SelahV Today by hariette petersen

DRAINING PURPOSE

WATER RUNOFF.

Rain pours down so quickly the ground can't absorb it.  Excess hits the streets in Oklahoma and, along with the water, crushed Mountain Dew cans, discarded cigarette packaging and miscellaneous debris gathers curbside.  If not for the metal grate covering the opening of the hole to the water pipelines, all that debris would end up inside the drain pipes and eventually cause a major blockage.

As we take in the worldview of things--the ologies, isms, and theories, it is necessary that we maintain a drainage control of our own spirituality.  Otherwise, our minds, faith, system of beliefs may meet the same fate as an unprotected drain.  Best we do that by the constant study of God's Word.  And anything that doesn't get caught in the screening process could be viewed as worthy of keeping and sending on through the system.  Culture and society's pressures are as crushed cans and collected debris.

I noticed something on my daily walk with my hubby yesterday.  We were rounding a culdesac and there in the middle of the road was two large freshly formed puddles from the rainstorm that morning.  One was slowly but clearly trickling down into a drain.  The other was forming a circle of water around an island of dark green stagnant remains of other recent storms.  The pavement didn't angle enough.  The water had no place to go.  It was at the mercy of the sun to evaporate over time.  With so little sun in the past few weeks, it had simply stagnated.

I think as a Christian I can become like that flow of water runoff.  I can flow quickly and rapidly down the pipes of purpose for my life as my useless thoughts, intentions and motives are caught in the grate of God's grace.  Sometimes I find my life like the stagnant water--going no where, doing nothing--lying in wait of the Son.  I'm only as useful as He deems merciful enough to use as He recycles my wasted moments, fearful timidity, and idle hands.

Sometimes, I feel like what I am doing is not doing anything at all.  I wonder as I sit here typing day after day.  What glory is this to my Lord?  I'm taking care of my husband.  Nothing else.  Watching over him, serving him, meeting his needs.  I know that is what God wants me to do, but I think, is this enough?  Is it?  What more--other than praying--can I do to glorify Him at this time?

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Psalm 50:15.

All He wants is that I call unto Him in my day of trouble.  In it He will deliver me.  And somehow, miraculously, in ways I cannot comprehend, I glorify Him.  And as I face the Son with what I can offer, He takes it and uses it.  He transforms my faith into His glory.  In that I must rest today.  selahV

BY THE WAY...an introspective peek into the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD can be found by reading the most engaging testimony of a friend who answered a question I posted on SelahV's Questions.  See what Karen has to say and please feel free to post your own answer.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]   

GETTING IT TOGETHER

Just can't seem to do that these days.

I begin a task and see another and off I go in another direction--totally forgetting the first task I've begun.  Ever been like that?

Right now I am came into my office simply to check emails and here I am typing on a post I started three days ago.  My brain won't work creatively.  It's disconnected.  Shorted out.  I'm suppose to be vacumning and getting dressed for visitors.  Instead, I'm typing.

I had a really great conversation thread going on SelahV's Questions and got so brain-fried I couldn't even get a coherent response to the many who took time to answer.  I had folks email and say they were going to comment but after they read the other comments, they figured everything had been said.  I disagree.  I think folks ought to read the post, forget the comments and comment the way they wanna comment on the post.  Then go back and read the comments and comment on the comments.  I like originality....don't you?  Don't you want to know what someone else thinks on a given subject?

I really want to know what people conclude on the Sovereignty of God.  It's very important to me.  How do you view God's Sovereign hand in your life at this moment?  What is God doing with you?  What are the circumstances in which you find yourself that causes pause to your plans, thoughts and actions?

Most of you know what is going on in my life.  Were these things predestined?  The losses?  The illnesses?  The relationships I've recently made via bloggersville?  selahV

PROBING QUESTIONS

Where do they come from?  Why are we walking along in life and all of a sudden a probing question jumps into our minds?

I was writing my previous post on From This Root and a question came to my mind that had me posting it to my Question blog and seeking folks to chat with me about it. 

The other day I was reading a blog about nothing really (sorry, Bart).  And a blogger (Dorcas) entered the stream of comments with an announcement that she was going to try blogging about the host to draw comments to her blog.  It was funny.  She, of course, was jesting.  But I thought I'd venture over and give her site a peek.  I use to visit her now and then and found a lot of her posts quite witty, humorous and thoughtful.  I'd lost track of her because she changed her name to Attorney Notes. (don't be too put off by the "attorney" thing.  it's not about a bunch of legal stuff.)

Anyway, she had a bunch of pictures on her blog that didn't much make sense to me, cause I'm a little dense.  But a post she'd recently written before the "one of many photos" caught my interest.  It begins with a question posed to her which gave her great pause.  I like folks who pause to think about things so I decided to follow along with her thoughts.  It turned out to be a very confessional kind of post with a rather revealing look at a lady and her Shepherd.

Lately, my Shepherd has been leading me through valleys with shadows of death.  I've found Him very engaging as I followed behind and watched His staff beat off the predators which try to destroy my faith, rob me of joy and disturb my peace.  I've enjoyed the still waters which have refreshed my soul in the midst of it all.

I've found that when I move really close to my Shepherd, so close I can touch the hem of His robe, fear has no way to penetrate His protective presence.  I've also found the closer we are to one another, the less I want.  Of this world, that is.  I do want more of Him though.  And if I get distracted by an enticing blade of grass and wander off for a moment, hunger pangs belt me in the belly and have me running back to Him for much greener pasture than I can see from my view of things.

Questions...are there any He can't answer?  What is the Shepherd asking me today?  I think of the many probing questions He's asked before.  Who do you say I am?  What is that to you?  How long must I be with you?  Why persecutest thou me?  My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?  Do you love me?  Do you love me?  Do you love me?  Pause, think about it.  I am.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007] 

FROM THIS ROOT

From looking at this, one would assume if you bit into it, that it would taste like a cucumber.  And it does.  But one wouldn't expect it to be bitter.  Especially when other cukes picked from the same lot of cukes were crisp and tasty.  Unfortunately, I put one in a salad yesterday and it was horribly bitter.

Sadly, there are some Christians, who are like the bitter cucumber.  From basic observation, they appear to be faithful Christians.  They tend to the sick, give to the poor, give water to the thirsty, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and even visit the imprisoned. So what likens them to a bitter cuke?

At some point in the cucumber's growth on the vine, its supply of water was interrupted, and it didn't get the water necessary to make it sweet.  The same is true of a Christian who carries out a task in the name of Jesus, yet, with the spirit of His adversary.  Without the flow of the Living Water, words and deeds prove bitter.

I think of two Sauls.  One was ordained of God to be King of Israel.  Jealousy and self-exaltation drove him to near insanity and bitter, bitter death.  The other is Saul, turned Paul.

He was driven by self-righteous motives and a belief that what he was doing was of God.  All the while he carried out his zealous persecution of Christians, he thought he was right in the eyes of God. What fueled his passionate display of hatred towards the followers of Jesus?  Indignation?  A slight?  Perhaps it was being told--as a learned man of sacred writings--that he was wrong?  Why did such a man, as well-versed as Saul, miss the prophetic handwriting on the scrolls?  Why did it take a meeting with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus to get Saul's attention?

Imbeded in Saul was bitterness, evidenced by his slaughter of Christians.  He'd been cut off from the supply of Living Water while the Water was available on earth.  I think of Saul's blindness as the way the Lord could help him see.  In the darkness, could he have revisited Stephen's stoning and witnessed the glory of Christ as it shown on his face when he forgave those who stoned him?

Today we see men who profess Jesus, proclaim Him to others, yet still persecute brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Only bitterness could fuel such venomous actions toward another in Christ.  Only self-righteousness could breed such contempt that leads to rejoicing in any pain or suffering that another brother would endure as a result. 

And only the blood of Jesus can make a bitter man better.  Only in repentance can a man secure that blood.  What great things the Lord could do with misused gifts, the talent, mind and abilities if only they were channeled through Him--instead of in the name of Him.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]  

TOUCHING SOVEREIGN GRACE

It's one thing to speak of God's Sovereignty.  To know all the doctrinal positions.  To have all the theological understanding.  But it's another matter entirely to experience the difficult--the unspeakable, and still know from Whom a situation comes.  To hold Sovereign grace in your hands.  To own it.

When I became a Christian years ago, I use to question why?  But not a whiney, wimpy why?  I always wanted to know the purpose so I'd not miss out on anything God had in store for me.

When my husband was misdiagnosed with a pinched nerve rather than five blockages by one of the foremost cardiologists in our state, we could have chosen an entirely different doctor for future treatment.  Some have suggested just that.  But the most amazing thing bounced through my mind when it all happened the way it did.  I had an overwhelming surge of mercy flood my soul.  I had compassion for a notable doctor who'd chosen to make a call that proved wrong.  No one is perfect.  And although I've been told our doctor does more cardiac caths than any cardiologist in our state, he blew this one.

We won't know the damage done to my husband's heart from putting off the test that would prove he was, indeed, having a heart attack and needed open-heart surgery.  But it doesn't matter.  God knows.  He knew what was going to be done the moment I left my house to get my husband to the hospital.  He has all the answers to all my tomorrows.  He can heal my husband completely if He so desires--with or without a doctor's perfect diagnosis.

When I left the house, all I wanted to do was get help.  Help I couldn't give my husband.  I wanted his pain to go away.  I believed he was having a heart attack and didn't need a degree or a test to prove it.  My mind spun with activity--who to call, how to get hold of my daughter who never took a phone in the bedroom at night.  I needed to let the church know my husband wouldn't be teaching Sunday School that morning.  I thanked God I had the presence of mind to grab my charger for my cell phone.  Stuff.  Little things.  How great is our God to put little things in our minds to divert our minds from the bigger things which could rob us of peace.

Peace.

That indescribable calm that permeates chaos.  That ability to think clearly though your mind is filled with unnecessary details and monumental decisions.  Peace.

As EKG's, blood tests, and blood pressures produced signs of problems, I felt at peace.  When my daughter didn't pick up the phone, I still felt at peace.  When people came in and concern for me showed clearly on their faces, I still felt at peace.  I was tired.  I was sick.  But I felt at peace.  Why?

Because I truly knew that with or without my husband, God would still be with me.  That no matter what happened I'd be okay.  I knew God had a purpose for every detail of the situation.  He'd already proven Himself to me far more than I deserve.  Again and again.

Curiosity burns within me as to the outcome of my husband's tests that will show what permanent damage he might have.  But I rest in the fact that we've made the right choice with staying with the same cardiologist.  I don't know why God wants us to stay with him, but I know we are suppose to.  Maybe as he cares for my husband, he'll be reminded to listen more carefully to what a patient is telling him.  Maybe it's to remind him that not all heart attacks fall into his slots of order.  I don't know.  But one thing is certain.  God knows.  And I can rely on Him through any and all situations.  Because He is Sovereign and He is trustworthy.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]

PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYER

I have a dear friend, who is facing some tests on Friday for a density discovered in a mammogram that was not there a year ago.  Please pray it comes out as nothing.  She is a marvelous gifted servant of God.  Always doing for others, including me.  Thanks so much.  Her name is BJ. selahV   

ATTACK IN THE NIGHT

2:00 a.m. Mother's Day morning.

He awoke with horrendous back pain between his shoulder blades.  He couldn't get comfortable in any position.  He thought he'd pulled a muscle lifting tile on Saturday afternoon.  He took a hot shower, hoping to relieve the pain.  It didn't work.  I was sleeping in the livingroom in the recliner.  My head was conjested from an allergy attack.

It was 3:40 when he walked through the livingroom, moaning.  I asked what was wrong.  Stooped over he continued by me, groaning louder.  This is not my husband.  He never moans, never groans--not in 42 years of marriage.  He told me he thought it was a muscle in his back.  I don't think so, but I humor him.  Let me rub it.  He gets down on his knees in front of me and I rub his shoulders and then the shoulder blades.  He groans louder.  Then he begins to roll on the floor in pain.

"I think that helped."

Helped?  It won't take much to kill him off if that helped!  "It doesn't sound like it helped."

"Let's try the massager," he coaxes.  So we go to the bedroom, I'm helping him walk.  I'm thinking, this is crazy.  He's on his knees, his arms and head on the bed and I'm rubbing it.  He moans and groans even louder.  Heart attack and gall bladder races through my mind.

"This is not a muscle, babe!  Are you having chest pains?"

"Not really."  Which means maybe, but he can't really tell since his back hurts so bad. 

"Where does it hurt the most?"  I pressed on the area behind the left shoulder blade and up his neck.   He groaned louder and affirmed that was the worst.  "Honey, I think you're having a heart attack."  He denied it.  Just like most men do.  He'd done the check list: no sweats, no nausea, no chest pain, no difficulty breathing, no arm pain or numbness.  "How long you been like this?"

"Since 2:00 a.m.  I couldn't get comfortable so I tried taking a hot shower.  But nothing helped.  I think that helped," he said of the massage, but continued to moan and could barely walk back to the living room and sit in the recliner.

It was nearly 4:20 a.m. now.  Okay.  So, I'm thinking EMT's, 911 and hospital.  He saying, it's better.  My mind says, my daughter's gonna kill me if I don't get him to a doctor.  And soon!  I went to the medicine cabinet and got him an aspirin and gave him a Loritab for pain.  I then sat him in the recliner and waited.  I watched the clock.  Ten.  Fifteen.  Twenty.  Still moaning.  "Okay, babe.  You aren't getting any better.  We need to go to the hospital."  He protests.  (he's so bloody stubborn).

My mind counters: "Look, it's Mother's Day, two years ago we lost our son on Mother's Day.  Do you want to die on Mother's Day because you were too stubborn to go to the doctor?  I'd be mad at you the rest of my life!  Our daughter would be mad at me for the rest of her life and would never forgive me."  Suddenly, future prospects were even worse than I'd first considered.  "Look, either you go with me now, or I'm calling 911."

On the way to the hospital, he remarked, "I'll probably get there and all it will be is gas."

"Well, better it be gas there, than a heart attack at home," I laughed.

Multiple tests, misdiagnoses for aortic dissection, pinched nerve, and possible stomach problems, and thirty-one hours later they did a heart catherization as we'd first been told they wanted in the ER.  The cardiologist postponed doing a cath because he thought is was a pinched nerve.  That was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.  My husband has been working in construction for a year with a pinched sciatic nerve and never moaned once.  To our good specialist's chagrin, 5 blockages showed up in the test.

My husband suffered sustained pain for over 38 hours upon the admittance into the ER on Mother's Day morning.  Small amounts of morphine had been given for pain.  For a man who rarely took an aspirin even with the most difficult of pains, he didn't get relief.  The pain was due to a 100% blockage to a main artery that should have been caught Sunday morning by a simple angiogram.

By God's grace he lived with that blockage till the test revealed it.  By God's grace he lived through the surgery.  By God's grace his collapsed lung healed, too.  And by God's grace he will get better. 

Today, he is home.  Today, he's had open heart surgery.  Today he is alive.  For God's grace we are grateful.  For all of you who have prayed we are extremely grateful and indebted.  I will share more in days to come.  But for now, I just want to say the thief that attacked in the night did not win this battle.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]

MUSHROOM REVISITED

I revisited the mushroom I wrote about the other day.  Curiosity.  I wanted to know if a student on his way home from school had succumbed to temptation and tromped on it.  To my delight and dismay, I found it standing just where it was.

Only, it was much, much different today.

It was black and obviously shriveled.  It had lost a lot of is pomp and majesty.  It was really ugly.  I put my hand on it to take another photo to show you size comparison again.  I removed my hand and black goo stuck to my fingertips.

I thought about that mushroom on my walk back home.  Left to the elements of two more days of rain and very little sunshine, it didn't absorb more rain and get bigger.  It didn't grow more in the dark.  But in the daylight, it shrunk.  What purpose did it serve?

I thought of my relationship with the Lord.  Sometimes He pours out so much of Himself to me I could absolutely burst.  I'm so filled with His presence that I could climb any mountain and walk through any valley.  I could stand in front of Goliath with a pea-shooter and read nursery rhymes amidst the lions.  But sometimes I don't climb mountains.  I don't face the giants.  I don't sit among the lions.

Instead, I sit and savor the moment with the Lord.  I bask in His presence and do nothing with Him and the knowledge, love, joy, and discernment He pours out on me.  I keep it all to myself.  And soon, I find myself wondering if I'd met Him at all.  If the transforming goodness and peace of His presence had actually arrested my spirit or I had imagined it.

The thing is, God's Holy Spirit lives within me.  He mushrooms up from the depths of my spirit and breaks through the surface of my soul--my will, my emotions and my thoughts.  And when He does, He pours out Himself on anyone with whom I encounter--by word or deed.  If all I do is sit in the midst of the Lord and crave more of Him and do not use Him up for His glory, then my emotions, will and mind will wither away and be no more useful than that blackened mushroom which once stood majestic on a sunny day.

God doesn't give us His Spirit in an overwhelming way to keep Him to ourselves.  He wants us to invite others in to visit with Him.  He wants us to take Him wherever we go and share Him in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  If we find ourselves ever sharing anything less than these with another, then we know the Spirit is locked up inside our self-made walled-up emotions, will and opinions.

And then we must wait.

We must wait for another unexpected storm to enter our life and break through the darkness.  "For the Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any two edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Heb. 4:12) We must wait for His lightening to pierce the darkness of our soul.  We must wait for Him to break us again before He can break through for others.

"Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed, receives the blessing of God." (Heb. 6:7a

What joy there is in receiving God's blessing!  What greater joy, still, in producing a useful crop to share as a blessing with others.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]

WHEN LEAST EXPECTED

You never know when one is going to come popping into your life.  Or in this case, your lawn.  Mushrooms.

Driving down the street near my house, I spotted this humongous mushroom sprouting up in the middle of a neighbor's lawn.  Luckily, I had my camera, as well as two and a half year-old HayJae with me.  I stopped in a driveway and we walked over.  HayJae, standing next to this monster, gives you an idea of its size.  This toadstool was big enough for HayJae to sit on!

In Oklahoma, we have some pretty dry weather.  Lately we've been blessed with more rain than our reservoirs can handle.  Our lawns are saturated.  And as a result, this fungi erupted from the middle of nowhere--without a soul sowing a seed.

It reminds me of a Christian's walk with God.  As Christians, our spirit can sometimes be parched and our days filled with months of wilderness wanderings.  We thirst for God.  Yet, we are unaware of the thirst as we go about our daily walk...trying to be all we can be for Him.  Desert times inevitably come.  Discouragement.  Various trials.  We weather them.  We get through the droughts.  We study, we serve, we follow His precepts.  But we feel something is missing.  We know God is real.  We are not faithless.  But our spirit is spent.  And we wonder why our sweet communion with God is no longer as sweet.

Oswald Chambers writes, "There is nothing more wearying to the eye than perpetual sunshine, and the same is true spiritually.  The valley of the shadow gives us time to reflect, and we learn to praise God for the valley because in it our soul is restored in its communion with God."

It's not so much that we are doing something wrong or failing in diligence, fervor and zeal.  It's not so much that we are walking in a sinful manner.  It can be that we've walked in the sunshine so long, our eyes have grown weary--our spirits left thirsting.

Then one night, in the middle of a thunderstorm, the Lord pours out Himself to us.   His Spirit fills our hearts with a new song.  His filling mushrooms into a faith bigger and better than we've ever experienced in our life.  

Darkness breeds the mushroom.  How dark and dank the earth and atmosphere must have been to have produced such a toadstool. 

How magnificent a Savior we have to restore the joy of His Salvation.  We need but to sit and drink in the Living Water He offers in our desert moments.  And when we least expect it, He comes. 

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007] 

FAIR WARNING

I rounded a corner and there it was--a 4 by 8-foot piece of plywood nailed from post to post across this porch.  Painted in black was Gun Permit Owner.  I cracked up when I saw it.  The message was clear in my mind.

Don't mess with me!   

Obviously, I was in a neighborhood that was prone to having folks disrespect another's private property.  It appears this fella had had enough trouble and was giving would-be trespassers fair warning.

The owner of this house was nowhere in sight when I took this photo.  But I sure wouldn't want to test the possibility of meeting him by entering that gate.  He didn't need to post a "no solicitors" or "no trespassing sign."  His message was clear.

When people round the corner and look at me, I wonder what message I give.  What do they read in my countenance, my expression?  I wonder what my words share.  I wonder when I jest with someone I know if it is interpreted by others as mean and hateful.  Or superior and belittling.  I wonder if it tells people to keep away...don't mess with me.

"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." Ps.141:3

"Let a righteous man strike me; it is a kindness; let him rebuke--it is oil on my head.  My head will not refuse it." Ps. 141:5

Let the windows of my soul reflect Your mercy, peace and kindness.  Plant the Spirit of Your love and joy outside my doorstep.  Let encouragement, edification and hope bloom like morning glories and honeysuckle.  Paint the doorway with words which clearly define the message of my heart.  When my words fail to communicate the Wisdom of Your discerning Spirit within me, I pray You open the gate and let friends and strangers, all, see the welcome mat just inside.

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]

I USE TO PRAY

May 8th.

It's been 2 years.

Today is Tuesday.  Then it was Sunday. 

I use to pray for God to give my son peace.  I use to pray for God to use him and glorify His name through him.  I use to ask God for a lot of things.  I don't anymore.  I do ask others to ask God for things.

Now, I usually pray something like, do whatever, Lord.  Give me this day my daily bread.  Forgive me for whatever way I've failed to walk in Your way.   I don't hold grudges anymore.  I have only one person with whom I have difficulty forgiving and letting go of the hurt she caused.  She is someone who hurt my son--not me.  But in hurting my son, she tortured me.  I can't carry that anymore.  You've brought at least six people into my life with her name since my Chad died.  I know You want me to let it go.  It's for my own good.

I let it go, Lord.  Just as You let go of those who crucified Your only begotten Son. 

I don't really know how to ask God for anything for myself anymore.   I figure He's going to give me what I need since He knows before I ask what I need.  And I sure don't know what I need anymore.  I don't know the desires of my heart.

I last prayed for my son and asked God to bring him peace.  And now my son is at peace.  And it was the desire of my heart for him to have peace and have love.  But I didn't know that his peace would bring me such pain.  I shouldn't be surprised.  For you see, when my son died, I asked that God take all the pain from my granddaughters--Chad's girls--and give it to me.  I told Him I would gladly carry it.  I forgot I'd prayed that.

But now I remember.

And though I sit here typing this with tears running down my cheeks, the pain feels much better, now.  I don't mind it at all.  I truly don't.  It kinda feels like my shadow.  I can see it.  I can't feel it.  But it's still there.

Intercession.  Give me more, Lord.  I know they miss him so very much.  Give me their emptiness.  Give me their sadness.  Let me wear it as joy in honor of his love for them and Your love for us all.

Keep them in Your protective care.  Surround them with Your angels.  Keep them from the evil one and do not let them be led astray by the workings of satan.  Give them Your song to sing, dear Jesus.  Open their eyes that they may see all the wisdom there is in Thee.  Give them Your Light to brighten their paths.  Prepare the way of their days with peace and love.

Bring people into their lives with a hunger and thirst for You.  Make them virtuous women, O Lord.  Set them apart for Your honor and glory.

"your days of sorrow will end." Is.60:20.  I don't know when.  But He promises they will end.  And until then, He will never leave me nor forsake me.  selahV   

NOT ENOUGH TIME

Do you have enough?

In any given day, is there enough time to accomplish all you want to do?  Do you feel pressed?  Do you find ways to save time in order to spend more time?  Do you ever kill time? 

"MY TIMES ARE IN HIS HANDS..." Ps.31:15a.

I've always admired organized people.  You can give them ten jobs to another's two and they will breeze right through them.  Is that all there is to utilizing time?  Can we reign over it by simply writing out a checklist?  Keeping a calendar?

I think alot about time these days.  I find it passes so quickly from week to week, month to month.  At the end of a day I consider all I haven't done and wonder what good I have done.  I actually sit and think through the day and mentally replay my actions.  Is anyone else like that?

When I have lunch at school with my granddaughters, they are allotted 20 minutes from the time they leave their rooms to the time they conclude a lunch.  After the food is gathered from the cafeteria line and they hand in their lunch cards, they have approximately 15 minutes left to open their ketchup, milk cartons and eat their lunch.  We're talking 5 year-old children, folks.

I find myself exhausted between stuffing chicken nuggets in my mouth, opening surrounding children's packaged chips and encouraging them to eat their hamburgers as well as their cookies.  If my granddaughter gets her orange down, I am thrilled.  It's not much better with the older 9-year-old.  In fact, it's a bit more hectic.  That age group is far more sociable.  They rarely get all their food unwrapped, much less eaten.  They'd much rather talk than eat.  The children's lunchtime is in the hands of the school schedule. However, the children are given the freedom to utilize that time they've been allotted.

I wonder.  How much of my alotted time do I utilize for the Lord?

How much of my times are really in His hands--firmly resting in His grasp?  How much do I pull from his palm and hang onto myself--for myself?  How much do I yield?  I think God holds me in His hand and allows me to use the time He's holding as I choose.  Ultimately, God controls it; He has a purpose for me on this earth.  There is a time appointed first to be born and then to die.  In between God uses my time to bring Himself glory, to work out His purpose for my life.

"There is a time for everything, and a time for every purpose under heaven." Eccl.3:1.

What part I play in the time for each thing and each purpose under heaven is delegated to my keeping.  Just as the master gave the talents to his servants to invest, the Lord has given me a certain time on earth to invest.  What stewardship He demands! "Go to the ant, you sluggard: consider its ways and be wise!  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in the summer and gathers its food at harvest." Pr. 6:6,7.

Time is much more than a.m. to p.m., sunrise to sunset.  It's a gift; a privilege.  What can I do with it to bring honor and glory to God?  How much do I protect for myself.  How much do I give to others.  Where are my priorities?  Who is my priority?   

I think about the time I've been alotted on this earth.  My times are indeed in God's hands.  He is holding it and me in His palms.

I pray I don't let it dribble between His fingers.  I pray I drink from His cupped hand and find the nourishment I need while talking with Him and feeding on His Word.  I yearn to use the gifts He's given me as He so desires that I use them~~to show His love.  Only in that, is there a purpose under heaven.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]

LET THE TARES GROW UP...

CAN YOU SEE MY HONEY BEE?

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"busy as a bee" some say to reference a person engaged in work up to their eyeballs.

Personally, I have a new-found respect for the busy little bees.  Ever since I discovered it took a dozen of them working an entire year to collect enough nectar to generate one teaspoon of honey, I don't even cringe when they come near me. 

It's funny though.  I have a smorgasbord of flowers in my backyard right now.  Roses, daisies, marigolds, petunias, asters and irises.  But to what does this little honey bee find delectable enough to return to again and again for nectar?  A dandelion.  A weed. 

Same is true of these little purple flowers that bloom in abundance all over the lawn.  Weeds. 

And tiny buttercups sprout throughout the bermuda grass as if I'd sown seed for them last year.  Weeds.

Wonder why my honey bee chooses weeds over flowers meant to attract them.  Wonder why the butterflies barely light on daisies and roses, but linger on the yellow dandelions and rest in beds of clover.  Try as I might to rid myself of all these pretty little weeds, they keep popping up again and again.  I pull, dig, jerk and dump them.  They seem to like being jerked out of the ground.  I can't keep up with them.

Isn't it odd that the Lord would tell his disciples to let the tares grow up amongst the wheat?  Why not just get rid of all those choking, threatening pests?  I do know that for allergies, it is best to pick a honey which is made from clover or native foliage in your own locale.  But who wants weeds growing in a pristine lawn?

I think about the weeds of life...liars, gossips, talebearers, accusers, ungodly, mockers, wicked.  I've always taught my children to avoid such people...ignore them and pray for them.  The psalmist warns:

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." 1:1,2

Just think.  If we meditated day and night on God's law and precepts and delighted in Him, how much time would be left for walking, standing or sitting among the weeds of life?  How much could they affect us?  The psalmist goes on to say:

"He is like a tree planted by streams in water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers." (1:3   Whatever?  That's a whole bunch of stuff, don't you think?  "Whatever he does prospers."  Whoa, what a promise!

As I flit from blessing to blessing in life I can't let myself stop, linger or rest along the way where weeds thrive and wickedness counsels.  For should I "walk in the counsel", "stand in the way" or "sit in the seat" of any person, place or scene that does not honor God, my leaves will surely wither and turn brown and the fruit will be tainted with negativity.  And how can any blighted fruit be worth serving the King of Kings at the banquet table?  [copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]

   

MY SIDE OF THE FENCE

Straining against a barbed wire fence, this horse nibbles on my daughter's grass.  So often I think this is what we are like--never satisfied with what is on our side of the fence. 

Some of us don't go to the lengths of hurting ourselves to quell the urges within.  We just test the limits and boundaries of getting what we want as long as it's within a comfortable reach.

"I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation..." [Philippians 4:12b. Emphasis mine]

What is that secret?

Why aren't we more content?  Why do we keep reaching for the elusive grass beyond our feet?  selahV   

TAGGED, I'M IT~~

I was tagged by Heather at Freeheart Reflections to play an information disclosure game.  If you are reading this and you are not Heather, then consider yourself tagged. LOL.

EACH PERSON TAGGED starts with:

7 random facts/habits about themselves.

You must write on your own blog about the seven things as well as the rules.

Then you need to tag others and list their names.  Then you leave them a comment on their blog telling them that they've been tagged and to read your blog.

Problemo...I don't know 7 bloggers who would play tag with me. 

That's number 1.

Number 2:  I am an extroverted introvert.  Figure that one out.  I've been trying to for 58 years.

Number 3:  I don't watch much TV, (American Idol, occasionally HOUSE, and Fox News--that's it.)  I don't go to the movies, don't rent videos and for the most part, I do not like jokes.  I laugh at human nature.  We are hilarious!  Funny to me is what little kids say, and I'll read those emails every time I get one.  Not fond of email forwards.  Would rather have a two line personal message. (don't like to admit that because so many of my friends send forwards and nothing else.  Wouldn't want to hurt their feelings.)

Number 4:  I was a varsity cheerleader with Emmylou Harris in high school.  I sold my yearbook for 173.00 on ebay with her pictures in it.

Number 5:  I must have everything my heart desires because I delight in the Lord.  So all that stuff I complain and whine about is simply insignificant stuff that I don't really want.  Except I'd still like to have a week's vacation in Savannah, Georgia; a car that runs, and all my husband's aches and pains to be history.

Number 6:  Cannot think about nothing!

Number 7:  I wish I had known about homeschooling when my children were growing up.  I'd love to go back and do things differently as a parent and a wife.

Ramblin Rose (because she doesn't blog, just reads blogs)

TNT (because she's funny)

Luke (because I want to know)

Peter (I will not hold my breath on this one! :) lol.)

BrittLeigh (because even though I only know her through reading her treasurable blog, she might just do this~~she has more friends than I do.)

ANYONE--because I can't think of another soul.

Well, Heather, that's about it.  If you want to know more about me in the future...just ask.  My life is an open book.  selahV

   

WHEN PEACE IS PRESENT

"...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. ...and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8,9b.

I love this rose.  The Peace rose, it's called.  Never know what color it's going to be.  Never know what form it will take.  Neither do we know the form in which the peace of God will bathe us in the midst of our heartache and sorrow.  But as believers in Jesus, we know He will bring us peace.  He said so.  It's not the peace of the world, but a peace far better than the world offers.

God's peace doesn't come from the pharmacy, the local liquor store, or escape in temporary pleasures.

When God's peace is present, so is the presence of God.  He, Himself, is our peace.  No wonder it passes all understanding.  Who can understand God?  Who can comprehend His majesty, His love?

Paul cautions us in verse 6:  "Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

"In everything" we are to pray and petition with thanksgiving.  Is Paul saying we are to rejoice in these things that produce fretting and anxiety?  Or is he saying to pray and petition with a heart that is thankful to God for the blessing and privilege we have to bring these things into His very presence?  I think the latter.

We don't jump up and down and celebrate when our children disobey us and follow satan into a path of deception.  We don't praise the Lord and shout hallejuhah when hurricanes, tornadoes and storms destroy.  We don't sit around revelling at the idea of war and what war does to individuals, their families and countries.  We don't giggle and sing when a child is threatened by disease.  We don't dance on a loved one's grave when he dies.  No.

Dwelling on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy does not anesthetize us from the pain we have in life.

"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!" (4.

Note that Paul didn't say rejoice in poverty, rejoice in brokenness, rejoice in grief or rejoice in pain.  He said, "rejoice IN the LORD."  That is how we get through our times of sadness, sorrow, and difficulty.  Rejoicing in the Lord.  Dwelling on the sufficiency of God--His protection.  Accepting the providence of God and the hope in Christ our Lord.  These are what get me through each day.

Knowing God is a God full of mercy--and clinging to that fact--empowers me to rise another morning, take another step and breathe a fresh breath of air.  Realizing I can come to Him with any problem small or great comforts me.  Recognizing the friends He sends into my path to lean on, bolsters my faith.  The victory I have in the Lord gives me the strength to endure.  In spite of the trials and tribulations I face along my journey Home.

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]