Stir Up the Good Stuff

Last week I posted a picture to my sisters on social media of the cutest baby frog. I found him in the backyard while playing tennis with Stinkier Than She Oughta Be after three recent baths. Yes, I’m throwing that remark at Dixie Belle. The dog has a stash of Deadly Cologne hidden in this yard somewhere and she keeps dousing herself in the mystery meat every time I turn my back. It’s an appeal I will never understand, but I was talking frogs, not dogs.

I captioned the picture with a note to my middle sister, Rhonda. It was meant to be a quote from the amphibian himself and it read, “Give me some sugar, Rhonda, or else…” This was extremely funny to me and our oldest sister, Cyndie. Rhonda, not so much, but then I often assisted Cyndie in holding Rhonda down and making her kiss frogs back when we were being our tomboy worst on Bull Run Road. Trust me, if you really could turn a frog into a prince with a kiss, Rhonda would’ve been knee deep in royalty by the age of ten. Frog kissing aside, all three of us enjoyed that blast from the past. We laughed together from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. For me, those moments are like someone taking a spoon and stirring up our shared memories, redistributing and renewing again the experiences that unite us.

I think Paul was talking about something similar when he reminded Timothy to stir up the gift of Christ that was in him. It’s an admonition meant for all believers. We can get so busy with today that our lives become like a boiling soup pot allowing too many weightier matters to settle to the bottom. To stir up the gift of Christ, is to constantly turn over all that He is and all that He has done until He permeates every aspect of our lives, as well as those we touch. Rhonda might say that frogs are wholly unnecessary. I’d have to give her that.

Hugs,
Shellie