SelahV Today by hariette petersen

BLOWN AWAY AND TICKLED PINK~~ I MADE IT! THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

I am probably the clumsiest person on earth!  To think of a basketball game and me playing any position that would help a team win a position in their division would be nothing short of a miracle!  To think that I could win a position in the division all by my lonesome would be even more incredible.  But to be pitted against multiple teams and individuals such as Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, or the entire Kentucky Wildcats basketball team would be a truly unbelievable fairytale.

And that is exactly how I felt when Tony Kummer from SBC Voices placed me in his BLOG MADNESS TOURNAMENT for Southern Baptist Bloggers.  I was so honored to find my name (albeit, misspelled both ways as SelvahV and  Harriette Peterson) amongst such esteemed company in blogland.  I've never seen myself as much of a writer of influence.  I've just prayed about what I write and hoped it honored God as I felt led to use scripture, theology as a lay-woman understands it, and personal experiences which exemplified God's Sovereign Hand in my life of nearly 60 years.

Although I have a few commenters on my little blogs, and though the amount of page views is considered by some to be substantial, I really have no earthly idea who is reading me other than the few folks who take a minute to leave a comment and engage me with their validation and kindnesses by email.  I parcel out my writing between my personal blogs listed here in my sidebar and by contributing to SBC Impact and their DailyIMPACT devotional site.  My daily devotional writing is my favorite place to use the gifts God has bestowed upon me because they not only give me an opportunity to encourage, comfort and console others, but the study I get when I read God's Word is so grips and edifies me.  Most of my writing expresses how God is dealing with me personally or with friends of mine who I never name unless in a Call To Prayer.

I am truly tickled pink and blown away to have made it to the Sweet Sixteen of Tony's little game.  The feeling is somewhat akin to how a little high-school freshman from the wrong side of the tracks felt when she won a place on the varsity cheer-leading squad.  I got to go to all the football games after that for free and even got to ride to the away games and listen to Emmylou Harris sing her songs on the pep bus rides to neighboring counties.  Emmylou Harris was also a cheerleader and I've always joked that she was my only claim to fame.  She even signed my yearbook.  And as exciting as that may have been to someone like me, I find this little Blog Madness game as an equal.  Yeah, silly, huh?

I know I have absolutely no chance of surpassing Wade Burleson or Ed Stetzer in the Division I've been privileged to find myself.  But to have made it to the top sixteen is rather neat.  I thank all of you who found in my writing something that you considered worthy enough to vote for.  I know my husband voted for me and of course he thinks I'm rather special.  As the tournament rolls forward and folks cast votes, I will count it an extreme honor just to have had the support I have had thus far.  I have no illusions about a final four.  OTHER than possibly finding myself with the SBC IMPACT blog team that allows me the privilege of contributing two or three times a month to their site.  They are in the top of their division standings.  So I can crow a bit about them and ride on their coattails I suppose. 

They and I are in separate divisions, so that is exciting too.  And some of my fellow contributors found their way into the Sweet Sixteen also.  I'm so glad to know we are bringing you a measure of writing you find helpful and which stirs you on toward love and good works.  That is our goal and definitely mine.  Grace be upon you as you seek the Truth in all you read and all you receive in your walk as a Southern Baptist or another denominational Christian.  Should you want to vote (you don't have to be SBC) or simply watch the game, just pop on over to Tony Kummer's SBCVoices and see the nearly 300 Southern Baptist bloggers he has created a handy directory for perusing.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

SAUL, SAUL, AND OTHER CHALLENGERS

Ever thought about how Saul searched out Christians to persecute them?  They really hadn't done a thing to Saul, but he took it upon himself to chase them around and spotlight them to publicly humiliate and punish them for daring to speak of Jesus and what He meant to them--the very Gospel and its doctrine.  Saul even stood by, holding the cloaks of all who hurled rocks, when Stephen was stoned to death for his faith.  In reality, the Christians challenged everything Saul had known or believed his entire life.  He simply couldn't handle the  challenge.  Then one day, Saul had a meeting in the middle of the road, and Jesus poured out Himself in living color and power.  Saul was blinded to the world and all he understood it to be and Jesus filled his eyes with the knowledge of Himself.  "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?"  It took Jesus to change Saul into Paul.  Then Paul was the one persecuted for Christ's sake; and he counted it all gain.

I don't really understand why King Saul was so disturbed by David.  David had served Saul faithfully.  David had been annointed the next king, however Saul was still king of Israel.  Saul was simply jealous of David's popularity.  He couldn't handle it, so he, too, chased David into caves and desertlands.  Just as Saul of the New Testament chased the Christians, King Saul of the Old Testament chased David--a man after God's heart.  So many of David's psalms speak of the way he was chased and feared for his own safety.  He cried out to God in his distress and broken-heartedness.  So often he called upon the Lord to vindicate him, to put his enemies in their place.  And, eventually God did just that.

There are times we are all challenged in life by one person, thing or entity.  Sometimes it is our secular jobs.  Sometimes it is our government.  Sometimes it is people who just don't like us.  Why does this occur?

Sometimes it is because we stand for the same things David and the early Christians stood for--Truth, faith. righteousness and pleasure in our Creator and Lord.  Sometimes it is because they are jealous of the friendships we have in others or the validation and admiration we have from others.  Yet, whenever we are challenged in life--by whomever, or whatever--we have a God Who is faithful to stand in the gap for us.  We have an Advocate Who pleads our case before the Father in Heaven.  We have a Paraclete Who makes clear our needs from our groanings and utterances and intercedes for us at the Throne of Grace.  No one can challenge Them and win, so our adversaries may as well lay down their swords.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

COMMON BONDS AND CANDLE SNUFFERS

What happens when a person confronts you with their views, but their words and tone bespeak an air of superiority?  How do you respond?  Do you feel obligated to present your side?  Sometimes, I do.  I try with all gentleness, patience and tolerance to communicate the differences between myself and them.  What baffles me is when we seem to be getting to the core of a situation, that person backs off, makes a witty little remark and I'm left with a conversation that never was resolved and a relationship about as useful as the candle pictured here.

Then, at a later date, the same person interrupts a conversation I am having with someone else, plays nice or challenges my words and pretends previous conversations never occurred.  Or brings them up without one iota of relevance to the conversation at hand.  It's rather strange actually.

When I have tried repeatedly before to converse with that person and that person has habitually attacked, accused, and insinuated or outright lied about something we'd previously discussed, the Spirit within me checks my heart and cautions me not to respond.   It's rather like casting pearls before swine.  That may seem like a harsh statement, but that is what the Spirit brings to my mind when I consider engaging them.  Why bother?  It's like talking to the fencepost that I wrote about yesterday. 

I seldom reach a point in a relationship with another Believer in which I feel compelled, or prompted, to admonish, rebuke publicly or privately.  Yet, occasionally, it is expedient to do so.

This is the hardest thing for me to deal with as a Christian. I do not like to argue, debate or confront others.  I like to talk, discuss, reason and converse.  When faced with professing Believers who attack, accuse, slander and ridicule other professing Believers, I feel a grief inside my heart. I believe it is the Spirit grieving within me. I have been trying to totally and completely ignore people who would challenge my thoughts with an air of superiority toward me or others. Their pretentious attitudes throw a candle snuffer on my heart's joy.

I can only imagine what any grain of pretense in my heart would do to my Lord should I respond unseemly.  Common bonds between brothers and sisters in Christ are broken with attitudes like this.  And it is sad.  Very sad.  But until one can recognize their sin as sin, another is doing them no favors by fellowshipping with them.  Yea, I must join the psalmist who penned, "I do not sit with false persons, nor fellowship with pretenders."  Psalm 26:4 

To do so would be utmost hypocrisy on my part. And "pretenders" cannot be trusted--not with my heart or my integrity.  To me, trust is the highest form of loving another.  When there is no trust, there is no relationship.  And the common bond is broken.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]    

TALK TO THE FENCEPOST, It Will Do As Much Good

There are times when admonishing someone is like talking to a fencepost.  No matter what one says to them, it is never heeded.  In fact, it is openly rebuked and completely ignored.  What do you do with someone like that?

One-year-old Conner has total run of my granddaughter's living room, dining room, kitchen and playroom.  All other rooms are off limits; doors are shut.  Everything in the free-reign area is child-proofed.  Safety plugs on the outlets.  Cabinet locks on kitchen cupboards.  The only thing Conner is not allowed to touch is the on-and-off button on the television.  And wouldn't you know that little stinker goes right to that button whenever we are watching a program?  His mommy can tell him, "No", and he keeps right on pushing that button.  His mommy can smack his hands and he keeps going straight back to it.  He doesn't care what consequence he faces; that forbidden button is far more enticing than he can resist.  My granddaughter never gives in.  She gives him no slack.  He either stops, or she takes him away from the situation entirely. 

It is one thing when a baby is the one doing the ignoring.  However, don't you think it's an entirely different matter when it is an adult?

In an adult's case, I feel that until the person repents of the sin committed and apologizes for it they cannot be trusted with my time or attention.  While I cannot take them away from the situation, or control whether they enter a comment stream and seek to engage me, I can control the button they try to push.  They may as well be talking to a fencepost each time they address me.  It will listen about as well as I will.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

CHATTER, PRATTLE AND FUN IN THE SUN

While I am away from home, I venture onto my granddaughter's computer from Ocean Springs, Mississippi and catch up on some of my SBC friends' chatter.  I must say that a great deal is being said about things which could be less of a "deal" if all parties simply rest in the Son.  Son of God, that is.  Most of the chatter and prattle is a direct result of an inability to trust in God and a need to trust in man, in my own biased opinion.

A great deal of heartache in life can be avoided when one seeks not the counsel of men, but relies solely on the counsel of God and His Word.

Today I was privileged to go to the beach.  We had an abundance of sunshine and warm soft breezes.  The sand was plentiful; ocean waves tiptoed into shore as seagulls floated above us.  Conner was mesmerized by the gigantic sandbox at his fingertips.  He'd never seen sand before.  What a joy to watch him experience the wonder of God.  The sand was so fine it felt like ground flour in my hands.  As I sat there watching one-year-old Conner's expression change from fear to bewilderment, to timidity and then sheer joy and pleasure, I was reminded of God's promise to Abraham.  The promise was so profound and mindboggling--just like the billions upon billions of grains of sand that lay before Conner.

Abraham did not need to worry about sacrificing his son, Isaac.  He only had to obey God.  God provided the sacrifice.  God provided.  And just as God provided for Abraham, He takes pleasure in providing for us.  In our rejection from others.  In our accusations from others.  In our losses.  In our difficuties.  In our fears.  In our inadequacies.  In our helplessness.  In our moment of crisis and need.  God provides.  God multiplies.  And just as in Abraham's case, the blessings are too numerous to count. 

"In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore.  And your Seed (Heir) will possess the gate of His enemies." Genesis 22:17

The difference between Abraham and many in the SBC and faith community, is that Abraham's faith and obedience to God brought forth immediate provision.  Lack of trust and disobedience brings forth consequences of greater fear, greater heartache, and greater turmoil.

As sand seeps through my fingertips and the wind carries it away, I am grateful to know God provides and I don't need to concern myself with the enemies at His gate.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]      

PICKLES, FACES AND OTHER SOUR THINGS

There's an old saying my momma use to say, "All's well that ends well."

That's a dumb saying.  Not everything that ends well for some, ends well for all.  Even when things end well for some folks, there are other folks who turn their noses up in disgust and pass judgment with a continual flow of bitterness and spite.  We use to call them sour-pusses.

I really love sweet pickles.  My husband loves dill.  Neither of us can enjoy them any longer because of the high sodium level in them.  The older we both get, the more foods we find we have to eliminate that we once enjoyed.  Life is like that.  It doesn't always end well.

Perhaps, as we accept the trials and struggles we face in life as God directed, we will count it all joy that we suffer such.  If we as Christians do not do this, then we will continue to suffer the trials and struggles and tests until we do.  God is concerned about our perfection.  He is continually working out His ends and those ends are not necessarily ends to our expectations.   Sour thoughts, attitudes and faces do nothing to glorify our Lord.  But only a few understand this and narrow is the way for those who find the peace in learning its truth.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

A TIME OF CELEBRATION

Today is celebrated throughout the world as Easter.  A day to remember the resurrection of Jesus.  New life.

Today my father celebrates his 88th birthday.  And I am with him.  Today I am grateful that because of my father's prayers I was given new life in Jesus in 1976.  Dad never gave up on me.  In the worst of my life, he continued to pray.  In my complete disregard and disrespect for him, he continued to pray and to witness to me.  In my rejection, he unconditionally loved and accepted me.  For this I can celebrate anew.  selahV 

THE CROSS I WEAR

I often wear a cross as a necklace.  I've heard the sermons telling us how the cross was not some jeweled silver thing of beauty.  It was a place of horrible cruelty, humiliation and torture.  And I do not for one second take lightly the sacrifice my Savior made for me as He endured that excruciating time over two thousand years ago.

But there was a glory in that cross that superseded the horror.  On that cross was the attoning work of God.  On that cross hung the glory of promise for all mankind.  On that cross was the Victor over sin and death.  My King gave His all for me there.  And when I wear my cross, I glory in the cross.  Had it not been for the cross, there would be no sacrifice--and there would be no life for me.  I praise God today for my Redeemer Who gave everything and became all the sin of the world so that I might celebrate Life everlasting today.  The cross I wear is in honor of my King.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

ON THE ROAD

When you read this, I will probably be on my way to Tennessee to visit my father enroute to my granddaughter's in Biloxi, MS.  I ask for your prayers for a safe trip.

Dad will be 88 on Sunday and I want to be with him to celebrate his birthday.  My granddaughter is expecting her second baby in a few weeks and her hubby is doing field duty for the U.S. Airforce for two weeks.  So I'm going to stay with her for the duration and try to spoil my great-grandson till he drives everyone crazy when I leave.  Not really.  But I do hope to be a blessing to my granddaughter and my father in the next few weeks.

But more than that, I ask you to pray for the strangers I may meet along the way.  May I be open to any opportunity God gives me to share His word, to sow seeds and show Light in the darkness.  Thank you all.

I won't have a computer till I reach my granddaughter's on Monday evening, the 24th.  So until then I leave you with a couple of preposted pieces for Friday and Easter.  May God richly bless you all in this season of celebrating our Savior's Redeeming Grace.

BE SURE AND CHECK OUT MY daily devotionals at dailyIMPACT.  I've written several on various names of God that describe parts of His incomprehensible nature and character. selahV

THE WAY THINGS OUGHT TO BE

HayJae and I were watching a cartoon.  I wasn't exactly thrilled with the plot in the story as Dexter and his rival competed with one another in various ways in school activities.  The one-up-manship dominated the entire cartoon.  I kept waiting to see the good overcome evil in the story.  At one point each of the adversaries win an award for a science contest.  The cartoon characters had each tied for first place and would have to share the trophy.  However, when they received the award, they kept pulling it back and forth saying, "It's mine."  "It's mine."  And that was how it ended.

HayJae, only three and a half, said, "They aren't sharing Grama.  They need to share."

It's odd watching how a negative cartoon and the selfishness of two individuals can be seen with eyes trained in the difference between right and wrong.  It's amazing to witness a tiny toddler grasp the concept that even adults do not comprehend or practice.  If only things were the way things ought to be.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO..............ON MARCH 17TH

A child was born.  He was no ordinary child.  His birth caused a great stir in hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.  It was 1991.  His dad was there to see it all happen.  And it was a miracle.

Just five days before, his dad was hunkered down and prepared to attack Bagdad in the Desert Storm War should it be necessary. 

A cease fire had called a halt to the bombings in Iraq as they surrendered by the thousands during Desert Storm on February 28th.  Iraq's communications had been virtually destroyed and many Iraqi's didn't know the war was over. General Colin Powell had ordered that no one was to leave the theater of operations.  But the Red Cross placed an emergency call to the child's father.  The doctor strongly requested the soldier's presence in Kentucky as the child's chances of survival were questionable.  The father's commanding officer agreed and sent him out in a helicopter to Saudi Arabia, so he could catch a flight home.  The flight from Bagdad to Saudi was filled with perilous twists, turns and dives to avoid the surface-to-air-missiles aimed at them.

About 30 some hours later, that soldier came walking down the sidewalk in Fort Knox with all his Desert Storm gear on his back and nearly all of Iraq's sand on his body.  He literally looked like he'd just walked off the field.  He hadn't had a shower in weeks.  He'd flown on a commercial plane and he later said he'd felt sorry for those seated next to him.  There was no parades, no balloons of celebration.  But that didn't matter.

The next day Ryan was born on St. Patrick's Day.  The hospital was a buzz with excitement that a soldier had made it home from the war to see his first son born.  And today we celebrate his seventeenth birthday.

I had prayed all during the war that he'd be able to make it home for the birth of his child, and my firstborn grandson.  And God brought him home.  It was one of those miracles that words cannot adequately explain.  But I shall ever praise God for the miracle anyway.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]    

ENVELOPES, BUTTONS AND OTHER THINGS WE PUSH

I wanted to do something next week.  I got this grand idea that I was all excited about.  It would do a couple of things.  It would serve to bring joy to the life of another person, and it would add joy and happiness to my own.  I was brilliant!  I shared my idea with my husband and he thought it was a great idea, too.  The more I talked about it with him the more excited I got.  I was bubbling!

THEN...the bubbles popped.

When I shared my idea with the person responsible for allowing me to do this wonderful "something", they put the cabash on it.  It was cold water on my warm fuzzy.  All the blessing I had conjured up in my mind lay in a puddle of washed-out expectations.  My mind rebelled at the rebuff of my excitement.  In the recesses of my heart, I thought I might encounter some resistance, but I really didn't think it would be for the same reasons given to me.  So I allowed their reasoning to hurt my feelings.  And then I went so far as to make comments to equal my pain.  THAT, my friends, is "pushing the envelope".

What began as a great idea, meant to bring another joy, culminated in a twisted mess of tangled emotions and misspent words.  Within fifteen minutes of being dismissed with "I've got to go," and hearing the phone go dead, I sent an email of apology for "pushing the envelope" in the whole situation.

Feeling personally misunderstood and rejected does weird things to our psychie.  And while I did understand that the situation in another's life and how they deal with their own life, can be at odds with how I live mine, it didn't soothe my hurt feelings.  And the person with whom I am at odds, is not responsible to soothe them or pacify me in the process.  I am responsible for my own pain.  It's not up to someone else to "fix" it for me.

Often in life, we encounter folks who do not agree with us.  Often we face opposition to our viewpoints, ideas and plans.  In the final analysis, I am responsible to my Lord for how I handle the opposition and rejection.  And spitting back remarks, or challenging another with sarcasm and unbecoming witticisms, is simply not acceptable.  I am continually learning to be the master of my tongue and my feelings.  Taking offense when none is intended can be the most disastrous step we can take in communication.  It will cause us to "push the envelope" on emotions which should not be pushed.  And we are just as responsible for the explosion, if not moreso.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]       

WHEN MOUNTAINS CRUMBLE

I thought I had it all together.  Really.  I think about him every day.  I miss him.  But I hadn't sat and cried in a long time.  It may be because it's getting nearer to the anniversary of his last days with me.  I don't know.  But I went to a new support group tonite and I shared that I'd lost my son nearly three years ago on Mother's Day, I crumbled.  Tears didn't just sting my eyes; they rolled down my cheeks.  The ladies in the group didn't know me from a hole in the wall.  To be honest, I have no clue how they received my grief.  And it doesn't matter.

I was just a bit surprised that the fortress within was not as fortified as I'd thought.  I was equally surprised at how those mountains we erect within the walls of our hearts and minds will crumble at the most unexpected times.    I'm so grateful that when they do, my Lord is steadfast and sure.  He is greater than all the hurdles I've scaled.  And when I stumble, He does not let my foot slip.  What assurance to know God is mine.  What a peace to know I am His and His loving-kindness will never be removed.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

I JUST CAN'T HELP IT! AFTER ALL, HE'S FAMILY

The phone rang interrupting my writing.

"Mom, Rowdy broke his leg.  It's terrible, mom!  We've got to get him to the vet.  He may have to have it amputated." Now, my daughter is not a person prone to panic.  She's rather cautious when it comes to drama.  So when she called at 1:30 to tell me my son's dog had broken his leg and needed to get to the vet, I took her seriously.  Five minutes later, I stood looking down at poor Rowdy.  He immediately struggled to get to his feet.  His left front leg just hung at his side like his shoulder was dislocated.  His foot was turned at a very odd angle.  It did look like he'd broken it.  It looked like he may have broken it in two places.  I was worried he wouldn't let us pick him up and put him in the truck.  But he did.

When we got to vet's, it turned out to be worse than we thought.  It was nerve damage.  He'd so wrenched his leg that he simply couldn't move it.  It didn't have any feeling in it at all.  So now, Rowdy is taking cortizone and antibiotics.  He's staying in my back yard and we won't know for two months if he'll need it amputated.  It makes me cry to just type this post.  I know he's just a dog.  But he is a good dog.  When my son died, I got to keep Rowdy.  Only problem is he's so big, that my back yard was more like a cage than a yard.  So my grandsons took him in and he's been free to roam acres of land at my daughter's. 

I've always loved Rowdy.  I loved him because my son loved him.  Chad thought Rowdy was the greatest dog and often let his girls bathe him in the backyard then let him sleep near their beds at night.  Since my son died, Rowdy has become a part of our entire family.  He minds so well.  If I tell him to go lie down, he does it.  If I say, "no, boy", then he doesn't climb on me or try to come in the house.  If it wasn't for my husband, I'd give him a bath and keep him here at my house.

The vet has no idea what kind of dog he is, but his neck is so large that he cannot wear a collar.  It slides right over his head.  He is built like a giant yellow Rottweiller.  He's basically a mutt, but reminds me of a large Old Yeller with huge golden tiger eyes.  He'll eat a coyote for lunch if it comes around the house.  But he loves children and is a snuggle bug if you let him climb into your lap---which you would never do because he weighs 85 pounds and is very, very big.

It's odd that I am writing about an emergency phone call right now.  This morning before my day began, I wrote my devotional for Wednesday's dailyIMPACT.  I wouldn't have guessed this would be the way my day turned out after writing that post.

We do not know what today holds.  But we know Who holds today.  And though I have no idea whether Rowdy will get well, I know it matters to God that it matters to me and the children.  And He will take care of it all.  We covet your prayers that his nerve damage heals.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]   

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM

TO GIVE YOU KIM RADFORD.

KIM RADFORD designs, creates and blesses others with the beauty of her soul.   

Every now and then I am blasted from the past with a sweet memory that comes to life today.  This is the case with Kim Radford.  Kim is an artist.  When she was a little girl, she painted pictures that delighted her parents.  When she became a teenager, her daring and intuitive mother allowed her to paint her bedroom wall totally black.  Yes, folks.  Black.  Kim, a quiet, kind-hearted and gentle soul, leaned toward the dramatic when it came to coloring her world.  She came by it honestly, her mother, Kathy, had the gift also.

During her husband's ministries in various churches, Kathy designed sets for producing Carman plays that would make a Broadway designer grown with envy.  I will never forget going to the first church her husband, Peter Lumpkins, pastored in Louisville, Kentucky.  When they showed us around, Kathy had created a storybook wonderland on the walls of the church nursery.  It was like stepping into the pages of a children's book, complete with fences, trees, spider webs, flowers, and children staring at the sky.  Breathtaking would be an understatement.

Kathy's artistic flair gave birth to mine.  When my husband and I pastored in Owensboro, Kentucky, I took the youth building (consisting of 4 motel rooms with the walls torn out) and painted the entire room like an undersea world.  We called our youth space, The Net.  It resembled the inside of Nemo book.  Octopus, starfish, schools of various fish, coral and seaweed.  Later I painted the same thing on my grandsons' bedroom wall.

Inspiration is a wonderful thing.  Kathy inspired me.  While I don't have her incredible talent and gift, I could copy from a book and add my signature to the wall murals.

Kim Radford received a gift from God to create.  She is definitely her mother's daughter.  Her work can be seen by clicking on her website here. If you live in her area and could use a delightful look for your church nursery, child's room or entryway, then she is the gal to contact.  She offers classes where she teaches children to tap into the God-given talents they have.  What beauty there is inside her soul, what goodness is revealed when she frees her soul and paints it upon the walls and canvasses of life.  selahV   

LAPTOPS, PRAYER AND OTHER POWERED THINGS

I'm planning a trip.  A long one.  And I really don't want to go three weeks without a laptop.  So bless my sweet daughter's heart, she had an old laptop--a Compac Presario 2100 that she isn't using (and hadn't used for internet in a long time).  It's missing the caps lock key and the left shift key.  Ask me if I care, who needs caps?  I just want to be able to access the internet while I am away.  Is that too much to ask?

I guess so.

I had to purchase one of those PCI cards to insert in the side of the computer so it would work wirelessly.  And I had to get a wireless router to hook-up both my home computers.  But the laptop won't work.  Won't connect.  Now, on top of that, the cord that recharges my computer has encountered a problem.  The little stem inside the computer's port that the charger connects to?  It is loose.  Hubby had to sit and hold the cord in its port in order to go through the steps to connect to the internet that didn't work, (no clue why).  The little screen told us we have to call a technician for assistance to set up an account.  Uh...I thought I had an account with my home computer.  Am I unable to use this thing with a wireless PCI card?  I just don't know.  Doesn't much matter, can't charge it or keep it powered up anyway.

Like I've said for a long time now--I am computer illiterate.  And it appears this laptop may have seen its better days.  Poor thing.  Poor me.  But you know what is absolutely WONDERFUL?  I figured out how to connect hubby's computer.  So he and I are able to sit side by side and work now.  And this whole ordeal has shown me once again the power of God.   

I'm so glad my spiritual Source isn't contingent upon some cord.  I'm so glad I don't need to worry about connections, ports, ethernet, PCI cards and any special words to access my Father in heaven.  All I need do is talk.  I don't need to recharge the battery.  I don't need to plug in to anything.  I am so blessed to be able to enter into His presence anytime day or night.  And I don't need a technician to work out the bugs.  All God's presence is given to me through prayer.  He is completely accessible at all times.  My account is current.  I need no updates.  What a wonderful thing to know!  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]    

MY LIFE IS A MEADOWLAND

The Lord is showing me so much about myself these days.  He's showing me how very important I am to Him.  He had a plan for me before I was even born, as I was being knit together in my mother's womb.  He has a plan for you, too.

I have a lot of favorite things.  In my previous post I shared the joy I find in a mountain brook.  Today I share my love of the meadowland.

I discovered today that I am a field.  God's field.  It was a marvelous discovery in God's Word.  I wrote a devotional today about it at the dailyIMPACT.  One verse led me to another.  Then my pastor preached on another field and I got even more excited.  I realized from the passage I read in Bible Study this morning and the message I heard from my pastor, that I am, indeed, a blessing to my Lord.  And so are you.

When I think of a field, I cannot help but recall the one shown in this post.  It's so alive with flowers each Spring, Summer and Fall.  And no human hands do a single thing to bring about the splendor you see pictured.

God is the Gardner--the Cultivator, the Designer of the beauty.  And just as God cares for this meadow, He cultivates me.  Each act of difficulty in my life is the slice of the Tiller's plow.  He digs deep into the soil of my soul and breaks up the hardness of my heart.  He rakes over the surface of my mind.  He makes a pile of the decaying leaves and when I repent, He carries it away as surely as the March winds carry the remnants of Winter's death.  And then He sows His seeds of goodness, love and joy.  He waters them with grace, patience and peace.  And they burst forth in life--His life manifested in me.  I am His field--His meadowland.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

DON'T FORGET...visit dailyIMPACT for the rest of this story.

 

 

THE BLAMELESS MAN

"Mark the blameless man and behold the upright, for there is a happy end for the man of peace." Psalm 37:37.

Oh that we could all be as men of peace.  Oh that our thoughts be pure, our hearts clear, our hands clean.  Oh that we could dwell on that which is pure, undefiled, good, and kind.  Oh that we could speak well of one another and seek peace and peace alone. 

Unfortunately, I've seen, in my lifetime, many a man accused, indicted, convicted and sentenced without once going to trial.  He's met his demise in the court of public opinion.  So many of our faithful Christian forefathers met their life's end at the hands of public opinion.  The greatest book in all the world was written by the saints who were slain and slaughtered for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They took a stand for what they knew was True.

Today folks take stands for what they think might be true.  They position themselves based on what they believe credible--often without full knowledge of all the facts.  They presume, assume and prejudge.  They assign guilt where none has been evidenced.

Every day we see so many people slain in the world, their reputations destroyed, their character questioned, their integrity maligned.  It goes without saying that this is not of God.  Yet, God is not moved by the falsehoods, the gossip, the talebearing.  He knows He is in control of even the wicked.

"I have seen a wicked man in great power and spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.  Yet he passed away, and behold, he was not; yes, I sought and inquired for him, but he could not be found." Psalm 37:35,36. [italics mine]

The wicked man will not last forever.  He may sprout and grow for a season.  But he will pass away.  People will remember that he once had great promise, and they will wonder what happened to him.  But he will be no more.

But for the blameless man...there is a happy end.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008] Don't forget to stop in at daily IMPACT for more of my devotional thoughts.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET...

UDATE ON PRAYER REQUEST BELOW: CANCER FREE!!!!!Caelan's biopsy went well.  Didn't have to do the more invasive procedure.  Surgeon doesn't think it is cancerous but needs pathology to confirm.  Continue to pray for this little guy as he heals.  He's in quite a bit of pain which is being managed.  Will be in the hospital for a few days. selahlV

PLEASE...remember little Caelan Cross in your prayers today.  He is heading for surgery for the biopsies necessary to determine if his cancer has come back.  Pray that there is NO cancer.  Pray for comfort and healing for Caelan.

Oh, Lord, our Great Physician, we come to You today.  We give little Caelan to You and pray You have mercy, O Lord, our Redeemer.  selahV

BROKEN GROUND

For three days now, we've had some rather rough weather.  Cold, blustery wind-gusts of over 40 miles an hour rattled my windows.  All the brown leaves that stubbornly clung to the pecan trees out back, let loose.  They lie in wait of the Processor's hands, in my yard or another's.

Today is gorgeous.  Brilliant blue skies praise the Lord and sunshine beckons me to venture outside.  I stood at my back window and surveyed the leavings of the March winds.  Hollyhock stalks, dried zinnias, mums and petunias fill the flowerbeds.  Hundreds of pecans blanket the lawn beneath the trees getting ready to bud.  My neglected compost is covered in Bermuda grass that crept over it during the winter.

Rose bushes need trimming before sap begins to fill the stems.  New beds must be dug to make way for the seedlings of my Rose of Sharon bushes.  Canne lilies and iris beds need clearing.  The garden must be turned, fertilized and prepared.  Seeds and plants must be chosen.     

It's time to get ready for Spring.

"For the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:  Break up your ground left uncultivated for a season, so that you may not sow among thorns." Jeremiah 4:3

What else has been left uncultivated in my life?  I wonder.  What ground must be broken in my soul that I "may not sow among thorns"?  What attitudes must be discarded---what thinking uprooted?  What stubborn habits must be ripped from the branches of my life, placed in the trash-heaps and carried away?  I am not certain, but the Master Gardener knows.  I turn over those parts of my life to Him today.  And He will help me to see what needs to be done to make way for New Life to sprout and to grow.  He will give me the seeds to sow and to tend.  He will help me plan a new landscape worthy of His kingdom to come.  I'm so very excited.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]  

THE HARRY IN HARIETTE

Throughout my life of nearly six decades, I've observed many men dominate women.  They've abused them emotionally and physically.  I've seen women cower like cornered mice.

I have known men who have taken verbal and physical abuse from women and live in a virtually powerless state in their marriages. I've watched many women rule their households and dominate their husbands with a forcefulness akin to that of my grandson's python when it grabs live mice for its meal.

God never intended male and female relationships to progress to such an aberration of creation. To me, this distorted nature is like the mutation in the pine tree pictured here.  The tree burst forth in perfect seed and grew.  Over time it developed a fungal invasion that caused a deformity to grow upon it.  The tree is still a pine tree, but it's deformity stands out as cause for rejection.  This is feminism at its best.   

Women have been exploited by men and women, alike.  Women have enjoyed the exploitation; women have abhorred it.  Women have used their femininity to entice and control. While some of the uses of female persuasion has served a greater end than the means employed, it does not negate the fact that it was used and is ofttimes simply deceitful.  Some Christian women have used their knowledge and talents to further a feminist agenda with concentrated effort which undermines, in my opinion, the very core of their Creator's intentions.

I doubt seriously when God removed Adam's rib to create Eve to be his helpmate, He intended for Adam to order his wife about, treat her in a subservient manner or think less of her because of her gender.  I also doubt that when Eve was given to Adam that God intended for her to use her feminity to control him, to bait him and deceive him.

I lived through Honeymooners and I Love Lucy.  I survived the Happy Days of Ozzie and Harriet, The Cleaver's and Donna Reed.    I watched Archie Bunker's chauvinism and Roseanne's feminism.  I've witnessed women burn undergarments, and Women's Liberation so invade society that the order which the Lord intended for marriage and home is considered archaic.  At one time, before Christ became Lord of my life, I must unfortunately and sadly confess, I bought into the lies of those women.

The very same women are the women who fought for Roe vs. Wade.  They continue to uphold it as their choice through Supreme Court Justices such as Ruth Bader Gingsberg.  Their mantra is all-about-me.

Feminism has mutated into a pseudo-gender of its own.  Many Christian women find their solace, rest, and validation in varying degrees of feminism today.  Some embrace it because of equal-work, equal-pay.  Others believe it frees them to be what they seek to become in all areas of life.  Others see a strange commonality between male and female genders which leaves little room for a man to be a man or a woman to be a woman.  The cultural conflict redefines roles and characteristics of each.

I freely admit that there is a bit of Harry in Hariette.  But even my "Harry" submits to the authority of my husband and what I consider God's direct authority in my life as a woman.  I do not like the mutation of feminism today.  It validates to me who I believe is the first feminist recorded in the Bible:  Eve.

Eve, who having been created from Adam's side by Almighty God, was wiled by the serpent of evil.  She was gullible to the point of allowing him to twist God's words.  She gave in to the desires of her heart and mind, then allowed temptation to grow into full-blown sin.  She disobeyed her Creator who had blessed her saying, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man];..."  Gen. 1:28

What a mess Eve made of the perfection of God's earth.  She was a catalyst in multiplying her disobedience and rebellion against our Sovereign.  Where there is a will, there is another way.  Having been given a free will, Eve chose to ignore God.  We continue to do the same.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

COULD WE REMEMBER A BLESSED CHRISTIAN WOMAN TODAY?  Read her story HERE.