Tahoe Ate My Peach

Posted by madge

This peach was intended to nourish me.

While I was getting water across the kitchen I heard a ‘thud’. I left the water task to find my angelic, dog-food only eating canine assistant, Tahoe, looking at me. A peach lay beside him on the floor.

Not to worry, I thought as I reached in my purse to retrieve a small treat to use as a trade. I was certain he would give me the peach for a treat – and I probably would have eaten if it didn’t have teeth marks – I know you are saying ‘gross’ about now.

Tahoe tried to lift and hold the juicy fruit, but his teeth sunk into it…and well the taste was good. The next thing I knew he had the peach in the other room.

Concerned that he would eat the pit I watched as he looked up between licks. He was quite a gentleman with the fruit. Then all that was left was the pit which he promptly gave me.

I love fruit and need it everyday. This day I was sharing my fruit unexpectedly with Tahoe and got to thinking about the good fruit in our relationships – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. I’d better be careful not to let Tahoe or people or circumstances steal those from me or keep me from sharing them with others! Oh my, I need fruit. Good for the body, mind, and spirit. I don’t want to be in the ‘pits’. OK, yes, that was corny but true.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal. 5:22

Choosin’ Joy,

Madge

Why Men Hate Going to Church

Posted by madge

I drafted a note about this book and totally planned to write about it someday…well, I wanted to listen to it again, take notes, and think about it some more. Then I went to church last Friday night… Guess what book was highlighted? The Bible? Ha! Well, yes, but also Why Men Hate Going to Church. This little treasure is a must read for men and women.

My husband picked up this book on audible.com after he saw one of our church pastors post a note on Facebook. He had read it three times. My husband had listened to three chapters by the time he got home and he related to this book! The title may be Why Men Hate Church alarming, and rightfully so, as the book makes a sharp analysis of much of today’s church culture and leaves you with plenty to think about.

Yes, there are generalizations to sort through, but if you read the bible, you can’t deny that Jesus, while bearing the fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, etc…..was also bold, challenging, competitive, courageous and argumentative and our churches need to evaluate their ‘man-friendliness’.

Maybe you’ll get a laugh out of a quote from the pastor’s sermon.

On sermon length…’When your butt goes to sleep so does your brain‘.

On man to man contact…’I am done hugging’ and ‘Men don’t have relationships, they have partners.’ He had everyone engaged and laughing with his manly delivery as only David Monson can!

…and on a more serious note, Pastor Monson shared that men want to be reliable, they want to be leaders, and they want to be spiritual fathers. He encouraged us to go see the movie Courageous (Brent and I have seen it, and even went to the theater for this one).

My eyes were opened by this book and it gave me some new insights and appreciation for men, especially my manly husband.

– Madge

Seven Days in Utopia – A Few Noteworthy Quotes

Posted by madge

Movie theaters are not a place you’ll find me very often. Not sure if it is my short attention span in a dark place where my wheelchair needs to stay quiet (and turned off – as not to blind the person sitting next to me with my control lights), or if it’s my dislike of the cold temperatures in said theaters, or if I’m just willing to wait for the DVD.

My quotes are from the book, mind you, because a trip to the theater to see the movie was not on my agenda this week. (Update…I watched the movie and added more quotes here).

Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia by David Cook is a great read for golf enthusiasts. Despite the fact that I’m not a golfer the story and the lessons were deep when applied to anyone’s life. It’s a quick read, so pick it up if you get a chance. No doubt the quotes won’t give away any critical plot line.

Find what you do well and perfect it.

Significance in life in the end will be measured by character, relationships, values, virtues, and faith.

You never really know when you might meet someone who will change your life. More importantly, you never know when your influence might change another life.

In life we must be willing to coach and be coached; either one alone will leave us empty.

I don’t believe that we take into consideration the far reaching effects that our everyday decisions have on our destiny, the lives of others, or the world as a whole.

Update: See my post on movie quotes here.

Be Present

Posted by madge

Yesterday I promised to share one of my go to verses this year. I remember I was in a Rosen Centre hotel room in Orlando at a business meeting reading my devotion for the day and I came across this verse as I was searching for a new memory verse for the month. I thought it was for one of my memorization partners at the time, but as it turns out, it was for me too. OK, it was probably mainly for me.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isa. 43:18-19

Forget the former things? The past? Yesterday? We really like holding on to the past, especially the good things…but the life of the past is static – not reversible. I don’t advocate not dealing with the past’s wounds or not celebrating the past’s successes, but we must move ahead. Live and give in the present. Listen for the ‘new thing’ – the ‘now thing’ – for who you can help or mentor, for the call you can make, for the steps you can take. Nineteen year old, Katie Davis of Amazima Ministries, said (paraphrased) ‘Courage is not about knowing the path but taking the first step…getting out of the boat.’

When I said I’d be talking about this verse today I had no idea that the theme of the Catalyst Conference 2011 is ‘Be Present’. I’m glad I dropped in as an online guest.

It is challenging to have the courage to Be Present. As Joel Houston said today at Catalyst, ‘When you feel out of your comfort zone or uneasy, it’s a perfect time for God to do what only HE can do.‘

I want to get out of the boat each day. What about you?