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Showing posts from July, 2016

Looking for Jesus

I laughed hard when my pastor began his sermon with a funny story.  He told us that he drove past the church during the week and noticed the parking lot full of cars.  For the life of him he couldn’t remember any event scheduled there for that time and racked his brain to figure it out.  He joked that maybe he missed an awesome time of worship or something and maybe the Lord came back for everyone except him?   He found a place to park and walked over to someone asking if they knew what all the excitement was about in our church parking lot.  He learned all the folks were looking for Pokémon.   Simply, Pokémon Go is a video game that links to your phone’s GPS so you can play the game with other players.    The purpose, if I understand it, is to connect with these people and find Pokémon in the game. Our pastor’s funny story brought to mind an old memory. My husband returned home late one afternoon from a company trip.  He encountered too much stress at the airport and

Someone Has to Pay

My daughters corrected me recently when I criticized Dave Ramsey.  They and their husbands follow his teachings and reassured me that my assessment of his ministry fell short.  I’m told he meets all the proper criteria; they have applied his message and it works! I misinterpreted his financial presentation based on my interaction with other Christians.  For instance, I received an invitation to a Christian girls’ night out.  The email stated we would meet informally in the hostess’s home, share spiritual lessons that we’ve learned that week and order pizza.  One lady shared nuggets from a Dave Ramsey class that inspired her.  When it came time to order pizza, she told us she only had a few dollars because now she budgets her money and that was all she had to contribute.  We ordered two large pizzas and that wouldn’t even cover the delivery man’s tip.  When a friend came through town several of us met up for dinner.  During our discussion, the friend mentioned that she t

The Lesson in the Middle

I wanted to dance when I heard the good news.  I don’t need surgery! When my doctor examined me last month, he suspected further care and sent me to a specialist in a city up north.  I had to wait only two weeks to get in to see him.  The specialist did not agree about surgery so I’m off the hook. I learned an important lesson about my faith journey in the middle of the two-week period of waiting for my appointment to see the specialist. I needed to be educated in medical knowledge and procedures so I could make a wise judgment for my future.  A friend suggested a support group with other women so I could glean info.  I joined.  I listened to their experiences and gained understanding.  I researched like crazy.  I became smart. I also became fearful and sometimes angry.  I screamed at Baby, our spirited cockatiel, to shut up when he screeched too much and I noticed my husband spent more time in his man cave. You know, I thought I was stronger than this.  Put

What My Black Cat Taught Me

I signed in Bella’s name when we arrived at the Pet Clinic and I sat down.  The clinic’s next appointment arrived, a blonde woman also with a cat; she sat right next to me.  The friendly blonde asked me:  “Is that a black cat in your carrier?”  I answered that she is a female black cat and the last chosen from a litter of kittens that we adopted last year.  The blonde bent over her cat carrier and opened the door lifting out a beautiful black female cat.  Then she said:   “Black cats and dogs are least adopted so I only adopt black cats.”  “Really, I wondered why people bypass black cats and dogs.  I never heard that before,” I answered. Just then, they called Bella’s name and we were led into the exam room.   I have no reason to doubt the blonde’s research.  Our conversation got me thinking, however, about favoritism and adoption. Romans 9:8   8  This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the prom

When Surprises Pop Up

I stretched out and got comfortable with my fiction novel and waited in the main lobby of the VA Hospital while the pulmonary experts tested my husband in the lab.  I lifted my head to see a glorious sight.  A maintenance man wheeled a popcorn machine right in front of the dark mahogany leather couch I sprawled out on.  He plugged in the unit and soon the lobby smelled of fresh buttered popcorn. I’m a sucker for popcorn, my favorite snack.  There I sat alone next to the man and his machine and hoped he would use my taste buds for a free test run of that first batch of yellow popped delight.  What’s his purpose to make popcorn?  Will he deliver it to a staff meeting somewhere in the building?  Or was all this about fixing the machine?  Was it broken?  Who knows? The noise and smell of fresh popcorn drew attention of doctors and staff passing by wearing scrubs with badges hanging in the front like necklaces.  An Old guy with a grey pony tail, kerchief headband and vest wi