Remember the old adage that "nothing in life is free?" Back in my day, which seems like eons yet like yesterday too, a piece of Bazooka gum cost .01, a Big Stick .25, a stamp .10, bus ride .25....the first 2 things being the most important to a kid, which is probably why I remember how much they were. Looking back while comparing prices between then and now, it seems like things back then were almost free, but its all relative. These days you really can't get much for FREE, except maybe frustration and library books. With that sigh of reality comes great news my friend! There is something else, somthing more important that is FREE... no strings attached, no small print, no scheme nor "have to buy such and such" later kind of thing.
This morning I was reminded once again that God gives of Himself for FREE...no strings attached, no small print, definitely no scheme. He sent His Son to die for me (and you) so that I (and those who accept Him as their Savior) may be FREE to have an abundant overflowing with good life. It doesnt means its not a hard life, but it is a good life in some many ways. Sometimes its hard to see that with rising gas and grocery prices and soaring debt this truth still prevails. Even if gas gets to 7.00 a gallon (Please Lord, no! Just the thought make me nauseous), groceries go up to apples costing 2.00 an apple as opposed to 1.00 each (isn't that ridiculous ?!) this truth wont waver. Its easy to lose sight of that given the way our world is these days and the direction it seems to be going. Great news to all my friends! We can have full confidence that His love wont ever fade, dry up, disappear, fizzle out wither away or run out.
I am learning each day that with each day comes new grace. Each challenge is met with the tools to overcome. Whatever what situation we may find our selves in, His grace is there to cover it and His tools available to bring us to the other side. I am the first to say its hard at times to remember that. In the last 10 yrs I have been thru the most difficult , heart wrenching, challenging , joy blasting circumstances in my life. Yet He is there. Its hard to hold onto joy when your life seems to be pulled out from your fingers. Yet He is there. For me, its like having an almost completed puzzle dropped on the floor and I'm trying to put it back together the best I can, with His covering of me. My life as I once new it was no more but its open for a new life to form. So the next time someone says "Honey, nothing in life is FREE", you can let them know there are things for FREE...the most important being the love of God... the One who created life and all that is in it.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
When You Wish Upon A Star
When you wish upon a star
Your hopes and dreams will travel far
Dreams come true and hopes fufilled
Trust in God and pray until--
While you wait for life to unfold
By His will His love is told
How much He loves us, is in His plan
On this earth walked a holy man
He sent His Son to die for you ,to die for me
So we may wish and be set free!
So when you wish upon that star
Remember who made them far
For as far as they are to us
Is how far that we can trust
That He knows our hopes and our dreams
As His child goes not unseen
When you dream do not forget
There is a plan amazing set---
May you wish upon that star my friend
Watch for it around the bend!
Your hopes and dreams will travel far
Dreams come true and hopes fufilled
Trust in God and pray until--
While you wait for life to unfold
By His will His love is told
How much He loves us, is in His plan
On this earth walked a holy man
He sent His Son to die for you ,to die for me
So we may wish and be set free!
So when you wish upon that star
Remember who made them far
For as far as they are to us
Is how far that we can trust
That He knows our hopes and our dreams
As His child goes not unseen
When you dream do not forget
There is a plan amazing set---
May you wish upon that star my friend
Watch for it around the bend!
Change is Good Only If We Embrace It
I wish I was one of those people who like change, sadly I am not. Some people can just ebb and flow with lifes turns, straightaways, potholes and u-turns, sadly I cannot. I mean on a certain level I have dealt with what "road conditions" I have been dealt. I believe God has a plan for everyone and everything, and in this is which I cling to, and have a bumper sticker on my "car of life". It seems lately I have had potholes, traffic accidents, fender benders, rain and flat tires, and I have to say if at any other time I have not been able to embrace it try as I might. Having a disease which is ultimately fatal, has left you scarred physically,emotionally and mentally has left me just numb. I dont really know how I feel at times, other times I feel nothing. I do my best to put on a positive attitude esp when it comes to my kids, who have been thru so much, but when I look in the mirror I wonder how I got here. How did I get here? One of the problems I have is that I can handle things if I know the "purpose/reason"...in the beginning of my illness I saw how it changed my husband, my kids, myself for the better...we were looking to God, growing closer etc etc and peoples live were being changed by our situation. Then as things progressed I began teaching in my womens bible study...I got fufillment and purpose to such an unexplainable degree...the only other time I felt like that was when I was having babies...I could see how God was using this, possibly where I saw things going (ie my writing career) I was growing, and all of a sudden it seemed...Wham! It was almost like the sky got pitch black and I couldnt see my way...its like that now...Im not able to teach right now, which is a HUGE loss for me...Im pretty much homebound at the moment which is soooo not like the kind of person I am...Im used to it, but I dont like it.
There have been other changes in my life as well besides this illness...Admist that I have 3, count them 1, 2 , 3 teenagers (obv I didnt think ahead and plan that when I was having them lol)and one is 19 which is a HUGE change...hes begun that process (=change)of stepping out of the nest....That has been really really hard...did I say hard? The other 2 are going thru some major changes and I am just at a place I cant take it all in...My husband has been dealing with depression which has its challenges of its own, one being getting a med to help him.
During all this I want to write, esp the books He has put on my heart, but Im have writers block right now...I feel like its not the right time for some reason but then I second guess myself...So needless to say Im trusting God but I cant see my way out, around or even my hand in front of my face, and so this is change at its finest...When the sun comes out will I like where Im at? Or will I be discontent? Will I ever get to a place I can accept this change, if its not going to change for the better? I dont know, I cant answer that. I will say that despite all that is going on I odnt feel a sense of "doom and gloom", I just dont know what to do with this which has been put on my plate.
All I know at this moment is that Im focused on God, trying to stay positive and hoping that whatever is around the corner is going to be good...at least better than it is. So as I said hence the title, change is good only if you can embrace it...Now I cant quite embrace the changes in my life, but maybe for now all I can do is look it in the eye and wave hello. In the coming months maybe we can become batter friends, goodness knows I could always use some of those :o)More on my travels later... TaTa for now, Ive got some driving to do :oP
There have been other changes in my life as well besides this illness...Admist that I have 3, count them 1, 2 , 3 teenagers (obv I didnt think ahead and plan that when I was having them lol)and one is 19 which is a HUGE change...hes begun that process (=change)of stepping out of the nest....That has been really really hard...did I say hard? The other 2 are going thru some major changes and I am just at a place I cant take it all in...My husband has been dealing with depression which has its challenges of its own, one being getting a med to help him.
During all this I want to write, esp the books He has put on my heart, but Im have writers block right now...I feel like its not the right time for some reason but then I second guess myself...So needless to say Im trusting God but I cant see my way out, around or even my hand in front of my face, and so this is change at its finest...When the sun comes out will I like where Im at? Or will I be discontent? Will I ever get to a place I can accept this change, if its not going to change for the better? I dont know, I cant answer that. I will say that despite all that is going on I odnt feel a sense of "doom and gloom", I just dont know what to do with this which has been put on my plate.
All I know at this moment is that Im focused on God, trying to stay positive and hoping that whatever is around the corner is going to be good...at least better than it is. So as I said hence the title, change is good only if you can embrace it...Now I cant quite embrace the changes in my life, but maybe for now all I can do is look it in the eye and wave hello. In the coming months maybe we can become batter friends, goodness knows I could always use some of those :o)More on my travels later... TaTa for now, Ive got some driving to do :oP
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
What Do You Stand For?
Have you ever thought about what it is you stand for? Do you make a concious effort to make a difference in those areas you stand for? DO your values, morals, activities, what comes out of your mouth reflect that?
I have recently begun after 4 years started to walk again which by all counts is only something God can do. My athiest dr even (in not so many words) and though never used the word "God" says so and I wholeheartedly agree)
The fact that I can walk has got me thinking in terms of my life...what do I stand for? The first thing that comes to mind is that my first and foremost desire is to stand for my Creator and my purpose for life...Jesus Christ. Without Him I am truly nothing...my life means nothing, my life will not mean anything in terms of my legacy and what I leave behind when God calls me Home, and my life will have no meaning to me. I will wander around aimlessly, meandering with no purpose or sense of direction. This I do not want in any way shape or form. I want to have an effect on this world that seems to be crumbling, succumbing to destruction aka selfishness, greed and denial of all truth. There also is the fact that for some all truth is truth as they see it. that is there is no 'wrong' or the possibility that Gods truth is the only truth. A sad but true problem with society today. I also want to have an effect that continues to have a ripple effect for generations to come. I hope that what I teach and influence in my children passes on to the world at large. My hope is that of all believers---that God will be satsified with my work here, the purposes He sent me here to fufill in the first place.
I hope that people who know me see Jesus in me---I know Im not perfect but in the whole picture they see that I stand for Him, work for Him, love Him deeply.
I do have other things I stand for...I stand against child abuse, starving and those in poverty, pedophilia, abuse of the environment as I myself learn to take care of it, and I do whatever I can to stand against animal neglect and abuse. However, as I write I realize I need to do more to reflect such a stance. Believing in something or being against it is not enough to make a difference. There is more to do and definitely I need to participate in organizations and groups who are of alike mindsets. I vow to do that from here on out. Otherwise, I am one of many who say they stand for something and yet sit as I did for 4 years and standby as children are abused, people starve and are without the neccesities of life, pedophiles steal childrens innocence and purity, leaving them effected to look at the world completely different, askew and damaged. There are animals who starve and live in horrid conditions, animals needlessly euthanized but for "overpopulation" and lack of room.
I will close with this: Choose what you stand for, take the time to make sure your life represents and reflects what it is we stand for. Then take the steps to stamp an imprint in those areas so n ear to your heart, your purposes, that you will be known for the things you did. And as a result, more impotantly who you are, and in time who you were in years to come.
I have recently begun after 4 years started to walk again which by all counts is only something God can do. My athiest dr even (in not so many words) and though never used the word "God" says so and I wholeheartedly agree)
The fact that I can walk has got me thinking in terms of my life...what do I stand for? The first thing that comes to mind is that my first and foremost desire is to stand for my Creator and my purpose for life...Jesus Christ. Without Him I am truly nothing...my life means nothing, my life will not mean anything in terms of my legacy and what I leave behind when God calls me Home, and my life will have no meaning to me. I will wander around aimlessly, meandering with no purpose or sense of direction. This I do not want in any way shape or form. I want to have an effect on this world that seems to be crumbling, succumbing to destruction aka selfishness, greed and denial of all truth. There also is the fact that for some all truth is truth as they see it. that is there is no 'wrong' or the possibility that Gods truth is the only truth. A sad but true problem with society today. I also want to have an effect that continues to have a ripple effect for generations to come. I hope that what I teach and influence in my children passes on to the world at large. My hope is that of all believers---that God will be satsified with my work here, the purposes He sent me here to fufill in the first place.
I hope that people who know me see Jesus in me---I know Im not perfect but in the whole picture they see that I stand for Him, work for Him, love Him deeply.
I do have other things I stand for...I stand against child abuse, starving and those in poverty, pedophilia, abuse of the environment as I myself learn to take care of it, and I do whatever I can to stand against animal neglect and abuse. However, as I write I realize I need to do more to reflect such a stance. Believing in something or being against it is not enough to make a difference. There is more to do and definitely I need to participate in organizations and groups who are of alike mindsets. I vow to do that from here on out. Otherwise, I am one of many who say they stand for something and yet sit as I did for 4 years and standby as children are abused, people starve and are without the neccesities of life, pedophiles steal childrens innocence and purity, leaving them effected to look at the world completely different, askew and damaged. There are animals who starve and live in horrid conditions, animals needlessly euthanized but for "overpopulation" and lack of room.
I will close with this: Choose what you stand for, take the time to make sure your life represents and reflects what it is we stand for. Then take the steps to stamp an imprint in those areas so n ear to your heart, your purposes, that you will be known for the things you did. And as a result, more impotantly who you are, and in time who you were in years to come.
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