6/23/20 6/23/20

Blog Bio Snakes, summer and surprises

I have had quite a history with snakes. I am not talking about snakes in our front and back yard. I am talking about adventures with snakes that somehow manage to sneak into our house and surprise me at the most inopportune times.

I’ve dealt with a huge sake inside the front door and half under the baseboard that looked about ready to deliver who knows how many wiggly baby snakes. I screamed. The only person I could think of in the vicinity was our pastor at his office at the church. I called.

Pastor Dave came with a rake and had that snake out and dispatched before I could take a breath. That was the beginning of my adventure. My contractor brother had his crew fill in the crack between the sidewalk and the front of the house. Nothing coming in that way!

One year a snake suddenly appeared out of the baseboard in the kitchen and slithered behind the refrigerator. I knew snakes hate salt. Out the back door, I’d I poured salt down the opening between the sidewalk and the house and had snakes escaping right and left.

I used that knowledge by opening the garage door (next to the refrigerator) and pouring salt on the kitchen floor to keep the snake out of the rest of the house while giving it a way out. Never saw that snake again.

I had a snake walk me down the hall at night. I sensed I was not alone. When I flipped on the light, there was this little, almost, cute baby snake looking up at me. Eventually, my fear dwindled and I‘d had enough.

Because of my limitations, I keep what I call “helper hooks” around the house. They help me reach, dress and pick things up. Finally, I found one more reptile just inside the front door.

This time I noticed one of my hooks hanging up nearby. My mind flashed to the place I’d been with my family many years earlier in the Black Hills where they handled snakes with hooks. After managing to open the front door, I grabbed my hook, hooked that snake, and threw it outside. I felt a sense of satisfaction.

For a while, I thought I’d seen the end of snakes entering our house. I stopped checking out corners and the doors. All was well. Not quite. So much has happened this year, I really didn’t need one more thing. But, we can’t always control circumstances.

We’ve been pretty much staying home and self-distancing until lately. Instead of shopping, we ordered groceries to be delivered. That morning I saw the vehicle pull up and headed to the door to open it so the delivery person could bring our groceries inside.

Oh no! There was a snake right inside the door—again. I was startled. I screamed for Keith. Even using a cane he responded quickly and, using his cane, had that snake out the door by the time the lady got to the door with our order.

Is my adventure beginning all over again? I hope not, but I am pouring salt around the places these creatures may sneak in. I really don’t like snakes, but considering everything else going on, snakes in the house is, by comparison, creepy, but not earth-shaking.

They aren’t poisonous snakes after all. Besides, I am reminded that they, as are we, God’s creations and whatever snakes are in my house or life, I can be thankful that He’s got this.

4/9/20 4/9/20

Devotions Don’t Let fear Keep You From Sharing God’s Good News

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

As Jim stepped into the backyard, he noticed his neighbor Dave muttering as he bent over his lawn mower. "Need a hand?"

Dave glanced up, the frown on his face forbidding. "Blasted machine! Wouldn't you know the warranty just expired."

Opening the gate between their yards, Jim took a look. "I've had experience with this brand."

As they began to work on the machine, Dave opened up about a problem in his life. Jim thought, I know Christ would help, but...I don't want him to think I'm weird." He said nothing.

Six months later Dave divorced his wife, sold the house and moved away. Jim lost his opportunity to make a difference in Dave's life. We have become so sensitive to what others think of us, so used to focusing on how we feel, how others might view us, that we lose what life is all about.

As Rick Warren says in the Purpose Driven Life, "It's not about me!"

God promises provision and protection. He has a host of promises He wants to fulfill in our lives--if we focus, not on what others think, not on our feelings, but on Jesus Christ. He asks us to be other centered, thinking how we might help others. For we are safe only in Christ.

Maybe Dave would have thought Jim strange. But just maybe a word from Jim might have planted a seed that would have turned Dave's life around.

Lord Jesus, forgive me for the many times I have let what others think keep me from standing up for you and being a witness of your grace. Please help me focus not on fear, but to stand on my faith. Amen.

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4/7/20 4/7/20

Blog Fear undermines response, our health

***Photo by*** ***Melanie Wasser*** on ***Unsplash***

Recently when Keith and I had hair cuts, a third employee entered apologizing for being late. She told us, she’d been in a line at Walmart when some gunk in her throat made her cough. The lady behind her freaked out, grabbing her phone and had her finger on 911. She wanted this woman who coughed out of line and out of the store.

Frustrated, the woman turned around and said, “I merely coughed on my spit.”

What people don’t understand is that summoning emergency personnel for what may turn out to be nothing, means these services may not be available for that car accident or other emergency situation where minutes may make the difference between life and death.

Trigger-happy responses stem from fear--not merely caution. Fear changes how our bodies deal with stress, actually lowering immunity and setting us up for illness. Certain hormones increase.

In the article “How Fear Impacts Your Health” Health Prep stated,, “... when these hormone levels are constantly being increased, they can have a very traumatic effect on long-term health.”

The article goes on to say fear weakens the immune system. “Another aspect of living in long-term fear is collateral health damage. Individuals suffering from extreme stress or the fear of something may abuse substances to cope.”

Fear leads to searching for escape. March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt took the oath of office as our 32nd president. After taking the oath, he delivered a twenty minute speech, a part of which has been repeated many times over the years. With the Corona virus making its way across the globe causing fear and panic, partly due to the drumbeat of some in the national media, it is time to remind ourselves of Roosevelt’s famous speech.

For those who might pass it off as something from a conservative side of the aisle, I’ll remind you that Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat.“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.”

Roosevelt understood fear is dangerous. Make no mistake, fear can kill you. Fear increases stress to impossible levels, short-circuiting the protections the body usually has in place to fight off illness or even rational thought in some cases. (Ever been so afraid you freeze in place instead of running away?)

The Bible says the answer to fear starts with God’s comfort and strength as we turn our fear over to Him. 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Isaiah 41:10 NKJV “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

We need to stop allowing the media or our own imagination to freeze rational thinking, replacing it with irrational fear. God is in control, but even if you don’t believe, look at the truth at how many are infected, how many actually die and how many--most--survive.

Use basic, sensible precautions, recognizing that with all outbreaks--this, too shall pass. You can get through this. Choose not to pass on either the virus or irrational, paralyzing fear.

I plan my life out a day at a time, so my posting schedule can be erratic.

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