Random Things About Me?

If you're bored enough to want to read this, I guess I can try to stay interested long enough to think of some. Here goes:

1. My ideal life would be to live by myself in a snug log cabin in the Rockies with a couple of great dogs, five years worth of firewood, my laptop, an unlimited bank account, and a hardy Jeep. (I'm also dimly aware that I would probably tire of this within a week, but it's nice to imagine. Maybe it should be a vacation.)

2. I wish I knew what to do with my hair.

3. I am more blessed than the huge majority of the world's population.

4. I used to be a ventriloquist.

5. The bags under my eyes were not always there.

6. My fourth-grade son was right when he commented: America needs another Great Awakening.

7. My husband is a very long-suffering man!

8. Caramel Macadamia Nut cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory is truly a creation sent by God and will most certainly be in Heaven.

9. My kids are turning into magnificent human beings--in spite of me!

10. Growing older doesn't bother me--looking older does.

11. I'd rather build things than cook things.

12. I've never been skiing. Just looking at it makes me tired.

13. I'm looking forward to the Empty Next Syndrome.

14. I'm wondering how much longer God can stand us.

15. I'd considered becoming a police officer, but don't trust myself with a gun around jerks.

A New King

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.(Proverbs 21:1-3 )

No matter who sits in the White House for the next four years, God will work his plan for our nation and he will use whomever he chooses.

Let's pray for our new President, that God will use him to draw our nation back to the Lord who founded it.

May God continue to bless America!

A New Year

Are you ready for it? Don't you stand at the end of a year and wonder how your life will have changed by this time next year?
How will you be different?
Will your family have changed by adding someone new or saying goodbye to someone you love?
Will your health be the same or will you be battling a challenge you can't imagine at this moment?
Will you be more successful or will your dreams seem crushed?
A year can bring so much change and it can be frightening to look ahead into that dark unknown and wonder.
I cannot fathom facing the unknown without the One who designed it holding my hand.
I had no idea that Christmas of 1997 would be the last one I'd spend with my father. Or that New Year's Day of 2001 would start the countdown to my mother's death 29 days later.
Who could have predicted on New Year's Day 2004 that by the next year, my eleven-year-old child would have suffered a life-altering brain injury? Aren't you glad we don't know these things ahead of time? I couldn't take it.
But I know the One who holds tomorrow already has it under control. That's the only way I can face with confidence another year of unknown. If you don't know him, let this be the year you place your hand in His so that next New Year's Day, you can say, "Who'd ever imagine this would be the first year I learned how to live!"

Approaching Christmas

Here it is again. The holiday season. Can't believe it's been a year since the last one. My dad was right--time passes faster the older you get.

I'm another year older. The world is another year older. Twelve months worth of time has gone by, and for what? Have I learned anything this year? Was it a wasted twelve months?

In this year, I've decided to pursue writing as a career. I signed with a fantastic agent, and started stacking up a pile of rejection letters. It's called paying your dues. We all go through it and hopefully learn from it. My husband lost his job and remained unemployed for 7 months. Thank God, he was hired yesterday for a job he enjoys! My wayward daughter has made some progress and my younger three continue to grow wiser and more delightful.

So, what have I learned that makes this year profitable for me? What do I have to show for it that will make God glad he gave it to me?

I learned:
1. I can't control everything. Most of life is outside my control, but inside God's, so stop freaking out about it.

2. God is far more concerned with developing Christlike character in me than he is with my present happiness. Happiness is a bonus, so be thankful when it's there but don't expect it.

3. I am not responsible for the choices my grown children make. Their sin is theirs alone. They answer to God now, not me.

4. Sometimes there is no one right answer, one perfect way to respond. I have to accept that if God is directing my paths, then whatever response I make will be used for good.

5. I cannot create Heaven on earth, no matter how hard I try. Sin resides in the heart, and no matter how perfect the outside may be, sin will corrupt it. There's only one utopia, and this isn't it.

6. God is not baffled by my problems and doesn't see them as earth-shakingly impossible as I do. I need to try to gain more of His perspective.

7. God's definition of success is not the same as mine--in fact, it is the opposite. So I need to seek what feels backward to me to be a real success for all eternity.

Not bad for one year. I wonder what I'll learn in the next?

Giving Thanks

We know Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for the blessings in our lives. Our thoughts go immediately to whatever we term "good."

We even learn, as Christians, that we are to thank God IN every circumstance. But do we thank God FOR the circumstance?

It's easy to thank God for the beautiful sunset, our child's recovery, our new car. But what about rain on your wedding day? Your child dies. Your only car is wrecked. Are we honestly supposed to thank God for it?

What we call "good" may not be the same thing God calls good. If He is truly in charge of this world, if He in fact cares for us, if He notices when a sparrow falls from a tree, then our "bad" circumstances are there by His design. He sent them to you! He wasn't a helpless, hand-wringing God who stood by and bit his nails when Satan lambasted your family. He designed it--just for your good!

That is a hard pill to swallow; yet in Ephesians, Paul instructs his followers to thank God FOR everything that happened to them.

Why?
Because there is a freedom in that. By the act of thanksgiving, we are admitting to ourselves that God is ultimately in charge of it all and whatever we are going through was lovingly sent as a gift to us, to enable us to become more like Christ.

Nothing more humbling than to fall flat on our faces and cry out to God for mercy. And that is right where God wants us. It is only then, He can teach us.

Happy Veteran's Day

Thank you to all who have served our country, and to the families who've lost loved ones in the military. We are forever grateful for your sacrifice.

The Heart of the King

This year's election has some of us distraught and others jubilant, but listen to what Proverbs 21 says: The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and like a river, He turns it whichever way he wants."

God uses people to accomplish his plans, whether they know it or not. No matter who sits in the White House, God will use him to bring about Righteousness in us.

OUR plans are for our leaders to bring us financial gain, easy living, prosperity of every kind. Those are most likely NOT God's plans. He couldn't care less how rich you are, whether you want a new dishwasher... His goal is to bring holiness to our lives. To make us more like His Son.

If hardship and ungodly rule will bring us to our knees in humble contrition, that very well may be God's plan for America.

As Christians, we now need to pray as never before that God will use these circumstances to bring righteousness back to our nation, no matter who occupies the White House.