TOE POPPING IS AN ACQUIRED TASTE or Miscellaneous thoughts from the porch

Hello my friend,

I hope you’re busy squeezing the last big of goodness out of this summer. We are! It’s been several long hot months for us, but glory to God, last night we got 2-4 inches on the farm. We were ecstatic about getting to turn the pumps off and giving everyone a break from watering. Don’t get me wrong, we’re grateful that we can water! There were plenty of years when we weren’t set up to do that and the Beloved Farmer and I had to watch our crops go from promising to parched right before our eyes, but what God sends from the skies beats what we can pump onto our crops by a country mile and then some! 

In other news, The Sixth Annual Pops and Keggie Kamp was a roaring success. The video recap is here, if you want to see how the grands have grown. I declare, it’s almost like you can watch them put on inches in real-time!

I’m still hard at work on the manuscript based on the gospel of John. It’s due late August, so any prayers you want to send this way would be appreciated. I wish I could share the title and cover image, but we’re not quite there.  In due time, I tell myself, in due time. I can, however, tell you a bit more about it…

This Bible study is a little different than others you may have done, which is understandable because I’m a little different, or so I’ve been told once, twice, or a hundred times. It took years but I’ve learned to be okay with that and trust God has purpose in it. It has 21 chapters, corresponding to the chapters of John’s gospel. The chapters have three segments, Dear John, Dear Reader, and Dear Jesus. Listen in during the Dear John letters as I imagine what it’d be like to discuss the gospel with the apostle who authored it. Please note, this is not intended to be a séance in any form. The goal is to help us connect with John and understand what it was like when Jesus broke into his ancient world, so we can use those findings to better see Him in ours. He is as present here and He was there.  

We’ll explore the scriptures in the Dear Reader sections. I’ll be offering commentary and sharing my own takeaways from John’s gospel on how to live fearlessly and joyfully in our post Christian world, but the margins are all yours. I encourage you to engage with the material! Pen your own questions and listen for the Lord to answer. Note observations you may have or use a highlighter to mark thoughts you want to revisit alone or with your study group.  

In the Dear Jesus sections, we’ll pray about the truths we’ve taken from that chapter and ask Father God to establish it in our hearts. Questions and additional Scripture references follow for private use or study group aids. 

Short form synopsis? My goal is to offer 21 practices from John’s Gospel to help believers thrive in an angry and anxious world! Nothing like a high bar, amen? LOL! That’s okay. I’m not the one that will need to make good on all the Word’s promises, God is, and He is faithful! 

That’s enough for now, but that LOL reminded me of a something else I wanted to share. Because I like to say #lifeisbetterwhenyourelaughing and Facebook gave me the following memory for this weekend— I give you words from a decade back that still make me grin. I hope they do that for you! 

TOE POPPING IS AN ACQUIRED TASTE

Don’t ask me to explain this, but although I have a hard time remembering to stop and buy milk, my brain has recorded most everything I’ve written here at ShellieT.com. That’s why I knew what was up when that reporter called looking for Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, said he’d like to interview her about toe popping. I realized immediately that he’d found a particular chat floating around cyber space. What I wanted to know was why it piqued his interest. He filled me in. Seems a principal down there had been suspended for popping kids’ toes and it was all over the news.

I granted his interview and answered his questions as graciously as possible. Yes, I like to pop toes. No, not just my own toes— I like to pop other people’s toes, too, like those belonging to my husband and kids. 

No, I don’t remember how old my children were when I started popping their toes, but I recall them being little bitty things. It was probably a game of “this little piggy goes to market” that got out of hand. Regardless, they grew to like it and before long they began presenting their toes voluntarily.

On the outside chance there are other toe-poppers out there, let me caution you. As that principal discovered, toe popping can be misunderstood. It’s best to keep it in the family. Experience speaking… 

One day I was holding someone else’s toddler on my hip, deep in conversation, when I inadvertently popped the child’s baby toe. Have mercy! I reckon the poor thing thought I’d broken it. You’ve never heard such wailing! And that was the Mama. The baby cried, too! Fortunately for me, no one pressed charges. Toe popping, it’s obviously an acquired taste.

Take care. And as always, drop me a note. I love to hear from you!

Hugs, Shellie

P.S. I’d like to invite you to help me make someone’s day. Please click here, give it a read, and see if you can spare one minute to join me. It won’t cost you a red cent but you will be blessed in the blessing I’m planning for a dear friend of this porch gathering!