HEART STRONG

How this squeezable heart ended up in our grandsons' toy stash, I'll never know. It's intended to help you squeeze away your anxieties, build up hand strength, or remind you how hard your real heart pumps to keep you alive! But I had additional thoughts--of the “heart” metaphor for the deep parts of our emotional and spiritual lives.

“The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart,” Jesus said about people whose “walk” didn't match their “talk.” Then He got very specific: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:18). Reading that list, I thought: Those are the plot lines for television shows and big-screen movies. But sadly, “art” imitates life. I can recall the physical sense of heaviness in my heart when I suffered from others' verbal sins.

Those Jesus entrusted with leading the early church saw the same problems. Paul bluntly warned the Ephesians to be truthful, keep short accounts, and watch their words: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths....Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Eph. 4:29, 31).

He similarly scolded the Colossians: “Rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Col. 3:8). James shared the same advice after comparing the tongue to a fire capable of much damage (James 3:5-6). He was disturbed that people who called themselves Christ-followers could use their mouths to both curse and praise. “My brothers and sisters,” he said, “this should not be!” (3:10).

How much better when the name and character of Jesus are lifted up in our ordinary lives. I like how James characterized what that looks like: “peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). Such are the character qualities that are squeezed out of a changed heart—one transformed by love for Jesus Christ.

Maybe that's the message needed for Valentine's Day--not sappy “luv,” but genuine, sacrificial love. The one made possible by the One who died on a cross. The One who showed us how to live with kindness and care—wholeheartedly.

P.S. In thinking about this topic, I looked up sayings about kindness. I'd heard this one before: “Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.” I never knew it came from former President Ronald Reagan. For more encouraging quotes about exercising that “kindness” muscle in your heart, try this website:

https://www.pinterest.com/stevenspianostu/speak-kindly/

And some more encouraging words...

I have a story in the newest "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book to be released this week, about "Making 'Me' Time." It's my seventh time in a Chicken Soup title, and I was especially grateful to be able to tell my story about donating home-sewn baby blankets to area hospitals and a pro-life clinic. I never dreamed that a simple project of a dozen blankets for my church's "community outreach day" would become more than 1,300, and also serve as emotional healing for me over the past decade. The story's title is "Patched-together Positives."

Booksigning & Soup-stirring

A few blogs ago I wrote about being in my sixth "Chicken Soup for the Soul" compilation, one subtitled "My Very Good, Very Bad Cat." I'll be signing copies and sharing tips about writing for the "Chicken Soup" series at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at the public library in Wenatchee, WA. There will be freebies for writers, too.  No, I won't bring Augie, who at probably 15 years old (which is senile in cat years) well-deserves his long naps in the corner. Here, he's "modeling" the dreaded injury cone he wore the Christmas morning he got tired of his convalescence from fight wounds, and decided to escape to the wild and snowy world.  After three weeks, we decided he'd frozen to death.  Obviously, he hadn't, and my "Soup" story, called "The Prodigal Cat," should serve up some smiles and wisdom.

Our Chicken Soup cat

Our 14-some-year-old cat, Augie, unwillingly posed for his author breakout photo with the newest Chicken Soup for the Soul volume, My Very Good, My Very Bad Cat.  He qualified for the second category (bad) about three or four years ago when he decided Christmas morning was a wickedly great time to escape his injury containment, despite having a recovery cone on his head after a vet trip for fight injuries. After three weeks of no cat, we decided his final hour had come, probably in some frozen shed. Then he returned home, repentant in his cat way.

My essay, one of 101 chosen for the book, is titled "The Prodigal Cat," and pokes fun at his ill-chosen decision.  But I think there's also a big lesson from it for our human tendency to choose to walk apart from God's best plan for our lives. Like the Prodigal Son lesson taught by Jesus, we tend to think we have it all figured out, and then find "our way" is the wrong way. The book offers the comforting balance that, besides cats who really earn the title "very bad cat," there are some amazingly good cats, too.  This is my sixth time to have an essay in a "Chicken Soup" compilation. The book officially releases Feb. 6.