When the vet asked my husband and I what we wanted to do with her body, we decided that we would bring her back to the house and bury her on our property. The children would be arriving home from school soon, and we could have a family burial for our beloved pet of many years. So we wrapped that 100 pound dog up in a sheet and brought her home.

While my husband and my two older sons began to dig the hole on our property, I instructed them to keep digging and I would go pick up our young daughter from daycare and when we returned we could have our final good-bye. Before I could return with my daughter, my husband and sons finished digging the hole and went ahead and buried Stormy. Upon arriving back home, my daughter and I were horrified that they had gone ahead and buried our precious pet without us!

My oldest son stood, with his foot still on the shovel and looked over at us blubbering females and said to my husband, “We have to dig her up, don’t we?” My husband replied, “uh-huh!”

We have had alot of pets since Stormy, but I can guarantee you, she was the only dog that died and got buried twice!

I was thinking about Stormy today and that burial story and it dawned on me that we are just like our dog who got buried twice. When we come to the altar with our sins, our problems and our struggles - we give it all to God. We bury our burdens and walk away. But walking away just isn’t enough sometimes. We tend to turn around and pick up the shovel and dig back up all those burdens once again.

“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

I can only imagine how weary and tiring it must have been for my son to dig and dig and dig that grave for our pet,  not once – but twice. How tiring it is to keep shoveling and digging dirt, without resting.

The problems that we carry around on our shoulders can become so heavy that it is difficult for us to escape or find rest. Giving it all to God will ease the load. Once we do that, God buries it, never to be reminded of it again! The problem is that we tend to take the shovel from God’s hand and we unbury those burdens and take them back on our shoulders.

So who has control of the shovel - you or God? Isn’t it time to bury those burdens once and for all? Today is the day … give the shovel back to God!

Visit me for daily devotions at WOMENTAKINGASTAND

Today’s guest writer is Beth Ferrell. You can find her penning from her heart

 How many of you can relate to Paul?

Romans 7:18b-20 For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

I can relate in every area of my life!

My spirit is drawn to spend time with the Lord each morning, but so often I am pulled in another direction. I have the “desire to do what is good …”

My heart really wants to take better care of myself, eat the right foods, exercise as I should — STAY AWAY FROM WHITE FLOUR AND CHOCOLATE. Sigh. I have the “desire to do what is good …”

I want to be the Mom who always has time for her daughter, but I would LOVE to have time to read blogs, check my email, have some ME time! Sigh … I have the “desire to do what is good …”

I really want to hold my tongue, not react in anger, not act selfishly! I do have the “desire to do what is good …”

But what happens? Why is there a disconnect sometimes?

Yesterday when my daughter and I visited my parents, I shared with my Mom how my daughter “cheated” while playing Hi-Ho Cherry-O! My little one placed her hand on the spinner so it would stop at FOUR pieces of fruit (in this game, that is the best spin). When I questioned her about it, she immediately played the innocent, “I didn’t mean to do that” card. My Mom said, “Who did she learn that from?” and I immediately responded, “We are ALL born with a sin nature.”

Isn’t that the truth! We all have a sin nature to contend with.

 THERE is the DISCONNECT.

Even Paul, who had the road to Damascus experience struggled with it.

Now that we recognize it, what do we do about?

We definitely don’t walk in condemnation.

 Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We shouldn’t sheepishly approach God because of our failures.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

We should:

• Repent and run to our Father.
• Approach His throne! We are welcomed there due to the blood of Jesus that covers our sins.
•  Rejoice that His mercies are new every morning!
• Count it all joy when we go through trials.

 Just as we are merciful when we see the sin nature in our own children, we serve a God who is even MORE merciful with us.

Jesus came to earth, and though He was without sin — He can understand our plight.

 Through the Holy Spirit living within us, we have all of the tools we need to overcome this sin nature. It can only control us when we allow it.

 I have recently learned an unattractive fact about myself. I have been doing the Couch-to-5K running plan and have discovered that I have never really pushed myself physically. I just turned 43 (shhh) and am just NOW really pushing myself beyond comfort. It makes me wonder how lazy (ouch — I don’t like that word) I am in other areas of my life as well.

Especially when it comes to conquering the sin nature. Conquering my fleshly desires for chocolate, ME time, etc … The list could go on and on.

Paul said, “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out” (Romans 7:18), but WE can carry it out. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We can overcome this flesh of ours.

 I pray that each of us will press through a little harder and with God’s help — make wise choices.

We can live victorious lives!

http://bethinnc.blogspot.com/

He took center stage, but only to find his mind went completely blank and he could not remember how all of the words went. After a couple of moments of fidgeting, he blurted out: : “The Lord is my shepherd, and that’s all I need to know!”

Alot of Bible Scholars and Preachers have said much about the 23rd Psalm, but I doubt that many have captured the essence of this verse better than this young, fidgety child.

• What do you do when you are at a loss of words for a hurting friend?
• What can be said when you get things botched up, even though your heart was right?

All of us find ourselves in situations that we just don’t know what to say or when we open our mouths, it all comes out wrong. Even though our tongue gets twisted around, our heart remains genuine. It is in these moments, that we need to remember the words of that fidgety, young Sunday School student:

“The Lord is my Shepherd, and that’s all I need to know!”

• When you are hurting, you need to know He is your Healer!
• When you are financially broke, you need to know He is your Provider!
• When you are sad, you need to know He is the lifter of your head!
• When you are crying, you need to know He catches each tear in a bottle!
• When you feel alone, you need to know He will never leave you nor forsake you!
• When you feel darkness all around you, you need to look to His Light!
• When you have lost a loved you, you need to know He is your Comfort!

Whatever you need today, you need to know that He is your EVERYTHING! Sometimes knowing that …is all you need to know!

THE 23RD PSALM:

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness, For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER. (NKJ)