FEBRUARY

My hubby says the reason February is short is because we can only take 28 dreary and grey days.  As if 28 days is not enough, every four years February is blessed with an extra day.  Gee thanks. 

Even the special days in February are a bit unusual.  We all know Groundhog Day, President’s Day and Valentine’s Day, but what about these:

       9th         Toothache Day

     16th         Do A Grouch A Favor Day

     18th         Battery Day

Those are a stretch even for my imagination.  Then I saw February 26 – Tell A Fairy Tale Day

Who does not like a story that begins Once upon a time…?  Those words bring up images of a princess and a charming prince.  Seven dwarfs.  Three bears.  Giants.  And a slow turtle.

How will you do on this quiz?

1. ____________ stole from the rich to give to the poor.
2. The miller’s daughter spun ____________ into gold.
3. Paul Bunyan was the greatest ____________?
4. Henny Penny told everyone the ____________ was falling.
5. When ____________ lied, his nose grew longer.

But if you really like to tell stories, get your imagination going and begin with “Did you hear about….

• the people who shouted the walls of Jericho down?  Just picture the priests leading a whole lot of people and the people in Jericho laughing at them.  Where is Jericho?  In a land far, far away…

• Daniel?  With all the royal food he could eat, he only wanted vegetables and water.  I know!  How crazy is that…or…was it….

• the woman who turned into a pillar of salt?  They were escaping and her husband, Lot, told her not to look back…Why were they escaping?...What would a pillar of salt look like?  Let’s find out.  Google Lot’s Wife and pillar of salt….

• the fish that was so large it could swallow a man?...Yes, a man!!!...Why was the man in the water?...Well, the crew threw him overboard…….

Fairy tales are fun and good for the imagination, but if you want to tell a really, really good story..if you want to get really, really excited telling that story…if you want those little ears to hear about heroes and villains and good and evil…dig into the Bible…and find a windstorm coming out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light.  The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.  (Are those little eyes getting bigger?)  (Continue reading very animated and quickly.)  In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces…YES, FOUR FACES…and four wings…….I saw that from the waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.  YES, ALL AROUND HIM…(Now finish slowly and quietly, until you are almost whispering.)  Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.  This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.  (From Ezekiel)

THAT MY FRIENDS WILL BEAT A FAIRY TALE ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!

Answers in case you have not heard or read a fairy tale in a very long, long time: 

Robin Hood, Straw, Lumberjack, Sky, and Pinocchio

PROTECTING ME?

The minister was talking about the arrest of Jesus.  During the message, Pastor Larry said Jesus died for our protection.  PROTECTION?  To have my sins forgiven --Yes.  But protect me from what?

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.  2 Thessalonians 3:3

I must admit the evil one comes in many forms.  For me, misdirection does get me in a bit of a pickle.  I can be oh so determined to send a card, clean house, call a friend, or find a place to volunteer, but something to google pops into my tiny brain and I am very quickly misdirected.  Now, not cleaning house is no biggie (It is picked up, the bathrooms are clean, the laundry done, and the dust does not show until the sun shines.), but maybe the card I didn’t send or the call I didn’t make or the volunteering I didn’t do would have changed someone’s day.  LORD PROTECT ME WHEN THE EVIL ONE MISDIRECTS ME FROM DOING YOUR WORK.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”  John 10:27-28

Who is this “no one” who wants to snatch me out of Jesus’ hand?  I don’t know anyone who is trying to yank me away from God’s Son.  And yet…. whose voice do I listen to?  FOX news is telling me one things and CNN is telling me something else.  What the left says is true.  What the right says is true.  Wear this.  Look like this.  Wine is wrong.  Wine is good for you.  This pill will … do not say that … it is okay if you do that … the Bible does not say that.  Who is trying to yank me away from God’s Son?  Who:  Those that are trying to tell me what to think and how to live.  LORD PROTECT ME FROM THOSE THAT WANT ME TO FOLLOW BLINDLY INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO YOUR VOICE AND LEARNING FROM YOUR WORD.

So say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?”  Hebrews 13:6

Maybe mere mortals are no match for the Lord, but mere mortals can sure do a number on me.  What chance do I have?  I mean, really!  I am 73.  A mere mortal could whoop my backside.  A mere mortal can destroy my confidence.  A mere mortal can use words that frighten me:  Cancer.  A loved one is very ill.  Alzheimer’s.  A mere mortal … LORD PROTECT ME FROM THE ACTIONS AND THE WORDS OF MERE MORTALS WHICH FRIGHTEN ME.

Jesus died to protect me, but how do I know he will? 

Jesus is faithful,

Jesus is holding me in His hand,

Jesus is my helper,

and

I TRUST HIM!

A RED HEART, CANDY, AND ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Warning:  My usual process is to pull up a blank blog page, put the date on…at that point I realized the 14th is Valentine’s Day…and add a title.  This is the title which appeared and I have absolutely no idea where this is going or in what order a red heart, candy and kidding me will appear. 

June 4, 2020 will be our 55th Anniversary.  During that time, some Valentine’s Day were spent looking into each other’s eyes, as we held hands in a very nice restaurant.  (Of course, in the beginning the “very nice restaurant” was our kitchen.  No money!)  Some Valentine’s Days were preceded by writing the names of every child in our kid’s class, on those Valentine envelopes which usually had a minimal amount of glue on them -- which resulted in the envelope coming apart when the sweet “You are my friend forever, Happy Valentine’s Day” card was stuffed in by a first grader.  And said first grader took an extremely long time to print their name.  Well, the daughter took a long time.  The son did not care so much about his signature and whipped those cards out in no time. 

We have spent Valentine’s Day in Indiana, Michigan, and Alabama.  Two years ago, we were in Alabama and were holding hands as we walked down the hall to our hotel room.  (Yes, we still hold hands.)  The nice gentleman sweeping the hall asked how long we had been married.  Then asked what room we were in.  Fast forward to after our romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.  We opened the door to our room and there on the desk – here comes the “are you kidding me? – was a bottle of bubbly, two wine glasses, and some fancy candy.  A fun and enjoyable surprise.

Candy?  The Sweetheart candies began in 1866 and today over 8 billion flow into stores where they sell out in six weeks.  Question 1:  Is there anyone who really likes the special heart candies that will last from February 14 till the ants come in during the summer.  Not sure they eat them either, but when you see ants on them, it is okay to throw the candy away.  Question 2:  The words started out with Be Mine, but later included such romantic phrases as Email Me and Fax Me.  Do you sort through the candies to find the one which conveys your undying love?  If not, you might want to reconsider.  The gleam in the eyes of your sweetie might change from loving to confusion, if the candy heart says chill out.

What about the red heart?  I have a very old, red, heart shaped, candy box.  It belonged to my mother.  I like to imagine my dad, handing her the box, and --- taking the first piece.  Hey, he liked candy!  My parents, like most parents of their generation, were not lovey, dovey and rarely said, “I love you.”  But that box!  That box tells me that my daddy loved my mommy.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

The End.

WHY DID THEY PUT THAT IN?

I have a bottle of white-out sitting on my desk.  I have often thought about using it when I come across a scripture I do not like.

Please explain why any hard working person would leave in Romans 13:6?  This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.  I get the pay your taxes.  Well sorta.  I do want good roads and schools and libraries and… BUT maybe someone should send an email to all those ‘authorities’ and explain to them they are God’s servants.  Okay.  Okay.  The verse about taxes stays in.

I always tell people I am going to remove the word ‘patience’ because it is a struggle to be patient.  Isaiah 7:13:  Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David!  Is it not enough to try the patience of humans?  Will you try the patience of my God also?  I do not like to think about trying God’s patience.  What if he got as impatient with me as I get with some of the… Oh.  Pretty sure I need to reword that.  I need to be as patient with God’s children as God is with me.  Patience stays in.

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:44-45  Who was Jesus talking to?  The first four Disciples?  Surely Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew and James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John were the only ones who would pray for their enemies.  Sadly, Jesus was talking to a crowd and these words would also be meant for me.  How do I pray for a person who hates me?  Or tries to harm me?  I put the white out away.  Love and prayer for those who persecute me stays in. 

The Bible – will I ever understand every passage?

The answer would be NO!

But I am trying.