Frog Man!

As we took our walk today, we came upon a familiar sight. “FROGS”! They become road kill every year for the sake of love! Every year it happens, the frogs from the pond behind us crawl out of the water to mate, unaware of the high mortality rate for those who cross the road. I never fail to remember the first year we lived here at Frog Time! Our Grandson, Keegan was 3 years old and was so fascinated with the frog drama! His mission was to save the frogs and so he donned a towel for a cape and called himself “Frog Man”! As we walked down the road he would take each frog and carry him to the side of the road to save them. I laugh every time I think of him one evening after a bath he wanted to go out to save the frogs and his mother explained that he had just had a bath and she didn’t want him to get dirty. With all the sincerity he could muster he explained “Don’t you think the frogs want me to be clean when I rescue them?” This young man took his job very seriously since he was “Frog Man”!

A few days into later, after all of the frogs had been saved, he decided that he wanted to be “Bible Man”! Fortunately he still had the cape from when he was “Frog Man” so it worked out well! I remember sitting in a restaurant talking with this, thoughtful beyond his years, three year old when he asked why do people do bad things, don’t they know Jesus? His Grandpa agreed that no they probably didn’t know Jesus if they do bad things! Why doesn’t someone tell them about Jesus? At that, Bible Man came up with a plan! He would take his Bible and show people what it says about Jesus then they will be saved and not do bad things anymore! How right he was, people need to know Jesus and we, like Keegan need to tell them.

You might think that going from Frog Man to Bible Man was a stretch but if you think about it, is it? Frog Man set out to save these unsuspecting frogs from certain death while they aimlessly wondered into the road, while Bible Man wanted to proclaimed the gospel to everyone so they could be saved, no more to wonder. Frog Man carried his frogs to the other side of the road so they would be in the right place and be safe, while Bible Man, through scripture carried people to the safety of Jesus’ arms so they could live with him forever and be eternally safe! The Bible tells us that we must go into all the world and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, so as for me, I want to put on my cape and head out to bring salvation to lost souls like Keegan saved lost Frogs.

It’s hard to believe that Keegan is a teenager now and probably wouldn’t worry to much about frogs but I hope he will always have the desire to bring the life saving message of salvation to the world around him. I love you, Frog Man

Solid Gold Mink Coat!

Photo taken by Allison Smith

I remember as if was yesterday, when I got my new coat! My grandma bought it for me! It was grey suede with a fur collar and I thought it was beautiful. As a very excited second grader, I told everyone I had a “solid gold mink coat”. I was proud as I walked to school the next day, I just knew that everyone noticed my wonderful coat I even skipped along hoping that I would be more noticable. I had just begun my walk home from school when a little boy started chasing me home! Boy, that was fast I thought, already I have a boyfriend, and in my second grade mind I just knew he had noticed how nice I looked in my new coat and “liked“ me! I ran like the wind and was sure my new coat was not only beautiful but had made me run even faster. I made it home and couldn’t wait until the next day when maybe my new “boyfriend” would chase me again. As I made my way to school for the next few days, the same little boy chased me, I giggled at the thought of a boy really liking me, even though I didn‘t know his name or even exactly what he looked like since I was always running. On about the forth day I was ambushed from behind and knocked to the ground, the man of my dreams shrieked “never touch my bike again” and as I lay there he wiped his muddy shoe on my new “solid gold mink coat”. I was stunned to say the least! I can remember to this day the hurt I felt, and the way I felt so embarrassed and betrayed. I had done nothing wrong, never touched his bike or even knew where he lived! I was innocent of doing wrong! My beautiful coat would never be beautiful again with mud embedded into the soft suede, even the faux fur had lost it’s previously beautiful glow because of the ugliness of that day! I don’t remember if I told anyone or what was said about my dirty coat, but the sting of that day is still etched in my mind after all these years.

Have you ever felt ambushed, not knowing what you had done wrong? I think most of us have been. It’s as if you were just minding your own business when whammy here came that muddy foot that you were not expecting. In the bible there is a wonderful story of Joseph who also had a special coat!

Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.

Genesis 37:3

Joseph was one of those people who was ambushed! Oh yeah he had teased his brothers and it was kind of fun to rub it in that he was his Father Jacob’s favorite. Jacob even gave him a special coat because he loved him so much which was a good indication that he had not read many parenting books. It was also fun telling his brothers of the dreams he had that seem to mean he would someday be the one that they bowed to. But not in a million years did he think his own flesh and blood would plot to kill him. But when they seen him coming toward them, they planned how to kill him. After taking his “coat of many colors” they threw him down a well while they decided what to do with him. They came to the conclusion not to kill him but to sell him as a slave to some traveling merchants. Joseph’s coat was dipped in blood and the brothers told Jacob that Joseph had been killed by wild animals.

From there, Joseph’s story reads like a novel in Genesis but through it all God was with Joseph! He seemed to succeed in all things against all difficulties and finally was in the place God wanted him to be. There was a famine in the land and Jacob sent the brothers to get food. There they came face to face with there little brother, who had been put in charge of the food supply they so desperately needed. At first the brothers did not recognize him but Joseph knew right away who they were the Bible says he went away and privately wept at seeing them. Eventually Joseph revealed himself to them and sent for Jacob and his brothers to come to live near him. When Jacob died his brothers were afraid Joseph would then kill them, so they threw themselves down at Joseph’s feet and asked for his forgiveness. I love his response.

Genesis 50:19-20

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives.

God always has a plan for our lives even when we are brushing the mud off of our new coat, He is always there to turn it into good so that we can accomplish His plan in us.

Did I ever forgive the little boy for ruining my “solid gold fur coat”? Well, by my estimation this little boy is probably in his sixties and probably didn’t give another thought to me or my coat but I will say I’ll never go near his bike!

Mother of the Year

Of all the Mother’s Days I have had there is one that sticks out in my memory the most. I believe it was 1973 and I had my daughter Christa who was two and my twin daughters Kelly and Nealy who were 7 months and I was one busy Mom! The twins had been in the hospital more than they had been out in their 7 months and Christa was admitted twice for surgery. Just about the time I would get settled on a schedule one or both of the twins would go into the hospital. By the time they were discharged from the hospital they, like most infants, had changed so again we had to establish a new “norm”. Within that same year we had gotten into two car wrecks, neither one was our fault and had our car stolen off the church parking lot. It makes me tired just thinking of it! A man once sarcastically asked Larry, “where is your God that he would let all of these things happen”? Larry simply said, my girls recovered from their illnesses, we survived two wrecks that could have killed us all and our car was returned unharmed! He didn’t stop the storm, he held our hand as we went through it.


The reason Mother’s Day sparks all these memories is because this particular year they were giving out a “Mother of the Year” award! I’m sure that as people watched us drag our little brood to church they gave me the sympathy vote, but, none the less, when the award was announced, it was me who won! I can’t remember what I won but it was the encouragement that was the best part. I’m sure I wasn’t the best mom in the church, or for sure not the best dressed since every outfit I owned had spit-up on each shoulder. My house took no awards for being the cleanest, nor did I have a glow of spirituality but my church and my Lord gave me the affirmation that day that we were not alone through these harried times. We were where we were called to be and I was blessed to be Mom to these beautiful baby girls!


If you are a harried mom of toddlers, a worried mother of teens or have grown children that keep you on your knees I so dub you “MOTHER OF THE YEAR!” Remember to look up from your busy life and see people cheering you on and don’t forget that God has a plan for your children and for you!


Happy Mother’s Day!