Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Duck & The Devil

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes" But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted tohelp in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help" She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see,I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Thought for the day and every day there after? Whatever is in your past, whatever y! ou have done... and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is...You need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved. Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today. Share this with a friend and always remember:God is at the window! When Jesus died on the cross; he was thinking of you!

(Copied from a forwarded email)

Saturday, June 16, 2007

My ten year high school reunion was this weekend (well, actually I graduated a year earlier than the kids in my grade because I could not wait to get away from them...but I digress). Part of me felt obligated to show up, looking fantastically perfect, with my wonderfully perfect husband, and photos of my beautifully perfect children to show those people who treated me badly, to prove to them that I turned out way happier than they ever dreamed of being themselves in spite of their teasing and taunting and hatefulness. But then I remember that, as a Christian, I have to ignore this petty sense of revenge or whatever it is and just hope for the best for them... and I do, really. But still, I wouldn't know what to say to any of them, they didn't hang out with me in high school, why would I PAY to hang out with them now? What would we talk about? What would I even have in common with them?

When I discussed the upcoming social event with my completely perfect husband, he said that if my intentions were to go see people that I cared about and wanted to spend time with, he would be happy to foot the bill for clothes/mani/pedi/etc and escort me to the ball, but if I only wanted to go out of spite then I needed to rethink my motivations. See what I mean? He's just so darn PERFECT!

Luckily for me, I totally forgot that it was to take place this weekend and so I spent the day with my hubby, my kids, and my parents, and then I went to a birthday party for my little second cousin, whom I ADORE. And I feel that my time was much better spent this way.


And now that I've dodged that bullet, hopefully I will stop having these stupid dreams where I am BACK IN SCHOOL and trying to figure out where my books/locker/classes are even though I eventually realize that I'm married, with children and better stuff to do than hang out in a high school, which I've apparently only been doing because it was a "hobby" type thing. So then I show them my diploma and tell them all to bugger off.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Ow, my legs are killing me. It's got to be all this riding I've been doing this weekend. After being cooped up in the house for two weeks (sick with the "creeping crud") I rode Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And in spite of my sore legs, I'll most likely being riding again today. Call it an addiction, but I just can't be kept off a horse for very long.

Tomorrow I've got an appointment in town with the local children's consignment shop. I plan on taking as much of my stuff as I can, hopefully they'll take it all in spite of the limit of 50 items on the first visit. What's nice about this shop is that they give you your money up front, so there's no fear of being robbed like I was when the last place I consigned with went out of business and disappeared with my items and my money.

Summer is here and with it the heat, although the reprieve we've experienced with the rain has made life more bearable.