God is Good!

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting!" Psalm 107:1

Sophie suffered from major separation anxiety.  She was my first puppy that I got to live with, train, and raise all on my own.  She and I shared a very special bond, and after being together every day for over a month in our new apartment together, it was time for me to go back to work.  I was an 8^th grade science teacher at the time, and although I enjoyed my summers off, I also really enjoyed going back to school.  I loved teaching.  I loved my students.  I actually really enjoyed a routine.  But Sophie didn’t understand all of that.   All she knew was that her mommy was going to be gone!  She was so upset that she literally freaked out.  I came home one time to all of the linoleum ripped up in my bathroom.  On another occasion, I came home to the carpet in the hallway ripped up.  She had also ripped the bed skirt off of the bed, ripped my bed spread to pieces and tore my pillow into little pieces.  I couldn’t believe it when I walked in the door and saw stuffing and foam everywhere!   It was a good thing my landlord was very understanding.  My landlord was my brother.  I did have to pay for the repairs, but luckily, I didn’t get kicked out of the apartment.  I never knew what I was going to find when I walked in the door after a long day of teaching.  I will never forget the day I came home to shiny pieces of pastel foil all over the floor.  I panicked when I realized that she had gotten into the Easter candy.  I immediately called the veterinarian to find out if or when I should be worried because my 20 pound miniature schnauzer had just eaten 18 bite-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter cups—yes, I counted.  The vet said not to worry even though Sophie was breathing heavy and panting and her heart was racing.  I waited it out and once she had calmed down and was back to her normal fiesty self, I could laugh at the fact that not only did she eat all 18 of those chocolates, but then throughout the next several days, my yard started filling up with shiny, shimmery colorful bits in the piles of poop (from the foil wrappers if you didn’t figure that out).  It was quite lovely.  J

~Isn’t that how life is sometimes?  Sometimes in the midst of all of the crap we are going through, there will be tiny bits of glimmering hope!  There will be small moments of beauty or tidbits of laughter.  There will be small pieces of happiness or brief glimpses of joy.  The hope, beauty, laughter, happiness and joy all are coming from God.  The bible tells us in James 1:17 “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.”  This week, I pray that you will be overwhelmed by the goodness of God no matter what you’re going through right now.  No matter how difficult something is; no matter how long you’ve been struggling; no matter how hopeless, joyless, pointless, or confusing something is; no matter how much satan wants to lie to you to keep you down,  I pray that you will feel God’s love and know that God is good…all the time…period.  God is shining through in the midst of all the crap to show you that it’s never hopeless.  Praise God!  Thank you for always being good.  Please help us all to believe it!