What God Has Been Doing in my Life Lately

Life is being sifted into an order of priority for me these days. What seemed so important a year ago is no longer in my sites for attention. Yes, it's true I'm getting older and crabbier and less tolerant of nonsense and involuntarily driven into the wilderness of old people's health issues....but that isn't what has shifted my priorities. It is because spiritually I feel as though I'm freer and more real than I've ever been since I gave my heart to Jesus at the age of three. What has brought about that change?

I am travelling "light" now, that's what. The Lord has unburdened me of the "trappings" I thought were so necessary to be a "devout Christian". I didn't realize that such "devotion" really amounted to mere religiosity, and not much more. I have shed my cloak of self-delusion, thinking I was so Christ-like when I had so little of His character chiseled in me! I have opted for something more real in my walk, and it is the Lord's doing. I thank Him!

I have gained my freedom from the fear of people's opinions of me. I am free to live for an Audience of One. I live under the watchful eye of Him to Whom I answer...no one else, because no one else knows my heart or cares whether they break it or not. I do not live for rules...even Biblical ones. I live for the One Who is the Ruler. It is a far more personal, transparent walk.

Do we really think it's the "rules" that make us a Christian? Where have the rules gotten us? Does the world not grunt at the hypocricy of our religious rules -- the same rules we preach about but seldom practice? Do we think they don't see it?

I don't want to be a rule-driven Christian, caught in the trap of religious servitude and emotional hypocricy. I am not afraid to be viewed as a rebel. I'm in good company, because it's how the rule-driven religious people viewed Jesus in His day. No. I want to be a Spirit-driven believer, more intent on obeying and pleasing my Lord than those who wish to set themselves up as my judges. I have only one Judge to fear, and He is so very different than the self-righteous ones who judge according to their feelings alone.

I have come to a valley of peace in my soul, where I have learned that I am to walk with my brothers and sisters, not for them.

That is what God has been doing in my life lately. And how I praise Him for it!

I am steaming mad at this weather this summer! How can anyone call this a summer? How can anyone enjoy being in a perpetual sauna everywhere you go? It does not sit well with me that every time I occupy a chair for five minutes I get up and feel like I've peed my shorts. Nor do I relish the thought that my 24-hour deodourant kicks the bucket after only 4 hours because it is having to do triple duty, and then I end up walking around the grocery store thinking someone with bad BO is following me (only to realize it is ME)!

I was so desperate for the summer to start. I LOVE opening my windows and letting gentle breezes float lazily in, while enjoying the trilling of garden birds and the buzzing of busy bees. This year I've pretty well huddled in my air-conditioned cave most of the summer with the windows jammed shut and the blinds pulled. I keep hoping each morning that the appalling humidity has left town, and run around throwing the windows open for a gasp of real air. Five minutes later I'm running around slamming them all shut again while I gasp for ANY air. THIS is NOT summer. THIS is TORTURE.

Now, I have to go change my shorts again as I've been sitting and typing for five minutes. Yes..even in the air conditioning I sweat. Like they say, "You just can't get away from the humidity". And it has found me!

Dog Walking

My dog took me for a walk today. I told him I had to mail some cards, that it was very important I get them to the mailbox in time for the last mail-out or they wouldn't reach their destinations in time to wish their recipients a Happy Birthday. He was so happy to hear of my dedication that he did a little jig in the kitchen, tail wagging so furiously that it started to go in circles and bang the cupboard doors with a kind of drum-beat. He was even more excited when I pulled his leash out of the junk drawer. He was just so happy I was going to get the cards mailed on time.

He bounced out the kitchen door before me and proceeded to dive off the stairs. My fat running shoes could not keep up. I have a lump on my head from hitting the pavement at the bottom of the porch.

He is just such a happy dog. He loves EVERYONE. I don't understand why the feeling is not always mutual. The lady who's butt he sniffed was not at all friendly, what with her cuss words and eye-beams that bore holes through my head. I don't think she understands dogs at all! And the fellow he chased around the car...why didn't he just stop running and pet the poor pooch? Just because Skipper bared his teeth didn't mean he was DEFINITELY going to bite him. People are just so uptight.

Skip knew I was in a hurry so he did diligence to pull me at full pace down the road. And yet he also knows how to enjoy the journey, as he stopped over and over and over to smell the flowers (okay, he was smelling other dogs' toilet offerings, but I'm sure they were as good as flowers to him). He played "I don't hear you" as I called his name and "I don't see you" as I worked to get his attention off the fences, lamp-posts, walls, trees, etc. and back on the walkies. He just loves to play interactive games with me!

We got to the mailbox by the drugstore just in time...well, okay, waaaaaaaay before the last mail-out, but that's good. It gave us extra time to get him untangled from the boys' bicycles parked outside the store. I thought boys LIKED dogs? Apparently not all boys think dogs are fun.

Well, the birthday cards will get to their destinations on time, and I have my dog, Skipper, to thank for that. He is just so conscientious.

And in case you're wondering....this is how I CHOOSE to interpret our walk today. Because if I didn't....well, let's just say I'd find a new use for the word, "doggone"!

Funerals

I went to a funeral today.

I'm not a fan of funerals. I don't even want to go to my own funeral. But a good thing about funerals is that they remind you of the brevity and value of our life on earth. We all need that reminder from time to time.

It makes you think about all the days you wasted being mad at someone, or the hours you rushed through without taking a moment to savour the bouquet of garden flowers or the sweet song of the bird on the fence. We barrel through life without a thought of what it means when it ends. When that final day comes...and come it will, to us ALL...what will you think of last? I doubt deeply it will be of work, or how you should have mowed the lawn, or what a bad dresser your friend is.

I would guess my last thoughts would be centred on relationships. Did I let my family and friends know I loved them? I'd be praying for God to look after them while I flee to my final rest in Him. I'd hope I poured enough wisdom and counsel into them to keep them living life well. I do know my last thoughts will be about those I cherish.

At the funeral today, I heard so many nice things said about the deceased. But I have a suggestion...Let's tell each other these nice things while we're still ALIVE. What good would it do you to find out I thought you were nice when you're not here to appreciate the sentiment? I'm not talking about flattery...I'm talking about genuine, sincere honesty about something POSITIVE you see in the other person. It makes the journey of life -- which can be so trying and painful and sorrowful -- a little more joyful, a little more worth living.

I'm not a fan of funerals, but I do appreciate what I learn from them.

On a lighter note, I DON'T understand Funeral Crashers. These are the folks who don't even know the deceased, but come out for the free refreshments. How can anyone do that? How can you be so unscrupulous that you'd crash a FUNERAL??? John and I experienced this when his mother passed away a number of years ago. Two fellows showed up at the funeral who we recognized as "society's misfits". John asked them what they were doing there. They looked at each other and said, "We knew Beatrice". Perhaps they weren't aware they were talking to Beatrice's son, but John knew they DIDN'T know Beatrice. "You don't know my mother," he told them. "Why are you here? If it's to get a free meal out of this, you'll have to leave". To which one replied, "Well..okay..can you give us a ride back into town, then?" We laugh at it now, but at that sombre time it was appalling! You see the best and the worst at funerals! lol

If you come to my funeral when I die, I'm just asking you one favour, okay? Please don't look at my pasty, hollow corpse and say, "Doesn't she look lovely?" or "She looks so good!". I'll know it's a lie and I'll ask God's permission to come and haunt you! lol Dead people look..well...dead. When the spirit leaves the body, you can tell it's only a shell you're looking at. What would I rather you do?

Look up and wave, and say, "Geez, Mel...you look better up there than you ever did down here!" That'll be more accurate. And then, if you really must, smile at my loved ones and say, "Her warmth might not be in that corpse anymore, but she left it in my heart".

That'll make my eternity! :)

Techno-challenged

Apologies to my friends who couldn't find my blog because I didn't know how to post the address! LOL If you know me well enough, you know I'm painfully technology-challenged! And my husband, John, is even worse than me when it comes to computers, so I'm on my own to learn this new-fangled stuff! (Our kids used to be the ones we'd turn to in times of techno-panic, but now they've all grown up and flown the coop, so I have no one to rescue me from looking like a dolt).

I've never found technological stuff easy to digest. I just don't have the kind of mind that finds it easy to absorb and process all the data pertaining to technological gadgets or systems. For instance, it was a major transition when we went from VHS to our first DVD player. Simple enough, you'd think. But not for us! We still had a couple of our kids at home, and they seemed to take to it like a duck to water. But John and me...well...let's just say it was sad. One night when the kids had gone out, we thought, "Cool! Quality time together! Heyyyy..let's watch a movie on our new DVD player!" So we went and got Finding Nemo (telling the Blockbuster cashier that it was "for our kids" even though they were teenagers at the time and were out seeing a "real" movie).

We got home, got our snacks, and proceeded to turn the DVD player on. Then we didn't know what to do next. We both fought for the controller ("I'll show you how it's done"..."No, I'LL show YOU how it's done!") but neither of us could get anything done! Finally John got the disc into the player...it came on...hallelujah! We had picture and sound! And there was Ellen Degeneres' voice in the background, as Darla, singing, "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...just keep swimming..." as we worked to load the actual movie. It's hard to believe now, years later and after much practice loading movies, but we just couldn't get the darn thing to play! For an hour we heard "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming"...heard it so much I began to hate the movie I hadn't yet seen and the blue fish and that song that wouldn't shut up! Mr. I-Know-Everything insisted he was doing everything right and it was the DVD player that was the problem, and I was actually hoping the kids would return home soon so THEY could load the movie for us! By the time we FINALLY got the movie to play, we were mad at each other, had already eaten up the snacks, and were falling asleep during the introductory movie trailers (with "just keep swimming.." playing over and over in my brain like a Chinese torture test). I told you...it was sad.

We laugh about it now, of course, and John made me promise not to tell anyone (so he could preserve his male ego). So don't tell him you read my blog. :)

I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with technology..especially at the rate it is growing. I barely get the hang of a DVD player and suddenly I'm hearing about BlueRay and high def and Kindle books and on and on it goes. Kids today pick up on this stuff so fast, but they grew up with rapid technology. I didn't exactly have to use an abacus, but we didn't even have calculaters when I was in school. And I used a typewriter when I started working 9 to 5. I made pies with "blackberries"; I STILL think in Imperial, not metric; and an Ipod would have been something you read about in a science fiction novel.

Behind the times? Yes, I admit it. But even though technology isn't my forte, I'm not bummed out. How many young folks today can do their OWN spell check (or even know how to spell, period!), or know how to make bread from scratch -- like a true artisan, or have memories of laughing at other people's dirty laundry as they listened in on the "party line" on the phone? No, this old gal still has something to be proud of (well, okay, I'm not proud of listening in on Agnes and Gert's gossip about the neighbours). I'll stick with telling my stories the old way...

On a blog. :)

I Have to 'Splain...

In case you're wondering who the "peanut" is here..it is moi. The name of the blog comes from dusty memories of childhood, when I so desperately wanted to put my two cents in to any conversation I could, but was always rebuffed with, "No comment from the peanut gallery!" Now I'm older and although not much wiser, I have finally found a way to share my two cents worth (even if I'm imagining someone is listening).

And what do I want to share about? Well...a very popular and famous sitcom shared stories about "nothing", and it took off like wildfire. Me? I'm not so original. I want to share about everything. My life has been anything but conventional, that I can tell you. Not unconventional in a I'm-the-bearded-lady-in-a-circus type of way...just unconventional in that stuff seems to happen to me that doesn't seem to happen to anyone else I know. Little every day things sometimes, and really big things other times, but it all adds up to my family and friends saying to me over and over: you should write a book! But I haven't. Because I don't think anyone would believe I'm not making this stuff up.

So..here will be my comments. About life. About MY life. About everything pertaining to life. I'll share with you my life's adventure, if you promise me one thing: you'll find something in it to take away with you, be it funny, inspiring or encouraging.

And today I will leave you with this visual: I am sitting in my office under a tent of plastic which my husband so graciously hung over me while he fixes my ceiling. We had a roof leak two years ago, and although the roof got fixed, the ceiling still had a huge crater in it from where the soggy insulation and board had to be pulled down. We used to have our own construction biz, so my husband knows his stuff in that area, but...alas...the bane of most wives of "professionals"...two years later MY ceiling STILL wasn't fixed. Oh yes..he stuck insulation back up there and covered it with plastic so the bugs wouldn't dive-bomb my head in summer and icicles wouldn't form on my nose in winter, but it was an eyesore. I kept asking and asking, "When are you gonna fix that?" I took his grunts to mean, "Later" of course. But "later" became "never", so I did what all women do in times like that: I resorted to threats. "You fix that or I'm gonna HIRE someone to do it!" That's all it took..lol. Male pride...such a malleable substance when you work it right! So now he's my hero again. Even though I can't see for clouds of sheetrock dust that's assaulting my plastic tent, and I can't concentrate for the banging and scraping and grumbling and whining, and the poor dog is scared and can't crawl any further under my desk if he tried...HEY...I'm getting my ceiling fixed! Yay!

Not one of my "weird" experiences...just a snapshot of my daily life! Welcome to My World! :)