Monday, August 24, 2015

Leave Wubbie Outside


I don't have kids. I do work with the youth group at my church and I have a multitude of teenagers (OH MY STARS!!  Some of them are 20 now!) that I love and adore and would welcome any of them at my home at any hour of the day or night.  But, for whatever reason, besides not giving me a husband at this time I have also not been given biological children. What I do have are 2 dogs. My sweet, sweet Sophie Marie and the ever-frustrating Tucker Allen

Often I say that I am raising a two-year-old when talking about Tucker. He is my Dennis-the-Menace-problem-child.  He is also the one that teaches me more about my walk with God than anything else.   There are a few things, very few, that Tucker has mastered:  he knows not to touch a kibble of food unless I tell him it's OK; and, also knows that under no circumstances can Wubbie ever come into the house. There are other things, MANY other things, that he still working on.

Unfortunately for him, there is much that he hasn’t learned. He has a bizarre addiction to toilet paper rolls and kitchen utensils. Specifically wooden spoons. I don't know why and I don't know why he won't stop.  He also has an odd attraction to shoes - I don't mean he chews them, thank the Lord, rather he moves them. If a pair shoes is left sitting out and I leave Tucker out of jail (a.k.a. his crate) when I come back the shoes will be in an unknown location. A pair of shoes left out in the bedroom could have one end up in the living room and the other in the laundry room.

I have come to realize that Tuckers behavior, both good and bad, are much like my reaction to sin.  There are many things that I know are sin and that I know not to do.  There are just as many, some days MORE things that, although I know they are wrong, I still continue to do.  And just like Tucker, it often takes God’s gentle correction (and sometimes not so gentle) to show me that I need to stop or change.  Lately I find myself wondering why I just don’t get it – why do I keep doing the things that God and His Word CLEARLY show’s me I shouldn’t.  Why do I keep “moving shoes” and “chewing wooden spoons” when God wants so much more from me?

I don’t have any answers.  I know I’m not alone in this.  I do know, that much like I continue to love Tucker regardless of his latest fiasco, God loves me tenfold – regardless. 

Until the next light bulb,
Alice

 

Monday, August 17, 2015

Wait for it...


I used a blog a lot. Mainly my blogs were all about things that God was teaching me through His Word, life lessons, humorous antidotes, that sort of thing. Then I got into a slump, not because God wasn’t teaching me anything or I wasn’t learning tough things in humorous ways, just that I didn't feel like writing. As time passed it just seemed too overwhelming to start again. None of this is particularly valid, but at the time it was real. But I enjoy blogging – I really do. I don’t think what I have to say is particularly insightful or funny or any of any value - but I enjoy it.

And so I'm back. I'm not going to hold myself to writing about any one topic and not even writing every day.  One day it may be about something God is teaching me, three days later it could be about a furniture project I'm working on, and a week after that a new recipe I tried (I'm sure I'll throw in the occasional reference on hot I think Adam Levine is & periodically bore folks with how amazing my sweet pups are).

Deliciously ambiguous – that’s what it’s all about for me.  Some may see my life (and my blog) as boring:  I don’t have that perfect husband/boyfriend, drive a fancy car or live in a huge (and most days spotlessly clean) house.  Others (and you  know who you are) may see it as exciting:  missions trips to places like Belize, Peru, Haiti, my own home that I can try (and fail at) as many Pinterest projects as I want and 100% control of all 6 remote controls (yes 6).  You can decide for yourself – the interpretation is up to you.  But for me it’s just life as I live it and share it whenever I feel like it. 

Until the next inspiration hits me….
Alice

PS – Adam Levine is hot, just saying.