Short people came to my domicile a few days ago, along with a whole lot of big people. The short people are a lot more fun–they like to run around like I do and they think that my retrieval skills are da bomb. Since my frisbee collection is my proudest possession (We’ll discuss temporary possessions later.), I am overjoyed when a people picks one up and heads for my favorite domicile door. That means I get to chase one of them!

And I love to chase frisbees. They fly through the air much like the winged invaders in my back yard, but do not have wings, do not eat vats of bird seed in one perching, and do not poop on my people’s porch chairs. This seems to be a very important attribute about frisbees for the mom person–she’s not wild about winged poop on the chairs.

Frisbees do have some deficits from the winged invaders. The winged invaders can fly back and forth, while the frisbees seem to incessantly lose altitude and fall to the ground. I must save them from certain death before they hit the ground! They also have to be launched by one of the people. Their mom frisbees must not have taught them very much about flying.

Sometimes I have to jump into the air to catch them before they fall victim to the other inhabitants in my yard (That and those sharp, pointy ball things that pretend to be grass). The mom person gets particularly excited when I do this. I don’t know why. She’s just weird.

The biggest problem with the frisbees is that they have no navigational skill whatsoever. They are very uncooperative that way. Talk about inconsiderate! Sometimes I have to run back to them after I have raced out to the middle of the yard to save them. You would think they would be more grateful since I’m saving them.

Because they have no navigational skill (They could benefit from GPS.), they often do wind up on the ground. When I pick them up after this horrible tragedy, they are often bruised and may even have holes in them! The mom person says it’s because my teeth are so sharp, but I try to pick them up carefully, so it can’t possibly be me. The frisbees just need to be more careful!

Sometimes the frisbees pretend to be winged invaders and fly into trees. Silly frisbees! But, that’s actually a little easier for me to catch and bring to my mom and dad person for protection from the other inhabitants in my yard. I’m not sure how the frisbees fly since I have to get a head start on them and run to where they usually have trouble flying.

I have noticed one correlation–when bigger people with deeper voices are launching the frisbees, the frisbees fly farther.  I must investigate this phenomenon more thoroughly.

Thus, the short people who visited my domicile a few days ago made the frisbees fall a lot faster. This meant I had a really tough assignment trying to keep them from hitting the ground.

All I know is that after I finished saving all the doomed frisbees, the short people sat on the cool tile floor indoors with me afterwards and petted my head. I really like that! My fur says that they went to their own domiciles way too soon. I hope they come back again, for the fur’s sake. Maybe I’ll even let them have one of my bones.

Monday’s Post: Why is Brobdingnagian capitalized?

You Might Also Like: Maizie’s Musings: My Cave; Maizie’s Musings: My Favorite Bed; and A Maizie Christmas

We Americans tend to overeat and under-exercise.

Duh, right? But, while we spend an abundance of time trying to quell these tendencies of ours, how much time do we devote to making sure our souls and spirits are nurtured well???

Did you just take a big gulp? Yep, me too.

I hope, as you read my Wednesday posts, you will feel like you are addressing your soul just as much as you are exercising and eating right. Honestly? If your soul and spirit aren’t headed in the right direction, what makes you think you can conquer a weight or physical health issue???

Did you just gulp again? It’s okay. I have a plan.

As part of MIP’s Slow Reader posts, I’m going to bring to your attention some books and online readings that you can peruse to understand more of my spiritual journey and hopefully, chart a path for your own journey. Again, your journey may be quite different from mine because you and I are unique little snowflakes! But I am going to trust that God can bring to your attention the parts of these books that will inform your journey. 

The best thing about Mondays is that it’s Word of the Week (WOW) time, right? (Don’t argue with me…I like living in my delusional world!)

Last week’s WOW was tintinnabulation. Merriam-Webster Online says that tintinnabulation is: the sound of ringing bells, so the father-in-law wins this round of guessing and wins a hen and maybe two ducks. (Inside family joke, but since the only ones who read this blog are my family…it works, right?) Methinks he may have encountered this word before….hmmmmm….

Today’s WOW is brobdingnagian. Here are my lame guesses for this (since I’m blanking on even a silly guess for it!):

Brobdingnagian (bräb-diŋ-ˈna-gē-ən) 1. a person named Bob or Rob who rings the doorbells of the homes of AARP members 2. a person who robs dinghys 3. a person residing in Brobdingnag

What are your guesses for Brobdingnagian? Post a comment to this post to let me know!

Greetings, people!

I am one smart canine. Whenever the mom person gets out my cave, I know I get to go in the moving machine. What? You don’t know what a moving machine is? It has wheels and makes a lot of noise and lets me see new yards. The mom person’s moving machine even has a hole in the roof of it and she will sometimes let me put my head out of the roof hole so that I can feel the air rush through my fur and watch the interesting expressions of other people in moving machines. They mostly have their mouths wide open. I don’t know why.

When I joined the Heartpaths program, it was a little unsettling learning that I was expected to pray for 20 minutes at a time. Up until last September I would have been happy if I could sustain 10 minutes without looking at my watch.

Now, I am actually wondering if I can schedule 30 or 40 minute prayer sessions. And 20 minutes seems to go by faster and faster the longer I permit myself such a time period with God.

So, what changed my mindset? An awesome God. God, on a pretty frequent basis, is blowing my mind when I dedicate such time to Him. And blowing my mind in the best possible ways.

Unfortunately, getting to “mind-blowing” usually takes considerable quiet time. Why?

Good question. I’m still figuring it out. But I think a good portion of the reason is it takes about 10 minutes for me to get all the “noise” out of my head so I can hear, feel, or see what God is trying to communicate. (And yes, I used those 3 verbs for a reason. More about that another time.)

Good morning, Word Nerds! (Own it!) Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was flapdoodle. The DD got this one immediately. Merriam-Webster Online officially says that flapdoodle means foolish words. Her definition was “nonsensical words” and an alternate definition for flapdoodle is nonsense. So, she’s pretty spot on with her guess.

This week’s WOW is tintinnabulation. (Try and say that 5 times fast.) Here are my guesses for it:

tintinnabulation (tin-tə-ˌna-byə-ˈlā-shən) 1. the ambulatory movement of a famed German Shepherd 2. what transpires after the three little porcine creatures refer to their chins 3. the sound resonating from kicking empty metal containers of fruit or vegetables

What’s your guess for tintinnabulation? Post a comment to this post! No fair looking it up first.

Wednesday’s Post: God Isn’t a Microwave…

You May Also Like: Word of the Week: flapdoodle and Word of the Week: mythomania

The people in my abode have given me a pretty comfy bed that is finally big enough for my entire dogginess. Before the new bed I had to curl up into a tiny ball and that is not exactly easy for my entire dogginess. While I love my bed, it’s not my favorite.

Shhhhhhhh….this is a secret, but when the people leave my abode, I hop up on the mom and dad persons’ bed. Now that is one comfy bed! It perfectly conforms to my entire dogginess and I can stretch out all I want. There is even room for all those canines I mentioned last week. However, if they got on my favorite bed, I would be getting off. Immediately.

The mom person says their bed is a Tempur-pedic. I prefer Tempur-perfect. The only difficulty with sleeping on my favorite bed is that I often take a nap there since it’s so comfy. If I fall asleep too well, then my sneaky human family can enter the abode before I jump off the Tempur-perfect. If this happens, I get in trouble, big-time and my canine bed gets put on a very drafty back porch.

Thank you. I am humbled by your response to last Wednesday’s post. I actually have tears in my eyes as I type this because for a long time, I have felt “left out”–that I don’t fit in with the rest of the world, so when you tell me something resonates with you, it makes me feel a bit more a part of the world. So, thank you. And thank You to the God above who generally writes such posts. I merely put my fingers on the keyboard.

First, let me say that we are such little snowflakes in God’s universe that what works for me in prayer may not work for you. And that is the way it’s supposed to be! God wants so desperately to minister to your unique soul that my prayer practices may be totally wrong for you. So, all I can do is tell you what it’s been like for me and what I try to do regularly and then hope that God will direct you on your own path.

Now that I’ve had some time to reflect on this journey, I realize that God has been preparing my soul to go on this journey for a long, long time. If I’m honest with myself, He started preparing me for it in 7th grade. Why? Because He knows I freak out easily! Thus, little by little, He’s been revealing Himself to me so that I now embrace the moments when He just blows my mind. So, my friend, the more you get over your fears of what He might say or do for you and with you, the more He will show up in your prayers.

I also had to let go of my preconceived ideas about prayer and some prayer traditions. I’ve never been much of a kneeler; now I kneel regularly. I was antsy with extended periods of silence, now I’m slowly starting to seek it. I used to revel in the latest and greatest Bible Studies. Now, I’m searching Amazon and Google for works that are out of print because they are that ancient. I’ll probably ache to find Moses’ tablets next! These ancient writers were on to something and many of them had the same hopes, fears, and cravings for God I now have.

Before the hubby I spent a lot of time at Catholic masses. Why? Because I grew up in Indiana and a good number of my boyfriends were Catholic. And I failed to understand why Catholic services, even in the 70s, were so filled with ritual. Now, I’m starting to understand. Thus, monks and nuns and monasteries are really starting to intrigue me. This, from the woman who adores innovative and unique worship services. Stunned? Yep. Me, too.

These texts and traditions will readily tell you that God wants to actually speak to you when you’re praying. Read that sentence again. Let it soak into your brain, your heart and your spirit. He has a LOT to say to you–about how much He loves you–about how unique you are and how He revels in that uniqueness. Does He see your sin? Oh, yes. But He still loves you and will only gently remind You of your sin for one reason: So you can spend more time together.

Read that last sentence again. Let that one marinate in your mind for a while. Your sin isn’t upsetting Him (He took care of that with that crucifixion thing, remember?)–It’s getting in the way. It’s a distraction. It’s a buzzing fly on the wall. It’s not essential. The more you sin, the less likely He is to show up in your prayers. That’s it. That’s all it is. So, the more you strip away what I call my “stupid sins,” the more He is likely to show up in my prayers. Am I less sinful now?

Um. No. Heck, no! I am irritated, annoyed and ashamed of my sins like you are. But, the more I succeed in changing my bad habits, the more He shows up. And all I know is that I like Him showing up. A lot. So, I’m slowly (emphasis on slowly) changing my habits.

Thus, last fall I realized that one of the distractions–one of my stupid sins is–get this–noise. Yep, noise. When the hubby is on the road (and let’s be honest, sometimes when he isn’t!) I surround myself in noise. I leave the TV on while I do my household tasks. I blare my favorite Christian rock from my car stereo as I roll down the highway. I even put headphones on while on a noisy jet so I can block out sounds that are too loud. I’m a “can fan.” What’s a can fan? Let’s suffice it to say that I’m probably deaf in one ear because of it.

Even when I take out the headphones, even when I turn off the TV, turn off the car stereo, etc., there is still noise. The heater makes a sound. The automatic ice maker dumps ice into its bin. The dishwasher and the washer and the dryer and the ceiling fan all make noise. And I’m uncomfortable with too much silence. (We’d be here all day if I described why!)

As Marjorie Thompson says, “God’s first language is silence.” Remember that story in the Bible where God said He would reveal Himself to the prophet and that the prophet should go and hide in the cave? Loud, dramatic weather roars past the cave, but God isn’t in them. Instead God showed up by whispering! Yep, whispering. God is not miked. He doesn’t generally use a PA system to talk to you. And His way of speaking can be more than just verbiage. It can be images, feelings, or whatever He thinks will let you know what He wants you to know.

My prayers, prior to Heartpaths, were largely me telling God what I was thinking and what I thought needed His assistance to change. But I wasn’t experiencing God in my prayers. Because even though I was silently saying these things to God, I was still talking! Hello!?!?

I am slowly learning to shut off ME in my prayers. It’s not easy, but God is in the silences. So, if you want to invite God’s love, God’s presence, God’s mind-blowing thoughts on YOU into your prayers, then you’re going to have to be really, really quiet. Quieter than you have ever been.

Point to Ponder 1: Right now, wherever you are, count how many different noises you are hearing: distant conversations, the heating or air conditioning system, refrigerators, other appliances and fixtures, office equipment, keyboard clicks, music–whatever it is. Right now (without the TV or music on), I can hear five and sometimes six different ongoing noises! If you’re reading this at work, you may get up to nine! Post the number in a comment to this post.

Point to Ponder 2: How many of those noises are up to you to control? Can you put the heating/AC on a different setting to shut it off for a while? Can you wear a sweater if it gets cold because of it? Can you live without the ceiling fan? (I suggest wearing lighter clothing, if you’re constantly warm.) Can you mute the TV? Whatever you can control, try to eliminate at least one of those. How does that lesser noise make you feel? Scared? Awkward? Weird? Sad? Acknowledge that by asking God to help you get more comfortable with silence.

Point to Ponder 3: Ask God into your present circumstances wherever you are. Ask Him to reveal what He wants to reveal to you. Even while you’re working or doing something else. Don’t be upset with Him if He doesn’t seem to be talking just yet. Don’t be upset with YOURSELF if He isn’t speaking yet. Just keep praying that prayer whenever you think of it. Be as honest as you know how to be. Particularly confess any fears you have about this! It’s okay–God already knows your thoughts. Half of them He put there Himself!

Friday’s Post: Maizie’s Favorite Surface

You Might Also Like: My New Adventure…

Good morning, Word Nerds! (Wear that badge with honor, gang!) 😀

Last week’s Word of the Week (WOW) was mythomania. A LOT of you had guesses about this one and it was fun to read what you thought about it. Some of you were even using it in a sentence on social media or winking at me in person as you used it. I LOVE THAT! Keep it up! So let’s see how close we got on all those guesses.

Merriam-Webster Online says that mythomania is: an excessive or abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating. So, most of us got this one right and I stand by my 2nd guess from last week. If that isn’t mythomania, I don’t know what is! Go here if you’re forgetting my 2nd guess.

Today’s WOW is flapdoodle. Here are my guesses for flapdoodle:

flapdoodle (ˈflap-ˌdü-d^əl) 1. an ancient arm tattoo on an AARP member  2. the drawing fighter pilots put on their planes in WWII 3. the ruckus a poodle makes when not content

Maizie

Before I launch into Christmas via Maizie’s perspective, let me introduce her. Maizie is a 7 year old Golden Lab. Unlike many Golden Labs, she has a brown nose and non-black eyes. This is probably due to the fact that her ancestors were largely chocolate. Thus, I sometimes refer to Maizie as “the orange dog.” She is VERY golden!

Her parents are owned by “farm people,” and thus, in her puppy phase she grew up with kittens. As a result she possesses a few cat-like traits. I sometimes call her “cat dog”, but in a good way. Maizie will turn 8 in March and thus, she is slowing down. But, she still has boisterous puppy moments and her face and body language are very, very expressive.

She’s a Beta dog to the nth degree! She’s grown up alone, so one of her worst faults is she doesn’t handle other dogs’ presence well. She’s rather passive-aggressive about it. However, she’s learning to deal with the holiday invasion of family dogs better than in her younger years.