Busy Girl

Those two words about sum up my 18 month old daughter. The past two days have been interesting to say the least. Yesterday I was bringing out some things to the car and left Melonie in the house where it was warm. Now I was only gone 2 minutes tops and as I am heading back to the door I notice it is closed. Well out of habit I always lock the door after I open it so that when we walk out to the car I can just pull it shut since I am usually carrying Melonie, her bag, my purse, etc. So this time I didn't have Melonie with me, and she had closed the door (Mark later told me that he asks her to close the door behind him when he leaves so she was just doing what she had learned). Fortunately I had brought my purse out to the car with me along with the other things I was carrying out and was able to let myself back in.
Which bring us to today. I went downstairs to do some laundry and left Melonie playing upstairs. As I came back upstairs I noticed the door was closed. As I looked through the glass I saw Melonie in the snack drawer with it wide open looking for something to eat. This would have been a cute sight if it weren't for the fact that when the snack drawer is open, the basement door cannot open! So I open the door the 3 inches I was able to and try to coax Melonie to close the drawer so Mama can get in the house. She looks at me and then says "ok" and tries to close the drawer. Well she had pulled so many things up and out while she was looking that she couldn't get the drawer closed. She turns and says "stuck". Well now we are both stuck! Me in the basement and her with the drawer. I go outside through the mudroom and walk around the house to the garage, get the spare key (thankfully it was there) and let myself back in the house through the back door. Melonie jumps about three feet in the air when I walk in the kitchen behind her and then proceeds to sign that she wants a snack no worse for the trauma she has just put me through. Oh the fun we have while Rebekah is at school....

Upside Down

This piece is a powerful reading, the words scrolling up as they are audibly read. The reading starts from the perspective of a person who is clearly a non-believer full of doubt telling of his "reality" of Christmas. It seems to come to an end there. But then Jesus turns it all upside down. The very same reading is read once again from bottom to top proclaiming the glory of the birth of the Christ.

http://www.creativepastors.com/product_1764?stream=Upside_Down_MPEG1

Look Up

THE BUZZARD:
If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT:
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. !

THE BUMBLEBEE:
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE:
In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!

Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.

Author Unknown