Category: 2012 Posts

Posted on in 2012 Posts

Help! I’m Getting Old and I Can’t Make It Stop!

It used to be if I felt old, I would lose five pounds, buy a new outfit and stay up past 10:00 pm one night to feel young again.  Now I would have to lose twenty pounds, color my roots, shop for days to find something that fits, and take a nap the next day if I did stay up late.  It wears me out even thinking about it.  I think I am just getting too old to shake the feeling old feeling anymore.  However, I have learned it is all in perspective.  I was at a party a few weeks ago and an elderly gentleman mentioned he was, “At the age where everything is either dried up or it leaks!”  I guess relative to where he is at in life, I might begin to feel young again.

I am reminded every morning when I wake up though that I am no longer a spring chicken.  My feet, legs and back remind me that there are some things even a Tempur-Pedic mattress can’t fix.  I look in the mirror and my sexy nightgowns lost the sexy somewhere along the way.  Although, I have found that if I don’t put my glasses on right away, I can pretend that I have a younger body and all is well.  It’s much more pleasant than facing reality before my first cup of coffee. I pull out the medicine drawer and filler-up on the hormones I lost in menopause in hopes that I can finish a sentence at any given time during the day.  On the bright side, I still have my own teeth and most days I can still laugh about getting old!  I laugh even harder if it’s someone else getting older and not me though.  However, the reality of life is, we are all going to get older unless we are dead.  So looking at a glass half-full, one might be praising God for another day added to our age instead of the alternative!

Then there are the situations when I feel like life has been unfair to some.  In last month’s mass shooting, one of the men killed, Matt McQuinn, was only twenty-seven years old.  It affected me as his parents were people I’ve known for many years.  We used to worship together every Sunday morning with our young children in the days gone by.  When the kids are young you don’t think anything could happen to them.  Even when Matt was twenty-seven, who would have thought he wouldn’t make it back home from a Batman movie?

I don’t understand it when God chooses to take someone from this life what I would think was prematurely.  However, Jim and I were discussing this last night as I am yet again faced with a couple of loved ones struggling with cancer.  Jim said he has learned, “that this earth is just a practice grounds…it’s full of do-overs.  While we are here on earth, God allows us to figure things out so to speak.  Grace is a beautiful gift we shouldn’t overlook.  It allows us to become the person God created us to be and still allows us to have a clean slate after it is all said and done.  Grace erases our past and gives us hope of a new beginning…sometimes over and over and over.”

If I knew what I know now when I was younger, my choices would have been drastically different. However, if I had not walked through the valley of sin and destruction, I may not appreciate the grace afforded to me to find my way out of that life today.  I may not be the strong believer that I am today had I not felt the no-strings-attached forgiveness extended to me when I simply asked.  Had I not walked through the trials given to me, I would have never developed the relationship that I have with my Savior that I have learned to lean on and to trust.

We both agreed that perhaps when someone is called home at an earlier age than I think they should be, that maybe they have “passed the test.”  You know…become the person they were to become and served the purpose God had given them in this world.  It seems like the younger the death, the more impact it has on those around them.  Perhaps like Jesus, they were sent here to live so that even in their premature death, they might influence those around them for Christ.  It doesn’t always make sense to us and we grieve over our losses.  However, since when did God ever tell us everything or allow us to understand all about His plan?  We aren’t here to have all the answers or say when someone should live or die.  We are here to practice until we get it right!

So who cares if my teeth fall out, my hair needs colored and my bones creak when I move?  My focus here on earth is to “get it right” and fulfill that which God has called me to do.  Maybe I’m a slow learner and I will have to live to be 92 before God calls me home.  Perhaps He just has so much for me to do I won’t be able to get it all done until then.  I don’t know what tomorrow brings…neither do you.  So, tell your friends and family you love them.  Talk to them about Jesus if they don’t know Him personally like you do.  Ultimately, it won’t matter how old they are when they die if they have accepted Jesus as their Savior.  They will be in eternity with Him…no more sorrow or pain…no more need for do-overs—or makeovers for that matter!  If you wake up tomorrow and God has called me home, don’t cry—know that I’m OK.  I’ve simply gotten through my grace period and I’ve been signed on for eternity in heaven!  (If I’m still around at 92, you can laugh at me and tease me that I must have fit into the slow learner category!)

Can I trust that it will be the same for you?  If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, will you please pray today and ask Him to come into your heart?  I love my friends and family and want you all there with me.  It’s going to be a big party in the sky where young and old will be reunited in the afterlife. Until then, I thank God for another day to serve Him on this earth, and oh, please pass the Bengay!

Hebrews 13:14 (NLT)  For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

Philippians 1:20-26  For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

Posted on in 2012 Posts

Slow Down, Seek God, Share His Goodness, Trust

I am having a great time watching all of the nature in my yard this year.  As you all may remember, there were robins early this spring that had babies right outside my office window, allowing me a bird’s eye view of their daily lives.  Once they left, I decided to get a hummingbird feeder.  It totally fascinates me to watch such tiny creatures flit around in their world.  After some time of just ants and wasps eating the nectar I lovingly prepared for the hummingbirds, they finally started coming!

These birds are fascinating.  They travel so quickly that you have to really pay attention to get to actually see one in detail.  Even though there is always plenty to go around, if one is on the feeder, another may be seen dive-bombing it so that they can come get a drink!  Jim was able to get a few photos a couple of weeks ago of them at the feeder.  It’s nice that he gets excited about the birds too.  I think I’ve figured out that if the animals are on the outside of the house he likes them way better!

That’s all out the front window.  As I sit on the back side of our house in my office from day-to-day, I’ve been getting a different show.  Last week a little bird started coming up to Lucy’s (the robin) old nest and meticulously taking pieces of grass off of it.  I watched as it returned several times, plucking a piece off the nest and flying away.  I thought he or she must be rushing off to build their own nest somewhere unknown to me.  It seemed to be a little like cheating to take from someone else’s masterpiece rather than finding its own; but nonetheless, it was being resourceful!

After several times of taking a piece here and there, the little bird jumped into the nest and wiggled her belly around as though trying it out for size.  She was much smaller though and could barely see over the edge!When Lucy was building that nest, she did the same thing to mold it to her belly and ensure the fit was just right.  I had to laugh because I thought this poor little bird had been building her nest all day but was tired.  She was probably thinking, “Maybe instead of dismantling the nest already built, maybe she could make it work to fit her and she wouldn’t have to work so hard reinventing the wheel so to speak.”  A little later, she came back with two more birds to show them what she was thinking.  I don’t think they agreed though and soon she was back to plucking pieces from the nest once again.

I am amused at the different personalities of the different birds.  The hummingbird has way more energy and enthusiasm for life than one can fathom while the wren appeared to be looking for an easy way out.  The hummingbird flits from one flower to flower to flower and then to a feeder and buzzzzz, it’s off again all within about fifteen seconds!  Unlike the hummingbird that clears everyone out of the way so they can eat, the wren appeared to enjoy her friends coming alongside and hearing their opinions.

Do these birds bring any humans to mind that you might know?  I’m reminded of the way that we often seek God in our lives while watching these creatures outside my windows.  The hummingbird is trying a little flower here, another over there.  Eventually, it lands on the feeder where it finally relaxes a bit and sucks in the refreshing nutrients prepared especially for it.  The wren on the other hand, appeared to have to have peer approval for everything and was looking for an easier way without all of the dedication and sacrifice required to get to the final reward.  Can you imagine how history might be rewritten if Noah or even Jesus thought this way?

Many of us flit from one thing to another too don’t we?  I’ve seen some who change churches as often as they do underwear.  They get all excited about a program at one church and then before they finish it to completion, something else even more inviting catches their eye and they’re off in another direction.  In the process, there is never really one place they stop and rejuvenate—always on the go, never firmly planted, never really a part of anything but hold a little piece of everything.  No one to ever hold them truly accountable.

On the other hand, there are some who have actually become so comfortable with where they are at, if anyone else comes to try to join them, they are closed off and literally chase them off unwilling to share what God has done for them.  Or perhaps you know some like the wren who want to go behind those who have worked hard and just live off what others have left behind…never rising above mediocrity in their spiritual walks with God.  These types usually seek man and his advice over what God tells them because they’ve never really put the work into developing a trusting relationship with God on their own.  They attend church every Sunday but don’t read their Bible in between and spend time independently in prayer. They don’t really hear God because all of the other voices they are consulting confuse their thinking and perception.

Being a Christian requires us to be firmly planted in our faith.  We can’t be a Christian because our parents were or because we hang out with others who are.  We need to put the hard work into building a nest of faith for ourselves so to speak.  It’s nice to learn from others who have gone before us, discover what worked for them; but ultimately, our relationship with God is personal.  It’s unique between us individually and Him.

It’s OK to flit from thing to thing while you are searching for that relationship with God as long as once you find Him, you stay put and allow Him to feed you the Living Waters that only He can provide.  As a mature Christian, He will ask you to be generous in sharing God’s Goodness you have found in Him.  He doesn’t want us sitting at the feeder getting fat so to speak after we’ve been filled.  He wants us to share what we know to be life-giving and fully satisfying to our soul.  No longer do we need to consult everyone we know before stepping out when God asks us to do something.  If we are truly following God’s leading, He will give us the energy, supplies and know-how to accomplish any task He puts before us.  Although sometimes it is helpful to hear wisdom from Godly friends, in the end we need to listen for God alone.

Are you a hummingbird or wren at heart?  Did some of my words cause you to stop and reflect on the path your Christian walk is taking?  Maybe life for you just needs to slow down a bit, taking time to sip from the cup of that which only God can give.  Perhaps God is saying, “Woooah, wait a minute!  You don’t need ten opinions to whether you should do what you know I am calling you to do!  Just follow Me and trust that you will have everything you need!”  For you see, when we trust and work hard in our relationships, we are rewarded in unimaginable ways.  No one can do it for you though…it’s all up to you.

Ephesians 3:14-19 (NKJV)  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Posted on in 2012 Posts

An Update on Peace Mission India

Thanks so much to those who responded to my pleas for help with the building fund for Peace Mission India.  God is blessing and Pastor Roy just sent me a note reporting that they have collected about 25% of the funds they need to build the new orphanage.  Please continue to pray about how you might be able to help if God so leads.  This is truly a ministry on the front lines and one very close to my heart too.  Not only do they have the worries of building funds, but it is the time of year they need to buy uniforms and such for the kids as well for the next school year.

Since my last post, let me tell you a little of what transpired from my blog.  One of the ladies in our church read the blog and was inspired.  She and her husband have a heart for orphans as they have adopted previously and are currently adopting another child right now!  She and another lady from our church as well as me, pulled together a garage sale for the cause.  By telling people about the need, we also received funds from our summer Bible school families along with private donations from others.  Today, I am priveleged to forward a check to the ministry for $1825.00 towards their goal for the orphanage.  How exciting is that?

You know, I would never encourage you to get involved or give to something I didn’t believe in and give to myself.  My daughter and I support one of the kids in the orphanage individually each month to help cover her personal expenses as well.  There are always kids who do not have sponsors so if this is something you’d like to do, I can help get you connected with that side of the ministry too.   I know they need help there as well.  Raising kids is expensive, whether it’s here or there.  It gets even worse when they start going to college with all of the added monies involved.  One hundred percent of every dollar given goes directly to the ministry.  There is no middle man so to speak.  With your monthly donation of between $40-60 a month, you can soley support one of the girls.  The ones in college are usually the $60 a month.  Do you see how far your money goes when it is multiplied in their system?  We couldn’t support and send a child to college on $60 a month here!

Let me know if you want to get involved or need more information.  I would love to tell you all about Peace Mission India and the kids!  Please also keep them in your prayers as they trust God and His people to complete the building in time.  Prayers and blessings to you all!