One of the most misquoted verses in the Old Testament is, “Money is the root of all evil.” Hopefully, YOU know the correct verbiage is, “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” See 1 Timothy 6:9-11 (KJV) “9 but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 for the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”  Putting anything or anyone above or loving it more than God is evil, and this evil is often portrayed in money. Exodus 20:3 (KJV) “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

At least once a day, I check the spam folder in my email. Sometimes, I even read the body just for entertainment. No, I do NOT click on any of the links; rather, I scan the subjects and the sender because occasionally an email that I do want lands in that place.

Reading through some of these and the names of the senders themselves just cracks me up. Whether they know it or not, they’re sending me free entertainment. Here are some that I’ve found highly entertaining…LDSPlanet.com: about dating. My limited knowledge of astronomy made me wonder where planet LDS is…then, BINGO … Oh! that LDS Planet… the one in Utah. Then there was the one from Lydia Fiqueroa (yes it was a ‘q’), regarding New Mmoortgage rates.  I don’t think I want to borrow money from someone who can’t spell. On any given day, I get spam emails from the FBI telling me that I have to respond immediately. Then there’s the scam-spam from the ‘old friend’ who got stuck in some foreign country and I must send him money so he can come home.  Or, I have won the zigggity-zillion lottery, so send a hundred dollars to cover their expenses of getting a cashier’s check for me. Just today, I got this one, copying exactly here: (subject line) First $6000.00 was sent today … Mrs. Mrs Juliet E John .. officefile63@cantv.net .

The thread that connects all of these spam-mails is money. Remember the old adage, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is”? Therein lay the corruption.

How would you respond if any one of these emails were in your inbox?

There is nothing wrong with money and things when they are in balance. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:12, (KJV) “all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

Most likely, spam should be left where you find it (the original Spam™ even had a key to get into it and when it was opened, a ragged, sharp edge was left on can – makes me wonder).

Be prudent in life and be careful in whom you place your trust. Sure, some people will win the lottery and some may even inherit a windfall from a stranger, but don’t let these fantasies rule your life.

Rather than worship the created or the creature (stars, crystals, money, gold, silver, diamonds, rock stars, tea leaves and such), worship the Creator – the One who loves YOU, no matter what – the One Who created all.

©2014 Cat Brennan

           About 3 months ago I met and adopted one of the sweetest little doggies you could ever meet.  She was loving, kind and joyful right from the start.  She greets everyone who comes into my home with confidence and acts as if she has been waiting to meet them for forever.  If you were to meet her you would assume that she had never lived anywhere but in a loving home where she was trained, adored and cared for but nothing could be further from the truth.

          The wonderful rescue that I adopted her from got her about a month before I did.  She had been picked up as a stray but from the condition she was in, it was clear that she had been used and dumped by a puppy mill.  She is a mostly black dog but her hair was so dirty she looked yellow (see pic above).  She is the kind of dog that needs to be groomed but I doubt she had ever had a bath much less a hair cut or her nails trimmed.  Her nails were so overgrown I don’t know how she managed to stand and walk; one of her nails was crossed over the one next to it.  It must have been so painful.  If she had been just a stray dog, walking on the ground would have kept her nails shorter.  The length of them indicated that she had been kept in a cage all the time, not let out for anything, lying in her own filth, popping out puppies as often as she could. 

          Safe in the care of the rescue, she was given the love and attention she needed and then eventually we got to meet her.  As I reflect on her life, I feel amazed by her spirit.  The vet estimated that she is 4 years old.  That means that she spent the first third of her life in that horrible place.  Look at it this way, if we were to live 75 years, it would be like us spending 25 years locked up in a very small room being neglected, abused, used, just kept alive, never having a hair cut or a bath or our nails cut, never loved.  I don’t think I would be like her right now.  My heart would be closed, whereas, hers is open to everyone she meets.  I would approach everything with fear and she is so loving and confident.  She is so happy and she has been, right from the start when the rescue got her.  I also think about how she has benefited from the way she has approached her hardships.  If she had allowed her abuse to make her bitter, fearful, aggressive and hard, she would not have been able to settle herself into her new loving home so quickly.  She would have missed out on so many blessings.

           How often do we allow the difficulties that come into our lives to get in the way of us being able to accept the blessings God has coming our way?  How much do we miss out on because of how we have responded to life?  I hope I can be more like Zoey in the future.

                                                             One more thing…..Here is what she looks like now.

The author, Janice, lives in Illinois and is a friend of my daughter, Greta, who also lives there.  In Greta’s words, “Janice is a stay at home wife/mother/step-mother to three amazing girls and one wonderful husband.  Before becoming a mom she taught kindergarten.  She is a small group leader in her church and also serves on the vocal team.  Janice loves Jesus with all her heart.”

© 2014 Cat Brennan

A few weeks ago,  I purchased a pair of Red Leather Gloves online but I ordered and received the wrong size.  I didn’t want to go through the hassle of returning them and all that would involve.  So, I decided to give them to a friend of mine whom I was sure had small hands; at least smaller hands than mine.  She doesn’t.

The following week, a few of my friends and I were at “the deli” for our regular Tuesday night supper. As a result of this gathering at this particular place, I’ve made some additional, new and delightful friends. One of those new friends is Pat.  Pat is a sweet and generous woman.  She once gave me a GREEN sweater that she had been wearing. This was no ordinary sweater; it was APPLE GREEN, one of my favorite shades and had some beautiful stitching on it; further, it was kitten-fur soft.  Later, I gave it to a friend, the one who doesn’t have small hands, and she enjoyed wearing it for a time. She then gave it back to Pat who has since given it away again.

On this Tuesday night, after seeing that the Red Leather Gloves would not fit, I asked Pat to try them on, noticing her smaller hands; a perfect fit!  There was a small argument about her accepting the gloves and she finally gave in or gave up.

Sometime later that same evening, Pat admitted to us that she had, just that day, given away a pair of gloves that she was wearing. They were the ‘fingerless’ kind. A woman admired them and Pat took them off and gave them to her, figuring that she could buy another pair for herself.

I felt good about giving away the Red Leather Gloves, but had no idea they were playing their part in the Paying-it-Forward-gift-of-the-day.

I love it when I see these kinds of things happen and often wonder how many of these happenings I miss.  It really doesn’t matter if I know it or not. What matters is that if I feel a “need” or a “stirring” or hear a “still small voice” saying to give away something, I never go wrong in following that prompting.

Often, the phrases, “What goes around comes around” and “You reap what you sow”, are quoted in a negative sort of way. Personally, I like looking at the good things that ‘go around’ and get “sown”.

It’s good to remember the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” for it will come back to you.

      ^“And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal 6:9 KJV).

   “So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit” (Gal 6:9 The Msg).

My dear friend and ‘hero’ pastor, Dr. James B. “Jim” Richards says, “If you always believe until you receive, you will always receive what you believe.”  

What did you do with your Red Leather Gloves?

© 2014 Cat Brennan