no higher ambition

"Christian contentment, therefore, is the direct fruit of having no higher ambition than to belong to The Lord and to be totally at His disposal in the place he appoints, at the time he chooses with the provision He is pleased to make." 

-Sinclair Ferguson (provided by Mellette Chatham's facebook status)

Encouragement. Boom.

Encourage each other. Why? God says so.

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.                  (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Thank you JEM for being one of the many people who has always encouraged me, with wisdom and with love. I still have this (along with many other things you've written me). Many years later  it still lays on my bedside table. And I'm so grateful for you (and people like you) in my life. You are a true "jem"... 

Fifty Forgiveness

***So writing has really taken a backseat to life these days. For the months of October through December I was working two jobs, one 40 hours a week and the other 20 hours a week. There wasn't a whole lot of time for cleaning my kitchen, let alone blogging. But I'm back to one job and hopefully back to keeping up with this blog a little better also.***

Mondays are typically good days, mostly because lately I don't work them. But also because Starbucks does tips on Mondays. (Tips are the little bit of extra cash we get when people like yourself are generous when buying a coffee. I know tipping for a coffee doesn't make much sense, but sometimes your 50 cents or dollar for a latte means the difference of us making 8 dollars an hour that week to 9 dollars an hour. None of us are getting rich serving you coffee, but we love what we do. So, your generosity is more than appreciated to my income and new 2013 budget. Yeah, I made a budget and so far I've done well with it...until last night...)

So Mondays, all in all...great days. Yesterday was no exception. Great day, just relaxing, walking my dog, spending time with one of my best friends. When night fell, I made myself some dinner. Didn't spend even one dollar yesterday. I emptied my pockets and set my weekly budget (that's the tip money) of 54 dollars on my coffee table. I looked around for my purse with my wallet in it. I lost focus.

The 54 dollars sat there. And it sat there. And it sat there.

I walked over to one of my best friend's (conveniently she lives across the hall) to watch the Mindy Project (great show by the way). When I returned home, what I found was a few pieces of money that had not been devoured (see picture). And let me just say that my dog is not a puppy, she is five years old and does not have a habit unless anxious on occasion of chewing things.

Angry? That's not a question. I immediately located my dog and popped her rear end (don't judge me until you get your 54 dollars eaten). I walked into my room and sobbed. It hurt to hurt my dog. She's my loyal, loving pet. I was angry at her, but I still loved her. I had hurt her, but I didn't want to. She hurt me first.

I brushed my teeth. Washed my face. And got into bed. My dog was in hiding.

As I lay there in the dark, I heard her enter the room. She put her face on the edge of the bed and began to whine. I ignored her. Or I tried to. But as I laid there I thought, what would I do if I came home one day and Pebbles wasn't here. I would be crushed. My heart softened as I realized my dog is so much more to me than 54 dollars (Imagine the value I put on people I love, they could devour hundreds. If I ever had hundreds and if people ever decided to eat money).

Call it silly if you want, but laying there in the quiet of the night...I forgave my dog. Forgave her for eating something I worked hard for. Forgave her for ruining my weekly budget. Forgave her for choosing money over any other item that was readily available to chew up. I forgave her for hurting me.


And I invited her up on the bed.