Oma

Saturday, March 10, 2018

by Maggie

March 2013 

She’s been here before — I remember her very distinctive grandmotherly fragrance. This time she has nested in one of our spare rooms. And I kind of think she might be here for awhile. She came in with a LOT of boxes and several large items that have that characteristic tree smell. And my Smoothskins seem very pleased that she is here. 

We are starting to work ourselves into a routine. Almost every morning my Alpha gets up and goes somewhere. Then my Hairless and the Girl take off together. That leaves me with my sweet Buddy, my two mousers, and our new Oma* and her little Muffin**.  We like to sit in the sunroom and read together. We watch the sun and the birds and enjoy being together. And sometimes we listen to some lovely music together. 

Sometimes our new Oma slips us some pretty tasty morsels. For some reason I don’t think my Alpha would approve. But I don’t plan to spill the beans any time soon. As you can imagine, Oma is winning my heart one bite at a time. 

We all follow Oma around all day. Wherever she goes, we go. And the best part about it is that she doesn’t leave us like the others do. She’s here almost all day. That’s pretty sweet. 

I’ve decided that I’m going to enjoy our new Oma. She’s a sweet one, she is. I hope she stays here for a very long time. 

*Oma is German for grandmother. And I am part German Shepherd.

**Little Miss Muffin is also German. I think she’s a schnicker doodle or something like that. 

Oma and my Alpha at the Sweet Sixteen. 

Plans Change

Friday, March 9, 2018

Spring Break for UK starts today and we’ve been planning our vacation for several months. I think we are now on Plan F or G — I can’t remember. 

We planned for months to go to Bradenton Beach, FL. Then we decided about a month ago to go to — well, we never really figured it out — somewhere else in Florida. Then on Tuesday we decided to go someplace a lot closer but never made any reservations. And on our way home from Lexington yesterday we decided on the spur of the moment to go somewhere totally different. 

Wherever we go, whatever we do, we will have a good time because we always do. 

I must say that a couple of our changes in plans were kind of sad. I had in mind what I thought we were going to do and it just didn’t work out. 

But we kept our heads up and worked through the disappointments. And I’m sure we will throughly enjoy ourselves as a result. 

LORD, thank you that even though things change dozens of times in our world, You stay the same. You are wonderfully predictable. Above all you are to be trusted. We thank you for your consistency. You are perfect. 

March Showers

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Sometimes March showers are in the form of snow — and I LOVE it! There’s nothing quite like the heavy, wet, packable snows of March. 

When I was a girl I found an interesting spring weather pattern that is almost always correct in this neck of the woods. It always snows within 7 days of my sister’s birthday. 

Her birthday almost always fell during spring break for the college. So while some people were in warmer vacation spots for the week, we faced a little snow. 

Sometimes it was just a dusting and sometimes it was a few inches. But we could always count on snow during the week before or after March 13th. 

So there you have it — the highly scientific reason for our recent snowfall. 

Enjoy it. Embrace it. Tornado season is just around the corner!

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He Knows My Name

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

I love it when my husband and I run into people in the community — especially little children — and he hugs them and calls them by name. Their faces light up and their eyes seem to say, “He knows my name! Bill Fort knows who I am!” It’s pretty sweet. 

More importantly our Heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe, knows each one of us better than we even know ourselves. 

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Matthew‬ ‭10:29-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God not only knows OF us, he truly KNOWS us. He knows our names. He knows the way we think. He knows our vulnerabilities and our strengths. And he loves us wholeheartedly.  We are the “apple of His eye!”

Thank you, Lord, for paying attention to us — for knowing who we are — for really caring about us — for sending Jesus to pay our ransom. You are so amazing! And you make us feel special. Thank you. 

There are so many of us, how can God hear us all?

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Did you ever see the movie, Bruce Almighty? It was sacreligious on the one hand. But it was also pretty interesting on the other hand. 

For example, there’s a scene where Bruce hears the voices of people who are praying to God. It is a cacophony at best. It is over-stimulating, confusing and impossible to deal with. Bruce realizes that no mortal could ever comprehend all of the requests much less respond adequately to each of them. 

Thankfully our God is so big that not only CAN he decipher all the cries of his people, but he longs to hear our voices. And to him it is not chaotic but harmonic. In fact the Scripture encourages us to talk to the Lord without ceasing. 

Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭55:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This was true for King David and it is true for us. We just need to trust that when we go to him, he will clearly hear us and will respond as the loving Father he is. 

LORD, we thank you for who you are. You are bigger than we can possibly imagine. Yet you fit in our hearts. You are caring. You are benevolent. You think we are pretty special and you want to hear from us. You are accessible every moment of every day because of Jesus, our High Priest. Thank you. 

Veterans History Project

Monday, March 5, 2018

On Saturday we hosted a workshop for the Library of Congress where people learned how to conduct interviews for their oral history project. It was pretty cool. 

Here are some of the details. 

We had 32 people registered to go through the workshop. 

There were 20 people who volunteered to do registration, decorations, food, and clean-up. 

But best of all we had 16 veterans come to be interviewed. 

We had 2 women and 12 men. 

We had veterans who had been in the service for a very short period of time and others who retired after over 20 years of service. 

We had guys who didn’t see one day of combat and others who lived through hell. 

We had a 94 year old Tuskegee Airman and another 99 year old WWII Veteran. 

The interviewers braved the anxieties of doing their very first recordings and most, if not all, came away having been truly blessed. 

Thank you to the Leadership Team for all your hard work in pulling this off. 

Thank you to Virginia Siegel for coming to Richmond from Bowling Green to conduct the workshop.

Thank you to my sister, Rachel, for taking time from her busy schedule to drive over here from Hopkinsville. 

Thank you to WBON for posting this nice news piece for us. 

WBON web article

But most of all, thank you to these incredible veterans for your service to our country. For risking everything to keep us safe. For protecting our freedoms. 

You all are the best!

3/4/2018 - Weekly Memory Verse

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Focus this week on 

SALVATION

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

According to 1 Corinthians 1, for some thinkers it is hard to imagine that salvation can be so simple. They expect to have to do something — to earn salvation — to work for it. 

For those of us who have experienced His grace, we understand that His way is best. And we rejoice in it. 

It is up to us to take this good news to the world. 

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