I know, I know, I know… when it comes to advice, I am a Quarterback NOT a Receiver! Hey, I am just being honest. Don’t tell me what to do, has been my mantra since I can remember.
Daily writing prompt
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
With that being said, one of the best pieces of advice came from my husband… probably the only one brave enough to try, other than the Man upstairs. In fact, I think God uses my husband all the time to soften my heart. My better half is a quiet man, far from my incessant babbling. He does not often open himself up to the firing line of my sassy mouth, but when he does… I tend to listen… I do not trust anyone else this deeply.
You have undoubtedly read other things I have written, so you should hopefully be aware of our journey… its been rough, to say the least. There was a time when I kept asking “why” about a great many things overwhelming us. One day, as we were driving, I sat in the passenger seat lost in an emotional well, struggling to cope with things. Out of the blue my husband says, “You know, I don’t think it’s about all the garbage in life we keep getting hit with, maybe what’s important, is how we handle getting through it”. These heartfelt and wise words have echoed through my mind at each twist and turn we have had since, and there have been many.
I really do believe that God, in His great wisdom, blessed me with my own personal guardian, my steed, my warrior, and my very best friend… I feel pretty lucky!
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. – Ecclesiastes 4:12
Ever throw a pebble in a pond, just to hear the kerplunk sound, and then watch the ripples play out across the water? We don’t really think about where the pebble goes after it disappears, as we are busy looking for another rock to throw next. We usually don’t even follow the ripples to see how they change the shore surrounding the pond… why? We simply like the sound made, and the initial ripples that came as a result of the rock hitting the surface.
At my age nowadays, I don’t throw much of anything anymore, especially rocks… I’m too tired. Besides, the pond and pebble example has been used enough times, that I’m sure most have heard it at one time or another. With that being said, I’m hoping my brief explanation is enough to connect you with todays Live Wire … the life of Jacob.
Much time has been spent this week, studying over the life and journey of Jacob, who may have been a bit of a bad boy, I think. Talk about a world of drama… from stealing his brothers birth rite to marrying two sisters, only one of which he loved. The struggle was pretty real for him. Granted there were things out of his control in much of it, but he still did not help things at times… often tossing pebbles into the pond of his life, that only ended up making the situation worse for himself.
Chapter by chapter, we follow Jacob through some seriously disturbing marital and child rearing situations… none of which he handled well in any shape or form. While Rachael and Leah fight over his love and favor, flinging their maidservants at him to one up each other in the children department, Jacob just keeps fathering babies left and right without a thought. It was apparent from the beginning that Jacob was not letting God lead him in this mess… how on earth are you gonna work 7 years for someone, in order to marry the woman you love, and then sleep with someone else on your wedding night… hmmmm. Then, when you wake up and discover the truth, you then work another 7 years for the girl you really wanted. My mind went from thinking Jacob was an idiot, or he was still being that bad boy I mentioned earlier.
Either way, there was a great amount of what I refer to as good bad and ugly, during the years of Jacobs journey. I am not for certain, but I don’t think that Jacob really truly followed God for himself, until after the night that he wrestled with Him… I noticed a marked change after this point. All of the earlier times that God spoke to Jacob about what to do, it was always repeated as “the God of my father Isaac”, or “the God of Abraham”. After that night, Jacob changed… seeking to make peace with his brother Esau, whose birth rite Jacob stole.
This didn’t mean things were all better however, as we learn further on in the story of Jacobs life. Pebbles cast, ripples must still play out…
If God was so faithful in the life of Jacob, then there is hope for this girl too. If he could still walk his journey, through all his own folly and mess ups… so to can I. God made provisions for Jacob and faithfully carried him all the way through his life, regardless of mistakes, misdeeds, or out of control circumstances. So too will He make provisions for this girl, this orphan child… with all her flaws, failures, and scars to tend.
By the time I finished reading through his story, I found that I love Jacob more with all his flaws and bad boy history. It leaves me feeling so hopeful, that even though I stand upon the shoreline of my own pond, where the ripples have come to lap at my feet… God chooses to work through broken things to suit His purposes.
This Sundays Potluck theme is surrounding Jacob and his story… in honor of broken things, let’s break bread together and turn some broken frowns upside down…
Photo by Taha Samet Arslan on Pexels.comPhoto by Mathias Reding on Pexels.comPhoto by Valeria Boltneva on Pexels.comPhoto by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.comPhoto by Fernando Gomez Cortes on Pexels.com
When I first saw the prompt question, oddly enough, it was at 2 a.m. this morning. If you think it means I was full of energy, I must correct this… insomnia and energy are two very different things.
Anyway, due to my arthritis fueled sleeplessness, I found myself peeking at todays prompt responses a little early to see what others were already sharing. What I discovered while reading out on the feed… it didn’t make me sleepier, but rather, it woke me up more than when I had begun. That was where my epiphany came… You!
I get energy from people… you, my husband, people on my trail walks, or anywhere I encounter someone along my path. Whether it be from writing to you, reading your words, chatting, encouraging each other, and sometimes just simply laughing together… oodles if boundless energy!
It is as if human connection is a piece of candy, dipped in such a fragrant and sugary sweet espresso coating… one cannot simply take a piece, without coming back time and again for another, and another, and another.
On the cautionary side, due to it’s habit forming nature, one can end up with a bit of a sour stomach from filling up on too much candy all the time, forgetting to balance things for a healthy self.
Finding a healthy balance took some time, but that is partly why I developed the Lobby idea behind this site. I do not need to jump all the way into the pool with others lives and problems, I simply wish to be there to offer them a towel when they climb out. When the Lobby began to come to life, God showed me that I can be a Hostess quite successfully without trying to be the cook, the councilor, or the doctor… I am not qualified for any of those things.
Having a servants heart offers me a chance to become such an effective hostess, that there is no need to burn myself out doing more for others than I can or should.
Speaking of energy, if you pop over to Live Wire, there is food, and I am certain that it has energy in it.
There are times in our lives, when we have felt like our efforts don’t seem to match up with the outcome of doing good… things we thought would make a difference, didn’t… good works we hoped would bring forth fruit, but the ground was barren and dry.
I will be honest in saying that there were times where I actually considered my efforts to be invisible, as if I could evaporate into nothing and there would be no loss felt by those I sought to help. In a world overrun by selfishness, it is easy to get discouraged by the overwhelming odds at making a difference…
Until we remember a very simple basic truth… the continued effort to do good, is what gets us through the journey. When we commit to do good, regardless of the result… we empty out a place in our soul for God to refill. We also need to remember that just because we do see the result we expected, does not mean that God did not do good somewhere else with our efforts…
My desire is to make a conscious choice in doing good, simply because God asks me to… whether I know how it ends or not! My goal should be to please Him in the here and now… I will wait til I get Home to see the results!
Note To Self #6
Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up! Galatians 6:9
I find it hilarious to see a young man wearing his pants so low on his hips, that when he bends over to pick something up, it is as if I get to see what he looks like when he walks around his house in his underwear… You know?!
Thanks to social media apps such as Pinterest, my DIY itch gets plenty of scratching, so I don’t need help in that department. Thanks to media in general for completely saturating the world with way too much personal information about all of our dirty laundry, I am full up on being informed about other people’s lives. Last but not least, thanks to the Bible, I have enough reading to keep me well informed about most everything the world has to offer.
With that being said, I am nearly out of ideas for needing more information on anything… well, besides puppies… I am always open to more information about puppies…
Are these for people or puppies… hmmmm… you don’t really know, do you? Perhaps, you need to add this to your list of topics that you wish to be more informed about… hehehehehehehe…
The other day I came upon a Tree Ent that was doing a handstand for better circulation…
I stopped long enough to take a picture, ask what he was doing, and then tell him “Carry on my friend! We need all the help we can get, holding things together most days.” He said he would, so…
We can trace music all the way back to the beginning of time… from musicians like David, who wrote and sang, as well as others. I went and asked Google about musicians in the bible, and it refers to approximately 20ish different places in the scriptures that they were mentioned. I consider how many songs today are written from passages in this book.
While tracing the possibilities of life without music, it carried me all the way back to my childhood. How could I give up on the Muppet Show, Hee Haw, or The Barbara Mandrel show. Out of those shows rose some good ole fashioned 8 tracks like this one… https://youtu.be/7v8sDd7DSl8?si=R4UwwuS0OnU6rwo-
I have never been the same… Thank you Ray Stevens, from the bottom of my heart…
In all my studies about dragon lore, I have not come across anything of much use, on how to care for a baby… it all just seems to want us to either attack them or run away! That is not of any use to us out here, on the trail with this small one. He just looks vulnerable and helpless… not scary at all!
Out in the field, it is important to considerhow one handles the unknown… it says a great deal about a person.Therefore, I vote to throw out all the dragon history books for this baby! I want to give this little guy a chance to prove his worth, whether he is a dragon or not!I want to look beyond the scales and teeth, beyond all that anger… because there is more to him than meets the eye, I suspect.
Unfortunately, all too often we find ourselves asking, why are people so quick to judge something or someone, simply because they don’t understand or maybe MISunderstand? Too many whys only leave us to run around in circles getting nothing done. I for one, am choosing to pour my love and energies into this little brute! Something about him gives me pause…
When I observe the little dragon, there are moments I can see my younger spiritual self (the willful part), and at other times I recognize the anger. I can remember a time when I carried a heart so hurt and confused, only anger came out! I guess we can all look at this baby with some form of understanding, seeing our own reflection in one way or another.Why the Commander thinks that I am capable of handling this ball of fury, with my own tendency for being overly defensive, tends to be a question that answers itself. If I need to mature in a certain area within my spirit, the Commander seems to give me exactly that which will aid my growth… Practice!
We have been given the opportunity to get a great amount of Practice in! Look at the journey we have been on for the last weeks. I can say that there have been a good many lessons we have been learning, as well as some difficult times that made us cling to one another for strength.
The Commander has never given us more than we could handle, and though it was painful in places, I would not change a thing if we went back in time. It was worth it, all the pain and effort, that is! We are so much more than we were when our adventure began… how could we forget the otter folk… who would want to change that day? In fact, looking back over things, there is not a moment with you that I would regret, or wish to undo.
We have now been given a great opportunity I think, to help make a difference to this little baby, and in doing so, become better for the effort. Big things can often come wrapped up in small, scaly, and angry packages like the one we have before us. Our Commander is teaching us to look beyond the surface, to love on a level beyond our own understanding. I know when things began it was only supposed to be me doing the heavy lifting of our adventure, but I had no idea how things would turn out and here we are, heading for the barn, as they say!
All of our trials, difficulties, obstacles and happy accidents happened because you stepped in to help this crazy lady with a dream. I believe that you have been learning the same lessons I have, just from your own perspectives. That is what makes life so beautiful… all the things that make us think differently, are the key to binding us together like a puzzle with different shapes and sizes.
I have discovered that it is always better to follow the One who created the puzzle in the first place. The Commander knew, before we ever left the lobby, exactly who would lend their aid and why. He did not give me the information ahead of time, nor do I know the why even now!
But He knew that you would come… and that is enough for me! Let’s make camp here for the night and enjoy our last evening together, for tomorrow we should reach the coast and from there the village which was our original destination.
As excited as I am to finally complete our mission, I now hesitate to end my time with you… change is always a bit scary, and I know not where the journey will lead. This baby belongs somewhere, though I know not where, as of yet! Were it possible, I would take you all with me, but as you know, paths in our lives do not always stay joined, but rather run parallel, sometimes rejoining; at other times simply intersecting with each other along the path.
Enough said about where we have been and what lies ahead… tonight we celebrate!
It’s a good thing all we brought with us was Just a Bag…
From supplying us with dry clothing, tools, campfire materials and tents…
to feeding us, and holding all our personal belongings…
During our entire journey, our bags ensured we never slept cold or wet, nor suffered from hunger or thirst…
This might look like Just a Bag, but it sure has had a way of bringing together a rag tag group of adventurers, such as we are…
Though our bags seemed stiff and foreign to us, when first we left the Lobby…
Our constant use of the bags, seemed to have somehow softened the leather. I for one cannot imagine traveling without mine…
In honor of our bags, let us break out a feast and celebrate together into the night...
Journey With Me! 