Slow Down and Look Around

  I was listening to a morning devotion on iDisciple as I got ready for work this morning.  The broadcast was only 10 minutes long and called A Wife’s Top Priority, by Gary and Barb Rosberg.  They were talking about a letter or call they had received from a woman who gave her husband a list and asked him to rank in order of importance the things on the list that she could do.  The list included things like, make sure there are snacks around, lunches made with fresh homemade bread, and a spotless home.  She wanted to know what would make him happy.  His reply of what he wanted included things like: always know that he loves her, be kind and happy when dealing with the kids and himself, and that he doesn’t mind a when things are left undone so she can be rested and happy.  The list was more precise and very sweet.  Apparently, she had herself so busy doing things for her family, that she forgot to be there FOR her family.  She was worn out and tired and snappy with the very people she was trying to show love too.

And it hit me.

I have my self so busy with all the ‘need to dos’ that I am not taking the time to relax and enjoy the life and blessings God has given me.  Jesus is the bridegroom of the church.  Yes, we need to serve Him, and honor God in our works.  But one of his works is creating this beautiful world, blessing me with these beautiful children.  Ever since I began writing the Our Legacy series, I get up early and I write.  I am always thinking about getting in the writing time and what needs done for the book.  I want to serve God.  I am thinking about what needs done for my job, this blog, the house, my family, our finances.  But what I have left out is myself, and focused time with my family.  My life is so full of the ‘have tos’, that there is little time for the ‘want tos’.  Have you ever considered that part of serving God is to be still, listen to him, enjoy the life he has blessed you with, enjoy the world He has created, and enjoy the blessings he has given you?  How would you feel if you gave your child this amazing gift, and he was so busy doing chores for you or homework that he never got to play with it?  He really, really wanted to enjoy the gift, but he just didn’t have time.  It would break your heart.  You would appreciate the child’s responsibility and dedication, but what we really want is for our kids to be happy and enjoy their lives and their gifts!  What do you think God wants?  Yes he appreciates my dedication in spreading His word, but I am saddening him by not enjoying the wonderful gifts He has given me!

The broadcast was about a husband wanting his wife to slow down, have sometime for her own sanity, and know that he loves her unconditionally.  While listening to it, God made me realize that he wants us to slow down, take some time for our own sanity, listen to Him, and know that He loves us unconditionally.

Matthew 11: 28-30

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Ecclesiaties 8:15

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

 

Proverbs 17:22

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,

Ignore the 'wind and the waves'

The bible says to pray for our enemies.

Who is your enemy?

Anyone or anything that causes your gaze to switch to the wind and the waves rather than staying steady on Jesus is your enemy.

Anyone or anything that causes you to veer out of what is pleasing and right to the Lord is your enemy.

What happens when you allow your gaze to stray away from Jesus and focus on the wind and the waves?   

You sink.

The waves surround you,

 they block out the light,

 and the love 

of Jesus.

                The wind blasts into you, knocking you down again and again,

 you don’t see the rock steady hand of Jesus reaching for you.

You begin to sink into the dark abyss.

                Pray for all the things that threaten to shift your gaze or change your focus.

 Cry out to the Lord for your enemies

and He will hear your cry.

                                                                                                                                                              

He will turn to you.

 His light will shine on you.

 His love will surround you.

  His hand will reach for you.

He will pull you from the muck and the mire.

  He will set your feet on solid ground.

He will steady you as you regain your footing.

He will hold you.

He will love you.

He will adore you.

Jesus is always there to hold, love, and adore you.

                You just have to notice Him waiting patiently at your side.

Not later, Now!

Good morning!

Do you have a dream, an aspiration, a wish?  I am going to teach a lesson to one of my classes that involves bringing long term goals down to short term goals – one step at a time.  (It is a study skills class, hopefully motivation to want to learn to study well.)  It got me thinking.  What are your goals, or dreams, or aspirations?  What do you find brought back into your mind again and again?  You are thinking it right now, I know you are.  That’s the way it works, those dreams and aspirations, those… callings….  Yes, callings.  Have you ever heard the song with the lines in it that say “…listen God is calling…”?  Do your dreams and goals line up with scripture?  Then listen, God is calling.   Sometimes, many times, it seems too, big.  You find yourself saying ‘Really God?  Me?  I can’t do that.’  Well, no, you can’t, BUT GOD CAN!  Scripture states, “Nothing is impossible with God!”!  Here is my lesson.  Break it down.  Draw a set of stairs, write your calling on the top (you may need to change the numbers of stairs in your staircase periodically).  Now what goes on the bottom step?  The bottom step is ‘pray’, talk to God about it!  What about the second step?  You may be surprised, on that second step write, ‘tell someone’.  Tell someone your calling, acknowledge it!  Do you know how long I felt the nagging, yes it felt like nagging, to write?  About 15 to 20 years!  I didn’t acknowledge it, I felt embarrassed, because I thought I would fail, I thought I wasn’t good enough!  Listen to me now!  God decides who is good enough, not you!  If He is calling you to do something, he will MAKE you good enough!  Now, tell someone – leave it in the comments if you want – then tell someone else.  Fill in the first few steps to your goal, think of the now, the today, the this week.  Ask yourself what the steps are, if you don’t know, then your third step is to find out.  I chose this blog as my third step to being a writer, hey and do you know what?  Today, today, is the release date for my first book!  I have not reached the top of my staircase yet, but I am on my way, and God is here, helping me to that next step whenever I get tired.

So, get up, and get going!  What are you waiting for?  Start now!

Prayer Power!

I was working on my next bible study again.  Chapter 12 in Acts.  It was about Peter’s 1^st release from prison.  A group of Christians prayed, and an angel rescued Peter.   As I was reading and praying and writing I began thinking more about prayer.  

Prayer works, faith works.  Prayer brings peace.  If someone asks me why I am so sure God is real, I would have to say, first and foremost, because of prayer.  God answers.  He may say ‘no’ or ‘just be patient’, but he does answer.  Sometimes I have received answers that are just too crazy to be a coincidence.  When my husband and I were still engaged, we ordered several items for the wedding online at different times.  These orders were made on different days spanning a few weeks and ordered from different sellers at different locations.  One night I prayed and poured my heart to God, asking him if this marriage was really what he wanted for me, if it was his will or my own.  The next morning, the very next morning, the doorbell rang, and when I opened the door I was greeted with a pile of boxes.  Everything we had ordered, everything, was sitting on the door step.  Every item ordered on every different day, from every location had arrived all at once.  I stood there for a moment staring at the pile of boxes, I recalled my prayer of the night before and said, “Okay, God, I get it.”  The relationship I have with God is why I know for sure that the bible is real and God is real.  Everything stated in the bible has been true, I can see it in my life and the lives of others.  It would be like asking me if my father was real. 

God is there.  Prayer works.  Peter’s story is a prime example of the power of prayer.  What answers to prayer have you seen in your life?  What clear evidence have you seen, or think you may have seen, that God is here with us every day?  Please leave discussion comments so we can talk about it!  That will be awesome to see everyone’s prayer testimonies!

Philippians 4:6-7  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Unlikely Sources

I was writing in my next installment of the Our Legacy series (this one is Acts).  I am currently writing about Saul.  What came out as I wrote the reflection of Saul's conversion is that God really does like to use unlikely people to do great things.  He used Moses (a guy who is repelled by the thought of public speaking) to go before Pharaoh and release all the Hebrews.  He use little Mary to be the mother of Christ.  He used tax collectors as disciples.  He used fishermen to spread his word and do miracles in his name.  He used a man (Saul) who's hobby was to imprison and kill Christ's followers to grow his kingdom leaps and bounds.  All of these people obeyed God when called to do a job.

Every little problem and trial we face grows and changes us.  Our life circumstances shape who we are.  God uses these shapings we receive to grow us into people who do great things for God's kingdom!  What have you learned from your problems and trials?  What new knowledge have you gained?  What is God preparing you for?  How will He use you?  The biggest question of all.... are you going to listen when He calls?

Romans 5:3,4

"We can rejoice to, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation."  (NLT)

What a Day!!!!

Right now, this very moment, I am sitting in my little office on the second floor of my house.  It is a small room, so the two windows more or less cover one entire wall.  The windows are open wide.  I am listening to all the morning bird songs.  It amazes me!  There are so many different bird sounds right outside my one little window.  Tweet tweet tweet, chirp, squeak, trill, oooaaa, whoo wa’ hoo hoo hoo, yayaya, and several that I cannot even begin to imitate with the letters of our language.  We were not given letters and words that can truly convey the beauty of God’s creation. 

By many standards this hasn’t been the greatest week.  I am dueling with some weird blood sugar issue, I have somehow gotten lung congestion in the middle in the summer (I have asthma and had pneumonia last year – not good), the dog got sprayed by a skunk and ran into the house for sympathy (nough said), one of my cats is missing, and summer is over for me and the school year is beginning (as a matter of fact I really should be getting ready to go right now)…

But all I can see and feel are the blessings of the morning!  The gentle sunlight is streaming through my little eastern windows.  The birds are chirping and strumming and giving me the most amazing and beautiful personal concert to bless my day!  No one but God and I can hear this particular concert.  It is just for us and the birds (and my sweet little puppy on my feet, and I suppose the stinky dog out on the deck…).  My rooster just joined the happy chatter outside.  The sun just rose a little higher and filled my room with light!  The owl hasn’t went to bed yet, so amazing so beautiful!  The light and trees outside my window are creating a picturesque reflection on my computer screen.  A light morning breeze has just began sliding gently through the window screens.

Now I ask you, no matter what is waiting for me today – be it stinky dogs or breathing problems – how can I be sad?  How can I be downcast?  How can I be discouraged when God has given us this beautiful world!  God has blessed us so generously, God is SO amazing.  His world is SO amazing!  There is nothing to fret or worry about, nothing can get in the way of the joy of this morning.  It will be a fabulous day!

Psalm 118:24 

This is the day the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it.

P.S.  I wrote this entry this morning.  Since then, my health has improved greatly, my cat has returned, and my dog doesn't stink very much anymore!  God is great!  What a wonderful day!

Our Legacy

Last November I posted a poem entitled Legacy.  I also wrote an article for Ruby for Women about the importance of raising our kids with a legacy of faith and a relationship with God.  Here is an abridged version of that article:

What do we want to give our children? We have many hopes and dreams for them. That they are more successful than we are, that they are more skilled. That they have faith, friends, and love. We want them to make good grades, have a sense of humor, be hardworking, honest, kind, forgiving. We want them to know how to cook and clean and be self-sufficient, manage their money, be responsible. If you can’t home-school – which we can’t because we cannot afford to not work – how do you do it all – how do you find the time to pass all the important things down to the next generation? It is all important.

I used to get discouraged at how to teach my kids to become adults. I used to worry that they were not ‘involved’ in enough things. I don’t worry anymore. I sat down one day and thought, where to start, what is the most important thing I can pass to them? If I were to die before they are grown, what do I want them to remember? FAITH! God is the most important. None of that other stuff even matters in the face of salvation!!!! (And yet a lot of that stuff will come along with a true faith.)

I grew up believing in God. I grew up knowing all about heaven and how to get there. I still did not read my bible. I would leaf through it occasionally, maybe read a verse here and there; I would pray ‘pretty much’ daily. We went to church, usually. I didn’t even know about tithing. I went through a rough time when I was around 30 and I FOUND my bible; I began my TRUE faith walk. And it has grown and grown and grown and grown some more.

I don’t want my kids to wait until they are 30 to learn the truths of the bible. I don’t want them to wait until they are 32 to know exactly how God wants them to live their lives. I don’t want them to wait until they are 36 to walk hand in hand with Jesus wherever they go. Think of what this kind of faith will mean as they go through their lives! They need it to make choices in high school. They need God to choose a spouse. Most of all, if Jesus comes tomorrow, they need their faith to LIVE.

The most important thing we can give our kids as a gift or legacy is FAITH. And the biggest part of passing them faith is the bible. Matthew 4:4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”NLT Jesus himself quoted that from Deuteronomy 8:3, when he fought off the devil’s temptations. We all want our kids to have the weapon to fight off Satan! You teach them the bible, you show them how to apply it through examples in your own life and whenever you can in their lives. You show them how important they are, and how important time in God’s word is by investing time in them all! Give them the tools through bible study. Show them how to use those tools in life by using them yourself!

Just what would your life be like if you had started your true faith, your personal walk with God, your close relationship with Jesus, and the constant company of the Holy Spirit in your early teens? How would it be different than it is now? What would God have used you for if you were listening to his voice way back then…? That is the legacy we should strive to leave for our kids. That is the legacy that will truly give them a life of peace, and joy, and happiness. That is THE LEGACY! The only one worth having.

Those were my thoughts last fall... and so... I wrote a book.

Our Legacy: Bringing Families Together with God (Volume 1) is like lesson plans for the gospels. Each lesson includes a reading, questions, a reflection on the passage (to further explain and apply the passage), activities to help retention and understanding and life application, and a prayer. I wrote this book to help God's word become an integral part of our lives and spread God's word as far as I possibly could. This book is a compiles the gospels, so you are reading the same bit of history from each gospel at the same time from each gospel author's perspective. Volume 1 (the beginning of the gospels through Jesus's walk on water) is available now, and Volume 2 (the water walk through Jesus's ascension) is currently in the printing process and should be available by Christmas. I am currently working in Acts.

Here is the link to my book:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781681428994

or you can contact me directly at angkev07@gmail.com.

https://youtu.be/GPKxo5RJDzg

I hope you enjoy it and pray that it will bring a blessing to your lives!