Rattle Me Shake Me

   The other day, a memory from Junior High floated back into my recall memory. I was sitting in some class and thinking of a song (my mind wandered even back then). The song was about being happy in Jesus and had a couple of funny verses to it. One verse was about sitting in a classroom, getting asked why you were smiling, and getting sent to the principal's office because the teacher thought the student was high on drugs. So, as I sat at my desk thinking about that song with a smile on my face, my teacher called on me and asked, "Miss Shaw, what are you smiling about?" That made me smile and probably giggle all the more. I don't remember my reply, nor did I get sent to the principal's office, but it is a funny memory for me. There's always a song playing in my head, usually relating to what's happening around me. Although I hold this memory, I had forgotten the song. Then, a couple of days ago, I played a mix of older music from the 70s on my Spotify app. Some good Second Chapter of Acts, Evie, Keith Green and a few more, when the song started playing. I realized I knew this song, and that's the song that had me smiling in that Junior High classroom. So listen to this wonderful fun song from Nancy Honeytree called "Rattle Me Shake Me." It made me smile way back in Junior High and still makes me smile today, because I've got Jesus inside!! 

Cheese Sandwich Delivery

   The Bible tells us a story in I Samuel about a young man who went to deliver some cheese sandwiches to his brothers who were serving in the King's army. But before he was the delivery boy, he watched his Dad's sheep in the hillside pastures.  And like most boys, to keep himself entertained, he'd take his slingshot and do target practice.  When he got bored with that, he'd pick up his lyre/harp and play.  You can get really good at an instrument when you have hour after hour of nothing to do but watch the sheep.  When he first started, I'm sure the sound alone kept the wild predators away. 

    One day, while he was out watching his Dad's sheep, the famous preacher came to their home to have a special service.  Everyone was there except this young shepherd boy.  They left him out in the pasture because he was too young to understand the importance of the preacher anyway, and someone had to be there to watch the sheep.  So he sang and played his lyre/lute while his brothers and parents listened intently to the preacher's words.  The sermon didn't go real long, when the preacher got to the point of his visit.  God had sent him to anoint one of the boys as the nation's next king.  Each son passed before the preacher, and God told the preacher each time, "No, not this one."  Finally, the preacher asked if there were any more sons.  They all looked at each other, and finally said, "Yeah, there's one more, the youngest, but it can't be him, he's nothing but a shepherd, and musician always playing that stupid harp of his."  The preacher said, "Go get him, for this service will not end, and we will not sit down and eat till he comes."  Everyone knows there's nothing worse than cold food, so they ran to get the young man.

  When the young man arrived from the pasture, still smelling like the sheep and the fresh country air, the Lord spoke to the preacher and said, "This is the one. Anoint him as the next king."  So, right there in front of his parents and his older brothers, the young lad was anointed king.  This didn't make his brothers very happy.  There might have been a conversation with him later that went like this, "Don't think for a minute, Squirt, that just cause some preacher came and poured oil on you that you're any kind of big shot.  You're still our punky little brother, and not good for much except watching sheep, so get back to the pasture and watch them."

  This young man returned to the pasture and continued doing what he had been doing before.  He was obedient and faithful to caring and watching over his father's flock, all the while singing and playing his harp/lyre.  Eventually, he got so skilled at it that it became the soothing sound of the hillside, and the sheep knew his sound and relaxed under the sweet music.  The music drifted through the hills, and people began to notice it.  Eventually, it was even brought to the king's attention about his skill, and he was invited to play for the king at the palace.  

    But war broke out in his country, and some of his brothers left to serve in the army.  One day, his father hungry for information and news from the war, sent this young lad with some cheese and some bread to his brothers at the front lines.  When he arrived he left the cheese and bread with the supply keeper and ran off to find his brothers to see how they were doing.  While catching up with his brothers he saw the giant.  This giant kept taunting the army, and accusing them of being cowards, as no one had stepped up to challenge and fight him.  That's when the lad could take it no longer, and asked what will done for the man that conquerors this giant.  He was told that the one who defeats this giant will be made rich, given the king's daughter as a wife, and his family shall be tax-exempt from then on. The lad thought about it and knew that with God's help he could do it.  This giant would be one of the biggest targets he had shot at, he was bound to hit him, he was too big to miss.  It would be no different from the lion or bear he had taken down who had threatened the sheep.

    So he took his slingshot, found five smooth stones in the stream, and went after the giant.  His brothers and the rest of the army looked on, sure that this young lad would be the next war casualty.  As the young man ran to the giant, he yelled, "You've got a sword and a spear, and keep cursing my God. I come at you with the name of the Lord my God, who I worship."  With those words, he slung his slingshot around and fired his rock at the giant. Sure enough, it hit the target with incredible accuracy, and the giant fell to the ground.  This young boy became a hero that day, and throughout all time, his story of bravery would be told.  

    He didn't set out to kill a giant, and win a great victory for his country.  He set out to deliver some cheese sandwiches to his brothers hungry and tired on the front lines of war.  He was just doing the little things, like watching his Dad's sheep, learning to play an instrument, and practicing his skill with his slingshot.  He kept faithfully doing the things he was supposed to do, and when the time came, God knew He could do great things through him. The moral of the story is that even the smallest tasks, when done with faith and diligence, can lead to unexpected opportunities for greatness.

  So keep watching your sheep, practicing your instrument, swinging that slingshot, and being a cheese sandwich delivery boy.  Someday, you may be needed to slay the giant. Don't belittle the little stuff.

(The story of David is found in I Samuel 16-17)

      

She Believed Ladies Retreat in Hardin

So excited about this Retreat. It's been four years since I've put on a Retreat, it feels so good to be back in the saddle so to speak and doing what I love to do. So ladies, hope you can join us!! If you're interested, I can email you a brochure, which has more information. Kelley

Tune Up

Playing my 12 string that I’ve owned and played since 1978.  

 

”Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle— I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,“ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭144‬:‭1‬, ‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬

    I’ve played guitar for over 50 years now, and no matter how long I play there is always something that’s required in order to play, and that is to tune the guitar. No matter what guitar you play, it requires tuning at some point. There are some guitars that stay in tune better than others. But even the most expensive guitar at some point needs to tune. No guitar plays by itself, and depending on whose hands it is in, will determine the sound coming out of it. Even though I’ve played for over 50 years, I personally know people that have played for way fewer years, but can make my guitar sound like I’ve never been able to make it sound. Level of skill and talent. But that doesn’t stop me from playing.

   Sometimes life is like my guitar. It needs a tune up. There are a couple of ways of doing that. You could just tune it to itself, and you’ll be fine as long as you don’t try to play along with someone else, then you may be out of tune depending on what you used for your starting tuning pitch. Next you could use an electric tuner. This is often my go to now, and they now make them that easily clip on your head of your guitar, and hear and feel the vibration of the guitar to get it in tune. The final way you can tune a guitar is to go an instrument like a piano, and tune to it. If you’re tuning to an electric keyboard, your pitch will be exact to A44, as an electric keyboard can’t go out of tune, like a stringed instrument. 

   The devil loves to come along when you’re not looking and twist your tuning pegs down a pitch, to get you out of tune and sounding awful. Your own human nature can do the same. But it’s when you realize you need a tune up, you can turn to the one with the true pitch. God never goes out to tune. His pitch is perfect, and when we tune UP to Him, we can begin to do battle with our fingers and fight a winning war with praise on our ‘stringed’ instrument. 

   So how do we tune UP to God. By digging into His Word, the Bible, and not just reading, but doing it. Don’t worry, you’ll need to tune up often. I often have to tune up in between songs, as I tend to play pretty hard, and can easily get my guitar out of tune. I don’t beat myself up for getting out of tune, I just make the adjustment and get back in tune, so I can continue to play and make music that’s pleasant to listen to.