Frog in a Rut

 

January 11

 One night, when I was a boy, my mother told me a simple story. A little frog landed in the middle of a deep tire track in a muddy road. Jump as he might he couldn’t get out. The other frogs headed back to the pond for the night. Splash- little frog was back. . "How did you get out,” the others demanded?

"I just jumped out," said the exuberant little frog, “you see a truck was coming.”
This story stayed with me. Now anytime I'm stuck in a rut, I can jump free.

"For the son of man has come to seek and save that which is lost." (Luke 19:10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dusty Dog

 

January 10 from my journal

One weekend my sister and I took our dog Dusty to a park. Suddenly head down and nose to the ground he followed a trail down an incline. We watched from the top of the hill. A rabbit appeared and hopped up on a large flat rock. Dusty sniffed right by that rock and continued down the hill. When he was a safe distance away, the rabbit darted off.

There have been times, like Dusty, I was too busy with what I was doing to look up and see the prize. I need to stop sniffing out what I seek and pay attention to what God wants for my life.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Trusting the Pilot

 

January 8 from my journal...…..Trusting the Pilot

A winter storm is howling at BWI Airport in Baltimore. My flight to Tampa is delayed as crews plow the runways. Finally it is our turn to take-off. While I pray the plane roars down that snowy runway and up into the swirling storm clouds. The aircraft shutters and shakes until we climb above the storm. It is a smooth flight to Tampa.

When I entered that plane I had totally given up control and put my life in the hands of that pilot.

So why struggle giving the controls of my life to the Lord? Why can't I trust God to pilot my life’s journey? After all, who has had more experience?

"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5)

ps I have done that and trusting God has made all the difference.

Latch Key Kids

 

               

 

 

January 5

This year my granddaughters became latch key children. Their mother joins their dad in the work force to make ends meet. A grandson is in day care.

The worry side of me goes wild thinking of what could happen during those few hours after school. Movies like "Home Alone" just add fuel to the  what ifs? Their parents say, “The girls are eleven and twelve and they know what to do.”

 Then I , remember when I was ten?  The world was at war and my Mom went to do peace work. After school I returned to an empty house. I WAS A LATCHKEY CHILD.

 "Train up a child in the way he should go,And when he is old he will not depart from it."

(Proverbs 22:6)

Vantage Point

 

 

January 4

 

It is a full moon and a pleasant night to walk around the neighborhood. I muse how the ancients viewed this same moon, fearing it and even worshiping it.

 

 John Glenn, the first American to orbit our planet and have a moon’s-eye- view of earth, takes another trip 36 years later. Now 77, Glenn catches the world’s attention on his "flag lap" around earth. Walter Cronkite is back to report the event and the Australians light up their country for Glenn, as they did in 1962.

 

From space Glenn says, " Looking at the Earth from this vantage point, looking at this kind of creation and to not believe in God, to me, is impossible."

 

Right on.

 

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

Leaving Home

 

January 3

On a walk around my neighborhood, I notice a small boy pulling a little red wagon with a suitcase in it. He starts down the street. As I near the house a man comes out, looks in the direction of the boy.

"Leaving home are we," I ask? The man nods.
That boy is testing his boundaries but what he really wants to know is that his parents still love him.

 As a child of God, I have walked away from my heavenly Father. I didn’t get far and I desperately wanted to know that God still loves me.

God tells us all the time that He loves us. We just have to pay attention and listen.

 "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever."
(Psalm 136:1 NLT)

Airport Delay

 

January 2

My flight from Hartford to Sarasota is canceled. I call Joy and she says "Look around and see who you can help. Go do the Lord's work."As I hang up the phone I spot a man in a wheelchair looking at his ticket. I wheel him to the next gate.

The agent redoes his ticket and turns to me."Oh I'm not on his flight," I tell him, “I ‘m going to Florida but my flight to Charlotte was canceled.""I can get you to Tampa. Will that help?"

Tampa is only an hour away. I arrive home in time for dinner.

" Lord when did I see you a stranger and take you in? Surely I say to you when you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to Me."  (Matthew 25:38-40)