Life is a Buffet at "Books In The Park" Event

Come out to Town Point Park in downtown Norfolk, VA this Sunday, September 27th, to enjoy music, food and a huge gathering of authors signing their books. I will be on hand signing copies of the "Life is a Buffet" books as well as selling t-shirts. We will be at booth #72 from 1PM to 4PM. So stop by and say hello. We'd love to chat with you.

The event is located in Town Point Park near the Nauticus Museum. You can click on this link, "BOOKS IN THE PARK"  to find out more. This event is free and open to the public.

In case of rain the event will be moved inside to the Waterside facility also located in downtown Norfolk.

One Small Step

Ever since I can remember, writing has been a part of my life. In school, I was the only kid to get excited when the teacher gave us an assignment to make up a story using the week’s spelling words; but then, I was the only kid to get excited when the school cafeteria served liver and onions too. Later in life I also tried my hand at writing songs with my brother, Richard. He would play the guitar and just start making up a song as he went along. I would join in with my own words and before we knew it, we had written a song. I also wrote plays that were performed in the church I attended as a teenager. Writing just seemed to come naturally for me and I used it as a tool whenever the opportunity presented itself.

When I joined a team from my church to visit an orphanage in Russia, I immediately started writing down ideas for programs and skits we could perform for the children. I used puppets, props, sound effects and anything else I could get my hands on to make the stories and skits come alive for the kids. It opened up a whole new creative outlet for me and with every visit to Russia I would try to top the last program we did there. Just seeing the kids’ faces light up motivates me to write something bigger and better each time.

In addition to writing, I enjoyed telling stories to relatives, friends, coworkers and even strangers if they would listen. My first book, Life is a Buffet So Save Room for Dessert was created from these stories. I was always sharing embarrassing and humiliating experiences that have happened to me and to my family over the years and people loved it. They would ask me to tell and re-tell the stories over and over again and they would listen as if they had never heard them before, laughing and howling every time. My boss used to make me tell my stories to every new employee who came to work in our office. He would actually call a staff meeting and ask me to tell the stories to this poor person who had never laid eyes on me before. It was how we indoctrinated them I guess. Everyone would gather around the long conference table and yell out different stories for me to tell. It was great fun, for me at least, although, the new employee would avoid me around the office for the first couple of weeks because they thought I was a bit crazy I think.

People were always telling me I should write a book. I would always laugh and say, “yeah that would be fun.” But I never gave it serious consideration until I left my human resources job and decided to try my hand at writing a novel. I spent a year writing, editing, rewriting, and changing the story until I finally came up with a finished manuscript. I even sent it off to some publishers, but rejection notices piled up in my mailbox, leaving me a little disillusioned and questioning my ability to write. In the meantime, friends were still encouraging me to put my funny, true life experiences in book form. They even drew up a written contract for me with goals that I had to meet within a certain timeframe. I had to sign it, agreeing to give it my best shot.

My sister, Robbie has been my biggest encourager from the beginning. She would come in from work and the first thing that would come out of her mouth would be, “Did you work on your book today?” I sometimes would let many other things take priority over my writing, like yard work, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. She always pushed me to finish the book of short stories, motivating me by laughing hysterically as she read and re-read each one. Finally, Life is a Buffet So Save Room for Dessert was finished. We found a publisher through a couple of newspaper articles regarding other local authors promoting their respective books and we took off from there.

I would have never finished my book had it not been for the constant encouragement and reinforcement from Robbie and my friends. God places desires and dreams in our heart, but desire is more than wanting; it’s the pursuit of the desire that’s important. God wants us to investigate our desires and He equips us to accomplish that pursuit. It’s up to us to take the necessary preparation and then to turn those steps into action, whether it be writing a book, playing a musical instrument, photographing foreign lands, buying a dream home, earning a college degree, or any other goal you’d like to accomplish. If you take the first step, God will meet you there to direct your steps. He’ll place people in your life to encourage you and push you to reach your goals. He won’t hang you out there to dry by yourself. He wouldn’t have placed those dreams and desires in your heart if He did not intend to help you achieve them.

If you have a dream in your life that just won’t let go of you, it’s probably because God is saying, “Come on. Let me help you bring this to reality. Take the first step. I’m already ahead of you, waiting for you to arrive.” Psalms 37:4, Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

We have a ways to go with Life is a Buffet, but I believe and trust God to honor our steps of action and to give us the favor we need to be successful. I want this dream to become an action that impacts the lives of others and to do my part to make His name great in the world. We’re starting with baby steps right now, but I have the faith to believe God will change the baby steps into giant leaps, taking us further than we ever dreamed we could go. Turn your dreams into reality by starting with one small step and see where it takes you.

A Spider in the Camp - A Tribute to 9-11-01

Some years back I went camping with some friends in the beautiful setting of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The whole experience was exhilarating.  There we were by a rushing mountain stream with a crackling fire, a bag of marshmallows for roasting on a stick, some good stories and good friends.  I remember thinking to myself, “why don’t I go camping more often?”  But then, there was nightfall.  

The temperatures dropped to a cool 30 degrees and I longed to just sink into my cozy sleeping bag and zip it up over my head and dream of the next day’s adventures.  My friends decided to go up to take a hot shower, leaving me with the tent all to myself.  I had decided to really enjoy the camping experience.  I would skip the shower and just wear the day’s grime to bed.  It seemed more realistic some how.  Showering could be done at home and only served to take away from the overall camping smell I had worked so hard to obtain.  There was the smell of the smoke from the fire in my clothes and the smell of the well deserved perspiration from the earlier hiking trip up to Crabtree Falls.  I wasn’t about to wash away all of these camping merit badges and so I bid them goodnight and disappeared into the tent with my camping lamp.
  

While my friends were up enjoying the hot showers, I was bedding myself down into my warm, snug sleeping bag.  I left the lamp on so my friends could easily find their way back to the tent.  As I slipped into my bag I remember feeling proud of myself for being brave enough to wait alone in the tent.  As I lie there all alone, I could hear the stream hurrying past all of the smooth rocks piled in its path.  There was a slight breeze causing the trees to sway with a cracking sound as if a limb might give way any second, but I wasn’t afraid.  It was a glorious night and I was warm and content in my sleeping bag.
  

As my eyes were explored the inside of the tent, I suddenly noticed some movement.  It was a shadow, perhaps from the trees.  But wait, the shadow was growing.  It seemed to cover the entire tent.  Were those branches?  I rubbed my eyes so that I could better focus and when I stopped blinking I could make out a shape.  There was what looked like a spiked circle at the top of the tent with six, no, eight squiggly lines running from it.  What is it?  As my brained raced through all of its files to match the shape on the tent to an identifiable object, my heart found the answer first.
  

"A SPIDER!  IT’S A SPIDER!  A GIANT SPIDER!  AAAAAAAAAAH!"
  

I started kicking and screaming.  I was trapped in my stupid sleeping bag in a stupid tent surrounded by a giant, woman-eating spider.  I finally managed to rip the zipper down on the bag enough that I could push myself out of the small opening.  It must have looked like a slug giving birth to a human being.  I threw everything I could get my hands on at the giant monster, trying to divert its attention while I escaped out of the tent into the night air and into the startled faces of my friends.
  

"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES.  WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  CAN’T YOU SEE IT”?
  

My friends stared back at me as though they were watching a scene from their favorite movie.  I frantically ran around looking for a huge rock or piece of wood to fling at the creature.  I was willing to risk my life for my friends because apparently they were in a state of shock and couldn’t defend themselves.  Finally, one of them grabbed me and shook me so hard I had whiplash for a month.

"What is wrong with you?  Why are you screaming and throwing things? What happened?” my friend, Jan asked.  As I looked into her eyes, I could see she was more terrified of me than of the huge creature sitting on our tent.

  

"IT’S A GIANT SPIDER, CAN’T YOU SEE IT?” I asked, pointing at the tent.  But as I looked, I could see there was nothing there.  It had gone as quickly as it had appeared.  There was silence.  All eyes were on me. 

"Watch her,"  said Jan.  I’ll check out the tent.  

While the others stood guard over me and glared at me like I was an escapee from a mental ward, Jan reappeared laughing at the top of her lungs. 

"Is this what you saw? she asked holding up the lamp to reveal a small, frail, scared spider trying desperately to climb out of the back of the tent.  “He probably walked near the lamp and his body was blown up into a giant spider shadow and sent you screaming into the night.” she brilliantly pointed out. 

Poor guy. He looked as scared as I felt. He was only looking for a little warmth and a place to sleep and I had created havoc and mayhem instead. 

My friends went inside the tent, shaking their heads, laughing and recalling over and over again how my faced looked as I came flying out of the tent, running for my life.  Jan told me later that their flashlight had broken, but they had no trouble finding the tent because they just followed my terrified scream.  I was humiliated.
  

Everyone took their place inside the warm tent.  The snickers and remarks continued for a while longer until they finally gave way to the snorts and whistles of my friends sleeping.  But I stayed awake.  I was sure that the theory about the lamp and the shadow were true, but you never know.  It would be a long night, but exhilarating, none the less.
  

PSALM 27:1

“The Lord Is My Light And My Salvation—Whom

Shall I Fear? The Lord Is The

Stronghold Of My Life—Of Whom Shall I Be

Afraid?”

The events of September 11, 2001, left me terrified and shocked. I actually remember thinking to myself that from then on nothing would ever be the same.  For the first time, my future felt threatened. I had a hard time seeing beyond the horrible sights of that day. I was glued to my television set like everyone else, trying to make sense of what I had just seen and heard. My fear level was at an all time high. I feared for my country and for my family’s safety and security. I suddenly realized how fragile my life was and how vulnerable we all are. I cried out to God for comfort and peace, and I found it in His Word. Psalm 27 asks “Whom shall I fear?” I learned that I could not rely on the world for my well-being, but that I had to place my trust in God to keep me safe and to place my hope for the future in Him. Psalm 27 goes on to say, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear, though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.”  My fears began to subside.  

God’s Word reminded me that He was my foundation and that His promises are true. In this world, we will have troubles, but Jesus has conquered the world. We’ve already won. There is nothing to fear. If He is for us, who can be against us? We face many fears throughout our lives: fear of man, rejection, failure, being alone, etc. Sometimes we allow these fears to shape our lives, our decisions, and our future. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Don’t let fear be the deciding factor in your life. It can paralyze you and take away your dreams. Proverbs 3:5 tell us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” 

Sometimes we allow even the smallest fears to dictate what we will or will not do, until that small fear turns into the dominating factor around which all our decisions are made. Make a list of your fears and tackle them one by one. Look to God’s Word for encouragement and guidance. He has made you the head and not the tail. Don’t let the enemy use fear to control your life and your future. After all, God has made us more than conquerors through His love. 

Take the time to read Psalms 91 today.  You will see that the enemy is really very small.

   

Book Signing

Hey everyone! I will be signing copies of my "Life is a Buffet" book series this Saturday, September 12th at Barnes & Noble, MacArthur Center Mall, Norfolk, VA from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. If you're in the area please stop by and say "hello." I'd love to meet you.

The "Life is a Buffet" books make great gifts for someone who needs encouragement or someone who just loves to laugh. They are filled with humorous and heart-warming stories along with simple Biblical principles that can easily be applied to everyday life. They may also be used as a devotional, reading one story and teaching a day if you like.

Check out this link  to read the latest reviews of the "Life is a Buffet" books.

I hope to see you there.

Just Going Home From the Beach

Robbie Lee and I were driving home after spending all day enjoying the sand and the beautiful ocean in the city of Virginia Beach. We were both wearing big floppy hats, huge t-shirts with beach scenes on them, baggy shorts, and flip-flops. We had been swimming, so our hair was neatly matted to the top of our heads—thus the hats.

On the way, I decided I was hungry. “Let’s stop and get some take-out.”

“All right, how about Moseberth’s Fried Chicken? It’s always good,”replied Robbie Lee.

“No, I was thinking more like a sandwich or something light.”

“But I’m really hungry. I don’t think a sandwich will do it for me,”Robbie Lee said, rubbing her belly.

“Look, there’s a place,”I said pointing to a little restaurant by the side of the road. “Let’s go in and see what they have. It looks like a deli, so they probably have a little bit of everything.”

As we pulled in, we noticed there were lots of cars in the parking lot.

“Boy, there sure are a lot of people here. I don’t know if I want to go in dressed like this,”said Robbie Lee, pulling down the sunvisor’s mirror. “I’m a real sight.”

“Oh, we’ll just rush in and get something to go,”I said,not even bothering to look in the mirror.

Upon entering the deli, we could smell fried chicken. Robbie Lee spotted the buffet right away and ran over to see what was in it. I casually strolled over to the counter to look at the sandwich menu.

“Hey PollyD, they have fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and lots of hot vegetables over here. It looks great.”

“I want to see what kind of sandwiches they have first,” I yelled back.

Suddenly a woman appeared behind the counter and in a low whisper asked, “May I help you?”

“Oh yes, I’m just trying to decide what kind of sandwich I want,”I said, still studying the menu.

Robbie Lee yelled back with a huge grin on her face,“I know I’m getting fried chicken. Ask her how much the buffet would be to go.”

The woman’s eyes were following my floppy hat as I turned back and forth to carry on discussions with Robbie Lee across the room.

“Please excuse me…” started the woman behind the counter.

“Oh, just one more minute, please. You have so many choices,” I said.

“Did you ask her how much the buffet is yet? These pieces of fried chicken are huge. Are you sure you don’t want to get the buffetin stead of a sandwich? Maybe we should call Mom and ask her if she wants us to bring her a plate too,”said Robbie Lee, lustfully leaning over the steaming food.

“No, I’m sure she would much rather just have a sandwich.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt you,”the woman said in a quiet,polite voice,“but you see, we’re closed.”

“Closed?”I asked in utter shock. “How can you be closed? There are a hundred cars in the parking lot.”

“You see, we’re closed because we’re hosting a private banquet.” She pointed behind me to a table of well-dressed people all seated around a long table. Upon second glance, I noticed a speaker standing behind a podium. No one was speaking. In fact, everyone was just sitting and staring at us.

There wasn’t a sound in the restaurant, except for the lone voice of Robbie Lee, “I’m going to get pork chops and fried chicken. Don’t you want fried chicken, Polly D? It really looks good.”

I snapped my head toward Robbie Lee and began to frantically motion for her to be quiet and to follow me.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to get something to eat?”

“Come on,” I said in a loud whisper, while the people at the table talked amongst themselves.

“But PollyD, why do we have to go somewhere else with all of this food here?”

“Just shut up and come on,” I sputtered, heading toward the door.

Robbie Lee flip-flopped back toward me, and then we both quickly marched back to the exit.

“What’s going on?” Robbie Lee still asked with her hands on her hips.

The woman behind the counter and the people at the table watched as I paused in my sprint toward the exit long enough to whisper in Robbie Lee’s ear. Suddenly she let out a squeal like a pig caught in a barbed wire fence, while we bolted for the exit to the sound of our flip-flops on the recently waxed floor. We didn’t stop running until we reached the car.

“I’m never coming back here again!” I cried.

“I don’t know, they had a pretty good-looking buffet,”laughed Robbie Lee.

The car spun off around the corner toward home. Later that evening, Robbie Lee, AC, and I enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with cold glasses of milk and swore to never leave the house again.

PSALMS 34:5

“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”

Ever have one of those embarrassing moments when you want to hide your head in a bag? I’ve had so many I can’t begin to count them all, but they’ve certainly made life interesting.Sometimes we do things that would embarrass us to no end if anyone ever found out. We don’t want anyone to think we’re totally insane.

Fitting in and feeling like part of the group is so important to us, yet something will always happen to make us stick out like a sore thumb. I’ve learned to laugh at myself. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be able to show my face with some of the crazy things I’ve managed to do over the years.

Fortunately, the Lord is never ashamed of us. He loves us no matter what. Where else can you find this kind of unconditional love? Even when we look our worst, or want to move to another state because of something we’ve done, He still loves us as His very own child. Isn’t it great to know that even in your most awkward moment, when everyone else is staring at you with their mouths hanging open, He’s looking down at you with a great big smile? He’ll help you get back up and keep on walking with your head held high. Learn to laugh at yourself. Stop taking everything so seriously.

Excerpt from "Life is a Buffet So Save Room For Dessert." Copyright © 2005 by Polly D. Boyette 
All Rights Reserved

Fire, There's A Fire!

A friend of mine at work was telling us how her husband deep-fries turkeys for Thanksgiving and gives them away as gifts. The more she described how good it tasted, the more my mouth watered. I pulled her aside later and asked for all of the details so I could try it at home. 

“You have to have a really big pot and a lot of cooking oil,” she explained. 

“Uh-huh,” I answered as I wrote down every word she spoke. 

“Here’s a sample package of the marinade that you put inside of the syringe and shoot inside of the turkey. Then deep-fry it at 350 degrees for about three minutes for every pound the turkey weighs.” 

“Can you use this recipe to deep-fry a chicken instead of a turkey? 

“Sure, I don’t see why not. 

“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” I answered again, scribbling with great excitement. 

“But most of all, you have to promise me that you will cook this chicken outside and not in your kitchen. The oil gets very hot and it’s very dangerous to do this in your house. Do you have an outside cooker that you can use?” 

“Uh-huh,”I responded without really paying much attention. My mind was set on trying this delicious-sounding meal as soon as I got home. 

“Now my husband usually does the cooking  outside using special equipment designed for just such a purpose. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be very dangerous. Do you understand?” she asked. 

“Uh-huh, I’ve got it. I’ll be very careful. Thanks for all of the information,” I shouted over my shoulder as I headed back to my desk. 

As soon as I got home that night  I yelled for Robbie Lee to come and help me in the kitchen, “Robbie Lee, we’re going to cook up a delicious fried chicken tonight that will make your mouth think it’s died and gone to heaven.” 

“Fried chicken? I love fried chicken,”said Robbie Lee with great delight. It’s her very favorite meal. 

“Not just fried chicken. We’re gonna deep-fry a whole chicken in just fifteen minutes.”

“How’re you gonna do that? Do you have what you need to deep-fry a whole chicken? Don’t you have to have special equipment for that?” Robbie Lee asked with great worry in her voice. 

“Nonsense, it’s easy. All I need is a very big pot and a lot of oil. I stopped at the store on the way home and bought the chicken, oil, and a thermometer. 

We’re all set. We have everything we need to cook this bird up just right. I can hardly wait to taste it.” 

“All right, I’m not the cook in the family. I guess  you know what you’re doing,” said Robbie Lee. “What do you want me to do?” 

“First pour those bottles of cooking oil into that pot I have on the stove. Then turn on the burner. I’ll be preparing the chicken with this special marinade a friend gave me from work.” 

“But do you think this pot will be big enough? It doesn’t look like it’s gonna hold that chicken very well.” 

“Ah, it’ll be fine. Besides, it’s the biggest pot we have. Go ahead and fill it with oil. I’m sure it’ll work OK,”I said with great confidence. I was so eager to try the recipe that I didn’t want to be bothered worrying about whether or not the pot was big enough. 

“Shouldn’t we be doing this outside?” Robbie Lee asked. “This is a lot of oil.” 

“We don’t have a way to cook it outside. Just be careful, nothingwill happen.” 

Robbie Lee poured all of the bottles of oil into the pot while I washed and shot the marinade into the chicken. I could almost taste it before we started cooking it. 

“Imagine, in just fifteen minutes, we’ll have a whole chicken fried up, ready to eat,” I said. 

I stuck the thermometer in the pot and began monitoring the temperature, waiting for it to reach 350 degrees. I had wired up the chicken with a make shift handle so I could easily lower it into the pot. When the temperature was finally hot enough, I grabbed the chicken, which was dripping with the marinade, and dangled it over the pot. The oil began to bubble up from the drippings, so I sat the chicken back down for a moment. 

“I think we have too much oil in here,”I cleverly pointed out.“Maybe I’d better take some of it out.” 

With a heat-proof glass cup I began dipping hot, hot oil out of the pot and into a glass baking dish. When I had lowered the amount of oil sufficiently, I again grabbed the chicken and lowered it into the pot.Suddenly,the oil came alive and started rising out of the pot. It spilled up and over the rim, until the burner underneath caught on fire. 

“Oh my!”I screamed. “Robbie Lee, quick, come and help me. We’ve got to save the chicken.” 

I’m ashamed to admit that my first thoughts were for saving the chicken, but I was very hungry at the time. Robbie Lee ran around in circles while I finally got up the nerve to jerk the chicken out of the pot, slinging it all around the kitchen while I looked for a place to put it down. Hot oil was being splattered all over the walls and the floor. Robbie Lee was still running around in circles. The fire under the pot had grown bigger and looked very threatening. 

“I’m going to call 911!” screamed Robbie Lee as she finally broke out of her circle and into the living room. 

“Wait! Hand me the salt. Salt puts out grease fires.” 

Robbie Lee ran back into the kitchen, but when she hit the oily floor, she slid half ay across the room. I grabbed her just in time to keep her from falling, and we both danced around for a minute or two. In the meantime, the flames were growing bigger. Robbie Lee finally managed to get her balance and reached for the salt box. Iwas busy fanning and blowing on the flames, which made them grow even higher. 

“Here, try this,” Robbie Lee said, handing me the box of salt. 

I threw salt on everything I could see, but the flames were underneath the pot and I couldn’t get enough salt under there to smother the fire. 

“I’m gonna have to move this pot so we can get salt under there,” I shouted. 

“No, let’sjust call 911,” pleaded Robbie Lee. “You might drop the pot or it might catch on fire.” 

“I can do this,”I announced bravely. “When I count to three, I’ll pick up the pot and move it away from the burner. Then you start dumping salt on the fire. Ready?” 

“All right,” Robbie Lee said, holding the salt in her hand. 

“One, two, three!”I picked up the pot with oil boiling over the sides and moved it away from the fire as myfeet were slipping and sliding in different directions on the oily floor. Robbie Lee dumped the whole box of salt on the fire while screaming at the top of her lungs. 

At last the fire was out. The kitchen was filled with smoke, soot, and oil as far as the eye could see. Robbie Lee and I sat down at the kitchen table and almost broke down crying. We had come so close to burning down our house that I didn’t even want to think about it. 

Once we had calmed down, we began cleaning up the ugly mess. I remembered lecturing Mom about a small burned spot on the kitchen counter she had accidentally caused while we were away one weekend. As I looked around, I could see that this was the Lord’s way of paying me back for my lack of grace and patience with my mother. I looked up with a stupid grin on my face and muttered, “You win. I’ll apologize as soon as she returns home from visiting her sisters.” 

When it was all over, we were happy to find that there was very little damage to the kitchen, but the pot was a goner. 

“I bet that chicken would have tasted good,” Robbie Lee said sadly. 

“Yeah, I’m still hungry. Maybe if we had a bigger pot,” I started thinking. “I bet we can borrow a bigger pot from our friend Judi.” 

“Are you thinking of trying to deep-fry this chicken again?”Robbie Lee asked in disbelief. 

“Why not? The only problem was we needed a bigger pot. Run down to Judi’s and see if she has one. I know she owns every kitchen utensil ever made. She’s bound to have the right size pot. Hurry, go and ask her.” 

Robbie Lee took off running down the street. She returned with a giant pot our friend Judi who was in the process of cooking collards; however, when she heard of our dilemma, she dumped the collards, washed the pot, and loaned it to Robbie Lee. She knows how important fried chicken is to us. 

We started all over again and cooked up a beautiful fried chicken that almost melted in our mouths. Even though we nearly burned down the house, the flavor of that chicken was almost worth the trouble. I sat back with a full stomach and pictured the fire department in front of our house fighting a huge, out-of-control fire. Robbie Lee and I would be on the sidelines with pieces of chicken fixed on a wire coat hanger, holding them over the flames. When it comes to fried chicken, we’re desperate people.

JUDE 1:23 

“Snatch Others From The Fire And Save Them.” 

Have you ever gone ahead with plans to do something risky, even though you felt it was against your better judgment? With warnings ringing all around us, we still proceed because we want to satisfy our own desires rather than heed the wisdom of friends andfamily. The Bible teaches us everything we need to know to live and follow Christ, yet we sometimes fail to heed God’s word. Our curiosity, personal pleasures, and pride guide us away from the straight path and onto what appears to be a more exciting, twisting, turning road. The problems begin when we come to turns in the road we can’t navigate because we’re speeding along, carefree and alone. 

The book of Jude teaches us to pay attention to spiritual alarms and warnings sounded by the Holy Spirit and not to follow our ungodly desires. We may think we are in control at all times, that nothing can trip us up, but when we start thinking we don’t  need the counsel of others and we fail to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts,we’re heading for a fire that can burn out of control, leaving us badly burned and dazed. Listen for God’s voice in His word and in godly counsel. Don’t plunge into something just because you want to do it. You may get your eyebrows singed.

Excerpt from "Life is a Buffet So Save Room for Dessert" Copyright © by Polly D. Boyette"All Rights Reserved."