A Safe Place

This old birdie house has seen better days! It no longer sits outside in a tree as a safe place or haven of rest for a family of birds. It was given to me by a dear friend. I love bird houses and collect them and this one happens to sit on my dresser in my bedroom. I think of a safe place. Many birds have used it to escape who knows what danger? I know that the little birds I watch out front in my yard tease the cats. They swoop down in front of them and then quickly fly back into their birdhouse for safety.  There are people that make us feel safe when we are around them. I have  issues with trusting people...I admit it. I am sure it is because I have been hurt and betrayed in the past so have a hard time believing that people are who they say they are and mean what they say! There are very few people I feel safe around but there are a few and I am thankful for them. The church should be a safe place....but many times it isn't. Instead it ends up being a place where gossip is spread and people are beaten down, and although fellow Christians preach and teach the Bible they skip over the parts on forgiveness and stirring up strife. They focus on one or two sins and ignore their own. They are judgemental toward people who get divorced, and instead of loving the women left behind with children to raise on their own, they shun, criticize and condemn without knowledge of the facts. I personally wish more churches had ministries for the single mothers. It doesn't mean that the church has to condone divorce, but it should support emotionally and spiritually, the mothers and children who feel so rejected and abandoned. The women in the church especially, should not just assume that the women who are divorced are out there looking  to take away their man, and therefore be jealous of her and shun her. What the single mothers need more than ever is for the women of the church to be a "birdhouse" for her.. ... a safe place....otherwise what will happen is, she will end up confiding in another man, and end up with another mess. It is the job of the older women in the church to be "Kind" not slanderous and gossiping! You can't undo the mistakes you have made....none of us can; but maybe out of the mess someone can learn something that will help them to not make the same mistake. Be a safe place for someone else.....make other people feel safe with YOU... don't run around spreading every little tidbit they tell you. Broken people don't need to be kicked...they need to be helped up.
Psalm 91:1 " He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

Just Carry Me

Do you remember what it feels like to be picked up and carried? That would have been a long time ago for me....but I was thinking on this today as I was reading something that caught my attention. Psalm 28:9 "...be their shepherd and carry them forever."

Just like David to think like a shepherd! He knew what it was to lovingly pick up his sheep and carry them. How secure the sheep feel when they are carried...no worries, no cares; in the arms of their shepherd they are safe from all harm! I am just a little sheep needing a shepherd....and so thankful that I can look to Jesus and say "just carry me" and He does! If I would just learn to ask Him to carry me a lot sooner then I would not waste so much of my time in worry and anxiety. When I finally turn to Him and ask Him to "just carry me" then I feel so secure and know that He's got me in His strong arms....I have nothing to fear.
Psalm 30:6 "When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken."

My Watermelon Bear

Here he sits... so patiently waiting for summer...sitting on the porch, just waiting for it to get warm enough, to start seeing those big, round, dark, green watermelons with lime green stripes, piled high in a big cardboard box in the entrance of the supermarket! There is nothing quite so refreshing on a hot summer day at least in my opinion, as a juicy slice of ripe red watermelon. I remember long ago being at a picnic and watched in awe as a man doused his slice of watermelon with salt! I thought "yuck"! That must be disgusting! Upon much urging...he convinced me to try some salt on mine. I think I was only about twelve years old at the time. I was so surprised at how good it actually was! To this day... I will not eat my watermelon without salt and every time... I think of that man who now is up in Heaven. I wonder if he can see me putting salt on my watermelon and giggles a bit? Thanks George M. for taking a few minutes out of your "adult time" at that picnic to teach me to put salt on my watermelon. Whenever I look at this little Watermelon Bear I think of that day and am so thankful for adults who pay attention to kids. Just one little simple bit of attention can mean so much, and will be remembered for a lifetime.
Matthew 18:5 "And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me."