Humility is Sometimes a Tough Row to Hoe

Speaking in planting-a-garden terms, cultivating the soil, which can be rocky, dry and, if by hand is a wearisome task. Then planting the seeds, keeping a watch out for critters that like to eat the new sprouts before they even mature, pulling the weeds that choke out the plant and harvest those taters, carrots, onions, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. That list is what we planted in our Oklahoma garden.

I'm thinking that God is cultivating our soil, rather, cultivating our spirits to become all He's destined us to be. He has us in a sort of holy test tube to see whether we will become bitter or better during this planting and harvesting season of our lives. I believe that His goal is to humble us from our self-sufficient ways to depend and trust in Him and His ways.

During these strange, ominous and strained times, we may think that no one understands all we're doing to survive. How we’re coping. How we’re juggling what to do next for the young ones in our homes to keep them occupied. Maybe thinking that 24/7 together isn’t what we bargained for when we married. And then the frontliners who have given their all may think that not too many even recognize their efforts. But, here is the message that I sense God has for all of us today. He sees. He has a plan.

Remember the children of Israel murmuring and complaining in the desert? We thought we had it bad. They were toting their little ones, rustling their livestock, trying to come up with a new meal plan instead of another day of manna. They didn’t have a decent bed to sleep on. But God had an ulterior motive. To remove pride from them, He had to let them go through stuff to humble them. It was crucial that God prepare them to trust Him as they stepped from the desert into their destined Promised Land. “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” (Deuteronomy 8:2) YIKES! Is that what God is doing to us -- testing us so that we trust Him?

We are all struggling with pride which is the opposite of trust in God. Pride begs us to believe it all depends on us. Trusting God requires us to place our dependence on Him. And the row to hoe or the road to travel that leads us away from pride and into a place of truly trusting God is paved with humility.

What if God is using these humbling times to get us to a place of deep and unshakable trust in Him? If God sees big things ahead for us, and I believe He does, then He must get the “Round-Up” weed-killer out to get rid of all the weeds of pride. I believe God is giving us "insider” information. First of all, for us to remember He is our provider. Number two -- God’s provision for us doesn’t always look like we want it to look. Ugh! Who wants manna day after day? But God knew that was the nourishment they needed. And He knows what we need, too! Number three -- man-made bread AND man-made success will never fulfill us. Only God and His Word can seep into the places of our souls to make us fully alive and deeply satisfied.

So, maybe we need to look at what we’ve been planting. How’s our crop looking? How’s our pride level and how’s our trusting-God-level? I pray that our eyes open to how God isn’t trying to break us but rather He is making us ready for the harvest time up ahead. Dear Lord, help us to surrender our wills, our pride, our weaknesses to You and your perfect plans for our lives. We submit to being a humble vessel of honor that gives all praise and glory to You! Amen.

“The meek shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5)
“A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23)

Since He's All-Sufficient, I Don't Have to Be

As an independent gal for almost ten years now, I like to call myself self-sufficient, self-supporting, self-reliant, self-sustaining. But, even as I type those words, they sound very “self”-minded! Lord knows – I want to be others minded – NOT self-minded. For example, when offered help out of my son’s big duly Ford F-350, I have been known to say “not yet” – as I slowly maneuver that 3 feet down out of the back seat by myself.

But, I did take hold of my grandson's hand when we were traversing the canyons and caverns of Reimer's Park. I'm no dummy! I really do know when I need to humble-up and admit when I need help. But, I loved it when I saw a tree branch that we could turn into a great walking stick to help me scale those boulders. Back to my independent self again! Oh, I get it! I, undoubtedly, will relent from my self-reliance the more mature I get. I'm already doing that when I get up in the morning and move slower than I once did. That's why I quickly get to my morning walk to get these body-parts moving and grooving.

I’m revisiting the times when my sweet mama had to depend on us more as she “matured”. She was super independent and only after she fell at age 94, did she submit. Then there’s my dear 97-year-old mother-in-law, who had been independent for years after dad passed away, but is now extremely dependent on her kids and her walker and even sometimes, her wheelchair. It came with great difficulty to relinquish her independence, but now she gladly allows us to help her out.

Funny how, in this independent mindset that we hold on to for so long, we become almost too good at being self-sufficient. I’m guilty as charged. Fortunately, there have been very few things that I couldn’t do myself, especially in this age of being able to google just about anything. DIY is my go-to in most instances and thank God for the internet that has been my bestie in so many occasions. In fact, last night I used Google to figure out how to fix the loose stitching on my sewing machine. And, whoa-la, it worked. Stitch – fixed!

Self-sufficiency might be an admirable quality to strive for, but now I'm thinking I need to guard myself against becoming too good at it. I’ll admit it – asking for help humbles me. Perhaps I need humbling – because this self-sufficiency almost crosses the line of being selfish in accepting the kindness of others and may even keep them from being blessed.

And, perhaps, our self-sufficiency keeps us from an intimate, close relationship with our Lord Who is the ALL-Sufficient One, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work" (2 Corinthians 9.8).

The All-Sufficiency of God means He is a God of infinite riches of wisdom, goodness, and power. And His “all-sufficiency” is available to His kids as a treasure chest of blessings. That means we can let go of our self-sufficiency and receive the all-encompassing sufficiency of our God.

Our Heavenly Father longs to have that close relationship with us. He wants us to ask Him for help. He wants to save us from a lot of the mistakes we'll make without His wisdom. It’s easy to rely on our own strength, our own ability, and our own wisdom — so much so that we no longer reach out to our Father and let Him in to help us. It’s so easy to start to leave Him out of our daily life, decisions and activities, and only run to Him when there’s a big crisis. Even in the thick of our daily challenges and struggles, God is right there to lay His gentle hand on our shoulder to say “Let Me help you with that.” He’s hoping we will let Him help. He never stops loving us or wanting that relationship with us, even when we feel like we should have it all together by now. I don’t like calling out for help to anyone, but I’m seeing that there are times when I must. In the same way, God is a mere call away when we call upon Him.

Psalm 91:15 “Call on me and I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble. I will deliver you and honor you.

Would You Be Impeached if You Were President?

Could You Be Impeaced if You Were President?
I'd like to take the credit for this blog today -- meaning, that God had given me this insight. It rang so true for me and I wish I had seen it a couple of days ago when I was defending my President with what he has done for our Country and someone challenged me about him -- in fact, calling him "Satan in the flesh". But, this speaks so much louder to who and whose we are. This is a post from a powerful godly woman, Janet Denison. I hope you get out of it as much as I did:

"I remember seeing the video of President Nixon entering the helicopter and waving at the cameras with his famous two-handed peace sign. It was 1974 and I was a sophomore in high school. I remember when the impeachment proceedings were initiated against President Clinton. It was 1998 and I was trying to steer my two sons away from the ugly descriptions in the television news. My boys were both in elementary school. Last week, I couldn’t help but wonder what my grandkids were hearing. I wondered if my oldest were asking, “Dad, what is impeach?” How would you answer that question?

Impeach is a verb and means “call into question the integrity or validity of (a practice).” The word is used most often in America to “charge (the holder of a public office) with misconduct.” From my limited knowledge of politics, I would ask this question: Who in Washington D.C. isn’t impeachable?

In my memory, integrity has not really been a standard we use to measure our leaders. If that were the case, we wouldn’t have slanderous campaign ads that flood the airwaves and that continue once they are in office—and especially once they campaign for office again. Would we have the problems in Washington today if we had voted for leaders who believed that integrity was a high standard for their campaigns? Can a person of high integrity ever win? Is winning more important than maintaining personal integrity?

It doesn’t matter which teams you root for in this world. Integrity should be a standard we value more than winning. We look for integrity in our preachers, teachers, and medical professionals. We would appreciate integrity in our lawyers, but we demand integrity from the lawyers on the other side of the table. We want integrity in our bankers, but do we require it of our tax accountants? We want the service industries to help us with integrity, but what about the realtor negotiating the sale of our home?

We are angry with the baseball teams that cheat their way to the top. How would we feel if it were our team that had won the trophy? I remember when Tom Brady was suspended for several games after “deflategate.” He won the Super Bowl that year and another two years later. It’s possible, even probable, that deflategate cost his team a title the year Brady was suspended for four games. But, did Brady’s suspension change his sport or just the way footballs are checked on snowy days?

I loved a letter to the Astros franchise that a friend posted on Facebook. He is an avid fan who is greatly disappointed in his team. But, he will still be a fan—if they clean up their standards for winning and return to a place of integrity in their sport. His Facebook post prompted this blog post. Washington DC didn’t change because of Watergate and Brady’s suspension didn’t cause everyone in sports to stop cheating.

If winning matters most, then people will continue to compromise their integrity to win. If God matters most, then people will continue to aim at integrity. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Lost people will always act lost. The real point of this blog post is to ask us: Will Christians act saved? We need to choose to love God most and be called to his purpose, especially this week. Like it or not, Christians are the light in this culture. We tend to get angry at lost people who act lost more than saved people who act lost. We have grace for the saved because, after all, that’s our team.

Americans are all part of the fallen human race and therefore we are all flawed. But there are a lot of us who are also part of God’s eternal family. When King Solomon was commissioning God’s children, he spoke for God, saying, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

King Solomon was a faithful, strong, and flawed leader. Maybe that’s why God chose him to deliver some of the most important words in Scripture. The key to 2 Chronicles 7:14 is found in the first three words of the verse: “If my people . . . .” The integrity of our culture is not the fault of, nor the responsibility of, the lost. God’s people are supposed to be “the light of the world.” We are supposed to humble ourselves, turn from our mistakes, and pray and seek God’s face.

God’s promise of blessing was not contingent upon the lost people doing the right things; it was contingent upon God’s people doing the right things. Whatever “team” you are on in politics, remember that you are there to love God and serve his purpose. Romans 8:28 is the responsibility of every Christian so that God can redeem all things to his great and perfect purpose.

Will we humble ourselves, pray, and seek God’s face? We are God’s people, and 2 Chronicles 7:14 explains that his blessings are a direct response to our obedience. Christians are the light of the world because the light of the world indwells us. Don’t let the world shove your light under a basket. This is an important time to shine. Humble yourself, seek God’s face, and turn from the wrong words and ways that will be easy to slip into this week. Please God if you want to win.

God can and will redeem anything for his good, if his people are called to his ways. That is our role in the impeachment proceeding.

And Unto Us a Child is Born -- Happy Birthday, Jesus!

The birthday celebration is on – as children everywhere are running to see what Santa brought them last night. For them, it’s all about the presents and for those of us who know better -- it’s about God’s greatest present EVER – His beloved Son. That’s how He celebrates His Son’s birth-day – giving us His perfect gift! Oh, Happy Day!

If you follow my blogs at all, you’ve heard that this Christmas is very different for our family this year. We aren’t making our trek to Austin to celebrate together with my son and family because the press is on to get this Frisco family moved from their home that sold – right here at Christmas – and into their new place by December 27th.

We are missing some Christmas traditions because we’re not all together, but one tradition wasn’t missed -- our Christmas Eve tradition of reading the REAL Christmas story together. Thank God we live in this technology era. This year, I bequeathed to my son our beloved “The First Christmas Story” book that Papa always read from on Christmas Eve. He stepped up to be our family’s patriarch to take over where Papa left off. So at 9 pm we gathered together in my home here in Frisco and the other side gathered together in Austin and we heard this greatest story ever told again. We all still savor this tradition of making the Reason for the Season the principal thing. It’s a story we should never get tired of hearing. A King in heaven coming down to be our humble King on earth to be familiar with us earthlings as one of us and Who gave us treasures of faith, hope, love, peace, joy and most of all, His life, so that we can live forever with Him.

Earlier yesterday afternoon, my Frisco family and a couple of friends joined me at my church’s Christmas Eve Mass. It was beautiful. Children were singing, families were joined together in honor of this magnificent night when Christ was born. How honored I was to serve communion – the Body and Blood of this Savior Who came to us as a newborn and Who, in a matter of just three years of ministry, turned our world upside down with His rock-the-world teachings. “Love your enemies! Bless them that curse you! Do good to them that hate you! Pray for them who spitefully use you, and persecute you!” (Matthew 5:44)

Maybe, this Christmas morning you're having your traditional family breakfast and opening Santa's presents and seeing what he left everyone in their stockings.....no longer hung with care. Now they're on the floor, stuffed full of goodies and treasures. Santa's cookie plate only has a few crumbs left.

Oh, the joy of hearing children's laughter and the thrill of Christmas in their eyes. If your children are grown, enjoy the sweet memories of past Christmases. If you are missing children and loved ones today, spend Christmas with God's Son praising and thanking Him for coming to be one of us. And if your loved one is in heaven, like mine is, we can know with certainty that he or she is having the most joyful Christmas possible and a day will come when we’ll forever celebrate Christmas together -- forever!

Christmas and the tangible gifts we receive from friends and loved ones are temporary. But the gifts that heaven brings us are eternal. I hope you will receive all that Jesus was born to give. May your Christmas be blessed with God's greatest gift of love: "For God so loved you and me that He gave us His one and only son." (John 3:16)

How About a Game of Osani?

I read a story about an anthropologist who proposed a game to an African tribe's children. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told them that whoever got there first would win the sweet fruits. When he told them to run, they took each other’s hands and ran together, then sat and enjoyed the fruit together. When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself, they said: “UBUNTU, 'How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?'” UBUNTU’ in the Xhosa culture means: "I am because we are." Can you imagine how much better the world would be if everyone lived by that motto? Isn't that the way God wants His kids to live?

This photo is of the Efé children of Zaire (Congo, Central Africa) playing the Osani Circle Game. The game teaches that we are much better when we work as a team and think about each other before ourselves. It teaches that each individual can achieve so much more when they approach situations with the mindset and focus on love and cooperation rather than competition. Osani (the Efé word for love),begins by sitting in a circle, feet touching, all connected. Then, for example, each child in turn names a round object like the sun, the moon, a star, an eye and then goes on to name a figurative expression of “round” like the circle of the family. What I love most in this photo is the closeness of the children -- a circle of togetherness, of community, creativity, enjoying each other's company and celebrating the different perspectives each of them bring to the circle.

I often add words to the photos I post on my blogs. In this photo's case, I picked a font that I thought looked somewhat "African" in my mind's eye. Not until I looked at it, after the fact, did I realize the i's in that font, even though it's the uppercase lettering, is still a lower case "i". Aw! Being a little i in life when it comes to wanting to have it my way, or what i want or what pleases me. It's what WE ARE together. WE share. WE love. WE serve. WE give. WE go for what's right together. WE WIN together. UBUNTU -- i AM because we ARE!

Today, I'm thinking of ways that we can join our hands and hearts together to be a part of something greater than i -- greater than my 4 and no more -- greater than "What's in it for me?" What if we began to pray and humble ourselves to become servants that live a life of "What can i do for you? What can i do for the cause? What can i do for the team? What can i do for others?” UBUNTU -- i AM because we ARE!

There is so much competition in life -- between family members, co-workers, friends, political and news pundits, and so many others. I wonder "What if we thought more like these kids...."I am...because WE ARE!" Those kids sound like the kids that God calls us to be: "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:2-3)

How about a game of Osani? i AM because we ARE!

The King is Coming -- Order Up a 21-Gun Salute

It’s Palm Sunday – just one week before Easter – oh the joy of our Risen Lord! But, hold on! Without this week, there would be no Resurrection Sunday! On this day, the disciples and the crowds were fanatical praisers and worshippers – waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Matthew 21:9. The crowds rejoiced in His powers of healing, in the miracles He’d performed; His popularity reigned supreme. He was SOMEBODY! While kings today ride in streamlined jets, King Jesus rode in on a donkey, a symbol of meekness and peace. How different His entry was – not a 21-gun salute, but the swishing of palm branches.

But those finding-fault Pharisees complained about all the raucous: "Teacher, reprove Your disciples!” Notice that they didn't call Jesus “King.” They called Him "teacher." To them, Jesus was no greater than any other teacher. He had become a threat to their "authority." This, SOMEBODY, was getting in their way! But our “rock-solid” Lord replied, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” And we took Christ’s words so seriously, that today we join those crowds of praising and worshipping our King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We will NOT allow the rocks and stones to outdo us!

Those of us who know Him as Savior and Lord cannot be silenced by a few who would “reprove” us. We know what this week represents. We stand in allegiance to Him as in this week, He was our humble, suffering, sacrificial servant. He suffered rejection, lies, beatings, floggings, being nailed to the cross and dying for us. We are doing our best to follow His lead because we've learned not to run away or cower in the face of difficulty. We want the world to know that Jesus Christ is King and it is worth the price of ridicule and rejection to proclaim Him as our Lord and Savior. This Holy Week, we continue to journey on with our precious Lord. What a gift it is to know the promise that awaits us if we stay with Him on the road. If we are faithful servants, we will also know the empty tomb, and best of all, we will abide with Him forever in eternity.

Not only did our King know precisely who He was when He entered Jerusalem, He knows who He is as He enters the Jerusalem of our lives. He touches ALL people – those with rank, and those who are broken, rejected, and unloved. He never refuses anyone who comes to Him for help. He helps those with shattered dreams and bruised spirits. That's the kind of Lord He is! That's the kind of KING He is! Today, He desires to transform us, touch our lives and make us new. He loves us so much that He was thinking about us then....and He is still thinking about us today. “Hosanna! Our King has come!

We Went -- We Saw -- We Loved

Our day started with an early wake-up call at 5:30 am, with breakfast at 6:30 am and then it was making our way to Vatican City, St. Peter's Square for the Papal Audience. God favored us so much because we had seats right against the wall that backed up to Pope Francis' ride through the aisles on his pope mobile which meant we had a birds' eye view of the pontiff. When my husband and I were here in 2006, we saw and heard Pope Benedict give his Papal address from his apartment balcony window -- far above us. Not so with Pope Francis. He wants to be among the people. He is uncommon in that he doesn't live in the palasial housing that were specifically built for the popes. He doesn't even use the summer villa that others used. He lives with his brother cardinals and bishops. Not that there was anything wrong with how other popes lived, but there's something about Pope Francis that causes us to all relate to him because, though he bears tremendous responsibility with this incredible call of God upon his life, he is humble, kind (you see it in his face and his actions), and loving to all -- at least from my point of view.

When we first found our seats, a lovely couple with a 6-month old baby boy was seated beside us. Their goal? For Pope Francis to kiss him. That's not unusal. After all, Pope Francis is known for his love of babies, stopping to get out of the pope mobile to shake hands, kiss babies and to pray with someone that is handicapped, The odds were pretty good for this baby to be noticed. His parents had him dressed in all white outfit with a beanie (similar to Pope Francis') and they held a sign: "Our baby was born on your birthday." While I had been praying that I would have the opportunity to be up close and personal to him, I prayed more for that precious couple to have their dream come true.

Pope Francis in his Pope Mobile, moved around the aisles of the seated and standing participants. Actually no one was seated during his drive-through because everyone wanted a glimpse of him. He waved, stopped often to hug and kiss a child, shake someone's hand and soon he was coming our way.
Sure enough, that sweet couple's prayers and dreams came to pass, along with many other children. The daddy was videotaping the experience, crying like a baby. I've read in many articles how Pope Francis most resembles Jesus in his servitude and His common practice of being among the people. I could just imagine that's the way Jesus walked about this earth -- healing, consoling, giving love and tenderness to those who needed it most.

Pope Francis certainly gets what Jesus meant when he said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Since his speech was in Latin, we didn't understand it, but like my sweet hard-of-hearing Mama once said to me about a sermon she DIDN'T hear when she was at church, "No, I didn't hear it, but I felt it!" I sure felt it too! I learned later that he was speaking about our Father God and how freely we can come to Him as our Abba, Father. "The Fatherhood of God, wellspring of our Hope". These were some of his words: "Dear Brothers and Sisters: Christian hope -- we now consider the source of that hope in the fatherhood of God. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He taught them to call God, Our Father. Here we see the great religious revolution introduced by Christianity, taught by the Saviour’s command, we dare to speak to the transcendent and all-holy God as children speak, with complete trust, to a loving father. In the parable of the merciful father, who welcomes his prodigal son with supreme forgiveness, Jesus speaks to us of the Father’s unconditional love. In his Letters, Saint Paul twice repeats the original Aramaic word used by Jesus in his prayer: “Abba” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). As God’s adoptive sons and daughters in the Holy Spirit, we share in the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father, and this is the basis of our sure hope in God’s saving help. Each day, as we pray the Lord’s Prayer, may we be confirmed in the knowledge that, in His merciful love, our Heavenly Father will watch over us, respond to our petitions, and never abandon us."

There was just too much more we packed into this day to share with you today, but be sure....it's coming!
My final note on this day is to share with you that my faith, hope and trust in God is dependent on one main thing.....Jesus is Lord and the Son of Almighty God and it is in Him alone Who paid the ultimate price for our salvation and eternal life with Him forever. But, along the way, I'm so grateful that God brought so many Godly representatives to teach and show us the way to go. Thank God for Pope Francis. Thank God for the apostles, the Godly men and women who gave their lives for the sake of Christ, the brothers and sisters who sacrifice comfort and are bearers of the Good News of Christ to this world, priests, religious, pastors and teachers who proclaim God's love.....and to you and me who love to tell the story of His AMAZING GRACE!!!

It is Well

I woke with fresh optimism about what this day would hold for me. Is it because we have a new president and because we hope and pray that he will make positive, healthy, morally, and Biblically sound decisions that will unify and protect our country, turn our hearts to God, and “make us great again”? We can sure “hope and pray”, can't we? Actually, “hoping and praying” is the basis for what we should be doing, regardless of our party affiliations and where we are aligning ourselves during our new president’s administration.

I’ll admit, several times I teared up with hope as I watched our 45th President of the U.S. place his hand on the Bible and pledge and vow BEFORE GOD, to do the right things.

One of my favorite moments of the inauguration was Rev. Franklin Graham’s words when he went to the podium to give a benediction prayer, but preceded the prayer with these words: "Mr. President, in the Bible, rain is a sign of God's blessings. And it started to rain, Mr. President, when you came to the platform, And it's my prayer that God will bless you, your family, your administration, and may He bless America."

Quite frankly, I’m so glad this whole election process is behind us for a while. It's quite typical for there to be negativity -- their side didn't win. But, I'm done with the voices of gloom, despair and hate coming from the naysayers. It’s time for us to regroup and reinstate ourselves as believers in God who sits on HIS throne and He has not turned over His authority to a man. He reigns in heaven and earth and the election and inauguration doesn’t change that. There is no (D) or (R) beside God’s name. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is The Great I AM!

Today it is well with my soul – not because of our new 45th president. It is well with my soul because “I know Him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that which I have committed unto Him...” 2 Timothy 1:12

Here’s how we can support our new president…..straight from God’s proclamation: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

So that’s what I’ll commit to today as a proud American citizen. We have daily choices of rising and shining OR rising and glooming. I’d rather lean into the brighter side of life by being kind-hearted and optimistic any day than being a part of any group that is dark, hateful and mean.

I started this post by saying “It is well. I woke this morning with optimism for what this day will hold for me.” I meant that. I have a choice each day to gravitate to what I desire to see in my day.
So, I'm encouraging you to have a godly attitude towards our new president. I'm encouraging you to pray for him with the heartfelt desire that God will make him into a great president rather than for you to stand on the sidelines, rooting for his fall. If we really care about America and are people of prayer, that should be our mind-set.

Lastly, we should have GREAT expectations. Could it be that President Trump has way more going for him than we realize? Could it be that many Americans had solid reasons to vote for him and that he could get a lot done for the good of our nation? Could it be that, despite his very rough edges and non-presidential tweets, God is already working in his heart? I’m optimistic enough in our good, good Father that He is already working in the crevices and corners of his heart, and in the meantime, I'll be praying for clouds that hold a lot of rain. Daily I plan on praying "Let it rain, Lord. Let it rain! Let it rain blessings and more blessings on Your people."

It Doesn't Have to Be My Way!

Day 195 of Photo Inspirations – It Doesn't Have to Be My Way!
Remember Frank Sinatra singing “I did it my way”? The song was about a man fondly looking back on a life lived on his own terms.  But, is that the way WE want to live?

I attended a meeting on Thursday where the speaker handed out empty toilet paper rolls to each of us. She asked: “Have you ever had a dispute with your husband about the RIGHT way to hang a toilet paper roll?  And, if you weren’t in agreement, did you correct it each time that he’d put it in different from the way you thought it should be?  Did it frustrate you because it just wasn’t right or it just wasn't YOUR WAY?  She said God had been speaking to her about having to have it HER WAY, so, on purpose, she has been leaving it the way her husband put it on.  She realized “It doesn’t have to be MY WAY all the time. She instructed us to write on our rolls…. “It doesn’t have to be MY WAY!”

What a powerful object lesson! Point well taken.  It's such an erroneous belief that OUR WAY is the best way of doing things and then insisting others agree with us.  There are those who seem to have taken a life course called, “How To Be Absolutely Sure of Everything”!  And, honestly, in the light of eternity and what matters most, does it really matter?  Wanting and insisting on getting our way is a set up for unhappiness, and a lot of disagreements with others.  We rationalize that THEY just need to change.

It’s part of being human to want to have our way. We all have a touch of the need to be right. We all have areas where we believe that we know better than others. As we learn to let go of the need to have it OUR WAY, the more energy we’ll have to spend on things that REALLY ARE important.

It’s time to ask ourselves, “Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy?  Do I want to get my way, or do I want to feel closeness with others?”  Who wants to be a know-it-all, when there’s only one KNOW-IT-ALL?   He is Father God.  Instead of singing Frank’s “I DID IT MY WAY”, why not be singing…. “I did it God’s way!” And when we do it God's way.....in humility and love.....it WILL BE His way....and the BEST WAY!

"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in HIS WAYS." Psalm 128:1
 "...be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the HUMBLE.”  1 Peter 5:5

How About a Slice of Humble Pie?

When I saw this program at the Advent by Candlelight event last Monday, I noticed, right away, the word "HUMBLE" above my name.  Actually, it was the title of a song that was sung before I spoke, but I thought "God are you trying to tell me something?"

Just a few minutes later, I felt my knit skirt....and there was a hole in the side (I'm thinking a moth's work of art).  I asked my friend to go with me to the ladies room so we could see if the hole would show while I was on stage.  Thankfully, I had a longer top on, so it didn't.   When I got to the stage to speak, I told the ladies that I was going to take a "selfie" of me with them in the background, but when I saw "HUMBLE" above my name....I figured God was whispering "Gotta' work on the humility, Girl Friend!"  LOL!  Yes, they laughed.

The next day, I looked at the photos taken that night.....and if God needed to speak the word "HUMBLE" to me again, I saw that I had on a navy blue skirt instead of the black one that I planned to wear.   (Maybe they loved my humor and heart so much, they didn't notice.)  OH ME and LOL!

So, I'm getting the message, and I think I'm eating some "Humble Pie", because I never want what I do, and why I do it, to bring praise to myself, but to THE ONE who deserves ALL PRAISE.  Seriously, when I think about how unlikely that I would be so blessed to be so passionate and relentless about spreading the GOOD NEWS, I MUST raise my hand and point to THE ONE Who is worthy of ALL PRAISE!

I know that when I purposely live in an attitude of humility, it will be HIS Light shining through me, and NOT my own.  And, oh, that's what I want.  I don't ever want to get in His way.   St. Peter put it so well....."All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:5-7).

The simple discovery of humility and servitude is where some of my greatest joys have been found. Applause isn't the reward.  The reward is being able to serve, and seeing others have "aha" moments when they see HIM instead of me.  It's HIS LIGHT I want them to see in me.  

Okay, I've confessed, and now I've finished my "Humble Pie".  I think I'll avoid that dessert from now on, and I'll keep my eyes and heart open, in case it looks like God needs to offer me another slice!
#HumblePie #RewardInServing #HumbleYourselves