Equal Oppurtunity Employment

This fall has brought a new season for me. My children are now all in school, our home remodeling venture is nearly complete, and I am no longer managing our family business. With this, I should be exhaling a sigh of relief. Sadly, not so much. I have been fretting, not relaxing.

With anxiety I have been asking 'What SHOULD I do with my days?" not excitedly wondering, "What WILL  I do with my days?' Not "Thank you, Lord, for blessing  me with this time," but "Oh no, I am wasting my time!"

Of Field Trips and Singing

Yesterday I witnessed a tangible example of how we can change and affect our little worlds. It happened on a simple bus ride during my daughter's field trip.

To begin, it was the bus ride home.  It was hot and everyone was tired. Gone was the excitement of what the day would hold, and now the idea of sitting three to a seat just didn't seem as tolerable as it had hours earlier. Unfortunately, about twenty-five minutes into the drive the bus hit construction, coming to a complete stand still.

Moved by Disney

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the

  Father of heavenly lights,

 who does not change like shifting shadows

but who  

came to seek and save what was lost 

James 1:17, Luke 19:10 combined

My sister-in-law recently shared how moved she was by Disney's newest movie, Tangled. When she used the word, "moved," I thought it a bit odd.  However, when she explained herself, the verb she chose fit just perfectly.

To begin, Tangled is the retelling of the classic tale, Rapunzel, the story of a young princess abducted at birth and forced to live secluded in a  tower, never knowing her true identity. With each passing year, the young girl becomes more and more discontent, wanting to know who she really is and what the outside world is like. Meanwhile, her true parents, the King and Queen, never give up hope that their daughter will one day be found. In the movie, their devotion to finding their daughter is symbolized by thousands of lights they send into the air every year on her birthday. In essence, they fill the skies with light hoping Rapunzel will see the lights and return to them. Their hearts refuse to give up. They continue to beckon for their child.

It's already in your hand

Faith is the channel by which all grace and blessings are received, and that which is accepted by faith God bestows in fact.  Being filled does not always lead to exalted feelings, but God always keeps His word.  We have to just look to His promises and rest in them, expecting their literal fulfillment.  Some put asking in the place of accepting.  Many wish it were so, instead of believing  it is so.

We have never to wait for God to give, for He has already given us His all.

James Hudson Taylor

We have a bunch of changes going on in our personal life right now, and I must admit, I have been distracted and anxious. For example, the other day I was on my cell phone talking to a friend, when I realized there was another call I needed to make. While still speaking to my friend, I began searching through my purse, trying to find my phone. As my phone wasn't in my purse, I began nervously searching through my car. Pathetically, this little scene went on for a good 30 seconds. Not until I was about to tell my friend I had to get off the phone because I couldn't find my phone, did I realize my own craziness. ..

MY PHONE WAS ALREADY IN MY HAND!

The thing I was looking for, the thing I was becoming frantic over was in my hand. My busyness and near panic were just hiding it from view. And so I sat there, nervously searching for something I already had.

Be Still

Be still and know that I am God - Psalm 46:10

To be still (Hebrew raphah) meaning:

to go limp, to allow to slack, to drop ones hands from work.

In my last post, I mentioned  my daughter had her tonsils removed. Although her surgery went very well, she unexpectedly hemorrhaged a few days following the procedure. This required emergency surgery which was very frightening.

As they prepped her for surgery, things moved at a hectic pace. Unlike the first surgery, nurses weren't explaining what would come next. In fact, the OR Nurse began the IV process without saying a word. Unfortunately, since my daughter was already losing a good deal of blood and was dehydrated, the process proved difficult.