A "Soap" Opera for My Friday Foto Friends

Today is Friday Foto Friends Day...and as of last night I had no clue what I was going to post.  And then this morning as I was washing my face the most amazing thing happened!  My "soap" spoke to me!  Now before you get all lathered up and think I've been sipping on the suds...slip on over here and take a look for yourself!

I opened up a box of Dove Soap...and took out this lovely new bar...and look what it "spoke" to me:

What a lovely way to start my day! In essence...my bar of soap was suggesting to me to be "KIND"!

• Be KIND to myself...
• Be KIND to others...
• "Be KIND to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you"  Ephesians 4:32

I'll bet you never thought your bar of soap would be making positive suggestions or quoting scripture to you, did you???

Well, as if this wasn't amazing enough,  I decided to open up the other boxes in the package and see if they had anything else to say...

Lo! And Behold!  The next one I opened spoke to me again!  It said "LOVE"!  Oh Wow! Now this one truly speaks a mouthful!  (Almost like getting my mouth washed out with soap?)

• "You shall LOVE your neighbor as yourself!"  Leviticus 19:18
• "You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."  Deuteronomy 6:5
• "This is My commandment, that you LOVE one another as I have loved you." John 15:12
• "LOVE never fails"  I Corinthians 13:8
• "And now abide faith, hope, LOVE, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE." I Corinthians 13:13
• "Beloved, let us LOVE one another, for LOVE is of God; and everyone who LOVES is born of God and knows God." I John 4:7
• "For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

That's probably enough examples of LOVE, but there so so many more I could list them indefinitely!

However, we need to move along to the NEXT box:

Another remarkable word...CARE....

• Take good CARE of yourself...Take good CARE of those around you...
• "Casting all your CARE upon Him (the Lord), for He CARES for you."  I Peter 5:7
• "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 (Doesn't use the specific word CARE, but it is certainly understood).

Okay, so were there any other messages inside my DOVE soap package?

Let me check....

Oh Yes! REAL!!! This is the REAL Deal!!!  This is not a spoof!  This REALLY happened today!

I hope you have enjoyed this little "Soap Opera"!  Who would ever believe that there could be so much beauty inside this package of Dove "Beauty" Bars?  In checking the packaging a little further I discovered that this is a limited special edition of engraved beauty bars.  Personally, I think it's a great idea!  It certainly made my day start out on a brighter note!  Thank you, DOVE Beauty Bars! You make my heart sing!

Now go over to my friends at Friday Foto Friends #40  and see what they've shared today!

Who's Taking Care of YOU?

Psalm 27:10  "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me."

Have you ever felt forsaken by your mother or your father?  I realize that this is a loaded question, for I know there are many out there who have experienced this in the extreme sense of the word "forsaken"...and it is not my intention to stir up feelings of sorrow or anger tonight. Please bear with me...

Whether or not we were actually literally forsaken by our parent(s), we have all  felt that way at one time or another.  Oftentimes it was not an intentional desertion on their part, but instead a gulf that was there due to circumstances usually beyond their ability to control...perhaps due to illness, whether physical or mental, or possibly due to relationships that were torn apart by war, battles of the will, divorce, or distance because of financial restraints and difficulties brought on by the national economy or joblessness. Whatever the reason, the pain of separation affects both the child and the parent, whether or not they ever express it. 

Right now I am the parent who is feeling very frustrated and sad because I am not able to be with my son who has been diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive cancer. I feel like I am the one forsaking him, but it is certainly not intentional.  I know that I will be there with him as soon as is reasonably possible, but I want to be there right now. My mother heart wants to fly right up there and stay beside him and "kiss all his boo-boos away", like I did when he was a child. However, he is an adult now, a married man and a daddy, with a wonderful wife and an equally wonderful son.  It really isn't my place to take care of him as before. 

I know that our son does not really feel like we have forsaken him. He knows we want to be there and that we will be going as soon as possible.  But as I read this verse today, I thought to myself, "Yes, even when we are not able to be there with our child...or even if we were there with him, it is the LORD who is taking care of him." 

You see, when our children were infants, and actually before they were born, we committed them to God.  We prayed for them even before they were conceived, and while they were being formed in the womb we continued to pray for them and sang spiritual songs to them. We rejoiced at their birth...and as soon as we were physically able, we took them to church and stood before the Lord and dedicated them to God.  We understood the fact that our children were not really ours...they were each a gift from God to us, to love, to care for, to instruct, and to give back to God for His service. All the while it has been GOD who has been taking care of them...not us.  We did our part in obedience to God, but even if we had not, God would have taken care of them.

Isaiah 49:14-16 says, "But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.'

(Then God responded to him):  'Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.  See, I have inscribed you on the palms of MY hands; your walls are continually before Me.'"

I believe these verses can be taken personally as well as in the context of God talking to the children of Israel.  I especially am drawn to the part where the Lord says that He has inscribed us on the palms of His hands.  I think about the nail prints in the palms of the hands of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Those scars are there because He loved us so much He was willing to die for us...that tells me that He cares for us much much more than we could ever care for our children or each other. And why was He willing to die for us? So that we will one day be able to spend eternity with Him...He loves us that much...He wants to be with us forever and ever. 

"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

Thank you, Jesus, for this reminder tonight.  This gives me great comfort. I know that You will not forsake our son...You have him inscribed in the palms of Your nail-scarred hands. I know that I can trust the One who died for me..and for him. Amen.

So dear friends, I ask you, "Who is taking care of YOU?"  Think about it...pray about it...and believe...