The Ideal Weekend

I think what I would consider an ideal weekend might disappoint the majority of the world. Travel doesn’t appeal too much to me, no big parties, even sleeping late isn’t so exciting as long as I get what sleep I need.
Friday night we’d start with babysitting James and Laura, as we always do.  It would be even more fun if our daughter Emily and son-in-law JB could stay and we play games after the little ones go to sleep.
Saturday morning, up by 8am and time to do prayer and Bible study at leisure.  Grab coffee and breakfast and settle in! Subway tuna salad for lunch with my honey and have our oldest daughter Hannah join us. For the afternoon Hannah and I could paint or color together.  During our visiting, Hannah would have her eyes open and accept Jesus as her Savior!  Supper that evening could be gluten-free pizza and salad. Then Dave and I watch a good murder mystery.  (Unless Hannah wanted to stay to talk of course!)
Sunday morning we rise and shine and go to church with our son David and his wife Shelby AND their little darling Noel.  Then lunch together at Olive Garden.  Some good theology discussion for the afternoon would be great fun.  Around four when the Wilson kiddos get up from their nap, they and Hannah join us all for supper at Furr’s Cafeteria. Then the families can skedaddle to get little people to bed, and Dave and I watch a good Agatha Christie movie before turning in.
To many people that may sound boring, but to watch my adult children interact with each other, their own children and each other’s children is the highlight of my life!  We worked hard and went through a lot to get where we  are today and I could live in that moment forever!  And to have Hannah accept Christ, well, that’d be the highlight of my life and the only reason to have the Lord tarry.  And if that did happen on Saturday or Sunday, then Jesus could come for us Sunday evening and we could all go together! Awesome!  That would be the absolutely most ideal weekend ever!  Amen! 

A Child Will Lead Them

My son isn't a child anymore, but I want to follow his faith example. He and his wife are really struggling financially. He was the day caregiver at home since he could work from there while she went out to her job. He has recently had open heart surgery (at age 30) and cannot hold the baby for several more weeks. Friends have graciously helped with child care. They couldn't find anyone for today or tomorrow so I was taking today and she'll just take off tomorrow as her day off. Right after we set that up, I re-injured my shoulder and can't lift anything! I'm miserable for letting them down. My daughter-in-law has to take today and tomorrow off. Now they're losing an extra day of work because of me! My son's attitude? God has a reason. It's ok because they did all they could and this is what God has chosen. He'll take care of it.
I want faith like my son's!

Which is better? Past, Present, or Future?

In nostalgic moments we all would like to re-live the good times. In desperate moments we may be gripped with fear for the future or possibly giddy with excitement in the drawn out moments of waiting.
However, we can’t jump to the future or fall back to the past. That leaves us stranded in the here and now. So, how shall we handle the present?
May I suggest we first and foremost put our times in God’s hands. He’s the Great Director of this orchestra called life and He has the best credentials! I tried to direct it myself for 29 years. Let me tell you, my life was the illustrated definition of disaster. So I turned it over to God trusting in His love and goodness.
Second, I highly recommend reading the manual, the Bible. It gives great insight in wise daily living. I found it to be a great attitude adjuster too.
Another great help with that was prayer. Talking to God and talking through scripture with Him was quite enlightening. Really set the mood for the day. It even took away the fear of the future.
The best time of life is today. There were times I wanted to speed things up or make moments last forever. But really, the sweet minutes of now I wouldn’t change for any reason. 
My grandson will never be a newborn again. Those days were glorious and I savored every second. But now he’s almost three! If I stayed in the past I would not have those thrilling goosebumps when he lights up as I enter the room. Or melt when he runs towards me to throw his arms around me. Miss that? No way! Keep it forever? Always in my heart. But if I stopped in today to pass up tomorrow, I’d miss his sister's kisses and their cousin's smiles. And who knows who else is coming? Well, God does.
God has given me so many beautiful today’s. I’m keeping the present, each day as it comes.

Are Most People Good?

“Most people are good.” Are they? The Bible tells us something quite different! Romans 3:12 tells us, “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” That's pretty clear. Not only are we not good, but we've become worthless. That seems so harsh because people do perform good deeds. Unfortunately, those same people do not so good deeds as well. The thing is, people love to go their own way and do their own thing their own way. They live by their own wisdom. Proverbs 14:12 explains why that is a problem. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Of course here man means mankind which is males and females.) The reason the Bible sounds pretty negative, is unfortunately because it is reality.
We are creatures created by God. Our Creator is not a god, but THE God of the universe. Psalms 9:7-8 states “The Lord sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for justice, and He judges the peoples with uprightness.” God is the standard. His world, His rules. But God is fair and God is just and God is perfect.
So if God is perfect and He's requiring that of us, how is that fair? Did I mention God's good and kind and merciful? How sin entered the world is another story, but it did and it corrupted people making it impossible for us to meet the standard. However when sin entered, God also announced His plan of redemption. In the fullness of time, God sent His Son to earth to live as a human man and also as the God He is. Fully man and fully God. The reason for that is sin has to be paid for. Romans 3:23 states “The wages of sin is death.” We earn death by our sin. However Jesus chose to pay for the sins of believers. Jesus died the excruciating death of crucifixion on the cross, went to hell and returned coming back to life conquering death. Jesus was the only person who could live a sinless life which qualified Him to pay for our sins. He took them on Himself. In doing that, He also imparted His righteousness to those who believe in Him as God’s Son, His sacrifice, and accept Him as Lord of their life.
“Whoever believes in [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18) You see, we are born condemned. In His grace and mercy God sent Jesus to make a way for us to become righteous and therefore qualify to be with God forever and to live in heaven. 
Any person can do good things. No one would ever be able to work their way to heaven because they will always have the sin nature messing it up. But it’s not hopeless! We have Jesus. Thank God we do! "How then shall we live?" is for another day.......

The Heart of the Matter

We've had to move out of our house temporarily to have major repair work done. We know we'll be gone 2 or more weeks so that's a lot for me to pack. I have many projects I'd be working on during that time! So it took a while on my feet to sort things and move them. All the rest of our belongings had to be packed and stored without access to them. So sorting was time consuming. All that to say that moving out and then moving in the temporary home kept me on my feet quite a bit! Well, my ankles and lower legs have been red and swollen more than I've ever seen them for a week now. Actually lost their shape! I googled what that could be. Couldn't be heart failure so I went to my primary patient portal to my health history. Ventricular HF. What! My left ventricle has thickened walls. I knew that. I didn't ever put it together. Heart failure is your heart not pumping to capacity. Game changer! Unfortunately I don't do what I should just because I should. But now I see the why behind it I am newly motivated. Shame on me and hurray for me. It's about time!  I will do my part that my heart failure doesn't go to the next stage. God has been gracious so far. I will no longer take advantage of His grace and mercy!

Grandmothers At Work

There is a great book out called A Grandmother's Prayers by Kay Swatkowski that has 60 days of devotions and prayers for your grandchildren. Each prayer suggestion comes from scripture which is also given. She even goes on to offer suggestions of things to do with your grandchild to introduce or reinforce the point with them. The activity/book recommendations are directed at varying age groups. The one suggestion that has had the most impact on me and my family is to start a Grandmothers Prayer Group myself. So, through my church I did!
We meet most every week to read through one of the day's devotional, prayer and activity suggestions, and then we share our personal requests. Besides the joy of opening our hearts to the Lord, we've opened our hearts to each other. Through that one learns how common problems are. Encouragement as well as sometimes solutions are shared. There is such comfort in coming before the Lord being joined in heart with dear friends on behalf of those you love most. 
Besides concerns, many joys and laughs are also shared. Fellowship is rich. Lessons learned have enriched ourselves and our families. With our without this book I strongly recommend a grandparent's prayer group for any grandmother or grandfather. Sharing our  hearts with God is the greatest blessing because you know He's listening and already working in or previous ones's lives. 

What I Learned this Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Mine was wonderful! We joined my son and daughter-in-law for church and the dedication of our beautiful Noel. It was lovely! That afternoon my eldest called to visit because her migraine kept her away. But it was nice to talk to her of course! That evening we went to the other daughter's for gluten-free pizza, a game of Scrabble, and the gift of Godiva chocolate cheesecake. Before all that we played with two of our precious grandkids.
This morning as I reflected on the joy of yesterday, I realized I waste a lot of time and energy pining about where I failed my family. My kids are great people. Maybe I did fail in areas, but God has not! Despite my imperfections as a mom, God has certainly filled in with great character of integrity in each, good attitudes, generous hearts, fun personalities and kind people. I love my kids and who they have become. And each made it clear their love and appreciation for me. I am rich! I am so blessed and so grateful to God for giving me my heart's desires!

God's Wisdom - Our Power

Our BSF notes this week said, "Wisdom is an attribute and power of God Himself, majestically and dynamically employed in the creation of the universe - and amazingly now, offered to His people."  I was blown away because I never thought of what He offers to us being the same as what He possesses. Maybe a part, but to have access to all. Of course the whole Bible tells us of His wisdom and we are to live by it. He's given us the power in yet another way to live godly lives. May we all seek it and use it at every opportunity.

Thinking through Psalm 1

This morning Psalm One was covered in church. Looking at my Bible notes in various study Bibles I wanted to add in theirs and my notes.

Psalm 1 begins with "Blessed is the man", which first of all is understood to mean man or woman. But 'blessed' means beyond 'happy', which was news to me. R. C. Sproul says it's "to enjoy well-being in every area of life". A much more encompassing idea of joy all through out. What blesses us? Walking not in the counsel of the wicked, not standing in the way of sinners nor sitting with coffers. That is progressive. We don't go near where sin exists or lives, nor stop a while and definitely don't get comfortable there! Why is this so bad? We aren't talking about going to evangelize, but how we spend our own time and lives. We dont recreate or relax in their presence. Sin can deceive and easily tempt, so a wise, happy person will avoid the situation(s).

So where do we lounge and in what do we take pleasure? The law of the Lord. The law here is a broad term to mean the instruction of the Lord. We spend our life learning of and listening to His will, which is revealed in the Word, the whole Bible for us. We meditate on the Word, not with our legs crossed and palms open humming, but thinking about God's Word, what He meant then, what it means now, and how to apply it to me.

The result? We become like a tree, planted, watered, fruitful. The water is a stream, as in a stream of living water, always renewing and refreshing. And we're productive, yielding fruit of the Spirit to bless and nourish others. And the leaves do not wither, dry out, become brittle or die but remain soft, pliable, colorful and fresh. All signs of good health! Therefore, all we do will prosper. We are able, capable and successful nourished by the Word of God.

But not so with the wicked, those apart from God. They are like the useless, dead chaff swept away by the wind.

It's hard for many people to accept that that this is God's world. The design is how we spend this life determines how we spend eternity. Anyone in Christ is righteous. Anyone who refuses Christ is wicked. And one day all will stand before the Righteous Judge. The wicked will not be able to stand under the scrutiny among the righteous and they will perish.

The righteous are not righteous on their own, nor simply because they know the Word of God. They are declared righteous only by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as their Savior Who has paid for their wicked sinfulness. It is available to all who believe. I invite you to confess your own sinfulness to God and accept Christ's payment for your sins. Come into life everlasting and walk in the paths of righteousness.

Enjoy the Doing!

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."  
This is so beautiful! There are things that God doesn't reveal to us. Many things of course we just don't need to know, but I think there are things that if we knew would destroy us either by grief too great to bear, things totally incomprehensible to our finite minds, burst our hearts with uncontainable joy or anticipation or any number of reasons. In His great wisdom God protects us and shows us what we need to know and when.
But what God does show us becomes ours and our children's. Forever. Like a treasure to pass on through the ages. We take God's truth for granted too often. It is a treasure for believers. Unbelievers can't comprehend much of the truth or the value of the truth.
Are we to hoard our treasures of truth and God's commands to live the abundant life? How abundant is hoarding? I think that we all know that sharing God and His love is the joy of the abundance. When we realize all we are and all we have in Christ Jesus, our hearts naturally overflow. From that abundance we share. As the song said, we live out loud the love and truth God so lovingly and generously bestows on us. Yes, God reveals what enriches us so that we may do according to what He has given to us and our families. Enjoy the doing!

I am overflowing with gratitude to God tonight for the people He has put in my life. Even the scum bums from my past. His protection of me during the most foolish or dangerous times back then is mind boggling and humbling. Why did He? Who am I to be so blessed? And then where He has brought me! The gift of my husband's love, the love of my children and the privilege of being in their amazing lives. My grandchildren overflow my joy to drowning and I'm loving every second of their existence. The wonder in their eyes, trust in their hearts, and happiness in their smiles delight my soul to no end!

Why is life not this good for just everyone? I know in part it's just God's will, but blessings and consequences are also influenced by my choices of obedience or disobedience. At least the roads I took that influenced how the journey went to get here. I have no doubt that God is sovereign and His will cannot be thwarted. I also know my decisions and actions affect the ease or difficulties of the journey. I know God drew me to Himself. My best move was to let go and submit to Him yielding my will, accepting His love and truth.

It can be mind boggling to try to figure where one stops and one begins. I really don't need to know. I feel bad for those who think they do. I just know I believe God is who He says He is. I know He has blessed me. I know if it was all gone tomorrow somehow, nothing will have changed. God is still God. I love what He's done in my life. I love what He's going to do. And I love that He is.

Call It What It Is

Abortionists who support the abort up till birth can't put  parameters around abortion because they have none. It used to be abortion up to viable life if born but babies kept being viable earlier and earlier. So they went to terms, 1st and 2nd terms, late term, now all the way up to seconds before birth. Do people really wait that long to decide? If it takes that long, why wait til birth?  Birth that baby! Oops! Nah, I've changed my mind, kill it. Why not, if you're so close to birth, put that little person up for adoption? Why are you so intent on not letting him or her live?
All abortionists know this is a human life from conception. Call it what it is. But if you do that you'll be expected to care. What's the real reason for supporting abortion? Selfish desires and the root of all evil (love of money). Where does that come from? The wicked and deceitful heart of the human beings. Why not come clean and say you want to be rich and you found a great money making scheme? Why not say you have no respect for the human life? Why not say you don't really care about anyone's human rights? 
 Well, if abortion mills were to stop now, it would be economic ruin for so many. All the doctors, nurses, administration people, body parts marketers, hospitals caring for the botched, and funeral homes servicing the super-botched (after all they may be legal but are not monitored) would be out of work and no longer contributing to society. We'd hate to stop anyone from being a contributing member of society.
No one discusses the fact that these little people they callously abort are living souls conceived by the will of God. Lucky for them they don't believe in God. Whew! Safe there.
It's all a horrible lie this abortion business. But the truth is so simple. These are living souls and they are murdering them. They can't put parameters around acceptable and non-acceptable moments to abort because there are none.
***These comments are in no way meant to be critical of anyone who has had an abortion! My comments are strictly concerning those in the abortion industry responsible for deceiving the mothers and harming the children.

On Love and Faith, Action Words

I've started working my way through the book of James. Today I was in chapter two about showing partiality and faith without action.
Partiality is a sin because it shows judgment.  I thought how easily we do that.  If someone like the President came to my house for a snack, would I pull out the fancy china to show honor to him?  Would I not because it's just a snack?  If I invited a homeless woman into my home for a meal, would I just seat her in the kitchen? Would I get out my best china because she's a guest and this is a meal and take her into the dining room?  Would I refrain because I don't want her to feel bad that I have these fine things and she does not? My head is spinning! Why do we even have fancy things and plain things? Is not every day special and every life sacred?
The value of life, people and things start to fall into place when we see these things from God's perspective. Life is sacred. All people are to be shown love. Things are gifts to be enjoyed that add beauty to our lives and give us pleasure or have practical purpose, but should never be valued above people or the opportunity to show love to them.
God's mercies are new every morning because His love is consistent and everlasting. If I fail to love others with His love, then I will fail to show mercy and will lean toward partiality and  judgment. I know I've been guilty of it in the past. I ask forgiveness and for the capacity to love without partiality and with acts of love. 
Faith with action was the other part of chapter two. If I'm busy acting on my faith, I'll be busy loving in both word and deed. I won't fall into the trap of showing partiality or judgment of any kind. James began the chapter with, "Brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory."  If we "hold" the faith, we have faith in Jesus, adhere to His teaching, and do as He did. May we all look for the opportunities to show the love of Jesus to all we pass and meet making His love known to all.

Prayers for You and Me

I have 2, almost 3, living grandchildren and one adult child perfectly happy to live without God in her fantasy world. I've been searching the internet for scriptural prayers and inspiration for both. Found some lovely things to print and share with friends. It's not so much that I'm too lazy to pray on my own, but my mind wanders so easily if it's not laid out for me already. I start thinking of whom I'm praying for and what they did or are doing or will do that's so fun or clever or heartbreaking. I love my children and grandchildren so much that i want my prayers to be the best for them. Knowing others are or have been in similar situations is comforting and inspiring. 
God promised that if I delighted in Him that He would give me the desires of my heart. My husband, my children, and my grandchildren are above and beyond what I dreamed. There's no doubt God is real, good, faithful and generous. And He hears. So I pray for my loved ones because I want them to experience God to the fullest! I pray you do too.