If's it not cold sores then it's dog's throw up...

Now I know this a weird title for a blog...but I couldn't help myself when my mom calls me and that is the first thing she says. :-) LOL After I hung up from her I started thinking about life. I know for many people this is a scary thought so before you stop reading...take a breath and just see how much you can relate to what I write about.

I saw my mom for the first time in a week or so and when I saw her she has a cold sore on her lip. My mom is a worrier (this nut did not fall far from the tree) and when she worries ALOT she get a cold sore. It is a tall tail sign that she is worried. I ask her what she was worried about and it turns out it is about me. Long story short I found out I may be without a job by April 20th (we probably will not know until that day). Of course I tried to calm her fears but if you are a parent you know you worry about your kids no matter how old they are. I told her early in the week in fact on the day my parents were getting their carpets cleaned. So this phone call comes after my parents spent $300 to get the carpet cleaned in their house. The company that did it, did a GREAT job and it looked soooo good. They even put some kind of protection on it so in case anything "accidents" happen they will be easy to clean up. Of course today was the day for and accident to happen. A dog throwing up in the middle of the living room. Of course it occured where you could not cover it up with a plant or anything.

Isn't that the way life is?? You think things are going along fine and then out of the blue you get a devastating piece of news. When you get this news, you know there is nothing you can do but you worry none the less. You stay strong for your family but on the inside you carry the weight. You don't think anyone will see the worry. You say all the right things that makes other feel better. You think you can protect the other person from worrying and then out of the blue a cold sore pops up. Now you know how much you try you can not cover up the stress you are carrying. Some of you may not have to deal with cold sores but you show stress other ways. Maybe you stay busy so no one will notice, eat, smoke, make a joke or avoid the situation all together. We as humans try so hard to handle the ups and downs of life on our own.

Just like the carpet, which is the first thing a person usually sees when they come into your home, we work so hard to keep our carpets clean. Some of us have paid hundreds of dollars to clean up our lives. We have scrubbed and scrubbed to get the dirt out...the guilt from our past, shame, unforgiveness and those things that stain our carpet. It takes a long time for many of us to get the carpet cleaned. For some it takes more than one cleaning for the carpet to be cleaned. You finally reach a point and when you look at your carpet (your life) you smile because it looks really good and clean. You feel good about it and you start letting people into your house again. Most of the people in your life work hard to help you keep your carpet clean. The don't bring in the dirt from the past and they help you keep your house clean. Others in our lives don't even think about our carpet. They walk in and bring their animals. These people bring in dirt and mud from all those things you have just worked to get rid of. You let them in because you never thought they could mess up your house again. Then all of a sudden one of the dogs they brought with them just threw up with no provocation in the middle of your carpet. You past just came out of no where and left a huge stain.

You wonder how you are going to hide this new stain. You look at it and think maybe you can put a rug over it...then no one will notice. You realize even if you put a rug on it, the stain is still there. You decide you are going to have get down on your knees and scrub. You gather up your materials and you get down and start to work. You realize the harder you work the quicker the stain is coming out of the carpet. Once you have worked hard you get up and look down and the signs of the stain is gone.

That is the way it is with our lives. We have all these stains. We spend lots of sweat and tears trying to clean up our carpets and get rid of our stains. We work hard and for some of us it takes a long time for our carpet to be stainless. Finally we are finished with our work and we sit and relax for a while. Life is good. You begin to enjoy the people in your life again. You begin to have fun and truly live life, then all of a sudden someone throws up the past. The past leaves an ugly stain on your clean carpet. You are devestated that this has happened. You start to think about ways you can once again cover this stain. Buy a new oufit, get busy, 0r avoid it and hope no one mentions the stain. But just like the carpet in your house the stains in your life at times cannot be covered up. You know the only way to get of this new stain is to get down on your knees and scrub. Your knees are still sore from the cleaning before but you know it is the only way.

You humble yourself and get on your knees and begin to pray. You begin with asking for forgivenss for picking you the worry, guilt, shame or whatever it is you picked up. You noticed the stain is beginning to lighten. You must continue to scrub. You start surrendering all that those things that leaves stains in your life. As you work hard to surrender over and over you begin to realize the stain of the past is once again gone. You know that your carpet will get stained again. We live in a fallen world and all of us makes mistakes.

The one thing we can be sure of is...we have the only true carpet cleaner. Our heavenly Father is waiting to clean up our stains. He washes us clean if we only repent and ask. He is waiting to carry our worry so has we walked through our life it will not leave footprints. Many of us have spent lots of money on getting our carpets clean when our Father tells us He will help us clean our carpets for free. All we have to do is ask!

I pray that when the struggles of life become stains on your carpet that you will go the Father and get those stains removed. I know some of you need and want help. If you do need help processing on how those stains got there to begin with I would like for you to go to www.steppingstones-ministries.com These individuals know what it is like to walk in your shoes. Each of the volunteers in this organization have had stains on their carpets. Do not let those stains keep you from asking for someone to come into your life and help you. The first step to healing is awareness.

Captured by Grace,

-D

The Eagles Nest

I am addicted to watching a live streaming video of a pair of eagles and their two little hatchlings. It has truly been amazing to watch how these magnificent birds have taken care of their offspring. The nest is UNBELIEVABLE...it is made up of sticks, twigs, grass, feathers and goodness knows what else. It is able to stand up to 100 mile an hour winds, has enough room for the eagle to roost and enough room for the daddy to bring rabbits, birds and fish to the nest for dinner. I don't have a clue how a bird could have put this together or what is holding it together. It must have taken quite a while for the pair to build this nest together so it would hold their most precious items. These two eagles picked the perfect spot for their nest and knew that it would hold a nest that weighs up to 1000lbs (Someone told me how much they weigh). Pretty good instincts, don't you think? I have come to find out after some research that the momma and daddy takes turns sitting and incubating the eggs. While one is keep the eggs warm and toasting the other one is out getting nourishment for both of them. I watched as the momma was sitting and ever so gently the daddy came and brought her a fish to the nest. He then with a huge WHOOSH took off to find more. I then watched him bring back a rabbit and sit it to the side for later. The momma got up off the eggs and let the Daddy have a turn to keep his babies warm. He gently nestled them under his belly and kept them warm. The momma and daddy eagle took turns until the day finally arrived and two out of the three babies poked their heads out of their eggs and began life. These cutes little helpless eaglets started crying right away. They depended on their parents for all their needs. The momma would feed them and then the daddy would come to take over. As you can guess the daddy is WAY bigger than the momma. I watch as he ever so gently scoops them under his mighty wings. He even makes sure the egg that hasn't hatched yet is taken care of...because you never know when it will come to life. The Daddy wiggles, prompts and pushes his kiddo's to the protection of his underbelly, where it is warm and no harm can come to them. He leaves plenty of room for them to breath and move but not enough room for them to hurt themselves, the wind to catch them or to fall out of the nest. The babies cry and try to keep themselves from getting put under his wings. As young as they are they already think they know best and want to get out. It is truly a breath taking event every time I watch it...it makes you smile at the wonder of God's creation. As I have been watching this Daddy eagle and how gentle he is with his hatchling I cannot help but take it back to our heavenly Father. Here is this magnificent creator...majestically more powerful than we could ever imagine prodding and pushing us under the protection of His mighty wings. He wants us in the protection of His love to keep the wind of discouragement, shame, guilt, loneliness and worry to harm us. Even when we think we know what is best for us and we want out to do "it" on our own He lovingly pulls us back under His wings. The protection and strength of those mighty wings are AMAZING and words cannot describe what it feels like under the protection of my Father. I know that I am like those eaglets...I think I know how to do life. I have come to learn that when I get out of underneath His wings the coldness of life begins to take over. I long for the warmest and safety of Him. He is faithful to wiggle, prompt and push me back under His wings where once again I am safe. Captured by Grace, -D