Anxiety revisited

Our dog Buddy has a Doctorate in anxiety. Since we got him as a stray, we have not way of knowing what has caused it all, but fireworks, thunder, a nail gun near by or sometimes even the lid of a garbage hopper being dropped sends him into hysteria. He trembles, slinks around and tries to find a safe place. No matter how much we reassure him that we are right here, and will protect him, he continues to be panicked.
Today it was a nail gun on a near by subdivision which sent him over the edge. He tried to get into shower with me! After I dried off, I sat on the floor and stroked his fur and repeated to him" I'm right here, Nothing can harm you. Relax.'
Then I heard God say 'It's the same with you Mary. When you feel so anxious and are panicked emotionally, remember that I am right here. One of my names is Emanuel- God with you. ' Then I thought of Psalm 139 where David tells how about God is in front of me, behind me and has His hand on me. There is nowhere that I can go that He is not there . So wherever I am is safe.
So next time that I am anxious, I will think of Buddy and the way God is so faithful to be there for me, as I am for my dog.

Anxiety revisited

Our dog Buddy has a Doctorate in anxiety. Since we got him as a stray, we have not way of knowing what has caused it all, but fireworks, thunder, a nail gun near by or sometimes even the lid of a garbage hopper being dropped sends him into hysteria. He trembles, slinks around and tries to find a safe place. No matter how much we reassure him that we are right here, and will protect him, he continues to be panicked.
Today it was a nail gun on a near by subdivision which sent him over the edge. He tried to get into shower with me! After I dried off, I sat on the floor and stroked his fur and repeated to him" I'm right here, Nothing can harm you. Relax.'
Then I heard God say 'It's the same with you Mary. When you feel so anxious and are panicked emotionally, remember that I am right here. One of my names is Emanuel- God with you. ' Then I thought of Psalm 139 where David tells how about God is in front of me, behind me and has His hand on me. There is nowhere that I can go that He is not there . So wherever I am is safe.
So next time that I am anxious, I will think of Buddy and the way God is so faithful to be there for me, as I am for my dog.

Busy Bee

While it is true that our second child, Deborah, is compassionate like her sister, I have been thinking about how she too has lived up to her biblical name. The account of Ruth is a love story. But the narrative about Deborah is one of battle and victory by a woman.

The name Deborah means bee, as in busy. In that sense, from birth and even before, our Deborah has always been busy. I was commenting to my grandson recently that the last weeks I was carrying her, I was certain that she was building a spaceship, complete with launch pad and scaffolding.

The Deborah of the Bible, though little known, was the greatest judge, second only to Gideon and the only woman judge. Her job description involved being the leader and often the military commander too. Her real claim to fame came when the enemy army was advancing on the Israelites. She consented to go with the army but let it be known that if she did, the victory would be won by a woman, as it was. A woman named Jael, drove a tent peg into the head of the sleeping enemy commander.

Now our Deboran has not been the leader of a nation, but she does have some of the qualities of her namesake. She is bold and often dares to question the wrongs in her culture, especially as it relates to women's issues. Her discerning spirit allows her to see beyond the masks people wear to their real self and needs. She had caused me, too, to look past the surface with people, particularly with folk that I would not normally come in contact with or be drawn to. She is not hesitant to see me as more than her Mother. She views me, at times, as another woman with needs and feelings. She has challenged the socks off of me on more than one occasion, not the least of which is this blog itself.

Merciful Ruth

Today I want to share about my first born and why we named her Ruth. I so longer for a baby to love and nurture. She actually is my second child but my first born since her brother Daniel went from womb to heaven in one fell swoop.
Her name means warm, friendly and welcoming. She is named for perhaps the most merciful character in the Bible, besides God Himself. I adore the love story of Ruth and Boaz but it is her ability to put her Mother- in- law's needs above her own that touches my heart the deepest. Who has not heard of her great speech that says ' 'Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people and your God, my God. I will die where you die and will be buried there. "
How prophetic that name has been as my Ruth has a double portion of that mercy. Oh, yes, she came make you laugh so hard you have to hold your sides. But let her see someone who is fragile emotionally or in need and she oozes compassion just like her namesake. She has been a blessing to me and so many others too.
She may blog her thoughts here from time to time so enjoy.

Coincidence or Divine intervention?

Have you ever had one of those days that you left late for an appointment and it got worse as it went? Well, I left in barely enough time, but felt I could make it. First the rain began and my umbrella was safe at home from walking my dog. Then I saw that they had been remodeling the parking lot and my usual parking spot did not exist any longer. Well I figured I could drive around and snag one. But not such luck. When I finally figured out how to get into the parking garage, I traveled to the top and no spot for me. Now what? I made it back down to the street, after going the wrong way to the shock of a fellow parking spot looker. I decided to try the lot across the street and was, by this point, feeling I would not find anything, or worse yet, the person in front of me would get the last one. As I crawled along, I felt impatience rising up, threatening a scream of frustation. God chose that moment to remind me that I had commented on Monday night that I felt God wanted me to work on persistence and patience! 'OK ' I said,' just not right now!' The before mentioned lady in front of me grabbed probably the last spot when I saw it, a space, off to my left and I could actually get into it!
In the elevator, I chatted with the same lady and epxressed how hard it was to get a spot. Once on the sidewalk though, I was puzzled as to how to reach the hospital. All I could see were chain link fences and piles of dirt and LOTS of rain. As I stood contemplating my next move the lady, whom I will now call,' my angel', crossed the street and walked into the other parking garage? That seemed odd, but I high-tailed it after her and found she led me right to the 'new back door' of the hospital!
My next hurdle was to figure out where the main entrance was and my waiting friend. Once again, God was way ahead of me, for just at that moment, my friend walked by and spotted me down the long corridor. Now you may call that coincidence but I know that God directed me all the way.
By the way, He directed me all the way back to my car too! Yeah God

University of Anxiety

This morning I learned a great lesson. I woke at 4 AM from a crazy dream and could not go back to sleep. I laid there worrying about not sleeping since we had gone to bed at 11:30 that night.
I finally gave up and got up to get a cup of tea and read my Bible. At 5:45 I crawled back into bed and then laid there worrying about falling sleep and not getting up in time for the doctor's appointment at 9:30. I have an advanced degree from the University of Anxiety and I saw that I was just experiencing the fruit of all my study. I was worrying about not sleeping and then worrying about sleeping. I reflected on the verse I was currently memorizing, which says that when I pray about everything and choose to not worry about anything that God puts a bubble of peace around my heart and mind and I can be worry free and tear up my degree. With that, I fell asleep and woke in plenty of time.

Why I took the dare

Last night in our' Home Group' we were asked the question,"What is cool about your family?' I responded that each member of our nuclear family is creative. I was thinking specifically about our two daughters and their writing ability, which I so admire. The same weekend one of those precious daughters challenged, well, actually dared me to enter the world of blogging. Then the other one jumped on the band wagon too, so this site is the result of having two 'cool' daughters.
I hope that it will be a place to encourage others as Christ encourages me.
Soon I hope to share how each girl got her name and a little about their namesakes.

Jules here. I created this blogspace for my Mum, in hopes that she could use it as a vehicle for her ministry of encouragement. The rest, as they say...is herstory.