WELCOME to the Web Site!!
A HUGE THANK YOU to Ginny Neal – who not only came up with the idea but put it all together and had the patience of Job to continue to encourage me to finish it!! Check out her web site www.vinewebdesign.com to see more examples of her work, creativity and versatility.
It is our prayer that the Lord will use this site to His Glory – to minister to you – as we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18). From time to time there will be different interests – a book review, a new song, a new insight from Bible study, another life story. Please communicate your thoughts and ideas!
Lessons along the Journey…
FROGS, DEER and SNAKES…
… Three creations of the Lord.
Common in Mississippi this time of year.
Kermit, Bambi, and …(there's just NOTHING cute about a
snake!)
Each in its own habitat not a bad thing.
BUT
I have had three unnatural encounters with these three creatures in the last three months… and have learned three very important lessons on this journey!
April 11. 2:00 a.m.
I met the frog in an unnatural habitat of the toilet in the main bathroom. Frogs really don't scare me but I don't have one as a pet in the house either. I certainly don't want to make an aquarium out of the toilet bowl!
The way he left the house is another story for another time, but I must admit that I don't NOT check out his unnatural habitat every time I enter that room!
May 27. 10:10 p.m.
I met the deer in an unnatural way on Interstate 55 eight miles south of the town of West. Unfortunately someone else had already met him and he had met his maker. His body lay in the middle of my lane in a huge pile.
With cruise control on 70 mph on a moonless night I had only seconds to make a decision from the time my headlights let me see what was ahead. An 18-wheeler passing on one side and road work on the other side made my immediate decision HAVE to be to just straddle him and try not to let a tire hit him for fear of flipping the car.
Incredibly that Chevy Van hit that poor creature and FLEW and bounced three times! …
… no smoke…
… no dash board alarm lights…
… no busted radiator….
So I drove on the 30 miles to the house where I was met by 15 dogs surrounding the car as I parked as far away from the house as possible! Even now you can catch a WHIFF of him when I drive by!!!
June 14. 6:10 a.m.
I had just waked up, washed my face and headed to the kitchen to make coffee when I encountered a 4 ½ foot snake in a VERY unnatural habitat – IN THE KITCHEN!!!
I had a 30 minute conversation with the Lord in the space of two seconds…
Sounds that I didn't know humans made came out of my very own mouth…
In one motion I pulled on jeans, grabbed my backpack and purse and flew out the front door only to realize the car keys were in the kitchen. (Obviously my plan was to leave the house and sell it complete with contents!)
I looked in the window and realized the snake was on the move! I didn't have time to go find someone to help or he would be hidden ANYWHERE in the house and I would never enter it again! It was up to me to get rid of the snake.
I ran to the tool house in the backyard, grabbed a hoe and ran back to the kitchen – only to stop dead in my tracks at the front door absolutely frozen in fear watching that slithery, devilish creature contort its body as if mocking me.
It took what seemed like several minutes to me but once I began to swing that hoe, I tore up that snake! (I also tore up the kitchen floor and eventually the hoe!!) But… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
As I found myself sitting for two hours in the van parked AWAY from the house hearing myself make those non-human sounds, I began to think through the last three months and those three unnatural encounters…
…all unnatural…
…none “my fault”…
I HAD to confront each and make a decision.
I was not at liberty to NOT NOT do SOMETHING!
The last two of the three COULD have been dangerous and even deadly.
The Lord protected me in each one!
I have had to “deal emotionally” with that last one.
I have been surprised at myself – surprised at my extreme fear and…
also surprised that I “conquered” and lived through it.
I have been embarrassed at myself – embarrassed at my lack of trust and
peace and lack of security in my own house.
I have been invaded. It's similar to when I was robbed. This time not someONE but someTHING unnatural has gotten into my “space”. But unlike a robbery, I cannot put extra locks on the doors. I cannot buy an alarm system. HOW do I deal with this invasion?
Since that “invasion” I have had a full-fledged search and found the entrance (dryer vent). I have made it impossible for that to be an entry point again. I have purchased a product (“Snake-Away”) and have surrounded the house! I have had a pest control company to come.
Proudly telling a friend about all my precautions, she made a comment that left me frozen… “what if we were as afraid and as diligent to rid ourselves of sin”…. It has hit me that I don't “fear sin”. In fact, I've been known to even “play” with it!! At least play “close” to it! I have become very lenient with boundaries. I find myself letting unnatural little “animals” just stay in the house (things I hear on TV). I might even hit something and not “appear” to be “dirty” but have a smell that's impossible to be around. (deceptive thoughts that turn into nasty attitudes). The next thing I know there are open holes in my amour and instead of having to deal in the offensive I am having to live on the defensive and spend more time correcting mistakes and cleaning up than doing ministry and cleaning out.
THAT'S when I need God's GRACE! And…. Our Father gives His GRACE freely. I'll close with these words written for and to me from my friend, Erica….
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to remove this thorn in my flesh, but He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.'”
Like Paul, I too have begged God to remove such a thorn. But every time He reminds me that I am to be fully dependent on Him. Apart from Him, I can do nothing.
I don't understand why he chose to save me, and I'll sure never understand how he could even consider using me in the ministry. But Scripture says that where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
You see, it's His grace that turns the ordinary into extraordinary. It's His grace that turns seekers of gold into seekers of God. It's His grace that makes life abundant life, and His grace that can take this thorn of mine and use it for His glory.
HIS GRACE STILL AMAZES ME!
See you again on the journey….
