One Year with God

DAY 59: Christmas, Easter, National Doughnut Day.... I love holidays.  I love them so much, in fact, that I have written a couple of holiday books.  There is nothing like the anticipation of a special day.  The preparations. The planning. All the special symbols and tokens of a particular day of celebration. I love sharing ideas of how to make a holiday meaningful. Weekdays come and weekdays go; weekends come and weekends go- but holidays offer a break from the rhythm of the routine.  But I am reminded today that there is a difference between a holi-day and a holy-day.   There are those few really special times that are more than just breaks from routine. Days like Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving have the potential for so much more. With Easter just around the corner, I loved being reminded in our reading today in Leviticus that our faith holidays are more than just a frivolous excuse to make merry.  They are, if embraced as God designed such times, t...

DAY 58: Do you remember when your kids were in the "why" phase? I thought it would never end.  It always went something like this: Child:Why are there clouds in the sky? Mom:So that the ground can get rain? Child:Why does the ground need rain? Mom: So the plants and animals can get a drink? Child:Why do they need to get a drink? Mom:Because everything has to have water to live? Child:Why does everything have to have water t live? Mom:Because that is they way God made everything? Child:Why did He make it like that? DESPERATE MOM: Oh look, it's time for snacks! The endless cycle of questions could bet a little annoying, but I knew that their asking questions was the best way to discover the world and how things worked.  It was also very entertaining at times.  Like when one of my kids would hear a truth that just made no sense at all.  I'll never forget when my youngest son simply refused to believe that a fat hairy caterpillar we found in our yard would ...

DAY 57:  My husband tells me often that I should have been a lawyer.  I wish this were a compliment, but it is his way of telling me that I like to argue.  I don't think that is true.  I don't like to argue, I just happen to be good at it. As my husband points out, I can make any position sound like the right one whether it is or not. Let me just say that in my experience, outside of a courtroom, this is an unappreciated skill.  I have had to learn to surrender this "gift" to the Lord in order to maintain a happy marriage.  In fact, I have to surrender it almost daily just to have a happy life - otherwise, as my grandpa would say, I might argue with a fence post. I would rather surrender than be known as quarrelsome - especially when it comes to how I approach God.   In today's reading, I saw afresh that it isn't just the unbelievers who like to debate with God - though they may top the list. In Mark 8 Jesus is still traveling the countryside ...

DAY 55 & 56 : Expectations are a funny thing.  They make it very difficult to accept an outcome other than what we believe it will be.  Like some of you right now may be frustrated because I didn't post our daily blog yesterday.  On the other hand, my husband is thrilled because after a very busy week of not seeing much of each other, I set aside the things on my evening list (including this blog) to do dinner and a movie with him.  Expectations can either surprise or disappoint. I think it depends mostly on how you estimate the character of the person on whom you have pinned your expectations. Jesus knew what it was to both disappoint and delight those around Him. In my reading both yesterday and today in the New Testament, I saw people experience both. In Mark 7, His non-fan club of Pharisees and religious teachers was still following closely observing everything Jesus did and said.  On this occasion, they were frustrated because Jesus was not keepi...

DAY 54:  Have you ever blamed God for your troubles?  This week alone our business got robbed - TWICE; my car got hit in a parking lot; my dad went into the hospital; and I had a setback at work.  It has been a little stormy for the past seven days.  Like me, perhaps you can relate keenly to the story in today's Bible reading in Mark 6. After another very exhausting period of being mobbed by vast crowds, Jesus makes the decision to spend some time alone.  He had just fed more than 5000 people with a few loaves of bread and taught until his voice was probably ready to give out.  He greatly desired some alone time with His Father. 45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.  Like the crowds, the disciples wanted to be by Jesus side.  I can just hear them protesting: "But Jesus, let us go with you to pr...

DAY 53:    I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me. But as I stood there in silence— not even speaking of good things— the turmoil within me grew worse. The more I thought about it,  the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words..." Does this scene sound familiar to you?  Have you also had that experience of knowing that you should hold your tongue, but the more you tried the more the words just burned inside of you until they spewed out with force? The tongue is a powerful thing that sometimes even seems to overpower the rest of our body.  Just tonight, at Bible Study no less, a thought came into my head and I instantly knew it probably was not the thing to say.  Yet I could feel it moving from my head to my mouth, and I kid you not, that in a protective attempt to stop the flow I threw my hand over my mouth.  Then, as if they had wrestled my fingers from my lips, the wo...

DAY 52:  In the days when I worked as a corporate trainer there was a phrase I heard all too often when a leader didn't care much for a particular circumstance over which they had no control.  Perhaps you have heard it, or used it.  Either way, it is what it is... no I mean it, that's the phrase: It is what it is. With the right inflection and with superior posture, a few could use it with a leader-ly air - as if to say: It is what it is but we can handle it.  But that's just mincing nuances.  No one uses the phrase It is what it is unless they are convinced that whatever it is can't be changed. It is a phrase that seems to state the obvious but actually implies helplessness. After all, if something could be done then they would use some of those other quaint colloquialisms like: This won't stand or Over my dead body or (borrowed from my grandpa) That's no hill for a stepper.  When you resort to "it is what it is" you are saying  "It is as ba...

DAY 51: Recently on my radio show I was privileged to have a conversation with Gracia Burnham.  You may remember her story from the news.  Back in 2001, Missionaries Garcia and Martin Burnham were taken hostage in the Philippines by a militant Muslim group called the Abu Sayyaf. That began their nightmare journey of over a year of brutality, starvation, sickness, terror and indignity. Like anyone, I expected to hear a missionary like Gracia talk about  how they fully trusted God in the midst of trouble, how they shared Christ with their captors and their faith grew.  After all, they were missionaries, right?  They had to be spiritual superhero's.  Instead, what I heard was a very real account of a woman who was afraid for her life and angry.   Gracia shared how she spent the first few months of her captivity figuring out everyone who was to blame for her circumstance - the government, the guerrillas, the vacation hotel they were kidnapped from, the m...

DAY 50:   When our kids were in elementary school we decided to try planting a garden. We picked the sunniest patch of ground on our three acres and planted a crop.  It was great fun.  I rented a tiller and the kids helped me hoe the ground into rows.  We bought bags of manure and spread them according to the instructions.  Then we planted a wide variety of vegetables, most of which no one in my family even likes.  No matter, the fun was in harvesting the crop.  We cold always give our fabulous luscious veggies away. About two weeks into our project I discovered a fatal flaw in the plan. We planted too far from the water.  Taking care of the garden meant dragging out hoses every day and committing at least an hour to soaking the tender plants. It was such hot dirty work, that after three weeks I decided the plants would just have to fend for themselves and prayed for rain. About midsummer when the crop should have been ready to harvest, we got n...

DAY 49:  When our kids started school, and particularly in their teen years, I prayed often that God would not allow them to be popular.  Having been a kid, and having my own human nature to instruct me, I know that there are far more risks to popularity than rewards.  Surrounded by a throng, it is difficult to know on whom you can rely. Having others pander to you can give any person a false sense of how the world will treat them.  And having once tasted popularity, the temptation to do whatever it takes to stay in the spotlight can be overwhelming.  Popularity was not something I hoped my kids would experience. What I did hope was that they would have a few loyal and trustworthy companions who would stand by them in the best of times and the worst, when they were deserving and when they were not. Those are the only kind of people it is worth being popular with... and I am thankful that each of my kids found such friends. I was so heartened today as I read t...

DAY 48:  I realize that it is not very politically correct to admit that I don't do the whole green thing - but there you have it.  I'm a waster. Raised as a kid who had to recycle every thing in a different way growing up I'm not feeling the love for the "recycle, reuse, renew' movement.  I had to reuse my sister's hand me downs, her old lunch boxes, and her outgrown bike.  Recycling meant taking  back glass soda bottles so we could get the nickle deposit and have some pocket money.I grew up when recycling meant you didn't have much. Not having to reuse things meant you could afford new stuff. My, how times have changed. Today, chic people like used stuff.  It's trendy to go to second hand stores.  It's "normal" to wash your trash so you can separate it into categorized cans.  We are even expected to build our houses with recycled, renewable refuse.  All the best people have kitchen counters made out of old crushed beer bottles and ...

DAY 47: When our kids were young we wanted them to learn the importance of giving personally to God.  So I bought each one of them a special bank so they could organize and prioritize their wealth.  The bank was actually a cash box that had money slots.  We taught them to set aside 10% of their allowance and money gifts to offer to God.  They were to set aside 10% for saving, and the rest was for them to spend at their discretion.  While $10 a month may not seem like "wealth" to you and me, to a first grader it's a fortune.  Not once did they ever balk when it came time to take their tithe to church.  They seemed happy to have something of their own to give to God. One Sunday a missionary was coming to visit our children's program.  A special offering was going to be taken to help them with their work. It also happened to be allowance day.  As we handed each child their allowance we reminded them of their opportunity to give that night....

DAY 46: When it comes to work, hands down, I like being the boss much more than I like having a boss.  It's not that I have a problem with authority, okay I have a small problem with authority; but the main reason is that it is more challenging to figure out what some one else wants you to do than it is to tell others what you expect.  I realize this may not hold true for everyone, but in my experience, not a lot of people know how to be the boss. That's why I used to train a course called "Managing Up."  You could say it was about leadership skills, but for the employees who were struggling under bosses who could not communicate it was a survival course.  Often I heard the same complaint, "I just don't know what my boss wants from me!"  Boy, I have been there- working for someone who wants you to do everything right, but they can never seem to communicate their definition of "right." Sometimes with bosses like that you get lucky and the...

DAY 45:  February 14... the universal day when we all stop to express our love for the special someone.  I did not expect to be attending a funeral on this day. Last year when I found out that the service for my friend's wife would be held on Valentine's Day I worried that from that day forward, the day set aside for celebrating love would be a day remembered for loss.  I was deeply mistaken because I did not attend a funeral; I attended a celebration of love. The service was a beautiful tribute to the love that this family had for a remarkable wife and mother.  It was a celebration of the love that her community and church family had for her. But mostly, it was a celebration of the love that she had for her Savior, Jesus Christ and the love He had for her.  It was not a goodbye party, but an extension of the welcome home party she was enjoying this Valentine's Day in heaven as she finally and fully entered into the full love of her Lord. Only in that reali...

A LOVE THAT LASTS :  Do you long to feel cherished, respected, treasured? Are you waiting for a more perfect affection than anyone in this life has to offer? Single. Married. Divorced. Widowed. Male or Female. We were created to be loved. No matter what we find here on earth, it is at best a dim reflection of a love so pure, so unconditional, so passionate, it is beyond our ability to conceive. If you are longing, I want you to know that I found a love letter addressed to you. Read it. Believe it. Hang on to it. The Lover of your Soul is reaching for your heart.    Beloved,       My eyes have been on you for as long as I can remember. (2 Chronicles 16:9)  From the very beginning of time you were destined to be mine.  (Ephesians 1:5) No other could take your place. I have even written your name on my hand.  You are more valuable to me than a pearl of great price. (Matthew 13:45) You are wonderfully made; you need...

DAY 44: I have never been a fan of the saying, "The early bird gets the worm."  I wouldn't want to be a bird.  I don't even like worms.  I have a real problem with early.  I am a night owl.  What do owls get for staying up late, that's what I want to know.  You might have noticed that I always post this blog around midnight or later.  That's because that is when my mind has fully awakened.  It is also the time when the house is quiet.  There are great things about being a night owl. Let me enumerate the top 10. 10. There are few distractions because everyone else is asleep. 9. I can hear myself think. 8. I can have the TV remote to myself... even if infomercial are the only thing on. 7. I can raid the refrigerator without being judged. 6. There are no errands to run. 5. I can use all the hot water when I take a shower. 4. I can clean out my email inbox uninterrupted. 3.That's when the reruns of "Taxi" play. 2.My blogs always sound ...