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Dog Tired

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  One of the fun things I get to do as grandma for my granddogs is babysit. When my son is on shift as a firefighter, I watch his dog. His dog is a very large boxer that loves to cuddle all night. It's difficult to sleep well when he wiggles so much. One weekend, I had boxer duty and my daughter asked me to watch her Australian Shepherd. His quirk was waking up around four in the morning to take a potty break. This weekend, however, he decided to wake up at 3:30 in the morning. After already tossing and turning with the big dog, I stumbled out of my bedroom, down the stairs, and out into the dark of early morning. After both dogs finished their business, I stumbled up the stairs, shutting off the lights as I went. As I flipped off the last light, I watched my daughter's dog go back to the room, then I pushed my son's dog through the door. I decided to let the Australian Shepherd sleep out of the kennel for the rest of the morning. He was quiet as a mouse, and we all quickly...
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Sensitive and Stuck

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  My daughter is getting married in June. She works as a special education paraprofessional. Because of this, she is often outdoors with her students for recess. Her twin sister began to joke with her about the lack of tan where her glasses reside. It would make interesting wedding pictures. My daughter solved this by switching to contacts. Everything was great until she had her nails done. She has always preferred short fingernails. The man giving her a manicure did not agree. You may think this is not a big deal; however, it's a huge deal when you use contacts. She came to me panicking because her contact was stuck. She couldn't remove it due to the longer nails getting in the way.  I tried to help her. Here's the problem. Anytime someone tries to touch your eyeball, you squint, panick, and pull away. Do you feel stuck spiritually? Maybe you've opened yourself up to allowing God to direct your choices and your life. But life has become hard and  complicated. As the ...
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That Kind of Family

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  I spent the weekend with an amazing group of women at the women's retreat at Rockhaven Bible Camp.  I shared about letting our words that we speak be pleasing to God. You can't have freedom if you speak chains over your life! It was a fun time. I made sure to clean my whole house so that when I made it home, it would be clean. The men in my home also went to a men's weekend. When I got home, guy stuff was everywhere! Of course, God was giving me the perfect opportunity to practice what I preach. I smiled, greeted my granddogs, and straightened up my house. My husband rewarded this by saying, "Do you feel like cooking?" My response was a resounding no. He agreed and off the whole family was to a restaurant for dinner. Keep in mind that I have four adult children. When they were young children, we were on a tight budget. We would have a conversation about what they could order before we entered the restaurant. Ordering water was a given. As my family entered the...
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The Stench is Gone

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  There has been a stench outside my house. We looked everywhere to determine where the smell originated. Did the cat bring us  a lizard or small animal gift? No. Was my son's old lunch in his ice chest the cause? No. I know this because I carried to the outer perimeter of our property. I looked under the porch. Nothing. Maybe one of our chickens died. No. No matter how much I looked, I could not find the source of the deathly stench. But I knew it was there. It was the kind of smell that clung to your clothes. I resigned myself that, like that insurance commercial, this smell would become a part of our lives. What's for dinner? Stench. How do you like my perfume? It smells like stench. How's my candle? Is it stench-scented? However, a few hours later, the smell magically disappeared. How could something so bad just dissappear? This is what Jesus Christ did for you. The stench of your and my sin draped us. Death was the clear ending. However, God made a way, my friend, o...
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Avoiding Connecting

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  While on vacation this week, my husband and I stayed in a hotel in Branson, Missouri. To say it was busy is putting it mildly. One of the things that I absolutely love but don't own is a hot tub. I think as I grow older, the heat feels amazing to my body. Because of this, I was very excited to see a hot tub right next to the pool. Unfortunately, the hot tub was filled to capacity with lots of strangers. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind being around people I don't know; however, being squished beside unfamiliar people in swimsuits is a big no go. I told my husband that we would wait until the next day to visit the bubbly haven. The next day, the hot tub was filled at noon. Later, at midnight, it was still packed. I thought early morning would be perfect. Who sits in a hot tub at 9 am? The answer is way too many people. Every day, I glanced into the pool room only to see a bubbling cauldron of germs. Don't get me started on all the little kids in there with possible...
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A Filtered World

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  My husband and I are enjoying a little vacation during Spring Break. Of course, we are doing what everyone does. We're taking the mandatory selfies. As I snapped some selfies, I started annoying my husband because in every picture, I noticed the wrinkles and bags under the eyes. One angle was wrong. The next accentuated the extra ten pounds. At one point, I started playing with filters because I didn't like reality. Our world has embraced filters. If you don't like something about yourself, change it. Here's the beautiful thing. God sees us in reality. No filters. Our bad attitudes, grumpiness, anger, and pride are much worse than a few wrinkles, and He sees it all. But God isn't repelled by our flaws. He loves us in spite of our brokenness and imperfections. So as we filters ourselves to the world, know that the only One who matters loves you no matter what you look like. You are loved. You are valuable. You matter to Jesus. And that's the unfiltered truth. H...
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What Did You Say?

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My new phone has a nifty feature. When someone leaves a voicemail, it automatically transcribed it into text. My husband, however, speaks so fast that hus messages have become quite entertaining. One message said, " Hey, I mean, if I am cons seem, Yeah. What I. " What he was actually saying was, " Hey! I'm being hit by hail ." Following that message was the sound of the hail storm that had passed over while he was driving.  I now look forward to the transcriptions. They're really funny-like Madlibs. Here's the beauty of being able to speak with God. He sees our heart. How many times have you felt so misunderstood? Or maybe the words just do not come out right. God knows your heart. He doesn't need eloquent prayers, fancy words, or seminary speech. He just wants to hear from you. And as you pour out your heart to the One who loves you more than anyone, He knows who you are. He understands what you need, and He cares what you feel. When we speak to Go...
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