Reflecting

Good Last Saturday morning of the year!

     I cannot believe how fast time has went, and after almost an hour of looking back at the past year, I can't believe how much stuff was packed into it. And I guess my biggest thing is looking back at my post from a year ago; I cannot imagine the changes that happened- Good and bad.

In January, we hosted Donna Beegle, she is probably one of my favorite motivational speakers for low-income families. She lived it, and overcame it. She was a product of generational poverty. When you work in my field, you learn there is generational poverty, and situational poverty. Generational is a lot harder to overcome, but Dr. Beegle is living proof and inspiration that it can be done.

In February, I did my Family and Community Development Recertification. We spent most of the days studying goal- setting. I came home with the tools to set SMART goals ( talked about more in this blog post: Got Goals? it is a good time of year to review this.)

In March, the President released his budget and it proposed zeroing out LIHEAP. I wrote another blog on that, it happened to be the most read single blogpost I have ever written (Whats' on my Heart) . I am working on another project right now where I am doing some in-depth studying of Community Action roots. I don't know how many times in my studying I come over, "and the President proposed cutting Community Action. In my homework this week, after talking about a coalition that was formed, I just put, "we learned to fight". Sadly, it is a constant battle.

As I was reading over April's blogposts, I noticed one of them mentioning that in one day, I had my hands on 31 computers. I remember that day. 31 was only about a sixth of the ones I really needed to "put my hands on". Those days are over, for the most part. And will be totally over in the next few months.

May through September, I quit blogging. There were a lot of reasons, more of them God knew and I didn't, but it was right. It was good to come back to though.

In May, I got to speak at our annual IACAA conference on social media outreach, we started our Facebook page for the agency this year (Embarras River Basin Agency).

June was filled with good and bad things.
     My friend's son, Logan (one of my other kids) got married
     My friend Glenna had surgery
     Andrew spent 4 days in the hospital
    Glenna died
    I had my first meeting with Mike Miller regarding IT stuff.

I think the thing I think of most in that is Vaneta, Amy and I all felt a very strong pull to go see Glenna. We knew she was not awake, but we all knew we were supposed to go, and we did. It was very much God telling us to do this, and I am so glad we did.

I keep saying there is going to be a longer post about my meetings with Mike, and there is, because once we get the entire project done, I want to record everything in one place but this is something I have never really put down here.

The night I met with Mike for the first time, all I was doing was trying to find someone to take over as my IT support. I dealt with a different company and had been feeling for the last couple of years that I was an afterthought to them. I know how to do a lot of stuff on my own; most offices don't have that unless they have a real full-time, in-house, IT tech. I always had the feeling that my IT support company thought if they ignored me long enough, they wouldn't have to make a trip because I would figure out how to fix it myself. 9 times out of 10 this was true.

Ironically, the week AFTER I met with Mike, I went to Florida. I missed the first morning of my conference because our computers were down and my current IT support told me they didn't have time to get to it that day. After me saying some not so nice things, they started at least trying but were using people that didn't know our setup. I ended up fixing the problem myself with one of the bookkeepers face timing me, and being my hands as I told her what the problem was. That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Anyway, onward:

I spent July working on my ROMA implementer credential, and working with Mike on getting a plan for an IT upgrade in place. Once we had all of what we needed to do in place, he could start working on an estimate. We met with Cathy the end of that month and laid it all out for her, next step was board approval.

The highlight of July though was spending time in St. Louis with Dani and Tammy. We celebrated our 50th birthdays. We went to see Mama Mia, spent time in St. Charles, ate at the Spaghetti Factory, but the thing I treasured most was the time spent together. We were supposed to get together again on the 28th of October, the day I cracked my head open. I have had dinner with Tammy once since but haven't seen Dani at all :-(. We have to get something planned!

August brought a trip to Chicago, which was much needed by the time it came. It was the week after Andrew spent another few days in the hospital and the week before the board approved our project. It was the last weekend I would spend away from the office for several months.

September was busy doing all the prep work for the actual changes to computers in our own office. I was also back in Energy Assistance mode, so we were prepping for that as well. We installed the actual terminal server in our office on the 23rd.

In October I finally finished all of my homework and exam for ROMA certification. That same month I started my work towards CCAP, the Certified Community Action Professional. This is the highest designation inside my profession, strictly for my profession. And of course, we continued working on the IT project.

November 8th, we installed the first VPN, or Virtual Private Network, in Olney. Our field office was now directly connected to our main office. We have done 5 since, and have 2 more VPN's to put in, and then we have the office that is connected by radio, so it isn't really a VPN, it is just adding them to the direct network. My plan was to have that done by now, but we hit some snags and now the goal for that is the end of January. Cathy asked if I could have the project 100% by the end of March, I wanted it so badly to be the end of this year, but yes, the end of March is realistic.

November also brought my friend Amy's dad passing away, my own dad passed away in November, so it just hit closer to home for me I guess. This was also one of the men that stood in the gap left by my dad as Granddad for Robert, so it was hard on him as well.

The bright spot was that I finally found my car and everything fell into place for it to be right. I really wanted to wait until my IT project was done, but buying a convertible in March was likely to be more expensive than buying one in November. I have not been this in love with a car since my 1988 Cavalier Z24, that I bought brand new.

My December was awesome. Lots of celebrating the Christmas season. I had my first ever Christmas party and I thought it was really nice. The Alumni Band and "future" Alumni band members played carols on the square, we went Caroling with our church, it was just a good season.

So, that is my year, and what have I learned?

I think the most valuable lesson I learned is to keep those people that God puts in your life close. Everything else will come and go, it is what it is, and "this too shall pass" but those PEOPLE that God GAVE you to help you through it, that's what counts. And you never know when they won't be there anymore so treasure them.

One other thing that happened in December was we had a success strategist come and talk to everyone in the agency. He was VERY well received. His name is Jonathan Edison; some of us had heard him before and were very impressed. We were that day as well. One thing that I want to leave you with as you start into the new year is one of his little sayings:

What you focus on the longest becomes the strongest. I think this is going to be my thought for 2018,
I see so many people in the world that tend to focus on what is wrong with them. We need to be focusing on what is right-- and concentrating on making those things stronger.

So, this is not a devotional today, just a thoughtful blog.

And back to treasuring your friends. I am leaving you with Charlie Puth's One Call Away.

I LOVE this song and I hope and pray ALL of my friends and family know that if there is anything I can do to help them through something, I truly am one call away.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Not going to lie, when I realized it was snowing, I was downright giddy! I have even stated I would compromise, as it is such a busy travel weekend-- I am happy with a little on the grass, and some flakes in the sky.

It seems like a lot of our friends are celebrating Christmas today, including us, as far as with the rest of our family. I kinda love when Christmas is on the weekends, I love spending time with my family, but when it coincides with being in church, worshiping Him, it just feels very right. (By the way, we are having our Christmas Eve service at 6 tomorrow night, some of you with kids, I know this makes it easier for some-please join us!)

We are also coming to the close of our year, and I have been reflecting-- it has been a busy year, but I believe the good outweighed the bad this year in our house. I am hurting for my friends who can't say the same.

I want to set all of that aside for just a few minutes and really focus on Christmas. Almost 2000 years ago, in a lowly barn, surrounded by animals, a tiny baby was brought into the world. Very few people knew at the time that this was truly the Savior of the world. 33 years later, He would suffer and die on a cross, so that you and I could have eternal life. Nothing complicated here, God offering a very simple gift but the most special gift of all time. I personally can't understand why people have to add to it, or not believe it, it just is.

One of my favorite (read: overused) statements lately has been, "It is what it is." Folks, God's Love is what it is. It is perfect, it is always, it is real. And all you have to do is accept it. Battles are all changed when you truly do that. And yes, I truly believe that. I don't have my head in the sand, I am not dodging reality. I KNOW. I know that my best day here on earth will pale in comparison to any day in Heaven. I know that no matter what I suffer here, I won't suffer there. I know that my life is not all peaches and cream here, but because I know the end of my story, it will be okay. (and yes, I am still working on the post that is all about this).

Plain and simple- John 3:16 "For God so LOVED the WORLD, that He GAVE His only son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him, should not perish, but have EVERLASTING life."

No if's and's, or but's. This is it. It is all you need.

As you celebrate Christmas, I hope you take time to really appreciate the fact that Christ came to earth because you were going to be right here, right now.  Let that soak in. Please also remember that when He died on the cross, He promised a comforter. When you accept Christ as your Savior, that comforter is there, you can choose to ignore Him, or you can embrace Him. God put Him there for you.

I leave you with Sandi Patty's Someday. A friend of mine use to sing this, and it always made baby Jesus so real to me.  (Thanks Cherilea for reminding me of the name!)

Merry CHRISTmas!

Perspective

Today is one of those mornings that I am having too many thoughts to get  clearly down on paper, or a screen as it is. Once again, it is Christmas time and I have friends going through major turmoil. I have been there, done that, and right at this moment, am thanking the Lord that for the most part, things are calm at the Browning house this year.

I have been on a journey this week, and it has spurred some new studying, not only looking inward, but to really have a better understanding of how I feel about our journey here on earth, predestination, and my part in what others believe as well. This is truly something I need to think about a lot, and study, before I really decide what to put down in words.

In the last 48 hours though, I have had more than one friend make comments that made me think of a blog post I wrote last year. I think the best thing for me to do is share that post again.

PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS FROM DECEMBER 10, 2016. (Link is below).

I wrote this because I myself am always searching for the "perfect" Christmas, and I think in this post, I made myself realize that the only thing that has ever been perfect about Christmas is Christ.

I needed it today, and looked back at it, and maybe someone else is needing it too. I know I have friends right now that can not wait to get 2017 in the books, and have a new starting point, this is for them too. I have a couple of friends right now dealing with some major disappointments on top of just recently losing a loved one, God knows their names, please keep them in your prayers.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Mary Did You Know?

Content

I was truly hoping to wake up this morning to a blanket of white on the ground. Didn't happened but it is all good. It will happen. I know I have friends who absolutely don't want any snow, of course, normally I think to myself; hey, if you dislike it that much, move south.....but now the South has snow. We make plans, God laughs.

So, milestones were met this week on my big project at work, and I am so very excited. One of the sub-projects was to put in two sets of radios at our buildings in Greenup. One running from our building to our newer building next door, and one running from our building to the outreach office uptown. Andrew put all of the hardware and cabling in place for me (he has learned to work with Cat 6 cable, and got to buy new toys to test and create cables, so he has had a learning experience too). Mike worked with the software side and yesterday morning at 11:15, they were all working!

Now get this. You pay for bandwidth speed. Normal, household internet (as well as small businesses) around here is usually a 10 down/2 up connection or at most a 20 down/ 4 up. Because we have a bigger network at our corporate office we have 100 down/40 up connection. When we are broadcasting that to the other offices, it translates into, they are going to have faster internet than they have ever had. When Mike was bringing it up on the speed test, I was about to cry. He turned around and told me not to bawl. I was seriously so happy though, it was hard not to.

To say the last few months have been stressful, would be putting it mildly. I have this little handful of friends and family though that are very much my support staff/ listening ears/ and sounding boards. I told one of my friends this week, my thoughts don't always sound stupid or unrealistic in my head, but when I say them out loud, and hear myself- sometimes I realize I'm having one of those "stinkin' thinkin'" moments. It is good to have someone to talk to, I am so very blessed with my group here on earth. I feel they were all put in my life to keep me pointed to God.

And obviously, God will always listen, and He is always there. I just want to point out that sometimes you may have people in your life God put there to be there for you. Let them.

I had dinner with another one of my friends the other night, she knows all the craziness going on in my life and stated that she really does think I am content through all of it. My mom said she thinks I am happier than ever. They are both right. They are two of that handful of friends and family though, they know what is going on, they hear me say stupid things, and they love me anyway. That does make life so much better. I keep hearing that word content though, and realize that is the perfect adjective for me. I am content. I am happy.

Hebrews 13:5-6 says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
    So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

In this Christmas season, we see so much greed, from manufacturers, who charge way more for something than it is worth, to the kids who want everything, to their parents who think in order to keep up with everyone else has to get them everything.  -Sidebar- when Robert was little, I was one of those parents. I have never been a huge fan of Kathie Lee Gifford, but she made the statement one year that she always just had three presents under the tree for each kid, one to represent each of the wise men's gifts. I loved the idea. It put more Christmas meaning into buying gifts. To this day, my now 25-year-old son harps if I ended up with 4 gifts for him under the tree. And, as a kid, when he knew he was limited to asking for 3 things, it made the list more bearable.Anyway, I love seeing people content, almost as much as I love being content. 

God gives contentment, He sent Christ to die for us, and before Christ died He promised to send a Comforter. When we truly seek Him, that contentment comes. Sometimes that contentment can come in a wash, and yes, I am one of those that emotions come a lot of times with tears, and it is okay. Big girls do cry, and sometimes it just feels good to let it out. And if it brings a feeling of peace afterwards, thank Him. 

I do need to add one disclaimer, I don't think being content is an excuse not to move forward and grow. I think we are always to be learning, growing and striving to be better at everything we do, but if you are happy with where you are as you are moving on that path, it makes it so much easier.

So, my wish for you today is to find contentment in your life. If this is sitting still for five minutes and just focusing on what God has given you, and what He allows you to do, then so be it, but find the time to focus on what is good, and what is important. I believe that is the beginning to finding true contentment.

I am leaving you with one of my all time favorite Christmas songs, I wish it were easier to find, but I found it a few years back and as I drove through town last night and saw our temporary skating rink, the song flooded my mind, and hasn't left. The story behind this song? We sang it for our Christmas concert my 8th grade year, less than a month after my dad died. I realize now, that it too, was offering contentment because even though we had been through a really rough time, we live in this awesome community that was helping us be okay. I know it took me a while to realize that, even moving away because I really thought all I wanted to do is get away from here. There truly is no place like home.

Have a great week!

Regrouping

I have to say, this has been a very roller coaster"ish" week. Thankfully, there have been lots more ups than downs.

I am going to share something only a handful of people know and those of you who follow me on facebook are going to be a little shocked that I haven't shared it there. 4 years ago last May, I was in Springfield. I had went to a gym on the edge of town and on my way back to my hotel, I stopped at a Starbucks. Two cars ahead of me in line was a Chrysler Sebring hardtop convertible. I had never seen one before, but fell in love. After some research, I found out that the Sebring was being replaced by the Chrysler 200, but there was still a hardtop convertible. I wanted one. I started looking for a different car a year ago. I had decided to replace my van with a Ford Edge. I wasn't excited, but I needed a vehicle, and here was one. Then I started realizing that for the same money, I could get a Chrysler 200 Convertible. I have been searching for one since my birthday in August. I had it narrowed down to Black, Charcoal, or Red. I really wanted Red but historically, "resale red" was about $2,000 higher than the other two. I was looking within a 500 mile radius and two weeks ago tonight, one showed up in Columbia, MO. It was priced right, and beautiful. I had just found out Amy's dad had died and I knew I wanted Robert to checkout anything I bought before I bought it. I knew it would be the 20th before I could see about it. I called the dealership who wanted me to put a deposit on it, I decided if it were meant to be, it would be and said no. It was meant to be. My very own hardtop convertible pulled in the drive at 12:15 Tuesday morning. I kinda hated that I bought it on the anniversary of my dad's death. But a very dear friend pointed out that it was a good thing, and that my dad would be proud of the things happening in my life. I chose to think my friend is right.

Anyway, I have been on vacation this week, kind of. I was at the office from 6:30 Tuesday morning until 6:30 Tuesday night, trying to get a special project done. Wednesday I spent the whole day with my mom, with only a few things work-related involved. Then came Thanksgiving. I stayed home, Mom and Robert came down. but I stayed home. and then I did it again yesterday. Anyone gasping yet? I have not stepped foot off my property since 8:00 Wednesday evening. I got two phone calls yesterday morning, the first one from Robert, at 6:50, on his way to work. I had vowed I wasn't doing the Black Friday thing this year, I really had nothing to go for. I did most of my bargain shopping Thursday morning online. So, he says, "where are you?" I laughed and said, "in bed". He couldn't believe it. (my normal alarm is at 4:00) He really thought I would cave and go shopping--or go to work. At 9:30, my friend and IT Guy, Mike called, and his first words were, "Are you at work?", he too was shocked when I said no, even though I had told him I wasn't going to step foot in the building these 4 days. I might have done a tiny bit of work Wednesday night at 10:00, but thanks to Mike, it was done sitting at my house, and took 10 minutes, instead of 20 minutes to drive to Greenup, 10 minutes of work, and 20 minutes to drive home. Anyway, I haven't been resting so much as regrouping. I have had friends going through some things this week and wanting to ever be the "fixer", it is hard when you can't fix some things. Being there to listen and just being present, and praying for them, as they work through things is the best you can do in situations like that, and I hope they have felt all of that.

I often think of the passage in the Bible where Jesus "regrouped", He had just heard John the Baptist had been beheaded. He got on the boat and He and the disciples left, going to someplace private. The people followed, walking around the giant lake though and when He got off the boat, and saw them there, He knew it was time to get to work. Yes, he fed multitudes that day, but after that, he sent the others on to the boat, and He went to pray. Very clear to me again, regrouping. You know He was grieving the loss of John the Baptist, He knew better than anyone that John was put on this earth to be the forerunner for Him. We read these stories all of our lives, but do we every really just contemplate how Jesus felt about John's beheading? He was family, he was a friend, and he was beheaded because of the Christian standards he possessed. I love the example Jesus gives us here though, take your time to regroup, but when you see people in need, get to work. Oh, the whole scripture passage I am referring to is in Matthew 14, feel free to read it here.

So, I have started my Christmas decorating, and my Christmas shopping. I am making my lists for Christmas gifts, and cards, and things I want to do. I have so many things coming up this week. I have a study group for CCAP Thursday (which WILL be a blog topic one of these days) and then we have Friday. Next week's blog will be coming from our anniversary trip to St. Louis. There is such a story behind us getting to take this trip, and I will tell it next week.

As we enter into this Christmas season, takes some time to regroup, refocus and be ready for the days ahead.

I am leaving you with Chris Tomlin's A Christmas Alleluia. I love this song to just sit back, breathe deep and take it in.

Have an awesome week!

Thoughts and Prayers

Last Saturday morning, I pretty well thought I knew what today's blog was about. I was wrong. After the events of last Sunday morning in Texas, I still hadn't changed my mind. I did shutter at the fact that the little Texas town being described was so much like Newton, or Greenup, or Hidalgo, where I attend church every Sunday. I remember back to the day our church was burned to the ground. I was in 6th grade. The person who did it was mentally ill. He spent the rest of his life institutionalized for the crime, but for mental illness as well.




And oddly enough, nobody thought of outlawing matches. I understand nobody was hurt in the fire. I also know that the doors blew off the church with such force, they were across the street at the neighbors house. Had anyone been around, or that house closer, someone could have very easily been hurt.  I just feel like there should be more emphasis placed on the mental health issue, and we need to take care of people. Desperate people do desperate things. I think we see a lot of mental illness is due to abuse and bullying. That might be a better place to start looking for answers- in my opinion.




 I am not making light of the gun situation, Let me get this out there right now. There are guns in my house, I have shot them, I know how to use them. I don't particularly like them but I know what their purpose is, and I can tell you, nobody has ever thought about using them as self defense in this house. Too many dangers of not really knowing who is walking in the door. On the other side of that, I have never seen any of my hunter friends or family who wanted to hunt with a semi automatic, or an automatic weapon. Most of them like to eat the meat, and so they are wanting to see how little damage they can do, not how much. I see no reason for these weapons in our civilian lives. I wish there were not a reason for them in times of military conflict, but having one of my "other" sons in the army, and stationed in two very volatile spots in the world, if people on the other side had this same weapon and wants to use it to kill my kid, I want my kid to have the same chance.  That all being said, I have to wonder if part of the reason there is so much more post-military mental illness is because of the amount of destruction these weapons really do on a body, I cannot imagine that sight.
But what I am trying to say, I think we should really focus on people instead of things.


So, I feel like I have made my disclaimers and now on to the REAL topic of today's blog. After the shooting last Sunday, there were many, many, MANY facebook posts about sending thoughts and prayers for the families of those in the shooting.  A friend of mine, (who is also notorious for being a "doer"--very important here) made the statement that they were going to come up with a "thoughts and prayers" emoji to make it even quicker. Ouch. But how true is it. It is so easy to say, I will pray for you", and hopefully you really do, but...




Do you ever think part of the reason the world is in the mess it is in is because too many of us think praying for God to take care of it is enough? I am sure I miss opportunities every day to do something to change the world, and I really do try to take advantage of anytime I can do something. And I am going to let you in on a little secret. When I do something to at least try to help someone, it feels like Christmas-everyday.




I have had the opportunity to give a little extra help to some of our customers at work this week, giving them some "extras" outside of our regular help that they weren't expecting. I love that feeling.


 I have a friend who was needing to make a connection with someone he didn't know. He mentioned it in passing and I just happened to have a connection to this person myself. I love when those things happen.








It wasn't much, it wasn't hard, but it was something. And yes, I prayed for them, and continue to pray for them. I truly do believe in the power of prayer, don't mistake that. I believe I got an extra year with my dad because the night they told us he was dying, people got up in the middle of the night and gathered around their kitchen tables and prayed. I believe prayer is that powerful and that it does change things.




But I believe there are a lot of people who like the comfort zone of saying a prayer more than stepping outside of it and moving on to realizing, "I am the person God created to DO SOMETHING". I know God made me a doer, and I absolutely love that He put me in a position to get to DO in my job. Knowing that I have fervently prayed for someone is also great, I have three people that almost 2 years ago, I picked their names out of a basket and pray for them everyday. Only one of them knows that I am their prayer person. One of them, I only saw on facebook and they have dropped out of sight, and the third one, I have gotten to watch do some absolutely remarkable things, and I will never tell them, but I get to know that I pray for them. I found out who the person was who drew my name about a year ago, and I LOVE that this person got me because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, she DOES pray for me daily, and I feel it, and I love that feeling, and it does bring me comfort when I am having a bad day.




I have decided that James 2 is my favorite chapter of the Bible, for right now anyway. It is pretty much what I want to be doing with my life. The more I read it though, the more I find it ironic, or maybe prophetic, that the first half talks about how to treat people. and the last half talks about how to live your faith.  Do you see it? I stated earlier, I think a lot of mental health issues today is from people being bullied, or abused....basically mistreated. Look:




 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. ² For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, ³ and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
⁵ Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? ⁷ Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”^[a] you do well; ⁹ but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. ¹¹ For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,”^[b] also said, “Do not murder.”^[c] Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.




I think the root of most bullying is thinking you are better than someone else. Here's your sign. You aren't. I think working with low-income families, the one thing that continues to amaze me is the amount of people who don't have enough to make it through the month themselves but are helping others around them because it is the right thing to do. I have one friend who is constantly taking in others, I love her dearly, she gets trampled on because she loves so unconditionally and I get aggravated with her because I know at times, she is being taken advantage of. Thing is, she knows it too, and her doing something right means more to her than the possibility of who she is helping not reciprocating.




Then we get to the last half of James 2:


¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your^[d] works, and I will show you my faith by my^[e] works. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?^{[f] 21} Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”^[g] And he was called the friend of God. ²⁴ You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
²⁵ Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.


I think this pretty well says, if all you can do is give lip service, you might have a problem. We are to be DOERS. Action words here, when you see something that needs done, instead of saying, "Somebody needs to....." or ""I'll pray about that", how about praying that God will open the doors for it to be YOU? And then start looking for ways to change things.


I have a lot of friends who have done things based on crazy faith and I believe they are living a more rewarding life because of it. So, on top of what your actions might do for your neighbor, your community, or your world, there is always a possibility you will start seeing things in your own life that are unbelievable as well.


So, I am giving you an assignment today, find a way to be a doer. You know the friend that I mentioned earlier that I said is a doer--one of the smallest things I know she does is randomly pays for someone's pop at the gas station. I think that is God-led. She basically could be lighting a candle that creates something bigger, and will never know it. Does she care? I doubt it. She cares that she tried to make someone else's life a little better. If we all did that, ALL of us, can you imagine what this world would be? I would so love to find out.


I am leaving you with yet another song that I have used before. Matthew West's Do Something. He sang this to me two years ago last month, at my request. At the time, it was "my song", and is still forever a constant reminder that when we ask why God doesn't do something, we better be looking in the mirror because He did.

Falling Down

So, last Saturday morning, not even an hour after finishing my blog post, my whole day changed. I was getting ready for a great day away with friends and was hurrying to get ready. It had turned a bit cooler and I wanted a sweater that was stored downstairs. I started be-bopping down the stairs like I normally do and my foot came out from under me. I fell for what felt like forever; and the more I think about it, the more I realized, I was sitting where my feet were, so I really didn't fall down the stairs. I hit my head in the process though and the gash I had was deep. There was no way around the fact that my plans just changed. I was crushed.


This didn't get lost on me though, I knew there was a lesson in it, there were many lessons in it.  Of course, as soon as I told what happened, I was met with several comments, those that know me the best wanted to know if it would slow me down, or maybe knock some sense into me. Well, as far as going down the stairs, I will have to tell you, yes, I have slowed down and been more careful. The knocking some sense into me? That's is probably still up for debate?


I do think about the fact that as Christians, we seem to get ahead of God sometimes though, and sometimes, He will try everything He can to get us to do things His way without causing us a major event, like a fall. He gave us free will though, and that makes it hard--on both of us. I know it surely pains God when He knows what we should be doing, He TELLS us what we should be doing, and we don't listen. I often think of Luke 11: 11-12.


¹¹ If a son asks for bread^[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”


And though this passage talks about asking God for what we want, I think the thing is, God has a greater life for us than we can even imagine. He already KNOWS our life here on earth, every second of it, We get so busy doing our thing that sometimes He has to just stop us in our tracks, and say, LISTEN TO ME!!! I wonder how awesome my life would really be, if I had done what He had led me to every time He lead me there.


So, when I fell down the stairs; , as badly as I wanted to be in Bloomington, I spent the morning in the ER and the afternoon taking 45 minute naps on the couch. I was instructed by the doctors to rest. I doubt if the doctor knew how badly I needed that rest, but obviously, God did.


And that is not the ONLY lesson I learned from my fall. The two I was supposed to be spending my day with, Dani and Tammy, texted me throughout the day. Last Saturday was Tammy's birthday, we are all officially 50 now. So, in the course of the day, Dani sends a picture of a life alert necklace. Yeah, uh, no. She told me she wasn't slamming me, but she had fell recently too. But here's the deal. We were all able to get back up. That's the important thing. GET BACK UP.


Somebody said something about getting old this week, I am not convinced I am going to do it. My mom turns 78 in 11 days, and I do not think she sees herself as old, the older I get, the more I get it. My mom can outwork me any day of the week, so I truly believe old is a state of mind, and I am not going to get there easily. If nothing else, thinking about this has inspired me to once again, try harder to take care of myself. So that I can keep getting up when I fall.


I knew this was in the Bible, but the events of the week caused me to look it up.


For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity. Proverbs 24:16.


We aren't perfect, NONE OF US, if even one of us were perfect, Christ's death would have been in vain. He was the perfect one.


But what I am getting at, is don't ever beat yourself up for falling, we all do it; the Bible says we are going to do it. But it also says we will Rise again. I kinda like that, Rising feels so much more a big deal than just getting back up. :-) So, whatever your latest fall has been, walking into a temptation you didn't plan to (mine the last two days has been eating, I had been doing so good. :( ) or not giving something your all, or simply not listening to what HE wants you to do. You can rise again. He wants you too, He will help you.


Today is the day......


These last couple of paragraph's has Danny Gokey's Rise going through my head, so I am almost positive I have used it here before, but someone someplace needs it today. It may just be me, or it may be you.


I am asking for a very special prayer request, and I am sorry I can't tell you any specifics, but if you would just pray that God's will be done in the situation Mindy is talking about, I know God knows. I have a friend who needs lots of prayer right now, and may not have a tremendous amount of praying friends, but I do. I wanted to help and didn't know exactly how. God told me to ask this, so I am asking. If you could just put this little unspoken prayer request on your daily list for a while, I will let you know when we have an answer Thanks in advance!!!

Regrets

This has probably been on my mind more this summer than any other topic. I absolutely try to live a life without regret and then something slapped me in the face so strongly that I still fight tears every time I think about it.


I didn't take enough pictures of my life, more specifically, I didn't take enough pictures of my friends, and us, living our lives.


When we first moved to Newton, I immediately started going to the PTO and Band-Aides meetings at the elementary school. I met Glenna. She was president that year and was so excited I was there. There were several people at that first meeting as they were planning the spring carnival, I was really impressed that there were so many there. I had always been active in PTO at Olney and we struggled to have bodies, and minds, to get everything done. I thought, wow, this was great. It didn't last. In fact, the next year, we had one meeting that consisted of us being accidently locked out of the building; Steve had been refereeing and was going to be late. Glenna and I sat on one of the benches outside the school until Steve got there, it was a nice night, so we held our meeting right there. three of us.


Fast forward to high school, Robert's freshman year. My childhood church buddy, Amy moved home. Her son, Trygve, and Robert became fast friends. Amy joined our group as a regular band mom too. I had met Vaneta when we first moved to Newton, but she became more active in the Band Boosters that year, Glenna had known Vaneta for quite some time, as they went to church together. For the next four years, you could pretty well count almost any Saturday in September and October, there would be four spots on the bleachers taken up by the four of us, more often than not, in a little square, two in front and two in back. I was the one that had to go see the whole competition, so I very rarely chaperoned, but I saved the seats, so that we could all set together.


I realized a little too late, that we had all of these pictures of the band, from basically the same vantage point, but we had no pictures of us.


After Robert, Trygve, and Logan, Vaneta's son, all graduated, the four of us still managed to get together every few months and go have dinner. Glenna's daughter was older than the boys, but her son was younger, so she was still in the booster years, so she kept us up on what was going on.


We had gotten busy, and hadn't been together for a while, the last time we were all together was Vaneta's wedding. We should have taken a picture. Glenna was the one taking pictures. We were all there, but we just didn't do it.


Everybody thinks I am probably a facebook junkie, and I probably am. I am also on Linked In and I am just as bad about it as I am good with facebook. I go for weeks without checking it, but in May, I happened to have a notice that it was Glenna's work anniversary, so I just sent her a message and told her happy anniversary. She came back with a laugh and said she didn't even realize it was until she saw my text. We both said it had been too long and planned on catching up at Logan's wedding. The day of Logan's wedding, Amy and I were missing Glenna and Vaneta said she was in the hospital that she was having a brain tumor removed the next day and though it was serious, there were no indications that she wouldn't be fine. She died on the 16th of June. To this day it kills me that there is not a single picture of the four of us. Because these three women were such a big part of my life.


I have 4 sets of very close friends, my 3 closest friends from work, my 4 best friends from high school, my LIHEAP sisters, and my band mom friends. Most of the time when the other groups of us get together, it is a big deal, a special occasion, but when us band moms got together, it was just us living our lives.


In the past 30 days, I have gotten to spend time with most of these groups, I did miss Vaneta the day I went with Amy to the EIU band competition ( and didn't take a pictue of the two of us :-( ) but last weekend, I was with the LIHEAP sisters and made it a point. Today, I am seeing 2 of my four best friends and will also make it a point.


 I'm not really sure how "devotionally" this is, but I know God put people in our path and we are to treasure our friends. Proverbs 17:17 says a friend loveth at all times. I have had a couple in particular this summer that I have laid things on them that hasn't been easy and they have offered their input, their advice and it has been very thankfully welcomed.


But going forward, in this age where it seems like people get bashed for too many selfies, I'm begging you, take that picture, don't wait until you lose weight, or your hair looks better. Grab your friends and take that picture.


My mom pulled out a picture not long ago of two of her sisters and a friend of mine's mother-in-law. They are all gone now, but we knew they were connected by that picture.


So, instead of my song at the end. I am posting some of my favorite pictures of my friends and me.

Taken the day we went to visit Glenna in the hospital. Will treasure that day forever.

My LIHEAP sisters

My BFF's

My work BFF's

Living an "All In" Life

Isaiah 46:4

 Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know my very favorite Christian artist is Matthew West. I have been listening to his new album and of course, it is wonderful.

I find it so funny that I went most of the summer thinking I should get back to the blog and not really thinking of what I could say, and now that I am back, the flood gates have opened. There is so much I want to say!

This is going to be one of those posts about a song though, or about the message in the song because this one is good, really good. I have not heard the story behind this one but we all know with Matthew West, there is definitely a story.

I also find it funny that I decided last Saturday that it was time for me to get back to really living for Christ. I think I had been on the wrong side of "the edge" and it felt really good to get things right. I have spent a lot of time talking things over with my best friend through all of these things and she made the statement to me this week that she finally sensed I am at peace with things. And I am. I still have things I don't understand, and things I don't like, but it was time to let go of them and know that God is God and I am not.

I had heard All In for a few weeks now, but wasn't really in the mood to take it to heart. Monday morning, I really listened. Most of you know I have a deep, deep love for music and believe that sometimes music can minister where words, and even actions cannot. So, I am driving Monday and this song comes on.

My feet are frozen on this middle ground
The water's warm here but the fire's gone out
I played it safe for so long the passion left
Turns out safe is just another word for regret

I have to admit there are parts of my life that I have definitely not been in the "luke warm" area. I read an article that said you should do something that scares you every day. I have been there for so long I think I would be scared of NOT being scared, if that makes any sense, lol. I do admit I have been going through the motions with some things, and I guess luke warm really would be the perfect descriptor. I have been reading through a chronological Bible this year, and I didn't quit but I have not had the same passion I did early- I think that line, "I played it safe for so long the passion left" hit me right between the eyes.

So, I step to the edge and I take a deep breath
We're all dying to live but we're all scared to death
And this is the part where my head tells my heart
You should turn back around but there's no turning back now

I have been here too many times this week. I have taken some chances,but I spent more time praying over them. I knew my heart was in the right place and prayed that others in my path would know that too. Ironically, I have received confirmation on that, more than once. God is good, All the time. And there will always be times that we want God to hurry up and answer but his answer is to just wait. I am so thrilled that this week wasn't one of them.

I'm going all in
Headfirst into the deep end
I hear You calling
And this time the fear won't win

So, here we are.. The root of this song. How to live.

All In

 Take the leap, and do everything you can, for everyone you can, every day of your life...

and All for the Glory of God.

Have you ever longed to be a certain place, waiting to go on vacation to a favorite spot, or waiting to get home from a long day just so you can put on your pj's and veg out in your favorite chair?

There is nothing else like that feeling here on earth. My favorites float back and forth between sitting on my porch, and taking in a nice long, deep, bath. But when you have looked forward to it all day, it is truly a mixed bag of happiness, and contentment, and well, just blessed.

When you have been at odds with God and you are finally ready to fall in His arms again, it is such an incredible feeling when you can feel them wrap around you. I can hear Him whisper....I'm glad you are home.

I'm so glad I am home.

And of course, here is All In.

Enjoy!

Computers, Complications, and Comebacks

Apparently today is the day.....I'm back to the blog. I have to apologize, I just realized that I didn't even explain my exit on here, so if you were following the blog and not my facebook page, sorry. I was starting to feel like my blog was work, and even more than that, a drudgery; I didn't want to feel that way about something I was doing for the glory of the Lord, so I stepped back. Looking back over the last 6 months, I see now that God wanted me to step away before I said some things I would regret. I have spent several times in the last 6 months somewhat at odds with God. There have been so many things happen that I have just wanted to ask Him why  And deep down, I know the answer. Just because you know the answer doesn't mean you have to like it. So, I am back, I have a feeling you will see my regular Saturday morning posts for at least a while. I have lots built up to talk about and I believe I have worked through my issues so I can hopefully use the events of the summer to be an encouragement to you in your walk.


I had a life-changing experience in June, June 8th, to be exact. I didn't have any clue that night would be so important to me. My boss and I attended a Chamber of Commerce dinner. One of the speakers that night was Mike Miller. He runs a computer company out of Mattoon, and one of these days, the focus of my blog will be on this initial meeting, as well as the events that followed but today I am going to fast forward. The result of this meeting was taking on a major, and I mean MAJOR technology overhaul of our agency. I have worked harder, crazier, and longer hours than I have ever worked in my life, and until this last week, I was seriously just crazy happy. This week, I  lost my sparkle and looking back, I groan at some of the pictures in my head. Thank God for forgiveness. I tried not to show it to the people standing in my office door, but the thoughts that went through my head sometimes weren't nice. I am sorry. Unfortunately, we tend to take these kind of things out on the people we are closest to, they seem to be the most forgiving. I am truly sorry for that too.


Ironically, my very last blog post was talking about something I preach constantly. I would rather have a well rested Christian whose life isn't perfect, than a grumpy, tired Christian because they are not taking the rest the God deemed necessary. We all know God didn't rest on the 7th day of creation because HE needed to, He rested to show us that WE need to.


Let me set up the situation for you. Monday was a Holiday for us, so Tuesday was the first day of the workweek-- I DID work Monday though, and took my final test to become a national certified ROMA Implementer, again, another blog.... So, anyway, Tuesday's plans for the Technology update was to change the hardware out in the Charleston office. Most of these offices, what has been done, I have done myself. Charleston has always been intimidating to me, so I have not spent as much time there. So, my IT guys and I were meeting at 3 that day to start the change over. And because nothing goes as planned, this ended up taking 3.5 hours, including me on the phone with our ISP.


Little object lesson for you.....We had 6 computers, 3 printers, and an Ameren paystation machine that was on this network. If all of those things were brand new, out of the box, they could be set up exactly the way they needed to be for this particular network. We would set the settings, plug everything in, and go on down the road. Unfortunately, all of the computers have had different people sitting in front of them and that gives them different life experiences. When you are dealing with that, things are no longer so cut and dried. Isn't that just like us?  We can ask God to help us plan for our future, and lead us down the path He would have us take, but just because we are turning to Him, doesn't erase the obstacles we have to get around because of things in our past. Thing is, just like the computers, it made things more complicated, but not impossible. And even with the complications, the outcome is going to be so worth it.


Back off the rabbit trail. When we left at 6:30 that night, everything seemed to be working fine. The next day, some weird things happened in the office and by Thursday, there were dire complications, to the tune of the whole office had no internet. It seems to have boiled down to a bad switch but the thing was, it changed the day for everyone on this project. My goal was to get to Martinsville and get equipment put in there. The plan was to get there, do my part and then have one of the guys remote in to walk me through the part I had only done a couple of times and we would be finished. The guy that was going to do that was stuck at Charleston, working on a computer there. So, I did Martinsville by myself. I did not do it the way Mike would have, and we do need to fix a couple things but I had them up and running and that was the most important thing, but I knew it wasn't right. That was when it hit me. We had a lot of problems this week.


I get in moods where I can't see the good for all the bad. Thursday night, I didn't sleep, I was quite literally sick to my stomach, and I was ready to throw in the towel. Yesterday morning, I tried to count 5 things good that happened this week and I couldn't do it. I was there. That place I hate. I cried in the shower and then I cried because I cried. I absolutely DISPISE crying because of failure. Almost as much as I hate failure. I have some sayings printed out in my office, and a couple of sticky notes with sayings on them that haven't made it to the official 8.5 x 11 yet. one of my stickies is a quote from Madeleine Albright, "There is plenty of room in the world for mediocre men, but no room for mediocre women". I was being mediocre to say the least.


One of my saving graces each morning is my daily phone call with my mom. I was telling her my problems yesterday morning and I started telling her a story about something that happened on Thursday. It dawned on me, it was a good thing. I can actually pretty easily name 5 good things that happened this week, including getting to spend time with a dear friend I met though work, and hearing her inspiring speech at a meeting I went to; I DID get Martinsville running by myself- any adjustments that need made, can be made remotely, so I saved myself another trip. There are really lots more.


The moral of the story though is I knew it was time to walk away. After lunch yesterday, I came home. I slept, I watch sappy Hallmark movies, I shopped for a new car (that is going to be my reward to myself when we get this stuff behind us). The main thing is, I rested. and it felt good, and I felt blessed. There were a couple of little things pop up from work, but it felt fine to say I will take care of it Monday. There were texts with friends not related to electronics and I could actually feel the spark coming back, and I knew I had followed God's direction for me. And how ironic is it that my dear friend, Susan posted this blogpost just yesterday, so after reading this, I had a long visit with my Lord. Sometimes, we don't know exactly who God has us blogging for, and sometimes we are blessed enough to find out. Yes, Susan, God used you for me yesterday :-).


So, I have just a couple of verses to leave you with today.


The first reminds us of the importance of rest in our lives:


Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.


He offers it, He built us to need it, and we should listen to this command just as much as we do "Thou shall not kill". Our Lord offers us so much and why are we so hesitant to just accept it graciously and move on?


Then this verse has stumbled through my mind this morning, as I am there, I am on a mountaintop, ready to soar again:


Isaiah 40:31 But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.


I have been there for so long, but this week I lost it. I have to think of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. That is exactly what happened to me this week. I took my eyes off of His glory and seen everything I am not. No wonder I was sinking.


 But praise God, He picked me up, dusted me off and even added a little sparkle.




Happy Saturday everyone,




It really is good to be back!


And in my normal fashion, here is a song that goes along.


Danny Gokey's Slow Down is probably my theme song right at the moment.

Easter Services Songs

Because He Lives

This has been one of those weeks where I have met myself coming. Today is my decompress day, and though I had a million things on my list to get done today, I have taken the rare opportunity to mark some things for later and go on. And I can....The Bible tells me so:


"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28.

When I am sitting in my quiet time and being diverted from my real purpose of being there by all this stuff I have to do, I truly hear Him whisper, "What you do for Me today is more important than any of that stuff", and similar to what I tell my own Sunday School student, "I would rather you be a happy, rested, Christian, with a house that isn't perfect, than a grumpy Christian who is tired, but has a clean house." Some things are being put by the wayside....

It has been a crazy week and one of those marked up to "I can't believe I get to do this job". Tuesday, I and a cohort took the train to Chicago to go to a meeting in Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower). Wednesday I went to a Homeless Summit. Thursday, I took my mom to the doctor, then went to another office to work on computers;  and yesterday, she and I went  grocery shopping. It has been a busy week, and today I am home. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, so I do have some preparing and practicing to do for that. And yes, my dishes will still get done, as well as the laundry, but I'm not digging into deep cleaning the bathrooms as was originally the plan.

I am trying to plan music for tomorrow's services and all week Because He Lives has been running through my mind. It is apparently my Easter them song this year, but that song holds so much truth.

 In Mark 16:6, we read, " Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Do you ever read a book and then go see the movie of the same book? I have a very hard time doing this, as that movie in my head is almost always better than someone else produced. So, when I think about the fact that Jesus hung on a cross, and suffered the death He did, I imagine what must have been going through his mind. I wonder as Jesus hung on the cross, what He saw when He saw me? I realize in such deep wonderment, that everything that was in my future was scrolling before Him, as it was with all of His other children. That, my friend, is humbling. It is even more humbling when I can hear that whisper of Him saying, "You were worth it".

Through our lives, we hit snags where it feels like nothing is going right, we get in those pits where we feel nobody values us, or that we have made too many mistakes and wrong turns, and that we can't do anything right.

He is still whispering, "You were worth it".

He did this so you could have this life, make those mistakes, have those feelings, and then turn to Him, and say, "I need some rest", and He will give you perfect rest.

John 14:19 says:
     "Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live."

Because I live, you also will live. 

Because He Lives.

I wish all of you the happiest of days, hopefully in deep realization of what Christ really did for you, and me, that day He suffered death on the cross.

Preparing for a Giant

As I continue on my trek through the Bible, I came to David and Goliath this week. As always, when I read through the Bible, God points out different things to me. I find it funny that I can read a regular book over and over and I read the same story. The Bible is very different though, and I feel God points out things to us as we need them in our lives.


We have all heard the story of David and Goliath. Little, humble boy; big. egotistical giant. 5 stones and a slingshot. But going to quickly point out some things God impressed on me.


The whole story is in 1 Samuel 17, if you want a refresher. I am just going to point out a few verses. We all know that David's three older brothers were actually the ones who had went to war against the Philistines. David was sent by his dad to take food to those men. When David got there, he found that there had basically been a 40-day standoff. Goliath would come up and say, send someone down to me, whoever wins, the others will be their servants. Can you imagine, looking across the yard for 40 days, wondering if this is ever going to end, and if it does, is it going to end badly for you?


So, here was David, this young man, looking at the situation. I am going to back up here for a minute and tell you that several years ago, we learned that the part of your brain that tells you something is really dangerous doesn't develop fully until you are around 25. I think God used that fact on David that day. He wasn't thinking about being afraid, he was thinking about solving the problem. So, he basically said, "I will go do this!" King Saul basically told him he couldn't do it, he was not able. David told of killing both a lion and a bear to protect his sheep, yes, he could do this.  Saul finally agreed but wanted to prepare him, to armor him up. When David tried to wear Saul's armor, it was big, and clunky, and truly just made David slower. David took all of this off, went and got some stones, used his slingshot and shall we say, the rest is history.


I have to tell you, I have had a lot of times of doubting myself this week. I am in one of those points at work where God tells me every morning, "Let's go do this!" and by the middle of the afternoon, the Devil is laughing and saying, " who do you think you are?" I so needed to hear about David and Goliath this week. I needed God to say to me, "Look what happens when you are trusting in Me".


Most of the time, I have it in my head, exactly why God is wanting me to put something here. Today, I am not really sure if He wants me to tell you about David and Goliath, or if He wants me to tell you to listen to Him, He will give you what you need. The world may think you need tons of armor to go fight your battle. God says you only need Him.


I am making this short for today, I leave in a couple of hours to go spend time with two of my favorite people. When David was asking what the king would give the person who slayed Goliath, there was a laundry list of stuff. I have known all week, my reward for making it to today was seeing Dani and Tammy. I get a few hours of that deep-down soul cleansing friendship that comes from knowing each other for basically forever. Thank you, Lord for getting me through this week!


I am leaving you with Mandisa's Overcomer. I have had this song on my mind a lot this week and listened to it several times. I can't find where I have used it on the blog before, but if I have, that's okay. Maybe you needed it today too!


Happy Saturday! Have a great week!

Five Good Things

This has been a week. I am so very grateful it is in the books, but hectic really doesn't do the reality justice. We have had things going on at work, atypical to normal problems, but things that need dealt with. Things that have to happen in order for us to keep growing as an agency. Tuesday, I had my hands on a total of 31 computers in one day, I think that was a new record. 2 of them took me down. 1 of those two, I have no clue as to why. I have some studying in my future, to say the least.


This is week number 2 of the musical I am playing flute for at Robinson, and it was the week of the High School musical here in Newton. As I was looking at a list musicals done at the high school, I realized I think I have only missed 4 or 5 of the forty some-odd number listed. 4 of them I went to because my sister was in them. 4 of them, because I was in ( really 3, but I worked on the 4th, just wasn't on the stage) and 4 of them because Robert was in. I love that legacy.....Roots and Wings.


On Thursday night, I left work at 6, picked my mom up, picked my husband up and made it to the high school by 7. Just a little plug here, if you live anywhere close and have not seen The Little Mermaid......you need to see this. It is awesome, the acting, the sets, and the wardrobe are all just astounding. Lots of amazing kids in this too, the chef, who is just "a little" over the top (and fantastic at it) is my Sunday School student. I just sit in awe of the talent God gives people.


As I was on my way to Mom's Thursday night, I was running through everything that had been going on and everything I needed to do, and seriously laughed out loud, and though a couple of my co-workers who were in what felt like a boiling pot with me may not think it is funny, I am just a little amazed at the things God has put me in the middle of. I truly had a "count your blessings" session, and it was good.


When I still worked in AWANA, we had 4 high school boys. These boys were also 3 of Robert's best friends, so our relationship went far beyond Wednesday nights. I knew these boys and I knew their lives. On Wednesday evening I was often met with all of the bad things, or hectic things going on. Why do we, as humans, tend to be able to share bad so much easier than good? I started a little time frame in our evening where each one of them had to tell me 5 good things that had happened since the last week. It changed the atmosphere of the evening.


So, today, I decided, I have so much I want to get done and so little time to do it, I would change my atmosphere. I came up with 5 good things that are in my life right now.


1. My community. I absolutely should be the Poster child for our town's motto: Catch the Spirit; Live the Dream. We seem to take some blows, as do all communities, there have been things happen, but as I was coming back into town last night a little after 10, I was greeted with the square being lit up in blue lights. April is Autism Awareness month, and we go big here. We have a foundation that was started out of the devastating loss of a community citizen. He had two daughters with Autism. His sister-in-law, with the help of many of her friends started a foundation that helps families who have autistic members. I love this. We also have a counseling center that works with special needs children, a lot of work is done with autistic children there as well. Our little county.....doing big things for Autism.


2. Supper, at 10:30....a real live, carb-loaded, comfort food, sleep like a baby afterwards, hot supper. I texted Andrew as I was leaving Robinson and asked if he happened to fix supper. Yes, he had, home made mac and cheese, baked beans, and he and Robert had pork burgers and he was ready to fix me one too if I wanted. I hadn't ate since lunch....I wanted. I love that Andrew is willing to fill in the gaps when I have things I want to do. He doesn't make me feel guilty (I do that myself sometimes, but it is truly just me).


3. Good young people. As I mentioned, the play here in Newton is just phenomenal. Those kids have worked so hard, doing something they enjoy doing but nonetheless, putting in lots of hours and juggling school, other activities, and sometimes even a job in there. I am seeing the same thing out of so many of the school-aged kids in the cast at Robinson, as well as one of our pit members. These kids are learning young, the value of hard work, doing something you love, and all the rewards that go with that. These are kids that will grow up to be the ones to get the job done, and the ones that I believe have a good grasp on our future.


4. Personal and Professional growth. I have gotten to incorporate some things I have wanted to do for quite a while, and it was met from both my boss and the ones I supervise with positive notes. That pretty well made for a good week, no matter what the other madness going on. I have to say though, we have had some pretty major changes at work this week, definitely a point of growth. It hasn't been easy, but there have been parts that went better than expected, and of course, parts that didn't go as expected, but we survived, and it is one of those things that I venture a guess that when we even look back in a month, it will be decided it really did go well.


5. I love my job, everyone knows this, but this week, I was really glad it was time to go home, not only call it a day, but last night, at 4, we called it a week, and it was time to go home. I was only here for a few minutes, giving me time to change gears, and get ready for last night. I love home. I love my house, even when it is not as clean as it should be, or even in need of a handyman (glad I have one, and not really sad that he is too busy to fix some things here right now, lol) but as much as I love my home, weeks like this also make me dream a little of my real home. That one that is always perfect, always clean, never in need of repair. The one Jesus went to prepare for me. For ME.
I love that we have the ability to spend time with Him right here on earth and that a few minutes in silent communion with Him can make the whole world feel different but there is part of me that longs for that day when everything is perfect....and calm.......and right.


John 14:3 says:  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.


Yes, that will be a blessed day. But until that day comes, I thank the Lord that He sent us a comforter.






Psalms 118:24 says, "This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."




So much to be thankful for; good things the Lord has put in our lives, even when other things are not so right.


I challenge you today to find your 5 things. It truly does change your perspective and gets your day going with just a little more oomph.


One of the many songs that I love about Heaven is this one from Chris Tomlin.




Happy Saturday everyone!

Lessons from Joshua

This week I read the book of Joshua. I am going to tell you Joshua has always been one of my favorite people from the Bible and I have really enjoyed visiting him this week. I have felt like Joshua must have felt a few times in my life. I have even used his situation in reference. I have always been one of those "Just do it" people when I feel like what we are doing is right. Needless to say, especially at work, I have been told to slow down, we need to look at this a little closer first.

I am referring to the time that Moses sent 12 spies to scout out the land. This actually happened in Numbers 13 if you want to do a little refresher reading.  The 12 spies came back and reported the land was everything you could ever dream of.....BUT, 10 of the spies said the people who lived there were also big and scary and we can't fight them. Joshua and Caleb tried to convince them otherwise but was not able to. Joshua knew God was on their side, he knew God would see them through this. But the 10 outnumbered Joshua and Caleb- the end result? 40 years of no progress, waiting in the wilderness. In Numbers 14, it says that Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes, which was a sign of major distress. You will also find that the 10 spies who caused all the dissension died of the plague. The only two who survived was Caleb and Joshua.

In the book of Joshua, we find Moses has died and who gets to lead the people FINALLY into the promised land? Joshua. God rewarded him for his faith, (and surely also for 40 years of patience) and Joshua got to step on that ground that had been promised him.

It didn't take long for the people to start turning away though, why do we do that? It seems like we can be a bunch of spoiled children who, when we don't get our way, go try to find something else to fulfill our needs, even though our God is perfect, and we know HIS way is the right one.

The verses I chose today come from Joshua 24, right before Joshua dies at 110 years old. God had told Joshua to go speak to all the people, God reminded them of everything He had done for them; bringing them out of Egypt, caring for them daily, even when they had turned away from Him, helping them defeat the people that we already in the promised land and then giving each of them part of that land as an inheritance.

Then Joshua says:

¹⁴ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! ¹⁷ It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
¹⁹ Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
²¹ But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
²² Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.
²³ “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”
²⁵ On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws.

Wouldn't it be great if I could end this with, "and to this day, we all fear God and make him our one and only Savior". We have seen our own family members fade away from their relationship, I am sure we have all had our own times of feeling farther away from God even if we never completely turned our backs. 
  
This week has been a crazy busy one for me, and I have to admit, Yesterday was the first day of 2017, I overslept so badly that I didn't get my Bible Study done. I prayed while getting ready but I knew this morning, I needed to get right back at it or I would ruin a habit I have had for years. That is the first step. So as badly as I wanted to sleep this morning, I got up and had my quiet time with my Lord. and it felt good. 

I hope to encourage you that if you have the habit in place of spending time with your Lord and Savior, you keep on doing that, I know YOU know what I am talking about. There is just a peace and comfort in your day when you have started it with Him. If you have never gotten in that habit, I am encouraging you to start this week. You do not have to read a bunch, open your Bible and read one verse.I wholeheartedly believe this is the first step to living that Joshua life that says, "Let's go do this!"

Leaving you with Chris Tomlin's Whom Shall I Fear. Think this is a very Joshua song. 

Have a great week!