\Today it has been 35 years since the birth of my first child. It amazes me how time flies. Oh, you can tell that to a young person and they won’t get it. The concept that one day you will be old seems so far away that it is inconceivable that they too will one day look in the mirror and wonder where time went; but one thing remains true time will go by—and quicker than you think.

The other thing that I think about is what’s important at the moment is rarely what’s important in the future. I thought it such a big deal that my little baby not be born on April 1st. I didn’t want an April Fools baby.  When she was born with a severe birth abnormality the day she was born didn’t matter anymore.  What was important wasn’t what we would name her, what she would wear home but would she live, and would we ever get to take her home. 

Which brings me to my topic today, what I don’t know, that isn’t important at all, and what is important and I am just not getting it I am blind and ignorant of. But there is something I can do about those things.  When I have questions which seemingly have no answer I turn to the Bible. I read the word and search for stories about the topic I am concerned with—and I pray. 

Romans 11:33 (KJV) “33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

There will be times we don’t know, what we don’t know. There will be answers to questions that are beyond or grasp. However, God is never beyond my grasp. God is always there for us. God goes through the dark times with us and He never leaves us when things get tough.  Trusting Him in those times is the tough part. Letting go and letting God handle the situations is the challenge.  Every day we have new opportunities to trust and obey, and as the old song says…there is no other way.

Give yourself permission to say, “I don’t know—but I trust God to do right by me, and for His grace for me to do right by Him.  He didn’t make my child sick, or malformed.  He gave me two more beautiful daughters to love here on this earth and one to look forward to getting to know better in heaven. I choose what to believe and then my choices make my life.

Get in the word of God and let the word of God get in you.  Find a local church and don’t just attend but find your place, and things will begin to fall into place and answers won’t be so hard to find.

The ole’ saying is true, “Those that seek Him find Him.”

Amber waves of grain—I remember singing the ole song in my childhood. I was in fourth grade the last time I remember saying prayer in school, every morning before class began. Then we would sing a few songs.  I remember how safe I felt in school and thought everyone in world had the same experience I did every morning, of every day. Then I grew up. I learned that not everyone everywhere even went to school. Not everyone loved America, and many never knew a prayer, yet alone the God we prayed to.

Years have come and gone and yesterday as I shared a message with our congregation about wheat I was reminded of my childhood.  In order for wheat to grow it must first be planted. Each grain separated from the head on which it was formed.  Then not only separated but beaten fine into flour.  If being prepared for bread then it must be further processed, kneaded, rise and punched down again—and finally placed in a very hot oven; only to be consumed by many who never even gave thanks for it.

Our Savior in all that He went through, for you and for me, went through it all because He loved us.  Take time to think about this today. Pause from your busy schedule and tell Him, “Thank you.”

I’ve included a link below of a beautiful song that will give you time to just relax and allow gratitude to flow from your heart to His. As long as we live let us remember who we can look to when we seem to lose it all, a grain of wheat must die to feed many.  Live a life that gives up what you want, that others may have what they need.  Jesus we look to you. You Jesus on the inside of us--You are our strength. 

If you have time I encourage you to listen to this medley and as you do think of all that you are thankful for and remember He will give you the strength you need: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BgeUfgyy-U 

Some of us have had the wonderful pleasure of being in a retirement home, a long term health care facility or what I refer to as a rest home to visit loved ones, friends or acquaintances.  Many of the residents in these facilities are forgotten and are left with only a few close family members around them and some are left with no one.

In many cases those that are residents in these above mentioned institutions have minds that work really well encased in bodies that are deteriorating or do not work properly.  In these types of situations they have lots of time to review their lives and look back over the years that come with the gift of aging.

Having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ helps define what’s really important in life. I have often thought of all the wisdom locked up in bodies that can no longer speak, think clearly or take care of themselves and became saddened—what a wealth of wisdom lost or locked up. 

Proverbs 20:5 (KJV) “5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

You may be asking yourself where this I headed.  The way we treat our elderly has caused us to cut ourselves off from some of the greatest wisdom available.  The cost of medical care and both husbands and wives employed has made it near impossible to spend time with those that move and speak so slowly, if they are able to move at all.  So the elderly do without the opportunity to express themselves and the younger generations do without the wisdom that comes from years of journeying through life and walking with God.  The results are loneliness for the aged and lack of wisdom for the youthful; and both can be painful. Life is full of seasons and there are opportunities at every season.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV) “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” 

If this relates to you I encourage you to pray this prayer:

“Father”, “thank you for my wonderful family.” I know we have had our issues and that the devil has stolen from us as a family. I am asking for your help today.  I can see in Your word many of your servants started out rough but finished right, may that be my testimony too.  Thank you for the grace to do the right things at the right time in the right priority.  Thank you for your loving kindness and for supplying me with grace for every season. Help me to live my life fulfilling my purpose.

While fiddling with a rubber band the other day in my office it snapped. Needless to say it hurt.  It didn’t kill me obviously, but none the less it was not a pleasant experience.  This got me to thinking about the rubber band.  It had been stretched many times before and didn’t respond so negatively, why this time?  Oh--and then one of those God Epiphanies occurred.  When you and I are stretched to our limits we don’t necessarily snap and hurt someone, but there are “those times”.  So what attributes to one of “those times”? We know we are supposed to be kind to one another so why do we respond less than kind?

Romans 12:10 (KJV) “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” 

Because we are hungry, angry, lonely and tired (notice acronym HALT).  Halting is exactly what we need to do during one of “those times”.  A rubber band can’t say, “Hey wait a minute I’m not really in the frame of mind to be pulled on—you better back off.” Nope, it just snaps. Come on we all been there and done that.  Many of us have the T-Shirt that may even read “Beware”.  At least if we wore the T-shirt some poor un-expecting innocent creature may be spared our “snap”.

What’s in us is usually what comes out.  Good things in—well then good things out.  We are all somewhat programed like that computer we all stare at every day.  So how do we program ourselves with good? Begin today.  Start watching what you feed on, literally and figuratively.  What you eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner or failure to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner really matter in our ability to function properly. Also what else we consume matters, such as TV, radio, magazines, computer generated materials, and even those we hang out with because all contribute to a healthy operating system or one in desperate need of defragging and virus scanning.

A good place to begin is in the word of God for it lets us know what’s in us.

Psalm 44:21 (KJV) “Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.” 


He knows what's in us and His word reveals that to us, then the responsibility of what we will do with what He shows us is up to us.

James 1:23-25  (KJV)”23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Find time to begin to put the right things in your body and in your mind.  When you need to HALT do so without guilt. Find time to recreate, in doing so you will be re-created from the inside out; and the next time you get pulled on and stretched one too many times perhaps you may surprise yourself and hang tough under pressure and avoid that inevitable..."snap".

 

 

 

What would you do if you were unafraid?  Your first response may surprise you.  I would be willing to guess for many of you it would not be, jumping from an airplane or driving a race car.  From one web site I learned most are afraid of public speaking, heights, bugs and clowns and somehow they based their findings on people’s political persuasion? Things that make you go, “huh”. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/30/clowns-are-twice-as-scary-to-democrats-as-they-are-to-republicans/)

No, that was none of the ones that came to my mind. Fear of not fulfilling the call of God upon my life, fear of disappointing God, fear of not tapping into all that God has in store for me, those are a few of my top fears... okay, and heights.  What are your fears? I hope you will comment and perhaps I will mention your answers in another upcoming blog (no names I promise). The Bible tells us to, “Fear not” one hundred and seventy times.  There are very few things it tells us to fear. However, God is one of those things we are to fear.

Matthew 10:28 (NIV) “28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Romans 8:15 (KJV) “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

I guess it would be hard to say what we would do if we were not afraid because all of us deal with something we fear.  However, let me encourage you today to be fearless to serve God, fearless to obey God and fearless to sacrifice for God.  Try doing things afraid.  Afraid to tithe? Tithe anyway.  Afraid to love? Love anyway. Afraid to trust? Trust anyway. Afraid to speak in public—do it afraid and you will get better at it.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Shake off your fears and go for it! You may not be completely comfortable but shake it off and do it anyway.  Who knows you may surprise yourself and everyone else, and when you do—give God the glory…after all, He believes in you; and so do I.

It's always hard to learn new things. It doesn't matter whether it's a physical challenge or a mental skill, learning can be challenging at the least and near impossible at best.  So how do we learn something new?  

As I sit here this morning myself learning something new my first task at hand (for we Type A's=hard driving Cholerics) is to relax. We are not going to permanently destroy the universe and there are very few problems that can't be fixed.  So number one--relax.  The next thing we need to do is to find someone who is patient in that area or well versed in that area.  The reason we look for those key people qualities is that they either are laid back enough to be patient with us or they know it so well that they can remain calm and understand our frustrations.

Hope this helps someone out there. This is just an added "thinking of you" Remarkable Blog.

Take a look at the world as if it were the first time you were seeing it. Today I went for a short walk with my foster grandson. Every footstep was a first. The first sewer cap, the first drain grate, the first pile of cinders, the first leftover leaf from fall; things you and I just step over without a second glance.  I was remembering a part in the movie Toy Story where Buzz Light Year shouts, “unstable terrain, unstable terrain.”  Watching him go around the above mentioned items as if they were something awful and dangerous until he saw me step on them in his amazement was fascinating. He didn’t really have fear of them just an apprehension.  I could sense that if I was afraid he was going to be too. His hesitation told me I don’t know quite where to put this.  When I helped him put these unknowns in a safe place then when he happened upon them again—they went straight into the safe place.

What about you and me? Where do we put our “unknowns” and “haven’t yet experienced” things we encounter on a daily basis. As Christians we are to live by faith. To some extent I think we do that pretty good…we look at a chair never sat on it before but hey we see others sit down on a chair and we go for it. What about tithing? What about believing something in the word of God that stretches us? What about forgiving someone?  What about falling in love and getting married and having children?  When we see it work for others it gives us faith that it will work for us and we put it in the safe place; but then something unexpected happens and what we saw doesn’t work when it’s repeated in our own life or the life of those we love. What do we do with that?

Taking the lesson from my Grandson we step out one foot at a time….holding onto someone else’s hand. No matter where he went he held tight to my hand. When he wanted to pick up a rock or a leaf or a handful of cinders he held tight.  He and I both knew I wasn’t going to let him experience life all by himself.  He had someone who loved him and who was watching out for him.  We do too.

Hebrews 13:5 (KJV) “… for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

The next time you are experiencing something for the first time remember you are loved and you never walk alone. When Jesus arose from the dead and ascended into heaven He made a very special promise and He keeps His promises. Life will have unstable terrains at times and there will be obstacles that seem unsurmountable but you are not alone.

John 16:7 (KJV) “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

You will no doubt learn something about human nature, if you ever have a chance to observe children.  I took my place in the back of the room and began to watch how 2 to 5 year olds interact. The Bible story was over as one began to talk about dinosaurs and was getting everyone’s attention; another child spoke up and told the class about an alligator in her bathroom.  The attention was diverted to the alligator story, then back to a newer bigger dinosaur story. The tug of war over who got the most attention went on around the table until they bored of the competition, and went about the next topic which today was coloring.  Personalities were exposed as some stayed within the lines and others just hurried to get color on a page to say they finished first. Still there was at least one who hadn’t quite decided what color to use and when they did, of course it was the color some other child was already using.

What is it about human nature in that we cannot seem to celebrate one another’s strengths and augment and supplement when need be, others weaknesses? 

Romans 12:10 (KJV) “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;”

The charades continued through snack as the little ones observed who was eating what and how they went about it. I didn’t realize there were so many ways to eat a cheese stick and a graham cracker. Like I said you can learn a lot from watching children.

When the class time was about over the little ones were allowed free time. I was surprised how many little guys like to cook and do laundry. Not surprised the little girls went for baby dolls and strollers. When one child went to take what he wanted from another child the teacher reminded him, “We don’t take toys from other children we share.” The next time he went to take something else he wanted he said, “I’m just sharing.”  I laughed to myself as these little ones were by nature justifying their actions and figuring out how to get along with one another with all their differences.

Ephesians 2:3 (KJV) “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” 

No one has to teach us how to be self-serving rather than sacrificing. No one has to teach us to want our way. No one has to teach us to want attention. It’s not easy being a child with all these things to learn that go against our sinful nature. Today say “thanks” to a teacher. Send a note to one from your past if need be.  These teachers worked tirelessly redirecting these little ones and then redirecting yet again—and again. I love these teachers, with smiles on their faces and constant reminders to “be nice”. “Say thank you”, “say please”, and “share”.  The Bible story was great, but seeing the Bible in action was even better.

When I left the class and re-entered grown-up territory I reminded myself to “be nice”, “say thank you”, “say please”, and “share”…Oh and make sure you let others tell their story about the alligator in their bathroom…my dinosaur story can wait for another day.

Today is my Daddy’s birthday. Only thing different about this year and last year is last year, Daddy was alive, this year he’s not. It’s very interesting how much difference a year can make. Ask yourself what you want to be different next year. I would guess in your “what you want to be different next year list”, someone in your life dead would not be one of them.  Yet death happens.  Death happens every day of every year.  In fact we know the bible says, “It is appointed to every man death and then the judgement.”   So we should be expecting death but instead we live our lives trying to avoid death—death the Bible tells us is going to happen.

Hebrews 9:27 (NKJ) “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

Time is a gift we have been given each day we are alive. This gift—this time is something we can spend however we want and then as quickly as it came it goes; for some quicker than for others.  Who do you desire to spend your time with? Sure we all have to work, do laundry, wash our clothes and groom our bodies but how about that “free” time.  Most believe they don’t have any free time, but we all do. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 (NKJ) “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ...” 

What will you do with the gift of time that you have been given?  May I suggest you spend some time on yourself, spend some on work, some on family and friends, but invest some time on your relationship with your heavenly father?  Get to know who you will be spending eternity with.  If your loved ones who have passed away knew Jesus, then you can rejoice that when you’re called home… they will be there to meet you too.

John 14:2 (KJV) “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Prepare for where you are headed today and treat others like today is the last day you have with them because; it just might be.

Kids say the funniest things. I had the pleasure of teaching children’s church last night and the curriculum we use is called, Basic Bible Skills.  There are cards that have questions on them with various point values. The children are to answer the questions and keep track of their points. There is a wide age range between the children. I was amazed at the quickness of these young ones. The other thing I noticed was their empathy and mercy for each other. 

For example there would be cards with three questions. One question would be worth 100 points, one 200 points and one 300 points.  The child that was ahead purposely waited on the younger child to get some points because he was so far ahead.  When he did that another young girl noticed and began to help the youngest find chapters and verses. 

At the end of the night I retested the children on all the cards we had gone over.  They all knew all the answers.  Even though they learned at different rates, they all learned the same information.

The funniest question was, “Who in the Bible had the first water bed?”  It took them awhile but after checking the scriptures they figured out it was Moses.  We all laughed and the comradery between them was moving.  What had once been a challenge was now easy sailing. There was no competition now on who had the most points; it was “we” all remembered the answers to all the questions.

God wants us to learn. We all learn at different rates. We are all at differing age levels in our knowledge of Christ. But each one of us can help another with what we do know.  Hey, I even learned about the first water bed. Who’d ever thought it was invented way back in Exodus.

Exodus 2:3 (NLT) “But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River.”

The Bible tells us we should be like little children.

Matthew 18:3 (KJV) “3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 

Today allow yourself to see through the eyes of a child.  Look at some of those you work with or live with and image how you can help them to find some answers to questions they may be asking.  Give them a chance to get some points.  The object of life is that when we get to heaven—to be all grown up and look just like Jesus.