If you give a....

My first God Stop Friday entry was ready to post when lo and behold...

God stopped me in my tracks...

how appropriate!

I had planned on sharing the way He showed up in a big way during my quite time last Sunday, but this morning He rocked my world yet again beginning with a little video over at Mandy's ...take a look at this

In the past few years I have had the delight of spending copious amounts of time teaching, playing and learning a plethora of games geared for the 5 and under crowd. I have viewed hours of commercial free 'G' rated entertainment and read countless volumes of children's literature. In the course of my emergence into 'Parenthood: 2001', I've had the occasion to be profoundly moved into action by a simple but profound truth.

"If you give a mouse a cookie..."

You see, last summer my granddaughters school sent a lengthy list of suggested reading material to share with our child before school started in the fall. Several classics were well represented: 'Harold and the Purple Crayon', 'Madeline', 'Caps for Sale' the 'Curious George' series, and 'Corduroy' was actually required...really!

One series included on the list was the "If You Give..." books by Laure Joffe Numeroff. The original story in the set is called

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

The story goes something like this,

"If you give a mouse a cookie,

he's going to ask for a glass of milk.

When you give him the milk,

he'll probably ask you for a straw.

When he's finished, he'll ask for a napkin.

Then he'll want to look in the in the mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache.

When he looks in the mirror....."

I think you get the picture....quite the shaggy dog story.

I don't want to spoil the ending but ultimately the story ends up back at the beginning,

with the mouse seeing the refrigerator, which causes him to want more milk aaaand...

"chances are if he ask for a glass of milk....

he's going to want a cookie to go with it"

Full circle, so that whoever is watching over this mouse could be very exhausted at days end...

and this mouse...

he could become a full time job!

I can sooo relate.

How many times do I encounter a situation, a group or person in need and

• turn the other way




• pretend my bad ear didn't get the whole message




• just decide it was not my business or better yet, not my area of giftedness?

The needs are everywhere, we run into them at every turn.

If we...

Volunteer at a local shelter, hospice, nursing home, Sunday School (fill in the blank)

Get to really know our neighbors....especially those that are not so easy to get to know much less like. Remember He did not call us to do the easy things, but the hard ones. Matthew 5: 43-48.

Invite someone to dinner or church.....

If we consciously look for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ every day....

chances are very good more will be needed or expected.

Wow! This little ministry could turn into a whole lot of work that could cut into our well deserved down time with my family, friends or TV.

Come on we say, this is for someone else to do...it's their calling...their ministry.

My insightful daughter in love Beth regularly points out,

"Who can truly say we deserve anything?"

You know what...We Don't!

and...

Jesus said in John 4:32-38

"I have food to eat you know nothing about."
The disciples were puzzled.

"Who could have brought him food?"

Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time!

"The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That's the truth of the saying, 'This one sows, that one harvests.' I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others."

All too often harvesting requires us to 'give a mouse a cookie'.

God has used this powerful little parable to make me realize it's time to step up and step out.

My prayer is that the body of Christ will open up and earnestly seek God asking Him to send all needy mice, moose and pigs our way. I'd love to be up to my eyeballs in the blessed harvest God has prepared.

How bout you?

Any thoughts on giving that mouse a cookie?

as Mandy says, "Don't Live there, do something!"

Cheryl of Probaugh's Blog is guest hosting for MandyThompson.com and her series on "Everyday Doers". The series will run through the month of September and promises to generate all manner of challenges and questions. Please take time and be a part of this dialogue, you will not be disappointed.

Now I:

Reiterate Mandy's call to action,

“Don’t live there, do something!”

This mornings questions prompted the following thoughts:

I am a very private person.

Historically, I have kept to myself and my little family, in the belief there was nothing I had to offer that God would possibly use. Too much of a mess and not churchy enough.

I have kept a journal since I was a young girl; most were intimate conversations with God that brought me through some of the most difficult seasons of my life. I will always be grateful for the teachers who promoted this habit in my early years.

It has taken the death of my youngest child over 3 years ago to light a fire under me that will not be put out. At the same time I was given the awesome responsibility of parenting 2 of my eldest daughters children.

As if that was not enough, I reluctantly, but obediently began putting myself out there in other ways, thrusting my hand and heart to just about anyone I encounter, all the while asking God to put people in my path that I might encourage and share His good news with.

This behavior bares no resemblance to my former safe self.

Traveling through the darkest seasons of my life, God has given me a passion and boldness to spend whatever time and resources I have left to let His light shine. I shutter to think someone might crossed my path and ultimately face God at judgement, someone whom I failed to share the message of Jesus Christ with. Ooooo!

I struggled about a year ago trying to know exactly what God's purpose was for my life. Once I laid down my thoughts, beliefs and designs on how He might use me, I found myself regularly challenged to be a part of things I would have naturally run from.
Daily I am directed to face things that get out of my comfort zone and do stuff I previously believed were best left to other…more gifted members of the body of Christ.

Try as I might to limit myself based on my circumstance, God keeps redefining who I think I am…growing and stretching me in ways I would never dream.

I have learned, unlike the general consensus, to say: yes, not no, to be open to change, not set in my ways and in all ways and things put Him first. Wow, have the blessings flowed!

This blogging thing…authentic blogging, is challenging and painful at times. But beyond any of the doubts that try to hamper me, I am certain this is the time and a medium I’m to be a part of. Until He directs me differently, this is one of the places I will be shining His light.

Today's Questions:

"What is God calling you to do today? And more importantly how will you respond? "

What is God calling me to do today? To share my testimony, encourage, write and maybe...teach? Eeeeech!?%!

Encouragement is definitely one of my gifts, and comes like breathing to me. I’m amazed that for many, they would rather hold back encouragement to others out of some fear of diminishing themselves or worse, cause another to get ‘the big head’…it doesn't add up to me,

Sharing my testimony is difficult, whether written or verbal, so often I write about it or finish speaking believing what I uttered was completely unintelligible, only to hear from others how blessed they were. That’s when I know beyond any doubt…this is God! Thank you Jesus for translating the abundance that spills from my heart.


How will I respond? I see no choice here. I must follow His lead, look to Him daily not me, putting one foot in front of the other with confidence that He has the plan, He will provide the knowledge, and He will raise me up when I don’t see or understand what He has in mind. At fifty years old, what a thrilling ride to be on! I plan to hang in there as long as God wills it!

Of Baptisms and Sand Castles

Well our days at the beach are nearing an end, but here's a few photo's to commemorate our days here.

Sunday morning a large crowd converged to witness the baptism of 40.

And today we couldn't swim in the ocean but we did swim in the pool, find more shells and other treasure then finished off the day with a sand castle

All in all...a most blessed trip

It's a Good Thing

Yesterday morning I opened my eyes to Kyra, her face no more than 5 inches from mine.

"Maw Maw, if you are very patience you can watch the sunrise this morning"

I almost thought I was still sleeping as I barely made out her head in the darkness of our room.

Needly to say, we all got up, dressed and hit the beach.

Patience... it's a good thing!

Another Language

**In keeping with the subject below consider checking out some other excellent post on the San Antonio conference here

As I posted previously, there are a mess of my bloggin buddies who have been sharing incredible notes from the Living Proof event in San Antonio last weekend.

I just read another one this morning from a fellow Georgian Deborah aka: Twinkle.

Take a peek here
read up, print it off, receive a blessing. Deborah's post is one of the better recaps of the actual study I've read.

On another note, while passing through Alabama en route to Florida, Kyra ask,

"Maw Maw...Paw Paw...Do people in Alabama speak another language or English?"

I'm thinking that really depends on who you ask...although I did learn some cool 'sign' language from some notable Bama's
Lisa, The Preacher's Wife and Brooke, The Mailgirl


Heading to the beach, praying the hurricanes blow out to sea.

I am NOT Mary Lou!

Don't just love those 'Ah Ha' moments?

Just about the time your heads about to explode from blindly sorting through reams of data the lights come on, and it all makes sense. Much to your chagrin, the answers were not so deep and disturbing as you thought...you just couldn't see the forest for the trees.

Confused?

Let me explain.

I've been tryin to be Mary Lou....Mary Lou Rettnon that is.

No, I've not been tryin to schlep into a teeny leotard and join the Geriatric Gymnast Society....no, so get that visual out of your head right now!

This sudden illumination is the result of trying to be something I'm just not.

During the wonderful conference I attended last weekend in San Antonio, I took pages of copious notes, legible only to me I might add.

Having posted previously and giving my overall impressions of the event, I felt compelled (self compelled I might add) to not only share my notes but my thoughts as well regarding these sessions.

Clearly regurgitating that much information is not my gift, not at this point anyway.

I do have a bunch of my Siesta's who have these gifts and have been posting like nobodies business over here. Do yourself a favor and be sure to check out their posts. Through these blogs, you can virtually join us in San Antonio without the benefit of all that humidity!

One of the many points Mama Beth made was that God has given us different gifts that we can use or not. It is important that we need discover what our gifts are, and get to using them.

Another thing Ms Beth stated should have been obvious, but apparently isn't or she wouldn't have said it

"You are not Mary Lou."

Really? I was so thinking me, perfect 10's, gold medals.

No, "You are not Mary Lou."

Actually , I should not try to be...as it would be very ugly!

Right now my 'Mary Lou' is all these awesome bloggin Siesta's. As I read their post and I feel I'm back in the Alamo Dome all over again. They are the Howard Cosell 's of Siesta-ville.

Going through my notes I've attempted to recall all the stuff I did NOT jot down. Doing so has caused me to refresh my recollection of the whole San Antonio experience...but it doesn't change the fact that regurgitating this material is about as painful to me as tryin to retell a joke...it's awful!

My dear Sister in Love, Nancy is the sweetest and funniest gal you could ever want to meet.

Can she ever tell a joke!

Nancy's turn of a phrase leaves you with muscle pains in regions of your body you didn't know had muscles. Non stop belly laughs and bronchial seizures are a regular occurrences when spending anytime with this girl.

aaand....

Let me try to retell these same jokes or stories...WHEW!!

I'm usually stammering and stuttering or cracking up so bad I can't get the thing told. More often than not,I get to the punch line and draw a complete blank. What usually follows is this...

the 'How sweet...isn't she special' look.

Sooo...I try and leave the joke tellin to those more gifted than I.

Now that we've chased that pack of dogs, the point you ask?

I've realize I need to quit lookin around into other peoples yards, lives or blogs, all the while thinkin,

'Oh, oh! That's what I should be doin or posting about',

no...that's not my part to play.

I'm reminded

"If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 1 Corinthians 12: 17-20

I particularly like the version from the Message

"I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster." 1 Corinthians 12: 17-20

I just need to get about what God has called me to be, and that's huge! Not in a selling out Phillips Arena sort of way, but in finding and fill'in the shoes He's prepared for me to fill and let Mary Lou be Mary Lou. How bout you?