Tag: newspaper

I used to believe in coincidences.
But that was before I met Ann Tubbs.
Many people would say Ann’s life is full of coincidences – she believes differently and I can see why.
“Too many things have happened in my life for it to simply be a series of coincidences,” Ann said.
You see, Ann’s a chef by trade, but nearly five years ago she was forced to look at other possibilities when she was laid off.
“I sat at home confused as to what direction I should head,” Ann said. Not only had Ann been laid off, but her husband LaRon was also seeing a cut in hours as well. “After two weeks of feeling down for myself, I was sitting in front of my sewing machine and then I heard a voice as clear as daylight telling me ‘This is what you’re going to do.’ The voice was so clear I had to double check the house and make sure all the doors were still locked.”
Thinking she knew more than God, Ann saw this as a declaration that she was to open her own sewing business.
“I’ve always enjoyed sewing and making clothes and thought this would be a great opportunity to open my own store in Salado.”
But for the next year it didn’t matter what Ann tried, her business was not taking off as she had hoped. Without a designer label, the dresses didn’t sell.
She tried various avenues for selling her dresses, but the sales weren’t coming.
“I kept getting knocked down over and over again,” Ann said. “But even during that time, I kept taking the best dresses to local shelters. When I dropped them off, I’d say to myself, ‘Oh great — now look what you’ve done. You gave away all your best dresses and now you don’t have any money for fabric, food or anything else.’”
Ann kept saving her money and buying material for new dresses all the while, imaging little girls playing and enjoying her dresses.
“I felt like I could easily sell these dresses for $70 to $100 anywhere,” Ann said. “But I continued to have an overwhelming peace and joy when I donated the clothes to the local shelters.”
Amazingly, as Ann continued to bring 20 to 30 dresses each time to the shelter she would be told that the dress sizes were exactly what the shelter needed.
“I remember vividly one occasion where I decided to create three identical dresses to take to the shelter,” Ann said. “I always made each dress unique, but I just had an urge to make three identical dresses. When I took the dresses to the shelter, they were amazed saying they had just received a request from a set of triplets in those sizes.”
Time after time Ann kept seeing these unique coincidences and continued to offer her dresses to the local shelters as well as groups taking mission trips to Mexico and Columbia. But as time wore on, so did the strain of no income.
So three years ago, Ann went back to work at Deli on the Square.
“I was working at the deli but whenever people asked what I did, I kept saying I have a dress and clothing ministry for children,” Ann said. “But working full-time limited what I could design drastically. I went from making 80 dresses a month to only 20.”
Then after almost four years of work, Ann was simply worn out.
“I was so tired,” Ann recalls.
She took nearly 150 patterns she had used over the last four years and dumped them all.
“I was frustrated and tired,” Ann said. “I had drawn nearly 99-percent of my patterns and I threw them all away. I thought, now I can focus on a regular job, with a regular salary and stop worrying about where the money comes from.”
Yet while Ann thought she had ended her ministry, through several more coincidences she realized this was only a beginning.
“I threw all my patterns away over the weekend,” Ann said. “And when I came to work Monday I was in the worst mood. I didn’t know why. I didn’t want to talk or deal with anyone. Then it hit me on my way home — I had thrown away a four-year long passion and ministry.”
When Ann arrived home, to her amazement, the trash had not been picked up all day. She immediately jumped in the dumpster and began salvaging her patterns.
“It took some time, but I was able to find and repair each and every pattern.”
Since that day, Ann’s passion has been revitalized.
A letter from Columbia assured her again that she was doing the right thing.
“I’ve always strived to make my dresses durable so they could be washed and dry-cleaned without a problem, but I never imagined I was making them so substantial so that young girls at an orphanage in Columbia could wear their dresses and wash them in the river without them falling apart. The letter was like God was saying, ‘Good job, way to go.”
After Ann’s recommitment to her ministry she has come to a crossroads.
“God is asking me to step out of the boat and I’m horrified because I can’t swim,” Ann said. “I can’t clothe the world but I believe I can make a dent in Bell County.”
Her new recommitment also brought her in touch with new sources of funding and help.
After sharing her story with one or two Kiwanis, after their Tuesday morning meeting at the deli, Ann received several large financial donations as well as tags for her dresses and new business cards.
“It was amazing what God was doing,” Ann said. “I’m terrible at asking for help, but JoAnn Flowers and Pearl Fellingham continued to tell me, ‘Just tell your story and you won’t have to ask.’”
And now Lawyer George Dulany has donated his time to help Ann earn 501(c)3 status and has set up a charter and by laws for her ministry.
Then as a way of affirming everything, God assured Ann that He was in charge and she had no need to worry.
“One afternoon I was working in the deli just feeling worn and tired when a young girl looked and smiled at me as big as possible,” Ann said. “Her smile melted away all my troubles. I told her mother about my ministry and asked her if she would permit to make a dress for this precious girl.”
After exchanging phone numbers Ann designed a dress for Sara.
Ann had no clue who this family was but she wanted to give back a token of gratitude.
After exchanging the dress, Ann told her new friend about her ministry and as well as stories about her husband’s talent as a musician and producer.
As it turns out, Ann’s new friend had an interest in music as well.
Her husband, a doctor at Scott & White also had a music ministry and had recorded several CD’s that he gave to his patients for free.
After seeing the beautiful dress Ann made for his daughter, Dr. Steven Vold insisted on meeting the person who would make “such lovely dresses for someone they didn’t know.”
The Dr. Steven and Ann Vold invited Ann and LaRon to dinner where it was discovered that Dr. Vold was a glaucoma specialist for Scott & White.
After years of blindness in one eye, LaRon had begun to come to grips with the fact that he was also loosing sight in his other eye.
Upon learning this, Dr. Vold insisted that he could not allow LaRon to go blind.
Dr. Vold plans to re-evaluate LaRon’s case to see if there is something that can be done.
LaRon has also in-turn begun working with Dr. Vold on writing and producing new music at his home studio.
“All this happened through a baby’s smile.”
So Ann continues on designing and sewing outfits for children she may never meet and continues trusting in God’s faithfulness and ability to provide.
And you can say what you will about coincidences and fate, but as for Ann and I we believe in an easier solution – someone else is in full control.
For more information on Ann’s ministry, Threads of Hope, call (254) 947-5498.

“I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.” – Matthew 25:26

Since working at The Belton Journal, I’ve noticed something that I don’t recall ever seeing to quite the extreme before.
Maybe it’s happened before and I simply have not been keen enough to realize it, but in Bell County and Belton we have seen a number of elections turned around (or attempted to) thanks to petitions and other means.
If one side is unhappy with the election we simply rally behind a petition to overturn the decision — or we change things up and hold another election.
We’ve also seen a very disappointing turn-out at the polls, so apparently people continue to remain apathetic towards area issues.
So, with several elections coming up, I began to think of ways we could decide key issues without wasting our time or tax payers money. So here are my top-ten election alternatives.
10. Royal Rumble – Each side is allowed 15 contestants with a new contestant entering the wrestling ring every two minutes. Each contestant stays in the ring until they are thrown over the ropes by an opponent. The last man standing wins.
Advantage – Former Belton Journal Sports Editor Chris Allman. Although I’m not sure which side he would take on our current issues, but he’s probably the only one with any real “in the ring experience.”
9. Paper, rock scissors – A classic game used to pick sides, home team, who has to walk the dog or any other numerous decisions that are made around the world each day.
Advantage – Marion Grayson. She’s a package broker by nature, so she knows all about paper and scissors. And who knows, she may have packaged up some rocks before too.
8. Stare down – First person to blink, smile or twitch looses.
Advantage – Carrol Wallace and Corbett Finney. They’ve been standing fast and strong on lower taxes in Belton for as long as I’ve known them. I can’t see them budging at this game either.
7. Curling (County courts complex) – This is such an unusual (but cool) Olympic sport of sending a 42-pound rock down a lane towards a small target. And what other sport lets you use a broom to win?
Advantage – I don’t know that there would be a clear cut advantage in this game. With every issue people are skilled at sweeping damaging facts under the carpet, so it might just be a question of who get it done faster.
6. Quake Tournament – Why not give each side a chance to shoot and kill their opponent in a virtual computer game? Winner takes all.
Advantage – David Leigh. With his engineering degree from the University of Texas and his experience with technology and computers, he would be a sure fire win.
5. Dodge ball – This game always proved and decided who the real bullies on the block were.
Advantage – I think we all have our own opinions of who the biggest bully on the block is, but I’m going to give the advantage to the side with the most players. It’s a simple mathematical equation, whoever has the most players on the team usually wins.
4. Demolition derby – This one should really attract the general public with the car crunching sounds of cars piling up everywhere.
Advantage – Dwayne Digby. As a car salesman he should have no problem getting the biggest, baddest, toughest diesel truck possible. He’ll be able to crunch the competition to shreds.
3. Slam dunk contest – Every one is given a shot to wow the crowd with their style and grace.
Advantage – John Galligan. With his experience as a Judge Advocate General, Galligan knows how to wow a jury and crowd with is style and finesse, in and out of the courtroom. I’m sure he can do the same on a basketball court as well.
2. Slip and slide – First one down the slippery mat wins.
Advantage – Me. At 6’5” I have a definite height advantage. I can outstretch even the best of them. Also, I’ll be willing to shave my head again to cut- down on any drag created by extra weight around my waist line. Of course that means I decide everything for Belton and become supreme ruler.
1. Re-vote – Since no one is ever really happy with the outcome of elections in Belton, (and people will be ready to petition me out of office in a month) let’s just hold a new election every month for city council, commissioners court, school board and any other pressing issues. How about best three out of five wins?
My name is Jonathan Blundell and I have approved this column.

Last November I told you of a rare experience — my truck running out of gas.
Now I have to admit, this rare occurrence is becoming a little less rare after this past Sunday.
As I headed to church early Sunday morning, I noticed my truck was sitting well past the empty marker — again.
In my rush to church I decided against re-filling my gas tank to insure I had plenty of time to set up for our sunrise service.
And unfortunately, gas tanks don’t re-fill on their own.
So when I didn’t stop to get gas on the way home, I couldn’t complain too much when my truck coasted to a dead stop between Midway and 6th Ave on I-35.
And like last time, I had plenty of time to reflect on my current situation while I waited for help to arrive.
It struck me as I sat, that in both instances, it wasn’t really a lack of time or a lack of money that led my truck to running out of gas. The real issue at hand was greed.
In both instances my boss had promised to give me a free tank of gas for helping him with a few side projects.
And in both instances, I decided to wait and run my truck empty, rather than risk loosing the chance to get a few extra gallons of gas for free.
Those few extra gallons I could have bought to get me through the weekend cost me a lot more time and effort than they ever would have if I hadn’t let greed take over.
It’s sad when I think of how often each of us get caught up with greed.
Sometimes its greed for a few extra gallons of gas, sometimes its greed for time alone or time with someone else and sometimes its greed for power, money, wealth or fame.
Whatever the greed is based on, it’s never really worth it.
Take Tolkien’s story, “The Lord of the Rings” as an example.
Throughout Tolkin’s book and the recent blockbuster movie trilogy, everyone must face their own issues with greed and their desire for the power that comes with The Ring.
For some it leads to murder, for some it leads to a life of addiction, and for others it leads to worry and pain and suffering but in the end everyone must face their own issues or they will be overcome by them.
In life we all face similar temptations.
The chance for more money, more power, more fame or more gas in your gas tank can easily ruin you.
The desire for more can bring your truck from a blazing 75 miles per hour to a complete stop alongside I-35.
The desire for more can ruin your reputation, your career and many times relationships with friends and family.
In Matthew 19, we can read the story of a rich young man.
The man comes to Jesus asking what he must do to be saved.
He tells Jesus he has followed the commandments and asks, “What now?”
“If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied. “Go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”
That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.
As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.”
The rich young man let greed stand in the way of entering the kingdom of heaven.
We can look back and judge him or we can learn from the lesson and realize that we do the same thing everyday.
Not only am I greedy with my gas, but I’m also greedy with so many other things as well, including my time.
Like many other things, my time is my time and I want full control of it.
I don’t want someone else trying to tell me how I can or can’t spend my free time.
I’m also constantly having to remind myself to give my daily “tithe” of time back to God.
Like I mentioned last week, He desires to spend time with us. He doesn’t want to simply be a light switch we turn on and off in our time of need.
He wants to be first and foremost in our lives and I know He deserves that and so much more.
So let’s remember to give generously of our gifts, money, time, power and love not only to God but too each other as well.
And let greed be a thing of the past.

“A greedy and grasping person destroys community; those who refuse to exploit live and let live.” – Proverbs 15:27.

This Sunday people all around the country and around the world will flock to their local churches.
Some will be members, some will be visitors, some will simply be curious about this man they call Jesus Christ.
It’s not a new phenomenon.
People always have a tendency to flock to church on Easter and Christmas Sundays.
But why? Why do these two days deserve recognition over others?
Yes, I know the history.
I’m not doubting the importance of Christ’s birth and Christ’s resurrection.
After all, without these two crucial events, my entire faith would be void.
So, the events they celebrate are very important. But what about next Sunday, or the Sunday after that?
Why do they not deserve the extra time and effort it takes to wake up and get dressed on Sunday mornings?
Is it because we know on Easter and Christmas the pastor’s message will be a little more fine tuned?
Is it because we know the choir and musicians will have practiced a little more during the week for the big service?
Or is it because we’ve turned God and our worship of God into something it shouldn’t be?
Like usual, I’ll go with the later suggestion.
Now I’m not just purposely stepping on the toes of those who only attend church once or twice a year, or even once a month.
I’ve need to remove the plank in my eye before I even attempt to remove the speck in yours.
I’ve managed to turn God into a light switch that I can turn on and off whenever I want.
Finances getting tight? Turn on the supernatural God switch and watch miracles work.
Family member sick? Turn on the miraculous God switch and watch people healed of their disease.
Want to watch the latest movie that everyone’s talking about? Turn off the amazing God switch and watch my conscious disappear.
Want to flip off that driver that just cut you off? Turn off the forgiving God switch and swear away.
It sometimes becomes habitual. Turn the God switch on and Sundays and turn it off as soon as you walk out the doors.
After all, growing up, my dad always taught me to save electricity and turn off the lights whenever I walked out of a room.
I don’t want to wear God out and force Him to work overtime, so I’ll just give Him Monday through Saturday off.
He can make everyone else feel guilty when they mess up.
So we turn off the God switch and forget about Him.
But I’m glad that just like a light switch, He still remains ready to provide His power when we ask.
He was ready and waiting before we even knew of Him and His power.
The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1, “Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, His blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people–free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans He took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.”
Does that not excite you?
God provided everything we could possibly need and then let us in on His plans.
But we’d still rather ignore all of that so we can have freedom to do what we want without a guilty conscious.
I have several friends, who because of our busy schedules, it’s difficult to get together and hang out. Yet when they call I can almost guarantee one thing – they want probably want something.
Probably like my parents could almost guarantee I wanted something whenever I would do extra chores or start being extra nice to them and my sisters.
It’s not that I mind helping my friends, after all that’s what friends are for, but their friendship means so much more when they call just to see how I’m doing or call to grab a coffee, see a baseball game or call to go enjoy a triple scoop Rocky Road ice cream cone.
And I think that God feels the same.
Paul continues in chapter two, “It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.”
Don’t let the world tell you how to live. We’ve all done it, but that doesn’t make it OK.
Don’t let them convince you to turn your light switch off.
In fact, during this Easter season, lets all remove that switch and hard-wire our connection to God and make sure that nothing else gets in and shorts the most important circuit of all.

When I attended college at The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, there was one man that you always wanted to stay on good terms with.
Now granted, there were a number of people like that.
You always wanted to have a good relationship with your professors, Dr. Bradley, Dr. Loutherback and of course the president himself, Dr. Bawcom.
But one man always stood out.
This man not only enforced the law set by the previously mentioned, wonderful, fabulous administration, but was also the man who had the power to dismiss those annoying parking tickets.
This man was also in charge of those annoying police officers whose only mission in life is to keep students from having fun.
OK, so maybe that’s not really their goal.
But when you’re a crazy college student who wants to pull a prank, like hanging a Chet Edwards, D-Waco, sign upside down on Heard Hall, or filling Richard Muskee’s car with confetti and old smelly cat food, the campus “po-po” were no fun.
And UMHB Police Chief Gary Sargent was the man in charge..
His authority made students shake in their boots.
But fast forward almost a year and your opinion of a man can easily change.
Don’t tell this to any UMHB students, but even with 17 years on the police force at Baylor University and six years with the UMHB force, Gary isn’t as tough as you may assume.
He has a real heart of gold.
After moving one of his daughters to Alabama and marrying off his youngest daughter last year, Gary and his wife Dianna, a nurse at Sparta Elementary looked at their empty nest and began to make plans to enjoy the rest of their lives.
“After we moved my youngest daughter to Houston, I knew what I was going to do for Spring Break this year,” Gary said. “I began making plans to head to Disney World.”
While Gary was looking forward to a relaxing spring break in Florida, he began to get a different tug on his heart.
Not knowing where this tugging was leading, he began to consider seminary and he and Dianna enrolled in a Christian Leadership course at UMHB.
Then in February, Sargent found his passion.
“I was scrolling through the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) website looking at various opportunities and I finally came across an article for Mission Corp Volunteers and their work in Harlan County, Ky.,” Gary said. “I saw the story of a pastor who had given up a six-figure income to return to Lynch, Ky. and work in one of the poorest cities in the state, with no guarantee of a salary. That’s when God began to lay the people of Lynch on my heart.”
Lynch was once one of the wealthiest cities in Kentucky until the coal mines closed down and left the town broke and busted. Today Lynch is one of the poorest cities in Kentucky.
Harlan County is one of the most severely distraught counties in Kentucky. 13,000 of the county’s 36,000 live in poverty. Unemployment and poverty rates are 150 percent more than the U.S. average. In the 50 county area of the Appalachian ministry, 51,097 households have an annual income of less than $10,000 with 48-percent of those incomes less than $5,000 a year. 16,691 housing units have no water source; 25,885 households do not have vehicles; and 26,116 can’t afford a telephone. The absence of transportation and the physical isolation create serious accessibility problems for health care and emergency situations. The fight for survival has left many exhausted, bitter, and hopeless.
With a new direction, Gary and Dianna began 10-8 Ministries.
The ministry takes its name from code used by police departments across the county.
10-8 simply tells dispatch that the officer is in service and ready for further directions.
“We’re still learning about God’s direction each day,” Gary said. “But above all, we want to tell God, ‘We’re in service waiting for further directions.’”
After contacting the missionaries serving in Lynch, Gary and Dianna knew their plans for Spring Break were to be changed and they began planning a needs assessment trip.
And last week, with the donations from Immanuel Baptist Church in Temple, Academy First Baptist and UMHB, Gary and Dianna packed up their Explorer and a trailer full of food and headed to Lynch.
“I was worried we wouldn’t be able to fill our Explorer,” Gary said. “But we had over 1,800 pounds of food.”
The Sargents were also able to provide a bullet-proof vest for the town’s chief of police as well as a check for $1,000 from the donations.
“In Lynch and Harlan County you see pure hopelessness,” Gary said. “But with a little ray of hope you see amazing rays of change.”
God also laid a vision on his heart for the community of Lynch.
On Feb. 2, Gary wrote in his journal that he felt God calling him to raise $100,000 to help with community revitalization.
Not only was Gary to raise $100,000, but he felt God instructing him to raise it $10 at a time.
“The idea of raising $100,000 didn’t seem like a simple task,” Gary said. “And the idea of raising it $10 at a time was an even larger task. But I believe this is God’s way of proving that He’s in control and I can trust Him wherever He leads.”
Other visions that the Sargents have laid on their hearts, is to purchase a house for missionaries working in the area. They also hope to be able to provide computer equipment for the local teen center along with software to help with literacy and computer training.
Gary said he won’t take anymore than $10 from any one person.
“It’s a huge task, but God will provide,” Gary said. “If people choose to donate more it will go towards the purchase of the house, food or other needs. Otherwise the $10 will go directly to the $100,000 goal for community revitalization.”
Gary and Dianna are planning another trip to the area this summer and hope to bring another load of food and computers with them.
While the Appalachian people are heavy on their hearts, Gary doesn’t believe 10-8 Ministries will move them to the Kentucky Mountains.
He believes the ministry will help raise funds and awareness for other ministries around the country, like the Mission Corp Volunteers. He says he hopes to duplicate the plan and results in other areas around the county like the Texas Rio Grande Valley.
“As a police officer, one of my favorite sayings is ‘Ignorance of the law is no excuse,’” Gary said. “God told me, ‘Ignorance of the situation in Harlan County is no excuse. Do something!’”
And now you know too.
Donations to 10-8 Ministries can be brought to the UMHB Police Dept. or mailed to 10-8 Ministries, P.O. Box 1755, Belton, TX 76513.
For more information on Gary’s ministry visit:
www.10-8ministries.org.

In the 22nd chapter of the book of Numbers, there is an interesting story of God using a donkey to speak to Baalam.
Sometimes it takes those odd situations to really wake us up to what God wants to tell us.
A few weeks ago I told you of the theological lesson I learned from George Carlin (Isn’t it just stuff?). I thought that was a little weird, but then I learned a few more lessons this past week from the coolest pup in the world, Payton.
OK so maybe he isn’t really a puppy anymore. He might jump and run around like a hyper puppy, but his size doesn’t match up anymore.
Anyways, a week or so ago, I was out taking Payton – the Coolest Dog in the World, out for a walk around Belton.
Now Payton’s a well behaved dog when he wants to be, or when he knows he’s about to get a swat on the nose, but there’s other times where he just wants to run and do his own thing.
Unfortunately for me, this was one of those times.
With his harness on, I led him down Wall Street and 7th Street and Main Street and elsewhere.
Knowing he was harnessed and on a short leash, Payton – the Coolest Dog in the World, continued to do everything he could to break free from my grip. All he cared about was taking off after the latest smell that caught his attention.
I knew that if he got away something horrible could happen, especially as he tried to chase every car passing on Main Street.
It struck me then how similar Payton and I are.
Now I don’t necessarily think of myself on a short leash, but I do think of God walking beside me and guiding me every step of the way and yet I’m still ready to chase after anything that catches my fancy.
I want to chase the things of the world that can hurt and lead me down the wrong path, yet God holds on tight while He watches and guides me.
Another lesson I learned from Payton – the Coolest Dog in the World, came Friday night after I moved into my new house.
I had the crazy idea to start house- training Payton, now that I had a house of my own and didn’t have to worry about an upset landlord.
First off, bad idea.
Payton’s too big and too hyper to be a house dog.
And as I mentioned before, he loves to run and chase after anything that catches his fancy, so the moment the front door was open, out he went.
No rules or boundaries for this dog.
He was gonna have fun scouting out the new neighborhood.
As much as I wanted to chase him down in the sprinkling rain, I chose not to.
I decided to let him venture out on his own and let him find his way home.
I left the front door open and went about my business.
About 20 minutes later, after he apparently took a swim in Nolan Creek, Payton – the Coolest Dog in the World, came walking back in the front door like nothing had happened.
And I just loved on him and dried him off before telling him to stay off the furniture.
It reminded of another Biblical story, the story of the prodigal son.
Jesus tells the parable of a rich man with two sons.
Two sons he loved dearly and planned to give his entire inheritance to.
One day the younger son came to his father and asked for his estate.
I’m sure the father wanted to hold on to his son with a very short leash and keep him from harm, but he divided up the inheritance and sent the youngest son on his way.
The son lived life as he pleased, chasing after everything that caught his eye.
Before long, he ended up living with and feeding a farmer’s pigs and wanted to go home.
So he returned home seeking his father’s forgiveness, hoping he could find better work by working for his father.
But to his surprise, his father didn’t scold him or belittle him. He welcomed him with arms wide open.
I’m sure glad Jesus told that story and I’m glad Payton reminded me of it.
No matter what I do and no matter how far I stray from God’s hand, His arms and His door is always open.
He doesn’t make me clean myself up. He does that for me. All I have to do is come home and let the Master of the House clean off the dirt and filth I’ve collected along the way.