Hot Mess

 

I bought some double-dipped chocolate covered peanuts at Publix’s last week.  I thought they would make a healthy snack.  Peanuts are healthy and chocolate is supposed to be good for you.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  I ate a few and then arrived at my destination in my ’97 Buick.  I set them down on the floorboard in the shade as it was a warm day.  But I had miscalculated exactly how warm it was, and when I got back into the car, my bag of double-dipped chocolate covered peanuts was one big slurry mess.  When I got home, I attempted to reclaim my treats by putting the bag in the refrigerator.  And the next morning, I had one big chocolate bar with peanuts inside.  I gently pried the plastic off of my new chocolate/peanut bar and broke off a piece.  It tasted fine!  My disaster was reclaimed!  Romans 12:21, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."  So today, make the best out of bad situations in life.

Neglected Garden

 

Two years ago, I had a 5-gallon bucket garden on the back deck.  I had a couple of tomato plants, a cucumber plant, a sweet pepper, some cilantro, basil, and rosemary.  Marigolds, impatiens, and begonias rounded out the collection.  I had blue, orange, and red buckets (Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Tractor Supply) that made the deck look very festive.  But last year was an emotionally hard year, so the bucket garden was on its own and whatever popped up just grew on its own.  Last fall, I dumped out several of the buckets to use for other projects, so now I’m left with 4 buckets: 1 perennial flower, 1 rosemary, and 2 “weed” buckets.  The weed buckets have a strange mixture of tiny pine seedlings, maple seedlings, and poison ivy.  Not very good buckets to have.  I didn’t plant any of those last 2 buckets; they just grew on their own.  Birds may have dropped some of those seeds or they may have just blown in, but they have been on their own for almost 2 years.  Solomon warned of leaving children unsupervised.  He said in Proverbs 29:15, “… a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”  My grandparents said, “Idleness is the devil’s workshop.”  And that pretty much describes my 2 left-over buckets in my neglected bucket garden.  So, today, I’m going to pull out those weeds (using gloves) and start over.  Let’s see what a little work will produce.  Hey, recommit your life to the dear Lord and see what He will do.  You’ll be glad that you did.

Ads, Ads, Ads

 

The political ads seem to be never-ending.  I thought we had the election, but it was only the primary with the ads continuing.  And then there were so many candidates that a second primary was held with the two highest vote getters running.  But then the winner of the primary will face the other political party’s candidate in November!  It’s never-ending.  The ads come in the mail, they come on TV, and they come on the radio.  One politician says, “I am the best and the other guy is terrible!”  But the other politician says, “I am the best and the other guy is terrible!”  Solomon understood.  Solomon said in Proverbs 20:14, “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.”  Hey, we need God’s wisdom to know which candidate is best because only God knows the heart.