CREATURE OF HABIT

Creatures of habit…..man is that the truth.  Many of us think we are not….but I got a big dose of habit thrown at me last night.  Rick had to install a new hard drive for our computer.  The old one was about to die on us.  So you know how it goes….get your files saved and then get a new one installed.

Now I am not computer or tech savvy….I mean at all!  This is a foreign land, language and again….I will admit, a creature of habit when it comes to the computer.  I like the familiar, I like knowing I can sit right now and send an email or get to where I want or find a file.  I can’t do that right now.  I’m and old dog having to learn a new trick and as much as I hate it….I know it will be good for me in the long run.

I’ll have to get out of my routine, my rut and learn something new and different.  I might fight it some but it’s one of those “just have to pull up the pants” and learn it all over again.  As a matter of fact, I had to search and find the program I could even write my thoughts out.  It’s even different, but I found it and for this old gal…that’s something.

As much as I hate to admit that I am a creature of habit, it’s the truth and no getting around it folks.  We all are.  Stop and think about your routine, the TV shows we watch, the meals we eat, which way we drive to work and back, how we do laundry, the list goes on and on.  We all in this life are creatures of liking the familiar, the road we know is smooth and less bumpy.

Change….it comes, even if we don’t want it to.  Nothing stays the same.  We either go with the flow or we drown at times.  I started to get upset a bit when Rick couldn’t get the addresses back into our address file….they are saved but hard to get to right now.  He will get it corrected….I have faith in him as he loves this computer stuff.  I know I will get the hang of it.  I’ll learn more and more as the days go….and I will soon be able to see that I once again am a comfortable “creature of habit” with the new computer.

PUZZLE PIECES

My little Grand-daughter is in to puzzles. Not just the little easy wooden ones....she's starting to like a bit more challenge. She's at the age she sees the shapes, colors and edges and begins to fit the pieces together. When she does, we will clap, say "good job" and you can see her smile and her little spirit gets like....I DID IT!

Often times we wish we could step back at this puzzle called life. Our lives seem like we will never get the pieces to fit and just about the time we think it does....we're missing a piece or someone comes along and messes up the pieces or they just don't fit right. We try and try....needing some help because it isn't coming together.

Life's puzzle doesn't always fit how we think it should. Stuff is going to happen. We get frustrated, we can't make it work at times. Just like a child, we have to ask for help. When I have those days....I ask God. He will show me how to make the pieces fit in my life. Just like my Grand-daughter....when I do ask God for help, I can see how it's working out and where this and that fits better in this puzzle called life. I too then can sigh and hear God say...."GOOD JOB, you're getting it."


"I asked the Lord for help, and he answered me. He saved me from all that I feared." (Psalm 34:4 NCV)

THE KEY

For many of us....we live day in and day out. A sub-standard life....we go with the flow, we stay in line, we just make ends meet, we don't veer off to the left or right very often....we just go on in the mundane way we always have for years. Call it a rut, call it being comfortable with less change....call it what you want....but I want more in my life. I want to live!!!

Now I'm not a crazy person by many standards (OK, some will beg to differ)....but I have been known to be a bit daring or crazy at times in my life and try something new or hang over the top of a tall cliff....just to see the view. I'm a big nature freak, as we used to call it back in the day. I love life.
"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains And we never even know we have the key." These are some of the lyrics from the Eagles song....Already Gone. I like this part of that song....as it reminds me that so many are loosing out on being chained....could be your past, could be many things that seem to keep us locked up and heavy with living.

I know the key to happiness. I know the key to living well. I know the key to finding the path I need to be on. I know the key to encouraging others. I know the key to being who I am and why I am here. I know the key to being just me and liking who I am. I have the key. I am lucky, or rather blessed to have understanding that I have that key that unlocks the chains we can so easily put ourselves in. I learned it a long time ago and have used that key to the fullest. God is my KEY. He has unlocked so many things in my chained up life in the past. Will I still get locked up in the future?? I don't know....but this I do know. It doesn't matter when the chains of life try to wrap around me or hook me to the wall.....God is my KEY....and I have no fears of being chained and my peace is all I need. I have the key!

Comfort Food

Comfort food. We all know what that means and to each one of us it holds a special memory, thought, taste. No matter what your favorite comfort food might be.....it's special to each of us in only the way it can be. Similar to a certain song that comes on the radio and when we hear it, we are transported back to a certain time and we can relive it for a few minutes. Same with comfort food. Some of us have several tasty food items we could share but it might not have the same taste to someone else as it does to you....that's what makes it so neat, unique and special to you.

One of mine is just a plain old can biscuit with butter on it....hot of course. It takes me right into my Mom's kitchen and I can see her there....and I'm taking another biscuit and getting under the kitchen table to just have a special place of my own....and enjoy the dripping of the butter. That is a taste I can have anytime I make some canned biscuits and I close my eyes and there is my Mom. There are a few others too, but that one really sends the nostalgic wave over me.

For many of us though.....there are some comfort foods we will no longer have in our lives. I miss my Mom's meatloaf, her chicken and dumplings, her fried chicken. Try as I might....it just doesn't have the same taste as the way my Mom made it. My Dad's kettle beef is another one I miss....now I can go down to Ste. Gen at the Old Brick on Sundays....and it's pretty spot on for the taste. Those old French/German cooks down in the area, still fix it the same as when the settlers settled in that part of Missouri. I'll pass on the liver dumplings though!

Sometimes we can have a handed down recipe and it still doesn't quite have that taste as Mom, Grandma, Dad or someone made. We know we can't taste it the same again. I know one day or hope one day that my kids will miss something I always cooked that they liked. When they come home I try to fix foods that I know they had growing up and will enjoy.....because I know how important it is to have those memories of food you loved....and one day we no longer get to have it anymore and the taste will never be there again.

Comfort....that word that brings peace to our hearts....joy and fond memories and makes us feel good. I get that too when I read certain Bible verses. After all....God's Word is the Bread of Life. Each time I read a verse, it brings me the memories and thoughts of knowing I have a loving God who cares about me and makes sure His word lifts me up and corrects me when needed. I know one thing....comfort food may leave us but God's comfort never will and that is a real COMFORT to me. Here's a good morsel to start with:

" Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)

IN-SUFFICIENT FUNDS

I heard a lady talking the other day telling another lady she went to her ATM machine to withdraw some money and it showed up that there were "insufficient funds". The other lady went on to say she hated when she got a notice from her bank the old fashioned way telling her that her account was overdrawn. 
Believe me....it has happened to most of us at one point or time in our lives. We think we have enough money in the bank to pay for something and sadly....we don't. The account is low or dried out, until we can get more money back in. And usually we owe the bank more money to cover not having enough money in the first place.

It got me to thinking about God and his love. I do some pretty stupid things at times and I can shoot myself low in thinking that I've probably hit the "insufficient funds" of His love towards me. We can get down at times and begin to let the negative thoughts hit us and we say things like...."we're not good enough anymore, how could God love me after all I've done, or one I've heard lately...I can't stand myself, why would He even care about me." All of these things come from Satan....not God.

God's love is like a never ending supply in our bank account of life. We can't exhaust His supply of love for us. If you think you use up all His love today....you'll still have more tomorrow. God will supply more and more today, tomorrow and forever. Jeremiah said that God's love never fails.....it's made fresh every morning. Wow....what a promise and good feeling to know, at least in my life it is, because I love to know that my account will be full when I blow it....when I let him know I'm sorry and ask for Him to forgive me.....the love is still there.

God's compassion is fresh every morning and I love knowing I will never reach the point where His supply of love is in-sufficient or exhausted. He will never run out of love for me. This means you can never blow it so bad that God will leave or abandon you. He's the God of second, third, so on and so on chances. If you feel uncertain that God can forgive you for the things you've done in your past....just ask Him to forgive and help you to replace your fears with some faith. If you ask Him...He will forgive.....that supply of love never runs out.

"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT)

ENVY....don't stay long!

Envy has no end. So much around us that we see, hear and then we wish we had it. Many of us see others prosper and have so much when we can barely scrape and make ends meet each month. We look and see and think, why do some have it so easy?

Envy is a disease in our soul and you can ignore it, but it's going to surface. It will consume you and soon you can't enjoy your life. It robs you of your peace.
I can say....I try to move on when I begin to feel myself wishing for this or that. We all envy something at times. However, I try to drop it quickly and instead stop and take a moment to see all the blessings I already have.

No one is perfect, but some of the things I have envied, ended up being something or someone's life that had tons of heartaches attached with it. It wasn't all cut out to be great and the grass wasn't all that greener.....just green with envy.

I pray daily that envy is kept checked in my life....because my life is God's gift and He gave it to me.....so I know although I might not have everything I want that I see....He know's what is best for me....and for that I am very blessed and thankful.

"Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." (Galatians 5:26 NIV)

LIGHT EXPOSE

I don't know about someone else but I do know myself. It amazes me of how ignorant I am about myself at times. I don't always recognize the envy, laziness or pride or other issues...when it's right there for me to see. However, God sees it and He will begin to work on me to help me look deep inside.

I have to admit, it takes courage to take a hard look inward at ourselves. We don't always want to or like to see the flaws and habits we have become. It's easier to not turn on a light inside....and let the darkness just be so no one, even ourselves see how we really are.

I'm thankful though, that God sees me better than I truly am. Being honest and upfront here....I'm not worthy at all for Him to love me at times, yet He thinks so. When I am examining my own soul.....it's slow but God will bring things up to the light there in the dark places I have pushed down and He helps me to see and understand that He can take all that darkness and let it be changed into a beautiful light.

Is it hard at times, yes. But I would rather shine than be stuck in the dark.

"The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive." (Proverbs 20:2 NLT)