October 28, 2009- the day I fell in love for the 4th time.
He still melts my heart.
Happy 1st Birthday to my Baby Boy, Isaiah John.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Learning Much
This road of having our house on the market has been a long road. It has definitely not been what we expected, but has not been a surprise at all to God and in that I find comfort. He is not surprised by anything and he knows what the dealio is. So I shrug and say, "Meh!" Because that is a whole lot easier than kicking, screaming and crying (which I may or may not have done prior to today).
We were presented with a unique opportunity to rent out our house to a film crew who is in need of some housing in Buffalo for a short period of time. This is currently in the works and we will know more today or tomorrow. Praise the Lord for that!
So the other night I was laying in bed saying, "Why is this taking so long Lord? What am I not learning in this process that you want me to learn? I'm open to listening to you. I pray that you will open my eyes and ears to what you want me to know!" And with that I started to go over all of the things that I have learned. I'm going to bullet point them for you, because I love bullet points.
*It's not all about me. When I found myself saying, "Why wouldn't God sell our house right away? What could cause us harm in that? Nothing!" I remembered that it's not all about me. Maybe the family who is supposed to buy our house is not ready yet, financially. Maybe THEY need a few more days/weeks/months (let's not hope years) to save up and get into the position THEY need to be in to buy our house. Maybe, just maybe (sarcastic gasp!)... it is about them!
*Arrogance is not attractive to God. When listing our house I looked at how amazing and beautiful it looked and was sure it would sell right out from under us. We even got an offer, albeit a REALLY LOW offer, but an offer at that. And we said no. We said no! Were we crazy?!?! At the time there was many people looking at the house and through much talk and prayer we said no and decided to keep on keeping on. Even though this may have been the right decision at the time, I can't help but think we were being arrogant. I felt the need to confess that to God and apologize for that. It felt good after I did and I know that his mercies are new everyday and that he gives me new chances to not be so, ahem, snotty and arrogant.
*No matter what. There's a popular song that's played on Christian radio these days by Kerrie Roberts and some of the words are, "No matter what, I'm gonna love you. No matter what, I'm gonna need you. I know that you can find a way to keep me from the pain, but if not, I'll trust you, not matter what, no matter what." I love being secure in Christ and knowing that my faith in him and my salvation are not dependent on how I'm feeling on a particular day. Let's just say I can be a bit crazy and if those things were dependent on me... holy cats, we'd have real issues.
*Why me? (down trodden) vs. Why me? (in awe and priviledged). There was a wise woman at CBS the other day that said there are two ways to say "Why me?" I had to shift my attitude in regards to this question. Instead of, "Why me? Why hasn't our house sold yet? Boo hoo for me, I'm so down in the dumps..." I try to say, "Why me? Why am I fortunate enough to be able to live in a new home while trying to sell the old? Praise the Lord that THIS is my problem! That my problem isn't having NO WHERE to live, my problem isn't no food to feed my children, my problem isn't having a child or spouse with a terminal illness, my problem isn't lack of employment, my problem isn't watching a parent die, my problem isn't children who have turned their back on us or on the Lord. Praise the Lord for my "problem." I can just let the entitled attitude go right now, leave it at the door, and have an attitude of gratitude thankyouverymuch!
*Another little lesson that God is always teaching me, is to be content with what I have. We are in our new home with space to breathe and not feel like we're always sitting on top of each other! I've had to hold off on any decor solutions and agendas because that would require some extra money, for which there is none to spend on such things. But again, it's something I need to let go of. We have this home and we have our family. My kids really don't care if there is stuff hanging on the walls as long as I'm snuggling on the couch telling them stories. My kids don't really care if the wall is painted the red I want as long as I let them paint (on paper) with water colors. My husband doesn't care if we have chipped counter tops, as long we have food on them to be preparing!
*And finally. God always provides. He does. It's as simple as that. Does he not feed the birds of the air, and does he not love us much more than that? God always provides and he is doing just that.
We were presented with a unique opportunity to rent out our house to a film crew who is in need of some housing in Buffalo for a short period of time. This is currently in the works and we will know more today or tomorrow. Praise the Lord for that!
So the other night I was laying in bed saying, "Why is this taking so long Lord? What am I not learning in this process that you want me to learn? I'm open to listening to you. I pray that you will open my eyes and ears to what you want me to know!" And with that I started to go over all of the things that I have learned. I'm going to bullet point them for you, because I love bullet points.
*It's not all about me. When I found myself saying, "Why wouldn't God sell our house right away? What could cause us harm in that? Nothing!" I remembered that it's not all about me. Maybe the family who is supposed to buy our house is not ready yet, financially. Maybe THEY need a few more days/weeks/months (let's not hope years) to save up and get into the position THEY need to be in to buy our house. Maybe, just maybe (sarcastic gasp!)... it is about them!
*Arrogance is not attractive to God. When listing our house I looked at how amazing and beautiful it looked and was sure it would sell right out from under us. We even got an offer, albeit a REALLY LOW offer, but an offer at that. And we said no. We said no! Were we crazy?!?! At the time there was many people looking at the house and through much talk and prayer we said no and decided to keep on keeping on. Even though this may have been the right decision at the time, I can't help but think we were being arrogant. I felt the need to confess that to God and apologize for that. It felt good after I did and I know that his mercies are new everyday and that he gives me new chances to not be so, ahem, snotty and arrogant.
*No matter what. There's a popular song that's played on Christian radio these days by Kerrie Roberts and some of the words are, "No matter what, I'm gonna love you. No matter what, I'm gonna need you. I know that you can find a way to keep me from the pain, but if not, I'll trust you, not matter what, no matter what." I love being secure in Christ and knowing that my faith in him and my salvation are not dependent on how I'm feeling on a particular day. Let's just say I can be a bit crazy and if those things were dependent on me... holy cats, we'd have real issues.
*Why me? (down trodden) vs. Why me? (in awe and priviledged). There was a wise woman at CBS the other day that said there are two ways to say "Why me?" I had to shift my attitude in regards to this question. Instead of, "Why me? Why hasn't our house sold yet? Boo hoo for me, I'm so down in the dumps..." I try to say, "Why me? Why am I fortunate enough to be able to live in a new home while trying to sell the old? Praise the Lord that THIS is my problem! That my problem isn't having NO WHERE to live, my problem isn't no food to feed my children, my problem isn't having a child or spouse with a terminal illness, my problem isn't lack of employment, my problem isn't watching a parent die, my problem isn't children who have turned their back on us or on the Lord. Praise the Lord for my "problem." I can just let the entitled attitude go right now, leave it at the door, and have an attitude of gratitude thankyouverymuch!
*Another little lesson that God is always teaching me, is to be content with what I have. We are in our new home with space to breathe and not feel like we're always sitting on top of each other! I've had to hold off on any decor solutions and agendas because that would require some extra money, for which there is none to spend on such things. But again, it's something I need to let go of. We have this home and we have our family. My kids really don't care if there is stuff hanging on the walls as long as I'm snuggling on the couch telling them stories. My kids don't really care if the wall is painted the red I want as long as I let them paint (on paper) with water colors. My husband doesn't care if we have chipped counter tops, as long we have food on them to be preparing!
*And finally. God always provides. He does. It's as simple as that. Does he not feed the birds of the air, and does he not love us much more than that? God always provides and he is doing just that.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Gleaning and Playing Monopoly
Dictionary.com defines "glean" in a few different ways. I'm going to combine two similar definitions to fit into my thought process for today. Glean: To collect or gather anything, to learn, discover or find out usually little by little or slowly.
From the first day that I stepped into my CBS (Community Bible Study) class, the word "glean" has frequently popped into my head. From these amazing women, I glean. Each day that I am there I absorb so much wisdom and knowledge from their minds and hearts. So as I looked up the word "glean" I agreed with most of it, except the "little by little or slowly" part. The women impart a LOT of wisdom, but it is also somewhat true due to the fact that I can be rather thick skulled and sometimes knowledge does not seep through so easily.
This morning was no different than the days prior. I gleaned much from the incredible hearts of these women! One bit of wisdom that I walked away with was this: You can't play Monopoly with Yahtzee rules!
Shocking- I know.
Back in the day, there was a really big set of rules and regulations that the peeps had to follow. They were rather cumbersome to say the least, but they were there for a reason. God knows what he's doing and he had the rules there for guidance and to teach his people. Somewhat like a parent does. The rules aren't always easy or fun, but they are in place to protect us.
Someone said today that it's like a fenced yard for a child. Not that you can't climb over the fence when you're told to stay in, you sure can, but when a parent tells a child to stay in the yard, it's usually for good reason. Maybe they live near open water or a busy street. When the child is older they can usually leave the confines of the yard to go ride their bike, walk to a friend's home and to explore this great big world.
And so it was, just like that, when Christ came. He came that we might have LIFE!
From the first day that I stepped into my CBS (Community Bible Study) class, the word "glean" has frequently popped into my head. From these amazing women, I glean. Each day that I am there I absorb so much wisdom and knowledge from their minds and hearts. So as I looked up the word "glean" I agreed with most of it, except the "little by little or slowly" part. The women impart a LOT of wisdom, but it is also somewhat true due to the fact that I can be rather thick skulled and sometimes knowledge does not seep through so easily.
This morning was no different than the days prior. I gleaned much from the incredible hearts of these women! One bit of wisdom that I walked away with was this: You can't play Monopoly with Yahtzee rules!
Shocking- I know.
Back in the day, there was a really big set of rules and regulations that the peeps had to follow. They were rather cumbersome to say the least, but they were there for a reason. God knows what he's doing and he had the rules there for guidance and to teach his people. Somewhat like a parent does. The rules aren't always easy or fun, but they are in place to protect us.
Someone said today that it's like a fenced yard for a child. Not that you can't climb over the fence when you're told to stay in, you sure can, but when a parent tells a child to stay in the yard, it's usually for good reason. Maybe they live near open water or a busy street. When the child is older they can usually leave the confines of the yard to go ride their bike, walk to a friend's home and to explore this great big world.
And so it was, just like that, when Christ came. He came that we might have LIFE!
Colossians 2:13-15 says,
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave your sins, having cancelled the written code, with it's regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
Jesus busted open the gates of the fence so that we could have life to the full! So we could go out and explore the wide open world. To have freedom to go, knowing the fullness of God's love and forgiveness of our sinful nature!
We mess up. Daily. Hourly. By the moment. But Christ took that junk to the cross with him. We do not need to hang on to our bags of garbage anymore. Let them go, because Jesus tells us to. He tells us to hand them over, for he has already paid the price of our sin. Why do we continue to go back to our trash heaps? Why are we slow learners? Christ came to set us free from trying so hard to be good enough. We will never be good enough on our own, that's the simple fact of the matter. Being a good person won't be your ticket to ride. We can only be redeemed through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus- believing that he is Lord and Savior.
Of course I don't think that we should throw out all the laws! That would be foolish. We are still not to put other gods before God. We are still not to murder. We are still not to covet. You get the point. BUT! When we do screw up, we can know that forgiveness is just a prayer away.
So let's go back to Yahtzee vs. Monopoly. Yahtzee= old laws and commands. Monopoly= freedom in Christ and forgiveness of sins! Yippee! Let's say "so long" to the old self, the old laws, and "heyoooo!" to new life in Christ. Let's try not to play Monopoly with Yahtzee rules, it just won't work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
