Stump, Duck, Bridge

Summer is winding down and most people's minds have turned toward fall. Recently we took the camper out for one more weekend before we winterized it and put it away until after the crops are in the field next spring. We hiked, we swam, we ate s'mores by the fire, and biked the beautiful paved biking trail at the state park. But that was a little too tame for the "rules-are-made-to-be-broken" men in my life.

So just before we packed up and headed for home we set out on a bike ride. We biked the 2.6 mile trial and then decide to take a short cut back to the campsite along walking trail #5. Hubby led the way followed by Jewel. Justice wasn't along for this ride, so Jot followed his sister with me bringing up the rear. Years and years of hikers' feet had beaten the path down to a smooth dirt trail, but occasionally roots or stumps jutted up from the brown road. Periodically, branches hung down low enough for us to catch one in the eye if we weren't careful. And strewn along the lovely path were rickety wooden bridges crossing trickling clear streams. As we traveled along, Jot took on the role of my bicycle tour guide. "Stump!" he'd yell so I'd know to watch the ground. "Duck!" came the command when he thought a limb came too close for comfort. And I knew to slow down and keep it steady when he yelled "Bridge!"  Jot let me know what to expect on our bike ride. There were no sudden turns, heart-stopping surprises, or close calls because I knew what was coming.

Jot's kind protection of me reminded me that God does that for us too. He gave us the Bible so we'd know what to expect. I've heard others refer to God's word as a "road map for life" and in reality, it is just that. Now, don't go randomly opening up your Bible and see what will tell you. And don't try to divine tomorrow's lotto numbers from some secret formula. That's not what I'm talking about. Some people say the Bible is full of "dos" and "don'ts" but really it is just God yelling out to us "Stump!" or "Duck!" or "Bridge!" God is wise and He knows that oftentimes when we do A we get B. So He warns us and encourages certain behaviors because He knows the outcomes that fall from them.

God says things like: The wise don't tell everything they know, but the foolish talk too much and are ruined (Proverbs 10:14). Or like this: A beautiful woman without good sense is like a gold ring in a pig's snout (Proverbs 11:22). And like this: Peace of mind means a healthy body, but jealousy will rot your bones (Proverbs 14:30).. God doesn't say "don't talk" or "don't fall for beautiful women" or that "you will never be sick if you aren't jealous", but He gives us warnings to be on our guard against. There are countless warnings to us throughout the Bible. If you are in need of a road map for your life, start reading in the book of Proverbs and then branch out from there. Don't picture the words as coming from a grumpy old man trying to ruin your fun. Accept the truths found there as from a loving father, calling out the pot holes in the bike trail of life so you can avoid the pain and scars associated with them.

Ride on!

You Light Up My Life

My favorite kitten is missing. A soft orange tiger kitty with white feet and chest, Georgia Peach is only about two months old. This week she wandered into the corn field and never came out. Chances are, she got turned around and walked deeper into the corn that towers over my head. Maybe a coyote or an owl ate her. Or maybe she'll wander far enough to make it out into the backyard of one of our neighbors. Whatever the case, it doesn't look good for seeing her again. It's a sad thing.

Every night when we come in for the last time, I count the kittens and shut them up in the barn. On Monday night, the count came up two short--eight instead of ten--kittens. I sent Jot to the house for a flashlight and we walked the perimeter of the yard, surrounded half by corn and half by soybean plants. I don't need the flashlight to see my way around. The security light mounted on the barn throws off enough light to see what I need to see. I needed the light to keep track of the other eight kittens that romped and frolicked while we searched. It also let me keep an eye on the kids who wandered a short ways into the corn. When the corn is that high, it is easy to get in to a place where you are surrounded and then lose your way. Roaming around in a hundred acres of seven-foot tall corn after dark would be disastrous.

I shined the light into the corn and we called, "Here, kitty-kitty."A moment later, a glowing set of eyes peered from the field. Out into the light stepped Peach Melba. One cat down, one to go. We called some more, checked the garage, the barn, and the woodshed. Nothing. Back to the field we went where we had last seen Georgia and the calling commenced. For a few minutes, nothing; then another set of glowing eyes flashed in the beam of the flashlight. I turned the ring around the clear disk, focusing the light to a bright dot. And there at the edge of the field, eating the scrapes of food Jewel had thrown out after dinner was....a skunk!

Yep, in all his black-and-white smelly glory stood a skunk, not ten feet from me. I quick told the kids to stay put and we called to the other cats, hoping they wouldn't get too close to set off a stinky warning shot. Already I sniffed his musky scent and could just imagine my isolation if he spooked and sprayed me. I know skunks can spray multiple times and hit something up to fifteen feet away. I was in the "splash zone" and I needed to keep him happy until I could back up.

Mr. Smelly didn't really seem to mind that I witnessed his late-night snack and I had no trouble getting out of Dodge before he decided to challenge me to a draw. But God did use the experience to teach me a lesson: Light is good for showing the way, illuminating dangers, and keeping others safe.

Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." When I keep God's words before my eyes and in my heart, it lights my path. It keeps me from stumbling, it guides my path, and it prevents me from running head-long in to skunks of all sorts. Light keeps us from going places we don't want to go and from doing things we don't want to do.

God illuminates dangers and sin when I use His word to shine the light of truth upon it. How can I know what God expects if I never compare my actions to what He says in His word? Psalm 18:28 says, "You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light." When I'm in the darkness of sin, God shines His light, shows me my error and gives me the opportunity to correct it. When I change the course of my direction, the darkness turns to light.

God's word used correctly can also keep others safe. If I had kept the flashlight to myself and sent the kids out to look on their own, I might still be giving tomato juice baths. But because I used the light to expose the danger and then keep the kids from it, we all came away from the incident smelling like roses. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Notice what God's word is good for: teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. Not one of those words means "to beat over the head until unconscious". God says His word is eternal and it has specific, good uses. He calls His word a light, but He also calls it a sword. Swords need to be handled with care or else what we had meant for the good of the other person ends up cutting off their left arm.

We never did find sweet Georgia Peach, but the light kept us from coming face-to-face with a noxious nightmare.

Hubba Bubba...Bubblicious...Dubble Bubble: Celebrate National Bubblegum Week

Have you ever wondered where bubblegum got its start? Well, Justice posed that very question this weekend.

Not satisfied with where his basketball goal sat in the driveway (he couldn't make an appropriate 3-point line), he set out to move it himself. While he struggled with his task, the propane guy came to check the tank. He asked Justice if he wanted help. I watched the exchange out the kitchen window and saw that when Brady-the-propane-guy left, he handed Justice a piece of Bazooka gum.

Later the evening as we rode in the car and Justice continued his hours-long munch on the gum (did you do that when you were a kid?), he said, "I wonder who thought up bubblegum?"

"Well, that sounds like a good thing to research on the computer," I said, glancing over to see if he'd bite. "But I do know that the third week in April is National Bubblegum Week."

He looked at me astonished that I knew that little nugget of pop (get it? pop?) culture trivia. See, what he doesn't know is that if I continue with this blog, I have 156 posts to do in a year and I need material. I've got to look at every holiday, baby.

Anyway that made me think of gum. You know how some people just always seem to have a wad of gum in their mouth and for some reason, you just can't help but see it the whole time you talk to them? I had a friend in high school who just couldn't stand gum for that reason--it just grossed him out. So, he never chewed it. Sometimes just for fun, I'd get him to chew a piece, just because he was so awkward at it that it was hilarious to watch! Can you imagine someone not knowing how to chew gum?

Bubblegum has been around since 1926 and it was originally the color pink because that was the only color the inventor had. But chewing gum dates as far back as 5,000 years ago (so they tell us). Used as an antiseptic and mouth freshener, people made it out of natural things like sap, bark, and wax, and in the case of the Eskimos, blubber.

That reminded my of something I've been told before about scripture. We need to meditate on scripture just like that cow in the field chewing her cud; or like your 12-year old chomping away on the hunk of Hubba Bubba. When you think of "meditating" on scripture, it is much less a clearing of your mind and more of a relaxed action.

Animals that chew their cud do so while resting. If I understand chewing of cud, an animal takes in the meal, thus extracting some of the nutrients. However, they are not able to get all of the good stuff on the first pass-through. So, later, they bring it back up for another go-around. They continue to do this, getting small amounts of good stuff over a long period of time. Now that makes sense to me when I apply it to scripture.

Sometimes I read something and it is good. Sometimes I read something and it seems like it is in another language--it just doesn't click with me. And there are other times that I get part of it on the first read-through, but if I think about it more later (chew it over) I get more and more. That is why the Bible is called "living and active"--it continually teaches us what we need to know in any situation or circumstance.

So, why don't you pick a verse today and read it not once, not twice, but throughout the day? Chew it up and see what new insights you can glean from it each time through. Don't stop with once--you might miss the good stuff. And besides, everybody knows that you only get the best bubbles after you've really worked that gum for awhile.

You Sweet-Talker (or The Dog Ate the Soap)

The dog ate the soap the other day. Actually, that's not entirely true. I should say the dog has eaten the soap on several occasions. But the other day, she ate the whole thing--gone but for the miniscule sliver I managed to dig from her jaws. One morning, just for kicks, she hopped into the tub and devoured nearly the entire barely-used bar. What would possess a dog to eat soap, you ask? Well, considering some of the other things I've observed my dogs eating, it could be worse; but I digress. If you've ever been on the receiving end of a mouth-washing, you know that stuff is putrid. But for some reason, my dog thinks a little lunch of Lever 2000 really hits the spot.

In the book of Ezekiel, he ate something unusual too--a scroll covered with God's word. Did he like it? Was it some awful punishment? Yes, he liked it. No, it was not a punishment. Ezekiel says it tasted like honey. (Maybe my dogs think soap tastes like honey--or chicken.) I can learn a lesson from Old Zeke--and can pass it on to my kids. God's words--good words-- are sweet.

When I want to cheer my kids up after a fight with their friend, I can give them a taste of God's word. When I mess up and say or do something that I shouldn't have said or done, I can offer the offended party a bite of God's word. When I want to celebrate or encourage a friend or family member, I slip them a smackeral of something sweet (to quote Pooh) from the pages of God's word. And even when my kids need correction, I can leave the soap-eating to the dog and, instead, apply a coating of God's word. God's word is an all-purpose product!

Learn to be a Sweet-Talker with God's word and your kids will learn it too--then maybe you can leave the soap to the dog.

"When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight..." Jeremiah 15:16

Join me Friday for Getting Into Character when we will explore The Thinker.