One Year with God

DAY 68:   This is going to be a short sweet blog because what God reminded me of requires few words, and was punctuated by all that I have read in the news of late.  You may not have seen it in the mainstream media reports but just this past Sunday, rockets were once again fired at Israel by her enemies. This time no one died, but it is yet another reminder that world forces line up against God's chosen people.  Iran continues to threaten to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and with it's advances in nuclear weapons its boasts become more real.  Middle East nations continue to cut their remaining diplomatic ties with Israel, and with every Arab Spring, Israel's peace becomes more tenuous, not less. Such turmoil brings to life the words of Jesus I have been reading in Mark about the signs of the end of the age. So, too, does it animate the warning of the book of  Revelations that such catastrophic conflicts are certain to come, though the time is not certain at all.

DAY 174: Part 4 of 4 in the blog series HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIFE- lessons from Esther. I have a few family members who regularly buy lottery tickets.  While the odds of one of them winning are astronomical, in their words: "Somebody's got to win.  It could be me."  The optimism only cost them $1 per week.  Regardless of the odds or the wisdom of making even that meager investment, their hearts are in the right place. All of them have big plans for how the money will impact not only their own lives, but how they plan to help everyone in our family. My dad always says, "When I win the lottery, I'll make sure the kids college is completely paid for," or "When I pick the winning number we are all going to go on one great big family vacation." I have no doubt that he means it.  He loves to be generous and if he  had more money he would just be more generous.  His success would benefit far more people than just himself. I'm not exactly holding my

DAY 173:  Part 3 of 4 in lessons from the book of Esther on HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIFE. If Esther and Mordecai are examples of how avoiding the trap of bitterness can move you ahead on the path of success, the newest character exemplifies how bitterness can derail even the best prospects for success. Beginning in chapter 3, we meet what appears to be the rising star of Persia.  Haman, an official in the king's court, comes on the scene in what appears to be an unstoppable rise. Esther 3:1   King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.  2  All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. Second only to the King himself, Haman had achieved all the success he could have dreamed of, yet there was a fly in the ointment that seemed to spoil all his success. 2 But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him h

DA 172: Part 2 of 4 of the HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIFE blog entries. If you love really compelling stories, you have to love the book of Esther.  Romance, intrigue, plot twists; it has it all.  And as I discovered, it also has some lessons about how to succeed in life.  In the first section of this Old Testament story they were mostly lessons about what not to do, and some of those continue.  But today there is also a positive example. When we last left the story, the King of Persia, only in his third year of rule, banished his queen because she would not attend a drunken party King Xerxes was hosting. So the search began for her replacement.  Enter, new characters to our story. Chapter 2 introduces us a very interesting man.  Mordecai was a Jew, one of the people groups the Persians had conquered and deported from their homeland. Since the timing of this story places it after Ezra led the first group of exiles back to Israel to build the Temple and before Nehemiah and the second grou

Day 171: (Part 1 of 4) What is the secret to success?   It’s hard to tell based on all the “success plans” in the marketplace.   Amazon offers 150,320 books on the topic, with titles like The Real Truth about Success and The Key to Success. I guess we have to choose if we want The Truth or The Key .   Is it possible that there is more than one way to success.   What if The Truth works for some and The Key works for others? In our family we definitely discovered there is more than one way to find success because there is more than one way to define success. Our kids' school years often illustrated that reality. For instance, success for our daughter in Jr. High was completing those years with her self-esteem in tact.   We never worried about her grades as academics came pretty easy for her.   We had high standards for scores and she did not disappoint. Anything below a C for our high achieving focused child was unacceptable because we knew what she was able to achieve - that

DAY 170: Like most young kids, our children had their first entrepreneurial experience by opening a lemonade stand. My daughter was the first to get the idea and she quickly talked one of her brothers, Bailey, into joining the venture, along with a neighbor boy.  She also tried to recruit her oldest brother, Chase, but he thought all the work in the middle of a hot Texas summer sounded like a sour idea. Instead, he opted for his life of leisure in the air conditioning. The three younger kids made a plan to open their "business" every day for a week, making a list of everything they wanted to sell.   It didn't take long for them to realized they needed someone to help with the supplies.  Hannah gave me the sales pitch. “Mom, we have an idea you’re going to love.   You know how you say you want us to find things to do besides T.V. and Nintendo?   We found it. We want to have a lemonade stand.” By now my two kids are schmoozing me with physical affection, holding

Day 169: When I was growing up my family relocated often.  Every 2-3 years we moved to a new place where I would start a new school and start the process of finding new friends. From Kindergarten to 12th grade I started over in a new town seven times.  Each time came with a period of anxiety as I tried to find where I fit in. U-Haul may call it "An Adventure in Moving" but I called it "Here we go again." While it had its challenges, to be sure, that background is probably to thank for my ability to be flexible and adapt well to change.  Overall, I know that who I am is inextricably linked to my history so I don't begrudge not having a more settled childhood. Knowing, though, that all that adapting comes with sacrifices, it was not the lifestyle that I wanted when I had my own family. Before I said "I do" I made it clear to my husband-to-be that I wanted to settle in one place where our kids could have a hometown - where I could have a hometown.  I ha

DAY 169:  In the last chapter we read in 1 Corinthians, Paul called on believers to be harsh in dealing with persistent sin among other believers in the church.  He told us not to tolerate those who live lives persistently characterized by sinfulness, but to apply that standard only to other believers.  This idea of "tough love" did not apply to those outside faith in Christ.  As Paul put it, "You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that." Until someone has the spirit of God residing in his or her life, it is pointless to make behavior the issue.  However, for Christians, behavior is expected to line up with faith.   That was tough teaching, since we have a tendency to go the other way.  We want to show grace to the believer and judgment to the unbeliever.  Tough or not, it says what is says; there is a higher standard for those who claim Christ as Savior.  It's not a salvation issue anymore; its a submission issue.  I'll confess, that te

Day 168: Thoughts on Father's Day ~ Over the past year, as my dad has walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Cancer, he has often quoted a familiar phrase: “At some point, the parent becomes the child and the child becomes the parent.” He may tell this to a nurse as we are describing complications to a medication, or to a doctor that I am asking to be more specific about a diagnosis.   As his constant advocate and medical champion I’m sure there are days when it feels like we have reversed roles.   “How are you feeling dad? Did you take your medications? Are you eating vegetables?” In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Even though I am a parent to four grown children, I have not outgrown my need for parents.   I may be hovering like a mamma hen at times, but I draw my own comfort knowing I’m still the child in our relationship. Nothing I can do now to encourage and support my dad can alter the balance of a lifetime of me going to him for help. If the

DAY 167: I heard on the news that one of my favorite country singers had a car wreck... and was found lying in the road... naked... and drunk...and then threatened to kill the officers who responded.  I wasn't shocked.  The day before I heard that yet another unbalanced person was caught with weapons in a movie theater.  I wasn't shocked.  A pastor of a huge church was recently arrested for a domestic dispute involving a physical altercation with his daughter.  I was definitely not shocked.  Let's face it, we are a society that has lost it's sensibilities. Nothing shocks us anymore.  Gone are the days when Elvis's hips were scandalous and bad language was only heard from sailors.  These days, it seems nothing is too sensational, salacious, or sacrilegious to be invited right into our homes via the TV and Internet. We have heard it all, seen it all, and gotten used to it all. We have lost the ability to be shocked; but that comes at a price.   In today's Bi

DAY 166: As a young mom, I was overwhelmed by how much it took to keep our family organized and running smoothly.  There was so much work! Between the cleaning, meals, school work, yard work, pets, house repairs, extra activities, and church commitments, I struggled to keep up.  At one point, when all three of our kids were under five, chaos reigned.  I knew I had been defeated one day when I awoke to 15 loads of laundry waiting (not an exaggeration), toys covering every square inch of floor, dished piled high in the sink and three kids waiting for breakfast. As I stood with one kid on my hip and two blocking my path to the coffee maker, I had no idea where to start.  Should I wash the dishes first so I could get in the kitchen? Shovel the toys so I could get to the dishes?  Start the laundry before a child got lost in the mountains of whites? Or, wait, was that a pile of doggy poop on the floor? Of course, I did what any sane mature mother would do; I put shoes on