Whatever Suits You Just Tickles Me Plumb To Death

Ok, Ok...I know I haven't written in a while, but thoughts have been percolating and I just haven't found the words yet.

Those of you that lead a similar lifestyle as I do will probably recognize the title of this post. For those of you who haven't a clue as to it's origin, let me give you a quick background.

This is a line from a 1965 movie that it a classic in cowboy circles: The Rounders. It stars Henry Fonda and Glenn Ford as a couple of not so bright, down on their luck cowboys and it is a hoot. It's on our favorite movie list and if you haven't seen it, you're missing out.

Throughout the course of the movie, Howdy and Ben make various decisions and as they discuss their choices, one of them will always say, "Whatever suits you just tickles me plumb to death". It's my favorite line in the movie and I have been known to use it quite often.

Now be patient and set this line of thought aside for a bit. I promise it will all come together in the end.

Last Saturday I picked up L and we met M in town for a Ladies Retreat hosted by a local church. I had never been to a retreat so I had no ideas or preconceived notions of what to expect. I only knew that Jean Prescott was going to perform the music and that Andrea Waitly was the speaker. I know both of them through the Cowboy Poetry Gatherings that we have attended through the years and I jumped at the chance to spend a little time with these two amazing ladies. Thanks M for letting me know about it!

Wow! That about sums it up. I was completely blown away with the entire program and that's why I haven't posted. I simply cannot find the words to aptly share this experience. The program was titled, Grace to Be Me, and Andrea talked about the accepting the Lord's grace for your life. She discussed what she calls "Grace Blockers" and how we often will not accept the grace He has for us. Bam! That hit me HARD!

When we made the move from Texas three years ago, I was so angry. We did not want to leave the place that was home to us and I could not fathom WHY we had to move. I often used the overused phrase, "Bloom where you are planted" and I was blooming just fine in those West Texas mountains. I saw no reason to be uprooted. Alas, He is the gardener and He saw the need and took me out of that pot.

Since then, we have been abundantly blessed in so many ways and I now see that I was blocking the grace that He wanted to give us. I refused to accept it because I was so busy looking at what had been taken away.

Here's the cool part. He gave it to us anyway. It just took me a while to recognize it. Hardheaded? Obstinate? Stubborn? Yep. Guilty.

But there is hope and He knows it and He refuses to give up. So very cool! So I am determined to do my part. To keep reaching and learning and drawing closer to Him.

I could go on forever about the things that I heard last Saturday, but God has given Andrea the gift for sharing His word in such a way that I would only make a complete mess of it and you really need to hear His words through her. Here's the link to her ministry:

http://www.andreamcwhorter.org/crossmyheart.htm

There is one point I want to touch upon. Andrea talked about setting your faith on glory. Ask yourself this: Does your faith bring honor and glory to His name? Do you make Jesus look good when people look at you?

I'm still a work in progress, but, yes, Andrea, your name brings honor and glory to Him.

I picked up three teaching CD's that were available. The first one I listened to was called "Agreement" and it talked about being in agreement with God's plan for you. She discussed "The Rounders" and I laughed at the memory of Howdy saying "Whatever suits you just tickles me plumb to death". Andrea said THAT is exactly what she tells Jesus when He brings something to her. Now comes the hard part. It's so simple to say that when things are going your way. Not so easy when they are not. She lost her dear husband, Larry McWhorter, to cancer 5 years ago and her testimony is amazing.

I've got a long way to go, but I've taken another step and I'm going to keep walking and one of these days I'll be able to say:

Whatever suits You just tickles me plumb to death.