Puppy Love

Puppy Love

Zephaniah 3:17

I actually wrote this a while back, but I needed the reminder...thought maybe you could use one too!

Good Morning All ~

We got a new puppy last week. You know – a new one as opposed to an old one. It’s been almost a year since we lost Buddy the Wonder Dog, our crazy fun-loving black lab. So it was time, we thought. Our new pup is a chocolate lab named Herschel Walker – (If you understand Georgia football you’ll understand the name) Since I’m home the most; I take care of him the most. I’ve had to get up with him all hours of the night, play with him, and clean up his messes – gross! That first week I was ready to sell him for free! He was all consuming. I was wasting my valuable time on this pooch. Ronnie tried to appease me and compare it to him taking care of his son, Chandler. I stopped him right there. I said, “Uh… no. A child has eternal value, but a dog?” That was not the way to make me feel better.

As aggravated as I’ve been with the pup, I can’t help but be a little attached to him. He thinks I’m amazing. Every time he sees me he wags his tail and his whole body wiggles. He’s convinced my whole purpose in life is to take care of him. Right now I’m beginning to wonder if he’s right…not exactly what I thought I’d be when I grew up. But when I walk by his kennel, I catch myself stopping to watch him as he sleeps. As much as I hate to admit it, he is a darling little thing.

The other day he was outside and he thought he was alone. He was whimpering that - I can’t believe you left me- whimper. He had no idea I was watching him to make sure he was o.k. I saw everything he did. My heart wanted to go out and comfort him, but wisdom said I needed to finish what I was doing first. My strong sense to protect and comfort him took me by surprise. Bottom line - I love the little chocolate thing. I keep telling myself, but he’s just A DOG!!!

If I love Herschel this much, I couldn’t help but wonder how much more our Father in Heaven loves us. He knows our every move. He understands our every whimper. He cares for us in ways we’ll never even comprehend. Even now, He’s looking down on you with tenderness and delight. He is El Roi – the God who sees. If He cares for the sparrows, how much more He cares for you! Read Matthew 6 and Zephaniah 3:17 and believe it!

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

An Experiment For You

An Experiment For You

Psalm 12:4

Hi Everybody ~

I have an experiment for you to try. O.K. Here it goes… Open your mouth. Let your jaw fall down separating your lips so that they aren’t touching. Now without moving your lips...say something, like banana. Sounds pretty silly huh? Did you ever realize how important your lips are! There is so much you can do with them!

Imagine holding up a cuddly baby and not being able to kiss its chubby little cheeks, or form the correct sounds so you can communicate to others. Have you ever tried to take a bite of decadent chocolate truffle ice cream without using your lips to swoop in that last bit of chocolate from the spoon?

Honestly this week was the first time I ever told God thank you for my lips. You’ll have to read Psalm 12 to understand. I have read this Psalm many times before and I won’t go into all of it (aren’t you glad!) but verse 4 penetrated my heart when I read, “…our lips are our own, who is lord over us?” The people speaking in verses 4 are bold… and dead wrong.

Frankly I never thought of this before but reading these words it dawned on me… My lips are not my own! I’m simply a steward of these lips on my face. This verse is describing cocky people who have no desire to submit or love God. In fact they have no regard for Him.

I don’t want to be in that group. I’m sorry to say; many times I have used my lips as if they were my own. I don’t want to live like that. It struck me hard this week that I want to live remembering my lips are on loan to me from God and that the LORD is lord over me, in both what I say and - especially during the holiday season - what I eat…I think!

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

Not Very Glamorous

Not Very Glamorous

Hebrews 6:10

Hello ~

I love it when Ronnie needs me – “Hey, Honey, I need you to clear your schedule on Tuesday. We’re going to feed the homeless…Hey Babe, I need your thoughts on a speech I’ve got to give next week... I need you to go with me to a fundraiser dinner…etc…. Unfortunately those requests are not the most frequent ones.

Usually the tasks he asks me to do are quite mundane and feel more like an interruption than a privilege. “Are you going to be able to get me some more razors today? Will you please sew this button on my shirt? He loves it when I fix his morning coffee the night before; a chore I dread doing every night…not very glamorous and yet in his eyes, very important.

Ya know, I think I’ve often had the same attitude with God. Who doesn’t love thinking that God has asked them to accomplish some great and mighty feat? It’s easier to work at mock speed with your hair on fire when an important vision is at stake. But we all know that life can be so…routine. What about being faithful in the drudgery of the same ole thing; the seemingly unimportant assignments? Keeping your home in order, being friendly to the new person, being in your ministry week in and week out…anybody with me here?

God promised He…”is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, which you have showed toward his name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” Hebrews 10:6

There is no hidden thing that will not be revealed. He sees the mundane responsibilities that you faithfully fulfill. Maybe it doesn’t feel very glamorous…yet in His eyes, it’s very significant. Keep up the good work!

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

It's A Matter of Perspective

Hebrews 11:6 & Romans 8:28

Hi Everyone!

Try this sometime… Next time you’re outside at night, look up at the moon. Close one eye and hold your thumb up in front of the moon. Do you know what will happen? The moon will seem to disappear. Your little tiny thumb will totally cover the hugantious (I guess that’s not really a word – but I couldn’t think of a word that adequately describes super huge) moon. But we all know there is no way the thumb is bigger than the moon, right? So what happened? It’s all a matter of perspective.

Many times the same thing happens with God. I know that God is big; no…He’s hugantious times a trillion! I know He is El Shaddai, God Almighty. But I have a tendency to let my “thumbs” get in the way. I forget the greatness and the sovereignty of my God; the One who loves me unconditionally. My perception is skewed. All I see is my point of view and El Shaddai seems to disappear.

I guess that’s where faith comes in. Not a blind faith, but a faith based on what we know to be true of God. “Without faith it’s impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 He also said that “… we KNOW that all things work together for the good to them that love God to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

What’s the “thumb” in your life that is blocking out His truth from your viewpoint? We can stay focused on our “thumb” because that is what we see or we can focus on that fact that God is smarter and bigger than us….hugantious in fact! It’s really just a matter of perspective…silly me!

Hope & Glory! to You ~ Love

Rebecca

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