The Rolling Barrel and the Heavenly Help

It happened like this, no matter what Sam says. Well, mostly. 

A few weeks ago, Sam wanted me to buy some agricultural bread from the bread store to feed the fish. The $9 basket seemed a better value than the $6 basket, so I went for the big one. 

The back seat of my car was completely full of bread when I left the store. That wasn't a problem. Until I got home. There was nowhere to keep all the bread except an old olive barrel. I bought it for $10 years ago, and it's very handy for storage... for someone at least six inches taller than I am. 

Nevertheless, Sam, who is a full foot taller than me, thought it was an excellent storage barrel for our fish bread. I loaded it to the rim. 

Every afternoon since then, Sam and I head to the lake. His walking is not as steady as it used to be, nor as fast, so I usually get our bread out. That wasn't a problem as long as the barrel was full. Yesterday, however, there were only a few loaves of bread on the bottom of the barrel. 

I was determined to use all the bread before I bought more because the barrel was dirty inside. It needed a serious cleaning. To make matters worse, at some point, I had failed to screw the lid on tight enough, and rain had leaked in. The bottom was yucky. To put it nicely. The aroma was not lovely. 

So... I took the lid off as usual, and looked inside like I always do. It was a long way to the bread at the bottom. The only sensible thing I could think of at the moment was to stand on tiptoe and lean over into the barrel. 

Usually, I can reach the bread, but, yesterday, my reach was a few inches too short. I leaned over just a little bit more. And then, the unthinkable happened. 

The barrel tipped over and flipped me inside. 

Barrel and silver-haired woman started rolling, headed down the hill. My legs were kicking. I was yelling. Sam was laughing. The lake was getting closer. 

I considered what it might be like to drown inside an olive barrel with old bread and smelly goo. It didn't seem like a happy ending. 

I prayed for help. 

I don't want you to think I waited to pray until I was almost rolling into the lake. My first prayer in this little episode was when Sam and I headed to the lake, that we'd make it there and back without him falling down. (I didn't think to pray that I wouldn't get caught in the olive barrel, but I will today.) 

That prayer continued when my feet left the ground and headed in a wrong direction. When I yelled HELP, I was not talking to the 86-year-old man who is so unsteady on his feet that he's barely able to stay upright. I was addressing the King Of The Universe who is fully competent to handle keeping the stars in the sky and well-preserved, barely-senior-citizens out of the lake at the same time. 

I needed rescue, and fast, so I turned to the One who could help. (I might have also suggested from inside the barrel that I didn't want to get my cute pink top and khaki capris dirty. But we won't mention it.)

Divine assistance arrived a little later than I expected it. It did, however, arrive before I rolled into the lake. 

The barrel hit a stump and stopped. 

The sudden impact gave me a little whack. Sam was still laughing when I crawled backwards out of the barrel. After I got out, I was happy to find that I had been spared from drowning and, miraculously, my cute clothes were spared from stink and goo! 

Unfortunately, I forgot to get the bread on my way out of the olive barrel. I did not go back inside.

There are so many lessons to draw from this little scene in my calm and uneventful life that I hardly know where to start. I'm sure you can manage most of the lessons on your own. The most important point, however is not to get a shorter barrel or to screw the lid on tighter. 

The most important lesson is to understand Who's in charge and willing to help in time of need, and that's God Almighty. King of All Kings. God above all Gods. He's the beginning and the end. The Alpha and the Omega. He knows the number of hairs on my head. When my feet left the ground, He already knew about the barrel adventure I was about to have. 

He knows me, through and through. He loves me, despite how much trouble I am. He helps me, despite how many crazy scrapes I get in. 

My help comes from the Lord. Always by my side. Always ready in time of trouble. Sometimes He uses human hands to help, and sometimes He uses stumps, but my help always comes from Him.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea..." Psalm 46:1-2 nasb

"My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth." 

Psalm 121:2 nasb

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Happy Puppy and Loving Everyone

#disciple #answeredprayer #help #Jesus #linesfromleanna

Maggie and the new floor

All the action in the kitchen has totally disrupted Maggie the Wonder Dog's usual domain. Bill the Magnificent has been laying the new flooring, and everything from the kitchen has been moved to the great room, including Maggie's bed, her feed bowl, and her water bowl. Our house is a wreck!  Maggie has adjusted nicely, as any Wonder Dog would. 

There has been one little problem, however. Maggie usually goes out the back door to "do her business."  That little foray outside is VERY important to me. Well, it's probably pretty important to Maggie, too. Getting the business done in the proper place is, of course, essential for maintaining Wonder Dog status. Here's where the problem comes in. Maggie has been very suspicious of the subflooring where the previous tile was removed. In fact, she looks at it, woofs, and sits down. She is not taking one step into what she considers treacherous territory. No matter how much she needs (or wants) to go outside, she is not moving. She is set like a stone until I pick her up, carry her past the scary place, and get her on solid, comfortable ground. 

For a dog who eagerly tackles a herd of cows and moves them all around, this is really out of character, and I haven't quite known what to think about it. As the days have passed, though, I've begun to appreciate her caution. She could have charged ahead, been completely in the way, and delayed progress considerably. Instead, she's been careful and cautious,  steering clear of the work, and making herself at home in her new area. 

We could probably learn a few things from Maggie about uncertain times. When you don't know what to do, sit still until you do know what to do or until your "owner" comes to move you. I've plunged ahead far too many times, haven't you?

If you are not sure an action is wise, sit still until you do know. If it's not smart, don't do it. I wish I'd understood this thirty years ago, too. 

Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is best traveled in your mama's (or father's) arms. There's much to be said for the comfort of your father, earthly or heavenly, especially in uncertain times. This is one I also wish I'd known. There are no prizes for total self reliance, but intimate times with our heavenly Father are their own reward. 

The next time you encounter an unfamiliar, uncertain situation, do what Maggie would do.  Sit still and wait for better understanding or help from the One who cares for all your needs. 

An early thanksgiving

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 NASB)

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises to our God on the lyre, (Psalms 147:7 NASB)

Today is a day of thanksgiving and praise for me. We will get back to Luke tomorrow, but today is a wow day and I'm spending the day recognizing what God has done and thanking Him for it. 

After 46 days, the blog has had just a few shy of 5,000 views. (By the end of today, it will likely be over 5,000) God has done it. He's given me the words to write and has drawn people to the blog. The stories of lives that have been touched are just thrilling to me. If you haven't heard me say this yet, let me assure you that it has nothing to do with me (except as the typist/plow horse) and everything to do with God. 

Even more amazing to me is that 93 days ago, I wrote the first Luke devotional. In  those 93 days, an entire book has been written, formatted, reformatted several times due to computer glitches, and published as an ebook (a completely new format for me). Everything that was critical worked so smoothly, from obtaining ISBN's to LLCN's (the registration numbers books need) to learning the Kindle format to the upload. When the book was uploaded last night, I received a message back that said the number of misspelled words was zero! He equipped me and trained me and helped me, and He did it in record time. Just for comparison, my last book took ten years to complete. 

I'm later than usual with the post today, and I apologize. I was too excited to sleep last night, and my sister and I had to be up long before dawn to make it to the Charity Sale at Belk. She needed shoes for her son Ben's wedding and I needed a dress for it.  That's a praise all it's own, but a story for another day. 

I want you all to know how much I appreciate your prayers, your encouragement, your kindness. These last few weeks have been so very hard as I struggled to balance my medical practice, the farm, the blog, all my boards and committees, as well as life in general, with writing, editing, and formatting the book. I didn't think I could do it. Actually, I knew I couldn't. God, however, had a plan and He accomplished what He started. 

The Road to Bethlehem went live on Amazon as a Kindle book at 3am today. Please pray now that God will use it to accomplish all He intended. There are thousands, well probably millions, of parents who are broken hearted over the spiritual condition of their children. One of the key words for the book is prodigal so perhaps those parents will find it and get a fresh infusion of hope. There is a brief section at the end that speaks to the parents of prodigals and offers them the opportunity to pray for their children in the same way we have. I promised a dedicated website for parents of prodigals by Dec. 1, so your prayers are needed as I begin yet another whirlwind of work. 

Today, we are thanking God for His faithfulness and the hope He has given us. We are praying, as always, for our children, but today we are also praying for the parents of prodigals who are desperate for the hope that only God can give as well their children who are one bent knee from redemption.