Rats

I've got some sanguine in me. ...or is it just "Irish"?  Our ilk can be counted on to speak up. Peter had that problem. Even after the Holy Spirit got hold of his heart he'd usually be the first to address the situation. Nobody can convince me that those other guys didn't set him up to say what they didn't want to say.  My Ted knew I would do just that and he milked it to the end!

My husband was not a story-teller so you would never have heard this or any other story if he were the one left behind. ...which reminds me of a conversation between two men I heard about the other day. One asked the other:"Why do you think husbands usually die first?" The other replied: "Because we want to."

O.K., back to this story. My Ted's parents raised chickens. One day Ted's dad told him to go into the shack where they stored the chicken feed and see if he could discover why the feed sack emptied so quickly. Armed wih a crowbar, Ted pried up a floor board and rats poured through the hole and surrounded him. One skittered up his leg inside his pants.  He grabbed and squished it, then ran to find a pair of leather gloves and a rope to tie around his pant legs. Finally, when every squished rat lay dead he tossed them into a bushel basket. The "Council Grove Republican" sent a reporter to take a picture of young Ted Stone standing by a basket of dead rats. He made the front page. ...probably for the first and only time in his life. Over his many years of life on this earth Ted Stone squished many a rat with the Word of God and prayer.

Moral of the story: If we're going to wade around in a rat shack we'd better make sure we've got our armor on. ...head to toe.

Soldiers of Christ, arise and put your armor on.
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His Eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of hosts andi in His mighty power.
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts, is more than conqueror!

Leave no unguarded place; no weakness of the soul.
Take every virtue, every grace and fortify the whole.
Having all things done and all conflicts past
You may o'ercome through Christ alone, and stand complete at last!

Love,  Jo