Inspirations from the Funny Farm

Genesis 2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

I Corinthians 11:13 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

It is estimated that most Americans will eat 3,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during their lifetimes. THREE THOUSAND! That’s a lot of peanut butter and jelly. Most children in the United States are introduced to the perfect combination by the age of four. As an adult, I like to mix a little peanut butter and jelly in a bowl and eat it with a spoon, but that isn’t a sandwich. You have to have the slather that sticky, sweet mixture over a couple of slices of bread and put the bread together to get the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Peanut butter is a little sticky, and it mixes well with jelly. It is full of protein and nutrients that we need for our good health. It does our body good. Jelly is pretty great too. In fact, we make homemade jelly through the year and give it away as gifts at Christmas. Jelly can be extremely sweet and sugary. It is sometimes tart and tangy. It is a delight to the senses. Yes, both peanut butter and jelly can be eaten alone, but when you put them together, you get a fantastic combination.

Marriage is a lot like a great peanut butter and jelly sandwich if you think about it. The husband and wife represent the sticky peanut butter and sweet jelly. Some days the husband may be the sticky glue that holds the couple up and helps to hold them together, and some days it may be the wife’s job. Each spouse at different times provides nourishment for the relationship that is needed on a daily basis in order for the relationship to survive. Some days the husband is sugary sweet, and some days the wife will add the sweetness. Each partner has days of tartness, tanginess, and mixtures of sugary sweetness. We all have good days and bad days, but when the husband and wife are a great team, they work through those good and bad days together. Each spouse plays a vital part in making the marriage work.

Peanut butter is good by itself, but it is great when you add a little jelly. But what about the bread? You can’t make a great sandwich without the bread, and you can’t have a great marriage without the Bread of Life. Yes, you guessed it. The bread represents Christ. When a man and woman are joined in marriage, God puts them together in a way that no one else can. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:31-33) A pastor can not put a couple together, nor can a judge. Only God can provide that perfect union of husband and wife. Even though you have some sticky peanut butter holding on to the jelly, you have to have the bread to keep it all together. Yes, marriage is a lot like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A couple brings many great things to the table when they join in marriage, things that help to bring them closer together as a couple, but if that couple fails to keep Christ at the center, all the goodness they bring to the marriage will NOT keep them together. We have to ask and allow Christ to be the center of our lives and the center of our marriages. He will help hold us together in a way that we can not do in and of ourselves.

I’m speaking with a little bit of personal insight on this subject, for you see, I am on my second (and last) marriage. My first marriage failed. We had a little peanut butter and a little jelly, but there wasn’t an over abundance of either. I had Christ, but my ex-husband did not. Christ can’t be the center of a union when only one half of the union is following Him. I could take this opportunity to play the blame game, but I won’t. When I reflect back now, I realize that the marriage didn’t make it because we didn’t make God a priority together. I still pray for my ex-husband to this day, and I’ve learned to let go and let God control every aspect of my life. When Jeff and I married, I prayed for God to take over. I prayed for God to be the center of our marriage, and boy oh boy did He ever! I am now married to a wonderful, loving, Christian man who prays boldly with me. He teaches Sunday School at my side, and he is a deacon of our church. He is my peanut butter, and I am his jelly, BUT GOD is the bread that is holding us together!

To make a good sandwich, you have to have all the right ingredients. You can’t make a sandwich without the bread. If you are trying to make a chocolate cake,, but keep ending up with a lemon one, what do you do? You check your ingredients! Today, I pray for your marriages. I pray that you realize that even if you are a great team made up of the finest peanut butter and the sweetest jelly, you aren’t going to make it if you don’t have the Bread! Make sure you include the most important ingredient: God! Ask God to be the center of your marriage. Move over and let Him in! It’s peanut butter jelly sandwich time!!

Hebrews 4:16 Let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16. Why this verse? Because that is where I find my confidence: in God alone. I want to talk to you this morning about confidence and reassure you that if you aren’t feeling confident, you are not alone! We all go through periods when we do not feel like we have it all together, and there are probably many times that we feel alone. Life is tough. I write daily because I feel an urgency from the Lord to share His word, and I pray that some of what I say may be a blessing to someone today and perhaps give someone the confidence and courage they are seeking.

Today, I want to take you back to the days of my youth. Indulge me for just a moment. Imagine this: There was a girl in school who was very skinny and gangly, gawky, and nerdy. She didn’t have much of a figure, she was flat chested, and had no curves at all…well you get the picture. This girl also had to wear thick glasses because she couldn’t see well. She was practically blind. The glasses were as thick as those old glass coke bottles. To make matters even worse, she had a terrible overbite. When I say overbite, I mean a a serious overbite. She covered her mouth when she spoke. She would have crawled under a building or wished that the earth would swallow her up rather than stand in front of a crowded room to speak to people. Do you have a picture of her in your minds eye? Let’s fast forward almost 40 years. That gawky, nerdy, girl is now this woman who is sitting at my kitchen table full of confidence writing these words as I prepare my mind and heart for my busy work day. This confidence has come to me very gradually through the years. My chest is still flat. I’m still not much to look at. I now have to wear reading glasses to read as my eyes have grown old. I have ridiculously curly hair that I often have to color to hide the gray. Yep, I’m still a work in progress, but by God’s grace, I come before you with confidence!

When I was in high school, I thought that high school was the whole world. High school is awesome for the popular kids, the ones who are great at sports, the ones who are excelling, but it’s not always a fun place to be. It wasn’t fun for me at all. So what changed? How did I go from being a shy wall flower to become the blooming idiot before you today? Let me share a few secrets with you. My dream in high school was to become a nurse or a writer. When I graduated high school, I wanted to go to nursing school, but that meant I had to take a speech class. I wasn’t ready for that. Instead I went to work for a couple of years, basically it was because I was scared to death to take speech class and make speeches. I gradually began taking night classes, yes…including speech, and I excelled in those classes. I’ve always been blessed with good grades, and I have always been determined to do my best no matter what I am trying to do. I was accepted into nursing school, and graduated valedictorian of my class, but then…because God has jokes…I had to make a speech at graduation…in front of a whole gymnasium full of people…I literally thought I was going to pee my pants.  But I did not, and I made the speech and survived!

After graduating nursing school and acquiring a job, I found my smile. I met an awesome orthodontist who corrected my overbite by using a combination of braces and oral surgery to break my jaw and screw it back together. It seems I had what is called a hypoplastic mandible. That means that the bones of my jaw didn’t develop fully. The treatment was to break my jaw, bring it forward to the proper place, and then put 3 titanium screws in each jaw. It was an awful procedure, but I finally found my smile. No more hiding behind my hand to speak to people. I started smiling more than ever.  I ditched the glasses for contacts, and later Lasik surgery. I corrected some of the outer things that I was self-conscious about, but was that really necessary? I think I can answer that with an emphatic NO! Yes, it made me feel better about the outer me, but as I’ve grown older, I realize that the outer me isn’t nearly as important as the inner me. Society urges us to focus on looks, but some of the most beautiful people I have ever met may be considered the ugliest by the standards of society because real, true beauty lies within.

I gave my life to Christ when I was 13 years old, and I never regretted that decision for a moment. I have, however, made many mistakes through the years. I’ve not lived a perfect life, and I’ve not even lived up to my full potential as a strong Christian woman. But looking back, I see God’s hand over every single aspect of my life: the good times and the bad times. Even those days when I felt horribly awkward in high school, God had a plan. He knew then that one day I would be sharing my story with you to encourage you.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you.” Jeremiah 1:5

“But the very hairs on your head are all numbered.” Matthew 10:30

Wait what??? God knew me before I was even formed in my mother’s womb, and He knows how many hairs are on my head? Have you ever tried to count the hairs on your head? It’s just about impossible. But the Bible says that God knows me that well. All I can say when I think of that is “Wow, I must be pretty important to God.” God made me, and He made each one of you, and God doesn’t make junk! When I started to really understand this, I began to have more confidence in myself and much more faith in God. Every year that passes, I grow stronger in my faith and in doing so, I gain more self-confidence. I am after all the daughter of the King, and I wear my crown proudly! Let me just share how God has worked in my life through the years.

After nursing school, I decided I would become a nurse practitioner. I applied for the Acute Care NP program, but God knew that wasn’t for me and opened the door for me to be accepted into the Family NP program. As a family nurse practitioner, I am able to care for entire families. I am able to minister to them, pray with them, and pray for them. God has even opened doors to place me in the right clinic at the right time and held my hand gently as I struggled through difficult days and loss and grief. I have been practicing for more than 20 years now, and I could spend all day long telling you how I’ve been blessed in my career.

But wait…there’s more! I’ve been on two international mission trips in the last few years. First to Peru, and then to the Dominican Republic. I ache for those who are suffering and are lost. Isaiah 6:8 says “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me.’” When I read that verse, it touches my heart, and I realize that I am not doing enough to reach others. I asked God to use that book to open doors for me to share more about Him. God then allowed me to publish three books and to begin this daily devotional blog.

Now back to how I went from gawky teenager to confident old lady: for me, it was my learning to place complete and utter faith in Christ. And when I finally learned to do this, everything just fell into place. How do you gain more self-confidence? First of all, you have to determine what lies you are telling yourself. What makes you feel bad about yourself? Make a list of the flaws that you think that you have and the lies that you have been telling yourself, and then at the bottom of that list, write in all capital letters: God doesn’t make junk!  You must then reject this negative thinking. Replace these lies that you tell yourself with truth:

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139.:14

You are precious to God. Isaiah 43.4

You have been cared about since conception. Isaiah 46:3

You are God’s child which means you are the son or daughter of the King. John 1:12.

You are Jesus’ friend. John 15:15

So, according to this, you are all wonderfully created, precious, known and loved by God, and you are a prince or a princess! It is time to celebrate YOU. God made you, uniquely, wonderfully, and there is no carbon copy of you. Let that crown sparkle! Now what? The infamous and wise Dr. Seuss once said, “You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go…” He also said, “Today you are YOU, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” It’s time to realize that you are made just as God planned it, and even if you can’t see the end of the story right now, it’s not to late to start writing the book.

We all come from different backgrounds. We each have had your own struggles. I urge you to lift one another up. Encourage one another, and in doing so, you will find encouragement, and ultimately courage. Choose your friends carefully. Surround yourself with positive people who seek good, and not evil. Surround yourself with people who are loving and kind. It’s a proven fact that if you spend all of your time with negative people, you also become negative. Stay positive, stay strong, and “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.” Our confidence comes from God alone. Once we realize that, everything else simply falls into place. You were created for a purpose, and that purpose is to glorify our God. You are the daughter or son of the King. Live like the princess or prince He intended for you to be! God created you, and God doesn’t make junk!

Ephesians 2:4-7 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

James 1:17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

Everything is changing! I’ve heard that phrase since my early childhood days, and I have been saying it myself quite a bit recently. Our government officials have changed. Policies are changing. Gas prices are up. We are wearing masks everywhere we go now. Babies are being born, and loved ones are dying. Even the weather forecast changes. Last Friday, the forecast called for snow, but now it is showing 60% chance of rain with high of 54 degrees. No we won’t be seeing any snow here on Friday. After six years of the same schedule, my work schedule has changed recently too!

Yes, things are going to change, but thankfully, there is one constant in our lives that will never change: God. It is so comforting to know that in the ever changing, chaotic world, our God never changes. Change is scary. We don’t like it. Some changes are good, and some are even great, but some changes make us feel very uncomfortable. The changes that have been ongoing lately have been quite uncomfortable. From one day to the next, we aren’t sure what is going to happen next, BUT God does. He has already seen tomorrow, and He knows exactly what tomorrow holds. The best part of that is knowing that although we don’t know what tomorrow holds, we know Who holds tomorrow.

When you are feeling lost and can’t seem to find your way in this ever changing world, don’t be dismayed. Just look for the Light. Consider for a moment that you are driving your car on a very dark highway. The only light you see is that of your headlights. You continue to drive a little further and a little further as the headlights continue to light your path. You can see a few feet in front of you, and you push on. The light shines brightly on the road ahead of you, and you can continue travelling. God is our light. We can’t see what lies ahead, but God shines down on us brightly and lights the path we are on. He shines His bright light on our path so that we can see the direction that we are travelling. He gives us enough light to get to where we are going. He gives us enough! Yes, He always gives us enough and so much more.

God is still here with you. He hasn’t changed. He never left your side. He is the same today as yesterday and a hundred years ago. He is that same gracious, loving Father. He loves you so much! Let His light shine down on you today as you travel this ever changing world. Oh yes, the world is changing, but our God…He is still the same!

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Isaiah 1:15-18 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.

We are on the brink of Valentine’s Day, the day of love and red hearts filled with candy. It is one day that we set aside each year to celebrate love. The store shelves are filled with decorative heart-shaped boxes filled with many different types of confections. Personally, I do not like Valentine’s Day candy hearts. I don’t like biting into a chocolate treat only to find a gooey center. Those heart-shaped boxes are full of deceptive treats in my opinion! I want pure chocolate sweetness. Give me a big old Hershey’s candy bar. Yes, solid milk chocolate. I don’t need all of that other stuff. Just give me the chocolate.

God probably looks down on us in a similar way. God wants a pure, sweet relationship with each and every one of us. He wants our whole heart. He desires a one on one relationship, and He wants to be the Lord of our hearts. He doesn’t want all that other stuff in our hearts that is muddying up the water. No, my friends, our Father wants our whole, pure heart. He wants the real you and the real me without any added flavorings.

Yes, our God wants a real relationship with us, and He doesn’t candy coat it. Scripture provides us with examples of prayer, and we learn through the scripture that prayer begins with a very personal relationship with God. When we enter into a relationship with God, we slowly begin to understand how to live, our lives are slowly transformed, and He becomes our Father. He creates within us a clean heart, a pure heart, and a heart that beats for Him. What in the world does this mean? A clean, pure heart doesn’t come naturally. We are all born sinners. Our hearts are not pure. God has to create a clean, pure heart within us, and even more important, He continues to re-create a clean heart within us over and over because we can not maintain it under our own power. But we can ask Him to give us a clean heart, and He will!

We began a study on stewardship this week, and early in the study, we were reminded that to be good stewards, we must have a heart for Christ. We must attempt to live like Christ, and in doing so, we will exhibit the fruits of the Spirit. One issue we run into is the lack of a clean heart. Isaiah shares with us the importance of cleaning up our hearts. When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims. Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. God knows our hearts, and He knows our actions. We can pray to Him all day long, offering the same prayer over and over, but if our hearts are not clean, if there is sin in our lives, He is not listening. Sin separates us from a relationship with God, but it doesn’t have to. God is ready, willing, and able to forgive us for any and every sin in our lives, and better yet, He will also help us to stay away from sin if we only ask.

Let’s do a heart check this week. Does your heart look great on the outside like those beautiful red heart-shaped boxes filled with sweet treats? Does it look deceptively good like the Valentine’s chocolate that is pure chocolate on the outside, but the inside contains many surprises? Or does your heart look clean and pure before the Father? Is your heart pumping for the glory of God, or is your heart pumping for your own sinful self and pleasures? Check your heart today, and if it perhaps looks a little dirty, all you have to do is go to God and ask Him to clean it up. He will give you a clean heart. He will renew His Spirit in you. Won’t you call on Him today?

Psalm 51:10-12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Jeremiah 31:25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.

Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.

Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hears, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Today is Sunday, and the usual chaos is ongoing around here! We have a new puppy who is eight weeks old who is trying to consume all our attention. We have meetings at church at 9:00 am before Sunday School at 10:00, and we are trying to accomplish too many things at this farmhouse before we leave. I’m thinking that I should have rolled out of bed at 5:00 instead of 6:00 today. One thing is for sure though, if the good Lord is willing, we will be at church this morning because that is very important to our family. I pray that this morning you find your way to church also. Don’t let the busyness of the day keep you away from the Lord’s house. I’m sharing an excerpt from my book “Inspirations from the Funny Farm”. I hope you enjoy it!

Everyone that knows me well knows that Sunday is my favorite day of the week What those who know me don’t know is that actually Sunday morning after 10:00 am is my favorite day of the week. One might think, oh how lovely! She actually takes a day to leisurely sleep in, rolls out of bed at 10:00 am after a long night’s rest, and really takes that “Sabbath is the day of rest” thing seriously. The one that thought that would be dead wrong! We don’t rest on Sundays at my house until after 10:00 am, and then, if we are lucky, we may even get to sneak in a little nap about once every third Sunday or so.

 I’m here to tell you that when good old Lionel Ritchie wrote “Easy Like Sunday Morning”, he definitely was not talking about Hodge Lodge. No sir! Sunday mornings can be quite rough at times. There is just so much to do, and it must be done in such a short amount of time that I generally feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off. The devil knows that getting to church on time is a priority for me on Sunday mornings, and he will do whatever he can to try to change my plans and make me late, make me lose my temper, or make me get my mind off of things of Christ.

When the kids were younger, wrangling them out of bed in a timely manner was difficult in itself. Then, there was “I don’t want to brush my teeth.” “I can’t find my other shoe.” “I’m not wearing this.” “Where is this or where is that?” By the time we were all loaded up in the car on our way to Sunday School, I was feeling a much stronger need to feel the Holy Spirit moving inside of me. If getting the kids out of the door and arriving at church by 10:00 am was my only task, I guess that wouldn’t be so difficulty, but wait. There’s more!

Every other Sunday, we cook Sunday lunch for our family. Jeff’s mom, Nanny, cooks on the opposite Sundays. Sunday lunch is serious business at our house. We make sure to sit down as a family for our evening meal at home with the immediate family living under the roof every single night, but on Sundays, we feed the immediate and extended family: our grown sons, their wives, our grandson, parents and occasionally our pastor and his family or other friends. There is a minimum of 10 people gathered around our table for lunch, and we cook to try to please the masses. We always cook a meat dish, a minimum of two vegetables or perhaps a casserole, bread, and of course, sweet tea. On our Sundays to cook, I begin cooking as soon as my feet hit the floor so that lunch will be ready when we get out of church. I am not complaining, just explaining. I love cooking for my family, and I love having family all gathered around the table.

Because I’m a little bit OCD, I have to make sure the house is tidied up before family and friends come over to our house for lunch. While lunch is cooking, I’m also busy cleaning the house, putting everything that is out of place back into its proper place, and giving the house one more good sweeping and mopping. I can’t enjoy having a house full of people if the house isn’t clean even if those people are my people. After all, cleanliness is next to godliness.

Somewhere between cooking and cleaning, ordering kids around, ironing clothes, and finding lost shoes, we have to take care of the animals. Yep, that’s right. We live on a farm, and the farm duties continue even on Sundays. If there are babies on bottles, I usually get up an hour earlier to make sure that we have time to feed all the babies. I’ve chased pigs through the yard in my Sunday dress and high heels on more than one occasion. The pigs have knocked the gate off the hinges and set everyone free early on a Sunday morning. These unexpected incidents result in Jeff, Crystal, and me roaming our 80 acres, gathering critters, and leading them back to the barn. We’ve had early morning goat, sheep, and calf deliveries. We’ve received calls that the cows were out and have had to rush to get them back into the proper field before church. And if we are lucky enough to have an uneventful animal morning, all those critters still have to be fed and watered, and that takes up a bit of our time.

Yes, on Sundays, we get up at the crack of dawn to prepare a full meal for our wonderful family, get the kids ready, feed the animals, tidy up the house, handle human and animal emergencies as they come, dress myself, prepare our Sunday School lesson, and run out the door in a feeble attempt to show up on time. We generally arrive on 2 tires screeching into the parking lot just before 10:00 am. All the while, I’m checking to make sure my hair isn’t completely crazy, although it always is, and praying that my shoes match. As we walk through the doors of the church, I let out a great big sigh of relief. We made it! Thank the good Lord above, we made it!

Sunday mornings are not easy for sure so why continue that exhaustingly crazy routine week after week? We do it because that’s our life, and we love it! Sundays are for God, church, and family. We don’t prepare a big meal for show. We prepare a big family meal with love so that we can enjoy the company of our most cherished love ones as we gather around our big old mahogany table. I love cooking for my family, and I love that they are continuing to help keep alive the Sunday family lunch tradition. So many family traditions are falling by the wayside.  The kids are all practically grown now, so there is no more wrangling and fighting to get them up and dressed and out the door, but I would still do it to this day if I could. Having my kids in church is of utmost importance to me. Even though getting them there wore me out most Sundays, it never wore me down. And the animal adventures, well they are part of who we are, and we just take it one adventure at a time and go with the flow.

The chaos is worth it because as soon as I walk through the doors of the church, my Father’s house, I realize that I am exactly where I need to be. The coming together on a regular basis with my brothers and sisters in Christ always rejuvenates my mind and spirit. Singing praises to our Lord and Savior (even though I can’t carry a tune in a bucket) brings joy to my heart. Studying God’s word in depth makes me crave more of Him. No matter how crazy the morning was, when I leave church around noon on Sundays, I always feel refreshed, recharged, and renewed.

It may feel like you are going to lose your mind doing everything you have to do before church on Sunday. I know that I have been pretty close a time or two. Sometimes, we want to throw our hands up and just quit and say, “it’s not worth it. I quit.” It seems like it would just be easier to stay home, after all, Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, right? Yes, yes, it is, and if you can just get out of that door and get your family to church, you will find no better rest for the body, mind, and spirit. Resting is Christ is the best rest we can ever know. I will continue to nag my children, family, and friends, beg and plead for them to go to church, and aggravate them to pieces because I want everyone to know that same kind of peace and to find rest in Christ. I’d rather lose blood, sweat, and tears and have my family in church with me and see them come to know Christ than sit back idly and watch them go to hell. Take your family to church. Don’t let that old devil make you think you can’t get there. Just get up and go like their life depends on it because quite frankly, it does! Jesus is so worth it!

Isaiah 51:12-13 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction?

COMFORT! That is something that we all desire, yet it seems to be something that is so hard to attain, especially if we are trying to find the comfort in and of ourselves. We are all going though trials, some trials are much greater than others, and at the end of the day, all we want to do is collapse in our big old bed, pull the sheets up, and wrap ourselves up in our comforter. I have never really given the fact that bed coverings are called comforters until this very minute, but what a great name for that piece of bedding. Yes, after all of the trials and triumphs of each day, we desire and seek our Comforter.

Isaiah 51 reminds us where we actually can find comfort, or rather we can find Who comforts us. That bed feels nice indeed, but if our mind is still racing and wrestling the trials of the day, that bed will not bring us the comfort we are really seeking. No, my friends, that comfort is found in Christ alone. We struggle to understand why God allows specific situations into our lives. We know that His ways and purposes are far greater and well beyond our limited understanding, We wrestle with the suffering, but with Christ, we realize that the suffering is never wasted. Each and every circumstance that we walk through with Christ makes us more like Him and brings glory to Him.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) God promises that He will comfort us in our troubles if we trust in Him, and by doing so, we will be able to comfort others who are in troubled times. Isn’t that a wonderful thought? I’m not saying that God gives us trouble so that we can relate to others in trouble, but just think about that for a moment. The experiences that we endure in this life help us to grow in Christ, and when someone comes into our lives that is going through a similar experience, because of our good God provided loving comfort to us through the situation, we too can be a comfort to another who is going through a similar situation. Our experiences grow us to be like Christ, and we get the wonderful joy of being a comforter to others as Christ is a comforter to us.

I truly believe with my whole being that God placed me on the career path that I am on. I fought it. I didn’t want to be a family nurse practitioner. I wanted to do acute care, but God turned the steering wheel and put me on this path. Oh, I’ll admit, I’ve had good days that let me know this is my calling, but lately, I’ve had a whole lot of bad days that have made me doubt my calling. I’ve actually talked to God on several occasions and asked Him if He was sure that this was where He wanted me to be. COVID-19 has gotten me down more than one day of every week, and I’ve thanked God repeatedly for the wonderful job that I have, but there are days that I just get tired, y’all. I’m serious. When more than 30 people register in the first two hours that the clinic is open, and I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I ask God, “Are you really, really sure this is what you want me to be doing? I mean, God, really, are you sure?” It is then that He sends His Comforter to provide the reassurance and comfort that I am looking for. He allows me to spend time with a patient who has lost a loved one, and I can draw on the experience of losing my mom as I try to comfort them. He allows me to help alleviate the fears of one who has just been diagnosed with COVID-19 as I relate my experience with having COVID-19. He allows me to comfort those who have come out of troubled marriages as I share a bit of my past troubled marriage that ended only for God to bless with a wonderful Christian husband that I now have. He gives me opportunity after opportunity to share His love and the gospel with those cross my path. I get text messages from patients thanking me for my caring spirit. I receive thank you cards in the mail thanking me for my compassionate care. But I can’t take credit for any of that, my friends. It is God who has pulled me through trial after trial to put me right here where He wants me to be. It is Christ alone that deserves the thanks!

He is my strength. He is my comforter. We are all weak, and we can not walk through this crazy world alone, and God doesn’t intend for us to do so. Let the Comforter wrap His loving arms around you today and comfort you, and then, share that comfort with those you come in contact with today and everyday!

John 1:9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

1 John 1:5-7 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Isaiah 25:1 O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.

Many moons ago, when I was a young girl, my daddy and step-mom would load all six of us girls up and take us to Gulf Shores, AL, for summer vacation. We would rent a big house right on the beach and share the home with my parents’ friends and families. Those were definitely some of the good old days. We enjoyed endless days of sunshine and salt water, seashell searching, crab chasing, game playing, and relaxation. There was no specific itinerary or agenda. Gulf Shores has grown over the years that have passed since my childhood, but it is still a very special place to me. It always reminds me of a time that we slowed down and took time to enjoyed the precious little things in life.

We traveled to Gulf Shores by car, and to get there from our home we had to go through Mobile, AL, and after passing through Mobile, we had to drive through the George C. Wallace Tunnel. I’m sure in comparison to other tunnels, it isn’t that impressive, but as a child, this tunnel made a great impression on me. It seemed huge, and it was quite scary to realize that we were underneath a very large body of water. I remember wondering what would happen if the tunnel sprang a leak while we were passing through. This tunnel appeared large to this child, yet at the same time it seemed restrictive and there was an overwhelming sense of confinement. Although lit by man made light, it seemed dark, and it also seemed to be very, very long. I remember mixed emotions from those of fear to excitement about being able to go through the tunnel. It was always a great relief to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Lately, I feel like I’ve been driving through a very long tunnel. I’m not that scared little girl anymore, but still I feel the overwhelming sense of confinement. Almost a year ago, we became aware of the COVID-19 virus. As the first information began to unfold before us in the field of medicine, we were unsure of how bad this was going to be and how long it was going to last. Reflecting back, I now see that the virus has turned out to be much bigger, darker, and restrictive than I had ever imagined. I feel like we are driving through a very long, very dark tunnel. I spend my days in PPE, diagnosing patients with this dreaded virus, counseling survivors who have lost loved ones, crying with them, and praying continually. It has definitely been a very difficult season, not only for the health care provider though. It has been a difficult season for the world.

This dreadful virus has created frustrations that seem to be never ending. I feel like I’m trapped in the middle of the tunnel, and I want out. I want to put my foot on the accelerator and race to the end of the tunnel. I want to see the light! I have prayed many of Psalms through this season. O Lord, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced. Save me, for you do what is right. Turn your ear to listen to me; rescue me quickly. Be my rock of protection, a fortress where I will be safe. You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away. I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness. But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!” My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly. Let your favor shine on your servant. In your unfailing love, rescue me. (Psalm 31:1-3, 9, 14-16)

I have called out to God through this trial. I want to hurry up and get to the end of this whole mess. I want to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve realized that I can’t just keep looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. It apparently isn’t going to shine on me anytime in the near future. My prayer now is for Christ to shine His light brightly while I’m in the tunnel. Rather than wishing my way out of this tunnel, I’m going to lift my eyes to Christ while I sit here in the middle of it. As a child, I admit that I was a bit afraid of the tunnel, but I knew that my Daddy was driving and eventually, he was going to drive me right out of that tunnel to the other side. Once we reached the other side, it was just a short distance more to paradise in a little town called Gulf Shores. As an adult, I admit today that I am a little bit afraid of this tunnel I’m in, but I know that my heavenly Daddy is driving and eventually, He is going to drive me right out of this tunnel to the other side. And once we reach the other side, it will be just a short little distance more to travel before I finally reach paradise in a place called heaven!

If you are in a dark tunnel today, don’t try to speed up and rush your way out. It is our human nature to want to get to the end of the tunnel to see the light, but all we really need to do is invite the Light into the tunnel! We are all in a tunnel, but we don’t have to live there. Let’s live in the light!

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

I John 5:14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

I Chronicles 16:11 Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.

James 4:2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was trying with great difficulty to move a stone. The little boy tugged and pulled to no avail. He was putting all of his weight into it and struggling terribly, yet he could not even make the stone budge in the least. His dad had been quietly watching his great efforts. The boy noticed his dad watching, and informed him that he couldn’t move the stone. His dad asked him if he was using all of the strength he had. The boy answered, “yes.” He said that he was using all the strength that he had. His dad replied, “No, you aren’t using all the strength you have. You haven’t asked your dad to help you.” The dad then walked over and moved the stone.

This little story reminds me of the many times in life that I have struggled with challenges and circumstances that I couldn’t handle alone. When we are going through difficult times, and we think that we are giving it all that we have and are using all of the strength we have, but we still can’t overcome the challenge, maybe we too have forgotten to ask our Father for help. Yes, we sometimes forget where our strength actually comes from, and too often, we get so caught up in trying to handle things on our own that we forget to ask our heavenly Daddy to help us out. We forget to pray. James 4:2 says, “You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” Many times, the thing we want is a solution to a problem, a way out of a difficult situation, and an answer that we are longing for. We fight and wage war on the problem and many times with those around us, but we forget to pull out our most important weapon: prayer.

The Bible is chock full of verses that remind us of the awesome power of prayer. When we study God’s Word, we find hope, yet we tend to question the power of prayer despite our hope and faith. Why do we do this? I think it is simply because can not fully comprehend the power of our great God. We do not know nor can we understand His ways, but we do know that He is in every aspect of our lives. We know that He cares for us deeply, and His plans, though we may not understand them, are always for our good and His glory.

God has pulled me through many trials, and often times, He has picked me up and carried me through the difficult situations. There are so many people suffering right at this moment in time. I have counseled a great number of patients in the past few weeks who have lost loved ones. It seems that we hear of another death almost every single day. It gets frustrating. Despair tries to take hold. We pray for those who are ill with COVID-19, cancer, and other illnesses. Prayer requests are made known on social media, in the churches, and via text. People cry out prayers to God and ask for healing. But God doesn’t heal them all…at least not in the manner that we want Him to heal them. So why, with so many people crying out to God in prayer does He not answer the prayers? We are quick to think that God didn’t listen or that He didn’t hear the prayers being spoken. Maybe God was ignoring those prayers. No, I’m certain that God doesn’t ignore us, and I know that His Word tells us that when we come to His throne, He hears our prayers. God has a plan and a purpose for everything. He knows what is going to happen ten minutes from now and ten years down the road. We can not begin to comprehend the great knowledge and goodness of our God, but we can rest assured that He hears our cries. When He calls someone home, that person is no longer suffering. That person is no longer in pain. He may have called the person home at exactly the right moment in time to prevent a totally different suffering. We can’t possibly know, but we can recline in knowing that our loved ones who are fellow believers are at the foot of our Lord and Savior with no more tears, no more pain, and definitely no more suffering. They were healed, not the healing we asked for, but the healing that God knew they needed.

Prayer is a powerful tool that we can’t leave tucked away safely in our tool chest and pull out only when times get too hard. God wants a daily relationship with us. He wants a daily conversation, but also wants to be the strength that we need to get through the difficult times. If you are struggling today and you feel that you have used every bit of strength that you have, don’t forget to call on your heavenly Daddy. Ask God to help you. Talk to Him. He will be your strength through every trial. Call on Him…and wait! Wait patiently for the Lord.

John 3:16-17 For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Recently, someone said, “You take this Jesus thing way to seriously. What if you spend your entire life worshipping Him only to find out in the end that you were wrong?” How can one respond to such a question? I have to answer that question with another question, “But what if I’m right?” Consider this for a moment. I have spent the majority of my life worshipping Jesus Christ. I’ve attended Sunday School and church services on a regular basis. I’ve even taught many Sunday School lessons. I’ve spent an awful lot of time getting to know this Jesus. He is not only my Savior. He is my friend. He has been an ear when I need someone to listen. He is my encourager when I am feeling defeated. He gives me continual joy even in the depths of despair. He is the light in the darkness. Above all, He is my salvation. He died a cruel death on the cross to take on my sins so that I could be forgiven and made right with the Father. He did this for you, and He did this for me. He arose again just as prophecy foretold. He is the Messiah.

What has this Jesus done for me to make me love Him so? Everything! He has done everything. That sounds kind of a like a sucker answer at first glance. It sounds like I didn’t put very much thought into it, but in fact, I have given it great thought and consideration. I have gradually realized that everything that I am and everything that I have accomplished in life is because of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Every battle that I have won, every crisis that I have overcome, every ounce of blessing that I have ever received is simply because of Jesus and who He is. So, yes, I guess the skeptics could say that this girl has “wasted” a whole lot of time worshipping Jesus.

Well, just for argument’s sake, what if I am wrong? (Let me interject right here that I know that I am right without a shadow of a doubt, but just for argument’s sake let us consider this for a moment.) If I am wrong, I’ve spent my life worshipping Christ and in doing so, I’ve walked through this crazy life filled with unexplainable joy, even during my darkest days. I’ve walked through life knowing that I was never alone. I have traveled through the storms feeling comfort and protection. I have enjoyed unexplainable peace regardless of the circumstances. I have felt loved, so very loved, with a kind of love that is unconditional. I have gained forgiveness when I felt like I couldn’t forgive myself. Oh the joy within my entire being! I can not find the words to describe the great joy I have known while I’ve been wasting my time all of these years worshipping this Jesus. So…if I’m wrong, one day I’ll die and according to some, that will be the end of it. I will be buried and my life will end. Was I crazy to have worshipped Jesus all of these years? I think that even if I’m wrong, my time hasn’t been wasted. I’ve enjoyed joy, friendship, comfort, protection, peace, love, and forgiveness over and over again through the years. If I’m wrong, I don’t regret that one bit!

But….what if I’m right? If I’m right, when I die, rather than it being the end, life has just begun! Yes, my family and friends will place me in a grave, and it will appear that my life is over, but I know within my heart of hearts that at that moment, my life will really begin. I will be spending eternity in heaven with my Savior and King. I will be singing praises to the One I’ve worshipped all of these years. (I sure hope that my heavenly body comes with a better singing voice because even though I love to make a happy racket, I’m not sure heaven is ready to hear that racket for all eternity.) Just imagine it though! I will be right up there in glory singing praises to the King of kings, serving the Father, and walking the streets of gold forevermore. I will be able to speak to those great prophets of the Bible. I can ask Adam and Eve about the fruit they ate that resulted in sin in this world but also a garden full of thorns and thistles that I have to deal with every spring. I will be able to have a deep discussion with Noah about that massive ark He built. I can talk to David about his battle with Goliath. I will be able to sit and enjoy a conversation with Ruth and Esther. And yes, I will be able to speak to my Savior and praise Him for all of eternity! Oh my, it is going to be so fantastic! I can hardly wait. And if I’m right, and you are wrong….eternity is going to look much different for the naysayer. Eternity in hell is somewhere that no one wants to even think about, but it is a reality that we can all avoid if we just believe in Christ!

So…what if I’m right? The one who fears the Lord, trust in Him, and believes in Him has so much to look forward to. Christ invites us to ask Him about the things to come. Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. (Jeremiah 33:3) Isaiah shares the message of repentance and hope. Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. (Isaiah 55:6-7) Paul reminds us that we can’t save ourselves. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9) But our God made a way for us through His grace and mercy. For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

If I’m wrong, I’ve lost nothing. But…if I’m right, I’ve gained everything!

Genesis 2:18-19 The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Colossians 1:15-17 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Good morning, friends! I’ve been sharing some pretty serious stuff lately, so today, I thought I would share something a little more light hearted. If you don’t have an animal in your life, you really ought to consider acquiring one…as soon as possible! God has gifted us with so many wonderful animals through the years, and we see His majesty of creation in every unique detail and quality. Animals are so much fun, and they freely give friendship when you are alone and always have an ear ready to listen at the end of a trying day. Today, I am sharing an excerpt from my book Inspirations from the Funny Farm about one of our favorite pets, Roo. I hope you enjoy. Have a blessed day!

Several years ago, we happened upon an exotic animal auction, and at that particular auction on that glorious day, they had a baby kangaroo for sale. He was beautiful, and we had to have him. We scooped him up and brought him home to Hodge Critter Lodge. We named our baby kangaroo, Roo. He was ten and a half months old and absolutely the most adorable creature I had ever laid my eyes on. His fur was as soft as fleece and light gray in color. He had big old kangaroo ears, bright brown eyes, a thick, muscular tail, and long hind legs. He was on the bottle, and still went into a pouch at night to sleep. He was definitely the most unusual pet we had owned to date. We fell head over heels in love with him immediately.

We got home with him late on a Saturday night, and brought him to meet my mother and father-in-law after church on Sunday. They loved him as much as we did. We had owned Roo for less than 24 hours, and as we were leaving my in-laws, my husband stopped on their drive and said, “let’s put Roo on the rye grass and let him eat some grass.” I was hesitant because even though he was a baby, I knew that kangaroos could hop fast. I also knew that he didn’t really know us as his mom and dad yet because we hadn’t even had him in our possession for 24 hours, but as usual, I didn’t say no. I soon had major regret for not saying no. Jeff stopped the truck in the middle of the drive. Now you need to know that Nanny and Paw Paw live on a 320 acre farm. Their drive is ¾ a mile long. There are cow fields on each side of the drive. There is an area that they cut for hay that is not fenced. Well, that is the area my husband decided to let Roo get some fresh, green rye grass. I bet you can figure out what happened next. Yep, Roo took off like lightning. My heart sank to my toes! Dollar signs in flames flashed before my eyes, and I saw us on the headline of the local newspaper “couple loses kangaroo the day after purchase.” I almost cried. Instead of crying, I got down on the ground and sweet talked Roo. We would get almost close enough to pick him up, and he would hop away again. I literally had to snake crawl on the ground, beg and plead, whisper and coo, and try every tactic in the book. It took nearly an hour and a half to catch him. Needless to say, we didn’t let Roo out to eat grass again unless he was in a fenced area!

At the time we brought Roo home, I was working in town, and this allowed me to come home on my lunch break and bottle feed and diaper him. Oh yes, he wore Pampers diapers! Here I was a forty something year old lady ordering diapers through the mail for a kangaroo. I learned to strategically cut a hole for the tail. He was fairly easy to diaper at first, but as he grew older, putting a diaper on Roo was about as easy as holding on to a greased pig. I’m pretty sure I could put a diaper on just about anybody or anything after diapering Roo.

While I worked, we kenneled him at first, and we allowed him to roam the house when we were home. He made friends quickly with the dog and the kids. Before I knew it, he was sleeping in my bed…under the covers…with his head on a pillow…in between my husband and me! I don’t know if I have ever met anyone else who has claimed to sleep with a kangaroo. Roo had little short arms, a huge muscular tail, and very long legs. Thankfully we have a king-sized bed because Roo thought he was a king. He stretched out over about half of the bed and left six inches on either side of him for my husband and me.

Roo didn’t seem comfortable in the kennel, and he got along great with our Yorkie, Diego, so we made the decision to leave him out of the kennel while we were away from the house. He would hop up onto the bed in a single leap. We put things out of his reach that could have been harmful. He never really caused any trouble. He laid around and watched TV just like a human. He bounced balls, hopped all over the house, and snuggled up and loved on us more than any other exotic pet we have owned in the past. He stayed in the house until he started kicking us out of the bed. We eventually moved him out to the barn with our axis deer fawn, Bucky. Roo and Bucky were the best of friends, and the transition from house to barn went smoothly. I think that Roo adjusted to living outside better that I adjusted to him leaving my bed.

I stay in awe of the majesty of God and His creations. A kangaroo is definitely a creature to make you realize how awesome our God can be. He created this creature to be beautiful, soft, cuddly, and yet he can hop as fast as the wind, and he has a tail and hind feet which protects him from harm. God covers every single detail in every single creation, and He created humans to oversee His creatures. I will never understand why God allows me to play an active role in caring for His creatures, but I know from His Word that He created animals so that humans would not be alone. There is something so peaceful and comforting about having quiet time with animals and with the Lord. I cannot count the many times that I have talked to my critters and talked to God whenever dealing with a sticky situation, and every single time, I feel encouraged and at peace after having that little talk. It does a body good to unload the troubles of the day with a trusted furry friend and the good Lord.