So far behind...

Well, I've done a terrible job adding thought to this blog this summer. I have a bag of excuses but that doesn't change the fact that I've been neglectful! This really isn't a post from me, but I wanted to share something sent to me by someone else. I usually don't copy/paste from other sites because I want to send you to their site so they can get credit, but I couldn't find this post online anymore. It was sent to me in an email. But if you want to visit their site for future goodies, go to http://www.mydailyinsights.com/

Here is the good lesson for the day (or probably month at the rate I'm going):

DOG LESSONS

By Jo Ann Brown

It is amazing to me how God communicates certain lessons. Apparently, I must not listen in a traditional way because He always seems to use nature, my children, or my dogs to teach me things about myself.

As I was walking my dog, Chelsea, today, I noticed she was worse than usual about pulling. She was practically choking herself. She has a 25-foot leash that allows her 25 feet in just about any direction to enjoy without feeling uncomfortable. However, Chelsea seemed to always want to pull the leash as tightly as possible to get to the next "spot" in the road. Keep in mind that we are walking that direction and will be at that "spot" in just a matter of minutes.

Chelsea was so busy looking at the next place, the next moment that she failed to enjoy the place where she was. With 25 feet in any direction, she could only concentrate on the one foot that she could not reach in front of her. All the while we were moving forward, she wanted to be someplace different, further ahead. Her eyes were always one step further than where we were.

When I thought about how ridiculous she was, I realized how ridiculous I am as well. God has been trying to teach me to enjoy the moment while continuing to move forward. Why do I practically choke myself to get to the next place that I fail to enjoy the beauty of the place where I am. As long as I am moving forward, why can't I enjoy the trip?

I made a decision to enjoy things I usually would take for granted. That day, I found myself enjoying even the small things in my life more. I did not just take a shower that day thinking about what I needed to do during my day. I enjoyed my shower, thought about the warm water and how grateful I was that in our country I could take a shower anytime I want. That was probably the best shower I have had in a long time.

I can honestly tell you that I experienced more pleasure from everyday chores than I can ever remember. What a wonderful lesson I learned from my sweet Chelsea. I pray that I can continue to enjoy the place where I am, while continuing to move forward to the place I want to be.

So much joy can lie in the journey if I can be content with where I am and not continually pull to be where I am not quite ready to be. I wish I could say that Chelsea learned her lesson but that would be a lie. She still kills herself to get to that next place in the pavement when everything she needs is right under her nose.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jo Ann Brown is an MDI subscriber and the mother of two wonderful teens, Brian and Danny and two dogs, Lucky and Chelsea. She can be reached at blessedwtwoboys@yahoo.com

Thankfulness

One resource I stumbled upon a few years ago was the Walk in the Word website. I was actually trying to find a sermon I'd heard by John McArthur and not really remembering the name ended up searching and finding James MacDonald. After listening to some of his sermons I really like his teaching.

He has a newsletter you can subscribe to at http://www.walkintheword.com/. It is called the Weekly Walk. The topic this week was gratitude. James talks about 3 levels - elementary school thankfulness, high school thankfulness and. graduate school thankfulness. Sometimes I fear my prayers put me at the elementary level. I'm thankful for the weather, my health, food to eat, a house to live in. It is like a grocery list that contains the same staples each week with really no thought to it. I can kind of do it in my sleep. But hey, I was thankful, right.

When we graduate to high school we begin to look for deeper things to be thankful for. Maybe we grumble a bit but we decide we can be happy about something. I had this happen at Burger King. I was taking lunch to the field for my husban and his helpers. I placed my order ending it with an order of small fries for myself (even though the fries really didn't fit in with my diet plan). When I got away from the drive-thru, I had no fries and a chicken sandwich instead!

Now at my adolescent level of gratitude I immediately thought, "Now who could get chicken sandwich from small order of fries! So now I had no fries for myself and an extra sandwich that I didn't need. Plus the sandwich cost a couple dollars more than the fries! I order off the value menu to save money not spend more! I started to turn around but I know what a pain it is to take something back to the counter. You have to go in. Wait in line. Get the frustrated look from the already busy employee. Plus they never act like they could have made a mistake. So I decided to go on.

I got to the field and explained to the guys I had this extra sandwich and come to find out Tim's dad would have rather had a chicken sandwich anyway, or so he said. And you know, in the long run I really didn't need the fries. They are not a healthy choice so my body was better off(and besides I stole a few of Tim's anyway). Knowing all this after the fact, I could then be thankful for the sandwich that I didn't order. But this is still only high school thankfulness.

This then brings up the idea of graduate-level gratitude that James talked about in his newsletter. He says,

"Ephesians 5:18-20 says, "Giving thanks to God at all times for all things." No matter what's happening; no matter how dark the moment is, God is in control. He can be explicitly trusted. He's working out a purpose beyond what you can imagine. Some of it you'll see in this life; some of it you'll see in the life to come. Give thanks to God. Go for it. Give thanks to God for the hardest part of your life. Just say, "Thank You God for this. You are good!" Watch the blessing begin to flow your way."

Now wouldn't that have been something new. If I truly lived by Eph. 5:18 I would have immediately thanked God for the chicken sandwich, not knowing yet who might need it and for sparing me from artery clogging cholesterol that might lead to heart disease! If only I had realized that God might be working in my best interest (who doesn't want a happy father-in-law) my attitude would have been one of gratitude.

This is a lesson I'll have to work on. This requires discipline and slowness on our usual reactions. God is working out a purpose beyond what we can imagine. Wow.