L-O-V-E - Trite, Mundane, Meaningless

And the women said:
I love my shoes!
I love my kitchen!
Don't you just love that color?

And the men said:
I love my truck!
I love to hunt.
I love to fish.

And the children said:
I love that video game.
I love (insert name of latest male or female star).
I love (name of latest music group).  

And in the same breath they say, "I love the Lord."

And I said, "BAH HUMBUG!"

I have said it before and will say it again.  I love THE LORD, I love my husband and my son.  I like things.  I even like my animals; quite fond of some of them.

We bandy about the word love like the word food.  Food applies to junk food as well as nutritious food.  It applies to bananas as well as potato chips.

There is little that can be said for words that they cannot say themselves.  Wow!  Deep, man!

How little we think of each other when we use the same word to describe our feelings for our loved ones as we do for a piece of clothing or a piece of steak or a hobby or a pair of shoes.  It is a shallow, trite comment that means nothing.  It has become less than meaningless.  Yet, day after day, we use the word over and over like it is supposed to cover every contingency.  Instead of covering anything, it has become so diluted that it covers nothing.  "I love you." carries the same meaning as "Take out the trash."

So, the next time you start with "I really love that," think about it.  Do you really have emotional ties to that object?  Or, is it simply something you really just like?  You will know where your treasure lies by what you are emotionally attached to.

LOVE GOD!  LOVE FAMILY!  The rest is just stuff!

Shalom!  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!

AAGGHH!! The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!!

Remember the story of Chicken Little?  For those of you who do not, it is one of those childrens stories with a moral.

All I really remember about the story is that Chicken Little ran around shouting that the sky was falling when in reality it was not.  She was, like our government today, sadly misinformed.

Fear is running rampant across the world.  Countries are in turmoil.  Governments are being overthrown.  Oil is at the crux of the turmoil.  Oil!  Oil!  Oil!  Not a big deal, except for plastics, gasoline, diesel, trucks, cars, heating oil, and on and on.

It is a good thing we can live without it.  We really can, you know.  There is absolutely not one good reason why we have to have oil by the barrel to survive.  Of course, I can say that.  I live in the country.  For the past several years my husband and I have been working on living a simpler life style, which also includes eating less.  If there are shortages or at the very least prices so high that people cannot afford to buy things, we are learning to live without some of the wants we have. 

Think about what you "need to survive" and see if you can survive without it.  Food, shelter, clothes and work.  What more do we need? 

Do we truly need the cell phones, computers, gaming devices, automatic sprinklers, washing machines, dryers, a third car, a second car or even a first car? 

Can we live on beans or do we have to have a variety of stuff on our plate?  Of course we should have a variety, but can we live without it?

And what about all the medication we take?  Do we really need all of that?  The commercials and drug companies say we do. 

Can we live without the cable, the satellite and wireless internet?  I have to say if I have to make a choice, I will get rid of the phones and keep the internet access.  I do wish we had gotten a horse.  They are pretty cheap here and it would be nice to have a way to go without the hassle of gas pumps.

So, the sky is not falling, but the forecast is looking pretty bleak if you watch any of the news channels and really pay attention.  The weather has not been that great either.  You have a choice - freak out or get your act together.

Know who is really in charge.  Know who controls your destiny.  Better yet, and much more productive, try having a relationship with The Creator of it all!  Pick up that Bible that is collecting dust on your coffee table or on the book shelf.  Read it.  Beg for understanding.  HE will give it to you.  HE did it for me.  In 1992 HE showed me my sins nailed to HIS Cross.  HE let me understand that HE is in charge and there was nothing I could do to gain the forgiveness that HE offered so freely.  I read THE BOOK and I gained the understanding that there was nothing, absolutely nothing, in my power to save my own soul from Hell, or anything else.  I cannot even talk my way or work my way into Heaven.

There is no finer peace than to know deep within one's soul that when there is fear there is One close by who will always be there and will walk through the fire and the storm with me if HE does not take me out of the fire or the storm.  HE will carry me when I can no longer walk.  HE will always be there.  HE will never forsake  me.  When I am weary, HE is there for me.  HE will carry me through. HE does not promise me any days upon this earth but HE promises me eternal life with HIM and that is what I am putting my faith in - HIS promises.  Trust no one.  Trust HIM.  Trust in HIM.

He can be there for everyone who wants HIS Salvation.  My Messiah can be yours as well.  HE forgives ALL.   Seek and you will find.

Shalom.  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

The Rest of the Story - Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This

Just when I think it is me THE LORD is protecting I find out, as Paul Harvey used to put it, the rest of the story.

The amazing part of the whole thing is that we were in no danger.  The young man, on the other hand was in danger.  When the Sheriff's Deputy left, he took the young man with him to the office.

When we called 911 and the operator said that they were looking for him, we assumed the worst because she did not say otherwise.  They were, indeed, looking for him.  His mother was worried about him because he had wandered away from home in his car and had not taken his medication.  His fuzzy mental state was not because he was taking drugs but because he had failed to take the medication that kept him clear minded.  That is why the car was parked haphazardly on the highway.  That is why he was walking on our property and really could not clearly tell anyone who he was or where he was going.

It is easy to assume the worst.  It is much more difficult to rely upon THE LORD and let HIM tell me whether or not someone needs help.  It takes faith to rely upon THE LORD and sometimes I lack that bit of faith, that mustard seed bit of faith.  A mustard seed is about the size of a period or the dot on an "i" and that is all the faith it would take, and most times that is more than I have.

Lord, help my unbelief.  I often wonder why HE bothers with me.  But I know HE loves me because that is Who HE is.  HE does not love me because of who I am.  I thank GOD for that.  I thank HIM for watching over me, my husband and that young man, that very tall young man who was almost in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Shalom.  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This

It was a beautiful end to an uneventful day.  We were walking with our dogs in our dog pen.  The sunset was in no way remarkable.  A few streaks of color across a deepening sky.  The moon was full and shining brightly.

I caught a glimpse of a man walking east on our narrow country road.  He was unfamiliar to me, but then I do not know all of the neighbors.  Sassy and Smokey caught sight of the man about the same time and all the dogs joined in on their distrust of this interloper.

My husband had previously seen a vehicle parked on the highway with the lights on and thought this young man might be the driver of the car and in need of assistance.  As he walked toward the man, he asked him if he needed some help.


Sometime last year there was a news story about 2 men who had gone to a home and said they ran out of gas.  The man at the house got his gas can and offered the men a ride back to his car.  He never returned.  His burned body was found in his truck several miles away.  They robbed him of $12.00 and killed him.


My husband is a giving and caring man.  He would have done the same, so when he thought this man may have needed help, it was no surprise that he went to help this young man.

In today's world, helping another human being in distress has become more and more problematic.  People are out of work and in dire straits.  People are using drugs in horrendous numbers.  There are those who simply are sociopaths and it matters not why or what, they simply steal and kill for no apparent reason except the thrill of it all.  Scripture tells us that these days are coming.  It seems they are here.  We live in the country where there is or maybe now, was a sense of complacency about crime and where it would be committed.  The "It will never happen here attitude" needs to become a thing of the past.  It is happening here.  It is happening to us.  It is happening to me.  The idea that home invasions, car jacking, drive-by shootings and the regular crimes of rape, burglary and murder won't happen here is asinine.  It is happening here and will continue and will get worse and worse until THE LORD comes.

The LORD has given us the spirit of discernment, but sometimes (more often than we would like to think) our life or our well-being must be relinquished in order to be within HIS Will.

The young man was walking across our property when my husband got his attention and asked him if he needed some help.  The young man said he was just walking.  As far away from town as we are, that was really odd.

Discernment kicked in and when the man started coming toward my husband, he turned and quickly came back to the house.  When my husband came in, he told me to stay inside.  When he said it, I went to the room where my shotgun is and made sure it was ready to go.

He called 911 and told them there was an intruder on the property.  They asked what he was wearing and we were told to call back if we saw him again.  Two minutes later, I saw him going toward the door of the unoccupied house next door.  Since the building also belongs to us, it was within our jurisdiction to call the Sheriff, again. 

When the Sheriff arrived the young man was hiding in the carport behind the car.  He said some un-named person told him to wait there. (?)

Whatever he was up to or what he was waiting for is unknown.  The situation could have ended far worse.  The man was not forthcoming with what his intentions were.  He appeared to be under the influence of something.  And he was huge.  We can thank THE LORD that things worked out as well as they did.  The Sheriff's Deputy patted him down and took him away in the patrol car.

There we were, adrenaline pumping, blood pressure escalated and as suddenly as it had begun, the event was over.  All it left behind was the fear -  the fear of the unknown and the cumulative affect of all the "what ifs" that we can think of.  Sleeping tonight may be a bit fitful, but we should both sleep.  THE LORD will be with us and keep us and he will give us the Grace to go through whatever is in store for us.  "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."  "Fear not those who can kill the body..."

Shalom.  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

Confessions of a Reformed Tree Hugger

I could leave the subject to scientists and politicians but, what the heck?  While the alarmists are threatening us with the collapse of the world or destruction of Biblical proportions because we are slow to switch light bulbs or we put a plastic jug in the regular trash, cooler heads maybe will prevail.

I have had about all the global warming speak that I care to hear.   We had temperatures below freezing for about 2 weeks.  That is saying something for southern Mississippi.  It was cold!  The weather we are experiencing now is delightful.  It is a breezy 72 degrees.

I moved to Mississippi 20 years ago from the New Orleans area.  Prior to that I lived and worked in Boston and Philadelphia and Washington, DC.  These were all large cities with lots of concrete, asphalt, tall buildings and, in general, very little grass.  I grew up in semi-country settings with green pastures and lots of forests and sparkling waters.

The reality of going from one space to another without thinking about it is that one tends to take on the ideas and mindset of whatever prevails in that area.  It happens without any thought whatsoever.  Your mind just wraps itself around the idea du jour and we adapt what is necessary to our everyday existence.  It is simply a matter of self-preservation without the benefit of thought.

I was raised with the idea of conservation of natural resources.  There was the monthly paper drive at school and pop bottles were redeemed everywhere for 2 to 5 cents.  We shut off water not in use.

Living in the cities for 15 or more years I was lulled into believing that the world was in danger by the worst of all offenders - human beings.

I moved to Mississippi and that has all changed.  Living in the concrete jungle, I was abhorred by the thought of using chemicals or herbicides to control weeds.  After all we are being overrun by concrete jungles everywhere.  When in groups, I kept silent about my aversion to herbicides.  I watched as people liberally applied weed killers to the side of the road, along fence rows and around buildings and houses.  The mosquito spray truck was the most shocking thing of all.  The first time I saw the truck spewing its insecticide throughout the city streets, I was stunned.

It took about 2 years to realize that the grass down here will grow over concrete, asphalt, bricks and gravel and totally engulf it in about 3 years.  You can literally sit and watch the grass grow.  It takes several days to remove the grass from any spot that is to be used for anything other than a golf course.

The mosquitoes will over-populate a dog's water bowl if left unattended for just a few days.  They carry several life-threatening illnesses and parasites as well as their bites causing us sensitive souls a great deal of discomfort.

Fire ants, although not indigenous to the area are very prolific.  They reside underground until the rainy season and then they build their mounds above ground.  Left to their own devices, those mounds become huge eyesores and anyone who happens to have an allergy to their poison has a miserable time getting around outside.

Wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, bumble bees and other flying stinging things will form their nests anywhere and everywhere.  The handles of garbage cans, the undersides of lawn furniture, the corners of rooftops, even underground is not immune from nests of stinging things.  That last one makes mowing the lawn an adventure.

Herbicides have to be re-applied every few weeks.  It is not a "one application destroys everything forever" type of thing.  Stuff grows back - over and over and over again.  The wasp nests and fire ants return over and over and over again.

I now have a fondness for chemicals.  They have their place.  Used properly, they are worthwhile to have.

For almost 17 years, I worked in an industry that cuts down pristine forests decimating habitats, cutting down majestic pines and mighty oaks creating jobs for the local economy while lining the pockets of the owners.  The EPA has even created a need for crane and dragline mats in order to keep surrounding waterways clean, unsullied by the mass of humanity that needs electricity carried by the immense power lines.  The irony of it all is that there are alternative materials that can be used, but none are biodegradable.  The only thing that can be used to protect the waters of the earth is wood which means that the forests must be decimated in order to adhere to the governments standards (government standards - oxymoron).  And so it goes.

The new squiggly bulbs that everyone has been pushed to replace our incandescent bulbs with are actually more hazardous than the incandescent bulbs we are replacing.  What happens when all those bulbs go into a landfill?

While we are busy trying to figure out how to SAVE THE PLANET, we must realize that we have no way to destroy a planet that GOD created.  If it will be remade, it will be HIS doing, not ours.  HIS return is soon.

Shalom.  Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.