Monday, March 23, 2015
5 Reasons Not to Depend on the Law
Has the law ever worked for you? Do you feel protected by
it? I'm not talking about your local authorities but rather the written law of
the land. Our family has little experience with law and less with lawyers. The
lawyers I do know seem to be beaten by the very laws that should protect their
clients, that is, if their clients are good, innocent and should win their
cases without objection. Lawyers that fight to protect guilty criminals seem to
have the law on their side. In my mind, innocent until proven guilty has gotten
us into a bind. Let me explain.
A personal conversation with a lawyer this week made me end the exchange with "We won't be trusting Bill. We will continue to trust God!" Bill replied with "I'm a religious man. I can't compete with God." Then, he quoted a Bible verse. Should that make me feel better? I meant what I said and after I cooled off a tad, God showed me the following about man's law (our court system) as compared to His law (The Ten Commandments).
A personal conversation with a lawyer this week made me end the exchange with "We won't be trusting Bill. We will continue to trust God!" Bill replied with "I'm a religious man. I can't compete with God." Then, he quoted a Bible verse. Should that make me feel better? I meant what I said and after I cooled off a tad, God showed me the following about man's law (our court system) as compared to His law (The Ten Commandments).
- Can we
do good, follow the law and get by? Yes, in the land we live in. No, only
Jesus can give eternal life.
- Are we
innocent until proven guilty? Yes, in the land we live in the burden of
proof is on the law. No, we are guilty just being part of the human
race.
- Will
we receive free representation? Yes, a court-appointed lawyer is free of
charge. Yes, Jesus will represent all who have accepted him.
- Will
we get a bad judge? Maybe, you may draw short straw and get a bad
judge in a United States courtroom. No, God will judge everyone justly the
same.
- Will
the law change? Yes, laws are written and changed daily in our land. No,
the Bible will never change.
Represented by Christ,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Friday, March 20, 2015
We Had Our Own Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
We anxiously expected a normal Monday. The rota virus ravaged our family last week. Please, Lord, we want a normal Monday! We had our own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day! My beautiful daughter Sloane left for work around 8 am. When I say beautiful, I don't mean to brag..well maybe just a bit but I'll let you decide for yourself. This is a picture of her just two days before our very bad day.
Ignoring her mother's very sound advice before I reached her, she started toward me. Did.not.make.it! She stopped on the side of the road to hurl due to the pain about 10 minutes from home. A nice man, I wished I'd gotten his name, stopped to stay with her until I got there offering to take her to the hospital. No, no, no. Stay where you are. Kidney stones are painful but not deadly. I picked her up and the guy told me that he had a kidney stone once and he went over to MedNow and they gave him a shot and he ain't had one since and it's been years ago. Well, nice angel man, I only wish it were that simple. And by the way, Thanks! if we didn't say it in the midst of our terrible, horrible, no good, very day.
Almost in dreamland with her eyes closed, small grin and pulling on her ear, she said "My ears tell me everything I need to know." I wish she was as confident and carefree every day as she was after those sweet meds.
p.s. Please leave me a comment about a bad day you've had!
I started my Monday with a much needed chiropractor appointment. I drop my granddaughter by my mom's house and head to the chiropractor about 30 minutes away. I've got my cell phone in AT&T drive mode. Please don't text and drive! I'm feeling good all over about finally getting an adjustment I'd missed for the last three weeks. I put my car in park, open the door to step out and my phone rings. Sloane with a panic in her voice I recognized "I'M IN PAIN!". What? I screeched. (My family says that's my normal response to everything.) "I've got to go to the hospital!" My motherly instinct and experience knew the source of her agony, renal calculi. KIDNEY STONE!. I ran into the chiropractic office, dismissed myself and drove to pick her up to take her to the hospital.
Ignoring her mother's very sound advice before I reached her, she started toward me. Did.not.make.it! She stopped on the side of the road to hurl due to the pain about 10 minutes from home. A nice man, I wished I'd gotten his name, stopped to stay with her until I got there offering to take her to the hospital. No, no, no. Stay where you are. Kidney stones are painful but not deadly. I picked her up and the guy told me that he had a kidney stone once and he went over to MedNow and they gave him a shot and he ain't had one since and it's been years ago. Well, nice angel man, I only wish it were that simple. And by the way, Thanks! if we didn't say it in the midst of our terrible, horrible, no good, very day.
I sped Sloane to our family doctor whom I had called to make sure had narcotic shots in his office before we stopped there. If you've ever had a kidney stone you know half-seconds seem like half-years! The nice staff took her back immediately. The doctor came in to check her within 10 minutes while Sloane rocked back and forth on her feet bent over the exam table saying "Why can't they hurry?" Hands down, it was the fastest doctor visit I've ever experienced in 51 years! Ten minutes gave her time to fill their trashcan with half-digested orange Cheetos juice from an unhealthy breakfast earlier in the day.They gave her 3 shots, two for pain and one for nausea. I couldn't help but document this experience. This is Sloane after her meds kicked in!
I don't know why her eyes get buggy when she's takes pain meds but just look at them. I finally got her to sit down before she feel and broke a bone. She said "If I do break something I won't feel it!" Everything that came out of her mouth was hilarious. Sloane is a very reserved, non-comical individual which made her comments even funnier.
She was feeling "right" starting to recall how her painful episode started. She kept saying "You just never know. You just NEVER know!" She asked me "Have your ears ever gotten so hot they were cold?" I said "No, I've never had that happen." She went on with slurred speech "Mine did! My ears got so hot when that terrible pain started that they got cold. Then...I started sweatin'. I knew it wuttin' good! My ears gettin' hot and then cold." The next line out of her mouth had me telling the nurse and the office staff what she said.
Almost in dreamland with her eyes closed, small grin and pulling on her ear, she said "My ears tell me everything I need to know." I wish she was as confident and carefree every day as she was after those sweet meds.
The doctor got an emergency CT scan approved. I guided her to the car, put her feet in and headed toward the hospital x-ray facility. She praised God for creating medicine and helpful doctors all the way there! The picture on the left is how she waited on the x-ray technician. Sloane would never ever lie down on a couch in a waiting room! 3mm distal kidney stone meaning it's small and low. She should pass it soon. As a mom, I'm so thankful for a doctor that will work you in as an emergency and help your child immediately! She rested comfortably tucked in at home for the next several hours. Oddly, my last kidney stone was on a Monday. Read my hilarious experience I titled Pande-"Monday"-ium of. Laughter here.
Sloane and I are Pampered Chef consultants. I knew Sloane had a show later on this day. Of course, I pitched in to help except I haven't mentioned that I lost my voice during Sloane's pain episode. I cannot handle stress of any kind. I started the day with my normal voice and ended the day unable to speak above a whisper! What else can happen on our terrible, horrible no good, very bad day? I selected our tools for the show, packed them and went to freshen up a bit. Sloane and I heard a loud crashing noise. "What was that?" she said. I walked back into the kitchen to find my beautiful new cranberry shallow baker I won by reaching a sales goal laying in the floor with a big chunk knocked out of it. Check out the pic! :( A shallow baker can be replaced. No harm, no foul except I cut my finger cleaning up the pieces. The show went well!
Recovering,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
p.s. Please leave me a comment about a bad day you've had!
Thursday, March 12, 2015
5 Lessons from the Tortoise
This day, I dropped him off at the door of the Duke Clinic to save him steps and oxygen then I walked from the parking garage to meet him. It's quite a little hike, maybe 350 yards. I moved my car three times to get a better parking space close to the entrance. During my hike, I thought about the Tortoise from Aesop's fables. For the first time in my life, I felt overwhelmed with joy to be like the Tortoise. Five lessons the very short story gives us from the Tortoise are:
1. Maintain your God-given pace
2. Challenge yourself and others against all odds
3. Believe you can
4. Work with what you've got
5. Never, ever stop until you reach the finish line
I'm guessing Tortoise may have based his life on I Corinthians 15:58 that says "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." or in turtle words...Slow and Steady wins the race!
Pacing myself,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Are you a tortoise or the hare? Leave me a comment and tell me why...
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Can You Feel the Thrill?
What can we say? We are Southerners! There's nothing quite
like the thrill of an anticipated winter storm aka SNOW! If the forecast says
snow, snow is our main topic of conversation. We can't stop thinking about even
the possibility of the glorious white, powdery miracle that may soon blanket
our existence with pure sweet joy and a certain still serene calmness.
Everything shuts down in our small town of Georgia and I mean
e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.
Everything that is but the excitement of us humans frolicking in the snow! SNOW DAY! Do you wanna build a snowman? YES, yes we do! Want to make some snow cream? Duh, can't have snow without it. Are you riding up the mountain where there is even more, deeper snow? Not chancing a wreck, but you go ahead, have fun! Glad I bought that new plastic 30 gallon trashcan. The lid makes a wonderful sled. Two hours into snowfall on a snow day and we're already wondering if school is out tomorrow too!
"Please make sure you stomp that snow off your boots before you come in!" Wet floors are annoying. "How many times are you going to change your wet clothes?" The laundry is piling up. "Do you mind sledding down another part of the yard? Not gonna have any grass in that spot come spring!" By Day 2 of the most exhilarating thing we've seen this year, we are SO OVER IT! Ready for shorts and 80 degree weather. It was fun while it lasted.
Can you feel the thrill of the snow? Not the white precipitation that falls from the sky but the kind of cleansing power of snow described in Isaiah 1:18. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Once you catch the thrill created by the saving blood of Jesus, it is permanent, lasts forever, eternally! You don't have to wait for a snow day or even Sunday. Forgiveness never gets old. Day 2436 it's sweeter than ever! You can't find any snow deeper or whiter than that in your own soul so no danger of wrecking searching for it. Your robe of righteousness never needs washed again or changed for laundering. Warning: Salvation may create a puddle in your floors from tears of thankfulness. Trust me. The puddle is SO WORTH the mess.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
Can you feel the thrill?
Everything that is but the excitement of us humans frolicking in the snow! SNOW DAY! Do you wanna build a snowman? YES, yes we do! Want to make some snow cream? Duh, can't have snow without it. Are you riding up the mountain where there is even more, deeper snow? Not chancing a wreck, but you go ahead, have fun! Glad I bought that new plastic 30 gallon trashcan. The lid makes a wonderful sled. Two hours into snowfall on a snow day and we're already wondering if school is out tomorrow too!
THEN...
the thrill begins to wane...
"Please make sure you stomp that snow off your boots before you come in!" Wet floors are annoying. "How many times are you going to change your wet clothes?" The laundry is piling up. "Do you mind sledding down another part of the yard? Not gonna have any grass in that spot come spring!" By Day 2 of the most exhilarating thing we've seen this year, we are SO OVER IT! Ready for shorts and 80 degree weather. It was fun while it lasted.
Can you feel the thrill of the snow? Not the white precipitation that falls from the sky but the kind of cleansing power of snow described in Isaiah 1:18. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Once you catch the thrill created by the saving blood of Jesus, it is permanent, lasts forever, eternally! You don't have to wait for a snow day or even Sunday. Forgiveness never gets old. Day 2436 it's sweeter than ever! You can't find any snow deeper or whiter than that in your own soul so no danger of wrecking searching for it. Your robe of righteousness never needs washed again or changed for laundering. Warning: Salvation may create a puddle in your floors from tears of thankfulness. Trust me. The puddle is SO WORTH the mess.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
Can you feel the thrill?
Thrilled365,
Saturday, February 21, 2015
5 Steps to Move a Mountain
Look closely at the picture on the left. The view from my
front porch is magnificent! The peak of Fort Mountain set against the vastness
of a blue sky greets me each day with a fine "How do you do?" I
curtsy and nod to His Majesty thankful to see another sunrise. Today, the
mountain top was icy as I gazed out my window. "Can you move a
mountain?" The thought popped into my head and I began to ponder it.
Matthew 17:20 "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for
verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you."
I thought about Jesus' words. The movie reel in my head rewound some of the times in my life when mountains were removed. Please take a moment and replay some of your mountain-removing moments now. Still pondering the deep faith it takes to remove a mountain, I went to my window to take a picture for this article. The picture on the right above is what I saw. Hallelujah! In a matter of minutes, the mountain was gone! God showed me his undeniable power by removing that mountain from my site. I was and still am awestruck. Yes, faith can move mountains! No, nothing shall be impossible to me or you!
Do you have a mountain in your life that needs to be removed? According to scripture, use these step-by-step instructions:
I thought about Jesus' words. The movie reel in my head rewound some of the times in my life when mountains were removed. Please take a moment and replay some of your mountain-removing moments now. Still pondering the deep faith it takes to remove a mountain, I went to my window to take a picture for this article. The picture on the right above is what I saw. Hallelujah! In a matter of minutes, the mountain was gone! God showed me his undeniable power by removing that mountain from my site. I was and still am awestruck. Yes, faith can move mountains! No, nothing shall be impossible to me or you!
Do you have a mountain in your life that needs to be removed? According to scripture, use these step-by-step instructions:
- Believe
in Jesus (a tiny bit is a whole lot)
- Speak
to your mountain (like you believe it)
- Tell
your mountain where to go (it needs your direction)
- Watch
it leave (you might even hold the door open)
- Realize
God's possibilities (God through you is amazing)
NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO YOU!
With just a little faith,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
How do you handle the mountains in your life? Leave me a comment. :)))
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)