Dance Pants

I have taught dance to some degree most of my life.  I had this particular pair of black cotton dance pants that I had had for years. I loved them.  However, rather large holes were developing along the seams.  Not only that, but as I danced or walked around, jewelry, buttons, drawer knobs and such would get caught in these snags and make the holes bigger.  People in the dance world will understand how certain dance attire, once it has been worn in and worn out, can acquire a sort of chic look.   

Now, I can be stubborn sometimes and the matter of these dance pants was no exception.  One night after teaching a class I loaded up my, then 6 year old, son into our mini van and headed home.  At some point during the drive my wedding ring attached itself to a string on these pants.  Trying to pull it loose resulted in ripping half of the inseam open.  That’s when I had had enough.  

Didn’t these pants realize I had been trying to salvage them?  

After all we’d been through!  

It’s like the pants were betraying me!  

It was personal. 

I ripped and pulled, and before I knew it, I had not only ripped the other inseam but I had torn the pants into several pieces, removed them completely form my body, rolled down my van window and thrown them out into the darkness in complete and utter disgust!!!!!  It was then that I looked over at my poor 6-year-old son who had witnessed this entire ridiculous act and was now watching his mother drive down the highway in her underwear. What is even more strange than that is what happened when I got home.  

After realizing I had to scamper quickly into the house without being seen, thank goodness it was at night, I did so.  I walked straight into the bedroom and, while re-clothing myself, I announced calmly to my husband that I had been frustrated by my pants and thrown them out the window on the way home.  He barely blinked or reacted at all!  Apparently he is accustomed to my somewhat irrational behavior.  I love that man.  

God must love us, too. 

No matter how bizarre our behavior or how irrational we react to the simplest of annoyances, he is un-surprised.  He is not shocked.  He is patient and let’s us learn and reflect on our experiences. Even so, we are called to “explain ourselves” to our heavenly Father. Give an account of our actions.  Nothing surprises Him but he delights in our conversation, confession and repentance.  

On this particular night, my husband and the Lord might not have been surprised, but my six year old sure was! …and I had some explaining to do. 

 

Have you explained yourself to God today?  Are you hiding or sneaking about?

 

Hebrews 4:13 (NIV) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

*photo is a harvey edwards print that i got for my sixteenth birthday, my mom gave it to me early, that's where i developed my impatience for hanging on to good news or surprises

flying cat

Flying Cat

when i was a teenager, i had a garfield phone.  the cartoon garfield. it was orange and striped.  garfield was in a sleeping cat position and you picked up his back to talk on the phone. 

at that time, in my house, 10 o’clock was the time you were supposed to get off of the phone on a school night.  a rule i broke regularly.  my dad was not so much an enforcer of the rule as he was a reminder of the rule.  there i would be each night, lying on my bed happily chatting away into garfield ’s back when it would happen.  “it” being my dad opening up the door with his threat.  “if you don’t get off of that phone right now i’m going to jerk that phone plum out of the wall and throw it plum out in the yard.”   (yes, my dad liked to use fruits in his threats)  after this threat and the closing of my door i would roll my teenage eyes and begrudgingly tell my friend i had to go.  night after night this ritual ensued.  for some reason this began to annoy me.    i started to think he was never really going to do anything other than just yell at me every night.   

so, there i was, holding garfield ’s back to my ear and my door opened.  i knew what was comingand i knew i was tired of hearing it.  i stood up on my bed and jerked the phone out of the wall, marched past my dad and threw open the front door and let garfield fly.  whump….he landed in the snow by the tree in my front yard.  “there! the phone is plum out in the yard!”  i announced to the house.  it was only after i slammed my door and jerked the covers over my head in a huff, did my thoughts change from “i showed him!” to “i just threw my phone out into the yard.....”.  garfield sat in the yard until the snow melted away days later.  my dad didn’t care if i didn’t have a phone and i was too stubborn to retrieve it myself.  

how often do we do that to God? He pleads and reminds us of His boundaries He has set for us for our own good and then we “show Him” by doing something that only hurts us in the long run.  I know there have been many times in my life I have unwittingly tested God’s love for me by rebelling and taking matters into my own hands.  how patient my dad was with me about the phone and how loving is my heavenly Father when i make mistakes.  i am so grateful that he loves me unconditionally.  

i don’t know if I apologized to my dad or not, but i sure felt sorry even if i didn’t.

 

Have you considered that there may be things you are taking into your own hands?  Have you asked forgiveness?

 

Isaiah 1:2 (NIV)  Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up,  but they have rebelled against me.

Luke 5:20 (NIV) When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

*incidentally i was the one who finally saved garfield from his upside-down post in the yard after three days, after i made sure no one was watching, never admitted it was permanently damaged and secretly bought another one

Boiling over.....

while visiting my parents this weekend (the rodeo had come to town)

i was boiling hot dogs and kinda in a hurry

i noticed that the water was taking quite a while to reach a boil

i remembered that old saying "a watched pot never boils"

so i decided to do something else while i waited

it seems that the rodeo rides into town in a parade, 

 naturally i needed a red bandana for my dog's neck 

so that she would be properly dressed in "rodeo dog" attire for the parade

it never fails that whatever little something i need for a craft or such, 

my grandmother always has it handy.

sure enough, i walked on over and within a few minutes 

i had found a choice of red or blue bandana for my pooch

i cut it in half and tied it just so....she looked great, all ready for the parade!

ooops, wasn't i cooking hot dogs?

it seems that not only does "a watched pot never boil" but "a neglected pot boils over" as well!

i related that to relationships

if you are constantly "watching" your relationship, hovering, questioning, anticipating, being impatient...it seems as if things aren't happening fast enough and we become frustrated.

on the other hand, if you become too busy in your own plans and forget to watch at all, you have a mess to clean up before you know it

i know that's true with my marriage sometimes

i dont like it when my dh is watching me to closely, wanting to spend every waking minute together and expecting immediate reward when he has done some little thing, 

it's annoying and i'm usually not anxious to respond the way he wants me to...

on the other hand, if he's too inattentive i can boil over in seemingly no time at all!

it seems the middle ground is best

get to work on your task, without neglect, but be busy in your own interests as well, keeping mind of your goal

that seems to be what the Lord intended

for us to keep our thoughts on Him always, without neglect

but using our time wisely, making good use of the hours, without impatience

how easily we are distracted sometimes

thank goodness there wasn't much of a mess to clean up this time

off we went to the rodeo parade, 

one dog dressed with mustard and relish 

and one dog dressed in a red bandana!

Proverbs 14:23

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Psalm 119:16

I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

*photo used is not my dog, she is way cuter...it's just some dog i found on the internet

Off course but on track

i recently took a road trip with my family.  we traveled through 6 states over 8 days, attended a wedding, ate at cracker barrel 4 times, rode camels, visited a farmers market, swam in the ocean, stopped at a zoo, hung out with friends and family, met new friends and played hot potato at a rest stop among other things.

being the planner that i am, i made a traveling book.  it was divided with colorful dividers signifying each leg of the trip.  in each section i noted how many miles traveled, what we could do in each state and included map and directions.  i also pointed out which states we would be traveling through.  

imagine my surprise when we stopped for gas and saw a virginia lottery sign.  that was NOT in my book.  according to my calculations, we were in tennessee!  i make no defense about the fact that it is very unlikely that i know where something is unless i have been there.  i have never been to virginia.  so ,as far as i knew, we were hundreds of miles off course.

jim had been driving this leg and merely driven where i had instructed him to go.  oops.

first i wondered why tennessee had a virginia lottery sign hanging in one of it's stores.  it was worth a shot.  i asked the clerk what state i was in,  she said virginia.  

shoot.....(snapping fingers)  she then asked me if i was traveling north or south, to which i responded east.  after she told me that neither highway through this town goes east or west, only north and south, i decided to check my book.

turns out that on our way from tennessee to north carolina ,on this particular route, there is a mountain range that does not allow you to continue east.  you must dip up into virginia for just a bit and then back down into north carolina continuing east again.  whew...

it got me to thinking about how God always knows where we are even if we don't.  here we are, planning away our lives and then all at once, we can look up and wonder how we got where we are.  how did I get here?   where did I get off course?  where am i headed now? we ponder around, confused and disillusioned.  trying to find our way on our own, reasoning how we got here in the first place.  trying to make sense of it on our own, sometimes taking others with us!

going back to the book , God's Word, we can easily see why we have been led to or away from where we thought we were going.  then, we get back on course again.  God always knows where we are and where we are headed.  He keeps us on track no matter what "state" we are in.

Ps 32:8 The Lord says," I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you."

Ps 48:14 "For that is what God is like. He is our God forever and ever, and He will guide us until we die."

Ps 73:23-24 "Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. you guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny."

Is 58:11 "The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring."

Luke 1:78-79 "Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from Heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

*photos are the virginia lottery sign that i saw and me nervously referring to my well planned travel book :)

HURTING my feelings or my foot?

why is it that when we step on someone's foot on accident

we say we're sorry

without even thinking twice?

but when we step on someone's heart on accident 

or hurt someones feelings without intending to

we say "well, i didnt mean to"

and act as if it shouldn't hurt at all

just because it was unintended

or because we dont understand the pain

do an experiment

walk up to a loved one 

and stomp their big toe

hard

tell them you are sorry

explain to them that you are saying you are sorry

because you know what you did and completely understand 

the reason that they are hurting

maybe even tell them that you too have had your toe stomped in the past

therefore, that helps you feel sorrier

then

the next time you bump into someone

or step on someones foot by accident

dont apologize

even if you hurt them bad

afterall, it was an accident

if someone asks you to apologize

just tell them you didnt intend to cause the pain

and therefore see know need to apologize

or tell them that you've been

stepping on their toes a lot lately

and that you are tired of saying you are sorry for it

on the other hand....

when someone steps on our foot or bumps into us...

and they dont even notice they did it...

we dont call it to their attention

by saying, "excuse me, you may not have noticed..

but you just caused me pain in my toe/foot etc"

that would be weird

but we do tell people when they "accidentally" hurt our feelings

its nice to know that Jesus knows my pain both physically and emotionally

without me even having to tell Him

before it even happens

whether it was intended or not

and if i do want to tell Him

He listens

always

and when i cause Him pain, its important for me to tell Him im sorry

and mean it

whether i did it on purpose or not

the next time someone accidentally "hurts my feelings" im going to say something like this:

"owwwwwwwwww!"

maybe then , they'll get it

pain is pain people

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

*photo is one anna and i took to email to jim to let him know we missed him while he was out of town

gardening analo-Jesus

so im gardening

by this i mean im pulling weeds out of my yard

its hot in texas, duh

and im sweating, alot

as im sweating and pulling and gardening

God speaks to 

me

He created things to grow and change

to be nurtured

some

 things stay hidden for a season and bloom in time

some things are harmful to the soil and need to be removed

some things need attention and some things need to be left alone

He created ALL things

just because you plant something and want it to grow doesnt mean it will

just because you want something to go away doesnt mean it will

repair takes work

sometimes you have to dig in and really suffer

sometimes you get dirty

He created us to work

He created us to be in His nature and reap His harvest

when you are done, you r tired, but He rewards us for our efforts

Proverbs 14:23

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Genesis 1:11-12

Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth"; and it was so. And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 

On the third day God allows the earth to produce plants through germination (sprouting) and growth until seeds are produced. The Hebrew word dasha refers to a plant that sprouts from a seed until the seedling turns green.¹² This verb tells us that God used processes identical to what we see on the earth today. Plants spouted, grew to maturity, and produced seeds. Several kinds of plants are described. The Hebrew word deshe¹³ refers primarily to grasses; the word eseb¹⁴ refers primarily to herbs and the words peri¹⁵ ets¹⁶ refer to fruit trees.

what a reflection of the way we are supposed to behave in relationships to grow the harvest of believers in His kingdom, from the days of creation He has shown us examples of how to 

*be planted

*grow to maturity

*produce seeds

* photo is from my neighborhood, thought it was a great reflection of the changing of the seasons, reminding me that to everything there is a season

he's everywhere

i learned a long time ago that i see God in everything

He's with me all the time

He speaks to me in everything i do

i also learned that He shows Himself to us in different ways 

the way i see Him is unique and special to me

ive also learned that when i share the way that God reveals Himself to me,

it helps others know Him more

and see Him more

and that is why i'm here

He is UNHIDDEN

Jesus is in analogies everywhere

so, this blog is dedicated to that