SelahV Today by hariette petersen

I can handle this God

So someone has a problem.  I realize that they just need a nudge in the right direction and they'll be fine.  So I go to this someone and give her a generous helping of my humble opinion pie.  When it appears this someone is drooling over that helping of pie, I add a dollopof my self-made (as opposed to homemade) whipped cream to top it off. Imagine my dismay when I discover that my pie was filled with things that caused her indigestion.  Ever been there?  You just want to help.  You just think they could use a bit of advice.  You just knew they'd love your pie because it came from a tried-and-true recipe that never fails....well, typically, "never" is rather absolute and presumptuous, I suppose?

Did you see the made-for-TV movie about that Amish family that was killed in 2006?  Well, there was this scene where the Amish folk and the wife of the man who'd slaughtered their children, all sat together in a counseling session.  The wife of the man who murdered those children explodes in anguish.  She cannot comprehend how the Amish can forgive such a deed.  She can't.  Then one Amish lady, with tears streaming down her face in agony, says she has to go back to God again and again and again to let go of the anger and get refilled to forgive.

That's how it was, and sometimes is, for me with people who've wronged me.  I cannot do it on my own.  It is the same way for loving someone who makes it hard to love, and to look at someone through God's eyes when our eyes see such aggravating, annoying things about them.

I believe it happens to us for a reason.  It happens so we will depend more, and more, and more on God.  So that He always has our attention.  I am one of those co-dependent fixers.  I'm full of compassion and longing for everyone to be happy, happy, happy.  Not everyone wants to be happy.  Some folks don't want to be anything but what they are.  And some folks think there is no other way to think, but the way they think.  When I go strolling up the sidewalk with one of my homemade got-the-answer pies, and trip on a stick and land flat on my cream-smeared face.  God gives me things in my life that show me I am not the one to fix things--He is.  My pie is not necessarily His pie.

Drives me nuts when He won't let me help sometimes.  I want to at least add some sugar.  But just as sure as I step in to give God a hand, "wham swat!"  He reminds me that this particular thing is His, not mine.  So I slump back to my self-saturated corner of thinking that I know best, and He shows me how it's really done.

Don't get me wrong.  Sometimes God wants me to take someone the pie, but it must be His pie, made with His recipe, and baked to His instructions.  Sometimes He leads me to take the pie, other times He wants me to eat it myself.  Want some?  selahV 

A PICTURE OF DISCERNMENT

 

WRONG THINKING, What Happened to 7 thru 11 of 11?

I know.  I know.  I was writing a series on Wrong Thinking and got snatched away with other matters.  Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.  Spirit or flesh that took me away, I do not know.  Just know, my friends, that where my attention and emotions went, thoughts about "problematic thinking" followed along.  While I was there, my spirit groaned, my heart ached, and my mind was delivered into a freshness of Life.

Sometimes we are so consumed with how we think, that a fog comes in on cat's feet and settles down around our minds.  It won't move on.  Within that fog, we lose the Way.  A bone-chilling awareness reminds us of a Presence far greater than our minds--for in His Presence we know we think amiss.  We find our mind and actions swiftly following a path we had not planned to journey upon.  In the mist, we discover God's mind, God's thoughts, God's purpose for our life.  In His midst, we recognize a sweeter, kinder, more gracious conscientiousness we had left somewhere in a "list" another had written.

This happens to us all.  We get emotionally bound to another's words.  We get mentally twisted by another's attacks.  We get physically worn by another's demands.  We get spiritually drained by another's needs.  And we find ourselves in a thick fog of indecision, quandary, hurt, and emptiness.

Basically, my friends, the 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of this series (which I planned to address in separate posts), dealt with allowing outside influences to rob us of truth, joy, and perspective.  These problematic issues were simply self-centeredness, selfishness and inferiority.  When we give all these issues to Christ, our Lord, He takes them and compacts them into a tiny grain.  He then stomps the death out of that kind of thinking, and crushes it beneath His feet.  He then lifts His feet and places them on the footstool of peace, contentment and victory and reminds us that He is the Life of our thoughts, He has overcome the world and its strongholds upon us.

Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know.  I just know that when Jesus reaches down and lifts the mist, then discernment flows in like the warmth of a noonday sun.

I hope you aren't too disappointed in me for not taking 7 through 11 and dissecting them into tiny slivers and pinning them down like a laboratory frog.  I left the biology and psychology classroom and closed the door.  In Jesus I dwell and abide.  In Him I am complete.  And as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.  What is in a man's heart comes out of his mouth.  May we all see the grace in knowing this truth.  selahV

my FUNDRAISER for MICHAEL SPENCER of iMonk

[UPDATE:  I have sent ONE SET OF THE BOOKS DESCRIBED BELOW in this post.  Another person sent money directly to Denise and Michael and asked that I sell the set again.  Therefore there are still TWO sets of books for sale.]

I am so blessed and privileged to write for Devotional Christian, a subsite of Tony Kummer's. When I write, I am rewarded with books from WTS Bookstore.  I have a fondness for books that can be given to new parents.  Also, I find that the books I choose make great gifts for children.  Today I thought this might be a great way to use the blessing God gives to me to bless someone else.

Does your church have a library?  How about a Children's Ministry in Need of Books for their Preschool Department?  The books I am offering for sale are a great buy and a super blessing for any church or home.  They are super for the grandpa and grandma to read to their grandchildren when they come to visit.  Mine would much rather I read them a book or story than to watch endless videos on television.  Consider this as you continue reading after the photo break.

I do not know Michael Spencer.  I do not know Denise.  I only know that they are going through one of the most trying times of their lives.  Michael is at peace with his life at this time.  But make no mistake in believing that just because Denise is showing grace, courage, and dignity with this part of Michael's journey with the Lord, that she is without heartbreaking pain.  Having been through an extremely difficult financial time in our lives when my husband had his heart attack and 5-bypass surgery, I am fully aware of her financial demands.

I cannot imagine being without my husband.  I love him beyond words to describe.  I know the pain of loss from losing my 33-year-old my and other loved ones.  It is mind-numbing.  Without the grace of God, and the full knowledge that His love is all we can depend upon, I could not even be writing this today.  With tears streaming down my face, I want you to know...that love is of God, and only God could stir me to do this tiny little thing for Michael and his family.  I am entirely too selfish and self-centered for this to be of me.  With that I ask you to consider purchasing the books I offer below to make a small contribution to the Spencer's need.  I will pay for the shipping to you.

You get FOOL Moon (reviews link) and the Jesus Storybook Bible (reviews link) for 20.00.  I can only offer 3 sets at this time.  But if you will send, Denise a donation of $20.00 or more (link here). I will send you a set of these books. Be the first to reserve a set by commenting here so I can email you for your shipping address.  Once I verify the money has been deposited to her account, I'll send you the books.  In the meantime, please pray for them. selahV

No Trash Talk Allowed, But In Honor of Michael Spencer

I had fun this year with the March Blog Madness that SBC Voices sponsors every year and gives away $200 dollars worth of books to the winner.  I never expect to win.  I am simply honored to be in the listings. I'm a tiny little blog in the sea of Southern Baptist writers such as Michael Spencer of iMonk and Tom Ascol of Founders, and Ed Stetzer, Trevin Wax.  Imagine my shock and awe when I went to the Final Four and none of those names were there.  I said, What?  iMonk's not here?  I can't tell you how much that saddened me in light of Michael's condition and love from so many in the blogging sphere.

Tony K. suggests that in this Final Four competition that we do a bit of "trash talking" to boost the votes for each of those in the race to make it more fun and interesting.  Folks, I think it would be a great thing for the final four SBC bloggers who were honored enough to be listed in the competition, to declare Michael Spencer the Honorary winner of SBC Voices blogging this year.  What about the prize?

Maybe Tony, the SBCVoices blog owner, could solicit that the WTS bookstore donate $200 to Michael's wife, Denise, in honor of the InternetMonk. 

Instead of kibbitzing one another with "trash talk" jabs, could you join me in encouraging the Final Four to suspend the game now in honor of Michael.  What say ye? 

[As a side note: I am going to be offering a few books I've gotten from the WTS Bookstore for sale and all proceeds will go to Michael's wife.  Watch for my next post to see if you'd like them.  They'd be great for your church library.]

  

Thinking of Michael Spencer of iMonk, and Family

Soon there will be no more night.  No more pain.  Michael will stand in the presence of the risen Lord.  Soon Michael will know every portion of the Victory in Jesus.  Continuing to pray for comfort and peace for him and his family. selahV

When We Come To Jesus

Wrong Thinking, Number 6 of 11

Some see weeds; others see flowers.  Some smell roses, others feel thorns. Some see a tattered old barn; others see a country memory.  We each have our own perspectives with things.  We don't always agree on what is important and what is not.  Can our differences become problematic?

Magnification or Minimizing:

"We blow things out of proportion, or we shrink their importance inappropriately."  Been there, done that.  Yep.  Here I am again, thoroughly able to relate to problematic thinking patterns.

Kidding aside, have you ever blown something out of proportion?  Get overwrought with two children fighting?  Or, pooh poohed something as insignificant that another believes significant?  Sometimes the "thing" is an inanimate object that suffers the irritation.  Like a person who slams doors, pots, pans, and drawers because they can't find their keys.  Or a child rips up a coloring page because they colored a tad outside the lines on a puppy's ear.  Or refuses to color at all because a page from the coloring book was unevenly torn from the book.  Sometimes you wonder if people sit around and stew all day over burnt toast.  Pity the person who crosses their path within their day.  Wrath unleashed, animosity rendered.

Ever encountered this, felt this?

Ever say something that another does not agree with, and they go ballistic on you for seemingly no reason.  It's not fun when someone takes everything you say and blows it out of proportion.  They embellish upon what you say or do, don't say and don't do.  Other times people treat whatever you say with an air of superiority.  They treat your words or concerns with disdain and have no restraint in letting you know exactly what they think about you and what they believe you to be.  It can be heartbreaking to be on the receiving end of people who treat you like that.  You may wonder if it is a case of mistaken identity.  It's like they back up and unload every bit of animosity they have felt for another person whom you remind them of.  This kind of magnification of a situation, or view, is bewildering.  It hurts. It confuses.  And it places inappropriate response to an otherwise common situation.  It's problematic.  For the person being attacked or criticized, as well as for the attacker.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, a person minimizes everything, or most everything as if another's feelings have no value.  They ignore.  They look down upon others.  They see the needs of others as unimportant in the scheme of things, unworthy of wasting their time upon them.  So, they don't address them, or barely at all.

This is usually caused by a rather inflated ego.  Sometimes people feel threatened or inferior.  They may worry needlessly about a specific thing that someone says or does.  They encounter a problem and it becomes monumental in their mind.  Their unrealistic magnification of an interruption, aggravation, or trial can impede any ability to deal with normal everyday situations.  The normal red light is abnormal.  The typical interruption is extraordinary.  Others may be self-assured and could care less about rules, manners, decorum, or another's feelings.  They just don't care.

Whatever way a person finds themselves with a pattern of "MoM", or has to live with someone with this kind of thinking, it's tough.  They live with a revolving door of roller-coaster emotions.  Dealing with someone like this is challenging; it takes tremendous patience, mercy, self-control and tolerance.  Until "Number 7", I ask God to give me an extra measure of these things. I need discernment to deal with others in ways that glorify Him.  May we all let go and let God's grace be sufficient to meet whatever comes.  selahV

Wrong Thinking, Number 5 of 11

Think with me for a minute, okay?  When you think about yourself and your accomplishments, do think you are worth about the same as a "Dum-dum" lollipop wrapper?  Do you relate more to the butterscotch sweetness of the solid ball of sugar once blanketed by that paper wrapper?  Or do you feel more like a tiny square of useless litter that belongs in the trash?  I've often felt like the latter--the "litter".  Basically, that comes from a lifetime of being told I was that "wrapper".  This brings me to Number 5 of my little series on "Wrong Thinking that causes us problems". 

DISCOUNTING THE POSITIVE:  (DtP).

If you are afflicted with "DtP", you insist that your accomplishments or positive qualities "don't count".  You discount any positive someone points out about you.  You find it extremely difficult to accept compliments.  You find it tremendously guilty accepting validation for anything you do.

I love my stepmother (hold that thought).  She came to live at our house when I was five-and-a-half.  When my father unloaded the U-haul (or whatever kind of truck it was), with all her belongings, her three-year-old and seventeen-year-old sons, I felt like we'd been invaded.  The number one thing I remember being unloaded was a metal horse that moved up and down and rolled forward when you stood on the metal stirrups.  Excitement bubbled up inside my heart as I moved toward it.  With one fell swoop, my exuberance was slapped away when my new step-brother pushed me aside and was validated for doing so.  "That's not yours, honey.  That is Thomas's."  That was the beginning of being told or shown that love, praise, and goodies belonged to her youngest son--not me.

I tell you that little story, not for sympathy.  No, I tell you to shed a glimpse of understanding into what caused a rather timid child, who'd been abandoned by her birth mother at age 3, to grow up with low self-esteem.  Abandonment coupled with favoritism for another--neglect coupled with verbal abuse, can warp the mind of a child and cause them to grow up thinking they "don't count".  But still, I loved my stepmother.  I came to understand her mental illness that went untreated and undiagnosed for her lifetime.  I also came to realize that what she was, and how she treated me, did not determine my ability or my worth.

The joy in discovering that God loved me and sent His Son to die for me, long before I was ever born, exploded within my heart with an intensity that I cannot begin to express with words equal to its splendor.  Growing in Christ showed me more and more of the mystery of God's love, the sovereignty of His love, the abundance of His love, and the watchcare of His love, the provision of His love, the mercy of His love, the forgiveness in His love and the acceptance of His love.

There are many times since I learned these things that I have wrestled with the DtP thinking.  I have fallen prey to the evil one who has nothing good to say about me.  I have listened to his accusations (and sometimes truly believed them), that I do anything I do, not because I love my Savior and Lord, but because I want the praise of man.  The hardest battle to fight is this one--especially when, along with the negative whisperings of Satan, I audibly hear the voices of people who agree with the Accuser of accusers.

However...

God is faithful.  He forever reminds me I am His child.  I belong to Him.  I am an heir.  I own, through the riches of Christ's glory, my Creator's approval through the blood of Christ which took all my sin away, and blanketed me with His grace.

I often wonder what good my writing does.  I often wonder if what I do makes any difference at all in the kingdom to encourage, edify or bring glory to my Lord.  Every now and then God sends me a visible, tangible validation that what I am doing matters to Him and to others.  It's kind of like getting that "smiley face" on your English essay.  God does that for us, not to puff us up, but to validate us, and to encourage us to keep doing what we are doing, despite the odds against us, despite the whispers of the evil one.

Just yesterday, a precious gal from India--a Hindu transformed by the blood and life of Jesus, "facebooked" me and told me she'd been blessed by some of my devotionals.  She wanted to "friend" me.  What a blessing!  What an honor!  But the greater blessing is that the Lord allows me to now pray for her family to come to Christ, too.  Blessedly for her, her family did not cause her problems with her conversion.  Folks, that is amazing.  Many missionaries have been killed for sharing the gospel in India.  Pastors have had their churches torched, and watched their families and members of their churches slaughtered for daring to profess Christ as Lord.  My new friend reaffirmed something for me yesterday and today.

I am not a wrapper.  Neither are you.  God is working all things together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.  Give your life to Him.  Let Him show you the sweetness He can bring forth from your yielded life.  Don't let Satan, or anyone else, discount your value in this world.  selahV

ADDITIONALS POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

Ten Things To Do When You're Ready to Explode 

When You Want to Know What to Do

When You Are Wrongly Accused  

WRONG THINKING, Number 4 of 11

Ever jump to a conclusion?  Ever think you know the motives in another's heart?  Do you find yourself thinking the worst of another? 

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS:

This (JtC) can be quite problematic. (Mind Readers: We assume people are reacting negatively toward us even when there is not indication of that.  Fortune Tellers: We arbitrarily predict that things will turn out badly).

Okay, been there, done that.  Don't like doing that, don't like folks who think they know who I am and what I am by some snippet I've written or said, or someone else has told them about me.  Don't find it fun to be followed around blogland and have every single thing I say in a comment stream, undermined, attacked, and belittled.  I have a boatload of emails from one said person, who has finally stopped doing that with me.  Blessed I am, I tell you.

How did I manage to shed myself of someone who continually "jumped to a negative conclusion" about me?  I stopped addressing them.  I also stayed clear of the areas where this person might show up in blogland.  Worked well for me.  Ignoring such lily-pad jumpers in the midst of streams is a good way to deal with this "problematic" kind of thinking.

I have a few people I know whose names cannot be typed out in a stream with other bloggers attaching a presupposed opinion of what the writer is "really thinking, saying, or speculating".  It can be wearing on one's self-control button.  If you understand what I am saying here, then you also have an idea of the difficulty one has in graciously responding to them.

What do you do if you live with someone who has this kind of thinking?

"JtC" thinking often brings out the worst in individuals.  If you say something, or do something without one iota of ulterior motive, and someone jumps to the conclusion that you mean something you didn't mean, or are "really" saying something you aren't saying, it can squash the "kind" right out of your kindness, and the "gentle" right out of your gentleness.  It can flatten your normally gracious spirit so low, you respond in the same manner in which you are addressed, rather than in the fullness of the Spirit residing inside your heart.  (It's not okay, but it is part of living in a fallen world.)  Praise the Lord that He loves you anyway, even if others wag their judgmental finger of hypocrisy in your face as their three fingers point back at themselves.  Problematic thinking.  Let it go.  If you are a recipient of this kind of nonsensical, negative thinking from another, you must hold your head up high, look unto the hills from whence cometh your help, and walk on in faith.

Faith?  Yes.  Faith in your Lord who knows your heart.  Faith in yourself, because we are prone to allow fingers in our face to strike a match of ire that quickly burns out of control.  When you don't understand, trust God.

When a person jumps to conclusions believing the absolute worst of another, without a shred of knowledge, or evidence, that they are correct, then you must not engage them in kind.  It's a futile thing.  Folks like this usually have a trust issue; they are unable to trust others as genuine, or real.  Somewhere in their lifetime, they've been burned--betrayed, hurt deeply.  Have mercy upon them. 

What if it's you who habitually jumps to conclusions?  Think long and hard about why you seem prone to this kind of thinking.  Examine yourself by asking God to show you if there is some area of your life where trust was broken.  Where betrayal hit you from out of the blue.  Forgive them.  Unforgiveness chains you to the situation that once hurt you.  Forgiveness is the key to the lock that keeps you chained to negativity and distrust.  Try to follow Paul's instructions to "dwell on that which is pure".  Practice giving others the benefit of the doubt.  "Think of others as better than yourself."  Pray for purer thinking.

It's not easy to do these things when another smears your thoughts, twists your words, impugns your character, or questions your integrity.  But those occasions are so few and far between to the vast majority of us.  "Put on the whole armor of God"--lean on Him to shield you and give you power to bring glory to His name.  selahV 

FORGET HEALTH CARE, THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED

Foolishness

I'm guilty.  Today I got a couple of emails from folks and forwarded them on to others.  I realized a little while ago that though the emails were not evil, they were foolish--pure foolishness.  They were dumb jokes and I wondered to myself, "What glory does Jesus gain from me passing along foolish jokes that do nothing to lift another up, edify them, or encourage them?"

As a rule, I do not forward many emails.  I rarely send something unless I find it uplifting or informative.  I messed up today.  Not gonna do that anymore.

"Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving." Ephesians 5:4

At the end of any day, as I take stock of what I've said or written (and also, thought but left unsaid), I am grateful when my words of thankgiving out weigh my foolish talk.  James tells us that whatsoever we say or do, should be said and done for the glory of God.

Aren't you grateful that the Lord forgives us our sin, covers our transgressions, and pours out His grace when we open our mouth and insert our foot?  selahV

IF I Might Add to "Wrong Thinking, Number 2"

I hope you don't mind me adding to my rather lengthy post on Wrong Thinking, No.2.  But I just had to say that "Overgeneralizational" thinking can also lead to very unhealthy conclusions about our faith.

So often I find folks who allow negative thinking about various aspects of doctrine, church leadership, and denominations, to dominate their views of the whole.  This could be more dangerous than the actual event that sparked an individual's angst and disappointment.  We are endowed by our Creator to think.  He gave us a brain.  He also gives His children wisdom for the asking.  He gives us His very own being in the person of the Holy Spirit to guide, correct, and teach us.  We have all we need to prevent us from falling into a trap of fear over the shenanigans of a few.  Certainly, God gives us the gift of exhortation to be used to admonish and reprove fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  But God also gives us the fruit of the Spirit to make known to the world we can reprove in humility, love, and kindness.  We are victors in Christ, not defeatists.  We are only standing in Him.  He is holding things together.

God empowers His people with self-control, tolerance, and peace.  His aim in clothing us with such fruit is to make known His indwelling presence in our lives.  For we are not saved to run amok with our own ideas of right and wrong.  We are saved to glorify our Savior, to show love to the unlovely as well as the lovely.  Perhaps, overgeneralizational thinking is a concept Christians need to consider well before they point fingers as their own houses.  Just a thought I felt led to add to the continuing saga of problematic thinking.  Humor me in my verbosity, okay?  selahV

WRONG WAY OF THINKING, Number 2 of 11

Overgeneralization:  Wow!  This second point could not be more appropriate to today if I'd planned it.  And I didn't.  When I found the flyer in the Christian Counseling Center yesterday, I just thought it might be interesting to bounce my thoughts off their eleven points of problematic thinking for the next few days.  Given the overwhelming discouragement I felt and witnessed in Americans yesterday to the news that Obama/Pelosi/Reid-care had passed, we could all use a pep talk about "overgeneralization" (OG).

According to the flyer, "when we have this kind of thinking (OG), we view negative events in any area of life as forming never-ending patterns of defeat in all areas of our life."  My Momma used to say "If the shoe fits, wear it."

This newly-passed and soon-to-be signed into law health-care bill is not the all-to-end-all in America.  We the People do not stop working because one bill passes.  We the People do not need to conform to the kind of thinking that paralyzes our spirit, and poisons our minds.  It is one bill (albeit a very bad bill).  It's not the Constitution of the United States for crying out loud.  It will not swallow the Bill of Rights.  It's a petty law.  A law that can be amended, rescinded, repealed, reformed, and challenged in the court of law.  It is not Roe vs. Wade.  We do not have to let this "negative event" in the Rose Garden form "never-ending patterns of defeat in all areas of our life".  We are Americans.  The last four letters of American is I-CAN.  I love that.  It's not U-Can.  It's not even We-Can.  It is I-Can.  What can I do?

I can encourage every single person who is discouraged.  I can accept the parts of this bill that are worth the paper it is printed upon.  I can work with legislators to change the parts that give government the right to intrude upon the rights of Americans.  I can canvas my neighborhood.  I can write letters, email, twitter and build a network of other Americans who will and can make a difference.  Obama-care does not ask what I can do for my country--it demands I accept what my country can do for me.  I do not have to accept this as my norm forever.  I do not have to believe we are defeated because Raum Emanuel got his temporary victory in the Rose Garden today. 

Folks, I have more hope for Americans today than I have had in a long, long time.  We may not have won this battle, as Bob Adams said in his email from the American League of Voters.  "but we won a more important battle: we won public opinion."  Public opinion is a very potent thing.  When America had her financial meltdown in the fall of 2008, McCain had risen in the polls and was gaining momentum to win the White House.  Then he suspended his campaign to work on that Bailout Bill that the vast majority of Americans did not want.  When he voted "yes" to that bill, American's voted "no" to him in November.  The "maverick" was a push-over.  He caved.  He was nothing more than any other politician who ignored the will of the people.  He paid a heavy price for ignoring Americans.  Pelosi and her minions, Obama and his socialistic advisors, will pay a heavy price for ignoring the American people, too.

We may have lost a tiny battle, but we will win this war on socializing America.  We will not bow down to Baal.  We will rise up and march around Jericho till the walls fall down and two-thousand-seven-hundred-seventy page bill falls like the wall President Ronald Reagan demanded that Gorbachev tear down.  We will not sit idly by and let negativity rob us of hope.  We may be dismissed as screaming Astroturf, but we have learned a great lesson from our President about "community organizing".  There's a difference between Obama's organization and ours.  We believe in freedom, liberty and "the people".  We believe in standing on the history of our founding principles and forefathers' faith.  He believes trampling upon our history and manipulating people to fundamentally change all that is strong about America.  He believes we are subject to government, and the more controlling a government is, the better.  He believes in bowing down to foreign kings and dictators.  He apologizes to the world that seeks to destroy our liberty, freedom, and faith.  We the People believe government is subject to us, and we make no apologies.   

Americans, myself included, have sat back watching the world go by for years.  We've slowly let a few concerned citizens go to the polls for local elections and vote into power, judges, school board members, mayors, councilmen, and A.C.O.R.N. organizers who defined our lives.  We gave them the authority to do it, whether we voted for them or not.  We are awake now.  We no longer sleep.  And those who think we will return to our slumber, will hear us soon.  Change is in the air, my friends.  Change is in the air.  And it smells like victory to me.  selahV

[Interesting fact about Besty Ross who is credited with sewing our first American flag:  Following her first husband's death in the Revolutionary War, "Betsy became a part of the "Fighting Quakers" who supported the war effort, which was unlike the traditional group of Quakers.  Betsy married Joseph Ashburn, sea captain, in June of 1777.  They had two children together.  While the British were around in 1777, they forcibly occupied the Ross home.  After the Battle of Germantown, she took care of British and American soldiers."

I find it fascinating that Betsy was forced to house a government she did not want occupying her home.  Much like we are today who do not want government forcing us to occupy our homes and lives.] 

WRONG WAY OF THINKING, Number 1 of 11

I was standing in a Christian counseling center today and noticed a rack which held a group of flyers on various topics.  One in particular grabbed my attention:  Wrong Thinking That Causes Us Problems.  I couldn't help but be reminded of the scripture:  "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7.

As I looked at the flyer, I considered the "wrongful thinking" that might be causing me problems.  I took the flyer with me and thought I'd write a series of posts on the points it made.  You may or may not have problems with your kind of thinking.  Your heart may be so pure that your mind thinks nothing but positive thoughts all day long.

However, some folk think everything is black or white and there are no areas of gray.  According to the flyer, that is an absolutist position.  "An all or nothing", my way or the highway, mindset.  And that kind of thinking can cause a person problems.

I can see how a person who thinks this way could have a few problems.  Let's face it.  A man is not an island unto himself.  We live, unless we are hermits on a mountaintop, with other people.  Not every person we live with will share our view of life--some folk will buck our norm.  Some folk will cross our lines.

When a person thinks things must follow a specific plan, and things must fit into a particular mold or schedule, and then something plucks a feather out of their bluebird of happiness, the absolutist goes a bit nuts.  Often they are prone to anger.  They cannot deal with something that bucks their idea of norm or perfection.  Absolutists think things need to conform to their demands.  They have an idea of how things ought to happen, and when confronted with circumstances contrary to their thinking, their comfort zone is threatened.  Emotionally, they become stressed, which leads to irritability, and eventually anger.  If left unchecked, a person will be miserable.  Very often miserable people make others miserable.  After all, whose life falls in line with exactly as one wants or believes it should?  Sooner or later, a burr gets lodged beneath your saddle, or a fly gets stuck in your ointment.  A baby cries, a husband is late for dinner, a clerk ignores you, or a waitress moves too slow.  Anger simmers, then boils over.  Tempers flare, and explosive thinking becomes explosive actions.

What can an all-or-nothing person do in situations such as these?  The best thing they can do is change their way of thinking.  Unfortunately, that may take a bit of time.  Habits die hard.  Do you know someone who thinks like this?  Be patient, be tolerant.  Ask God to give you a merciful heart, full of grace for them.

Do you ever think like this?  Let God know you need Him to help you deal with your unreachable expectations.  Examine the areas in life where you are most demanding, in which you are most vulnerable to stress.  Be patient with yourself, too.  Ask God to give you insight to accept life as it is, to show mercy toward others who do not fall within your lines of conformity and demands.  Rely on Jesus to fill the gaps of your disappointment. Then trust Him to give you peace to live with yourself and others.  selahV

Rules? Who Needs Rules?

 

Someone hide the kids.  Cover their ears.  They are liable to get ideas from Congress.

I've been learning a lot about our country's lawmakers these days.  A lot of what I am learning is truly troublesome.  Leadership in Washington, D.C. is not concerned with rules according to one legislator in regards to the procedures of an unconstitutional health-care bill.

"There ain't no rules here, we're trying to accomplish something. . . .All this talk about rules. . . .When the deal goes down . . . we make 'em up as we go along."  Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings.

Some folks say Hastings has no credentials to make such a statement about the principles being used in Congress.  After all, it was Hastings who was impeached and removed from the bench as a federal judge in Florida, before being elected to the House, because his judgeship was tainted with bribery charges.  That in itself might give us pause.  But the greatest irony is that a lawmaker for our country finds no reason to abide by rules (and procedures) to make the laws of our land.  Something is truly wrong with that man's reasoning ability.  If Hastings is not an indication of why there is so much disrespect for parents, teachers and authority, then nothing is.  Floridians ought to be ashamed of themselves for keeping someone of this mentality in government.  Any kindergartner would tell you that you have to follow rules.

Without rules there is no order.  Anything goes.  Nothing is below the belt.  Bribery is acceptable.  Cheating is condoned.  Lying is permissible.  Truth is unnecessary.  Honesty is useless.  And integrity is nothing.  And ultimately?  Anarchy reigns.  selahV

Save

A Message From God

HOPE IN CHANGE

As I read post after post on Facebook, multiple comments on "As A Mom" blogs, and listened to a bit of the diatribe on Fox News, I felt like my brain would explode with the gall fermenting in my stomach.  The fact that our country is now being forced to swallow the lies, bribery and promises of a white-washed abortion Executive Order that is impotent in the face of law, is heartbreaking.  I might cry if not for a hope far greater than any threat we face with the legislators in Washington, D.C.--a hope in the change I know is available.

My spirit is unwavering in the hope that change is in the air.  Hope is not in found in the promises of man.  Hope is not found in entities.  Hope does not lie in government.  And that is a good thing.  When people are disappointed and discouraged with misplaced trust, it opens the door to find a greater, lasting, enduring hope.

This hope is found in Jesus.

Hope is given to every person with faith in the unseen promises of God.  Hope covers fear with certainty.  In Christ we have everything we need.  He holds all things together.  Not man, not legislation.  Freedom in Christ supercedes the imprisonment of man's false liberty.  As inspiring as our country's constitution is, the inspired Word of God has the power to change lives in ways a document cannot.  I am proud to be an American, however, I am humbled to be a Christian--a child of God.  I was privileged to be born in America.  I was blessed to be born into the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  This country is not my home.  I'm just passing through.  I have the grace to sustain me through any tribulation that comes my way.

This is a great time to be alive in Christ.  May the difficulties and fears so many face today be viewed as an opportunity worth siezing, for us to share the gospel of Christ, and the hope He offers to all who believe in Him. selahV

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you," 1 Peter 1:3,4.

LIKE SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER

Democrats are taking Americans over the cliff, despite that the majority of Americans (Democrats, Republicans and Independents, alike) do not want to go.  A special thank you to all you who voted for the "BO" in 2008.  You've just nailed the coffins on thousands of grandmothers and grandfathers.  I hope you sleep well with the fiasco you are bringing upon America.   November is coming!  

April Fool's Day Came Early in Oklahoma

We could call it a fluke.

Today it's 31 degrees and snowing on the first day of Spring in southern Oklahoma.

Amazing.  Simply amazing.

Just two days ago it was 72 degrees and my granddaughters were marveling at ladybugs and racing to find plastic eggs you now see buried in the snow.

Such is life.  So unpredictable.  Isn't it wonderful to know that God is in control?   selahV

BEFORE THE DAY WAS OVER

It was suppose to be the warmest day of the week.  But we woke to a clouded, chilly day.  I'd promised the girls a picnic trip to Wichita Mountains.  We layered ourselves in sweatshirts, hoodies, sock caps and scarves.  We didn't pack a real picnic lunch--just crackers, water, and cantaloupe slices.

Riverview Restaurant fed us loaded potatoes, popcorn shrimp and salad.  As we sat at the window seat, overlooking the stream, the sun finally popped through the heavy cover of clouds.

We got excited.  We finished our meal and headed down to the stream to feed the geese and take pictures.  The longer we stayed at the stream, the warmer it got.  But the time we got to Mt. Scott, temperatures were a brisk 60.

Before the day was over, we'd been thoroughly blessed by the creation of God.

CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR ENLARGEMENTS. 

HOW DO YOU GLORIFY GOD?

Do you wear a silver cross around your neck?  Have a fish bumper sticker on your car?  Carry your Bible everywhere you go? 

When my granddaughter chose cross-embossed boots instead of fancy-stitched alligator, she saw them as a Christian symbol.  Yet today, people who do not even profess to be Christians are wearing crosses on everything from boots to belt buckles.  Many people who choose designer clothes with crosses have no idea the cruelty and humiliation that a cross really symbolizes, nor do they comprehend the glory of the cross.  So what sets a Christian apart?  It's no longer a simple symbol. 

A Christian's life is not cheap.  We were bought at a price.  The price was the life of Jesus.  He suffered and died a cruel death upon a cross for those who want eternal life.  He gave Himself willingly, obediently to redeem us from our sin.  Our bodies are not our own--they belong to God.  So often we live as though our freedom in Christ affords us the liberty to live as we choose, for whatever pleases us.  We take for granted the cross that held our Savior, and compromise the cross we take up daily as Christians.  When Jesus carried His cross to Calvary, He didn't carry it privately, He carried it publicly.

Isn't it amazing that something as private as sexual purity glorifies God?  Who knows but you and your Lord?  It's not like you stand in the middle of Main Street, USA and announce it.  But do people close enough to know the real me, know Christ is my Lord?  Do they know He's more than my Savior?  Do I honor and glorify Him with faithfulness and purity? Or do I find pleasure in things that devalue my witness to the world?  Do I set an example for the young people in my life with how I talk, dress, and live?  with what I watch and listen to?

There's not a moment goes by that someone isn't tempted to give in to the world's standards.  Sex is exploited in every commercial from jeans to hamburgers.  It's trivialized in pop culture and de-moralized in Planned Parenthood clinics.  Is it not imperative that we pray for our children?  our grandchildren?  The friends of our children?

What do you think?  Are we any better than the promiscuous young person today if we support the companies, food chains, and movie stars who advertise and glamorize pre-marital, adulterous lifestyles?  Do we condone this with our silence?

Pray that teenagers wait till they are married for sex.  Pray for parents to guide them and guard them with vigilance and edifying advice from God's Word.  Pray for better examples who glorify God with their bodies.  It's the least we can do, since our body is not our own, don't you think?  selahV 

SPRING BREAK BLESSINGS

Anyone who knows me knows how much I cherish my grandchildren.  Besides the obvious blessing of their mere presence in my life, I revel in the lessons they teach me.  Today we had a non-stop day of discoveries.  We practiced hunting plastic Easter eggs that Brooklyn, 12, hid for the other three girls.  Amid the frivolity of finding the most eggs, Abby stopped and shouted, "A ladybug!  A ladybug!"

Now, I ask you, what is the appeal of a ladybug?  How could that tiny little insect be such an attraction?  Right there in the middle of the first Easter egg hunt of the season--something they all find fascinating--they stop to marvel at the black-dotted orange bug.  I submit that nothing is quite as wonderful as God's creative genius.  Nothing as special as the simplicity of life.  Ladybugs are particularly special to Abby who found this one.  She believes they are a sign of good luck--a blessing from God.  Kinsey is not impressed with any kind of bug--no matter how much luck it might offer.

Want to know what placed second on the list of marvels today?

We found a lone melon seedling which sprouted from a cantaloupe seed.  There it was.  In the midst of sandy soil.  All alone.  Not another plant within twelve feet.  Oddly, it grew within one foot of the space we usually stepped on when we get out of our car.  Right by the driveway.  I was amazed it found its way to the top of that hardened crusty ground.  Five-year-old Haylee wanted to know how it got there and would it make melons.  I told her I didn't know.  "Well, I think God planted it."  I agreed and said it would probably need to be transplanted to ever amount to anything.  Three-year-old Kinsey was more concerned about its well-being.  "We need to get it some water, Grama.  It needs a dwink of water."  And so we got a cup of water and Haylee and Kinsey took turns giving it a "dwink".

Isn't that precious?  Two little girls concerned about a cantaloupe seedling that sprouted near the driveway.  They took sticks and placed them around it so no one would step on it.  As I thought about their desire to tend, water, and protect that little seeding, I thought about the church family.  Sunday night our church baptized 25 brand new born-again Christians--Seedlings in the faith of Christ.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all cared as much about those precious tender brothers and sisters as my granddaughters care about their newly-found seedling?  Wouldn't it be marvelous if all within the body of Christ saw the need to nurture, water, feed, and protect them as they grow in their faith?  I think so.  That is my prayer today.  I hope it is yours, too.  selahV

Save

UGANDA FRIENDS

I'm delighted to offer you a great blog to watch for mission ministry in Uganda.  My dear friend Freddie's son is ministering over there and his site has fabulous tidbits about their work and FABULOUS pictures of Africa's wildlife that is just 2 hours from their home. Check out their AFRICAN SAFARI POST.  Add their site to your blogroll and remember to pray for them.

Kent's family is an extraordinary sight in Africa because many of the natives have never seen a white person, and they have 4 little blue-eyed blonde girls to marvel at.  I won't steal their thunder by posting anymore than these photos.  Trust me, they are worth the read.  Let them know you are praying for them.  And if ya want a trip to a walk-about zoo, they'd be happy to have company.  Just bring relish and rice krispies when you go.

TO VISIT THE THE FORESTER CLAN WEBSITE just click HERE.  selahV

SPRING FORWARD!

That's right.  Saturday night, we have to turn back set our clocks forward, reset our watches, reset the microwaves, ovens, and anything else that has a time-controlled start and stop.  An email came today from one of my radically funny friends who reminded me again that I was going to lose an hour's sleep on Saturday:

"Daylight savings time is also near; I wish that every politician who voted for it would have to reset every clock of every registered voter in his/her district!  Don’t you appreciate the government demanding that you get up, and go to bed an hour earlier for most of the year?"

As I read my friend's bi-monthly newsletter, I had to laugh.  Kindred spirit, he is.  However, I don't think I can cozy up to the idea of having a bunch of strange politicians come to my house for anything.  Just saying... selahV 

WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?

That's the question we face every time we log on to Facebook.  Tonight I logged on to do what I normally do, see what's on everyone else's mind.  I have to say that one of the dearest posts I have seen was written by a friend and longtime blogger, Tony Sisk.  Background:  He is the pastor who found out his unborn child, Miriam, was going to be born with spina bifida.  This is what he wrote today:

Things I Have Learned in the NICU (and in the hospital generally)...

 Today at 3:53pm

1. Diapers work backwards just as well as frontwards. My sensibilities are challenged every moment.

2. Babies are resilient creatures. Uncannily resilient. (So are nurses, incidentally.)

3. Neonatologists should use language in accords with their profession. No doctor, my baby isn't "snowed," she is just heavily sedated.

4. If you're walking down the hall in the hospital and you hear a sigh behind you, chances are you just need to get out of the way.

5. Nurses do all the work. Period.

6. Wash your hands. Often.

7. Ask questions. Lots of questions.

8. Headaches are standard fare when leaving an NICU.

9. I only thought I was a pathetic parent until meeting some parents in this NICU.

10. Windows are a good thing in an NICU.

11. Your baby still recognizes you even if you haven't held her, cradled her, or hugged her.

12. Life is a fragile thing and to be highly valued. "Sacrosanct" is the word that comes to mind.

13. Neurosurgeons should not wear pink socks. Ever. For any reason. Regardless of that eccentricity, they deserve every dime they are paid.

14. Stupid people should not have babies. I know that is harsh. But its true.

15. Misshapen heads will round out.

16. Spina bifida is a workable, doable challenge. I CAN do this. But not me alone. Get my drift?

17. Drugs and alcohol ruin people's lives. And their kids' lives. (I already knew that, but its been heavily reinforced.)

18. Mealtime is the craziest time in a hospital, worse than shift change. Hell hath no fury like hungry hospital staff.

19. Magnets can do horrible things.

20. Chaplaincy seems to be an impotent ministry.

21. Ventriculoperitoneal shunts: Tony Sisk is a fan.

21. God still works miracles. I have seen them happen.

22. Christians who do not pray should check their Christian cards

 

Folks, Miriam, was just yesterday weaned off the ventilator.  She's breathing on her own.  She's now being weaned off the pain medications from the surgery on her tiny spine.  She's still on a feeding tube for her mom's milk.  Pray for this wonderful family as they walk with the Lord on this journey.  Thanks so much for all your prayers so far for Tony and Camilla.  This is tiring physically, they have 3 daughters and a toddler at home.  Please lift them up.  selahV 

I Could Sure Use Your Prayers Again

It's been one thing after another.  I spent the afternoon in the hospital emergency room with my granddaughter, Bethany, who got that stomach virus.  Her mother stayed home to watch her two little boys.  Bethany and her baby boy came down with the virus at the same time.  Bethany is seven weeks pregnant and she was severely dehydrated.  That in itself would not be so bad, but now her other little boy came down with it.  So did my daughter, Bethany's mom.  Bethany's husband's father died last night and the furneral will be on Thursday.  Please pray that Jarrett doesn't get this virus.  Pray I don't get it.  I'm taking care of my daughters two little girls.  Right now, we're watching Scooby Doo at my house while the rest of the family is at my daughter's house trying desparately to get over this virus.  It is awful.  The doctor told my granddaughter to expect three more days of it.  She wants so much to be with her husband to support him in the loss of his father, but she can barely hold her head up.  Keep them all in your prayers.  Thanks so much.  selahV 

To Get One, I Took Fifteen

Seriously.  Ever try to take your own picture and get one that doesn't look like you're road-kill?  I wanted a picture of my husband and myself and I hate to sit in those stoic, stiff positions that photographers put you in to make sure you are looking at them just right.  So yesterday, amid the dozens of pictures I took of my grandchildren, I grabbed my husband and said, "Smile." Snap.  "Keep Smiling."  Snap. "Keep Smiling.  Move closer."  Snap. "Opps, closer." Snap.  "Nope.  Smile."  I said smile and snapped so many pictures, so many times we were laughing hysterically into the camera as I held it at arm's length.  Among pictures of half our faces, chins, eyes, and cheeks, I finally captured one that didn't have us with our eyes closed and had almost all of both our faces.  You might ask why I didn't just get one of the kids to take a picture.  I did.  But I really wanted one with our whole heads and without their trademark fingerprint across the lens.  I wanted to capture the devilish mischief in my husband's eyes--the love, the goodness.  I could only hope I captured the joy I have in knowing that love.

Do you think God ever has the same trouble trying to capture just the right image of us as we live our lives with Him at our side?  Does he look at all the mistakes, the half-shots, the imperfections, or does He see me through the lens of His Son's sacrifice for me?  I kinda think it is the latter.  Nothing I do can be perfect enough--there's always going to be something missing--a hair out of place, a reflection in my glasses, a head tilted the wrong way.  I'll always have a shadow of fleshly pride or carnal flaw.  But when God looks at me, with His Son, I think He sees Jesus, in Whom I dwell and abide.  And we are one in heart, mind, and spirit. 

Wouldn't it be nice if we looked at others as if Jesus was sitting by their side?  guiding, teaching, forgiving, and loving?  Maybe if we did, we would be much slower to criticize, judge, or condemn.  selahV

Does The Devil Make You Do It?

Yes, he does according to Dr. Dan Crawford in his book, Ambassadors On Mission, The Priority of Prayer and Proclamation. "Indeed, the devil does make us do some things."

The devil plots, plans, entices, deceives, persuades, and hinders.  While our power in Christ may supercede any the devil has, without exercising and tapping into the power we own in Christ, we are putty in Satan's hands.  We wouldn't dare walk out the door of our homes and jump in our cars wearing nightgowns and pajamas to work.  But all too often we walk out and into the world totally naked of the armor God provides to protect us from the lion who seeks the opportune time to devour us.  We are God's workmanship.  We are created for His purpose--to do His works as we dwell in Him, rely upon Him and walk in His spirit.  Why would the devil give us a pass in life to share the gospel unaltered, undiluted, unfiltered through his lies, and unchallenged by his devious assaults?  Good question.  He wouldn't.  That's why we need to pray without ceasing--always mindful of God's armor to meet the trials we face.  But armor is not enough.

Prayer covers the chinks in our armor.  Prayer partners build a stronger shield against assaults we face as Christians.  Prayer is essential.  

"You and I can be clothed in God's armor...and yet fail to triumph because we do not call upon God." James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians; An Expositional Commentary.

Ambassadors On Mission, The Priority of Prayer and Proclamation.

Worth Reading.

Worth Study.

Worth Discussion