Why Ants Don’t Like Humans

Oct18

Guest post by Morgan Reeves, age 10

One day, a woman was walking down the sidewalk when she dropped her fan. She didn’t feel it fall out of her hand, so she kept on walking, leaving the fan behind. The next day, a line of ants was walking down that same sidewalk and found the fan lying there. The ants wondered what it was. One of the ants decided to get a closer look.

“It’s rather pretty,” the ant said.

“And has lots of flowers!” said another. And in another minute, all the ants were talking about the beauty of the fan. Then they decided to take it home and make it a site-seeing place. All the ants in the entire area were awed over the amazing fan. Ants came from everywhere to see the fan because none of them had seen a fan or knew what it was. They called the fan “the flat garden,” which was the name that brought all the ants, because they had never in their life seen a flat garden.

One day, a little girl was alone, walking up and down the sidewalk, when she came across the fan.

“Oh, what a pretty fan!” she cried. She picked it up and looked at it. There wasn’t a single scratch or rip. She decided to take it home. An hour later, the ants found out that a human had taken their flat garden! They were angry, for they loved it very much. They all decided to spread the news that the flat garden was gone. Once they did, it spread out all over the world, and from then on, all but the black ants (who didn’t care) decided to bite every human they see. And that is why ants don’t like humans.

Thankful today for:

614. Creativity

615. open doors

616. a washing machine

617. for Morgan stepping out of her comfort zone this weekend

618. birdie toys

Never Give In

Oct11

Winston Churchill famously said, “Nevah give in, nevah, nevah, nevah. In nothing, great or small, large or petty. Nevah give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Nevah yield to force. Nevah yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

I’m a big baseball fan, (but then, you knew that already, didn’t you?). As an Oakland A’s fan, I’ve learned to never give up. During the regular season, the team had 14 walk-off wins. A walk-off is when the home team wins a game in their half of the 9th inning, or an extra inning, by way of a home run or hit that scores the winning run. The opposing pitcher then simply walks off the field, usually with head bowed, having given up the winning run. Last night, with their backs against the wall, the A’s did it again in the post season.

This team exemplifies the never-give-in attitude. Even with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning of a win-or-go-home game, facing purportedly one of the “best closers in the game,” one man got on. Then another. Then another. And finally the winning blow. We weren’t supposed to win. We were supposed to be swept in this series. We weren’t even supposed to make the playoffs, let alone win our division. But here we are, playing a decisive game 5 tonight against a Cy-Young-Award-winning pitcher who beat us in the first game.

Never give in.

Do we face opposition in daily life? When God has called us to be salt and light at work, do we face persecution?

The enemy is out there. His greatest desire is to wear us down and make us weary. It’s a long battle, but we must never give up.

The Apostle Paul said, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:9.10).

Serving others is tiring; every parent can agree with that statement. Every food service worker, every retail sales clerk, every teacher knows that doing things for others is exhausting, especially when you get no thanks in return.

Mother Teresa once said, “Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.” The trick is loving with God’s love, not out of our own strength. That will wear us down every time.

The A’s won last night on a team effort. One man couldn’t score three runs on his own: three guys had to get on before him.

We can’t win the battle against the enemy on our own–and I’m not talking about end-of-the-world battle. I’m talking about the victories we win every day when we allow God to rule in our hearts. To love like He loves, to serve like He serves. We must do it as a team. We need the encouragement of those who have gone before us, and of those battling with us now.

Let’s go, Oakland!

Let’s go, followers of Jesus!

Chris Tomlin has some encouragement on that subject. Enjoy. I Will Follow

Thankful today for:

609. fall colors in Colorado

610. music

611. walk-off wins

612. maid service

613. friends who share their breakfasts

 

Tap Here To Begin Writing

Oct1

It makes it sound so easy. All you have to do is put the cursor at the top of the page and start writing. If you have something to say, shouldn’t the words just come?

Everyone’s probably heard of the term “writer’s block.” It refers to that time when you’re supposed to be writing something, but the inspiration just won’t come. It seems to happen most often when there’s a deadline hanging over your head. But every writer knows that you deal with writer’s block by just writing. You push through it. Sometimes you have to get up and take a walk, or do something else for a bit, but you can’t let the block win.

Eric Liddle, the Scottish runner memorialized in the movie “Chariots of Fire,” once said to his sister, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” God had made him fast, and he wanted to use that gift God had given him. So he ran.

When I write, I feel God’s pleasure. But the writing has to be done in His strength, not my own. And when life’s demands stealthily steal the time and attention I could be spending writing, I feel a listlessness that I don’t often attribute to having not written. It’s just a hobby for me anyway, isn’t it? It’s not like it’s my job. I don’t make my living off of it.

Maybe not; but it’s what gives me life.

Work out of your strengths. Isn’t that what job coaches tell us? If you’re in a job that constantly demands things of you that you find it a stretch to do, then maybe seeking God about another job would be a good idea. Now, I know in this economy that isn’t easy. Sometimes that strength may have to come on the side. Love doing administrative work? Ask your church if they need help in the office sometimes. Love working with kids? Volunteer as a mentor at a local school. Need to be outdoors? Use your evenings and weekends to fulfill that desire.

Life is too short to always work out of our weaknesses. God gave us strengths, gifts that we need to embrace and use for His glory. If I can take 10 minutes a day, or even every other day to get some words out there, I will feel much better.

What about you? What gift do you need to accept and use more?

Thankful today for:

604. people who leave really cool stuff out on the curb that I can then snatch up

605. grace

606. my team making it into the playoffs!

607. the chance to go to Colorado next week with my husband

608. friends who will help my kids while we’re gone

What Did You Do Today?

Sep28

After going through some marriage counseling, my husband learned that he was never to ask me the question “What did you do today?” If I needed to rest, I was to be allowed to rest. If all I accomplished was getting out of bed and getting the kids off to school, then that was OK. If I just needed to sit and read a book, I was to be allowed that freedom.

As moms, I think we get caught up in the doing, and we forget about the being. I am not loved because of what I do; I am loved because of who I am. And who I am is not dependent on the jobs that I have or the title I might hold. Who I am is completely dependent on who God made me to be. My identity cannot be in what I do, or I will spend my whole life striving. The rest I long to find will never come.

In Psalm 46:10 says “Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The New International Version translates it “Be still.” When we know that there is so much work to do, how hard is being still? This morning, one of the women from my office shared that God showed her that sometimes that means just sitting cross-legged in front of Jesus and letting Him look at you. That’s a great picture. Awkward, it might seem, but necessary. Am I letting Him see me? Am I letting Him tell me what HE wants me to do, rather than telling Him what I want to do?

This afternoon, my husband and I took our eldest son for a second job interview at a soon-to-be-opening restaurant in the area. Not two minutes after I prayed that God would do what He would do in that interview, my son came back to tell us that the hiring manager had told him that, whereas they really liked him, they were full up on 15-year-olds and to come back when he was 16 and he would have a job.

God is in control. He knew that “interview” would turn out the way it would without my efforts to make it any different. What could I do anyway?

What can I in my own strength do about anything?

So, what did I do today? Did I rest in Him? Did I cease my striving?

There’s a reason we’re not called “human doings.” We’re called human “BEings.” Makes a lot of sense to me.

Here’s a song that speaks to that. Enjoy. Restless

Thankful today for:

600. retreats

601. meals paid for by someone else

602. rest

603. newness

10 years ago Friday

Sep21

I was sitting inside where it’s nice and cool, watching my 10-year-old daughter cavort in the pool with her friends. Friday was her birthday.

Of course, I remember that day clearly. I went through most of labor in the waiting room as there was no room in labor and delivery. There was a bomb scare which kept the doctor away until it was almost too late. She was snatched away from me by a well-meaning nurse who thought she spit up something greenish that could indicate a perforated bowel. She had to spend several days in the NICU, and I had to go home without her, which was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. Turns out she was perfectly fine, thank the Lord.

20120921-183342.jpgI loved the baby days, even with the sleepless nights. She was an adorable baby, and she has grown into a funny, gregarious, happy little girl young lady. Her heart is full of songs. She loves her family–even those annoying brothers–, she loves her pets, she loves Jesus. She wants to run a zoo when she grows up.

I’m hoping that doesn’t happen for a long, long time.

Happy birthday, Morgan.

Thankful today for:

595. My daughter
596. The rain holding off until after the pool party
597. Lasagna
598. Chocolate cake
599. Weekends