Archive for February, 2008

I’m hungry…

February 21, 2008 · Filed under from the Word, life · Tagged , , , , , , ,

A few years back, the Lord provided me with some unforgettable opportunities to spend time abroad. I spent about 7 months living and studying in Arequipa, Peru and periodically traveling to some other areas of South America. Now, I don’t say all of that to brag and to let you know what an extensive world traveler I am (if only you knew the trips my father has taken….what I’ve experienced is nothing!), I merely wanted to set up some background for a thought I had this morning.

While this was an amazing experience, and I would never trade it for anything, much of my time spent@ macchu picchu abroad I was physically miserable. I was constantly tired, usually sick to my stomach, and almost everyday feeling weak. I mysteriously gained weight. Took several trips to local doctors. A couple of times ended up bed ridden. From time to time I was up throughout the night either vomiting or struggling with diarrhea or both. Physically I was beat. Why? Well, I wish I could have realized at the time that it was the food and the water that I was putting into my body. Although it was filtered, my body was not used to the Peruvian water. The food we ate was not food I was used to – it was grown and produced in an entirely different part of the world, prepared in a different way and using different ingredients. After months and months of putting this fuel into my body, I guess I couldn’t take it.

And this morning, the Lord drew a parallel in my mind between that experience and my spiritual life. Why do I feel so weak in my walk with the Lord at times? How can I seem to be so distant from Him and out of the reach of His healing hands? It’s because I’m using the wrong fuel. Those times in my life where I’m depressed or I can see that I’m producing no spiritual fruit….when I stop and evaluate it, EVERY TIME I see that there some point that I slipped in my devotions. That time that I spend before God in His WORD. My time seems to be taken with shopping for our home, or watching tv, or spending time on the internet, or focusing on my own self and what I want – no time was given to the Lord that day. No time was spent feeding my soul and my spirit with His precious Word – His direction and comfort and encouragement to His people. Instead I was feeding myself with the things of this world – substance that is foreign to a redeemed child of God. Its not what we were meant to survive on. It makes us weak and sickly, and most times it leaves us unable to function as a true CHRISTian.

Instead of feeding on junk today, feed on the sweet Word of the Lord. I know I sure am hungry for His presence this morning.

He wants to reveal Himself to us! It just takes us turning to His word -

For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness! (Ps. 107:9)

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is that a rat in your granola?

February 8, 2008 · Filed under homework, life · Tagged , , , , ,

Where do I even begin this story??

The other day, I noticed a few little “surprises” in my pantry that I knew should not have been there. I began to move things around on the shelf where I’d found these small “droppings”, and noticed the bag that holds my favorite candies had been nibbled through and the little sprinkles from the candy had spilled out of the bag onto the shelf. Hmm….as I stood there, putting two and two together, I realized….we’ve got a RAT!

Disgusted, I cleaned up the mess, and informed my husband of our infestation! He, like the wonderful protector he is, set out a couple of traps (the really sticky kind) to catch the creature – one on the shelf, and one on the floor just below the shelf. I decided they needed some persuasion to venture onto the traps, so I sprinkled some homemade granola on the one sitting on the floor. That should do it. I thought

Earlier in the week, our boys’ basketball team had won the regional finals, so they were planning on heading for the state competition in Athens this weekend! Go Eagles! Well, my husband was asked to go along to help chaperon the guys. He agreed to help out, and informed me that he’d be gone this weekend. Well, of course, the first thing that entered my mind was….What about the RAT?!?

Despite my concerns about facing the rat, Aaron thought it best that he go and help the guys out (and I agreed, although selfishly in the back of my mind, disagreed) So, my sweet little sister offered to spend the night with me the first night he was gone. I told her about the rat traps in the pantry, and we prayed that we wouldn’t catch the rat while Aaron was out of town! Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways….apparently, He thought it was best that I have to deal with the rat. I guess He figured I should overcome my silly fears and learn to be a true “keeper” of my home!

We woke up Friday morning, and as Rachel was getting ready and packing up her things, I proceeded downstairs to make us some breakfast. (This is where the story gets good!) My eyes were still a little sensitive to the light, so I decided I would leave it off for a while. I entered the kitchen, passing right by our pantry door…not even thinking about the rat traps….until… I heard a faint squeaking coming from behind me. And then I remembered! I turned around to see a dark shadow on the floor right outside the pantry door! Before I knew it, I was screaming, “AAHHH! AAHHH! AAHHH!”…still in the dark….cornered in my own kitchen!

My sister came running to the top of the stairs from the bedroom, “What is going on?!?” she asked, confused.

“WE GOT THE RAT!!” I screamed, as the rat continued to cry for help, stuck on the trap in the midst of the granola.

I finally mustered up enough courage to leap over the trap to get out of my kitchen and ran upstairs to my sister, who was in shock.

“What do we do?” I asked. She looked at me blankly, and I searched for my phone to call Aaron. He began to instruct me to get some pliers and a trash bag and to just pick it up and throw it away. Yeah right! I thought. “It’s still alive,” I told him. “It’s screaming at me!” So he says, “Once you get it in the bag, you can just hit it with a shovel to kill it. Aim for its neck!” Ha!
Well, I got off the phone and looked at the clock. Rachel needed to leave in 10 minutes, so we didn’t have much time! I went into the garage and grabbed the pliers, and I got the trashcan from underneath the sink. The rat is still screaming its little head off, trying desperately to get off of the trap! I got behind the rat so it couldn’t see me, and Rachel went out to the garage to get the shovel.

I took a deep breath, and slowly inched toward the edge of the trap. I grabbed hold with the pliers and quickly, but very cautiously, picked it up and placed it in the trashcan. I took the bag out of the can, and met Rachel outside where she was ready to “whack” it…literally!

“I get to do the fun part!” she exclaimed. And I thought, I’m glad she wants to because there’s no way I could hit this thing!

She got in her rat whacking stance, and brought the shovel down one swift time. “Did I get it?” she asked.
“I’m not lookin’!” I said. “Just hit it one more time to be safe.”

She did, and we threw the bag into the outside trashcan! We came back in, looked at each other, and began cracking up laughing! My heart was still pounding as I said, “You better finish getting ready so you’re not late!” The I let out a deep sigh. I felt, although still a little weak in the knees, as though I now knew what it meant to be a keeper at home! I was those hands that helped protect (even though Rachel did the killing…I still got it out of our house). I honestly didn’t think I had it in me. I mean, I realize it was just a small rat, but still….now I know that I can do more than my mind tells me I can. I can be the keeper, those hands that guard and make a safe home for our family! I thank the Lord for that crazy morning! I didn’t think I could handle it, but He knew what He was doing! May I be a wife and mother, a keeper, that God would be pleased with! May He receive glory because of our family!

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