When Words Count

By Cheri Cowell –

Not too long ago, I went to help new friends move, even though I was really tired. I got there a little late for two reasons: 1) I knew there would be a lot of help, and 2) I really wasn’t looking forward to moving them into their two-story home. Did I mention I was already tired? When I arrived I discovered my first assumption was wrong. There were only a handful of helpers of which only two were men. As I got to work I began to feel somewhat ashamed of my tired outlook because those who had been there on time must have been tired too, yet they weren’t complaining. In fact, it was just the opposite. They were having a good time. I soon learned why everyone was so happy. My friends were so grateful for every box brought in, every piece of furniture that was put in its place, and every bed put together. They said thank you in so many ways, and gushed over our every effort so much so that it was hard not to feel appreciated.

There is a proverb that tells us how precious our words are. This proverb is thought to be referring to a sort of table centerpiece popular at this time. Golden balls were arranged in a handcrafted silver filigree basket that was probably very beautiful and valuable. What a wonderful word picture for what our words are to be: handcrafted (carefully crafted) silver filigree basket (a delicate container) filled with gold balls (a valued ornament or gift).

“The right word at the right time is like precious gold set in silver” (Proverbs 25:11 CEV).

PRAYER: God help me see each situation today as a filigree basket waiting to be filled with precious gold balls of uplifting and encouraging words.

Call in the Big Guns!

By Liz Cowen Furman –

Did you ever have the feeling you were being watched? Followed? Stalked? The other night all our dogs started barking at once, they were outside doing business. Usually when we let them out at night, in the fall especially (when those bears are eating 20 hours a day in getting ready for a long sleep), we go with them, but somehow they had been left to their own devices. Everyone ran to a different door or window to call them in and we retrieved them safely.

When I stood at the front door to call, I noticed that my car’s inside light was on. So, with the dogs safely in the house I went out to check what was up. As I walked around the (very dark) side of the house, the hair on my arms began to stand up and I felt fearful. The kind of fear that comes from deep inside. I did not see anything or hear anything but I felt a presence, an evil presence.

Immediately, I started praying and saying scripture aloud (the devil cannot stand against the Word of God; look up Proverbs 30:5 and Ephesians 6:17). The passenger door was ajar; I closed it and started for the house, still talking into the darkness. As I rounded the corner, I definitely heard something moving in the weeds just feet from me. I could feel the fear rising again and I spoke into the darkness louder.

I came into the house and locked the doors. Then I just went back to what I was doing. Funny, but usually, when something like that happens I want to know who or what is there. This time however, I just went about my business. I surprised myself with the peace I felt after praying. It has happened to me countless times in my life. Something happens to frighten me and I immediately speak scripture out loud toward the thing that is scaring me, after a few minutes peace washes over me. As if I have a bubble around me, all of the sudden I feel safe.

So next time you are afraid, call in the big guns. Say scripture aloud. Ask for help and expect that you will receive it. He promised many times to never leave or forsake us. That promise I have taken to the spiritual bank many times.

Take My Hand

By Makenzie Allen –

When I was little, the word fear wasn’t in my vocabulary. Fear was nonexistent. Most of my childhood friends remember me as the kid who would crouch along the ground and sniff out snakes, coming home with handfuls of them. I spent my summer days with my buddy, hiding under a blanket, waiting for the squirrels to set off our homemade trap filled with irresistible peanut butter. We caught a grand total of zero squirrels, but that wasn’t what mattered. Sure, I thought it would be cool to finally hold one of those furry little critters, but in the end, I just loved the excitement when I went on adventures.

And sometimes, I wish I could be little again.

I remember when I had my critter cage in hand and grandma right beside me as I scanned my surroundings.

“Do you think this is a good spot for your little mouse friend?” Grandma asks, hope filling her face.

“No, I think we should keep looking. We have to find just the right spot to release him back into the wild,” I say.

Continuing our walk, we come across a little creek, with Indian Paint Brush flowers in bloom everywhere.

“How about here?” Grandma asks after many times of me declining other suggested spots. “He could get water from the creek and there’s plenty of plants for him to nibble on.”

Looking over every detail to make sure the home is just right for my mouse, I finally agree. “I think he’ll like it here.” Stooping down, I open the cage and the furry creature dashes out.

On our way home, I spy a long, scaly tail poking out of the brush. Excitement quickens my pace and I reach down and pull. Out comes a snake large enough to jump rope with.

“Honey, don’t you think that could be poisonous? You better put it down,” my nervous grandma says.

Propping my hand on my hip and holding the snake with the other I say, “Now grandma, there are no poisonous snakes on this side of the Wind River Range, my dad told me so.” And with that, the snake becomes my next resident to occupy the cage.

As my parents and grandparents could testify, that cage never stayed vacant for long. Years have gone by since that experience, but my heart still beats to the same rhythm it did when I was little. I couldn’t imagine life without being able to observe all that God has made.

Now I have the urge to find Never Never Land. So I don’t have to fear for the future, for the “what ifs,” and for my appearance. To be a child again and to act as if no one’s watching but God. I want to live fearless, knowing the Lord will be my rearguard and will take hold of my right hand. It’s time to be a child again, fearing nothing but the Creator, and knowing God’s protection is enough.

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13 NIV).

Surprise Sally

By Susan Dollyhigh –

“Eating words has never given me indigestion, and I never felt discomfort in my abdomen after I chewed and swallowed,” Winston Churchill once said.

I have to agree. Some of the sweetest words I’ve ever eaten were, “I will never have a dog live in my house.”

God spoke to my heart in July 1996, and this non-puppy person had an overwhelming desire to surprise my son, Eric, with a Basset Hound on his 15th birthday. We chose Sally from a litter of ten adorable puppies who tripped all over their ears as they ran and played that sunny, summer day. We brought that trembling puppy home with us, and my maternal instincts kicked in. I held Sally close to soothe and comfort her, and surprisingly felt my heart being soothed and comforted in return. Looking into brown puppy eyes, I discovered what I’d missed over the years by not having a pet to love, and a pet to love me.

Sally was the wonderful distraction my family needed as my beautiful daughter, Emily, dwindled away from us and into an eating disorder. We tried to maintain our lives through counseling sessions, doctor’s visits, and extended hospital stays. But the days were long and dark as Emily’s condition deteriorated. Sally, with her heart-shaped spot, loved and comforted us through those difficult days that turned into weeks and then months and then years.

Many changes occurred in our lives over the next twelve years. But this dog, who I thought was for my son, turned out to be my faithful companion. Sally eased the adjustment as our family moved across the country. She stayed close by as my children left home for college. Sally comforted me through many long and sleepless nights after my mother passed. She helped me transition as we moved back to North Carolina where she lived out her last years. Sally taught me how to love in a way that I never had before.

Sadly, the day came when Sally had taught me all that I was supposed to learn from her. When the vet picked up Sally’s lifeless paw, placed it on the ink pad, and then pressed it to the keepsake paper, my heart ached and tears streamed down my cheeks. But I knew Sally had left this earth having fulfilled her mission. Sally left her paw print on my heart, and taught me many lessons on unconditional love.

QUOTE: A pet is someone who listens with their heart, speaks with a look, and teaches with love. (Seen in vet’s office)

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you…In God’s hand is the life of every creature, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:7 and10).

Looks Like Granite

By Cynthia Ruchti –

Eavesdropping on conversations yields some of life’s most fascinating moments, and for writers, it’s not only acceptable, but a necessity. Character studies.

I remember walking through an airport a year ago; collecting snippets of conversation like corduroy pants collect lint.

“Okay, then,” a businessman said into his cell phone, “offer them fifty million, but that’s our final offer.”

I kept walking but would have loved to have heard the rest of that conversation.

A middle-aged woman told the younger woman sitting next to her in a boarding gate waiting area, “We’ll have to stop somewhere on the way to the church. I only packed my black tights. I forgot the pink pair. I can’t wear black.”

Funeral? No. Black would have been appropriate. Wedding? Maybe. Pink tights, huh?

The conversation I overheard the other day gave me pause, as they say.

“Looks like granite,” the elderly man said. “But it’s really yogurt.”

Now…

Yes! Me, too! I wondered what subject would have evoked that kind of observation. Looks like granite, but it’s really yogurt.

Before the day was over, I found a use for the phrase. A crisis hit, smacking me with the force of a block of granite.

Looks like granite. It seemed immovable. Impenetrable. A problem as heavy and crushing as granite.

But God, the true Rock, crushes “crushing” problems. To Him, they’re more like…yogurt.

Nothing threatens Him.

Does that comfort you like it comforts me? He can’t be intimidated much less overcome.
The next time I feel overwhelmed by something life’s catapult hurls at me, I’m going to rephrase my response. Instead of whining, “This is hard!” I’m going to straighten my posture, raise my eyebrows as I survey the scene, and say, “It might look like granite. But it’s really yogurt.”

PRAYER: Lord, give me the grace to see what You see when You look at the problems that seem so tough to me. Help me find hope in the truth that Your sovereignty trumps everything and turns crushing troubles into something no more threatening than a smoothie ingredient.

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you,” Jeremiah 32:17 NIV.

Faith step: When your need is great, tap into His limitless need-meeting ability.
—Cynthia Ruchti

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