My Grandma Jean was the queen of all things kitschy, whether it be salt and pepper  shakers having accumulated well over 200, or her complete Smokey the Bear  kitchen collection.  A plethora of  trinkets  lined the interior of my grandparents home, while garden ornaments dotted the landscapes exterior . Sparking early on in me a love to collect.

Ranging from objects that make me smile, stir up a beautiful memory, or recall God’s unfailing love.  All finding a place in my heart and home.

Recently, while dusting, which by the way is something I do not prefer to collect!
My sweet ceramic lambs caught my eye as they awaited a date with the feather duster. Honing in on the smallest one with the broken leg, poor little lambie, worst for wear with a story to tell.  It goes like this …

Lisa had a little lamb in her hand to purchase. It crashed to the ground , and she found its’ little leg was broken.Realizing she no longer desired this defective token, gently the Lord reminded her she too once was broken. Now a precious reminder of a brokeness healed, by the great Shepherd of which her heart is sealed

For a moment  I longed to purchase a  perfect, unblemished, unbroken lamb that would represent me as Jesus’ little lamb. The very thought in and of itself is flawed, for I’m imperfect, blemished and broken.  I’m convinced He kept His nail scarred hands for a reason, a precious remembrance of His grace toward us.

Jesus, the sacrificial lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world, being without spot or blemish.

Fully God, fully man and yet without sin
.

Shepherd and Lamb… Lamb and Shepherd.

I’m figuring if Jesus’ scars are good enough to keep so are mine.
Lord, how kind your act of grace to be broken for us* “Being  wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon you, and with the stripes [that wounded] you, we are healed and made whole.”

“For in order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself.” Albert Einstein

“For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Revelation 21:4

“There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him.” Revelations 22:3

A Psalm of David.  “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”  Psalms 23:1-6

“Like a shepherd, he will care for his flock gathering the lambs in his arms, Hugging them as he carries them, leading the nursing ewes to good pasture.” Isaiah 40:11

* Isaiah 53:5

My  last blog  “Konnichiwa to Peace”  expressed  some of the struggles  I’ve encountered battling with Goliath size fears. Divulging  how  I  kept  “trophies” of  past  victories,  memento’s  if you will,  representing a fear or personal obstacles that was overcome with the Lord’s help.  Many of which  wound up in the form of a charm dangling off  my “Victory Bracelet”, that now  sports many bobbles of triumphs.

Previously I wrote about the Yahoo milk bottle saved from Derek’s first excursion to the neighbor market without me. Honestly he should have been  given  his own personal trophy, he certainly deserved one for displaying stellar patience towards me. After wrapping up my last blog post, my  mind meandered down the path of  the word “Trophy”, this was another one of my ADD “squirrel” moments.  This time it was not about my stouthearted trophies but rather my husbands. 

Just a few short weeks ago I found my sweetheart’s 27 year old bona fide trophy now laying in our garbage bin.  First response hands down, was to rescue it from a perilous demise, being the glorified dumpster diver that I am.  Dating far back  before it  was hip or they had a show  highlighting ‘Extreme Cheapskates”.  My husband would not call it “glorified”, rather more like “horrified”;  watching this derriere and legs go up in the air while my upper body descended  into the sea of buried treasure.  And though only diving for home decor, is still what it is… a dumpster!

Pulling Kevin’s prestigious award away from it’s helpless state atop a hefty garbage bag, it conjured up fond memories right along with it. Recollections of him rallying  his team to victory at McIntire’s gym’s competition in 1986, the same time we were dating so many years ago. A lot has happened through the years and this trophy was no exception, making  me laugh yet again at it’s  current condition.  This once shining gold statue depicted a strong man lifting gargantuan weights, was now reduced to looking like he was merely hoisting a wimpy stick. 

At some point over the years the two end weights accidentally broke off, caused by either my notorious mad packing skills, or due to the fact it was made rather cheaply. Naturally, I like to think it’s due to it’s poor craftsmanship.  Upon this first time discovery I felt positively mortified about the broken condition of his  honored  trophy,  ever so slowing  studying the  transformed image in my hand  made me laugh.  How funny to gaze upon a depiction of such brute force needed to elevate a stick.  Well, I guess you could say he was “raising the bar “.
 
All in all celebrating the feat of stick holding is not a  bad thing.  David the Shepard boy having only staff in hand and five smooth stones nestled in his shepherd’s pouch, fearlessly approached the giant Goliath.  He had been relentlessly taunting God’s people for over 40 days. David who was anointed to be the future King of Israel was wholeheartedly confident that no one should defy the armies of the living God.  Goliath remained amused, confident and clueless with his retort at the sight of David by belching out, “Am I a dog, that you would come to me with a stick”. David responded flawlessly, finishing  with this heroic reply, “And all the assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hands”.  Which is exactly what God did… allowing David to defeat the giant; He took Goliath’s  head and armor as trophies.  I will stick to charms and glass milk bottles as memento’s of battles won… thank you very much.  For those  who don’t know this amazing  story  check it out in 1 Samuel  chapter 17.

I don’t know what giants you’re facing today, perhaps it’s an illnesses, divorce, loss of a loved one, or finance’s.  No matter how powerful the enemy seems in the natural, God will prevail and you will win the victory.  What the enemy has meant for evil you oh Lord will use for good.  

Thank you Jesus that you knock off the weight of the world as we yoke ourselves to you, making our yoke easy and our burden light.  I love that You tell us to glory in our weaknesses as Your strength is made perfect in it.  So going against the pull of my performance based nature.  God is out of the box, forward thinking, ready to rock your world with His grace that pounds louder than crashing waves along the rocky shores. Ready to take your breathe away with His goodness, wonder and hope.   Let us rejoice in the truth that You strengthen our spiritual muscles, “coming  to pump us up”, while  lovingly reminding us  not to sweat the small stuff.

Psalms 68 :12&13  “The kings of the enemies’ armies, they flee, they flee! She who tarries at home divides the spoil [left behind]. Though you [the slackers] may lie among the sheepfolds [in slothful ease, yet for Israel] the wings of a dove are covered with silver, its pinions excessively green with gold [are trophies taken from the enemy].”