I think it really hit me the other morning, when I picked up my Bible, journal, and cup of coffee...and realized I had no place to go to have my devotions. No cozy comfy recliner in my loft office. No sofa. Not even the porch swing or patio furniture outside. All we have in our house right now are 2 lawn chairs in the living room, a small table in the kitchen, and a bed. Not even our own bed, but I am thankful to not be sleeping on the floor!
We had not intended to be living in an empty house for 2 weeks. But the sale of our house closes 5 days before the apartment we are moving to is available. Consequently, we have to move everything into storage, which means we are moving twice. And most significantly, we also had to move out of our house when we had some men available to help us. That happened to be last Thursday.
I am a homebody. I love my own bed, my familiar things around me, my comfortable routine. I don't even like camping. So this change in my surroundings and living in an empty house for this long is really hard for me. But during my time in the Word this morning, I read Psalm 119:114 - "You are my hiding place, and my shield: I hope in Your Word." It reminded me that no matter where I am, or what place I reside in, that my time with the Lord is is the important place. He is always the same and He never fails me!
Before I go any farther with writing this post, I want to emphasize that I am not writing this so that you will feel sorry for me. If that is what you take away from it, then I will have done a poor job of communicating and you will have missed my point. This is also a very honest post, about what I have struggled with recently. It is not easy to be transparent, but I do that hoping that it will help someone else. I want you to know, dear reader, that God has been so real to me and has shown me so many things during this difficult time. The unexpected loss of a job, no income, trying to decide where to go and what to do, selling our house, moving away, having no church home, having to go back to work, and adjusting to starting anew is a lot to deal with, especially in the space of two months.
If I think about and dwell upon all these losses and changes, I begin to question God's love for me. That is compounded by looking around and comparing my life to the lives of others. Friends who are going on fabulous vacations, others having easy fun-filled summers, and even pastors who have been given sabbaticals by their churches made me feel discontent and envious. All I have done was serve the Lord to the very best of my ability and live a life that honors Him. Why is all this happening to me? Why is God giving all these gifts to other people, and not to us? Where is His love for me?
And then - I am so thankful for this - God showed me the problem in my thinking. Actually, more than one problem - the first is failing to remember that I deserve nothing. Everything I have is because of God's grace! But the other problem is the one I want to focus on, and that is this: I was equating God's love for me with the gifts He gives. Because He didn't give me the gifts I thought He should, and He was giving others bigger and better things, He must not love me as much.
What really made this clear to me was....Christmas. Yes, Christmas. I started thinking about it being almost September, and we all know that once September hits, Christmas comes upon us faster than a speeding train. And I began to realize that we have TEN grandchildren (the tenth to be born in December), not to mention 3 children and their spouses, and that Christmas is going to be very different this year. We certainly will not be able to give our grandchildren as many or the kind of presents that we would like to give them. Does that mean that we love them any less? NO!! If we give them a very small gift, or even no gift at all, it has nothing to do with how much we love them. It does not mean that our love for them is diminished. We cherish our grandchildren, and our love for them is in no way related to the size or extravagance of the gifts we give to them.
In the same way, God does not have to prove His love for us in the gifts he chooses to give us, or the ways he chooses to bless us. He proved His love for us at Calvary. The chorus of one of my favorite songs says it well:
"If You never speak another word of blessing,
And Your silence leaves me with a sense of loss,
I'll remember when my heart begins to question,
Any doubt that You love me
Was settled at the cross."
(Settled at the Cross " by Lee Black, Phil Mehrens, Lyn Powell from "Be Our God" (Wilds).
When I begin to doubt that God loves me, I need to read and meditate on all the verses and proof in His Word telling me just how much He does! Just a few:
Jeremiah 31:3 - "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn thee." Ephesians 2:4 - "But God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherein He loved us." 1 John 3:1 - "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 4:9 - "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him."
There is another side to this: Because He does love us, God delights in giving special gifts to His children to encourage them. He has done that for us time and time again these past two months. In my next post, I will be sharing that side of God's love. In the meantime, remember that God loves you.
Blessings,
Kathi
The Light in My Window
Monday, August 29, 2016
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
What's Next?
I am at the blog first thing this morning, because I woke up with a Scripture verse on my mind. I have been enjoying these last few, quiet, precious mornings in my favorite spot in my sun-filled loft upstairs in our house with my Bible and my journal and my coffee. I'm going to miss this. I'm going to miss a lot of things. And that is why I am meditating on this verse this morning.
Micah 6:8 - "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
There are a lot of verses that I might expect the Lord to bring to my mind with all that is going on in our lives right now. This wasn't really one that I would've thought of. But it is really speaking to me.
"He has shown you what is good" He has shown us what is good - His will for us. His will is always good, because He is good. After much searching and pleading with the Lord for His will to be shown to us, and submitting to whatever His plan might be, He has answered by giving my husband a job. It is a secular job, in a field that is new to him. God has answered by leading us to a place to live. We are downsizing to an apartment that is less than half the size of our house. That does not translate to "inexpensive." Which means I will be soon be looking for a job myself.
These are huge changes. They are not forever - at least, right now we don't expect them to be. After much prayer we came to the conclusion that we need a year to get our bearings and discern what the Lord tells us is the next thing for us. But right now, this is the next thing.
So now that He has shown us what is His good will, what does He require of us?
1. To do justly. Just to obey and to do the next right thing. Even though it might be new and scary and hard.
2. To love mercy, or kindness. One of the sweet benefits of this dark time we have been walking through is more time together as a couple. We have been doing a devotional study on love, and one of the characteristics of love according to 1 Cor. 13 is kindness, so we make an extra effort to show kindness to each other. And when you are under a lot of stress and having to make a lot of decisions like we are, that is sometimes the hardest time to remember to be kind.
3. To walk humbly with our God. That's easy right now. When you don't have the answers and you don't have the resources, you have to rely on God. And that's a good thing. We can't do any of this without Him. We are depending on Him for everything. Every single thing in my life is changing right now, and I don't like change. (I will probably be blogging about that in a future post.) The best thing we can do right now is acknowledge our dependence on the Lord, and walk closely with Him.
Hoping you will do these things too.
Love,
Kathi
Micah 6:8 - "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
There are a lot of verses that I might expect the Lord to bring to my mind with all that is going on in our lives right now. This wasn't really one that I would've thought of. But it is really speaking to me.
"He has shown you what is good" He has shown us what is good - His will for us. His will is always good, because He is good. After much searching and pleading with the Lord for His will to be shown to us, and submitting to whatever His plan might be, He has answered by giving my husband a job. It is a secular job, in a field that is new to him. God has answered by leading us to a place to live. We are downsizing to an apartment that is less than half the size of our house. That does not translate to "inexpensive." Which means I will be soon be looking for a job myself.
These are huge changes. They are not forever - at least, right now we don't expect them to be. After much prayer we came to the conclusion that we need a year to get our bearings and discern what the Lord tells us is the next thing for us. But right now, this is the next thing.
So now that He has shown us what is His good will, what does He require of us?
1. To do justly. Just to obey and to do the next right thing. Even though it might be new and scary and hard.
2. To love mercy, or kindness. One of the sweet benefits of this dark time we have been walking through is more time together as a couple. We have been doing a devotional study on love, and one of the characteristics of love according to 1 Cor. 13 is kindness, so we make an extra effort to show kindness to each other. And when you are under a lot of stress and having to make a lot of decisions like we are, that is sometimes the hardest time to remember to be kind.
3. To walk humbly with our God. That's easy right now. When you don't have the answers and you don't have the resources, you have to rely on God. And that's a good thing. We can't do any of this without Him. We are depending on Him for everything. Every single thing in my life is changing right now, and I don't like change. (I will probably be blogging about that in a future post.) The best thing we can do right now is acknowledge our dependence on the Lord, and walk closely with Him.
Hoping you will do these things too.
Love,
Kathi
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Trusting God in the Dark
The first thing you need to know is this: I have missed writing. And I have been working on writing this post for weeks.
And the second thing - this is the hardest post I have ever written. Although I express myself best through my writing, the words just wouldn't come. I thought last summer with my husband's knee replacement surgery and subsequent complications and recovery was hard, but the events of the past two months make last summer look great.
It is amazing to me that in mid-June, for the first time, I actually had two posts all written ahead of time, proofed, and in my draft box ready to post. One of them was a post on recipes for Father's Day. And in one of life's little ironies, the other post I had written was about the joys of being a pastor's wife.
You will not be seeing that post. Because I am no longer a pastor's wife.
It brings tears just writing that, because I still can't wrap my mind around that. I have been a pastor's wife for over 21 years. But it's true and I needed to let you know that. I will not be sharing the details of what happened, because no good would come from that. What I will be attempting to share is what Lord has been doing in my life in a very difficult season. And that theme will probably continue for awhile - at least I hope it will, because God's strength and encouragement to me is everything.
The last several weeks I have felt like I was walking in the dark. Do you know what I mean? When it is really dark, you don't see even a glimmer of light. You fumble your way around and bump into things that you don't expect. You aren't sure how you got there, and you have no idea of the way out. And every time you feel like you are beginning to find your way out of the dark place, you find out you aren't any closer than you were before.
The Lord has been so good to give me a lot of very special passages and verses of Scripture lately, but one stands out for this season in my life: Isaiah 50:10b - "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God."
That verse was just for me. It gave me my direction. When you are walking in the dark, you gravitate toward the only source of light that you have. And according to this verse, that light comes from my relationship with God. I have to trust Him to know the way out and to lead me. I know from my relationship with Him that I can trust Him. I have to rely upon what I know to be true about God. I might not be able to see those things right now, but I know from His Word that I can rely on my God who is good, wise, who loves me, and is in control.
So over the past few weeks, what was already a close relationship with the Lord has become even more precious. I have spent hours in the books of Isaiah and Psalms, reading and journaling through them, and praying. It has been the only light I have. And it has been good.
I know my blog has changed a lot since I began writing it 2 years ago. What began as an account of my life and chronicled some lighter topics of our home, recipes, and grandchildren has become more a sharing of my heart and of the things that God has been teaching me. That type of writing seems to be my "niche." I hope that somehow, in some way, these thoughts might encourage you. I don't want to assume that everyone who reads my blog knows the Lord in a personal way, so if you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and begun a close relationship with Him, please let me know. That would be my greatest joy.
I am not sure what God has in store for us. Stay tuned and when I find out, you will too! Right now we are in the midst of packing. We sold our house very quickly, which was both a blessing and a concern, because we had no idea where we were going to go. It is a little disconcerting, to say the least, to be packing up and preparing to move in a little over 2 weeks, and we still aren't sure where we are going or what we are going to be doing.
Trusting God in the dark.
Tenderly,
Kathi
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Children and Prayer
I have come to this page often in my mind the past few days, trying to sort my thoughts and express them with the right words. Sometimes I have ideas in my mind and just can't get them written. Part of the issue has been physical - I still am recovering from the health challenges I wrote about in my last post, and now I am finishing a round of antibiotics for yet another infection. I did not know it was possible to come down with 3 things in the space of 4 weeks! I am gradually recovering and and beginning to have my normal energy level (and ability to think clearly!) back. It makes me even more grateful for the measure of health I have always enjoyed, when there are so many who don't. And it has been encouraging for me to see in the past few weeks how God has given me good-health days on exactly the days that I needed it - for my trip home, for my speaking at our ladies luncheon last Saturday, and for being at our son's for our grandson's kindergarten graduation recently.
When our three-year-old granddaughter saw me, she squealed "Ma-Ma!" and jumped into my arms. Love it! But even sweeter were her next words. "Ma-ma, how is your rash? (she is referring to the bad rash I mentioned in my last post) - and - "I have been praying for your rash!"
I was floored. My tiny granddaughter had been praying for my rash? And she thought it important enough that it was the first thing she told me?
Later that day at supper before my husband and I left to come home, our six-year-old grandson wanted to pray. Besides thanking God for the food and the nice day and the new play set we helped build, he prayed, "Help Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa to have a safe trip home. Help them not to be tired. I pray that there wouldn't be traffic. And help them to only have green lights and yellow lights, and to just go and go and go!"
We hid smiles at his words and his enthusiasm, but again, I was stunned at the depth and specifics of his prayer for a six year old. This was completely un-prompted and un-coached. I thought about how it was evident that their parents are teaching them how to pray. And I realized that when I pray for my grandchildren, it never occurred to me to pray that they would learn to pray. I pray every day for their salvation, for their health and safety, for their protection from sin, and for them to learn to obey and make right choices. But I had never thought about praying that they would be children, and someday men and women, of prayer!
As I have been mulling this over in my mind this week, my heart has become even more burdened for my grandchildren - all eight of them (to be nine in the next couple of weeks!) Oh, that they would learn how to pray and see the importance of praying about everything. That they would grow up to be men and women, moms and dads, and husbands and wives who take everything to the throne of grace! What a difference that will make in their lives if they learn that lesson now while they are so young.
Through this I have been encouraged to pray in a deeper way for my children and grandchildren. Praying Scripture for our children and grandchildren is something I have written about before and something that is so easy and so good to do. A book that I have that I recommend is "Praying the Scriptures for Your Children" by Jodie Berndt. This little book helps you to pray specifically and scripturally for their faith, character, relationships and their future. When we pray Scripture, we can be confident that we are praying right.
And as a side note, God did answer our grandson's prayer. We had one of the quickest and easiest trips home that night that we ever have had. I texted my daughter in law and told her to make sure she told our grandson, and she said "What a good lesson for him, that God answered his prayer."
What a lesson for me - to remember to pray about the deeper and the truly important aspects of our grandchildren's lives. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." Col. 4:2
Prayerfully,
Kathi
When our three-year-old granddaughter saw me, she squealed "Ma-Ma!" and jumped into my arms. Love it! But even sweeter were her next words. "Ma-ma, how is your rash? (she is referring to the bad rash I mentioned in my last post) - and - "I have been praying for your rash!"
I was floored. My tiny granddaughter had been praying for my rash? And she thought it important enough that it was the first thing she told me?
Later that day at supper before my husband and I left to come home, our six-year-old grandson wanted to pray. Besides thanking God for the food and the nice day and the new play set we helped build, he prayed, "Help Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa to have a safe trip home. Help them not to be tired. I pray that there wouldn't be traffic. And help them to only have green lights and yellow lights, and to just go and go and go!"
We hid smiles at his words and his enthusiasm, but again, I was stunned at the depth and specifics of his prayer for a six year old. This was completely un-prompted and un-coached. I thought about how it was evident that their parents are teaching them how to pray. And I realized that when I pray for my grandchildren, it never occurred to me to pray that they would learn to pray. I pray every day for their salvation, for their health and safety, for their protection from sin, and for them to learn to obey and make right choices. But I had never thought about praying that they would be children, and someday men and women, of prayer!
As I have been mulling this over in my mind this week, my heart has become even more burdened for my grandchildren - all eight of them (to be nine in the next couple of weeks!) Oh, that they would learn how to pray and see the importance of praying about everything. That they would grow up to be men and women, moms and dads, and husbands and wives who take everything to the throne of grace! What a difference that will make in their lives if they learn that lesson now while they are so young.
Through this I have been encouraged to pray in a deeper way for my children and grandchildren. Praying Scripture for our children and grandchildren is something I have written about before and something that is so easy and so good to do. A book that I have that I recommend is "Praying the Scriptures for Your Children" by Jodie Berndt. This little book helps you to pray specifically and scripturally for their faith, character, relationships and their future. When we pray Scripture, we can be confident that we are praying right.
And as a side note, God did answer our grandson's prayer. We had one of the quickest and easiest trips home that night that we ever have had. I texted my daughter in law and told her to make sure she told our grandson, and she said "What a good lesson for him, that God answered his prayer."
What a lesson for me - to remember to pray about the deeper and the truly important aspects of our grandchildren's lives. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." Col. 4:2
Prayerfully,
Kathi
Friday, June 3, 2016
A Memorable May
I have really missed being at the blog.
I didn't intend to go three weeks without publishing a post. Let's just say that the month of May this year was definitely a very memorable month. It started well enough, with the final Ladies Bible Study classes of the season and some of our sweet ladies treating me to lunch at Olive Garden on the last day. And some of the more normal events that filled my month were a cake decorating class at church for our teen girls and their moms, a weekend of much-needed yard work, celebrating Mother's Day, giving a baby shower, picking strawberries, attending a symphony concert, several meetings, and annual dentist and doctor appointments.
Yes. May was an extremely busy month. But I haven't gotten to the big stuff yet.
Our daughter, son-in-law, and 3 granddaughters were able to come for a week. During that time, our house was a busy, noisy, happy place with a 6 year old, 4 year old, and almost-2-year old. We did a lot of fun things: celebrated our daughter's birthday with a special dinner and she and I getting pedicures together (it is a rare treat to be able to be with one of our children on their birthday!), went to the beach, spent a day at Jamestown Settlement, took a ferry ride, and just enjoyed a lot of play time and making crafts. During their visit, our daughter and her husband celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary so pa-pa and I kept the children at home for a pizza and movie night while their parents enjoyed a much-needed night out.
About three days into their visit, I noticed that I was coming down with a very strange, bright red, and EXTREMELY itchy rash on my arms. It got to the point where I could not sleep at night unless I wrapped ice packs around my arms, so I made a trip to my doctor's office. He was mystified, as it looked and seemed very much like some type of poisonous plant but I had not been working outside for over a week. He prescribed a round of oral steroids as well as a steroid cream, and for the remainder of that week which coincided with our daughter's visit, I was rather miserable from the itching, swelling, and not being able to sleep.
It finally started to clear up, just in time for me to get on a plane for a planned visit to my parents in Georgia. I had not seen them since last September and was looking forward to spending the time with them as well as helping out as much as I could. I had a great week - doing things with my parents, celebrating my sister's and my birthdays with a special lunch, going shopping with my mother, in addition to getting their garage and closets cleaned and organized, accomplishing some outdoor chores, cooking, and various other little things. I also enjoyed walks and extended times of prayer outside in the early mornings.
It was a great week - until Sunday night when I got hit suddenly and hard by one of the worst stomach flu bugs I have ever had. I will spare you the details. The next day I was running a fever, had a horrible headache and chills, and could not sit up in a chair for more than a few minutes. My poor mother had her hands full trying to care for me and my dad who requires a lot of her attention. And I was wondering how in the world I was going to be able to fly home in just over 24 hours.
That's when the month of May became the most memorable to me. Because I asked people to pray, and God answered prayers in such a clear and wonderful way.
I felt better by the time I had to leave - I was still unable to eat anything and was very weak, but the fever, headache, and nausea were gone, which was important because I had to make a 2 hour shuttle ride and then a trek through the Atlanta airport.
I specifically asked people to pray for a short security line. Long security lines at the Atlanta airport had been in the news just a few days prior. When I got my boarding pass, I had been granted "pre-check" status - meaning I waited in line for a grand total of 5 minutes! Without having to take off my shoes and open my bags.
I asked for prayer for strength to handle my luggage. At the gate, because the flight was full they asked for volunteers to check their bags for free. Of course, I volunteered so I did not have to carry my luggage onto the plane and stow it overhead, and because I did they gave me early boarding privileges - meaning I was one of the first ones on the plane and could just relax until it was time for take-off.
After I got home, I expected my recovery to continue, but the next day I actually felt a lot worse. So back to my doctor's office I went. I now had been at my doctor's a total of three times in a month - as much as I normally am in an entire year. The doctor diagnosed me with either salmonella or noro-virus, but we will probably never know for sure. Before he came in, the nurse was looking over my chart and said "That's right! You were in here just recently for that bad case of poison-whatever." When I agreed, she shook her head and said "You sure have had a memorable May!"
Yes. It was a memorable May. Some of it I wouldn't want to repeat. But it is memorable in good ways, too. Family time. Answers to prayer. And realizing - again- just how big and how good our God is. Psalm 28:7 - "The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in Him and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song will I praise Him!"
Till next time,
Kathi
I didn't intend to go three weeks without publishing a post. Let's just say that the month of May this year was definitely a very memorable month. It started well enough, with the final Ladies Bible Study classes of the season and some of our sweet ladies treating me to lunch at Olive Garden on the last day. And some of the more normal events that filled my month were a cake decorating class at church for our teen girls and their moms, a weekend of much-needed yard work, celebrating Mother's Day, giving a baby shower, picking strawberries, attending a symphony concert, several meetings, and annual dentist and doctor appointments.
Yes. May was an extremely busy month. But I haven't gotten to the big stuff yet.
Our daughter, son-in-law, and 3 granddaughters were able to come for a week. During that time, our house was a busy, noisy, happy place with a 6 year old, 4 year old, and almost-2-year old. We did a lot of fun things: celebrated our daughter's birthday with a special dinner and she and I getting pedicures together (it is a rare treat to be able to be with one of our children on their birthday!), went to the beach, spent a day at Jamestown Settlement, took a ferry ride, and just enjoyed a lot of play time and making crafts. During their visit, our daughter and her husband celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary so pa-pa and I kept the children at home for a pizza and movie night while their parents enjoyed a much-needed night out.About three days into their visit, I noticed that I was coming down with a very strange, bright red, and EXTREMELY itchy rash on my arms. It got to the point where I could not sleep at night unless I wrapped ice packs around my arms, so I made a trip to my doctor's office. He was mystified, as it looked and seemed very much like some type of poisonous plant but I had not been working outside for over a week. He prescribed a round of oral steroids as well as a steroid cream, and for the remainder of that week which coincided with our daughter's visit, I was rather miserable from the itching, swelling, and not being able to sleep.
It finally started to clear up, just in time for me to get on a plane for a planned visit to my parents in Georgia. I had not seen them since last September and was looking forward to spending the time with them as well as helping out as much as I could. I had a great week - doing things with my parents, celebrating my sister's and my birthdays with a special lunch, going shopping with my mother, in addition to getting their garage and closets cleaned and organized, accomplishing some outdoor chores, cooking, and various other little things. I also enjoyed walks and extended times of prayer outside in the early mornings.
That's when the month of May became the most memorable to me. Because I asked people to pray, and God answered prayers in such a clear and wonderful way.
I felt better by the time I had to leave - I was still unable to eat anything and was very weak, but the fever, headache, and nausea were gone, which was important because I had to make a 2 hour shuttle ride and then a trek through the Atlanta airport.
I specifically asked people to pray for a short security line. Long security lines at the Atlanta airport had been in the news just a few days prior. When I got my boarding pass, I had been granted "pre-check" status - meaning I waited in line for a grand total of 5 minutes! Without having to take off my shoes and open my bags.
I asked for prayer for strength to handle my luggage. At the gate, because the flight was full they asked for volunteers to check their bags for free. Of course, I volunteered so I did not have to carry my luggage onto the plane and stow it overhead, and because I did they gave me early boarding privileges - meaning I was one of the first ones on the plane and could just relax until it was time for take-off.
After I got home, I expected my recovery to continue, but the next day I actually felt a lot worse. So back to my doctor's office I went. I now had been at my doctor's a total of three times in a month - as much as I normally am in an entire year. The doctor diagnosed me with either salmonella or noro-virus, but we will probably never know for sure. Before he came in, the nurse was looking over my chart and said "That's right! You were in here just recently for that bad case of poison-whatever." When I agreed, she shook her head and said "You sure have had a memorable May!"
Yes. It was a memorable May. Some of it I wouldn't want to repeat. But it is memorable in good ways, too. Family time. Answers to prayer. And realizing - again- just how big and how good our God is. Psalm 28:7 - "The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in Him and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song will I praise Him!"
Till next time,
Kathi
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
"Re-Calculating!"
Rain, rain, go away.....My weather app on my phone tells me that not only is today's rain likely to continue throughout the day, we are in for more rain the end of the week...and next week. Can I just say that I sure would like to see some sunny days?
My weather app is something I use on a daily basis. Another aspect of technology that has become valuable to my husband and me is the GPS. We are on our second GPS device and now that we have a built-in navigation system in our car, we really enjoy the convenience of that. Whether we are on a long trip like our recent trip to Illinois, visiting church members, or trying to find an unfamiliar hospital, certain business, or restaurant, the GPS makes it so much easier.
I heard someone say recently that our Christian walk with the Lord is not so much like Google Maps as it is like a GPS. As I thought about that, it is very true. Google Maps lets you put in a starting point and your desired destination, and voila - you get a complete and detailed mapping of the entire trip - where to start out, what time you will arrive, which route is best to take, and what to expect along the way. It even gives you alternate routes to select from.
Don't you wish the Christian life was like that! We would be handed a map with our starting point, ending point, and all we would have to do is follow the printed directions. We would be able to see the instructions for our entire life all in one glance.
No, following God is more like a GPS. With the GPS you still put in your starting point and your desired destination, but unlike Google Maps, it doesn't give you the plan for the trip all at once. It gives you directions one step at a time. Turn here. Now exit there. Now continue for X amount of miles. Make a right hand turn. If we pay attention, and precisely follow the instructions, we will (hopefully) end up at the right place. Thankfully, God's directions are always right!
When we are following God, He doesn't let us see the entire route at once. We can only see the next step. He leads us along, one step at a time. We have to pay attention to His leading and trust Him for each moment. I am reminded of 2 Cor. 5:7, "For we walk by faith, and not by sight." Psalm 119:105 puts it in terms of a light. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." A light sheds just enough light for us not to stumble and to be able to see our next step.
Something else with the GPS that always makes me chuckle is the voice that says "Re-Calculating!" When we venture off the route to make a stop for gas or for a meal, we are chided that our route needs to be re-calculated. I always imagine hearing a twinge of annoyance in that voice, even though it is a computer and I remind myself that computers don't have feelings! Recently, while on a trip to visit one of our sons, we took an alternate route, knowing from experience that the main route would be a traffic nightmare at that time of day. When we turned off the main and recommended route, we heard "Re-Calculating!" for miles as the GPS tried unsuccessfully to get us back to the main route.
Sometimes God has to give us the "Re-Calculating!" message. It might be that we have gotten off His desired path for us and He needs to bring us back into His will. We can be thankful that God always knows the best plan for us. Psalm 18:30 - "As for God, His way is perfect." He is always good and He is always faithful, and if we heed to His voice He will lovingly guide us back onto the right path.
Or it may be that God gives us a "Re-Calculating!" message when the life that we have planned is changed. We so often have expectations of how things are supposed to be, and how our day or our week or even our life is supposed to go. God may have another plan, and it is up to us to heed His "Re-Calculating!" message and be obedient and submissive to His will for us. I have become convinced in recent days that unfulfilled expectations are one of the main causes of disappointment and unhappiness in our lives. How we react to His "Re-Calculating!" message determines our outlook and our peace and joy.
How about you? Are you depending on God's leading on a step-by-step basis? Are you discontent because He hasn't revealed His entire plan to you for this thing you are trusting Him for? Can you respond with trust to His "Re-Calculating"?
Lovingly,
Kathi
My weather app is something I use on a daily basis. Another aspect of technology that has become valuable to my husband and me is the GPS. We are on our second GPS device and now that we have a built-in navigation system in our car, we really enjoy the convenience of that. Whether we are on a long trip like our recent trip to Illinois, visiting church members, or trying to find an unfamiliar hospital, certain business, or restaurant, the GPS makes it so much easier.
I heard someone say recently that our Christian walk with the Lord is not so much like Google Maps as it is like a GPS. As I thought about that, it is very true. Google Maps lets you put in a starting point and your desired destination, and voila - you get a complete and detailed mapping of the entire trip - where to start out, what time you will arrive, which route is best to take, and what to expect along the way. It even gives you alternate routes to select from.
Don't you wish the Christian life was like that! We would be handed a map with our starting point, ending point, and all we would have to do is follow the printed directions. We would be able to see the instructions for our entire life all in one glance.
No, following God is more like a GPS. With the GPS you still put in your starting point and your desired destination, but unlike Google Maps, it doesn't give you the plan for the trip all at once. It gives you directions one step at a time. Turn here. Now exit there. Now continue for X amount of miles. Make a right hand turn. If we pay attention, and precisely follow the instructions, we will (hopefully) end up at the right place. Thankfully, God's directions are always right!
When we are following God, He doesn't let us see the entire route at once. We can only see the next step. He leads us along, one step at a time. We have to pay attention to His leading and trust Him for each moment. I am reminded of 2 Cor. 5:7, "For we walk by faith, and not by sight." Psalm 119:105 puts it in terms of a light. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." A light sheds just enough light for us not to stumble and to be able to see our next step.
Something else with the GPS that always makes me chuckle is the voice that says "Re-Calculating!" When we venture off the route to make a stop for gas or for a meal, we are chided that our route needs to be re-calculated. I always imagine hearing a twinge of annoyance in that voice, even though it is a computer and I remind myself that computers don't have feelings! Recently, while on a trip to visit one of our sons, we took an alternate route, knowing from experience that the main route would be a traffic nightmare at that time of day. When we turned off the main and recommended route, we heard "Re-Calculating!" for miles as the GPS tried unsuccessfully to get us back to the main route.
Sometimes God has to give us the "Re-Calculating!" message. It might be that we have gotten off His desired path for us and He needs to bring us back into His will. We can be thankful that God always knows the best plan for us. Psalm 18:30 - "As for God, His way is perfect." He is always good and He is always faithful, and if we heed to His voice He will lovingly guide us back onto the right path.
Or it may be that God gives us a "Re-Calculating!" message when the life that we have planned is changed. We so often have expectations of how things are supposed to be, and how our day or our week or even our life is supposed to go. God may have another plan, and it is up to us to heed His "Re-Calculating!" message and be obedient and submissive to His will for us. I have become convinced in recent days that unfulfilled expectations are one of the main causes of disappointment and unhappiness in our lives. How we react to His "Re-Calculating!" message determines our outlook and our peace and joy.
How about you? Are you depending on God's leading on a step-by-step basis? Are you discontent because He hasn't revealed His entire plan to you for this thing you are trusting Him for? Can you respond with trust to His "Re-Calculating"?
Lovingly,
Kathi
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
A Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness
This is one of those days where it is hard to know what to blog about.
I could tell you that this is the 4th rainy day in a row. Not exactly significant.
I could write about the events of last week, which was pretty crazy. It was one of those weeks which inspires the motto "Expect the Unexpected." Think ministering to people hospitalized and having surgeries (in different hospitals in different cities but on the same day), being out every evening with a meeting or ministry obligation, church bus issues, a missionary family staying with us for 2 nights, a memorial service and meal afterwards at our church, and a really fast all-in-one-day trip to Maryland. We made the trip to see two of our grandchildren performing in a 50th anniversary spring concert and celebration of their Christian School, which happens to be the same Christian school I attended for 2 years when I was in high school. Our granddaughter's elementary choir sang and our grandson's kindergarten class sang dressed up like eagles (the school's mascot). I'll post some pictures so you can see how cute they were, and another one of me with their younger sister:
We left home for Maryland at 6 a.m., spent the afternoon and evening with them, and arrived back home at 2 a.m. - and had to get up in a few hours for a teen activity and a nursing home service my husband was conducting. Definitely crazy. Especially since we are not exactly young anymore.
But none of those things are really what is on my heart to blog about. I have to admit to a heaviness of spirit today, and the past couple of days, over the state of affairs in our country. I normally do not write about political things in this blog. There are plenty of other blogs where you can read about politics and the presidential campaigns and race. I must concede, however, that things are looking pretty dim for Christians concerning the Presidential election. It seems like all hope of having a president who is a Christian who leads with any standards of righteousness is gone. In fact, things are probably going to get a lot worse then they already are. We as a country are getting what we deserve - our country abandoned God and threw Him out of our schools, our homes, and our society long ago.
Not only is the national political scene disheartening, but the rise of shootings, violence, terrorist attacks, and crime in general is just plain scary. Two Sunday mornings ago while we were in Sunday School there was a shooting at a grocery store only 2 miles from our church. A young man who was a customer in the store was killed, leaving a pregnant wife and a toddler. This is a store I often shop at. Hardly a day goes by that you don't hear about a shooting or attack of some kind at a mall, a school, theatre, or home. Several churches have been the scene of shootings in recent weeks. When you add other recent events such as the "bathroom bill" and all that will mean, and it is no wonder we are overcome by a spirit of heaviness and hopelessness.
In light of all these things, what does a Christian do? The only answer is to meditate on our God, and Who He is. My thoughts are drawn to a verse in Isaiah 61:3 that talks about having "the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." A garment is something that you have to purposefully put on, and it covers our humanity. God's prescription for a spirit of heaviness is to think upon Him. Specifically, we can dwell on His attributes and praise Him for them.
I have been meditating on God being a God of truth. Truth is something that seems to be rare these days. You can use your Bible and a concordance and look up verses on God being a God of truth. These are some of my favorites:
Other characteristics of God that are good to meditate on and praise Him for are His faithfulness (Lamentations 3:23), His goodness, and His sovereignty. I love Isaiah chapters 40-46 which tell us over and over again that the Lord is God, that there is none other, and that He is in control.
These are the things that we need to think on right now. Praising God for Who He is will put things into the right perceptive and lessen that spirit of heaviness. God is good!
Till next time,
Kathi
I could tell you that this is the 4th rainy day in a row. Not exactly significant.
I could write about the events of last week, which was pretty crazy. It was one of those weeks which inspires the motto "Expect the Unexpected." Think ministering to people hospitalized and having surgeries (in different hospitals in different cities but on the same day), being out every evening with a meeting or ministry obligation, church bus issues, a missionary family staying with us for 2 nights, a memorial service and meal afterwards at our church, and a really fast all-in-one-day trip to Maryland. We made the trip to see two of our grandchildren performing in a 50th anniversary spring concert and celebration of their Christian School, which happens to be the same Christian school I attended for 2 years when I was in high school. Our granddaughter's elementary choir sang and our grandson's kindergarten class sang dressed up like eagles (the school's mascot). I'll post some pictures so you can see how cute they were, and another one of me with their younger sister:
We left home for Maryland at 6 a.m., spent the afternoon and evening with them, and arrived back home at 2 a.m. - and had to get up in a few hours for a teen activity and a nursing home service my husband was conducting. Definitely crazy. Especially since we are not exactly young anymore.
But none of those things are really what is on my heart to blog about. I have to admit to a heaviness of spirit today, and the past couple of days, over the state of affairs in our country. I normally do not write about political things in this blog. There are plenty of other blogs where you can read about politics and the presidential campaigns and race. I must concede, however, that things are looking pretty dim for Christians concerning the Presidential election. It seems like all hope of having a president who is a Christian who leads with any standards of righteousness is gone. In fact, things are probably going to get a lot worse then they already are. We as a country are getting what we deserve - our country abandoned God and threw Him out of our schools, our homes, and our society long ago.
Not only is the national political scene disheartening, but the rise of shootings, violence, terrorist attacks, and crime in general is just plain scary. Two Sunday mornings ago while we were in Sunday School there was a shooting at a grocery store only 2 miles from our church. A young man who was a customer in the store was killed, leaving a pregnant wife and a toddler. This is a store I often shop at. Hardly a day goes by that you don't hear about a shooting or attack of some kind at a mall, a school, theatre, or home. Several churches have been the scene of shootings in recent weeks. When you add other recent events such as the "bathroom bill" and all that will mean, and it is no wonder we are overcome by a spirit of heaviness and hopelessness.
In light of all these things, what does a Christian do? The only answer is to meditate on our God, and Who He is. My thoughts are drawn to a verse in Isaiah 61:3 that talks about having "the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." A garment is something that you have to purposefully put on, and it covers our humanity. God's prescription for a spirit of heaviness is to think upon Him. Specifically, we can dwell on His attributes and praise Him for them.
I have been meditating on God being a God of truth. Truth is something that seems to be rare these days. You can use your Bible and a concordance and look up verses on God being a God of truth. These are some of my favorites:
- Psalm 33:4 - "For the Word of the Lord is right, all His works are done in truth."
- Psalm 100:5 - The Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations."
- Psalm 117:2 - "For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever."
Other characteristics of God that are good to meditate on and praise Him for are His faithfulness (Lamentations 3:23), His goodness, and His sovereignty. I love Isaiah chapters 40-46 which tell us over and over again that the Lord is God, that there is none other, and that He is in control.
These are the things that we need to think on right now. Praising God for Who He is will put things into the right perceptive and lessen that spirit of heaviness. God is good!
Till next time,
Kathi
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