The Adventures of Melanie Marie (A Garden Gnome)...Part 5

When she woke up she was laying in the most beautiful and graceful room she had ever seen, lined with a golden rim around the ceiling. The bed was made with silk sheets and pillow cases and a down-feather comforter. It was so comfortable she felt at one with the bed. There was an assortment of clothes laid out for her choosing, and a mirror that took up an entire wall! The silk drapes we drawn and the sun was shining brightly through the windows. Birds were chirping and she could smell a glorious breakfast being prepared.

As she hurried into her clothes there was a knock at the door.

"One moment!" she called scrambling to the door.

"Take your time, dearie, I just wanted to let you know breakfast will be served as soon as you are ready to eat!" an informing, yet gentle, older woman's voice came.

She felt overcome with kindness and warm hospitality, so much so that the guilt that haunted the back of her mind for leaving her sister was forgotten. She strolled to the breakfast table where she was presented with a feast of everything she ever dreamed of for breakfast.

The table seemed to glow, as the kindly old humion woman served her, as if she were royalty. She ate until she thought she could not possibly eat ever again.

"This meal was so very wonderful! Thank you for fixing it for me, Aeona!" Melanie Marie exclaimed with gratitude. She made sure to thank the sweet humion who had opened her home to her and fed her this meal fit for a queen.

"Oh it's nothing compared to what you will do for us," Aeona replied.

"I don't understand," Melanie Marie said, as a look of confusion spread over her face. She had no idea what to expect.

"Soon you will, child," came a man's voice from behind her,"When your meal is done please meet me in the garden."

Melanie Marie was very confused. All this time she had thought she was going to enjoy the humions hospitality, while actually they were giving her all these things so that she would be afraid to live without them. That way, when they made her start working, she would not want to leave. But, as you know, her emotions were contagious to the humions, and since she was so awfully confused, so were the humions.

I am sure that if you were there would have been on the floor laughing with energetic glee. Everywhere Melanie looked she saw messes upon messes. One room was extremely confused. Instead of mopping the floor, they were trying to mop the ceiling. Now that in itself is not very funny, but since they were mopping with melted marshmellows, and the goo and stick was dripping all over them, their manes got all stuck together. It was quite a humorous site.

To Be Continued...

I'm a Proud Sister

This second one is his suicide song. It's a little longer, and you have to wait about two minutes for his entrance, but definitely worth watching :).



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Refuge in the Midst of the Flood

I have been reading through the Psalms lately, and have been thinking a lot about how God Himself is the refuge for those who love Him.

This week, intense and heartbreaking as it has been, I found myself walking outside and laughing almost uncontrollably at times. I don't think I laughed because the flood is funny, because it definitely isn't, but I think the severity of the weather was so ridiculous to me that it made me laugh. God has shown His power this week - which we, the church, often pray for - and it has been devastating to many people's lives. Isn't that how God works? He must devastate what we think is good and comfortable and "safe" in order for us to see His power and get over ourselves.

This seems extreme sometimes, and often in painful, uncomfortable situations I wonder why God must seem so cruel. But I have realized something this week that excites me. The God who can devastate a city built up for a hundred or more years in one week is the same God who is my refuge. The power and glory of His devastating hand becomes a refuge when it is turned towards us who are His children. I couldn't be comforted more, and maybe understanding this is what caused my laughter. There is a deep joy that fills me knowing that this God who can stop all order and command the river is a faithful and eternal refuge to me.

Pastor Steve read Psalm 46 this morning, and it's one that I deeply appreciate, so I thought I would share it.

¹God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
³Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
⁵God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
⁶The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
⁷The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
⁸Come, behold the works of the LORD,
Who has wrought desolations in the earth.
⁹He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰"Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
¹¹The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

Martin Luther wrote a song that goes along with this Psalm: "A Mighty Fortress is our God"

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Praise be to the God of this flood, and all things, who is our ever-present refuge in times of need.

The Adventures of Melanie Marie (A Garden Gnome)...Part Four

She sat there, dead in her fear, not knowing what to do, when all of a sudden she began to whimper, and then to cry, and then to bellow. With that all the humions stopped gnashing their terrible teeth, and so on. Strangely, they all began to cry too. Between sobs and bellows and whimpers they tried to figure out what was going on!

When Melanie Marie realized what was happening, she started to giggle, and then to laugh, and then to combust with outrageous laughter! All of a sudden the humions did the same, and they did it completely against their will! Finally, Melanie Marie gained her composure and started to address the funny beasts.

"Dear Sirs, please disregard all of those terrible stories you have heard about me!" she exclaimed eloquently," I am just passing through perhaps it would be alright if I visit your village, I would love to see it."

"So you are the one that was said to be so vicious?" one of the humions spoke up.

"I suppose, but you were quite mistaken! I am not vicious at all!" she replied with a sweet smile and a cheery face.Her charm tamed the beasts in an instant, they could not bring themselves to do any harm to the little gnome. What Melanie Marie didn't seem to notice was that her emotions were contagious to the humions.

"Let's sing for her!" the lead humion cried out in pure joy, which he had acquired due to Melanie Marie's overpowering happiness. The others agreed immediately. So, the humions, beaming their brightest, lifter their rich, jovial voices and began to sing a most wonderful song.

Melanie Marie thought she was in Heaven. When she was a gnomeling she had always heard tales of the beautiful songs of the humions. The real thing, however, was much more exuberant and beautiful than anyone could have ever described. She suddenly drifted off into a deep sleep, unaware of how exhausted she had actually been.

We Interrupt this Story to Highlight a Good Blog by Al Mohler...

Albert Mohler is the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), where Caleb and I will be attending next year. His blog this morning was really good (typically they are, since he is some sort of crazy genius). He makes some great points concerning gender equality within the church. It's something I tend to think about a lot, so I thought I would share. You can read his post here: A "Stained-Glass Ceiling?" A Clarifying Look at a Controversial Question.