They are getting a divorce.
Some friends of ours - and yet it came as a total shock to us. Why?
Not why are they getting a divorce but why did it come as a shock? Why was there no mention in our friendship of the trouble they were having? Why did they not feel comfortable enough to ask for prayer for their relationship?
I am certainly not saying this in judgement of them or as a criticism. If anything, I feel that is says more about our listening skills and the friendship we were offering to them.
It seems to me that friendships are going the way of so many other things in our busy, hectic, technologically infused lives. To the surface. No one wants to share depth, things that aren't going right, disappointments in their lives, difficulties, the things that we need friendships for. Why?
Why can't we share the hard things? That is what our community is supposed to be for. That is what Jesus wanted for us.
"A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:17 At all times, not just in the good times.
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13
In today's times we aren't usually asked to lay down our lives, but Jesus asks us to love one another by listening, helping and encouraging others.
I pray that I can be a friend that others can come to in all things - good and bad - and ask for prayer and a listening ear - a shoulder to cry on and a smiling face to rejoice with.
In His Grace...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
His Majesty
We were on our way to the Redwoods for our first camping trip with our little man. In an effort to make the time go faster on the drive, we put in the first CD of our little man's Jesus Storybook Bible.
I love the introduction in the storybook bible which is taken from Psalm 19 and Hebrews 1. "The Heavens are singing about how great God is; and the skies are shouting it out, "See what God has made!" Day after day...Night after night...They are speaking to us." Psalm 19 (paraphrase)....God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror - to show us what he is like, to help us know him, to make our hearts sing."
As we were driving to some of the most majestic trees in our country, how fitting to be reminded of God's creation. The majesty we see all around us, in the towering Redwoods, in the pounding waves of the Pacific Ocean, in the sunset that paints the sky red, orange, yellow. Everything around us was made by God to remind us of His majesty, His glory, His beauty.
It was a great trip!
In His Grace....
I love the introduction in the storybook bible which is taken from Psalm 19 and Hebrews 1. "The Heavens are singing about how great God is; and the skies are shouting it out, "See what God has made!" Day after day...Night after night...They are speaking to us." Psalm 19 (paraphrase)....God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror - to show us what he is like, to help us know him, to make our hearts sing."
As we were driving to some of the most majestic trees in our country, how fitting to be reminded of God's creation. The majesty we see all around us, in the towering Redwoods, in the pounding waves of the Pacific Ocean, in the sunset that paints the sky red, orange, yellow. Everything around us was made by God to remind us of His majesty, His glory, His beauty.
It was a great trip!
In His Grace....
Friday, June 29, 2012
Saved
I moved toward God at a faster pace than my husband. I was seeking and was at the point that I was desperate for His love. The pit can do that for you.
Thus I found myself on Easter Sunday 2004, driving my husband to the airport for a three week business trip on the east coast. Then I found myself driving an hour to attend the Easter service with our friends at their church.
It was a small church and we were sitting toward the back of the sanctuary - which was only about twelve rows from the front. I enjoyed the worship music, although it turned on my faucets (otherwise known as crying).
The sermon (which continued the faucet onslaught) was a typical one for Easter Sunday. It was about the amazing sacrifice God made for us because of His love for us and His desire for a personal relationship with each of us.
And then came the alter call. My friend whispered to me "if you want to go forward, I'll go with you." I do remember that I nodded (which was all I could manage with the tears streaming down my face).
The pastor spoke to me, and his wife spoke to me, and I gave my life to Christ. And I felt the first inkling of His peace, of His love.
God had planned that day for me. There was a reason my husband wasn't there - simply put, I wouldn't have gone forward with him there (though I love him to pieces). I would have been too embarrassed. I have always let others' thoughts lead my actions. But God knows that.
And He knew I needed to be there, at that time, with those people.
He would bring my husband along later with His perfect timing.
In His Grace...
I will be taking a break for the fourth of July holiday in order to spend time with my family. I will return the week after. Have a blessed holiday, enjoying the blessings God has given you and thanking Him for every one of them.
Thus I found myself on Easter Sunday 2004, driving my husband to the airport for a three week business trip on the east coast. Then I found myself driving an hour to attend the Easter service with our friends at their church.
It was a small church and we were sitting toward the back of the sanctuary - which was only about twelve rows from the front. I enjoyed the worship music, although it turned on my faucets (otherwise known as crying).
The sermon (which continued the faucet onslaught) was a typical one for Easter Sunday. It was about the amazing sacrifice God made for us because of His love for us and His desire for a personal relationship with each of us.
And then came the alter call. My friend whispered to me "if you want to go forward, I'll go with you." I do remember that I nodded (which was all I could manage with the tears streaming down my face).
The pastor spoke to me, and his wife spoke to me, and I gave my life to Christ. And I felt the first inkling of His peace, of His love.
God had planned that day for me. There was a reason my husband wasn't there - simply put, I wouldn't have gone forward with him there (though I love him to pieces). I would have been too embarrassed. I have always let others' thoughts lead my actions. But God knows that.
And He knew I needed to be there, at that time, with those people.
He would bring my husband along later with His perfect timing.
In His Grace...
I will be taking a break for the fourth of July holiday in order to spend time with my family. I will return the week after. Have a blessed holiday, enjoying the blessings God has given you and thanking Him for every one of them.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Friendship
During the time I spent working with my parents, my husband and I met an amazing couple. They had a business not far from my parents. And they had their own God stories. God brought them to us or us to them, of this I am sure.
The day I was diagnosed with clinical depression, we left work and stopped by their home. We were helping them get their business started and needed to go over a few things with them. I was devastated by my diagnosis and the idea that my doctor wanted me to start taking anti-depressants. Somehow, this came out while we were at their home.
At that time, they were not friends of ours. They were business acquaintances. But she asked me to go in a different room with her. And we sat down and talked. And she took the time to listen - to listen to my story, to listen to my pain. And then she asked if she could pray for me and with me. No one had ever asked me that and truthfully, I was too embarrassed to say no.
So she prayed with me that afternoon.
And our business acquaintance developed into a friendship. They would invite us to dinner and we often ended up staying the night at their house because we lived about an hour's drive from them. They told us their amazing God story. And then they helped us start ours.
We got more comfortable with the praying, with asking God for His help and thanking Him for His love. We started attending a church near our home.
We started the journey home, into our Father's arms, into building personal relationships with Him.
In His Grace....
The day I was diagnosed with clinical depression, we left work and stopped by their home. We were helping them get their business started and needed to go over a few things with them. I was devastated by my diagnosis and the idea that my doctor wanted me to start taking anti-depressants. Somehow, this came out while we were at their home.
At that time, they were not friends of ours. They were business acquaintances. But she asked me to go in a different room with her. And we sat down and talked. And she took the time to listen - to listen to my story, to listen to my pain. And then she asked if she could pray for me and with me. No one had ever asked me that and truthfully, I was too embarrassed to say no.
So she prayed with me that afternoon.
And our business acquaintance developed into a friendship. They would invite us to dinner and we often ended up staying the night at their house because we lived about an hour's drive from them. They told us their amazing God story. And then they helped us start ours.
We got more comfortable with the praying, with asking God for His help and thanking Him for His love. We started attending a church near our home.
We started the journey home, into our Father's arms, into building personal relationships with Him.
In His Grace....
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Fleeing
I'm not sure where to start my faith story. I spent many years without faith. My family attended a Presbyterian church when I was growing up but somewhere around my twelfth year, we stopped attending. We only said prayers on major holidays when we had a family dinner with our extended family. I was not taught about our loving Father and His desire to have a relationship with me.
I went to work with my parents when I was 28 years old and the long and the short of it was, I couldn't work for my parents. In the six and a half years I worked there, I spiraled down into a pit. I don't know what caused it, I don't know why it happened but I was experiencing pain that I didn't understand. Not just physical pain, but mental and emotional pain - although this sometimes came out as physical pain as well.
When my husband and I (we worked for my parents together) would get home from work, the first thing I wanted to do was turn on the television. At that time we got the major networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and a couple of others. Often there were only re-runs playing. It certainly wasn't that the stories were enthralling or it was great television. I was fleeing the voices in my head. As Ann Voskamp says in One Thousand Gifts "For all our frenzied running seemingly toward something, could it be that we are in fact fleeing - desperate to escape pain that pursues?"
When I read this it struck home. That is exactly what I was doing - running from the pain, the anger, the stress, the difficult decisions. Television was one of the few things that could stop my mind from working. It could still the self-doubt, the self-recriminations, the negative self-talk. It wasn't that there was a specific show that would fulfill, it was just a way to quiet the mind. While watching others' imaginary lives, I could focus less on my own reality.
At the time I was unaware of what I was doing (although it drove my husband nuts - thanks for sticking with me sweetie)! I was unaware of my deep dissatisfaction with myself and my life. I was unaware that I was trying to fill an emptiness that only God could fill.
This realization only came after - after I had allowed myself to fall into the pit of depression. And after God had lifted me out of it with His wondrous love.
I pray that we will stop "fleeing...the pain that pursues" and turn to God, allowing Him to heal the pain with His unending love.
In His Grace...
I went to work with my parents when I was 28 years old and the long and the short of it was, I couldn't work for my parents. In the six and a half years I worked there, I spiraled down into a pit. I don't know what caused it, I don't know why it happened but I was experiencing pain that I didn't understand. Not just physical pain, but mental and emotional pain - although this sometimes came out as physical pain as well.
When my husband and I (we worked for my parents together) would get home from work, the first thing I wanted to do was turn on the television. At that time we got the major networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and a couple of others. Often there were only re-runs playing. It certainly wasn't that the stories were enthralling or it was great television. I was fleeing the voices in my head. As Ann Voskamp says in One Thousand Gifts "For all our frenzied running seemingly toward something, could it be that we are in fact fleeing - desperate to escape pain that pursues?"
When I read this it struck home. That is exactly what I was doing - running from the pain, the anger, the stress, the difficult decisions. Television was one of the few things that could stop my mind from working. It could still the self-doubt, the self-recriminations, the negative self-talk. It wasn't that there was a specific show that would fulfill, it was just a way to quiet the mind. While watching others' imaginary lives, I could focus less on my own reality.
At the time I was unaware of what I was doing (although it drove my husband nuts - thanks for sticking with me sweetie)! I was unaware of my deep dissatisfaction with myself and my life. I was unaware that I was trying to fill an emptiness that only God could fill.
This realization only came after - after I had allowed myself to fall into the pit of depression. And after God had lifted me out of it with His wondrous love.
I pray that we will stop "fleeing...the pain that pursues" and turn to God, allowing Him to heal the pain with His unending love.
In His Grace...
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Blessings
To spend a day with my son:
Playing in the back yard.
Going to the library.
Swimming at the community pool.
Eating lunch in the backyard.
Listening to him play in the living room while I prepare dinner.
Reading books.
Laughing at the funny parts together.
Playing the ladybug game.
Building with lincoln logs.
That was today...
So often I focus on the days that I do not get to spend with my son. Those days that I must go to work. I focus on the disagreeable instead of the blessings. My parents were always fond of the saying "practice makes perfect" and I am afraid that they were often correct. I must practice counting my blessings and opening my heart and eyes to see them as what they are - gifts from God.
I pray you will begin counting your blessings with me.
In His Grace...
Playing in the back yard.
Going to the library.
Swimming at the community pool.
Eating lunch in the backyard.
Listening to him play in the living room while I prepare dinner.
Reading books.
Laughing at the funny parts together.
Playing the ladybug game.
Building with lincoln logs.
That was today...
So often I focus on the days that I do not get to spend with my son. Those days that I must go to work. I focus on the disagreeable instead of the blessings. My parents were always fond of the saying "practice makes perfect" and I am afraid that they were often correct. I must practice counting my blessings and opening my heart and eyes to see them as what they are - gifts from God.
I pray you will begin counting your blessings with me.
In His Grace...
Monday, June 25, 2012
God's Gifts
"...life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change." Ann Voskamp
I am reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for the second time. Oh how this book speaks to me. The path Ann has traveled and the discoveries she makes ring so true in my life.
I read the above sentence over and over the other night with the realization that so often I am asking God to change things in my life. And by doing this simple thing, I am declaring my dissatisfaction with what He has given me. With all the good gifts He has given. I realized (again) that I must give thanks in all things, not constantly asking that those things be changed.
I do also know that Scripture says to ask and it will be given to you, to knock and He will open the door. But as God knows all my thoughts before I even think them, then He also must know all my desires before I voice them to Him. With this thought in mind, I pray that I can focus my prayer life on giving thanks first and foremost, for everything He has given me, for all the wondrous things He places in my daily life.
We are so blessed.
In His Grace...
I am reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp for the second time. Oh how this book speaks to me. The path Ann has traveled and the discoveries she makes ring so true in my life.
I read the above sentence over and over the other night with the realization that so often I am asking God to change things in my life. And by doing this simple thing, I am declaring my dissatisfaction with what He has given me. With all the good gifts He has given. I realized (again) that I must give thanks in all things, not constantly asking that those things be changed.
I do also know that Scripture says to ask and it will be given to you, to knock and He will open the door. But as God knows all my thoughts before I even think them, then He also must know all my desires before I voice them to Him. With this thought in mind, I pray that I can focus my prayer life on giving thanks first and foremost, for everything He has given me, for all the wondrous things He places in my daily life.
We are so blessed.
In His Grace...
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