His Divine Will

        I’ve recently been going through a really tough time with the loss of my husband.  It’s been almost 6 months and I still grieve.  I miss him.

When he passed I was told one of the seasons of grieving, would be anger. I’m not sure I grieved in that way.  It’s weird.  I didn’t want Charles to leave me, but I believe, because it’s scriptural that ‘our days are numbered’.  Charles had been fighting an array of medical issues since Viet Nam.  It seemed every year, there was one more thing.  Death is inevitable, but no one is ever ready.

Still if ‘our days are numbered’ would it have mattered if we had been anywhere else? (We had traveled to TN.)  If it hadn’t been heart failure, my thought process insists it would have been something else—on that very day.  

But I read recently that resigning to God’s will signifies submission to God.  But more than that, we are to accept His will with a thankful heart.  I openly admit that being thankful, at least up to this point, has not been part of my equation.  

I miss my husband and don’t want him to be gone.  I’m not sure I’m thankful.  Yet this same source says if I’m not thankful, I’m denying the wisdom and/or goodness of God!  Perhaps I’m not content with the way God is dealing with my life— his Divine Providence in my life.   Willam Law 

I wonder if the writer of this piece considered the loss of a loved one? The ache is real.  I certainly agree that in most circumstances there is a silver lining, even when things look particularly stark.  I’m an optimist and try to look on the bright side of most everything.  That doesn’t mean I’m eternally content, but it’s easier when I remember God is in charge!

As I continue this journey we call grief, maybe one day, I can see the silver lining in my Charles’ passing.  Perhaps this ‘time’ was much better than letting him suffer.  A stoke that left him paralyzed for several years or comatose, in my estimation, would have been worse, or other medical scenarios which make me cringe.

Perhaps it’s God’s way of changing the path he wants me to follow for the Kingdom, that I wouldn’t have, had I remained ‘busy in my life’ with a very sick husband.  I don’t know.  Thankfulness comes hard, but there are three things for which I am totally grateful.

The first is the community in Tennessee who held my family and me up during this critical time.  It was truly amazing.  Not only the church congregation where we worship but the hospital employees loved on us (even as strangers), held us while we cried--and cried with us, prayed with us when we prayed —holding hands around his bed, taking amazing care of Charles and did everything in their medical power to save him.  I’ve said more than once; ‘If it had to happen, I’m glad it was there.’  

Secondly, God answered a prayer which I’d been praying for a very long time.  “Lord, please don’t let him suffer.”  Understand, for years Charles fought a strong, hard battle.  Every time he got sick, he’d fight back with everything he had, and then he’d go again.  But when it came down to it, God didn’t let him suffer!  He went in the hospital on November 3 and passed on November 12.  

And lastly, and perhaps most important of all, Charles was a Born Again Believer.  He went home to be with Jesus.  I know one day, I’ll see him again.   

        As I look at my last three paragraphs, I can't help but smile.  Perhaps I’m a little more thankful than I thought!  

Photo Credit: Submission To Christ

Insignificant Actions

  We just celebrated Easter, and while every day is Holy, Easter is one of the Holiest days of the year—some would even say the Holiest.  I tend to agree, with Christmas coming in close behind.  These are big events; events that are life changing and are significant enough in the  entire world, that people on every continent celebrate them, albeit perhaps differently.  And we totally should.  These events are the foundation of our faith.  

During Christ’s walk on the earth before he was crucified, big events abounded!  He gave the blind man sight; the deaf, hearing; he raised people from the dead, stilled the waters on the Sea of Galilee, and the list could go on forever.

But Jesus did more than that.  He listened, taught, spoke softly, encouraged, and even fed thousand’s because he was concerned about the people going hungry.  (Of course the feeding of 5,000 also qualifies as a big event!)  But the point is he took care of people’s needs ‘right where they were.’

We live in a society and culture where people live and breathe the attitude that ‘it’s all about me’.  TV commercials, most advertisements in any format, drive home the idea that we need to put ourselves first.  There’s even a recent commercial that’s all about shopping, but their presentation says it isn’t about shopping, it’s about ‘finding’!  It entices people to believe they need one more thing—or many things.

It’s our duty to 'out do' our neighbor with the most recent trends of what ever the ‘trend’ is at the moment.  Brand name items are a must if you’re going to fit in with the up and coming crowd.  Even our young children are aware of this phenomenon!

But what about the ‘little things’?  How does that fit in the whole picture?  When we are so focused on taking care of 'me’, how can we possibly see what our neighbor might need?  We usually can’t see it—- and if we do, we’re not sure how to respond!

Financially most people (at least in the US) are tapped out to the max, in credit cards, have bills they can’t pay, and live pay check to pay check.  When they happen to notice a ‘need’ of a neighbor, that’s when they look at their checkbook, and think, ‘There’s no way I/we can help.  We’re not making enough to even get us through!’  

That makes me wonder, then, if everything we’re working toward is even worth it!  There is a better perspective, however, that could change the way we choose to live.  It’s a much simpler way of looking at life, and it’s a better reason to live—even though it may seem outlandish!

The very idea of looking or doing something insignificant may make people cringe.  But what if instead of working so hard to be a ‘worldly success’, we choose to be a godly success?  What if we chose to do insignificant kindnesses and actions which touch people’s lives in small ways?  Very often it’s the small things that really stand out—that’s often remembered well beyond whatever is going on in someone’s life.

Consider Jesus, who just before going to the cross, washed his disciple’s feet at the Last Supper.  It was with a servant attitude; and most uncommon for a ‘leader’ to wash the feet of those around him.  What a lesson for us! What an impact Jesus made!  He's the ultimate role model.

Hold a hand, give a hug, share a smile, carry groceries, open a door, share food with the hungry, let someone go before you in line, buy a stranger coffee, and on and on.  It’s the small things that often matter most.

What impact could you make today?  The difference you make could be a profound moment in the life of another.

Photo Credit:  Offering kindness 

Putting God First

Our world is all about getting to the top of the corporate ladder as fast as you can and making as much money as possible.  It is considered the pinnacle of success!  The trap ensnares so many. People are driven to attain this position; allowing them to obtaining expensive cars, huge mansions to live in, and the glitz and glamour money brings.  This ‘hype’ causes people to do things which seem unfathomable!  

Even those who don’t necessarily ‘do’ said behaviors, worship those who are successful, with their high fashion, beautiful bodies with the perfect makeup that will hide any imperfection causing us to ‘dream and say what if’.  And the truth is, we all have imperfections!   

I can’t imagine the pain and humiliation a person goes through after being ‘caught in satan’s trap; yet it happens more than we’d imagine and to people we’d least likely expect!

I read about a person who was found guilty of bank fraud.  It cost them their CPA license, their good name in the community and the realization that the behavior for a ‘quick fix’  to his money problems broke relationship with his family, and cost him jail time.  

This was really driven home for me when some years ago a banker in our small town was arrested and convicted of embezzlement.  Our town and nearby communities were shocked, since this person was warm, wonderful, and well-known; the last person you’d expect any kind of fraudulent activity!

Because we all make mistakes, when we admit failure, there is hope beyond the situation we find ourselves.  There are still going to be physical consequences to pay for whatever we've done, but knowing when we turn to Jesus, we can begin picking up the pieces.

Our God is a patient, forgiving Master.  He said, (paraphrased) you can’t serve two masters, because you will be devoted to one and the other will destroy!  The example he used is money.  (Matthew 6:24) There are other kinds of ‘masters’, but money is notable because we use it for everything we acquire! It doesn’t mean money is bad in and of itself.  But it becomes a problem when money becomes first in our lives.

But like Eve, who was deceived by satan to eat the apple, we get tricked into thinking ‘one more thing’ surely won’t matter.  But at what point do we become so engrossed in the ‘one more thing’ mentality we totally miss what’s most important?  Devotion and obedience to God should be first and foremost in our minds and hearts.  But as satan wraps his evil spirit around us, digs his claws in just a little bit deeper while continuing to whisper the lies that keep us confused and ultimately disobedient, we forget that God is not going to knock us over to remind us what’s going on.

We have a conscience and if we ignore it long enough, satan is going to win that battle.  But God is patient and wants nothing more than for us to recognize what we are doing and realize that the only way we are going to have a relationship with him, is to walk away from that which entices us at the moment, more than Him! He is a supremely, forgiving God when we surrender to Him.

God wants us to have an abundant and successful life.  But that requires us ‘doing the right thing’ by putting him first in our lives.  That is where success really happens.  When we are focusing on God, we experience a spiritual and emotional filling that decries any of the worldly pleasures, careers, or any success attained any other way!

Our treasures should be invested in the eternal rather than what is on this earth, which is temporary.  We need to have the right priorities in order to have the right relationship with God, the Creator and Savior of the World.

        Happy Easter, Everyone!

Photo Credit: Climbing The Corporate Ladder

Worship And Praise

         

        My favorite day of the week is Sunday, which I call ‘Worship Day’!  The truth is every day should be ‘worship day’, but this is the day we get to come together corporately and worship together!  And I love to sing!  I may not do it well, but there is something so compelling about the music, I must sing!  

Once I was quite taken back by a lady in the choir who looked at me and said, “I love to watch you sing! You look like the song you are singing is coming straight from your heart.”  I was shocked.  My immediate response.  "Well it is!  Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?”  I was completely confused!  It’s my gift back to God!

Now that said, the more ‘modern, contemporary’ music leaves some of us a little rattled.  I admit I am a Southern Gospel gal.  It’s my go to music!  However, the music even in our church service, has shifted to mostly contemporary Christian music, which I rarely listen to.  It’s not bad music; mostly it’s quite beautiful and the lyrics are often straight from God’s Word.  But I ‘wiggle’ a little when I try singing one I don’t know—-or have even never heard before.  

At first it made me really uncomfortable, but gradually I’m coming to realize it’s not about being able to sing it perfect! I sing along quietly until I pick up the tempo and then revel in lyrics!  It truly is beautiful!  

We, as Believers apparently come to church for a variety of different reasons.  It is truly supposed to be a ‘worship service’.  That for me, means we worship and praise the God we serve.  I’m not supposed to be there for ‘show’ or what I ‘can get out of it,’ although there is nothing wrong with God blessing us because we are there!  And he does!  But in my mind (and heart) we are supposed to be there to give back God and others! 

One friend shared she was so uncomfortable with the newer music where she went, she began coming in just before the sermon, thinking this is ‘what she needed’ from the service anyway; to hear the preacher.  But one day as she was reading about Paul and Silas singing in prison, her heart changed.  She realized it’s about worshipping and being 'actively present' during the service, while offering praise to our Risen Savior.

This thought process applies to the entire service.  I heard a story once about a parishioner who while in church, didn’t think the sermon had been worth her time invested.  Yet while leaving this same service, another person came up to her completely enthralled by the message!  

She went on about how much that particular sermon meant to her!  It was just was she needed to hear!  The first person was confounded and hadn’t thought that what she considered totally useless, someone else would find an answer to something she’d been struggling with!

Even when we give our tithes and offerings, it’s a way of worshipping!  God wants us to be ‘cheerful givers’ and as we drop our ‘sacrificial funds’ into the plate, we should be rejoicing with praise and thanksgiving for all He has provided!  

God is an actively living God.  He is ‘present’ with us always.  We should offer the same kind of attention to him!  Granted, our world is filled with so much ‘noise’, sometimes he gets drowned out; making it take a conscious effort to stop, and focus on him.  While we are in the worship service, however this gift of worshipping corporately, is a wonderful opportunity to shut out the noise of the world and truly feel God’s surround us as we commune with him.

We Are God's Garden

  I love gardens, even though I feel like a horrible gardener!  I have good intentions.  After the garden plot is cleared, I plant my seeds in reasonably straight rows and wait for them to sprout.  With Spring comes gentle (sometimes not so gentle!) rainfall which waters them and the warm sunshine causes them to pop up through the soil.  I get so excited as I check on them and see the growth.  Of course, there are also weeds, although at this time they are fairly manageable.  I bend down and pluck out the tiny nuisances and move on.

Life intervenes and it seems I’m days before I re-enter my garden and suddenly there are more weeds than plants from the seeds I’d planted!  As I pull the weeds, I also often, uproot the fragile plant sitting next to it.  

Our faith ministry is a lot like this, I think.  We consciously plant a seed with a friend, neighbor, or even a family member.  We have good intentions, and often do reach out a week or so later to see how they are doing, but then something happens, and we realize it’s been a month or more before we even make contact again.  The nurturing of the seed we’d planted was left to ‘grow’ on it’s own.  Instead of being ‘gently watered’ by God’s Word, they’ve been left to feast on what the world offers, which is not close to living a godly life.

Sadly, this can even happen to us, as Believers.  We focus on study and stay in touch with God through prayer and reading His Word, until that fateful day when life changes our pattern.  It just takes a day to throw us off balance and we find when we finally return to what was ‘normal’ it isn’t normal at all.  Our fingerprints show up on the cover of the Bible, our note taking or thought processes we last had are dated over a month ago!  

We are left wondering what happened and why we are struggling with life’s ‘happenings’ and why we can’t seem to reach God with our prayers.  Truth is, even when we aren't ‘doing anything spiritually’ things are still happening.  When we don’t nurture our spiritual health daily with what is good and right, then those things which are detrimental to our spiritual health have a ‘hey day’!  

Satan jumps with glee as he begins walking through our thoughts, twisting and turning what we know is right and true, into something vague and now blurred.

Our life shows only signs of weeds and poison plants which threaten to uproot what was a beautiful garden within our hearts.  Life is harsh.  Our hearts become hardened and the cultivation of what was a vibrant spiritual garden is being thwarted by our choices of what is important.  This upheaval not only affects us, but those around us, including someone we’d witnessed to months before.

To keep growing we must keep an active process of being in the Word, in prayer and spending time with other Believers.  In this way we are able to better spot those pesky ‘weeds’ that sprout and ultimately shift our roots and sometimes completely stop growth and begin a quick decline of all that was right and good!  This is true not only for those with whom we share the Gospel, but within our lives, as well.

Photo Credit :Gardens

For Such A Time As This

  Many Jews around the world celebrated Purim a couple weeks ago.  It began on Thursday March 13 and carried through March 14th.  Purim celebrates the time, years ago, when Jews living in Persia were on the verge of being annihilated.  Haman, one of the king’s men, had an intense hatred of the Jews and had a plan to eliminate them entirely from the area. 

Mordecai, Esther’s uncle learned of Haman’s evil plot and implored Esther to help save her people.  She was now queen, but the king was not aware of her Jewish heritage. Mordecai told her, (paraphrased) ‘Perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.’ (Esther 4:14)  After much prayer and fasting she agreed.  She’d kept her identity secret but risked everything, even her life, to save her fellow countrymen.   

When I consider what Mordecai said to Esther, it makes me wonder if that statement can’t be for each of us, as well.  Sometimes we are very unhappy about our circumstances.  We feel trapped or insecure in our workplaces, or dream of doing something entirely different than what we do every day.  Perhaps we live in the mountains and want nothing more than to live near the beach.  We may be a bank manager and desire only to be a in the music industry or a hundred other possibilities which seem totally impossible .

Yet, in Esther’s case she was chosen, like many other young maidens at the time, from around the kingdom to become part of the king’s harem.  Once she arrived, she, along with all the other candidates, went through a 12 month beauty preparation!  Six months was dedicated to oils; and six months of perfumes and cosmetics. Ultimately, Esther become royalty.  She was beautiful and had the king’s attention!  

Today’s world, with all the modern technology, would have revealed the one flaw Esther had in her background check….She was Jewish!  She had kept that part of her identity hidden!  Yet, it was just this sliver of information that enabled her to save the Jewish community!

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, there is something unique to you, that God can use where you work or where you live, or even in the realm of people you know, for the Kingdom?  We are each given unique gifts and abilities with which to serve.  But could there be a chance we could be used for more, if we had the courage to totally trust God with our very lives?

Esther’s beautifying regimen did not change who she was on the inside, although there may have been quite the ‘makeover’ on the outside.  Haven’t many of us ladies dreamed of having a ‘makeover’ so we could ‘feel’ more beautiful?  Would this feeling enable us to risk doing a daring thing for the Kingdom, or would we just revel in the experience of looking incredible?

It’s not about being ravishing on the outside; it’s about being ‘beautiful’ on the inside.  It’s about having a ‘God heart’.  It’s about prayers; searching about what God wants us to do and how we are to present ourselves first to Him, and secondly to our worldly peers here on earth—‘for such a time as this’.

Photo Credit: Purim

Wearing Shoes For The Kingdom

 

         My husband loved shoes!  Each was worn with a specific purpose. He had different styles for different functions or different colors for different occasions.  He had dress shoes for church or other dress occasions, sneakers for fun, easy walking, work boots, hunting boots, lots of slippers of different levels of warmth, dress boots, cowboy boots, work boots, shoes that tied, slipped on and even a pair or two of velcro!  

Paul talks about shoes in Ephesians 6.  He calls them the ‘shoes of preparation.’  When I think of shoes, I am pretty adamant about not wanting to be without them while I’m outdoors!  I want something on my feet to protect me from bugs, hot or cold surfaces, sharp stones or holly leaves. (We have a lot of holly trees in our yard and while I love them, I loathe stepping on a holly leaf which has fallen to the ground!) 

We are told over and over again, to walk in the way of the Lord.  The Bible instructs us to walk as Jesus walked.  Back when Jesus was on the earth, he wore sandals.  The roads he traveled were dusty and long.  In one story we hear about his feet being washed by tears (Luke 7:36-38).  Even in the Upper Room, Jesus washed the disciples feet. (John 13:1-17).  Surely this indicates care of our feet are important.

But wearing our shoes, which obviously protect our feet, are a symbol of the ‘Gospel of Peace’.   The Good News is supposed to be spread by all Believers.  When we ignore taking care of ourselves we are unprepared (physically, emotionally or spiritually) for ‘going out’ to share God’s Word.  How then, can we ‘walk’ or simply ‘go’ to share about the Kingdom?

Further we are described as ‘soldiers in God’s army’.  As soldiers, we are to put on ‘the armor of God’ which includes shoes, that help protect us from literal, physical harm, on where we ‘walk’, but also in the sense, that we are covering any space an arrow from Satan could pierce us--and you can be absolutely certain, if he can get an arrow of any type of hindrance or temptation in, he's going to try!  By being ‘shod with the Gospel of Peace’ we are equipped to enter the spiritual war zone, where we must travel.  Our shoes allow us to walk without fear to—and in --places we’d never travel barefoot!  

While it’s true, because of our very modern devices which disseminates information in an instant; we as Believers, must still carry the message to those who need to hear it.  Just as it was personal for Jesus, it should be personal to us. 

As we carry out our ‘marching orders’ given us by Jesus, himself, we are provided the means to fulfill the mission before us, regardless of the, sticks and stones, briars and thorns Satan will absolutely put in our path in an effort to reduce progress and success.

Are you ready to put on the ‘armor of God’, including shoes which you need, to traverse areas unkind to your feet—-and ultimately your faith!?  Prepare to share the Gospel fully equipped, by wearing the full protection God has provided!   By doing so we can each make a difference right in the ‘little corner of the world’ where we live!

Photo Credit: Men's Shoes

I Am A Child Of God

        I know I am a wife, mom, grandmother, friend, student, quilter, writer and along with what seems like twenty other hats I wear.  I have no problem identifying my very human characteristics which define me.  Yet to say, “I am a child of God” seems surreal.  It is something so profound when I say it, it doesn’t seem possible.

There are scriptures which I’ve tried to memorize which validates this truth, because long ago I did accept Christ as my Savior.  It’s something I’ve believed for as long as I can remember, yet the idea that God calls me as one of his, and specifically His child is amazing.  

I reflect on my human parents.  My mom took care of me as an infant and my dad was wonderful in situations where my mom wasn’t strong.  My siblings and I were close, while we were children and I’m grateful.  It isn’t much different with my Heavenly Father.  God absolutely takes care of me, Jesus gave his life, so that could become truth for me.  The Holy Spirit is also always close by for comfort and direction.  Each one of the Trinity ‘grows' me like my earthly family.  And add to this my ‘church family’ and other Believers, I have a huge family on whom to rely and take counsel from, should I need it---and ask for it!

Once this reality totally sinks in, I can acknowledge God cares about my tears, my questions and frustrations.  He finds joy in my successes and will reprimand me when I sin, through conviction.  His gentle arms surround me when I need a hug and his heart breaks when mine does.  He knows my weaknesses and my strengths; and knows how to use my flaws for his good.  He cares about the little things just as much as he cares about the big ones.  

He teaches me through his word, through experiences, and other Believers.  He not only cares about my questions, but will lead me to the answer if I’m willing to look for it.  God cares about our heartbreaks, economic status, death, diseases, sin, and yes, even me.

Even knowing all this, as I face days that seem overwhelming in their struggles, I cower.  I want to just hide.  How self-centered of me!  I should instead be standing strong and face my struggles like Paul did when he was imprisoned.  He would sing!  I often can’t sing when I’m sad!  Songs seem to accentuate the element or level of my despondency and discouragement. 

Still, when I physically pick up His Word or cry out to him, I am overcome with a calmness that is almost palpable yet indescribable.  I feel washed in His Stillness.  Then I am able to rest, physically and emotionally; and perhaps more than that, I'm able to accept all the spiritual rest that His comfort brings.

As humans, we sometimes find it difficult to rely on the comfort of a God we cannot see with our eyes.  Yet, when we look around at all his provisions every day, even moment by moment we can accept this truth for what it is.  We are a family and I am a child of God.  One day I will be with him in Paradise.

Photo Credit: I am a child of God