Tar Buckets

My Great Grandmother, Lona Mae Harper, had a lot of funny sayings. She had a great sense of humor and would always whip one of those wonderful, southern expressions out at just the right time. The one I remember her saying the most was her response whenever she was asked how she was doing. She’d always smile and say, “Well I’m busier than a bee in a tar bucket!” And, she usually was! What are you busy doing? Sometimes we get so busy we forget why we’re even doing it, or for that matter why we even started doing it in the first place! There are days when I am just so busy, running all over town, picking up or dropping off kids, buying groceries, running to this rehearsal or that meeting, and I get completely overwhelmed with it all. By the time I get to the overwhelmed stage I am usually angry and ready to collapse in a heap of self-pity and tears. I think that’s God’s way of making me stop for a minute and take a look at what I’m doing and why, and most often the moment I call out to Him for help. My youngest son, Jarod, has always had quite a temper, but it’s nothing now compared to what it was when he was a toddler! He was easily perturbed and overwhelmed, and when that happened he’d immediately start crying for me in the midst of his tantrum. I was always the only one who could get him to calm down, and the only way to do it was to speak calmly, tell him to take some deep breaths, and just hold him tightly while he cried it out. Once the storm of emotion had passed and he had control of himself again, I would whisper in his ear how much I loved him and he was ready to reason with me over what had upset him so much. Don’t you know God does the same thing for us!? He’s a whisper away…..God I am so stressed. God I am so angry. God I am so depressed. God I just don’t know what to do…..call out to God and He will comfort you through whatever it is you’re going through. Truth is, He might not take that stress away. You might just have to keep on walking through it. But you will not be doing it alone. He will be right there in that storm (or tar bucket) with you, holding you tight and whispering in your ear how very much He loves you.

Be still and know that He is God….and there is nothing He cannot do!


Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”