Hi Everyone
I wanted to give a shout out to Madison Richardson and Hunter Hitchins who made some great pictures of Scruffy. Thanks for your fine art work!
God’s Love can clean up all our mud!
Hi Friends;
Have you ever found yourself “stuck in the mud” like Scruffy?
Oh, I don’t mean stuck in real mud, but the mud of life! That space where things are just not going our way, where no matter what you do, the mud seems to just keep sucking you in and under. This mud sometimes comes from bad choices that we have made…like Scruffy leaping off the roof of the hen house or over a forbidden fence or sometimes mud just seems to be thrown at you by bosses or even friends or mud can just represent the repetitive boredom of doing what appears to be the same thing every day. Well whatever your mud is….I bet you would like to get out!
Scruffy needed help to get out of his mud…oh he tried to do it on his own, probably because he didn’t want to get caught in disobeying Papa and because he felt that he was big enough and strong enough to do it…have you felt this way? I sure have! I have found myself stuck in the mud because of some really bad choices and no matter what I did…I could not get out of the mess myself! Here…let me share one little story, (unfortunately I had many such events! to choose from)!
“I’m lost…no, I’m not…if I just go back to the beginning, I know I can figure it out!” It was just that mentality that got me into trouble in the first place. It was a cloudy fall day and I went out partridge hunting with my dog and made the catastrophic mistake of following him! Never a good idea. Anyway long story short, there I sat at the top of a hill, trying to spy the logging road that would lead me home, but finding only trees. I had been walking in circles – probably, for hours…following each brilliant idea that I would get about how to extricate myself from this really bad situation…you see…I hadn’t told a soal that I was going hunting. My husband was at work, the neighbours were away and we lived in the bush…the very bush that I was lost in! And night was coming quickly. I had done everything I could think of to get myself out of this mess…everything that is, except to pray! Well desparation had finally come..so I prayed and the Lord answered me…as I sat there in despair. Suddenly, the sun shone- something it had not done all day…suddenly a logging road was visible- somehow I had not seen it before…suddenly I just knew the way home! A miracle…it sure was to me…a rescue…you bet!
Stuck in the mud? Call upon the Lord and He will “clean up” your situation!
Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Philippians 4:19 “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”
God is our all-powerful, all-compassionate, all-wise and all-loving heavenly Father…call upon Him in your need…He is waiting!
Count it all joy…some more insight…by Jewel Hobbs
Good morning Lynn.
Happy Lord’s Day.
I too have considered this thought from James.
Because it is utterly impossible to have the experiences of our life be such that they always produces joy…all might seem lost.
Thankfully we are given this scripture so we can “know” that He desires us to do so and also that it is a possible.
It is humanly impossible without His working in our lives, and then I can say it remains a major challenge even for believers when faced with daily trials.
I believe that if we are predetermined to believe it to be true, trusting in these possibilities that can only be filled by Him, wanting to be joy filled, looking for joy, asking for joy ,we can grow in His joy.
We are His joy and when we realize we are the joy that was set before Him when He endured that cross, it takes us beyond our immediate trial and we find our joy completely in Him.
It is supernatural! We are His joy, He is our joy, we grow, we preserve, we are free to live!
This is so true…thanks for sharing, Jewell…does anyone else have a thought about this amazing concept? Send it along!
Count it all Joy…does God really mean ALL?!!
Hi again, everyone!
Is there anything more fun, more joyful than to puddle jump? To leap into a puddle full of mud and water and delight in the mess? Well oddly enough, it is this Joy…this delight that God wants us to have, because we trust Him.
Today I want to share a word that came to me while doing my devotions this morning. I am reading the book of James and this morning I began, as one would expect at the beginning and only got as far as the first 4 verses. After the opening Greetings…James hits me right at the heart with something with which all of us have struggled.
It reads, “Count it pure (ALL) JOY, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4
Well that little statement, “Count it pure (all) Joy.” really is the problem! I must say that there are and have been things in my life that I can hardly call worthy of Joy…that indeed, I have not handled with any type of joy. I bet you have too!
Let’s start with the simple, little everyday things like…socks on the floor, beside the laundry hamper instead of in it or dishes on the table instead of in the kitchen sink or better still…in the drying rack! Well you might say that these are little inconsequential things that should not or could not remove or even impact our joy…but added together, they do. But our Lord says to count these little things as Joy…hmmm…I guess with a small effort, I can do that.
Ok…starting today, this very minute, I am determined not to let these little things steal my Joy (get behind me Satan…I’ve conquered this one!)
But what if…the Joy Stealing Event isn’t so trivial…what if it involves the loss of a loved one or the slow lingering death of another or being Stuck on the Rocks of a fast flowing river. These things are life changing…these things are life stealing…does God really want me to Count these as Joy?
The clear answer from scripture is a resounding…”YES!” God says right in this passage that there is a purpose in trials that is very important to our growth. We need to aquire perseverance so that we can become mature and complete. God is intimately interested in our growth and it takes a lifetime of big and little trials to produce that growth. God doesn’t often tell us why we need a particular trial in order to grow, but He does say that He will give us wisdom (understanding) if we ask…in faith.
I have had many adventures in life…not some of the tragedies that others have had but life threatening events that have tested and tried my faith…and as promised…have helped me to grow. Check out some of these events in my book, “Stuck on the Rocks, again.” Did I have Joy at the time of these events…no, I can’t say that I was rejoicing when I was stuck in the middle of a raging river with my canoe bending around a rock…but afterwards…when the waters were once again, calm…I reflected and smiled.
God is at work in my life and He is at work in yours. Do not give in to the temptation of letting the events of life steal your JOY, but approach each new day with an attitude of JOY and persevere…because our loving, heavenly Father in is Control and we prove our belief in this by showing our JOY.
Joy is the echo of God’s Love in us…share it today!
Lynn
God is an amazing gardener and we are all part of His garden
Scruffy wondered if God could still love him, when he made so many mistakes…but in the story “Scruffy Finds His Way”, he discovers that God never stops loving him…never gives up on him.
We are all made by God for a purpose…each of us is nourtured in a different way…each of us looks different…acts different…but is never-the-less still part of His creation…His garden!
I love to garden. It is such a joyful release for me to putter away in my gardens turning the soil, rearranging perennials and planting annuals. Soon after the snow melts and the earth warms I enthusiastically dive into my gardens and begin the process of preparing the soil for another season. Then I plant small seedlings in the spaces in between the perennials with the hope that the garden will explode into colour and beauty. I sit back to admire my work, filled with the anticipation of what the next few weeks of sunshine and rain will bring. Morning after morning I wander by my gardens looking for the blooms that I worked so hard to produce. As I peruse the vista before me I notice several things. Although planted at the same time in similar soil, some of the seedlings grow faster and better then others. These seedlings seem anxious to burst forth into bloom, to produce that for which they had been planted. Others are growing but at a much slower rate, some are barely struggling to survive and sadly some have been plucked out by the birds and lie dead on the ground. My response to this is to pour a little more effort into the struggling plants; to gently dig around their roots to encourage their spread and growth, to give them extra feedings of fertilizer to strengthen them. The better the plant, the better the bloom! Another thing that I notice is this; the same type of plants can produce different looking blooms. No two marigolds look exactly the same. Each section of the garden provides a different display of colours, heights and shapes. It’s food for the eyes! How dull a garden would be if it were filled with identical plants and flowers!
I’m positive that our heavenly Father loves gardens as much as I. Indeed, He created the endless variety of plants and flowers and gave us eyes that could discern the subtle variances in colour. In scripture it describes God as being a gardener- like me (but much, much better)! He too, works in His garden, pruning and cultivating to produce the best garden. He does whatever is necessary to produce good results. Just like my little seedlings need to be planted in good soil, so too do his vines need to be connected to the food source in order to survive. (John 15) We are all part of God’s garden. It is His desire to have us burst forth into bloom in the garden where we are planted. Like the branches described in John 15 have to be connected to the vine in order to thrive so too, we seedlings need to be buried deep in the soil that will nourish us – Jesus. Without this soil, we will not survive. Once we are planted in Jesus, God makes sure that we grow and flourish. And just like in my garden, some may take longer to bloom then others and no two blooms are alike, but together we make the garden beautiful.
St. Mary’s Students learn life Lessons from Scruffy
Scruffy sends a big goaty “nudge” to all the children of Mrs. Howe’s grade 2/3 class for reading his book and finding the lessons!! Well done EVERYONE and thank you!
What we learned from Scruffy Mrs. Howe’s grade 2/3 class
Lo: You should never do something that you are not allowed to do. If you do, you will have some sort of consequence. Scruffy says…”some of the consequences are baaaaa…d!
Wa: There are natural consequences, like falling through the chicken coop or getting “bit” by the electric fence. Or, you might get punished, like being put in a time out. Scruffy says…”oh my but that chicken coop was stinky…never fall in one!”
Ch; God has a plan for everybody Scruffy says…”it’s so nice that God plans for kids (goats and humans)”
O: It’s ok to be who you are! We are all unique and God created us in His image, which means that we are PERFECT! Scruffy says…”and I thought that only my mom thought that I was perfect…everyone else thinks I am too scruffy and baaaaa…d. Nice that God agrees with Mom”
C E.: When people love us, they will forgive us even when we mess up. God will also forgive us. Scruffy says…”it is nice to be able to start over every day…forgiven”
M: No matter what happens, your family will always love you! Scruffy says…”even if I’m baaaaa…d my Mom and the Scruffkids always loved me, so does God…I never need to feel rejected”
C: If everyone was the same, life would be boring. If we tried to play a game, it would always a tie. Scruffy says…”That is really true…I’ve never been boring…God made all of us special and interesting.”
A: If we need help, we should ask for help. Praying to God is a good idea! Scruffy says…”I forget this part sometimes…so God continues to teach me how much I need Him.”
love is…
Love is…
An important part of Scruffy’s story is that he discovers that no matter what mischief he does that the Maker will always love him…this is something that all of us yearn for! But what is Love?? Is it a warm, fuzzy feeling that envelopes us like a cozy blanket in winter or is it a lofty, noble thought that no one can really understand?? Following I share a little story about love…a true story that I think will help to define Love. Read on…. (for the fuller story, see my book, “Finding His Way.”)
When Bob and I were dating, he captured my heart by
sneaking up to my house numerous times and leaving
simple little notes for me. Each note started with the words,
“Love is…”! There were tons of them, like “Love
is…gazing longingly at each other across a crowded room”
and “Love is…not even noticing you forgot to bring the
picnic basket.” I adored these little notes and looked forward
to receiving them.
As our relationship developed over the years, we would
continue to leave cute little notes for each other. On one
occasion that I vividly remember, I was going to be heading
off to counsel for two weeks at Camp Mini-Yo-We. The day
before departure, I had the day off and was using the time to
prepare some freezer meals for Bob to eat while I was away.
My thoughts were on him as much as they were on pre-camp
preparations. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could send
him a little note every morning so that he would know that
I missed him.” This was in the days before cell phones and
text messaging…how easy it would be now to accomplish
this! It occurred to me that I could still do this if I wrote a
bunch of notes and hid them in places where I knew he
would find them over the next two weeks. Excitedly, I busily
wrote 14 notes…numbering each one. The notes were silly
little “Love is” messages…cute, intimate…” for your eyes
only,” type of notes! I knew that he would be touched that I
had taken the time to do this, in the middle of busy preparations.
I finished writing the notes and proceeded to cunningly
hide them all over the house, not wanting him to discover
all of them at once. I should have remembered that he
seldom bent his knees to look for anything!
The next day I headed off to camp. I was directing a twoweek
out-tripping camp that year, filled with hormonally
complicated 14 to 16 year old girls. The Northwoods section
of camp was an isolated, mostly girls-only camp, apart from
the maintenance men and visiting staff husbands. Because of
this, the girls were more able to focus on becoming good
out-trippers, fine-tuning their skills for the big canoe trip,
which would take place in the second week of camp.
The middle Saturday evening was a relaxed affair following
a day of canoe trip preparations. Bob came for a
brief visit, as was his usual custom. The girls took this
opportunity to tease us for wanting to be together after only
one week apart…you know, silly girl stuff. He tolerated this
for about five minutes then hid in our cabin until the girls
headed off to bed! The next day as he was heading home,
openly glad to be leaving behind this hormonally charged
gang of girls, I dropped a bombshell on him: “Bob, we have
decided to paddle the Spanish River this year with our
senior paddlers, but the distance to the starting point is such
a long drive that we can’t do it on the first morning of the
canoe trip, so I have offered to have the girls sleep over at
our house the night before the trip.” He just groaned and
rolled his eyes as he left!
A day later we arrived in Wahnapitae…all 12 of us! I
had warned the girls to be on their best behaviour and not
to razz Bob too much. They promised to try! All went very
smoothly…the girls settled into their sleeping bags on the
living room floor and we headed to our bedroom.
As one might expect, there was a fair amount of chatter,
lots of giggles and laughter, then suddenly unnatural quiet
followed by very fierce quiet whispering! It all settled down
an hour later, and sleep came to us all.
Bright and early the next morning we headed off. The
canoe trip was great…rapids were run with very few incidents…
the weather was good…we didn’t get lost…and we
arrived at our destination on time. Success—a trouble-free
trip…a rare occurrence for me!
Traditionally the last night at camp the girls would entertain
each other and all the visitors with funny skits about
their canoe trips, and this year would be no exception! There
was a lot of giggling involved in the preparation and strange
looks often cast in my direction for some reason. When Bob
arrived, he was greeted with loud applause, catcalls, and
whistles, which served to chase him from the room! Then it
was time for the big event…the skits. The first two skits were
crazy, but good and there was one left to go when Bob whispered
that he had seen enough. He got up to leave and was
surprised when the girls of the last group pleaded with him
to stay for their skit. I assumed it was because they knew him
a bit better than the rest because they were the campers who
had stayed at our house. Embarrassed, he nodded and sat
back down, not wanting to spoil their fun.
With great aplomb, they took the stage. Two of the girls
pretended to be Bob and I…embracing and snuggling each
other to the amusement of all (except Bob), then one girl
after another stood up to read little…strangely
familiar…notes that they had in their hands. I wondered
what they were up to, until the first note was read:
“Number 5—I will miss cuddling on the couch together
watching our favourite movie—I love you.”
In shock, Bob and I looked at each other…instantly we
knew what had happened! The night of the sleepover, the
little darlings had found the notes that I had left for
Bob…the personal, for-his-eyes-only notes. Yikes, was I
ever going to be in trouble!
As the skit proceeded, they read 5 of my 14 notes to the
total glee of the other campers and counsellors. Bob fled the
room, but I had to endure the entire performance, forced to
sit there with a glowing red face! Oh, what a night!
Romantic love makes us do some silly things!
But love is…more than warm fuzzy emotions…more
than romantic love. Love is complex…love is God!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).
Love is displayed in many ways…ways that often
encompass all of the other fruit of the Spirit.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it
does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor
others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight
in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails ! (1 Cor 13)
So…what is love? Love is…God!
The Manitoulin Expositor Wrote an Article
NEWSFLASH !!!!
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Life Lessons from Scruffy-2
Life Lessons from Scruffy-2
Have you ever been stuck in the mud? Oh, I don’t mean literally like Scruffy but metaphorically?
Well, I think that if we were honest we would have to admit that we have been caught at some point in our lives somewhere where we should not be.
I, furthermore, think that we sometimes decide to willfully do things that we shouldn’t…exclaiming in our hearts, “I’m going to do this despite the consequences!” We have a “thoughtful” disregard for the possible outcomes because we really, really want to do this thing…whatever it is.
Well, Scruffy is a picture of us! He really wanted to prove that he was someone special, who had super-duper hopping power. His feelings had just been hurt when he couldn’t hop as fast as Hobby could run…so he had to prove himself…the end result…Stuck in the mud…looking worse than ever! Oh, the shame of it!
All of us, have a will of our own and are capable of doing willful acts that often lead to trouble.
The Maker tries to teach us to resist these urges…to aim for what is good…to bend our will to His…but we often resist.
Life Lesson #2 – We all have willful hearts…but the Maker loves us still.