All posts by Beth R

A Note from Hope

Fat Boy : A Note from Hope

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fatty.jpg

Before Scout came to live with us, she lived with Jennifer and Daniel and their dogs, Fat Boy, Petey, Deedee and Monkey and the other puppies.

Well, yesterday Jenn and Daniel came by to see us, and they brought Fat Boy and Monkey, who used to be Scout’s mom and dad before. (That really doesn’t make sense to me, but maybe you understand.)

They all came in the house at once- and Scout was so happy to see them! She was jumping and playing and kissing them. But I was not happy at all. I was afraid that Fat Boy was going to try to eat me- he is BIG. He kept trying to smell of me or lick me, but I said absolutely not. I hid behind Mom, or behind Daniel and wouldn’t even look at them.  But Scout just kept playing with them. She was even trying to clean Fat Boy’s teeth by licking in his mouth! That scared me too, because I thought he might bite her head off. Thank goodness he didn’t.

Daniel kept talking to me and letting me know it was going to be OK. I finally got down and sniffed Monkey and let her sniff me. Fat Boy kept trying to talk to me, and I finally let him smell of me one time.  Mom even gave everybody a peanut butter cookie, and Fat Boy let Monkey have his…

Mom says Fat Boy is a good boy – she says he used to come to our house and eat fried okra with her (that was back before me, I guess).   She says he’s going to have to come back and see us again- she says she doesn’t want me to be afraid of him, or any good dog.

I’ll try.

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“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3

A Note from Hope, Uncategorized

Scout’s Tail: A Note from Hope

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scout-tail

This is Scout’s tail…. I know it looks like every other dog’s tail, but it’s not! It’s special, just like she is. You might not be able to tell by the picture, but her tail is black at the end – it looks like someone dipped her tail in ink.

She is very smart- I’m teaching her how to chase and play with the kittens, and how to get under the truck when you don’t want Mom to catch you.  I’m also teaching her how to jump on the sofa so we can take our naps; it’s so much more comfortable than the floor. The most important thing I’m teaching her, though, is that Jesus loves everybody, even little dogs like us.  I love Him too, so I want to do what He wants me to.

Mom says she is very proud of us, and she calls us her Thunder Girls –  she says some of Jesus’ friends were called “Sons of Thunder” because of their fiery tempers; she says we’re going to work for Jesus too, but we’re going to temper our “thunder” with love and grace.

Mark 3:13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

A Note from Hope

I’m a Big Sister! A Note from Hope

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This is my new baby sister, Scout. She’s not very big right now, so I’m teaching her lots of stuff.  Mom says I can’t call her my little sister, because she’s going to grow until she’s bigger than me. Mom says she’s a “pibble “. At least I think that’s what she said- I was busy smelling of her and making sure it was OK for her to come in the house.

Mom says I’m part “pibble” too.  She says the part that isn’t pibble is terror. (She laughs when she says that – I don’t know why).

This was our first nap together; we played hard until we got tired. She likes chewing on my lip and I like grabbing her tail or leg. She lays on her back and bites my belly and then I try to  lay on top of her but I had to stop because Mom says that’s not nice. So we just had to lay like this.

20160919_130240Scout sleeps in a big tote by the bed – she’s not grown up enough like me, to sleep up on the bed yet.  She’s just a baby.

Mom says I’m going to have to share my stuff with her. She likes laying on MY blanket, and chewing MY tennis ball, and trying to eat MY bottle and MY brush… but I showed her.  She can’t get up on the sofa yet, so I picked up my brush and walked around her so she could see it – then I jumped on the sofa so I could chew it and she couldn’t.

But when Mom had to get back to work, we went to the office to play. Scout got my tennis ball, and when I tried to take it away from her, we both tried pulling on it.

Mom says that Scout and I are both good dogs, and that we’ll take care of business.  She says we have to be a team and work together.  I don’t know what she means, but I think it means that we’re gonna have to love one another and watch out for each other.

20160921_080551How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? Deut.  32:30

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A Note from Hope

Kitten Update! A Note from Hope

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Mom and I are so excited! The kittens have been eating and growing and playing, and now they are big enough to go to their very own new homes.

In fact, one of the reasons we’re so excited is that two of them, Molly and Rusty, have already moved out.  They’re going to be carriage house kitties. Our friends who have Camellia House Bed & Breakfast right here in the county adopted them and they’ve got their own great big area to play in and a beautiful yard to explore. I know they’re going to have a great life with the other beautiful kitties who live there.

Now we just need to find 4 more families who need two cute little kittens of their own… got any ideas?

A Note from Hope

The Parable of the Sower, A Bible Story – a Note from Hope

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Mom told me another story this week from the Bible.  This one was about DIRT!

You see, my mom knows I love to dig in the dirt, and I especially like it when I find things that smell good. Sometimes I find stuff like flower bulbs; Mom takes them away from me and puts them back down in the dirt.  Sometimes Mom says the stuff I find smells bad and she won’t let me play with it or eat it.

But this story about the dirt… well, Mom says Jesus liked to teach his friends by telling them parables, which means “teaching stories”. One of the stories he told was about a farmer who sowed some seed.

Some of the seeds fell on the path, and when the birds saw them, they came down and ate them. Some of the seeds fell on ground that had lots of rocks in it; when the seeds sprouted, they didn’t have room for their roots to grow; when the sun came out it made them die because they couldn’t get to any water. Some of the seeds fell in the thorns; since the thorns were already grown they blocked the sun from those seeds and drank up all the water before the seeds could  get to it, and the thorns just wrapped themselves around the new plants and they couldn’t survive. (mean old thorns!)

But some of the seeds fell onto good dirt; as the rains came, they drank it up; they pushed their roots down into the good dirt and held on when the wind blew; and when the sun came out shining hot on them, they drank up water that was deep underground. They were able to grow up to be big plants that produced lots of grain.

Mom says that the seeds in the story stand for God’s word.  Sometimes people hear His word, but they don’t really pay attention or try to hold on to it. Then satan comes along and takes it away from them by getting their minds on other things.  Sometimes a person hears the word, and they get excited when they realize it’s for them.  But they don’t put their roots down into God’s word and hold on when things get tough; maybe their feelings get hurt by someone and they decide they don’t want to go to church or be around Christians anymore.

Sometimes a person hears God’s word, but they start worrying about stuff, instead of trusting God to take care of everything. They worry so much that they choke out what they’ve learned about God; then they decide that God can’t be trusted and they give up on Him.

But some seed falls in the good dirt; that’s the folks who pay attention to what the Bible says, and trust God to take care of them. They keep studying and learning about God, even when things get tough. They don’t give up, because they remember that God doesn’t give up on them.

And those are the seeds that grow up to bear lots of fruit… that means they teach others about Jesus too, and bring more folks into God’s Kingdom.

I want to bear lots of good fruit for Jesus; I love Him and I know He loves me!

Here’s a color sheet about this story, if you like to color. (Mom won’t let me color because I try to eat the crayons.)

A Note from Hope

The Good Samaritan : A Note from Hope

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My mom loves to watch movies; one of her favorites is Forrest Gump. She likes that Forrest is very smart, even though most folks don’t realize how smart he really is.

Mom says one of the things he says that she likes is “I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.”

It’s good to know what love is, and it’s even better to have people (and puppies and kitties) to love you. But Mom and I were sad earlier this week –   Mom was crying about a puppy that someone threw out on the side of the road. l  guess that puppy didn’t have anyone to love him. Mom said the puppy had mange- I don’t know what that is, but it sounds pretty yucky.

But one of my mom’s friends found the puppy and stopped and picked it up. She took it the vet and got it some medicine; then she took it home. She  put it in a safe place and makes sure it has lots of fresh water and plenty of good food to eat.  She plays with the puppy every day and gives him a bath when he needs it, to help his skin get better.

Mom says her friend is a good Samaritan – I didn’t know what that was either, until Mom told me the story. It’s in the Bible in Luke 10:25-37.  You see, some guy was out walking on a trip, and some bad guys beat him up and robbed him, and then they just threw him in the ditch. Then some people came by, but when they saw him, they were afraid to help him, so they just pretended like they didn’t see him.

But this other guy comes by – a Samaritan- and he sees the hurt man. He stops and picks him up and takes him somewhere to get him some help. The Samaritan tells the people there to take good care of the man, and he pays for everything and says he’ll come back on his way home to make sure there isn’t any more money on the bill.

Isn’t that a great story? Jesus says that we’re supposed to help take care of others… that we’re supposed to show love to folks just like He loves folks.

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Mom said to make sure that I tell you the rest of the story of the Samaritan; I didn’t know this part, but the man who got hurt was a Jew… and Samaritans and Jews didn’t like either. In fact, Jews sometimes called Samaritans “dogs” (I guess some people think being a dog is a bad thing).  Even though the Samaritan knew that the hurt man was a Jew, he helped him anyway. I guess Jesus even wants us to love the folks that hate us.  I think I’m gonna have to go gnaw on my tennis ball and think about that a little.

Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. Luke 6:28

A Note from Hope

David; a Bible Story: a note from Hope

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Do you like hearing stories? I do! I especially like hearing Bible stories…. one of my favorites is about David.

David was just a little boy – in fact, he was the youngest in his family. Nobody probably paid him much attention, just because he was a little kid. But he took care of his family’s sheep. In fact, he killed a bear and a lion who were trying to hurt the sheep and lambs.

Then one day God told  the prophet * to visit David’s dad’s house. God told him that  was where the new king of Israel lived.  He looked over all of David’s big brothers.  They were big and strong, but every time the prophet looked at one of David’s brothers, God whispered in his ear, “Not this one.  Don’t look at how big and strong they are, or how handsome they are. I’m looking at their hearts.”

So he went down the line to the next one. Finally there were no more big brothers.

Then the prophet asked David’s dad, “Don’t you have any more sons?” His dad said, “Just little David, who is with the sheep.”

So the prophet said to call him to the house; as soon as David walked in, the prophet knew he was the one. So the prophet anointed David with oil and told him he would be the new king. Then he prayed over him and blessed him.

I like the story of David, because sometimes people think you have to be grown up to do things for God, but little kids can serve God too (and even little dogs!)

If you’d like to read more about David in the Bible, here’s part of the story.

Here’s a color page of David playing his harp.

*a prophet is someone  who listens to God when He speaks, and tells others what He said. The prophet who visited David was named Samuel.

A Note from Hope

The Kittens : A Note from Hope

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Mom and I are very sad this afternoon. While we were outside earlier, we saw an animal laying on the other side of the road. When Mom walked out to check, it was the mama cat.  She had been hit by a car.

I know that she was mean to me sometimes, but  it was because she was protecting her babies.

Mom says she’s going to do her best to take care of them- they’re eating wet kitten food already, and we’re also giving them plenty of  kitten milk that Ms. Leah told us how to make.

Please pray for the kittens, that they’ll keep growing up big and strong, and learn how to be good cats from  Fonda, Baby Girl, Chip and Crook.

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

Something to Think About...

Walking Through the Fire

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(notes from August 2010)

This morning, during my Bible study time, I read through the first and third chapters of Daniel. I’ve always loved the stories about Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego.

The third chapter starts off with King Nebuchadnezzar building a large golden image for everyone to worship. Anyone who doesn’t will be thrown into a fiery furnace.

In chapter 2, Daniel had interpreted the king’s dream to him, and the king had acknowledged that the God of Daniel was great and mighty; he had also put Daniel and the other three young men in places of power.

But the king builds this golden image, and commands everyone to worship it, and everyone does; everyone except the three Hebrew men. The other ‘wise men’ report them to the king. He gets very angry, but gives them another chance. They tell him they don’t even have to answer him, that they aren’t going to worship the golden image. The next words are so powerful, I want to quote them:

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. ” Daniel 3:17-18

Make sure you realize what that says: they know God is powerful enough to save them, but even if He doesn’t, they’re going to continue to serve Him, and not false gods.

The king has the fire built up seven times hotter than normal, and has the men tied up; they’re thrown into the fire by strong soldiers, but the fire is so hot, it kills the soldiers. The men who were tied up are now walking around in the fire, and another man is walking with them.

The king even asks his men how are four men in the fire, when they only threw in three. He realizes the extra man looks like the son of a god. He goes to the mouth of the furnace and tells the three men to come out; they have been kept safe – their clothes aren’t singed and they don’t even smell like smoke!

Once again, the king realizes that the God these men serve is the true God, and makes a new law that anyone who even speaks against God will be killed and their house destroyed.

For some reason, the part about their clothes not smelling like smoke is just as amazing to me as them not being burned; how many of you have ever cooked on a grill? You smell like smoke the rest of the day… smells seem to stick with us. I can remember a trip Randy and I took with Joey and Jennifer. We stopped for gas at a little convenience store. I went to take a potty break while Randy paid, and the kids stayed in the car. When we got back in, Joey immediately said, “did ya’ll get fried chicken?” When I asked him why, he said we both smelled like it. We were only in the store a few minutes, but the smell got into our clothes and hair immediately.

So God had his hands around those three young men so well that the smell couldn’t even get through. You know, He loves all of us just that much- enough to keep even the smell of smoke off of our clothes. Remember that, the next time you’re walking through the fire: whether it’s someone talking about you, or you’re having financial troubles, or your best friend has turned their back on you. All those things hurt, but God is with you all the way through it- and He’s powerful enough to keep you.

Something to Think About...

A Cloud the Size of a Man’s Hand

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Do you ever have those times when you feel like Someone is trying to tell you something?

I remember a sermon our pastor preached, where  he mentioned some scripture about a cloud the size of a man’s hand – this wasn’t part of his main scripture, but he just mentioned it in a side illustration. Then a couple of days later, I heard someone on a radio station mention the same phrase – “a cloud the size of a man’s hand”.

The next day, a friend on Facebook used that phrase as her status .
I may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but I know when Someone is trying to get my attention. So I opened my e-Sword* software and found the chapter: I Kings 18. I started at the first of the chapter and read it, making notes as I went.
The chapter begins with Elijah going to see Ahab after a drought had been going on for three years. Elijah sees that Ahab, who is the king of Israel, has allowed pagan practices in the country. Elijah challenges the 450 prophets of Baal; the prophets of Baal will offer a sacrifice to their god, and Elijah will offer a sacrifice to God.
Whichever god consumes his offering with fire will be the true God. Baal’s prophets cry out all day, but nothing happens. When Elijah prays to God, the fire consumes not only the sacrifice, but the wood and stones of the altar, the water in the trench, and even the dust around the altar.

 

Some of the lessons I got from this chapter: one person standing up for what’s right is always in the majority; be willing to do what God asks you, even if you’re doing it by yourself; and just one person alone can call people back to God.

There are also some negative things to learn: Ahab was the king, but he allowed a woman (Jezebel) to lead him away from what he knew was right. Because he wanted peace between his kingdom and a neighboring kingdom, he allowed ungodly behavior into his house and his country. It’s good to be peaceable with others, but not at the expense of doing what’s right.
Of course, there are lots of other things to learn from this chapter; check it out for yourself!
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*e-Sword is a wonderful Bible study program – the main program is free, and there are lots of Bible versions, as well as dictionaries, maps, images, commentaries and other tools available – some are free, while others are very reasonably priced.