All Day, Every Day

"Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long."
-Psalm 25:5

"About Benjamin he said:
'Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.'"
-Deuteronomy 33:12

"All day long there is the pressure of life, and perhaps some inner strain to the spirit known only to God. But all the day long, too, there is the lovingkindness of God. And so all the day long there the peace that passes all understanding."
-Amy Carmichael

We often speak of how quickly time goes by. Yet there are many days and seasons that just seem to drag slowly. It sounds ironic, but the years that seem to pass in the blink of an eye are comprised of many long, long days.

Sometimes we just need to take a deep breath, and realize that it's only one day at a time. And throughout each day we are sustained by His lovingkindness and shielded by His hand.

And one day we will look back and marvel, both at how His hand helped us...

and by how quickly the time flew by! ;)

Further Adventures of Gideon: In Which Gideon Attacks the Bumblebee

When I got home from work today I was greeted by Gideon and Lucky, our two dogs. Gideon enthusiastically greeted me and then started jumping all over the front step while whining continuously. I noticed a dead bumblebee on the step. Gideon pounced on it, then whined, then jumped back as with a reflex, then pounced again. I tried to calm him down by bringing him in the house, but I could not drag his attention away from the dead bee. Finally, I scuffed it into the flower bed with my foot, and pushed some dirt over it. Still Gideon crazily tried to paw at the ground to get that bee.

Later I told my sister Megan about his strange behavior. "He was probably stung by the bee and wanted to protect you from it." she explained. "You think so?" I asked. "Because it was... already dead."

Awww. The gallantry of the timid dog attacking his greatest fear for the sake of another person. Only he was wasting his energy. The bee was already dead.

Sound typical?

Food for thought: I wonder how many of my battles I fight fiercely and fearfully -- over a "dead bumblebee." How much energy do I waste wrestling over things that my Lord already has competely under His control? How much time do I waste digging up the dead bee to fight with again? How often has my Lord resolved my battles for me when yet I consider them unfinished, then drag them out to use up my energy all over again?

I'm not sure that Gideon learned a lesson from this ;), but I think I did.

Lord, grant me the wisdom to know which battles You would have me spend my energy on, and help me to leave the "dead bumblebees" alone!

See the Horse, See the Dog, See the Vet Bill

See the horse. The horse's name is Trigger. Trigger likes to eat grass. Trigger likes to trample the garden. Trigger broke through his gate so he could trample the garden.

See the dog. The dog's name is Lucky. Lucky likes to bark. Lucky likes to run. Lucky likes to

attack anything that moves. Porcupines move. Lucky got a mouthful of porcupines quills for the fifth time in his *known* career. Lucky had to go to the ER vet clinic to be sedated and have his quills removed.

See this dog. The dog's name is Gideon. Gideon also likes to bark and run. But Gideon likes to jump THROUGH glass windows. Gideon wanted to go outside. Gideon was impatient. SO GIDEON CHEWED, CLAWED, AND SPLINTERED THE WOOD SURROUNDING THE GLASS WINDOW UNTIL HE COULD BREAK THROUGH. Gideon now had a cut paw. Gideon is wearing a pretty yellow bandage.

*And all in the same day.* My. Oh. My.

P.S. And the addendum to that story would be "See Jen. See Jen try to handle these animals alone while her family is in Virginia. See Jen slowly lose her mind. Poor Jen."

;)