How Rich I Am

An inheritance is what we get for being part of a family that’s rightfully ours. If I am an heir to a multi-billionaire, and he dies, you’d better believe I’ll be there for the reading of his will. I am certain that I don’t have a wealthy grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle or anyone else who has named me in their will. I know that because every one of those family members have gone on to heaven already and my name was never called at the reading of their wills – if there were wills. I came to terms with the fact, long ago, that I wasn’t going to be wealthy in things that money can buy. I'm okay with that.

It's not the things or treasures or inheritance -- the tangible things that make us. What makes us, and the legacy we leave to our children, are the things that money could never buy. The influence of my passed family members are the values they left me and even if I didn't have faith and value-filled family members, God has given me mentors and role models who showed me what matters most -- to be honest, to love and care passionately, to put my faith in God during the best and worst of times, to give, to suck it up when I've been hurt or offended, to trust in God's plans for my life and to leave my family with something much more than the things that can be bought.

The Bible says, “Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance — an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay” (1 Peter 1:3-4). Such good news! I AM in line for a “priceless inheritance” and so are you! But even better news -- we don't have to wait one minute longer. We have real reasons for hope because God's "will" has already been read and we can be living in the riches of His grace now.

What a shame it would be if we went through our entire lives and we didn’t know what benefits were available to us as children of God right here and now! Our loving Father didn't write a document that He put away in a safety deposit box and someday we’ll find out what the document says about our inheritance. He offers it to us now and for all eternity. We can already be enjoying the benefits of peace, joy, hope, love, overcoming faith, and walking in confidence in Whose we are, and best of all -- living eternally with Him! On this side of heaven, there seems to be so many reasons to be hopeless. Thank God, we are not those who live without hope. We are the rich kids of our Father Who paid the price for an abundant life right here. Right now! On this Thanksgiving Eve, let's get the gratitude on for our great inheritance!

You Lead. I'll Follow.

On Sunday, I met up with my son, his wife and five children in Houston to catch a flight together for a Spring break week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Right from the get-go, my son Ryan, became the Pied Piper, so to speak, as he gathered the eight of us to all get on the plane with him because of his "priority" status. He travels so much that his perks benefitted all of us. When our flight arrived in Cabo, once again, Ryan led and we followed as we made it through the maze of hundreds of people getting through customs. He was a Papa Rooster gathering all his chickens together and it benefitted us all because he made it through the fastest customs line. Then, we followed him as he led us to the large van that awaited us and all of our luggage. We made it to the resort and home where we'd be staying the next several days, followed by him being in his tour guide mode as he pointed out this and that which, he insisted, would bring us so much enjoyment. Perks, benefits, and blessings.

Yesterday, my Bryson (the youngest of the crew) insisted he wanted me to follow him to the beach and the gorgeous rock formations, and see the surf billowing in with spectacular force and beauty. Bryson had been here before and he knew the spots to see and places to go. He was so attentive to making sure I could maneuver through the high tide areas and to be sure I didn't fall on some of the rough terrains. As long as I stayed close to him and walked in his tracks, I made it through just fine. He led. I followed.

These two paragraphs were from my journal yesterday. I knew a blog was underway -- being led and following that resulted in some outstanding perks, benefits, and blessings. God beckons us to follow Him so He can shower His blessings upon us. Just as following my son and grandson had perks, benefits, and blessings, I need to think again about the extraordinary, countless benefits of following Jesus as His fully devoted follower.

~ There is such comfort in knowing that He forgives the many mistakes we've made as soon as we ask Him and He calls us sons and daughters. We get the royal first-class treatment as heirs to all his promises.
~ We have the assurance that He is with us and we have instant access to His presence in our lives. We know we are not alone, and will never again be alone.
~ The closer we get to Him as we follow Him, He helps us get closer to those we love and we start to want others to follow Him, too.

My grandchildren have to do very little to please their dad, but when they obey, respect, please and honor him, he can't help himself, he showers on the blessings even more. Even more so with our Heavenly Father!

I love Jamie Grace's song, "You Lead. I'll follow." Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly, yeah,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
'Cause I know what you got for me is more then I can see,
So lead me on, on, on and on,
Just lead me on, on, on and on,

I don't know about you, but I want to hang as close as I can to my Heavenly Father because when I do, He steers me clear of the pitfalls and he pours the blessings on me. He just can't help himself. He loves me so much and He loves you, too! Let Him lead as you follow Him tightly, too!

I'm Claiming My Inheritance!

"Inheritance" is the name of my grandchildren's church youth group. I love that! I’ve thought about my own inheritance. I didn’t come from a wealthy family in terms of financial status and means, but how rich I am in the inheritance I received in the loving, serving and living in God’s grace and peace of my parents. In that sense, I have inherited abundance.

An inheritance is what we get for being part of a family that’s rightfully ours. Let’s pretend that our father is multi-billionaire Bill Gates, and he dies. We'd be very foolish to not take the time to read the will. We wouldn’t receive and enjoy the benefits from what belongs to us as a child of Bill Gates. Even more status with riches beyond measure is becoming a follower of Jesus. At that point, we’re not just a believer — we’re a BELONGER. We become a part of God’s family. Family privileges come along with that decision. We have a spiritual inheritance. Galatians 4:7 says "So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir."

What a shame it would be if we went through our entire lives and we didn’t know what benefits were available to us as children of God! Our loving Father didn't write a document that He put away in a safety deposit box and someday we’ll find out what the document says about our inheritance. Oh, no! We have already received our inheritance! We can already be enjoying the benefits of peace, joy, hope, love, overcoming faith, and walking in confidence in Whose we are, and best of all -- living eternally with Him!

When we read the Bible, we clearly can see God's LIVING WILL for us. It is all available to us right here – right now! It helps us live out God's purpose for our lives and to know the inheritance He has provided for us. His Word helps us grow and walk in that inheritance. Thank goodness for knowing we have been chosen, not forsaken; He is for us, not against us. We are who He says we are. Our great King welcomes us, sets us free, and is for us! I am a child of God. Yes I am! And so are you!

What SUPPLEMENTS Do You Take?

From the looks of this photo, you’d think I am a supplement and vitamin junkie. Well, I guess I am and this case of pills and capsules proves it. Many years ago I realized the health and nutrition benefits from a regime of daily supplements that include vitamins, minerals, herbals, and fish oils. Most recently, at my doctor’s advice, I added cranberry tablets (I learned I needed that one from two UTI bouts) and a probiotic (I needed that one for IBS). Thank God that they’re all natural supplements and I don't have to be on any kind of drugs or medication. I was dramatically healed from a diagnosis of osteoarthritis when I was told that I would forever have to only control it with pain meds. I never had that prescription filled because I discovered nutritional products that gave me what I needed. Thus, those supplements have been my mainstay for over 16 years. I’ll admit my meal selection isn’t always the most nutritional, so supplements help with balancing out what I missed.

Supplement: something that completes or enhances something else when added to it.

This post was inspired by a scripture I read a couple of days ago. It was 2 Peter 1:5-7 “ For this very reason, make every effort to SUPPLEMENT your faith with virtue (moral character) and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance godliness, and godliness with brotherly kindness, and brotherly kindness with love.”

It’s a habit and daily ritual for me to take my supplements. I know how much they add to my overall well-being and health. If I fail to maintain that daily habit, I feel it in a lack of energy and little aches that creep in. And, in adding the SUPPLEMENTS mentioned in this scripture to my FAITH diet (virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly kindness), my ability to overcome fear, anxiety, worry, envy, selfishness, anger, weakness….is strengthened. When I do my part with the SUPPLEMENTS, then I am growing stronger in body and spirit.

Night before last I attended a meeting of about 15 people and we were all given the opportunity to offer a praise report for what God had done in and through us over the last week. Each one of us had something to share about God’s goodness. I left that meeting realizing my life had been SUPPLEMENTED with a celebration of gratitude. My daily devotion time with God SUPPLEMENTS my spiritual growth. Mentoring and being mentored SUPPLEMENTS my desire to grow in God and help others to do so, too. Bible Studies and prayer groups SUPPLEMENT our faith and fortify it to grow stronger.

Peter, in that scripture above, gave us some wise counsel about growing in faith. We won’t grow without deliberate discipline and effort. Isn’t it interesting that Peter, known for being impulsive and reckless, gave us a deliberate, disciplined SUPPLEMENT to our spiritual growth? If Peter, that impulsive fisherman could become a disciplined, fearless, godly man, then so can we.
Having a healthy physical AND spiritual life is a daily process of intentional and purposeful action – like a diet or exercise program. It only shows results when we practice it consistently and stick with it over the long haul. If we’re not making health or spiritual progress, then we’re not taking our SUPPLEMENTS.

The Power of PRE -- Preparation

We’ve just completed another Regional Speech and Debate Tournament in Lewisville, TX. I say “We” because I dig my heels in along with the other parents and community judges who volunteer to judge the debate and speech rounds. I’m always amazed at these young people who are “preparing” for life by being involved in a program that provides such a firm foundation for their future. They’ll take these skills with them into whatever vocation or occupation they pursue in the future. The stage presence, the ability to think-on-their-feet, the mental steadfastness, etc. are just some of the benefits. In some of the debate rounds, it didn’t take long to determine what the outcome of the debate was going to be because it was evident who the most prepared debater was – it was the one who had great voice articulation, confidence, knew their subject matter well and you knew they had studied, researched and PREPARED for this event.

BBoth Payton and Alexia did so well -- Payton, finishing in his Lincoln Douglas Debate at 3rd Place overall and Alexia, finishing 6th Place in Inforation Speech overall. I know, one day, we'll look back on the preparation they've gone through in these Speech and Debate tournaments. Without a doubt, they are being prepared for that perfect plan God has for them. These times are preparing the soil for the future harvest!

There’s something to be said for PRE (before): Why do we look for the vegetables before we till the soil and prepare it for the seed? It’s the soil, and not the seed, that determines the quality of the harvest!

It would have made no sense for the young shepherd boy, David, to be able to kill a giant with a sling shot. A lion and a bear didn’t look like a Goliath, but they were the perfect instruments of preparation. Seriously, everything is preparation. Every mistake we make is preparation. Every lesson we learn is preparation. Every step of our faith journey is preparation. God uses it all. I know He did for me. Who knew I would be living so on purpose with what I do today….even with this blog post? Oh, God did – when I was in typing lessons in my high school class; when I became a technical writer for companies that I worked for; when I needed a forum to shout to the mountain tops that “GOD IS FAITHFUL” in the midst of my greatest trials.

The school teacher prepares lessons that will prepare her students for good grades that will help promote them to their next grade and prepare them for life. Most certainly, THE Teacher (our Heavenly Father) knows best about what He is PREPARING for us. When we start seeing our pain as preparation; whatever we’re going through is preparation; whatever is hurting us – is preparation. God is preparing us for what He has prepared for us. It is not failure – it is preparation. Indeed, there is POWER in preparation.

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

It was the 3rd night of our Southern Caribbean cruise (it was our annual, romantic get-away), when, suddenly, the lights began to flicker and the engines came to a screeching halt. It was a dramatic sight as people ran to their cabins to get their life jackets. Fear consumed most of the passengers. We knew many were thinking "TITANIC!" We later learned the engine had caught on fire. Of course there was legitimate cause for anxiety and discouragement. But, Ron and I were completely calm since we were cruising veterans, and were led by our faith. We became the voice of reason to encourage and settle down passengers, and help the crew bring peace to the situation. The ship was towed to Montego Bay (150 miles away), and several 747 jets took the 1,500+ guests back to our home destinations. Many people were very upset about the inconvenience, and that their cruise had ended so abruptly, but Ron and I kept thinking "something good is going to come out of this". That’s the “thought” option we have always purposed to have when the surprises of life happen. We can join with the crowd that looks for the worst in any given situation, or, we can always believe “every cloud has a silver lining”.

And, indeed it did -- not only did we receive a full refund for that cruise, but we were given an 8-day cruise for free on the ship of our choice. And, when we took the next cruise, our flights were overbooked, so we received over $1,800 in flight dollars.

I’m not saying that every time we encounter a difficult situation, and we take the high road with optimistic thinking, that there will be such benefits at the other end, but I am saying that when “life happens”, it’s truly a waste of time, energy and emotions to stress out about it. This is what I know about God. My concerns are not a burden to Him -- neither are they a surprise to Him. Turning over my cares and worries to Him, is how I show Him that I truly trust Him, and His unwavering and undaunted love for me. And when I bring Him my attitude of praise and thanksgiving – regardless of the circumstance I’m in, He gives me peace to take me to the other side -- whether it's by boat, car, plane or bicycle. And in that case, I sincerely believe EVERY cloud really does have a silver lining.