warnings

Weed killer comes in all sorts of containers and strengths.  I usually purchase the ready-made, with a spray nozzle, weed killer.  That way I can use it whenever I have a few minutes.

I used up what I had left over from last year and had this brilliant idea that I would save some money and buy the concentrate.  The container has been sitting in the basement for weeks.  My weeds have been growing and growing.

I am capable of mixing up the formula but there are just certain things that I really don’t want to mess with.  Chemicals are right at the top of my list.  So tonight my son mixed up my first batch and gave me the warning.

“Do not get this anywhere near your plants or flowers.  Whatever it touches it will kill.”

Yeah, yeah.  I know all that.  I have been doing this for years…….

The problem is that sometimes I get a little spray happy.   I get a little over zealous and in trying to get all the weeds I can get a little too close to my flowers.    This is not a good thing.

I know it is not a good thing.  Plus I was reminded before I started and yet……

It seems that sometimes in life we end up pushing the envelope.   Our zeal for life can go from beneficial to dangerous.    We pack our days so full and yet try to squeeze one more thing into our day.   We find ourselves caving to the expectations of others – after all we want people we care about to be happy.  We want to help.   We push and push ourselves until it seems exhaustion is on the horizon.

Yet we know that living a life out of balance is not God’s desire for us.    Some stress can be a good motivator but too much stress can have just the opposite effect.    It is certainly a joy robber and a health risk.

I got in a bit of a hurry and was focused on spraying, spraying, spraying which meant I got too close to my flowers.   But I was so intent on getting the job done.  In the same way we can get in a hurry in life and miss the really important things.

I have a couple of flowers that just might not make it.  That in and of itself is not extremely important.  Yet there are things in my life that are extremely important.  We have all heard the ‘warnings’.

Keep God first.

Get adequate sleep.

Eat healthy.

Exercise.

Drink plenty of water.

Marriage is an investment.  Invest in it every day!

Let go and let God….cast your cares.

Leave some wiggle room in your schedule.

Are you paying attention to the warnings?

til next time

hold on, don’t quit

Don’t let it steal your joy!

I’ve got your back girlfriend!

Life can be hard but  don’t let it steal your joy!

Things happen.  Sometimes it is things beyond our control.   It might be a direct result of something we have done.  Other times it is because of what someone else has done and it affects us.  Whatever it may be doesn’t change the fact that God is still God.  He will help us if we give it to Him.   Joy comes from God and is not dependent on circumstances.

I don’t have to look hard to find things that are attempting to steal my joy.    How I respond to those things is huge in whether or not I am walking around as the victim or the victor.  No matter the situation that I face, I can still have the joy that comes from God in the midst of it.  My hope comes from Him.   He holds me (and you) in the palm of His hand.   It will be alright!

I’ve got your back girlfriend!  We need each other.  When someone is hurting I may not have any answers but what I do have is compassion — letting someone know that they are not alone, that I am there, that I am praying with them, and that I’ve got their back.

Christians that tear down other Christians, I believe, grieves the Holy Spirit.  Look for the good, encourage others, and pray for God to develop His character in them.   Do you have their back or are you just waiting for them to mess up so you can stick it to them?

It has been a long week and I look forward to a better week ahead.  Even if it isn’t, God will still be right there with me and you.

To all of my friends who are facing huge obstacles  hold on, don’t quit, stand firm in your faith!   God specializes in working all things out for your good.  (Romans 8:28)

Jesus will still be there

“…When the going gets tough – When the ride’s too rough — When you’re just not sure enough  -  Jesus will still be there, His love will never change  – Sure as a steady rain.  Jesus will still be there.   When no one else is true – He’ll still be loving you.   When it looks like you’ve lost it all and you haven’t got a prayer – Jesus will still be there.”  Point of Grace

Jesus will still be there

Whatever tomorrow holds we face it with Jesus by our side.

til next time

black friday shopping can be great!

Black Friday — you either embrace it or you stay far away from it.  We embrace it!

Since we left the house at 11:30 p.m. can it really be called Black Friday?  For the record, I am not a fan of starting on Thursday evening.  Although I am sure that the stores loved it.  There were way more people than any other year that  I have gone.  More people equals more profit.

This year we had hats!  It made it easier to locate which aisle one of us was in and it made people smile.  Making people smile is hugely important when you are surrounded by strangers who might just be a bit cranky.

Black Friday — rule 1 — wear hats!!

    We began our journey at Target.  It was by far the longest line ever.   It was dark but it wasn’t cold. The way to not get  irritated in  line is to look for ways to make it fun.  We laughed and chatted with those around us.  We weren’t interested in the big screen tv’s — good thing because before we even got into the store, people were already coming out the door with them.

Black Friday — rule 2 –it is about the experience not about the items

Expect the unexpected — is a good rule of thumb for Black Friday shopping.  This year was no different.  There was a malfunction with the check out lane in electronics at Target.  Coffee and pumpkin muffins were handed out for us to enjoy while we waited again.  You can either get frustrated or you can relax.  No one likes to wait.  At least no one that I know.  However, it is what it is.

Black Friday – rule # 3 — there will be lines – expect it and make the most of it

It was during that wait that we decided that my sister didn’t know the rule about ‘stranger danger.’  We did learn more than any of us really wanted to know about the person in front of us, but there was lots of laughter!

We did not experience any rudeness.  For that I am quite grateful.

We went from Target to Kohl’s.  Now Kohl’s sets a new record for the longest amount of time waiting in line to check out– 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Wowzer!!

It was at Kohl’s that I got my hug from a stranger.  Guess I didn’t get the memo either about ‘stranger danger.’

Black Friday – rule #4 – it is a great opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.

From Kohl’s we went to JC Penny’s.

Then it was on to breakfast.  All that shopping (or should I say waiting in line) makes a person hungry and very thirsty.

Last we ended up at WalMart.  By this time my niece  was exhausted and really didn’t even want to continue.   She is  now labeled as the “I can’t handle it” girl.

Oh and I mustn’t forget the rings.  Last year it was matching socks and bracelets.  This year it was matching rings and hats!  Another year of fun and laughter — Black Friday shopping — we love it!!

Black Friday – rule #5 –  Keep it fun –smile and laugh

Final thoughts on Black Friday shopping — reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 would be a great thing to do before heading out.

til next time

20 years

It used to be that the norm was to land a good job and stay there until retirement.  You might move around a bit, but eventually you put down roots and buy a house.

My parents bought a house early in their marriage.  When it got to be too small, they just added on.  When the property next door became available, they purchased it.   It was a great  place to grow up.  My mom lived there until she moved in with my sister.

Things have changed.  People move and switch jobs with much more frequency.   Many times a job transfer  moves them to the next location.  Purchasing  a house does not mean that you plan to live there until you are old.

For pastor’s — job transfers are the norm.   It is a little different though, in that the pastor is the one who determines where the next job will be (of course in line with God’s leading.)

Here is how it usually works.

You become involved in ministry while attending Bible college.  Upon graduation you may be put on staff at such church — albeit probably not a paid position.  This means that you keep working your ‘other’ job to pay the bills.

Then the norm continues  like this:

Senior pastor at a small church — possible need to supplement income.  Certainly the spouse will work part-time if not full-time.

Stay there 3-7 years then move to a bit bigger church.

Stay there 3-7 years and move to an even bigger church at which time supplemental income from the pastor will not be needed.    However, the spouse may continue to work.

It is not uncommon for pastors to continue this cycle all through their ministry.

What isn’t normal is to have a Pastor start out at a small church and stay there 20 years.    20 years is a long time for a minister to stay when he  is  just starting his first senior pastorate.   Certainly we never thought we would be here this long.  After all I was leaving the land of mom and all our extended family was at least 6 hours away.  Yet here we are 20 years later.

Didn’t we ever feel the urge to move on?  Oh, yes –just never at the same time.   We truly believe that when God desires for us to move that He will tell both of us at the same time.

We have been here long enough to see:

the church go from ‘home missions’ status to ‘general council’ status

the children grow up and have children

people grow in their relationship with God

children begin to be musically inclined and then watch that blossom

the church become debt free!!!

our children start and finish at the same school — this is almost unheard of in the ministry

people with discord and/or pride leave and come to us later in sincere apology and humbleness.    Love covers a multitude of wrongs!

We have a wonderful group of people who are moving forward for the kingdom of  God.    It is our privilege to be a part of it.  We leave our future in the hands of God.  We trust that He will continue to direct us and the church.

til next time

with faith – fear doesn’t have a chance

Fear is a powerful emotion.    I’ve heard it said that there are over 365 references to “do not be afraid” or “fear not”…. in the Bible.   One for each day of the year.  I have never bothered to count them because whatever the exact number is, the truth is that God does not want His kids to live in fear.

Fear can have such a hold on a person that it hinders them from enjoying life.  Irrational fear can be paralyzing.

This weekend I came face to face with a fear of death – not my death but my husband’s death.   Thank God he didn’t die but I can now say that I know what he will look like when he does.  Oh, to remove that image from my brain.  Once again reminding me of the importance of what we put before our eyes.  Our brain is a computer that stores all that we look at.

Long story short –

We were shopping with another couple (long time friends) when Curt’s stomach was feeling a little upset.  He sat down on a bench.  The next thing I know his head fell backwards, eyes were vacant, and his body was stiff.  I was sure he had just had a heart attack.

Time does seem to stand still.

He did come around,  but the EMT suggested that we take him to the ER.  The doctor wanted to keep him overnight for observation.  What would cause a healthy man (on no medication) to pass out?  (It is called a syncopal episode.)

I am grateful to our friends who made a horrible situation bearable.  It wasn’t at all what we had  planned, but it was an adventure.

He was released in the morning with orders to see his family doctor and have a stress test done.

Surprising to me, it was on the way home that I fell apart.  After all was said and done THEN the fear took over.  What would I do without him?   Will it happen again?  What caused it?  What if………………….?

Fear is a powerful emotion.

Yet even greater than fear is faith.

I was reminded, in a very fresh way, of the importance of gathering together with the people of  God.  It was during worship that God began to peel away the fear that had been consuming me.  As I joined others in offering praise to the One who holds all things together (Col 1:17) my head knowledge once again reached my heart.  For I know that God is in control.  I know that God will make a way.  I know that there is nothing to fear.  Now my emotions know that again too.

til next time

to build or to burn?? how about neither??

If you live in America, unless you have been hiding under a rock,  you are aware to some degree of a couple of news stories that keep making headlines.

Should an Islamic center be built  close to the tragic 9/11 site? (click here to read Free to offend?)

Should a small church in Florida burn the Koran on 9/11? (click here for Burning Korans on 9/11)

There seems to be a common theme running between the two stories.  They are both within their rights to do just what they have set out to do.  They both believe strongly that they are doing a good thing.  They both will be offending people should they continue down this path.  Neither one of them seems to care that they will be breaking the hearts of people who are not like-minded.

So the question comes up.  Just because you can do something, does that mean that you should do something?  If you know that your actions, as a group, will smack pain in the hearts of another group of people, what does that say about the type of group you are?

We have been told (and I  believe it to be true) that the actions of a few do not speak for a whole.  The suicide bombers and other radical Muslims do not represent my “neighbor” down the street who is a devote Muslim and is not out to kill the “infidel”.

Yet there seems to be all this talk of how this small church in Florida  will endanger the lives of our military.  So I guess the actions of a few, in this case, speak for the whole?  Come on, those groups that are bent on destroying America do not need an excuse.   That said, I do not agree with the burning of the Koran.  Nothing about that speaks of love.

The issue, as I see it, is that both of these groups need to look beyond their own interests and see what their actions are doing.  Actions speak louder than words.  Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do it.  Certainly there are better options.

There are plenty of places to build a mosque.  Pick a different location that won’t be forever a source of contention.  Unless of course that is your plan all along.

Don’t burn someone’s most treasured possession.  There are other ways to get your point across.  An offended brother is much harder to reach than one whom you have not offended.  Unless of course you really don’t care about your ‘brother’.

To build or  to burn?  How about neither?  How about love your neighbor as yourself.  Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.   Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

til next time

waiting……..

  ”Always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.”    Plato  

Every where I look there are people facing mountains.  Some of them are really huge.  Others may not seem huge to me, but then again I am not facing that particular thing, nor do I have all the details.  Sometimes it is the combination of a million little things that pushes us to the edge. 

 ”…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”  (Psalm 30:5)   Oh, but sometimes it seems as if the ‘morning’ is never going to get here.   

How long?      

I feel Your presence

yet the storm roars.

I think I’m ok …

only to plunge once more.

 

In my head

I know You are there.

In my heart

I know You care.

 

How much longer though,

will this go on?

When will the night end?

Where is the dawn?

 

While the storm rages

To You O Lord I cling.

The morning IS coming

when again my heart will sing.

 

I continue to trust Your Word.

You are working things out.

You are in control,

of this there is no doubt.

Have you noticed that there are a number of songs out now that deal with facing hard trials?   I love this one by Mark Schultz.  Here is just a portion of it.   

Love has come

I know this life is filled with sorrow.  And there are days when the pain just lasts and lasts.  But I know there will come a day when all my tears are washed away. With a break in the clouds and His glory coming down.  Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that God is love and love has come for us all.  Every heart set free, everyone will see that God is love and love has come for us all. 

  Or this one by Casting Crowns “Praise You in this storm.”    

I was sure  by now that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away.  Stepped in to save the day.  But once again I say Amen and it’s still raining. ….  I praise You in this storm.   I will lift hands, You are who You are, no matter where I am.  Every tear I cry, You hold in Your hand.  You never left my side and though my heart is torn  –I will praise You in this storm.   

I find myself  ‘waiting’.  Waiting for:   the storm to end, the rain to stop, the  emotional roller coaster of perimenopause to cease, life to slow down, problems to disappear, pain to be gone,  a day when all goes right (had to throw that one in),  and on and on it goes.  Yet life is messy and complicated – always has been and always will be.   Somewhere along the way I forgot a key element.   

In acceptance lieth peace. 

My life is in the hands of the Almighty God, the creator of the universe.  If He allows it then there is a reason – I may never know what that is but truly that is not important.  God is in control.  I am not.

So for today I am going to practice acceptance of what comes my way with expectation that God has a plan and He will work things out His way.

til next time

 

 

 

r v having fun yet?

r v having fun yet?  This was the line sent with a picture of our RV being towed with Brent’s van.   Curt had just picked it up from the shop.  I wish that I could get the picture to download from my phone.    It is somewhere in cyber space.

 Last night, for the first time, Curt drove the RV around the loop and didn’t find himself and Brent stranded.  They wanted Sue and I to go with them.  Brent was confident that there would be no problem. 

We had heard that line before – actually many times.  My favorite story so far – is when the three of them (Curt, Brent, and Brian) thought that they had fixed the problems and were going to take it on another test run.  I should mention here that every previous run had ended in being towed or stranded for a bit. 

Sure enough, I get a call from Curt -the RV has stalled.  The problem?  They were all three in it and no one had thought to follow in a dependable car.  When I asked why no one followed in the car??  The response given was that they all wanted to ride in the RV.  Hmmm, just like a kid?  We still laugh about that.  Ok so maybe I still laugh about that. 

This time Sue and I follow in the car.  This time there is no problem.  This time we celebrated with ice cream.

r v having fun yet?  One thing I can say for sure about this RV is that it now has a long history and we haven’t even taken it camping yet.

til next time

from ‘know it all’ to ‘still got a lot to learn’

When I was a teenager (you know that time in life when you just knew everything) there were many things I said I would ‘never’ do. Like for instance I would never tell my children “because I said so.”

Wipe my child’s face with my spit on my finger?  NEVER!!

Stress over my house.  (You could eat off my mother’s floors) Not me – I was going to have a maid. 

Use the phase “just a minute” or “not now, maybe later” when MY kids wanted to do something.

The list goes on.

Needless to say I have done all those things.  

In the old movie “The Kid”  a 40 year old comes face to face with his childhood self at age eight.  I loved the line where the kid realizes that the man before him is in fact who he becomes.

“Let me get this straight.  I am 40, I”m not married and I don’t have a dog?  I grow up to be a loser.”

In the movie the man had grown up to be a ‘jerk’.  Regardless of what we ‘do’ in life our character is vital.  How we treat people and what we value determines success in my book.

Maybe it is the death of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett that has me thinking about my childhood/teen years.  Or maybe it is because there is a part of me that longs for those carefree days of summer. 

Life is precious.  Am I where I thought I would be when I was eight?  How about when I was 18?  The answer is no to both questions.  Life has taken a few unexpected turns.  Life is good! 

When I was eight, I was certain I would own a horse ranch.   There was a time, as a child, that I was sure I was going to be a missionary.  When I was 18, I set out to be the next greatest CPA.

Then at 19, I gave my dreams to God.  He did so much more with them.  A life fulfilled, living with purpose, and contentment.  Life is good.  It is an adventure.  Following after God has never been boring!

I learned a long time ago that only as a teenager did I think I knew it all.  As an adult I recognize that every day I can and should learn something new.  It has helped me to be patient with those who think they have all the answers.  Sometimes I just shake my head and sigh.

The key is to live in the present.  I can’t change the past.  I don’t know what the future holds but I can ruin today by worrying about it.

So what would my childhood self say about my life now?  Probably wonder where the horses are.  I like to think that she would be amazed at how God has orchestrated my life.  I know I am.

Life – the great adventure!

til next time

to know and be known

To know and be known. 

I think that there is a need in all of us to really be known and accepted for who we are. 

To really be known.  What does that mean?  I feel that I know my husband very well.  I can pretty much tell you what his answer will be to 100′s of different questions.  Yet there are parts of him that I am sure I don’t know about.  Not the way God knows him. 

To be known, every single thought, every single desire that we have.   God knows everything. This is an amazing concept to me.   He knows and still He wants to have a relationship with each person. 

God accepts us right where we are.  His love is unconditional.  Unconditional??  Yes, unconditional.  I am in awe of that whole concept, for we live in a society that is full of conditions. 

However, God loves us so much that He doesn’t leave us where we are at.  Throughout our lives He brings about change.   To know and be known requires a relationship.  God wants that relationship with us.  He wants to fill our hearts with peace, joy, and unshakable faith. 

To know -  How do we know God?  Bible reading is a good place to start.  It is His love letter to all of us.  Prayer (taking time to talk to God – not just a laundry list of things for Him to do), scripture meditation, and going to church ( click here to see my latest post of church) are the basics. 

I think that we are able to and should be growing in our knowledge of God, but that in a lifetime, we still can’t grasp all that He is.  It is ironic to me when people think that they have all the answers concerning God.  The Bible tells us we see through a glass dimly, but one day we will see face to face (my paraphrase).  Oh what a day that will be!!

Unshakable faith – To know that you know that you know that He loves you and He has a plan and purpose for your life.  Oh, and by the way — who could have a better plan, for God knows everything.  Life is Good!

Think about it for a moment, all the people, all across this earth, at any given moment, are thinking things and doing things and God knows all of it.  Nothing surprises Him.   He is not some far off God who is just watching.   He is actively engaged in our lives, seeking to have a relationship with each person.  Nothing is hidden from Him.     

Psalm 139:7-10 (New American Standard)

    7Where can I go from Your Spirit?
         Or where can I flee from Your presence?
    8If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
         If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
    9If I take the wings of the dawn,
         If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
    10Even there Your hand will lead me,
         And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 

To know and be known.

til next time