A DREAM

I thought I was going to write on shepherds.  I even had it started.  It would be the first in a series on Christmas.  Then I was posting this week’s Wednesday’s Pick Me Up on our church’s Facebook page.  The song on Thanksgiving finished and a video started.  And I watched it.

Emily told her story.  A story of a childhood dream to have many children.  Children by natural birth or adoption or foster children.  Emily wanted children.  She felt it in her heart.  She believed this was going to be her life.  It was her dream

She even married a man who shared her desire to have children.  He was open to adoption.

You are right.  Our dreams .. our way .. is not always the path God has for us.  Is God’s way better?  But what about the lifelong dream of being a mother?  Emily had felt like that dream was from God.  Emily struggled with each negative pregnancy test.

I am not going to tell you anymore.  I would like you to watch this video.  It is 15 minutes of your time. 

       AS FOR GOD, HIS WAY IS PERFECT:  EMILY’S STORY

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmfe8Z7tcA0

After watching, think about how you handle dreams that did not come true.  Did you turn to God and His way for you or have you held your dream so tight you do not see God’s plan?

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I hope your Thanksgiving was a blessing.

A QUESTION

We were headed home after having a great lunch with friends.  Just driving down the road, looking out the window, when Bill asked, “Do you know how special you are?

I replied, “As a matter of fact I do.”

Often he will say, “I am so lucky to have you.”

To which I reply, “Yes you are.  And don’t you ever forget it.”

I am not being flippant in my replies.  I am being honest.  BUT, I am just as lucky to have him.  And he is extremely special.

Jesus made people feel special.

A man with leprosy was healed because Jesus touched him.  Can you imagine what that felt like?  Jesus touched him.  How long had it been since anyone had shook his hand or given him a hug?  He was unclean.  No one touched him or they would be unclean also.  BUT, the man knelt before Jesus and asked if Jesus was willing to make him clean.  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  Wow.  Jesus heard him, saw him, and healed him.  This man was special.

The little children are special to Jesus He laid his hands on them and prayed for them.  He told the disciples that the kingdom of heaven belongs to “such as these”.  Can you hear the mothers saying, “My child is special.  Jesus prayed for her.”  And the little boy would be telling the other kids, “Jesus laid his hands on me and prayed.”  Yes, the children are special.

Jesus called her to come to him and the crippled woman made her way to the front of the synagogue.  How had he seen her? Why did he want her to come to him? Out of all these people, Jesus called her forward.  Oh my goodness! Doesn’t that just make you smile? Did you think, “I would go forward.” ?  Would you feel special? Then Jesus HEALED her.  He put his hands on her.  And she stood tall.  Jesus cared enough that he healed her.  Talk about special.

John the Baptist baptized Jesus and the heaven opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove.  The dove landed on Jesus’ shoulder.  John the Baptist must have been feeling special.  I mean, he had been chosen to baptize Jesus.  He was special.  (And, I bet, very humble.).

Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love: with him I am well pleased.”  And Jesus hears his Father say he is pleased with him.  What would it have been like to hear God say He is pleased with him? If the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes, I am sure Jesus’s heart grew 6 sizes or 99 sizes or 1,247 sizes that day.  Jesus was special in his Father’s eyes.

Are you special?  YOU ARE VERY SPECIAL!

God knit you in your mother’s womb.

God knows the number of hairs on your head.

In God’s eyes, you are precious.

God gave His only Son that you could have eternal life.

Never, to repeat..  NEVER forget how special you are to God.  The Bible tells you over and over how special you are.

Now back to the start of this blog.  Have you ever asked a loved one or friend, “Do you know how special you are?”

Give it a shot.

90 SECONDS

I want you to look at a clock for 90 seconds.  (Do the exercise before you read!)  Did you have trouble focusing for that long?  Did it seem like a short time or a long time?  What can be done in 90 seconds?

An email can be sent or a recap of a business presentation made in less than 90 seconds.  Many business decisions happen quickly.

90 seconds can be a long time, when a child is waiting for you to get off the phone.  Or when nature calls and the minister is on a roll.

Why am I using 90 seconds?  I heard an interview with Yael Eckstein, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and she talked about getting into bomb shelters.  The goal is to get in the shelter in 90 seconds.  (If you did not do the 90 second exercise, do it now.)  In Israel, there are bomb shelters everywhere.  But 90 seconds?  90 seconds to get out of the grocery store.  To get away from the gas station.  And then she said, “Which child’s seat belt do you unbuckle?  Which child do you save?”

Monday was Veterans Day and we honored and thanked all who served.  How often did a veteran think 90 seconds was a long time?  Which was worse:  90 seconds of noise or 90 seconds of quiet?

90 seconds can be an eternity when waiting in the emergency room.  90 seconds……..

Sometimes, you have a lot more than 90 seconds to make decisions and things still do not go as planned.  I have a friend, in Florida, who had more than 90 seconds to make decisions on what to protect from the hurricanes.  The first thing he protected was his wife.  He made sure she was out of storm area.  After the storm, he saw almost everything was lost. 

I had a hard time deciding if I should write this.  It is not a feel good blog.  But life is not always easy.  Life gives us hard choices and some of those choices do not come with hours or weeks to make a decision.  Often, hard choices have to be made in seconds.

But there are choices you can make now instead of waiting until you only have 90 seconds.  Make the choice to believe in a risen Savior.  A Savior who died for you.  A Savior who will take your confessed sins and nail them to the Cross.  A Savior who will give you grace, mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Make the choice now and a loving God will help you through the hardship and give you strength to make the 90 second decisions.

 

JUST CALL HIM YOGI

If you thought of Yogi Bear, you thought wrong.  Yogi Bear picked up picnic baskets.  Bill is picking up trash.  In our retirement community, Wednesday is the day we have to have our trash bags out for pick up.  Needing something to do, hubby volunteered to help.  Now each Wednesday, he tosses bags of trash and recycling onto the trailer.  And now I call him Yogi.

You see, when we first moved onto the farm, there was no weekly trash pick-up.  There was Yogi.  We rented a dumpster and twice a month, Yogi would come empty it.  Yogi was a big guy.  He wore bib overalls.  He had a smile that made your day.  He always had time to talk, but he never told stories about what anyone had in their trash.  I guess his motto was “what is in the trash, stays in the trash.”

Yogi did like to tell stories on himself.  I love the one about him owing a bit of back taxes.  He said one day the sheriff showed up at his door and gave him a ride to the county jail.  Seemed like those back taxes were going to be a bit of a problem.  The IRS agent was there with formal papers and they were going to give Yogi free lodging.  The process began.

“Please empty your pockets.”  Being a gentle man, Yogi complied and I am sure he was having a good talk with the IRS agent as he reached into the first pocket.  For those of you who have never worn bib overalls, you need to know that they have more than two pockets.  There are at least seven pockets.  Yogi took items out of the first pocket.  Included with a few folded papers, there was a bit of money.  The IRS agent immediately took the money.

Yogi took items out of the second pocket, which included a bit of money.  The IRS agent also took that money.  Yogi took items out of the third pocket which included a bit—- yup —- a bit of money.  Are you getting the idea?  I am sure that by now, more than one county deputy was enjoying this show.  They all knew Yogi.  They watched, along with the county sheriff and the IRS agent, as Yogi emptied one pocket after another.  You are smiling aren’t you and you can imagine what happened next.

The IRS agent started counting the money.  When he got to the amount Yogi owed, he stopped counting and had him sign a paper.  Then Yogi started putting everything back in his pockets.  Everyone was happy.  The IRS agent had his money.  The deputies were giggling as they went back to work.  The sheriff shook Yogi’s hand and they talked for a bit.

Everyone was happy except Yogi.  No, he wasn’t upset about the money.  He was upset because the sheriff said he couldn’t give him a ride home.

One day I was in the grocery store, concentrating on my list, when someone ran into my cart.  Looking up, there stood Yogi, grinning from ear to ear.  We talked a minute and then I asked him, “Yogi, I was talking to a neighbor and found out you raised the monthly rate.  But our bill is still the same.  Why didn’t our bill go up?” He grinned even bigger and said, “Because I like you.”

And I liked Yogi.  He was honest and fair.  He loved people.  He enjoyed life.  He drove a trash truck.  And he smiled.

Now I have my own Yogi.  I wonder if I should check his bib overall pockets.

 

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At church, we have talked about people being upset because Jesus was hanging out with tax collectors, sinners, and all sorts of common people.  They would be mortified to see Jesus sit down with the trash man.  BUT, I know one thing: Jesus would have enjoyed sitting down with Yogi.  And I bet they would have talked, laughed, and smiled.

 

THE LOST BOOK

I know it is in the house somewhere!  I just know it, but….there is that word “but” again.  But, we cannot find it.  Hubby even helped me look.  (Women, that shows I really was trying to find it if I asked him to help.  It is a known scientific fact the men cannot find something that is right in front of them.)

It is not exactly a book.  A booklet really.  Small —- You see, I like to experiment with cake mixes.  I think I have told you that before and admitted that some of the combinations did not go together.  Some were complete fails and could not even be helped by a scoop of ice cream.  This booklet was about using cake mixes to make fantastic cakes.  Wow!  Recipes right up my alley.

To make it even better, it was in a free stack.  I picked it up and said, “You are going home with me little booklet.”  I know the booklet made it home because I distinctly remember sitting in my favorite reading chair and perusing (50 cent word!) the recipes.  That is the last time the booklet was seen.

We searched the chair.  Nope.  We searched the book stand.  Nope.  We searched the kitchen cabinets.  Nope.  We searched the storage room/pantry.  Nope.  THAT BOOKLET WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!!!  I searched everywhere ….  twice more.

When I think of the time I spent looking for that booklet, a free booklet, I began to picture a scripture:

(Jesus answered) ““Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.  Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous person who do not need to repent. ”                 Luke 15:4-7

If I will search, not only one time, but two and then three times, for a booklet that had no value and was placed on the free table, think how Jesus feels when one of his sheep is lost.

I like to make verses in the Bible personal:

Suppose I have a hundred sheep and Mary is lost.  I will leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after her until I find her.  And when I find Mary, I will put my arms around her and we will go home.  Then I will call my friends and neighbors (believers) and say, “Rejoice with me; I have found Mary.  She is home!”

If I would become lost, Jesus would say, “Not on my watch.  I will find Mary and will bring her home.”

And that just makes my heart fill up with JOY!!!