How's your Reception? From Girlfriends in God

August 25, 2009
How's Your Reception?
Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth

"The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop" (Luke 8:15 NIV).

Friend To Friend

Have you ever thought about how frustrated God must feel when He calls out to us and gets no response? The Lord taught me a little lesson in how to be a better listener through a gift from my son.

When Steven was thirteen, twelve years ago, he thought I was still living in the Dark Ages because I didn't have a cell phone. But I didn't want a cell phone. My car was one place where I could get away from the telephone's constant pull on my attention, so I settled for being a little archaic. Besides, he really just wanted me to have one so he could call into the radio station and win prizes on our drive to school each morning.

Boy, was I surprised that Christmas when I opened my lovely present from Steven to discover a flip-top cell phone purchased with his own money. How could I not appear grateful for a gift from my own child (that sly dog)? Of course he convinced my husband to pay the monthly fees. "After all," he argued, "it is much too dangerous for a woman to be driving around town without a cell phone."

"Thank you, Steven," I said. "Now whenever Dad and I are out and you are home alone, I can call you anytime, from anyplace, to see what you're doing." From the look on his face, I could tell that the thought had never crossed his mind.

A few weeks later I decided to try out my new toy.

"Steven, this is Mom. Dad and I are in the car. When I hang up, I want you to call this number and let's see if the phone works."

We waited about three minutes, but the phone never rang.

"Steven, this is Mom again. What happened?"

"I called the number," he explained, "but the operator said that your phone was turned off or that you were out of the calling area."

I decided to call the cell phone company to find out what had happened.

"Let me explain something," said the technical assistant. "A cellular phone works by sending out and receiving radio waves from a cell tower. You were at a point on the road that dips and forms a small valley, and the radio waves could not reach down into the dip for you to receive the signal. Another possibility is that your message was being blocked by a large building. And finally, Mrs. Jaynes, was your battery powered up? Have you charged it lately?"

"Yes," I answered. "I charged it today."

"And was the antenna up?" (This was when cell phones actually had antennae.)

"Yes," I said. "The antenna was up."

Finally I asked, "Why could I send a call, but I could not receive a call?"

"Because it takes more call strength to receive a call, than to send one," she explained.

I was more than frustrated with this two-by-six-inch piece of plastic, but it made me consider other transmissions that I had trouble receiving from time to time. John 10:27 says that the Lord speaks to His sheep and His sheep hear His voice. But why do I have so much trouble hearing from God? Could it be the same reasons that I have poor reception with my cell phone?

If I'm having trouble hearing from God, I have to ask myself the same questions that the technical assistant asked me. Am I in a dip in the road? Sometimes a valley of depression can clog my spiritual ears in such a way that I don't hear His gentle voice coaxing me to higher ground. Then, I need to start singing praises like David did in the Psalms and watch Him turn my valley into a level path.

Have I erected walls that are blocking God's signals: walls of materialism, selfish ambition, or religion? If so I need to tear them down. Is my battery pack powered up? If not, I need to plug into the Word and get recharged. Is my antenna raised or have I put it down like the Israelites who, because of fear, told Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us." (Exodus 20:19 NIV). If I want to hear from Him, I need to make sure my spiritual antenna is up and that I am expectantly waiting to hear His voice.

Finally, why is it that I can sometimes place a call but often have trouble receiving one? I can go before the Lord at any time and He hears me. Though it doesn't take more power to receive a message from Him, it does take more effort on my part to be receptive. In our fast-paced world, it takes more effort to be still and listen than it does to speak. But I need to realize that what God has to say to me is much more important than anything I have to say to Him.

I held my little flip-top phone in the palm of my hand and thanked God for showing me once again how to hear His voice. What I realized was that hearing from Him was more than just receiving; it was also about making sure I was receptive.

Let's Pray

Dear Lord, help me to hear Your voice when You speak. If there are walls that I have erected that are blocking me from hearing You, please show me what they are so that I can tear them down. Fill me afresh with the Holy Spirit today. Charge my spiritual battery! Thank You for giving me two ears and only one mouth, and teach me to use each one appropriately.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn

I love this quote: "If you're talking, you're not learning anything." - Lolita B. West (Former elementary school teacher)

Journal about a time when you felt like you could not hear God's voice. What was this experience like? How did it make you feel not to be able to hear the Shepherd's voice leading you? Did you feel scared, anxious, or frustrated?

I challenge you to take a few minutes to be still before the Lord today. That's right. Do not talk. Do not move a muscle (but don't fall asleep!). Simply get still and quiet at His feet. Many times our biggest struggle is that we are so busy talking to Him that we aren't learning anything from Him. Just like a disruptive child in a classroom, when we do all the talking, the Teacher cannot teach us or anyone else!

Shirley Goodnest and Marcy

from UpWords with Max Lucado
Week of August 14

God Never Sends You Out Alone
by Max Lucado

When you place your faith in Christ, Christ places his Spirit before, behind, and within you. Not a strange spirit, but the same Spirit: the parakletos. Everything Jesus did for his followers, his Spirit does for you. Jesus taught; the Spirit teaches. Jesus healed; the Spirit heals. Jesus comforted; his Spirit comforts. As Jesus sends you into new seasons, he sends his counselor to go with you.

God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy. She didn't like the thought of Timmy walking to his first-grade class unaccompanied. But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother. "Besides," he explained, "I can walk with a friend." So she did her best to stay calm, quoting the Twenty-third Psalm to him every morning: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..."

One school day she came up with an idea. She asked a neighbor to follow Timmy to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, lest he notice her. The neighbor was happy to oblige. She took her toddler on morning walks anyway.

After several days Timmy's friend noticed the lady and the child.

"Do you know who that woman is who follows us to school?"

"Sure," Timmy answered. "That's Shirley Goodnest and her daughter Marcy."

"Who?"

"My mom reads about them every day in the Twenty-third Psalm. She says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life.' Guess I'll have to get used to them."

You will too. God never sends you out alone. Are you on the eve of change? Do you find yourself looking into a new chapter? Is the foliage of your world showing signs of a new season? Heaven's message for you is clear: when everything else changes, God presence never does. You journey in the company of the Holy Spirit, who "will teach you and will remind you of everything I have told you" (John 14:26 NLT).

Personnel

from Arcamax

The personnel office received an email requesting a listing of the department staff broken down by age and sex. The personnel office sent this reply...

"Attached is a list of our staff. We currently have no one broken down by age or sex. However, we have a few alcoholics."

Marketing Strategems...

Advertising Terms Explained from Arcamax

NEW - Different color from previous design.

ALL NEW - Parts are not interchangeable with previous design.

EXCLUSIVE - Imported product.

UNMATCHED - Almost as good as the competition.

FOOLPROOF OPERATION - No provision for adjustments.

ADVANCED DESIGN - The advertising agency doesn't understand it.

IT'S HERE AT LAST - Rush job. Nobody knew it was coming.

FIELD TESTED - Manufacturer lacks test equipment.

HIGH ACCURACY - Unit on which all parts fit.

FUTURISTIC - No other reason why it looks the way it does.

REDESIGNED - Previous flaws fixed - we hope.

DIRECT SALES ONLY - Factory had a big argument with distributor.

YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT - We finally got one to work.

BREAKTHROUGH - We finally figured out a use for it.

MAINTENANCE FREE - Impossible to fix.

MEETS ALL STANDARDS - Ours, not yours.

SOLID-STATE - Heavy as anything!

HIGH RELIABILITY - We made it work long enough to ship it

Perspective determines your Attitude

August 11, 2009
The Worker
Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
Colossians 3: 23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Friend To Friend
A woman was at work when the baby sitter called to tell her that her daughter was very sick. The woman quickly left work and she stopped by the pharmacy on her way home. When she came out of the pharmacy, the now frantic woman discovered that she had locked her keys in the car. Grabbing her phone, she called home only to hear that her daughter was worse. Looking around for help, she spotted an old, rusty coat hanger lying on the ground. She picked it up but had no idea how to use it. By this time, the woman was in a panic so she bowed her head and prayed for help. An old rusty car pulled up and out came a dirty, greasy, bearded man wearing an old biker skull rag on his head. The woman was desperate so she decided to be thankful for answered prayer. The man took the hanger and in less than a minute opened the car. She hugged the man and through tears of relief said, "Thank you so much! You are a very nice man!" The man replied, "Lady, I am not a nice man. I have been in prison for car theft and just got out an hour ago." The woman hugged the man again and sobbed, "Thank you, God, for sending me a professional!"

We all want to be successful in our work. Your office may be downtown or just inside your front door. Your work clothes may be a Casper suit or jeans and t-shirt. You may be paid in cash or with crayon drawings and sticky kisses. None of these things makes us successful in the work place. Success in the work place is not determined by where we work...but by how we work.

The Worker's 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my boss, and I shall not want.

He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me.

He reminds me to pray, before I speak in anger.

He restores my sanity.

He guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all I do.

Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mail, system failures, copier jams, back-ordered supplies, unrealistic deadlines, staff shortages, budget cutbacks, red tape, downsizing, gossiping co-workers and whining customers,

I won't give up, for You are with me.

Your presence, peace and power will see me through.

You raise me up, even when the boss fails to promote me.

You claim me as your own, even when the company threatens to let me go.

Your loyalty and love are better than a bonus check.

Your retirement plan beats any 401K, and when it's all said and done,

I'll be working for you a whole lot longer!

(Author unknown)

God is Lord of all -- or He is not Lord at all! Yet, we often fail to yield certain parts of life to His control. The reality is that 95% surrender is still 5% short. God wants everything we are or ever hope to be. Making Him Lord is the only way He can fully accomplish His plan and purpose in our lives. And until He is Lord, we will never be contented.

The workplace is a common area of life where we find it easy to live out our own agendas. For some reason, we seem to think that once we sit down at our desk, report for duty or clock in, we enter a "No God Allowed" zone. How sad -- when He stands ready and waiting to not only equip and empower us to be the best employee we can be, but desires to pour out His blessings upon our work.

An even greater opportunity and blessing comes when God uses us in the workplace to share Him and His message of love and restoration with those who are seeking Him. God strategically places us on a chosen mission field called "job". A fellow employee needs to see a godly response to unfair criticism. A boss needs to witness the quiet, gracious spirit of submission -- even in the face of a difficult job change. A fully devoted follower may be the only person who reaches out and ministers to someone in need. Make no mistake, friend. Everyone on the job is watching to see if we are "the real deal". It may be the most important "sermon" they ever hear.

I challenge you to do your work "unto Him" and see what He does in and through a life committed to making Him Lord of all!

Salt and Mensa

Mensa is an organization whose members have an IQ of 140 or higher.

A few years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco, and several members lunched at a local cafe. While dining, they discovered that their saltshaker contained pepper and their pepper shaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the bottles without spilling, and using only the implements at hand?

Clearly this was a job for Mensa! The group debated and presented ideas, and finally came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer. They called the waitress over to dazzle her with their solution.

"Ma'am," they said, "we couldn't help but notice that the pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker..."

"Oh," the waitress interrupted. "Sorry about that." She unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them.

Chapstick

We had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died.

Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on the mat in our bathroom. We have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loved chapstick. LOVED it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. Finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and explained he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer after he finished.

That year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally go into the bathroom. There was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right -their little bottoms do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. And the only question to ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth!?!

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.

Author Unknown

Wonderful Definitions

Thanks to Jeremy!

School:
A place where Papa pays and Son plays.

Life Insurance:
A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die Rich.


Nurse:
A person who wakes u up to give you sleeping pills.

Marriage:
It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters.

Divorce:
Future tense of Marriage.

Tears:
The hydraulic force by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine water-power.

Lecture:
An art of transferring information from the notes of the Lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through 'the minds of either'

Conference:
The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Compromise:
The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

Dictionary:
A place where success comes before work.

Conference Room:
A place where everybody talks nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.

Father:
A banker provided by nature.

Criminal:
A guy no different from the rest....except that he got caught.

Boss:
Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.

Politician:
One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after.

Doctor:
A person who kills your ills by pills,and kills you by bills.

Classic:
Books, which people praise, but do not read.

Smile:
A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Office:
A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Yawn:
The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

Etc.:
A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Committee:
Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Experience:
The name men give to their mistakes.

Atom Bomb:
An invention to end all inventions.

Philosopher:
A fool who torments himself during life, to be wise

The Inanity of A(H1N1)

It's stupid. Anyone who knows anything about this H1N1 thingamus wouldn't panic as much.

Sure, the people involved in this project is highly susceptible and if any of us gets it, we might suffer more than most. However if the thing is, is there really to a need to throw the whole wide world into a panic?

From what I have read and had been briefed, it's not really a type of flu with high fatalities. In fact, a reasonably healthy person would contract the disease and recover with the immunity to the virus. All this excitement due to unnecessary panicking and reports written to play on the minds of people, is just absobloodilutely ridiculous.

I just hoping and praying that if anyone gets sick during this time, it will not be that particular strain of H1N1. Pray hard people, PRAY HARD...

Now, screw it, you scrooge.
Nah, just being random.

Lament of sorts :S

Life brings trouble like honey draws bees,
I Wish I Could turn and never look back.
Nothing's ever right and everything seems wrong
Like it's all my fault

The wind blows by signing rain will come
I want it to caress my face my heart
But the sun come out and the clouds go away
Why does everything seem so out of place?

I want the wind to carry all my fears
I want the rain to camouflage my tears
I want the sun to be able to
make my heart warm again

I want to turn back time to right the wrongs
Whether its mine or not
I wish to forget everything that hurts
but I know all these are impossible to do.

To face it all over again tears my heart asunder
yet this is nothing compared to a suicide attempt
if I don't take this time to heal myself
I will hurt not only me, but everyone else

Remembering something from long ago
is like salt and vinegar to the reopened wound
The disgust, the hurt and the disappointment
only now I know why I am who I am today

I asked your God to help me deal with my grief
little did I realize it came at such a price
For one's passing, many things had to resurface
for one's passing, I understand now why it hurt so much

Not for the happy memories, but for the ones that hurt the most: the forgotten memories
Not for your kindness or your love, but the things we went through together
Not for your companionship but for the irreplaceable loss of it.
Not for my fear of loneliness without you, but loneliness from keeping others away

Opening my armor, I struggled with your God
I don't trust Him enough, not as much as you trusted Him
I know that He is my Sword and Shield, my Eternal Defender
But knowing it in my head, is never the same as knowing in my heart

But above all, I didn't want to see my bloodied soul
Yet He told me in all kindness that
I have to take mu armor because my wounds inside
will fester and cause my soul decay

When I resisted after He said the truth of me
in kindness still He rebuked your child
As I had seek Him and ask for His healing
Yet when He came, I pushed Him away

Slowly and patiently, my armor He takes off
Piece by piece, He removes it from me
I see it was made of useless wood and clay
my body, my body is in a mangled mess.

He washed the grime and dried blood
It hurts like mad when He reopened the wounds to clean them out
When it's too much, He stops and let's me rest
after the wound is cleaned, has medicine on it and and bandaged properly

It was not done, but I ran away again
I didn't want to go through all that again
He is patient, and He waited for me to go back
Why am I so faithless? “Because you're human” He said.

Most of my pathetic armor has been taken off
I am vulnerable, hurt and afraid of everything
but if I can't trust Him, who else can I trust?
So I held on to the helm of His Cloak

Suddenly I feel it wrapped around me
I find myself under His wing
I know I am safe whenever in Him
Although in solitude, I have now a friend

Something in me makes me want to run again
Yet if I run, I'll hurt myself again
What do I have to lose if I abide in Him?
Even if I ran, He will chase after me

How great is your God
For it should be me who chases after Him
Yet it is He who chases after this runaway child of yours
Help my unbelief, O God of my mother
And be my God always and forever.

Of Lawyers, Umpires and Second Husbands

From Arcamax

Lab Lawyers

At a convention of biological scientists, one prominant researcher remarked to another, "Did you know that in our lab we have switched from mice to lawyers for our experiments?"

"Really?" the other researcher replied. "Why did you switch?"

"Well, for three reasons. First we found that lawyers are far more plentiful. Second, the lab assistants don't get so attached to them, and thirdly there are some things even a rat won't do."

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

Umpire Humor

Q: What do umpires and girls have in common?
A: They both make a lot of calls.

Q: What's the difference between a rain barrel and a bad fielder?
A: One catches drops; the other drops catches.

Q: Why did the umpire penalize the chicken?
A: For using fowl language.

Q: What's the difference between an umpire and a pickpocket.
A: One watches steals; the other steals watches.

Q: What do tough teachers and umpires have in common?
A: They penalize you for errors.

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

Sad Man

A man placed some flowers on the grave of his dearly departed mother and started back toward his car when his attention was diverted to another man kneeling at a grave. The man seemed to be praying with profound intensity and kept repeating, "Why did you have to die? Why did you have to die?"

The first man approached him and said, "Sir, I don't wish to interfere with your private grief, but this demonstration of pain is more than I've ever seen before. For whom do you mourn so deeply? A child? A parent?"

The mourner took a moment to collect himself, then replied, "My wife's first husband."

ROFL!!!

One For You, One For Me

On the outskirts of town, there was huge nut tree by the cemetery fence. One day two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy. The bucket was so full, several rolled out toward the fence.

Cycling down the road by the cemetery was a third boy. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." He knew what it was. "Oh my," he shuddered, "It's Satan and St. Peter dividing the souls at the cemetery."

He cycled down the road fast as he could and found an old man with a cane, hobbling along. "Come here quick," said the boy, "You won't believe what I heard. Satan and St. Peter are down at the cemetery dividing the souls." The man said, "Shooo, you brat, can't you see I'm finding it hard to walk as it is."

But after several pleas, the man hobbled to the cemetery. Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me..." The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been telling the truth. Let's see if we can see the devil himself."

Shivering with fear, they peered through the fence, yet they were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of Satan.

At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. And one last one for you. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence, and we'll be done."

They say the old guy made it back to town five minutes before the boy.

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

Piano Playing Dog

A guy walks into a bar with a small dog. The bartender said, "Get out of here with that dog." The guy said, "But this isn't just any dog. This dog can play the piano."

The bartender replied, "Well, if he can play that piano, you both can stay and have a drink on the house."

So the guy sat the dog on the piano stool, and the dog started playing. Ragtime, Mozart, Philip Glass ... and the bartender and all of the patrons enjoyed the music.

Suddenly a bigger dog ran in, grabbed the small dog by the scruff of the neck, and dragged him out. The bartender asked the guy, "What the heck was that all about?"

The guy replied, "Oh, that was his mother. She wanted him to be a doctor."

Brokenness leads to Blessings

By Dr. Charles Stanley

2 Corinthians 2:7-9

No one enjoys heartache. Yet God uses pain to mold His children. Although wonderful, happy times feel great, times of suffering tend to produce growth.

Brokenness is God's way of dealing with the part of us that wants to act independently of Him. He targets areas that hinder His purposes. Then skillfully and lovingly, our Father arranges circumstances that will allow us enough discomfort to realize our dependence upon Him.

The apostle Paul experienced this. After being saved on the road to Damascus, he still needed spiritual growth in order to be most effective for Christ. Therefore, God allowed some type of affliction, which the apostle termed a "thorn." Three different times, he pleaded with the Lord for its removal, but the thorn remained. Remarkably, Paul's response was gratitude. Even more, he wrote, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).

Like Paul, we can dislike suffering and yet still be confident that God is growing us. His purpose is that we walk in intimate oneness with Him and serve effectively according to His purpose and will. To accomplish this, He has to break us of our rebellion, resistance, and self-will.

If you truly desire to live for Jesus, trust Him enough to pray, "Lord, more than anything else in life, I want to live for You. Please break me of any areas that are not in complete submission to Your will."

God's Answer

got this from another person's blog. won't mention his site here cos it had some, um...

rather explicit stuff.

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

WATCH out! You nearly broadsided that car!” my father yelled at me. “Can’t you do anything right?”

Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head towards the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn’t prepared for another battle.

“I saw the car, Dad. Please don’t yell at me when I’m driving.” My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt.

Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts.

What could I do about him?

Dad had been a lumberjack in the states of Washington and Oregon. He had enjoyed being outdoors and had revelled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered gruelling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess.

The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn’t lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn’t do something he had done as a younger man.

Four days after his 67th birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital, and Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived.

But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor’s orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone.

My husband Dick and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticised everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counselling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad’s troubled mind. But the months wore on and God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.

The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered. In vain. Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, “I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article.” I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.

I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odour of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs, and I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen, a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world’s aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly.

I pointed to the dog. “Can you tell me about him?” The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement.

“He’s a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we’ve heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow.” He gestured helplessly.

As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror. “You mean you’re going to kill him?”

“Ma’am,” he said gently, “that’s our policy. We don’t have room for every unclaimed dog.”

I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. “I’ll take him,” I said.

I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch.

“Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad!” I said excitedly.

Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. “If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don’t want it,” Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.

Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples.

“You’d better get used to him, Dad. He’s staying!” Dad ignored me. “Did you hear me, Dad?” I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate.

We stood glaring at each other like duellists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled towards my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw.

Dad’s lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal.

It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet.

Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years. Dad’s bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne’s cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father’s room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. His spirit had left quietly sometime during the night.

Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad’s bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favourite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad’s peace of mind.

The morning of Dad’s funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers.”

“I’ve often thanked God for sending that angel,” he said.

For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article ... Cheyenne’s unexpected appearance at the animal shelter, his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father... and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.

Jokes i heard...

Men are like fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it is our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something you'd like to have dinner with.

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

A young couple got married and left on their honeymoon. When they got back, the bride immediately called her mother. "Well, how was the honeymoon?" asked the mother. 

"Oh, mama," she replied, "the honeymoon was wonderful! So romantic." Suddenly she burst out crying. "But, mama, as soon as we returned, Stan started using the most horrible language. He's been saying things I've never heard before! All these awful four-letter words. You've got to come get me and take me home. Please mama!" 

"Frannie, Frannie," her mother said, "calm down! Tell me, what could be so awful? What four-letter words has he been using?" 

"Please don't make me tell you, mama," wept the daughter, "I'm so embarrassed. They're just too awful! You've got to come get me and take me home. Please mama." 

"Darling, baby, you must tell me what has you so upset. Tell your mother these horrible four-letter words." Still sobbing, the bride replied, "Oh, Mama, words like dust, wash, iron, and cook . . . "

***********************************************************************

At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Austin seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of Adam's rib. Later in the week, Wendy, his mother, noticed him lying down as though he were ill, and asked, "Austin, what's the matter?" 

Little Austin responded, "I have a pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife."

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

Because I couldn't unplug the toilet with a plunger, I had to dismantle the entire fixture, no small feat for a non- plumber. Jammed inside the drain was Barney the purple rubber dinosaur, which belonged to my five-year-old son. 

I painstakingly got all the toilet parts together again, the tank filled, and I flushed it. However, it didn't work much better than before! As I pondered what to do next, my son walked into the bathroom. I pointed to the purple dinosaur I had just dislodged and told him that the toilet still wasn't working. 

"Did you get Baby Bop (the green one), too?" he asked. 

Truth of Pigs

April 16, 2009 
Jumping to Conclusions 
Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth 
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)

Friend to Friend 
I read a bumper sticker once that read, "If mother's place is in the home, why am I always in the car?"  Welcome to the new millennium where the car is indeed the moving extension of the home.  Whether it's a mother running carpool, a business woman sitting in commuter traffic, or a senior citizen volunteering in the community, the fact is, we live much of our lives in the car.   That means God is in the car with us and speaks to its mobile inhabitants. One such "moving" experience taught me about the importance of not jumping to conclusions.

John 8:32 is one of my favorite Bible verses.  So much so, that I had the fine people at the license plate bureau make me a personalized plate that read just that - JOHN 8:32.   The verse reads, "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

My good friend Mari noticed my license plate for the first time as we passed one day on the highway, and made a mental note to look up the verse when she arrived home.  After she found the verse, she spent some time meditating and wondering why in the world I would put that verse on my license plate. She looked again to see if she was missing some deep meaning. Maybe it was a joke.

Mari gave me a call and asked, "What possessed you to put a Bible verse about pigs on your license plate?"

"What are you talking about, Mari?"

"You know.  You have Luke 8:32 on your license plate."

The problem was, Mari had remembered the verse as Luke 8:32, not John 8:32.  That verse read, "Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons entreated him to permit them to enter the swine.  And He gave them permission."  Can't you see it now, bumper stickers that read, "When pigs flew, Luke 8:32." Or, a Chick-fil-A billboard with Luke 8:32 written in the bottom right hand corner with a pig saying "Eat More Chicken."

After I set Mari straight, telling her that she had the right verse but the wrong book, we had a good chuckle.  However, it was a "moving" experience for me.  The next time I question someone's motives or actions, I need to remember that I usually don't have all the facts.  I might have the right chapter and even the right verse, but I may be in the wrong book altogether. And that can make the difference between demon possessed pigs and the truth that will set you free.

Let's Pray 
Dear Lord, help me to not jump to conclusions and make quick judgments.  Help me always to realize that I don't have all the facts when it comes to another person's attitude, actions and reactions.  Give me a gracious and loving spirit that always thinks the best of others and closed lips when I don't.

In Jesus' Name, 
Amen

Now It's Your Turn  

• Think of a time when you jumped to a conclusion and it turned out to be completely wrong.  
• How would it have been better to wait until you had all the facts?  
• What emotions could have been avoided if you had waited to get the facts correct?

to share with you :)

April 13, 2009 
God Pursues Us 
Mary Southerland

Today's Truth 
Romans 5:8 "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (NLT).

Friend To Friend 
Jesus was on his way to Galilee from Judea.  In Jesus' day, the Jews hated the Samaritans and would never purposely travel through their land.  There were other roads, better and safer roads Jesus could have taken and usually did take -- but not today.  Today, he had a divine appointment.  Today he chose to go through the region of Samaria and he chose to go through Sychar, the small village where a certain woman lived. Meeting this woman was no accident on the part of Jesus Christ.  With great determination and forethought, he planned a divine interruption in her life, an interlude in which His love and forgiveness met her at the point of her greatest need.  He planned to set her free.

Little is known about this woman and what we do know is not good.  She was immoral and spiritually ignorant, an outcast despised by the Jews and even by her own people.  She was very popular with the men of the village who bought her to satisfy their own physical pleasure and then tossed her aside like a broken, damaged and used doll.  I am certain this woman had no illusions about the fact that she meant absolutely nothing to these men.  In the beginning, she may have convinced herself that they cared for her and perhaps even loved her, but I imagine that illusion was short-lived.  In fact, while studying her life, I have many times wondered if there had ever been a man in her life that she could love or trust.  I do not know what drove this woman to such an empty and futile existence, but I do know as far as Jesus was concerned, that old life was over!  It did not matter to Him.  He looked at this woman through eyes of healing and forgiveness and saw His precious child.  He just loved her -- right where she was and just as she was.  It is very clear in this scriptural account that this woman at the well was extremely important to Jesus.   He recognized her worth. 

The life of this woman reminds me of the little boy who built a wooden boat. For hours he worked, whittling and carving, until it was exactly as he had dreamed it would be.  After sanding and painting the small boat, the little boy raced outside to the nearby river where the launch of his cherished creation would take place. It was beautiful. Every day, the young captain sailed his boat up and down the lazy river, his active imagination weaving tales of pirates and treasures, mermaids and sea monsters, every story ending with the return of his seaworthy vessel.  Then one day, after a torrential rain, the little boy sailed his boat on the burgeoning stream.  Too late, he realized that the swift current was taking his boat out of reach.  He frantically tried to retrieve the boat, but it was moving too fast and he ran out of shoreline.  The boat was lost.  Brokenhearted, he stood on the bank of the river, staring into the fading light as his precious boat sailed away from him.  When darkness came, the brokenhearted boy turned and slowly walked away. 

Several days later, he was on his way home from school when he passed the toy store.  There in the window was his boat!   Someone had found it!   Dropping his backpack, the boy slammed through the door of the toy store and with an anxious heart, the little boy told the owner that the boat in the window belonged to him. But the owner was not convinced and told the boy he would have to pay for the boat.  "Can you please, please hold it for me?" the little boy begged.  "Just until the store closes today," the owner replied.  Frantic, but determined to have his boat, the little boy ran home, grabbed his piggy bank and bolted back to the store.  Minutes later, he walked out of the toy store, the boat securely in his hands.  "You are twice mine, little boat," the boy whispered, "once because I made you and once because I bought you."

Just as Jesus came looking for the Samaritan woman, He comes looking for you, willing to step right into the mess of your life with the gift of healing love and life-changing restoration in His hands.  The price Jesus paid was enormous but he gladly paid that price to buy back what He had created.  Like this woman at the well, we are important because God made us and because God pursues us.   What hope we find in Paul's words written in the book of Romans 5:8, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (NLT).

Jokes again

nope... not original..from me that is...

Direct Line

The Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Pope are in a meeting in Rome. The Rabbi notices an unusally fancy phone on a side table in the Pope's private chambers. "What is that phone for?" he asks the pontiff. 

"It's my direct line to the Lord." The Rabbi is skeptical, and the Pope notices. The Holy Father insists the Rabbi try it out, and, indeed, he is connected to the Lord. The Rabbi holds a lengthy discussion with Him. 

After hanging up the Rabbi says, "Thank you very much. This is great! But listen, I want to pay for my phone charges." The Pope, of course, refuses, but the Rabbi is steadfast and finally, the pontiff gives in. 

He checks the counter on the phone and says, "All right! The charges were 100,000 Lira" ($56). The Chief Rabbi gladly hands over the payment. 

A few months later, the Pope is in Jerusalem on an official visit. In The the Chief Rabbi's chambers, he sees a phone identical to his and learns it is also is a direct line to the Lord. The Pope remembers he has an urgent matter that requires divine consultation and asks if he can use the Rabbi's phone. The Rabbi gladly agrees, hands him the phone, and the Pope chats away. 

After hanging up, the Pope offers to pay for the phone charges. Of course, the Chief Rabbi refuses to accept payment. After the Pope insists, the Rabbi relents and looks on the phone counter.Shekel 50" ($0.42). 

The Pope looks surprised, "Why so cheap?" 

The Rabbi smiles, "Local call."