Tag: Jesus Christ

The German Shepherd Gets It

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All we have is this moment in time.  I mean who can make sure a birthday cake comes out right tomorrow when it is today?  Who can redo a soggy flower bed from last year on a wintery day?  The best strategy is to stay in the moment where we can do our best to be mindful of the Lord and if He leads, do our best work, best thinking, best living.

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:34

These themes were revealed today by our German shepherd dog, Elle.  I decided to push the limit of my activity level and do a few things outdoors in the heat.  After making it through my husband’s kayak race at the Fort Wayne Riverfest, I was very warm, straining to function and all-around uncomfortable.  Nonetheless, since I was still covered with sunscreen and bug spray so when I got home, I figured this would be a good time to replant 2 pots, feed our acid-loving plants in the patio garden, and so on before coming into the house to take a shower.  Elle was outside with me doing the things she likes to do too:  sniff, sniff, sniff!  Not 15 minutes had gone by before our generally obedient pup was gone from my watchful eye.  “Whhhhhhit,” I called.  No dog.  She usually comes racing around the house back to me when I whistle for her.  Hmmmm.

But of course!  It’s very humid and above 80 degrees F outside today.  The clouds are long gone and she was panting rather hard not long after joining me in the yard.  Guess the sip of water from the garden hose wasn’t enough for her.  Elle had taken herself for a swim!  She loves to “play hippo” as my husband calls it, in the neighborhood pond behind our property.  She stays in the water long enough to cool her belly then wanders out into the public area around the pond to sniff out some rabbit tracks and inspect the perimeter of our neighbor’s backyard.  I whistled a little louder.  Yeah, a wet dog came a running!

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The German shepherd gets it.  She got hot.  She wanted relief.  She went for a swim in the pond and came back to her usual activities thereafter.  Oh to be able to think like a dog sometimes!  Elle keeps it simple.  Not me.  I continued to pot up some vinca flowers despite the sweat running into my eyes causing tremendous burning, first the right eye and then the left.  “I can’t stop,” I tell myself, “because I would have to go into the house to wash my hands then go to the bathroom and get distracted by 5 other things and never get back outside to finish if I do.”  Geez.  In the 12-Step programs they used to call that “stinking thinking.”  To do first that which is most important is another slogan from my ACOA days.  Maybe I don’t trust myself when I’m feeling crummy?  Guess I haven’t learned to apply all of the slogans yet.  Guess I’m still struggling with a pared down version of Matthew 6:34 as well.  Forget worrying about tomorrow, I’m stressed about the next moment!

The significance of this behavior goes beyond the sweat in my eyes.  I am also dealing with and increase in noxious symptoms from a short course of antibiotics for an infection.  Add to that the aftermath of two terrible episodes of seizure attacks before and after an MRI yesterday, broken sleep, heat intolerance requiring me to leave the races before some additional events, and low blood sugar,  it seems like I should be inside the house taking care of myself anyways.  Sigh.  But I want to work in my garden!

I want to do it all and it hurts me sometimes when I do.  In doing so, I get in my own way of feeling good.  So I’m going to be gentle with myself as I work on this tendency and apply some Biblical truth that will last, will transform me.  Let’s see, at the time I am writing this the internet connection went down.  I copied the draft into a word document so I wouldn’t lose my precious thoughts.  This means that I can’t search some fancy Bible verse website for just the right verse to get me moving in the right direction.  It also means that I must go and get out the Big Book itself.  Hmmmmm again.  I haven’t had my quiet time with the Lord yet today.  Perhaps you can guess, gentle reader, what needs to happen next?

Seeya later.  It’s time my moment counts for Him and not me.  We’ll talk later.

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Addendum:  As soon as I turned off the computer the Holy Spirit gave me the verse before the one above.  Thank you Lord

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Matthew 6:33

Yup, Hanging in There

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Leaning on Proverbs 3:5-6 today as I face the reality that is mine.  Then again, only the Lord knows the path, the bunny trails, the destination and the ice cream stops along the way.  Ice cream.  Hummmm.  I sure hope there’s ice cream in my future!

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Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart     and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him,     and he will make your paths straight.  (NIV)

Jesus is Enough

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Here is where I am at today, in the arms of my Lord.  Tough night.  Tough day.  And He knows and cares for me always.  Thank you Jesus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One order of gratitude coming right up!

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DSCF7927You all who are healthy out there listen up:  you got it good!

I finally had an evening that was nearly normal for most of it and it was indeed good!  Celebrating the wedding of the son of some friends of ours seems like an ordinary part of life to most of us.  The story went  like this:

We met our friends’ kid as a teenager, he fell in love and 3 years later, we were invited to a magnificent wedding banquet in the quaint Heritage Barn out in the country!  My husband Steve and I gratefully got one of the few invitations to the wedding.  We enjoyed holding hands together during the ceremony, gazing deeply into each other’s eyes from time to time while reminiscing own wedding vows not too long ago.  Shortly thereafter we were seated at our assigned place setting in the adjacent hall; a lovely table arrangement of hydrangeas nearly blocked the view of the other guests yet set the stage for a candlelit dinner as night fell softly outside.  The food was delicious and probably even tasted better because of the 3 -piece string ensemble filling the air with classical genre fit for a king.  The newlyweds smooched with a ring of a cow bell and as the mother of the groom squirmed.  All was well with the world.   White-on-white flowered wedding cake followed for the guests in the dance hall, followed by traditional ballroom dancing and some rip-roaring square dancing too!  The building was a refurbished barn so ’tis fitting to end the magical evening with barn dancing for young and old alike.   The couple later departed through a canopy of floating rose petals then drove off in a “smart car” just large enough to contain her wedding gown!  The night ended as the full moon shined through the thin cloud cover of the crisp evening sky.  Congratulations Brock and Hannah!  Your new life together has begun.

On the way home I realized that only once during the entire ceremony and reception was I aware that I am battling a devastating disease that could take years to beat.  Only for a moment did I wonder if I would find anything to eat from the dinner buffet that would match my Candida Diet requirements; the al dante’ green beans and baked chicken breasts would satisfy my hunger just fine.  Only once did I leave the dance hall to retreat to the stone fire circle where a bonfire covered me with as much warmth as my coat might have but it was in the car parked somewhere in the field beyond.  Only once did I wonder if the music was too loud for me only to realize that I would not be having seizure attacks upon returning to the car at the end of the evening.  The usual noxious after-affects of too much sensory stimulation, having not enough food that I could eat, smoke from the bonfire, sitting in an old restored building, and being out late would not bother me very much at all.

Wow.  You who are healthy and never think about such things got it good!  And tonight, so did I!

Thank you Jesus for an edifying wedding ceremony that focused as much on your sacrifice and saving grace as the wedding nuptials of two of your precious children.  Thank you Lord for working out so many details through the work of so many people and your Holy Spirit to bring such a lovely wedding ceremony together for all of us to enjoy.  Thank you my Jesus for allowing me to experience the wonderful fellowship of our friends in Christ as we celebrated this wedding tonight.  I am humbled and grateful for this afternoon and evening.   This taste of goodness reminds me of Your goodness.  It was and is just the right encouragement I need to keep going when the times are more difficult.  For your glory and in Your name I pray.  Amen.

It makes no difference to a dog

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I finally got off the couch today around 1:00 a.m.  That’s when I started to feel better and realized that a few more newly installed plants still needed watering in the yard.  My husband, Steve, had graciously watered a few before he went to bed at 11:30 p.m. when it became clear that it was not going to rain this evening.  Yipes!  I don’t want to lose the new seedlings, annual flowers, bare root starts, transplanted bush and perennials that I was miraculously able to get in the ground these past three weeks.  And now in the wee hours of the morning, I am grateful that it makes no difference to my dog what time we go outside to the garden.  Anytime, any weather, any occasion, she is ready.  I wuv my pup!

I am so glad that it also doesn’t appear to matter to my Jesus what I am able to accomplish in a day.  While I look around and see the paper towels that need replacing in the kitchen, the crock pot that has been running for a day and a half that needs to be put in the refrigerator, a full load of clean dishes in the dishwasher that need putting away, and so on, I am acutely aware of all that I am unable to do.  Ah, there’s that phrase from my 12-Step Program days:  I am a human being, not a human doing!  I am perfectly o.k. just as I am, sitting on the couch for most of today.  Now I also know that there are other issues such as stewardship, working as unto the Lord, and using my spiritual gifts to serve others unto Him.  Those tasks will be there another day.  Today was a low key day.  Today was a sick day.  And today is over, yeah God!

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?  One thing appears to be certain:  Elle will be ready to go, available without needing to stop and take care of anything else but please me, but be with me.  Oh do I ever love like that?  I pray that if I am able, I will love like that too, with a smile and a spring in my step.  Maybe I’ll even get to help out at the plant sale at our local Cooperative Extension Office.  Wow.  That would be fun!  Regardless, I will be o.k. It makes no difference if I fuss about it either.  As for right now, it’s time to get some sleep!

Matthew 6:25-34