Month: October 2020

Dog Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
My pups remind me that we don’t have to fiercely hold onto all that we have been given.

My daughter recently came home from college for the night and brought her pup, Marshall. We recued Marshall from the pound during quarantine and he added some much needed excitement in our daily lives. We watched him go from a little guy who was shy and afraid of almost everything to a rambunctious, ray of sunshine who never fails to make us smile. Needless to say, he has a very special place in our hearts.

Now, our other dogs do not share our affection for him. They usually tolerate him, but will growl at him, when he tries to play with them. They too, were rescues, but they are old now and I guess they have forgotten.

We always have to watch Marshall around the other dogs’ food because he will eat it. I walked in the room during Marshall’s last visit to find our smaller dog, Piper, guarding her food. I smiled at her, scratched her head and reminded her that even when he eats her food, we always refill it. She never goes without and has never known hunger since she came to us almost eight years ago.

As all three dogs, finally settled down to a nap, I thought about how I wish I could make them understand that I love them all equally and truly appreciate all of their unique personalities. I wish they knew that love is limitless and there will never be scarcity for them while under my care.

As I was thinking, I felt a nudge reminding me that humanity isn’t much different that my pups when it comes to understanding the love of Jesus for us. When we find ourselves in not so good times, and we see others around us doing well, isn’t our tendency to feel jealous or discouraged? It’s as if we too, believe that Jesus’ blessings are finite. We forget that we too, have been rescued and blessed many times over just like my older pups.

And if we are asked to share what we have, don’t we find ourselves holding on as tightly as we can with both fists, just like Piper? I once read that the point really isn’t whether the glass is half full or half empty; the point is that the glass is refillable and more importantly we worship the God who we cannot out give.

These are dark days we have been trudging through, for many of us, the darkest we have ever seen. Our instinct may be to hold tightly to all we have, including the gifts of encouragement, patience, forgiveness and grace from a world that is desperate for them. May we not forget like my two older dogs to share them. After all, Jesus has shared them with us.

My pups reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

The Call to Bloom

Posted on by Wendy
A small azalea blooming in a place where it shouldn’t have been, reminded me to do the same.

I was taking a break from work a couple of weeks ago and looking out the window. Autumn leaves had just begun falling in my yard and some had landed on the azaleas. My azaleas came with our house and they are huge. They bloom a bright pink in the spring and herald in Easter, but the rest of the year, they remain green. They don’t turn brilliant colors in the fall. They aren’t barren in the winter. They are green and when the rest of the world is dark and sleeping, green is a nice contrast.

As I was looking at my steady green azaleas and thinking about being able to depend on their greenery, a tiny pink blossom caught my eye. It’s October and the entire world around those azaleas is about to turn orange, yellow and gold and yet, that little blossom boldly stood up in pink, seemingly unaware and clearly unconcerned, about the current season.

I smiled and went outside to take a picture and found it hard to capture, yet it was there. I thought about that tiny brave blossom for the rest of the day.

Most of us can definitely say we find ourselves in a season where we have never before been. From the Covid pandemic, to the social unrest, to the constant negativity in our political climate. Goodness and decency seems under assault and I often find myself wondering what has happened to our manners? What would our grandparents say if they were to watch a current newscast?

As Christians, what is our role in the current mess we find ourselves in?

Maybe we should take a lesson from that tiny, out of place, out of season, azalea blossom and bloom, even if we don’t fit in with anything around us.

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

Maybe that means taking a walk and admiring God’s handiwork in nature. Maybe that means snuggling a puppy or having a conversation with a young child. Maybe that means reading the Bible or an uplifting story. Maybe that means calling your mama. Maybe that means sharing something beautiful on social media or maybe that means unplugging altogether.

After consciously filling our souls with the good stuff, we are then able and called to to bloom in our own unique way and share that good stuff with those around us. We can do that in person, through the mail, over text or in cyberspace. Our call to love God and love others doesn’t change with the turbulence of the seasons. We just have to make sure that we remain equipped to bloom.

A wayward azalea reminded me that as people of faith, our call to bloom is not dependent on the state of affairs of our world. We are after all, in this world, not of it. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Removing the Weeds and Briars

Posted on by Wendy
In times like these, we have to be especially vigilant about what we allow into our hearts.

I was recently working in my iris beds. They had been overtaken by weeds. It’s been a hot summer and I have needed to work on them for quite some time, but the heat and my busy schedule have given me every excuse to let them go. Plus, I rationalized that they won’t bloom again until the spring, so there’s plenty of time.

But, the weather finally cooled off and fall is the time to divide them, a task I could never do if they were covered in weeds. I put on some good shoes and gloves and went to work. Unfortunately, they were everywhere in every single bed I had, but as I got busy, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to pull up. Their roots were so shallow. I removed them by the handful and the beds showed improvement very quickly.

I marveled at the difference and I was little annoyed with myself for letting the weeds get so out of control to begin with when it required such a small effort on my part, to remove them. I congratulated myself on my progress, when I encountered a briar. Briars are an entirely different kind of weed. They aren’t just ugly and annoying. They climb and wind themselves around the things we plant. When you try to pull them, they have tiny thorns that will tear your skin. Furthermore, when you pull hard, they break off, leaving the root in tact, just biding its time to return.

As I looked at my cleaned up beds, I was reminded of how easy it is to let things enter into our hearts that cause clutter like those weeds, things like doubt, fear, despair and hoplessness can rob us of our joy and the beauty our lives can hold. We need to be vigilant about keeping our eyes focused on Jesus so He can remind us to be at peace and trust in Him and His plan. We can do this through prayer and and reading the Bible where we find countless stories to remind us. When we walk with Jesus, He can help us sweep those things away on a regular basis.

But, there are other things that we can allow to take root like anger and hate that are like briars. They have the power to wrap around our hearts and cause serious damage. Ephesians 4:26-17 says, “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

There seems to be a lot of anger these days. Just watch a newscast or scroll your social media feed. The venom spewing from peoples’ mouths shows the poor condition of their hearts. Many have allowed anger to get a foothold and hate and chaos have resulted.

As God’s people, we are called to first love God and then one another. If we harbor hate, can we love one another? Can we truly love God with a heart that harbors hate?

As a very important election draws near, perhaps now more than ever before, people of faith are called to stop scrolling and start asking God to root out the hate in our own hearts as well as the hate in our neighbor’s. Maybe then, we can with pure hearts, pray for healing, peace and reconciliation and He will hear our cry and heal our land.

Some overgrown iris beds reminded me to be vigilant with what we allow into our hearts. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Finding the Beauty in the Mess

Posted on by Wendy
Relationships can be messy like the trees, but so worth it.

Last weekend, I did some much needed yard work. I had lots of sticks and small limbs to get out of my backyard and I finally had a spare Saturday to devote to it. We are surrounded by old hardwoods, so whenever we get a fair amount of wind, we have sticks, acorns and leaves everywhere. They litter the deck and the yard and leave a bit of a mess.

In the almost fifteen years we have lived here, I have come to love these majestic trees. They provide much needed shade from the oppressive Georgia heat in the summer and spectacular art in the fall. In the spring, they provide a picture of hope as they burst back to life, that just happens to coincide with Easter. They provide homes and food to countless critters and I have spent hours and hours throughout my time living here, watching and listening to the birds and squirrels. From time to time, I’ve even been blessed to catch a glimpse of a hawk or an owl landing on one of the limbs.

These trees have definitely provided me with a lot of joy over the years, but they are messy.

Every rain storm results in a mess and those beautiful leaves in the fall, eventually result in hours of raking and hauling and often a blister or two for me. The deck and driveway have to be cleared regularly because leaves are surprisingly slick when they get wet. And in case you have ever wondered, acorns are like tiny bombs when they fall out of the trees and they hurt when they land on your head.

I was contemplating the messy trees as I was throwing sticks over the fence and I thought about how are human relationships are a lot my big old trees. Good ones provide us shade and refuge, from a world that too often is loud and harsh. There’s nothing like leaning into a good friend when we need to talk or just simple understanding. The best ones provide us art too and add lots of color in our lives through laughter and good times spent together. Friendships can provide hope like the leaves in spring when we are living through a barren season. They can provide homes for our dreams to grow and live as they cheer us on and encourage us.

Why wouldn’t we seek out friendships?

Because like those trees, they can be messy too. We sometimes have misunderstandings. We sometimes say things we don’t mean. Humans tend to be selfish and we sometimes put ourselves before the ones we hold dear which can result in hurt feelings. Anyone who has traveled around the sun enough times has experienced some type of hurt from a relationship.

There are even those who decide that relationships really just aren’t worth the cost. They have been hurt one too many times and are done with the mess.

The current pandemic the world is still facing may serve to strengthen their resolve. Maybe staying apart is best.

But, as I toss yet another limb over the fence and look at the still green leaves that are gracing the trees, I know that a spectacular show is on the way and I know that the beauty is worth the mess and the same is true with the people in our lives.

While 2020 has robbed us of much, may we be encouraged to fight for the relationships we hold dear, mess and all, remembering that friendship is a gift from God. Some fallen limbs reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

Lessons from the Seasons

Posted on by Wendy
If we didn’t know the truth about seasons, the trees in winter, might lead us to despair.

Late last spring, my daughter and I, went to a local nursery to get some brightly colored annuals for the deck. Since Covid-19 had our entire family home for the majority of the time, I really wanted some brightly colored flowers to brighten our space. I wasn’t able to find exactly what I was looking for, but my daughter found a brightly colored purplish petunia hybrid and we decided to give it a try.

Her choice did not disappoint. Those flowers rapidly grew and spilled out of the boxes that I planted them in. I delighted in looking at them all summer long as I drank my morning coffee or did the dishes. I commented to her more than once, that I was so glad that we went with her suggestion.

But, now as October rolled in, what had been gorgeous in its season, looked scraggly. There were some blooms that were stubbornly hanging on, but what been beautiful in May, seemed out of place in October. I went on a hunt for some pansies to brighten those planters.

As I reluctantly pulled up those petunias, I was reminded how some things are only bloom for a season. Even the vibrant color that had brought me so much pleasure, seemed somehow out of place in the early fall.

Nothing ever stays the same on this side of eternity and when God set up creation, He set it up for constant change. From seeds, to blooms, to fruits, to harvest, creation stays in constant motion. What we plant either grows or dies, but it never remains the same.

Our walk with God has seasons as well. Sometimes we feel completely in sync with Him; blessings are raining down and we are blooming and producing fruit. These are the spring and summer seasons. But, other seasons can be hard. We can feel like the trees in winter, like we have lost all of our leaves and our souls are completely bare like those branches.

For many of us, this pandemic has been one of those seasons. If we focus on what has been lost, it’s easy to despair. If you looked at the trees in winter and didn’t know any better, you would think they were dead. You would think all was lost. But, we know that winter is not the end for the trees. We know that unseen work is being done in preparation for the spring.

Those of us who are Christ followers know that this pandemic season of despair and loss isn’t the final word for us either. We know that God has the final word, that He is at work and that He has a plan. For those of us who know that truth, now is the time to share it, maybe now more than any other time in our lives, because we were all made, knit together in our mother’s womb for such a time as this.

Some petunias and pansies reminded me that there is a season for everything. The Bible tells us so. If the season that you find yourself in is particularly hard, take heart; change is coming. You can count on it. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂