Foxes Have Dens & Birds Have Nests

 It's a good thing that God is so stinkin' persistent, because I am so stinkin' stubborn. There are so many small lessons God has been trying to teach me over the last few months and I can tell you that they don't feel small. They feel humungous. Because they involve changing how I think. Let's face it, how we think is the root of all our issues. We have a quote that goes around the substance abuse counseling realm that goes like this...

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”― Lao Tzu

How true is that! And so, these small perspective changes are hard and they are big. So what exactly has been God telling me? A few weeks ago I was driving down the road, deep in thoughts of worry, like I do so many days out of the week and God just put these questions to me. He said, "Libby, are your bills paid? Yes. Are your animals fed? Yes. Do you and your husband have food in your stomach? Yes. Then you are so rich and have nothing to worry about".  Dang! Here's the thing when God talks to me, His words are singed into my brain. Like, they won't go away. Its not just like I read something really cool in some book or heard someone say something helpful. These are words spoken by God to me and they don't leave me. They are living words. I don't know how else to describe it. God speaks to people in different ways and I have been so fortune enough to have God speak to me directly many times in my life and I remember every single instance as if it was yesterday because His words are living and they don't leave me. To reinforce what He was telling me, he gave me this Bible verse.

(Mountain  Blue Bird on our porch)

Matthew 8:20 "Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

The point is, God was reminding me that while Jesus was here on earth, he had nothing outside of the essentials. He had food, clothes, water and that was it. If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me. And the other nugget of truth in that verse is that Earth is not my home. Jesus didn't have a place to lay his head because Earth wasn't His home. And what is even cooler, is that God asked me if my animals are fed. He cares about my animals. I knew that and I know that now, but I need reminders. I worry about my hay supply often around here. And in all of this, God is shaping me to be more like Him which is the whole point. To give Him glory and to try to be more like Him.

So this week I totaled my car by hitting a deer. My husbands breaks gave out and we were left with no car, an hour from our jobs. Our cat died and I got my first speeding ticket. I found out it's time for another lung surgery (surgery #9). Let's just say it took a spot in the top 3 stressful weeks of living this difficult rural life. I feel that the challenges in this valley are ever changing and never ending but God is teaching me great things. He has provided for us a car form our in-laws (THANK YOU ) and in many other ways. Even though we are far from having these hurdles resolved, He just reminded me that my bills are paid and we are all fed over here on the McCaskey homestead.

My only hope is that I will learn these lessons quickly so I can move on...😉

Until Next  Time 

-L