Huh?

I woke up the morning after Christmas to find my sisters and our family friend Evie watching a movie. I was disappointed they hadn't waited for me to watch it with them, but I figured I'd see it at a later point in time. Actually, it was one I wanted to add to my small collection of movies; I heard it was really good.

Several hours later the movie ended and they walked into the kitchen bewildered. I asked what they thought, and they were all very confused. Eventually they concurred they would not need to watch the movie again, had no idea what it was about, and wanted to watch the deleted scenes for clarification. Problem: there were no deleted scenes to be found.

I think we have a similar problem with life. We look at scenes, time spans, and sometimes even entire lives and are left bewildered. Are there some vital deleted scenes we missed? Always. Just like the movie director has a big picture in mind, God has a big picture in mind. Just like the movie viewer, we don't always get to see the big picture. Even at the end of the movie, or the end of life, we sit back to reflect and realize we're more confused than we were previously. It doesn't make sense.

However, I assure you that God's plan does make sense. We're just missing scenes. He has seen them, He knows the unmentioned details, He understands the purpose. Max Lucado says, "God not only knows your story, He wrote it." God not only knows the movie plot in your life, He wrote it. He didn't forget parts, eliminate vital scenes, or mess up lines... He just hasn't shown us the whole picture (even though we think we've seen it).

<>< Katie

Definition of Furniture 101

"Are the dogs allowed on the furniture?" Evie asked this afternoon.

"No! Why?" Grandpa responded. He pretends to not like the dogs, and when there are four of them running around I guess I can understand that.

"Well, Russell was on the sofa, and I didn't know... I'll tell him to get down next time," she explained, looking at me as if I should have known to shoo Russell off the couch.

"Oh, that don't matter. The dogs ain't allowed on the tree... the lamps... the tv... that kind of stuff," Grandpa told her and she and I both looked at each other and stifled laughs.

"But the couch don't matter?" She asked.

"Nah. That couch ain't furniture," he clarified.

Charlie Brown Christmas trees are furniture.
Lamps are furniture.
TVs are furniture.
A couch is not furniture.

Thanks for clarifying, Grandpa.
<>< Katie