Pray for Oklahoma!

My home state is hurting. A tremendous loss of life, missing people, hurting families who lost everything...and horrible devastation. For some of these people, this is the 3rd time in 14 years that they have lost everything. 27 children were killed in a supposedly "storm proof" school. The death toll is about 91 now, and there are still people missing.  The latest news is that the confirmed death toll was counted twice, so the total so far is 21 instead of 91. I know it is still terribly sad that 21 lives were lost (7 of which were children from the school), but it is very encouraging that there isn't as many as we were originally told. Although we knew there was a chance of tornadoes, many people didn't have a sufficient place to get under the ground and also this tornado was moving quickly which made it difficult to get out of the way. Please keep Oklahoma in your prayers!

Of Ticks {Yuck} and Meddling

 

We were at a elderly neighbors house. It was my dad, and the raggle-taggle “three little kids”, Rachel, Jonathan, and I. I’m not even sure why were there, but what happened that day I will always remember for some odd reason.

Rachel, Jonathan, and I, who were probably about 12, 10, 8, caught sight of the neighbor’s dog. It looked about as old in dog years as the elderly couple, but what grabbed our attention was the hundreds of disgusting ticks that hung off the poor dog. We had our own dog and kept it free from the gross insects, and so we felt a real compassion for that dog and decided to the good deed of pulling off the ticks for the elderly couple while our dad talked to them. It seems so hilarious and weird now, but we honestly felt like we were doing the couple a good turn by ridding their dog of the ticks.

Needless to say, after we left, my dad kindly informed us that we shouldn’t pick ticks off of other people’s dogs. I don’t know if we fully could comprehend why on earth that was a bad thing back in that day. However, I believe we left others’ dogs alone, no matter how tick infested they were after that.

Fast-forward 10+ years, and I’m now in my twenties. Although I’m not at all tempted with the idea of examining neighbors’ dogs for ticks, I find myself fighting another battle that in keeping my hands off of other people’s problems. My battle is now with an age old problem called…meddling.

I expect other people’s lives to be free from spiritual “ticks”, flaws and sins, and judge them when they fail. I try to change others instead of focusing on trying to change my own sins and faults. Sometimes, I’ve actually written blog posts to try to change the bloggy world for Jesus, when that was not my responsibility. All this to say, I still find myself struggling with getting my responsibilities mixed up. I find myself meddling in other people’s affairs and problems instead of seeking the Lord for my own life.

The truth of it is, I’m accountable to the Lord for my own actions, attitudes, thought, words, and choices. It’s my responsibility to be willing to let God refine my heart and change me as He reveals Himself to me. It’s not my job to change the bloggy world…it’s impossible anyway. The only person in this world I can change is myself, and I can’t even do that in my own strength and willpower!

I find myself trying to preach about the big stuff in the world that I can’t even change, while ignoring the small things in my own life. It’s sad, but true. I do agree that Christians are a representation of Christ to the world and through Him are the salt and light. However, I am not responsible for the souls of others, only Jesus can change people.

I’m not responsible for changing the hearts of other Christians either. Yes, I can share with them what I see if I have a relationship with them. However, how much of our “sharing the truth” to other Christians is an avoidance of the problems in our own life? It’s something to think about before I decide that someone needs to hear some specific truth from God’s Word that I believe applies to their fault.

Before I open my mouth or type some words, I hope I begin to think about the purpose behind what I’m trying to say. Am I saying this to get attention? Am I trying to point out the failures of someone else? What is my heart in this? It’s my desire to be filled with more of Jesus and His love and compassion and to be emptied of my vain, conceited, judgmental pride. I’d like to cease from my “tick picking” and my meddling. :-)

Happy Mother's Day! <3

I'm very blessed with a beautiful mother who truly cares for her family. Her selfless love for her husband and children has been such a wonderful example to me. I'm so grateful for a mother who seeks The Lord first and prays for each of her children each day!

I love you, Mom! :-)

Monday Melody

"Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us,
 Son of God and Man You are high and lifted up;
 that all the world will praise your great name."

Saturday Snapshots

The last few weeks have been busy and full of new experiences! It's definitely Spring here, although the weather still acts like winter. Here are a few snapshots of my life lately. Oh! I'm planning on posting the giveaways next week, so stay tuned! :-)

Tomatoes that I planted a few weeks ago. I've had to cover them because of freezing temperatures several times.

I got to be a delegate at the OK Republican convention this year! I was grateful that the atmosphere was a bit more calm than last year and that despite the fact I'm a bit more libertarian minded nobody bothered me. Last year, I heard there were all kinds of craziness happening.

I call it the "wreck of the Hesperus". It's our old Ford tractor that takes a miracle to get started. :-)

Post convention craziness with some of my favorite people. :-)

It's beginning to look a lot like Spring time!

Irises are so gorgeous!

This is my Annie Oakley look. Don't worry, I'm pretty harmless. ;-)

I love baking bread...and eating it, but most of all watching others eat it and enjoy it.

Turned out pretty grainy, I took this early one morning this past week. There was this eery fog everywhere and the sunlight was peeking through. It made for a really pretty scene.

More irises!

That right there is a baby pear!

How Okies keep plants warm: find all the dirty, old buckets around their place and stick them over their plants. :-) Hey, it worked!

Happy Saturday, y'all! and thanks for stopping by my blog!