Cat Hair in my Coffee

  I looked down to my cup of coffee and saw that all too familiar  thing.  A cat hair.  An all too familiar reminder I’m living with a long-haired fuzzy fur ball in a very small living space.  No matter how much I clean, and roll the lint rollers, there’s cat hair on everything.  Grace.  

       She’s also my alarm clock every morning.  If I’m not up by 5:30, she jumps on top of me and begins her massage somewhere on  my body, most of the time in an area I’d prefer not to have a cat massage.  If I try to roll over onto my tummy to have her massage my back, she just jumps off the bed.  If I some how manage to stay in bed after the 5:30-Tic-Toc-Kitty-Alarm-Clock, she’ll come and insist my hands were made only for petting her, as she pushes her nose under my hand, trying to get me to pet her.  In her mind, what else are hands for,  but to pet her.

    She’s not all bad, she has her purr-ffect moments, when she crawls up in my lap when I’m watching a TV show, and lays there in contentment and purrs.  There’s something so soothing about a cats purr.  It just echos contentment.  I think maybe I should curl up in my Saviors lap more often and just lay there in contentment and purr knowing that He’s got this all together, and has a great plan for my life, all I have to do if follow where His hand guides me.

    So as I fish the cat hair out of my coffee, I just have to say thank you Lord for a little fur-ball friend who sometimes reminds me to just be content.

     “I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself.” Philippians 4:11 and Hebrews 13: 5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

    Being content, it’s becoming a lost art in our society.  Give it a try today.

Check Mate

     

My very excited redheaded grandson with a slight speech impediment tried so hard to explain to me how to set up my chess pieces to play this daunting game.  He was especially excited because he had just gotten this chess board that day on his sixth birthday.  He loves to play games.  He loves the challenge and loves to compete against anyone willing to play with him.  Now his gray haired Grandma sat across from him totally bewildered as I listened to him explain what to do.  He tried to tell  me where each piece went and then declared, you go first because you're white.   My only problem was I had no idea what or where each piece could do, or move.  So I moved a pawn one square.  His next move was strategically moved  across the board.  I moved a piece and he said I had captured one of his pieces.  I bewilderedly removed it from the board.  In the next move he declared 'checkmate.'  He had won.   I had no idea why or how, but he said my king was cornered and I was in check mate, and he was declared the winner.

    He was mostly excited because he had just beat his grandma in chess, this old lady was an easy opponent, but to him, she was an adult and he had won game.  Little did he realize that this Grandma didn't know even how to play, so winning was a given for him.

    I thought about other games in life I've been thrown into, without knowing the rules.  My opponent knew how to play, and was eager to do me in, but I was clueless, and was fumbling along.  Had I had prior instruction before playing I may have stood a chance in winning, but no rules were explained, I just had to jump in and play, and often times ended up loosing.  Education!

    In the game of life, it's always beneficial to learn the rules and strategies before proceeding too far.  We were given a rule book to play by.  The Bible has even been called "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth."  Learn from the one who created the game.  He knows every move we can make and should make to win and He's eager to tell us how to play the game, because He wants us to win.  All we have to do, is read the instruction and listen to His voice, as He explains the next move to make.

     II Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, throughly equipped for every good work."   In II Timothy 2:15 is says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."      Lets dig into God's Word to find the right way to win at this game of life.    For it's His Word that lights up our path, and shows us where go.  Psalms 119:105   

  I think I’ll study on some chess rules and moves too before playing my grandson again.  It would be beneficial for both of us if I did.  He’d actually have an opponent then, and I might stand a chance winning. 

Road Construction

   As I’ve been traveling across the country there’s been something that’s been common in all six states I’ve been through in my travels.  Road Construction.  Even though it’s fall, it’s still warm enough for the road crews to be finishing up that summer road construction projects.  They’re a pain to drive though, as you always have to reduce your speed, and it makes the trip longer.  Occasionally you hit a project that you have to sit and wait for a pilot car.  The clock ticks away as you work your way through the construction zone at a snails pace.  No one likes it, but we all know it’s necessary.  Roads get beat up and need repairing, especially in the upper Midwest.  Our weather is so extreme on every season, and it heaves and busts up roads.

    As I was driving through yet, another road construction zone a few days ago, trying carefully not to hit any cones with my motorhome, I got to thinking how road construction relates to our lives.  Every now in then, things need to be resurfaced, or a road made wider in our lives.  The Lord is the master at knowing which roads in our lives need attention and repair.  Sometimes our road need a total make over, sometimes just a resurfacing.  Sometimes, we’re going down the right road, and we need to continue on that road, but things have become rather bumpy, and rough.  There’s pot holes and missing pavement where our road has gotten beaten up.  But Jesus has a way of making the crooked way straight and the rough places smooth.  “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth…” Isa. 40:4

    So even though you don’t like it any more than I do, enjoy the journey, even the road construction, knowing that the end result will be better.  

Don’t forget the Bread

 

   I recently heard someone tell a story that rung true in my heart and life.

His wife had called and asked him to please stop and pick up a loaf of bread on his way home from work.  He said he’d be glad to.  Her last words before they hung up the phone was, “Don’t forget the bread.”  He chuckled, “Of course I won’t forget, that’s why I’m going to the store.”  On his way home from work, he swung by the grocery store, but soon found himself distracted  as to why he was there.  He saw some bananas, and thought that sounded good, pretty soon he found himself in the cookie isle, then the chips, and somehow wandered over to the frozen section and eyed some ice cream, that just sounded so good.  Soon his cart was filling up with all kinds of yummy sounding food, enough to comfort his soul and satisfy his hunger craving quickly.  He went through the checkout, and headed on home.  As he got home and set the grocery sacks on the kitchen counter, his wife took a peak, and said, “Did you remember the bread?”

  Oh no!  The main reason he went, he had neglected to do.  Other things got in his way and distracted him.  To quote the movie “Up” it was a “Squirrel!!” moment.

    Though this mans story was funny it was the relate-ability of it that hit home.  How many times do we set out with good intentions to do something, but get distracted by all the enticing things along the way, and then miss the main point all together. I fear I’m not alone in this trouble. I’m an easily distracted person. I often have to rein myself in, and say, “whoa!” Not what I’m suppose to be doing.

  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35).  So don’t forget the bread!  He’s the main thing.  Life wants to distract you at every turn, but the bread is what you’re looking for.  Don’t forget the bread!! Focus on the important and the thing you really need. The bread. And that bread is Jesus!