Always Wanting More

  Contentment in whatever circumstance we are in, is sometimes hard to swallow!  I remember a time when two families lived in our house.  With the added family, there was quite an accumulation of “things.”  Some of these “things” overlapped and seemed more like clutter.  Cleaning was an issue because there just wasn’t enough space to put it all!  We had discussed building onto our home but finances and circumstances kept getting in the way.

Most days this situation didn’t concern me.  Then, there were days when I was terribly impatient to have the whole house finished!  This took time, planning and money.  When I got seriously impatient I had to have a talk with myself and try to remember the verse in God’s Word, which pushes against this idea:  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  Philippians 4:11.  

Aren’t we all like this?  When we become irritated with our circumstances, we lose focus of what is important.  I remember a trip out to San Francisco back in the late 1980’s.  We stayed at a nice hotel with very accommodating rooms.  After breakfast one morning, we ventured outside for a walk with the children.  

Across the street, a man with long, extremely matted hair; with frayed, dirty clothes, sat on the sidewalk with his back against a store wall.  A customer from the McDonald’s a few stores down came strolling by and tossed what was left of his sandwich and drink he’d purchased in the trash can not far from the apparently, homeless man.  The man stood up, walked over to the trash can, retrieved the discarded food and commenced eating.  Can we say I was appalled?  I was; beyond words, yet I couldn’t help feel sorry for him.  Clearly he was hungry.  Would I have done the same thing in similar circumstances?

When I considered my circumstances of our “live in family,” I am reminded of this mortifying picture witnessed in San Francisco, which happens all over our country---and even the world!  I lived in a comfortable, warm home.  I was surrounded with people I love and the little inconveniences that came with it were not so bad when you considered the flip side of these issues.  

My home could have been drafty, run down and unlivable.  Those around me could have been of ill repute and unloving, non-working and just not nice people!  I needed to remind myself that people really lived in the earlier circumstance I described—and in even worse situations.  It’s when I considered this that I became ashamed of my impatience.  Life is good.  I had every reason, and then some, to be content!

As we begin this New Year, look around your home.  Are there times when you wish for something better?  There is no shame in that, but being mindful of those who are in worse circumstances than our own tend to bring our own conditions into proper perspective.  God is good, and we don’t need high priced, luxurious material goods to be happy.  Contentment can be found in our faith, family, friends, and even our work, when it provides the means to meet the needs of our families.

Blessings to you in this new year: 2025!

Photo: Wanting More 

A Deep Desire To Learn

  I am a study bug!  I drive my children nuts with my intense desire and preference to keep reading “informational” books over what I usually label “junk” books that have little or no unique plots and offer nothing more than “entertainment.”  My goal is to learn something new every single day!  Do I always succeed?  Probably not, but I can try!

My efforts pale next to Helen Keller who learned to read despite blindness or Abraham Lincoln who walked twenty miles to get a book or even Booker T Washington who considered education so important he made a decision to learn despite all obstacles including being born a slave in poverty.  

Thomas Jefferson believed education was paramount to freedom, self-reliance, and responsibility.  He believed education established knowledge and the qualities required to shape a self-governing citizen.  He was a leader in education reform, establishing free schools for children to learn reading, writing and arithmetic, so they would grow into an adult having skills to make educated decisions.

As a “mature student” in college I was amazed at the apathy many of my younger peers displayed.  Many weren’t at all interested in being in class, chose not to do any homework or participate in any of the discussions.  It made me angry when students were less than honest when a professor would ask why they missed class or were unable to turn in an assignment.  And, I found myself really upset when working as a group, 75% of the group did only as much as necessary to get by, contributing little or no preparation for an oral presentation.  I admit, I couldn’t understand it!  

These young people were energized about everything except college!  Why were they there? I understand, in our late teens it’s likely we don’t have a clue what we plan to do with the rest of our lives.  We’ve just finished high school and the last thing we really want is to sit in a classroom again.  Yet, what an opportunity!

As the mature student, I did have an advantage.  I knew what I wanted and it was important to me to get the education to enable me to do it.  I was willing to read the assignments and do the work, study for tests and be a willing participant in class, first because I honestly enjoyed it, and I wanted to learn, despite the obstacles I faced!

We all face some kind of road block.  The path is rarely easy.  Helen Keller faced blindness; Booker T. Washington, slavery; Thomas Jefferson, politics; I faced dealing with marriage, a home, children and grand children and the fact it had been 30 years since I’d been in a classroom.  I had a lot to catch up on!  But I was driven!  I wanted so much to fill my mind with information that would enable me to become self-confident, independent, competent to make my own decisions, qualify me to join the work place should I desire to do so, and empower me with the tools I needed to fulfill my dreams.

But with all that said, there is another area where I desire to excel in the realm of ‘learning.’  As a Believer the very idea that the Bible is ‘God’s love letters to me’ is intriguing.  Why wouldn’t I want t read about the God who delights in me, loves me and wants only the best for my life?  God’s Word is a Living Book.  It’s more important than any other book on the planet!  It’s my life guide, truth, life changing, inspiring, encouraging, convicting, teaching, coaching, and ultimately the perfect book for any question in life I could imagine!

So I encourage you to pick up reading material that will strengthen the mind and character.  And more than that, I suggest picking up God’s Word, the Bible, which can change your life forever. Place aside, even if only for a few moments that “junk” book, video game, or TV show you wanted to see.  Find something inspirational that will “feed” your mind and more importantly, your soul! 

Photo Credit: Bible Study

Happy Holidays

         Holidays are wonderful!  There are all kinds: summer vacations, New Year’s, Easter, Thanksgiving and many others that we celebrate all year long.  Our “holidays” may find us at the ocean relaxing in the warm sunshine while wriggling our toes in the hot sand.  We may choose to visit other countries, or National and State parks to enjoy nature’s bounty.  Or we may choose to visit monuments, cities, or even choose to stay in a quiet cabin in the country.  Whatever our desire when we want to get “away” we choose to take a “holiday.”

There is much discussion in politics and between friends and neighbors about the use of “Happy Holiday” verses the familiar “Merry Christmas!”  Let me begin by saying I prefer Merry Christmas, but was calmed when I understood that “holiday” actually can mean “holy-day.” Now that said, it doesn’t necessarily have that definition anymore.  In fact, as the word has changed over the years, it has acquired a much more secular meaning.

Because of the way we look at what a holiday is in our world today, it’s hard to connect the idea of a sacred “Holy Day” --- Christmas --- by simply saying “holiday.”  The word holiday holds no sacred meaning, given the way we use it.  This is likely why so many people are outraged that using it seems somehow politically correct, but the term “Merry Christmas” carries the connotation of sacredness!

Originally the word had more to do with a religious festival or a hallowed day.  Now the word has more to do with a “free day” off from work or school because it’s a federally designated day.  People today, usually don’t even equate “holiday” with the original “holy-day” meaning at all.  For the business world it’s another “big money day” while for shoppers it’s usually a discount day!  We’ve even created a day called “Black Friday” because following the day after Thanksgiving, it’s become the biggest shopping day of the year!

So we come to an impasse.  We have holiday stamps and wrapping paper.  There are holiday greetings and celebrations. And we have been instructed to say “Happy Holidays” rather than Merry Christmas so we don’t offend anyone; staying “politically correct!”

Does it matter to my faith that we say, Happy Holidays?  It does only in the sense that I am being singled out as a Believer, implying that my faith doesn’t matter, because someone else is offended by the term.  Yet we can say Happy Kwanza or Happy Hanukkah.  Yet to say Merry Christmas is unacceptable.  

I love Christmas!  It’s the most “wonderful time of year!”  It’s a time when people seem to put most of the prejudices aside and are collectively kind and caring for each other.  I love the music, the magic, decorations, movies, snow (yes, I love having snow this time of year!), gift giving (getting is fun too!) and the general time of love.

So I encourage you to look beyond the expression of Happy Holidays, say Merry Christmas when you can, and share the wonder of Christmas with everyone you see.  When you do, it truly is magical, as we celebrate this special Holy Day!

Photo Credit: Merry Christmas 

We All Have Struggles

  My friend lamented, “It’s been an interesting six weeks.  There have been four Emergency Room visits; three included extended stays in the hospital.  We’ve learned, that regardless how a person looks on the outside (totally wonderful and healthy), the insides can be in total turmoil!  We’ve been deep in conflict with medicines that do or don’t work, doctors trying to figure out how to handle the continuing or new health issues, and emotional struggles that come with an illness that is all encompassing and potentially life threatening.”

It’s likely most everyone reading this has dealt with a circumstance in their life where emotions and fear cause struggles that leave a person feeling like they are stuck in a shoulder deep snowdrift and totally unable to make any forward progress.

When I was asked how I dealt with struggle, I had to really think about it.  First and foremost in any situation, I’d like to say I immediately call out to God; and in some sense I do.  But my initial instinct is “What can I do –or need to do --about this right now?  I’ve got to go to the hospital.  I’ve got to make sure this or that is done.  Do you see the pattern?   “I’ve, I’ve, I’ve.”   

It’s not about me!  It’s about God’s plan.  I need to stop and remember that I am not alone in my suffering, no matter what kind it is!  Medical issues belong to everyone in the family regardless of who is specifically ill!  The emotional side of it also takes its toll!  The family ultimately begins a journey to places they’ve possibly never gone before and it can be hard!  To paraphrase someone else’s thought;  “The devil keeps knocking at my door and I keep opening it, rather than rebuking him in Jesus’ name!”  I’m working on that!  

I also need to remember that I need not struggle alone!  I like the expression “Do not fear, God is always near!”  It’s wonderful to have human words and physical embraces that are encouraging and supportive even when circumstances cause a melt down!   Not only is our biological family important, but so is a church family that embraces the family with all the love and aid a family could imagine.

This is how it’s supposed to be!  We are to be a ‘community;’ a ‘family’ who holds up every other member within our congregation, as well as, Believers who need us even when we hardly know them at all –or in some cases don’t know them at all.  This doesn’t apply only to a medical issue, but to other types of struggles families and individuals find themselves.  Sometimes it happens because of choices, other times, it has nothing to do with anything anyone did.  It’s life!  It’s ‘stuff’ that happens beyond our control.

During dark times, we all suffer from time time, we can be reminded of Mary and Joseph who had plans of an engagement, and marriage and probably dreams of their married life.  But God had other plans.  They were obedient and God blessed them.  God’s timing was perfect; he gave us the perfect gift for his perfect purpose.

As Christmas closes in, I encourage you to embrace those around you who are struggling with all kinds of different circumstances.  Each of us has a story.  Embracing each other is a gift that keeps on giving and giving.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Photo Credit-Christmas Pics

Renew Daily

  A friend of mine recently shared she was experiencing serious changes in her life.  What she was certain would be her future changed nearly overnight.  Her first reaction was “why Lord?”  But as time passed, the questions subsided and she said, “Okay…..I just want to be obedient.  But I still don’t understand!”

I get this.  Sometimes we feel like we are “thrown under the bus” when life throws us a curve we didn’t expect and we just don’t know how to deal with it!  Being in God’s service, however, doesn’t mean we will always understand, even when we have an obedient heart.  Another friend of mine was sure she was supposed to teach after college; and she did, and did it well.  But God had other plans and led her down a path so far from teaching, her family was in a panic that she was making the wrong moves.  As she followed where God was leading, she completely believed, even though almost everyone close to her, gave her nothing but discouragement. 

Going against friend and family’s expectations can be a difficult thing.  It’s like being offered a position in the family business, but choosing to walk away.  Those “offering” can’t understand the mindset, even when they are told, “it’s not what God wants for me!”  They feel rebuffed and let down.

God knows our yesterdays, todays and our tomorrows.  He can take care of the future because he knows how it ends.  We haven’t a clue.  That’s the nature of being human.  From our perspective we are taking huge risks, and those risks are monumental to those who don’t understand our heart.

We are responsible for this moment.  It’s all we have.  We have a duty to carry out what is in front of us with pure motives, believing God will lead us in the right direction when we trust in Him.  What comes next, when we put our faith in the Great Creator is God’s plan.  We must trust His plan is so much better than what we had planned.  Even when changes come, and we clearly have no idea why, when, where or how; we can know when we are in His will, it’s going to be good—although it may be challenging!

When we are conscientious about searching God’s heart and will, and making a pure 'heart' decision to follow him daily, all the fretting, fussing, worrying and hard decision making, become easier.  We can be like my friend at the beginning of this post.  The heart will change, because God will change it.  He will remove the doubt, even if all the questions remain unanswered.  Because--- in God’s time, those questions will have all the right answers and it will make complete, good sense.

As you face decisions this next week, daily ask God’s will for your life.  Are you following what you want to do, or are you following God’s plan, even if it seems so unlikely, friends and family are having a panic attack?  As long as you are in God’s will, peace will reign in your heart and you can know it’s God, not you.

Photo Credit: Going Against The Grain

God Knows My Pain

  My son made the decision to leave home just shy of his 18^th birthday.  I was devastated.  He wasn’t moving across town or even to the next state; he would be over 1800 miles away.  He chose to walk away from a secure financial college setting and go into a world of total unknowns.  There was just one thing he was absolutely certain of, he explained: “South Dakota is calling my name.”  As odd as that may seem, I understood when he said those words.  They resonated with my own feelings of that area.  Understanding, however, didn’t lessen the pain of his leaving.  

Joseph’s early adult life had already been filled with surprises.  First he was told to take for his bride a woman who was already pregnant, which was unheard of in those days.  He also discovers the child she is carrying is God’s son.   

Then Joseph received the warning from an angel that he should leave the area where he now lived and journey back to his hometown of Bethlehem.  There he found no room at the inn once he and Mary arrived.  It must have seemed ironic.   The child is born in a manger, an unlikely place for a new birth.   Can it get stranger than this?  

Still Joseph kept his heart and mind open to the Lord.  So when the command came to escape to Egypt, Joseph knew God knew what he was talking about!  Joseph listened.  God had already provided for them sanctuary in a stable; and was now providing sanctuary from King Herod in the unlikely place of Egypt.

God called his son from this place (Egypt), as prophesied in Hosea 11.  (See Matthew 2:13) He called his son out of a place where God’s laws were ignored.  He calls our name from a world of sin if we listen for it.  We then must accept this gift and be obedient to the call.   Symbolically Jesus being called out of Egypt demonstrates the new covenant of Grace.  We are no longer under the law.  It is a new beginning through Christ Jesus which leads us out of sin and death through Grace.  His life would begin with escaping the cruelness of Herod to be thrust into Egypt, but he would endure an even greater cruelness on the cross as he carried the weight of all our sins. 

My heart ached when my son left home.  God’s heart and all the angels must have been broken when Jesus left heaven to come to earth as human, knowing that his leaving meant an even greater sacrifice: his death.  Yet there is joy, because it was through this selfless act that we can know God and live an eternity with him if we accept his greatest gift: His only Son. We can not fail, as we would under the law, unless we choose to turn away from the gift of salvation by faith through Grace.

Have you ever felt intense pain from a loss?  Many of us have.  How do you deal with your pain?  Some lash out, become angry, cry, withdraw, vent or a react a dozen other ways a person deals with grief.  Have you ever considered that God feels your pain?  He knows where your heart is and wants to comfort you.

Most of us know someone who is going through a tough time because of divorce, or even death.  Perhaps a mother is facing the pain and fear as I did, about a child going off to college, or moving to another state because of a career.  What can you do to ease the pain of those hurting?  It might be as easy as a phone call or sending a card.  It might be visiting and allowing them to share their pain while you listen. Bring your thoughts before the Lord and ask for his guidance, and then like Joseph, be obedient.

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."   Matthew 2:14-15   

Photo Credit: Sadness and Pain

Missing Opportunities

Paige looked at her husband, fighting tears.  The accident had turned their world upside down.  Gavin was getting better, but was a long way from being able to go back to work and the insurance company was dragging their feet on making good on their policy.  It seemed every time they thought they had everything documented, there was someone who contested something causing delay after delay.  

“You know I don’t want to go back to work and I know you don’t want me to,” she said swallowing hard.  “But it’s the only thing to do.  At least we won’t have to get a sitter.  Your mom said she’d help you watch Joey and Rachel.”

“But,”

“No buts.  I’ve already talked with Mr. Summers at the diner.  I start tomorrow.”

Each of us deal with dark seasons in our lives.  It could be the loss of a loved one, divorce, financial stress, emotional upheavals related to moving or our children, health concerns, or a hundred other things.

There are those who believe our lives are dictated by how the stars align, while others believe our lives are completely in their human hands; each moving forward by the strength of their own decisions. Our personal fate or destiny is still another perspective people will use when shifts in our lives happen.

Others are convinced it’s all about their beauty, abilities, money, status, or intelligence.  Where they are on the “ladder” of whatever business or societal group they are in, they are certain they made the difference, without any help from anyone else. When trouble comes, however, they can’t possibly be responsible.  It’s someone or something else’s fault.

Our God, whether people will admit to it or not, is the Creator of the Universe!  He knows the end from the beginning.  He’s aware of all that happens to each of us. It is He who “aligns” things to happen in his time and for his reasons, although situations can also happen because of free will—and our personal decisions!  Pain is real and happens to everyone.  He doesn’t want us to suffer alone.  He encourages us to come to Him.  He teaches us to use our negative or unpleasant circumstance to grow and then use it!

Sometimes we get “lost” in the confusion, hurting (emotional or physical), anger, insults, or offending situation.  We lose sight of who is “at the wheel.”  We lash out instead of reaching out.  Instead of using our circumstance for good, we inflict more hurt.  There’s an expression that “hurting people, hurt other people.”  There are times when this is true.  But by striking out we are likely going to miss an opportunity to do good.  

No matter what we are going through, we don’t own this “corner of the world” on pain, anger or anything else negative.  There are others in at least the same “corner,” or in a worse place.  

I encourage you to use your circumstance as “defining moments.”  Use the different (or dark) seasons in your life to allow yourself, first to heal if necessary.  Secondly, use these times to make a difference for the Kingdom.  This is where you are really going to find healing.

Photo Credit: Emotionally Hurting People