WHAT TIME IS IT?

Since I can't remember how to get on my blog anymore, I kinda got on it by default. Landon, my son sent me an update on his blog and I looked and I was on his favorite list so I clicked on it and I found my long lost blog. It would really help me if my friends would put me on their favorites list and occasionally email me so I can get on my blog.

I probably need to take a class or something to really learn the computer, but if I take a class it would probably be about how to get a black, terrier type dog to draw my bath and bring me dark chocolate M&Ms.

Since my last blog was in May, I decided to look back on my calendar to see if I'd had a good time this summer. Since May, I have gone to the grocery store 20 times, eaten at Chic-Fil-A 40 times, had the thermostat set on 68 degrees for 3 months and mostly pondered deep and heavy stuff about the universe.

What I came up with in my cosmos thinking is that "God is good and I ain't God."

Until next post,

Mama Chick

P.S. I typed this blog once and then I touched some key or something and I lost it all. My first blog was funnier.

IN MY OWN LITTLE CORNER—Occasional Devotional


When I was little, I loved singing the song from Cinderella (not the animated version) called, “In My Own Little Corner”. It went like this:

“In my own little corner in my own little chair, I can be whatever I want to be.”

Lately, I think I’ve been in my “own little corner” a bit too much. Last week, I flew to New Mexico to visit my sisters. I love flying because I get to see God’s landscape, the patchwork of his land. Going from East to West I see, the lush landscape of trees and green go to the barren land of desert.

Flying also helps me remember that God is so much bigger than my own little corner. While I try to have it all together here, I go to New Mexico and I realize that other people do things differently. For instance, I ate more Mexican food I one week than I will eat in North Augusta in a month. We ate quesadillas for breakfast (their version of cheese toast), tacos for lunch (their version of a sandwich) and enchiladas for supper (their version of hash and rice).

I noticed that most of the clothes were the colors of the earth. I stood out as an “outsider” the day I wore a bright red polka-dotted blouse. The inside of the houses were muted like the big sunsets. The lawns were not lush but either dirt or rocks.

At first, I felt a bit out of place like I had just landed from the Mother Ship of The South. But I realized that God’s world is big and his brush strokes of landscape have different looks. I saw God’s handiwork in the big, big blue sky, in the snow-capped mountains, in the mesa and bluffs.

I’m glad I got out of my “own little corner” to see more of Him. This seems to coincide with what TrueNorth is doing at the same time by going across the river to fish in a new pond of God’s people. I pray as we journey toward this venture that we can all see more of who God is.

Until next time,
Mama Chick

It's time for a new update on Mattie, the Wonder Dog. If you think...what else could the woman say about her dog..

Ok. so my kids are married, my job is contract work and I have some dead time...

This is what creative women do when there's time on their hands. We either become the "cat lady" with 18 cats and let our house run down and then the neighbors call into the authorities and they come snatch the felines and condemn the property OR we have a cute little doggie and we dress them up and make them into our furry little friends. The latter are probably the kids who had an imaginary friend names Winkie. Let's just say, hypothetically, that I'm the dog kind of woman.

Lance came home last week and yelled, "I've got a surprise for you". I know many women might be thinking jewelry, but I know Lance all too well. Lance is practical so I thought maybe some new roach spray or some kind of mosquito eating machine that he got off the Internet. But this time, he really came home with something good, really good. he bought me a car seat for Mattie. I was elated.

We hooked it up and I taught Mattie how to climb in it. I hooked her to the clip to hold her stable and we went for a ride. We rolled down Mattie's window and she hung her stretched her head out the window as far as she could confined by the clip on her collar. She was one happy dog!

After taking doggie car rides for this week, I'm thinking that we'd look really good in a blue pick-up truck like my grandpa's. I'd look quite eccentric driving in my pick 'em up with my pooch hanging out. Maybe, I'll get a gun rack...maybe I'll spend my day drivin' in the country with my dog...or maybe I'll just dress Mattie up in her pink jeweled dress and take her for ice cream at Brewster's.

Until next post,

Mama Chick

Yesterday, February 24th was my 12th anniversary of having my bone marrow transplant for leukemia. I'm always very grateful to be alive.

until next post,

Mama Chick

Is Mattie a Country Dog or a City Dog?

Sunday in Gene's sermon, one of the illustrations he gave was... are we more like a city dog that has to be leased so it won't run off at any moment, obedient only because it has to be OR are we like the country dog who can run over acres and acres but tends to sit and wait on its master right by the front door?

First of all, if I knew there'd be dog analogies every week, I'd probably listen more intently. Next, I know this analogy is supposed to be about my own spiritual life, but , with that said, I want to talk about Mattie.

I was convinced that Mattie, though a terrier, was a country dog since she follows me everywhere. And actually, I believe she was until Gene said those words out loud. For the last two days she has tried to escape. This is the dog that I could leave the door open and she'd patiently wait by the door for me. Not now!

On Monday, I went over to McKenna's house and of course Mattie rode with me. When it was time to get back into the car, she followed McKenna's dog, Allie, (a true country dog) outside. Allie took off after some birds, Mattie took off after Allie who was after some birds. And with that taste of freedom, Mattie began to explore the woods by McKenna's house. I was the wacky master yelling, "Get back here and be a country dog!" She, with her nose to the ground, took off in a zig-zag direction. Finally, I caught her by her hind legs.

Then this morning after some errands, I opened the garage door. The door to the house was open inside. Ususally, that's where Mattie sits and waits for me, but not today. She darted out of the garage and I, once again had to yell and scurry and grab and yank to get her back.

So, why the sudden change, is she an oppressed city dog looking for an escape route? Is she entering menopause and doesn't care what I think? Does she has restless leg syndrome and is trying to "work her legs out"?

All this makes me wonder how I am with God. Do I wander in my quest? Does God speak to me and I keep going? Do I have my "nose down" and in my own interests?

All I know is that God speaks to us so we can hear and I seem to hear when I get my "doggie devotionals" from Him.

But, Gene, please let me know if you plan to use any analogies about dogs chasing garbage trucks. I'm afraid to find out what that devotional may bring.

Until next post,

Mama Chick

Feb. 13, 2007

I'm Dreaming of a Red Valentine's Day!

I went to the TNC office today and some people there, ie. Gene, Kevin, Chuck, Laura O. told me it was time to update my blog. Hey, maybe I'm still dreaming of a white Christmas.

Anyway, we just finished our "Chicks Gone Wild" weekend at the Marriott. What a great time! Friday night, in our hobby tables, the chicks had items like a toilet paper tube, glue, magazines, tape, construction paper, and other odd objects and they had 30 minutes to come up with a centerpiece about their hobbies with these items. Let me just say, our chicks are very imaginative!

Lisa Harper, our speaker was fantastic. She taught us that God uses many goobers to get his word out; so some of the Biblical characters that we may think are pristine were actually "characters" with something questionable in their past, but God later called them the ones he loved. Now that gave us hope because we all have some "gooberness" in us.

Jill Phillips and her husband Andy then led us in worship. Once again, they reminded us that "Nobody Has It All Together", which by the way, is their cd title. The did tell us that this retreat was a first...the first time they had ever sung in front of a thong! (Hey, we said, we were going wild!)

At the end, Lisa asked us what we wanted to be when we were 6 years old and then what we wanted to be at 25. She then asked us to bow our heads and raise our hand if we are struggling with what God wants us still to be. And then the most precious of all, was that she asked Andy, Lance and Chuck to come by the women and pray over them. It was a powerful moment.

The message was...God still wants us to be what he's called us to be. We can go forth in assurance like Deborah in the Old Testament. Women, during Biblical times, were considered property, the same level as owning livestock. But God asked Deborah to lead an army. What then is he asking us to do? If it is to lead, then he'll provide the followers, if it is to tutor a child or work at a bank, or use our hobby, he'll lead the people to us that he wants us to talk to. It's not that hard...we follow him and he provides us the desires of our heart.

The desires of our heart...now that's a good Valentine's present!

Until next time,

Mama Chick

Mama Chick is still clucking, crowing, or whatever Chicks do. I feel sorry for her that she is going the way of Chuck, so LJ Chick is posting. Make sure you ask Mama Chick what the acronym CHICKS means.