Whispers of Truth

When my children were very young, I bathed them at least once every day and don’t recall ever giving Joshua, Caleb, or Rachel any choice in the matter. Being bathed didn’t always please them and neither was it easy with three children whose birthdays are a total of 3.5 years apart for me to find time to get a bath daily, but I managed. I, too, like to be clean. Every day. After a bath, they smelled sweet, fresh, washed clean. Nothing much smells better than a baby or small child who is clean and tucked up under the chin for a snuggle and reading time. When my children became old enough to bathe themselves, I offered supervision and structure, reminding them when it was bath time each night. If necessary, nagging was applied. When my children became stinky adolescents who would prefer not to bathe until they felt it absolutely necessary, I got their daddy involved when necessary—bathing was not optional in the Pate household. The pungent aromas of teenagers overpowered their rooms an

We’ve all experienced it time beyond measure, the knowing after the fact, the reasoning about what we could have or should have done in any particular moment, in the crisis of making a decision; yet the mouse-on-a-wheel pondering never does change anything.  Contrast this with God—sinless, holy, powerful, compassionate, all-knowing—who looked perfectly forward where we look helplessly backward. He saw stretched out in front of Him what would certainly be, and He created us anyway knowing the personal cost to His only begotten Son. (This will never cease to amaze me!) Context: Yesterday in Sunday school our teacher, Mike Stallings, who is a recently retired department head of the engineering department at Auburn University, made a statement while giving a practical application of wisdom from Proverbs that has stuck with me. He said in passing to make his point (and I’m certainly paraphrasing the gist as my memory is far too flawed) that he never felt it was his place to get angry

I saw a cow this morning with her head stuck through a barbed wire fence chewing her way through the tasty blackberry brambles on the other side. It was gross, like most things cows do--the strands hanging loosely from her drool mouth. The things cows will do to get to what’s on the other side never cease to amaze me. The reality is that while the bushes appear to be quite tasty to the cows, the protein content is usually lesser than the grass they have in pasture (barring drought). Hmmm. Sound familiar? —————————————————————————————————————————— I finished the top of an oversized king quilt for my bed this week while we were waiting on Greg's test results. Got Corona? If anyone hasn’t noticed, life goes on while one is in quarantine or sick. Family gathers, and one misses it. Friends lose loved ones, and one cannot be involved as desired. Church services happen, and one cannot attend live (just virtual). Community projects occur, and one cannot participate. Quarantine in a l