I've found there is a difference in the way I handle life recently.
Whenever unexpected things came up, I use to trudge along like as if I were wading through a swampy thicket. I knew the Lord would get me through the day, but every step was difficult. As the different trials would pop up, I would wrap myself in the chains of "concern" (I knew I wasn't suppose to worry, so I told myself it was concern). I longed for bedtime so I could wake up to a new day!
Lately, however, instead of plodding along, I find myself gliding. How curious to sail along on the hardness of life by the lubrication of faith!
Now, I find myself looking forward to seeing how God will work it all out. As each roadblock springs up before me, I looked expectantly towards my God to show off His mighty power. What relief!
Matthew 6:25-34 "This is why I tell you: Don't worry about your life..."
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
A Beautiful Sound
I love to sing.
I especially love being in a choir where there is a lot of harmonizing going on. When a group gets going with intensity and complementing parts, I really feel like I'm floating up into the presence of God and singing before Him. It's great.
I have to admit though, sometimes I can get thrown when sitting next to someone who, shall we say, can't carry a tune in a bucket. It use to really bother me to the point where I would make sure not to sit next to certain people during a worship service. Well, until a few years ago, that is. You have to sit next to your children.
My daughter Lauren has more personality than I ever had, and she does nothing quietly. As she has grown and been learning the songs we sing in church, I've realized she's off tune. Way off tune at times. But, as I began watching her, I came to understand she was dead on with something else. Heart and joy. I have never seen anyone worship the Lord with such passion and innocence. It's beautiful.
Psalm 95:1-2 says, "Come, let us shout joyfully to the LORD, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation! Let us enter His Presence with thanksgiving; let us shout triumphantly to Him in song" You know what's interesting about that? The Hebrew word used here for shout is rûa‛. Strong's defines this as "to mar (especially by breaking); figuratively to split the ears (with sound), that is, shout (for alarm or joy): - blow an alarm, cry (alarm, aloud, out), destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout (for joy), sound an alarm, triumph."
There is no perfect pitch in there. Just pure praise. Pure devotion. Pure love.
Lauren makes the most beautiful sound...
I especially love being in a choir where there is a lot of harmonizing going on. When a group gets going with intensity and complementing parts, I really feel like I'm floating up into the presence of God and singing before Him. It's great.
I have to admit though, sometimes I can get thrown when sitting next to someone who, shall we say, can't carry a tune in a bucket. It use to really bother me to the point where I would make sure not to sit next to certain people during a worship service. Well, until a few years ago, that is. You have to sit next to your children.
My daughter Lauren has more personality than I ever had, and she does nothing quietly. As she has grown and been learning the songs we sing in church, I've realized she's off tune. Way off tune at times. But, as I began watching her, I came to understand she was dead on with something else. Heart and joy. I have never seen anyone worship the Lord with such passion and innocence. It's beautiful.
Psalm 95:1-2 says, "Come, let us shout joyfully to the LORD, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation! Let us enter His Presence with thanksgiving; let us shout triumphantly to Him in song" You know what's interesting about that? The Hebrew word used here for shout is rûa‛. Strong's defines this as "to mar (especially by breaking); figuratively to split the ears (with sound), that is, shout (for alarm or joy): - blow an alarm, cry (alarm, aloud, out), destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout (for joy), sound an alarm, triumph."
There is no perfect pitch in there. Just pure praise. Pure devotion. Pure love.
Lauren makes the most beautiful sound...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Pain
Knowing how we are suppose to act in pain and actually doing it are two very different things. Ask any woman who just had a natural childbirth for the first time. We know that we are suppose to go to God when we are in any sort of pain be it physical or emotional. But how do we actually do it?
I've noticed that when a person is in pain they tend to scrunch up. You know what I mean? Their face pinches together, shoulders hunch in, and stomach tightens. We turn inward. We are suppose to turn upward.
How? I don't think there is a formula. But there is the book of Job.
I love the book of Job. I feel I can really relate to it. Not that I am claiming to have endured what he did, but I've had my own Job-ish times. Summarizing what I've found there: Job weeps, mourns, laments, and is honest with God about his confusion and hurt. But most of all, he waits on God. He trusts God enough to know that He will take care of him when the time is right. Do we have that kind of faith? I have to admit there is one verse I practice from the Bible over and over. Job 1:21b “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord.” I hope I will never have to use it in a situation like Job's, but want to be prepared in case I am. I want those to be the first words out of my mouth.
Would they be yours?
I've noticed that when a person is in pain they tend to scrunch up. You know what I mean? Their face pinches together, shoulders hunch in, and stomach tightens. We turn inward. We are suppose to turn upward.
How? I don't think there is a formula. But there is the book of Job.
I love the book of Job. I feel I can really relate to it. Not that I am claiming to have endured what he did, but I've had my own Job-ish times. Summarizing what I've found there: Job weeps, mourns, laments, and is honest with God about his confusion and hurt. But most of all, he waits on God. He trusts God enough to know that He will take care of him when the time is right. Do we have that kind of faith? I have to admit there is one verse I practice from the Bible over and over. Job 1:21b “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord.” I hope I will never have to use it in a situation like Job's, but want to be prepared in case I am. I want those to be the first words out of my mouth.
Would they be yours?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Dandelion Fluff
My kids caught a lizard the other day and decided it was their pet. Of course, this new little guy needed a bed to get comfortable in, so they went around the yard and collected all the dandelion seeds they could find in a bucket. As they proudly showed me their hard work, all I could see was a bucket full of weed spawn. True, it did look nice and soft, but I knew those seeds for what they truly were: yard wreckers!
As I stood there staring down into bucket, I began to wonder if my life reflected those seeds at all. Do many of the little actions and things I do look good, feel soft, and seem fun? (What kid doesn't love to blow dandelion seeds?) Though they have the appearance of religion and love, are they really nothing but weeds? Or am I sowing something of worth? Is my heart tuned in more on the things of the world, or of the Spirit?
“Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
Is your treasure in heaven, or is it dandelion fluff?
As I stood there staring down into bucket, I began to wonder if my life reflected those seeds at all. Do many of the little actions and things I do look good, feel soft, and seem fun? (What kid doesn't love to blow dandelion seeds?) Though they have the appearance of religion and love, are they really nothing but weeds? Or am I sowing something of worth? Is my heart tuned in more on the things of the world, or of the Spirit?
“Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
Is your treasure in heaven, or is it dandelion fluff?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Dreaming
A thought hit me in church this Sunday:
Wouldn't it be nice if so many people wanted to serve in the church, that we had to turn some down?
“For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but to serve on another in love... Therefore, as we have the opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” Galatians 5:13; 6:10
Wouldn't it be nice if so many people wanted to serve in the church, that we had to turn some down?
“For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but to serve on another in love... Therefore, as we have the opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” Galatians 5:13; 6:10
Monday, April 27, 2009
Lessons For Kids
This past Easter my kids looked forward most, of course, to finding Easter eggs. They usually start driving me crazy about them a week or two before the big day, and it doesn't end until I go psycho on each plastic half I find up to a week later.
When the day finally arrived, I knew they were chomping at the bit once lunch was over, so I made them stay in the living room while I went outside to hide the eggs. Now, I do have about an acre of land out back, but it is open field: One swing set, one tiny tree, a picnic table, and a fire pit. Not a lot of options to hide 30 florescent eggs. So I decided to be a little sneaky with a few.
As I said, it is open field and I'm not about to win any awards for a lush, green, weed-free lawn, so there are a few thistles growing around. I mow them flat, I just haven't removed all of them. I thought those poky little beds would make a great place to hide an egg or two.
As the kids came bolting out of the house like horses at the track, I realized a problem might arise...
They found the obvious ones and then started the hunt. They were neck in neck running through the yard so that if one was spotted they could beat the other there. Then, a thistle egg was spotted by Elijah. Lauren, being a woman in training, used her hips to bump him out of the way as she dashed past and lunged for the egg. Hee..hee...
What a great Deuteronomy 6:6-7 moment.
The Lord says we are to talk about Him and His commands as we go about our day to teach our children. So, as Lauren sucked on her pricked fingers, I talked about how greed can be destructive: Luke 12:15 "Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions." And how Jesus said in Matthew 19:30, "But many who are first will be last, and the last first." How we are to be kind to one another. Ephesians 4:32
Ask the Lord to help you teach not only your biological, but your spiritual children as everyday things pop up.
By the way, Elijah got the egg carefully as she was fussing! How much do we miss by being greedy and then fussing when we get pricked?
When the day finally arrived, I knew they were chomping at the bit once lunch was over, so I made them stay in the living room while I went outside to hide the eggs. Now, I do have about an acre of land out back, but it is open field: One swing set, one tiny tree, a picnic table, and a fire pit. Not a lot of options to hide 30 florescent eggs. So I decided to be a little sneaky with a few.
As I said, it is open field and I'm not about to win any awards for a lush, green, weed-free lawn, so there are a few thistles growing around. I mow them flat, I just haven't removed all of them. I thought those poky little beds would make a great place to hide an egg or two.
As the kids came bolting out of the house like horses at the track, I realized a problem might arise...
They found the obvious ones and then started the hunt. They were neck in neck running through the yard so that if one was spotted they could beat the other there. Then, a thistle egg was spotted by Elijah. Lauren, being a woman in training, used her hips to bump him out of the way as she dashed past and lunged for the egg. Hee..hee...
What a great Deuteronomy 6:6-7 moment.
The Lord says we are to talk about Him and His commands as we go about our day to teach our children. So, as Lauren sucked on her pricked fingers, I talked about how greed can be destructive: Luke 12:15 "Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions." And how Jesus said in Matthew 19:30, "But many who are first will be last, and the last first." How we are to be kind to one another. Ephesians 4:32
Ask the Lord to help you teach not only your biological, but your spiritual children as everyday things pop up.
By the way, Elijah got the egg carefully as she was fussing! How much do we miss by being greedy and then fussing when we get pricked?
Sunday, April 26, 2009
For Ladies Only
I don't plan on doing this very often, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about something that happened yesterday. And it is only for women's ears. ...or eyes, being this is written.
When trying on my swimsuit for the first time this season (you know how scary that can be), I was reminded of something Jesus said in Luke 12:48b. “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” HCSB
Believe me, I had never thought of it in this way before, but as I was squeezing my chest into the bikini top, I realized I had the responsibility of how to handle the......um, endowment, with which the Lord has entrusted me. Now, praise be to my Creator that I have not been given too much in that area. Just enough to be annoying at times. But as Godly women, we have the responsibility to watch what we wear and how we display ourselves. Now, if you have much of a chest at all, you can't wear many of the cute little shirts so many others are wearing- so don't try. We are expected to make sure there is not too much valley showing between the “mountains of Bether”. (Song of Solomon 2:17 KJV)
My one failing point is in swim wear, and growing up in Daytona Beach was not very helpful. If the two piece covered the MAIN areas, that was good enough. Even to wear in the stores around. The second problem is tan lines. How do you not develop a tan line where it won't be obvious with different style clothing?
Well after today, trying to be modest while bending over to scrub the undercarriage of the van, I will be buying a new swimsuit. As for the tan lines? I think I'll try saving up some “modest money” for a little time at the tanning bed! After all, more is expected of us!
When trying on my swimsuit for the first time this season (you know how scary that can be), I was reminded of something Jesus said in Luke 12:48b. “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” HCSB
Believe me, I had never thought of it in this way before, but as I was squeezing my chest into the bikini top, I realized I had the responsibility of how to handle the......um, endowment, with which the Lord has entrusted me. Now, praise be to my Creator that I have not been given too much in that area. Just enough to be annoying at times. But as Godly women, we have the responsibility to watch what we wear and how we display ourselves. Now, if you have much of a chest at all, you can't wear many of the cute little shirts so many others are wearing- so don't try. We are expected to make sure there is not too much valley showing between the “mountains of Bether”. (Song of Solomon 2:17 KJV)
My one failing point is in swim wear, and growing up in Daytona Beach was not very helpful. If the two piece covered the MAIN areas, that was good enough. Even to wear in the stores around. The second problem is tan lines. How do you not develop a tan line where it won't be obvious with different style clothing?
Well after today, trying to be modest while bending over to scrub the undercarriage of the van, I will be buying a new swimsuit. As for the tan lines? I think I'll try saving up some “modest money” for a little time at the tanning bed! After all, more is expected of us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)