"What's in Your Cup?"

 

My husband and I were recently on a program

from our church called

"What's in Your Cup?"

I hope you enjoy it!

Encouragement from the Birds!

If you have followed some of my blog posts for a few years,

you have probably noticed there are a lot of bird posts.

Lately I've been transitioning from photographing these

little feathered friends, to painting them.

As with my ROCK 4 Today posts

that feature the names of God on Rocks,

I've started painting birds on rocks.

Wrens are such unique little creatures! 

Click on these highlighted letters

 to see some of my wren photos and learn more about them!

This is a "Yellow bellied Sapsucker".

He's a pretty hard one to catch with the camera,

and even harder to portray with a paintbrush!

Watching the birds fascinates me.

Spending time painting them relaxes me...

...Much more than watching the news these days!

May the God of Hope

fill you with all joy and peace

as you trust in Him

during these perilous times!

Romans 15:13

I am reminding myself today that

Jesus said that if God takes care of the birds,

He will surely take care of us!

Matthew 6:26

Prophetic Dream?

 If you are a "YouTuber",

or watch much Christian television,

you probably have been hearing a lot more lately

about "Prophetic Dreams"...

If you are like me,

you may wonder which dreams are from God,

or which may just be what my husband calls

"Pizza Dreams"

caused by something you ate! 😀

Recently I had a dream about this chapel

 that my dad pastored when I was a teenager.

Whether or not it was "PROPHETIC",

I am not sure...

But it did have a lesson for me!

In my dream the pews in the church 

were packed with people.

After the congregation all vacated the building,

 I was left alone with a man

who was chasing me trying to attack me.

Fearfully I ran up and down between pews,

zigzagging, and trying to get to the door to escape.

"If I only had a weapon"

I remember thinking in my dream.

.And then I noticed the hymnbooks 

in the racks on the back of the church benches.

and a plan quickly began to form in my mind.

The "Fight or Flight Syndrome" kicked in!!!

With my heart beating rapidly

and my adrenaline surging, 

I began grabbing hymnals 

and throwing them at my attacker.

He cowered and held his arms

to protect his face as he began to retreat!

He ran out the door and into the parking lot

and I continued to hurl hymnbooks at him.

The roof had lifted off the top of the church building,

and my hymnbook weapons continued to sail 

over the top of the solid rock wall of the church,

hitting their target and chasing him away.

Suddenly reinforcements appeared

as my smiling pastor arrived,

But the fight had already been won,

It was the flying hymnbooks

that sent the enemy scurrying!

****************

Later that morning as I was enjoying

my morning "Coffee with Jesus",

I couldn't get the dream out of my mind,

so I called my younger sis who had also spent many hours

in that chapel in our growing up years.

"Awhhhh", she said.

"Don't you know what that means?"

"It's the sacrifice of praise!"

I had done a post on this almost 10 years ago...

(This was one of my most popular posts,..

You can click on the link above to take you there.)

I needed that reminder as we face the chaos

of the elections and the pandemic.

Prophetic dream or not,

God used that dream 

and the words of my younger sis

 to remind me that it is 

the SACRIFICE OF PRAISE 

that defeat the enemy every time.

"1Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands!

2Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise. 

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 

5For the Lord is good; 

His mercy is everlasting, 

And His truth endures to all generations."

Psalm 100 NKJV

Maybe we can't sing together in church at this time, 

but that's no reason not to sing!

May you have JOY in your heart today

as you lift your voice in praise and

SING!  SING!  SING!

Mischievous Max's Mayhem

Well,

It looks like my walking buddy

is going to have to take a break for awhile...

I probably won't be playing chase with him

for awhile when he grabs things and runs

with them, knowing we will run after him.

He probably won't feel like jumping up 

on the outdoor furniture...

...Or running to see who has come to visit!

He may have trouble walking on the rocks 

at one of our favorite spots

down at the Buffalo National River.

Nope!

Our buddy Max has broken a foot

and is probably still in surgery right now.

Thirty-some years ago I broke my right ankle.

It was a really bad break...

I dislocated and broke three bones badly enough

that my foot was twisted 180 degrees backward.

Thanks to a really good orthopaedic surgeon,

(and the healing touch of God)

I was able to walk again!

It did take time, crutches, therapy, etc.

I'm not sure what Max did that caused this.

He loves chasing balls and retrieving them,

but we weren't doing that when it happened.

Probably his own mayhem caused it  :(

Just as we jumped in to rescue Max from damage

he had probably done to himself,

it reminded me of how often God rescues us

from messes we get ourselves into.

I love Psalm 18.

This Psalm is written by King David,

who as you probably know,

got himself in a lot of messes.

Here are a few of my favorite verses from that chapter:

"In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down...

...He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me..."

Maybe Max will be able to jump in the four-wheeler

before long and enjoy a ride!

Max, Laughter, and the Corona Virus

Max makes us laugh!
Heaven knows we need laughter
with this CoronaVirus thing!

Proverbs 17:22 says,
"A merry heart does good like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones."

"What are you doing in there?"
Max seems to say as he looks in the kitchen window
by putting his front feet on the picnic table!

"Uh-oh"
"I think I ruined the soccer ball."

"I sure like going for rides!"

"These lawn chairs aren't very comfortable without the cushions!"

"This just looks like a cigar...
It's really rawhide,
and it doesn't have much taste!"

Well, I hope this made you smile.

Stay well!

Wash your hands!

And join me in trying to look for something good every day.

"I would have lost heart,

unless I had believed

that I would see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait on the LORD;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the LORD!"

Psalm 27:13-14

Who Me? Max and Puppy Training

Teething Challenges!

Boredom, Orneriness or teething pain?

WHO ME?

Yes...
This is the mess that I found this morning
when I thought I was too busy to give Max
his normal morning exercise and attention!

I'm still very much in the learning stage of how to train a puppy.
I think I kind of overlooked the
"Consistency - Thou Art a Jewel"
principle this morning...
...And now I'm paying for it!

It is very evident that Max is teething.
He even will chew on the chunky gravel rocks
if not supervised when outdoors in the fenced backyard.
Sometimes I find I am so impatient and think to myself,
"I really don't have the time or energy for this!"

My daughter who has spent much time training her  Golden doodle
to be a "therapy dog" gives me encouragement and advice.
She also drops by with healthy doggie treats and toys.
Some of those healthy treats are so STINKY,
but they help get the dog's attention,
especially if I wait till he is a bit hungry!
She tells me that training works best when the puppy is hungry.

The Scripture says in Proverbs 22:6 to
"Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it."
I guess this also applies to puppies!

"Consistency - Thou Art a Jewel!"

I think that

The two most important things 

I learned in Bible College were:

1. "Keep balanced!"

and

2. "Consistency - Thou Art a Jewel!"

And I also think I can safely say that

 both apply to puppy training!

We have begun to have a routine with Max...
And CONSISTENCY definitely pays dividends!
(TV watching is not one of those regular routines,
but he appears to like watching old Westerns
with my husband!)

Max has learned to sit on command...

And sometimes he lays down on command!

Max is learning to do better on a leash,

and that is thanks to those who recommended a slip chain.

My daughter is helping TRAIN ME how to do this!

He's not "heeling" very good outside,

but does great when we practice inside the house,

up and down our narrow hallway!

The Labrador Retriever part of him is showing up

in his joy of retrieving tennis balls.

It's great exercise for him (and me!)

He is learning to let go of them

but he is not always CONSISTENT yet!

Treats seem to help!

"Potty training" via crate training

is going well,

with only a few accidents.

I'm not sure

 who is trained on this,

HIM or ME!

Potty training seems to be one of those things where

"Consistency - Thou Art a Jewel"

definitely pays off!

Proverbs 3:6 says

"Train up a child in the way that he should go;

and when he is old,

he will not depart from it."

I think that definitely can apply to puppies...

Max seems to be doing very well for four months of age.

(The above quote re. CONSISTENCY  is from the late Mr. L. E. Maxwell of Prairie Bible Institute!
Come to think of it, I think "Maxwell" is a good name for our puppy,
calling him  "Max" for the shorter version of his name!)