Sand & Stone

I think maybe I over did it last weekend with all the J-land partying.  No, seriously, I did have a lovely time.  I've just been busy with normal everyday stuff......working half days.  Helping Bug with homework in the evenings.  Cooking suppers.  Spending a little more time with hubby. 

So, now tonight, we have had an early supper.  Hubby is watching TV.  I'm relaxing.  The kids just took the 4-wheeler through the pipeline to their Uncle Benny's.  There is another cookout going on up there, with lots of  family.

I've come across several things as of  late that I'd like to share with you.  And I'm sitting here pondering, what it should be tonight.  I think a special e-mail I received from a friend of ours, Marylynn, who lives up the road in Fred, TX is the perfect thing. 

 SAND    &   STONE
 
TWO    FRIENDS    WERE    WALKING
THROUGH    THE    DESERT.
DURING    SOME    POINT    OF    THE
JOURNEY,    THEY    HAD    AN
ARGUMENT;    AND    ONE    FRIEND
SLAPPED    THE    OTHER    ONE
IN    THE    FACE.
THE    ONE    WHO    GOT    SLAPPED
WAS    HURT,    BUT    WITHOUT
SAYING    ANYTHING,
WROTE    IN    THE    SAND:

TODAY    MY    BEST    FRIEND
SLAPPED   ME    IN    THE    FACE.

THEY    KEPT    ON    WALKING,
UNTIL    THEY    FOUND    AN    OASIS,
WHERE    THEY    DECIDED
TO    TAKE    A   BATH .

THE    ONE    WHO    HAD    BEEN
SLAPPED    GOT    STUCK    IN    THE
MIRE    AND    STARTED    DROWNING,
BUT    THE    FRIEND    SAVED    HIM.

AFTER    HE    RECOVERED    FROM
THE    NEAR    DROWNING,
HE    WROTE    ON    A    STONE:

"TODAY    MY    BEST    FRIEND
SAVED    MY    LIFE ".

THE    FRIEND    WHO    HAD    SLAPPED
AND    SAVED    HIS    BEST    FRIEND
ASKED    HIM,    "AFTER    I    HURT    YOU,
YOU    WROTE    IN    THE    SAND    AND    NOW,
YOU    WRITE    ON    A    STONE,    WHY?"

THE   FRIEND    REPLIED
"WHEN    SOMEONE    HURTS    US
WE    SHOULD    WRITE    IT    DOWN
IN    SAND    WHERE    WINDS    OF
FORGIVENESS    CAN    ERASE    IT AWAY.
BUT,    WHEN    SOMEONE    DOES
SOMETHING    GOOD    FOR    US,
WE    MUST    ENGRAVE    IT    IN    STONE
WHERE    NO    WIND
CAN    EVER    ERASE    IT."

LEARN    TO    WRITE
YOUR    HURTS    IN
THE    SAND    AND    TO
CARVE    YOUR
BENEFITS    IN    STONE.

"Vengeance is mine." saith the Lord.  We demonstrate the mercy of our Lord Jesus the most when we forgive.  I can honestly sit here and tell you, that with His help and through His strength, I have managed to forgive any and everyone who has ever wronged me.  It wasn't always easy.  It was often times a slow process.  It often took seeing where they were coming from, from God's point of view, to reach it.  Does that mean I never get mad?.....absolutely not!  Does that mean that I necessarily will turn my back and a blind eye to others and their motives and agenda?   No, I reserve the right to be cautious and weary.  But it does mean I am free of the tiresome burden of carrying a grudge.  Each day can really be a new day. 

The only thing that does pain me in this, is that some who have wronged me in the past have never asked my forgiveness.  So, I have the gift ready to give, but can't.  Others have, and I've given it, but they seem not to be able to accept or understand it.  Maybe they just haven't reached the point of forgiving themselves.  My prayer is that they can.  So they can move on.  So they can heal as I have.

In closing, I have not forgotten the Devotions on Marriage.  I hope you haven't either.  Some of you may have went on without me.  And that's fine.  But, today, I am picking up where I left off with the 12th Devotion on Marriage.  It is my plan to assemble them all together in a journal of their own when we reach the end.  I'll post a link to it when I get that accomplished.

Any of you who have been with me for some time know that I used to close every entry with a Word from the Word.  We explored our language and speech, going through the Bible with my concordance.  I want to start this again, and I am open for subjects.  I chose speech before, because it is my battle I fight daily.  What are your battles?  Where are your interests?  Let me know, and I'll try to use that for a topic.