Ziti

I never would have believed just twelve years ago how great a dog could be.  Everyone had clearly said so.  I just didn’t believe that could be true for me.

I did have one bad experience with a dog out of control.  But, I had one persuasive son that challenged this guilt-ridden mom who honestly believed every boy needed one of his own.  So, with reluctancy and hesitancy I agreed to pacify a request to at least go look at dogs at an animal shelter.

I was clever enough to evade that taunting adoption at our initial visit.  Then, I shrewdly escaped a purchase at our second one, too. The third time around with his two sisters on board, I got tired and depleted and finally conceded.  I got a dog.

Ziti.

Oh boy, was I scared.

It’s hard to imagine now all that was required of me to just hold a dog. What I wouldn’t give to find that first picture of me in a raincoat, wearing dish gloves, holding two towels and rain boots on my feet.  This was my full protective gear to pick up six-week-old Ziti.

I felt threatened.

So, it took a trainer; it took practicing visualization of desired behaviors; and it took way more time than you’d imagine for me to learn all barks don’t bite and boundless energy wasn’t an attack on my life.   My defensive barriers slowly began to come off and a relationship started to begin.

If Ziti could have spoken right away or utter her playful intent it clearly would have been easier.  Non-verbal is just hard.  She could be a rascal and meant no harm, but I learned quickly.  There was no other way. Like it or not, it was me she had to obey.

There was a time when God warned Jeremiah, a prophet, to tell people they were stubborn, foolish, and didn’t even know Him.  Basically saying we have eyes but don’t see and ears that don’t hear. The Lord says, “We are clever enough at doing wrong, but have no idea how to do right!”

But, Jesus says, “My sheep recognize my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

Training took time and it was necessary for Ziti to listen and learn my voice.

Likewise,

the Lord has a voice

and something to say.

We too,

are called to obey.

Believe it or not,

there’s no better way.

John 10:27

Jeremiah 4:22; 5:21

James 1:22

Good News

Dad’s birthday celebration would have been in July. He wouldn’t have wanted anything, though.  He never did.

While growing up, my dad never let me pay for anything. Not a meal, not a tip, not a parking meter, not even the price for him to repair something around my house. There was never a cost that was ever owed to my father.  I often asked when would he ever let me pay.  His response was always the same.

“Your day will come.”

Once my siblings and I surprised Mom and Dad with a trip commemorating their 50th wedding anniversary over a weekend.  And, they went.  And then, they took us back the next year.  And then the next year.  And the year after that.  And the year after that.

He lived to be 87 pulling out his dollar bills.

I’d always have to laugh at him,  “When will my day come, Dad?”

His motive wasn’t rooted in pride.  This was a father who understood the fatigue of finances and durations of difficulty building a business and putting food on the table with six placemats. He understood a candlewick that burned on both ends. He grasped the concept of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.

With adult children of my own and emerging livelihoods and a number of placemats on their own tables,  I am a witness to their hearts towards sacrificial generosity and magnanimous benevolence.

These are the days that have come.

But you know, it is how the Good News went out.

Living as an example to people who were progressing in faith, Apostle Paul humbled himself by preaching the Good News without expecting anything in return.  He said, “I borrowed from other churches by accepting support from them so I could serve you at no cost.” He understood the degree of help needed to the people he loved.

That’s a message of the Good News.

You have a Father, too.

Try as you might though,

there is no cost to you.

2 Corinthians 11:7-8

Poolside

What a sweet month June is.

An invitation came to sit on the side of a neighbor’s pool every Saturday morning for one hour in June.  The invitation went out to others to come sit as well.  There was no long-term commitment.  There was no heavy expectation to know something or necessarily say anything.  Many faces were unfamiliar, but we just all had a Saturday morning hour in June.

I have this natural tendency to hole myself up in a chair in the corner of a room content as can be, making it all about me.  But, a Saturday morning and a chair around the pool brought diverse women together in God’s chosen little community.

Wouldn’t you say that our comfort zone doesn’t like to be disturbed?  But if we permit, God presents many opportunities to put others in our path of His choosing.  He assembles hearts.  It might be for our benefit, but it also might be for theirs.

It’s like in Romans when Paul says, “When we get together I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.”

Both young and old, inspired Biblical conversations each Saturday morning with mutual desires to develop resilience and perseverance through life’s circumstances.  God’s word is the sword to fight our battles.  We all need an army of saints.

“And let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.”

Don’t be like me operating with natural tendencies.  Consider extending or accepting an invitation to challenge who you are in God’s identity.

Romans 1:12

Hebrews 10:25

Empty Nest

It was about a year ago in June 2023 when my son got married. 

Two weeks before he officially “left the nest” a brood of birds was hatching right outside his bedroom window in the weeping cherry tree. Day by day I witnessed the activity of momma bird constructing the nest and caring for her young.  Although, it seems quite illustrative that I would miss these little fledglings fly away from the nest while I went away to Nashville to watch mine.

I quite literally came home to an empty nest.

Less than one full year has passed and in June 2024 my daughter has birthed her fourth little hatchling, Ruth Annette.

The end of one’s nesting begins another’s.

I have a sweet window into this momma bird and her activity.  She is busy.  She is beyond selfless, extremely provisional and dare I say, exhausted!  Every chirp is heard and handled.  I see momma bird coming and going, coming and going, coming and going.

You want to know what the Kingdom of God is like?

“The Kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree and the birds make nests in its branches.”

Jesus said to make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

You want to know what this little momma bird is busy doing?

She is primarily making the Kingdom of God

…in the season of the full nest.

Luke 13:19

Matthew 6:33