My My Pillow

 

My wife has a “My Pillow” pillow, which is not my pillow but her my pillow.  Confused?  It gets worse.  She has a little travel size my pillow that she uses to rest her head on at dialysis.  At Christmas, I got a small my pillow (so it’s my pillow) to put between my knobby knees when I sleep on my side at night.  But her heel has a friction wound from her time at rehab back in September.  She has pain in her heel because her heel won’t heal, so she uses my my pillow for her heel pillow at dialysis.  So, when she goes to dialysis, she uses two my pillows of which one her my pillow and one is my my pillow.  See, I told you it would get worse.  When she gets ready in the morning, she asks me, “Would you get my pillow?”  And I reply, “Do you mean my my pillow or your my pillow?”  She just rolls her eyes and says, “You know what I mean.”  And I chuckle thinking of how clever I am.  But I know when to stop and get serious.  But we do have fun.  Hey, now I need to make a spiritual application, but I have absolutely no idea how to get to the verse.  So, here it is: Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”  A great Bible verse and an absolutely useless story.  Sorry.

Coalie

When I was twelve, our family went to the Humane Society and picked out a dog. It was a chow mix that had been left behind by a military man who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) take the dog with him when he moved to his next deployment. We named her Coalie because she was as black as coal. She even had a black tongue! Coalie was a good dog and was loyal to our family. When a stranger came onto the property, she would bark and slink around behind him, but never bit (that I knew of). We loved her and took good care of her. As the years went by, Coalie began to feel entitled. She got picky about what she ate, but seniority has its privileges. But then we got a little kitten. Coalie felt secure in her place, and so deferred to the youngster albeit begrudgingly. But the kitten had a playful demeanor, as kittens do, and Coalie lightened up a bit. When my mother fed both pets, the kitten would eat anything that was set before her. Coalie would eat her canned food and then eat the kitten’s leftover food. Before, Coalie had been picky about her food, but she was non-discriminate about eating the kitten’s food. The kitten ate everything, so Coalie ate everything. Coalie’s motivation could have been jealousy, or it could have been gluttony, but the result was the same: after the kitten arrived, Coalie ate everything. Paul said in I Corinthians 15:33, “Be not deceived: evil communications (companions) corrupt good manners.” The habits of the kitten led to habits for Coalie. Hey, are you picking up good habits from others who influence you, or are you picking up poor habits from those who influence you? OR … are you influencing someone else for the better? Think about it.

Treasures

I have several treasures that, when I pass on, no one will see the value in them.  They will not even be sold in my estate sale.  They will be thrown into the trash.  And that is fine with me, because they are my treasures and no one else’s.  I have a white box with aluminum dividers in it that my dad made for me when I was in the fourth grade.  Miss Jones solicited entries for the Old Post Road elementary school science fair, and the box held my rock collection.  I won nothing, but I have the box from my first science fair in 1959.  I have a wooden shoe-shine box that I made in Mr. Swearingen’s shop class in the seventh grade at Edgewood high school in 1962.  Not too fancy, but my first woodworking project (other than treehouses and forts).  And I have a silver quarter, that was given to me by Pastor Blackburn, April 17, 1956.  I distinctly remember the date, because Brother Blackburn used that quarter to illustrate the gift of God’s eternal life to me.  As a six-year-old boy, he gave me that quarter and said, “Just like I gave you this quarter as a free gift, God offers you His gift of salvation bought and paid for my His dear Son, Jesus Christ.”  What a wonderful day that was, when I accepted God’s free gift of salvation and became a part of God’s forever family!  Hey, do you have any treasures?  It’s good to remember.  Solomon knew that it was good to be reminded of times gone by, and admonished us in Proverbs 22:28, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.”  Hey, remember the good times and remember the not-so-good times.  Enjoy the one and remember not to repeat the other.

 

Take a Chance

 

I read a survey of eighty-year-olds who were asked the question, “What would you have done differently in your life?”  The three answers were, spend more time at home, less time at work.  Invest yourself in people (children or grandchildren) who would outlive yourself.  And finally, take more risks.  Wow!  Simone Biles said, “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.”  David said in Psalms 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”  Hey, take a chance on the good Lord.  Abandon all caution, launch out, and try Him.  You’ll never be sorry that you did.

The Book

 

When I was a boy of ten, Friday nights were exciting.  Mom and dad and us four boys piled into the family station wagon and went to Bel Air.  Mom and dad went grocery shopping, but first dropped us boys off at the public library.  That hour was my time … my time to be transported across the seas to Africa and the Egyptian pyramids, to sail with Magellan around the world, or to visit the Great Wall of China.  And all of these travels were through books.  I remember my mother reading “The Secret Garden” to us boys, one chapter a day.  I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.  In 1963, our bus schedule got me to school early.  I would get a hall pass from Miss Hidecker and hurry to the school library for fifteen minutes looking for books to read.  I liked science fiction, Egyptology, and stories of nature.  History, inventions and Napoleon were intriguing.  But Rev. John Smith gave me a love for reading the Bible.  He knew Greek and Hebrew and seemed to relish studying for his next sermon.  Paul admonished his protégé, Timothy in II Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  I am grateful for those wonderful people who have gone before me who gave me a love of God’s Word.  Read it and study it, because it will change your life.