Wanda's Wacky Wonderful World

The following was an outline of the Keynote message I gave at NC District Ladies Conference 2016. Our theme was "Branded by Love" - and so it went... Branding has been going on for centuries. I want to run a couple spiritual parallels - and then get to my thought.  Branding - whether by heat, ice, ear tags, or tattoos, is a method still used to identify ownership of animals.  Note:  Who do you belong to? Who owns you? In Western states, out on the vast ranges, cattle can easily wonder or get mixed with other herds. They may graze for weeks along with another herd - but when “round-up” time comes - and the owners brand is spotted - all the cows come home. Note:  You may have a son or a daughter who has wandered off… don’t worry - that brand is clear to the owner. He'll round them up. They’ll come home - you just keep praying! Believe it or not, there are still modern-day cattle rustlers to keep an eye out for. They tamper with the brand - disgu

The Calendar. I live by mine. I set my phone alarm to remind me to look at my calendar. My calendar texts my phone to remind me where I'm supposed to be and who I'm supposed to be with. All of my devices sync to my calendar - so I won't miss something important (or fun!) that I have committed to being involved in. Pain. Just a nagging twinge at first. Then a dull ache that doesn't go away. Increasing to pain that sends him looking for something for relief. Nothing helps and the pain grows. Finally, erupting into incapacitating, gut-wrenching pain and we're on our way to the ER! The one we love is sick and our life comes to a screeching halt. Priorities. The calendar lays silent while we attend to our loved one's pain. Doctors ask questions, poke and prod. Nurses hover and machines chirp in the background. And while we wait for test results, a course of action, a diagnosis... the calendar looms. In the back of our mind, we guiltily ponder... what am I going