The Light in My Window

The Light in My Window

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

"My Times Are in Your Hands"

I am at the blog a little earlier than usual this week...like many on the east coast, I have been house-bound for the last few days as a result of the snowstorm last Friday and Saturday. Here in my neighborhood, we really didn't get all that much snow, around 6 inches - but there is a thick layer of ice underneath the snow, which has definitely complicated matters. Many of our church people who live in outlying areas received as much as a foot to 17 inches of snow, which is a lot for around here.

We were supposed to be having Ladies Bible Study this morning, but we had to cancel it at the last minute  because the overnight freezing temperatures turned all the slush into an icy parking lot and sidewalks at the church. So here I am, sitting at the computer, sipping a cup of hot coffee and still in my pajamas! The lesson I was going to be teaching today in our ongoing study on Disciplines of a Godly Woman was about the use of our time. After the decision was made to cancel class today, I spent a LONG time reading and studying more on this subject, and all I could say was "Thank you, Lord! If it were not for this canceled class, I would have missed this!" So although this will be a little preview for the ladies in my Bible Study class, I am confident that these are the thoughts the Lord wants me to share with you this morning.

The first thing is about dealing with changed plans and interruptions...a topic about which I had to laugh, considering what happened this morning. We don't like it when the unexpected happens. We (okay, I) really like to have a plan, and to have the day go according to my plan. God's timing is perfect, but often it doesn't seem that way to us. The first thing I have to remember to ask is, "Whose day is it?" Is it my day, or is it God's? Psalm 31:15 says, "My times are in thy hands..." That includes the changes and interruptions! Isn't it true that changes and interruptions to our plans are just as much from God as our original plans are? Romans 8:28 says that ALL things work together for good to those who love God...to include those things that are unexpected in our eyes. Elisabeth Elliott says in her book Discipline, The Glad Surrender: "Lord, when there are interruptions, it seems that the disposal of my time that I had planned so well has slipped out of my hands. Help me then to remember that it has not slipped out of yours." Can I just say that I LOVE this?

The second thing I would like you to consider is the example of Jesus. Have you ever thought about the endless demands He had on His time while He was here on this earth? There was no end to the people that needed healing, taught, ministered to. And yet at the end of His life, he said, "It is finished!" (John 19:30) This is NOT the same thing as saying He finished all He wanted to do! He is saying He finished all He was GIVEN TO DO. There is a huge difference, isn't there? We get frustrated and say we don't have enough time to do all we want to do....but there is always enough time to do what God wants us to do. We have to be discerning about how He wants us to spend the time He has given us. That is why it is so important to remember that our times are in His hands, and to pray with the Psalmist in Psalm 90:12 "Lord, teach us to number our days so that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom!" We are very prone to spend our time on the things we want to do and don't give enough consideration to the things God wants us to do.

I hope these thoughts resonate with you as they did with me. God has given us the gift of time. It is up to us to use it to His glory.

Before I sign off today, I thought I would share with you a picture - not of the snow because I am sure you have seen plenty of those this week. This one is of spring! I purchased this bouquet at Trader Joes for $4 before it snowed, and I am so glad I did! It's a breath of spring beauty!
In His Service,
Kathi



Wednesday, January 20, 2016

A Peek Inside My January Window

Brrr! Winter has definitely come to our part of the country! With temperatures outside in the 20's or below, I have been staying inside and getting a lot of housework and catching up on projects done. This week I thought I would give you a little glimpse into what I have been up to. As usual at the end I have given you a little something to reflect on.

Where I Went
Last Wednesday my husband and I were privileged to attend the Virginia State Assembly Prayer Breakfast in Richmond. It was a last-minute opportunity, and we had to be in Richmond at 6:30 in the morning! (That translates into a 4:30 a.m. wake-up time, and I wondered at the time if it would be worth it - but it was!) There were over 1400 people in attendance, including most of the senators, representatives, the Governor who spoke briefly, and many pastors, members of our military, and local leaders. It was a blessing to hear a message by Dr. Ravi Zacharias, the key note speaker. After the breakfast we spent some time in the Virginia State Assembly Building visiting with senators and delegates and assuring them of our prayers, followed by a tour of the Virginia State Capitol, which is a magnificent and historical building. We were grateful for the opportunity to find out more about our state government as well as to meet and prayerfully support many of our officials. It was a great day!

What I Made
This is soup weather! I have a recipe that I found on Pinterest for a delicious loaded baked potato soup, and it is so easy and so good I just had to share it with you. The quantities given here are for only 2 people, so adjust as necessary, but it is the easiest baked potato soup recipe ever!

 Loaded Baked Potato Soup (for 2)

2-3 medium baking potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled
1 can (15 oz.) chicken broth
2-3 T. sour cream
pepper to taste
instant potato flakes (optional)
bacon bits or 2 cooked crumbled bacon slices
shredded cheddar cheese
sliced green onions or chives

You can bake your potatoes in the microwave, but they have more flavor if you have time to bake them in the oven. You can also use leftover baked potatoes, so some night if you are having baked potatoes for dinner, just bake a couple extra!

Cube up the baked potatoes. Put half in the blender or food processor with the chicken broth, and process into a smooth puree. Pour into saucepan. Stir in the sour cream, pepper, and remaining potato cubes. Heat until hot. At this point you can thicken if desired with some instant potato flakes.
Serve topped with the crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, and chives/onions. Add a salad and some bread, and lunch or dinner is ready!

What I Loved
There's nothing better than getting a phone call from one of our children telling us that they are coming for a visit! This past weekend was a 3 day weekend with a Monday holiday from school due to Martin Luther King day, and our oldest son was able to re-arrange some of his responsibilities and come with his wife and the grandkids for the weekend. Saturday was a beautiful 60 degree day and we played outside and enjoyed a BBQ meal of pulled pork from the smoker! Sunday morning it snowed all morning! We had to cancel evening church, and we got to spend the rest of the day as a family by the fireplace playing games, snacking, watching some football and a children's movie, and capping off our day with a family Bible time. God is so good! These are some of my favorite pictures from our special weekend.

What Spoke to My Heart 
When I teach a weekly Teen Girls Sunday School class and a twice-weekly Ladies Bible Study class, I learn more than any of my students. God uses the things I study and learn to speak to my heart. In my teen girls class, we have been studying the topic of Our Identity in Christ. When you are asked the question "Who are you?" we have many answers: wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, friend, writer, runner, teacher, singer, etc. We play many roles in life, but none of them accurately describe who we really are. We need our identity to be in Christ. It is what grounds us and guards us from seeking our identity in other places and people. If we find our true security in Christ, then no matter what happens we will not be shaken.

Eph. 1:6 - "To the praise of His glory and grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Accepted. The world capitalizes on this and advertises everything from shampoo to clothing to fitness equipment to cars to make us into what everyone else wants us to be. Just look at some advertising and see how many times you see the phrase "The Must-Have ----" of the season.

I have been struck by the fact that it is not just teen girls who long to be accepted, and will look to their friends, their looks, talent, or their academic or athletic success to gain acceptance. If we realize that we are loved by God no matter what, that He has not only forgiven us but bought us and adopted us as His own, blesses us, and lavishes His grace upon us daily, then we will be secure in Him.

Till next time,
Kathi

Thursday, January 14, 2016

A Challenge for My Heart

Sometimes, believe it or not, I am at a loss for words. It is getting toward the end of the week and I know I need to post something on my blog, but I am not sure whether I should post a new soup recipe, pictures of an event we went to, about other happenings in our busy life... or something from my heart. Usually in those times, I tend to go with what is on my heart, something that the Lord has shown me lately from His Word. That is the case today.

This new year has begun for me with the reality of how short and how uncertain our lives truly are. As the calendar turned the page to 2016, I received unexpected news that my supervisor at my job at the public library in Illinois had passed away after a battle with cancer. I thought back with both fond memories and sadness over the five years that I had worked with her every day, and the additional ten or more years that I had known her. Along with this, a parent of one of our family members has just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

It might be because of these events and thoughts that when I was reading in the book of Matthew in my quiet time last week, I saw something that I had never noticed before, in spite of my reading this passage many, many times before. In Matthew chapter 14, we have the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000. What I had never before noticed was that this took place immediately after Jesus received the news of the death of His beloved cousin, John the Baptist. The first 11 verses tell us about John's death - by murder - and they sadly conclude with verse 12 telling us "And his disciples came, and took up the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus."

Yes, I know that Jesus is the Son of God, and as such, He knew all things - but just consider how Jesus must have felt upon hearing this very sad news from the disciples. In fact, verse 13 gives us a clue to how He reacted to the news: "Now when Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there by ship to a desolate place by Himself. But when the people heard thereof, they followed Him on foot out of the cities."

When I read this, I thought, "Poor Jesus! He can't even have some private time alone to mourn the death of His loved one! Can't people just leave Him alone for a little while?"

But Jesus didn't get upset or angry or impatient or resentful. Like I do. Verse 14-15: "And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them and healed their sick. And when it was evening, The disciples came to Him saying, this is a deserted place,and the time is now past...." setting the scene for Jesus feeding the multitude. As one in ministry, I think this is pretty amazing. He put aside His feelings and preference to be alone at that time, and He responded to the needs of people with compassion - not resentment. And He continued to just do what He was called to do - to minister. Even when He desired and had every right to be alone, He willingly gave that up to minister to the needs of people.

There's a lesson in this for all of us, I think. For those of us who are pastor's wives or missionaries or involved in some type of full-time Christian ministry, the constant demands and the needs of people can become very wearying. We may have our sights set on doing something else - like going to bed early, or having a quiet meal at home, but life happens. As my husband reminded me, ministry is rarely convenient. And my response is usually far from being like Jesus.

In case you are reading this and saying, "Well, I am not in the ministry, so this doesn't apply to me!" with a sigh of relief, before you dismiss these thoughts I want to assure you that this does speak to everyone. How many times do you have intentions of spending your time doing what you want to do, or living out your day or your week as planned, and something happens to interrupt that? Your child needs your attention. Your husband asks you to do something for him. You get a phone call or an emailed or a texted request that means you need to set those plans and intentions of yours aside for the sake of someone else. How do you respond?

I have a long way to go, but I am praying that I will do better in this area and be more like Jesus. How about you?

Lovingly,
Kathi


Wednesday, January 6, 2016

New Year, New You?

The Christmas decorations are down and the gifts are put away. The company has gone home and the holiday leftovers are gone. Today we are six days into the new year...how are you doing? Beginning a new year is a great time to give some serious consideration to areas in which you need to see some growth and change in your life. If you haven't already done that, it isn't too late! Make yourself a cup of coffee or tea or something warm to drink, grab your journal or notebook and a pen, and find a quiet spot.

Since I am getting older, I decided to pay particular attention to the area of my health this year. God gave us our bodies and health, and we have a responsibility to take care of ourselves with the ultimate goal of being able to better serve Him. While I am a high-energy person, we were not created to continually go at the pace that many of us are used to going. I am trying harder to slow down and to get more rest, which is not an easy thing, especially with the demands of ministry. Along with that, although I am already a healthy eater,  I am trying to eat less (I said less, not no!) sugar. I am surprised that after just a few days, I am already noticing the benefits of that. I am especially excited about the new workout plan I have begun this year. Since my husband began going to the YMCA following his knee surgery last summer, I decided to also become a member, and so I have been going for early-morning workouts 3-4 times a week along with taking a fitness class there.

I also want to fill my mind with the right things, and to challenge myself to read more books, spend less time online, and to learn some new things.

If you set some new goals for this year, are you on the right path to fulfilling them, or are things already starting to slide? I commented to my husband last night that I have lost track of how many times in the last few days I have seen the slogan, "New Year, New You." I have seen it used in advertising programs and products by countless companies, organizations, and stores. And as I was thinking about that, it made me wonder: Just because it is a new page on the calendar, will it really be a new me? The answer to that is, in a word, no. Because unless I am changing on the inside through the grace and power of Christ, and growing in my walk with Him, I can implement all the life changes I want on the outside, and they will never result in a new me in the ways that matter.

In my last post, I told you about the Scripture verse and the special word that I selected for 2016. Along with that, I spent some time praying about how I can enrich my devotional time with the Lord. As my husband reminded our congregation and I tell our ladies, if you don't have a plan, you will not do it. There are tons of good Bible reading programs and resources out there. I know many people like to read through the Bible every year, and while that is a great goal, personally I do not get a lot from that. I find that I become too consumed with staying on the schedule and do not really dig in and study the Word the way I like to. However, for the next 3 months I am doing a 90-day challenge in which I am reading through the New Testament in 90 days. And in order to help me to read purposefully, I am combining that with a study on grace. Every time I find an example of God's grace as I read, and there are lots of them, I write it down in my journal.

The point is - if you really want a new you this new year, you have to go about it the right way. That is by giving priority to the most important part of you - your spiritual self. Some of my favorite verses that go along with this thought are found in Jeremiah 9:23-24: "Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glory, glory in this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord which exercises lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord."

Did you catch that? It tells us as Christians what our most important goal is to be. We might increase our knowledge, but we can't really rejoice in wisdom and intelligence. We can eat right and exercise to grow stronger, and we should, but that is not what we are to delight in. We can acquire possessions, but we can't glory in them, either. What we can delight in is that we truly know our Heavenly Father in a personal way. That is His delight - and ours as well. That is my prayer - for myself, and for you.

Till next time,
Kathi