Nothing Special

Another day; another blog. Actually it has been awhile since I've blogged so it's not like I'm constantly writing blogs. I don't have anything special to write about just the daily events that eventually comprise my life. We had a few really hot days a couple weeks ago but this past week has cooled off considerably. I think yesterday's high was in the low 90s and it's been dipping down into the 40s at night. Perfect weather! I love it getting so low at night. I sleep so much better when the bedroom is cold. I just snuggle down under the comforter and sleep like a baby.

I went to a Fourth of July party across the river and had hamburgers and a perfect seat for the fireworks display at the Junior High school. Their back patio was big and long and the earth just dropped away from their low cement fence and we had a totally unobstructed view of the fireworks. I had a really nice time. Both my sisters were there too. It was nice to get out for a change. I'm not socially bent as fate would have it. It just seems that I usually have nothing to say that isn't about my life with the Lord and so when I'm around nonbelievers, I don't talk much. But 99% of my life is wrapped up in that relationship and my subsequent church activities. I pray for my sisters but they just don't think they need God in their lives at all. So sad.

I have not had Pepper put down. I ran into and unlikely crusader for him when I mentioned my plans to my hubby. He didn't want me to put him down. He wanted me to give another month of thought to it. He's really attached to him, just as I am. But I hadn't realized hubby was that attached. So when we did our shopping for July, I went ahead and purchased another month's worth of dog food. And of course now I'm having second thoughts myself. I really wish we didn't have him but at the same time I'm in love with the little creep!! I had my mind so made up and now I'm all confused again.

My Bible reading is going quite steadily. So far I haven't missed a day or missed a portion of the material. I confess I skimmed a little when I worked my way through Chronicles, and if you've ever read First and Second Chronicle, you'll understand why. Job started out a boring chore but then I really got into it and I enjoyed my time reading it, especially yesterday (which I stayed up and read last night before going to bed - I almost forgot). But there are some beautiful verses in Job and overall it was well worth reading. As I said, I ended up enjoying it. I read Job all the way through a few months back and had found it boring then too. But by the time I got past chapter 20, I was really enjoying it. Much of it went right to my heart. The Sovereignty, Suffering, and Punishment. What's fair and what's unfair. Did Job deserve to have this happen to him? He was one of the good guys. So many others had to have been better suited and more deserving of this type of suffering. What exactly is God doing with Job anyway? Basically it all boils down to God's sovereignty to do as he pleases with His own creation. When we behave or live righteously we are not doing anything special; we're just doing as we ought to do. We don't give awards to people who do what they are supposed to do and neither does God. The thing to remember is that even in suffering we are to seek the Person of God. To love Him. To worship Him. Why? Because He deserves it. He is worthy of our love and worship. We are not worth the dirt we stand on and anything God gives us is an unmerited gift from the Father, Son, Holy Spirit! We are to love Him. The Persons of God regardless to what is happening in our lives. Things are rough and hard to deal with? Love God. When our struggles have mounted to painful peaks, we are to remember that we are receiving nothing more than what we deserve and are to love God just the same. Our love is for HIM. Not for anything He gives us or does for us but for Him who IS worthy of praise and love and worship and adoration. Even in the midst of great suffering we are to love God regardless of our circumstances.

God is omnipotent and sovereign. We must never forget that. We are called to love Him even when we don't understand Him. Poor Job! He had no answer to his many questions of Why me? And God never gave him an explanation either. Job's little pity party was him thinking he hadn't done anything to deserve such horrible suffering. But then Job comes to an understanding: That is that "though You slay me, I will love You still." Do we say that when things go wrong for us? Do we say, God, I'm going to love you even if you kill me? That's what Job realized. God has the right and responsibility to deal with us as He chooses. And we are to love him. No matter what's going on in our lives at each moment, we are to love Him with all our being. He is worthy of such adoration. Whereas we are worthy only of death. We are the ones who broke the covenant. We are the ones who went astray. We are the ones who thought ourselves better than we are. We are the imperfect, the flawed, the sinners. No matter how much suffering we endure in this life we are getting nothing more than what we deserve. So the next time you go though some rough times, stop and think about Job. Think of what we are: filthy rags. And praise God that He loves you anyway. Even while undergoing excruciating anguish God love us, and we are to love Him for who He is. And we must remember that God is worthy.

That phrase, "God is worthy" has such incredible depth for me. For some reason that one word "worthy" seems to mean more to me than to most people I know. I don't know why that's so but I tend to think that it does. When I am with people and I mention that God is worthy it just seems to be another word to them. The thing that gets me is the realization that God IS God and as God He could be any kind of God he chooses to be. He could choose to be a bad God. But He doesn't. He could choose to mistreat us, but He doesn't. He could choose to make every moment of our lives miserable, but He chooses to love us instead. He didn't have to make food taste good. Or He could have created food that tastes good but given us tongues without taste buds. He could have chosen to have roses smell so beautifully and then given us noses without the ability to smell. He didn't have to give us eyes capable of distinguishing color. Or He could have created this colorful world for His own pleasure, and given it to us as black and white. He didn't have to give us music, fragrance, laughter, love, sex, beauty. But He did. What an awesome God! A God so worthy of our love and worship and adoration. May we fall flat on our faces the next time we talk to Him and show Him that He is indeed worthy! He is worthy of it all. So the next time you hear someone say that God is worthy, think back and realize all that it means. And may the phrase "God is worthy" mean so much more to you from now on.

I am looking forward to Fall now. Summer is just now here and already I am looking forward to Fall. Ugh! Fall would mean leaves to rake and burn. Boo, hiss I forgot about that. Oh well, a little work is good for me. And our yard is certainly not a large yard. We just have a very big oak tree that shelters our entire back yard and it produces leaves three feet deep (or it seems that way). I was looking forward to being able to walk anywhere in my yard and not have to worry about stepping on a little doggy snake. Landmines. Messes. Pooders! Yes, I still want to put Pepper down but it will hurt so much to do it. It's like he trusts me to love him and care for him and I would be breaking that trust to put him down. The thing is, he's not suddenly going to stop snapping. He's not suddenly going to stop throwing a fit every time someone comes to our door. And, oh, my, perish bringing company into his house! Everything we do revolves around that dog. Where we go, when we go, how long we stay, etc., etc. My granddaughter's wedding is next month. What are we going to do about being gone so long? Will I have messes to clean up by time we get home. The cats are no problem. A bowl of water, a bowl of dry cat food, and a litter box and they are set for even overnight. Not so with the dog.

I'm still knitting on my yellow baby afghan. It's taking a little longer for some reason. One very good reason is that I keep making stupid mistakes and then have to rip out all my work and fix the problem and then reknit back to where I had been. I worked on the afghan all day yesterday and got about a foot done but by evening I was ready to knit something else. I almost decided to knit another dishcloth just for something else to do but I already have so many. I also thought about knitting another baby hat but I've already got a dozen of them! So I continued on with the afghan. I did get Jamie's red, summer scarf done night before last. I had such a small amount left to knit that I just decided to sit and finish it. I bought a bunch of cotton yarn last week because there was something I wanted to knit with cotton and can you believe it? I can't remember what I was going to knit. I wanted white yarn for some reason and I just can't remember what that reason was! Frustrating. Very frustrating.

This hasn't been much of a blog but it will have to do. Don't forget to leave a comment so I'll know it's being read. I'll make it easy on you, all you have to do is send your name. You don't have to come up with any words to write. Just let me know you visited. Thanks. And until next time, love the Lord regardless of what's going on in your lives. Love Him and give Him the honor He deserves.