DON'T DRAIN THE POND WITHOUT PLANNING ON REFILLING IT

I go almost every day to the Lincoln Parish Park to walk The Wonder Dog and sometimes make a second trip to walk myself.  The park is such an asset to the community and includes a 1 1/4 mile paved walking path around a beautiful lake.

In an effort to keep Hero from chunking up, we always walk at least the lake path and sometimes venture into the woods.  Unfortunately the water from the lake has been drained off and sold to drilling companies.  There is fracking going on all over the parish and fracking requires LOTS of water.  I suppose it is better to use surface water than to drain our precious aquifer,  but the lake has been pulled WAY DOWN.

The theory behind allowing this surface water to be sold is the local rains will soon fill the lake up again.  As we have walked around the lake, I have noticed only two sources of flowing water refilling the half empty lake.

This little stream is slowly emptying into the lake.  It flows more freely when is has been raining, but today the skies are bright blue.  It reminds me of the old saying "Spitting in the ocean".  It does not seem to be make a dent.

This is an overflow from a pond a little higher up the hill.  It certainly is a better source and over time will help replenish the water.  The bottom line is--the water will take some time to fill the lake up to it's maximum height.  When the resource has been severely depleted, there is no fast fix in the replenishment.

So it is with mankind, there are times we are so physically, mentally, and emotionally drained, we are doing good to put one foot in front of the other.  If we continue to drain what is left, we will soon resemble a tub without a drain.  Never enough input to replenish what is continuously going down the drain.
We are not created to sustain constant output with no input.  We need food of all types- from hamburgers to a good book to keep us in top form.

We can also suffer depletion spiritually if we are never going to The Well and drawing from The Source.  Without time with God~be it prayer or in His Word~or in our faith communities, we soon will grow weak and frail from all the output.  Our peak spiritual form is only accomplished when we take the time to refill our spiritual tank.

Thankful God has blessed us with resources so we can continue to draw upon the source of all that is Good and Perfect.   To keep the power flowing--remember to stay plugged in!

But those that trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed.

They will rise on wings like eagles;

they will run and not get weary;

they will walk and not grow weak.

Isiah 40:31 

LESSONS FROM HERO~THE WONDER DOG

Hero, The Wonder Dog, went with me to Texas to watch the grands for a long weekend.  The back ground story on Hero is he was once the grands' dog.  He came to live with me following a back injury just over a year ago which prevented him from running up and down the stairs in their house.  Hero stayed outside a great deal of the time when living with them (he hid in the bushes for some strange reason--perhaps staying out of the path of the two littles). .  We ALL know Hero is a known runner.  After landing in the slammer a few times, they had an invisible fence installed, since he was so small he could slip between the iron fence slats of the back yard fence.  Hero never tried to run out of the invisible fence.  The warning the collar gave him was enough to keep him in the yard.

Fast forward, Hero has lived with me for over a year, we are going back to their house for the weekend, and I am more than a little nervous about him making a break for it.  He no longer has the receptor collar and his replacement, Brock, has inherited the sensor for his collar.  Hero is still a nervous Nellie around the littles and prefers to stay outside.  I am understandingly nervous about him heading for the hills since I am not sure he remembers the threat of being shocked if he leaves the parameters of the fence.

Turns out The Wonder Dog has the memory of an elephant and never tries to make a get away the entire weekend. His past experience has been a great teacher and he has not forgotten the threat of possible pain if he sticks his neck out.  Poor Hero---he loves to wander ---and he missed his big chance (not that I am complaining).  There was a whole world out there waiting to be sniffed and marked and he missed his golden opportunity for fear of being shocked.  A shock that could not possibly happen.

This is remarkably like our own spirit of timidity when it comes to the possibility of  being hurt, embarrassed, in pain...  Once we have experienced a painful or unpleasant experience, we begin to guard ourselves against the chance of suffering the same consequences again.  We put an invisible fence up around our hearts and refuse to take any risks or steps that might lead to pain.  We forego the possibility of great things, big adventure, new relationships because we fear the risk of pain and suffering which might happen.  We stand behind the invisible line we have drawn in the sand and dare not cross when we give in to our fear.  The  old saying "Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all" perfectly portrays what I am trying to say.  "Nothing ventured, Nothing gained" is another great phrase describing my thoughts.  Stick a toe in the deep end and test the water---What is the worst thing that could happen?  A little shock--but the better question is What are we missing if we don't try?

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, 

but of power, love, and self-discipline.

II Timothy 1:7

AWAY FROM THE HOOD

AIN'T NOBODY

GOT TIME TO WRITE

WHEN IN

FORT WORTH

BABYSITTING

WE MADE AN AFTERNOON AT THE

FAMOUS

FORT WORTH STOCK SHOW

THE BIG BOYS

WERE OFF RIDING

WITH DR DADDY

SOMETHING GUARANTEED

TO MAKE YOUR HEAD

SPIN FOR A WEEK

AWWW!

BABY GOATS

THIS RIDE

WAS 

FREE

TURNS OUT

I HAVE

TWO JACK RABBITS

FOR

GRANDCHILDREN

SHHHH--

DON'T TELL MOM

LULU 

LET'S US HAVE

YOGURT FOR LUNCH!

NO TIME FOR WRITING

WHEN HAVING THIS MUCH FUN!

I'M GERMINATING HERE!

At our last Bible Study group meeting, our fearless teacher handed out packets of seeds.  Took me back to my days in 4-H and selling packets of seeds to fund raise for our group.

NOW I am dating myself!  A stream of loose association going on here---the point of the post is NOT seed sales.

As you can well imagine, she talked about planting seeds and the stages of life for the seed.  It was a great analogy, but what I came away with was not different types of soil, not sowing the seeds, why not even the process of germination~ I came away with a very clear imagery of waiting around for the blooms.

There were no two seed packets the same.  As they passed around the room, I was one of the last to pick a flower. I was not disappointed, lupines are some of my favorites and do well here in the deep south.  On the back of the packet--in small print is the requirements for growing AND the time elapse before you will see the blooms.  LOOK at that~  365 days---ONE FULL YEAR.

SO--It's is NOT as simple as putting the seed in the soil and WA LA---blooms ---I will have to remember to water, protect the plants from severe freeze, make sure they are in the sun~  I will have to tend my crop to see the beauty of the blooms A WHOLE YEAR LATER!  Growing patience is what I will be doing!

If you read all the information carefully--the seedlings will emerge in 18-21 days.  SO I might not have blooms BUT I will have pretty green plants to watch grow.  I plant the seed, it will pop out of the dirt 2-3 weeks later, and then I tend the plant for a year and THEN I will see the bloom.  

Gardeners enjoy the process of watching the plants grow as much as seeing the blooms.  It is a wonder to behold to see a small seed stuck a quarter of an inch in the dirt, sprout and grow.  A reminder of God's gift of life to us.

And IF I am patient, if I tend my plant, there will be blooms to enjoy for a period of time.  For a brief period of a few weeks, the lupines show off their beautiful blooms.  And then they are gone.  So for a year, I have worked to enjoy the beautiful blooms for a brief point in time.

AH, but here is the wonderful secret about these lupines.  They are perennials--they will come back--and bloom year after year.  AND they will sow seeds that will grow more lupines.  Before you know it the fields are covered with the magnificent blooms every year.  

It could never happen though, unless I first planted the seed and tended the plant.

So it is with God's Word, we plant the seed, nourish it, watch it grow, and see the fruit at different intervals.  Those plants of Wisdom produce blooms of comfort, joy, peace, hope .....  But first we need to plant the seed--

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalms 1:1-3

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Once every couple of years, I decide to put together a puzzle.  Being iced/snowed in for a couple of days seemed the perfect time to start another one.  It looked easy enough---looks can be deceiving.  It took more than a couple of days to finish this lovely winter scene.  Once the pieces are all on the table face up--I am on a mission to get it put together.  Once finished, I spend~ perhaps 30 minutes looking at the completed project and then systematically take it apart~with no two pieces left connected.

This puzzle was filled with whites, reds, and blues.  Subtle differences in the shades are the only clue as to what belongs together.  The shape of the pieces must fit nicely together.  Beginning with small bits and pieces of the scene--before you realize it the big picture begins to form.  There is one down side to puzzles---if one piece is lost---there is a void in the picture.  A hole left in the otherwise peaceful~beautiful scene.

The rug under the table where I worked on the puzzle is multi-colored.  It has white, red, and blue in addition to yellow and brown.  A few pieces were accidentally brushed off the table onto the rug in the process of shifting 1000 pieces around to find matches.  The time finally came when there a few holes left, but no more pieces on the table to fill in the gaps.  A thorough search of the rug revealed several pieces that blended into the rug perfectly and missed my notice when concentrating on the pieces in front of me.  The puzzle would not have been complete had I not found, picked up and inserted those pieces.  The missing pieces of the puzzle were the key to finishing a beautiful scene.

This is a wonderful analogy for a number of subjects rolling around in my head.  The one thought that kept bubbling to the surface was life.  Each and every day is a piece of the puzzle which forms our lives.  It takes each and every piece to complete the picture of our trek through life.  If you look closely at the finished puzzle, you will notice a couple of barren trees---not so beautiful when taken alone~but an intricate part of the entire scene as a whole.  Some pieces of the puzzle we would really like to do without, but the scene is not complete until each and every piece is in place.

This reminds me of a passage from The Shack.  The Holy Spirit is showing Mack the beauty of the tapestry of life and the world as seen from above.  When viewing it from ground level it seems to be a hazy kaleidoscope of color and mist which makes no sense.  From God's view, it is breath-taking beautiful.

So--keep putting your puzzle together--remember each piece is important to the integrity of the beauty of the whole.  Even when the pieces seem unnecessary--unneeded--unwanted---once completed God's tapestry of our lives is a magnificent work of art.

11 He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. 12 So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive. 13 All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift.

14 I know that everything God does will last forever.

 You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it.

 And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-14

THE EVOLUTION OF UNDERWEAR

There seems to be an evolution of my thoughts on underwear over time.  (My two male readers Bare with me) YES--PUN INTENDED!   

It ALL began with a simple white cotton number with one row of ruffles around the legs.  NO--I DO NOT monogram my underwear--NOT THEN--NOT NOW!  They were all white--folded neatly in a row in my drawer.  There was NEVER a question as to what underwear I should wear.  

With time came color and a change of material.  The older I got--the less material was required for coverage.  In fact coverage might be stretching it.  Even with stretching these did not cover much.

AND THEN came the day when I was concerned with what someone else might think of my underwear.  I certainly didn't want to look like a grandma--but then again didn't want to lean too far into the other camp either.  My mother's only advice was to not leave the house in holey underwear (NOT to be confused with Holy underwear).  BUT IF someone special happened to see my underwear, I needed to convey the right message about who I was by wearing the perfect underwear for the occasion.

Today it seems I am still concerned about what someone else might think of my underwear.  The someone else though has changed to the staff at the emergency room in case I need to be rushed to the hospital.  You can't be too careful!  The day when I might have a need for emergency care is getting closer.  I would not want anyone feeling sorry for the little old lady and the sad state of her underwear.

What's the big deal about underwear anyway?  We all can do a great job on the surface with our dress, but what's underneath says a lot about us as well.   Are we only concerned about the surface or are we well put together from the inside out?  If others could see beyond our surface, what would they think?

What's in your underwear drawer?

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

Psalms 139!

CAN WE BE HONEST

I'M A MESS

AND

SO ARE YOU

SO BRING YOUR BROKENNESS

AND I'LL BRING MINE

CAUSE LOVE CAN HEAL

WHAT HURT DIVIDES

AND MERCY IS WAITING

ON THE OTHER SIDE

BLESSED SABBATH,

DEAR FRIENDS!