Rejoice!

“Pollyanna” has gotten a bad rap over the years. But have you read the book, by Eleanor H. Porter? I just finished rereading it. It's hilarious and thought provoking. I heartily recommend it.

A key quote is, “if God took the trouble to tell us 800 times [in the Bible] to be glad and rejoice, he must want us to do it -- some."

And I would add, He also knows we need frequent reminders.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

"Freedom of Choice Act"

Have you heard about the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act”? I only recently heard of it myself. It is a terrible thing that I feel I must speak out about.

If passed the “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) will strip away all pro-life laws that have been passed and upheld by the Supreme Court over the last 35 years. Even parental notification laws and the ban on partial birth abortion would be nullified by the FOCA.

The proponents of the FOCA are working hard to fill both houses of Congress and the presidency with people who will support it. Both Clinton and Obama have pledged to support it.

Please go to http://www.nrlc.org/FOCA/index.html for more information and to see which Congressional members support it. (note: there are two separate lists one for the Senate and one for the House). We must speak out against this and make our voices heard for those who can’t speak for themselves – the precious babies who are being killed in abortion clinics every day.

And please pray. Pray like never before. Pray that the truth will win out and that God will turn back this tide of evil.

Even if you don’t live here in America you can still pray and make your voice heard before God.

Please pray!

Psalm 123:2 “…our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy on us.”

Proverbs 6:17 “…the Lord hates…hands that shed innocent blood”

A Gentle Giant

I never knew giraffes were so big, or so gentle, until I saw these a few years ago at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, TX.

When I fed one from our car window I had to reach way up and crane my neck to see its head as it bent way down to get the food from my hand. Then when the food fell out of my hand, it was so gentle, that it didn’t even bite me. It was a gentle giant. (It could also be because it was an herbivore and already well fed :-)

Lately I've been meditating on 1 Peter 5:6. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

“Humble yourselves,” It does take humility to submit to God’s will and timing. His thoughts and ways are not ours, Isaiah says.

“...under God’s mighty hand,” His hand is so big that all who come to him in humility can find shelter there.

His hand is so mighty that he has the power to lift us up.

And He will lift us up when the time is right, because He cares!

He is like a gentle giant.

We can trust Him with our anxieties. That takes humility too. Humility to trust that he really does know what is best for us.

Free Worship Music

I just recently learned about a great Christian radio station on the Internet. AllWorship.com (http://www.AllWorship.com) is a not-for-profit ministry that broadcasts three types of Christian music: Contemporary Worship, Praise & Worship, and Spanish Worship.

You can listen to their basic service at 20 Kbps for free. If you give a donation you can get their Premium 64 Kbps Stream which gives better sound quality--not to mention helping a good thing stay on the air.

Since I'm not watching tv at the moment (see "De-cluttering my mind"), I listened to it while I walked on my treadmill this morning. It helped to while away my 30 minutes quite nicely.

I hope you give it a try.

De-cluttering my mind

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

It doesn't take many empty sources of entertainment to clutter up my mind till I can hardly think straight.

I get easily hyped up just from life sometimes. Especially when there are a lot of changes. Like now. New job, steep learning curve, need all my brain cells on tap and flying in formation for this one! New ministry (yes I'm including this blog -- I hope it is anyway). New church, which means a lot of new people to relate to. New cell group, ditto.

And in a few weeks our household will be increasing. My brother is coming to stay for an indefinite period (he got the job!). At the same time two cats are coming to stay for a year. (They belong to a friend who is going over seas for a year and can't take them with her.)

So back to the entertainment-cafeine-sugar fast. And yes that means no tv, chocolate or reading for fun. Reading the Bible is allowed! :-)

I did this for the month of January too. But the reasons then were mostly spiritual--I felt God wanted me too. And our pastor encouraged us all to fast something during that month. It was good. It nearly drove me crazy at times. But it really helped me to get my mind back and refocus my life. It also helped me to relax more - I even slept better. All of life started to feel like a meditation. It was amazing. I started getting closer to God too--that was the spiritual part. That other stuff was just a bonus.

This time it feels more like a survival technique.

I am also trying to simplify and declutter. Yesterday I tidied my office. Clutter is distracting. I didn't get rid of stuff, just moved it out of sight--does that count?

Also trying not to worry ...

And not multi task too much --eg: no reading while I eat. That was something I learned about during another high stress period. It felt like a waste of time at first but then it started to feel like a gift to myself. Meal times became a sort of mini-vacation. I don't have to justify my existence every minute of the day. I don't need to be afraid of quiet alone times. Eating outside on my patio is even nicer. Is it possible to feel seratonin levels increasing? If it is I can definitely feel them then.

Walking by faith

Lately, my life has reminded me of some of the trails we hiked in Colorado a couple of years ago. It was beautiful, but it did give me many opportunities to learn more about overcoming fear! In fact the whole five day hike seemed like a parable about learning to walk by faith.

Sometimes the trail was so overgrown with grass that we could not see it when we looked ahead. But as we took each step it would open out in front of us a little at a time, just enough to take the next one or two steps.

This memory is especially poignant to me. At the time we had been praying for wisdom to make a difficult decision. I was hoping God would give us a clear word that week about what he wanted us to do and how it would all turn out. But it seemed like God was saying that I just needed to trust and keep moving forward and he would lead us one step at a time. And he did.

There were times the trail was not visible at all and we just had to trust our maps and gps.

Other times the trail would be on the side of a steep mountain. “Death defying” was how one guy described them. I would inch slowly along, afraid to move forward or look down. My fellow hikers patiently encouraged me. They even showed me where to put my feet and acted as human guard rails when I got too nervous. (my husband felt nervous too, but he didn't tell me until later! :-)

Sometimes the path would open out wide and soft with pine needles under foot and trees on both sides to shade us. I would start to hope it would last, but then there would be a stream to cross (without benefit of a bridge) or another rocky ledge to brave.

Right at the end, when we thought it would get easy, there was another hill to climb! A fellow hiker called it “the hill that would never end!” Even the buff guys were so tired they were almost groaning.

But we made it!

Will I do it again? I don’t know but I’m glad I did it once!

I am again in a place of needing to simply trust and keep walking forward even when I can't see what lies ahead. I struggle with fear at times that I will take the wrong step and stumble and fall. But thankfully God is helping me and he's blessed me with some patient friends too who have been helping to guide and encourage me like my fellow hikers did back then.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11

"If my people..."

Last night we attended a special prayer meeting about the upcoming election.

As we entered the building I was struck by how little I, at least, have prayed about the issues that I say are important to me.

It also occurred to me that the further my political party gets from upholding the values that I and others most care about the more dependant we will be on God and His Spirit to bring about true change in peoples' hearts. If we don't expect the politicians to do anything about the problem, then maybe we will spend more time praying that God will and that he will use us to help.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 TNIV

May it be so!

O God forgive me for my apathy. May my heart be broken with the things that break your heart. Forgive me for caring more about my own comfort than for what you want.