The Dog with a Psychological Disorder

Separation Anxiety. That was the diagnosis. After much reading and research, I have it on authority from several different expert resources that Smoltzie has separation anxiety.

Thankfully, all of the sources gave the same advice for dealing with this disorder. I found that I've been doing everything wrong.

I'm not supposed to tell him goodbye or pay any attention to him right before I leave or for about five minutes after I get home. FAILED

I'm not supposed to get upset or mad when I've been gone and he messes up because that increases his anxiety. FAILED

I'm not supposed to give in to his cries for attention. FAILED

I'm not supposed to point out the things I want him to leave alone (even while saying "no-no"). FAILED

It's been hard for me to not say goodbye when I leave or talk to him when I come home. Usually I fawn over him with hugs and love as I leave, telling him to be a good boy and I'll be home soon; then I wave at him as he peeks through the window watching me leave, tears in his eyes. When I come home and he runs to the window, I wave and smile and talk happily to him. I feel like I'm being mean when I ignore him, but that's what the experts say I should do.

Usually I have some sort of spiritual analogy with all the stories I post on my blog, but I don't think I do with this one. I just wanted to keep you all up to date with my adventures in dog ownership.

Okay, so maybe one spiritual analogy...

I think sometimes I suffer from separation anxiety and I can't wait for my Master to arrive.

That's it.

Always On Call

It's 4:45am and I am out of bed and on my computer. And just in case you didn't know, no, I am not a morning person. I've been sick for a couple of days and with all the lying around during the day and the fact that I can't seem to stop coughing and sneezing, I guess it's making it hard for me to stay asleep at night.

As I often do when I wake up at an hour that my body thinks only exists in the PM realm, I started thinking about all the usual things I worry about in the middle of the night. Usually there's a financial worry of some sort. I'm always thinking about the stuff I need to do to the house. I'm thinking about going to graduate school. Then there's the dog that I can't seem to get to be good while I'm gone. Will it be turkey or PB&J for lunch tomorrow? I'm a natural worrier, so it doesn't take much to get my wheels turning and anxiety churning.

I think I finally reached a breaking point because I found myself on my knees in the bathroom (because on my knees in the bedroom would have the dog crawling all over me). In a puddle of tears, I took every concern - large and small - to the Lord. It's sad that I have to reach that point to turn it all over to Him. But He sees my desperation and He gives me the comfort I need without questions or hesitation. You see, it's great to talk to other people about what I'm going through - my boyfriend, my mom, a trusted friend - and they always listen and often have helpful advice. But they can't really fix things. Why wouldn't I first go to the One Who can fix it? Why don't we all do that?

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed with the presence and love of God that you could almost literally feel His arms around you? I've been there. And usually it's in those desperate, middle of the night times when my tears flow uncontrollably as I finally, as if it were my last option, lay the worries, concerns and burdens at His feet. But it's not as if He's only there in the odd hours, at the end of the rope. He's been there 24/7/52. He's been there with every slip, slide and ropeburn along the way.

So why do we do it? Why do we wait until we are at our most desperate moment to turn to Him? It's almost human nature, it seems. Think about all the prayer and church-going that takes place when a tragedy occurs in this country. Think how much better it could and would be if we'd just stay close to Him all the time, trusting Him with our lives, our problems, our good and bad times, our whole selves.

Instead of making Him my last option, why don't I make Him the first? His arms are there even when I'm not desperate and sobbing. He stretched them out one day more than 2000 years ago to prove His love for me. They've been open for me ever since.

Best Friends Forever

I've been thinking about this day all month just like I do every year, and can't believe how fast the years have past. The sweet little blonde haired boy who was three then is now 10 and every time I see him, I cry because I wish his mommy could see what a fine, young handsome boy he's grown into.

We were cousins, best friends, the sisters that neither of us had. In a world of brothers and "boy stuff", we were each other's escape, playing house together, making big plans for the future. We were going to marry brothers and live next door to each other just like we did then. Our little girls would play together just like we did.

We were born six weeks apart - actually we were supposed to be closer than that, but she came early and I was late - so we were literally best friends from birth. Maybe longer, actually, because our mothers were so close. So we probably were friends even when we were in the womb.

In April, 2001, my paternal grandmother passed away on Easter Sunday, and the next day my divorce was finalized. It was a difficult week to say the least. I took a trip by myself to Charleston that weekend. I found out she was there, too, with her husband, son and parents (my aunt and uncle). We spent some time together. It's probably the most precious time I've ever spent with anyone. She had so many health problems, but she was more concerned about me. That's just the kind of person she was.

In July of that year, we were supposed to go to a Braves game together. She ended up getting sick and had to go to the hospital for a few days. I went to visit her and she apologized for not being able to go to the game. "It's okay," I told her. "We'll go later. The season is not over." I wish we'd have gotten that chance.

Seven years ago today, her pain and physical ailments ended. It wasn't the way we wanted it to happen, but she was healed and happy just the same.

I miss her on those days that I would have called her or gone to see her. When something exciting happens that I want to share. When I'm heartbroken and need her comfort. She was everything a best friend is supposed to be. Nobody will ever replace her.

One of the things I remember most about that trip to Charleston was when we were downtown at night and she was going to go with me back to where we parked the cars. It was a bit of a walk and she saw one of those three-wheeled carts that the guys drive people around in and thought it would be fun to take one back to the parking lot. "I'll pay!" she said.

We got in the back of that thing and he took off! We laughed so hard we could barely breathe. That's one of the sweetest memories I have of the two of us together. I can almost hear her laughing now.

I miss you, Stacy. I love you. I can't wait to see you again.

Argh!

Have you ever had one of those days where everything gets on your nerves? Everything that happens, every person you see just gets on your last ever-loving nerve. I'm having one of those days.

Why can't people just cooperate? Why can't they just read my mind and just know? "Hey, I think Edie is having a bad day. Let's leave her alone and not ask for anything today."

The things I want people to do, they don't do and the things I want them to not do, they do. Things aren't going exactly the way I want them to, so I feel justified in taking it out (in my mind, of course) on everybody I come across.

I wouldn't say what I'm thinking to their faces, but I feel guilty for just thinking it. I feel selfish, mean and ornery.

Then I read the news...

16-Year-Old Dies After School Shooting
5 Men Found Dead in Alabama Apartment
Woman Leaps from Ohio Hospital 5th-Floor Window
Man Charged with Murder in Teen's Beating, Burning
Mugger Beats Woman, 85, in Elevator for Purse, Cane

Kind of puts things in perspective, huh? On my WORST day, I don't deal with these kinds of things.

Caring about people, being kind and courteous, having respect for others. These are pretty basic things I should be able to do even when I don't feel like it. After all, mine may be the only smile, the only kind words someone gets today.

Have a great day! :)

Called Up

(I actually wrote this quite some time ago, but I read it today and it applied to something I'm dealing with now. I thought it might help someone else, too.)

He comes home from another out-of-town game, sore from the game itself and the 50-mile trip back home on the squeaky bus with uncomfortable seats that jolted him every time the driver hit a pothole. He looks through the refrigerator of his garage apartment for something to eat, spying a note stuck under a magnet. It’s the one that he wrote himself to remember to call the manager at the supermarket in town to see if he can give him a job again in the offseason to pay the bills. At age 28, he was really hoping the last offseason would be the final one he would have to work.

He finally finds some leftovers from the Chinese food he had delivered a couple of days ago. It’s either that or yet another peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So he pops it in the microwave, grabs an ice pack from the freezer for his aching knee and collapses in the old recliner his dad gave him to use until he’s able to buy furniture. He starts to turn on the television when he pauses to think about his situation in life. When will he finally make the leap? After 11 years in the minor leagues, will he ever get a shot? Should he just give up?

Just then, the phone rings. He figures it to be a buddy on the team wanting to go out and do something fun. He doesn’t feel like it. The game and life have him pretty beaten up and he just wants to sulk at home, feeling sorry for himself. But when he answers the phone, he hears his team manager’s voice on the other end. “What did I do this time?” he’s thinking skeptically.

But the manager announces that he has good news, simply saying, “Son, pack your bags and get to the airport. You’ve been called up!”

Can you imagine the excitement he must feel? The long-awaited dream he’s had since a five year old playing tee ball is a reality. Who knows how long it will last? But right now it doesn’t matter. He’s going to the “Big Show.”

Then just as he is about to call his parents to give them the news, an old enemy creeps in – an enemy called doubt. The voice tells him he isn’t ready. It tells him he can’t succeed at that level, that he’s washed up, that he’ll only make a fool of himself. “Can I do it?” he thinks. “Maybe I am washed up.”

How foolish would it be for him to give up his opportunity because of some doubts? It’s the biggest opportunity of his life – would he forfeit it because the enemy convinces him he can’t do it?

How many times are we called to do something by God, but we don’t even try because we think we can’t? Our enemy, Satan, has us convinced that we shouldn’t even bother because we’ll never be able to accomplish the task. What a shame if we pass up on our own chance to do something for Christ just because Satan plants seeds of doubt!

Moses thought he was incapable of doing what God asked him to do as well. The more times God told him to go to Egypt to confront Pharoah, the more excuses Moses gave as to why he couldn’t. “But, Lord, who am I to do that?” “But, Lord, they may not believe me!” “But, Lord, I’m not a very good speaker.”

God had an answer for every objection, but they all boiled down to this: if God asks us to do something, He’s going to give us all we need to do it! You see, when we are called to serve the Lord in any capacity, we aren’t expected to have the ability to do it. God’s not going to give us something to do that He thinks we can do on our own. That would defeat the purpose of our dependence on Him.

Moses was right. He was incapable on his own. He was deficient. But he was able to tap into the greatest source of power, strength, and ability there is or ever will be. He could tap into the power of an Almighty God!

There are other examples from Scripture as well. Think about Paul for a minute. He had been a persecutor of Christians from the time he was a young man. Oh, he was very religious, well-educated, intelligent, well-spoken. He had all the ability to do what God called him to do when he turned to Christ on the road to Damascus. But what about his past?

Surely his Christian brothers would never believe anything he said. They might think it was a trick, or that he was simply making fun of them. They wouldn’t put much stock into anything he had to say after what he had done to them for so many years…would they?

And what about his peers, the people he served alongside all that time? They would surely think he’d gone mad! What influence could he have on them with his newfound Christianity? If he tried to witness to any of the people who knew him before, they wouldn’t believe him…would they?

But look at what Paul did with his life. He became one of the greatest Christian influences the world has ever known. And all because he did what God told him to do instead of questioning the past. Just as we can’t let our perceived inability to serve stop us from obeying, we also can’t let a broken past keep us from the task either.

I remember playing softball as a kid in the fifth grade. I had always wanted to play catcher. So one day we were practicing and the coach let me try my hand at catching. It was pretty disastrous. But one thing that saved me was that one of the guys from the high school who was helping us out stood behind me catching everything I missed, picking up the ball and throwing it back to the pitcher for me, and generally helping me to not look completely inept.

God does that for us. Sometimes our abilities aren’t what we think they should be to complete the task that lay before us. But God has our back. He catches what we miss. He makes the throws we are too weak to make. He keeps us from failing. He’s not going to ask us to do something and then let us fail at it. We just have to trust Him and depend on His strength and not our own.

So don’t feel inadequate or unequipped when God calls you to do some type of service for Him. This is what you’ve waited your whole Christian life to do. Your Lord is calling you to something greater, to a higher place of service, to the “Big Show.” Have confidence in His power and faith to know that He will see you through to its finish.

Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The Brat...I Mean, Cat

I guess since I've given you endless information about my character of a dog, I should probably tell you about my cat. It's only fair since I've had her longer, right?

I got Macy from a student at Limestone College when I was working there as an Admissions Counselor in 2001. I was getting ready to move into an apartment in Gaffney and got the urge to have a pet. I didn't think I'd have the time to spend with a dog - they require a lot more attention - but I said if I could find a gray cat like the one I had in high school, I would get one. The aforementioned student told me that she had a gray female she needed to give away, so she was mine. I came up with her name kind of weirdly because I was sitting there trying to come up with a good name for a gray cat and "Macy" kept creeping into my brain, because of the name Macy Gray (the sort of singer). So that ended up being her name.

She was only a teeny, tiny five weeks old when I brought her home. She cried all the way and wouldn't eat for about three days. We tried every kind of cat food imaginable and tried feeding her milk through a syringe. I was so afraid she was going to starve. Then one day, I had picked up some McDonald's and was sitting eating fries. She came up and started sniffing at the hand containing the fry and when I reached out to see if she would taste it, she nearly took my finger off. She was lovin' it. I've always wanted to write the big wigs at McDonald's and tell them about how their french fries saved my cat's life.

Eating is no longer a problem for her. She's pretty fat and likes to sit upright like a Buddha statue sometimes. It's pretty funny. She thinks she always has to have food in her bowl, whether she wants to eat it right now or not. It's all part of her Queen of the World mentality.

Macy is a little different than most cats. She only answers to her name. Don't try any of that "Here kitty, kitty" business with her. She'll just look at you like you've lost your mind. She's not much of a cuddler (of course, you could say that about a lot of cats, probably). But when she gets ready to cuddle, by golly, you'd better be ready for it. She likes to bite toes. And she likes to pitch fits and talk back. She really does! If I tell her to leave a certain room or to come to me, she'll usually do it, but she's talking back to me the whole time. "Reow!" She does not like to be told what to do.

She thinks she's running the household. She has no idea how not in control she really is. Don't tell her this, but it's not really all about her. Aren't we like that sometimes? Getting so wrapped up in our own little world that we forget that there are other people out there. We think we are so in control. But, truth be known, we're never in control. I'm sure if I forgot to feed Macy for a while, she'd realize how out of her control her life really is. And sometimes in our lives, we get to a desperate point that we realize how out of our control our life is, too.

But thankfully, I know the One Who is in control. He provides all the things I need - shelter, food. All the things that I forget about when I think that I have it all together. Our pastor yesterday talked about how God is the one who holds it all together. I hope I won't let myself be like a self-centered little cat and realize how much I depend on my Master to keep my life in order.

If the dog has eaten her food already this morning, Macy's probably realizing how much of her life I control right about now...

The Joys of Homeownership

When I decided last fall that I would buy a house, who knew what a challenge it would be? (Besides other people who have bought a 60-year-old house, of course.) I still like my house, the location, and what not. But it seems as if I take one step forward and two steps back these days.

Starting out, I knew I need to do some slight fixing up in the house - some paint, a few window treatments, shelf liner in the kitchen cabinets, and a major cleaning job. I thought, well, I'll just take it one room at a time and pretty soon I'll be done!

Wrong!

So far I've managed to repaint two out of six rooms (and one of those is a bathroom so it barely even counts). Along the way I've inherited some new jobs, such as the malfunctioning toilet in one of the bathrooms and having to put an electric wire on the fence to keep the dog from getting out (which I still haven't finished). Speaking of the dog, he completely finished off the couch today, so I need another one of those, too. I also decided, with the generous help of my patient boyfriend, to take down the front yard fence and pull up a lot of dead bushes (which, truth be known, he's done most of that work himself).

Anyway, today I decided to sit down and make a list of all the things that I need to do to at least get the house up to where I'd want to have a party or something. The list was much more comprehensive than I had anticipated. I mean, it covered a whole sheet of legal pad paper!

When I decided on this sweet, little house, it reminded me of my paternal grandparents' house in Ohio that I visited a couple of times a year when I was growing up. I miss that house now that they are gone. Plus, it also kind of made me think of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree - it just needed a little love. It's a great house with a big kitchen and master bedroom and a large, pretty backyard. But I never realized that lack of time and a 65-pound boxer would make it more of a fixer-upper than I had anticipated. It's overwhelming sometimes.

There are times with life itself overwhelms us, when it seems as if everything is happening at once and we are not quite sure how to deal with it. But in the noise of all the chaos surrounding us, God asks us to do one thing: Be still. There are a couple of times in the Psalms (46:10, 37:7) when we are reminded to do this. Sometimes it's necessary to take action, to go and do. But there comes a time when all we need to do is be still and let God be God. Let Him do His thing! He will come through every time.

One of these days, hopefully sooner rather than later, I'm going to be able to blog to you about all the work I've done on my cute little bungalow and how it looks just like I envisioned it would. That is, if I'm not too old to see the computer screen by then.

Have a great weekend!

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Sometimes I ask myself what love really is.

Is it like on the cartoons when people have hearts in their eyes?
Is it like the movies where, after a couple of hours of angst, the boy and girl always end up together?
Is it like television where people seem to fall in and out of love as often as they shower?

When I was on my way to work this morning, I saw an older couple walking down the street holding hands. I think that's what love is. When maybe our bodies aren't in as good of shape as they once were, our hair has turned gray (or maybe loose), parts that used to be perky now sag, and we can't get around as well as we used to - but there's still that commitment and respect for each other.

Love isn't about the physical or even the emotional. And love isn't necessarily voluntary. But, you know, sometimes it is. Because love is an action. And sometimes we have to make ourselves love people who are hard to love. I know sometimes I'm hard to love, but God does it anyway.

We have the best description we can ever find for love right there in I Corinthians 13:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, 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.

What a wonderful picture God painted for us through Paul of what love really is. I know that there are people in my own life who are hard to love and others who are easy to love. But I'm supposed to love them all just the same. Jesus loved people like Hitler, Hussein and Bin Laden just as much as He did you and me when he died on the cross for us. For all of us.

Lord, help me to love those who may seem to be unloveable. And help me to prove myself worthy of the love of others.

Blogger's Block

I know since I haven't blogged since Thursday I need to have something to say today. I'm suffering from blogger's block (if that is such a thing), so I decided to be a little more random and do this: make a list of the things I want to ask God when I get to Heaven.


- What's the purpose of mosquitos?


- Why was marijuana made? Was it for medicinal purposes all along?


- Was it Adam's fault or Eve's? If Adam had said no, would there still be a curse?

- Why do some people have higher metabolisms than others? (Just doesn't seem fair that it's easy for some people to stay thin and hard for others.)

- About men... (Enough said.)

(Note: You guys can't get mad, because I'm sure you're thinking the same thing about women. That's what I thought.)

I'd also love to talk to Isaac because one of the more thought-provoking stories in the Bible to me is when Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac. I'd love to get his perspective and find out what he was thinking when all that was going on.

What about you? What questions do you want to ask in Heaven? (I realize that once we get there it just won't matter anymore, but it's kind of fun to speculate.)

My Dog

(I laughed to myself because the title sounds like a 2nd grader's first story.)

I have to tell you about my dog, Smoltzie. (Yes, he is named after John Smoltz, pitcher for the Braves, which must have put a jinx on him because he's out for the season.)

I got Smoltzie through sheer happenstance when my station manager's wife heard about him through their dogs' vet. Smoltzie (nee Boyz) lived with a man in Woodruff with his brother, and since they didn't get along really well, his owner was going to get rid of him. I found out on Thursday, October 11, and only had until Friday to claim him because the man was going to take him to the animal shelter. Well, I just couldn't let that happen. I had planned on getting a dog later, once I got settled into the house with the fenced yard that I was closing on the following week. It was a pretty inconvenient time to get a dog, but once I met him, that was that. (Since I had planned on getting a shelter dog anyway, I figured I'd cut him off at the pass and not have to go and look at all those poor dogs and end up wanting to bring them all home.)

Smoltzie is such a good, sweet, obedient dog, but like most canines, he can get into a little trouble when not supervised. Such as when:
- The wind blew the crawl space door open and he drug various objects that were stored there around the yard.

- He got into the big trash can on the carport and drug the trash all over the yard (multiple times).

- He escaped from the fence twice, one time forcing me to look for him through tears for more than an hour, and the other ending with him running down the middle of the road to meet me as I approached the house.

- After the above-mentioned incidents forced me to keep him in the house while I was gone, he got into the kitchen trash can and spread trash all over my living room - okay, he's done this a few times.

- Over time, he's destroyed at least five or six picture frames.

- He used my digital camera as a chew toy and ruined the preview screen.

- He tore up the cat's scratch box and left cardboard and catnip around the house (at least it wasn't the cat).

- He's destroyed two cookbooks, the cover to my church directory and my Sunday School teaching book (ironically the pages he tore up were weeks I wasn't teaching).

- He tore holes in both sides of the couch cushions and made my house look like Christmas with all the white stuffing spread out everywhere. (The couch was already in rough shape, so this one isn't as terrible as it might seem.)

That's all I can remember at this point. I know it seems like a lot. (I really didn't think it was until I started typing it.) He really is sweet, regardless of how it seems. And most days, he's very good - it's just when he gets attention-starved or restless or, quite frankly, is trying to "hold it" until he gets outside that he starts his disruptions.

I try so hard to be mad at him and sometimes I do a good job for a while, but then he looks at me with those big, brown, puppy-dog eyes, and I just melt. He feels guilty. He really does. And I always give him another chance.

Isn't that the way God is with us? We mess up so many times, sometimes destroying the plans He had for us and driving that wedge between Him and us. Yet, we say we're sorry and ask for forgiveness and He always gives it. There's another chance waiting for us in His loving arms.

I'm in the process of fixing the fence to be able to keep Smoltzie outside again, which I hope will alleviate some of his mischief. I don't want God to have to keep reining me in to keep me from doing what I shouldn't and not doing what I should. I don't want to have to come to Him with sad, puppy-dog eyes and ask for chance after chance. I want it to be my looks of love and adoration, not guilt and shame, that make Him melt.

As Sands Through the Hourglass...

I've been thinking a lot lately about when I first came to my church and the people that I met and became friends with at the beginning. There are only a few of us left in the singles group. Some are already married, others have moved on to other churches. Four of my closest friends from that group have all had life-changing events lately. One (who was married in Jan. 07) just had a baby yesterday, one is getting married in 10 days, one (who was married in Feb. 07) found out he's going to be a dad, and one was married in June. It kind of makes me sad to think that everyone is going their separate ways.

But that's the way the seasons of life go, you know? It reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3:1, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." So I have to let the past go and just remember the great times, while being happy for the blessings of marriage and children that God has brought into my friends' lives, knowing that true friendship doesn't end even when it changes a bit.

And then there are all the wonderful changes that have taken place in those same last six years. God has brought new friends into our circle who have become priceless treasures in my life. There's my wonderful boyfriend and the amazing ride that the two of us have been on together. Would I trade that for anything? Absolutely not.

So with the changes that sort of make me sad, there have been incredibly good changes that are all a part of God's plan to lead me to where He wants me. There is a "time to every purpose," and my responsibility is to cherish the past, live in the present, and trust my future to the One Who holds tomorrow.

"Chopper to Chipper" No More

Well, as an avid Braves fan, I couldn't let the moment pass without making mention of the passing of Skip Caray, longtime Braves announcer and icon. I didn't have cable growing up, so I don't have the close ties to Skip that many other Braves fans do, but I have listened to him on the radio and seen him on TBS and the former Turner South for about the last 11 years.

Skip had one of those unforgettable voices and an even more unforgettable schtick when he provided play-by-play and color commentary on radio and TV. Some of his quotes are legendary (although he lost some of his material when the Expos moved to D.C. and changed their name to the Nationals).

Some of my favorite Skip quotes:

- "Like lambs to the slaughter, the Braves take the field." (During the lean years)

- "The bases are loaded and Dusty Baker wishes he was." (Referring to the Reds manager during a game against Cincinnati)

- "Another hit off Bong." (Referring to Braves pitcher Jung Bong)

- (On the fourth ball of an intentional walk) "As day follows night..."

- "Cue the duck" (Introducing the AFLAC Trivia Question)

There are many more - too many to remember all at once, but the best ones are these...

"A lotta room in right-center, if he hits one there we can dance in the streets. The 2-1. Swung, line drive left field! One run is in! Here comes Bream! Here's the throw to the plate! He is...safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!...Braves win! They may have to hospitalize Sid Bream; he's down at the bottom of a huge pile at the plate. They help him to his feet. Frank Cabrera got the game winner! The Atlanta Braves are National League champions again! This crowd is going berserk, listen!" (Atlanta Braves comeback win to capture the 1992 NLCS against Pittsburgh)

"Mark gets the sign, the wind and the pitch here it is... swung, fly ball deep left center, Grissom on the run... Yes! Yes! Yes! The Atlanta Braves have given you a championship! Listen to this crowd! A mob scene on the field. Wohlers gets 'em one, two, three. A couple of fans rushing on the field. The Atlanta Braves have brought the first championship to Atlanta!" (1995 World Series Championship against Cleveland)

Skip battled with alcohol problems for much of his life, but even after he gave it up, the damage to his body had been done. My greatest hope is that, at some point, he made peace with God and had a relationship with Him. After all, when our life here is over, that's all that will matter.

Goodbye, Skip! With every "chopper to Chipper" from now on, I'll think of you.

Who is God?

The same God that carves out the oceans and formed the mountains is the God that holds us when we are hurting. The same God that is big enough to create and control everything in the universe and span all of space and time is small enough to live within us and walk beside us. The same God Who is King of kings, Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega, Almighty God is the One Who humbled Himself to become one of us and walk among us. The same God Who sits on a throne in Heaven as Ruler over everything is the One Who hung on a cross in humility and shame all because He loved us so much. He gave all He had, his very life, in the cruelest and most torturous death ever known just because He wants to know me, to know you, to know us. He loves us that much.

Who is God to you? Do you know Him personally? Is He a far-off being Who awes you, yet doesn't feel close enough to hold you? Are you intimidated by Him or intimate with Him? Is He one who feels close only on Sundays and the occasional Wednesday, or do you feel His presence throughout the week no matter where you go? Do you know Him personally and have a close past with Him, but now you've distanced yourself from Him and don't involve Him in the details of your life? Is He your King and your Father? Your Master and your Shepherd? Your Lord and your Friend? He can be and longs to be all those things and more to you. The God of Heaven Himself wants to be close to you. Will you let Him?

35 in a 55...

Ever had one of those weeks? I was on vacation last week, and it's always hard going back to work after that. Honestly, though, it hasn't been work that has made it "one of those weeks." I'm teaching my Bible Fellowship class on Sunday, and it seems every time I do that, the enemy fights me all week, telling me lies and trying to discourage me. It all sort of culiminated yesterday when the dog decided to knock over the kitchen trash can and spread a full bag of trash all over my living room floor. Good times.

Anyway, I've had a hard time going to sleep this week, which has made it hard to wake up, which has made it hard to get to work on time. And malfunctioning alarm clocks and puking dogs don't help. Then yesterday, I was taking 292 to I-26 (because it's quicker than going through the town of Inman and its 25 m.p.h. speed limit). I got behind a lady who was going 35 m.p.h. on the 55 m.p.h. stretch of 292. I guess I would have to say that most of my pet peeves have to do with other drivers anyway, and this just made me have the kind of attitude I'd prefer not to have to start the day, and the word "moron" was used more than once in a not-so-affectionate way. I hate it when that happens and I always feel so guilty. I finally got to that precious dotted yellow line so that I could pass her, and I'm pretty sure she could see the steam coming from my ears as I did. Then I thought about that silver fish sticking on the back of my car and really hoped that my look of disgust wasn't too obvious as I passed.

As I've thought about that lady and her snail-like pace, it made me think about life in general and how often we get so caught up in the day-to-day busy-ness of life, trying to keep up with the standard pace that the world has set for us. I'm sure that lady was in no hurry to get anywhere. She had a friend in the car with her and they were probably having a nice conversation as they drove along slowly but steadily, just enjoying each other's company and the nice day God had given us.

Sometimes we need to do that, too. In the clutter and chaos of 8:00 sales meetings, loads of laundry, attention-hungry pets, choir rehearsals, and (for some of you) cooking dinners and shuttling kids here and there, it's okay to say, "STOP! I don't care what the speed limit is. I want to slow down and enjoy the ride." Sometimes life has to set our pace for us. But at times, it's okay to be our own pacemaker, spend some time with the Lord, and enjoy the world He's given us to live in. Stop housecleaning to watch the kids play for a while. Take the dog for a walk. Read a book on the porch swing for a few minutes. Have a picnic with the family. Spend some time in prayer for someone you care about.

Maybe even drive 35 in a 55 once in a while...