Missing Out

When I was a kid, the 4th of July Fireworks show was held at the Vinita rodeo grounds and we could watch from our front yard. Oh, the joy of watching the colors burst against the dark evening sky!

We ooh’d and ah’d as each display was more beautiful, more spectacular, that the one before. A pause between each brought us the expectation of another light bursting forth, then a long pause, followed by more displays. We always agreed this fireworks show put on by the American Legion of Vinita was better than the year before.

Many people I discovered actually went to the rodeo grounds to watch the fireworks show, but we were satisfied to enjoy it from our own yard.

The 4th of July and the fireworks show was always special to me, more so than some other holidays, with company from out of town. There were always hotdogs and hamburgers, along with watermelon and cantaloupe, eaten outside. We ate our watermelon the old-fashioned way—without forks, and with juice running off our chin and spitting the seeds out into the yard.

Many people went to the rodeo grounds to watch the fireworks show, but we were satisfied to enjoy it from our own yard.

When I was a teen, I went with friends to the rodeo grounds to watch the fireworks for the first time, and imagine my surprise when I realized that the long pause in the middle of the fireworks show was actually a presentation of the US flag on the ground and not in the air. Just think of all that I had missed out on all those years by watching from a distance and not in the arena.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. I Corinthians 2:9-10. NKJV.

Many of us are missing out on things that we don’t even realize. What are you missing out on in your journey through life? God will reveal it to you if you ask.

Control Central

 My dining table is always covered with bills, magazines, my purse, and of  course, the flower arrangement which you can’t see for all the clutter. I  struggle to keep it cleaned off and envy those beautiful tabletops in magazines with the centerpiece and place settings ready to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner.

Why do I always end up with piles of clutter on mine? As I recall, it all started in 1973 when we bought our first home, a 12-wide mobile home. A bar  separated the kitchen/dining area and the living room and I could sew or work on my bills and watch TV in the living room.

In our next house, the kitchen/dining area was separated from the living room by a wall. I put a TV on the buffet in the dining area. Again I could  sew, pay bills, watch the kids do homework, cook, all from my dining table.

When we moved into this home, which has a large living room, with the dining room and the kitchen separated by a bar, I thought things would be  different. I have a sewing table in the spare bedroom and TVs in almost every room. I have a desk for my computer and bills in the living room and a desk in the bedroom. Still I find myself at the dining table working on my laptop just like before.

Today I realized the dining table has been my CONTROL CENTRAL in all our homes. My mind thinks that the dining table is my office, but that is no longer true. Now my desk is my office and I need to remind myself daily of that fact and not continue to use my dining room as my office.

Romans 12:2 NKJV says “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed  by the renewing of your mind.” You must reprogram your mind with right thinking.”

The way to change our behavior is to change our thinking.

The Honeysuckle Vines

Honeysuckle

THE HONEYSUCKLE VINE

We kids loved to play around in our yard. Our mama had a variety of flowers and plants.

We had a rose bush right outside the back door that we called the Edward rosebush named for our little brother. With tiny red roses and thousands of tiny sharp thorns, it was hazardous, but we learned how to get close enough to pick the tiny rose. Pulling each little petal, we licked our little fingernails and put the petal on, to pretend our fingernails were painted red.

The clover was all around the yard, soft and sweet, so we lay in the yard going through the clover, looking for that lucky four-leaf clover. We picked the white flowers from the clover, split the stem, and linked them together to make a necklace.

Mother had honeysuckle vines too. I think she probably planted it on purpose, but soon found that it tried to take over the fence row. I can remember her working in the heat of the summer trying to chop out the honeysuckle to keep it from breaking down the fence. Once the honeysuckle took over, it tended to kill out the bush it was growing on.

We kids loved the honeysuckle too. We picked the little flower and sucked the nectar out of the neck of the flower, and sometimes wondered why Mama was working so hard to get rid of such a pretty flowering vine.
 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,  choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” Hebrews 11:24-25 NKJV. Yes, sin does have pleasure for a season, but after a while sin breaks everything down and then kills.

When we make the choice that Moses made, we will become the person God intends for us to be. Moses first refused to enjoy the pleasures of sin and then he chose to join the people of God as their deliverer, even if it meant giving up all the things he could have had in Egypt.

What a good way to live. Refusing sin and choosing to follow God.