Confidence has its Rewards

According to my journal, today is the 37th day of quarantine. How time flies when we’re having so much fun! Even though there are many still in “crisis” mode because of the effects of the virus on their bodies, so many in financial straits, and others exhausted as front-liners, the end is actually in sight!

I felt it yesterday when I walked by my community’s golf course that has been closed because of the pandemic. The golfers were out in abundance. We can get our hope up – our expectors expecting! Soon we’ll be back in the routines of daily go – go! Workers will go to work. Graduates will get to have their graduation. Huggers will get to hug again. Campaigners will campaign again. Restaurants will be open for business. Parks will be full. Sports arenas and fields and entertainment parks will resume. “Open for Business” will be the norm again. But, we will never forget the pandemic of 2020.

These weeks of mandatory separation from others has given me plenty of time for spring cleaning and organizing. But, it has also been a time of reflection for me and my thoughts. Like many others, I never thought I would see anything like this in my country. I believe this will go down in history as a time the Church stood strong and saw the salvation of the Lord! We didn’t waver in our faith and belief that God is alive and well and He is still in control. We continued to pray. We continued to watch on-line church and I think the Sabbath day became what God really modeled for us in creation. That it is the Sabbath day to be kept holy as a day of rest. We have stood strong and together in unity!

I became extremely nostalgic when I was looking through my large bin of photos. The bin tipped over from the vulnerable place where I sat it. Those photos scattered all over my garage floor. I am convinced it was God’s way of having me look back at all the blessings and joys of family and friends over the years. It was my incentive to organize all those photos (hundreds, maybe thousands) and put them in organized boxes for my children and me.

This scripture came to me "Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which will be greatly rewarded...” (Hebrews 10:35) Those photos reminded me of some of the “wins” we had after struggles. And, that’s what God shows us in His Word. That "confidence" scripture comes just before a long list of heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11. I am always encouraged when I read about those great women and men of faith. They endured, and were rewarded. And that’s how God wants us to live – not in the past of regret and remorse, but scriptures, photos and memories that illustrate confidence, endurance AND wins!

These last few weeks have definitely been a tester of our faith. God loves us so much and He has our best interests at heart. If His power was enough to defeat sin and raise His Son from the dead, surely, He is delivering us. We have learned so many lessons about trust during these times. We placed our lives in hands. We’ve trusted Him and we will continue to trust Him in whatever and wherever our faith journey takes us. Just think about the faith muscles we’ve acquired during this time. We’ve not only endured the season – we are making it through it. Our endurance has paid off because of our genuine faith and trust in our unfailing God.

We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel but we might be struggling with the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Oh, but, no fear, we know what lies ahead for us because our future is guaranteed by the Author and Finisher of our faith!

He AND They Get Sweeter as the Days Go By

An old gospel song went like this: "He gets sweeter as the days go by; He gets sweeter as the moments fly; His love is richer, deeper, fuller, sweeter. Sweeter, sweeter, sweeter as the days go by." Seriously, the older I get and the closer I've become with my Lord, the sweeter and more peaceful is my journey. I'm consistently drawn to His Light. I'll be honest with you -- I'm so happy that the dark side of October 31st is over. Bring on the bright Light of Christ! Talking, walking and living in the Light is my number one priority. The more familiar I've become with THE LIGHT, the more I shun darkness of any kind!

Yesterday, November 1st (BTW – Happy November!!) was All Saints Day when we focused on saints. This tradition began in AD 609 and encourages us to remember and emulate our heroes of faith. So many devoted their lives to God and were Light-bearers of Christ. Many were martyred for their faith.

Today, November 2nd, is All Souls’ Day. Both of these days touch me so much -- two beautiful days of celebration. Those of us who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, look at death as leaving our “temporary” home on earth to go to our home sweet, eternal home in heaven. There are many who consider death an unpleasant topic and don’t even want to discuss the subject. But, my sweet mother-in-law gets it because she keeps saying "I want to go home!" She knows the joys that await her.

Here’s the positive way of looking at death. This earth has been our internship for heaven. It's the "holding room" for the ride of our life. You and I, and everyone we love will eventually die so then death had better be our friend and not our enemy. All Saints Day and All Souls Day offer us a wonderful, consoling and beautiful way of looking at death. On All Saints Day, we celebrate the glory of the saints in heaven. The Church teaches that everyone in heaven is a saint. There are many men and women, who are canonized (official) saints, and a special day is assigned to them. On All Saints Day, we celebrate everyone in heaven. Think of our loved ones who have died and gone to heaven. This is a chance for us to be happy for, and with them. They have no pain, no frustration, and all they know is absolute, complete peace and happiness because they are in the presence of God. We rejoice with them!

On All Souls Day, we acknowledge our loved ones who died and we embrace our memories with them and the great hope of meeting up with them in heaven. On this day, I purposely recall my precious grandmother who introduced me to my future husband, my firey-preacher grandfather, my angel mom, and wonderful dad, my beloved husband and so many others who influenced and impacted my life. On this day I get to admit that I miss them and I’m not even ashamed to shed a few tears for them. After all, Jesus wept over the death of His friend, Lazarus. I don’t shed tears because I lack faith or because my faith is weak. I shed tears because I miss them. It's okay. It's just temporary for me because I carry on with the joy of seeing them one day soon! I continue to let Jesus make sense of it all for me! How about you?

Celebrating the Light and our Heroes of Faith

The older I get, and closer I've become with my Lord, the sweeter and more peaceful is my journey. I'm consistently drawn to His Light. I steer clear of darkness and anything that is remotely identified with evil: ghosts, goblins, witches, skeletons,, and paranormal. For that reason, I am so thankful that Halloween is over! Bring on the bright Light of Christ! Talking, walking and living in the Light is my number one priority. The more familiar I've become with THE LIGHT, the more I shun darkness of any kind!

“Halloween” is a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve,” the evening before All Saints’ Day. The trick or treaters are celebrating all that candy they retrieved yesterday. But, this day, November 1st (BTW – Happy November!!) we get to focus on saints. This tradition began in AD 609 and encourages us to remember and emulate the heroes of faith. What a gift it is to us that there were those who paved the way for us with lives devoted to God and were Light-bearers of Christ and many of whom were martyred for their faith in Him.

Tomorrow, November 2nd is All Souls’ Day. Both of these days touch me so much -- two beautiful days of celebration. Those of us who have a relationship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, look at death as leaving our “temporary” home on earth to go to our home sweet, eternal home in heaven. There are many who consider death an unpleasant topic and don’t even want to discuss the subject. Some people even refuse to make a will because that forces them to consider their mortality. Of course, none of us like the idea of someone we deeply love dying, except for knowing they are no longer suffering.

Here’s the positive way of looking at death. This earth has been our “boot camp” for the real deal. It's the "holding room" for the ride of our life. The older I get, the more I embrace getting closer to that "ride". You and I, and everyone we love is going to die, so if death is going to eventually come and take us away, then death had better be our friend and not our enemy. All Saints Day and All Souls Day offer us a wonderful consoling and beautiful way of looking at death. On All Saints Day, we celebrate the glory of the saints in heaven. The Church teaches that everyone in heaven is a saint. There are many men and women, who are canonized (official) saints, and each one has a day assigned to them. On All Saints Day, we celebrate everybody else in heaven. Think of our loved ones who have died and gone to heaven. This is a chance for us to be happy for, and with them. You and I rejoice that they are happy being with God and everyone else in heaven. They have no pain, no frustration, and all they know is absolute, complete happiness because they are in the presence of God. We rejoice with them on this day!

On All Souls Day, we acknowledge our loved ones who died and we embrace our memories with them and the great hope of meeting up with them in heaven. On this day, I purposely recall my precious grandmother who introduced me to my future husband, my firey-preacher grandfather, my angel mom, and wonderful dad, my beloved husband and so many others who influenced and impacted my life. On this day I get to admit that I miss them and I’m not even ashamed to shed a few tears for them. After all, Jesus wept over the death of His friend, Lazarus. I don’t shed tears because I lack faith or because my faith is weak. I shed tears because I miss them. It's okay. It's just temporary for me because I carry on with the joy of seeing them one day soon! I continue to let Jesus make sense of it all for me! How about you?