Professional Grade Runaway, Certified Foster Child, Experienced Juvenile Delinquent, Born Again Christian, Mother of three, diaper changer, spit-up attendant, storybook reader, teacher, babysitter, chef, housekeeper, laundry attendant, errand runner, grocery shopper, delivery driver, truancy officer, friend, councilor, church worker, college student, receptionist, dog breeder, bird breeder, pet farmer, gardener, runaway, heartbreaker, hurt maker, lost soul, chosen child of God, globe trotter, midnight traveler, adventurer, writer, light bearer, and most assuredly a servant of the Almighty!
I feel pretty qualified in these areas, though I may have missed a few others… oh well, I lost track.
It’s been many years since I created a resume, so please forgive the enormity of the above paragraph. It’s clearly my example of the worlds biggest run-on sentence… I never said I was an English teacher!
Eustace runs a side hustle, writing doctors notes for fellow employees in need. For anyone interested, just meet him at the poker table, down in the car park.
That’s where the employees hide from HR, midweek, while they make efforts to negotiate with corporate, over ways to prevent so many sick days!
Hmmmmmm….. I wonder why they’d feel the need for that?
Personally, I believe that there’s a huge difference between religion and relationship!
I do not follow, nor do I practice religion! I live a life indwelt by the Holy Spirit! That means God is with me, within this vessel, surrounding this vessel and carrying on a full relationship with the woman I am today.
My answer would be YES, indeed I do remember life before the internet.
Oh… I’m sorry… was there something else? Since the prompt only asked If I remembered life before the internet, and nothing more, I’m trying to stick to a yes or no answer.
I’ve always had the knack, as a professional MeeMaw, for rocking babies to sleep. I’m well versed in softly singing lullabies, and rhythmic rocking or swaying, with or without a chair to sit on… It’s a gift!
Not only am I good at putting babies into dreamland slumber, I can effectively put grownups into a yawning lull. All I have to do for the grown ups is to talk. I’m like a life size version of a Chatty Cathy Doll. All you have to do is occasionally poke me and I will just start chittering away, allowing those in proximity to drift off into dreamy bliss, while listening to the non-stop, storyteller style voice I’ve been known to employ.
As much as I’d like to say that I gain satisfaction from watching other adults yawn and stretch peacefully, while answering a question they’d been the ones to ask, I prefer babies. They’re much more adorable when they snore, or when they toot in their sleep… just sayin.
As I was sitting here this morning, pondering what I should write for todays Live Wire, I found myself staring at my bible for a bit, not sure that I even felt like writing. I suppose that there are just those days, where I don’t feel like even reading my bible, even though I know that I should.
When I find myself in this place, it helps to have index cards with bible verses written on them, strategically placed around the RV to catch my eye. As I move here and there throughout the day, they allow me to see God’s words of truth, edifying my spirit and encouraging my heart. It wasn’t always like this though, as there were numerous times in my life that my bible simply gathered dust upon a shelf!
Many times I found that I didn’t have room in my life for such a commitment to a book. I’d read the bible enough times, I felt confident that I needn’t read the book so often.
Knowing what I do about humans, as a whole, I feel pretty comfortable saying that this is something everyone encounters in their walk with God.
Life interruptus occurs…
Birth, babies and childhood,
Unexpected twists and turns,
The pain and confusion of loss,
Good times that bring about a sense of Out of sight, out of mind…
Eventually, Holidays alone seem to be sufficient enough, for pulling the good book out and dusting off it’s cover.
Somehow, we turn the word of God into a tonic, of sorts! We use it when we need it, and then return it to the cupboard for next time. I found myself actually getting so angry at the Israelites, while reading of their rinse and repeat cycle of sin and consequence. Time and time again, they wandered off and got happy… forgetting God, returning to their old idols and sins, only to watch everything fall apart, and then they ran back to God, begging for another chance. My anger dissipates at the moment I remember that I do this all the time, now, today! We all do!
God’s word and promises are always so valuable and sought after when we are in need of His help, when we are hurting, afraid, or lost. We turn to Him in our time of need, in our time of anger or despair, in our time of utter Joy… but what about all the time in between?
In truth, I think that it’s the commitment to follow and obey during those in between times, which enables God’s word to strengthen and keep us standing strong, while in the intense highs and lows of life. Something like staying the course, even when it doesn’t feel necessary to pay attention. I’d like to say that I’ve advanced beyond the Israelites revolving faith door, leaving their ridiculous behavior behind in the distant past, to become so much wiser than sinners of old… but unfortunately, I cannot!
Human nature is not something we shall ever overcome, not by our own power. That’s most likely what God wants me to understand, as I read through the biblical dirty laundry list of our predecessors screw-ups and consequences. It’s not so much about WHAT they did wrong or right, but about humanity as a whole… sinful, willful, and needy children… but all created in the image of God. As a parent, I don’t look back with memories of all my children’s faults, nor have I ever stopped praying and hoping for them. A parents love is unconditional, a trait provided by our ultimate parent! My kids generally didn’t come asking for mom’s help, until they’d already tried and failed first. By nature we are all selfish creatures, only asking for help during or after we’ve learned things the hard way, revealing that we can’t do things on our own.
I guess what I’m saying is that the Bible is like the spiritual version of things like toothpaste, clean underwear and love… we should probably be using them all the time, rather than only when we feel like it! If we don’t use them consistently, they’re rather ineffective when only being employed in emergencies… just sayin.
This question drew me all the way back to the beginning of things, when Eve was deceived into believing that she deserved to “have it all”, and things didn’t turn out all that well.
I, personally, think that it would be wiser to focus on whether we should attain it all, rather than if it’s attainable.
I may carry Eve’s human nature, but I don’t have to let it rule over my life. May wisdom allow me to learn from her lesson, so I might not repeat it!
Journey With Me! 