Inspirations from the Funny Farm

Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

We were talking about the rental that we have for sale, and Jude, our 5 year old grandson asked why we call it a rent house. I explained that we bought the property as an investment, and rented it out to other people, but we decided not to rent this one anymore so we renovated it and put it up for sale. I told him I guess I should refer to it as a “for sale house” now instead of a “rent house”. Then Jude proceeded to tell me that he had a wonderful idea. He said that we could sell the house we currently live in and buy the house across the street from him. Nanny and Paw Paw, his great grandmother and great grandfather, live on the property that adjoins Jude’s house, and our other son and his wife life on the other side of Nanny and Paw Paw’s. We live about 5 miles through the woods from them. Jude said if we could move across the road from him, he would ask his Lili, his maternal grandmother, and his Grandma, his maternal great grandmother, to move to the same area, and then we could all live together. I love his creative and loving little mind. He wants the whole family to live close together in unity.

Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be? We are supposed to live in unity, united by the love of Christ, but instead I think this country is the least unified it has ever been. We live in the United States of America for goodness sake, but sometimes I think we have become the Un-united States of America. I can hardly watch the news, and if I scan through social media I cringe when I read some of the posts written or shared by people that I love. There is so much discontent, anger, and bitterness. We have the far left and the far right politicians, and no one wants to meet in the middle. Everyone seems to be after their own agenda, and we seem to have forgotten that our founding fathers founded this nation in unity.

We are to live in peace with everyone, but if we watch the news, we see no peace. We should be exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Why can’t we find peace and unity? I think it’s because this county has turned our back on the One that is peace. If we know Jesus, we know peace, but if we have no Jesus, we have no peace. Christ came for you and for me. God sent Him so that we may know peace through Him.

It’s not easy to find peace in this un-peaceful world we live in. Living in peace with others doesn’t simply mean avoiding issues or grievances that you might have with someone else. Rather, genuine peace is experienced when someone begins working toward genuine reconciliation and resolution wherever there is hurt. We have to work at it. We have to move in the direction of a peaceful resolution. We can’t solve all of the problems of the world, but we know the One who can, and we have the power of Him residing within us. We can know peace. I’m going to say it again for those sitting in the back: If we know Jesus, we know peace, but with no Jesus there is no peace!

We need to listen to the children like Jude. We need to move closer to one another and all live together. We don’t need to sell our homes and move physically, but we do need to make a huge movement spiritually. We need to move this country in the direction of peace, and we need to reunite these American states. We are one nation under God after all. Let’s start sharing the peace of Jesus today, and let’s begin praying for our country like never before. We need the peace of Jesus like never before.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

I’m a pretty transparent person. My husband always tells people if you want to know what’s going on, just read KK’s Facebook. I’m a wordy girl, and I like to share my heart with people, but I’m not fake. I mostly share all the good stuff going on, and sometimes it appears that everything always works out perfectly here at Hodge Lodge. Well, that’s not always the case. I just choose to cling to the blessings rather than complain about the messes most of the time. I’ve probably complained a bit more recently, especially after shopping. I even read the post of a Facebook friend with similar complaints. I don’t understand why we can’t find the things at the local stores that we have been purchasing locally for years. A few weeks ago it as bleach. The last couple of weeks it has been canning supplies. We live in a small town in south Mississippi, and there are still a few people around that can foods and make jellies and jams and preserves. We are a couple of those people. But for the past few weeks, we can’t find jar lids or even Sure-Jell pectin. I know that’s a little thing, but it makes me wonder why? Is everybody in town starting to can their own goods because of the pandemic, or are the goods not available anymore? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that I’ve got a mess to contend with today because of it. LOL

Yesterday, we went to the grocery store to buy some Sure-Jell pectin. I’ve always used the Sure-Jell powder to make jelly or jam, but this was not to be found. I had a bucket full of fresh picked crab apples for jelly and a sink full of quart bags full of persimmons thawing to make jam so I did the unthinkable. I bought Certo Sure-Jell liquid pectin. I read the directions. They sounded legit. I followed them precisely. If there is one thing I am good at, it is following directions especially when it comes to jelly making. You can’t veer from the recipe at all if you want the jelly to set. The crab apple jelly looked like it was going to set last night. It is a beautiful, clear, deep golden color, and it tastes delicious. The persimmon jam, on the other hand, didn’t look like it was even going to attempt to set. This morning, I awoke to a kitchen counter full of liquid filled jars. NOTHiNG set! Uggh! That liquid pectin has put me in a real jam! I’ve got a lot to do today, but now I have more. I’m going to have to go out of town and find some Sure-Jell powdered pectin and a whole bunch of jar lids, and redo my jelly and jam.

I’ve always been able to count on Sure-Jell powder, especially if I have a recipe from Sure-Jell. I won’t be counting on Certo Sure-Jell any longer though. That’s for sure. Nobody has time for that! With Sure-Jell powdered pectin, I know that most of the time, I will end up with a good batch of jelly…most of the time. Think about all of the things and people in your life that you can count on. I am willing to bet that you have quite a few people you trust whom you know that you can count on. They are in your corner, and if you need them, you can count on them…most of the time. We count on our cars to get us to and from work, and they do…most of the time. We count on our alarms to awaken us in the morning, the light switch to turn the light on when we flip it, the air conditioner to keep us cool on these hot summer days, and these things work just as they are supposed to…most of the time. Unfortunately, from time to time, things that we can’t on will occasionally let us down, and we must resort to change.

I don’t want you to think I’m some fuddy duddy who is completely against change. Sometimes change needs to occur. Sometimes change must occur. I can think of a million things in this world that could use some improvement, but it’s nice to know that there is Someone who never will. What or rather who, can we count on ALL of the time? There is only one that we can count on every minute of every day from here to eternity: Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:8 assures us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” In this ever changing, crazy, chaotic time that we are going through currently, isn’t it wonderful that we can rest knowing that our God will never change? He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. We never have to worry about settling for a substitute version, a cheaper model, or a lesser god because our God isn’t available. He is always available 24/7, and we get to experience the real true living God on a daily basis. His love, grace, and mercy for us is unending. He will never run out of love for His kids, and we never ever have to settle for second best. This means that you can always count on Jesus being there in your life, even when it doesn’t seem like He is. He doesn’t change. If you feel like He’s not there, I can assure you that it was not Jesus that moved away from you, but perhaps you may have moved away from Him.

You can always depend upon Jesus. His character will never change. You can always know that His love for you can’t and will not decrease. You can always depend on His commitment to you in all things, at all times, in all ways. Everything is changing in this world. Circumstances change, people change, and you change, BUT Jesus never changes! You can always count on Jesus in all things, always. Count on Jesus!

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Last night, after I finished my third long day in the clinic, my sweet hubby asked me if I wanted to meet in town for supper. We had a nice relaxing meal together, and as we were leaving I noticed the beautiful colors in the sky. It was close to 8:00 pm, and I knew the sun would be completely gone shortly. I also knew that I get the very best views of the sunset and the best pictures over our cow field. I impatiently followed Jeff until we almost reached our drive, and I turned off and raced over to my favorite spot for viewing sunsets. The sun was almost gone by the time I got there, but I was still able to enjoy a few quiet seconds admiring the beauty God had painted in the sky.

Jeff and I are always chasing things. We both love to chase sunrises and sunsets. I’ve probably taken thousands of photos trying to capture the beauty but have failed in comparison to the real thing. We love chasing waterfalls and fall leaves. We got married under a waterfall, and we’ve been chasing waterfalls ever since. We have seen pretty much every waterfall there is to see in the Smoky Mountains. We’ve flown to the New England states, rented a car, and chased waterfalls in that area, and a few years ago, we tried to see every single waterfall in the state of Washington and a few in Oregon while on a trip to the Northwest. Those were some magnificent sites, but my favorite waterfall of all is Rio Celeste in Costa Rica. I’m sharing a photo of this one today. It is quite magnificent.

We have chased a lot of things in our day. Besides the sunsets, sunrises, waterfalls, and fall leaves, we have chased the everyday things like children, dogs, goats, sheep, and pigs. I’ve even chased a pig while in my Sunday dress and high heels. We’ve chased all kinds of critters, and we’ve chased dreams…many dreams. As we’ve grown older, and closer to Jesus, we’ve experienced a new chase. We’re trying to get better about chasing Jesus and things of Christ because we have slowly come to the realization that all the things we are chasing were all created by Him. If we don’t recognize His glory in all of it, we are missing the BIG picture.

In Ecclesiastes chapter 2, King Solomon wrote his memoirs, and in his old age, he recognized that he had chased a whole lot of emptiness in his lifetime. He considered the meaning of life in these memoirs, and basically took an inventory of his days. King Solomon lived life to the fullest. He actually overdid things. He inherited a whole kingdom from his father David, and he was wise enough to ask God for wisdom. God was so pleased with this request that He not only granted Solomon with immense wisdom, He also gave him much wealth. He was likely worth about $100 billion by today’s standards. That due showed very little restraint. He married 700 women and had 300 concubines. (Can you even imagine trying to keep up with 1000 women? LOL)

Basically, Solomon had every single thing that his heart desired. Take some time and read the entire chapter of Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Solomon completed an inventory of his days. He said that laughter is madness, and pleasure accomplishes nothing. He told us that he tried wine, took on great projects, bought servants, amassed great fortunes, and became greater than anyone in all of Jerusalem and probably the earth. He chased it all and acquired a plenty, but King Solomon came to the end of his days realizing that even good things like wisdom, hard work, wealth, pleasure, and diligence, apart from God, will only leave us in despair. He said, “This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

King Solomon gives us a narrative in Ecclesiastes of a fallen world. He acknowledges that the temporal pleasures are just that . They are temporary. Our hope and pleasure comes from things eternal. If we look around right now, we could probably write a pretty detailed narrative of a fallen world once again. But this is not the end! Oh yes, we may be nearing the end of days on this earth, but it is not the end. We can live in hope and with great confidence because it is not finished yet. About nine hundred and some odd years after Solomon penned these words, Jesus came to earth. He came and walked as fully man and fully God, and He eventually was crucified for the sins of us all so that we may have everlasting life. He came to give our lives meaning, and through His resurrection we have been given the confidence of salvation, eternal life, and a promise of a future…a future that can not compare to anything we have seen or chased thus far.

I’m going to keep on chasing kids, critters, sunsets, fall leaves, and waterfalls because I see the beauty of our Creator in each of these things, but I can’t focus on chasing the things of this earth. I love those things because God gave me eyes to see them and a mind to enjoy them, but He gave me a heart for Jesus. We can’t go chasing waterfalls if we aren’t chasing the One who created them. Although I appreciate and love the beauty I see with my eyes, I’m going to keep running after and chasing the unseen that fills my heart…Jesus Christ! Without Him, I am nothing. I have nothing. With Him, I have EVERYTHING. So I ask, who or what are you chasing today?

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Job 14:5-6 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.

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

Hebrews 9:26-28 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

I don’t know about you Peeps, but this old gal here has been thinking a lot about heaven lately. I listened to a sermon series last month regarding heaven, and y’all, I just can’t wait to get there! Don’t get me wrong. I’m not ready to die, but I look around this crazy place we are currently calling our temporary home, and I can’t help put plead, “Jesus, come soon!” This place is a mess, and it’s getting worse every day. It makes me keep thinking about one of our rentals. A couple moved out in January, and they left our rental house in a great big old mess. We had to rip out the carpets, resurface the wood floors, change out the counter tops, put new vinyl plank flooring in all of the other rooms, change the tile ceilings to sheet rock, completely change out the toilet, bathtub, and bathroom sink. We had to basically gut the house, and start over. We are nearing completion now, and I just can’t believe the transformation. We went from a mess to a blessing. The rental is so cute and cozy now.

When I think of heaven, I think about how awesome it’s going to be to get out of this mess, and go to that wonderful home that Jesus has been preparing for us. It’s going to be so much better than cute and cozy though! I think of that song “I Can Only Imagine,” because really, I can’t even imagine in the deepest recesses of my mind what it will look like. Oh, I’ve read the scripture. I’ve listened to the sermons. But really, I can’t even picture the immensity, the beauty, and the glory of it. It’s beyond the comprehension of this human mind. Even still, I love to think about it. I can’t wait to be reunited with Christ, loved ones who have gone on before me, and oh, I can’t wait to talk to all those biblical people that I have read about through the years. I’ve often said that I couldn’t wait to sit down with Adam and Eve and discuss that eating of the forbidden fruit. Every year as I fight the thorns and thistles in my garden, I picture the conversation that I want to have with them.

Of all the conversations that we will have when we get there, the first and foremost chat that should be on our minds is the chat we are going to have with Jesus. We can’t wait to get there and praise His name for all eternity, but before we do that, there will be this thing called the Judgment Seat of Christ. Believers will come before Christ for the final judgment. As believers, eternity with Christ is already secured, but at this judgment, we are going to stand before our Savior and have a little chat. What if we finally reach heaven, and Jesus says, “Let’s have a chat you and I. Before I even created the heavens and the earth, you were on my mind. I decided what you would look like, I knew exactly how many hairs would be on your head, and I determined exactly how many days you would walk the earth…not one day more…not one day less. I planned in advance who would surround you. I planned the people that I would place in your life to teach you about Me, and people that I would place around you later so that you could teach them about Me. I put you in the neighborhood that I wanted you to reside, and I sent you to the church in which I knew you could obtain the spiritual nourishment that you craved. I sent you to the schools where you could obtain book knowledge, and I provide jobs for you to meet your physical needs. I gave you exactly enough days to complete all of the good works that I purposed just for you. I even equipped you with everything that you would need to accomplish these things. I filled you with the Holy Spirit to guide you, encourage you, and to even help redirect you when you got of course. I gave you a very detailed instruction manual which you lovingly refer to as The Holy Bible. My Word was preserved all of these years so that you could know me and learn my ways and understand righteous ways and righteous living. I put many lost people in your path to give you opportunities to share about me. I provided ample opportunities for you to do my work on earth. Let’s chat about that. How did all of that go for you?’

Whoa….although heaven has been on the forefront of my mind recently, I’m not sure that I’m ready for that conversation. I’m not sure that I ever will be. I know that I have not done enough, and I fear that I will never be able to do everything that I am purposed to do. I know that I have failed miserably so many times. But, I also know that I can rejoice in the fact that I am a child of God. I am redeemed. I am free. Heaven is my eternal home because I know that I have accepted Christ as my Savior, and I do not have a shadow of a doubt about that. However, I know that God didn’t create me and put me here in the midst of this beautiful life just so that I could learn to survive. He put me here so that I could thrive…thrive for Him! He created each of us to live life and live it abundantly with Him. We are created in His image to glorify Him. Are we fulfilling our purpose today? Are we completing the good works that Christ has purposed just for us? He’s only going to give us a certain number of days to get our jobs done. From the looks of things, I think we better get busy trying to accomplish those good works and share the Good News with as many people as we can! Time is running out!

Are you ready to chat with Jesus if today were that final day?

Micah 7:19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Corrie Ten Boom once said, “God has thrown our sins and guilt into a sea and permits no fishing in those waters!” I think that thought possibly originated from Micah 7:19. Isn’t it an awesome thought that we serve such a loving, gracious, merciful God? A God that truly forgives and forgets? Our God throws our sins into the depths of the sea!

When we have sin in our lives, the sin may seem pleasurable at first, but eventually, especially if you are a child of God, that sin will begin to eat away at us, and it will slowly but surely separate us from our heavenly Father and from others that we love. Last week, a patient that I have been seeing for years said that she needed to talk to me about something. She became very serious and somber, and walked up within a foot of my right ear. We were both masked due to the ongoing pandemic, but she seemed to think she needed to be really close to me to say what was on her mind. She told me that she owed me an apology. I had no idea where this was coming from or where it was going, but it was apparently extremely important to her. She told me that several years ago, she came to the office with her granddaughter, and she was unable to be seen at that time for whatever reason. She said she became very angry, screamed and shouted, and said she wouldn’t be back. Yet, she has continued to see me for years now. She said that she was ashamed of her behavior that day, and that it had been eating away at her for all these years, and she needed to tell me that she was sorry. The truth is, I barely even remember the incident. When you’ve been in health care as long as I have, you learn to forgive and forget and not hold grudges. I assured her that we were okay, and that I was not upset with her at all. All was forgiven.

I really didn’t have any hard feelings towards this lady, but the incident was weighing her down. She said it was bothering her for several years, and she felt a need to make it right. This is how sin affects the life of a Christian. When we are living outside of the will of our Father, that little voice in our head starts telling us that we are doing wrong. That voice is the Holy Spirit, and that feeling is called conviction. The Holy Spirit is within us convicting us, and showing us that we are living outside of the will of God. We may lose sleep at night. We may worry over the issue. But then, a spiritual battle begins to occur. Old Satan is going to tell us that what we are doing is really not so bad. He’ll show you that everyone else is doing the same thing, so it must be okay to continue living in this sin. Is it really a sin if the world says it is acceptable? The battle ensues, and the conviction continues. We can’t rest, and we finally realize that we have to confess this sin to the Lord, and walk away from it. Repent and turn away.

Oh, but glory! When we reach this point of true repentance, we recognize that we are living in a sin, we confess it to the Savior, and we are forgiven. It’s almost magical. We are totally and completely forgiven, and better yet, the sin is forgotten. God throws that sin in a sea of forgetfulness. That sin is now at the bottom of a deep, deep ocean, and we are not to go fishing in that ocean! We are to leave it right there at the bottom of the sea. God has forgotten the sin. We should forget it too, but that’s easier said than done. As children of God, I think we tend to be like that patient I spoke of earlier. When we’ve sinned, the sin bothers us. We dwell on it. We feel bad. We fret. We need not do this though. If we’ve truly repented and turned from that sin, all is truly forgiven and forgotten by our heavenly Father. We are free.

God forgets the sin. He doesn’t throw it back in our face down the road. He forgets it. Yet, we never forget, and I think that is a good thing too. We’ve been forgiven, but we need not forget. If we forget, we may allow the sin to sneak back into our lives. Oh yes, we remember, and we have a faithful, merciful Father who loves us so much that He will help us to stay on the right path. All we have to do is ask Him for help. I know some sins seem much bigger than others. Some battles will be much harder to win than others, but when we equip ourselves daily with the full armor of God, that old devil doesn’t stand a chance. As we learn to lean totally on Christ, we slowly learn that He is stronger than any problem that we have. He’s already defeated the devil. He can help us defeat any sin in our lives. If we truly give it to Christ, the battle has already been won!

We must not forget that Christ has set us free. Our job is to let go of the sins for which we have been forgiven and to move towards the finish line. Let go and let God take over. Do not continue to search the sea for your sins. Do not go fishing in that sea! Stay out of those troubled waters, and look ahead to the promised land. When we are forgiven by our Father, we feel a peace that we can’t even begin to understand, but when we feel that peace…the peace of forgiveness…we will want to learn to live right there and never leave. Thank you God for forgiving me!

John 15:1-5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

The fall grapes are ripening here in Mississippi. We have a beautiful scuppernong arbor that my husband built many years ago. He prunes it back every year, fertilizes it when necessary, and that beautiful vine takes off every spring. In August, it brings forth beautiful, huge, sweet, golden scuppernongs. Our crop is still not quite ready for harvesting, but we are getting to taste a few samples on a daily basis. The wild grapes, however, are ripening a little faster. Friday evening, we picked about three gallons of wild muscadines. Our suppernongs are large, golden grapes. The wild muscadines are purple in color. They are a bit smaller and a bit more tart, but they make an excellent jelly. Yesterday evening after church, we went out on a search and find mission looking for wild fox grapes. We succeeded in our mission, and found quite a few. My husband and I had so much fun collecting these tiny grapes. We climbed on trees, pulled on vines, and finally got a twelve foot ladder from the house to help us gather those little jewels. We rode and walked around the outer edges our our cow fields looking for the fox grapes. We had a blast, and what a great reward we received after sweating our tails while off foraging for grapes. We made jelly. Lots and lots of jelly! We made twenty one half pints of wild muscadine jelly Saturday night, and twenty one half pints of wild fox grape jelly on Sunday night. Our pantry is filling up quickly with all of God’s blessings.

We really had a lot of fun gathering our wild grapes. It is quite amazing that a delicious fruit can grow out in the woods without the loving care of a gardener. Our personal vines are tended by my husband with great care, but what about all those vines that we found out in the woods? Well, those vines have the BEST Gardener! Our heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe, created all the plants that we get to see, taste, and enjoy. He cares for those wild grapes with His tender love and care. He provides rain for them in due season, sunshine, and adequate nutrition. God created these vines with a purpose.

The purpose of a vine is to send out fruit to feed the birds of the air and critters of the woods. In order to fulfill its purpose, the vine must be lifted up to send out branches that will bear fruit. The vine’s main function is to draw water and nutrients to provide the branches with everything they need to promote growth. Clusters of grapes are produced. Some are sweet, others are sour, and some are tart which are my favorite.

Under the care of the vine dresser, the vines are prepared yearly to produce crops. This is done through pruning. Pruning is the most important part of the growing process. Jeff prunes our branches down to almost nothing but the root every year. If the branches are not pruned, they become unmanageable and draw energy away from being fruitful. This will lead to the death of the vine. Trimming the shoots and removing the excess allows the branches to produce a higher quality fruit.

In John 15, Jesus tells us that He is the true vine, and God is the gardener. God will remove the branches that are not bearing fruit so that the branches that remain will be more fruitful. We have to look upon God as the ultimate gardener because well, He is. He created each of us with a purpose: to glorify Him. He sent His Son Jesus, so that we may have a direct connection with Him. So look we see God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. God will prune things away in our lives that are preventing us from bearing fruit. He will also prune people out of our lives that may be keeping us from the relationship that He desires with us. This pruning process is sometimes painful, but as the Gardener (God) prunes us, we become closer to Him. If we remain connected to the Vine (Jesus), the branches (us) will continue to grow stronger in our daily walk, and we will produce much fruit.

If a branch becomes separated from the vine, it will wither away and die. That branch is of no use any more. It has lost its source of nourishment and life. If we as Christians, do not remain connected to Christ, we will wither away. We can not produce fruit if we do not remain connected to Christ. If we remain connected to Christ, seeking Him daily, and abiding in His ways, we will produce the fruits of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22.

Today we must ask ourselves, are we producing fruit? Are we showing the love of Christ to those we come in contact with daily? Do others see the joy of Jesus in us? Are we peacemakers or troublemakers? Do we show patience and restraint? Are we kind? Are we good? Are we gentle? Do we show self control? If you answered no to more of these than yes, maybe you should check your connection to the true Vine. I am not perfect, not by a long shot, and I know that I am truly lacking in the area of fruit production many days, but the good news is that the great Gardener is still watching over me, and I am still connected to the Vine. The Gardener will keep on pruning away the things that are keeping me from producing good fruit, and I will continue to let the nourishing Vine grow me into a branch that produces the sweet, savory (though sometimes tart) fruit that He intends for me to produce.

If you don’t feel that warm embrace of the Father, if you don’t see the fruits of the Spirit in your life, or if you feel like something is missing, please check your connection. The line to Christ is always open. He wants to hear from you today. Call out to Christ, and get connected to the Vine today! There is no time like the present to recline in the presence of our Savior!

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from my last book, “Inspirations from the Funny Farm.” Good Sunday morning from the funny farm. I pray you have a blessed day in the Lord!

Our farm needed some small cows that we could pet. Yes, I know that we have a lot of cows. Those are mostly Black Angus, and they really aren’t pets. I wanted some cows for pets. The little researcher in me jumped on the world wide web in search of the perfect small breed cow. I looked at Dexters and Zebu. We even went out to a farm to look at some Zebu cattle. They are pretty tiny, but not very cute. Then suddenly, I found the beautiful long-haired Scottish Highland cattle. I read online that there were miniature Scottish Highlands also, and I was on a search and rescue mission to bring a pair of Scottish Highland home to Hodge Critter Lodge. I found out that there were only two farms in Mississippi that raised these beautiful cattle, and I promptly emailed them both. I got one response. It was from a judge in Tupelo, MS. He said he wasn’t really wanting to sell any of this herd, but after talking to me, he decided he could part with a young pair. I can be pretty persuading when I get my mind set on something. He said he would sell me a 10 month old heifer and a 13 month old bull. He also informed me that to his knowledge there was no such thing as a miniature Scottish Highland. He said that their legs are shorter than average cattle and perhaps that was where the misunderstanding came from. I didn’t really care at that point. I just wanted what he had.

One fine morning, we loaded up the cattle trailer and drove four and a half hours to Tupelo, MS to pick up our new heifer and bull. The judge had a beautiful herd, and we were tickled with the ones that he was selling us. I named them Merida and McLeod, two good Scottish names. Neither of them was halter broke, but we were determined. Merida halter broke rather easily. McLeod, well he was a whole other story. He was 100 percent bull, and bull headed to prove it. We got a halter on him, but that was about as far as that went. We never were able to train that bull to follow. Merida, however, was terrific. I had her following me around within a week. I even sent a video to that old judge, and he was shocked. He said he couldn’t believe we had her broke that quickly. Merida was a big old baby. There were times when I thought she would curl up in my lap if she could fit. She is the sweetest cow I have ever owned.

From that moment on, Merida was mine. I loved her. She loved me. She grew into a beautiful, dark rust colored cow while McLeod had more of a light rust colored coat. They grew a nice set of horns. Highlands have rather long hair, and they are distinctly different in appearance from our black angus cattle. They stuck out like a sore thumb. We housed Merida and McLeod in our barn and the field area behind the barn initially so that they could get to know us, and so that we could tame them down. Because of their rather long hair, they got really hot during the summer in that barn and lot area. It gets close to 100 degrees here in south Mississippi during the dead of summer. Jeff installed 3 fans in the barn. They understood that if the stood under them when they were too hot, the heat was a little more bearable. We also sprayed water on them from the water hose to cool them off on especially hot summer days. They loved getting sprayed with water. They loved it so much that they actually learned to turn on the water faucet at the back of the barn. I cannot tell you how many times I walked out to the barn to find the water spewing full blast and Highlands dancing around in a summer water faucet shower! Whenever I walked upon Highlands under a spray of water, I pictured a supermodel ad with the model laughingly being sprayed with water. They looked just as happy! We won’t even talk about the water bills.

After a while, we moved them out into the area we had fenced around our pines. They loved it there as there was a lot more shady areas. There is a nice little creek on our property, and this allowed them to cool off when needed, and it saved on our water bill! After another year of growth, Merida was finally bred. We had moved both Merida and McLeod across the driveway into a little rye grass field to let them finish off the rye grass. Merida delivered her first calf on a wintery, rainy night. Cows are generally a little bit skittish in nature, and they really don’t want their humans around when they are calving, but not my Merida. Jeff and I were out in the field with her and stayed with her the whole time. We kept McLeod at a comfortable distance because he was after all still a bull. I’ve never had such a love for a cow in my life. We definitely have a special bond, and she knew that we were there to help.

A few months later, the rye grass was gone, and it was time to move them back across the driveway into the pines again. Jeff was at work offshore. There was no rye grass left. They needed to be moved so that they could get to an area where they would have plenty to eat. I took the kids to school, and after I arrived back home, I decided that I would move them across the driveway. I mean, it was less than twenty feet. How hard could it possibly be to move a cow and a bull twenty feet? I walked up the drive and took the fence down across the drive from the Highlands. I grabbed a bucket of feed, and Merida walked right across the drive without hesitation. McLeod did not. I tried to tease him with a bucket of feed. He would walk into the drive and up to the fence line, but he would not cross the fence. I tried shooing him into the fenced area. He would not budge. I picked up a long stick to try to coerce him to go. This did not work. He darted up the driveway. I quickly pictured my huge bull running free down the road and visiting the neighbors. I finally got him back down the drive, but he still would not go into the area I needed him to go to. I kept telling him that his wife was over there, and that he should be with his wife, but that stubborn bull-headed bull didn’t seem to care. I was frustrated, and I was just about ready to jerk a knot in his tail.

I chased him back and forth, and then he chased me back and forth. After about 30 minutes of running with the bull, he charged at me. I suddenly realized that an 1800 pound bull was probably going to trample my 135 pound self. I also realized that I didn’t have my cell phone with me. I was about a quarter mile from the house. The kids were at school. The husband was overseas. I contemplated for a few seconds how long I might have to lay there in the pines dead or dying before anyone thought to look for me there. I scolded myself for my stupidity, but then I realized that I am as bull headed and stubborn as this bull. I stood my ground. I told him he wasn’t taking me out until the good Lord called me home. It took me close to two hours to get that bull to move a simple twenty feet, but I won. I got the fence back up, and walked back to the house praising God for keeping me safe. I was hot, sweaty, exasperated, and worn out, but I proved to that bull that I’m as stubborn as a bull. I’m stubborn, and God has my back.

Merida had her second calf while they were living in the fenced area in the pines. I was again worried how McLeod would respond, and I was scared that he might accidentally trample or injure the calf. The kids called me at work to let me know that she had calved. I didn’t get off work until 7:00 pm, and I knew it would be dark when I got home. I asked the kids to try to get the calf and Merida up to the barn. Well, they didn’t have any luck doing that. I got home around 7:30, and sure enough, Merida had delivered a beautiful little heifer that we named Annabel. We couldn’t get Merida and the calf to walk back to the barn after several attempts. I finally picked Annabel up, and carried her to the four wheeler. I loaded her on the four wheeler, and my son drove. I led Merida with a bucket of feed along the fence line all the way to the barnyard. That old girl will follow me anywhere, especially if I have a bucket of feed. We arrived at the barn, and I carried Annabel into the barn and put her in a nice stall with Merida with plenty of fresh hay.

McLeod hung out down by the barnyard on the other side of the fence keeping a watchful eye on his wife and new baby. Two days after Annabel arrived, I got home from work to find McLeod in the barnyard. He was no longer on the other side of the fence. He was inside the fence. No one had put McLeod inside the barnyard. I walked the fence line and found that McLeod had busted through the fence. He literally walked right through the fence. My husband put this fence up, and it wasn’t a shoddy job. It was a really good strong fence. I suppose McLeod decided he had enough time out, and he was ready to join his family whether we were ready or not. I don’t think that there was a fence in the world strong enough to keep those love birds apart. Thankfully, none of the other critters decided to leave through the open fence before I got home and before the fence got mended. We never separated McLeod from Merida after that.

Our critters and our children know that I am as bull-headed and stubborn as old McLeod. To work as a nurse practitioner and to help maintain our farm, I have to be tough. I work hard at everything I do, and I do not settle for second best or half-hearted attempts to do a job. Any job worth doing is worth doing right. I am so thankful that I have a husband who never gives up on me, and I am eternally grateful that I have a savior who never gives up on me. I will continue to work as hard as I can by my husband’s side, and I will continue to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as I share the good news to all that will hear. And I will do so with the same tenacity it takes to defeat an 1800 pound bull! I will listen to the Holy Spirit and I pray that I never squander away the gift that Christ has given me.

We must all stand firm and be stubborn, and not give up. We must endure every challenge that is put before us knowing that God goes before us and will carry us through. I’ve been faced with many a challenge during my walk in this life, but I have to say that not one of those challenges has killed me yet! I know that I can trust in the Lord through any difficult situation, and that the Lord will see me through. Things may not always work out the way the I want them to work out, and there may not always be a happy ending. But with God’s grace and mercy, I will continue to fight the good fight until the day he calls me home. I’m going to finish this race called life. I just pray that I will finish it the way that God has planned for me.

“And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you’re just like your ancestors. Was there ever a prophet who didn’t get the same treatment? …You had God’s law handed to you by angels—gift wrapped—and you squandered it!” Acts 7:51-8:13 

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:5-7

I Corinthians 3:5-9 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Yesterday, we were talking about what we would like to plant in our fall garden. We always plant a garden in spring, and every once in a while we plant for fall. We almost always plant mustard greens for fall, but this year, we want to change it up a bit. We are thinking about planting pumpkins, tomatoes, squash, and mustard greens. I’ve always want to plant pumpkins. We unintentionally grow some every year. We usually buy a half a dozen or so pumpkins for fall decorations, and when they began to rot, we throw them over the fence to the cows or donkeys or goats. The seeds that are left behind stay buried in that rich soil full of nourishing natural fertilizer, germinate, and pop up in the early summer. Of course, that’s too early for fall pumpkins. They always ripen in early August, and they won’t last in the Mississippi heat until October or November. But I will admit that I have placed about six or eight of our volunteer pumpkins on either side of my front door the first week of August. Hey, if God is going to give me pumpkins, I’m either going to cook with them or decorate with them!

I love gardening, planting seeds, watering them, and watching them grow. I love seeing the fruit or vegetable that is produced. It takes a lot of effort in some cases to produce fruit, but it is always worth it. Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church in I Corinthians chapter 3. He explains here using the analogy of planting and growing seeds to demonstrate how we as Christians can bring others to Christ. We are all servants of God, and each of us has a different talent or ability, and when we bring these talents to the table in conjunction with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we can accomplish much. However, we can’t do anything on our own.

The pastor may preach a sermon or a Christian may speak of the gospel, and those words plant a tiny seed in the heart of a non-believer. That person will carry that seed around for a period of time, and it may just sit there in the heart of that person for a great length of time. But then, one day, someone will come along and speak to that person, and something that is said will water that seed. It may be a Sunday School teacher, another pastor, or even a Christian co-worker, but whoever it is, the conversation of that day waters that seed that was planted a little while back. That seed then starts to germinate in the heart of that non-believer. They may start asking questions, researching God’s Word, looking for more answers, and then the Holy Spirit starts working on that little watered seed as it begins to germinate. Suddenly, that seed grows within that lost person, and they realize that they are lost and ask Christ into their heart. Soon, we see that new believer bearing the beautiful, sweet fruit of Christ. Isn’t that amazing?

We can not in and of ourselves bring others to Christ. Only Christ can do that, but we are to do the planting. We are to do the watering. We are the servants of Christ and our job is to work together. We can’t expect the pastors of our churches to plant all of the seeds and water them. It would be impossible for all of the lost to be reached because a lot of lost people aren’t going to causally walk through the door of a church on Sunday morning looking for a seed, because they don’t even know that the need it yet. All Christians are tasked with being gardeners for Christ. We have to plant seeds on a daily basis, water seeds, and pray and wait and watch the seeds grow. It’s a tough job. Sometimes we plant seeds, and we feel like we are watering those seeds, but we never see the fruit produced. Don’t worry about that my friend. It’s not our job to change a person. We aren’t that good. That’s God’s job. Our job is to plant and water and pray.

Are you planting and watering seeds for Christ? You may see some volunteer seed planting occasionally like those pumpkins that pop up every summer, but most people will never come to Christ if someone doesn’t first plant a seed. Get out there and get busy. The time is right for planting and watering. “He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2. Now lets get to work! The time for planting is NOW!

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Mark 6:31-32 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

Rest…well that is a four letter word that we need to talk about! I an advocate of rest, but I haven’t figured out how to obtain rest most days. On the days that I work the clinic, I get up at 5:30 am to feed bottle babies (coatimundi babies at the present time), read scripture and write my daily devotional, get dressed, and rush off to work, and dive in head first to the chaos. I work in a busy immediate care/family clinic, and we generally don’t have a lot of down time. I leave shortly after 7:00 pm, and rush home to Hodge Critter Lodge. My sweet husband has generally already prepared supper and fed the critters. We sit down and share a sweet, savory meal together, and then do any other task that we haven’t yet been completed. Before we end our day, however, we sit down together at the table and read the Bible. We are reading through the Bible in a year again, and it’s so much fun to do this with my husband. I usually try to get to bed by 10:00 pm, and I’m always asleep before Jeff.

I work Monday – Wednesday in the clinic, so that leaves a lot of time off for me to rest, right? Wrong! In fact, I think I work much harder on my days off than I do on my days on. We have somewhat of a zoo around here. There are always animals to tend, bottle babies to feed, and stuff to be cleaned….lots and lots of stuff to be cleaned! Yesterday, on my day off, I got up early to go with my sweet mother-in-law to Covington, LA to pick up her vehicle that had been in the shop. I followed her back, stopped by my house to feed babies again, and then headed over to the rent house which we are preparing to sell. We have had construction people in doing a lot of necessary repairs and upgrades, and those dudes left that house in a mess. My precious mother-in-law and grandson joined me, and we cleaned that house from top to bottom….literally. We washed walls, baseboards, swept and swept and swept, and mopped and mopped.

I finished up about 5:00 pm, and as I was taking my cleaning supplies out of the car while my dogs were outside pottying, I caught a glimpse of a raccoon out of the corner of my eye. It was climbing a magnolia tree at the corner of the house. He scurried right up that big old tree, and he perched himself on a branch (see the picture above), and he rested. That little raccoon stretched out and reclined on that limb like he belonged there. I stopped and took photos and talked with him for a while. He told me with his eyes that he was a tired raccoon. Yes, he looked tired and weary. We had a little chat about being tired and needing to rest. We talked about being tired of COVID 19, tired of politics, tired of people being ugly, and tired of the chaos of life. For a few minutes, I wished that I was that little raccoon, perched up there safely on that limb away from the chaos of life. How do we achieve that level of rest?

Have you ever noticed that although Jesus was a very busy man, He never seemed hurried? He always knew when to serve, and He knew when to get away. He would go from preaching in a synagogue to casting out a demon to healing a sick friend to ministering to the whole city gathered at His door at sundown. I thought my life was busy! He did all of that in just one day, but the very next day, “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35. He got away from all of the chaos, and He prayed! After pouring Himself out to others, ministering, preaching, teaching, and serving, He got away from all of the chaos, and He left the crowds behind and spent time with God.

Jesus also knew that His disciples needed to rest both physically and mentally at times, and Mark 6:31-32 gives us an example of a time he encouraged them to rest. Jesus understood our human need for rest. In Matthew 11:28-30, He tells us come with Me. I’ll show you how to do this thing called rest. Watch how I do it. Follow my example. I’m not going to put anything too heavy on you. I’ll keep your burdens light. Come rest with Me.

The prophet Jeremiah said it best in chapter 2:25 “Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?” We are supposed to be chasing Christ, yet we expend all of our energy on things of this world. Oh, we still have to do those things. We have responsibilities in life. Jesus understands that too, but He also wants us to follow His example and get away from it all , find a quiet place, and just spend some time resting and reclining in the arms of our Father.

My little raccoon buddy is still in that tree this morning. I’m sure he had a busy night foraging for food. The cats bowls were empty this morning, so I know he isn’t hungry. He has a pretty nice shady spot to rest here in the middle of our eighty acres, and he has a whole creek full of water in the back yard to drink from and play in. Yes, he has it made in the shade. I’m going to try to take some lessons from him, I’m going to take some time each day to just recline and rest in the presence of my Father. How about you?

Job 2:1-13 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhit and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

My best friend, Lisa’s daughter, Sara, shared the following post on Facebook yesterday.

“It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.

“Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet “said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.

“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”

Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All.

Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”

Pooh looked and Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.

Because Pooh and Piglet were There.
No more; no less.”

At first sight, it looks like this is cited from a 1928 book “The House at Pooh Corner” written by A.A. Milne, but after some further research, I found that it was actually written by an energetic blogger Kathryn Wallace. She writes parodies of encouragement, and these are definitely great words of encouragement.

In the second chapter of Job, we see that Job is in great distress. He didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes. Satan thought that Job would turn away from God and stop worshipping Him if He withheld blessings. When taking away all of Job’s material possessions didn’t work, Satan afflicted Job’s body with boils. His wife even told him to curse God at this point, but he did not.

Job sat down in the ashes with boils covering his whole body likely feeling very alone. But look what happened next. Three friends heard of Job’s trouble, and they set out to meet Job. When they saw him from the distance, they cried, tore their clothes in anguish, sprinkled dust on their heads, and sat with Job for 7 days and 7 nights. They didn’t speak. They just sat with him because they saw how great his suffering was. They were being true friends. They showed up and shut up! Now, later on these three guys were a great source of agitation for Job, but for those seven days, they rocked it! They were true friends. They saw a friend that was suffering, and they showed up and sat with him and made their friendship and presence known.

I pray that you have friends like this. We all need great Christian friends making up our circle. We need friends that recognize when we are going through a trial and know when to show up and shut up. We don’t always need advice. We don’t always require an answer. Most of the time, we just need the presence of a friend. I am so thankful for the beautiful, God fearing, faith filled loving friends that make up my crazy circle in life. Each friend brings a different gift or talent to the table. Each friend is a blessing for which I am eternally grateful!

I reflect back on all of the friends I’ve been blessed to know in my lifetime, and I know that my cup is truly running over. God has blessed me with some awesome people. But of all those friends, whom I dearly love, I know that there is one friend that is the truest of all. His name is Jesus. I know that it’s because of Him that I have all my special friends. He has surrounded me with good friends and loved ones that continue to draw me closer to Him. I only pray that I can be the friend that my friends deserve! And because of Jesus, I am confident that I will never ever be alone!