Brighten the Corner

Brighten the Corner

Phil4:11

Hello All ~

I’ve always loved to pretend. As a little girl, my friend Nancy and I used to dress up in long flowing dresses, put on a ladies trio record (Yes, I said a record. I know. I’m old!) and imagine we were performing on a huge stage. One of our favorite songs we’d “sing” went like this:

Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,

Do not wait to shed your light afar;

To the many duties ever near you now be true,

Brighten the corner where you are.

We would sing that catchy tune at the top of our lungs, complete with a hairbrush microphone and an ironing board for a piano!

I recently discovered the writer of that song to be a lady on the precipice of a promising career as a public speaker. Her name was Ina Mae Duley Ogdon from Toledo, Ohio. Just as the speaking requests were filling Ina’s mailbox, her father’s health took a turn for the worse. She took her invalid father into her home and cared for him, a responsibility she accepted cheerfully. But because of the new demands on her time, she had no energy left to pursue her speaking career. While people pondered her dilemma and wondered what she would do, Ina saw no predicament at all. From her perspective, turning down the speaking invitations was the simple solution, much to the dismay of her eager listeners.

People like Mrs. Ogdon inspire me. Somewhere she learned that greatness and joy does not come from a large audience or man’s applause. It comes from faithfully fulfilling the post in which God has chosen for you, no matter how obscure and thankless. I long to be a person who can say as Paul does in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be content.”

Her life was not her own. She had obviously embraced the position God had given her. I’m sure today in Heaven, she has no regrets for her obedience! Maybe today you and I could concentrate on looking around us to brighten whatever corner we have been assigned.

…so do not sit and idly wish for wider new dimensions

Where you can put in practice your many good intentions

But at the spot God placed you, begin at once to do

Little things to brighten up the lives surrounding you!

Helen Steiner Rice

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

Go Figure

Go Figure…

Matthew 7:11

Good Day ~

This morning I did what I do most mornings. I headed out the door to say good morning to Herschel the wonder pup. But he wasn’t in his usual spots. Instantly my antenna went up. It’s not usually a good thing for him when I can’t find him. That means he’s probably not obeying and he’s about to experience a very unpleasant morning. Sure enough, just as I walk outside the garage door, I hear the little jingle of his collar prancing down the steps of the upstairs guest house; a place definitely off limits to the pooch. He loves to go up there when he’s filthy dirty and spy on the neighbors! Go figure. It infuriates me when sneaks up there. He makes a terrible mess. I still haven’t had the courage to tackle the mud bath disaster he created on his last escapade up there.

Instead of greeting my dog with a cheery song and a belly rub, my body tenses, my eyebrows furrow as I bellow out, “Herschel Walker! What are you doing up there. No, no, no! You know you’re not supposed to be up there.” Whether he actually understands why he is in trouble or not, he definitely gets the drift that I am not a happy camper. His initial happy little, “Oh, there you are!” look, turns into a “uh-oh… there you are” look, complete with droopy ears and a very still tail in the downward position.

I spank him, show him up the stairs and repeatedly say the phrase he is most familiar with at this stage in his young life, “No! No! No!”. Then I grab his collar and drag his big furry self into his kennel to reinforce my point.

All that to say, I hate doing that… I wanted the first words I spoke to him to be cheerful and playful, not stern and disciplinary. I felt bad for me and for him. He is a very affectionate dog and he would have enjoyed my playful banter with him. I usually find a way to give him a little special treat or at the least, he wags his tail a lot when I come to talk to him, but not this morning.

It sounds silly, but I couldn’t shake my disappointment in that scenario. He’s just a dog, but I hate that I had to punish him before I even got to say hello. I just wanted to be in sweet fellowship with him. Honestly, it was no sweat off my back that Herschel spent the morning in the kennel. I went about the rest of my routine without a hitch, but I felt sad because I wanted to give him some good things.

I began to think about God. I wonder how many times he feels disappointed that He can’t give me things He’s prepared for me because I won’t obey or listen or maybe worse, I’m not interested. I wonder how many things He must withhold from me to teach me. I love the verse in Matthew 7:11 that says, “If ye then being evil know how to give good things to your children, how much more shall the Father which is in Heaven give good gifts to them that ask Him?” Why do we think that God doesn’t want good for us? If I want good for my dog, how much more must He long for good for us! I sure don’t want my wrong choices to limit His goodness to me, do you?

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

My New Best Friend

My New Best Friend

Psalm 25:4&5

Hey All~

The other day I was flying…I mean driving down I-10 and of course I was in the fast lane. All was going well until I caught up to a slow car puttering along in the fast lane…did you hear me, I said, “puttering along in the fast lane.” I would have just gotten over into the other lane to pass him, but apparently all the other cars had the same idea. There was a stream of cars whizzing past him… and consequently past me. I kept thinking, “Does this guy (I’m sure it was a guy) not see all of these vehicles passing him on the right? Why is he not getting over?” Then we reached the top of a hill…

At the bottom of the hill I could see a nice man in a brown outfit and motor cycle with this hairdryer pointing at everyone coming over the top of the peak. As soon as we began to descend the hill the slowpoke driver kindly put on his blinker and moved over to the other lane. Ahem…oh. It dawned on me what he had been doing. Did I say he was a jerk? I meant he was my new best friend….and I was thankful!

I thought about the things in my life. Why is God doing that? Why won’t He fix this or remove that? What is taking Him so long? All He needs to do is…(you fill in the blank, cuz if you’re like me I’m sure you know!) Then one day we understand. We are so thankful God was willing to slow us down or make us upset or disappointed or frustrated for a little while. We see that all along He was protecting us from some unpleasant situations! Much like my new best friend – the slowpoke driver…So be encouraged today about the seeming delays in your life, you never know what’s waiting for you on the other side of that hill!

Psalm 25: 4&5 “Show me thy ways, O LORD, teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day long.”

By the way…I wasn’t going that fast.

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca