A Sprint or a Marathon

 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. (Acts 8:30-31, New Living Translation)

I’ve read through the entire Bible twice, and to be honest, I don’t know how much I got out of it. I read it like I was running a marathon, just to get through it. No stopping to look at the sights, no talking to those around me, no taking pictures. No understanding it.

A few years ago, I started reading through the Bible again, starting out at a sprint, which soon came to a stand-still as life started happening all around me. My goal now is to finish that great Book but to get something out of it. Take my time, research what I’m reading, understand what God is actually saying in those 66 books (or 80 books in some versions of the Bible or even 100 books if you read the Ethiopian Bible).

There are a lot of great stories in the Bible, besides the wisdom of Solomon, the preaching of the apostles, and so much more. Each and every word in the Bible is well thought out and inspired by God. It’s a book to be read, and also one to absorb and be understood.

And not to be raced through, but to be lived. 

Just Pictures of Emma and a New Word

I’m sure that the Independence Day holiday on a Tuesday has a lot of people unsure of what day today is. Is it really Wednesday? How did that happen?

Anyway, I have all kinds of stuff going on and no time to write right now, so I thought I’d just share some pictures of my sweet little Emma in my bed.

She is on a second medication for her seizures and, knock on wood, she hasn’t had one since starting the generic Keppra. She gets it in a liquid form and even though she isn’t thrilled by it, it’s better than her spitting out the tablet three times before we can get it down her throat. It’s bad enough with the phenobarbital pill, but she’s doing better with that too.

 I also have a word for the week.  

You know how some animals, especially dogs, will lay all stretched out on their bellies with all four legs stretched out. I always called that their froggy legs. But there is a word for it. Sploot or splooting.

I caught Emma doing it on the deck earlier this week, but couldn’t get a picture. I’m sure I had a picture of Dino splooting, but I can’t find it now. Oh, well, you know what I mean. 

Hell on Earth

     
“When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you. For I am the Lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you.” (Isaiah 43:2-3, Good News Translation)

We were watching an old episode of NCIS, and one of the characters was dealing with some trials in life. One of his co-workers said, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”

Isn’t that the truth? When things aren’t going well for us and it feels like we are living in hell on earth, don’t we sometimes just want to give up and quit? And then where are we? Still stuck in hell on earth.

Turn your problems over to God, ask Him to give you the strength to keep plowing through, and then keeping going until you are back to heaven on earth.

And also remember – hell on earth is nothing compared to the real hell. Make sure your goal is to end up in the real heaven when you leave this earth.

(The picture above is from Hell's Gate Park in Kenya, when I was there in 2017. I climbed this same wall, but didn't do it nearly as gracefully as the younger volunteers.) 

Just Be Still

 “Be Still and Know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)

Every year, I choose a word to help guide me through the next 365 days. Nearly six months ago, I didn’t proclaim just one word for the year; I went with one of my favorite Bible passages.

Over the last couple of years, on December 31, when I looked back over the past twelve months, it felt like it had been another tough one. So much going on, so many people and situations to pray for, so much going wrong in this world.

And here I am, not quite six months into 2023, and I – I have nothing to say. It’s been brutal again.

When, Lord, are things going to get better, get easier? When will we find peace and comfort?

To which He answers, “Once you have sent your prayer, let it go, because I have heard it, and I will take care of it. I will take care of you and your loved ones. Be still. Be calm. Be at peace.”

If you read last Sunday’s blog, you realize that God has been telling me that for a while. I really need to start listening, or at least be still and know that He is God and He has got this.

Flashback Friday - a word from Dino

I’ve been skimming through all my old blog posts, hunting for ones to include in my latest book – a 40-day devotional about dealing with pain. Funny thing, when I started this blog, in 2010, I was dealing with a frozen shoulder. And though I’ve been suffering with low back pain for the past twelve weeks, the back is somewhat better right now, but that right shoulder is killing me.

I’m thinking it is all arthritis, as my mother predicted I would be assailed with by the time I reached this age.

Anyway, it’s been fun and nostalgic reading through all those old blog posts. This one ticked a lot of my boxes, including that irksome back pain. Can't wait to go camping next month, though it won't be the same without our four-legged sidekick. 

My Big Adventure

Well, finally, I get to write on my own blog. Momma names the thing after me and then never even lets me use it. She seems to think I can’t type with my big ol’ puppy paws. Duh, Mom, they don’t call me the wonder dog for nothin’.

So, since Mom is taking a break from telling her life stories (boring!), I got some internet time and here I am to tell you about my big adventure. Mom and Dad took me camping up north! They call it the U.P., but – hello – just call it up, like I can’t spell or something.

We stayed in this cool campground where there were 100 other dogs, and way more people than that. Or that’s what it seemed like coz some dog and their people were walking by our trailer like every five minutes. And Mom or Dad would tell me to be quiet. But it’s like, why can they say “hi” to everyone and I can’t?

Where we camped, they don’t let dogs on the beach. I don’t get why, but you know Mom and Dad – always having to follow the rules. But just a couple miles down the road there was a really cool park, and we went to it every day. And I got to run in the water and get chased by waves. It was so awesome. I pretended the waves were a really big mean kitty. And I let them get as close to me as I could and then I ran back to shore. But the waves still always caught me and got me all wet. It was awesome.

We rode around in the truck a lot. I don’t know what Mom and Dad were so fascinated about, but they seemed to really like looking at the big lake. I’m kind of thinking, if I can’t play in it, I sure don’t want to just look at it.

We also took a couple walks in the woods every day. Mom and Dad seemed to be looking for something all the time. We would walk for a while and then we would have to turn around. Dad said it is because Mom’s back hurts so she can’t walk as far as she would like. Poor Mom, I wish I could make her feel better. Sometimes she acts so old.

I was very happy to finally be home today. I really liked the long trip, but I like it in my own backyard too. I can’t wait to sleep all day long tomorrow. Love, Dino.

Welcome to the World, Little Babies

Ah, the first day of summer.

Eighteen months ago, a power surge blew out our garage door openers, and we ended up leaving the overhead doors open the rest of that winter. By the time spring came, and we were ready to take the old openers down and put up the new ones, a mother robin had built a nest on top of one of them. I thought I wrote an entire blog about it, but this is the only one I found.

Last fall, after she had a second batch of babies, and the mother and all her offspring had flown the nest, we took it down along with the old opener and installed the new one.

Then this May, with the garage door opener going up and down twice a day to let my car in and out, that silly bird built another nest in the same spot. I made Hubby take it down right away so we could have the garage back, but Momma came back and continued building.

Every time I went in the garage and saw her sitting on her nest, her face as serious as could be, I would say hi to her and tell her she was doing a good job. With my back still bothering me, I wasn’t able to climb a ladder for a better look, but Hubby assured me she had eggs.

Then maybe a week ago, he said he saw a chick in the nest and the next day he saw two more.

Today, I finally managed to get out and greet the new arrivals. Aren’t all babies adorable?

Now, we’ll see how long before Momma lays a new batch. Could be a long summer. But that’s better than a long winter. 

 

Never Quit Praying

          Give your burdens to the Lord. He will carry them. He will not permit the godly to slip or fall. (Psalm 55:22, Living Bible)

Every night, after going to bed and turning out the lights, I start my nightly prayers – thanking God for all He has done for me, praying for forgiveness for the many transgressions I commit every day, and asking God to grant a long list of favors. Most recently pleading with Him to take away my back pain, but also that my children figure out their lives, that my cat doesn’t have any more seizures, that adequate rain falls, that my husband doesn’t get bored not working over the summer, that there is peace on earth, and that millions of non-believers turn their lives over to Jesus Christ.

So I pray all these things (and more), and I picture God holding out a huge silver platter, nodding and saying, “Offer up all your prayers, place them all on this platter, turn them over to Me.”

And I put all those things on the silver platter.

The next night, in bed again, I start saying my prayers. God shows up, and He’s still carrying that giant platter. And it’s still full of all of the prayers from the night before.

So, I ask Him, “Why are all my prayers still there? Aren’t You at least working on answering them?”

He nods and tells me to just keep praying, keep putting all my requests on the platter.

And I don’t know what to say; I just give Him this look like, “What? Why should I keep praying for this same stuff if You aren’t going to take care of it?”

He nods again and says, “Trust Me. I got this.”

And so it goes, night after night, until I have an epiphany. 

Yes, I keep praying and I know that God is taking all of my requests seriously. And I also know that He can carry that platter no matter how full it is, how heavy all of my prayers are.

I can’t carry it; I can’t even pick it up. I need to keep the faith and trust God in all things. He will always be stronger than me. And He knows how best to answer each and every one of my prayers and when.

Thank You, Lord, God, for always carrying every one of my burdens. Amen

(And the picture is of the largest platter that I have, not that this post has anything to do with Thanksgiving. Except, I guess it does. We need to give thanks every day, not just once a year.)