A Message from Maddux

As you all know yesterday was a very hard day for our family. My heart, as I am sure all of yours as well, was breaking for Summer and Josh. I am a DOER(nice word for OC) - I wanted so much to be able to fix it, say something comforting, do something that would ease the pain. After work I decided to drive over to check on her and just to give her a hug. She was in bed resting and as I tried to find words to say or think of something to do I couldn't help but notice Maddux. He was right there on the bed with her. He just kept trying to get as close to her as he could. He didn't say a word... he just kept licking her tears away. So many times we as humans feel the need to say something we think will comfort, console or advise someone. We struggle to come up with words but sometimes there are no words.

All this week my devotionals have been about-Being still and meditating on God's Word. A couple of weeks ago I got a book by Beth Moore entitled Be Still and Know that I am God. In it it talks about Lectio Divina which is Latin for "divine reading". It sounded a little deep for me at first but it has really been good for me. It has a short devotional/thought provoking passage and then you have a passage from the Bible to read aloud four times, pausing after each time to think about what God is saying through His Word. It has been amazing! I would like to share with you part of the reading from Day 3 "What does it mean to "Be still and know that I am God?" First, He's asking me to be, not do. We are a do society, (well the writer of this book could have just said Mary Jo Norman right then and there because it sure sounded like she knew all about my business, anyway)and God has called us to be. Stillness is not just something physical. It is spiritual and emotional. Secondly, Know what? - "know" means to believe to the utmost. If I am being still and knowing that He is God, I can rest in the fact that "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" Psalm 91:1". Most of the time I am doing all the talking, not giving Him an opportunity to get His word in edge wise. I am so busy giving Him my "to do list" that I don't take time to be still and meditate on His word but when I do, He is right there with just the words I need!!!!!! Thanks be to God for his Words. Thanks for letting me share this with you. I love you all and apppreciate your prayers for us.