Monday, February 2, 2009

Froggie Went a Courtin'

Last night, I was reading my bible about the frog plague in Egypt....wow, some things in there will blow your mind. I cannot imagine so many frogs that they are jumping in and out of your house, your bedroom, your bed, your ovens, pots and pans, etc. My daddy would have had a fit; he couldn't stand frogs. When he was in Jr. high school he played basketball and was taking a shower in the locker room and some of his team mates threw frogs in on him through the window, and he ran out into the street behind the school (in his birthday suit). Another neighbor of his down the road kept trying to scare him by saying he'd throw one on him (a big bullfrog), and daddy threatened to throw a coke bottle at him if he did. The young man threw the frog, and daddy threw the bottle...which busted the back of the boy's head.



When I was about 10 and Ginger was about 4 or 5, we were playing outside and came across little baby toads...they were so cute, about the size of a thumbnail. Ginger picked one up and cupped it in her little hands and took it inside to show daddy, who was sitting down reading the paper. Not knowing they were very small, she told daddy she wanted to show him the frog she found outside and opened her hands, and the little bitty frog jumped out and onto daddy...then the little bitty frog went sailing through the air. And the moral of that story is just because somethings cute, doesn't mean everyone will think it is.





Imagine my surprise yesterday morning when I turned on my office computer and in checking my email, I got a devotion entitled, "Did You Eat Your Frog Today"? It about made me sick. According to the author of a book it was advertising (Brian Tracy), your "frog" could be the most difficult thing to do on your to-do list, if you keep one. This is more-than-likely the one you are most likely to procrastinate. By "eating" it first, this will give you the energy and momentum to tackle all the others on your list. If not, the frog will sit there on the side of your plate and watch you while you do a hundred more unimportant things. Makes sense huh? I've got the wonderful task of going through my closet and boxes full of other "things" just so I can store it out in my storage shed, my "shack". When I moved back home the week before my daddy died in 07, I just threw everything in boxes, and there it remains. Still have a few more boxes out at the trailer, but Peggy, Erik, and Ginger are kind enough to let me store it there as long as I need to. My shed is empty of junk now, but it's fixed up with shelves, carpet, an A/C, desk, my bike, and tanning bed. If I ever get my bedroom cleaned out, then I can get it fixed up the way I want it. Till then, my "frog" stares at me every day....but it will be a dead frog if I see it start jumping.



Knowing how my father felt about frogs, a sweet Christian sister of mine, Michelle T. got into the habit of sending my daddy (the last year or so of his life) a little something every now and then that had to do with frogs. She sent him a nurse frog, a stuffed frog, etc. all to remind him of what these frogs stood for when he looked at them...and it wasn't something to fear, but to remind him (and all of us) what to do when we go through the storms in our lives...F.R.O.G.. And that's what I leave with you today. Fully Rely On God.