Maybe they called her "Foxy Lady" and maybe they didn’t. But, it’s a fact that she liked to run.

Sit still? No way. She was a HYPER BUNDLE OF ENERGY.

Quick? That tongue of hers could turn on a comma, and slice you in six pieces before you finished your explanation. Nothin’ slow about that lady, NOTHIN’. She would even fast-forward her dreams and be finished sleeping before the rooster crowed. She would speed-shift her mind three times before her eyes opened and six more times before her feet hit the floor!

She was a lively one...she was...she was. Enthusiasm was her middle name, but "Sparky" is what they called her.

She could spark up a reaction in the dullest piece of wallpaper as easy as sparking up a conversation with a total stranger. Nothing bashful about her.

So —why?

Why in the world did she mate up with a turtle? She married a guy who was a methodical thinker, not an impulsive gambler.

Her eyes danced all day and her feet could dance all night; but, her husband didn’t even like to dance.

While he’s putting his boots on, she’s in the car honking the horn.

If this guy didn’t have an inferiority complex when he got married, it’s for sure she gave him six of them as a wedding present.

So, what do we do with the problems that can arise from such a union?

Why should WE do anything? It’s THEIR problem. But, then, that’s the very thing that tears me up. Something inside of me wants to solve everybody else’s problems. I just have a knack for sticking my lawnmower in other people’s yards.

So, please, let me try to help. I promise to watch out for the lost dog collar and I would never dream of running over your prize petunias. Can I help? Please?

Oh, thank you, thank you!

Now, the way I look at it, I see lots of ladies trying to get their quiet husbands to come out of their shells. So, what do they do? They pick up a stick and start pushing on his back end. Then they wonder why the turtle pulls all four legs up under his protective shell.

Boy, that sure makes the energetic lady mad. So she sticks her bony finger in his face and starts to jerk on his personality.

"Stop!" Wrong strategy. His long neck goes down to his navel and you couldn’t pull six words out of him with a winch and come-along.

If she’s done that once, she’s done it six thousand, four hundred and 91 times. The lady may have a lot going for her, but she’s not endowed with a whole lot of smarts.

Over and over again, she keeps trying to unlock the door with a key that doesn’t work.

Then she gets mad at the lock! She uses the same key and gets mad at the lock again. She tries the same key and gets mad at the lock again.

A locksmith she is not! But, if she would admit that she needs help, somebody could give her the "Key to Happiness" and she wouldn’t have to damage or divorce the lock.

Why should we throw a good thing away just because WE can’t get it to work? Why discard a husband for the same reason. Part of the problem may be in the WAY that we are trying to solve the problem. Maybe there’s a better way? Maybe? Maybe? Have you ever thought of that?

SO WHAT’S THE ANSWER?

Well, it’s simple. Leave a turtle alone and he will come out of his shell in HIS own time. That time will be a lot sooner if you are not prodding the sensitive areas of his character.

If you want to do something to help out - just put turtle food out in front of him. When he gets hungry, he will stick his neck out and take the risk of getting assaulted again.

If he comes out of his shell without being jolted, prodded, criticized and accused - he just might do it again.

But, if the fox can’t control her urge to nip and bash - it’s "so long, good times" - "so long, affection" - and "hello, trouble" - "hello, stress".

There is a definite link between a sharp tongue and a dull ache. That inner, aching feeling of being rejected is not altogether the fault of the one who pulls away from a sharing, caring relationship.

The silent treatment is an involuntary reaction and an inevitable punishment against those who expect too much, too soon, and too often.

If you can control yourself to become contented with a "three-star" response from your mate...you just might get a "five" sometimes. But - if you are always expecting a "seven-star" response and prodding for a ten - well, you will be lucky if you end up with a two.

But, you can’t seem to change yourself any more than he can, right?

The whole thing boils down to WHO CAN DO WHAT? If a turtle can’t go ten miles an hour - maybe the fox can slow down to zero. That means, a fox can run ahead, run in circles and chase rabbits while it’s waiting for the turtle to get where he needs to be.

But, don’t ever let the fox think that turtles are supposed to chase rabbits, too!

Some people CAN’T change and only the fool keeps trying to make them change.

Why should you be unhappy because the pecan tree can’t produce roses? A rose bush will bloom every year for 12 years before the pecan tree has its first crop of pecans. You can’t make it produce in two years or six. Its reason for existence, its purpose in life and its value to humanity is a ‘long time’ in coming.

But, once it comes into its prime - the pecan tree grows and grows and continually increases its yield. Only a fool would criticize it and cut it down during the silent years of its life.

Can we not learn our lessons from nature and be wise?

Shall we sacrifice the stability of our future while reaching for a present gratification? Shall we reach for a "now satisfaction" from someone who cannot possibly satisfy our deep inner needs, and thus become dissatisfied forever? Your husband cannot be your God. Your husband is not the Holy Spirit. He cannot crawl inside you and quench all your inner cravings.

Food quenches a natural hunger. You can have the best companionship in the world and your body would still develop an uncontrollable hunger.

A man could talk to you or hug you for sixteen hours straight and your physical hunger would not be satisfied.

There are needs within the human spirit that can only be met by the Spirit of God. Why should you put those demands on someone who cannot possibly meet them. That only produces frustration for both you and him.

If God is giving you the silent treatment, maybe you ought to criticize or condemn Him! If God moves too slowly for your impatient nature, maybe you ought to divorce Him, too!

Maybe you were in such a hurry to get to church on time, that you left God sitting in the driveway. What’s church without God? What’s marriage without love? Maybe you were in such a panic to "be loved" that you forgot "to love"?

Long before you were born, people were saying, "opposites attract", so it’s not really A FAULT that put you two together. It was a necessity and a natural happening.

How else could God slow you down? In what better circumstance could you learn to develop patience, forbearance and longsuffering?

So you despise God, do you? Don’t say "No!" You most certainly DO! You can’t deny it!

God is patient and when you despise patience (and the necessity of waiting) you are despising the character of God. How can you despise what God is, without despising Him?

God stands out at the fence line while the fox chases sixteen rabbits and crosses three pastures. He patiently waits for the impatient person to run out of fuel and come panting back to His side, wanting love, understanding and forgiveness.

But, the fox doesn’t want to become like God. Oh, no! God waits three years while someone gives Him the silent treatment. For three years He gets no love or companionship from them. Suddenly, when THEY need something from God - then they start opening up to Him. Then, they want their needs to be met from the One they have been ignoring.

But, who wants to be like God? That’s unthinkable. UNLESS....unless, we can see the value in becoming like Him.

Our basic reason for existence is to become children of God. So, why don’t we get on with it?

The turtle, the snail and the clam merely give us the opportunity to develop Godly character.

The fox, the flighty bird and the weasel are merely the instruments God uses to teach others about Godly responses.

But, please, please, don’t insist that the other person become God-like, first. Let God decide when they should learn their lessons. Let God judge as to when their homework is due.

Your assignment is to be able to "Give account of yourself" at any time.

Are you ready for that - NOW?

Isn’t the turtle...a lot like God?

Be wise! Be Happy! Be like God!

Can’t you see it now? Our turtle is a "snapping turtle"! The yip! yip! of the fox drives him mad. A touchy thing he is.

Ask a simple question and "snap!" Make a little mistake and "snap!"

All day long it’s SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! He doesn’t want to go anywhere, so he clamps his teeth on the fox’s tail and hangs on for all he is worth.

He is the head of the house and he stubbornly insists that the fox is not to ‘go running around’.

She can’t go to the hair dressers or Sally’s house or church. She can’t work out of the home or go shopping with the girls.

With an iron jaw of stubbornness he holds her down to his own pace. With manly authority, he keeps her in her place.

‘Tis a strange marriage, it is - this marriage of the turtle and the fox.

The turtle loves to stay at home, but his mate calls it her "prison box".

She’s like a dog on a leash, like a bird in a cage. She simmers continually with an inner, chronic rage.

So, who is going to help them? Who is going to set them free?

Which one will be the first to trust God and surrender their rights?

I know a man who is learning to let his wife work in the marketplace without fear of losing her.

I know a man who is learning not to ‘SNAP’ at every little thing - hoping that kindness will cause his woman to love to stay at home!

He’s trying to be like Christ. And Jesus is not insecure, tough or domineering. Jesus forgives 70 times 7 and is still there to forgive one more time, waiting for the wandering instinct to diminish and die in His people.

Eventually, the Love of God will draw us all into the Garden of Gethsemane. That’s where we will pray and cry in agony as we wrestle with God.

That’s where the fox and the turtle will both come to a final surrender, saying, "Not my will, Lord, but Thine be done."

That means that they must fearlessly surrender themselves to the ‘soldiers of constraint.’ They must learn to go along with ‘necessity’ for the sake of righteousness. They must take up their cross and stumble their way to a place of death - alongside their Lord and their Master.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom, Jesus knew that. He wanted to be at the right hand of God - enjoying the love, favor and blessings of the Father - forever.

But, He couldn’t take His body with Him. His flesh had to die. His blood had to be shed. He had to experience the pain of surrender and death, before He could experience Eternal Joy. It is written of Him: "For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross and ignored the shame of His circumstance."

Everyone knows that there are no foxes or foxy ladies in heaven. Everybody knows that turtles don’t sit at the right hand of God. Everyone knows that animal natures of any kind do not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Dying to self lets your Spiritual Self grow and develop!

THINK ETERNAL!