THE REST OF THE STORY

In telling you about the smile the little boy left in my heart (NO DECAY 2-25-09) I didn’t tell “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey* so eloquently phrases it.
The rest of the story goes back to years before my little friend was born. It was 1996, soon after we moved to this city that I was privileged to become a Cradle Roll Teacher of six to eight infants. Some people may scornfully wonder what you are able to teach babies but I have always firmly believed that if I never imparted anything more than that they were loved, that would be enough! Children and I seem to have some very special connect that God has built in and it always thrills me to my innermost being to see it in action.
One student in that Cradle Roll Class was the big sister of the little boy who brought such a smile to my heart a few days ago. The smile he brought was in the huge compliment he paid when he told his mom I was pretty…after all, what almost-70-year-old woman would be truthful to say that didn’t do her heart good? But the additional thoughts that turbulently tumbled through my mind at record speed went like this:
He saw how I loved him!
I showed Jesus’ love when we talked!
I still connect!
How can I not be teaching Cradle Roll? Does this mean I should be teaching that class about which the bulletin said:
Job Opening: Cradle Roll Teacher. Qualifications—must love God and His children. No singing/singing ability required. Open for male or female, any age welcome. Salary: priceless. No prep required, curriculum easy to follow. See (name here) for more details about this exciting opportunity.”
And how can I not be teaching that class when that announcement seemed to go unheeded for such a period of time in the bulletins? Am I supposed to do that? Maybe I should call to see who finally took the class and see if she/he needs a helper.
These thoughts started an excitement that is unexplainable to folks who haven’t been there and need no explanation to those who have; still, I haven’t made that inquiry. Personal questions persist: foremost, with my health issues would I able? Maybe the questions are Satan’s devious ways. I recognize a couple that definitely are.
A day or so later when I related many of these thoughts to a dear friend, the tears broke through to the surface as I described what my heart longingly recalled: two pictures one of the ladies took of me teaching that long ago Cradle Roll Class when I first knew the little boy’s big sister. I explained that those pictures fully describe without words…ME.
And now you know the rest of the story about the little boy and me. Or do you? And, do I?
©Marilyn Sue Moore 2-28-09

*This was written and published before noon using and crediting words of Paul Harvey, a man whose words I listened to, admired with interest, and enjoyed; by time for the evening news we learned that Paul Harvey had passed away sometime earlier today. He and his words will be missed. MSM

NO DECAY

Have you ever seen a child that is so appealing he makes you smile just because God made him as he is?
There he was sitting in his mom’s shopping cart in the seat reserved for children when I first spotted them this morning. I immediately knew I was in for a treat. I said, “Do I see a familiar face?” and his mom stopped, smiled her sweet smile, as she greeted me. He held out his little foot, and I said, “What’s that?” while sliding his pant leg up and asking, “A cowboy boot? Have you been to the rodeo?”
He eagerly nodded so I said, “What’d you see there?
With sparkling eyes he looked at his mom for affirmation while he explained the bucking broncos to me.
His mom suggested he tell me where he was going to go today and he seemed unsure so she gave him a little hint by whispering, “Dentist.” I said, “Oh, do you take good care of your teeth and brush them good?” He nodded eager assent while allowing me to look carefully at his teeth to be sure he was telling me the truth. I said, “You do have pretty teeth and it is important to take good care of your teeth.”
I thought they might need to be on their way soon so I got ready to say my goodbyes by telling my young friend to be sure to hold mommy’s hand every time they crossed the streets and he nodded his head, all the time looking directly into my eyes while giving me that most special smile.
As I walked away I heard him speak to his mom and then moments later as our paths crossed again she confirmed what I thought I had heard him say: “She’s pretty.” I looked at my young friend and with a smile that I hope conveyed all the love in my heart, I told him, “I love Jesus!” Then I added, “Thank you.”
And I walked around for the rest of the day with a smile the dentist and anyone else would be proud of, but the one that little 4-year-old boy tucked in my heart is a smile that neither moth nor rust can decay!
In Matthew 6:19-21 (NASB) Jesus reminds us:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
©Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 2-25-09

THE COMFORTING ARMS OF LOVE

A long time ago when I suffered repetitive earaches I sat in the arms of my mother to be comforted as we passed precious hours in an old wicker rocking chair. More often than not the earaches didn’t go completely away and the remembrance of that feeling of comfort lasts until today. In the intervening years I outgrew my mother’s lap but I have never outgrown the need for the comforting arms of love.
A few weeks ago I learned of a deed that reminded me that even when we as adults have said our earthly good-byes to the arms of comforting love from our parents, there are still arms that wrap us in that cocoon of love. Sometimes these arms are physical hugs and sometimes not.
In our home congregation there is a lady who is undergoing kidney dialysis. A couple of retirees have personally taken the task of escorting her to and from her treatments on a faithful basis. When I heard of the loving deeds done by these folks, soothing endorphins surged in my mind as I saw an image of comforting arms of love being wrapped gently around this sweet lady.
I personally recommend giving physical hugs as well since it is a well-known fact that as a general rule you can’t give a hug without benefiting from one in return. No matter our age, we never outgrow that need for comforting arms of love and as you can see from the following scriptures from His Word, in His Family God has provided a way for that need to be fulfilled:
Galatians 6:2 (NASB) says,
“Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:10 (NASB)
“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
To sum it up, whether or not this sweet lady receives a physical hug, don’t you know by being helped in this manner she feels enveloped with comforting arms of love each time she receives this precious gift of assistance?
God bless the comfort givers.

© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 2-6-09

EYE CANDY

Even though I am not a little girl anymore just the mention of the word candy sets my digestive juices flowing. Throughout my life my love for sweets has been so well-known that my mother often stated she should have named me Candy. I have tried the explanation that having been born in September of 1939 meant I grew up with sugar being rationed during WW2 and I think perhaps I didn’t get my fair share! But that’s all about the stuff we take a piece or two and keep to ourselves. Today I want to talk about the kind of candy we don’t keep to ourselves, the kind that is referred to as eye-candy.
Through the use of the Internet I am often delighted with the artistic works that come into our home. In recent weeks I have been the recipient of a sidewalk chalk artist whose scenes are such that the viewer feels a part of the work, a PowerPoint presentation with scenic wonders such as not only the tip of the iceberg but the iceberg itself under the water that causes me to wonder about the photography equipment that captured the scene, interactive greeting cards that entertain, astound, and amuse with the creativity contained within, messages that uplift, inform, and share information…some personal, others generic, and through it all a collection of fantastic free fonts that catch my eye almost as often as do the fabulous photos, what is referred to as eye-candy.
One thing I have come to understand about fonts though is that my computer and your computer have to be compatible or we cannot share our fonts. That means I could send this message to you in a gorgeous handwritten font (as I’d enjoy being able to do) but unless you have that same font as part of your own collection you would not see the beauty I tried to send to you. Somehow in cyberspace everything will change and all you will see is one of the plain fonts already installed on your computer. The good thing is the message will still be there, just not the beauty I had intended, no eye-candy.
It is obvious that God intends for us to enjoy beautiful things; after all He has created things of such awesome beauty they often take our breath away and our automatic response is praise to Him for His creation! But how much of our life have we allowed to become fluff, kind of like cotton candy…pretty and pink, but when we bite into it, it mashes down and melts away into nothing in a hurry while leaving a sweet taste to linger momentarily then quickly gone? And how much of our life do we allow to be as the fantastic fonts clouding our vision with beauty we see and want to share? While we take time to add it to our lives we forget it has not necessarily yet been added to the lives of others. We see the lovely script we intend to send but what they receive may a plain missive on the other end. Are we too busy enjoying our own eye-candy?
This started me thinking about life. How much of my life is like that pretty font? My plan is to send a beautiful message about God but often I am sure it ends up being a plain font on the receiving end. What can I do? It was a friend who taught me where to find the free fonts I have added to my computer; perhaps there is a lesson in life right there. I can take my Bible and help a friend find true answers about God and life starting right in that very place. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? In other words, the more time we spend adding God’s fonts to both your computer and mine, the more beauty we’ll be able to share as we send messages back and forth.
Is it time to stop using excuses as I did about sugar being rationed so I didn’t get my fair share and start looking beyond ourselves and into the lives of others? Maybe there is someone we each know who needs one of God’s gorgeous fonts added to his or her life today and we can be the person who tells him or her where to find that free gift…the eye-candy that can come only from God and that will last forever.
“…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23b (NASB)
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 11-21-08

A PRAYER THAT APPEALS

There is a story that circulates the Internet from time to time about a little boy at a restaurant who tells God thank you for a meal and ends with saying something to the effect he’d be even more thankful if the meal included ice cream. The tale goes on to tell of the chiding comments of a woman nearby declaring that kids don’t even know how to pray. Ah, contraire! Jesus taught, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3 NIV) What is it about this child’s prayer that is so appealing?
The first thing we see in the story is he is the one who asks his mom if he could be the one to ask the blessing. As the story goes he starts with a simple children’s grace then expands it by adding his own words. We could all learn a lesson from his simplicity: start with what we have been taught and then venture into where our thankful hearts lead us.
The child injects a bit of humor with his request for ice cream…or was that mention of ice cream humorous only to the adult listeners, the exceptions being the speaker and the quick-to-judge woman? I can envision a serious six-year-old simply saying what is in his heart when it comes to matters of dessert. I can also picture a sour-faced older woman deciding she knows what is wrong with kids today. Just maybe that child was talking to God as he would to his daddy…another lesson we could learn from his plaintive prayer. I know not everyone has had a good earthly daddy with whom to relate but if we could try to envision the relationship as God would have it to be between a daddy and a little child, I Peter 5:7 (Amplified Bible) would become much more meaningful to each adult reading this: “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”
There’s more to the story about the boy at the restaurant and I hope each one of you has the opportunity to read and enjoy it but in the meantime remember this little guy believed God even cared about whether or not he liked ice cream! And you know what? God does! Please remember God is the Father, you are the child, and He cares to hear about anything you want to talk to Him about as well.
© Marilyn Sue Moore 11-15-08

LET ME HEAR THY VOICE

I often read the obituaries. It is not as many jokingly ask to see whether or not my name is there. I know my turn will come because one of my favorite Psalms (139) states in verse 16b, “And in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them”, but when I read the obituary column I am often astounded by the wide discrepancy of ages. In seeing the death of a 47-year-old woman this morning I wanted to read more carefully.
Her obituary states she came into this world in a mission home and was immediately adopted. Reading between the lines, she obviously knew the love of a mother because she chose to become a mother. The obituary states she became a “mom” to many and was looking forward to becoming a stepmother as well. In her mid-30s she had chosen to go to school to become a nurse and her mothering instinct carried over in her dedication to her patients. From the writing about her life it is obvious she came into this world one little girl alone but left it with a generation of family and friends that included pets as well as people.
What stood out to me amongst all the rest was the message that came close to the end of the obituary: it stated that she had “rededicated her life to Christ as her Lord and Savior” seven years ago. Is this what made her life stand out as being different when I looked at the paper this morning? At first it was her age but the more I read the more I liked this woman and felt a sense of loss even without having known her.
Her life has given me pause for thought. When she was born her days were numbered, of that I have no doubt. I like so much of what she chose to do with her life. I like her because of who she became in her life. Had I known her as a friend I have no doubt we would have been good friends and I would have loved her as a sister…or as a daughter, a niece, better co-workers in His Vineyard because of one another! I didn’t have that opportunity with her but, “Please God, help me to not miss the opportunities you put in my daily presence.”
“Let me hear Thy lovingkndness in the morning; for I trust in Thee; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to Thee I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8 NASB)
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 11-8-08

Sometimes God Says No

In light of the election results many people are questioning the outcome. Sometimes I think I must not be a realist, perhaps a bit too much of a Pollyanna, but I prefer to believe once I have done all I can to make a difference, in faith I am turning it over to God and letting Him take care of the upcoming change.
Trails of thoughts have traveled in and out of my mind this morning. One in particular has been about the little boy who seeing his mother in ill health decided the best way he could help was to offer to go to the store to get the loaf of bread she needed. Imagine along with our 4-year-old: “I’ll just run to the store really fast. You know I can run fast, Mommy! I know where the bread is and I’ll get only one loaf of bread. I know how many is one. Then I will pay the nice lady and I will hurry right back home. I won’t stop to play with Mrs. Henderson’s puppy on the way home either, honest, Mommy. I can do it and I will be your big boy helper.” But…Mommy said, “No.” In our scenario we will assume Mommy explains all the reasons why she says, “No,” but not all scenarios are that simple and not all situations are going to be explained in our lifetime.
Turning down another trail of thought sometimes we simply have to trust that God knows what is best for us even though all we see is hundreds of puzzle pieces. Imagine life as a gigantic puzzle (it is that, isn’t it?) of which all we have is the pieces, not even a picture of the completed work. As we start putting the pieces in place we begin to see the scene forming; God, on the other hand, knows exactly what the picture on the front of the box looks like because He is the artist who originated the scene. He is The Beginning and He is The End…and He is The-Ever-Present-In-Between! “…for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU…” (Hebrews 13:5b NASB)
The conclusion leads us to this: whatever the reasons for the election outcomes being as they are, as God’s children we have this admonition from 2 Timothy 2:1-4 (NASB): “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Is it possible that God said, “No,” so that all of us who were praying would continue that habit in as strong a manner that the real outcome of those elected would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth?
Now that would be a change we all could live with!
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 11-5-08