I was at Wal-Mart last week, and I did something that would have shamed me in front of, maybe my mother, and most certainly my grandmothers, my great-grandmothers, and all the rest of the women and many of the men in my ancestry.
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The Bible Tells Me
I’m not the Bible scholar I should be. I know some verses; not as many as I ought. Still, I find most of my experiences can be framed or underscored, explained or illuminated, by Scripture. Or maybe a hymn or a worship song, a devotional or a testimony. Frequently, I have those “Oh, yeah” moments when I see God clearly in an event. Or realized that I should have seen Him.
These are the moments of “The Bible tells me.”
These essays reflect that. Do know that I can proof-text as well as anyone. I have a concordance, and I know how to use it. Well, truthfully, I do all of that online now, where I can quickly find a passage, see it in many versions, and choose the one I like best. I try not to be narrow, but instead broad, as I apply Bible words to my experiences. I know that your interpretations and understanding may be different than mine. But I also know that our God is big enough for all of us.
I have a friend who, in her prayer time, likes to tell jokes to God. “I know He knows the punch line,” she says. “But I tell them anyway. He likes it when I laugh.”
He likes it when I laugh. I’m going to hang on to that. It’s Biblical. The Bible tells me.
Our mouths were filled with laughter then,
and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.
Psalm 126: 2,3 (HCSB)
If It’s “Old, Older, Oldest,” Why Does “Old” Sound Worse Than “Older?”
I remember the first time I saw the movie Fiddler on the Roof. First, the oldest daughter goes to her father and says, no, she does not want to marry the butcher, which is an arranged marriage, as is the custom, the tradition. She would like his permission to marry the tailor, instead. Her father rants and raves, and at first refuses, reminding her about the tradition of marriages arranged by matchmakers and approved by parents. No, no she cannot. But, he thinks about how much the young couple love each other and how maybe it would be all right, and he relents, going against the long-standing customs and traditions of their Jewish community.
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iLove the iRobot … iUsually
A few years ago, Kevin and April bought an iRobot Roomba, a “vacuum cleaning robot.” After a while, they found 
themselves using it less and less and less. The configuration of their home made it difficult to use, so they offered it to me. Oh, yes, I wanted to try out the Roomba. And I love the Roomba. Most of the time. And I didn’t get rid of the regular vacuum cleaner; Roombas just do floors.
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Rewind
All my growing up years, there was a cedar chest at the end of Mother and Daddy’s bed. I would show you a photo from those years, but astonishingly, there isn’t one. I’ve looked at all the pictures in my album, in my parents’ album, and I’ve asked JoAnne. It’s hard to imagine that a piece of furniture that was in our lives for about sixty-nine years doesn’t show up anywhere, but I can’t find it. Not a corner, not the top, a side, nothing.
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Habit? Schmabit!
Quite a few years ago, in articles in self-help magazines and books about changing your life and being more organized and getting things done, one recurring piece of advice about establishing new habits said that your could entrench new habits by doing the new habit activity for 21 days in a row.
If you do the things you want to institute as a habit (walking on the treadmill, eating a good breakfast every morning, going to bed at an appropriate hour to ensure you’ll get a good night’s sleep, etc.) for 21 days in a row, then you will have established a wonderful new habit in your life! That’s what the magazine articles said.
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What *Is* It About OUTSIDE!!
I’ve been keeping a friend’s baby this week. William. He’s three months old and pretty cute. Monday, he got a little irritated. Well, a lot irritated. I rocked, I bounced, I walked,
Baby William, sleeping soundly OUTSIDE!
I sang. Nothing worked. It was cloudy outside and pretty cool (at least for early September), so I thought maybe a stroller ride would soothe him. Buckling him into the seat was challenging. (Why do the safety straps on all those things hook together differently?!? Shouldn’t there be one best way and they all work that way?!?) But, finally, me, the stroller, and the screaming baby were ready. I opened up the patio door and pushed the stroller outside. The INSTANT the stroller rolled over the threshold into the outdoors, William stopped crying. Another few feet and he closed his eyes. A couple of trips up and down the driveway and he was asleep.
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Ah, Yes, The Circle of … WHAT!!!!!!
I understand the circle of life. Really I do. I know that lions chase and catch zebras and have them for dinner. (They can also take down a giraffe.) I know that cheetahs run fast and can attack gazelles without any thought as to how graceful and lovely those animals are.
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My Nose Was Trying to Tell Me Something
When I was in college, I had a part-time campus job. I was the afternoon secretary for a Biology professor who was also director of a natural history museum on campus. I answered the phone, did some typing, and catalogued donations into the museum records.
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Sometimes We Think We See What We Just Want to See
Summer 1964-when we were in town (a Wikipedia photo)
My sister and I remember traveling, on a summer trip to my dad’s childhood home in Wauseon, Ohio, and going through St. Louis, where the famous Arch was under construction. Actually, we recall the visit for a more compelling reason. Our car was broken into.
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Patience in the Face of a Smirk
When Kevin was a senior at TCU, he needed one more literature credit. He and a friend, Thomas, both chose a Science Fiction class to take. Their professor was interesting and likable. Thomas, who was from California, came home with Kevin for Thanksgiving that year. On the way from Fort Worth to Waco, they read aloud to each other from a book that was assigned for the class.
They kept on reading at our house, and I asked whatever WAS it that they were reading. Kevin showed me the book: Zombies of the Gene Pool. Really.
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