Gratitude

On Saturday evening, our normally very hot tap water got even hotter.  It was nearly boiling coming out of the tap.  I didn't think much about it until the next morning, when I was almost done my shower and realized the water wasn't very hot.  My poor husband had even less hot water.  By the time he was done his shower, there was no hot water.  Later that afternoon, there was still no hot water.  So Miles went downstairs and did a few things like flipped the breaker and reset the water heater, but to no avail.  We had no hot water. 

Miles was going to be gone all day the next day, and he wouldn't have an opportunity to look at the water heater until Tuesday.  I was frustrated, but knew that I had other options for the morning. It was so inconvenient to go to the gym before work though!  I prayed, "God, would you please fix our water heater?  We don't have the time or the money to deal with it this week." (not that there is ever a week that we have time or money to deal with it :)).

Monday morning we had no hot water, so I went to work out and get a hot shower at the gym.  I was grateful for that option.  I was reminded that every time something goes wrong with our house and I'm inconvenienced, I remember my friends who are serving overseas and don't have regular water or electricity.  I prayed for them a few times throughout the day.  I went to Target where the cashier politely responded to my "how was your day?" with the same question.  Well honestly the entire day was a bit ridiculous, but I just said, "Fine, except we don't have any hot water at our house."  But being reminded of my friends who live in a country that has more water per capita than anywhere else in the world, but they don't have the infrastructure to support it (meaning they often don't have water at all), I added, "But at least I have running water."  The cashier responded, "That is true.  What a good way to look at it."

So I went home trying to remember that I need to be more grateful then I am.  I look at our kitchen counters covered with dishes bkz we can't wash them, and I think, "What would Trichelle (one of our overseas friends) do?"  Well, she'd boil water to wash them in.  So I put the teapot on the stove.  I was rearranging the dishes, so I could create the most efficient environment for washing the dishes.  I got something on my finger, so I turned on the tap to wash it off out of habit.  THE WATER WAS HOT!!!  God fixed our water heater!  Thanks God!

As I reflected back on the previous day or so, I was reminded how I take things for granted, and how much less stressed I was when I just accepted my situation and did the best I could with it.  God doesn't always work that way, but I'm so grateful that He did.  He is the Giver of all good gifts (James 1:17).

Security

I'm a security addict. I was raised that way. "Always have a back up plan." The problem with this philosophy, is that you can't control much. The more that you try to control, the more stressed out you become because things happen that no one can do anything about.

This month I've been rereading Who I am in Christ by Neil Anderson; probably my favorite book next to Scripture. If you haven't read it, you really need to. Actually, it comes from Victory Over the Darkness also by Neil Anderson, so you should read that first to get the full picture. Today I read about "I Am Secure." This chapter reminded me how much I try unsuccessfully to make my life secure. I need a job that pays more. Maybe I should sell this, and sell that, and purchase this or that. Maybe I should put my money here or there, or move here or there. It is quite stressful, especially when you can't get it to work like you think it should. And trust me . . . when God wants to remind you that He is in control not you, none of those things will work out.

Today, I'm going to move into my new office. I'm no longer a counselor by profession, and I'm quite excited about that. I will still be in the field of psychology though . . . a psychology teacher. I'm very excited to empty our home office of all of my work office stuff so I can clean both places! :) This transition keeps running through my mind as I'm contemplating my security. It is a tenured position if I choose to go that route. It is a pretty secure position as long as I don't do anything that breaks any serious rules in the next few years. How important is tenure though? Tenure is great, but I shouldn't put alot of stock into it bkz my security can't lay in my job. God is my security. I need to remember this always.

I hope that I can remember that for today, that will be the first victory. I have some short term memory problems when it comes to truth bkz Satan is always coming in distracting me from the truth. So today is the goal . . . God is my security, not my job, my husband, my health, my education . . . just God.

Childlike Faith pt. 2

Above is my oldest sister and 2 her granddaughters. The girls were pretty excited about this gift of a marble roller. They played with it for a long time. They never gave a gift to anyone else. They never questioned whether they were worthy of the gift. They just excitedly accepted the gift & lived in the happiness that that gift offered.

Children have always been dependent, so they just receive without question. Jesus even accepted gifts without question. As an infant, He was given gold, frankincense, and myrrh. As an adult, He was anointed by an extremely expensive perfume from a lady demonstrating how much she loved Him. His disciples spent three years of their life following closely after Him. Mary sat at Jesus feet and adored Him. He just accepted these gifts of love without question.

How well do you accept gifts? Do you tell people that you don't want their charity? Do you tell people that you can buy it yourself? Do you tell God that you are too guilty to accept His grace? You aren't too guilty. His grace is big enough.

Childlike Faith pt. 3

Here is a picture of my husband with our 4 year old grand niece. She completely trusts Miles not to drop her. This is the kind of trust we need to have.

Children by nature trust. Unfortunately, we have to teach them not to trust some people, and they learn not to trust bkz they get hurt along the way. But I love to watch most young children trust.

Jesus trusted His Father so much, that He laid His life in His hands. "Abba, Father," He said. "everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will." Mark 14:36 (NIV)

Our doubts stand in the way of us having an intimate relationship with our Father. We question why He allows things to happen or why He doesn't answer our prayers like we believe that they should be answered. Who are we to question His plan? We need to trust Him . . . intimately & completely. Sure we are going to have questions bkz we aren't God. We aren't going to be able to comprehend why He allows certain things or whatever we don't understand. If we completely understood God, then He would cease to be God.

We are called to trust Him or to believe in Him. "...Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved..." Acts 16:31 NASB. This isn't intellectual assent, but a trust. Faith is active. This means trusting Him to do and be what He says He will do and be. Living life in the freedom that is ours.

It isn't an unhealthy dependence but a childlike trust in Someone Who is completely deserving of our trust. Will you trust Him?

Childlike Faith pt. 1

I'm still reading Reaching for the Invisible God by Philip Yancey, and I still love what I'm learning. He relates part of a message by Frederick Buechner that I want to use for 3 posts to help grasp it all well. This is the first post. To the right, you see a classroom of Chinese children taking in every word that their teacher is saying. They believe that what she is saying is true.

And He said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change & become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3 NIV

What exactly is He saying here? Why would I want to be like a child? We tell adults not to act like children, and yet He tells us to become like children. Are we wrong? Buechner differentiates between childish and childlike. Here are 3 childlike (not childish) traits that we need to have.

Children have faith. When we exercise radical faith, some people might tell us, "You aren't being logical." Or "Think about what you are doing! It doesn't make sense!" We don't say that to children, we just write it off as them being kids. They don't know any better. But we need to adopt some their faith that is grounded in the Word.

The centurion approached Jesus about healing his servant. The paralytic's friends lowered him through a rooftop. Peter stepped out onto the water. Disciples recognized Jesus who was standing among them to be the same Jesus that died on the cross a few days earlier. Most adults would never do these things. "He is too ill, besides Jesus doesn't have time to come heal your servant." "Are you crazy? Lower me through a roof?!?!" "You can't walk on water!" "I saw Him die with my own eyes! It can't be Jesus!"

These are some instances that Jesus commends their faith. These are the kinds of things that children wouldn't think twice about doing. I hold out little hope for change in some things. I settle for what is instead of hope in what He could do. I don't believe God will heal me, but only make me stronger through the struggle. (Though this last one could be true, it isn't necessarily the truth for all situations.)

We need to have faith that defies reason. I have a friend that defies reason with their faith. I sometimes wonder about them, and inwardly laugh at the ridiculousness of their claims. But after seeing what I've seen through their faith, I don't laugh very much anymore. I catch myself and remember, "Well . . . maybe." But I need to take it further, and pray confidently and in faith, trusting Him to carry out His will. Maybe my faith will change something . . . even me!

Forced to Meditate

I am so busy . . . doing nothing. I work a job to pay for my stuff which truly has no value. I have a great job that gives me summers off, and I waste those summers. This summer, we've been traveling quite a bit for Miles' work which means it isn't necessarily fun bkz his schedule is fairly regulated, though I enjoy traveling a great deal with my husband. This hotel isn't much to look at from the outside, but it is completely renovated inside, and actually really nice. So today as I sit in a hotel room in OK waiting for the pool to open and my husband to come back for lunch, I have a lot of time to think.
So it is Central Time Zone, so I'm awake way earlier than I normally am with nothing to do. So I made my way over to a walking track for about an hour, but I still have an hour until the pool opens. What should I do with my time? I could watch tv, Heaven knows there are enough channels to find something to watch even if it is Day 58 (or whatever day it is) of the oil spill. What a waste of time . . .

I had my "routine" quiet time earlier this morning, but I decided to read for a little longer. I know that meditation is not my forte, so God is giving me lots of down time to work on it. 11 hours in the car yesterday, and hours upon hours for the next few days. I might as well try to find a good way to use my down time. I like that God is forcing me to learn to meditate bkz this morning I read a very familiar verse that showed me the benefits of meditating on Him: He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. Ps. 1:3

Meditation is worth working on. Teach me Lord!

King of Kings & Lord of Lords

"...a friend in Japan wrote that he has understood the proper spirit of prayer more by listening to the Japanese Christians than from the teaching American missionaries. 'We know how to come to God as humble servants with boldness,' he says. 'You don't have to tell Japanese people about hierarcy. When they learn that God is the Lord they immediately know all the implications of that. They know who's boss and that is never questioned. When they pray they use language that combines the highest form of speech and the most intimate phrases of love and devotion. When they ask for something they ask with true humility, knowing they have no right to what they're asking except that God gives them the very right to ask and promises to answer.'" (p. 130, Reaching for the Invisible God, Yancey)

This paragraph really grabbed my attention. It is interesting how living in a republic (non-pure democracy) we miss out on what the Japanese (and many other cultures) understand automatically about God. Our culture tells us that we can say whatever we want and if we don't like what the president says than we can be disrespectful (if we so choose). Try that in a monarchy or other hierarchical society. It won't work out very well. We are taught to be independent and think for ourselves. I'm not saying that all of these things are horrible, but it doesn't help us understand God any better.

God is the King of Kings & Lord of Lords. He is the ultimate authority. You don't question the authority figure. You aren't disrespectful to Him. I like the quote about being humble servants with boldness. It made me think of Esther, and how she knew that the Xerxes was the King as well as her husband. He could kill her if she went before him without his permission. I know that God could kill me if He wanted, but I know I can go boldly before Him because He loves me. Here is the key difference. Earthly kings don't love their subjects like God does. We have direct access to a God & King Who loves us deeply.

It shines a whole new light on Who He is . . .