Blood, Sweat & Tears: Getting Nowhere Fast

Well kiddos, today was a hectic day! First day in a new office and there's been a lot of "getting used to" moments!  But even though I don't feel I accomplished much I did get the copy room cleaned and set up for work, 3 e-mail accounts set up for us, the supply closet organized, a Christmas tree decorated and the lunch room set up and organized... Not to mention the phone calls and a couple of files completed from start to finish... I suppose that's not a bad day's work!

So the lesson?  Sometimes we work and run and sweat over all the things on our "life's to do list" and it's hard to see any results... Whether it's because we've been busy with preparation work or because it's just not spotlight work but behind closed doors we can get discouraged when we can't see results soon enough... It could be that we've put many hours of friendship and prayer, pouring ourselves out for a friend and we haven't yet seen change.  The thing is, just like my work today, the surface that everyone sees when they walk into the office is not work I've done and you really can't notice much change but if you open a door or two you'll see it's there... If you start working you'll notice the organizing I've completed makes the job faster and easier.

Moral of my little story?  "Don't get weary in well doing!"  Just keep on working on it and some day you will see the results, you will get to reap the benefits of your blood sweat, tears & prayer you've poured and it will be worth every painstaking minute!

Why I Went Away

I stopped writing for you all a while back and promised when it was all over I would let you all know why I was neglecting you... Well, my mum had a cancer scare. Since it runs in her family and two of her sisters were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past two years I was really concerned and scared to say the least... Last Friday, while sitting at my desk at work, I received a call from my mum... Not with news of good tidings let alone great joy. One of my mum's sisters, Hilda, who had cancer and had just gone through chemo less than one year ago was diagnosed again... This time the cancer appears to be more aggressive and they are starting chemo again next week. I know this seems like a gloomy blog and thus far it is really... But I'm not writing this paragraph in fear but to let you all know what to pray for!

I know God can heal and been an eye witness to many more miracles than I could count! And in case you or someone you know is going through some threatening situation in life as well here is the original post written for my aunt Hilda the first time she waged this battle, God's word is still true and extends to any person in need:

"Praise be to the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For Just as the sufferings of Christ flows into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." - 2 Corinthians 1: 3-5

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28-30

"Come learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:29

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." - Psalm 23:4... This scripture was my grammie's favorite.

"May your unfailing love be my comfort,according to your promise to your servant." - Psalm 119:76

"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." - Psalm 9:10

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You." - Psalm 33.18-22

"Commit your way to the lord, and trust in him also,and he shall bring it to pass." - Psalm 37:5

A friend sent me these scriptures at a time when I felt alone... Hope was scarce and joy was no where to be found.. She then wrote "you're never alone. I don't even know what it is about but I just felt like giving you these. Maybe you had a great day (hopefully) or maybe you didn't (not hopefully), either way I know your going through a hard time and I am sorry and I hope you know that you have people in your life who love you and are there for you (...ppl like me:) ) And more importantly you have the BIG DADDY upstairs!! Don't worry be happy ..... everything will be all good." It was funny and cute but most of all knowing that someone cared enough to send me that encouragement helped me to see a small glimpse of sun through the looming storm clouds of my depressing and threatening situation. More than that, it made me see that God cared enough to whisper the idea of a little note and a few scriptures into the mind of a friend so He could show His love and attention for me, His kiddie!

So... Let these words do the same for you! Get some comfort and joy out of them! It's not a coincidence you read this blog at the exact time you needed it... If you're wondering if this could possibly be God trying to help you, He is!

Here's a prayer I'm praying over my aunt's life, pray it over yours as well and watch God work a miracle for you! "Jesus, I love you so much! You have been so good to me each day I live... I know I haven't always been able to tell where you were working and I get afraid you've gone when I can't seem to catch a glimpse of you but looking back I know you were there all along and you've created miracles in my life I wasn't even aware of nor had asked you for... Jesus, because you died on the cross for us and your word says "you were wounded for our transgressions and by your stripes we are healed" I ask you to let that healing power flow this very moment! I stand agreeing with your word, Lord, and I claim and trust in your promises written on its pages. Thank you for being there for us whenever we call on your almighty name! I love you and can't wait to see what you do next! In your mighty name, Jesus, amen."

PS.. It's probably a good sign things are about to get better and prayers are going to be answered if your mind is getting filled with fear, doubt and lies... The Bible also says all those things come from the enemy, not God, and if he is against something it probably means God is for it! So just hold on, better yet, turn up the heat, it's coming!

Planned from the Beginning

What a day! This morning I dripped toothpaste down my black shirt which I didn't have time to change before work because I thought I was running late... This afternoon I poured water down the front of the same shirt trying to take a drink... At lunch time I dropped my pop but barely any dripped out, thank goodness for covers I was thinking... Until, about 10 minutes later I dropped my cup again and off flew the cover!  Pop spilled all over my desk & ccalendar and down the front of my skirt!  I cleaned the pop up, grabbed a Lysol wipe to take the sticky up sat in my chair... And you guessed it, right in a puddle of pup & ice cubes!  I stood up quickly and pop drained down my leotard covered legs! AAHHHH!

I'm actually not in a sour mood after all of this... I just thought I would share it to give you a little pre-weekend laugh and maybe even some perspective on your own day. :o)

And I also want to relay something I heard from a missionary to Prague last night...  The well of Jacob is something most Christians and Religious people have heard about... The strange thing about it is the well of Jacob is only mentioned in one sentence in the Bible... The reason it is recognized is because of a story told over and over in Christianity, the story of "the woman at the well." This woman had 5 husbands... My dad's wife is on her 4th marriage and even by today's standard I think that's pretty bad... I mean really, what's the common denominator here? I have someone close to me who has had more boyfriends than I can count and at least a handful of engagements... We all always expect it not to last with the next one either but her mama always holds out hope (denial some may call it haha!) The thing about it is that they always say it's the guys fault!  I suppose in some respects it's nice to have your mum so much on your side she is blinded to your "issues" but my mum would have long ago slapped me and sent me to therapy haha! Anyway, back on track, the reason I went into all that was to say that I think we all realize that "woman at the well" had a few of her own issues... But Jesus met her there and changed her life!  He told her all she had done (which was something he nor anyone she hadn't already told would know... Then he offered her change and she took it.  So that well of Jacob that is only mentioned in one sentence in the Bible has become world renown because of what happend one day in one meeting with Jesus.

The second thing to keep in mind is God is everywhere present and never absent. God never changes. God lives in the past, present and future all at once... I know these are obscure facts for us to grasp because we can't even really imagine that kind of existence but their truth doesn't diminish by lack of our understanding... Just like is someone is allergic to banana but they don't understand why or how or even that they are it won't stop them from having anaphylactic shock. (Ok that's not really funny, but kind of...)

The next important thing to realize is by the time Jesus met the woman at the well many years and even decades had passed since Jacob had dug the well out... What's so important about that? Well, God is in control every aspect of life... God inspired Jacob to dig that well in that place all the while knowing one day Jesus would meet at woman there and change her life... God planned to help that woman on that specific day when he directed the footsteps of Jesus to her before she was even born! 

So now I want you to know that if God would plan such a beautiful story of mercy for a flusey like the woman at the well who's name was not even mentioned God has planned a beautiful story for your life.  So sit down with Jesus for a minute and tell Him you want him to help you!  Have your own well of Jacob experience right now, wherever you are... If you're at work step away from your desk, at home excuse yourself to a room alone or at Starbucks go to your car and meet Jesus there.  This is your moment of change! My steps have been directed to you through this blog today and Jesus is with you now, believe and act on that belief, you will never regret it!

Rainy Days & Mondays

Oh my goodness! What a day... Is there a full moon coming because there are a lot of crazy acting people out and about right now! Ugh!  I am not the type to usually hate Monday's, it's always just been a day in the week to me, no better and no worse than any other.... But today, oh today.

I'm sure a lot of you can relate and it doesn't even matter that it's a Monday or why it was a bad day... It doesn't matter if the rain is literal or figurative... A bad day is a bad day... Any shape, each form and for any reason or many reasons. And here's the thing about these rainy days and bad days, we all have them.  Some of us try to wear a smile through the bad days and others just let it all display on their face.

Bad days are normal, we aren't pessimists because we admit they are a reality.... We are not Debbie Downers just because we notice the rain pouring down.  Bad days come, the Bible says "the Lord makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust," we cannot escape whether we are following God or not.

But rainy days come to water the flowers in our lives... If there is only sun every flower will wilt away. You know as well as I that somewhere around the third week of summer (if not sooner) people start complaining of the heat, if only they could get a reprieve from that sun! During a dry summer everyone prays for a little rain to water the earth... And if the rain doesn't come people worry about a fire starting!  In the same way, if we only have blessings, sunshine and good days we will forget they are... well, good. It's like being a spoiled child, if we only have and see good things in our lives and around us we quickly become entitled instead of grateful. I'm not saying we have to enjoy the rain but we should remember the purpose.  If we know there is purpose in the rain we can at the very least.

Just like the rain our bad days come to fade into dusk and a new morning brings with it a clean slate, new promises and a fresh start.  Bad days come to pass not to stay. And those bad days are what allow us to be able to gauge what a good day is.  Listen, my life hasn't been all sunshine, and not just because of a bad day or two at work but I have learned so much and been able to become more appreciative through them... I honestly wouldn't change any of the processes in my life. There are still a couple of outcomes I am waiting on, hoping against all hope they will eventually change but the processes are what made me who I am and you know what? I kind of like me! haha!  You should like you too by the way! "If you don't have love for yourself, it's impossible to give love to others. You can't give away what you don't have." - Joyce Meyer

So It's not a deep blog today, my thoughts are actually pretty much a paraphrase of some things my pastors wife spoke about last night... But my thoughts are true and if you allow them to make you think a bit these words can and will help you if you're having a bad or rainy day as well!  I love you all and you all will be in my bedtime prayers tonight!  Trust God through the process and just hold on until the sun pierces the clouds.  This bad day has come to pass and God's plan is not over in your life!

And just a little confirmation for us, I just checked twitter to see if I could find a couple of quotes to go along with this little blog... I Hate Quotes just posted this "The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness." — Fjodor Dostojevski

Don't be so Touchy!

Another Monday and I had no idea what to write...  So I went to ole faithful Twitter and looked at some quotes.  While reading I was reminded of a life lesson quite difficult for me to learn but now that I have I think I'll share :o)

My parents split when I was nine (as you frequent readers already know) and since that time I've been a very defensive person... I was so touchy, almost waiting for a reason to defend myself... Getting others before they got me so to speak...  I trusted no one. Dr. Phil has a saying about "if you have a sunburn the slightest touch causes reaction." and that's exactly what happened to me You've probably noticed I used present tense in that first sentence, it's because I am still defensive at my core but I have learned how to control it for the most part... See the thing about defending yourself is that it closes the door to anyone else needing to defend you... And what if there is someone else who could better defend you in the first place? I mean, in court you wouldn't want to self defend if you had no idea of applicable case law or the justice system in general when you could have a lawyer who's never lost a case and been practicing for years defending you... It just wouldn't make sense, right?  But it's so hard to keep those lips closed when someone is knowingly or not lying about you and jeopardizing your character! The thing is, if we keep our lips closed it gives God a chance to be our defender... So just try it, you'll be surprised by what God will do on your behalf!

One thing that helps me, when I want nothing more than to make sure everyone knows how wrong another has been about me, is being reminded about what I think in a situation where someone is speaking negatively about another... How I make decisions and feel when in those situations... I never believe anything if I have no personal opinion formed previously, my mind is never made up about someone based on what someone else says or thinks.... So why is it so hard for me to trust others to do the same? But more than not passing judgement based on the opinion of another; when someone is speaking negatively I tend to lean toward judging the speaker not the subject... Whether I have personal experience with the subject or not I usually think negative words directed at another say more about the speaker. I found a quote today that maybe explains why I feel this way.... Motive.  Most times I've found people speak negatively about others to promote their own interests. But "No one has ever made himself great by showing how small someone else is." - Irvin Himmel as tweeted by Inspire Us 

I'm not sure why we haven't learned the lesson yet but when you are speaking negatively it poisons your own reputation... Especially if you speak negatively frequently.  So get wise, be positive... Most importantly take a look at your motives, if there is something you're after try to find another way to get it! As my boss would say "you get more flies with honey than with vinegar." Nothing good can come from putting others down if.

If you aren't trying to "get" anything, maybe you're negative about others to make yourself feel better about who you are or about who you're not?  Those flaws you see everyday in the mirror seem a little smaller if you're comparing them to the flaws of others... Here's the thing, none of us are perfect.  I have just as many flaws as you and you have just as many as your neighbor...  One of your flaws may seem smaller than one of mine in the same area but what about the others?  "You're imperfect. Get over it, love yourself anyway." - Joseph Ranseth  As you learn to love yourself in spite of your flaws you will learn to respect yourself... Part of respecting yourself is not speaking negatively about others... Once you love and respect yourself you'll be able to see the good in others, see their potential and love them in spite of their flaws. 

So all in all I guess what I'm saying is there are a few reasons a lot of us are defensive... Because we learn through experience we need to defend ourselves or we are afraid others won't come to our defence or because it makes our own flaws seem smaller and last but not least, to promote ourselves... Either way it's not a good idea to be so defensive. We need to allow God to be our defender and to do the promoting he does a better job anyway. And we also must learn to love ourselves so we can love others, and loving others is what we are made for!

Why so Serious? Don't be a Bitty

Hi kiddos!  Hope you all had a Happy Halloween, I took a little blog vacation myself to be with family who were visiting from afar :o)  This blog isn't going to be a very deep read, so if that's what you're craving today you may want to go to an earlier blog and read away :o)  One of my friends I've known literally my whole life just had a baby so I am pretty excited to meet the little guy!  But enough about my life let's get to this blogging business.

Once again this thought is sponsored by social media... I've had a few "run ins" lately (although I've not made issue out of them so you probably won't even know I'm talking about you haha!) just over things friends have written, observations, jokes or Lord forbid, even about something they've seen on TV and I see some nasty, or thought provoking "do you really know for sure that's true?" statements... It's SOCIAL MEDIA PEOPLE, why so serious? Not everything has to be deep, introspective, serious or even completely cautious.

And back to the "do you really know that to be true?" which to me seems to really be more of a wagging of the finger as if the one sentence observation/feeling comment was completely judgemental... Well, no, they probably don't know it's true if they are just sharing their feelings and/or observations.... It's just about what that person feels or sees it doesn't have to be the truth of the matter just the perspective of the matter... And you know what? That's okay, they are allowed to have opinions and feelings even when they differ from your own thoughts and mine :o) Why so serious?

All this being said I still believe we need to remain Christians (Christ like) in every area of life including social media. I don't think you should be just trying to agitate or instigate someone either. And please, no using names when you're passing on your observations unless it's a compliment... Don't allow your social media to become your place where there are no rules and you no longer have to obey what mama taught you "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!" No confusion or words being shoved in my mouth, please: I don't think we should be passing severe judgement on each other in any area but the truth is as long as you keep an open mind about changing our opinion if you find the fact of the matter means your perspective of the matter was incorrect you're completely entitled to your opinion and you can share it all you like :o) You don't always have to have a "spiritual spin" on everything you tweet, text, update or post... Why so Serious?

That being said, it is a good thing in general to remember to tack a little spiritual spin or undertone in things and even when there's no spin, people should not be able doubt our character by what we post unless they are just an uptight bitty, haha... Not sure what the masculine of bitty is but you can fill it in. haha!)

So all in all, share what your thinking, those observations and yes even your opinions... But remember to keep your fingers under control when they type just as much as you would keep the tongue bridled.  And for us readers of social media, don't forget we are reading the perspectives, opinions and feelings of others, we don't have to tisk when we may not agree or if we can see the other side of the post... Or we can and look like we can't take a joke, can't be anything but an uptight religious crazy who has forgotten how to have fun even when Jesus is around....  I'm pretty sure Jesus laughs at/with me at times and I think we can all learn to lighten up and not be so serious and give a belly laugh with Him once in a while :o)