Dancing With God

My daughter, Jami, sent this e-mail to me and I thought it was well worth sharing...

When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw "G": I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i"..
"God, "u" and "i" dance."
God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.
This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached.
If God has done anything for you in your life,
please share this message with someone else.
There is no cost but a lot of rewards;
so let's continue to pray for one another.
And I Hope You Dance Through 2010!

Customer Service…Oxymoron?

I went to the grocery store on Monday and had one of the most annoying hours of my life. I was looking for almond milk and frustrated that it was not in any of the aisles I thought it would be. So, after wandering around aimlessly looking for someone employed there (notice I didn’t say “work” there) I found a young man stocking shelves and asked him if he knew where the almond milk was. He commented that he didn’t know you could milk almonds! I have to admit that as annoyed as I was, I had to laugh because I think he was serious.
I passed 4 more employees on my way to the alleged aisle that had the almond milk. Not one person smiled, made eye contact or acknowledged my existence.
Finally, I find the almond milk and go to check out. There were 2 checkers and about a hundred customers standing in those two lanes. After reading half of the magazines in the checkout aisle and ignoring the headlines of the other half, I am next to check out. I took out that little bar thing to separate my groceries from the groceries that belonged to the lady in front of me and she wanted to know if I was worried about her groceries touching my groceries. I tried to explain to her that bar thingy was to let the checker know when her order ended and mine began. She still looked insulted.
Then, I have a twenty-something young lady that had her tongue pierced and I could not understand one word she said to me. I got to the point where I just smiled and nodded. Next thing I knew, I have donated $5 to (I think) the humane society.
This checker never smiled, never made eye contact and grunted when I asked her how she was doing. By the time I was done with her, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to adopt her or ground her. I did tell her that I thought that she obviously did not like her job. She wholeheartedly agreed.
After being in several customer service type businesses, I am very aware of the customer service I receive when I am out. If I receive good service at a restaurant, I tip very well. If I receive good service in other venues like the grocery store, a department store, my insurance agent or any service that does not require tipping, I make a point to let those people know they have treated me well and I really appreciate it and I will tell everyone I know. However, if I receive poor service, I will tell everyone I know.
If I lost a customer, in whatever career I was in, it would make me crazy if I did not know why. That’s a “be careful for what you wish for” kind of thing, but maybe I would have had a chance to remedy whatever the problem was.
With the way that the economy is, everyone should appreciate having a job because there are those who do not. And, I can not understand people who do not desire to do a good job at what they do.
If we all did our job as if God were our boss, wouldn’t we be much more conscientious about doing a good job? We are told in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Not only does God want us to do a good job at what we do, He wants us to “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” Philippians 2:14
Doing a good job for God may be easier than the
“without grumbling” part, but, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. That includes keeping a smile on my face the next time I walk through the grocery store!

Prayer...Your Last Resort?

Years ago I attended a women’s seminar and the guest speaker had us take a quiz. She asked us questions like, “After your husband loads the dishwasher, do you re-load it? Is it possible for you to give your children chores to do that you don’t take over and do yourself?” You could start to see the theme being set here.

     I never perceived myself as being a control freak until I went to that seminar.  I came to my own conclusions long ago that if I wanted something to happen, then I needed to make it happen. I have preached that sermon to my daughters as well. In some circumstances, that’s true.

     Unfortunately, I am sort of a control freak with God as well. I try so hard to turn things over to Him and let Him do His job, but I wind up trying to take it back over. Besides, He does a much better job than I do anyway.   

      I have a list of things I pray about every morning and every night before I go to sleep. It recently occurred to me that this was my agenda, and, although I know I am supposed to pray about everything, I was doing all the talking and no shutting up to hear Him speaking to me. By praying this way, I don’t know what His agenda is so I might be   missing out on some good stuff.

     I taught women’s Bible study for about five years some time ago and I had this lady that came back to every session who never felt like she could take EVERYTHING to God in prayer. She thought she should share only the big stuff with Him. Paul tells the Philippians, “Be anxious for nothing, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” found in Philippians 4:6.

     Paul did not say, “Take only things you think are really important and you think God wants to hear to Him.” He said “EVERYTHING”!

     Prayer is like having a conversation with God. Wikipedia defines conversation as “the spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions and feelings; talk.” In order to have an “exchange” of anything, you need at least two people. That means that sometimes you talk and then sometimes you be quiet and He talks. That would be an exchange.

     When you read the Psalms, you will see that David, someone besides me, talked a lot and interrupted and just needed to be quiet in order to hear God. God even told him to “…be quiet and know that I am God” in Psalm 46:10. David did, however, understand what it meant to take “everything” to God in prayer.

     Do you think there is a wrong way to pray? Yes, there is and I have been guilty of that myself. When we pray it is to hand things over to God and to ask that His will be done. I have a habit of telling Him what His will should be. Stormie Omartian wrote a book called “The Power of The Praying Wife.” In this book, she teaches you how to pray to God for your husband. God already knows what is wrong with him. He also knows what is right with him and what he needs. So, instead of telling God to make your husband put the dishes in the dishwasher the proper way, you could ask God to help you be more tolerant of your husband and thankful that you have a husband who puts the dishes in the dishwasher.

     People sometimes have a tendency to try whatever they can to resolve an issue and if all else fails…pray! And yet, it is the most significant thing you can do. It’s the only real power you have.

     You can’t send a million dollars to Haiti? You can pray that God will provide the food, water, medical supplies and people to distribute them. 

     We don’t have the means to fix all the ills of this world, but we do have the power of prayer. So, don’t ever think prayer is the last resort…prayer is our best hope.

The Best Day Ever!

      Okay, the first best day was the day I married Jerry. He was such a blessing to me and still is. We don’t have much in common but our faith and yet it has worked for 31 years.

     The second best day ever was when Emily was born. I was so sure that I had no maternal instincts I bought about a dozen books on parenting. Our pediatrician told me to throw them away that I had maternal instinct. He just met me...how could he know?

     The third best day ever was when Jami was born. We lived in Texas and she had a little southern twang when she first started talking. Emily was so thrilled to have a little sister. The girls were 3 years apart but always very close. They still are.

     The fourth best day ever was when Emily got married. We had the wedding on our property and it was the most beautiful October day I had ever seen. Jerry and I were honored that the kids decided to get married on our anniversary.

     The fifth best day was when Jami got married. It was a little unusual to spend a week with another family you have never met before (the in-laws), but it worked out. We had a beach house in North Carolina that was very accommodating for all the families and even though it rained, it was a wonderful wedding and a proud moment.

      Of course, the sixth best day ever of my life was when my granddaughter was born. Now that she is 5 months old, I see so much of her mother and her Aunt Jami in her. She is a very complicated young woman already and pure joy. She must have gotten the “complicated” part from Jerry’s side of the family!

      Although life seemed to only begin for me the day I got married, the really best first day for me is the day God made me… “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” Jeremiah 1:5. He was there for me from the beginning. Did He plan a perfect life with only joy and no sadness for me? No. But, He was always and is always there for me.   

     God put wonderful women in my life while growing up like my Granny. I lived with her off and on until I was 21 years old. Whoever said  “you can never go home again” did not live with Granny. Everything, all the time was exactly the same. That may sound boring, but not to someone looking for security and peace and the best bowl of Potato Soup ever!

      There are many more women throughout the years that have been great examples for me and encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone. One such woman is Phyllis Wallace, talk show hostess for Woman To Woman.

     Many years ago, we attended the same church and she was the Bible study leader for Wednesday Women. It was a Bible study that met at our church but was attended by women of many different denominations. She asked me to speak on a topic of my choice for one of our gatherings. I couldn’t believe she would ask me. I was such a baby Christian who was quite clueless and rebellious. But, I love a challenge!

     From that day on I felt the need to further my own Bible studies and God encouraged me to further step outside of my comfort zone. I was so bold as to suggest a women’s retreat called the Woman’s Day of Renewal held at Good Shepherd in Collinsville. This event is now going on its tenth year and has grown from 52 women to well over 400.

     If God never “formed” me then my daughters would never have been born and my wonderful granddaughter would never have been born and all the wonderful moments that were waiting just for me would never have happened.

      I’m so glad God gave me that very first best day! Just imagine how life would be for others if God did not give you your very first best day!

     “We love, because He first loved us.” I John 4:19

Let Your Fingers Do The Walking..........

I did the majority of my Christmas shopping this year on the internet. I love that I can do that at any time of day or night and take  my time to check out pricing and quality. The items get delivered to your home or directly to people you want to buy for but may  not see this year at Christmas time. That was the case with my son-in-law living in San Diego. All of his presents came from Amazon.com.

So check out Amazon.com and their affiliates.
Happy shopping!
xo
ps

Mermaid or Whale?

This was worth repeating, thanks Mary!

Recently, in a large city in Australia ,                 
 a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym.                                   
                           It said, "This summer,                          
                  do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"                 
                                                                           
                            A middle-aged woman,                           
   whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the  
                                  poster,                                  
                     responded publicly to the question                    
                             posed by the gym.                             
                                                                           
                          To Whom It May Concern,                          
   Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious   
                                  humans.)                                 
                       They have an active sex life,                       
                get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.                
 They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. 
                      They play and swim in the seas,                      
                 seeing wonderful places like  Patagonia ,                 
                               the Bering Sea                              
                    and the coral reefs of  Polynesia .                    
                        Whales are wonderful singers                       
                        and have even recorded CDs.                        
                       They are incredible creatures                       
                      and virtually have no predators                      
                             other than humans.                            
                   They are loved, protected and admired                   
                      by almost everyone in the world.                     
                                                                           
                           Mermaids don't exist.                           
                             If they did exist,                            
                they would be lining up outside the offices                
                       of Argentinean psychoanalysts                       
                   due to identity crisis. Fish or human?                  
                         They don't have a sex life                        
 because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they
                                 have sex?                                 
                     Just look at them ... where is IT?                    
                  Therefore, they don't have kids either.                  
                              Not to mention,                              
                who wants to get close to a girl who smells                
                             like a fish store?                            
                                                                           
                    The choice is perfectly clear to me:                   
                           I want to be a whale.                           
                                                                           
                           P.S. We are in an age                           
                       when media puts into our heads                      
  the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an 
                         ice cream with my kids, a                         
  good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with
                                my friends.                                
                         With time, we gain weight                         
     because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads     
                      that when there is no more room,                     
               it distributes out to the rest of our bodies.               
                            So we aren't heavy,                            
                        we are enormously cultured,                        
                            educated and happy.                            
                              Beginning today,                             
             when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think,            
                     ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!¨                

Computers…Satan’s Home Away From Home?

     I am convinced that satan lives in all computers. I have not owned a computer that did not have some issues and suck the life out of my time. My last wicked laptop crashed for the 3^rd and final time last week so that sent me on a search for information on the newest “best ever” computer and operating system.

     I know more about gigabytes (no, that’s not a small appetizer!), dual processors, cd/dvd’s, hard drives and memory than I ever wanted to know. I did get a pretty blue one, though, with a very cool animal print bag!

       It would not surprise me to find out that satan is behind all the ugly viruses and worms and Trojans that infest our computers. I had to spend an extra $30 to get protection against all these icky things. Satan is a great liar and a good manipulator. He has a way of distracting us and camouflaging himself.

    We, human beings, are easily distracted. Just as we need to protect our computers from awful things like viruses and worms, we must also protect ourselves. We can get shots for viruses to protect our body, but how can we protect our minds from being infected?

     I estimate that there are 3 voices in our heads that we can choose to listen to. One is satan, who would love nothing better than you to do things that would disappoint God. The second choice would be ourselves or the World. We want what we want when we want it! It sometimes does not matter if it is God-pleasing or not. The third choice in our head is God. He always wants what is best for us and He always answers our prayers. Sometimes, the answer can be “no” or “wait”. Not two words I like much.

     This gets pretty tricky because the voice of satan and the voice of the World are really loud. They are voices we know and understand so it makes it easier to listen to either of those. The voice of God may seem more subtle. God tells us in Isaiah 28:23, “Give ear and hear my voice; Listen and hear my words.” The best way to understand God’s voice is to be in His Word and know what He sounds like.

     Years ago, we had a friend that argued she never had to go to church because she could worship God in her backyard. Our question was, did she? My husband had a great example emphasizing the consequences of not hearing God’s voice. He asked our friend if IBM shipped her husband off to a foreign country and they did not allow her to see him or speak to him on the phone but once or twice  a year if she would remember what his favorite food was, or his favorite color or maybe what his laugh sounded like. What if 5 years had gone by and she had only seen him 5 times in those years? What if she had only seen and talked to him ten times in 10 years? Do you think she will remember the sound of his voice?

     Paul had a great idea on how to keep our mind from becoming infected: “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute,   … let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in Me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.”     Philippians 4:8-9

     Just as you know you can protect your computer from bad data corrupting it by installing virus protection, you can protect your mind by filling up the spaces with scripture. Scripture gives you the data to re-boot your life!

    “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible!”  Ephesians 6:24   

Time...Does Anybody Really Care?

 

     “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? If so, I can’t imagine why; we’ve all got time enough to cry.”

     Do you recognize those lyrics? That is a song called “Time” that Chicago made famous in 1967. Back then, it really didn’t seem as though anyone cared about time. When you are young you think that time is there for you to waste and it will be there forever.

     We have just witnessed 2009 go and the year 2010 appear as if out of nowhere. If you were a teenager in 1967, could you imagine the year 2010? It sounds so futuristic. Yet, here it is.

     I’m not sure who Zall is or what his first Law was, but his Second Law says, “How long a minute is, depends on what side of the bathroom door you are on!”

     Emily Dickinson said, “To live is so startling that it leaves little time for anything else.” It is so true. We all get so busy living our lives and doing the things we need to do, it does “leave little time for anything else.”

     I think that I got a little insight at an early age of how important time is because my mother died when I was 15. I was a typical teenager that knew everything and my mother knew nothing and all of us would live forever. When she died I was stunned. I could hardly believe that there was no more time to say the things I should have said and do the things I should have done. I did not make those same mistakes when dad died and I was 39.

     I have become a little over-protective of the time I have on this earth. My daughters get a little annoyed with me because every time (every time!) we talk on the phone, and we talk a lot, I would end in saying “I love you”. My husband and I are the same way. I know it may seem a little morbid, but you never know when it is the last time you get to say those words. And…can you hear those words TOO often?

     We mortals have an idea of what time means to us and we want everything in the time frame we want it in. No matter how hard we try to control the things in our life or the time we have here, we are not in charge. Thank you, God! He does a much better job at time management than we ever can.

     No one can put the importance of time in perspective better than Solomon did in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: “There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die,
 a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,  a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”      

     Sometimes, people get so busy that they forget to enjoy the time they have. My mother-in-law used to tell me that the dishes will stay in the sink forever, but a baby grows and grows and you don’t want to miss a minute of it.

     Because time is so precious and fleeting, I want to enjoy every minute of it. I want to do everything and be everywhere the Lord wants for me. I don’t want to miss a thing.

     And, I pray the same for each of you this New Day of the New Year!

Time...Does Anybody Really Care?