its a doggie dog world

this is a repost from last year on my seed stories blog. enjoy! (originally posted as beagle vs jack russell)

we have had a few different dogs throughout our marriage. our last dog was daisy, a jack russell terrier mix. she was a bit taller than most jacks, and her ears were a tad rounder and longer, her coloring on her face reminds us alot of the beagle that we had. several people, including our vet, thot she might have a touch of beagle in her. yikes!!! not beagle!

if you've read any of my seedstories you know that tho beagles can be outwardly cute, they can be (not all are) obstinate, head strong dogs. we had sophie for a year and a half. at first she was cute and adorable, but her strong will and disobedient nature eventually led to us finding a new home for her. we often remarked that sophie was like a picture of "the flesh" that wars against our new nature as christians. she fell into every temptation that came her way.

on the other hand, daisy has wanted to be part of the family since she came to live with us. she wanted to please us and was always watching for cues as to what we want. but every once in awhile, she also was tempted to go astray. one night she found an intriguing toy of joe's on the floor. she was starting to chew it when we noticed and told her to give it up. she dropped it and started to back off. we were delayed in picking it up due to too many things going on at the same time. daisy saw an opportunity and went back to grab the ball and scoot around to the back side of the sofa. michael noticed her action and sternly told her to stop! don't even think about it! she immediately dropped the ball. we saw a glimmer of the disobedient beagle in her, but her jack russell nature came to the forefront.

i think it is often the same with us. we want to please the Lord, we want to be obedient, but sometimes our flesh rises its ugly head. but God calls us back to obedience. there are times when i am tempted, and times when i even fall into the temptation, but then the Lord pulls me back, i'm reminded of my desire to be a part of God's family, to please Him in everything i do, and to be with Him. tho i dont' like my "beagle" nature, i'm glad the Lord has transformed me into a new creature in Christ and someday that "beagle" nature will be totally gone. i look forward to the day when i stand before Him. my hope is to hear His words of commendation: "well done faithful servant."

i have a busy day tomorrow but hope to be back on wed. (and don't forget, CHUCK is on tonight! season premiere. will you be watching?)

the Father's Arms

this is your monday seedstory from my archives. my mom is still battling cancer, so pray for her if you think of it.


our daisy is a bit of a scaredy cat. a couple weeks ago she heard something in the middle of the night and barked her head off. she sleeps downstairs by herself, so when she gets scared she doesn't have anyone to run to.

last nite, i heard a big ol truck making a racket driving down the road. it might have been a fire engine .... anyway, daisy heard it too. but instead of barking, she found a slight opening in the door to our room and tiptoed in. she came to my side of the bed and gently put her paws up on the bed. i could tell she was asking if she could come up. so what's a mom to do when one of her family is wanting to be comforted? i let her come up. she immediately sought out my arms and cuddled as close as she could. i wrapped my arm around her and she settled down and went to sleep.

as i was laying in bed, pondering daisy's actions, it occured to me that dont' we do the same when we are faced with a scary situation. we look for comfort and warm arms to hold us. i found out last week that my mom had a suspicious looking mammogram. they have scheduled a biopsy for later this week. we talked for a bit and she assured me that she is trusting the Lord whatever the outcome. she has sought out the comfort of the Father's arms.

i marvel at my mom's peace in the face of another health scare. and yet, i know that it isn't of her own strength, but the Lord working in and thru her. she has followed Him all her life and knows Him as her Father. she is a reminder and a role model for me when troubles come into my own life. i can run to the things of the world for comfort, or i can run to the Father's arms. they are always open to recieve his children. like daisy, i can sleep peacefully while hidden in the arms of my Father.

Psalms 91 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Postscript: August 27th

the results of my mom's biopsy showed 2 cancerous tumors. so now she and the ones who love her get to lean into the Father's arms even more. while we know her ultimate destination is assured, its not always fun to go thru the journey. i am praying for many more healthy years with her, but we are not assured even one more day on this planet.

i thank you for your prayers in advance for my mom and for our family as we walk thru this with her.

reminded again how much i need to rest in the Father's arms, gail

the car wash

here's another seedstory for your monday morning. as i was looking over which one to publish, i chose this one for myself as well as for you, dear reader. my mom is in the middle of fighting breast cancer. she has just started radiation, but has a bad infection that won't go away. that is not good. but God is good, and i need to remind myself each moment that He is sovereign and is in control of the outcome in my mom's life. i have a little saying in my kitchen that reminds me that "God is in control" as i remember that truth, i can pray in perfect peace for my mom and her situation.

we have been saying we need to get the car washed ever since we got home from vacation. finally, this morning we had a moment to do so. daisy, our jack russell was with us. she is still a puppy and we have only had her a little over a month. this was her first trip thru the car wash with us.

daisy is a needy dog. she was found wandering around home depot by my girlfriend and tho we love her dearly, she is a bit high strung. even when we are not going thru a car wash she wants to be right next to us or even on our laps. she doesn't seem to understand that a dog her size on a driver's lap just isn't going to happen.

the workers started to soap up the windshield and soon they were spraying all the windows. daisy wasn't sure what to make of all the water and noise. she crowded close to me and tried to get on my lap. instead, michael scooped her up into his arms and held her tight. she nestled into his arms, trembling as the big machines started to swish the cloth strips around and over our van.

"though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me."

there is great comfort knowing that the Lord is with us thru the valleys we go thru. whether they are scary car washes, stays in the hospital for some unknown illness, or some other unsettling situation, we can draw close to the Father, knowing that He will pick us up and comfort us, walk with us through the valley and that we don't have to fear any evil. sounds good to me!

seed story monday: to sleep or not to sleep

here's your seed story for today. i'm posting this one cuz its one i need to be reminded of myself. while battling the funk that hovered over me these past few weeks, my daily bible reading and prayer fell off sharply. i know that is one of the attacks of the enemy as well as my flesh. so reading this again was good for my soul. enjoy!

our son, who has a genetic disability, has a problem getting to sleep and staying that way without the medications we give him. even with the meds there are nights where he wakes up and won't go back to sleep or takes a couple hours to get to sleep. this means one of his parents (usually me!) is up with him, as he can't be left alone unattended. this past month of december has seen more than its share of sleep disturbed nights.

so it was with great joy and anticipation that michael and i got away for a weekend without our son. michael usually wakes up early, but that next morning we both slept in. it was heaven! that night we stayed up late and again slept in longer than before. what a sweet gift.

i was pondering on the effects sleep and lack of sleep have on me. when i get a good nights sleep i'm renewed, energized, and ready to tackle whatever the day holds. when i am sleep deprived, no amount of coffee or sugar will energize me. i go thru the day in slow motion, yawning constantly. every action an effort that drains the few reserves i have.

i have noticed a similar reaction in my life when i don't have my time with the Lord. i made it a higher priority this past year to read the Word and have some structured prayer time in the mornings. when i did have that time with God, my days were focused, energized, and alert. i had a strength that did not come from within me. but on those days that i forgot, or skipped that time with the Lord were harder to get thru. little things would trip me up during the day. i didn't have as clear a focus as i wanted and i certainly didn't have any extra strength or energy. just as a person can't live an effective life being sleep deprived over the long term, i don't believe a christian can live an effective life without the Word of God and consistant prayer time with the Lord God Almighty.

tho the hard seasons the Lord has brought me thru have drawn me closer to Him and given me a greater desire to spend time with Him, i still struggle. and knowing the flesh and blood body i inhabit, i imagine i will probably always stuggle in this area. but that isn't a reason to give up and quit fighting. no the struggle shows me that this is worth fighting for. no matter how long i struggle to be consistant in this area, i will fight, i will press on, i will endure. just as i go to bed every night hopeful for a solid 8 hours, every day i will anticipate my time with the Lord. one gives me physical strength for the day, and the other .... oh how much more!

the apple tree

another seedstory for this monday morning, enjoy!


when we moved into our house in Sumner we inherited an old apple tree. my husband, being in the tree industry, decided it needed a good trimming. this tree probably hadn't been pruned in over a decade. it was knarly and there were limbs crisscrossing every which way. it was an ugly mess, but my husband saw what it could be like, what it should be like.

he went to work trimming the branches, cutting, cutting and cutting some more. when he was finished there were very few branches left. it looked decimated. but he assured me that this old tree had needed a severe pruning in order to bring back order and purpose to it. all fall and winter i looked at that tree and wondered if we'd have to take it down eventually. but in the spring new growth appeared. new branches started growing and it began leafing out. over the next few years while we were at that house, that tree began bearing fruit and looked better than i ever imagined it could be. it was a stately, old apple tree bearing fruit and spreading its branches to shade us during the summer afternoons.

many times i have felt like that old apple tree. way out of control, left to grow without a good pruning, until the Master Pruner comes along and gives me a severe pruning. sometimes i wonder why He waited so long, but most times i know He was giving me the opportunity to voluntarily come back in line with His will. and when i didn't or wouldn't, He would step in with the pruning shears. not wanting to have to cut down the tree altogether He would cut and cut and cut some more ......

the stars

i think monday mornings i'm going to post a story that i've written on my seedstory blog. they are a little more deep and insightful, things that the Lord has shown me. so grab your coffee and enjoy!

i didn't want to leave the tent that night, but nature was calling. we didn't have a flashlight so i was going to have to make my way somehow thru the dark up the campsite road to the restrooms. at first i took very tentative steps until my eyes adjusted to the faint light of the stars. as my eyes adjusted to the dark, i looked up. with trees on either side of the road i could only see a sliver of the sky but that small sliver was loaded with stars. dozens, hundreds, too many for me to count in just a small speck of sky that i could see.

i remembered one of my fav verses from isaiah 40. "Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created the stars; the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing."

i think i gloss over the majesty of God creating the stars cuz i have heard that since i was a young girl, but then it hits me, He also named them. how many million or billion are out there? and He has named each and every one of them! and He remembers all those names!! the thought boggles my finite mind. i can't even remember all the names of all the people i have met in the past year, let alone a gazillion stars. and then if that is not enough, after creating them, and after naming them, He makes sure that none of them get lost or go missing. He oversees them all.

this is a good reminder for me when life seems to overwhelm me with trials and complications. i concentrate on God and His might, His power and my world suddenly comes into perspective.

the lawnmower

this is one of my favorite posts from my other blog: seedstories.


our son joe loves lawnmowers. when the family comes over to mow our lawn on mondays he bounces for joy at seeing them take out the lawnmower and start to get to work. if we're around and we feel like giving him a little fun, we let him go outside and he will chase the person mowing the lawn, up and down the yard, laughing boisterously at the fun of it all. when we go to the local hardware store he points to where the lawnmowers are sitting and if our attention wanders we can always find him there.

a couple weeks ago my husband and i started talking about looking for an old lawnmower at a garage sale to pick up for joe. something he could push around the lawn for fun and exercise. a few days later joe got out of the house, before we could blink we were looking all over for him. we found him coming down the sidewalk pushing a red lawnmower. we assumed it was our neighbors so we put in his back yard. the next day our n'bor told us it wasn't his. so joe and michael pushed the lawnmower to the next n'bors house. it wasn't theirs either so they left it on the front sidewalk hoping that the owner would see it and grab it. after 3 or 4 days no one had claimed it.

during those 3 days joe insistantly told us in his non-verbal way that he wanted to push that lawnmower. since no one had claimed it we decided it was a gift from God for Joe and let him play with it. we leave it on our front lawn in case the rightful owner should turn up to claim it, after 2 weeks no one has.

i am in awe of God's goodness and compassion in my son's life. if he could i'm sure joe would have prayed and asked God for a lawnmower, in his own way he was always asking us for one! and even tho joe couldn't pray the way we tend to think of prayer, God granted his fervent request and brought a lawnmower to him. tho i dont' know if joe understands that this is a gift from heaven, he is happy and shows his thankfulness every day by the joy he exhibits as he pushes that old lawnmower around the yard.

i am inspired by my son's example of thankfulness. i too, want to react with joy when the Lord brings a gift into my life, whether i have been praying for it or not. i want to acknowledge that He is the giver of all good things and that those good things that come into my life are not driven by luck or chance, but by a Heavenly Father who loves me. i want to enjoy those gifts that the Lord brings, but also remember that they are on loan. i am not the rightful owner. i must hold loosely what God has given me in case He takes it away.

"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." James 1:17

sept 19th, postscript:

sunday afternoon after i wrote this, daisy ran away. after walking around the n'borhood looking for her and talking with a couple n'bors we had to conclude that she was gone. hoping that she would make her way home, by nighttime those hopes were dashed.

i woke up that night feeling sad and fretful about losing daisy. but i have to conclude that it was not a coincidence in timing. the Lord was testing me, to see if i was really living what i was sharing. so i had to give daisy over to the Lord. the verse from Job came to mind "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord" and so i gave her over to the Lord, thankful for the time we had had with her.

monday michael suggested i call the pound just in case. i wasn't enthused about doing so as i had truly thot she was gone for good, but i called. they didn't have her, but they took my name just in case. 3 hours later the pound called and said they thot they might have her. we went to check it out. the walls reverbrated with the sounds of barking dogs. i went down the aisle scanning to see if there was a black and white terrier. i saw one that was similiar and my heart sank, it wasn't her, but i kept walking. at the end of the room in the last kennel was daisy, trembling with fear. once she saw me she stood up and a huge smile replaced her earlier woeful look. i couldn't believe it was our daisy. the Lord had restored her to us. after taking care of the paperwork we took her home and she and i snuggled on the couch.

i am in awe of how the Lord works in our lives and how He is faithful to teach us what we need to know. its easy to share things that the Lord brings to mind but harder to actually live them out. yet the Lord knows that if its just words, it has no power. it must be in my heart and my life to make a difference. i pray that this lesson will stay in my heart forever. may all of us be able to say "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, Blessed be the name of the Lord"