My take on yesterday's philharmonic orchestra! ;)

 

Love came down at Christmastime

It's like you make symphonies, a beautiful woven tapestry out of us!

So here's me on the strings;   an idea person if there ever was one.  (Coming up with the idea, but not necessarily the plan)

But, I'm no good at the actual planning and administration part.....so here comes Shirley on the drums!  (lol).......   She calls and plans and gets everything organized, set up, nice and neat and efficient.

IT WOULDN'T BE SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT EITHER!

And then,  the leader, the person who leads the crowd,  the director.....He comes in, too and makes it happen! (Jon-it wouldn't work very well without him)! 

And the beautiful musician (Kate). the harpist.  :)   Making it successful through her ear for music!

And other instruments all taking their place;  filling in;  getting programs ready and offering another beautiful sound....the brass (Edna and Johnathan)

is God a good spouse?

 

I just wanted to thank GoD!   He takes good care of me.  the Bible says he is and will be our husband.  Just for all you married people out there,  your temporary husband will never compare to God!  

And when I am married,  I will need God to be my husband just as much then as now.  Maybe more!  Since I will have an earthly husband to contend with.  LOL

Okay,  so I've been in pain over a broken relationship and other broken things.  Many, many disappointments.  I preface this to let you know that God has compassion for the broken hearted.  Mostly, I need emotional and spiritual healing, but God gives little extras, too! ;)   

Today, it was a wardrobe excessory that made me feel special.  Sometimes that helps a woman who has been rejected!  

But God didn't stop at the wardrobe excessory.  He knows me inside and out (completely).  Isn't that what every woman longs for in her husband?   To know them and fulfill their longings?  So, I'm a bit girly girl and a lot adventure girl!   And it may sound crazy to some, but a flight (just the flight itself)!  was a treat.  I love to fly and see the world from up high and it feels so adventurous! :)  And.........not only that, but he threw in some vital connections that I had been missing in my life!  Getting to see my son,  go hiking (another thing I love) and connect with my son's wife and her family,  laughing and having a good time playing games was great!  They are such fun people!   Glad God put my son's wife and her family together with mine.  

Well,  the best is yet to come!

That is always vital to remember.  this world is really yucky and many horrible things happen, so much damage and destruction and imperfection.  

but, if you know the Lord,  have accepted His payment for you sins and accepted Him into your life,  you will experience the best when you pass and go to be with him.   No more yucky stuff!

Praise God!

Exploring

This is not a pleasant topic to explore, really.  It's like digging in the bogs or sifting through trash or the like.
However, sometimes it helps me to explore things.

There was the time I felt immense hatred toward someone.  I actually decided to explore what would happen if I went through the act of killing them in my mind.  SHOCKING   I know.  But, I wanted to see if there was any relief for the agony that was twisting all my innards and causing immeasurable anguish.  So, when I went through with it, I realized, that the person that does that (commits murder) -  is not going to release their pain.  Sadly.  Getting even (in whatever way) with another person does not necessarily release pain.  It possibly releases some stress, but the pain would INCREASE.
           So during this time of intense pain and hatred,  there was only one thing I could do - go to God.  Of course, if you're mad at an individual, you have a hard time relating to God as well.  But I confessed my feelings to Him,  told Him that I could not get rid of them on my own - that I could not forgive on my own.  But that I needed His strong arms, His strong help.  And after that confession - and God knowing that I wanted to forgive- I went to sleep.  And I told Him I would wait for Him for knead the right feelings into my heart.      
           When one has been deeply wounded, it takes considerable time to recuperate - And one has to let God heal you.  It is like this precious hurt thing that you are holding (maybe your heart) and you don't really want to give it to anyone, even to fix.
           You cry, "But iT"S NOT FAIR - BUT THEY........ Etc. Etc. Etc. "
And you have some mistrust of God actually through this whole process.  After all, if you believe that God is sovereign, you know that He ALLOWED THIS to happen.
             But trusting Him is the only way.  The only way to restoration (of your own soul- hatred just tatters and tears it to bits).  Hatred is one of the devil's favorite pet demons and the mission is to destroy..both you and others....to spawn more hatred babies, as many as possible.
            Trusting Him is the only way to restore your peace.
And you must live out in faith - that God WILL work EVERYTHING together for good

God ALWAYS pays you back!

I wanted to write about something that is nothing new, because God does it all the time, but sometimes, you just SEE it more clearly.  Your eyes are open.

But when you put Him first, as in helping others, doing church work and things like that, magically, some sort of door opens and you are able to get things on your own to do list done. (Maybe things that have been chafing at you for awhile).

Anyway, I had this experience today.
I went to the church to work on some things for our virtual VBS this year.  While there, my computer was able to print to the church's printer (long, boring technical story)...which I had been needing to print out some things for church.
I had tried before and couldn't get it figured out.  This time, is was just like voila!
And then I went home (I couldn't get my computer to print at home either)....typed a quick search into google, did a little bit of research and voila!  I can now print at home also, which will save me a ton of time and chafing! (trying to find someone's printer during certain hours and especially during COVID is difficult)!

So, I just had to give this shout out to God, because that is just how He is and how He operates, over and over again in my life!

God......................makes me smarter than I really am!
.............................gives me ideas (especially after I ask) :)
.............................helps me find stuff! (when I ask)  always.  well, almost always.

He wants to be involved with you, all the little details of Your life.  NOTHING is too petty for Him!  God is just like the best friend, perfect friend you never had.  He's amazing, worth more than life itself.  I wish everyone could know Him like I do or better than I do!

The benefits of not returning evil for evil

I am a little uncertain about writing about this topic,  but I guess my son told me that I should do more writing......so......

Anyway,  sometimes in life,  you have to LIVE and walk just by pure faith.

I was thinking of a little bird that is peeking out of its shell at the world trying to come out and every time she does she gets hit by a hammer (beat up, black eyes, the whole nine yards) and so she retreats back into her shell.
Each time she tries to go back out again,  it takes a TREMENDOUS amount of faith (since she has been beat up so much previously).
So that's  pretty much where I'm at in my life right now.  I have hatred spewed at me on a regular basis.  :(.
I know God has a purpose for this and I have a few ideas about this, but I will remain quiet on this for now.
I have to tell you that I was falling for the temptation last night to return hatred for hatred.  That is a short path to hell, let me tell you!  If you are a Believer, hating someone is absolute torment!   Although, forgiving is hard, it is much preferable to retribution and hatred because hatred spawns more evil little hatred babies until you are just one miserable mess of a person!  Yes,  I've been there!!!  It's not fun!
So, the way out of the demon's domain of any kind of hatred, (including self-loathing)- been there, too (often as a matter of fact).....is so simple that you just want to dismiss it....

Give me Snow more of that Manna!

photo by Laura Vromann

I was thinking that God's grace, mercy and peace are like the Manna the Israelites picked up.
If you try to grab it, hang on to it for yourself, and refuse to give it away,  it will become rotten....And in it becoming rotten, your refusal to forgive will make you rotten....like rotten fruit, so bad, it can't be eaten. 

How to pick what to do when you have some extra time on your hands.

How to pick what to do when you have some extra time on your hands.

So, with all this extra time on my hands, it's been interesting.
I'm sure a lot of you are like me,  I know some of you are anyway!  I have activities up the Yangtze River that I could be accomplishing.  I could be painting, both artwork and my house.  I have dozens of unfinished projects laying around.

I decided the questions to ask to help me maintain priorities during this time are:
 "If you get to the end of your life and this is not done, will it matter?"
"Which items on your list will help you out the most in the future to have done? (It will be a relief, it is something that is Needed).

Joy and the purpose of life

God wants us to have joy in our lives, but that is not the main purpose of our life.  If that is all we are seeking, we are heading in the wrong direction; we are lost.
We need proper balance in our lives...seeking God and His will should be paramount, but it comes very natural to us to also seek our own joy.  

Why do people have children?  I believe mostly the answer is joy.  Children provide joy and completeness, wholeness and balance to our lives.

Why do people sing and dance and draw and write and play sports and watch sports?
I believe the answer also is joy.  peace.   pleasure.   Different people find their joy in different things.

Why do we seek the company of like-minded individuals? (Why do we socialize)?  Again,  you know the answer to this... -Joy-   This is also an inherit need in our life. We need people.

Some people find fulfillment and joy in their work (the lucky ones). :)  They excel at something and they get paid to do it!  Some people may not naturally enjoy their work,  but they choose joy.  This is actually possible but requires a lot of mind bending;  a lot of mental work! :)

For the devout believer, there is another Place where joy is found, a Holy, Sacred Place.  This is in the presence of God.  Yes, God is present in the joy of our children,  He is present in the joy of our hobbies and watching others perform hobbies that they excel at.  He is present in our pleasure/enjoyment of people and in our enjoyment of work (if it is all in proper perspective).  The minute those things become our life, He is no longer in it.
But Joy in the Presence of God, for those who have experienced it, is like no other joy.  I could describe it, but until you know it, it won't mean anything to you.  He is available to all who seek Him.  If you seek to find joy in His presence, you will not be denied.  Those who find Him find peace, love, kindness and  inexplicable forgiveness and love and joy.  "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be".  Luke 12:34

But this dissertation about joy does not explain something else in life.  Sorrow.  Suffering.  Death.  These words that command the silence of a room.

 We all know, that these, also, are a part of life.  No one wants them or enjoys them.
But as a Christian, we look to Jesus' death on the cross as the ultimate in willing suffering.  He chose to be tortured for us.  Most of us would not choose suffering if we had an option.  Suffering is just there and we endure it as best we can.  Many Christians around the world choose actions that cause suffering for themselves.  Many more Christians choose to suffer with those that are already suffering, which actually bears the burden of suffering and causes true empathists suffering as well. Why?
This is where the labyrinth tunnel gets very twisted and there are so many different paths that 'I', the writer can take.  The answer is that choosing to suffer with God is more desirable than the other outcome;  continuous willfully disobedient suffering.  There is a peace that "passes understanding" for those that are suffering in the will of God versus those that suffer as a consequence of their own inpalitable actions.  That type of suffering (in the will of God) is worth it for those who figuratively hold God's hand through it.  His Presence is with you.  It is the kind of Presence that is dear and comforting.  It is warmth, kindness and healing in the midst of intense pain (both emotional and physical).  This type of inexplicable comfort of never being left to suffer and die alone.  NEVER.
Most people that have experienced any type of intense suffering and have had His presence say that He made the suffering endurable.  And it is hard to imagine anyone not wanting to have comfort in the midst of intense suffering.

So this diatribe was to tell you (and work through myself) the balance seeking of pleasure for ourselves and of allowing into our lives, suffering in the will of God (for example, joining some type of humanitarian effort that will probably cause you some suffering).

The long and short of all this is to 1) Wait sweetly upon God (be actively reading His word and talking to Him in prayer) 2) Do what He tells you to do  3) Be ready for the call....because he will call you to do something  4) Be willing to abandon your thing that gives you joy;  (Anytime you give something up for Him, He fill that hole many times over with something better-although it might not be what you expect).