Fall

This time of the year is always so beautiful. We have leaves turning color, the golden sky in the evening, and it appears as if the sun is appearing through a golden haze in the mornings. Maybe they are so beautiful, because it is so dark. This is the hardest time of the year for us sun worshipers, as we do not have much time. Each day gets a little less daylight and a little more of the night. It will be this way until December 21 - so 7 more weeks - so hard. Yet, how so like the Father in the darkest times of our life - we will still have beauty - and the knowledge it will only last a little bit more. So beloved, if this is indeed a dark time in your life - look for the beauty, for the peace and the hand of the Father. It is there, just may take some time to see it. Much love.

Get in the Fight

We are remembering the 65th anniversary of D Day and the terrible sacrifices made by many men, by watching "Saving Private Ryan". This is a very real to life movie that depicts so much of how we are to be. In one of the last scenes, the young man who is new to the group and to combat, seems to be running around with shells on his neck and a gun in his hand and yet he does nothing to help his fellow soldiers. In fact, when they call on him for help, he hides in the hallway and does nothing as they are being murdered. This brought to mind many of our Christian brothers and sisters who do absolutely the same thing. There are those that are standing and fighting, loosing their lives and all they hold dear, and there are those Christians that are running around with guns and ammunition and do absolutely nothing to help. Brothers and Sisters we are in a war for the life of our country, our family, and the kingdom. It is not time to stop and lick our wounds or hide in the hallways. It is time to get up and to fight!

Honor

This Weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. While traveling around our city I have listened to the plans of numerous people, however, not once did I hear a remembrance of the true meaning of Memorial Day. While I am glad to have the third day off of work, I remember the real reason of Memorial Day, I suppose because my parents were of the generation that fought in World War II. They instilled a memory of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us to live a life to choose freedom. We as a nation are again at a crossroads of choosing freedom or ease, Christianity is at a crossroads of choosing the path Jesus sat forth or ease. It is a time to become involved, to not do what is more convenient for my circumstance, but to do what is right for our Nation and for the Church. So on this day, please remember those that have fallen in our country so that we may enjoy the blessedness of freedom. Remember those that have paid the price to live fully for Jesus in a country that is increasingly making it more difficult to live a righteous life. We in the United States have been so very blessed by all those that have lived before us, it is now our time to be a blessing to those that will come behind. Will they still find freedom to live their lives in the United States of America as we have? It is your decision.

All in Good Time!

Trying to find books for classes at the college is always a challenge for me. I try to find the best deal on my books, I have rented, purchased old and new, but this was the first time that I actually purchased my books from my school because they really had the best price. My online class started Monday with an assignment due by Wednesday. Yes, I was beginning to stress, since I would have to go immediately after work Monday to pick them up, and be able to complete the assignment in less than two days. To top it all off, I had to go to a different campus to pick up the books. I finally got there with just 15 minutes to spare before they closed, and the first question was “do you have your schedule?” I was almost in tears, as I would not have a chance to get back to the bookstore until Thursday! But thankfully, on my phone I had the email from my teacher giving me the permission to add this class, and I had printed the books I would require. They allowed me to purchase the books! I was able to complete my assignment early and get a good start on the next week’s assignment. Now as you know, I can always find a spiritual lesson in my everyday trials and triumphs. I thought of all the stress I was under by trying to make a way to get my books by my own methods, instead of allowing God to make a way for me and resting in His provision. I should have realized if God called me to do something He would make a way. He went way ahead of me and provided the phone needed when I would need it. God is so good to me. We must always realize He is the one that provides what we have need of, and will give to us in due time. He is faithful and just!

Blessings

This week I was so blessed to attend my nephew's promotion to Chief Warrant Officer in the United States Navy. Such a total transformation of a young man into a very responsible adult. While I was watching Shane receive his medal and honor, I went back in my mind to a young child that had to learn to tie his shoes before he went into Kindergarten. This was such a hard task for him, and my sister was ready to pull out her hair in frustration - I made a deal with Shane that I would take him anywhere he wanted to go for dinner once he could do this all by himself, after all, I was the grown up aunt just getting ready to start college. He learned and we went all the way to Wendy's (the first time either of us had ever been) on the other side of town. We got there, ordered our meal, and then he could not eat. So we wrapped it up and took it all the way home. How often do we as believers finally accomplish something, and the Father wants to reward us, and we finally get there, yet we do not partake? Have you ever done that? I was so disappointed as Shane had worked so hard for this reward, and yet I was not able to see him enjoy it. We need to let the Father see us enjoy His blessings. He so loves us and wants to give us so much. So Enjoy! Your Father loves you!

IT IS FINISHED!

Since I work for five managers, they sometimes all have something they wish to accomplish at the same time. It does not happen very often, but this week, they all needed my help on a project. I would get one project and another would come before I could even start or was halfway finished. I generally do not have to prioritize, but this week I definitely had to. Needless to say, I had many little things not quite finished by Friday. This is so frustrating as it is just another thirty minutes to completion, but when you have ten projects, that can equal 5 hours of work, which is all the time I have for projects in my day. So, on Friday, with nothing new coming my way, I was able to finish almost all those little nagging things that had been piling up! It was wonderful! I felt like I had accomplished so very much. Jesus did that when He was on the cross – He said it was finished! All we try to accomplish in the flesh has already been completed for us. All those nagging little things with which the enemy tries to trip us up. You know, like you are not good enough, you are never going to be perfect, you cannot ever measure up. Those things – Jesus said it was FINISHHED! He paid the price so that we could live free in Him. He measured up, He was good enough, He was perfect, and He was good enough. HE did it for us and then said it is finished – So take a breath and know that you are loved.

The Power of Water!

This week’s Geography lessons have taken us to the glaciers in Greenland and the reason why they are melting. During the summer there are still miles of ice, however there are streams of water running through the ice trying to reach the ocean. The water cascades down 300 feet of ice cliffs into nothingness and the scientist are trying to determine exactly where the water goes. They have discovered the water is flowing under the ice and into the ocean. What the Holy Spirit showed me is as the people’s hearts are touched by His love; they will start to flow toward the Father. We must always try to be a help and not a hindrance to others finding the Love of Jesus and encourage them to be part of the kingdom of God. You see as the water flows into the ocean it is very cold, and it mixes with the warm ocean water and in turn, this water causes additional melting of the glacier. As people are turned to the love of God, they will in turn help others find the Love of God.

Delight yourself in the Lord!

Every day I receive a daily devotion and this week the subject has been about delight. This is the devotion: God has many delights: The delight that comes from a pure and simple act of love. Greater than that, the delight that comes from an act of beauty sparkling in the darkness. Greater than that, the delight when a child who has run away returns with all her heart. Delight is that from which all things come. Isn’t this so beautiful. You see the writer is stating all the things that bring delight to the Father. He receives delight from all that we do with a pure heart, when we perform an act of love in the darkness of the world, and when we return home to the Father. But the last line is tricky – you see all things come from the Father, so even those things that we do out of our pure heart, or causing an act of beauty, or even when we turn to the Father, really are from Him. All delight, all things wonderful, all things beautiful – come from Him. God receives delight when we do things, and yet all that we do that is good is from Him. God is so good; He gives us the tools to do so many blessings all around. Look for them!

Everyone is Special!

The other day I was driving to do some errands at work, and as you know, it is very difficult to drive downtown. You have to be so very careful, as people do not follow the laws and will cross against traffic and out of crosswalks. It is very frustrating, as you are waiting for a person to cross while you have the green light, and people are behind you honking their horns. However, there was one gentleman that was crossing where he should, and when he should, and as I was making a right turn, I needed to wait until he completed the crossing. The Lord started to speak to me regarding this man. He seemed to be a very quiet and gentle man. The Lord showed me that we must be patient at ALL times. That we should count all people as important, no matter if they are homeless or rich, all people are to be treated with respect. So I calmed down and went on my way, with a different attitude toward people. I was much nicer, and when things did not go my way, I realized that maybe God’s plan may have been a little different from mine, and His, of course was much better!

A Sunny Day

The day is so beautiful!  The sun is shining and the air is fresh and warm.  The flowers are blooming and the bees are buzzing.  A gorgeous day all around.  But we have the same kind of days in summer, so what makes this  one so very special?  Could it be the fact we have had almost a solid month of rain and clouds?  Isn’t it amazing how we are so appreciative of the differences? 

 Think about it, in the summer when we have absolutely no rain, no clouds, and warmth all the time, we drive to the coast for a cooler and cloudier day.  When we have fog and cold and rain we drive down to San Diego to enjoy  the bright sunshine.  We never seem to be content with what we have.  I think it is best to enjoy what you have, to make the most of every situation, to learn and appreciate all the joy and sorrow each time holds for us. 

 It is when you are going through a time of sorrow you can remember the good times and be set at ease,  it is when you are going through the  joyful times that you can look and remember the sorrow, and it will make the joy ever so more precious.  God is so good to us, as He knows we can only handle so much of the “same”.  He gives our lives variety in food, weather, sights, and sounds.  Take time – enjoy – and remember.  

Mold

My beautiful plant has been losing all of it leaves.  I thought I was doing it a favor by bringing it inside during the beginning of winter, but the leaves have been dropping like crazy.  The new leaves come in, and the old leaves fall.  It is looking very sickly.  I have been meaning to move the plant outside, but one thing after another happened and it has now been a whole month, and my plant finally went out today.  I can just imagine the plant taking in the sun and saying finally!  Now there was another thing I did not do, and that was to clear away all the old leaves from under the branches.  So as I sat the plant outside, I took a moment and scooped up all the dead leaves.  Oh did they smell.  They had begun to mildew.  

Ahaa!  This was the cause of my plants demise.  Mold.  I hope that it will be fine, but I thought how does this  look in the spiritual side of life.  I thought how often we tend to let a layer of old thoughts and teaching pile up at our roots.  We don’t take the old things that are incorrect and move them totally out of our lives, instead we let them sit underneath our leaves as they gather mold.  This very mold will destroy any new life we have come into our life.  So take a moment, go and sit in the presence of the Son, and scoop away all the incorrect teaching, and make room for all the wonderful things the Father has for you.

Wow hasn’t the weather turned beautiful.  It is so wonderful to have clear sunny days.  To be able to sit in the warm sun and just bask in the warmth.  It is truly my very favorite time.  There is just a little problem.  This is when we in the valley receive our water for the rest of the year.  If we do not have enough water, we will be in a terrible drought.  I remember the drought of the early 80’s and it was not pretty.  Landscaping was lost, crops suffered, and even animals died.  So while I truly am enjoying the sun, I am very much in prayer for the days to be sunny later on, and for us to receive some moisture.

 

How many times in our lives do we tend to look round and see a wonderful situation?  It just seems perfect.  We are so sure this is the will of the Father for our lives.  But as we begin to pray, and search out the heart of the Father, we realize it is not what He would want for us at all.  In fact, it will cause great pain.  Now, in the proper time and season, it may be wonderful, but we cannot get ahead of God, for if we do, we may have some pain that could have been avoided.  So even if it looks perfect, make sure before you move!

Stress

My Health Class is studying all the effects and causes of stress.  It is amazing the amount of stress so many people are under.  In our discussions, people are afraid of loosing their jobs, their houses, and their health.  We have a young man that is taking the class while he is stationed in Iraq.  We have a young mother who is ready to give birth to her second child and her husband is deployed.  So many in so much turmoil.  One of the wonderful things in this section is the ability to provide a place of refuge, at least for a short time. 

But in all reality, this is all I can do by myself.  I cannot provide jobs, houses, or health for all of these people.  I cannot keep the young men safe in Iraq.  There is something that I can do that is much more powerful than just providing a shoulder to lean upon.  I can point them to the Father, who is the giver of life.  I can pray for them, lifting them into the presence of the only one that can help. 

Have you looked around you lately?  Have you someone that you know that is going through a stressful situation?  Are you in a stressful situation?  The very best thing to do is to look up for your Salvation draws near!

What's in Your Blood

A dear friend gave me a book this week.  It was “Blood Types, Body Types and You.”  My blood type is A so that means I should follow a vegetarian diet.  Now this sounds very terrible, especially to those with O type blood, but for me it so very perfect.  After following the books recommendations for a week, I feel wonderful!  I am so full of energy and stamina.  It seems as if my brain is cleared up, there are no longer any spider webs hanging around keeping me in darkness.  I feel totally jazzed. 

 

The Lord was showing me how we as a people (remember we have the blood of Jesus) have been digesting the wrong things.  We have been digesting the food of the world – fear, hopelessness, distrust, and unforgiveness.  These things are not good for us. 

 

Once we have gotten rid of them, we actually feel totally jazzed.  Remember when you were first saved?  That peace and freedom was glorious.  But instead of keeping a steady diet of the fruit of the Spirit, we just went back to the same old stuff we had before. 

 

Cool thing about God is we can just do a 180-degree turn, start eating the correct food, and we will once again be totally jazzed about all that God has for us.

 

So what blood type are you eating – the world’s or Jesus’?

Thankfulness

Thankfulness

 

What a word that is.  Have you ever had the occasion to give something from your heart to someone?  My kids have a special Christmas tradition, every year they give me a box of See’s Candy Molasses Chips.  And every year it is mixed with dark and light chocolate.  I wanted something special for work, so I parted with my dark molasses chips.  As I placed them on my desk, and imagining the joy they would bring, someone came and took one.  But they did not seem to understand the importance of my gift.  I was hurt and thought to myself, if they did not get very excited over my wonderful gift, I would just take them back.  Wrong attitude!  God then showed me all the many wonderful presents he has given me and I just blew them off.  I did not see each item as the truly wonderful presents He wanted to present to me.  Sunny warm days, a loving family and friends, a house to live in, food to eat, an opportunity to go to school, the list can go on forever.  However, each day do I take the time to say thank you or do I just eat the candy as nothing special? 

The Bible says in Ephesians to always give thanks.  I think sometimes we Christians tend to say, I will give thanks in bad things, but God also wants us to look at good things, you know, the everyday little things and be thankful. 

So go ahead and just say Thanks God!

The Monster Closet

There is a website that I truly love “flylady.org” whose sole mission is to help very unorganized people to become organized. I have reminders on my calendar on the areas to clean and tasks to perform, sometimes they are completed, but most often not.  This last Sunday evening, I decided to do one of my tasks, which was to clean out the bedroom closet.  Now this is usually something I usually close the door and never look at but as I surveyed the bottom of my closet with its many shoes piled high, papers galore on top, and clothes I had a burst of energy and began.  I decided to do the bottom.  I pulled out shoes – high heels, sandals, flip-flops, wedges, bags and numerous items that had fallen from the top shelf.  Fly Lady has a theory that simply states – if you have not used it in over a year, and it cannot be donated just throw it away.  I had shoes that I had not worn in 5 years and so decided they were a candidate for the trash.  I put all the summer shoes in one of the bags, and went through the papers and through over half of them away, hung up the clothes that had fallen down, rearranged the purses and shoes I would wear.  Now if you look at the bottom of my closet it is beautiful.  All the shoes are lined up next to their partners, and I got rid of at least four bags of trash. 

Every now and then, the Holy Spirit wants us to open up a closet in our lives where we have closed the door.  You know the ones, the areas in our lives where we have closed the door on unforgiveness, hurt, pain and it is easier to close the door and not look in and see the mess.  However, God is so good to us and wants us to be happy and whole in our lives and emotions.  He knows that if we do not deal with the hurt, pain, and unforgiveness in our lives we will never be free and whole.  So He gently calls us to open the doors and to drag out the things we have not dealt with, throw away the things we cannot change, place our lives in nice orderly rows and get rid of the trash.  Once we have accomplished this task we look back and see order where chaos once stood, peace where disorder raged, and we understand that God was merely helping us to climb a little higher on the mountain top.  So any closets that need cleaning – I am ready!