A Suggestion, by Jack the Dog

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Margaret

It’s been 9 months since I got to sit at Midge’s keyboard, but tonight she’s turned it over to me. After all, I don’t know how many chances I have left to write, being over 80 years old now.

The other day I overheard her tell someone she might start giving me medicine for my painful hip joints. I sure need it. Watching me get to my feet after a nap is proof-positive. Or, should I say proof-negative.

There is an upside to this, though. My new sedentary lifestyle allows me extra time to study Midge, and I’ve been able to tell a great deal by the pace of her footsteps. In the past if she moved quickly, it always meant she was about to leave the house. Lately, though, speedy steps are her norm, even when she isn’t going anyplace.

For some reason she always seems to be in a rush. When we go out on our walks, my pause-to-sniff time has become newly limited. She tugs on my leash and says, “C’mon, Jackie. Keep moving.” Our regular walking route is getting shorter and shorter, too.

A week ago I overheard her telling a visitor she just got a new book contract. I’m not 100% sure what that means, but maybe it’s the reason for all the hurry-up. Although her #1 pleasure is writing and she’s very excited about another book, it could be she doesn’t have the time she needs to get it all done now, with the blog and the book competing for the same hours each day.

So I gave her a little advice, something she could do throughout the summer to remedy the problem. She could go back into her archive of older blogs and re-post some of them rather than writing a new one each night. And she went for the idea.

I hope none of you readers will mind. And I especially hope no one will think negatively toward me for having made the suggestion. Of course you know I have a vested interest in the idea, longing for the leisurely walks of my past when I could take my time with the scents of the neighborhood. But I also recommended the archives thing because I want Midge to do a good job on her new book.

I’ve read all 1422 of her blogs and look forward to seeing which ones she will re-use this summer, hoping she’ll let me in on the action. After all, I’ve written some pretty spectacular posts in past years.

I do know she’ll break from the archive plan if anything unusual happens to my Aunt Mary, and she’ll write new blogs accordingly. She also plans to continue posting Aunt Mary’s prayer requests at the end of each blog for those of you who are praying. And by the way, we’re all incredibly thankful you are.

And now I’m going to ease my weary old body onto my plump doggie bed for a good long sleep.

“God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

Praising and Praying with Mary

Pray that the antibiotic ointment will clear the tube infection, which seems to be in surface stitches. Pray for patience with the negative sides of chemo.

Praise for only mild nausea and for friends who send words of encouragement at exactly the right moments.

Flashlight or Floodlight?

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Margaret

Mary is a natural cheerleader. She encourages others in their pursuits and celebrates their successes with them. I remember how much her cheering meant to me when I began blogging years ago. Despite my uncertainty of both the process and my ability, she urged me forward and became a faithful reader.

Tonight, based on last night’s blog about her future uncertainties, I’m posting her favorite of the 1374 posts on this site. She often quotes from this one, because the principle cited is a guiding light straight from Scripture. It was written on 9/3/09:

When our dog Jack and I take our late night walk through the neighborhood, tree-lined streets can be inky black. I always grab a flashlight, because without it, we’d walk into parked cars and yard fences trying to find our way.

Most of our flashlights are the dollar store variety. Their circle of light is small and often inadequate, although a little light is better than none. Then there’s the heavy flashlight with the powerful halogen bulb. When I carry that one, I feel guilty for producing a swath of light that spills into the privacy of people’s living rooms. It’s a floodlight in a tube.

Last night when Jack and I walked, my cheap flashlight was flickering with weak batteries, casting only a faint yellow glow in front of us. This was irritating since my light would only shine as far as the next spot my foot would land on and no further.

Scripture gives us a word picture of this exact situation. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105) When walking along life’s path, I crave a peek down the road, into my future, preferring a floodlight to a flashlight or a lamp.

But God is the only one who can see all the way down the road. Because of that, it seems sensible to leave the darkness and uncertainty of what’s ahead, up to him. He’ll light it up when we need to see it. Meanwhile, he hands us the lamp of his Word. He says, “One step is enough for now. Walk into that circle of light in front of you, and let me worry about what’s ahead in the dark.”

Last night Jack offered the perfect example of why we ought to take God’s advice on this. He stepped in front of my flashlight’s beam, which suddenly cast his own black shadow directly in front of him. He startled, jumped to the side and searched for the dark villain he’d just seen, but the shadow had disappeared. The walk goes better if he stays behind the light and follows where it leads.

And I guess that’s good advice for the rest of us, too.

“Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139:12)

Mary’s Prayer Requests

To patiently follow God’s light into an unseen future
To gain weight; praise for the first taste of meat since March 16!
Praise for a good day with visits from two prayer partners

Getting Into It

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Margaret

Living in southwest Michigan as we do, we’re often the benefactors of “lake-effect storms.” Weather systems rolling across the country from west to east fly over Lake Michigan, picking up water as they go and then dropping it when they hit land on our side of the lake.

Today is one of those days. We all thought January wouldn’t be snowy, since December had more than its fair share. But after 11” of accumulation in 5 days, we’re in the process of receiving 12 more. This time, though, it’s impossible to measure, since wild winds are swirling it like cake batter in a Kitchen Aid mixer.

I walked Jack to the lake today, hoping for a few dramatic pictures. But powerful winds swept me into a snow drift before I even got there, camera and old lady going down together. Though a foot of snow makes a soft landing, the eye-sting of high speed snowflakes made us turn back.

This was a crushing disap- pointment to Jack, who lives for winter weather. He does his happy dance in the middle of snowy roads and snoofs his whole face into drifts looking for interesting scents. Bounding over snow banks like a young pup, he behaves nothing like the 77 year old guy he really is, and heading home today was his last choice.

But back we went, with me trying to stay upright and him racing around me in circles. Once back inside the house, I had to agree with Jack that the storm was beautiful. But looking at it through a window and walking outside in it were two vastly different experiences. One was just observing; the other was being engulfed by it.

A spiritual parallel might be to intellectually know about God’s love without actually experiencing it. To know the facts is to observe from a distance; to experience it is to be fully surrounded.

I know several people who’ve read the Bible repeatedly and can recite chapter and verse better than I can, but who’ve never embraced Jesus personally. That’s like standing at the window and commenting on how gorgeous the snow is without experiencing it firsthand.

Yes, there’s risk in going outside on a day like today, just like we sometimes view following Christ as a risk. We say, “What if he asks me to do what I can’t? Like reconcile with that person I don’t like? Or love someone who’s completely unlovable? Or give away money I can’t afford? Or take precious time to do things I’d rather not?”

He might.

But if we’re willing to “get into it” with him the way Jack gets into snowy weather, we’ll find the risk is worth it…. much like my friend Linda learned that being in the snow is way better than just looking at it through a window.

“The Lord alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” (Psalm 91:2)