Month: March 2022

Do you want a calmer home and soul?

Messages to myself: guest post by Annie Haroun

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16

Anyone who has dogs will know what is pictured here. It is a wonderful toy that you stuff with treats. Not only does it keep your canine companion busy for a while, but the problem-solving and chewing help use up hyper energy with the end result (you hope) being a calmer pup.

Today I spent half an hour digging out the old stale treats that no longer interest my dogs, then refilled the toys with fresh tasty ones. I often claim I don’t have enough time to get things done that need doing, so why would I place such importance on this?  Well, my furry pets are my responsibility and it gives me a lot of pleasure to see them happy chewing on their doggy treat toys, and it also helps the household to have calmer pets around.

Proverbs 12:10a states, “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,..”  It IS important to take care of what God has given me including the beasts in my family! So I make time for them. 

What is the main message here? It is that we DO make time for what we WANT to make time for. I have had days where I spent five minutes reading a devotional, then two hours watching a good movie (British mysteries or Jane Austen are addicting) and another good hour working on logic puzzles. Priority check!

I’m speaking to “me, myself and I” here!!!

I decided this Lenten season that giving up something was not what would draw me closer to God. This is not to downplay anybody else’s efforts. You alone know what you need, and I know what I need—

a larger dose of God’s Word. If I can clean out my dogs’ toys for 30 minutes, then surely I can find 30 minutes (even if it is two sets of 15 or three sets of 10) to open-heartedly read from God’s Word. He finds pleasure in filling my soul with His promises, and this time just may serve to exchange my own nervous energy for calm, making my household a more peaceful place for both my human and my furry family. 

Job 23:12b says,   “I have treasured up the Words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” I’m taking care of my dogs’ necessary food. It’s time to prioritize  feeding my soul.

Better Than Bleach

Have you ever walked into a room and knew that a diaper needed to be changed?  What if it was your own child? How long would you wait to change the diaper? Even if you knew that they would need another diaper change later that day, I bet you would help them.  

I recently read about how confessing our sins to God is like getting our diaper changed in a book by Fr. Donald Calloway, and the analogy wouldn’t leave me alone. I keep thinking to myself, “Oh Lord, a certain family member really needs their diaper changed. He/she needs to confess and be made clean. I don’t like smelling the odor of their dirty words and their angry tone.” 

And then God gave me a reality check through the words of Jesus: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in our own eye?”  

Ouch! Jesus’ question hit me like an arrow straight into my hardened, judgmental heart. It had been too long since I had spent time praying and asking God to show me what I needed to confess. Perhaps I am the one who is smelling up the room?  

So I sat with my journal and asked the holy spirit to convict me of any selfish words, attitudes or actions that have offended my holy Father. The longer I sat the more the spirit revealed.  

A verse I had memorized years before encouraged me that God would be faithful to help clean me up.    “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  

So I encourage you to sit in quiet and spend time asking the Lord for what you might need to confess. Sometimes I start by meditating on God’s definition of Love in 1 Corinthians 13-4-5. “Love is patient, Love is Kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”  

When I reflect on God’s sacrificial pure love in I Corinthians 13, I often get a reality check that my diaper needs a changing. May our reality checks always lead to attitude checks on how we love those in our lives. 

I am slowly learning that our job is not to judge those around me but to love them and perhaps through our own joy of being made fresh, clean and forgiven; they might be encouraged to get clean too.  

So my sweet sister, do you need your diaper changed today? I know I do.