That's Messed up 5!

Bling Bling and Puff were just adopted by a loving couple. It's illogical for four adult cats to be in the house, right? Please convince me! No, it was the right thing to do and they got to go together and weren't separated. Thanks Mr and Mrs Glen.

That's Messed Up 4!

Our dryer is on the blink...
About the 8th load to go on the line...

Mr. Repairman just left...good times, nice.

That's Messed up 3!

Our baby, Boots, got bit sometime this morning. His cute little face is all swollen and there is a cut above his left eye. As for now, we are just keeping a close eye on him. That's another thing that's messed up...

That's Messed Up 2!

Don't put all your eggs in one bowl? rrr basket...

Don't cry over spilt fritos, rrr milk...

...and no, I did not do any of 'this' on purpose for a photo op! I'm just all thumbs lately. Or maybe my fingers are buttery! Okay, enough with the adages. The truth of the matter is that in the last few weeks I have spilt milk, plopped eggs and scattered fritos. I need to lay off of the coffee. My term for that state is "jicky". Just another day in the life of me.

That's Messed Up!

My tree is messed up! Remember my post on the persimmon tree in our yard? Well, as you can see, it has three holes. If you put water down the top hole, then the water shoots out the bottom two. This, of course, is upsetting because we just recently started enjoying the fruit. At least the bread that Miss Kay, our neighbor, makes with the fruit baked in. Soooo, what to do…our tree seems sick.

I’ve always heard that it is the sap that runs through the branches that gives life. A lot like the Holy Spirit that fills the believer. Lord give me life and much fruit.

TOG Ministry

TOG Ministry stands for "Treasures Of Grace" and is a prison ministry in Haskell, Texas. Some of my Emmaus friends are on the volunteer staff. This ministry provides The Answer Bible to inmates. While reading their newsletter for this month, the below letter from an inmate touched me:

"I’m currently incarcerated in Dallas, Texas. I’m free in my heart and in Christ Jesus. Being here is truly a blessing because I could be dead. And for that, I am grateful. I could still be in my addiction. God is so good to save a wretch like me. I am so thankful for the blessing He bestowed on me. I can’t thank Him enough for His grace and mercy. He loves us all so very much. I just want to say thank you again for any help that you send to help me in my walk with Christ.

Also my birthday is Sunday. Praise God I’ll be 50 years old. There are so many that can’t say thank you Jesus! And may God bless this ministry."
God Bless,
C.W., Dallas, TX

Now, isn't that a testimony? Thanking God for her imprisonment! I think that's what Paul was talking about when he says to thank the Lord in ALL circumstances. I try but it's not always from a joyful heart. C.W. from Dallas thanked Him from deep within her heart. I would love to be involved in this ministry someday...Lord willing. As for now, I only feel led to send money for bibles when He brings it my way.
Bring it on, Lord!

http://www.treasuresofgraceministry.com/

Will I ever measure up?

Well, my weekend consisted of a normal summer activity. The Clifton family reunion! Coupled with our community bake sale all on the same day. My Mom claimed that she’d bring my silent auction gift if I’d bring her covered dish. And since I live in the middle of nowhere, I took her up on the offer.

My thought was… “I’ll bake for the bake sale and the family reunion simultaneously.” Little did I know that whatever flopped I’d be buying and taking to the reunion? I used my Great Granny’s famous recipe for pineapple pie for a pineapple pie, and then substituted blackberry’s in the same recipe for another Clifton creation. I fully expected the blackberry pie to be THE flop but turns out the pineapple pie crust drooped down the edges of the pan and won the flop award.

The blackberry pie qualified for the bake sale along with cinnamon rolls and rice krispie treats. The pineapple pie was second runner-up and I bought it for the family reunion. I added a macaroni salad for Mom’s contribution. My family never knew the difference because I cut the pie quickly and the droopy part was camouflaged. The only problem was that it had to compete right next to my Great Aunt Sue’s pineapple pie. She's not only my great aunt but she makes a great pie. I later hammed it up with a taste test from the two pineapple pie experts in our family. And believe me, they gave me their honest opinions…droopy crust was NOT in the critique though. One said, “Needs less flour.” The other attested, “Needs more sugar.” So, back to the drawing board for next year.

I did bag the best silent auction item…my Great Granny’s butter mold. It goes quite nicely with items I already possess…her butter churn and rolling pin. I had much rather have the ‘something old’ than ‘something new’ any day. My heritage…bakers’, quilters’, embroiders’ and lovers’ of God. Now the question lingers in my mind...'Why save my family the flops?" Aweee...I think it's because they love me unconditionally.

Another Flick...

There is another movie teaser that raised a spirit flag. Not the red flag like "Underdog", but the green flag. It is a Disney film set to be released in Summer '08. The name of it is WALL`E. As you can see for yourself the trailer says, "After 700 years of doing what he was built for...he'll discover what he was meant for." See...I saw your flag fly, too.

It sounds like an advertisement for Rick Warren's book, Purpose Driven Life. I am looking forward to the teaching clips from this movie...coming soon, rrr not so soon, sorta soon~Summer of '08 soon.

I'm bent outa shape!

Now, speaking of mans’ innate bent towards self…my mom bought the g-kids a toy with some little parts. On the way home the youngest lost one of those iddy biddy parts and there was a bit of drama. I wasn’t going to pull over because of a ‘fit’ so I suggested that he pray for God to help him find it.

The little guy shot the big Guy an S-O-S. Upon the toy part NOT dropping from the sky he says, “See, God won’t help me!” I just shook my head and kept driving. A few minutes later, he found the iddy biddy part and shouted out the fact. I commented, “Let’s thank God for that!”

“Uh-uh,” he rebutted, “I’m the one that found it!” And I thought, ‘Oh no, he didn’t just say that?’ I still gave God thanks for answering his prayer under my breath and shook my head in defeat. The teaching moment long passed, and the whole episode stirred a thought about our previous go-cart ride at the Plex.

While go-carting with the older nephew, I had to be the driver. He is the older of the two, but he still wasn’t old enough to drive the go-cart. We rode in a two-seater that had two steering wheels. I felt bad that the ‘lil guy wasn’t able to drive, so every turn he made I tried to mimic. It probably paled in comparison to being behind the ‘real’ wheel, but he didn’t know the difference. Besides, it was the only safe alternative.

The other safe alternative is that God in His omniscience doesn’t give me the steering wheel of my life. Like my younger nephew, I pray and then at times think I actually had something to do with it coming to fruition. Or say, “I prayed and see what happened.” At times I may think I’m steering, but I shouldn’t kid myself. He’s too smart for that. And as for mans’ innate bent towards self…I think those ‘lil sweet thangs are born with it! I sure was!

Rata-tat-tat

While hanging out with my Mom and my nephews, we saw the ‘coming soon’ poster for the movie, Underdog. The trailers’ main headline read “One nation, under dog”. Dog isn’t an accident, it’s God spelled backwards. I don’t wanna have a critical attitude from the get-go, but it’s hard not to.

I remember having the same yuck feeling when ‘Bruce Almighty’ was released. Although, when I actually saw the movie it wasn’t that bad. At least, I didn’t think of it as sacrilegious. I even used clips of it in youth ministry…i.e. the concept of God answering ‘yes’ to each and every prayer request, the concept of the trinity in the janitor, electrician and boss, and the concept of mans' innate bent toward selfishness.

I wonder what ‘Evan Almighty’ (the sequel for Bruce Almighty) will have in store for us. ‘Underdog’ also has my curiosity peeked, so I may have to borrow my nephews again when August 5th rolls around. Either show won’t have to be that great a blockbuster to beat the rat movie we watched yesterday~

Goree's new stop signs...

Stop Sign #1 (left)

Stop Sign #2 (right)

Our small town has experienced construction lately. Two of the newest necessities in town resulting from the new highways and byways are stop signs. I’ve lived in this town ten years and never questioned the fact that it had no street markers or stop signs. As a matter of fact, for the majority of my marriage I didn’t even know my street’s name when asked to provide a physical address for catalog orders. I trusted my new never-go wrong hubby that Hickory Street was my new home. I didn't know at the time that was his best guess. At least I trusted him enough to put it on my driver’s license.

Midway through my marriage, I spent time volunteering for the City of Goree. One day at the office, I lay eyes on a city map for the very first time. Low-n-behold, I live on Oak Street! Oh no, I’m illegal or rather my DL is wrong and that means that I’m breaking the law. I, for the most part (never-say-never), obey the laws of the land. I righted the wrong ASAP.

Now, back to why a town like mine doesn’t need stop signs…we have built in speed unbumps. I think in laymen’s terms they are referred to as potholes. We’ve never had a nice enough road for anyone to speed down, unless they wanted to spend some dough on a front-end alignment. All-end alignment, really. So, now with our pretty new road comes confusion and danger. The TX DOT said it was prudent for us to accept their offer of a no-thru-truck sign and two stop signs. We graciously accepted their offer and now we are up-town.

Well, this up-town girl was thinkin’ ‘bout them there stop signs. Just kidding. Not kidding about pondering the stop signs, though. The hick-talk, yes. I thought it strange that a town could function without stop signs. We have intersections just like the rest of the world, so why has it worked this long without stop signs? I don’t really know. Then, I thought about the present struggle in my life .

Two years and fifty pounds ago, I thought life was a walk in the park. Now that I’ve gained two years and fifty+ pounds, it’s not so easy. It dawned on me that I grew up in an environment where there were no stop signs as far as eating was concerned. And now as an adult, I am struggling with obeying the stop signs in my eating habits.

Some stop signs clearly exist, but they are so new that I bolt right through the intersection before realizing it. Others may be like sign #2, they are hidden from my sight and I clearly don’t even know it’s there until it’s too late. Then, there is the rest of our town that doesn’t have stop signs and everyone makes up the rules as they go. I'll yield this time, but not on my birthday--so there I go changing the rules as I go. Oh, and do not kid yourself for a moment, I see some of the stop signs just fine and choose to ignore ‘em pretty as ya please.

All that to say this, I need wisdom and strength to obey. I may even need a refresher course in driver’s ed. Or, I may need to learn to survive in a world or even a town without stop signs. It’s not easy. Our world says go and God says stop. Our world says yes and God says no. The world says up and God says down. Opposites in every way, I’m living the viva loca. Just like the salmon (I think that’s the fish?), I’m trying to swim upstream to do what? Die. Die to self that is…

I'm a dudette!

What an awesome honor...my friend i'm inspired gave me an award. Thanks Miss Jack! You know it's partially your fault that I'm addicted to this now...

Uh Oh...I'm done.

Well, this story is almost done. You guessed it, I was at work on July 8th which was a Wednesday and God showed up. It was almost 9:00 p.m. and my shift was almost done. It was payday. A girl named Shelly, who wasn’t working that day, came by for her check. Shelly was a Christian and she was faithful in attending church and living out her faith. I am ashamed to say it, but I gave her a hard time about being a ‘goody-too-shoes’. She walked up to the counter and towards the employee closet that held her check.

I delayed her tromp to the closet with a question, “Shelly, you sure are dressed up. Where ya headed?” I could tell that she was uncomfortable.

She quipped, “I’m going out.” In my mind I’m thinking, “Wednesday is club night at Midnight Rodeo, surely not Shelly?”

I said, “Where ya goin?”

She replied, “TSF.”

I inquired, “What’s that?”

She shuffled around and finally spurted, “Trinity Student Fellowship.”

I was interested, “I still don’t get it, what is that?”

She gave in, “It’s church, Tammie, church!” Expecting the usual, she twirled towards the closet in hopes of ending the conversation.

I stopped her in her tracks, “Shelly, when does it start?” Stunned she gave me the details. She was about to catch a fly in her mouth because it was hangin’ wide open for so long when I asked her…

“Can I come with you and bring a few friends?”
Day #4—Friend #4—Place to go to church #1

This is unheard of...

Well, this story is a continuation from July 4th-6th. July 4th was a Saturday back in 1992 and as you have already read…God did some amazing things. Without further adieu...

On Tuesday, July 7th I was still on cloud ninety-nine or a hundred ninety-nine by then. I went to work and my co-worker that day happened to be a girl named Juhree. She wasn’t someone who I felt comfortable coming right out and sharing my 4th Story. We only worked together for one hour. I came to work at 1:00 p.m. and her shift ended at 2:00 p.m.

But, before her shift ended you are not going to believe the words that came out of her mouth! As with Jennifer and Christie, Juhree noticed that I was on top of the world and commented the fact. Then the most unheard of thing was uttered, “Last night I was reading my bible and…” I interrupted, “You read WHAT?”

“My bible, now let me finish…” she stated, “…sometimes I hold my bible up and let it fall open to a page then I read what’s on that page. Last night it spoke directly into my life.”

I was stunned, “You mean you have a bible?” Yes was her obvious answer and she went on to tell me that she keeps it on her coffee table at all times. Now the door was open for me to tell her about my bible.

I told her all about this guy coming by to see my brother and how he could ‘see’ pain in my eyes. I went on to tell her about the headache, the tears, the couch, the prayer...I paused. It dawned on me that two out of the three of my prayer requests were answered. 1) My life had changed and 2) He was giving me friends with which to go to church. I even went to the employee closet and brought out my bible to show her Psalm 6. She agreed to go to church with Jennifer, Christie and I. Day #3—Friend#3

Can You Believe It...

...Monday, July 6th rolled around and I was still on cloud ninety-nine. I went to work and my co-worker that night happened to be a girl named Christie. She was from my hometown and we had hit it off. I felt comfortable coming right out and sharing my 4th Story with her.

I told her all about this guy coming by to see my brother and how he could ‘see’ pain in my eyes. I went on to tell her about the headache, the tears, the couch, the prayer and finally the message from God. I even went to the employee closet and brought out my bible to show her Psalm 6. She commented that ever since she’d been in Lubbock she wanted to attend church, but she didn’t want to go alone. Well shucks, I said, come with Jennifer and me. She said okay! Day #2—Friend#2

Who, her? change?? Haaah!

…that was the whisper I heard from Satan that night as I drifted off. I awoke that July 5th morning headache still gone and more chipper than usual. Anyway, as I was saying, it was Sunday morning and I had to be at work at 8 a.m., and low ‘n behold thirty minutes before time to leave for work I was ready and waiting…what’s a body to do? Go to work early? No-way!

I saw my bible on the nightstand; it was there for ‘looks’, of course. I decided to give this change-thing a chance. Well, where to start? I’d read Genesis with good intentions of reading the bible thru so many times it wasn’t even funny and I knew enough about the bible to know that Psalms was in the middle, so that’s where I began. Before I knew it, I had read five chapters. And to my surprise, this is what it said in chapter six…

1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.
5 No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.

I flipped out! I didn’t know they even had couches in bible times! It was as if the Book had my name in it and the verses were in big bold highlights. This bible had my name inscribed on the front leather cover, but now it had my name mysteriously IN IT! I was like, “Heck yeah, I can change! If God, my Father, can arrange for me to read this psalm this morning then nothing is impossible for Him.”

That day at work I was pumped, to say the least. Jennifer, my friend who worked at the counter next door, sauntered over to exchange juicy details from our Saturday nights on the town. She noticed that I was in high spirits which was unusual for a day that normally dawned a hangover. What is it, Tammie…did you meet someone last night?

As a matter of fact Jenn, I did. I told her all about this guy coming by to see my brother and how he could ‘see’ pain in my eyes. I went on to tell her about the headache, the tears, the couch, the prayer and finally the message from God. Upon glancing up from my paperwork, I saw that she was crying. “I’m sorry…all this talk about me and you must’ve gotten hurt last night?” She said no, it had nothing to do with that then she asked me if she could go to church with me when I went. She wanted a change, too. Day #1--Friend #1

It's my birthday...

…my spiritual birthday, my independence from the bondage of sin and death! I am spiritually fifteen years old. I’d like to say fifteen years mature in the Lord, but Christian growth doesn’t happen at the same pace as physical growth. All I know is that I’ve grown up in the Lord some. I still have a long way to go, so be patient God isn’t finished with me yet. I walked the aisle at a young age and was baptized, even did the summer camp, Acteens, FCA and so on. But, the ‘real’ change happened on July 4, 1992 in Lubbock, Texas.

This ‘Fourth of July’ was on a Saturday and my little brother had come to see me at Texas Tech. He had been on a Chrysalis and my folks had been on the Walk to Emmaus, so things back home had changed. They were after me to attend this same spiritual retreat, but the timing hadn’t been right. I was amazed at the difference I witnessed in their lives.

On this ‘Fourth of July’, I was really looking forward to spending the day with my brother and friends, then going to see fireworks later that night. During the day we mall shopped and went to my favorite restaurant for lunch, The 50th Street Caboose. I couldn’t enjoy my fajitaladas due to a horrible sinus headache. My brother even bought two ibuprofens out of a vending machine for some untold amount, but the pain wouldn’t budge.

Later that day, I even talked him into a shoulder rub. Needless to say, I wasn’t much company so before I knew it I was alone. I tried taking out my contacts, napping, washing my face and even eating a pizza to cure my aching head, but nothing touched it. I thought, “Well, I’m miserable so I might as well study and do it up right.” I was taking a summer course at Tech, Zoology the study of human anatomy, and it was a doozy of a class. So here I am sprawled out on my living room floor with my books, an almost eaten pepperoni pizza and a dish towel for a napkin, when the phone rings.

On the phone was a guy that my brother had met on his Chrysalis and he was hoping to catch up with him while he was in town. I assured him that my brother would be home by dusk for fireworks because I had threatened him within an inch of his life. This guy decided to take me up on my offer to come on over and wait for him. I tried my best to pull myself together…a little make-up, contacts back into the eyeballs, etc. I was as ready as I’d ever be…

The doorbell rang and there we stood face to face in the foyer of my house. He asked me if I was feeling okay, which I thought was a very forward question for a total stranger to be asking. So I asked him, “Why do you ask?” He replied, “I see pain in your eyes.” And he pointed to my forehead and almost touched it, or maybe he did touch it, I don’t quite remember. The part that I do remember is that it was ‘the spot’ that hurt.

I realized that I was being rude and ushered him from the spot by the door into the living room, all the while explaining the day’s adventure of trying to get over an intense headache to no avail. He shared how he and my brother really connected at the Chrysalis. He was a youth pastor in a small town north of Lubbock. I inquired about my brother.

He shared that my brother talked about his relationship with his dad, etc. Wow, all the talk about Dad…didn’t that guy realized that I had the same dad and that I felt the same feelings that my brother did? Now he had touched another tender spot. My eyes dropped to the plaid pattern on the arm of the couch and my head followed. I hadn’t wanted this guy to see the emotion that welled up in my throat headed to my eyeballs. I was caught by surprise with the emotions I was having, and I was having none of those tears catch his eyesight.

Then the dam broke from a simple question. He asked me, “Don’t you know that your Heavenly Father is not like your earthly father? Your Father wants you to crawl up in His lap so he can hold you.” I tried to hide the flood of tears with my hand over my forehead, but the waterfall beneath was a dead giveaway.

He asked if he could pray with me. Glancing up, I said yes. He had tears in his eyes. Whoa, that touched me deeply. He asked what I wanted from God. I said that I wanted my life to change, a place to go to church and someone with which to go to church. He prayed…and then a seemingly grand canyon amount of time passed…and finally, I prayed.

After the ‘amen’, I opened my eyes and gasped! There on the arm of the couch was a huge wet spot from my tears. I pounced to the floor, snatched the napkin towel and scrubbed the couch all in one fell swoop. He asked what the deal was. As I scrubbed, I explained that my roommate would kill me if I ruined her rent-to-own sofa just like she’d threatened to kill my dogs many times over.

Needless to say, the ‘moment’ was gone, the pizza was gone, my brother was still gone but so was my headache. I went to bed that night feeling like the weight of the world was gone, too. But, in the back of my mind…I wondered if someone like me could really ever change her ways…

Oh well, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TAMMIE!