Go Ahead, Jump!

By Pat

We recently put a swimming pool up in our backyard, mostly for our little grandchildren. One day last week, my three year old grandson Gabe was jumping from the ladder while I caught him. Each time, he would yell "Catch me, Grammy!" and I, of course, would catch him, much to his delight. But as he went to jump one time, my hands were down in the water where he couldn't see them. No matter how many times I tried to convince him to jump and assure him that I would catch him, he refused to jump.

We resumed our game with my arms outstretched for a while, but I decided to try again to get Gabe to jump while my hands were out of his sight. Finally, he did, at which point it became a game of "Hide your hands, Grammy!" Gabe learned quickly that he could trust me to catch him, no matter what.

It made me think of my relationship with God, and I how sometimes refuse to make the moves I need to make, take the steps I need to take because of fear. No matter how many times God says "Trust me," I am still aftraid to jump because I can't always see his outstretched hands.

I wish I could be more like Gabe, refusing to allow fear to keep him from jumping. I wait to receive what I feel is just the right word from God, and in doing so miss many opportunities to serve Him. My comfort zone imprisons me. I need to try harder to jump, knowing that even if God's arms are hidden in the water, He'll catch me anyway.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

Life Is Funny: Losing Teeth

By MAD21

My oldest has now entered the phase of losing teeth. She lost her first one the first week of June. She was so happy to have lost it before the end of school so that she could show her teacher and classmates. She was now part of the "club."

She had three other teeth that have been loose at any given time for the last three or four months. And considering the one that finally did come out took over a month of "wiggling" and two tugs with dental floss before it came out, my hopes were not high for the remaining three to come out anytime soon.

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Fingerprint Friday: Rain

By MAD21

I am the last person you will ever hear asking for it to rain. I love my sunny days. But after a month and a half with no rain and weeks of record breaking temperatures in the 100s, I was ready for it. I have never seen it so dry in our area. For the first time in 22 years, I actually set the sprinklers out to water our lawn. Of course, this is partly due to the new grass seed that was put down after all our yard excavation was completed, but I would have done it anyway because our grass and flowers were dying.

Well, last Saturday the heavens opened. I awoke just before 6:00am to the sound of what can only be described as a waterfall enveloping our house. It poured all day that day and for several days since then. You can almost hear the earth sighing with relief. Thank you Lord, for your cleansing rains. For the refreshing sound and feel of fresh water falling from heaven... covering the earth in your fingerprints.

Fellow blogger Beki at The Rusted Chain has a really great weekly post she does every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday." We are to look around and see where we can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Anywhere? Go find out where Beki saw God this week, and be sure to check out the other bloggers who linked their stories as well.

Tasty Bites: Ginger Spice Granola

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Granola can be healthy or it can be full of sugar and fat. Just because the base ingredient is oats, it doesn’t mean it’s always healthy. I think I may have mentioned label-reading here a time or two! There are a lot of healthy brands out there, and they are delicious. But there’s one downfall – the price.

I use quite a bit of granola in my Power Bar recipe and love the crunch it lends to yogurt. If you need a quick meal to go, throw a handful of granola into a cup of yogurt for the healthy carbs and lean protein you need for energy. I also carry a zip-lock bag of it when going on a long bike ride in case I run out of gas.

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YOB: #7. Go To An Ice Hockey Game (Part 2)

By Beth

Sports are great. Men's sports, that is. I suppose women's sports could be great too, I could just never really get into them. Men's sports, all the way. There's just something about a nicely built man in uniform pounding the snot out of another nicely built man in uniform. I prefer contact sports, the more contact the better. Ice hockey ranks right up there on my list with lacrosse and rugby. Baseball doesn't make the cut.

I suppose I should blame my brother for this obsession with violent sports. He played football and lacrosse in middle school and high school and I went to many, many games. When I saw lacrosse for the first time I fell in love. This may be partly due to the fact that Don Seel, a long time crush of mine (K-8th grade) played as well; defense - they had the long sticks. Their job, Don and my brother's who also played defense, was to pulverize anyone who came close to their net and prevent them from scoring. It is so violent that my brother actually injured one of his teammates so badly during practice that the poor guy missed the whole season. My kind of sport!

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