I don't get it

I don't get:

• why my dog thinks I'm the person I would like to be.
• how it is that so many nonChristians have inspired me to be more Christlike.
• why it doesn't come out on the page the way I feel it in my insides.
• why I wait until the last minute to do something I could've done days ago, but now it's taken me longer than it should, cost twice as much, and turned out half as good.
• why my kids get sick at the dawn of weekend.
• why liberals blame George W for global warming, obesity, and our country's growing inability to compete with the world's most brilliant minds.
• why older people don't understand how to set microwave, answering machine, or VCR clocks.
• why people ask me if I'm okay while I'm choking.
• why idiot jerks who pass me dangerously on the highway glare at me like I did something stupid.
• how they can expect us all to believe we're all "special" the way they're teaching it in schools now.
• how my eyeballs used to work perfectly, and then one day they started shape shifting.
• how people who look perfectly healthy can have only three months to live.
• why all the really good tasting food has to kill me.
• why there are no lines until it's time for me to check out.
• why I find the rebate paperwork the day after it expires.
• how some people do not like chocolate.
• why some people go all out to exercise religiously and eat all kinds of healthy food, and then buy Almond Roca bar mix from Costco.
• why I hesitate to ask for the nice pen from the vendor who has them on display but offers me a sticker.
• why leaves aren't called "come outs" in the spring.
• how turkeys are nowhere to be seen during hunting season if they're all that dumb.
• why God wants anything to do with us, I mean, really.
• why my hair looks great when the dogs are the only ones who'll see it.
  

I'll add on to this as the conundrums roll in...

kindness

From Sheila Walsh:

Don't ever forget kindness and truth. Wear them like a necklace. Write them on your heart as if on a tablet. Then you will be respected and will please both God and people. Trust the Lord with all your heart, and don't depend on your own understanding. Remember the Lord in all you do, and he will give you success." (Proverbs 3:3-6, NCV)

I wonder how kindness and truth would impact our lives if we wore them every day as the writer commands. Kindness is really under-rated in the church in my opinion. We are impressed with giftedness, talent and success but kindness seems to have little curb appeal. I love the fact that kindness and truth are paired together.

=======================

I would love to be known for being kind. Instead, I think I'll be known for being a kind of something...

Something to strive for.

graduating already

Mine is the mantra of parents everywhere with a child graduating: How did they grow up so fast...?

I've been uploading pics to Photobucket so I can make room on my hard drive, and I came across these old pics of Ryrie and his buddy, Kyle. They were so loud and rambunctious, full of spit and vinegar. They were chummy one minute and mad at each other the next. They were so much alike.

Miles and time have separated them, and they're not the close friends they once were. But they're still congenial, and I'm glad for that. I probably remember their closeness more than they do, so I'm all the more grateful for the pics.

To Friendship!

Li'l Boy and Big Toys

Li'l Boy Outside

quick trip south

I fell off my horse. Well, he's not my horse, he's my niece's horse, but still--I fell off. I haven't fallen off a horse since I was 16! (Okay, I fell off my horse in June, but that doesn't count because he took off before I was ready AND I was bareback. YOU try that.)

Kev & I were talking, and he couldn't seem to get the point I was trying to make, and in typical fashion, I simply must make you all understand. I am deep into this conversation while we are trotting down this long, narrow incline. My feet are out of the stirrups because I don't have boots anymore since my bunion calls for a wider size which I'm too poor & lazy to buy. I am in the now, carpe-momenting this opportunity to nail my point home in one... two... three... TOO LATE! I tipped over in s-l-o-w motion and by the time I realized I was falling, it was over. Like it wasn't stupid enough that I was paying more attention to being heard and understood than I was my own physical place in the universe, what really tipped me off was the look on Kev's face. I thought, "What is he all concerned about........" ---THUNK! ka-THUNK!
That was me bouncing. He said he saw me bounce. I have two huge beautiful bruises on my back AND backside--which went as south as my brain.

Do I blame it on oldness or pride or a frap of both...? Whichever, I just hope I can turn my head in the morning.

lay flat to dry

Washing instructions: Wash in warm water, gentle cycle. Reshape and lay flat to dry.

I wish I could be washed in warm water, gently, and then laid down and reshaped.

Doesn't that sound kinda nice?

Hannah's Birthday

(Happy Birthday, Hosie!)

"Light is sown for the uncompromisingly righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart, the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection." ~Ps. 97:11

There is a joy tat will not be subdued or held down or retarded, and it is sown for the upright in heart, a product or result or harvest of "the being His."

I wish this for you, today and every single day of your life. XO

Judging

Nothing results in such hot feedback as the topic of judging others. Is there confusion over what scriptures say about it? Are we asserting our thoughts on the subject? Are we desiring to restore the believing ones we love who seem to be sinning? Both...?

• "So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." ~1 Cor. 4:1-5 NIV

• "As for my attitude... I have already decided and passed judgment...in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, on the man who has committed such a deed. You are to deliver this man over to Satan for physical discipline." ~1 Cor. 5:3-5 Amp.

• "What business of mine is it and what right have I to judge outsiders? Is it not those inside the church upon whom you are to pass disciplinary judgment passing censuring sentence on them as the facts require? God alone sits in judgment on those who are outside." ~1 Cor. 5:12-13 Amp.

Admittedly, I am offering my own interpretation on these scriptures. Prayerfully, that is our responsibility and privilege.

Operate from a clear conscience. If someone judges you unjustly, suffer it with joy, deeming it a blessed thing if it launches you into His arms and gives Him pleasure.

"Judge nothing before the appointed time." Don't be the last word on a person's motives, intentions, purposes, or condition of heart. There is a discerning we do when we witness a person's fruit. That is not judging. Judgment is a condemnation and a sentence. Paul passed judgment on a man committing a blatant sin, and the Corinthian church was proud of their "tolerance." Paul addressed BOTH conditions.

Leave the judgment of unbelievers to Another. They are under a whole different law, and we can't expect Life from one not Reborn.

To judge or not to judge... proceed with caution... falling rocks ahead, some pitched by the judged, some by the judge... May the motives of your heart be pure, servant-minded, and fragranced of Jesus. †

Kathy California

I have this friend. I can tell her anything, and I don't get a crooked, pointy finger in my chest or a head wag. Sometimes she pokes fun at me, but it only endears her to me. She sends me birthday and Christmas presents, and sometimes chocolate "just 'cause." She's been through the wringer in matters of the heart, and I'm honored to have been there as much as I can for her. She's strong spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Her heart is generous, vulnerable, and bottomless in its ability to love despite obstacles. I am inspired, encouraged, and strengthened by her friendship. She is the sister I never had, and I owe her my life.

And we've never even met.

Every time I mentioned her, my family would ask, "Kathy who?" She lives in California, ergo the name. It's stuck ever since, and I think we're going on around 12 years now.

I found her through a Christian penpal site, which I cannot find to save my life. I got about three penpals through them, but no one stuck like Kathy. We just clicked from the very beginning. Her writing made me laugh, touched my heart where I live, and gave me some camaraderie. When she first asked for my address, I wouldn't send it by email because back then, I was super careful about anything I sent into cyberspace. [Yes, I've changed a lot since then.] She gave me hers, so I wrote a snail mail letter and gave it to her that way. She was completely understanding, and I was relieved. She never makes me feel small or stupid. Beginning of a wonderful friendship!

Now she's newly remarried. After cleaning up the fragments of her broken life after skunkpoophubs left her, she met and married a man whose first words to her were, "You look like Easter morning." Isn't that beautiful?!

Kath, I wish you a heartload of deepest satisfaction, sweetest moments, brilliant sunrises, and love that surpasses what you wouldn't dare to dream possible. I want all that for you--and whatever other wonderfulness He would offer. I love you. God bless you both richly, profoundly, eternally.