Misplace Something

Amongst the craziness of preparing for my things to do this next week I have continually misplaced things to only later relocate them again. Where is my keys; oh, there they are laying next to the recycling cans container (now there is a disaster in the making!) Where is the phone; oh, there it is where the remote to the TV should be and the remote where the phone should be! How did I not notice this? I shall admit to you, yes I did attempt to answer the remote when the phone rang (awe, come on, admit you have probably done that yourself!) THANK GOODNESS someone was smart enough to place one of those “phone locator” buttons on the answering machine for just this occasion! Through each day’s list of “to do’s”, I proudly checked each item off when completed. But at the end of the day I continually felt that I had overlooked something. What was it? I have everything officially checked off! Did I forget to return a friend’s call? NO, I have everything checked off! What is this sense in me that I have misplaced something or overlooked something or someone? Where’s a button to push for that?? As I was drinking my coffee and reading God’s Word this morning I came upon the scripture in Psalms 139:17, 18 and EVERYTHING came into prospective. “How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!” THAT IS IT…there is my “locator button!” You see in all my “busy business” I was not returning my thoughts as frequently to God as I normally did. I was so busy making sure of things for family and friends, I forgot one friend who I hadn’t paid as much attention to-God. Sure I was praying and talking to him each morning and evening, but not so much throughout the day. He was thinking of me, but I had “misplaced” him a little and that feeling in me was nudging in me how my relationship was missing him. Like a close friend when they leave for vacation or move way, you have that “missing feeling” for awhile until you see them again. That was my answer…my missing thing was the closeness in my relationship with him throughout the day!! In His loving kindness ways, he was patiently waiting for me to “be still” long enough to hear his voice. Now where are those keys??? ((hugs until next time.))

Healthy Body and Soul

How many times are you watching a news program, reading a magazine or just glance over at a billboard and find how much saturation of “health and wellness” is stressed upon us? We are instructed to keep our bodies healthy with exercise & good food choices. We are instructed to make good decisions on our choices along with self discipline to follow through with the commitment to live healthy for a longer life. If you are like me, there are just some days that you just want to be “bad” and have that ice cream or hamburger. There are days I just detest exercise! It is continual discipline not to have every day a “bad day.” Then why is their not as much emphasis or discipline on the importance of keeping our souls also healthy? We are to exercise a healthy soul by our actions and how we honor God and how we represent Him to others. We are to feed our souls with “good healthy choices” by reading His word, believing, faith, praise, prayers and maintaining an intimate relationship with Him. Keeping our soul healthy still requires discipline as there is also discipline in keeping our bodies healthy. Our bodies will fade, but maintaining a healthy soul prepares us for eternity. No one will choose intentionally for you or for me to be healthy in body and soul. We must wake up each morning and keep choosing for ourselves to keep pursuing an intentional healthy body & soul. We must make deliberate choices and to care for our body and our soul. We must lay down our desires for our will and live for His Will. I know that I will have “bad days” in attending to my soul. There have been times when the line was too long, or I was too tired and I may have not represented Him the way He would have wanted. Sometimes it is hard to smile and be grateful for those lines. And then I get back to the car and realize those were perfect missed opportunity to feed my soul and represent Him with discussions with others. So, just as it is a daily continual thing to make good decisions with my health, it is also and even more important to make good decisions for my soul. How about you, have you fed your soul today with good decisions that impact your life, your eternal life? (( hugs until next time ))

Going the Distance

It is 11:22pm. What??? Why am I unable to sleep??? Why does the statement of “going the distance without becoming distant” keep playing over and over in my head?? It would be better if it was a song, but it is not. It is just a statement. I pray for clarity and just felt an overwhelming need to turn the light on and grab my pen and paper to begin writing. So here I sit at 11:30pm at night, wide awake (but groggy from the non-clear; bad grammar statement being played over and over in my head.) What does it mean? Is it an oxy-moron? Am I the moron who just can’t figure it out? Is this God’s way of telling me that by becoming “distant” to others in fellowship that I am making my own struggle to go the “distance” in my walk with Him? WOW---- I think I just answered my own question!! I AM THE OXY MORON!! I am a moron for not coming clean with my sensing that by not fellowshipping with others, I become less able to defend myself from things around me. I have become the sheep that is slowly taking steps away from the herd and by doing so, I become vulnerable. Don’t misunderstand me, I have not been pulling away from my intimate relationship with God, but my relationship with the fellowship of others. We can sometimes get so caught up in our own “time capsules” of this world that the distraction puts distance in our relationships with others who encourage us. My own distance from fellowship is keeping me from getting the additional nourishments that make up part of going the distance with God and what He has planned out for His Will on my life. Like a marathon runner needs that drink of water to “refresh” and keep on running. Fellowship is “refreshment” to us. Another example, like a burning coal that is alone grows colder instead of hotter. It needs other coals surrounding it to make the great fire! Fellowship is “more coals on the fire” to us. “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good words, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” Hebrews 10:24-25. So, bad grammar or not…I NEED to work on my “going the distance without becoming distant.” Keep me in your prayers! (( hugs until next time ))

God's Timing

God’s Timing Sometimes God’s timing is before our first cup of coffee. It’s 4:30am. No really it’s 4:30am & I ‘m immediately awaken out of my sleep. Now, I will be brutally honest, I am not so sweet and pleasant before my first cup of coffee in the morning. My vocabulary skills are lacking and usually consist of grunts, groans and nods of the head. But God’s timing to get my attention is not always on my “coffee time” of alertness and this was one of those mornings. My alertness to His voice became immediate without my caffeine. I was moved to gather my bible and driven to the scriptures of Isaiah chapters 23-26. After reading the chapters and with prayer I was left with “such a time as this..I will never leave you…I will give you peace.” WOW!!!!

Cynical and Jaded

Cynical and Jaded The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses, but smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We have learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to our life, but not life to our years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space; we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice. We have higher incomes, but lower morals; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are times of tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. There are times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; fancier houses, but broken homes. These moving words are attributed by a student shortly after the mass murders at Columbine High School several years ago. But they are insightful and true to so many lives. But it can be so different! There is hope! John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” And John 1:1-3 “…all who place their trust in HIM will one day live with HIM forever.” If you believe there are these certainties. The certainty of forgiveness for sins. The certainty of a life with purpose now. The certainty of life forever with God. POWERFUL STUFF…makes you think just how jaded this world really is for those who do not believe or have wandered away from their Creator and have no real purpose for their lives. * I cannot take full credit for all of the above, I had read or heard it somewhere long ago and it was just too rich of words not to pass along. ((hugs until next time.)

Christians Aren't Perfect

Christians Aren’t Perfect From time to time I catch something either I or another do and realize the possible impact from those action to others who might have been watching. Ok, I am not talking about a “big thing” just something as simple as a reaction/or action while pumping $4.00 gas. It was just the other day that I stood at the car begrudgingly pumping gas. There were so many people at the pumps that all the usage made the pumps rather slow in filling up the tank. It gave me time to just “people watch.” So I set the pump to continue filling and I hop back in the car (leaving my car door open and sitting sideways in the seat) awaiting the sound of “it’s full” click to clink. As I watched it was rather amusing just watching people. But then it went from amusing to disturbing. I get that these people did not realize they were being watched and certainly would have been on better behavior. I get that people are angry about the prices of gas. But with all these in mind, I don’t get that why should we give off all the negative energy on something (the price) we really have no control over, other than to try to travel less frequently and conserve the gas we do buy. Why all the anger? As I sat there I thought, would these people be so eager to be so grumpy if they realized that someone else was watching? And it brought to my attention that sometimes that is how the eyes of the world watch the “Christians” of the world. Many people feel that the churches are full of hypocrites, and that is their “turn off.” Well, I say maybe there is some truth to that statement with a big “BUT!” The followers of Christ ALL FALL SHORT of the example of their Lord. Christians aren’t perfect – they are just forgiven. Believers are people who have found forgiveness and hope in a sinful world. Those who believe in Christ are on a journey of personal growth that is meant to last a lifetime! Christians themselves battle with selfish desires and their own failure to be what they want to be. One of my favorite quotes is “I am a continual work in progress.” We never know where each person is in their own personal spiritual walk with Christ. That is why we absolutely cannot let the personal failures (big or small) of others or even ourselves ruin our future with God. It was the apostle Paul who wrote: “not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”- Phil 3:12. We as Christians are continually growing spiritually and will stumble from time to time. Again, there is no “perfect Christian.” CLICK, and my gas pump quit pumping. I hung up that pump, took my $56 receipt from the “pretty new pump” that pumped soooo very slowly and left with the insight to remind others, “Christians aren’t perfect, just works in progress. But we are making steps towards a great future!” So what about you? Are you sitting on the sidelines or in the stands just “watching others” and using their actions as your excuse to not have an intimate relationship with God? Make good with your feet and begin the steps on the path of your personal growth that is meant to last a lifetime! (( hugs until next time))

Brain Freeze

It is 1:15am and I am wide awakening from my sleep. Why? As I just lay here my mind is racing with thoughts. Isn’t it crazy that you can be sleeping away and then you are awaken to just racing thoughts. Why brain, I thought you were resting? My mind seems to be saturated with clusters of things for which I have little or no control over. Yet, I feel compelled to do something, anything. Take politics. The deceitfulness with both parties has me struggling to respect either, NO, make that ANY of the candidates! The games for which they play to “win” are unbelievable, as I am ignorant in not researching for “truths.” Yet, we are heavy instructed in the Bible to respect our leaders. Maybe not to always agree with them, but to respect their positions. Then there is more of the Economic Bailouts. YES, I did say “Bailouts” because that is exactly what they are no matter how they try to candy-coat it! And to add salt to the wounds there is no assurance that this Bill passed will even “fix” things. What happen to ACCOUNTABILITY of people’s actions???? And then to even dump more salt on our wounds, most representatives of the people would not even think of passing it until “their hidden needs” were met, such as wooden arrows for the Boy Scouts and NASCAR’s needs. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some NASCAR…but not too happy with them right now trying to take advantage of the people. What’s wrong with our leadership?? And again, what’s wrong with ACCOUNTABILTY to the individuals?? Then let look at people like Oliver Stone who has produced the movie “W” reflecting nothing but mockery of the George W. Bush Administration. He is our leader of this country, what happen to respecting his Position? I nor you may not like many of the things that have happen under his administration…but come on America!! Don’t even get me started with this movie of a Comedian’s view of Religion and the mockery he makes of the Bible for the sake of laughs. It makes my heart sad for what God must think of us as he looks down at what has become of us. I understand the “freedom of speech”…but with that should come Accountability, Moral Judgment and Respect of others. I know I cannot change these things…but I can pray for this country and our leaders. YOU can pray for this country and our leaders. They need to be covered in our prayers. Ok, I guess by my bantering I have come to realize…it is time to turn off the News for awhile and allow my brain to saturate songs of Praise so that I will not be awaken at 1:15am. Thanks brain. I get it. BREAKING NEWS….after counting my blessing and going back to sleep I awoke this morning to find a wonderful email in my inbox from Joe White of Kanakuk Camps. In his email I found these words “News can consume our lives. The remote is just a reach away. We are to remember that which “fills my thoughts” fills my heart. That, which fills my heart, fills my life. –Amazing, that this was in my email. I get it brain. But more importantly I GET IT GOD! (( Hugs until next time ))

3 Generations of Laughter

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon in which 3 generations of women had decided to make a run into Target to do some shopping. Finding a parking space up front these ladies departed the car and proceeding in going into the store. It was then that it was heard in a short distance someone yelling “mam, mam, you are about to fall!!!!” 2 of the 3 women did not acknowledge the alarming claim. But one chose not to. As she looked over the woman doing the proclamation was pointing down toward the grandmother’s feet. Looking down it was then noticed that the grandmother’s skirt had fallen and was wrapping around her ankles. Immediately the grandmother was told to stop walking and to stand still while the other 2 generations began to work at the task at hand to get the skirt back up without tripping the grandmother. Laughter was whelming up but was held back for fear of hurting the grandmother’s feelings and grateful for the fact that the grandmother had not fallen! But it was not long before the containment could no longer be held in. The granddaughter threw up her hands in disbelief !! You see upon completion of the task of pulling up the skirt it was only a few more feet that the grandmother’s slip had now fallen to her ankles!! Laughter was immediately dispersed upon all those involved! Laughter until tears fell upon their faces! The grandmother’s comments were that she was so very glad that she had 2 slips on. Two slips? Who wears two slips? It seems that morning while getting dressed the grandmother had placed on a white slip. Seeing that she should really wear a black slip under a black skirt, she wisely chose to put on a black skip. Somehow she forgot to take off the white slip! Thank goodness for this mishap, for this grandmother might have exposed her “granny panties!” It was a beautiful moment shared between those 3 generations of women standing in that Target parking lot (who by the way, has security camera located all throughout the parking lot.) Somewhere there was or will be a security guard, scanning the film and he or she too will have a laugh. Believe me, u-tube crossed my mind. You see I have first hand of this beautiful moment. It was MY MOTHER who lost her skirt then her slip. It was MY DAUGHTER who threw up her hands in disbelief and it was ME who completed the task at hand. I am so grateful that mom did not fall. But also SO GRATEFUL that I had this beautiful moment shared with my mom and my daughter. Still laughing, De P.S. My mom approves of this message.

Luggage in Our Lives

We all can look around in our closets, garages or attics and find that we may many or few pieces of luggage for various trips we may take overnight or lengthy as they might be. They are stored somewhere in our possessions, not always accessed but we have them and continue to move them from place to place wherever we may go. I once shared the story of “bringing luggage to a marriage” like past relationships or even mishaps in our lives that we would rather not bring back up. Visualizations of looking down the isle seeing our mate and having to take each step down the alter toting our “bags of the past” whatever they may be. Once, in my Sunday School Class, I was presented a whole new visualization of how we can have other types of “luggage” in our lives that can prevent us from having the relationship with God that He actually wants each of us to share. Potential luggage that we may harbor that affects our relationship with our Heavenly Father are such as: A Suitcase of Guilt A Duffle Bag of Weariness A Backpack of Doubts A Sack of Discontent A Bag of Grief An Overnight Bag of Loneliness Or we may be pushing a Trunk of Fears All of the above “Bags” that we may harbor are all addressed in Psalms 23. The Lord is my shepherd (Relationship with Him) I shall not want (He will Supply). He makes me to lie down in green pastures (Rest). He leads me besides the still waters (Refreshment)He restores my soul (Healing). He leads me in the paths of righteousness (Guidance) For His name’s sake (Purpose). Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Testing) I will fear no evil (His Protection). For you are with me (His Faithfulness) Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Discipline). You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies (Hope). You anoint my head with oil (Consecration/) My cup runs over (Abundance) and surely goodness and mercy shall follow me (Blessings) all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord (Security) Forever (Eternity.) So does He not make all the promises in Psalms 23 to cover us not carry around all the “labeled” luggage in our life? So why do we carry around all this luggage when God has made us His promises to carry our load? Why are we not traveling more lightly? Why is it that it take Airlines to begin charging us $25 - $50 for checking luggage to get us to “travel lite” but we seem to not “get the message” from the MESSAGE in the luggage in our lives? I don’t know about you, but I must continue to make an effort in reminding myself…TRAVEL LITE! May each of you never look at your luggage the same way again! (( hugs until next time!!!))