Monthly Archives: January 2009

Encouraging My Jobs

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Chronic illness, debilitating disease, wayward teens, troubled relationships, job loss, discouragement, depression…

Right now, among my family, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, I know many people who currently face one or more of these trials. You may be dealing with these too. Tomorrow it could be me.

I’ve been reading through the book of Job in my daily time with God. Now, there was a man who faced intense suffering. He lost his family, his home, his livelihood – everything he had. He was “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1-2).” Yet, God allowed the trials to test Job’s faith. Job’s wife was angry that he still clung to God. She urged him to “curse God and die (2:9)!” But Job refused. Read more

Last Straw at Wal Mart

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It had been a really bad day. Issues with my family, issues at work, even issues with my hair. I had complained to God and one of my close friends. But I was pretty determined to be in a bad mood. I only had one more errand before I could go home and wallow in self-pity for the rest of the evening. Since I only needed a handful things from Wal Mart – milk, toilet paper, and fabric dye – I expected to be in and out in just a few minutes.

Storming around the store with my “poor me” attitude I found the fabric dye on the aisle with the laundry detergent. Dark brown was only available in the liquid version. I needed a lot so I started pulling bottles off the little shelf over my head. Each time I grabbed one the others were pushed forward by a spring-loaded mechanism on the shelf. Read more

Pink Scooters and Big, Yellow Dogs

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I took our not-so-small, black Chihuahua for a long walk recently. About 3 pounds overweight, Harley needs all the exercise I’m willing to give him. He does well at all the dog walking basics. He stays right at my side, keeps the pace I set and rarely stops to sniff at a fireplug or lamp post.

But this particular day something spooked him. About two blocks into our walk, Harley not only came to a screeching halt, he dug his heels in (or whatever dogs have) and refused to budge. Looking ahead I spotted the object of his fear – a kid-sized, pink scooter in the middle of the sidewalk. I tried to encourage him with soothing comments, but his rump remained on the concrete. Then I combined pulling on the leash with some not-so-soothing comments. But Harley still wouldn’t move. I ended up carrying him around the scooter while he climbed me like a tree. Read more

God's Personal Assistant

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Have you ever felt the need to “help” God get His job done? We may not say it out loud. We may not even realize that we doubt God will do what He said He would do. But our actions always reveal what we really believe about God.

I started reading the Bible through in January, so I’ve been reading in Genesis the last two weeks. Both Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands when they didn’t trust God to do what He promised. Read more