!" We laughed and walked back home. Mom never mentioned me running away and I didn't mention the dress again either. ❤

I have to say that I've grown up a bit since then and now it really takes A LOT to make me angry. I generally just shrug my shoulders and am like "Okay...whatever."

But there are a couple of things that I have no patience for and that's a liar and a thief.

Either of those two things will make me very angry. Especially if I know the truth and if the person is a Christian.

What if another Christian's lies tear our world apart?
What if their lies cause months of tears and constant heartache?
What if they never say "I'm sorry..."?
What then?

Shouldn't we be more forgiving and grant grace and mercy as God has done for us?

Yes.

But maybe we are lame. Feeble and weak. Incapable of the depth of forgiveness needed to move past the pain inflicted by fellow Christians. Maybe the problem is our own. Our great expectation of other Christians is completely delusional.

Only by the healing power of God Almighty will we no longer be lame. 

I find this definition interesting...(of a person or animal) unable to walk normally because of an injury or illness affecting the leg or foot. 

Sadly, we can be spiritually injured by other Christians as we journey through this world. But God is our healer. Nothing is impossible for Him.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?" The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. John 5 6-9

I love that Jesus saw him lying there, and knew...

He knows we are lame. He knows the areas in our life that need healing. He knows how we got the affliction. He knows how to heal it.

When God does something - it is DONE. ❤

The Nest...

About a month ago, a bird started making a nest underneath the roof that covers the entrance of the business where I work.

I couldn't believe a bird would try to make a nest there because my employer has gone to great efforts to prevent such a thing. I assume they don't want bird droppings all over the concrete outside the front door! 

There are spikes set all along the inside of the roof covering and this is why it was so interesting to see a bird actually make a nest among the spikes. 

I snapped a few pictures of her building the nest and to tell you the truth, almost forgot about it. Until, last week, when I heard birds peeping inside the nest and the mother bird feeding them!

I felt a wonderful feeling inside when I saw that she'd succeeded in building a nest there and that her baby birds were alive and well.

It seems such a simple, natural thing for a bird to build a nest, lay eggs and mother her babies. But the extraordinary effort she went to to build her nest and provide a safe place for her babies amazed me. I was so proud of this mother bird outside the window at work! lol

Even though she was discouraged to build a nest there, she did it anyway.
Even though it was an unusual place to build a nest, she did it anyway.
Even though the spikes were sorta dangerous, she did it anyway.
Even though we were all staring at her like she was a crazy bird, she did it anyway. HA!

I guess I love this bird.

To be honest, she couldn't have chosen a better place to build a nest. 💗

Look at the birds of the sky: They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? Matthew 6:26 (HCSB)

Stress TEST

Heart trouble runs in my family. Dad had a heart attack a few years ago. My oldest sister, Kathy, passed away at 49 of a heart attack. Momma has congestive heart failure and a leaky heart valve. I have had an arrhythmia for years along with a leaky valve and high cholesterol.

That being said, you'd think I'd exercise all the time, watch what I eat and be the picture of health. But I'm not. It's REALLY hard to eat healthy all the time. 😏

So, I had a stress test a few years back and passed with flying colors. But the test itself was difficult. By the time I finished, I was sweating, exhausted and ready to go home. No fun at all.

The funny part of this story is not about my heart but about how I think. (Tee Hee) I saw this post on Facebook from one of my friends and instead of thinking of the traditional stress test like the one I had for my heart, I thought she was stressed out that afternoon and being tested.

I said a quick prayer for her once I realized what she meant but had to laugh at myself. I'm such a goofball. 😁

But her post did get me to thinking about how God gives us 'stress tests' to get our attention or show us an area in our life that needs work. It can come in the form of marital stress, work stress, financial stress, etc. Life can be very stressful.

When we are tested, it can seem that the test will never end. 

We become tired of the stress and completely exhausted but that's the exact place we need to be to see what the problem is. God is not in a hurry to make sure we get it right quickly but wants to make sure we understand what He wants us to learn.

Ironically, we get a stress test ordered by our heart doctor when we're having a heart issue so he can figure out what is going on with it.

When God orders the stress test He already knows what is wrong with our heart. The test isn't for Him to see what the problem is but it's for us to see. When we understand the issue, we can change it.

A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12 (HCSB)