Browsing Category: Gratitude

Fear and Uncertainty Demanded My Attention…

Do you ever feel sorry for yourself? You are in the midst of bleak surroundings and is seems like your world is suddenly growing smaller?

Last week I felt like I was sliding down a slippery slope…let’s call it self-pity. Monday wasn’t a pretty day. Although, I didn’t realize just how much until that afternoon when a call came. A loved one had been injured.

My mind began to race with many imagined scenarios. Ugh, how in the world am I going to take care of two olders, work, clean (ha, that ain’t happening these days), tend to the things that my better half wouldn’t be able to do and still find time to be me? Good grief, the shroud of doubt began to cover my normally upbeat demeanor and I quickly slipped downward.

There was only one thing that was keeping me afloat…I was determined to be thankful. Our anniversary was the next day and I still had a husband! I wasn’t ready to be a widow, no way! Not only that, I felt certain he wasn’t going to be an invalid!

However, the fears began to nag at my thoughts. Oh, my, a snowstorm on Friday and who was going to shovel us out if we get the snow the forecast was predicting? Guessing that somehow I would make it work.

All right Kimberly, where is your faith? Thankfully, we didn’t get much snow and I managed just fine, shoveling was easy. I got out of the driveway and to work. Oh yes, the week continued with two appointments for my little momma while running home to make lunch for the other invalid, run back to work to finish the afternoon and then to the store to pick up some groceries and pills and argh…I started to feel like I couldn’t breathe! To top it off my guy wasn’t feeling well at all, blasted pain pills!

I had to draw a line in the sand and purpose to maintain a thankful heart, telling myself that I must, feel like it or not! Share on X My loved one wasn’t doing very well and a trip to ER was forthcoming on Saturday. At that point, I realized that was okay because maybe he would get some answers and a solution to the current situation. And he did! The better part of that day he actually got to get out of the house and could breathe some fresh air.

Wow, did that weekend go quickly. Apart from making a dinner and doing some laundry, it felt as if I accomplished nothing! So grateful for our “good neighbors” who came and shoveled for me as I was leaving for church. And he also got my guy’s vehicle started, thawed out and replaced his dwindling battery (plagued by not starting when it should!) Then he returned it, putting it in the garage. Boy is wonderful to have good neighbors, what a blessing! (Thankful, yes, I am remembering.)

The Holy Spirit Ministered to Me…

Monday morning up and running, fixing breakfast, getting Mr. situated so I could get ready for work. And that’s when I fell apart. All weekend I had been humming and singing a few of the lyrics of Gracefully Broken by Matt Redman and Tasha Cobbs. I know it was the Holy Spirit who prompted me to grab my tablet and close the door to the bathroom and let that song minister to my broken spirit. Oh, my Lord, does He use songs to work in my heart so often.  Well, that song had me unable to put makeup on because the tears were streaming down my checks. So I just closed my eyes, worshiped and once again, gave Him all I had, a weak and pitiful me who had succumbed to letting my faith waiver.

I'm gonna tell you, girls, that stuff happens when we open our broken hearts up to the Lord and allow Him to apply the loving balm of Gilead to our wounds. It's like He massages our hearts back to life...like He once again breathes life into our… Share on X I don’t like that weakened state when I find myself there. He lets me become undone, but doesn’t leave me there. I know this was just what was needed, to be reminded of His faithfulness when I let mine run dry. I then remember, He isn’t going to leave me in the ash pit wallowing in self-pity. That is NOT what He created me for…no, He rescued me from that years ago.

His greater purpose for me is once again flowing through my bloodstream and I once again feel alive. Thanks to my morning worship time, in my bathroom, soaked in tears. There He whispered to my heart…”Kimberly, it is going to be alright. I am caring for YOU and your loved ones right now. My love for you is your ever-present strength, so call upon Me at any time. You are mine and I love you!” Oh my, what a Father I have. Sigh…I just had to stop, take a deep breath and once again count my blessings.

God Always works Things for My Better Good…

It is times like these that are used as stepping stones to draw us closer to Him. Right now as I write this I envision when we as parents have to be lovingly stern with our children. But then afterward, we grab that child of ours and we hold them so close enveloping them with our cloak of love. That was me and my Father that Monday morning as He loved me back to life.

Oh, friend, life and it’s unexpected company can really throw us the curve balls, can’t it. But our Father, He is ever with us and always working it together for our good! I saw you bristle a bit there…it is just that it is true!

Don’t resist the Father when He allows circumstance to shape and mold us to be more like Him. The key is taking our focus off of us and putting it where it belongs, on Him. 

The reality is that at the time it “feels” like He has turned His back on us. We use that phrase, “How could you let this happen to us?” But we can’t see the big picture, we can’t see what is just around the corner. So instead I choose to be thankful…I wasn’t a widow, he wasn’t suddenly handicapped…no, I became thankful, grateful and willing to accept right where I was in that moment of time. A day befor my anniversary I made the choice to be thankful!

Colossians 3:15 TPT…

“Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful.”

Is there something that has gone awry in your heart today? This thing may have you fearful, uncertain, feeling sorry for yourself, or maybe even angry?

If you are willing to hand those circumstance over to the Lord; admit you can’t continue to live with them any longer; and be willing to put your trust in the Lord, your Father, He will right what’s wrong, heal what’s broken, and will apply His love balm right where it’s needed.

Look around you girl…you have much to be thankful for. Even if you only see one or two things, it’s enough to carry you through. Please remember just how much you are loved and let Him show you how much as your wounds heal and trust is regained.

The Father is Here for You…

Thank you Lord for the gift of thankfulness, for giving me a heart that won’t rest until it is once again in sync with yours. I give you my pain and sorrows, my fears, regrets and uncertainties and ask you to work them all together for my good as I lay them down at your feet. Thank you for being my Father, the One who cares and loves me so, in Jesus’ name.

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Got Peace?

How’s your peace today?
Are you walking in it?
Are you welcoming it?
Or are you preventing it?

There are a lot of things that prevent us from walking in His perfect peace! God’s peace is freely offered and without limit, but we have a responsibility to maintain it!

Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms?

How do we do this? I can tell you first hand that it isn’t through worrying and being fearful! And it isn’t by having a prideful attitude or by putting our confidence in ourselves. And finally, peace isn’t found in offenses. Whether unforgiveness or by thinking someone purposely tried to hurt you or put you down. Oh, they can and sometimes will, however, our responsibility is still not to let an offense work to rob us of our peace. The good news is that there is such a thing as reconciliation as difficult as that can sometimes be when we seek it out.

You see, we live and deal with imperfect people, kind of just like we are we!

I know the times I have bitten the bullet and gone to someone who has hurt me deeply. It was really hard, but the outcome was beautiful and began a mending of our broken relationship.

There have also been times when I was not very nice to someone. My husband can get the butt of my bad attitude sometimes. However, I am learning to recognize the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit. When He prompts me to see my wrong in a situation. When I have elevated myself and lowered him. It isn’t pretty. When the Holy Spirit shows me what I’ve done, I have learned not to turn away from it but to look at Him, humble myself and admit the error of my way.

Surrender…

Admitting our issues can be a challenge and I admit that I might not want to go there. But as He works on me I surrender. Surrender, what a beautiful word! A word we tend to avoid rather than embrace! And believe it or not, practice will make it easier over time to let go of my justification and just deal with my bad!

I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit in my life. This amazing precious gift that Jesus Himself gave to His believers.

Jesus Says We Will Have Troubles

So, friends, Jesus reminds us that in this world we will have trouble! He also reminds us that we have the peace of Jesus. It was His gift to sustain us in our difficult times, those times that come to us on this side of glory. Then He says that He has overcome the world that brings us all the troubles we face as we try to blend in and fit into worldly living. (a thought for another time!)

I want to leave you with these lovely words Jesus gives us when we have been plagued with troubles…

John 14:27 TPT
“I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!”

In The Passion Translation, the comment at the end of this verse is this…
These are the same words Moses gave before he died and the words God spoke to Joshua as he entered into his life’s plan of taking the promised land for Israel.

Take heart, we have been given what we need to make it through on our journey to the finish line…as we magnify Christ in us and in turn, glorify and honor Him with all that we are, for we are His ❤️

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When the Stess Becomes Evident

Our living situation, or should I say our comfortable empty nest has changed. I have always thought of myself as fairly adaptable and willing to flex and change to accommodate those things life throws into our comfortable mix. However, I recently learned how I too can be in denial.

Almost four years ago on July 4th, after discussing at length, the options for our mom, I told my sister–after discussing with my husband–that living up north with us might be a workable option. I said yes and my sister said okay and brought her up for what mom thought was her annual three-month stay in Minnesota. She always enjoyed pleasant summer temperatures and her lovely trailer tucked beneath the trees beside our home. Independent living at its best. Mom always said it was the best of both worlds. Orlando for nine months of the year and International Falls in the summer months. Life is good!

It didn’t quite turn out the way our little momma thought it would when asking my sister to make her return flight to Orlando. My sister had to be the bad girl and tell her that she wouldn’t be coming back. Bam…the first blow. We did work it all out however and our poor, little lady had to face her first winter with–us as one of the coldest in many years blew through the winter months. Apart from some physical issues she really did do fairly well. Along with her friends, we made sure that she was set with clothing to keep her warm. My little momma is only 4’10” tall, weighing in at 80 pounds. Yeah, how does that work without fat on her body to keep her warm. However, she did make it!

Blow two came in the summer when she was looking forward to moving into the trailer for three months or so. “Mom, you aren’t able to live in the trailer anymore. It isn’t suitable and you can no longer see well enough to be alone. But maybe we can find you a place in town where you might get a meal with your living plan and I can even bring you meals.

That plan softened the punch a bit. However, there wasn’t an apartment available at that time but she could be put on a waiting list to call when one became open. Summer came and went and nothing opened up until later in the fall of 1014. By then we just couldn’t see her living by herself at all. Yup, the third blow.

As we rolled into 2015 we realized we were at a crossroads with our mom. Her independence dwindling as she basically resided in our daughter’s old bedroom and our living room upstairs. “Well mom, this is home!” Our hopes were that she would be able to resign herself to being comfortable with us. But a few issues got in the way of that, including health issues and trying to make her comfortable.

I am so not a drug person. I don’t like to take them and for me, they are a ‘last resort’. With our mom, she has to use a few which I understand is pretty good for an 86-year-old today. She started itching like crazy when she was with us and we did the derm and allergist thing and you name every cream, pill, and salve in the book, all to no real avail! What were we going to do about this?

Almost every night I have helped load her skin up with of cream all over her little bony body so she can sleep through the night. She would sometimes wake up itching like crazy and be very angry. I have often wondered how much of this was brought on by her disappointments? I guess I will never fully know the dynamics. From a tiny, elderly lady who awakens to puff a half a cigarette, eat a few bites of some sugary pastry (oh how she loves her sweets!), and seldom drinks any water, I’m amazed at how well she is doing. So needless-to-say, her skin issues may never get better at this point, it is so hard to retrain a person in their 80’s!

I have shared prior to this post of how I have had to let go of some of my dreams because this momma is my top priority right now. However, there are times when you have a V8 moment and realize you have been harboring resentment and to top it off, not dealing with it! Ouch, that is a reality that I really didn’t think I would ever have to deal with.

Last early spring I started losing my hair. Now I am on a fabulous nutrition product so that isn’t the problem. I studied and looked and pondered and prayed as to what in the world was going on. Thyroid? Diet? Vitamin deficiency? Or dread, maybe…stress? Well after doing all the ‘right’ things I could think of, this was the only thing I could conclude as my issue…stress...oh how it doesn't do the body so good! It can literally destroy us when we aren't willing to deal with it. Share on X

So I again when to my mantra of Philippians 4:6-7 and asked the Lord to show me what in the world was going on. On one of my walking routes one day it all came pouring out of me. I had to admit some things to the Lord that I really didn’t want to out of the fact that I was sort of ashamed I had harbored these feelings. After all, didn’t He tell me I was supposed to write that book and speak all over the place? But as I had to give up my space, my time and all those things that gradually took me away from my dreams, I guess I got angry. Ever heard it said that anger turned inward is depression? Makes sense doesn’t it. We harbor bitterness that grows and makes us a very angry, unhappy, unhealthy person.

Argh, I walked and cried like an idiot that day on my walk. I’m sure people driving by were wondering what my problem was. However, getting it all out on the table so to speak was so the right thing to do! I was then in for a huge blessing.

Now, you might think that when you get a dozen roses that’s pretty special right? You bet it is. But better than roses–even though I couldn’t bring them home with me–there along the road in the ditch (where I walk all the time) low and behold…a perfect dozen Pink Showy Lady Slippers (our state flower, btw.) It was just like the Lord blessed me for my honest walk with him!

I really can’t tell you just how much that meant to me. They were absolutely gorgeous! It was as if He confirmed my forgiveness by giving me this incredible gift!

Oh, friend, God is so kind and gentle, and I love this from Psalm 145:8…

“The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

You see, I had to let go and let God fill me with His peace!

You know what? I did quit losing my hair within a few days! That is just proof that stress destroys. I believe we aren’t meant to carry bitterness and anger. And when we choose to ignore it, we will suffer because it has taken up residence in our hearts!

Friend, sometimes you just have to let it go and when you do you will be flooded with the ‘peace that passes all understanding’! I’ll take a dose of that any day…how about you?

 

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Grace Goals

I want to introduce you to a blogger friend of mine whom I have shared with you before and who has offered her wonderful devotional “Trust Without Borders” which I believe has been for ‘such a time as this’ (at least in my world), Arabah Joy.

Arabah has just released her latest project for us “Grace Goals” and it is going to bring an excellent start to your new year!

If you would be interested in checking this out for yourself, you just need to click on the image above and discover what in the world Goals is all about.

Arabah is a woman of the word yet struggles just like the rest of us to walk in the Spirit day by day. I personally love her transparent style and I believe you will too.

Let’s join the journey together and be blessed by this new release from Arabah Joy!

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time…

Ah yes, the lyrics are in my head, “It’s the most wonderful time, it’s the hap…happiest time of the year”.  Is that really true?  Is it really the most wonderful time of the year for you? Personally, I waver back and forth between good and sad!  I have had some good Christmases and some very sad ones.  Most of the difficult ones have come as a result of poor choices I have made in my life.  At those places when I was either a little girl in an unhappy family setting, a lonely runaway when I didn’t even know it was Christmas and then in a marriage that was very difficult where my family suffered from the results of alcoholism. These were times when I had no hope because Christ was not in my life.

Is Christmastime a Difficult Time for You?

At times–even as a believer–Christmas has been sad or difficult.  I just wanted that perfect picture to fit my family! You know, the Currier & Ives depiction of the perfect family? Having prodigals in your family somehow throws the curveball into the ‘perfect’ picture.  And it’s just as if one took a black marker and stroked through that beautiful picturesque scene. These are times when all the sentiment and family time just doesn’t take away the pain of watching a loved ones flail through life.

Prince of Peace

 

However, deep inside the recesses of my heart, I really do have peace and joy.  But it sure isn’t because my family looks and acts perfectly! It is because of the Christmas story.  An incredible expression of love that was lavished upon mankind as the Creator of ALL. He humbled Himself to come as a little baby, being birthed in a lowly manger just so that we could once again be in fellowship. He restored what was broken in the Garden of Eden.

 

 

You Are Loved…

This extravagant love, poured out in the form of a baby, child, then man, the Christ, was God’s greatest work from a desire to once again have fellowship with us.  As it tells us in Genesis 1:26,27,

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 

We have been created in God’s very own image!  That is sometimes too big for my comprehension but…I have accepted this truth and accepted the Christ who came yet was crucified, died, and buried (defeating death) when He rose on the third day! All for those who will receive the loving offer of redemption through His shed blood.

John 1.14 Christmas

Christ Our Hope!

So in the midst of your Christmas, I pray you will know the peace that surpasses even the difficulties (and there are so many things that try to rob this peace from us), whether death of a loved one, divorce, prodigals, sickness, financial loss, hunger…remember, Christ is the one who fills us completely with His peace and purpose in spite of the former mentioned.  It’s the Most Wonderful Time… Share on X

With love and a blessed Christmas to you all!

 

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With all of My Heart…

From Matt Redman’s book “The Unquenchable Worshipper – Coming Back to the Heart of Worship” (published by Regal Books Copywrite @2001 Matt Redman)

This afternoon I played Matt Redman’s song “Undignified.” It is a captivating song that gets right to the heart of King David, you know, the king who danced with all his might when he brought the the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem.

Have you ever been so overjoyed that you hooted and hollered and expressed your joy at something without looking around to see who was looking? I know I have! David was so exuberant with his worship that he became unrestricted just to dance with “all his might.” It was a public display that showed a heart that was passionate about his God.

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However, can we imagine the embarrassment that welled up in David’s wife Michal, so much that their relationship would never the same. For she came to despise David for his unruly public display of worship.

In the book Matt says:

“One of the Hebrew words for praise, hallal, means to be clamorously foolish or mad before the Lord. (That’s where we get our word “hallelujah.”) In a “reasons to be passionate” competition, the church of God should come an easy first; yet too often we find ourselves lagging way behind in this area. Isn’t it time we saw a bit more holy mayhem in our worship?”

I am in agreement with Matt’s opinion that we don’t give all the honor and praise that is due our King. We can rant and rave at sporting events and our kids games, but turn around and remain solemn before our glorious King? Heaven’s no! Let me be a fool for Christ’s sake and let my praise simply magnify my adoration for all He is and all He has done! 

KD Worship

Maybe your heart bubbles up and down when you worship the king, an expression that comes simply from your love for Him. I can only say that I hope so! I dare not judge one’s heart toward the Lord, but how exciting it would be for God to see our hearts filled with joy just to be standing in His presence and expressing our commitment and love for Him! Get engaged and give Him all you’ve got!

Lord, my heart’s desire is to give you everything in my expression of worshiping you for who You are and praising You for all you’ve done and will continue to do. Let my praise be a delight to Your ears. I will be undignified for you Lord, as I worship You with all my might!

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Ponderings from 2014

Thanks Fam
Thanksgiving 2014

Visiting the #Loft as we reflect on 2014…

Unlike my later quarter of 2013, this year has been a year of living out my new normal. A year of making the huge shift work and frankly I am not there quite yet but I can see it coming.

This has been a year of big adjustments because in October 2013, we welcomed a kicking, screaming (not really, just emotionally) 90lb stubborn momma into our home instead of sending her joyfully back to Orlando and her home. That is her home as she knew it to be yet would be no longer!

Along with this transition came a brief period of depression and some revamping of our home, my time, my writing agenda, quiet time with my husband and many other little tidbits that come with a new routine! This year in many ways has been exhausting yet there is a real peace that has come from this act of complete surrender.

My little, barely five pound mom doesn’t know Jesus. At 84 and riddled with health issues, there ain’t much time left. My husband and I agree that God brought this about by placing her in the best place for her to able to receive the gospel. I am thrilled, just a bit weary. She isn’t difficult (just sometimes very stubborn) it is just that I have lost most of my freedom in the process. To which I willing relinquish so that she will know my Jesus.

We do have our glitches and there are days I get weary when her colitis is on the active side (poor woman can’t enjoy what you and I can anymore!) And I am thankful that there is space in our home for my husband to retreat into (he uses the family room downstairs to watch a different kind of television that she does) and I am still trying to figure mine out.

My prayer as we end this year is that whatever it takes Lord, I know you are putting the pieces in place, just come Lord Jesus to this hard-hearted stubborn woman so that she can meet You, the Prince of Peace! If you feel inclined after reading this please pray for little Joan Von Mithoff, as we are trusting in His perfect plan.

From the Message Paraphrase is this gift we now live out upon receiving Christ,

But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.   ~John 1:12

Apart from Jesus’ return, this could be the best finish of the year!

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A Tested Faith

Do you have impossible situations in your life? I have had many! Why I have even come to the conclusion that some of my circumstances will never change.

I’ll be some of you know exactly what I’m talking about here! I pray for a situation but nothing ever seems to happen. When I ask I seldom see change. This is just feels like banging my head against the wall.

Am I not asking correctly? Is there a right and wrong way to ask for His help?

Have you heard the quip that says “Faith is like a muscle, and it has to be exercised regularly to become strong.” Since I work out I get that!

However, when my world is falling apart around me, my faith feels like those times you have been on the treadmill forever and you become very ‘weak in the knees’…a bit on the whimpy side. You see, it isn’t that I’m not asking but maybe I’m not believing that He hears me.

James, that leader of the church in Jerusalem and former disbeliever in Jesus as the Son of God, who may have even been his brother, sure had a turn around. And when it happened he even had the audacity to write this straight-forward book. And let me tell you, his words of truth have a bit of a bite to them.

Let’s just look at chapter 1:5-8 ESV

“ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Especially verse 6 which tells us that if we are going to ask we need to ask in faith and to ask without doubting which you too may have found happens when you ask of the Lord. That thread of doubt begins to weave itself in and out of your thoughts giving cause to be double-minded.

How Do I Strengthen My Faith?

So…how can I turn that around? I want to utilize what God has given me in the most difficult, and doubtful situations!

If my circumstance is a difficult husband (and I have had one!) How do I pray and believe that we can get through when butting heads? It seems so foolish to think just pray and watch God change him. However, when I pray, “God, I can’t change him, but I know You can. In the mean time please work on my heart.” I will began to see things loosen up.

We must be determined to see the situation with God’s eyes. God never deviates and He wants what is best for us and our situation. Things will change if we don’t get in the way of what He is doing, in His perfect timing.

I Want the Results Now…

Hold on with all your might to the truth above so that when you pray, those subtle and unsubtle threads of doubt will be cut off.

  • Continuing to pray it through, (and don’t stop) you will see things begin to change.
  • Don’t stop…
  • continue to thank God for the ‘impossible’ as you believe for change in the impossible!

Lord, I am blessed, blessed that you have my best interest always in mind. Let me see when I am like that man tossed to and fro, here and there without standing on the fact that You do hear and You are answering. Help me to get out of the way and teach me to patiently wait for Your answers to my impossibilities, in Jesus Name! 

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Did You Make a New Year’s Resolution?

New Year 2014It is so funny how we look for a starting place to invoke change. I do not believe that most of us just wake up on a day and say I am going to quit this or that. Or, I am going to quit my job and start a business of my own (you fill in the scenario.)  Now if I am wrong let me hear from you! For most of us, change or the desire for change comes to somehow better our circumstances. We ponder what it is we desire to change for a time, and sometimes it is just a bad habit or a plaguing issue that we desire to be rid of, non-the-less it is still change. 

The New Year is always a great way to jump-start your planned changes. It might be to start a diet and exercise program. These are common resolutions. But, if you are like most people after a few weeks or say a month with no real visible change occurring, you just get frustrated and, well, quit. I think I have done this myself a gazillion times! Shoot off the starting line and fizzle out after a few weeks because of discouragement and then give it up. What is up with that? 

Snowflake Divider

Well this is my approach to the resolution thing. I have decided I will resolve to do something right every day. And yes, I do have some goals.

  • Being in the Word daily
  • Cultivating a thankful heart
  • Watching my consumption a bit closer
  • Taking my supplements
  • Exercising
  • Being Kind

This is quite simple! And if I get nothing else done but my daily Bible reading, then I have done one right thing in my day. I get to count walking the dog as my exercise and we can go a mile or more either walking out side and or on the treadmill. Suffice it to say that this would make for two right things in my day. Should I remember to take my supplements before I go to work then I can add another right thing to my day. Although I really don’t like to take supplements, I know that they are good for me and do help me to feel better. 

As for the diet thing, I wrestle with sweets/carb consumption. I know how detrimental sweets or too many carbs are for me and this can pose as one of my most difficult challenges. I have found that some days I can forgo the sweets and then there are other days I cannot get enough of them! So on the days when I can ignore sweets then I can add another right thing to my day. 

This verse in 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 is such a convicting verse for me when it comes to dieting.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”

Now reading those verses can really give you some perspective on taking care of yourself, right?

Snowflake Divider

1Thes5.16-18Do you ever look at rude people and think how selfish and unaware they are of others around them? I am certain that we can all be that way at times but I do not want that to be how people see me. Therefore I have included on my list to work at being kind. There are so many folks that just need a kind word spoken into them. And who is to say that the word of encouragement would be used to change the course of that person’s day by just being kind to them? I can sometimes snap at my spouse and then wonder why he won’t communicate with me, why would he? So now I try to remember to ask the Holy Spirit to show me how to speak kindness to my husband. 

I love this verse in Proverbs 25:11 (NKJ)

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”

Snowflake Divider

Then there is often the opportunity to engage in (or initiate) talk that is not positive about another person. Because I am making the choice to do “right things” I can now consciously make the decision not to go there. There is indeed much to be said for being kind. And by doing so I can then add another “right thing” to my day. 

So as I begin my day I am asking the Lord for the courage to do “right things” everyday and as many as I can. You know, even if it was only one or two “right things”, I am progressing and feeling better about a heightened level of awareness as I go about my days, weeks and months to come! I hope this might help you with your resolutions if you too easily fizzle out after a few weeks into the new year! 

Father, I confess the trap of not finishing what I start out to do. I have made hundreds of resolutions and gone bad on them time and time again. I am thanking You for shedding a new light on this for my new year! Holy Spirit, will You heighten my awareness and conviction so that I will desire to continue to do as many “right things” as I can. Let this alter not only my perspective but also the lives of those that I come in contact with for Christ’s sake!

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Flat Lined Faith…

When tragedy strikes, many of us tend to feel hopeless!  If there is an accident or an unexpected report from the doctor, the discovery that one of your loved ones is living contrary to how you reared him or, maybe, just that the 650 foot broadcasting tower and antenna fell to the ground early one Sunday morning,  what would your response be?

hebrews-11-1I went to work (Psalm FM Radio Station in International Falls) one Sunday morning to record our weather for the day. Our main signal was off.  In a rural setting, this can happen more often than we would prefer for a variety of reasons.  However, we also broadcast from Hibbing, so I still had to finish the job.  My  boss had shown us how to manually turn on the transmitter remotely, but I could not get the job done.  Needless to say, I had to call him.  I try not to do this, especially early on a Sunday morning.   He said he would take care of it.  I finished my task and returned home to get ready for church.  The boss and I were both doing worship at church and I hoped, of course, that it would be an easy fix.  Sometimes a twenty minute drive to flip a breaker switch is all that is required.DSCF1883

As I was readying myself, the phone rang and it was the boss with an uneasy tone, saying the antenna was down.  Silly me, I said, “Oh no, you couldn’t get it up and running?”  His reply was, “No, the antenna is lying on the ground in a heap…I will not be at church.”

I cannot fully relay what happened next but I was on the floor weeping and wondering what happened and wondering why God would allow this to happen.   This is our main signal that goes south to west and then north, then east in a 100 mile sweep!  What in the world were we going to do with over half of our listening area unable to hear us and our annual fund raiser just three weeks away?  God, why?

Snowflake Divider

Many people have experienced this rather ‘hit you out of nowhere’ emotion and for a period of time your faith ‘flat-lines’ like on the monitor in a hospital ER room when the heartbeat quits.  You feel devastated, very hopeless!  It is as if there will be no tomorrow for that situation.

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I continued to finish up in the bathroom, since I was a mess after wailing and crying out to God, feeling extremely weak and uncertain about the future of our station.  God has sustained this ministry for just about 30 years.  He has allowed it to grow in strength and distance through the addition of another station and more translators.  Plans for signal improvements and upgrades were continuing, so why now, Lord?  Maybe the season was completed and God was going to allow something completely different to take place.  Oh, the uncertainty that ran through my mind that morning!

I memorize Scripture by writing it out on a card and putting it on my bathroom mirror.  I had two cards going and had the verses memorized for a time, but for whatever reason the cards had not yet been replaced.  They are tucked securely between the mirror and its frame so they do not ever fall out.  Well, that morning one literally jumped out at me and, as I picked it up, I once again read Ephesians 3:20:

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us…”

For those of you who appreciate the Message paraphrase, it reads, “God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!  He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

I cannot  tell you how this once again got the heartbeat of my faith back on the lifeline!  I began to rethink this incident by putting into practice what I believe about my God!  He is sovereign and always aware of those things that happen in each of our lives.  Nothing passes by His loving hands; and my responsibility is to hold on and trust He will reveal Himself in our tragedy, but in His perfect time!

Snowflake Divider

If you are in that place where you cannot see God’s hand in your circumstances, I want you to know that as far as His part is concerned, nothing has changed! He is as He always is, present in your midst!  You can trust in His omnipresence to always be lovingly aware of your difficult place.  I am choosing to believe in God’s faithfulness in this situation.  I encourage you, as well, to stick to the truth of Who God is and trust that His desire is always for your best and His glory!

At Psalm FM, we are now looking with anticipation to what it is  that will improve our tower signal.  We can even now say, “Thank You, Father, for allowing those powerful storm cells to rip through Loman and bring down that tower.”  God even preserved our new building! We are thankful and trusting Him in all things! Will you?

Tower
Look close to see our brand new 600 ft tower in the distance!

 

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