Smoldering Stubs

This past week has been long and hard.  Various things were going on, it almost seemed like there was a problem in every area of my life.  There were a  few 'impossible' situations to deal with or at least think of the best way they should be dealt with.  Someone dear to my heart was hospitalized.  One of my children got put into a bad situation that couldn't really be avoided.  Old health problems coming back.  Divorce attorney, that just says stress.  Bad news here and hard times there.  

I found myself crying out 'Where are you God?  What is going on?"  I remember hearing Elizabeth Elliot say it is not our place to question God, only to trust Him.  As I picked up the "Solution (aka God's Word)" too look for the right answer.  I read Isaiah 7.  It says something like this.  King David's family was told that a couple of kings were getting together to go against them. The Bible records their hearts were shaken as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.  That really caught my attention.  That was how I felt this very week.  I had been, once again, shaken.  Shaken hard.  I knew my answer was here.  Then God spoke, He told Isaiah to go tell David's family,  "Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood".  Really?  I had to stop and think.  Keep calm.  Don't be afraid.  Smoldering stubs?  I suppose to God that was all it is.  No big deal.  Just some smoldering stubs not two big, huge armies. Then the Lord told them what would and wouldn't happen.  God said "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights."  

Wow!  I really can understand the response because this is just how I felt between the time I read what God said and that response.  David's family said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”  Oops.  God pretty much said, guys, don't try my patience, just do what your told.  My words of course.   

 I would love to have the faith that Mrs. Elliot had, never questioning always believing.  At this point in my life I don't.  I am more like the Israelites wondering in the desert grumbling and complaining.  When will this end?  Will I eat beans and rice forever?  Did you bring me out here to kill me?  Am I going to die before I ever even see the promised land?  More like David's family being shaken and saying, 'No way will I test God'.  But, here He is right when I ask.  With just the right answers.  Telling me that it is not only okay to ask Him for a sign that I will one day leave the dessert but that it is His idea in the first place.  Even a big sign.  Even though I took what I had just read as my 'sign' being me, I asked God to give me another sign.  It may take awhile as it isn't something that could happen right away.  In spite of having to wait, God chose to give me a different sign.  A list of things I have learned from the rough week.  Things He is using to mold me into who He wants me to be.  Things I would have never learned otherwise.  Things I can share and use.  It looks something like this.

God is faithful even if I am not.

He has a plan and it will work out because He can see the whole picture not just the one pixel that I see.

I can be my own attorney in a lot of ways.

He loves my children more than I ever could.

The court house is a bounty of free information and help!

People are more willing to do their job when you treat them like people.

People want you to say Thank you.

All hard work brings profit.

Don't believe every 'that is impossible' you hear.

Keep calm.

Don't be afraid.

It is no big deal to God and HE is still on the Throne.

He works it out in the end.

This is about Him and not me.

I know Mrs. Elliot went through some very hard times in her life.  To never question worked for her.  But, I am not her.  God has not only allowed me to question, He has let me know that as long as I am working to serve Him, He will meet me where I am.  He delights to make smoldering stubs out the times when life shakes us like trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

 

Enlightened Romance

Have you ever stopped and thought about what real romance is?  Years ago, I spent too much time reading romance novels.  From the time I was a young girl I read various novels putting one down to find myself empty and picking up the next to refill the void.  When the Lord came and claimed me for His own He also impressed upon me to stop reading these novels.  I have to admit that it was hard going.  But He gave me the strength to do it and He also gave me something to occupy my time.  The Bible.  At this time in my life I was very ignorant of God's Word.  I had no idea that it was THE most romantic book on the face of the earth!  I'm not talking Samson and Delia, which to me seems more like two people who have some serious issues.  Certainly, not David and Bathsheba we won't go there.  I am talking about the stories like we read in John 20.  One of my favorite stories in the Bible.  The story of Mary's broken heart and eternal fulfillment. 

Early in the morning we find Mary going to the Tomb of Jesus to discover the stone removed.  I picture it as a highly emotional event.  She had likely cried for days and this morning her tears were spent.  She walks closer, her heart starts to pound, thoughts flood her mind, she turns and runs for help.  When she meets Peter she quickly tells him what has happened.  Peter is definately known to be a very emotional man.  We never read that he tried to clam her like someone with less zeal might have done.  He just took off running as fast as he could go.  He came to the same conclusion, the stone was gone and so was the body.  With nothing left he went home to soak it all in but Mary, she stayed.  And there she stood crying as she gave one last glaze into the tomb.  She must have been shocked to see the two angels. They questioned her tears and she responded that her Lord had been taken (I am ready to cry at this point!) and she did not know where He had been taken to.  At this she turned, (hold your hats girls, this is the good stuff!) and saw a man (not knowing it was Jesus she thought he was the gardner) he asked who she was looking for.  She replied heart broken and desperate, as tears formed and rolled off her cheeks.  Tears she thought were gone after days of heart wrenching sobs.  "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  Can't you just hear His soft, tender voice, the voice of Love itself!!  Then she got it, she recognized Him.  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).  WOW!  To me these few little words are more romantic than the books I used to read front to back!  "Mary!"  "Rabboni!"  My spirit wells inside me when I read it.  It had to be this same voice, this same Love that called me.  The same call during a time of broken desperate sobs.  Oh, to be sure, God Loves us.  God Himself is Love, He is the author of true romance, the kind that fulls your heart forever, not temporarily.  True love that will last throughout eternity.  The Love our Creator has for us should make our hearts sing.  We should be hungry for Him.  We are hungry for Him, sometimes we just get our fill in other places.  But I am hear to tell you, there is nothing in this world that can fulfill every part of your being like God can.  It is truly what we are made for.  As you read this I pray that you are enlightened to true romance and

[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

Getting Back to Normal After A Life Storm

Once upon a time, a storm hit my life.  In the aftermath I looked around and to my surprise there was debris everywhere.  Total chaos and confusion.  Okay, I really should not have been surprised, but when you're in the midst of a storm sometimes the storm is all you can see. Especially, if the storm is a long time coming and then continues to go on and on and on, and on..and...yes, on. 

There was no order or structure anywhere it seemed.  I struggled to find one little place, one little thing that was 'right' after such a horrendous event, for this was no small storm.  When I did find one thing I clung to it for dear life, for me, it was reading my Bible daily.  

It was the one thing I could do, somedays it was all I could do, to hang on to reality, normalcy and structure.  Then one day I realized that I was ready for more.  It was a long hard road to get there and the next step was figuring out what needed to be done to regain some structure.  After many failed attempts, I came to the conclusion that I needed to take baby steps.  So, one at a time, I added things.  

I homeschool my 4 youngest children so this came next on the list.  To do school everyday in a routine manor.  Once that was going well and I knew I was ready for more (which took months I might add) I added some necessary things around the house.  It seemed overwhelming at first but I thought of the little poem that goes something like this:
Monday: Wash Day
Tuesday: Ironing Day
Wednesday: Sewing Day
Thursday: Market Day
Friday: Cleaning Day
Saturday: Baking Day
Sunday: Day of Rest
 

At least it gave me a place to start.  I don't sew or iron so I changed some things.  Mine looked more like this:
Monday: Wash Day (this means I do 4-5 loads of laundry and put it all away.  The rest of the week I only have to do 1 per day)
Tuesday: Kitchen Day (includes cleaning a couple of shelves in the fridge, making some freezer meals, baking bread and cleaning cabinets inside and out.  Not all the same week of course!  Some weeks I may do 1, others 2 sometimes I may be on a roll and get 2 1/2 done.)
Wednesday: Office Day (paying bills, working on my budget, balancing checkbook, filing papers, cleaning bookshelves, making lists, etc)
Thursday: Project Day (I love projects.  This can be anything from painting the bathroom cabinet to making paper bunnies with the grandboys.  Kind of my reward day.)
Friday: Cleaning Day (this includes all rooms inside, garage, our vehicle, and silly but the yard and garden go here)
Saturday: Sabbath (Our Sabbath is from Friday at sundown to Saturday at Sundown)
Sunday: First day of the week.  The Lords Day (we go to church then enjoy fellowship with family and or friends)
 

I am not an over achiever so I only give 1-2 hours to each item per day.  Of course some take longer, but the general rule is that I try to not get in over my head, overwhelmed, then give up.
I actually sat down and wrote a list of everything I had to do in a week then for a day.  I prioritized it, made 'morning routine' and 'evening routine' lists.  Later I was able to add things like 'before lunch routine' 'lunch time routine' 'after lunch routine' and one of my favorites when I had young children '4:00 routine' (time to pick up those toys from the day and put school books away).  

It has never worked in our house to say, "everyday at 10:00 we are going to do history"  it does work, however, to say, "everyday when Language Arts are finished we will do History".  Eventually, I was able to figure out how many hours I have in my day, then decide how much time I wanted to spend on each 'to do' item on my list.  Next, was making the list of what 'to do item' goes where.  When I made groups of routines it seems doable. 

 As I put my focus on the little bit I could do each day, time passed.   I looked around, the storm was over, life was good and I smiled.

It's All In The Perspective

Years ago, I heard a quote that has become a useful 'tool'.  I am not sure of the author, so I can't give credit where it is due, but it goes something like this:  "Any event is altered by the perspective from which it is seen."  I have made use of this many times over the years, in many situations.  It has helped me get through some tough times and it has helped me to laugh during less tough times.  Typically think of it once a month.  Yes, that's when.  The monthly cycle.  I am convinced this was meant to be a time of resting and rejoicing!  Remember, it is all in the perspective from which we see it.
Recently, a friend shared with me that she always gives herself 7 days off during her menstrual cycle. She doesn't even wait to see if she is gonna feel tired, achey or crampy.  She just marks it on her calander!  I was excited about this and  it really got me thinking how much God loves us. 
You see, in the days of the Old Testament a woman having her menstral cycle was considered ritually unclean (perspective!  stick with me!).  Everything she touched was unclean.  So, to make it easier on everyone the women were made to leave camp for 7 days.  Ladies, are we catching on here?  Once a month God planned a 7 day all out GIRL PARTY!  I can just imagine it!  The women would take turns cooking for each other, they would care for each other, they would laugh and dance and rest!  They would make big batches of cookies and eat them all!  They would get a break from the every day hustle and bustle of life.  Refresh and relax.  No dishes to wash, no laundry to fold, no goat milk to clean off the tent walls.  Just the leisure life.  How great is that?
Even better was to give birth.  A woman was ritually unclean for 40 days after having a son.  But for the prize of a daughter you got a full 80 days off.  This was just short of 3 months!  Can you believe it? Just hanging out with the girls, being pampered and waited on.  You know how women love to pamper!  Can you imagine this being the best time, something all the women looked forward to?  All wisely planned out by a Creator more Loving than we can imagine.  God says we need to take time to love ourselves.  To get plenty of good rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, somewhere in time the parties ended (possibly because someone had the wrong perspective about the girl parties).  Today we go non-stop or what seems like it.  We are over worked, over stressed and overly tired.  From my perspective, ladies, God is the one who decided we deserve a break today.  While a 80, 40 or even 7 day vacation with the girls isn't always possible in today's world, you do have the option of 7, 40 or even 80 minutes a day just to rest and relax.  Maybe, you can even plan a girl party. Maybe, you can slow down for 7 days out of the month.  And when you run into a frustrating situation stop grab this 'tool' and look from a different prospective.  It is a wonderful, healthy way to make a small yet positive change in yourself.

Wha'ts In The Name

In mid 2009, after a very hard prior year, I found myself talking to God more and more about His desire for my life.  It wasn't long before He lead me to websites about Life Coaching.  The more I read, the more interested I was.  By chance I clicked on a site for a Life Coach who was doing everything I wanted to do.  I quickly sent her and email to get more information.  Isn't it just like God that it turned out she was in the next town and more than willing to help me in any way she could.  Since then she has coached me; taught me, held my hand, gently nudged me, got down on the mat with me and cheered me on and encouraged me.  

In 2010 I began taking classes to become a Life Coach.  I prayed about a name for my new business.  I prayed and prayed and prayed some more.  The whole time I kept going back to a Scripture the Lord had Spoken to me many years before, Exodus 20:20.  To keep it in context I will start at verse 18 and end at 21.
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

This is my life verse, it reminds me that I want to be where Moses was.  Near and not afar off.  That when I see the thunderings, and the lightnings, when I hear the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking (in other words when life is HARD) it is possible, very possible that it is God coming to prove (giving  opportunity to draw close to Him and be more pleasing to Him).

20:20 also refers to acuteness or clearness of vision.  I translate this to mean the vision God has for me and the vision He has for the people He will have pass through my path.  The vision every Christian should be after.  The Vision of Drawing Near to God.  So, here I am to say: "Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not".  I will teach you, hold your hand, gently nudge you, get down on the mat to cheer you on and encourage you. 
The 20:20 Coach