The Remodel

We performed cosmetic surgery on our bathroom this last month.  I use the term cosmetic loosely – it wasn’t cosmetic – it was invasive!  When we moved in there was this odd plasiticy dolphin wallpaper in the bathroom.  Okay, we can live with that for the time being.  Well, once we found our kittens, it became a scratching post… long story short, we needed to redo the bathroom…  long story long again – We decided to head to Menards.  We had removed some of the wallpaper to see what was beneath – uh – tile glue?  The wall was coated half-way up with the remnants of removed tile.  Well, that can’t be taken care of with just paint…  We began to remove more wallpaper - - mold spots – out came the drywall - - bad wiring…  The deeper we went the more problems we found.  SO, we replaced the wiring (keep in mind our home is almost 100 years old), added some lights and updated some outlets on the front porch (since we had no bathroom ceiling and had access to these areas – always see the blessings).  We (by we, I mean my fantastically handy husband) replaced the drywall- painted the drywall – restained all the woodwork, shelves, and mirror to match the vanity my husband made (did I mention he was fantastically handy), put in a new counter, sink (no more pink sink), and toilet (no more pink toity with a plastic fake pink marble seat!)  Now our bathroom is safe and beautiful, outside and in.

I was thinking over the process of transformation that bathroom went through and was reminded of a passage:

Epheisians 4:22-24  throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.  Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.

Let the master carpenter – Jesus – remove our tacky covering, scrape away the mold from our hearts, and rip out the old dirty drywall.  Let him unpack the ancient insulation packing in our old worries and guilt.  Let him remove the dangerous wires.  Let the master carpenter, add new light in your heart, a new wiring system and way of thinking.  Let him re-insulate your soul with a fresh attitude, and put up clean and fresh walls to protect you from the arrows of Satan.  Let him put on a fresh coat of paint to show the world.  Let him change your life from the inside out, so you can be of service to the carpenter, and shine beautifully forth for all to see.  So you can share the love of the carpenter.  So you can share the love of God!

Don’t keep the mold, faulty wiring, or even the tacky covering.  Don’t let it merely be a cosmetic change to your life, let God make an invasive remodel in your life.

Lean on the Lord

I have had this song running through my head all day long!  Since misery loves company – very true, but that phrase inspires grumbling and bringing others down and therefore is not of God – misery does love company – giving that all to simple foothold for Satan.  Anyhow, that’s another topic for another day – my point is that I will now share the song that is stuck in my head with you – hopefully it is more uplifting than misery creating:

"Lean On Me" (Bill Withers)

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain, we all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on

Please, swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show

You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on

You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

If there is a load
You have to bear that you can't carry
I'm right up the road, I'll share your load
If you just call me

Call me (If you need a friend)
Call me (Call me uh-huh)
Call me (When you need a friend)
Call me (If you ever need a friend)
Call me (Call me)
Call me (Call me)
Call me (Call me)
Call me (Call me)
Call me (If you need a friend)
Call me (Call me)
Call me (Call me)
Call me (Call me)
Call me (Call me)
Call me

If you just skimmed that or skipped it because it is a song, or a song that you know – go back and read it, word for word, it’s worth the effort!

Now, imagine Jesus singing that to you…

He did you know.  On the cross, his suffering, his sacrifice, was his call to us.  He sings this song to us every day through the words in our bible.  God is always there for us, every hour, every day, no problem to big or to small.  He is there for us to lean on.  He WANTS us to call on him!  He WANTS us to lean on him.  (You may think the line “I might have a problem that you’d understand” doesn’t fit.  Well, God does have jobs for us to do to – he needs our love and worship.  He needs our thanks and praise.  He needs us to carry his word to the world!  And he is there to help us.)

“If there is a load
You have to bear that you can't carry
I'm right up the road, I'll share your load
If you just call me”

Doesn’t that song verse sound a lot like this one?

Psalm 50:15  Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.

Or this one?

Matthew 11:28 - 30  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Or maybe…

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.

Call on God!  He is your friend!  He wants to help you carry on!  We all have pain and sorrow in our lives, God will help us get through it!  And there is always hope for tomorrow.  You don’t know what is in tomorrow!  Tomorrow is a new day, a new walk with Christ!  Hebrews 11:1  Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.  We all have burdens that we bare.  Call on God, he will help you.  

Go up and read through that song a again, with the understanding that the Lord is singing that to us day after day, hour after hour.  He is singing it to you.   His love is real.  Just call him, just call him, PRAY!

Simple Love

Have you ever had one of your children give you a gift of love, totally unprompted and unsolicited?  My little brother once went hunting for a gift for my mom on Mother’s Day.  He was not old enough to buy anything on his own, but he wanted a gift for her.  No one told him to, he wanted to express his love in his way.  He set out that morning with a large corn knife (supervised with the knife don’t worry – farm kids know how to handle corn knives) to the wild timber (small scale forest) across our driveway and found mom her cherished gift.  There is a picture of this event that is often pulled out and laughed over.  There is my brother, dressed in an old sweatshirt, very colorful Bermuda shorts of the 80’s, and his cowboy boots, corn knife in one hand, large wildflower in the other (I think it was a thistle), a giant smile spread across his face.  The outfit is hilarious, the corn knife is as long as his arm, and the gift he is holding out (the weed) is almost as big as he is.  But that gift, that effort, that moment, will never be forgotten.  It is love, love poured out, love simplified.  If he had bought her diamond earrings, they would be forgotten by now, that thistle will never be forgotten.  That thistle was a childish, unabashed, simplistic, unadorned love offering to his beloved mother!

That is what God wants from us.  Luke 18:16 Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me.  Do not stop them!  For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these little children.  I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”  God wants our love, childish, unabashed, simplistic, and unadorned.  Just our love for him, our worship, our praise.  It doesn’t need trumpet calls, shouts, perfect clothes and jewelry, just our love.  God wants us to come to him and talk to him.  Just like we want our children to come to us when they have problems or joys, we want them to communicate with us.  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.

God, our Father in Heaven, wants the same thing.  He wants us to share our joys and sorrows, God wants to be an intricate part of our live as we wish to be in our children’s lives.  We want them to trust us, because we know what is best – he wants us to trust him, because he knows what is best.  Proverbs 20:24  The Lord directs our steps, to why try to understand everything along the way?

We want our kids to know we will always be there for them – God wants us to have faith, to know he will always be there for us.  Psalm 50:15  Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.

We want our kids to come to us for comfort when they are afraid or sad– God wants us to come to him for comfort when we are afraid or sad.  Isaiah 41:10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up in my victorious right hand.

Matthew 11:28 - 30  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

 

He wants us to worship him, love him, and offer him our gifts without being prompted or told – just as we want our kids to show their love without being told. 

Psalm 139 9:10  If I ride  the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hands will guide me, and your strength will support me.

GIVE PRAISE!!  GOD IS GOOD!!

Loss and Hope

We lost another dog yesterday.  We have had a terrible time keeping dogs since we moved out to the country.  The one dearest to our heart attacked my brother when he was pushing the kids on the tire swing – bad – ripped up his clothes and a large tear in his leg.  It probably needed stitched but being my brother he did not need to go to the Dr.  That dog, Jack, had to go; it could have easily been one of the kids friends…  We still cry over Jack sometimes.  Then we got our lab puppy that is still with us and a good dog.  We had a rat terrier at the same time; we gave him away to someone who could offer him travel and a lap to sit on all day long.  That’s all he wanted in life was a lap and car rides; we let him go because we knew he would be so much happier with the trucker who needed a companion.  We got Junior, the softest dog I had ever encountered, we only had him a few months – we still don’t know if it was car injuries or a wild animal fight.  Then Kenzie, she had some issues but we had hopes, she was hit by a car yesterday.  It looks like, even out in the country, we need a fence.  Anyway, I have to tell the kids when they get up, they will be sad.  No one had formed a complete bond with Kenzi – that makes me sad.  We got her after Junior died because our lab, Chris, stopped eating.  We didn’t want to loose him to a broken heart.  He and Kenzie were great friends.

I do have a point… hope.  I realize this does not sound like a message of hope.  But whenever we encounter trials, not only will they make us stronger, but trusting in the Lord provides hope.  My boys have suffered greater loss in their lives than I have to date.  They lost their grandmother on their dad’s side.  When my ex-husband was in a very rough spot in his life, things were even more out of control for him than when we divorced; he had supervised visits with the boys (yes, that bad).  Their grandparents (his parents) supervised the visits.  That way they got to see the boys a lot and their son did not have to have a stranger supervise – it also kept them in their son’s life (and the boys’ lives).  At that time the boys and their Grandma became closer than close.  For two years, the boys spent every other weekend with their grandparents in addition to four weeks (separated) of every summer.  When their dad began to reconstruct his life and heal, he ‘re-joined’ their family.  He got his visitation back and continued to heal.  He even healed his relationship with his parents.  Just over a year ago his mother (the boys’ grandmother) lost her earthly fight with cancer and won her spiritual battle for heaven.  That is what got the boys through it, hope.  Hope in things unseen!  They know how much she had declined in the last 10 years.  They don’t remember her before she became sick.  It was the hope of salvation, and knowing she was ready for death that helped them to cope.  I told them to picture her in heaven riding her horses again.  She wasn’t in pain, she gets to spend time with Jesus, she could run, she could play, and she is healed! 

God gives us so much hope.  We know things can get better.  We know that someday our losses will just be a distant memory, maybe painful, but still a memory.  We know that life goes on, we know that God will walk with us every step of the way!  We know that God will not leave us unless we make him go.  We know that he is always there for us!

Psalms 46:1  1God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. (2 So we will not fear...)

Isaiah 41:10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up in my victorious right hand.

John 14:1  "Don't let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God and trust also in me."   (this is Jesus talking)

Romans 8:24&25  24 For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Hebrews 11:1  Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we can not see.

Psalm 55:22  Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Romans 5:3-5  We can rejoice, too, 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.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment.  For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Psalm 50:15  Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.

Psalm 40:1,2  I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.

Nahum 1:7  The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes.  He is close to those who trust in him.