He Restores My Soul

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One of the reasons I don't post daily is that some days aren't that pretty. I have had some days where if I posted my thoughts, people might have just cause to question my Christianity. Yet a discussion I had with a good friend recently made me realize perhaps I missed it.

I love the words of this bumper sticker I saw that said "Christians aren't perfect. Just forgiven." (I may have posted that once before). But it's so true. There is none among us that is perfect. I think humans, in general, suffer from the tendency to judge. We judge everyone, including ourselves. We won't acknowledge our judgment of others but are quick to point out when someone is judging us. I read Romans 2:1 and was thoroughly convicted of this truth. It says: "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things."(NIV) We could all use a good dose of humility and objectivity.

But I digress.

So much has happened over recent months and at the end of it all I can say thank You Jesus. I have been confused, terribly stressed and at times depressed. But the Lord is still good and faithful. He never leaves my side no matter how angry and frustrated I get. I find great comfort in that. I love being a born-again believer in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior because I know He has my back. Sometimes I may not perceive His work on my behalf, but He never fails me, leaves me or forsakes me. That is He will always get it right and I can trust Him, He won’t leave me alone and He won’t turn His back on me. I can honestly say I have gone through some very dark days when I couldn't say I heard from God. But I recently got this revelation of the word in Psalm 23 I know so well.

It talks about how when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because He is with me. In a lot of ways I have been walking through that valley. But He said His rod and staff comfort me. That rod and staff are indicative of His presence. Often times when we pass through this dark valley we don't always perceive His presence. But that rod and staff are a comfort because they remind us that He is with us. Through it all. Recently there have been days when I felt like the Lord had given up on me. He would have been justified. Yet He still burst through the darkness with His marvelous light to comfort me with His rod and His staff.

Earlier on in Psalm 23 I read "...He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul..." I can truthfully say I have been broken to the point of not knowing where to go, what to do or when to do it. I thought I could not be put back together again. Yet He restored and still restores me. He refreshed me with the still water and cause me to receive His rest and peace.

I share all of this to say, you are never alone. God is always there. He cares for you and everything that concerns you. Christians still carry the same burdens non-believers carry in this life. But Who helps us along the way is the difference. I don't claim to be perfect, holier than anyone or have it all together. As a matter of fact, most people seem to have it together more than I do from my perspective. But I have learned (and I’m continuing to learn) how to trust Him to work things out for me. The truth is no matter how in control we may seem to be or try to be we are not. Only God is in control. The question is do you struggle against Whom you can never win or give up and late Him handle it? He knows what He's doing.

Betrayal and Forgiveness

When a person suffers a physical injury, perhaps a broken bone or a deep wound or gash, everyone knows that it can take months for the healing on such injuries to be completed. Beyond the healing period, it could take up to a year or longer before residual pains and aches subside. That being the case, why is it that when someone suffers a deep emotional injury, everyone expects them to "get over it" and forgive. This is particularly true, I've found, among Christians.

They will tell you that you have to forgive and forget. People go about life as if nothing ever happened. It's easy to do that when you're the one who committed the crime or better still the one who's not involved but only heard the story as a third party. When you are the one who bears that burden (especially a deep personal hurt you can't describe with words), it takes the Lord helping you through.

I encourage you brethren, show some compassion. Christ was the picture of it. If we are to be Christlike, we need to toss the judgement and have a heart. Some of us forget what it's like to be on the receiving end of a major hurt. To hurt in a place aspirin and Tylenol can't touch. To agonize over feelings you can't seem to understand or, sometimes, control. To want to repay the offender but knowing you can't because 1)God said vengeance is His and 2)it's not in you, no matter how much they deserve it. To know the person is living life like they never did a thing and you are aching and still have yet to get past it, though you desperately want to (you know they don't deserve the attention, but the pain is real). Worse yet, to have the wound re-opened every time something occurs to remind you. It's like starting the process of forgiving over each time.

I imagine it must be pretty difficult for people trying to get through the hurt of infidelity and unfaithfulness. It's easy to separate or divorce because you won't have to face the one who stomped on your heart. Eventually, you get over it and achieve some semblance of forgiveness. Unfortunately, some become bitter. Our society supports an easy fix. Breaking up is hard, but easy.

But what about the ones who decide to stick it out and work through the pain. It's hard because everyday the wound can be reopened by the most inadvertent thing. Months and maybe years later, the person is the bad guy because they didn't "get over it" when in truth they are just trying to heal from the latest picked scab. They are working at forgiving the latest hurt.

If you're on the receiving end of forgiveness, please don't ever assume the position of making the person you hurt feel as if they have to forgive you, like they owe it to you. In God's eyes yes, but to you it's an extension of grace. Grace is what you don't deserve. You have no right to demand it.

And be considerate. The person is trying to work through feelings they don't like and are uncomfortable with. Be compassionate. You would appreciate the same.

The Bible says God throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness. I wish it were so easy for us. The truth is His ways are not our ways. We still have a way to go. I guess with practice we get better at forgiving.

It seems some hurts are easier to forgive. The ones that cut the deepest are the ones committed by those closest to us. Either way, I pray and know the Lord will give us help. We need it.

Christmastime Again!

I've had this blog for one year. I've succeeded in barely keeping it up and blogging on a less-than-regular basis. Is it a wonder I never sent those Christmas cards I spoke of in my first post?! LOL! Procrastination at its best! When I reread that post, I just laughed. I'm not perfect, I make myself laugh quite a bit. In that laughter, I realized something. I am an all around comedienne. I'm hilarious! I am a trip!

Some of you may not agree, but I know how to give myself a good belly rolling laugh. Who better to laugh at than yourself. I see humor in so many things and I just love that about myself. Now I do I have to reign myself in not to be mean or harsh. But I love laughter. It just feels so good! I am always listening for the next opportunity to laugh. Just a good guffaw! Makes life awesome. "A merry heart does good like medicine.." Proverbs 17:22. I'd rather laugh than down a pill. The side effects are all good! LOL!!!

ANYWAY....the real reason for this season of celebration is the precious, priceless gift of Jesus, the Christ. I hope all of you are able to receive that gift fully. Your life will be changed and transformed. You'll never be the same. He is indescribable. Merry Christmas to all of you and I pray you have an incredible, amazing, laughter-filled new year! God bless you.

Jesus is the real reason for the season.

Time

I've been thinking a lot lately about time. Primarily how I never seem to have enough. In today's world with so much going on and so much to do, we never seem to have enough time. Time to ponder, think, unwind....breathe. I realize, for me, that I tend to bite off more than I can chew. I love doing things. Yet when I have no choice but to sit still (like if I'm sick), I go batty. Why is that?


In the middle of all that truth, I find that I still long for simpler times, where I had time to lie on the grass and watch the clouds go by, naming their shapes OR whistle on a blade of grass. But the truth of all of this is that I realize we (people) tend to want what we don't have. When I was young and had time to loaf, I longed to be out on my own doing things. Now that I am, I want to slow down. But I know the Word and it lets me know to be content wherever I am. So back to this issue of time.

My last post was in mid-August. After that I had two weddings (I'm a wedding planner) and started a 12-week course at the local CC. No wonder I have little time! LOL! Thankfully, the class ended and Christmas is coming. More to do. LOL! But I have had the opportunity to slow down these last few days. I realized that I do have time. Even when I'm hustling along. I have time. What I do with it is what counts.

I'll use this time to thank God. He deserves so much credit for the great things I've been privileged to witness. Thank You Lord!

Sorry for the delay!

Ok, so it's been a minute since my last post. Life and work has crowded so much of my attention. But enough time has passed and, alas, I must get back on the wagon. Life is great because Jesus is great and I am grateful. So much has happened over the last few months. It would be very difficult to summarize except to say that Jesus is, indeed, great. All glory belongs to my heavenly Father.

Work is slowing down a bit. So I know I'll have more time to post and express myself. In the meantime, the Lord's blessing to everyone. See you on the blogosphere!

Children Say the Funniest Things!

This is the first of what I expect will continue over time. Sharing the funny and peculiar things my children and other children I know say:

Children say the darndest things:

I was eating and said something random. A hiccup caught me mid chew and thank God I was ok. My youngest wisely chimes in “That’s why you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.”

My husband was dropping the children off at school on a particularly cold day. Because he was dressed a little too light for the weather that day, he was rushing them out of the car saying, “It’s cold!! Hurry up!!” My darling child was taking her sweet time getting out of the car. She looked at him and said, “if you knew it was cold, why did you dress like that?”

What can you say when the truth is laid before you?

How to make a red light turn green

I have noticed that whenever I am stopped at a red traffic light, nothing turns it green faster than me looking for something in my bag. I'm usually shaken into the realization that it's red by the annoyed driver behind me leaning on his/her horn. Why does that happen? I have sat in more than my share of red lights that seemed to last forever! Yet when I suddenly need to find the bottle of hand sanitizer or my phone, lights just turn green like that! It's like a new Murphy's law: when you're not in a hurry, every light turns green.

I think I'm getting this trend. When I'm in a hurry, I’ll start composing a text message. Green light.