Last night I was sitting and watching a tiny little spec of a spider work. I was fascinated with it. That little guy was building a web or spinning it or whatever you call what a spider does. By the time I began to watch, it had built a web about the size of a quarter. I was spellbound watching that little guy go. That little spider worked consistently and persistently until it had expanded its territory to several inches.

I wondered if it was angry because a big strong spider did not come to help. It did not seem to be but then how do you know if a spider is angry or not. Did it feel small and insignificant and want to quit? I don’t know that either but if it did I could not tell by the way it worked. That little spider just kept on working consistently and persistently.

Just before the little spider died, it had expanded its territory to what must have seemed like miles to the little guy. I noticed that after the little spider was dead it did not work anymore. Everything that it accomplished was while it was alive.

That little spider died because I killed it (I don’t like spiders in my house), but not before I learned some valuable lessons from it. While that little spider was alive, it did what its Creator created it to do and it did it well. That is what we need to do. We only have one go around on this earth, so we need to do what our Creator put us here for and do it well. It could have felt a sense of entitlement and sat waiting for another spider to build a web for it. It could have complained that life was not fair for little spiders and spent its life as a victim waiting to for a rescue. Instead, that little spider worked hard and smart, consistently and persistently, and did what spiders do. When it left this world, it left an admirer. Me!

Are you tired and feeling as if you are spinning your wheels and going nowhere fast? You are probably accomplishing more than you think. The little spider may have thought it was just building a web but it was actually doing so much more. It was inspiring me and now I am writing this little blurb that will in turn inspire millions. Okay, maybe inspire is too strong a word and millions may be a little exaggerated but you get the jist. You are doing more than spinning out a life; you are inspiring others along the way. Way to go!!!

Spinning out a Thought,
Bud

PS. I know some of you are probably thinking that if that little spider had stayed home eating chips and watching TV, it would probably still be alive. The fact is it would have died eventually anyway. Can you imagine what a boring story it would have had to share with all the other little spiders when it went to spider heaven?

“How did you get here”, one little spider may have asked. “Well I was lying around eating chips and watching TV when I suddenly died of a heart attack and here I am.”

How about this - “I had ventured out into the land of the giants. I put it all on the line and took a risk. I used the talents the Creator had given me and weaved an awesome web. You should have seen it, it was hundreds of miles in diameter. Suddenly the earth began to shake and I saw a giant human, millions of feet tall, coming toward me. I fought a good fight but in the end he took me out and here I am.”

I think we all know which story we would rather listen to if we were a little spider in Little Spider Heaven!

Many years ago when I was just a boy, my dad and I were at my papaws house visiting. Papaw decided that he needed to go to the store, so he walked out and got into his truck. Dad and I were inside visiting with mamaw when suddenly, we heard a loud “BANG!” A couple seconds later, we heard it again, “BANG!” My dad jumped up and ran to the door. As he opened the door, we heard it again, “BANG!” Dad looked out the door and I heard him yell, “Daddy – Stop!”

You may be wondering, as I was then, what in the world was going on. Well, let me tell you. My dad had just bought a new Jeep Wagoneer. When we pulled into the driveway, he parked behind papaw. When papaw left to go to the store, dad did not think about where he parked. Papaw went out, got into his truck and began to back out of the driveway. When he started back, he hit something. Rather than looking to see what he hit, he just pulled forward to get a good running go, threw it in reverse and hit it again. He did it about three or four times before dad could stop him. Needless to say, that new Jeep did not look so new anymore.

We have all heard that if you want to accomplish anything in life you have to be persistent and that is definitely true. However, there are times when persistence can be a negative thing. If you are a goal oriented person, achieving your goal probably drives your engine. As you drive toward the accomplishment of your goal, be sure to look around you. You may find that you are running over people as you persist toward your goal.

Papaw had a goal in mind and that was to get to the store, and he was persistent in reaching his goal. He did not need to forget about his goal. He just needed to patiently go around the obstacle that stood between him and his goal, rather than trying to run over it.

What or who are you running over in your impatience to reach your goal at all cost? If we are not careful, we may find that we have reached our goal but have no one left to enjoy it with us. Slow down a little, look around you, and patiently and carefully navigate your journey toward goal accomplishment. Doing it this way, you will have people rejoicing with you in your accomplishment rather than cursing you.

Remember, how you reach your goal is as important as reaching it. The journey toward it is where the good stuff is. The people you love and the lives you touch on the way will make reaching your goal most special.

Have a Great Day,
Bud

PS. Papaw went home to be with the Lord many years ago, but thinking about him still puts a smile on my face.

If you have been in this world for a little while, you have discovered that life can be dang hard, sometimes overwhelming. Sometimes it feels like life is just too hard to deal with. During those seasons, we cannot see an end to our pain, and life as we have known it and planned it seems to have fallen apart. It is both frightening and depressing as we look ahead and see only darkness. We often begin a rollercoaster ride of emotions such as fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, grief and confusion. We tend to worry about the future and begin to feel empty, hopeless and helpless. Our imagination can create some future scenarios that scare the life out of us, most of which never come to pass. We may also feel the need to blame someone for our pain, even God. That has been going on since the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were throwing blame around like a hot potato. It didn’t help then and it still doesn’t.

So, what do we do when life is dang hard? Over the years I have watched people (I’ve done it myself) make a bad situation worse by reacting quickly from their emotions. Most decisions made in haste at the height of emotion end up biting us in the rear down the road. Stop! Breathe deeply, and cry if you need to but do not act yet! Talk to God about your pain. Cry out to Him in the midst of your pain. Tell Him how you feel. Talk to a friend and have them pray with you and for you.

Now that you are crying out to Him, trust Him. This is not easy when life seems to be falling apart but it is necessary. I have stood on the proverb many times that says, “Trust in the Lord with all you heart and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your steps.” Realize all the negative things that you are imagining about your future are imaginations that have no basis in Gods plans for you. Know that even though you cannot see beyond the darkness into your future, God can and He will reveal it when the time is right.

I do not know one person that truly walks with God that hasn’t faced deep hurts in life. It is in those times of deep hurt and pain that we mature and learn to walk with God. When life hurts, we all have a choice to make. The right choices will help make us men and women of great character and strong faith. Right choices will help position us for Gods blessings in the future. God does not ask us to understand, just trust.

At 47 years old, I have enough life behind me to tell you that many times, I did not understand those painful moments of life, but in time, God has revealed much to me. In the things I still do not understand, I trust Him. I want to encourage you today to trust the One that is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-wise, and perfect love. In the months and years ahead, you will look back on this time in your life and say, “I understand now.” Since you are not there yet, TRUST Him. He loves you!

With Much Love,
Bud

Note: The names have been changed in this story to protect the writer (Bud) from physical harm.

Doug was the son of a woman in the church that I was the pastor of at the time. He was a rebel through and through. I have always been drawn to rebels for some reason. His rough and tough exterior protected him, most of the time, from people who might want to share their faith with someone. Most were afraid of him. I wasn’t afraid of him but I think it was because I understand rebels. I was one and if you talk to the right people, they would probably tell you that I still am.

I had talked to Doug on a couple of occasions and enjoyed our conversation. I enjoyed talking with him much more than I did some of the people in the church. Doug was just Doug and he didn’t try to clean up his vocabulary for anyone, not even the preacher. I think I may have learned a couple cuss words that I had never heard but I haven’t used them yet.

I had been warned by some that there was no need to try to talk to Doug about Jesus because he would let you know right away that he didn’t believe in that *@&%. My first couple conversations with Doug were just chit chat about this and that. When he saw that I wasn’t going to preach to him, he let his guard down and we just talked. He shared some struggles he was going through and asked my advice. We just talked about life.

One day I got Doug on my mind and I felt like I should go talk to him about the Lord. I decided to pray for him and see if maybe it was the Holy Spirit prompting me to pray rather than visit. I could be picking up the wrong signals. Was it me or was it really God that wanted me to go? I thought to myself, “It is the middle of the day and surely, he is not home right now.” I thought to myself again, “Maybe I should just wait until evening.” No matter what I came up with, I kept sensing that I should go now. So, I went!

I pulled into the driveway where there were usually three or four old cars sitting around. I got out of my car and headed toward the front door when Doug opened the door and pointed a shotgun right at me. I froze in my steps. I thought to myself, “It was the devil that wanted me to come so he could kill me through Doug; I’m going to die for Jesus.”

With gun pointed, Doug begin to yell, “Get off my #$%@&^#&% ^$#%* property. I’ll blow your $^%%&^&$#&$^#*%*& head off!” Before I could think or say anything, I heard a voice from behind me say, go ahead and pull the ^#$&*$#(& trigger. I turned and looked behind me and it was Dale, another rebel that I knew, whose parents also attended the church. There was definitely a serious rift going on here between these two. It wasn’t the first time I found myself between two people with a serious rift (I do marriage counseling) but it was the first time a shotgun was involved.

The first thought that came to my mind was, “get out of the way Bud, if he pulls that trigger you are going to get more buckshot than Dale will get.” However, I knew if I moved, Doug would pull that trigger. He would end up in prison and Dale would be dead. That’s not the best-case scenario here.

For the next 15 minutes or so, I stood there between these two trying to talk them down. I turned to Dale and said, “Dale, I know you are angry but if you don’t leave now you aren’t going to live to see tomorrow. Whatever it is it’s not worth dying for.” I helped Dale to his truck with a little force and told him to go home or I would kill him with my bear hands. I think he halfway believed me but I’m sure it was the shotgun that convinced him.

I walked up to the house and encouraged Doug to go inside. We talked for a while and he vented. I told him of how God sent me there that day, it was no accident that I showed up when I did and I shared Jesus love for him. He sat and cried but didn’t make a decision to accept Jesus into his life. Before I left, he asked me to pray for him and I did. I don’t know if Doug ever accepted the Lord or not but I know he knew how if he wanted to because I told him.

Following Jesus is an adventure like no other. I will never forget Dale or Doug and I hope that somewhere along their journey, they chose to open their hearts to Jesus. If so, I will see them in heaven some day and we can laugh about that incident.

Enjoy Your Day,
Bud