Storms

We have been in a time of extreme weather lately.  All across the country and world, there have been amazing weather conditions.  In my part of the country, we have rain.  Gallons – and gallons – an amazing volume of water has been dumped from the sky.  Swollen rivers and flooding is quickly becoming common.  As it rains and rains and storms and a new tornado watch is issued, we know that eventually the storm will subside, the rain will stop, the water will recede, the sun will return.  Most of us don’t do a lot during a storm.  We tend to stay home and remain in a ‘secure and safe location’.  While we may not hunker in the basement every time we see a flash of lightning, we still don’t head out on a drive when the weather gets bad unless we truly must.

I am sure you have all heard the term ‘storms of life’.  If we tend to not make big changes to our actions when we are experiencing a physical storm – we should realize that an emotional storm – or life storm – is also not a time to make big decisions.  The middle of a financial crisis is not the time to buy a car or a home.  The middle of a heated argument is not the time to think about splitting up a marriage.  We need to remember that ‘this too shall pass’.  All the times of life that we experience will be over at some point.  Every crisis will end.  Just as a storm ends and calm weather returns, the storms in our life end as well and calm will return.  Trust in the Lord.  God knows what is going on with you.  Trust Him.  Pray.  Give Him your worries and cares and you can have peace.  Even when the winds are careening around you and the waves are crashing into your boat, you can sleep soundly in the arms of Jesus.  Pray for His will and trust in the outcome.  Follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, calm your brain and listen.  Let Him guide you through your storm.  Let Him lead you to the calm…

Isaiah 41:10  Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous 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.

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

Isaiah 40:31  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

A Day from Job

The other day, I got up with a kink in my back.  I got up, stretched, exercised, stretched – it didn’t pop.  I began to scowl.  I started the coffee pot, (came through later and realized it had not started) and began to get ready to leave for the day.  None of my pants fit – scowl – scowl – whine – big scowl.  The puppy peed on the floor – bigger scowl. Then I had to go feed the goats (that I did NOT want), dripped milk on my shoes.  It turns out that didn’t matter due to the marsh that we call a back yard  - shoes are wet after 2 trips across because I forgot the older goats branch of leaves, and the shoes go squish squish squish…  Woops – forgot my phone – scowl.   I took my dear puppy along to visit my mom and her dog – he did not want to lay in his bed - scowl.  Road closed due to construction – scowl.  I had to get gas (a normal occurrence but on that day… scowl.)  Had to put puppy in kennel – he whined and howled – scowl.  By now, I am mad at everyone.  I am mad at my husband for buying goats.  I have creases forming permanent lines between my eyebrows.  And I can feel the ‘yellow monster’ (a term from the anger management lessons that I teach –hahaha) raging inside of me.  Satan has taken over my thoughts and I was NEGATIVE – being mad at the world, mad at myself, mad at the dog – dark dark dark – scowl.  I thought – ‘I am really having a ‘Job Day’, everything is going wrong!’  Then I heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit in my soul, barely loud enough to be heard over the scowls…”Job persevered.”…

Job persevered.  Everything, every horrifying thing, everything went wrong for Jonah.  Yet Job persevered.  Job held onto his faith.  Yes he was angry at times.  But he never renounces or spoke against God.  He persevered.  Now, I didn’t loose my faith or speak against God either.  But I had lost ‘myself’ to the mishaps of the morning.  I had let Satan take over my thinking, I had let my anger and frustration rage – I was a time bomb of negative energy (so so so so glad no family members were around).  I was NOT persevering, I was not acting / feeling like a child of God.  I was failing.  I had tiny minuscule obstacles to overcome (yes, a lot at once, but still tiny).  Things did not go my way that morning – but I was unable to maintain my positive attitude and enjoy the peace that comes with Jesus.  Gut check!  Job persevered, God expected me to persevere too, and I was not doing well.

I love getting those proverbial kicks in the pants occasionally.  I need them to stay in line.  My point is, yes there is a point.  All these little things are just that, things.  A “Job Day” is often coined to mean a bad day, a day where everything goes wrong.  But really, that is NOT a Job Day.  A true Job Day is a day when everything goes wrong – yet you persevere.  You keep your peace, you keep your heart for Jesus, you don’t let Satan take your thoughts, you don’t create scowl lines, you hold on to the joy of being a child of God!

Exercising Your Faith

Exercise!  Be slim and trim and perfect!  No rolls, no flaps (that is what my kids call the fat/skin that hangs from the upper arm)!  We are bombarded with ‘be perfect’ propaganda.  The image of perfection bar is set VERY high.  I can’t even imagine the amount that is spent every year on diet everything.  Pills, drinks, food, trainers, gyms, videos, and advertising is a multi-million dollar industry.   Although I think many of this goes way too far, I do think we should be healthy and get plenty of exercise to stay healthy.  We all know that when you exercise you stay in shape, improve your appearance, and get stronger.

Think about that for a moment.  If you exercise you stay in shape, improve your appearance, and get stronger, right?  How often do you exercise your faith?  If we exercise our faith, it stays in shape, improves our appearance, and makes our faith - and us - stronger.  Stronger in faith and a stronger relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Why do we want our faith to be in shape?  If our faith is well exercised and active, we are ready to face whatever we encounter in life.  We are able to handle and succeed (with God’s help) in whatever work He has for us to do.  

How does a strong faith improve our appearance?  We are pleasing in the eyes of God.  We shine his glory forth for others to see.  Our faith and God’s ways (kindness to others, love, mercy) is passed on to others.  When your faith and joy shine on your face - your appearance - inside and out - is improved.

How does exercising your faith make it stronger?  Anything you put work and practice into improves and is strengthened.  If you work on your faith, the truths and actions become more automatic.  They become a part of us and no longer seems like work or effort.  Exercising our faith helps us to LIVE our faith.  It changes you.

How?  Pray a lot, listen to and sing worship music, read devotionals or books about your walk with God, listen to God’s will in your life, and most of all - read and study your bible!  Just like it takes effort to be healthy - it takes effort to keep your faith healthy!  What happens if you never exercise?  Your muscles get weak, your heart gets weak, you can’t run far without stopping… I could go on and on - never exercising increases your risk of death.  Not exercising our faith has the same effects.  Your faith and relationship with God gets weak, your heart gets weak, you can’t go through trials without giving up - - - - never exercising your faith increases your risk of eternal death.

Think about it.

Puppy Praise

Have you ever watched a new puppy?  When they are not sleeping they have a driven brain.  Not always focused on one task at a time, but driven!  We have a new puppy.  He was a free puppy, one that no one wanted.  He is a white, fluffy, soft, furry ball of curly fuzz, with floppy tan ears.  He is a mix of, let me see... Maltese, Miniature Poodle, and Cocker Spaniel.  His goal in life is to play.  He does sleep a lot, but when not sleeping his singular driven goal is to play!  He is so little he does not like to jump off the couch, he will if no one responds to his requests to be lifted down, then he will jump.  He chews.  He chews his toys, he chews the couch, he chews the rugs, he chews my kids’ ears, he tries to chew my fingers as I type.  Fortunately, as he learns what is acceptable to chew and what is not – his teeth are too little to do any damage.  He is not a popular little guy with the other pets.  We have two medium to large dogs that will not have anything to do with the bundle of energy.  One dog is very old, the lab is only 3.  They don’t like him - they avoid him - he chews their toes and tails.  He also cleans their faces whenever he can reach them.  The cats have not tried to kill him, this is a positive, but they avoid him also.  He’s lonely in a house full of pets.

  The kids however love him, even when they have to get him out of the other dog’s food and take him out for bathrooming.  (Although one daughter can’t make him come in, he has figured out that she will chase him if he runs away, at least he’s smart.)  I have taught him to come for a bit of cat food.  One little piece of the forbidden kitty food is his all-time favorite treat!  He will do anything for a piece of kitty food (which resides safely up in the cat house).

I do in fact have a point here.  Our zeal for God.  What would our life be like if we had the zeal for God that a puppy has for getting into trouble?  Can you imagine the joy?  Can you imagine happiness of a life filled with a singular drive for God?  It would be amazing.  All you do to meet the daily demands of life can be all wrapped up and packaged with a joy and fullness that only comes from Christ! 

Summer has hit, along with the demands of school disappearing, all our usual routines and schedules have also disappeared.  One and a half weeks into summer break have felt even busier than the school year.  I have missed several Wednesday bible studies, I missed church last Sunday, and it is dragging me down.  I finished the bible again the other day, in trying to decide what book I want to start up again with, I have read short random passages, and only when I am very tired and heading right to bed.  I felt the absence of a focus on God in my life.  I sat down today, determined to write this blog, and return to a singular focus on God.  It feels so good!  I am not missing more bible study, no weekend plans up and coming, and I have begun my reading again in Jeramiah (picking up where we were in all the bible studies I missed).  My goal for the day, one day at a time, is to have a puppy’s focus on God!  I may do lots of different things in my day.  I may run here and there, but I will keep my focus on God.  As I say this, my lab has finally began to play with the new puppy (for a bit).  Great things come from a singular focus.  God likes to bless us with kitty treats.

Philippians 4:8 ESV

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Proverbs 4:25 ESV

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.

(bible verses pulled from http://www.openbible.info/topics/staying_focus)

Overpower Disappointment

Disappointment.  Today I spent most of my time being miserable because I was going to have to teacher summer school.  I was looking forward to my fist summer – my first summer with no grad classes, my first summer with no summer school – my first summer of time for my family and myself.  Then my plans were slammed into the wall and drug across the ground and spit onto a cactus – so to speak.  I am teaching summer school after all.   I was disappointed.  I realize this may not seem like a big deal to most, especially those that have normal jobs that work year round.  Believe it or not – most teachers do work year round – they are always planning and organizing.  The part of the year with students is a precious but stressful time.  Have you ever heard someone say something to the effect of “I have 5 kids, I know all about stress.”  Well, teachers have about 20 – all the same age.  Is there a word for that?   Octuplets is 8 at once, what is 20 at once?  I must admit, I don’t have 20 at once, I work with the kids who have various disabilities, some severe, some not. 

Anyhow – that was a bit of a bird walk.  Basically, I was looking forward to my first free summer (other than planning) since I started teaching.  And now I am not.  My stomach was twisted all day, I felt sorry for myself, I could not shake it.  I was cloudy, dismal, and miserable – I could not even force myself to smile.   I recognized the hold that Satan was gaining on me.  I could see his long grasping fingers winding around my heart, doing his very best to squish every bit of joy and peace out of it.  I don’t think it was all summer school – Satan was stacking my frustrations today.  Part of what Satan was telling me included “You are such a wuss, it’s just summer school.” I got through the day by hitting my knees at lunch.  Once I got home I curled up on my bed, and spent some time with God.  I put away my whining and focused on the positive.  I stopped feeling sorry for myself, shook of Satan’s fingers and got on with the evening with my family.  I became energized and excited!

Disappointment is the thing I seem to struggle with the most.  Once my mind latches onto something I am looking forward to, it slams me right down when the thing I had been looking forward to does not happen.  Even if it is taking my kids for ice cream.  We cannot let Satan sideline us like that.  I cannot let Satan sideline me like that.  He can make us feel worthless.  He can make us feel depressed, miserable, full of despair, and depressed.  He takes minor things like summer school, ice cream, tests, rude people, and even malfunctioning computers to get in the way of our service to the Lord.  You probably think I am a terrible whiny complainer.  I am usually not.  But I am telling you this little story as an illustration of how Satan can use trivial things against us.  He will use anything at all to derail our focus and energy.  I was too busy saying oh poor me, poor me to recognize that perhaps God is at work here.  Just maybe God has a plan for me this summer, even if it is as simple helping others who need a boost.  That is what Christ wants us to do, what he has taught us to do – to show love – to think of others and not just ourselves.  Jesus has taught us how to live, He has also taught us how to love.  Jesus can help us overpower disappointment - He has overcome the world!

Find Your Flock

I am working on memorizing some verses.  I found them when reading my bible a few months ago, highlighted them, and just chanced onto them last night in one of my – ‘please give me an inspirational moment ‘ moments.  The verses are from 1 Peter, chapter 5, verses 2 and 3.  Verse 2 says

“Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you.  Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly – not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.”

I am a mother of four (two of my own and two step-daughters) and a teacher.  This verse has a special meaning to me.  God has entrusted me with a flock.  He expects me to car for it.  I love my step-daughters greatly, but you know what I mean when I say it is not ‘a walk in the park’.  My boys are now 11 and 14; my girls are now 12 and 15.  The younger girl moved in with us in first grade and the older when she was in seventh grade (she had come for a semester of school when the younger did, but went back to her mom at Christmas, then returned 3 years later when we moved into a different school district and onto a farm).  When my husband and I met the kids were 3, 4, 6, and 6.  We were married and just had the boys for about three years, then we added the youngest girl for about 3 years, then we added on the oldest girl about 3 years ago.  Our oldest has said that when she didn’t live with us she did not ‘get God’; she thought of church on her weekends with us as boring torture.  She is now very involved and does her best to live as Christ wants and loves him.  When having this conversation – I came to recognize my ‘flock’.  I thought of the passage (the multiple passages) that talks about being trustworthy with some and being given more.  I realized that God must look favorably on how I raised the boys and gave me a little more, and a little more…  There are many times when I must admit – I have looked upon the responsibility grudgingly.  There are times that I have wondered what on earth got into me to let this happen.  Then I realize that it was nothing –on earth; it was God, in heaven. 

This verse screams to me.  God has given me a flock, a flock to raise FOR Him, and IN Him.  And I should raise my flock “willingly and not grudgingly”.  A house of teens is not easy for anyone – steps or no steps, but they are a flock.  I also have students and peers at school.  It is a public school so I cannot be very direct.  But I can still ‘watch over them willingly’.

God repeatedly places us in the midst of a ‘flock’.  He puts us where He wants and needs us to be.  What is your flock?  A pastor’s flock is obvious, some are more obscure.  Who are you around all day?  Your family is definitely a flock.  You may think ‘well, I made this decision without God, I got myself into this mess, it wasn’t God who put me here’ – hahahhahahahahhahaha!  God is in everything, and He has a beautiful habit of making Satan’s work turn into His own work!  Recognize where you are, recognize your work, and recognize your flock!

SO, I hear many ‘fine – what can I do about it?’  Well, then we must refer to 1 Peter 5 again, this time looking at verse 3.  Verse 3 says

“Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.” (NLT)

Be a light.  Set an example.  Shower those around you with the love the Jesus showers over everyone.  Look at the love He showered in His time on earth.  Reflect that love to others.  Care for your flock.

What are we chasing?

I love my cats.  This morning I woke up to this little scuffling noise.  My cat was trying to get inside this little box under the dresser.  She was very intent and focused.  As I watched, her determination took her under the dresser with the box.  I realize that this particular cat is not as big as she looks due to all of the hair.  But she squashed herself under the dresser all the same, to get whatever was in that box.  Now, I must share with you that we live in a 100 year old farmhouse.  We have mice.  Our cats are excellent mousers (the only time we see evidence of one of these mice, it is usually when they are being pursued or dead - I love my cats).  So, I made the educated guess that she had a mouse trapped in that box.  I got out of bed and examined the box - without touching it of course.  This particular box was an old box for Stove Top Stuffing (which my husband has a great weakness for).  I recognized it as one that had been repurposed by my husband.  I remembered that there was some kind of trap in there - I couldn’t remember if it was for bugs or mice, but he had used the box for the cat’s safety.  Upon a distant inspection I could see that the box had two openings.  I blocked one opening with another object, the cat still diligently guarding the other opening, guided it out from under the dresser and turned it on its end so that the culprit had little chance to escape.  No movement.  I looked into the open end of the box from as far away as I could and found myself face to face with a mouse!  It’s eyes were studying me carefully.  Wait, no they weren’t, they were dead.  It was a dead mouse.  Fresh enough that it was not moving, but had no smell.  Lovely.  I guess I would rather be face to face with a dead mouse rather than a live one.  And God has blessed me that it was fresh rather than in some state of decomposition.  

Ok, nice story - if you chose to read it over breakfast, I do apologize - but here is my point…  What was my cat doing spending so much time trying to capture a mouse that was already dead…  How many things in our life are we focused and diligent to capture that have no meaning and no purpose?  What are we chasing that is ‘already dead’?  Sometimes my kids will be playing a game and say “I just have to get to one more level mom, please?”  My heartless response is “you don’t ‘have to’, whether you achieve the next level or not has absolutely no bearing on your life”.  What is there that we have in our lives that we feel we just “have to” do or accomplish.  What kinds of things are taking your focus off of God?  Is what you are focused on a job that God has given you to do?  Does it have a significant bearing on your life?  Is it a necessity?  God does want us to enjoy our lives and free time, that is why he gives us some.  But he also wants us to make good choices.  Sometimes a game with the kids will trump sweeping the floor.  And sometimes weeding the garden will trump reading a book.  In my world, everything trumps a video game or TV - haha - hope you read that dear children of mine.

There is another dead mouse to consider, are you chasing a large and life changing thing that is just out of reach in a box?  Is it God directed, or something He has put out of reach because it is bad for you?  Is it a relationship that will ruin your life - like a dead mouse or poisoned mouse would ruin my cat’s health?  Is it a job change that is not in God’s plan?  Pray about what it is you find yourself focused on.  See if it is God’s will, or just a dead mouse.