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Help! It’s Taking Over

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A few years ago, Rusty and I spent some time trimming the many overhanging branches and shrubs from the fence-line on my mom's property. I recently noticed how all of the branches we had cut back were once again reaching across the fence and encroaching on the property as if we had never touched them. I dreaded tackling the task again but knew if we didn't tend to it soon, the job would be more than we could handle. It would be overwhelming.  Have you ever felt like your life was becoming the same way? You may have job related pressures, lengthy illnesses, or family stress that creep in on you like over-reaching branches needing to be pruned, but feel like you no longer have the strength or energy to handle them.  The psalmist David knew where to seek help when he became overwhelmed.    In Psalm 61 , David knew that he had no strength on his own, but remembered how God had been his refuge and strength in times past. He began the psalm by asking Him to hear his prayer...
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Do You See What I See?

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  Last week, I went to see a friend.  On my way inside, I noticed that although it was mid February, there was a Merry Christmas flag in the flower bed.  I started to pick on her about it, but decided not to give her a hard time. Yesterday, Rusty and I were headed out the door to church when I looked over and happened to notice that I still had a metal nativity scene in my own flower bed. I mentioned to Rusty that even though I walk past it every day, I hadn't realized that it was still there and I should probably put it up. His response was..."Yeah, I was wondering about that."   Have you ever noticed something going on with someone else only to later discover that you had something just as bad or worse going on in your own life?  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the importance of making sure we look at ourselves before we look at others.  Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own e...
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What Stress?

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Due to family history, I had a few routine tests done last week. I had early morning appointments and thought I wouldn't have to worry about too much traffic, but I was wrong and arrived a few minutes late.  After frantically looking for a parking space, I finally found one and made my way into the hospital to check in.  They had an issue getting the admissions window to open that morning, so my tardiness didn't affect my check in time at all. I had rushed for no reason.  After one test was out of the way, it was now time for the stress test. The hospital had just acquired a new treadmill system and lucky me was the first person to try it out.  The equipment representative was there training the employees on the workings of the new machine.  After a while of trying to figure out how to hook me up, I had to perform my walk with a room full of onlookers. When it was finally over with, I was told that I was finished and directed to the exit. I made my way to the pa...
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My Pot Runneth Over

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  We drink lots of coffee at our house and we like it fresh, so we make it several times a day. Usually, it's add some grounds, pour out the old, rinse the pot, fill it with water, and pour into the coffee maker. Sounds pretty simple, right?  But after a recent repair to our water meter caused us to use bottled water for a while rather than tap, my whole routine was thrown off.   I had just started a fresh pot of coffee and patiently waited for the three beeps of the Cuisinart to let me know it was ready. What I found when I entered the kitchen was much more than a fresh pot of coffee. There was a huge puddle of the hot brown liquid in the floor and running across the kitchen counter.  I quickly cleaned up the mess, but was baffled by what could have caused the overflow. I wish I could say this was the only time the incident happened, but it wasn't until it happened again a few days later that I realized my mistake.  I had never poured out the old coff...
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What A Week!

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     Arkansas Dept. of Transportation               Street Camera             Interstate 40 in Clarksville, AR on Jan. 25th Last week began pretty well. Rusty was released to go back to work on Tuesday night. He did really good, but it will still take some time to build his strength back up to where it was before. He didn’t have to work too long though because a few days later the winter storm hit. The roads were covered with snow and ice and his plant shut down for a few days. I missed most of it because I was sick with what I assume was the flu. While others were making snowmen and sledding, I never ventured out of the house. Thankfully our power stayed on, so we stayed warm and no pipes froze. For the first time since April, Rusty was able to climb up on the tractor and put it to use. It was so good to look out the window and see him plowing the lane, something he wouldn't have been able to...
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Not What I Expected

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm always in the market for comfortable shoes, However, ordering things online can sometimes be tricky.  I had seen the boots pictured above in a Facebook ad. They looked like they would serve me well and the price wasn't bad. So, I placed an order and waited for them to arrive.  A few weeks later, I received a package from an unknown address. I couldn't imagine what the shrink-wrapped package shoved inside my mailbox contained. I soon pulled out what appeared to be two clown shoes. They were made of something similar to the plastic bag they came in and were about two sizes too big for my size 11 feet. I couldn't even be mad about losing the money on my purchase, because the laughter my friends and I had was priceless. They have been re-gifted a couple of times and even made an appearance in a floral arrangement.  Have you ever ordered something only to find out that it was not at all what you expected? Has  life itself not quite t...
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Are You Prepared?

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  Last week, Joseph spent a couple of days in the hospital due to complications from diabetes. There was an issue with his insulin pump that caused his sugar to get very high and put him in a dangerous state. Thankfully, it was quickly addressed, and he is much better now.  I stayed with him the first night in the hospital as I didn't want to leave until I knew he was out of danger.  Kristine spent the second night with him. While she was at work, her husband packed an "overnight bag" for her.  I have to give credit to James; he wanted to make sure she was prepared, so he packed everything she asked for plus several other things. Joseph and I laughed as she came lugging the large suitcase in for what looked like a week's long vacation. She was surprised to find more bottles of medication than she needed and among the wide assortment of clothes was a pair of scrub pants.  We told her that maybe he was afraid the hospital would be short-staffed, and she would have...
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