It’s Not Fair!!!

                                   

How many times have I heard my kids say that one? Seems like it was my daughter’s favorite line for awhile.  She would scream it as she ran from the living room to her bedroom.  It was usually preceeded by “I never get to do anything!” and it was usually followed by a slamming door and several minutes of loud sobbing. 

Well, I haven’t ran to my room sobbing (yet) but I am pouting.  My friend Barry (OK…he’s OUR friend)….after way too short of a time of being a part of the “Open”….is going to move.  Some lame excuse about a teaching job….yeah whatever  ;-)  (read his story here) So I am sitting here, pouting, saying “IT’S NOT FAIR”.    I haven’t watched him choke from laughter while trying to eat his supper nearly enough times yet! Nor have I laughed enough times, cried enough times or shared enough Sundays and Wednesdays with him. 

I believe, however, that God is working.  As always.  There are people that need Barry….or there are people that Barry needs… that are in that part of the world.  I believe that honestly.  God uses people to make things happen, to accomplish His will, to show us His love.  Even in our brokenness, maybe because of it, God crosses our paths…guides our steps into one another’s lives.  By “coincidence”, I ran into Rex at a junior high school one night.  From that came a few emails. (OK maybe a lot more than “a few”) From that, this prodigal came home and has had a chance to rest and heal and get ready to possibly be some help to someone else.

If you read about Esther, she was minding her own business, living her own life.  King Xerxes needed a new queen and rounded up some prospects.  Esther was ”beautiful in form and feature” so she caught his eye and he made her queen.  She won the favor of everyone around her.  She was in just the right place, had influence with just the right people to save the Jewish people, her people, God’s people, from destruction. In 4:14 she is told by her cousin Mordecai,  ”And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” She put her own life on the line to speak to Xerxes and reveal the plottings of Haman.  God crossed the paths of this beautiful woman and very powerful king to influence events that saved His people.  There is so much more to the story than I told you here….you ought to read it.  Really.  It’s a great story showing the hand of God at work….no parting of the seas or the sun standing still…..just people in the right place “for such a time as this”.  (Read the book of Esther here)

So while I am so sad that Barry is moving, I also look forward to hearing about how God is working in his life…blessing someone else’s life through him…..guiding him step by step “for such a time as this”.

So…what can I say to this friend that is moving? What is the thing that you would want a friend to know….to be sure of…..to be able to hang on to in the days to come? 

Psalms 34

 11 Come, my children, listen to me;
       I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

 12 Whoever of you loves life
       and desires to see many good days,

 13 keep your tongue from evil
       and your lips from speaking lies.

 14 Turn from evil and do good;
       seek peace and pursue it.

 15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
       and his ears are attentive to their cry;

 16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
       to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
       he delivers them from all their troubles.

 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
       and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
       but the LORD delivers him from them all;

These verses have been on mind this week.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.  That has been echoing in my thoughts.  It may be that I need to say it to a friend that has suffered a loss and is feeling brokenhearted.  It may be that I need to draw strength for myself from those words.  It may be that someone reading can find that strength as well. Let’s remember to let God draw us near. He is our Healer.  May God comfort and protect you today and always. 

Watch Your Step!

Oh be careful little feet where you go.

Oh be careful little feet where you go.

There’s a Father up above,

And He’s looking down in love.

So be careful little feet where you go.

Do you remember singing that song as a child? My innocent child’s brain thought maybe it was about not stepping in something yucky.  And then I would get all wrapped up in the thought of God looking down on us.  How did He look down on everyone? How could He see what everyone was doing? Everyone? In the whole world? All the time? How was that possible? It boggled my little mind!

I didn’t think about the words to that children’s song as I grew up. Other songs, other thoughts, filled my mind…thought of boys and dates and what I wanted to do with my life.  The words carry a much deeper meaning for me now. 

If I had “watched my step”….kept my feet from even taking the first step on that path, I would have saved myself tons of heartache.  I think at the time I was thinking “I’ll just do this for a little while.  I’ll get back on track after I just see what this is like.” Well, the fact of the matter is, once you get there, that path is a trap. The way back out is not clear.  That path has things that pull on you, that make it almost impossible to find the strength to fight your way back out.

***Proverbs 1:15-16 “my son, do not go along with them, do not set fot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood”

If I had remembered that the Father was looking down, I might have chosen my steps better.  I forgot that I had a heavenly Father that made me, that was watching me.  I don’t like getting caught and getting in trouble!  That should have been enough to deter me from doing wrong!  I forgot that my Maker knew me better than anyone else ever could. I knew that the choices I was making were not me…I thought I could try on a “new me” and then just change back any time I wanted.  I was miserable and thought I would experiment and see if that “me” would be any better…maybe forget how miserable I was. It didn’t.  I just got deeper and deeper into misery. 

***Psalms 33:13-15 “From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.” 

If I had remembered that He was looking down in love…I wouldn’t have wasted so much time before I cried to Him for help.  I spent so much time thinking about how shameful I was acting, how unworthy I was to even think that I could approach God.  I felt because it was my fault that things had turned out like they had, that God was looking at me saying “I told you so”.  Where did I get that?  That’s not how the Father treated the prodigal!!  I was wallowing with the pigs and finally came to my senses, yet I was afraid to go back home. If I had only remembered God’s promise of love!

***Psalms 109:26 “Help me, O Lord my God; save me in accordance with your love”. 

So maybe my childhood self was right to some degree.  My little feet DID step in something yucky.  It was filthy, dirty, sticky sin.  It was messy and hard to clean up.  I feel the consequences of it on my life every day.  But thanks to God’s amazing love and mercy, it has been washed away.  I stand before Him white as snow. Amazing.  It’s God’s promise, so therefore it is undeniably, eternally true. 

“There’s a Father up above and He’s looking down in love, so be careful little feet where you go.”  

Good to be back home…

Happy New Year to my blog friends! I’ve been on a vacation in Padre Island.  Stayed in the condos in the picture above, right on the beach…it was nice, but there’s no place like home! We made it back safe….and pretty much sound….as sound as you can be after travelling around 600 miles in a car, staying in a two bedroom “apartment” for a week, then driving about 600 miles back….with three children!!

Thank you to the folks who prayed for our safe trip.  God watched over us and the driving there and back was pretty uneventful. Only exception being when I nearly wiped out a little car in San Antonio that was riding in my blind spot…but I didn’t get him…..thanks to the Lord. (My apologies to the guy in the white Honda, I’m sure he saw his life flash before his eyes!!!)

I hope you are all having a good New Year’s Day….enjoying family, friends and football, or maybe just a little down time. 

I look forward to the gifts God will shower on us this new year.  I look forward to spending time here in blogland, learning more and more about my Christian brothers and sisters but especially more about my Father God.    I look forward to  the blessings that will come through the little group of believers we call the Open (since that neon sign is the only one we have).  I look forward to growing “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ” (2 Peter 3:18)

Thank you to all of you that read whether you  comment or not.  I hope that some good will come from these pages in the coming year….that all of our lives will be blessed.  It sure helps to hear from kindred hearts! May God bless each of you today~ 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”- 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)