Worry

I signed up to do a devotion for Choir right after we started back. Little did I know that I would have a very hard week leading up to it as well as have a hard time to get it together in a week. A week seems like a long time unless your schedule looks like most moms I know. I was beat down with various things on my plate, so God spoke loud and clear to me about this passage. I don't know if it was for anyone else in choir that night, but it was DEFINITELY for me!!!! That's what God does....he just works like that. :)

Philippians 4:6-9 The Message:  "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and mediating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious--the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies."

1.  Don't worry

What is worry? A definition I found was "to afflict with mental distress or agitation: make anxious."

None of us need more mental distress. With today's economic situations, family struggles and our busier than ever lives, it's easy to fall into the trap of worry. The Bible clearly tells us we shouldn't, yet we always seem to fall for it.

Do you ever feel like there is this constant agitation or unrest in your spirit? How can we combat worry? We can't just ignore it and think it will go away. God says to pray about it. Give it to HIM. Instead of wasting precious time worrying about something, spend that time praying. He can give you peace for unrest. We shouldn't be more anxious about what we desire or what MIGHT happen than God's plan for our lives.

I read somewhere that "Worry is faith in the negative." Negative is bad....You don't want your bank account to be negative. You don't want the temperature to be negative. So, why should your faith be negative?

2.  Fill your mind

We've all heard the old saying "Garbage in/garbage out"....Fill your mind with the Word, with positive thoughts, with positive friends or anything else that is good such as Christian music, sound biblical teaching, etc.

3.  Put into practice

The next time you start to worry, get on your knees. Talk to God instead of your friends or co-workers. Let HIM know your problems FIRST because He is the only person who can give you peace.

4.  God will make everything work together in "His most excellent harmonies".

One of the definitions of harmony is: "an interweaving of different accounts into a single narrative".

We're all from different backgrounds, have different lives, different areas of struggles, but God wants to align all our differences and put us on the line to Him. Kind of like that Fidelity commercial where the people have to follow the green line to a better financial future. We each have our own line we have to follow, but ALL our lines lead to God.

5.  And the most important thing I got from this verse is that "Christ displaces worry".

If we have Christ in our hearts, worry should not be there. There's not enough room for the two of them!

Relaxation

 

This is relaxing to me....sitting on the back porch of my In-Law's cabin, feeling the fan blowing down on me & a gentle breeze through the screen, rocking in a rocker,  reading a book, looking at the beautiful lake below.

 

 

 Just look at that view! It was a gorgeous day.

We decided to go for a walk with the boys, so we walked down the railroad tracks to the tunnel.

 

 

I enjoyed watching my boys & husband act like kids. They walked the tracks, picked up rocks & railroad spikes and took in all the sites along the way.  I just stayed back to take in the sites of the them doing so. :)

 

Nothing quite brings my boys together as brothers as some fun loving competition and time in the outdoors. Maybe that's why we love it so much. There's no cell phone in the hands or arguing, just pure enjoyment!

 

They are MY guys and I would follow them anywhere!

 

We saw some beautiful animals along the way, like this hawk. I think I may have found what he was looking for.....

 

See the mouse hiding in the rocks? He knew the hawk was there and it was lunch time. Of course, he may have been hiding from this guy!

 

 

 We saw several other creatures along the way such as this spider

 

and this lizard--can you see him. He is hiding and trying to camouflage himself from the surrounding danger.

There was also some GREAT beauty we saw along the way....like this beautiful blue sky above the tunnel

 

The blooming dogwoods in the yard.......

 

The gorgeous Red Buds along the walk....

 The tunnel was an inviting darkness....cool in the hot spring sun, mysterious, quiet

 

Then we took the long road back home. It was a beautiful walk on a beautiful day.

Blessings and secret funds

Lately I've had a harder time counting my blessings. I know I shouldn't because I've certainly been able to look around me and find LOTS more people who have MANY more hardships than I've had. I wouldn't consider mine hardships actually, more like stepping stones. 

One of my first stepping stones was my camera getting stolen at my Father & Mother-In-Law's 50th wedding anniversary party. I was hurt, sad, mad....all the emotions you feel when something happens beyond your control. I actually needed to learn the lesson that God is in control of everything....even my camera.

This is the camera I had....

It was an extension of me...part of who I was, what I loved and something that helped me make money for my family. Very rarely did anyone see me out without it. :)

I knew that God would provide the means for me to replace it one day, I just wasn't sure when that one day would be. (I'm still not exactly sure, but am a lot closer!)

Brian's family has secretly been taking up a collection to help me replace my camera since this happened in January. Imagine my thrill when I realized that people have given to this "fund" to help me replace something that wasn't even their fault.

I am overwhelmingly BLESSED today! I can't thank them enough and hopefully soon I will have put enough money with it (or found a great deal) on a new camera. Until then, I'm satisfied to be excited about looking again!

God richly blesses us beyond what we are worth.....moreso than just this for me. I just sometimes need to be reminded to count the blessings I have.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (The Message)

"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God.  They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers—Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.

I am new.......you can be too

 Okay, if you are friends with me on Facebook or Twitter you already know about my water leak. As I was driving off from my house this morning to go to work--and watching the workers get out of their van in my rearview mirror--this song came on K-Love "I Am New" by Jason Gray.  It made me equate the complete transformation my upstairs bathroom is going through to our lives in Christ.


We start out ugly.....like what was behind the walls in the boys' bathroom.

 "Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined
By mistakes that I've made
Because God says of me

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new"


And if you see the red & blue lines, those are new pieces that repaired the lines that were broken. God brings things a little at a time to repair our broken lives.

"Who I thought I was
And who I thought I had to be
I had to give them both up
Cause neither were willing
To ever believe

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new"
 
Piece by piece, God gives us what we need to be made new......like the boys' new shower. See the new wall that was built to hold the side of the shower? Sometimes God builds new things to replace things that we have to give up.

"Too long I have lived
In the shadows of shame
Believing that there
Was no way I could change
But the one who is making everything new
Doesn't see me the way that I do
He doesn't see me the way that I do

I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new

I am not who I was
I am being remade, I am new
Dead to the old man, I'm coming alive
I am new"


Here is where the picture of the bathroom will go when it is completed. Even once it's "done", it won't be completed. I will have to decorate and add finishing touches--just like Christ does to us. Just remember when you're going through hard times or the enemy is telling you that you ARE who you used to be--God is still putting the finishing touches on your life. He won't be done until you are with Him forever, so don't be discouraged when you think it's taking a long time. Construction takes time.....God's construction is even better than any here on the earth. 






"Forgiven beloved
Hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy
Reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy, this is our new name

This is who we are now..." 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! "


John 3:16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."

The lion & the prey

So, last night we had our devotional time in Choir. I felt like it was especially for ME, but I wanted to share with YOU. Sometimes we tend to think that we are the only ones who are dealing with hard times. We don't take the time to look around and realize that there are so many other people who have issues as well. As someone repeated something I read on Facebook this week: "I'm fairly certain if you were in a room filled with other people's problems all piled in the middle, that you would be content to pick your own problems back up and leave the room with them." That's really true if we think about it!

I'm sure I'm not going to tell this as eloquently as Michael did, but here goes my retelling of the "devotion". I hope I don't mess it up too bad, but I'm probably going to give you more of what  I  got out of it. :)

The Lion--Beautiful isn't he?  

He looks so.....Majestic.....Peaceful.....Intimidating even!

 Here is a Gazelle. They run in packs---like friends. :) That's how we are. We run around in little packs. We have so many people (often times LOTS more than we realize) who will come alongside us and "graze" with us, help hold us up when things get tough, or just listen. 

It's peaceful here....we enjoy being here....but sometimes we wander away from the group. Things get tough, we get busy, we don't want to burden people with our problems. What happens when we get so far away is that we begin to feel ALONE?

 

Alone is NOT where you want to be when the lion starts prowling. 

The lion doesn't go after the entire pack hoping he can catch one....he goes after one knowing it's a sure thing!  When we have wandered off, been distracted and feel alone.....THAT'S when he's ready to pounce!

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 NIV

We were asked last night if any of us had felt alone this week. I raised my hand along with several others. I have actually had that sense of "aloneness" for a while now. Mainly because SO many things are distracting me from my true purpose and pulling me away from the pack.  

I am NOT alone--never have been, never will be. God tells me that in His Word and His Word is Truth!

 We have to stick together! Lift each other up! Pray for each other! Help each other!

 

 The devil isn't going after the whole pack hoping he can catch one--he's waiting on us to feel alone and go after the sure thing! Don't be his supper!

Writing

P.S.  I posted this yesterday, but it put it somewhere else, so re-posting just because. :)

How I wish I could write so eloquently as other bloggers. They seem to always say the right things, use beautiful fonts and choose just the right photos. Well, I may not do that, but I do love blogging (even though I don't so it near enough). There's something therapeutic about it....writing down your thoughts. So, if I'm not one of those blogs that you check every day or just can't wait to see what I've written next, that's ok. I'm really writing for myself. You may just happen upon a "good day" where you might get something out of it. ;) Happy Blogging friends!

I think I can.....I think I can......

That pretty much sums up how I feel lately. Getting out of bed every day, smiling at people I interact with, talking to people who call or are in and out of my office at work.....I just SMILE and act like everything is wonderful! You know, that fake smile you put on on Sunday mornings when you've just spent the last 15 minutes yelling at your kids and/or spouse on the way to church, you're already 10 minutes late, and you rush into the church and realize that you got there just in time for the welcome so you start shaking hands, put on your best smile and when someone asks you how you are you say "I'm great! How are you?" Yeah, THOSE times! That's how I feel right now.

Let me start by saying there are TONS upon TONS of things for me to be thankful for--AND I AM THANKFUL! :) This is just one of those times in life where all the little pebbles that have been thrown my way lately have been compressed into a boulder. Now, I have to learn how to chip away at the boulder to turn it back into little pebbles that I can skip over the Water! Sometimes that's easier said than done, but I know God is with me. He will I have nothing that is never leave, nor forsake me and He is my rock, my strength, my fortress!

NOW! I feel lots better even just putting this in writing! If I have been a "downer" to you today, I hope you just pray for me and come back soon to see a better/more interesting/happier post! :) You know they're coming and I hope and pray I don't have my "fake Sunday smile" on when they do!

Psalm 18:1-3 The Message

I love you, God--You make me strong. God is a bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God--the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout. I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved.

Hmmm....Can I stick with this

Okay, so a woman whom I consider to be an inspiration to me asked me the other day at a baseball meeting IF I was still blogging. Well, not exactly! I have a hundred reasons why not, but I also have a gazillion Facebook posts during the time I haven't blogged that I have "had time" to do. Really I don't have a good excuse. It's been a crazy few months and I KNOW I am not alone in that. :)

I'm going to TRY to get back to blogging. I honestly need an outlet for my frustrations and I know there aren't people lined up to read my blogs, so this is probably the safest outlet for me. LOL!

Now, to try to decide what my first actual blog will be about......that may take a while. I'll get back to you on that one! Just keep checking back every so often and maybe I will be able to pick this back up and stick with it! Until then.....I love reading your blogs when I can!