A View from the Nest

This week’s Tail Feather is brought to you by Patty Wysong. I got so inspired when I read this short devotional I had to share her insight with my readers I pray you are all as blessed as I was.

You got to stick your neck out sometimes to get to where God wants you to be. Holding up in your shell makes you an easy target for the enemy to come along and well you’ll get the picture. Now on with this week’s Tail Feather.

Turtle Crossing by Patty Wysong

Image via Wikipedia

It’s the time of year when the turtles come out and we often see them crossing the road.

Just the other day there was a little box turtle three-quarters the way across the road and he was just sitting there, hiding in his shell. He was so close to safety, but he couldn’t know that with his head pulled in like it was.

So many times I do the same thing. I get three-quarters the way through the hard time or problem and then pull into my shell in an attempt to forget what’s going on, or to protect myself from perceived danger.  All I’m actually doing is making myself sit in the situation longer, and leaving myself in a place where I’m more likely to be run over.

If that little box turtle would just come out of his shell and get back to walking, he’d have a better chance of making it across the road safely than he does all pulled into his shell.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;”  2 Timothy 4:7

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com <a href=”http://www.faithwriters.com“>CHRISTIAN WRITERS</a>

clipped from www.onenewsnow.com A new study warns that fraudulent votes by non-citizens, including illegal aliens, could swing this year’s local and national elections. “When you learn that half of the 9/11 hijackers were registered to vote, that’s when you realize that the honor system the country has for its voter registration system is broken,” explains Hans von Spakovsky, a visiting scholar at the�Heritage Foundation�and author of a new report titled “The Threat of Non-Citizen Voting.”� The study says tens if not hundreds of thousands of non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, are registered to vote nationwide. Former Federal Election Commission member von Spakovsky points out the U.S. expects individuals, when they register to vote, to comply with the law and not register if they are not American citizens –�but people are clearly breaking that law and there is no way for the government to detect it, he states. non-citizen voting is likely growing at the same rate as the alien population in the U.S.

This qualifies as a DUH report. I mean did anyone actually believe that people who bust across our borders and sponge off our government social services would actually bother to follow the rules when it comes time to register to vote?

I wonder if Nancy Pelosi along with Obama’s ACORN organization are signing these illegals up to vote for Obama? And we thought the Republicans where the only ones who stole elections! Do I hear a collective DUH?

This surely explains how we ended up with a candidate like Obama for Pres.

clipped from www.onenewsnow.com Launch into an�a cappella version of the Star Spangled Banner in the California State Capitol and a group could find themselves facing Capitol Security and officers of the California Highway Patrol. And that is what happened, says Brad Dacus, president of the�Pacific Justice Institute, when a group of students touring the capitol, as part of the “City on a Hill” education program, spontaneously began to sing the national anthem. He argues that “[s]uch spontaneous expression of love for…country should never, ever be stifled by government when it’s in no way creating a disturbance of any kind….” � Pacific Justice Institute sent a letter to the Chief Sergeant at Arms for the Capitol informing him that citizens have a First Amendment right to express themselves in the capitol rotunda as long as they are not being disruptive, and that any future attempt to interfere with that right will result in appropriate legal action.

Sometimes I wish that California would be hit with the “BIG ONE” and send it into Pacific Ocean. Thank God the children did not break out into a spontaneous chorus of Amazing Grace, they might have been tarred and feathered.

For this unpatriotic display on the part of the California State capital this story belongs in the Cuckoos nest for sure.

No wonder they call Cali the ‘Left Coast’ apparently the people who live out there have taken leave of their common sense.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1 (ESV)

Jesus did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of that time, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”Matt 4:2-3 (GW)

Once more the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms in the world and their glory. 9 The devil said to him, “I will give you all this if you will bow down and worship me.” Matt 4:8-9 (GW)

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” Job 2:7-9 (ESV)

Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you ever develop a wicked, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn. Hebrews 3:12-13 (GW)

Lk 18:15 (GW) Some people brought infants to Jesus to have him hold them. When the disciples saw this, they told the people not to do that. But Jesus called the infants to him and said, “Don’t stop the children from coming to me! Children like these are part of the kingdom of God.”

I have been blessed this past week to have spent a delightful time with a good friend of mine’s nieces. They were such a joy and delight to be around all week. I came away with a great appreciation for parents and a deep regret for not being one myself. I can echo the words of the psalmist when he states:

“Don’t you see that children are GOD’s best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?” Psalm 127:3

What a privilege parents have been given to be endowed with such an honor. Children are indeed a heritage to treasure and a resource to be valued. Whom is it that can look upon the face of a child and not see the hand of God? The week I got to spend with these lovely blessings from God had a great impact upon my life.

Not being a parent it is hard to understand the love a father has for a child but being entrusted with the safety of another’s child was very humbling to say the least. Parents have set certain standards for their households and their own children so when I was given the responsibility of caring for these children as a surrogate, I was awestruck with the enormity of the task. To think that these parents trusted me enough to be a watchman over these precious souls.

What should you allow and not allow? When is bed time? What do you serve for meals? What allergies do these children have? Are they afraid of anything? What level of responsibility should one allow them to assume? Are they permitted to make their own purchases at the store? Candy free zone? What personality types are we dealing with? What bad habits do they have? What do you do when one of them gets sick? My mind was numb with questions. There was no instruction manual to read and no internet course I could study to become a caretaker. I had to rely on my instincts and my own experiences as a child growing up.

Being raised in a dysfunctional household did not lend itself well as a model for good parenting skills. Therefore I could not rely on my own experiences I had to look for a different model. An example of fatherhood that is reliable and trustworthy.

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