Anticipation

My husband orders a lot of things by mail so yesterday was no different when a package arrived, and he quickly tore into it.  You should have seen the surprise on his face and mine!

After opening a small box from China, he held in his hand an object neither of us could identify.

He turned it around and around.  It was somewhat round with two points on the top. The body was clear so you could see through it with blue accents around the perimeter.

Did you order that? I asked.

“No.” came his quick reply.

“Well where did it come from then?” I inquired.

“I don’ know was his response.”

I took the object and looked it over. On the inside was a maze and at the very bottom was a little sliding door.

“It’s a dog toy!”  I proclaimed.

And indeed, it was a puzzle dog toy!

You know, the type of toy that you put treats in, and the dog must figure out how to get to the treats.

Immediately I thought my daughter had sent it, since in the past she had sent cute toys to our dogs.

I quickly texted her, but she hadn’t sent it.

My husband tried to trace the package but ended up at a dead end.  The return address was for a warehouse not a business.

At any rate, we had a toy for our dog for the time being, so I filled it with kibble, and gave the toy to our dog.

The dog sniffed it and looked at me with a confused expression.

I explained the process to her and shook the UFO toy, yes that’s what is was called, and in doing so a piece kibble dropped out.

She quickly gobbled it up.

I placed the toy in front of her again, but she just looked at me waiting for me to get the treat for her.

I shook the toy again, and another piece of kibble fell to the floor.

Again, she gobbled it up.

Again, I gave her the toy.

She looked at me and I told her she would have to figure it out for herself and I walked away.

She investigated.

She picked the toy up by the prongs on top and carried it around.

Then she dropped it on the floor and the kibble spilled out.

She had unlocked the secret and now she was a happy dog.

And it was so enjoyable watching her make her discovery!

We sat on the couch and laughed as she played with her new toy because this is a dog that doesn’t like toys.  She only uses toys as a backscratcher unless there is something in it for her like a treat.

While this was going on my husband finally determined that indeed this toy had been sent by mistake.

He had ordered a carburetor for the leaf blower and had gotten a UFO dog toy instead!

Oh, boy did I laugh, and you know I laughed so hard that my husband started to laugh as well!

Although he didn’t find it particular funny, he did see the humor in the moment.

He contacted the company and they said we could keep the dog toy and they would send out the correct part the next day.

Have you ever gotten something you weren’t expecting, and it turned out to be just what you needed?

The distraction of this toy had us laughing and enjoying life for a moment in a way we never anticipated.

God wants that for all of us.

God wants us to experience his world and his provision in a way we never anticipated.

When our expectations aren’t met rather than to become discouraged we need to look deeper, ,not toward our feelings, but toward God’s intention for us.

Even for our dog she didn’t see the intention of her UFO toy until she explored it a bit.

And in the same way we need to explore God’s will for us by reading his word and praying for enlightenment.

When we do this, we realize that God’s intention is not a secret to be kept but a truth to be shared. The truth is we may not always be happy, but we can always experience joy and share that joy with others.

Joy is not something we can achieve under our own strength, but the joy of the Lord is a treasure worth seeking and passing on to others.

A person finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word! Proverbs 15:23

Growing your Roots

This past week we had to do some basement grading at our house, yet again due to water problems. 

Since this is a recurring, problem we decided to remove the plants from that side of the house, add dirt and top it with plastic and river stone.  While shoveling the stone I must have twisted funny or used my leg muscles incorrectly as the next day I had numbness in my leg.

What was I going to do now?  This was my dominant leg, the leg I use for when gardening to dig.

 A few days earlier I had cleared an area in my garden of weeds that had grown over existing plants leaving that area rather bare after their removal.

I asked my husband if he could transplant these plants to that area and he said yes.

So, I started weeding in another part of the garden while he began moving the plants.

I finished my task before him and went into the house.

I didn’t check the garden until later that afternoon and what I found was horrible.

The plants had withered so, I ran to get the hose and started watering.

Then I saw some roots sticking out of the ground so, I reached down to inspect one of the plants and as I lifted the leaves, it came right out of the ground!

I moved to the next plant, it too lifted right out!

As it turned out my husband hadn’t planted these plants at all!

When I asked him about it, he said he had pushed some dirt around them.

Oh, goodness, these would all have to be replanted and quickly!

So, I got busy.

I lifted each plant, dug a hole and holding the plant in my hand, separated the leaves from the roots, gathered the roots and placed them deep in the hole I had dug.

Painstakingly I lifted each plant, separating some, and discarding others that had not weathered the afternoon sun.

It took a while but soon all the plants had been placed in their respective holes and I crumbled dirt to place around each plant and tapped them down with my foot.

Then I watered them.

This morning I watered them again and with no exposed roots I think they have a chance of surviving even with the 90 degree weather prediction for the week as long as they are well watered.

The shock that overcame me when I saw these helpless plants reminded me of the parable of the sower and the visual picture these plants represented regarding spiritual growth.

“A famer went out to sow his seed. Some fell along the path and the bird ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly but because it did not have enough soil when the sun came out the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns which grew and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop, a hundred sixty or thirty times what was sown.  He who has ears let him hear.”

That was my garden.

Weeds had choked out many of my good plants and the new plants had been scorched due to not having been firmly planted in good soil.

There in my garden was a visual representation of the parable of the sower.

Some of my plants had been choked out by weeds.

This represents those who hear the word of God, but the worries of this life choke it out and make it unfruitful.

Some of my good plants had been choked out and there was nothing left to do but remove the weeds and any remnants of those remaining plants.

The seed with no soil appeared to be fine at first, but when the sun came out the plants were scorched and died.

My plants too if I had not looked closer would have had the same fate.  There was not enough soil to support their growth.

If we don’t have enough soil to support our growth of Christian faith we too will wither when faced with the troubles of life.

Right now, we have many troubles.  We have a pandemic disease, we have social unrest, and we have economic uncertainly.

But if we choose to focus on fear and frustration rather than on God’s gift of peace and prosperity in Christ then we are also choosing to allow ourselves to be choked by the weeds of life and we are exposing our roots to turmoil and eventual destruction.  We wither and we die when we are not firmly planted with our roots anchored to the only abundant vine, that can give us the life he desires for us.

Today I will renew my convictions to dig deep into God’s word, so that my feet will be firmly planted on the ground knowing that nothing can cross my path that God has not allowed to be there.

I can be confident that he who created me will see me though whatever troubles lie ahead for God keeps his promises and his word is assured. 

I must allow my roots to be firmly established by knowing the word of God and I must continually be watered through the sprinkling of the Holy Spirit who sustains my growth and allows me to produce fruit for the kingdom.

And the remnant shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.  Isaiah 37:31