Spirituality Guide

Today is a day of celebration. The fourth of July. Tell me, what are you celebrating? What are you setting off fireworks for?

When you stop and think about what there is to celebrate in your lives, living your life day by day can become a quality issue instead of an accumulation issue.

What do YOU want to celebrate?

There is a familiar saying that says, “count your blessings, name them one by one….”

I was wondering, have you counted your blessings today?

Have you looked at your children and considered the fact that they are healthy, whole and happy?
What about your car that got you to work this morning?
And the fact that you didn’t have an accident getting there?
How about having enough money for your groceries in the buggy?
What about finding that $5 on the ground?
Did you notice that your hair is starting to grow back?
Your father’s doctor gave him good news?

Count your blessings today. They may be more than you think!

The term “blood is thicker than water” usually stands to mean that those who are kin are closer and tighter knit than those who are not kin. This means that you can expect kin to go all out and do things for you that “un-kin” would not even dream about doing. Well, I beg to differ. Although that would be an ideal situation, blood is often NOT thicker than water. Blood, unfortunatley, is sometimes thinner than water.

Even when the Lord Jesus was here on earth, he asked His mother, “who is my mother and who is my brother”? Although this was a rhetorical question, he was simply saying, I must do the will of my Father who sent me; I don’t have time to play the favorites.

When we set out to make a difference, to change the world, to make things better in our lives or the lives of others, it stands to reason that you probably won’t be a very popular or even a very likeable person. People may often ask you to do things that you perhaps are uncomfortable with. What if you’re even asked to do things that are downright immoral or unethical? And, to top things off, what if you’re reminded that “blood is thicker than water”.

God has asked each of us to make a difference. Whether in a big way or in a small way. Whatever He has asked of you or has placed in your life, make a difference, but make Him proud. He is your blood.

And we know that His blood was WAY thicker than water!

What life holds for us from day to day. One minute we’re up, the other minute, not up. That’s why it’s important to live every single day to its fulles, to its capacity. When we live full, there are no regrets.

From the time we wake, until we sleep again, live fully and inhale every moment with passion. Not even that moment you just experienced was ever guaranteed to you. How sad to think that we’re not getting all that we can from our lives in every instant and in every moment.

You never know what life holds. You never know which way it’s going to come. Live full. Live happy. Live long.

Just live.

The people of Nehemiah 8:1-12 stood and listened to the Word of God being read for over eight hours. Eight hours. Eight hours. Yes eight hours.

That’s a long time to listen to anything being read, but they did it. We live in a convenience-driven, microwave society where we want everything, yesterday. No one wants to wait long for anything anymore. We want it now.

Waiting for good things is, a good thing. Good things come to those who wait, blah, blah, blah. Whenever we exercise control and learn to wait, we always come out ahead.

What are you waiting on?

It really is so hard to have faith. It doesn’t come easy just because you believe. It doesn’t come easy just because you believe in something. Not even if you squeeze your eyes real hard. Faith is something that is learned. And, it is learned the hard way.

It is so hard to have faith. If you really stop and think about any situation, it makes you wonder, really wonder what the end result will be. How are things going to work out.

The hard part is letting go. The hard part is allowing change to happen. The hard part is just letting God do his job.

It is so hard.

What is the quality of your life TODAY? Do you wish it were better, different, more, less of any one thing? What are your coping mechanisms?

God has a system in place for us to deal with life issues; FAITH. But, without faith, having never beleived in anything, how are we supposed to stretch out? How are we supposed to deal?

I remember once one of my children was sick, very, very sick. The doctor was stumped and didn’t have any answer for me. No, not a wrong answer, but NO answer. I literally did not know what to do. Yes, I prayed. Yes, I waited. And waited. And waited. The more time went on, the less favorable things looked. It was at that moment I realized something. If I fully stretch out on GOD I have nothing to lose, but if I don’t believe anything I have everything to lose. I chose God.

Why? Mainly because I didn’t trust myself. He said to trust Him, so I know already that my nothingness is just that, nothing. He’s in control and He knows things better, a lot better than I.

My daughter got well. She’s ten years old now and to this day her illness has never been explained. Even with a one week stay in the hospital and several tests being run, doctors still weren’t able to explain that 103 degree fever that this two week old child had. Yes, 103 degrees. All I can say is…….God.

What do you think?

I received so much disturbing news this weekend, that it left me slightly depressed and somewhat discouraged about this thing called life. It’s hard to think good thoughts when:

1. The news reports finding a child in a closet who had been beaten, almost strangled, starving and living in his own waste. This all done by his mom and other family members.

2. A young man who died at a local hospital after having been released too soon. He was alone at home when it happened.

3. A young 6-month old baby who’s parents decided to remove her from life support. They were in a car accident while on vacation and the child sustained irreversible injuries.

Living life to its fullest every day is something that I relish in, something that I welcome. Watching my children grow up, being there for them, seeing the sun rise and the trees blow are all wonders of life that I truly enjoy. But how can you truly enjoy these things when calamity is all around you?

We can grow numb to these situations, knowing and almost thankful that it’s someone else and not us. If we are honest with ourselves, how many times have you seen or heard bad news, only to think inwardly, “Thank you Jesus! (I’m glad it’s not me)”. Are we really glad it’s not us or are we just glad that we don’t have to deal with the aftermath of those tragedies? Both, I’m sure. We cannot know how really strong we are until we have to go through something. That is the test of our faith. The test of our strength. That’s when we get to see what we’re truly made of.

This week we’re going to discuss this in great detail this aspect of life. The good, the bad and the ugly. Are you ready?

As a work-at-home parent of three young children, it can be quite a challenge to find down time. Often, finding time to write can be a feat that can only be accomplished if you can find something to do to keep the children entertained.

I have found that if I don’t carve out quiet time, much like carving out writing time, that I just won’t do it. the moment those kids feet hit the floor, it’s on high speed all day long. WOW!

To find that quiet time is elusive. But find it, I will. And, I will keep you posted.

Have you ever given up on something before you finished it? If you’re like me, sure you have. Maybe you get all excited and anticipate the outcome of something, only to fizz out at the end and wonder, “where did all of my steam go�??

Sometimes when we fizz out it’s not because we can’t do it. It sometimes means that we’ve grown tired of it or that we’re bored. Why do we get bored? Because we want instant results for minimal efforts. That’s right. We’re spoiled.

Not to offend anyone, but just think about this for a moment: Let’s say you’ve asked God for something and His answer is no…what do you do? Do you get it anyway? Do you beg Him more? Or, do you just go and sit down and be satisfied with His answer?

Now, if we all told the truth we would all agree that we do 1 of 2 things: 1) beg Him more, or 2) get it anyway. But the only way to really learn anything and to really grow, is to simply say ok Lord, I will receive your answer.

So when God says no, that’s not an indication to keep on asking or to keep on begging. That simply means no. Perhaps that will change to a yes later or maybe a yes will never come. The important thing is to be satisfied, as hard as it may be, and receive His answer.

So when you start to wonder if you need to press on, be more aggressive, continue to press, just stop for ONE moment and consider this; maybe, just maybe you shouldn’t.

What is He telling you?

If you are able to find a place of peace, you’re doing something. In this day and time that we live in, peace is an elusive prize that many seek for diligently, but cannot find. God wants us to walk in peace and be satisfied with our lives. He gives us everything we need, most things we desire and a little of what we ask.

What do you want God to do for you?

The scriptures tell us that in order to have friends, we must be friend-ly. Hmm….what exactly does that mean? Do you have to chat up everyone you meet? Or, does it mean that you have to become fast friends with people in and out of your circle?

No. To be a friend to someone, you must simply be pleasant and flexible. Friendship, whether a light or a meaningful relationship, is a very private matter. Friends are terribly faithful people, yet the term is used so loosley. Think about it: would you like to be friends with EVERYONE in your life? Of course not. You simply have to be someone that is easy to talk to, confidential and discreet.

Friends don’t disclose private information.
Friends don’t embarass you.
Friends always encourage you first….then, they tell you the truth.
Friends hang around long after everyone else is gone.

Are you a friend? Tell me your story….

Sometimes when people want to talk to us, do we really, really listen to them? Or do we just “wait” for them to stop so that we can go on about our way and get fininshed with what we were doing?

A major part of communicating is listening and in order to be good at talking we must be good at listening too. When God speaks to us, it is essential that we listen not just with our natural ears but with our spiritual ears as well. He speaks to us in SO many different ways and at different times. If we aren’t listening to Him, we could actually miss something crucial.

Practice this the next time you speak with God. Say one or two things first. Don’t go right into “request mode” first. Just listen closely and carefully for that still, small voice. See if you can detect anything in your spirit. Our lives are so full of overload, that it is often very hard to detect sensitivity in our lives. Everyone and everything is vying for our attention. Who wins?

Sit still and listen carefully. God will talk to you.

We talked on yesterday about the connection we should seek with God by having a relationship with others. Doing the small things, the nice things, the things that no one expects.

When you really want to touch someone’s life and make a difference, do something small, something insignificant. It’s not always in the large things.

Perhaps, give them a card. Or, leave a fresh-baked muffin on their desk. Once I drew a smiley face on a plain sheet of paper and left it on my co-worker’s desk. They raved and raved about that smiley face.

Find the little things to do for others and watch your blessings increase. God smiles when we do.

The ability to connect with God is directly proportional to our relationship with others. If we find that we cannot get along with people, if we find that we are always at odds with people or that our relationship with those close to us is “uncomfortable”, then I suggest checking our relationship….with God.

It is crazy to think that loving God and not loving others is alright. He wants us to, of course, love another, but He also wants us to be at peace with another. This is important when we consider that our good deeds are not tied into our heart-strings.

To connect with God daily, take small steps, small bites. Do this one step at a time. Notice how you treat the person in front of you at the post office. Take note on how you interact with the cashier at the grocery store. See how you behave with family at home and then with friends later.

Take note. How do you love?