Over Hill, Over Dale

All you Army folks out there will remember this one..."over hill,over dale, we will hit the dusty trail..." How come the trail has to be dusty? What gives? Is this akin to "anything worth doing is worth doing well?" And how come I am always thinking in riddles or rhymes? Is there an issue here?

Well... back to the dusty trail... For me, it was dusty & hot & tiring...at first. However, the longer I have walked this trail that God has placed me on, it has become easier, fun & actually pleasant. How did I find this trail you ask. Well it wasn't easy. Before I even arrived at the dusty trail, there was the dark & gloomy & stinky trail. In the vernacular...that one sucked. Everyday on that trail was difficult. Nothing happened according to MY plans. Of course, for me, my method of handling disappointment was to fuss (translate scream) louder...but the trail stayed the same...dark, dank & like a dungeon. I walked that way (for a long time) until I gave up, sat down on the trail & said, "God I can't do this any longer." It was almost as if He was waiting for me to surrender! Another trail opened up. Not very glamorous looking but better than the one I was currently on. I decided to change trails.

Was it worth the risk? Yes. Was the new trail hard? Yes. Am I glad I hit that dusty trail? Yes. I did not know in the beginning that my life would blossom, but the dusty trail was better than the dark & gloomy trail where I had been. Today I have peace, joy & love in my life and a lush, beautiful trail to follow.

Are you facing change? Perhaps it is a good thing. Sometimes a trail that is dusty at the beginning will lead you to peace & contentment. I hope so.

Jack and Jill...

Okay, okay...I know...this obsession with rhymes surely has to end somewhere! If I tell you that I MUST write about these phrases that "pop" into my head, what does that say for my state of mind?  Oh well...here goes:

"Jack & Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down & broke his crown & Jill came tumbling after" (I am supposed to at this point give credit to the original author but I don't know who that is. It's not me. Can we leave it at that?)

Poor Jack & Jill, there they are in a heap at the bottom of that hill. What the heck happened? It makes me think of a married couple...trudging along in their lives, working together towards a common goal when life deals them a wicked blow. One or both struggle with a severe problem & lose the way. They both fall. It's a mess. Divorce, sick children, death of parents/sibling/friend, long term illness, accident, loss of job, cut in pay, or, even (believe it or not), great success, prosperity, fame... the list is endless. Whatever the cause, their common purpose & togetherness is lost.

I don't know what "the rest of the story" was for Jack & Jill. I do know there is help & hope for the rest of us. That hope arrives in the person of Jesus Christ. There is no mess too big or problem too small that He does not care about. Do you need help today? Just ask Him. What...you don't know Him? Just ask about that too.

There Was a Little Girl...

A favorite nursery rhyme goes, "There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good, she was very, very good and when she was bad, she was HORRID!"

Makes one think, doesn't it? Or..maybe not. Well, it was a silly notion anyway...that we have a choice.  A choice of how we want to be in life. Much of my life I allowed circumstances to control me. Was someone angry with me, I'd be angry with them. When afraid... I became a screaming, crazy woman. Probably akin to the HORRID girl with the curl. Ask my hubby & kids.

But with Jesus & the help of a 12 step program, my life changed. I was given choices. Seeing as how what I had been doing had given me terrible results, the choice of learning how to behave differently was easy. The decision was easy but, the work to learn new ways has been (still is) hard. Was it worth it? YES.

Just In The Nick of Time

The rain that fell yesterday & today was most welcomed here in hot, dry Oklahoma. You might say it came "just in the nick of time." The prairie lands to the west had started to burn. People lost their homes & possessions. The outlook was not good. Day before yesterday I received via email a heartfelt prayer chain...praying for rain...for relief. Did it "work?" Who's to say. Rain came. Just in the nick of time. Our parched land & parched people received a respite from the searing heat & drought.Thanks God.

Things Are Getting Out of Hand

Or...Give them an inch & they will take a mile. Whatever. The idea here is, I have to pay attention...to my life, to stuff, to everyday mundane things that happen in my little world.

Earlier today I posted a photo on Facebook of a vine that had crawled across our front porch and is even now busily winding its way up a porch chair leg...off to God knows where. You see about 2 months ago, I spied this morning glory vine in my front flowerbed. Humph, I said to myself, must have originated from the byproduct of a bird who we fed during the horrible snow we Oklahomans experienced last winter. It's little, I'll let it stay since it's already survived so much. Besides, I thought, I have enough "stuff" to do, let's not add more work for this slothful lady to do!

Well, MISTAKE! Despite this being the worst summer Oklahoma has EVER had, this little vine has flourished beyond all comprehension and is now a first class nuisance that will take sweat & toil on my part to eradicate it. Oh my gosh, I could have nipped it in the bud 2 months ago easy peasy!

The lesson here for me is that this can happen in my life if I'm not paying attention. One little game online turns into 2 hours missing from my life. One potato chip used to lead to eating the whole bag (not now, but that's a story for another day). Are you getting the drift? Something that starts out small & seemingly of no consequence can turn into a monster. Do you have any innocent, little vines in your life?