Mews from Meowmix

1. According to a local weather man, it is only 56 days until fall.
2. Naps.
3. Andrew is funny.
4. All the young-un’s on Facebook who say they are bored.
5. Privilege of voting, and early voting at that.
6. My blogging family.
7. Diet Coke.
8. Cats that can talk.
9. Michael’s request for potato salad on Saturday.

Sending you much love.  And may God bless.

………….or maybe a pair of ducks, huh?  An oxymoron in the making?  One funeral director I work with/for (and he’s actually the boss) compliments me very kindly and thanks me for my work almost every time we work together.  Another one………………….I can’t do anything to please her.  Today I could have thrown in the towel if I had followed my inclinations.  I like to think of myself as longsuffering, but…………………….  Anyway, I walked away from the verbal confrontation I would have liked to start.  Lucky for me, I read from my Power for Today devotional this very morning before the day got started.  I’ll share it with you.

Managing Conflict God’s Way

Bible Thought:  Deliver me, O my God, from the hands of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men.  Psam 71:4

The psalmist David was very forthright, describing his adversaries as wicked, evil, and cruel.  Hopefully, few of today’s Christians literally pray in this manner.  On the other hand, it would be self-deception for most of us to imagine we always get along with everyone and are free of interpersonal conflict.  So what to do?

First, like David, we need to be frank.  Genuine prayer helps us do that.  It is not for nothing that Paul wrote, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath….”  (Romans 12:18-19)  Paul’s instruction is very much in harmony with David.  The part about leaving room for God’s wrath does not mean we are to imitate James and John and pray for fire to descend on those who wrong us (Luke 9:54-55), but rather it is to take our conflicts to God.

When we pray about our interpersonal conflicts, God becomes our rock and fortress (Psalm 71:3).  In such a safe place, we are better able to pray that tough part of the Lord’s Prayer, asking for God’s forgiveness as we forgive others.

And so, I pray with Roger Chapman of Boca Raton, Florida, “Dear God, I wish to be frank with You when I have conflict with others.  I need Your help so that I can overcome the conflict.  I wish to have a forgiving heart…………..In Jesus Name.”

And so I’m sleeping on the issue and will pray about it and ask for divine guidance.

Brad, master of managing conflicts, are you out there??? 

TODAY’S SMILES:

1. Memory of the birds flying in formation across the night sky last night just below the storm clouds.
2. Blessed rain and a few hours of cooler temperatures.
3. Watching Barney doing his acrobatics while chasing flies.
4. Spaghetti.
5. Bre.
6. A clean house and a clean bed calling my name.

I’ll try to be back tomorrow evening.  And may God bless.

Was a good day.  Services at church were good.  This morning’s song service was full of praise songs, and Phil’s lesson surrounded our praise to God in worship.  Tonight, Andrew (age 22-23) and married to Lydia for 1 year today, spoke on marriage and what he had learned in his first year!    There were several chuckles reverberating through the audience, me included.  Afterward, I told him if now he could just tell me how to talk someone into marrying me!!??    Oh well.

My favorite visiting songleader, Fred, was on board tonight, and all of his songs were of grace.  Wonderful songs.  Only trouble is, I told him, he made me cry.  Good thing Doris wasn’t able to be with me tonight, because I embarrass her when a song makes me cry.    The 24th of August is the first anniversary of my brother Denzil’s death.  Has it really been a year?  Anyway, one of the songs Fred led us in singing tonight was His Grace Reaches Me.  The words to that song are what I chose to have printed on the inside of the little memorial page to be passed out at the funeral.  We closed the service tonight with Amazing Grace, which is what I sang at the funeral.  I think I did fairly well.  I made it all the way to the final stanza before the tears took over.  But I am just so glad to know that His grace DID reach my brother, and it reaches me!

We are expecting rain possibly tonight and over the next day or so, and it will be SO welcome if it happens.  Maybe it will alleviate this awful heat, at least for a bit.  Hurry Fall!!!

Last but certainly not least, I received a phone call from my friend I told you about in one of the blogs last week.  We were friends many years ago, but our paths diverged (someone I care a lot about used that term with me to describe our relationship as paths converging and diverging and now they were diverging – I really don’t like that word or his description ).  I felt I had not been a true friend to her and needed to express regret for that.  We had reconnected on Facebook, and I am ever so grateful.  It’s so funny how people look back on times and things in their lives and see them in a different manner.  I had told her how sorry I was for things left undone and things said that should not have been; she tells me today that it was all HER fault!  But we had a good conversation, and her last words before she hung up was “I love you.”  Doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

TODAY’S SMILES:

1. Remembering a ride from Memphis to Corning with Marlen once when we were taking my kitten home to live with my Mom and Dad.  (Marlene hats cates) 
2. Avis and Fred.  Two hugs and kisses at church in one day!
3. Going to Sonic with Doris so she could have an ice cream cone.
4. Shared memories.
5. Red nail polish.
6. An absence of 3-4 pounds!

See you tomorrow night.  And may God bless.

Since that is one of my constant refrains lately, I think I’ll turn it into something pleasant:

T – tender friendships

I – interesting and inspiring stories

R – relaxation

E – encouraging

D – dear ones

The above describes what our blog church/family means to me.  Have a good weekend.  See you back on Sunday night!  I have the whole weekend off!!

….and may God bless.

TODAY’S SMILES:

1. Dads who call their daughters “tater.”
2. Vegetables.
3. Hope springs eternal.
4. The moon (again).
5. A man in a motorized wheelchair pulling his faithful, furry companion along on a leash.
6. Hailey cleaning her room and her sweet thank-you note.
7. An unexpected reply to an e-mail I should not have sent!!!

I worked a visitation tonight and am bone tired, so I’m just checking in to say you are all close to my heart and in my prayers; however, anything even remotely interesting, humorous or inspiring from me will have to wait until tomorrow night!    So I’ll share some:

SMILES:

1. Moons that are beautiful and almost full.
2. Being told by my boss that I’m doing a good job.
3. Barney waiting at the door for me when I come in.
4. The idiocy of taking a chance on someone’s suggestion I can make it from Point A to Point B going in a different way than the one I was already using.  Got all bumfuzzled and took MORE time than normal.
5. Bobbie and her stories.

See you tomorrow night.  And may God bless.

This has been a popular topic of late.  I’ve written blogs about forgiveness and Janice has over at Gathering Rubies.  Forgiveness is definitely a ruby.  We’ve all touched on it.  I think Greg may have even approached it from the standpoint that I am doing so tonight.

Most of the time, when I think about forgiveness and how hard it is to do, it is a situation where I need to forgive somebody for some wrong, slight, insult, etc.  In other words, it’s the other guy/gal who needs to be forgiven, I need to forgive them and have trouble doing so…………..or in one case recently, to help someone else overcome their reluctance or inability to forgive someone who had wronged them.  However, there’s another side to it.

I am in contact with someone very recently with whom I was friends a long time ago.  Although neither of us was perfect, things I did to her has surfaced in my mind a number of times over the years.  It has been 40+ years since I’ve seen her, but I’ve thought about her often————–most of the time with regret.  The regret has been due to the fact that when we were “friends” and “running around together,” I was not a good friend to her.  I was not a true and honest and loyal friend.  In other words, I just wasn’t a nice person; it was a myth that I was.  We moved to Memphis about the same time, and I stayed in her apartment until I could get one of my own.  Her dad cosigned for me to get my apartment.  We went to church together in Corning.

I’m afraid in those days I had a superior attitude about a lot of things and a lot of people.  In other words, I was full of myself.  Underlying this was an inferiority complex which, I guess, I covered up with that superior exterior and it made it kind of dangerous to hang around with me.  And, as I said earlier, I regret many words and actions I executed during that time in my life and, particularly, with regard to this person.

Facebook is good for a lot of things, and we have reconnected via that medium.  I have written a message to her and admitted my failures when it came to being her friend, failures that were unkind and sinful on my part……….and I wore the name of Christ at the same time.  I’ve asked her to forgive me.  Because of some glitch, either with my computer or hers, or maybe Facebook, I’ve not received her reply.  I wouldn’t blame her if she told me to go fly a kite……….but I hope she doesn’t.

TODAY’S SMILES:

1. Hailey, Emily, and their pets.
2. Catnip.
3. Warmed-up spaghetti is better the second day than the first!
4. Having my internet service back.  Did I mention that already?
5. A comfortable bed when you’re tired.

See you tomorrow night.  And may God bless.

Just dropping in tonight to say howdy and explain my absence for a week.  Remember our infamous trees and limbs that are wreaking havoc with the health of our house?  Well, a week ago, one fell across our telephone wire, knocking out phone service and internet connection.  Bummer!  It took one week forAT&T to come out and fix the wire!

But here I am.  I’ve missed blogging and reading yours.

While I’ve been gone, it has been hotter than Hades in our metopolis, and Hailey got her tonsils out.  She’s doing well (much better than I did; of course, I had mine out some five or six yeas ago, and that explains the difference – SHE is 11!).

I’ll be back with more to say tomorrow evening.  Until then, much love to all.  And may God bless.

TODAY’S SMILES:

1. People who know how to put up fallen telephone wires.
2. Baked spaghetti and salad.
3. Two legs that can walk a mile even though the mind that goes with them doesn’t want to!
4. Air conditioning.
5. Somebody unwithered my crops for me over at Facebook.

I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching lately, particularly about my judgmental side.  I am praying that God will humble me even more and cut the edges off so that I will be always kind, warm, and loving.

But every now and then, as I’ve shared before, my daily devotionals hit me square between the eyes.  In my Power for Today, the narrative surrounded the story of Jonah and how he ran from going where God wanted him to go and ended up being swallowed by that big fish.  When he was coughed up, he went on to Nineveh and preached and was not happy about the outcome when God extended grace to that city upon their repentance.  Ms. Melanie Semore of Memphis, Tennessee opined that Jonah went out and sat down outside the city so he could watch it be destroyed by God but was most indignant when they turned to God and he did not destroy them.

She goes on to use a word I’ve never heard of to describe Jonah’s actions and feelings.  The word is schadenfreude, which she says is derived from German words for harm and joy and means “satisfaction derived from another’s misfortune.”  The final sentences:  “How silly it is to find pleasure when someone gets what he deserves, because we ourselves have been spared that death that we deserve.

When I read today’s devotional offering, a face instantly popped into my mind.  (John, if you’re there, you’ll immediately empathize!)    The face that surfaced was that of one of our local politicians.  Been Superintendent of the city school board and was mayor for something like 18 years, if I’m remembering correctly.  He was elected either 4 or 5 times, 5 I’m pretty sure, and stepped down last year with the intention of running for Congress against another local politician who has held the seat for some time.

So what’s the problem.  It has been said many, many times over the last few months at my house, “I hope he falls flat on his face and gets beat by a landslide.”  And my mouth has been uttering those words big time.  He’s the kind of guy you don’t even want to be in the room with the TV when he’s on.  Many folks other than myself view him as the most bigoted, arrogant, self-righteous, self-seeking, pompous ____ in the WORLD!  We’d like nothing more than to see him get whipped.  His antics with our citizenry go way-y-y-y-y back.  So I guess I’m guilty of schadenfreude!  I know right now my plans are to vote for the other guy, not necessarily because I especially honor him, but just to cast a vote AGAINST this character of whom I speak.

I must pray about this………………..

And, oh, remember that mirror?  From “Jesus Calling,” today’s date:  “If you like what you see in the mirror, you feel a bit more worthy of My love.  When things are going smoothly and your performance seems adequate, you find it easier to believe you are My beloved child.  When you feel discouraged, you tend to look inward so you can correct whatever is wrong.  Instead of trying to “fix” yourself, fix your gaze on Me, the Lover of your soul.”  Rather than using your energy to judge yourself, redirect it to praising Me.  Remember that I see you clothed in My righteousness, radiant in My perfect love.

…….sort of put a new spin on things for me.

TODAY’ S SMILES:

1. Another early-morning thunderstorm.
2. Taking Grace shopping again.
3. An unexpected visit from Elisa and Miguel and their new puppy, Precious.
4. Watching someone on Wheel of Fortune win $142.000.
5. Walking at the church.
6. Andrew.
7. Hailey’s notes on FB.  “I’m bored.  Txt me.”

See you tomorrow some time.  And may God bless.

Tonight’s sermon began with a question to which most of us could answer, “yes.”  Did you look in a mirror today?  Checked your hair?  Makeup?  Made sure your tie was straight?  With the object of making sure you looked your best or the way you wanted to present yourself to the world.

Another question that Preacher Phil often asks us, “Do you feel more confident in your faith and spirituality today than you did when you first began your journey?”  The first time he posed this particular question, I answered to myself that yes, I did feel more confident.  Since then, I have thought about it, and I think I would answer in a different way, because there are more than one aspect to this.

Most of us, when we begin our journeys of faith, are pumped up, enthusiastic, ready to set the world on fire for Jesus.  I was 13 and had been studying, hard, for maybe 6 months before I was baptized.  I was all those things.  Happy and excited.  But I don’t think I had even an inkling of a clue as to what that journey of faith meant.  In fact, at that time and place, I think I thought I’d just done everything I needed to do.  I believed and I’d been baptized.  The journey for me, and I suspect for most everyone, is a continuing thing.  One would hope that it is a journey of increase in faith and commitment, but that’s not always the case either.  I also hear people say, and hear in a lot of sermons, that we are or should be thankful for the blessings found in Christ and the lifestyle change from sin to faith.  At 13, I was certainly accountable, but I cannot identify with those who’ve turned to Christ as adults and they can see a huge difference in their before and after spiritual picture.

As I’ve lived and learned, there have been periods of time that I acted like anything but a follower of Christ.  I began the journey in 1962.  Up until about age 18+, I lived as best I could because I had incredible examples in my family (my mom and sister), my church family (many names), and our preacher (Landon Saunders).  I did not lack for encouragement or examples or motivation.  I did not want to disappoint anyone.  The transition from teenager to adult was a hard one for me and, at that time, just before the drug culture, I tippy-toed my feet into the edge of several waters that were not good for me……………..and certainly did not depict someone who professed to wear the name of Christ.  Throughout adult life, there have been ups and downs, lots of hills and valleys in my spiritual life.  As for confidence, I can honestly say I don’t think I had even that inkling of a clue until some 3 or 4 years ago.

Today, I dig deeper in the Word.  I try to be very sensitive to the Christian side of an issue.  This is something I always tried to do but failed more often than not in the execution of what I knew to be right.  So, having said all that, yes, I’m more confident of my faith and in my prayer life today than I was when I began my journey and certainly  more so than just about any point in time in my adult life.  I think I’ve matured in faith but recognize I have a whole lot more to do.  And I am so very grateful that my Lord and Savior has held my hand the entire time, urging me on to be the best I can be and covering my many failures with His blood.

So, back to the mirror.  When I look in my spiritual mirror, what do I see?  I see the handprints with nails, I see love and grace and mercy, and I see a person who is still learning.  James put it this way in the first chapter of that book:

“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

The perfect law of liberty.  That’s what I need to look into to see my spiritual self.  That’s the guide I must lay myself beside and compare to see how I look to those around me.  My mirror in the bathroom will tell me what my hair and makeup looks like, and that’s important.  But not nearly as important as the image I see reflected from the perfect law of liberty, the Word.

Just some thoughts of mine from my heart to yours on this Sunday night.  See you tomorrow night.  And may God bless.

WEEKEND SMILES:

1. Having Emmy at our house Friday night.  She spent Saturday with Mamaw while I was at work.
2. The ice cream supper and cookout at church Friday night.
3. A good day at work yesterday.
4. Putting on a pair of pants tonight that fit better than they did the last time I put them on.
5. Preacher Phil and his jokes.
6. The beautiful early evening sky.
7. Raindrops.