Posted on in 2012 Posts

Live, Dream, Plan, Expect!

We all go through life imagining what the perfect life would look like don’t we?  We see others with more money…less stuff…more stuff…different jobs and no matter what, we wonder, “Would my life be better if I had what they have?”  I think if I just did this or that…all my problems would go away.

I remember one time before Jim and I got married we took three of our four kids on a weekend away at Cumberland Lake.  We had high expectations of the perfect weekend allowing our three kids still at home to get to know each other.  We had the perfect blended family in mind.   We had planned the weekend with fun things we knew the kids would enjoy doing.  When we got there, we unpacked the car and headed out for a day of adventure.  The first stop was one of those restaurants where you drive up and park.  Someone on roller skates came out to take our order and then skated back with our food some time later.   It was something different since we didn’t have one of these places back home and they had a nice assortment of food that the kids would enjoy.  It was the perfect stop for some famished kids.

My daughter and her friend were in the back with Jim’s two kids in the bucket seats in the middle of the van and Jim and I up front.  As the food was delivered, we all excitedly passed the goods around the van with the anticipation of the first “fun” we would have that weekend.  Most of us had taken a bite or two when one of the kids in the middle seat started choking.  He had bitten off a piece of his cheesestick and the cheese was stringing down the back of his throat not allowing him to move it up or down!  Jim turned around and held out his hand just in enough time to catch the flying, chewed up piece of cheese.  We all just sat there looking at our food.  One by one, each person put their food back into their bags and filed out of the van to the trash.   No one looked at each other but just returned to their seats, solemnly staring forward waiting for our next great idea.  Not wanting the day to start on a sour note, I cheerfully turned and asked, “Who wants to go bowling?”

By the time the weekend was over and we had all gotten to know each other a little better, we could laugh at our first experience as a “family”.  However, what we had expected for the weekend and what we got were two different things.  I can’t say it was bad because we didn’t get to enjoy our meal…it was just different.

Have you ever made the perfect plan with high expectations?  Perhaps it was a vacation, a new relationship or even a new home?  We live, we dream, we plan, we expect.  How does your relationship with God enter into your life, dreams, plans and expectations?  As children of the King, we should be living big, dreaming big, prayerfully planning big and expecting God to be in every little detail.  However, when we leave Him out of our lives, dreams, plans and expectations, things often fall apart.  Perhaps they might even go as planned but just aren’t as big a blessing as we expected them to be simply because we forgot to include God.

The truth is, we serve the CREATOR of the universe.  If we ask Him to come into our lives and fill our dreams with His plans for us, we should be expecting great things.  I see so many ask others to pray for them and the answer is, “Sure, I’ll pray for you,” in a monotone response.  Why aren’t we excited?  Why aren’t we expecting great things when we pray?  Is God a God you can’t count on?  Of course we pray for things and don’t always get the answer we asked for, but does that make God bad?

I so want to live a victorious life in Christ, don’t you?  I want to get excited about praying for God’s plan in my life and in others’.  I want to wake up every morning with a supernatural expectation that only God can give me.  I want to embrace the fact that the Creator of the Universe, Savior of the World wants me to join Him on HIS team and help HIM to reach others!  We serve an AWESOME GOD!  Why aren’t we excited and jumping up and down about it?

This week I travel to Northern Indiana for four speaking arrangements to share my personal testimony of how God came into my life and changed me.  My body and mind are weary from the last two weeks of saying goodbye to my brother in two memorial services, grieving over the void it leaves in my life, not much sleep for a while now and demands of things needing to be completed here before I go on the road again.  However, I have great expectations.  I know that my strength is not what gets me through; nor is it what is effective in leading others to Christ.  I depend on God who is my strength when I am weak and even when I am strong.  I know that if He is first, He will bless my travels and words despite my physical circumstances.  I’m expecting GREAT things!

What is God asking you to plan today for Him?  Has He invited you to serve Him in some way and you have not yet said yes?  What are you waiting for?  Life gets busy, we get tired, but it’s not about us.  It’s about Him.  Trust me.  Your results may not look anything like what you planned or dreamed but with God in the center of it all, you can expect the unexpected!   So go big!  Live life to its fullest, dream like you can’t lose, prayerfully plan with God in the center of it all and get EXCITED that you serve a God that exceeds any expectations you may have!  The key is to not stop.  Keep moving, praying, serving and expecting!  See you next week!

2Corinthians 12:9-10 (NKJV)  And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” … Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Ephesians 3:20  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

Posted on in 2012 Posts

Don’t Delay…Go Do Something!

This was the view after Mike’s memorial at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego.

I noticed several of you went to my site last Monday for a new blog and were probably surprised to find nothing new there.  I apologize for not writing last week.  However, I got a call Saturday night that my brother, Mike, was dying.  My sister and I hopped on the first plane out the next morning to San Diego.  We were able to get there in time that he was at least able to flutter an eyelid and moan enough to let us know he knew we were there.  For that I am grateful.  He died peacefully in his sleep Monday morning.

As much as I wanted to get online and tell you all what was happening, I simply had no words.  Mike and I were very close and his leaving this earth brings a huge void in my heart.   I am assured that he is in heaven with Jesus now though and I know that peace of knowing will comfort me like nothing else can.  I appreciate the online well wishes, cards, emails and phone calls from many of my friends.

I know I’ve written about this before but here I go again.  During the past week, I was reminded once again of how important it is for others to reach out when someone experiences a loss or has an illness.  The simple acts of picking up the phone or sending a card speak volumes to those in pain.  There were special friends who just came and sat with us.  They didn’t need to have words of wisdom.  They simply sat in the living room offering a hug here and there when needed.  Others brought in meals…comfort food one might say.  There were of course condolences shared on Facebook  that were simply overwhelming with the outpouring of love shared in volumes.  We all felt loved by the actions of others throughout the week.

There is a not so pretty side to all of this as well.  It’s painful when you know someone close knows about the death and doesn’t call—maybe because they simply don’t know what to say.  There are others who loved my brother but are now wracked with guilt for not keeping in touch prior to his death.  I heard many say, “I had meant to call or stop by, but I just got too busy.”  Now they will live never having the opportunity of saying their goodbyes.

I am just as guilty as everyone else.  I know there are people I should’ve reached out to by now and haven’t.  This was a rude awakening to once again listen to that still small voice that tells you to go do something.  You don’t need to know what to say.  It may even feel awkward.  It’s OK.  Those on the receiving end will help you.  Life is too short.  Don’t miss the opportunities to be a blessing to others.  For when you are a blessing to others, you are blessed in return!

Thanks for hanging in there with me!  I will try to be more upbeat next week in my writings.  But just in my usual style…what you see is what you get.   These are the things on my mind this week.  Have a blessed week and go be a blessing!

Matthew 5:4 (NKJV)  Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

John 13:34-35 (NIV)  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Posted on in 2012 Posts

Are You Listening to What You Are Hearing?

We had house guests this weekend from out of state.  At breakfast, I was asking them how they slept and they said, “Great!”  Then the husband said, “I really enjoyed the birds this morning outside our window and of course I heard the train in the distance too.”   I thought to myself, “I used to hear those things too, but it’s funny, I don’t hear them much anymore.” 

As I sat down to write my blog this morning, I was overtaken by the beauty of the trees.  I’ve been accused of it not taking much to distract me or get me excited.  However, they truly were stunning today.  I tried to take a picture of the prettiest one but I just couldn’t possibly capture its full beauty in a mere photo.  No one paints a picture like God—not even Nikon!  As I continued to think about what I was going to write about, birds flitted by the window, were hanging on the side of the house and a squirrel was shaking the trees from one end to another as it chased a friend.  What an awesome picture.

Then I was reminded of our conversation the day before.  I decided to open the window and listen to this beautiful photo being played out in front of my eyes. 

Oh my!  As I listened, I heard the birds chirping loudly and some geese honking as they flew over.  I could hear the traffic rushing to and fro wherever their lives were taking them today.  Golf carts drove by and the clank of the club hitting the ball filled the air.  In the distance, I could hear the hammers of builders constructing another home across the fairway behind our house.  Then the sirens started ringing and the train horn blew.

Wow!  What world have I been living in?  I had grown so accustomed to my surroundings that I simply wasn’t hearing anything anymore.  I find myself going through life that way too sometimes.  I am very selective in my hearing one might say.  If it’s not positive and happy, I tend to not always hear or comprehend.  Some might think that is a gift…not always.  My A.D.D. also tends to draw my attention quickly away from things I maybe should focus on a while so that I might be effective in helping those in need around me.  It’s much easier to stay in my happy bubble versus getting involved in the uglies of someone’s world though.  It’s a two edged sword, really.  I am perfect to have around when everything looks dismal and impossible to overcome…I will always find the silver lining and encouraging words. However, don’t dwell on your trials and struggles too long around me.  It just isn’t my thing to sit around and whine all day over things we can’t control.  I’d rather be thankful for what is going right instead of crying about everything going wrong.

Once again, I hear God’s voice.  I feel He is telling me it is noble to dwell on the good and positive things, but I can’t get to the point where I am so positive that I can no longer hear the cries for help around me.  He has put us all on this planet in our certain neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and churches to reflect His beauty to others.  Sometimes even when it’s not comfortable, we need to open our windows and listen.  Listen to our world around us.  Who is crying out for help that we didn’t even notice was there?  There will be those who flit past our radar as the birds did in this video.  How will we view them?  Are they silently saying, “Help!  Can you see me?  I need your attention!”  How will we react?  Will we look at them as an interruption in our otherwise beautiful world or will we take the time to listen to hear about how we can help?

I know this is an area that I need to focus on in my own life.  Maybe you have that problem too.  Sometimes I need to step out of my happy bubble long enough to invite someone to at least come and join me for the party!  Have you, like me, grown so accustomed to the pain, suffering, and noises of this hurting world that you no longer hear?  I challenge you to open your window so to speak and listen.  Listen to your world.  Listen to the Holy Spirit who wants to use you to make your world even more beautiful than you can imagine or do on your own.  For when God is invited to guide your hearing, something majestic evolves.  It’s a one of a kind portrait called your life that God’s touch can make absolutely stunning.  Are you listening?

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Proverbs 1:5  …let the wise listen and add to their learning…