There are two phrases that lately I have caught myself about to say on several occasions; sometimes even more than once a day. The first is “If I had a nickel for every time....” and the second is “I’ll be happy when….”. It is in my top ten life goals to rid these two phrases from my very thoughts and inner brain cells.
I have a husband and four children and during my forty-five years of life have been acquainted with other good people with occasional annoying habits. In my household alone, the phrase, “If I had a nickel for every time…” springs to my lips all too frequently. Now, I’m not implying that those close to me should refrain from having these annoying habits, (though if they had fewer, it might be a blessing). I’m suggesting that I shouldn’t consider having that many nickels! Who put me in such a high and mighty position to receive financial wealth for the weakness of others? When I lash out with that quick-witted phrase, does it suggest that I should be compensated for some suffering I’ve incurred because I’ve had to repeatedly remind one kid not to smack their lips when they eat?
The real fact of the matter is, nobody is going to give me any nickels. I need to find another way to better utilize this frustration.
The same thing could be said for the phrase, “I’ll be happy when…”. I believe there are few who haven’t fallen victim to this idea. When we were younger, we usually associated this thought with a toy or a holiday. Then we grew up, but we didn’t grow smarter. Three years ago, we moved into a home that is thirty-six years old and beyond paint and wallpaper has had no updating. I can walk in any single room of this house, stand in the front yard, the driveway or the backyard and have the phrase “I’ll be happy when….” precede a list that takes a full twenty minutes to recite including changing body positions for different views, making sweeping hand motions that somehow add to my visualization and finally enduring swirling dollar signs circling above my head. Then I realize that I have once again fallen to the spell that phrase casts me under and I know full well that even if every little detail of what I have imagined comes to be reality, I won’t be happy. There will always be a desire for more or different. Daydreaming is harmless as long as we maintain the reality-check.
Fulfilling dreams that involve any and all things of this world, do not bring true spiritual happiness or wealth. Forgetting these two phrases altogether is going to be tough, so what if we reapply them instead. How about, “If I had a nickel for every time”… I quoted a Bible verse during the day. I don’t know about you, but I would be memorizing more verses and probably even put real nickels in a special jar just to see how many I could collect. Consider this one, “I’ll be happy when….” I get the kids off to school, because then I’m going to pray. Praying without distractions, or interruptions makes me really happy from way inside my heart. Life gets immediately better just because I’ve been in touch with the Father.
Now, these are only two suggestions, but you get the idea. The kids are probably going to keep doing whatever it is they are doing that we wish they didn’t, until they are adults and just realize better. And, no amount of plumbing repairs, new windows or mulch is really going to make anybody truly spiritually happy, which is the only kind of happy that really matters. So, get the kids off to school, say a prayer and tell Him absolutely everything on your heart and then open your Bible up and start memorizing this verse…
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Good Shepherd & The Dog Pound
Recently, my daughter’s little Peekapoo puppy escaped outside the house to parts unknown. She was missing a total of about two hours when she turned up in our backyard. But, while she was missing and I was trying to coordinate a search for her and keep my daughter from coming unglued, I had an enlightening experience.
I made a trip down to the pound to check for her and register her as missing. When I arrived, I was instructed to go down one hallway where I would find small to medium dogs and then down another and through a door where I would find a long narrow room with pens lining one wall.
A father and son arrived shortly after I did and were apparently given the same instructions. They entered the large pen area just behind me and headed left.
The young dark-haired boy began calling his dog’s name. Now, mind you, there must have been twenty-five to thirty alarmed dogs in this room; all barking wildly. Go ahead, imagine the immense sound in this high-ceilinged, narrow concrete well of a room with MANY LOUD barking dogs.
The wide-eyed boy was all business. He immediately began scanning the two levels of pens and calling his dog by name over and over. He came back past the door and made his way to the pens on the right. Moments later, he was calling to his dad in great excitement and a big smile spread across his face. He had found his lost Labrador. I heard his dad ask how he had found him so quickly and he answered that he kept calling his name and heard him barking. He had just followed the sound of his dog’s bark.
Now all of this set me to thinking. This young man was a reflection of Someone else looking for someone lost. In the first place, his mannerisms had to be just like that of our Good Shepherd. He walked into that big room and he was alert and focused on spotting “his” dog. Our shepherd is the same way. From the instant we go “missing”, He is seeking us out from among the many who are lost. He is not discouraged when He doesn’t immediately see us. He strains to look both left and right and left again.
He calls to us and listens for our unique voices to answer. Just like that Labrador knew his boy’s voice and (while I still don’t know how among all the chaos), that boy knew his dog’s bark. He kept calling and following one bark until he found him.
And, we have to talk about the smile. This was the best part. The smile on that boy’s face was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. He could not stop smiling. Have you ever been so happy, it was spilling out all over your face and you just couldn’t make it stop? I thought we might have to call for medical attention, his rosy cheeks were so bright and uncontrollable. Have you ever thought of Jesus with that face? With all my heart I know Jesus makes that face plus some every time he finds one of us when we have roamed away, trailed out of His word, and jumped over the fences of our eternal salvation and into the chaos, much like that of the dog pound. Think about that face and the love that it cannot fully express.
Have a beautiful day and go visit a dog pound. You might see Someone’s reflection in the face of a young boy.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”
John 10:14
I made a trip down to the pound to check for her and register her as missing. When I arrived, I was instructed to go down one hallway where I would find small to medium dogs and then down another and through a door where I would find a long narrow room with pens lining one wall.
A father and son arrived shortly after I did and were apparently given the same instructions. They entered the large pen area just behind me and headed left.
The young dark-haired boy began calling his dog’s name. Now, mind you, there must have been twenty-five to thirty alarmed dogs in this room; all barking wildly. Go ahead, imagine the immense sound in this high-ceilinged, narrow concrete well of a room with MANY LOUD barking dogs.
The wide-eyed boy was all business. He immediately began scanning the two levels of pens and calling his dog by name over and over. He came back past the door and made his way to the pens on the right. Moments later, he was calling to his dad in great excitement and a big smile spread across his face. He had found his lost Labrador. I heard his dad ask how he had found him so quickly and he answered that he kept calling his name and heard him barking. He had just followed the sound of his dog’s bark.
Now all of this set me to thinking. This young man was a reflection of Someone else looking for someone lost. In the first place, his mannerisms had to be just like that of our Good Shepherd. He walked into that big room and he was alert and focused on spotting “his” dog. Our shepherd is the same way. From the instant we go “missing”, He is seeking us out from among the many who are lost. He is not discouraged when He doesn’t immediately see us. He strains to look both left and right and left again.
He calls to us and listens for our unique voices to answer. Just like that Labrador knew his boy’s voice and (while I still don’t know how among all the chaos), that boy knew his dog’s bark. He kept calling and following one bark until he found him.
And, we have to talk about the smile. This was the best part. The smile on that boy’s face was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. He could not stop smiling. Have you ever been so happy, it was spilling out all over your face and you just couldn’t make it stop? I thought we might have to call for medical attention, his rosy cheeks were so bright and uncontrollable. Have you ever thought of Jesus with that face? With all my heart I know Jesus makes that face plus some every time he finds one of us when we have roamed away, trailed out of His word, and jumped over the fences of our eternal salvation and into the chaos, much like that of the dog pound. Think about that face and the love that it cannot fully express.
Have a beautiful day and go visit a dog pound. You might see Someone’s reflection in the face of a young boy.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”
John 10:14
Monday, September 15, 2008
Introductions
Good morning, or afternoon, or evening…I’m not sure what time you're reading this, but whatever the time, it is very nice to meet you.
I’d like to tell you a little about myself, though I hope you will come to know me better over the months to come through this little article I type on my laptop while sitting at the kitchen table in our home in Richmond, Virginia. It has been my dream for many, many years to write a column much like that of Erma Bombeck’s “At Wit’s End” taking everyday events and finding the humor in them. But I would like to go one step further and shed a bit of “scriptural light” on them as well. I love reading simple things and finding enlightenment in them, but being spiritually enlightened feeds the soul.
I’m originally from Paducah, Kentucky and still refer to it as home. I attended Harding University and met my husband John there, graduated in 1984 and married the next year. We have been married 23 years now, have four children, and have lived in four states. Three years ago, we felt the Lord had provided us with the opportunity to move back near family and familiar surroundings and so we are (hopefully) settled in Chester. Our children spread eight years in range, with the first three being sons and the last a daughter.
Other than what I’ve mentioned so far, I’m exactly like you. And where you may find me not to be like you, I’m probably worse. I hope that as you read my typed thoughts to come, you will find situations and events that are either already familiar to you and make you smile, or spring to your mind in an ah-ha moment one day soon.
I am pre-disposed to be happy. I truly despise being ill-at-ease. I am not good at new challenges or change. When these things inevitably come, I focus on the parts that make me happy until the new stuff becomes familiar and then I can find happiness in those too. I’m one of those people who wade into the water, I would never dive.
I have a terrible memory. I could have shared so many more interesting thoughts and funny stories with you from when my children were younger, if only I had written them down somewhere. We’ll just have to work with what I’ve got now.
Traveling gives me anxiety attacks. You can take me anywhere you want during the day, but I need to be home by 10:00 or I begin to feel physically ill. By now you must be thinking, “this lady is gonna be a real piece of work and she is clearly nothing like me.” Well, I may not be like you in the specifics, but we each have quirky traits that make us uniquely individual. I’m hoping some of mine will remind you of some of yours and again, make you smile.
One thing that I am certain we have in common, is an ever-growing love for our Heavenly Father and the desire to one day have neighboring mansions in His kingdom. That will be a “change” that brings great happiness, true knowledge (which is better than memory), and no more travel. Woohoo! But, while we are still here on earth, I hope that we can encourage one another, share experiences of life both happy and heart-breaking, and strengthen the bond we have with one another through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for letting me be a part of your life. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
I’d like to tell you a little about myself, though I hope you will come to know me better over the months to come through this little article I type on my laptop while sitting at the kitchen table in our home in Richmond, Virginia. It has been my dream for many, many years to write a column much like that of Erma Bombeck’s “At Wit’s End” taking everyday events and finding the humor in them. But I would like to go one step further and shed a bit of “scriptural light” on them as well. I love reading simple things and finding enlightenment in them, but being spiritually enlightened feeds the soul.
I’m originally from Paducah, Kentucky and still refer to it as home. I attended Harding University and met my husband John there, graduated in 1984 and married the next year. We have been married 23 years now, have four children, and have lived in four states. Three years ago, we felt the Lord had provided us with the opportunity to move back near family and familiar surroundings and so we are (hopefully) settled in Chester. Our children spread eight years in range, with the first three being sons and the last a daughter.
Other than what I’ve mentioned so far, I’m exactly like you. And where you may find me not to be like you, I’m probably worse. I hope that as you read my typed thoughts to come, you will find situations and events that are either already familiar to you and make you smile, or spring to your mind in an ah-ha moment one day soon.
I am pre-disposed to be happy. I truly despise being ill-at-ease. I am not good at new challenges or change. When these things inevitably come, I focus on the parts that make me happy until the new stuff becomes familiar and then I can find happiness in those too. I’m one of those people who wade into the water, I would never dive.
I have a terrible memory. I could have shared so many more interesting thoughts and funny stories with you from when my children were younger, if only I had written them down somewhere. We’ll just have to work with what I’ve got now.
Traveling gives me anxiety attacks. You can take me anywhere you want during the day, but I need to be home by 10:00 or I begin to feel physically ill. By now you must be thinking, “this lady is gonna be a real piece of work and she is clearly nothing like me.” Well, I may not be like you in the specifics, but we each have quirky traits that make us uniquely individual. I’m hoping some of mine will remind you of some of yours and again, make you smile.
One thing that I am certain we have in common, is an ever-growing love for our Heavenly Father and the desire to one day have neighboring mansions in His kingdom. That will be a “change” that brings great happiness, true knowledge (which is better than memory), and no more travel. Woohoo! But, while we are still here on earth, I hope that we can encourage one another, share experiences of life both happy and heart-breaking, and strengthen the bond we have with one another through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for letting me be a part of your life. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
Meanmomma's Washing Kettle
I've spent a great deal of time trying to think of a name for my blog site. I wanted something timeless, unique and simple; something much like Erma Bombeck's "At Wits End". I'm just not that clever. I began to look for inspiration around my house since my articles are about everyday life and events and I came to focus on my grandmother's washing kettle. It is one of my favorite possessions.
There were MANY years that this kettle was used for more than just cleaning clothes for her family of eight. But by the time I came to know the kettle, modern technology had replaced all of its uses and it rested on her lawn filled with flowers through the summer. When my grandmother passed, my mother took the kettle to her home and it was again filled with flowers. For the past four years now, it has been my turn to fill the kettle. I enjoy planning what to put in it every spring, which always includes something to cascade over its thick, dark sides and something to rise up tall at the center. But this entry really isn't about the kettle's life today.
I imagine you have heard the old saying, 'it'll all come out in the wash.' The kettle reminded me of that phrase and how my grandmother likely worked and struggled to remove the evidence of hard farming chores out of their clothes. And then I thought about how Christ's blood removes the stains and soil of sin from our lives everyday. And furthermore, how the scriptures wash over and connect to our everyday lives and events to lead us back to the foot of the cross.
I hope that as you read my stories and the scriptures that make these connections for me, you will find inspiration and be reminded that there is a Heavenly Father who seeks to fill you with a faith that will rise up tall and a love that will cascade over your life and bloom over the thick, dark sides of it. And may your life be lived, 'in the wash.'
"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7
There were MANY years that this kettle was used for more than just cleaning clothes for her family of eight. But by the time I came to know the kettle, modern technology had replaced all of its uses and it rested on her lawn filled with flowers through the summer. When my grandmother passed, my mother took the kettle to her home and it was again filled with flowers. For the past four years now, it has been my turn to fill the kettle. I enjoy planning what to put in it every spring, which always includes something to cascade over its thick, dark sides and something to rise up tall at the center. But this entry really isn't about the kettle's life today.
I imagine you have heard the old saying, 'it'll all come out in the wash.' The kettle reminded me of that phrase and how my grandmother likely worked and struggled to remove the evidence of hard farming chores out of their clothes. And then I thought about how Christ's blood removes the stains and soil of sin from our lives everyday. And furthermore, how the scriptures wash over and connect to our everyday lives and events to lead us back to the foot of the cross.
I hope that as you read my stories and the scriptures that make these connections for me, you will find inspiration and be reminded that there is a Heavenly Father who seeks to fill you with a faith that will rise up tall and a love that will cascade over your life and bloom over the thick, dark sides of it. And may your life be lived, 'in the wash.'
"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7
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