Category: Inspirational

What part of no don’t you understand?

How many times, as parents, have we found ourselves asking our kids this question? We set rules and guidelines, so as to protect and care for them, until they can safely function in the world on their own. When we catch them doing a thing we’ve clearly told them not to do, their response to the question above is usually something like “Oh, this? I thought you were talking about something else.” Are you kidding me?!

This was where I found my brain going, after reading through the events that occurred right in the middle of Jericho falling, and the ripple effect that tore through the Israelites camp. Honestly, sometimes human nature irritates me so much! Looking at the ones involved as if their naughty children, is the only way I can find understanding in the dumb things we children seem to do.

For example! Consider for a moment that you are a man of fighting age, following God’s chosen army around Jericho for a week, only to watch the walls fall to the ground because God said they would if you walked around it. At this point, you’ve been informed by the one directing the army, “keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the lord and must go into his treasury.” Joshua 6: 18,19 NIV. With what you know of God thus far, and as one serving in His army, logic should dictate that you follow this directive.

As I read further into this story, there was, in fact, a man in this very position. His sin and disobedience to God cost the lives of at least 30 some fellow soldiers later on, in the next city the Israelites went up against. You see, Joshua was unaware of what Achan son of Carmi, took for himself and hid in his tent. When Joshua sent the army to Ai, they were routed and sent fleeing, leaving the Israelites very confused, as to why they lost the battle; why would God allow this to happen? When Joshua sought God for the answer, this was where he learned about something bad happening in the camp, but God didn’t just give him the answer… I think this was a lesson, somehow.

The whole of the community were to come before the Lord, tribe by tribe, until God chose the tribe involved. From here, they were to come before God by families, until once again, God chose the family involved. Now at this point, if I were Achan, I’d be sweating pretty bad! Where can you run, where can you hide from God? How many of us can remember the feelings we went through, as our parents put us on the spot about what we thought had gone unnoticed. We had knots in our stomachs, as we awaited whatever punishment was forthcoming for said offense. I honestly cannot imagine how I might feel coming before God, knowing I could not escape the truth! For this particular man, and his entire family, the consequences were deadly… they were all stoned to death!

You want to know why I think this story bothered me so much? I think it’s because, even today, we still try to hide our sins and shortcomings from the one who already knows; He knows before we’ve even thought to do the sinning. I cannot even put myself above this embarrassing truth of our human behavior. I squirm uncomfortably, at the thought of all the times I think my attitude or behavior is hidden from the eyes of my Father. It’s not!

I realize that even today, our sinful human nature is always there to attempt lulling us with the safety net of our salvation… it’s not that bad, God will forgive us! We bolster our spiritual confidence with the thought that as long as we don’t do the big no no’s, we’re good with God, for the most part. It is so easy to find ourselves creating biblical excuses for bad behavior. As I mentioned before, I’ve been simultaneously reading the New Testament along side the old, and it has been very edifying. I am finding that all of the books in the bible are so cohesive with each other, adding depth to my studies.

I want to leave you with a verse I read this morning, from the book of Galatians. I think that within this verse lies part of my answer, as to how that soldier could be so foolish, when he most certainly should have known better:

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6: 7-9

Have a blessed day, everyone… hugs

Spill The Beans…

Todays phrase being captured, is Spill the beans, suggested by Fibrecraft Grannie. I suppose it doesn’t matter whether it’s used for either spilling or not spilling the beans, as the meaning should still be the same.

In complete honesty, I’ve not done any investigation on this definition at all this week! Today is the first time I allowed myself to think on what the saying means and where it came from, so let’s do this!

The first thing that I thought about, when looking at this phrase, was my mothers pot of beans that used to sit on the stove overnight. Now I don’t mean the saying could be referring to cooked or raw, but I just went to that place. The only thing I can think it might mean, is that when you spill beans, those little buggers can go everywhere… just like something you may say.

Now I really don’t have any idea if the saying originated on a farm, but it’s probably a safe bet. I mean beans are a food, right?!

From thinking about beans in a bag, my brain went to the next best thing, candy! A bag of peanut M&M’s to be exact!

One time, when my girls were small, I had been standing in the kitchen of our home, struggling to open a giant bag of M&Ms. The top of the bag would just not budge, no matter how hard I tried to pull the edges apart. My husband, at the time, was standing in the doorway to the kitchen watching me fight with the silly bag. He offered to assist, even maybe grab a pair of scissors, but I refused his help saying, “No worries, I’ve got this!” No sooner had I uttered those words, the bag gave, sending peanut M&Ms throughout the kitchen and all the way into the living room where the kids stood watching. It was a free-for-all!

Needless to say, we were picking up M&Ms from all over the place for a while, and I remember finding a gooey pile under our refrigerator, some months later. So this is where I’m now stuck, as I can’t stop laughing about the candy. I sort of think I’m on the right track with my loose definition, but let’s ask the experts at google…

The first thing on the page, when I asked google, was from Inc.com:

To spill the beans Origin: This is likely drawn from the ancient Greek process of voting, where votes were cast by placing one of two different colored beans in a vase (usually a white bean meant yes, and a black/brown one meant no). If someone literally spilled the beans, the election results would be revealed. Aug 29, 2019

While I can say that I was along the lines of the idea behind spilling beans, it wasn’t until after I looked it up that it actually made sense. I’d completely not thought about the vote thing from Greek times, but once I read it, I was like… DUH!!!

When I arrived at the barn this morning, it was once again empty, with no babes anywhere to be seen! I sort of figured they’d be out playing in the fort they built last week, so I headed that way. When I got to the fort, there was no babes to be found anywhere. As I stood wondering where they might be, I heard some commotion down at the pond.

Normally, I don’t like to leave the babes unattended down by the water, but Brutus and Tilly are with them, and those two are both good swimmers. If I knew Tilly, she’d ensure the babes would all have life jackets on, while Brutus would simply fish them out of the water if needed. F.Y.I. Tilly and her friends all worked things out last week, as I had hoped they would. In the end, love always wins out! Underneath it all, I think that Tilly just really wants her own baby, but that’s just a guess.

Anyway, I was tempted to just let the babes alone, as the silence in the barn would be divine for my writing. But, as curiosity has always been a thing that drives my imagination, I headed for the commotion down at the pond. When I arrived, it was like watching a bunch of children trying to fish a toy out of the bathtub… a very large bathtub!

Brutus was dashing madly about, fishing one babe or another out of the deep end of the pond, in which they’d flung themselves fearlessly; whatever it was they were trying to catch, seemed very important to them. When I looked over towards Tilly, she wasn’t upset at all like I thought she’d be, rather, she was cheering them on excitedly!

There, in the middle of the pond sat the smallest of frogs, happily resting upon a lily pad. As soon as any babe got close to it, the tiny thing would simply hop to nearby pad, easily escaping their grasp. I admit that I was quite surprised, just as my little ones had been, that we had a frog in our pond. It’s a very small area and I’m not even sure there are any fish in there; at least, I’ve never seen anything, aside from myself and the babes.

I recalled all the troops, offering them some fresh raspberries I’d brought to the barn with me this morning. As the babes stuffed the juicy red berries into their tiny mouths, they tried to tell me of what they’d been doing… spraying juice and seeds in all directions.

While they did this, the frog seemed to be relaxing on it’s little pad, out in the center of the pond. In my opinion, the frog didn’t appear to be scared at all, instead, it looked to be waiting for the chase to continue; I think the frog was having fun jumping away, almost more than the babes were having, while trying to catch it.

Leaving Brutus and Tilly to corral the babes along the bank, I walked down to the ponds edge and placed two fresh raspberries atop the closest lily pad I could reach. I then stepped back and sat down upon the soft grass, to await the frog’s next move. For several moments, with Dinky and Boomer excitedly squealing in the background, the frog just sat there staring at me curiously. The frog suddenly jumped from its resting place, and with practiced ease, landed beside the raspberries.

While the frog enjoyed the berries, he introduced himself as Flurburt! He explained that he was in need of a home and had hoped to take up residence in the pond. That is, until my band of furry hooligans came along. He’d not realized that the pond belonged to someone else already. I explained that this pond was not actually our pond, but simply the local pond near our barn.

While he wasn’t afraid of the babes, he was concerned about constantly being chased by the little ones. Eventually, someone might get hurt, and he’d not want to cause anyone to come to harm. He’s agreed to stay, if, and only if, I can control the babes a little more when they come to the pond. I have agreed!

So, the only plan I’ve thought to come up with, as a way to teach the babes how to be gentle and calm, has been to get them each a stuffed frog of their own. I’ve a plan to take them all on a short adventure into the forest, baby stuffed frogs and all! My hope is that they can practice playing in the woods, while taking proper care of their own little pretend baby. It worked for my daughters when they were small, so why wouldn’t it work with my babes now?

I realize that I may be taking on more of a challenge than I should, but I’ve both Brutus and Tilly to assist. Wish me luck!

You have followed me all of my days,

reaching for me…

You have held me within your arms,

guiding me from my beginning…

When I ran away,

you faithfully reached for me…

All those years,

I pushed you away…

You reached for me,

but I only pushed you away…

Looking back now,

makes it all seem so clear…

Your faithfulness,

and my fearful flight…

As I now look up and realization dawns,

of wasted effort on my part…

If I were to ask you now,

would you take my hand…

If I ask you to help me learn to ride a bike,

would you take my hand…

If I now to climb within your lap and tell of sorrow,

would you take my hand…

Would you greet the boys at the door for me,

would you take my hand…

If I need you to guide me on my journey,

would you take my hand…

When I want to make you proud of me,

would you take my hand…

Now I believe you when you say that you love me,

would you take my hand…

If I tell everyone that you are my father,

would you take my hand…

You say that the fatherless are yours,

so please father, take my hand…

You say you are near to the broken hearted,

so please take my hand…

Set my feet upon the heights,

like the deer father…

I can truly do anything,

if only you’d take my hand…

As you faithfully take my hand father,

I hear you ask of me…

In My Name, look to the lost within the darkness,

whispering, “Take My Hand!”

So, as usual, I sat down today planning my normal writing, where I share how I’m feeling about life and such! I wasn’t feeling it! Ha ha… get it, feeling it? And yes, I still need reading glasses for the up close stuff, even though my surgeries corrected all the rest of my vision. I am 55 you know, so I cannot expect the eyes of a 20 year old, as those days are long gone!

Instead, I opted for doing girl things… you know, like doing my nails and putting make up on, which is not something I really do any longer, with any regularity. As I’d already cut and colored my hair a few weeks ago during my last girl day, all I had available this morning was a bag of old make up products, and my jammies!

You know, I’ve done a great many home jobs on my hair over the years, but this is actually the first one that I liked! My husband had to even it up in the back for me, since I obviously can’t see the back of my own head. But I think he did a fine job, as it doesn’t look too choppy back there.

I’m too cheap to cough up a hundred bucks, and not willing to sit still long enough for anyone else to mess with my hair. I’m hoping to go even shorter, at some point, and get rid of the rest of my dark hair, but that will definitely need an actual Hairstylist; even I’m not that good. I discovered how much I love using a light caramel brown color, as it does a beautiful job covering and blending with my gray, silver, and/or white roots. I can no longer sport my dark hair, as I take on the look of a rabid skunk, from the moment my hair starts to grow out. I finally grew tired of dealing my head stripe!

I’m not even gonna pretend that my hair is cut evenly, hence the way I always tilt my head for photos, just in case. There is less chance for you to notice any of my mistakes. Trust me when I tell you, I’ve done some pretty horrific hack jobs on myself over the last few years, but for the first time, I really like this one… Kudos to me!

Anyhow, if you’re wondering why I am doing such ridiculous things today and writing about it, it’s due to having a sore foot. WordPecker Down! I think I’ve injured myself trying to navigate all the road construction going on right in between myself and the river. Sometimes, I’ve had to trot across a road in between traffic to get around things. The day before yesterday, as I was hoofing it across the street, I felt a small twinge in the area just above my big toe, where I carry most of my weight when stepping down. I made it home without too much trouble, and woke yesterday, forgetting all about it! About halfway through the walk, I remembered it! I was still about an hour away from home, so I tried to be careful with it, as best I could.

Again, I had to trot across the street to get around all the torn up roadway, but when I did… this time I felt a pop! I’ve walked at least 4 major marathons in my days, and am very familiar with that feeling you get, when something gives! Twice, over the years, I blew out both my arches while refusing to quit a marathon. I’ve learned to be much gentler on myself since those days. Rather than ignoring the pain, I immediately slowed down and hobbled the rest of the way home, walking on the outer side of my foot. I must have resembled a Rapper walking with an attitude, as I swaggered home.

Funny thing about feet is, there are so many bones in them, unless you snap a major one, there isn’t anything they will do for it. I’m just going to take a couple of days rest to let it mend, before hitting the trail again. Since I’m stuck in the house alone, and left to my own devices, this is why I found myself in the closet pulling out my old bag of make up. Don’t you feel so lucky! You read all the way through my blog, just to hear me tell you why I made myself look pretty. Sorry, not sorry!

Even though you feel like you’ve earned a cookie for being put through this, you’ll have to sit through my prompt response for the day… if I fed you cookies every time I got a wild hair, we’d all end up like the fat people on those floaty chairs in Wall-E!