Through the Seasons

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

~Joseph Campbell

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Last night I got myself a little pocket notebook (with lots of pages) where I could write down the verses that God uses to speak to me each morning during my quiet time and then I can carry it around with me everywhere I go.  I thought what I’d do is either memorize or meditate on all or one of the verses for that day. 

Today I wrote two down out of Acts.  The first one I have memorized now:

Acts 3:19, “Therefore, repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

The other one I don’t plan to memorize but simply let it sink in and spin around in my mind.  Here it is:

Acts 4:13, “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”

I love that one. 

The only problem is that I have switched Bibles for the time being and they are different translations.  That means some of the verses I have memorized will be in NKJV and others will be in NASB and I won’t remember which are which.  I really hate that.  Hmmm…  Oh well, I’ll just have to get over it.

Have a great day.  I hope one or both of those verses touched someone else too!

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….as if I didn’t feel silly enough learning from a dog the first time, here I go again…..

Today at lunch I walked in the front door and my dog, Teddy, was waking up from his slumber on the couch.  He got up and came towards me….halfway….then he stopped.  I walked the rest of the way toward him and said, “You wanted me to come to you, didn’t you?  That’s how you know I love you.  I came to you.”

That hit me like a ton of bricks.  Isn’t it awesome how God can use such a simple, ordinary moment in time to teach you?  That’s how I know God loves me too.  He came to me.  He left heaven and came to earth to relate to me and then to die on a cross so that He could be with me now and forever.  Not only did He come to me in that way but He has pursued me throughout my lifetime.  He’s persistent and unrelenting in His love for me and in His desire to relate to me.  And He feels the same about you!  How could we not fall head over heels in love with Him??

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  ~Romans 5:8

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Yep, you read that right.  God really does use my little poodle to teach me things about Him.  (That didn’t sound as crazy until I actually typed it out…  ) 

The other night Theo (the aforementioned poodle) was on my lap and Jonathan got up to take the dogs for a walk.  My other dog, Teddy, got off the couch and went to the door.  That sent Theo into a frenzy!  He knew what was happening and wanted to make sure he wasn’t left behind!  I held onto him while Jonathan was getting everything ready.  Theo was going BERSERK!  He was squirming, squealing, whining, and just absolutely beside himself.  I started trying to calm him down and to get him to realize that he would get to go out, everything would be fine, and just to be patient while Jonathan was getting everything prepared.

Hmmm…..  That’s when it hit me.  Sometimes I see something in the future and I squirm and squeal and whine (sometimes literally)….”let me go, let me do that, let me rush ahead, I’m impatient, I want to go, I don’t want to be left here, I want to get there, hurry up, I can’t wait, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go…”  Now, have I gotten any closer to that future goal?  Nope.  I’m still standing in the same place and the only thing that’s different is that I’m in turmoil.  And I’ve lost that moment completely.  Something beautiful could have been happening around me but I sure wouldn’t have known it.  I was only trying to rush ahead into the future…in vain.  Meanwhile, God is in complete control.  He has my future in His hands and He’s preparing it and getting it ready for my entrance.  All I have to do is stay in line with him step by step.  I can gracefully, calmly proceed ahead instead of pushing and charging like a bull not getting there any faster.

Well, the poodle hasn’t learned and still gets way too anxious when everything’s going to be fine…even if he doesn’t see it.  I hope I’m smarter than a poodle although sometimes I wonder .  By the grace of God He continues to teach me and stay with me at my pace until I learn one lesson at a time – and sometimes one lesson over and over.  He’s good like that.

We love our God for His patience, love, and care, don’t we?  No one on earth compares to Him!

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Colossians 1:29,

For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

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Get out and VOTE tomorrow!!  PRAY for the elections!  Make a difference! 

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“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had milk and cookies about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”          ~Barbara Jordan

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I am generally an anxious person.  Worrying makes me feel…..well, besides awful….it makes me feel…..like I’m doing something……like I’m in control somehow.  Of course, I’m not in control which is the source of my anxiety in the first place, but I trick myself into the illusion of being in control so that I can cope.  Letting go is hard because – gulp – then anything could happen…and I just can’t have that.  I read a quote once that said, “Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.”  Well, I guess that’s true.  More importantly God said to be anxious for nothing.  Nothing!?!  Doesn’t He know what I’m going through?!?  Um.  Yes.  He does.

So, today I woke up with the immediate thought to what it entails:  a competency evaluation, a test, and completion of an audio project.  The anxiety began right away.  I realized I couldn’t keep doing this to myself but somehow I couldn’t let go of it.  I’ve gotten to the point now, in my old age, that I think maybe this is just who I am.  Maybe I’m just an anxious person and that’s the way it’s always going to be.  But wait.  God says to be anxious for nothing.  So that eliminates that explanation (justification?).  I sat down and prayed about it.  Then I realized this was just too big for me so I sent an email out to my prayer partners. 

Remarkably, my anxiety was almost 100% gone before I even left for class!  I sailed through my competency and at that point all of my worrying had ceased.  I finished my audio project with time to study for my test.  During my studying I was so calm I almost fell asleep.  I prayed about the test and stopped studying.  I didn’t spend a fraction of the time I usually spend studying.  I haven’t sat and worried about this test for a week like I usually do.  I just walked into the classroom this afternoon and calmly took my test – with no adrenaline pumping through my veins.

So how do I think I did on my test?  This is the amazing part!  I did just as good on that test today as I do when I worry – but I didn’t adversely affect my health in the process. 

Let me get this straight……  I can perform just as well without worrying…and at the same time preserve my health and enjoy life?  Now wouldn’t that mean that the worrying didn’t help me to perform better?  What a revelation.  All that effort wasted on nothing but making myself sick.

God answered those prayers today in a big way.  He showed me I don’t have to (and He doesn’t want me to) live my life as a worry-wart.  My anxiety is conquerable!  He not only showed me He is more powerful than my worries and able to handle all my cares.  He also showed me that He CARES about what I’m anxious about – and – He cares that I’m anxious in the first place and wants to take that from me.

God is so amazing! 

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We are now on week 8 of our 14 week training.  Last week we finally got to begin RECORDING!  After all the hours of lectures this was a wonderful change of pace! 

We took a script and recorded different speaking parts, music, and sound effects.  This week we have been uploading our recordings into the computer.  Today, Jonathan and I both finished editing our projects.  It was so rewarding to hear the final product. 

It makes me think of the people we’re going to reach with the skills God is teaching us.  To take a written script that the majority of people wouldn’t be able to read and transform it into a fluid audio file complete with music and sound effects is awesome!  That simple script has come alive now!  Finally I can tangibly see how this could touch people – especially those who can’t read.  To take the written Word of God that is foreign to them and bring it to life so that it transforms them and gives them hope……that ignites my passion and helps me keep going! 

And we won’t only be putting the Word of God into audio/visual form.  We’ll also provide health and sanitation information based on the needs in the community.  It’s all just too exciting for words!

Now I must go study for a test……… 

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