By Vicki Scott
This past Sunday, our pastor was displaying his U.S. Air Force jacket (many people thought that he might not be able wear it, but it still fit after 15 years). Every pin and ribbon said a lot about who he was. He pointed out that when he wore that uniform, he was dedicated to serving his country. Now, he is dedicated to serving the Lord. Pastor is constantly working on improving his service to the Lord, and it shows.
Regretfully, I have not dedicated my life to the Lord as much as I should, but I do praise Him for being in my life. There’s no jacket that tells a lot about me but there are a lot of things that shine through from my past.
What might look like dedication in my life is more like obsession. A good example would be our recent mission trip to Guatemala. When I first realized we were going, I downloaded Duolingo, a game to help one learn Spanish. To date, I’ve played Duolingo for 320 days in a row. Keep in mind that I do not talk to anyone in Spanish as of yet. We have four members of our church who are fluent in speaking Spanish, and three of them are in my exercise class every week, so I’ve had the opportunity to do so. In short, my mind is cluttered with Duolingo.
My obsession with Spanish stems from elementary school when my parents took me to Auburn University to learn basic Spanish. During high school. I learned enough from Senor Stearns to take advanced classes in college. I suppose doing Spanish now brings back my younger years. I will say that I’ve learned more Spanish with Duolingo because I am applying myself a lot more.
Another one of my obsessions is crocheting blankets and throws. This was started by my attempt to teach my oldest granddaughters how to crochet like my grandmother taught me. They loved it, but somehow things got turned around to me making the throws for them instead of them making their own. I am now four throws in and working on a fifth one while orders keep coming in. We are now into crochet pillows and baskets.
Obsession No. 3 is putting together a stupid puzzle (or am the stupid one?). I usually can finish a puzzle in a few days and free up our dining room table for other activities, such as eating. However, my current 2,000-piece puzzle is an aggravating little cuss which has taken over my mind and kept the table cluttered for a month and a half.
My dear husband Alan counted how many pieces of the puzzle needed to be fit in place to finish, and it turned out to a little over 600. He did this in front of his friends, who then offered to help. Their assistance lasted for about 10 minutes. I’ve fond memories of doing puzzles with my mother and was hoping to get input from someone, anyone. When I finish the puzzle, I plan to take a picture of it and then take it apart.
Hopefully, my crocheted goodies will at least bring good memories to whoever receives them as a gift. As I worked on them, the future recipients – my granddaughters – stayed on my mind, along with precious memories. They might laugh at the fact that I tried to teach them how to make one for themselves.
I might need therapy afterwards, but if I finish this puzzle, I plan on using less than 1,000 pieces, maybe even less than 500. As you can see, it’s fairly obvious that I need to declutter both my mind and my house and get back focused on God.
The thing about my obsessions is that some of them work to the glory of God. The Spanish already has and will continue to do so as we go on more mission trips. One of our local churches crochet blankets for the homeless. I do not know how that puzzle will be used to the glory of God. I might need to go to the altar for that one.
Vicki Scott may be contacted at lily200383@yahoo.com.
