Archive Page 2

What to wear?

Every day I get up and have to decide what I am going to wear.  I hate that part of my day.  I am not really a clothes person.  I derive very little joy in shopping for new clothes. I do it because I have to and ONLY when I have to.  For the most part, I wear the same things all the time…from habit. 

There’s something else that I wear out of habit….my past.  I wear the shame of my sins far too often.  I drag it out and put it on like an old worn t-shirt.  When I wear it,  I feel unworthy and dirty and ashamed. Yet I keep it in the closet instead of throwing it out.  Why?

Paul tells us in Galatian 3:26-27:  

 “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

 for all of you who were baptized into Christ

 have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Jesus put to death the sins of my past.  I do not need to resurrect them and try to wear them any longer.  I am clothed in Christ.  When God looks at me He doesn’t see that old ratty t-shirt that is my sinful past.  He sees His beloved Son!  Even when I drag out those old clothes of shame and try to wear them, Jesus still covers me.  I have a white robe,  He promises.  Why would I want to wear anything else?   

Merry Christmas!

To all my friends…the ones I get to be physically close to and the ones that I only know through blogland…(all of you are dear to my heart)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

May God bless you and yours with a happy, safe, sane time!

Tagged by Sarah

4 Things I Did Yesterday: Went to church, made candy, installed a software update on the computers at work, and watched Dallas Cowboys win!

 
4 Things I Look Forward to: Christmas break, seeing my kids open their Christmas presents, having time to read more, finding out what my kids picked out for me for Christmas (I was told it would solve an ongoing problem that I have…hmmmmmm THAT list is endless!! hehehe)

 
4 Things On My Wish List: That God will hear the hearts of my friends and grant their desires, a Zune or an iPod, a night without my dogs making me hate them, and that my kids will find the mate God has planned for them

 
4 Restaurants I like: Abuelos, ThaiThai, Cheddars, Sundance (Red River NM)

 
4 Favorite TV Shows: Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, M*A*S*H, Monty Python’s Flying Circus (when I can catch it)

 

I’m not gonna tag anyone because I’m just like that :-P

Excerpts from Psalm 68

Psalm 68

          For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.          

 4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name,
       extol him who rides on the clouds —
       his name is the LORD—
       and rejoice before him.

 5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
       is God in his holy dwelling.

      19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
       who daily bears our burdens.
       Selah

 20 Our God is a God who saves;
       from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.

       32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,
       sing praise to the Lord,
       Selah

 33 to him who rides the ancient skies above,
       who thunders with mighty voice.

 34 Proclaim the power of God,
       whose majesty is over Israel,
       whose power is in the skies.

 35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;
       the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
       Praise be to God!

 

I love verse 19…”who daily bears our burdens”.  Why do I try to keep carrying the things that weigh me down? Why do I keep worrying about the things I have no control over? My Father in Heaven is carrying those burdens for me.  I no longer have to worry with or about them.  Praise God!  I need to tatoo this on my forehead backwards so I can be reminded of it every day! 

I Peter 5:6-7

  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 

Pain Killers

“I tried to kill the pain, but made so much more.”

I heard that line in a song, and it rang with familiarity.  That’s exactly what I did.  I was searching for something…whatever it might be…that would make me stop feeling so sad over losses and changes in my life.  I didn’t realize it at the time though.  I thought that I was just living my life.  Doing what I wanted to do.  Moving on. But looking back now at the poor choices I made, the skewed judgement I was using, the insanity that passed as my logic…I was obviously grasping for something!! I was braindead and numb (or wishing that I was numb anyway).

Instead of turning to Jesus for that comfort, I pushed away from Him.  I ran away from everything that reminded me of Him.  More insanity!  I am not smart enough to understand all the psychology behind it, but I do know that I kept searching for something to fill a void in my life.  The relationship that led to my marriage was an attempt to feel safe, to feel loved, needed and wanted.  What I found was emptiness, depression, more fear and lots more pain.  

What I learned was this:  Life without Jesus is hopeless.  There is no life without Him. There is no comfort.  There is no safe place unless He is there.  The thing is, He didn’t leave me.  He was there.  I just refused to see Him or accept His comfort. Once I turned to find Him again, He was right there.   

I hope that my relationship with Jesus has moved to the point that I won’t run from Him when I am in pain next time.  Because there most likely will be more pain in my life.  You see, a life with Jesus is not a promise of no trouble or pain. But I have found my safe place. I have found my comfort. I have found the source of my hope.  It is with Him.

A Little More

I stole this from Paige…who borrowed it from another blog.  Some of the answers that pop up are eerily close to a real answer!  Others are just way off base..but good for a laugh sometimes.  Here are the instructions:

1. Put your iTunes/Ruckus/Napster/etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?

Great Divide … Scott Stapp

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

With Arms Wide Open … Creed

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

Every Breath You Take… Police

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

100 Years….Five for Fighting

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?

I Still Believe… Jeremy Camp

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Since You’ve Been Gone … Kelly Clarkson

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

I Can’t Tell You Why … Eagles

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

Goodbye…Elton John

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Landing in London … 3 Doors Down

WHAT IS 2+2?

Leave … Matchbox Twenty

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Your Love is Extravagant….Casting Crowns

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

May it Be … Enya

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Numb….Linkin Park

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Sea of Faces…Kutlass 

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Someday … Nickelback

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Songbirds and Roosters … Robi Rosa

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

This Fragile Breath….Todd Agnew

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

Through Glass…Stone Sour

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

The Power of the Cross….Chris Tomlin

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Fields of Gold…Sting

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

Bother…Corey Taylor

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

It’s Not Over…Daughtry

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

Welcome to the Black Parade….My Chemical Romance

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

Undercover…Pete Yorn

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

A Little More….Skillet

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great weekend…may God bless your heart with happiness today.

Water water everywhere….

We have had so much rain lately! On September 11, we got about 8 inches of rain! The streets were flooded, cars were getting stranded…they even cancelled school the next day! It was insane! That is unheard of in this part of the country…school cancelled for rain. And now again, we are getting a lot of rain.  It rained the better part of the last three days.  It is not nearly as much as the 9/11 rain, but it has rained almost three inches at my house.  We West Texans are not used to this much water!

When I start thinking about water, I can’t help but think about the fact that over and over we are shown in the Bible that God is the one in charge of water. Starting with creation when God separates the water and the skies, the water and the land.  Then Noah built an ark and God flooded the world. Moses led the people across dry land through the Red Sea.  Joshua and the people walk through the Jordan River with the arc of the covenant on dry land and the people gathered twelve stones as a memorial. Elijah suffered through a drought and then outran the chariot because of the coming rainstorm.  He struck the Jordan with his cloak and it parted.  Elisha took the same cloak and did the same thing. There are so many more…but God was in control of the water in each of those circumstances.  One of my favorite mentions of water, and God’s power over it, is when God is talking to Job. (from chapter 38)

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

 2 “Who is this that darkens my counsel
       with words without knowledge?

 3 Brace yourself like a man;
       I will question you,
       and you shall answer me.

 4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
       Tell me, if you understand.

 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
       Who stretched a measuring line across it?

 6 On what were its footings set,
       or who laid its cornerstone-

 7 while the morning stars sang together
       and all the angels shouted for joy?

 8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
       when it burst forth from the womb,

 9 when I made the clouds its garment
       and wrapped it in thick darkness,

 10 when I fixed limits for it
       and set its doors and bars in place,

 11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
       here is where your proud waves halt’?

 22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
       or seen the storehouses of the hail,

 23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
       for days of war and battle?

 24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
       or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

 25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
       and a path for the thunderstorm,

 26 to water a land where no man lives,
       a desert with no one in it,

 27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
       and make it sprout with grass?

 28 Does the rain have a father?
       Who fathers the drops of dew?

 29 From whose womb comes the ice?
       Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

 30 when the waters become hard as stone,
       when the surface of the deep is frozen?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
       and cover yourself with a flood of water?

 35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
       Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

 37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
       Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

 38 when the dust becomes hard
       and the clods of earth stick together?

Afterwards Job answers : (from chapter 42)

 1 Then Job replied to the LORD :

 2 “I know that you can do all things;
       no plan of yours can be thwarted.

 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
       Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
       things too wonderful for me to know.

 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
       I will question you,
       and you shall answer me.’

 5 My ears had heard of you
       but now my eyes have seen you.

 6 Therefore I despise myself
       and repent in dust and ashes.”

God laid out a pretty clear lesson for Job to see who was God and who was man…Who had the power and who did not.  I see the great power of God in the rain, in the thunderstorm, in the hail, in the snow, in the ocean.  I love to hear the thunder booming and the rain hitting the window and the roof.  I am in awe of the power behind it.  I am in awe of the One that causes it.  Even more amazing, that very God that exhibits all that power, made me.  He thinks of me more times than the number of grains of sand in the sea.  He thinks I am precious. (check out Psalm 139)  He loves me so much that He became man and died on a cross so I could live with Him forever. 

What do you think? What is the thing in which you see God’s Almighty power the most? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Easy and light

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

 and I will give you rest.   

Take my yoke upon you and 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 11:28-30(NIV)

 

There was a time in my life when I did not think anything could be easy or light.  I felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders…no…more like on my heart.   There was so much sadness in my life.  My heart was hurting from taking such abuse in my marriage, so much so that I could not recognize it for what it was.  But I didn’t feel like I really had a choice in that matter.  I had chosen that life so it was just the way it was going to be.  I needed to find a way to survive it.  Not live it…there was no life in me.  I just wanted to survive intact and get my children out of the house as unscathed as possible. 

I tried to be happy. I tried to pretend as if everything was just peachy! Someone close to me once looked me in the eye and said “Are you happy Sherry?” I answered “Yeah, of course”.  And she looked at me again and said “Really? Because I just can’t see how you could be.” At the time I thought she was ridiculous.  She was in a very similar situation and was not very happy.  I thought maybe she just wanted her misery to have some company.  But that opened a door in my mind. It made me start thinking.  Was I really happy? Was this the life I really wanted? Was this even remotely close to what I had dreamed of for my children and myself? I had to answer NO. 

That was heavy on my heart.  This was not the life I wanted…yet it was the life I had chosen.  I had made a very big mistake.  What could I do about it though? God surely did not want to hear from me at this point. I had messed up.  He didn’t …He couldn’t…have a place for me.

But someone very dear to me finally got me out of that ridiculous pattern of thought.  I started going back to church…even though I felt very damaged and unworthy.  But this church was designed for people like me. (shouldn’t they all be?) This place gave me a chance to admit that I had messed up.  I got a chance to begin to heal and find my footing again. 

I began the struggle to decide what I needed to do with the mess I had made of my life.  I needed to repair my life from the storm I had caused….the storm I had let continue for almost 20 years. It was very difficult and heavy on my heart.

 I started reading my Bible again.  I read across the passage from Matthew that is quoted above.  I broke down sobbing.  Light and easy? Could there really be such a thing?  This heavy burden of my life…was NOT from Him. It couldn’t be.  He told me to take His yoke and learn from Him.   Could I do that? Was it possible?  Could that be the answer?  Let Jesus teach me and show me how to fix this mess. Relief!! He could help me! He would!  I knew there was still a lot of hard work ahead of me, but I had Jesus leading me and teaching me with His word.  And it didn’t hurt that I had that dear friend helping me hear what Jesus was saying in that Word. 

That was about two years ago now and some days it seems like it was just a nightmare.  But it happened.  I escaped the marriage and I survived the divorce.  I think we are doing pretty well now. There are still some hard days, when memories or doubts wash back up.  But the good days outnumber those yuck days for the most part.  My kids are doing well in school and my relationship with each of them continues to grow.  I have a wonderful place to call Home in my church family at the OPEN.  God has been very good to me so very often that He leaves me in awe.  When I read this verse now, it makes me smile.  Easy and light? Yeah…I can believe that.  He is Faithful and True.  Teach me, Jesus, how to be more like You. 

 

Jesus fan?

I am a person that loves to take quizzes.  There is a daily ten question trivia type quiz on the internet and it is part of my routine to take that quiz.  Even if it is on a topic that I know nothing about (like the theme song to some cartoon I never watch) I will take the quiz and see if I can score at least as well as the majority of the people that take the quiz. 

Anyway, the other day the quiz was on the birth of Jesus.  And it was written more along the lines of what the Bible says as compared to the stories most of us have heard.  I was feeling pretty confident…I like Bible quizzes.  There were questions like:  Were there 3 wise men? (Bible does not specify the number) Mary or Joseph or both were told to name the child Jesus? (they were both told)  So I can see how it might be a little tricky for those that have just listened to stories or watched movies.  

After taking the quiz, there is a spot to leave comments. Most people indicate the score they made and then whether they thought the quiz was good/fair/vague or whatever.  After this particular quiz..someone left a comment that said:

1/10 i’m not a fan of jesus (devil smilie)

I scooted my chair back and said OUTLOUD in my office “I did NOT say that God…I was just reading!!”  I cannot believe that someone would actually say something like that! EEEK!

I am going on record as saying I AM A BIG FAN OF JESUS!!  I love the way He gave up His home in glory to come live as a man, to be tempted in every way just as we are, to suffer the humiliation of the cross so that I would not have to die.  I love the way He loved people.  His compassion amazes me.  He had the ability to keep caring for people when He was kept up late, awake early, sought out, followed, crowded, pressed and challenged.  I love the way He taught His disciples to be more than they thought they could be.  I love …well I could fill the web with things I love about Jesus. 

What do you love about Jesus? Name something specific.  Tell me why if you can.

Where does my help come from?

Psalm 121

 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
       where does my help come from?

 2 My help comes from the LORD,
       the Maker of heaven and earth.

 3 He will not let your foot slip—
       he who watches over you will not slumber;

 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
       will neither slumber nor sleep.

 5 The LORD watches over you—
       the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

 6 the sun will not harm you by day,
       nor the moon by night.

 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
       he will watch over your life;

 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
       both now and forevermore.

When I need help,  who will help me?  When I am in a trap and feel like I’m slipping further down, who will lift me out?  When I feel alone and abandoned, who will watch over me?  When I am afraid, who is it that will not let anything harm me?

There is only one answer to all of those questions. His name is the LORD.  He is from everlasting to everlasting.  He is Faithful and True. He never fails.  His promises are the only ones we can count on.  

When I lift my eyes to the hills looking for someone to come rescue me, I will see the LORD.  He comes in the wise counsel from a good friend.  He comes in the friend that sits and listens without judging.  The LORD works to straighten my paths when I am lost…to provide a clearer vision when I am confused.  His Word will light my path.  His people will guide me.  He will save me. He will rescue me from the pit.  Thank you LORD for rescuing me.

 

« Previous PageNext Page »