My One Little Word for 2012 - SIMPLE

I have always been one who had lots of 'things' going on...activities, work, responsibilities, hobbies...lots of things to do!!

As I've said before, some of that comes from just plain being interested in lots of things, and part of it came from staying so busy that I wouldn't have to listen to those voices in my head, the ones that laugh at me, or tell me I'm not good enough, or that God only loves me because He has to, but that He doesn't really.

Well praise be to God, through much work of the Holy Spirit, He has healed and set me free from most of those voices.  Or if they still do come around, I recognize them for what they are and can banish them.

During the last several months, as God has opened my eyes and my heart and showed me what it really means to be close to Him, I find myself somewhat resentful of all my activities and the energy and focus they require.  Go Figure!!!  (My husband would say hallelujah!!)

Ohhh....but that leaves the painful part of this whole thing...what to give up??!!

Before I decide what to give up, I really need to decide what my priorities are going to be for 2012.

So here goes...

1)  God - whatever activities bring me closer to him.

2)  Arlie

3)  Health - physical, mental, and emotional.

4)  Family and Friends

5)  Ministry - Lakeside and First Call Pregnancy Center

So for right now, I'm going to stop.  Because that's really a pretty big list.  But it's smaller than it used to be...:)  And, yay!! Most of them have to do with relationships, not stuff I have to do!!

FINALLY, what a growth spurt for me (spiritually, that is).  To finally learn and really live the fact that relationships are what matters, not what I do.  In fact, it's more about pointing the way to Christ in my relationships - that's KEY!!

You might have noticed that work is not on the list.  Not because it isn't a priority...it is...gotta make a living.  But it's something I do.  There are rarely decisions I have to make...go to work or don't go to work.  I wish I was in that position.

But what I can do is make work a ministry opportunity.  Use it as a place to show the love of Christ and a life lived and decisions made with integrity.

So now that I have my list of priorities in order, I can start filtering all I do through them.  If it doesn't fit into one of those, then I will have to consider long and hard before I say yes.

PS.  You see that I haven't really crossed anything off my list yet...:)) That'll be the next thing.

baby steps...baby steps

Mourning into Joy

Hey, sorry I've been so long without posting anything.  It has been a busy couple of weeks, and my poor brain just can't handle too many things anymore.  I think my days of multi-tasking are long gone...:)) 

If something bad happened to me, I would immediately jump into action...trying to figure out why this happened, and then trying to figure out how to get out of it.  I would expend a lot of energy and rarely make anything better. 

I don't know why bad things happen.  People a lot smarter than me have tried to figure that out and have failed.  But I do know that God never leaves me.  If he's there in the good times, he's there in the bad times too.  I just have to trust him when I can't see what's ahead.

I had the privilege of hearing Germaine Copeland speak a couple of weeks ago.  If you haven’t heard of her before, she is a lovely lady who has written some beautiful books on prayer – Prayers that Avail Much.  She talked about her son (who now works in her ministry) and the troubles he had with drugs.  She talked about how she would pray and pray for him, and eventually she started writing down those prayers and her books started to take shape from there.  She was very matter of fact and even humorous when she talked about the years of struggle, even when he went to jail. 

But all I could think of was the years of pain and hopelessness she must have gone through.  I can’t imagine having to watch your child making bad decisions over and over, destroying his life, and be completely unable to help him.

But out of her pain and her cries to God in her helplessness, God brought great beauty.  First he brought beautiful prayers, prayers that pray Scripture back to God, that have been shared with thousands and thousands of people.  This wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t gone through that pain.  Secondly, he brought her son back to her.  What a precious gift, especially when she may have feared he was gone forever.

I’m becoming convinced that not only must great beauty come from suffering, but the deeper the pain experienced, the greater the beauty that comes from it.

Psalm 56:8 says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (NLT)

Psalm 30:11 says, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.” (NLT)

God promises that he knows every tear that we cry and that he will turn our mourning into joy.  Look for those times when they’ve happened in your life.  Have you experienced great pain, and then something beautiful came out of it?  Maybe a sweeter relationship with God, maybe you were able to help someone else who was going through the same thing, maybe a better understanding of yourself, or others.

God never promises that we won’t suffer, he only promises that he will be with us.  Don’t let those hard times, the pain, the helplessness turn you bitter or cynical.  Know that Jesus is with you and that none of your tears are in vain.

Look at the example that Jesus gives us. How he suffered on the cross to redeem us.  God came to earth to take our place, so that he could have a relationship with me, with you – an intimate love relationship. 

Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (NIV)

That joy set before him is the joy of having a relationship with us. He died to bring us home and that is the greatest beauty of all!!

I’m trying to look at my life and my circumstances differently.  Instead of feeling sorry for myself and moaning about my circumstances, I’m trusting that God is going to bring beauty and joy out of it.  I’m going to look for it, because I don’t want to miss any joy because I’m looking at me (and my situation) instead of him!

Thel's week

This is in the cute little garden outside our manufacturing facility!

All of this was under our sink. Can you believe it!!

Our leaves haven't been as colorful this year since we haven't had much rain, but we've been able to find a few beautiful colors.

I drive by this twice a day. This is the iron horse that the owner tried to give UGA, but they didn't want it, so he planted it in the middle of a field in Oconee county.

I really enjoy my drive to work every day. I drive through forest and farms.

Beautiful road

I'm reading the most wonderful book right now.  It's called One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully right Where You Are, by Ann Vos Kamp.  I first heard of it from Sara Frankl's blogsite, and I downloaded it a while ago, but didn't really start reading until a couple of weeks ago.  It is incredible!

You.must.get.this.book!!

In the first chapter, she talks about ingratitude.  This is what she says, "Satan's sin becomes the first sin of all humanity: the sin of gratitude. Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ungrateful for what God gave. Isn't that the catalyst of all my sins?  Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren't satisfied in God and what He gives.  We hunger for something more, something other."  When I first read that, I thought it was an interesting concept, but didn't really apply to me.  I mean, I'm grateful for everything I have.  I've been to Mexico and Africa on mission trips. I've seen what having NOTHING really looks like.

But she continues to talk about this, and a little bit later she talks about accepting our life as it is...what God has given us.

That really struck me.  Almost physically, but most assuredly in my heart.

I saw the millions of times that I've said...if only...Thank you, God for all you've provided, but if only this was different, THEN I'll be happy.

If only I hadn't hadn't run so far from God in my twenties and early thirties, if only I was thinner, if only I had a better job, if only my husband was this, or did this, if only my house was bigger, or I had children or...the list is endless.

Those 'if only's' are sins of ingratitude also.  I have lived a life of constant discontent...waiting for something else to make me happy.

Could I really just accept my life as it is?  Actually, God had already been working on me a little bit.  I turned 50 this year, and I kind of realized that I am who I am, and it's pretty good. (It's about time, right??)  I read a blog from my friend Jenny Rain about owning your age, and i decided that 50 is a good age to own.  This year I've also got down to the weight I wanted to be (after a lifetime of obesity), had some surgery to get rid of extra skin, and finished my ministry degree.  So maybe it's time to let go of this life of discontent, and if only's.

It's a matter of being able to live in the moment. When we start thinking about the past and regretting actions...if only this had happened...or if I had done this; or when we think about the future...if I get a new job...or meet someone special...then I'll be happy. Those are the thoughts that I have to stop!!

What about you?  Are you waiting for an if only for you to be happy??  Stop right now!!  You are in the place that God wants you to be. You are wasting your time if you're wishing that things were different.  Everything that happens to you is being filtered by God.  Thank him for it!! Live a life of gratitude and see if he doesn't open up a life of joy for you to live!!

Thel's week

Trying to take pictures of the sun.

T

This is the sweet punkin who washed my car while I was napping...Love this guy!!

My brand new counters and sinks...so happy!!

Technology much...??

Watching Sara's funeral, still miss her!!

This was me helping out at Extreme Makeover Home Edition!! Had a great time!!

Compassion...Hurts

Galatians 6:2 says,"Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."   When I've read this verse before, I've always took it to mean that we are to help each other out in times of trouble.  And I still believe that's true.  We can't live this life alone!! It is too difficult!!

But if you look at the verse right before it, it says, "Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted."

So when you look at those two verses together, it basically means that when someone sins, you are supposed to help to restore that person and to bear their burden while you're doing it...and then, we are fulfilling the law of Christ, which is love.

Well, that doesn't sound very fair does it?  I mean, most of the time, it's hard enough just keeping myself on this narrow path, not running off and doing my own thing.  I'm also supposed to be helping my brothers and sisters...when they sin???

This is compassion. Not to condemn them, but to restore them.

My experience has been that when I sin, it's not been from a desire to do evil, but from a desire to make the pain in my heart go away. And I have sinned a lot...not so much in recent years (at least in actions), but in my twenties and thirties, I was pretty wild.  And this was after getting saved at the age of 18.  I spent those years doing anything just to make the pain go away...but it never did. Until I got my life right with God again and let him begin to heal me.

But my point is, that I think that a lot of us are the same.  We look to a fallen world to ease our pain rather than the God who created us...and we screw up.  We hurt each other with the things we do and say.  And then we're supposed to restore each other.  It doesn't seem possible, does it, when you really look at it.  If someone sins against you, you're going to have to forgive them first before you can restore them.

This is hard...I would rather hold my pain close to me.  To say, 'see what you did!!'  But I can't. I have to.let.it.go.  I have to think of my brother or sister first.

Oh wait, isn't that part of the two greatest commandments?  Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.  When I love my brother or sister as I love myself, then I'm going to consider what might have driven those actions.  I would always have an excuse for myself! Why wouldn't I look for an excuse in them?

I love how the Word of God all ties together.

When you can see the pain in each other that sometimes drives actions that are wrong, maybe you can feel compassion rather than anger.

That's the example that Jesus gives us. In Luke 13:34, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!"  Even though he knew that the Jews, and the city of Jerusalem, rejected him and were going to kill him, he still felt compassion for them.

This is a hard lesson, and not one that I'm very good at.  But my compassion runs deeper and further when God shows me the pain in that other person...and in me.

Thel's Week

I've cheated just a little bit.  I had some great pictures from the end of the week while I was traveling, so I used those instead of anything from Monday or Tuesday.

At the airport waiting for the plane to come in.

This is when I was driving from Chicago to Decatur.  Beautiful sky!!

Beautiful ceiling art...at O'Hare airport.

More ceiling art...

This was in central Illinois, they were all over...as far as the eye could see. I was fascinated by these.

Okay, I don't mean to be crude by showing a picture of a commode, but this amazed me!! It must have been invented by a woman.  If you're a female, you likely hate going into public bathrooms.  You never who has occupied this spot before you.  In this particular restroom, the plastic tubing covers the seat, and then once you're done, it moves so that new tubing  is covering the seat.  I love this!!