Collecting

I posted the pic of the old bottles and many people are like me….we like to COLLECT things.  I have old bottles, platters, etc.  You know I like to collect four leaf clovers.  Collections of old things are all over my house.  Ask any of my friends and family….my house is not IKEA!  Collecting sometimes hold a special memory for some or that bit of nostalgia.

We all collect some things, even if it’s not tangible things.  Some of us wish we could get rid of some of the stuff we collect.  I’m talking about collecting, regrets, un-forgiveness, anger, worries or many bad memories of things we should dump.

I do dump bad thoughts, feelings, regrets, anger and at times….I’ve found I’ve collected a new stash.  It’s a work in progress for us.  The main thing is to stop collecting negative stuff, anything that begins to bring us down or cause us to not be happy.

God’s Word calls on us to think on good things.  As hard as it is at times to do….keep trying, with His help.  When I do let go and look to God it’s so much easier to let go of those bad things I’ve collected in my heart.  Not all collecting is bad….but when the negative comes…..don’t stash it in your heart.  Collect the good things and trash the bad thoughts.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”  (Philippians 4:8 NLT) 

Hand We're Dealt

My past is just that.....PAST! It did help shape me into who I am today. Yes, I have regrets, we all do. But I can't go back and change some of the things that happened to me....I can't change a thing, except how I dwell or think about the past now. I just choose to not live there anymore. We have to accept the fact that somethings will never go back to how they used to be.

I can't change the cards I was dealt either. I have just learned to play my hand to the best I can and not throw my cards in just yet. From my past, I've learned what is important and I try to capture all the good times I can and learn from all the negative stuff that came my way and not repeat it. Grow and learn from it and get rid of those cards for sure.

So starting today.....I forget what's gone, appreciate what still remains in my hands.....and look forward to the next cards I will draw for my life. Live for those moments that other people don't notice and when you get to thinking about life, remember this: no amount of guilt can change the past and no amount of worry can change the future. If you want to heal from old wounds.....stop touching it.

"Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead," (Philippians 3:13 NCV)

CRYING OUT

I don’t know about the rest of you but seems like just a few days will go by and there are things that hit around me hard at times and I know that EVERYONE, even those who say they have deep faith, will face some disappointments, failures, sorry and loss. It’s part of living. Some might try to fill their time up with just plain old business to keep from dealing with issues, but when the crap hits the fan we all know it doesn’t distribute evenly. We are going to get hit with some issues, stress, loss and fears at times that hit us so low.

All of us have goals that somehow remain just out of our reach. Every one of us will suffer temporary setbacks, some that seem to go on forever in our lives too. We will even have folks who turn their backs on us at times and we can either become bitter, angry or become a recluse at times.

Many of us will have a “desert” experience too. Where you feel so dried up inside and that can even mean spiritually dry as well. Let’s be honest, we can even struggle with our faith at times. Believe me, because I have at times too. But in those seasons….it’s ok to cry out loud and bare your soul to the Lord. God is there and He is waiting and ready to hear us when we cry out. He always listens to me and helps me get back to where I need to be, so I know He will hear you too

I so often feel like David, in the Psalms, when he cried out in distress to the Lord. I have been in those shoes as many of you have been before or are going through it right now. Know that it’s OK to cry out to the Lord during these times, because He is there and will hear you. Just hang on!!!

"In my distress I screamed to the Lord for his help. And he heard me from heaven; my cry reached his ears" (Psalm 18:6 NLT)

Autumn Season

Season of autumn.  Summer has gone and now the leaves have changed, falling to the earth and bringing the artist out in all of us as our eyes focus on the beauty of the colors all around. Autumn, that time of the year when crops are being harvested and things are starting to slow down a bit and so in our lives, we feel the chill in the air and know that this season also brings a time of "thankfulness."

As I walked around looking at the leaves on the ground, I noticed the textures and lines, it brought to mind of how many of us are like a leaf.  No two just alike.  We all have different personalities, gifts, talents and styles.  It makes us one of a kind and so unique.  For many of us we blend in too well with all the others and never get noticed, unless someone takes the time to slow down and really see who we are.   I like to watch people and I notice the beauty in others and I am thankful for every person who has crossed the path in my life. 

Many of us are in that season of autumn in our own lives. Sometimes writers use the analogy of autumn as the time in a person’s life when they are growing older.  I can say that I am closer to the autumn in my own life.  However, sometimes the young, green leaves have been stripped from the tree at an early season.  Some are dealing with the loss of loved ones, illnesses that have slowed us down, aches and pains that remind us how fragile we all can be at any point in our life and not just in autumn. 

The leaves will slowly decay and be gone, just like people in our lives and new leaves will appear in the spring just like new friends. But for now, it's a beautiful reminder to me of how so unique each and every one of us are and to be thankful for the many blessed people we have in our life.   Autumn is here....get out and see the beauty around you and in others before it’s gone.

"Everything on earth has its own time and its own season." (Ecclesiastes 3:1 CEV)

East to West

I used to know this girl in the photo.  I look at this picture and I see a ghost of a girl who once was not afraid to share or speak her mind, at least to others, maybe not so much to her mother out of respect and fear of being smacked into the next week.  I see a girl who liked to go off and think and dwell on thoughts of God and try to find some meaning to her life.  Of knowing who she was and not afraid to let others know she didn’t bend to their ways.  Little did this girl know in the picture that there would come a day she would bend, fold and go off a path she swore she never would. 

As I mentioned, yesterday, about being on zigzag paths and not always able to walk a clear and straight line….there came a time this girl listened to the voices that called and begged her to just come dance to a tune she had never heard or been a part of before.  All the while, deep in her heart of hearts, she still clung to what she knew was true and although she wishes she could remove that hike she took on a bad path, she can’t change it or remove it.  God did though and never let me go and this old gal is thankful when I look back and where I could have ended up.  No way did I deserve Him to save me or forgive me, but He did.

Funny how we all can beat ourselves up at times over things done in the past.  We can’t help but see a picture of ourselves and floods of memories are pulled off the back burner of our minds and some tend to make us feel good and others stir up thoughts we wish we could remove and never taste again.  I’m so thankful that God removes our sins as far as the east is to the west when we come to Him and confess them.   I might not be able to remove the thoughts when they pop in my head but God says He will forgive and forget.  Someone might ask, “How far is east from the west?”  And I like the answer I read one time: “From one nail scarred hand to the other, outstretched.”  When Christ died on the cross, He removed the bad path that girl in the photo once took and I thank Him and I’m so grateful He did.

^“He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.  He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”  (Psalm 103:10-12 NLT)

HAD TO HAVE IT!

I chuckle at the State Farm commercial where the lady is saying she saw this suede couch and JUST HAD TO HAVE IT….then it switches to the crooks in her living room talking about the same couch and when the crook saw it….HE HAD TO HAVE IT….it was suede!  It got me thinking about everybody wants something.  No matter how old or young we are….everybody wants something.  Today we are bombarded with the newest, latest, and greatest of stuff that says our life won’t be good if we don’t have it.  We won’t be with it or up to date.  I just got a new alert on my cell phone of an update……and if I don’t download the new update then my phone won’t be up to the latest.  Trends, fads, and styles all come and go and in between we all want it!

Sadly for many we find that what we thought we wanted was not what we needed.  It didn’t fill the hole or void in our life and we went on to finding something else or someone else new.  In the wake we have loads of regrets too.  The should have, could haves and wish we hadn’t done.  For some we found out the very thing we thought was going to be best, turned into the worst thing we ever had or done.  Maybe trying to keep up with others has left us in a storm of debt that we’re trying to stay floating and are slowly being covered up by the wave of over spending.  We ended up with something bad and not so green looking after all and we’re left with hurt and pain.

I’m not coming down of folks for getting things as I buy things too but we all need to be reminded to not get caught up in “the trying to keep up with the Jones’s” game.  When we don’t stop and see all the things we are already blessed with, that is when we start thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and if not careful we get to a point where we are truly unhappy.  Always good to be reminded now and then to be thankful for what we already have.  

^“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”  (Philippians 4:11-13 NLT)

Light Matters

Light is so cool.....and if you are an artist or photographer, you know how important the light has to be for the outcome of your work. I love the look of the early morning sunlight as it comes in through a window or door and adds a touch of amber or that fresh start to things. However....sometimes the light hits in just the right way and it will show a ton of small particles of dirt and dust on my doors, tables, etc. I could have sworn I had just dusted it and thought it was really cleaned off. To my surprise, the sunlight was showing me that what I thought was clean, was not.

I got to thinking about LIGHT....and we all know how just a strike of a match in a really dark room can illuminate enough to see and find your way around. Some in the science world will tell you that holding up a white piece of paper in the sunbeam, you won't see all the white dust particles in front of the white paper....it's not a matter of your eyes adjusting, it's more a matter that the background is bright enough to hide the specks, so they don't stand out. But when it's a bit darker and the sunlight comes in....you'll see the specks of dust. The background is darker.

Just like us. We get so used to the little things we do all the time and think nothing of it....we THINK we got it all under control and we are so good and God must really love us and we've not done anything wrong or bad lately and our eyes see us a the white background....and then Jesus steps up as the LIGHT in our darkness....and man....those particles are showing up then. The small things and sometimes big things that we overlook and tend to not let our eyes see and think smugly that we are all cleaned up, when in fact....there's a ton of dirt we are overlooking. God has a way of shining His LIGHT....His SON-LIGHT in to make sure we open our eyes to see the faults and little sins we tend to overlook and yet point out in others. SON-LIGHT will help us to see things better.

"But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible." (Ephesians 5:13 ESV)

Waltzing Leaf

Sitting outside, needing some calm in my heart, the wind picked up and was blowing. As I started watching the leaves being swept from the trees like someone giving the limbs a good shake, I started watching a smaller leaf as it fell. 

Slowly it began to float and flutter, swaying up and down lightly as if in slow motion it seemed to go across the blue sky like a beautiful waltz was playing as it took its last dance toward the ground. It hit me that I just had a special little moment in time to be the one to see that leaf and capture the beauty of its dance in my heart.

How long had that leaf taken to grow back in the early spring? How long had that leaf clung to life through all the rains, summer storms and winds we had over the past months? It had held on…until now and my eyes got to see the wonder of its last dance. I had a special moment that brought a smile to my face as I sat and thought about my life.

God surprises me in the smallest of things. I want to always be aware of them around me and to take notice and not miss out. Just like that leaf, I too have to continue to grow, be strong in the storms as the winds of change in my life will come to buffet against me. I continue to cling to Him daily and one day I will then be like that small leaf and I’ll break free and in that moment of time I will let it all go and just be guided and dance to and fro in a beautiful waltz with my Lord.

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT)

PSALM DAY

Someday……we all hear that.  Some day we will go here, do this, and do that….someday.  Most of are good at saying it but never follow through.  I decided back in 2012 that I was going to do a different kind of someday.  I call it my PSALMS DAY.  I started taking a Psalms….any of them and I challenged myself to read one verse at a time….re-read and then write my thoughts down as to what I felt God was saying to me.  I love the Psalms.  I started a journal….and it amazed me at how God really spoke to my heart through each one but it amazed me more so that I was really going on a journey and letting it speak deeply to my heart.  Have I finished them all….nope?  I don’t do it daily….but try to keep at it each week and sadly some weeks slip by me, but I look forward to reading my Psalms and seeing what God has in store for me, verse by verse and I break it down and apply it to my life.  As I do this….it’s as if God is opening my eyes to how real He is.

Just like we say “someday” and we have good intentions and we don’t always follow through….I find myself feeling bad that I let a day go by and didn’t do or have my someday.  Funny how if we don’t stick with something each day it can soon be a thing of the past and just another SOMEDAY that we will get back to.  So I make it a habit and I remind myself as I know how it felt as a child to have someone tell me that “someday” we will do this and how much I was let down when I didn’t get to do it.  Same thing with God…..He looks forward to my Psalm Days with me.  I miss it too.  He has those appointments with me when I do take time to read his Word.

 

 ^"I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11 New Living Translation)