It took me quite a while this week to get the service together. I had writer's block, I guess. 
On Wednesday, I worked on it all day and finally left the computer and took the dogs to the dog park for a run. That helped because on Thursday, once again, the service just flowed from me which is what it has been doing so far. 
God has been good to me, but I, like all humans, sometimes forget to be thankful and, like Jonah, I get crabby and complain a lot. Fortunately, just like Jonah, God still loves me and responds with infinite patience and love. As you may have guessed, the Book of Jonah is one of my favorite stories in the bible. For me, it parallels the story of my own relationship with God. 
I can identify with Jonah. And event though I'm working on trusting God, I'm still more of a Jonah that I would like.
The main reason I love the story of Jonah is because it shows, to me, a real story of our relationship with God. Oh, yes, there's the part about Jonah being in the big fish for three days, 
but I don't take that literally. I don't think Jonah was REALLY swallowed by a fish, etc....
But I believe that metaphorically, we are often swallowed by "big fish." It's dark, gloomy, and damp inside but we seem to be stuck. Then we pray to God and, behold, the big fish "vomits" us onto dry land. Then, for a while, we do God's will. 
But, again, when things don't work out the way WE think they should, we get mad and fuss at God (or ignore God).
The most important part of the story, to me, is that God never gives up on us! God keeps loving us, helping us, and gently teaching us until we finally learn the lesson we need to. A pastor I once heard told us that, when God wants to communicate with us, God uses that "still, small voice." Unfortunately, many of us, like me, don't hear or don't listen. So God taps us on the shoulder, but some of us (like me 
) still don't listen. So God raps us on the head, just to get our attention. But...we still don't hear God. So finally, to really get our attention, God BANGS on our hood, whereupon most of us finally realize God is talking to us and pay attention.
Unfortunately for me, I'm the one He most often needs to bang on my hood to get my attention. I actually tell God that when I pray, not that He needs a reminder. 
And every day I'm amazed that God even still talks to me let alone that He encourages me to spread His word. 
AMAZING!!
Have a safe, blessed day and keep listening for God. He's still talking.
Reverend Claudia and the critters... 
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