Proverbs 6:27-28 – Grits with Grace

Family, fear, friends, life, Scripture, spring, Trials

One Big Earthworm

Posted on June 12, 2024June 8, 2024 by Dewayne Taylor

Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?” Proverbs 6:27-28

That’s gotta be one big earthworm. It was a great spring morning. My wife Judy and I were living in Cobden, Illinois and over the years we had put together a really beautiful yard. Judy can visualize how something is going to look and then has the knack to make it grow. I do grunt work. I’m the yard man and she is the architect. That day we were putting some mulch around the flower beds.

Our yard had a retaining wall at one of the front corners and the yard sloped in that corner. In the fall I would mulch the leaves (we had four large maple trees) and put them there. Then next spring we would use it as free (and I love free) mulch. I would take my trusty pitchfork and our oversized trash can down to the corner, fill up the can and take it to wherever she wanted it dumped. Then we would spread it out. Great plan. Beautiful day. All is well. And then he showed up.

I went to the corner, loaded up the can, brought it to the middle of the yard to one of our flower beds and where she said dump it. I was about to dump it when I noticed the tip of an earthworm barely sticking out of the mulch. To appreciate this, you need to know that earthworms, in Judy’s eyes, are held in very high regard. It’s something about how they aerate and loosen up the soil making it better for the flowers. I thought they were just fish bait. Silly me.

“Hey, there’s an earthworm” Judy exclaimed with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. “Grab him and put him in the garden.” So, hey, I’m just the grunt man so I reached down and pulled on the little fella. The little fella didn’t move. I looked at Judy with a quizzical look. My thought was that if he wanted to stay that bad, he could just go with the next pitchfork load. No…that wasn’t gonna happen. So, I gave it another shot, and this dude wasn’t moving. “Poud (that’s Judy’s nick name) this guy isn’t coming.”

I took matters to the next level and took the pitchfork and shoved it into the mulch around the earthworm and gave it a lift and a flip. Well, shoot that thing, there was a stinking snake. It wasn’t some innocent “let me aerate your soil” earthworm it was a 14-foot boa constrictor. Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration. But it was a snake, it was about two feet long and it was moving and so was I. Now both Judy and I were a lot younger then, but even for our age we were out of there! And I do believe the grunt man outran the pretty little architect.

You ask, “What kind was it?” Don’t know. Don’t care. There are only two kinds of snakes—living and dead and this one was alive. Honestly, I have blocked out what happened next. I can’t tell you if we went back and he was gone. I can’t tell you if I got a shovel and in pure self-defense ended the life of the slithering creature or what. I can only tell you that he was no longer a threat and I never, and I mean never, looked at the pile of mulch in the same way.

If I learned anything that day…and trust me, I did…it was to be careful what you decide to pull on because things are not always as they seem. Ask Eve. The Genesis account of creation and the fall of man says that the serpent (that’s Bible code for snake) was “more crafty” than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. The Hebrew language implies that the snake was beautiful, appealing. Intrigued, she decided to strike up a conversation with him. “Bad idea, Eve.” Just run. But no, she didn’t, and now we have this messed up world and it was all because Eve grabbed a hold of something she should have left alone.

There’s an old tale about a man who was walking up a mountain and it was getting cold. The man saw a rattlesnake and the snake said, “Please put me in your coat and take me down the mountain.” The man said, “No way, you will bite me.” The snake assured him he would not. He picks the snake up, puts it in his coat and goes down the mountain. As the temperature rises the snake gets a little more frisky and bites the man. The man, shocked, says, “You said you wouldn’t bite me.” And the snake replied, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.” So true. So tragically true.

The Bible also says this, “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?” “What does that mean?” you ask. It means the next time a snake wants to strike up a conversation, run. It means the next time you are tempted to sin, run. It means the next time your wife wants you to grab the tail of an oversized earthworm, run. No…it doesn’t mean that, but it does mean be sure you know what you are grabbing before you take hold.

Fortunately, our Abba Father knows all about snakes and sin and grabbing hold when we shouldn’t. He also loves us enough to give us wisdom to know the difference. James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.” With wise counsel like that we don’t have to fear oversized earthworms or the other stuff we are living through right now. No, we can rest in Him. He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, Scripture, thankful, Trials

Pay Attention

Posted on September 1, 2022August 31, 2022 by Dewayne Taylor

Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?” Proverbs 6:27-28

I should have been more careful. I should have known better. I have a long history of cutting firewood and being around the woods. For the better part of 17 or 18 years, wood was our primary, and sometimes only, source of heat. It all started back in LaMonte, Missouri and continued when we moved to Cobden, Illinois…in fact, that is where it really became a part of our lives. We lived in a large Victorian home and our heat was whatever was piled in the driveway. So, with the help of a very good friend named Gerry, virtually every Saturday we would go and “cut wood.”

As the years went by, I learned a lot about safety in the woods. I remember the first time I used a chain saw back in LaMonte. The guys told me to be careful and never pull the saw toward you. Yeah, well, one of the first things I did was pull the saw toward me (call me a slow learner) and nick my leg. I learned about how to notch a tree, sharpen a chain and how to load and stack wood. I learned a lot. But one thing that I never paid much attention too was poison ivy. While I never intentionally rolled in it, it seemed for the most part I was one of those lucky people who it didn’t affect. Well, that all changed one day…not in the woods but in my backyard at 217.

It turns out, I guess, that I was indeed lucky but not in the way that I thought. I was lucky that it never “got me” and somehow, someway, recently it did. We were sitting around one day, and I was wearing shorts. I noticed on my left leg several (five to be exact) small red dots. I told Judy, “Look at these bites on my leg.” They were in random places, and I thought that a mosquito or two had decided to have lunch. Well, again, I was wrong.

In a very short time, it became evident I had somehow, someway, gotten into some poison ivy. Those five small dots grew into narrow strips of angry, red, raised, skin and it was very apparent that what I thought couldn’t get me…did. Now as outbreaks go, this one wasn’t very bad but for a guy who never had it, for a guy who thought it wouldn’t, couldn’t get him, it was bad enough. It itched, then itched some more, and then just for fun…itched some more. Well, it took a while but finally all of this was a memory in the rearview mirror, and I was very, very glad.

The crazy thing is I really don’t know when or where it happened. We have a little bit in our yard but even though I didn’t think I was allergic; I was also very careful. I hadn’t been in the real woods, but one thing is for sure…I got too close somehow, somewhere. And, because of that I have some pretty unpleasant circumstances. Maybe I wasn’t careful enough. Maybe I thought it might get you but not me. Maybe I didn’t look close enough in the flowerbeds around our yard. All that really doesn’t matter I suppose. What does matter is that it got me. It.Got.Me.

Did you know that sin, those things that God and culture both warn us about, can and will get us? Did you know that even though we think it will happen to someone else and not us…it can…it will? Did you know that regardless of how “innocent” we think we might be…the consequences are the same? Judy always told me about poison ivy. Being a garden person, she told me, “Leaves of three…let it be.” I clearly heard her but frankly, since it seemed I couldn’t get it, I just didn’t pay close attention. Now, oh yes now, I know differently. We would do well to treat sin the same way.

The Bible, in the Old Testament part, asks a very good question. In the Book of Proverbs, it asks if a man can hug fire to his chest and not be burned? Of course, the obvious answer is no, you can’t. But it turns out the writer isn’t talking about fire…he is talking about sin. Mess with sin and you are going to get burned and with the burn comes the consequences and with the consequences come misery. It is true with poison ivy, and it is true with sin.

Well, the bottom line is regardless of my long history with not getting poison ivy, I now have a new history and trust me I am going to be even more careful around my three-leaf adversary. Green and lush or not…it is not my friend…and neither is that thing we often run to…sin. By the way, if you stumble into poison ivy there are a few things that can help with the itch. And, if you stumble into sin, well, His grace is more than enough. Just ask the Heavenly Father and He will be more than willing to help. You might say, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Family, fear, forgiveness, Grace, life, Southern born, thankful, Trials, wisdom

One Big Earthworm

Posted on June 24, 2021June 23, 2021 by Dewayne Taylor

Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?” Proverbs 6:27-28

That’s gotta be one big earthworm. It was a great spring morning. Judy and I were living in Cobden, Illinois and over the years we had put together a really, beautiful yard. Judy can visualize how something is going to look and then has the knack to make it grow. I do the grunt work. I’m the yard man and she is the architect. That day we were putting some mulch around the flower beds.

Our yard had a retaining wall at one of the front corners and the yard sloped in that corner. I would mulch leaves (we had four large maple trees) and put them there in the fall. Then next spring we would use it as free (and I love free) mulch. I would take my trusty pitchfork and our oversized trash can down to the corner, fill up the can and take it to wherever she wanted it dumped. Then we would spread it out. Great plan. Beautiful day. All is well. And then he showed up.

I went to the corner, loaded up the can, brought it to the middle of the yard to one of our flower beds and where she said dump it. I dumped it. I was about to use the pitchfork to start spreading the mulch when I noticed the tip of an earthworm barely sticking out of the mulch. In order to appreciate this you need to know that earthworms, in Judy’s eyes, are held in very high regard. It’s something about they aerate and loosen up the soil making it better for the flowers. I thought they were just fish bait. Silly me.

I took matters to the next level and took the pitchfork and shoved it into the mound around the earthworm and gave it a lift and a flip. Well, shoot that thing, there was a stinking snake. It wasn’t some innocent “let me aerate your soil” earthworm it was a 14 foot boa constrictor. Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration. But it was a snake, it was about two feet long and it was moving and so was I. Now both Judy and I were a lot younger then, but even for our age we were out of there! And I do believe the grunt man outran the pretty little architect.

You ask, “What kind was it?” Don’t know. Don’t care. There are only two kinds of snakes—living and dead and this one was definitely alive. Honestly, I have blocked out what happened next. I can’t tell you if we went back and he was gone. I can’t tell you if I got a shovel and in pure self-defense ended the life of the slithering creature or what. I can only tell you that he was no longer a threat and I never, and I mean never, looked at the pile of mulch in the same way.

If I learned anything that day…and trust me I did…it was to be careful what you decide to pull on because things are not always as they seem. Ask Eve. The Genesis account of creation and the fall of man says that the serpent (that’s Bible code for snake) was “more crafty” than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. The Hebrew language implies that the snake was beautiful, appealing. Intrigued she decided to strike up a conversation with him. “Bad idea, Eve.” Just run. But no, she didn’t, and now we have this messed up world and it was all because Eve grabbed a hold of something she should have left alone.

There’s an old tale about a man who was walking up a mountain and it was getting cold. The man saw a rattlesnake and the snake said, “Please put me in your coat and take me down the mountain.” The man said, “No way, you will bite me.” The snake assured him he would not. He picks the snake up, puts it in his coat and goes down the mountain. As the temperature rises the snake gets a little more frisky, and bites the man. The man, shocked, says, “You said you wouldn’t bite me.” And the snake replied, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.” So true. So tragically true.