James 1:5 – Grits with Grace

Family, fear, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, prayer, Scripture, Trials

The Cat’s Meow

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Dewayne Taylor

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

“Dewayne, we have a problem.” It was Judy and it was what greeted me as I was going to the garage to get something I needed. I think I know how it must have felt when the crew of Apollo 13 uttered those now famous words, “Houston…we have a problem.” I had started painting our upstairs bathroom. You need to know I am no Michelangelo, and this was not going to be a Mona Lisa. Into those throes the news came. “We” have a problem.

I quickly explained to Judy that I didn’t have time for a problem. My paint was drying and some of it was in the wrong place, like the floor. She told me there was a cat trapped in her car. Wait. What? Well, the night before she had told me she saw a cat go in our garage and I should check before I closed it up for the night. About 9.30, I went out and did the “here, Kitty, Kitty” thing, shined my flashlight around in the corners and such. No cat. “Good.” I said. Or not.

It turns out our homeless friend didn’t move on—he moved in. The crazy part was that it took up residence in the engine compartment of her car. Silly cat. I was going to say, “Stupid cat” but I thought you might think me harsh. So anyway, I left the drying paint in the bathroom to attempt a rescue. It was about then that I discovered why it is so expensive to work on Volkswagen cars. You open the hood only to discover that every square inch is stuffed with something. And somewhere in all of that was the cat. Silly cat.

A friend was there with Judy and all three of us looked and prodded, we called and cooed and nothing except the occasional meow of the cat. Judy volunteered to look if I jacked up the car to see if we could see anything from underneath. I did and she couldn’t. It was time to call in the calvary. I called my neighbor Jared who manages a local tire place. Surely, he would have an idea. As we waited for him to come, we continued to prod and poke, coo and call. In my sweetest voice I kept saying, “Hey silly cat, come here silly cat.” I wanted to say stupid cat, but I was trying to be Christian about this whole deal.

Then it happened. The cat, who turned out to be the cutest kitten south of Chicago wiggled out of its tight spot and ran to the corner of the garage. Quickly, I moved from poking and prodding under the hood to poking and prodding in the corner filled with stuff we didn’t need. Cute or not, this kitten was about to mash my button. Not to bore you with details but four grown adults spent the next ten minutes chasing this cute little silly cat from one corner of the garage to the other. From behind the washer and dryer to the corner of no return we played hide and seek. Finally, the cute little kitten saw the light of day, ran through our friends’ hands and legs and out the door. Game. Set. Match.

The cute little silly kitten was on the run and that was all that mattered. Jared went back to work; the ladies went on with life and I went upstairs to scrape dried paint off the floor, and I know I heard this kitten laughing from across the street. What is up with all this? Surely the kitten knew better. Surely, he or she knew the danger of living under the hood of a car. Probably not. To the cute little kitten, it was just a place to hide.

You see the kitten wasn’t silly and the kitten wasn’t stupid. The kitten just lacked experience. It was naive. It hadn’t lived long enough to understand the dangers of parked cars/garage living. And do you know what? That is true of a lot of us. Solomon, the wisest guy to ever live, wrote in Proverbs, “I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking sense.” And the crazy part was that it had nothing to do with age. We have all made some crazy decisions at one time or another. Too often we just throw common sense to the wind and well, we end up with a train wreck.

The good news is that God is in the train wreck avoidance business. That’s what led the half-brother of Jesus to write in James 1:5, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” If we did that one simple thing we could avoid a lot of painful situations. Just stop for a moment, ask God if this is the wise thing to do, and wait for an answer. By the way, silence might be the answer, so don’t miss it.

Well, I hope our cute little kitten found a new place to live and hopefully it wasn’t in someone’s engine compartment. And I hope we will learn to trust a wise, loving Father to give us the wisdom we need to live better lives with fewer regrets and better consequences. You know He loves you, don’t you? He wants you to come to Him and rest in the safety of His arms. He wants you to know He has this. And He does. Bro. Dewayne

Christmas, Family, friends, gratitude, Holidays, life, loving others, missions, prayer, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, travel, wisdom

Figuring it Out

Posted on December 29, 2022December 28, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” James 1:5

It was a close call, but grace stepped in. Every year, our church sends a group of missionaries to help process Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes in Atlanta. “Atlanta,” you say? “I didn’t know they needed missionaries in Atlanta?” Well, missionaries, at least to some degree, are folks who take a good message or do a good deed to a needy place and trust me that is anywhere and everywhere. But in this case, it was also an opportunity to be a part of something very big that would impact thousands and thousands of people with the joy of a gift in the shape of a shoebox filled with items of love and the joy of a gift in the shape of a cross and an empty tomb—the message of Jesus.

Well, last year I almost didn’t make it. I almost missed the boat. The week of the trip, two families in our church lost loved ones and as pastor and friend, I was asked to do the services for their loved ones—two precious mothers. As it turned out the services would be held almost immediately after my return from Atlanta. Add to that, each service would require more than a few hours of preparation. I believe each funeral service should be crafted in prayer and made as personal as possible and that requires time. So, I told Judy I just didn’t think I could make the trip. It would just be easier if I stayed back and worked. She wanted very much for me to go but also knew the importance of the task at hand.

After some discussion, the decision was made…she would go, and I would stay. I had made this trip several times and I knew it was going to be meaningful but easier just sounded easier. But then she said something that caused me to re-evaluate. It was something like, “Now, don’t be upset when I come back and tell you what a good time we had.” It was a moment of clarity. It caused me to remember the times before and that feeling of making a difference, the times of fellowship with the team, and at that moment, I knew I needed to go. This time easier just wasn’t the best choice.

I began immediately to prepare the services and asked God to multiply the time that I had. Then, Tuesday morning, the next day, with almost thirty others, I boarded the bus and headed to Atlanta…and it was an incredible trip. The journey, the destination, the work was all just incredible. We got back in town Thursday evening, and I went straight back to working to finish the two funeral services. In my heart I knew I had made the right decision. The first service was Friday, and it was my privilege to stand before a group of people and share about a life well lived and a great God who loves us—a bunch. The other service wasn’t till Sunday and, unknown to me, I would not be there for that one. I would be at home with the flu. Fortunately, the work for the service was done and someone else would use that work. God knew all of this and used all of this. Amazing.

Each day we are challenged to make decisions. Sometimes they are obvious and sometimes they are not. Sometimes the choice is between easy and hard. Ask God for wisdom to make the right one. Oh, you will miss it sometimes regardless, but I have learned that He has a way of honoring our hearts and intentions. I just know that this time the easy thing was not the right thing…it was just easy. I returned from Atlanta not depleted and tired but filled and refreshed. Helping others has a way of doing that. And, God, well, He always does all things, well!

James, the half-brother of Jesus, says in the Book of the Bible that bears His name, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” You gotta love that. Need wisdom? Just ask. Will He be upset because you “bothered” Him? Absolutely not. He is like a dearest daddy just waiting to help and the reason why He is like that is because that’s what He is—our Dearest Daddy. So, as you journey life today and you come to those crossroads called decisions, no matter how simple or complex, just ask and He will be there for you. Don’t worry, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Christmas, Family, Grace, gratitude, loving others, prayer, priorities, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, travel, wisdom

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Posted on December 22, 2021December 20, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” James 1:5

Well, I almost didn’t make it. I almost missed the boat. The week of the trip, two families in our church lost loved ones and as pastor and friend, I was asked to do the services for their loved ones—two precious mothers. As it turned out the services would be held almost immediately after my return from Atlanta. Add to that, each service would require more than a few hours of preparation. I believe each funeral service should be crafted in prayer and made as personal as possible and that requires time. So, I told Judy I just didn’t think I could make the trip. It would just be easier if I stayed back and worked. She wanted very much for me to go but also knew the importance of the task at hand.

After some discussion, the decision was made…she would go and I would stay. I had made this trip several times and I knew it was going to be meaningful but easier just sounded easier. But then she said something that caused me to re-evaluate. It was something like, “Now, don’t be upset when I come back and tell you what a good time we had.” It was a moment of clarity. It caused me to remember the times before and that feeling of making a difference, the times of fellowship with the team, and at that moment, I knew I needed to go. This time easier just wasn’t the best choice.

Family, forgiveness, Grace, life, Scripture, thankful, Trials, wisdom

Between a Rock & a Hard Place

Posted on July 15, 2021July 14, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

Dewayne, we have a problem.” It was Judy got my attention as I was going out to the garage to get something. I think I know how it must have felt when the crew of Apollo 13 uttered those now famous words, “Houston…we have a problem.” I had started painting our upstairs bathroom. You need to know I am no Michelangelo, and this was not going to be a Mona Lisa. Into that melee came the news. “We” have a problem.

I quickly explained to Judy that I didn’t have time for a problem. My paint was drying and some of it was in the wrong place, like the floor. She told me there was a cat trapped in her car. Wait. What? Now the night before she had told me she saw a cat go in our garage and I should check before I closed it up for the night. About 9.30, I went out and did the “here, ktty, kitty” thing, shined my flashlight around in the corners and such. No cat. “Good.” I said. Or not.

Now it turns out our homeless friend didn’t move on—he moved in. The crazy part was that it took up residence in the engine compartment of her car. Silly cat. I was going to say, “Stupid cat” but I thought you might think me harsh. So anyway, I left the drying paint in the bathroom to attempt a rescue. It was about then that I discovered why it is so expensive to work on Volkswagen cars. You open the hood to only discover that every square inch is stuffed with something. And somewhere in all of that was the cat. Silly cat.

A friend was there with Judy and all three of us looked and prodded, we called and cooed and saw nothing, we just heard the occasional meow of the cat. Judy volunteered to look if I jacked up the car to see if we could see underneath. I did and she couldn’t. It was time to call in the calvary. I called my neighbor Jared, who manages a local tire place. Surely, he would have an idea. As we waited for him to arrive, we continued to prod and poke, coo and call. In my sweetest voice I kept saying, “Hey silly cat, come here silly cat.” I wanted to say stupid cat, but I was trying to be Christian about this whole deal.

Then it happened. The cat, who turned out to be the cutest kitten south of Chicago wiggled out of its tight spot and ran to the corner of the garage. We then moved from poking and prodding under the hood to poking and prodding in the corner filled with stuff we didn’t need. Cute or not this kitten was about to mash my button. Not to bore you with details but four grown adults spent the next ten minutes chasing this cute little silly cat from one corner of the garage to the other. From behind the washer and dryer to the corner of no return, we played hide and seek. Finally, the cute little kitten saw the light of day, ran through our friends hands and legs and out the door. Game. Set. Match.

The cute little silly kitten was on the run and that was all that mattered. Jared went back to work, the ladies went on with life, and I went upstairs to scape dried paint off the floor and I know I heard this kitten laughing from across the street. So, what is up with all this? Surely the kitten knew better. Surely, he or she knew the danger of living under the hood of a car- but probably not. To the cute little kitten, it was just a place to hide.

You see the kitten wasn’t silly, the kitten wasn’t stupid (well, not really stupid anyway). The kitten just lacked experience. It was naive. It hadn’t lived long enough to understand the dangers of garage living. And do you know what? That is true of a lot of us. Solomon, the wisest guy to ever live, wrote in Proverbs, “I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking sense.” And the crazy part was that it had nothing to do with age. We have all made some crazy decisions at one time or another. Too often we just throw common sense to the wind and well, we end up with a train wreck.

The good news is that God is in the train wreck avoidance business. That’s what He led the half-brother of Jesus to write in James 1:5, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” If we would do that one simple thing, we could avoid a lot of painful situations. Just stop for a moment, ask God if this is the wise thing to do, and wait for an answer. By the way, silence might be an answer, so don’t miss it.

Family, life, Scripture, wisdom

Here Kitty, Kitty

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Dewayne Taylor

“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” Proverbs 7:5

“Dewayne, we have a problem.” It was Judy and it was what greeted me as I was going out to the garage to get something I needed. I think I know how it must have felt when the crew of Apollo 13 uttered those now famous words, “Houston…we have a problem.” I had started painting our upstairs bathroom. You need to know I am no Leonardo da Vinci and this was not going to be a Mona Lisa. Into that throes the news came. “We” have a problem.

I quickly explained to Judy that I didn’t have time for a problem. My paint was drying and some of it was in the wrong place—like the floor. She told me there was a cat trapped in her car. Wait. What? Well, the night before she had told me she saw a cat go in our garage and I should check before I closed it up for the night. About 9.30, I went out and did the “Here, Kitty, Kitty” thing, shined my flashlight around in the corners and such. No cat. “Good.” I said. Or not.

So it turns out our homeless friend didn’t move on—it moved in. The crazy part was that it took up residence in the engine compartment of her car. Silly cat. I was going to say, “stupid cat” but I thought you might think me harsh. So anyway, I left the drying paint in the bathroom to attempt a rescue. It was about then that I discovered why it is so expensive to work on Volkswagen cars. You open the hood to only discover that every square inch is stuffed with something. And somewhere in all of that was the cat. Silly cat.

A friend was there with Judy and all three of us looked and prodded, we called and cooed and nothing—just the occasional meow of the cat. Judy volunteered to look if I jacked up the car to see if we could see anything from underneath. I did and she couldn’t. It was time to call in the calvary. I called my neighbor Jared who manages a local tire place. Surely he would have an idea. As we waited for him to come, we continued to prod and poke, coo and call. In my sweetest voice I kept saying, “Hey silly kitty, come here silly kitty.” I wanted to say stupid cat but I was trying to be Christian about this whole deal.

Then it happened. The cat, who turned out to be the cutest kitten south of Chicago, wiggled out of its tight spot and ran to the corner of the garage. So I moved from poking and prodding under the hood to poking and prodding in the corner filled with stuff we didn’t need. Cute or not this kitten was about to mash my button. Not to bore you with details but four grown adults spent the next ten minutes chasing this cute little silly kitten from one corner of the garage to the other. From behind the washer and dryer to the corner of no return, we played hide and seek. Finally, the cute little kitten saw the light of day, ran through our friends hands and legs and out the door. Game. Set. Match.

The cute little silly kitten was on the run and that was all that mattered. Jared went back to work, the ladies went on with life and I went upstairs to scape dried paint off the floor. I know I heard this kitten laughing from across the street. So what is up with all this? Surely the kitten knew better. Surely he or she knew the danger of living under the hood of a car—but probably not. To the cute little kitten it was just a place to hide.

You see the kitten wasn’t silly, the kitten wasn’t stupid (well, not real stupid anyway). The kitten just lacked experience. It was naive. It hadn’t lived long enough to understand the dangers of garage living. And do you know what? That is true of a lot of us. Solomon, the wisest guy to ever live, wrote in Proverbs, “I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking sense.” And the crazy part it was nothing to do with age. We have all made some crazy decisions at one time or another. Too often we just throw common sense to the wind and well, we end up with a train wreck.

God is in the train wreck avoidance business. That’s why He led the half-brother of Jesus to write in James 1:5, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” If we would do that one simple thing we could avoid a lot of painful situations. Just stop for a moment, ask God if this is the wise thing to do, and wait for an answer. By the way, silence might be an answer, so don’t miss it.

Well, I hope our cute little kitten found a new place to live and hopefully it isn’t in someone’s engine compartment. And I hope we will learn to trust a wise, loving Father to give us the wisdom we need to live better lives with fewer regrets and better consequences. You know He loves you, don’t you? He wants you to come to Him and rest in the safety of His arms. He wants you to know He has this. And He does.