Monday, March 12, 2007

Order from chaos. That is my usual Monday routine.
The house, Hattie's schoolwork, my brain and my life
in general need some straightening out come Monday
morning. There is a lot zipping around in the grey
matter this morning and perhaps to pin some of it
down would help to bring a little order. That would
be nice.

1. I was just reading in the Missouri Conservationist
a little article about introducing kids to the "Outdoors".
It had oodles of suggestions and then emphasized that,
of course, you want to protect your kids from snakes and
black widows etc. That reminded me of the time that
Joel caught a black widow and put it in a jar. Then he
said, "Now if I can get a brown recluse I'll have a
collection of all the poisonous spiders in Missouri."
And there is no end of times he has picked up snakes in
order to either move them to another spot or protect
his precious chickens. My dad once came home from school
with a snake wrapped around his pants as a belt. Snakes
aren't always so bad!

2. My brother and sister-in-law popped into Mayberry for
a surprise visit this weekend. We've had a lovely time
with them. (Hi, Debby! you lurker!) When we stopped in
last evening to say, "Howdy!" and to enjoy some of Tandy's
delish popcorn, I heard a new springtime sound. Bullfrogs.
They were just getting cranked up. They are not loud yet,
but they will be soon. Sometimes, in my yard, the bullfrogs
are so loud a person has to almost yell to be heard.

3. I've been reading several books lately on "Finding the
Will of God." There is certainly a lot of garbage written
in this department, but when you come across a statement
like the following you sit up and take notice.

" Is it not Biblical to suggest that peace in taking the
next step arises out of knowing God rather than in finding
the right set of rules for guidance? Do we not in
retrospect see that some of life's greatest doors swung
open or shut on hinges too small for us to perceive at
the time--hinges that were set by the Sovereign God?

God, the Sovereign. The Great Initiator.
The Awful Interrupter. The Shepherd who leads
His flock. The Predestinator. The One who
opens and no man can shut, who shuts and no
man can open.


'This God is our God for ever and ever; He will
be our Guide even unto death.(Ps. 48:14)'"
This is from the preface of Essays on Guidance.

5 comments:

me said...

Just in case you are wondering if you put a black widow in the same jar as a brown recluse, the black widow will kill the brown recluse. How do I know these things, being such a scardy cat of spiders? When I was a working guy, some of maintenance guys accomplished this task to see what would happen. It was great, as long as the spiders were in jars.

LeftCoastOnlooker said...

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
I'm all for live & let live, when it comes to critters, but once they invade my house, it's every man for himself! (no I do not hug trees & lick frogs)
I name them, then beat them to death! I told you about squishing Sigmund Freud, didn't I?

ok, let me see if I grasp the quote (since my brain is jello today) -- Peace in taking the next step comes from knowing the One who directs my steps -- did I get it or did my brain deceive me?
Psalm __:__ The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and he delighteth in His way!

Have a great day!

Laurie said...

Steve-Now that is definitely an interesting fact and one I will file away in the vast confusion of my grey matter.

Leftcoast-I've not heard about the squishing of S.F. Where can I find the story? Is it on your blog somewhere?

Laurie said...

Leftcoast-I just found the S.F. story in my comments box. How funny!

Susannah said...

Laurie,
I sense you've been wrestling with some serious doctrinal truths lately. Theological "tomes" are inspiring, for sure. (I've read my fair share too!) You might also consider doing a word study on "will" in the Scriptures... just to see what pops up. It's so easy to do online these days. I pray the Spirit leads and guides you into all Truth. (((Hugs)))