Pieces of Sand

I love the time that I spend at the beach.
I especially enjoy walking barefoot and allowing the tiny pieces of rock (sand) to buff the rough edges of my feet. They work in tandem to accomplish a smoothing of my rough edges. It was not their designed purpose to do that caring act for me, but I was placed in their path and because of who they are they ‘rubbed off’ on me. Their breaking down into small pieces of rock from originally being large pieces of rock and possibly ledge cliffs and before that great mountains did not really matter to my feet at the point that we met. But their brokenness blessed me as the water also did not cease its function and purpose to go in and out with the tide and pull of the moon’s gravity effecting the continued act of the sand being broken, continually broken by the water and encountering other broken pieces of rock.
I find that my mind takes me to my friends and really all of us on earth. We all are ‘broken’ in some form. Oh some of us are extremely successful in the world’s eyes or even in the church’s eyes, but we still all have places that we wish we could magically ‘fix’ or memories that we wish we did not have. Most of the time theses broken places are tucked away and slowly fixed with time. At other times though they scream at us and say, “You need to stop pretending and deal with me now!” I loosely paraphrase our inner talk here (smile).
Then, there are those wonderfully confirming times when the gentle inner talk of our mind, meets what the Pastor preaches about on Sunday, which matched the latest book that we have been reading, which also just happens to match what our loved ones have been speaking into our lives – all at the same time. It is then that we need to really stop and listen, pause, slow down, take time, adjust our schedules and give some time to the creator of our souls and listen. For it is then that the little pieces of sand that brush up against us each time the tide flows in and out of our life.

These are the times that ‘doing good’ or being faithful not just doing all of the tasks of each day, but also the doing good part of maintaining loving relationships with those that care about our souls.

Galatians 6:9 NIV
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up

Stacey Britton

Teddy & Ruth

I often joke about our dog, how she is totally spoiled and untrained, but actually she is one of the most loving pets I have ever owned. For someone that has owned many pets, this actually a high compliment, and not earned very easily. Case in point:
I recently returned from a weekend away in which there was a small teddy bear left in my room for a small fee. It just so happened that particular evening I really needed a teddy bear to cuddle and cry many tears upon. The following day, I did the same, the poor teddy, was a bit damp as I tucked him away in my luggage.
When I returned home I unpacked said Teddy, I placed him amongst my collection in front of the fire place and beside our TV. Eight or nine bears now were a part of the collection in that part of our home. I quickly forgot about that Teddy.
A few days later my husband came home and found the said bear held gently between our dog’s paws and she was carefully licking every place I had cried my tears. My husband did not know the significance of why the dog chose that particular bear over the several others she could have chosen from, so he was a bit unsure as to the significance since our dog had never chosen a bear to cuddle before.
A few days later my husband and I were discussing the new bear and he mentioned how he had found our dog tenderly cleaning every part of the small little bear.
I paused the conversation as I pondered why that bear might be different than all the other bears…then I knew why. She was washing away every tear that I had cried, I responded, “Oh, I know, I cried a bucket full of tears on that bear.”

A silent tear rolled down my face, as I remembered the scripture that talks about how at the end of all time our tears will be wiped away. I realized in a small way my dear dog had reminded me, that I was not alone in that room crying all those tears, that God had been there with me and…

There will come a time when there will be no more need for tears.
Revelation 21:4
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Stacey Britton