Emma Was Here

Sunday morning preparing for church, Emma,

 our dog, came into the bathroom chewing on a piece

of something

…she likes to “show” me that she has something that she is not supposed to have.  Mike tried to get her to drop it and she gave him a challenging look. 

She is like that with the men in my family…a little rebellious…

I just went up to her and took it out of her mouth to find that it was the yellow index scripture memory card that I had in my Bible last week at church when I needed to spit out my gum…it was during service so I just folded the index card over my gum and stuck it somewhere in my Bible to get rid of later…and I had forgotten.

So how did Emma get it?  Oh, NO! I thought.  She had somehow managed to sniff out the treasure of old gum in my tote bag, get my Bible out and opened, then  scratched through and ripped…until she found what she was looking for.

NO! Oh, NO! Oh, No!

I heard myself say.

Even though I had just purchased a new Bible on Friday, I was not ready to part with my treasured word.  The copy of God’s word that has been with me these last almost 10 years.  The one where the pages turn to what I am looking for almost effortlessly and there are notes everywhere and reminders of God at work in the ups and down of my life.

It is my beloved sword of the Spirit.

I managed to pick up the small pieces and to smooth the crumpled pages enough to put the Bible up so she could not get it again.  Silly me to think I could leave a tote bag in the floor of my closet for the dog to rummage through!

“Your words were found and I ate them”

I smiled at the thought of Emma actually eating the Word of God.

I have thought about this a lot today. Even in the business of my work day.  With anticipation in my heart for what God would show me, I looked up the entire verse to find the following:

When your words came, I ate them;
   they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
   LORD God Almighty. “

Jeremiah 15:16 NIV

Oh, God. I want your Word to be a joy and a delight to my heart!  I bear YOUR Name!

The Name of the Almighty God. 

When your words showed up, I ate them—
   swallowed them whole. What a feast! The Message

I think this is more what Emma felt…swallowed them whole she did!

 The Word. Worship. Prayer.

These are my Roots.