FINE LINES

Life is filled with fine lines.  NO, I am not referring to the lines visible on my face-which have passed the stage of fine and gone on to ruts.

I am speaking of the difference between right and wrong--black and white--good and bad.  Sometimes there is a precarious balance to remain on the side of right and not fall into the abyss of wrong.

It is amazing how the sound of the jungle drums from Ruston can be heard all the way to Fort Worth.  WHO KNEW?  The challenge I have is listening to only the facts and not participating in the gossip.  OH, how we love to hear a tasty morsel of gossip.  It allows others to be pulled down into the hole we have dug for ourselves.

Recently I heard a little tidbit and began thinking over is this gossip?  I came up with a good rule of thumb.  IF the information I hear is out in the public forum and is fact, then it is not gossip.  For instance, IF your name appears in the obituaries and someone texts me to tell me you died--it is not gossip--it is fact.  NOW if the conversation begins to drift into the non-public information, I am probably getting into the realm of gossip.  If I am told you died (public information), and they have heard you had gangrene of the tongue from all of your filthy talk---THAT is gossip.  KEY WORDS---"They heard".  

Your Gossip Alert should immediately go off when you hear---someones name immediately followed by "Bless their heart".  This is definitely going down the street of gossip.

I saw in the obituaries that Susie died. FACT
I heard she died from tongue gangrene.  BEEPING STARTS
Susie died.  Bless her heart, her tongue fell off from gangrene.  You know how she loved to embellish every conversation with her trashy talk.  BACK AWAY--STOP THE TALK

Why not gossip---because someone always gets hurt by gossip.  If you ever were the topic of gossip--you understand what I am saying.  Even if the talk is true--only repeated to you by the one who is the subject--but you then repeat it-it is gossip.  When nothing is gained for the cause of Christ by repeating it, then do not repeat it!

AND GOSSIP HURTS

So what to do?  I have asked that we change the subject.  I have said, "Let's don't gossip."  Refuse to listen and do not repeat what you did hear.  Stay true to the right and refuse to fall into the pit of the wrong.  Truth always wins and gossip always hurts.

To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Titus 3:2

LESSONS FROM THE LITTLE MAN

Photo Credit-Rethink Survival.com

Another great truth this week, from The Little Man-

It can be quite the struggle to get The Little Man to give up--close his eyes--and go to sleep.  He sleeps in a crib at home, so he is trapped--well except for the fact that he can now climb out of said crib. His mom reports--especially at nap time and early in the morning--it can take a few times of putting him back in his bed to do the trick.  When he comes to stay with me, I sleep with him on a day bed.  I wedge him in next to the back of it and try to trap him in the bed.  

We have a nightly ritual.  After a bath and leaving two inches of water on the floor after showing me how he can swim, I chase his bare little bottom around the house in an effort to dress him for the night.  He thinks all this is a great game--I am grateful for a small house and few places to hide.  Then we pull out the laptop and watch some videos of mind numbing and intellect dulling cartoons.  He is especially fond of choo choo wrecks, fire truck chases, and car/truck crashes.  None of this "Baby Einstein" stuff for the Little Man--he prefers action and heart pounding thrills---it gets you in the right frame of mind for sleeping.

I FINALLY give up---turn out all the lights--turn off the computer--and get in the bed.  Except for the city glow which seeps in around the blinds, it is pitch black.  Perhaps NOW he will get the hint.  I pull the covers up under our chins--he promptly kicks his off--and I grow quiet.  In the hush of the dark night this little voice says, "DARK".  "Yes, it is dark and it is time to go to sleep," I tell him.  After a few minutes, I think perhaps I have succeeded, and then "HEY!"  I "Hey" back at him and say, "Lulu is right here, now go to sleep."  One more "Hey" and then finally I  hear those deep breaths signalling he is finally out.

As I wait to be sure he is completely out before reading my book, I begin thinking what has just happened.  We live in a dark world---a fallen world--and what we want more than anything is to feel safe and protected.  To know someone is there with us--watching over us--holding us--loving us.  How thankful I am of the assurance of the constant presence of The Father.  No matter how dark--when I feel the dangers and threats of the world closing in--I am never alone--He is always-always here with me. 

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. -

Proverbs 15:3

MEANWHILE HERE IN THE HOOD

Sunday-
There was a rumor floating around last Sunday about the Cowboys appearing to take it all.  I kept glimpsing out the window all afternoon in hopes of spotting one of those fine specimens.  I never even saw a horse. In fact the streets seemed deserted.  Someone told me Monday there was some football game on television that everyone in TX was watching.  OH WELL--so much for the Cowboys!

Monday-

My neighbor texts me Monday and asks why are all those police cars are down by my house.  GREAT---I am away from home--building my massive muscles and there are 7 police cars parked up and down the street.  WELL since the alarm company has not called me--and there is not much I can do anyway--I calmly go to the grocery store--as if it is just another day in the city.  Turns out one of the neighbors is threatening violence--and has a gun---and thus the alarm.  I tell you--THE BUBBLE I WAS LIVING IN HAS BURST!

Tuesday-
Time for a little tutoring at the shelter.  When I went back last week, the three students I have been working with for three months are gone.  Disappeared into the World of the Homeless.  All I can do now is pray-- I have As I drove home, I saw several of the homeless in sleeping bags under the overpass.  It is hovering in the 30's--the wind always blows in Texas--concrete is really cold.  Why are they not in the shelter--Why would you chose to sleep out in the open?  SAD!

Wednesday-
To school to tutor--I have to be there bright and early.  Somehow tutoring digressed into games and puzzles.  My OCD kicks in and I am putting the puzzle together while my sweet little student happily colors a picture of a princess.  How did she manage to get me off track???

Thursday-
I seem to have come down with the bubonic plague.  I have the mortuary on speed dial.

Friday-
"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Mark Twain

There is a slim chance that I may survive the latest bout of plague.

And that's about all there is to the news this week in The Hood-  
where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

LIFE IN THE PETRI DISH

Photo Credit-Storify.com

I love my sweet-precious---ALL BOY--grands.  Life is never dull when they are around.  HOWEVER they are walking, talking, eating, sleeping, real live --boy sized PETRI DISHES!  And with three of them--5 1/2, 4, & 2---somebody always has some illness. Their home seems to be the perfect breeding ground for germs--with three little hot bodies serving as incubators.  The spread of kudzu across the south does not hold a candle to the spread of viruses through the germ breeding ground they call home. Top that off with living in the prime zone for Cedar Fever and we all have open spigots where noses once resided. For a little side note- here is a brief description of Cedar Fever-

" Cedar fever is not just any allergy. It's a scourge, a plague that smites the just and the unjust who have the misfortune to live anywhere in a broad strip of Central Texas that stretches from the Red River to the Rio Grande. The progenitor of all this misery is a medium-sized, frankly undistinguished tree with sinewy limbs covered in shaggy bark that vaguely resembles orangutan fur. Despite its common name, the mountain cedar is actually a juniper (Juniperus ashei). Every year around December, we blunder into the midst of the cedar's mating ritual. It begins with the appearance of the male cones--embarrassingly small, amber-colored structures no larger than a grain of rice. In good years (or bad, depending on your viewpoint) they blanket the tops of the trees, turning them an aggressive tawny orange. When the wind rises, great gritty clouds of the pollen drift aloft, making the woods look like they are aflame. This airborne mist can waft for miles until it runs into something sticky, like the small green cone of the female tree or the inside of your nose.  Once cedar pollen gets into your system, its evil nature is revealed. Compared with it, ragweed is a wimp."

The Little Man spent the night with me before the holidays--his holiday gift to me was a cold.  He never slowed down--I stayed parallel to the floor for several days.  He spent the night this past Friday night--His mom informs me Monday, "Oh yes, Little Man is sick--he began running fever Saturday afternoon."  Would that be immediately after you left my house at 1 PM?  Today, I had the two big boys---Biggest Brother announces, "My throat hurts."  "Really," I ask, "Do you need some medicine?"  "My mom gave me some this morning."  SERIOUSLY?  When I took them home, I told their Mom I gave him some medicine after he said his throat hurt.  She said, "My throat is sore too."   AAAAGGGGHHHHH!  Now I am home sniffing and snorting and a little achy.  Praying it is all in my head and NOT in my body!

Here is a simple rule of life--when you live in a petri dish--you are going to get sick.  "IT" is going to get you--whatever the "IT" might be.  There is not enough Germ-X or Lysol to keep up with the contamination.When the germs are inches from your nose, even if you wash the skin off your hands, you are going to get "IT."  The only solution is the Little People growing up and with a new one soon to arrive--that will be no time soon.

It reminded me of how we live our lives.  If we surround ourselves with sin and sinful behavior and stick our heads out in the sin filled air--we are sticky and some of that sin is going to cling to us.  We will find ourselves infected and affected by the environment we have surrounded ourselves with.

NOT to say--we should not be in the world--BUT instead--before you jump into the petri dish--be sure and dose yourselves with the only known supplement for a healthy life.  Put on your armor and lift your shield--and then proceed-protected-into the petri dish of a world that we call home.  

Whoever goes to the Lord for safety,

    whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,

2 

can say to him,

    “You are my defender and protector.

    You are my God; in you I trust.”

3 

He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers

    and from all deadly diseases. 

Psalms 91:3

TRIFECTA

My life long friend contacted me recently to tell me she is having a stint put in the back artery of her heart.  I was shocked---she does not look like or act like she has heart disease.  The condition of the heart is difficult to determine when looking at the outside of a person.

I have several good friends who suffer from heart disease. The physical condition of our hearts is important to our physical well being.  If our hearts are not functioning 100%, we find our lives and activities directly impacted by the degree of the damage.  We all know we need to eat right and exercise consistently to maintain a healthy heart.  Our genetic make-up also impacts the health of our hearts.  How my non-runner friends loved to point out the famous runner and author of books about running, James Fixx, died from a heart attack.  I have left those running days behind, but still exercise my heart almost every day.

The emotional condition of our hearts is directly related to our ability to love.  My broken heart vowed, at one point, to never allow anyone to touch my heart again.  I erected a tall wall---built a steep moat---and put up a razor wire fence around my heart to protect it from pain and injury.  With time--my heart has healed---but the scar will remain forever.  The wonderful thing about our bodies is that scars build stronger connective tissue.  As I slowly began to stretch out the scar tissue and flex the love muscle by opening my heart to new relationships, I discovered a wonderful thing---with my willingness to love--my ability to love has grown to new heights.  By adding the weight of new relationships, my emotional heart has grown stronger and my capacity to love has expanded to new levels.  What I would have missed, if I had kept the bandage on and refused to heal!

 

The spiritual condition of my heart is the most important aspect of a healthy heart.  By opening myself to a deeper more intimate relationship with The Father, He has shown me how to strengthen the emotional condition of my heart.  The creator and author of love has taught me new depths and heights of this thing called love.  The condition of my heart is a reflection of the greatness of His love.  As I look to Him, I pray He will continue to show me, teach me, and grow meto a new level of heart health---as I love Him as He first loved me.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

OUT OF THE BUBBLE

One more time, I will repeat---I lived the first 64 years of my life in a bubble.  The bubble covered a 20 mile radius--but for all those years--I thought I knew what the world looked like--I did not have a clue.  Somehow I got the idea I had seen all the suffering, the pain,  the heartbreak, the hideous, the ugly the world contained.  I did not even strike the surface.  Perhaps it was all there right under my nose--perhaps I did not look far enough and close enough, but somehow it escaped me.  One of the things God is teaching me by moving me to the Big City is what the world really looks like.

I will begin occasionally posting about the people and things God has shown me since moving.  I am still mulling over how often--perhaps only when God nudges me--but I needed to hear these stories.  The question is--what do I do with the stories?  I am seeking direction and wisdom to know exactly how to take the next step--if there is a step.  Sometimes---I just need to know what is out there.

The lady whose story I will tell you today was quite a chance encounter. I had never seen her before and will never see her again.  What caused her to tell me her story in the 30 minutes we were together?  You read it and tell me.

The first statement when she began to open up about her life was,

"My son was shot and killed in the front room of my house, 

while I stood one room away."

She immediately had my attention.  She is raising the child of this son, because his wife is in prison.  She was convicted of paying a hit man to kill her husband. There was evidence all over the place to prove the crime.  Did this conviction soothe her pain and calm her anger--no.

Turning to alcohol, she then became housebound for three years as she tried to drink away the memory of what had happened.  At her lowest point, she weighed less than 100 pounds and was slowly but surely killing herself.  She was unable to care for herself at the time, much less the grandchild left behind. Drowning in self pity, hurt, and anger, she lost all focus on the world of today and became stuck in the mire of the ugliness of yesterday.

God intervened.  Telling me she could verbally hear Him telling her to turn the pain over to Him and trust Him.  She turned her life around, with His help.  Today she has a successful career, she is focused on her marriage, and the grand she is raising.  She is giving God all the glory--even in a chance encounter with me. Her story has been redeemed and she jumps at the opportunity to tell the story. 

What did God show me that day?  Take every opportunity He gives me, seize the moment and share what He has done in my life.  Not every encounter is an opportunity, but it is abundantly clear when the time is right.  What a blessing to see Him working and know He intends to us me as well.  All for His Good Purpose.

Put your hope in the Lord,

for with the Lord is unfailing love

and with him is full redemption.

Psalm 130:7

LESSONS FROM THE LITTLE MAN

This Little Man has begun spending the night with me almost every week.  His two big brothers go and stay with the other two grands and I keep Little Man to give Momma & Dada a break.  Divide and conquer is our motto--or more like Divide and Survive.  Our boys are ALL boy!  This little two year old is reminding me of important life lessons.  It is good to be reminded of these great truths of life.

When he comes to visit, Little Man demands my attention.  If I dare pick up the computer, here he comes wanting to watch his favorite video in my lap.  If I look at my smart phone, he wants to open his favorite app and play Choo-Choo.  If I am eating, he wants some of what I have.  If I try to sneak out to the garbage can, he is pushing the screen door open in hot pursuit.  My house is very small, but he wants constant visual contact.  He wants me to play games with him, read stories to him, do puzzles with him, and hold him.  Tickle is his favorite game and he cannot get enough of me blowing on his belly, poking his ribs, gently squeezing his leg fat--all producing bursts of laughter.  He just wants to be close to me--and what joy to be close to him.

A gentle reminder--the most dear of times in my life have been spent in face to face contact with others.  I become accustomed to living in the cave and winter months tend to keep me inside more than I like. OH HOW I MISS MY FIREPLACE!  My face to face contact begins to be substituted with emails and texts and messages.  It is not the same-far from it.  The life stories that have been shared with me have all been one on one.  The great debates and discussions about God, life, and theology have all been verbal---face to face.  No hugs can come across cyber space--no kisses -no expressions fly through the mysterious world of the internet.  There is no warm touch, no hand held, no shoulder patted, and no snug hug in this new world we live in on the WWW.  

Not to say it all is bad.  I now travel with a great sense of relief that I have my smart phone with me to guide me and keep me connected in case of emergency.  I have met many wonderful blogger friends through the wide world of blogging.  I would have never known them--learned from them--enjoyed their acquaintance without modern technology.  I have reconnected with friends from long ago and stay connected with friends from a lifetime.  It would be impossible to stay connected without the new cyber world.  So no, it is not all bad, but it has become skewed far too much into the silent world of the cyber and away from the noisy yet beautiful world of the physically present.

I am becoming greatly concerned with where we are headed and what I am observing in the generations coming behind us.  They are all plugged in to the cyber and unaware of their immediate surroundings. Look around when in a restaurant and notice how many are staring at their phones and not at each other.   All this technology is not bad--BUT when our personal relationships begin to suffer and change because of it we are headed down the chasm of aloofness.  I fear we are loosing the ability to be true friends and forgetting how important the gift of time and presence is to each other.  

Little Man is showing me---talk to me--face to face.  Be present in my life and show me your love.  Let me hear the sound of your voice and see the expression on your face.  To be close--truly close---intimately involved--it takes face to face--eye to eye--word to word--heart to heart encounters. Lord, help me to remember and turn off and tune in to those by my side.

Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

I Corinthians 13:12