STRANGE ATTENTION!

If you want to have a bit of extra attention at the check-out lane at Target... do what I did. Ask the checker to ring up an item TWICE, when you only have ONE of that particular item.  

WHAT?

Let me back up a bit ...  Last week I was doing my usual Target-shopping-DASH...  I checked off all the things on my list, found the shortest line at the ck-out, paid for my items and then buzzed out to the car. Upon putting the bags into the trunk I noticed one item must have slipped down the side of the cart  while I was shopping and was "hiding" under the kid seat, subsequently, I failed to pay for it. AH, PHOOEY!!!! I contemplated on going back in to pay ... but I was in a hurry .The lines were long so I decided to do pay for the item the next time I was in the store. SOOooooooooo... today I paid!

As I told the gal that I wanted to pay for two items and not one - The checker gal paused and said: "REALLY? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" The clerk from the other cash-register came over and said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THIS JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN! IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE STILL A FEW HONEST PEOPLE OUT THERE."

I guess it's good to be an oddity every once in a while!

My Assault Weapons

While the rest of the country endures snow and the deep-freeze, Southern California’s having unseasonably warm weather and UN-fortunately, not a raincloud’s in sight. And with all this sun and warm weather the weeds along with overgrown flora and fauna have tried to take over and claim flower-bed VICTORY and I had HAD enough!  It was time! TIME for some serious hand to hand combat!

After a hardy breakfast I put on my “camo” yard gear, Mickey Mouse baseball cap and strapped on a Beth Moore ”So Long Insecurity” CD for added inspiration, reinforcement and support. I loaded my weapons of mass-weed-destruction into my red-radio-flyer wagon and made sure I armed myself with my machete and other assault weapons. Well ok... I guess you can’t technically call my bright orange ratchet clippers a machete, but the weeds and overgrown bushes don’t know the difference... and machete sounds so... so menacing. 

Quickly, and with great focus and determination I got to work. Progress of the attack was soon evident as the green barrel was beginning to fill with one severed weed and clipped branch at a time. And it felt good!  

I moved around the perimeter. Nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. I deftly continued... and then paused... *Sniff*... *sniff*... What’s that?  Soon, a foul order began to permeate the area. Hummm, this unexpected development called for my extension device (also known as a rake). I cautiously took a step back and parted the thick underbrush. There it was. Hidden. Curled up under a layer of dried leaves. The object of “foulness!”  In the background of my mind I could hear James Cagney saying... “YOU DIRTY RAT!”  Yes... (another) rat!! But not just ANY RAT, mind you... but a big, fat, DEAD one!  Ah yes, just the way I like them. DEAD! Without a moment of hesitation I catapulted this rodent to his final resting place and quickly closed the lid on the green trash can... and on the day.

A successful day on the battlefield was over.  As I put away my “weapons” I thought about how fast things had gotten out of control. I wondered WHEN and  HOW did this happen?  Quickly I realized ... Busyness happened. Holidays happened. LIFE happened. THAT’S HOW!  One thing led to another until weeks, perhaps MONTH’S had passed since I’ve pulled a few weeds along with a few back muscles while working in the yard.

I also realized that just like overgrown weeds and rotting rodents, sin can quietly come creeping into life as well and try to claim victory. Sometimes it doesn’t take much.  Life does get busy. The to-do list never seems to end. It’s easy to get overwhelmed... discouraged and weary.  And before you know it ... days, weeks or possibly months have slipped by since we’ve had that special time with Jesus. Perhaps it’s cutting short devotional time or speed-reading the Bible without thinking, remembering or applying what we’ve just read.  Maybe it’s saying an abbreviated prayer or two ... when we remember, that is.  Honestly, it doesn’t take much for that dirty, good-for-nothin’ rat, to come sneakin’ into different areas of our life basically unnoticed.

This morning I read...

"Remember, satan fights dirty. He jumps on anything that could keep you from centering your thoughts on Christ." -Beth Moore, Breaking Free

My prayer is to keep my focus on Jesus. NO MATTER WHAT!  I want to spend focused time with Him.  I need His help to recognize when life gets crazy, out of control, overwhelming and exhausting ... OR ... awareness of my need of Him when things are moving along swimmingly... either extreme and all points in-between,  I always, always, ALWAYS need time focused on and with Jesus. After all, He's the only One who knows what’s ahead in my day, my week, my month. He knows whats hiding in the corners of my world... And He WILL ALWAYS give me everything that I need. 

 And what I need... is HIM.

“[Debbie] You will not have to fight this battle.

Take up your positions; stand firm

and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, ...

 Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Go out to face them tomorrow,

and the LORD will be with you.'"   

2 Chronicles 20:17

A BOX OF CHOCOLATES

Believe it or not, I’m not a big fan of sweets, including chocolate. Even as a kid... coming home after a successful night of Trick-r-Treating I would nibble on just a few treats then stuff the full bag of candy under my bed. The bag would be forgotten until months later when my mom would have on one of her... “DEBBIE! Clean under your bed!” ...kind of moments. Well, lo and behold, there it was! The sack full of petrified candy just waiting to be tossed into the trash. 

 

All these years later I guess I’m still pretty much the same. An occasional nibble of something sweet satisfies me... and then I forget about it and eventually it finds a permanent home in the trash.  *That is unless my sweet-tooth husband get’s a hold of it... then there’s usually nothing to throw away, but I digress...  

So this past Christmas when we received a box of See’s Chocolates I did what I usually do. First, the box sat on the counter for a few days until I finally opened it. Eventually I selected a chocolate and either cut it in half or nibbled a bite to see what was inside. If I didn’t like it - back into the box it went! Yep! That’s how I “eat” a box of chocolates.

 Pick and choose.  

Recently, I realized that sometimes I do the same thing in my relationship with God. Savoring the “things” that seem sweet to me, or if it’s something I don’t particularly like or if it makes me uncomfortable... it might just go “back into the box.” 

Of course I have my favorite scriptures. Those are easy to hold on to. But there are also some texts that are difficult to digest. Words I want to avoid completely because they “hit” a nerve or go against m.y. human, selfish nature. Scriptures like: 

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” (Luke 6:27)  

 Or....  

“Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God's will in Christ Jesus that you do this.”  (I Thessalonians 5:18)  

And another tough one for me is...  

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.”  (Philippians 4:6)  

Yes, they are words of wisdom, but they are not easy to do. At least they aren’t for me. 

Speaking of prayer... It’s easy to praise God when He answers in the way I’ve ask Him to... but what about His answers that are completely contrary to the way I’ve prayed? And what about the silence of God?  These are things that are difficult. And this is where TRUSTING HIM no matter what comes into play.  

But oh! how I want HIM to cooperate WITH ME and do things MY way. And therein lies the problem... M.E.!!! I’ve got it all mixed up. It’s not all about me... it’s all about God.

I need to grasp on to the truth that G.O.D.  LOVES M.E. and He simply wants me to trust Him, listen, cooperate and walk with Him every day of my life. How much sweeter, and easier life would be...  if only I would. 

Yes, God knows what He’s doing... His words... His guidance... His answers...  everything is so much better, so much sweeter His way. I have no need to pick and choose like I do with a box of chocolates ... because you know what? My Father truly DOES know best! And everything that comes from Him IS GOOD.  

So this year, with HIS HELP, and HIS GRACE I really want to...   

“LOVE the Lord MY GOD, LISTEN to His voice,                                    and HOLD FAST to Him. 

For the Lord IS MY LIFE.”                    Deuteronomy 30-20

LIFE-LOCK

So there we were out of town at a prayer conference, enjoying the inspiring speakers and overwhelmed in hearing once again of the magnitude of God’s lavish love. And then... *dum-da-dah-dum... we receive an email from Life-lock notifying us that someone had tried to open a new checking account in Michael’s name. OH SWELL! With that news... the serenity of the conference was momentarily broken and we wondered – What on earth are we suppose to do now?

It was Sunday and we knew the bank would be closed… but Michael called the 1-800 number anyway and thankfully, after a series of “prompts,” he was able to talk to a REAL person, which is almost a miracle in-itself! The man tried to be helpful, but there was only so much information he could give us. But he tried.

Yes, we were concerned, but at that moment there really wasn’t much we could do... other than pray. And we realized that praying wasn’t our last resort... in fact prayer truly was the MOST IMPORTANT thing we could do.

We thanked God that just a few weeks earlier we had signed up for Life-lock. We thanked God that Life-lock worked and that they were able to block this person from opening an account. We thanked God that we had been notified so quickly. Yep, Life-lock “had our back” – and boy, were we ever thankful!

All this got me to thinking ... God “has our back” as well. He’s constantly looking out for us... in EVERY aspect of our life. He notifies us and sends us warnings... sometimes He hurries us along or blocks us smack-dab in our tracks. Sometimes it’s clear, and other times it’s through silence. GOD. Our ultimate Life-lock Protector! And when I really “get that,” when I believe and TRUST HIM - I can truly be at peace.

Isaiah 26:3 says ~ “You (God) will KEEP in perfect peace him/her whose mind is steadfast (steady, unwavering, firm, never failing), because he/she trusts in you.”

The Hebrew word for KEEP means = “TO GUARD, PROTECT, KEEP, as in GUARDING A VINEYARD, A FORTRESS.”

So why do I get myself all worked up into a knot over some of the most trivial stuff? Why do I start stressing over things that I truly can’t do anything about? One word ... TRUST. I’ve forgotten in Whom I am trusting.

I don’t want to forget... God’s ALWAYS “got my back.” I can be at rest because HE is guarding me, protecting... not only me, but my family as well and we are SAFE in the mighty fortress of His love.

Thank you Life-lock and Thank you JESUS!

LEANING INTO THE WIND...

Hard to believe, but Siri says its 82 degrees outside right now ... "HOT!" ... and not only that - it's WINDY! And geepers, is it ever hard to walk in the wind! As I was doing my morning walk today, not only was I HOT and THIRSTY, but I was having to LEAN INto the wind just to keep moving forward... trying to keep my hat on AND keep my balance. It wasn't a pretty sight, let me assure you!

WIND. It stirs up dust and debris. It knocks over plants and trash cans. It can also fan a small ember and turn it into a large destructive fire, as we are experiencing 50 miles from here.

WIND! I'm not a fan!

While leaning into the wind on my walk home I realized that I was experiencing first hand the best grief advice ever given to me ... "Debbie, LEAN INTO YOUR PAIN."

PAIN HURTS. It can stir up all sorts of emotions. Junk can fly. Tears will fall. And the pain will be relentless, like an ever-blowing wind. Oh how we hate pain. We'll do anything to avoid it. We'll try to mask it. Numb it. Stuff it somewhere, ANYWHERE ... ANYTHING other than feel it.

I don't know about you, but I don't like wind and I certainly don't like pain. But as I experience first hand ... the only way to move past my pain was THROUGH IT. Leaning INTO my pain ... just as I had to lean into the wind.

LEAN IN to the wind my friend ... LEAN IN to your pain ... you'll make it. Truly, you will.

Stay A.L.E.R.T.!

A strange thing happened *last night as Michael and I were leaving the church after taking down the CHRISTmas decor (with the help of of others.)

Michael and I were putting things in our trunk when a dark Jeep-type car -with a mountain bike mounted on the back of his car- slowed and stopped right beside our car. Behind his car was an SUV that stopped behind his car. The Jeeps passenger side window went down and the guy asked if we had a room for him to sleep in. Instinctively we looked up and both moved in the direction of the Jeep ... and he asked again ...  


The woman in the SUV hollered out her window to us - "Do you know that guy?" ... ????

We walked back to the SUV and the husband and wife shared that they were following the Jeep because the guy had just followed their daughter's car home to their "dead-end" street... he got out of the Jeep and moved towards her car. (The daughter and parents did NOT know the guy.) Somehow the daughter alerted her parents, they hopped in their SUV and as the man got back into his Jeep - they followed him to get his license plate number.

Things were not adding up!!!

The Jeep stayed and we asked the SUV to stay as we went back to the Jeep. Michael told the Jeep-guy we didn't have a place for him to sleep, but we would put him up at the Motel 6 for one night. We told him the location and told him we would meet him there. He thanked us, made a U-turn and drove off.

In just a few minutes we drove over to Motel 6 and waited... for about 10 minutes... we waited. It will probably come as no surprise - he didn't show up.

I firmly believe this guy was up to no good. But we will never know.

Did we handle the situation correctly - maybe yes... maybe no... but we (now) realize that ones mind tries so hard to compute what's going on, especially when it's out of the blue - and out of the ordinary... Like they say - hindsight's 20/20.

Last night and today Michael and I are so very thankful... Thankful that no harm came to the young daughter... thankful that no harm came to us. Deeply, deeply thankful.

Bottom line - STAY ALERT! Even in your "safe" neighborhood ... Error on the side of safety. And always remember ... ...

^"He will command His heavenly messengers to guard you, to keep you safe in every way."   ~ Psalm 91:11 The Voice

*Original post made on Facebook: January 7, 2014

Houston, We Have A Problem… A Problem… A Problem… A B.I.G. Problem … … …

MORNINGS. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the morning daylight hours are truly becoming one of my favorite times of day. I love sitting in my rocking chair … Bible, journal and devo in my lap with pens and colorful highlighters in hand. 

I love having the sliding door open to enjoy the fragrance of freshly mowed grass… mixed with the delicious smells of potted jasmine.

I enjoy watching and hearing the birds chirping and squabbling for their turn at the bird feeder.

I’ve even come to enjoy the playful antics of  “The Squirrel Twins”… along with their parents.

*FYI – the “Twirl-a-Squirrel” – yes, there IS such a thing! - eliminated my morning angst -  as those furry, creative critters would spend MY precious minutes jumping from tree to feeder.  THEIR GOAL... to consume as much bird seed as quickly as possible before I start banging on the sliding door.

Ah yes - Mornings. Sweet.  Peaceful. Beautiful. Quiet mornings. 

So, with a firm grasp of control over mother-nature once again … my morning “quiet-time” blissfully continued -  uninterrupted.  That is until a strange movement  ON the tree caught my eye. A bird? One of the “twins?”  As my eyes came into sharper focus (remember it’s morning!) … my once tranquil setting was filled with Disbelief - Shock and Horror! What I saw was a beady eyed, ropy tailed R.A.T. … sitting motionless … staring right at me… taunting me with his fat little self. I was NOT amused!  As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. Address – unknown. Unknown, that is, until I saw him a bit later poking his head out of a freshly chewed hole at the base of the spa.   

THAT DOES IT!  No beady eyed, lice infested R.A.T. (not positive on the lice part – but it sounds good!) was going to set up housekeeping in MY spa in MY back yard!  No way! No how!  A trip to the hardware store and the rodent elimination isle quickly commenced.     

I was STUNNED at the variety of traps on the shelves. You’ve got the:

• “Catch and RELEASE” trap (what’s the point with THAT trap???)
• The  “Sticky Tape” trap (sounds awful!)
• $40.00-$99.00 for the “ELECTRIC Rat-Zapper”  (I am NOT paying that amount of money to electrocute a rodent!)
•  The  “Ultra Sonic Rodent Repeller”
• …and my personal favorite –  “Tomcat 33545 Spin Trap!”  I was tempted… really tempted… as I reflected on how effective the “TWIRL-A-SQUIRELL” gizmo was!

However, I snapped back to reality and purchased the  sleek, black  “Tomcat Snap Rat Trap.”  

S-w-e-e-t!

The trap was carefully set. The waiting began. Time. Patience. Persistence.  Good things come to those who wait – RIGHT? A couple of days passed. Nothing. Nadda. Zilch. But finally …shhhh….  here he comes… dancing and prancing around the trap like a ballerina.  Taunting. Tormenting and Teasing me. Ahh…. but not for long.  I won’t give you the final details… but let me just say – he’s resting comfortably. And all was right with the world once again.

Another morning.  Another “sighting” but I GASPED as I saw not one, but  TWO little baby  r.a.t.s.  SITTING ON THE SET-TRAP … merrily eating the peanut butter and bird-seed appetizer.  Their combined weight was not enough to set the trap into SNAPPING action.  Mercy me!  NOW WHAT?

A quick trip BACK to the Hardware store – returning with two black, sleek “Tomcat Snap Mouse Traps.” I felt like Clint Eastwood as I set those traps – saying …       

“Go ahead! Make My Day!”

Well, time has past – and 7, yes  SEVEN  R.A.T.S. of assorted ages have “successfully” encountered the “Tomcat.” And are “resting peacefully” thank you very much!  However, I’m keeping my traps set … and my eyes open!

All of this  “stalking” a  R.A.T. drama -  has caused me to think…

• Am I this vigilant and aware of what’s going on in my daily spiritual life?  

The devil is a sneaky foe.  He can be lurking about, unknown… undetected… but his presence can wreck havoc. He is, after all, on a search and destroy mission. And I’m  his target!

• Am I taking the immediate, important and necessary precautions to keep the enemy away? 

It’s not enough to “know” that there’s an enemy… I need to prepare FOR the enemy, “lest I fall…”  He is, after-all,” looking too and fro to see who he can devour.”

• Am I asking and allowing God to keep watch over me…  Keeping ME alert and on guard in my day to day living? 

God wants to help … Will I let Him?  Will you? 

 ^“Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.”   I Peter 5:8-11 (Message)