Wandering in the wilderness

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.” ~ Anonymous

Ok, so I’m in a season of life where I’m just waiting for the next big thing to happen. I feel like I’m listening to God’s promptings and being obedient by doing what I feel I’m being called to do. However, it doesn’t seem like there’s really anything happening. Even the little things going on don’t seem to be coming together for a means to an end. It’s hard to be patient when you feel like you’ve been waiting and wandering in the wilderness without even a bread crumb trail to lead you into the promised land. Truth be told, there are days I probably wouldn’t even recognize a bread crumb trail if the entire loaf of bread was waved in front of my face!

Despite my personal frustration, I know many of you have been in a similar place in life at some point where waiting and being patient is difficult at best. We’re all such a bunch of control freaks that it’s hard to let go of our lives long enough to let God lead us in the direction in which He wants us to go. However, when we do finally feel like we’ve let go, we expect Him to lead us directly to the end of the path for the answers we’ve been waiting to see or hear. I know you’ve heard this expression before: “Getting there is half the fun.” Sometimes I don’t know if I totally agree with that phrase, but I do agree we need to step outside of ourselves long enough to realize that there is much more going on behind the scenes of our lives than we can even fathom. So for now, I’ll simply work on my patience and try to find the joy along this journey called life. Won’t you join me?

Romans 8:24-25 says “If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.” Make a list of the things you are impatient about today. Then pray for the strength to patiently await the results you are hoping to receive.

Be Excellent!

Commitments and Complications

Commitments and Complications

Some of my greatest heroes, both in the past and in the present, are people who have stood by their promises when part of those they love has been stolen from them by disease or disaster.

With every commitment comes complications, but the ultimate test is not the complications but our faithfulness to our word.Making and keeping promises is one of the things that distinguisheshumans from animals. It is also what separates good people from badones.

Yes, I can imagine some promises that should be broken. What if I am ajunior-high kid who promises his buddy to help get even with somebody who hurt his friend's feelings by trashing his bike or computer? Then I realize that I've promised to do something wrong. Break the promise!You had no right to make it.

Adults sometimes get in those situationsas well. Think first. Then speak. Yes, I can imagine some good promises made in good faith that may be broken. Suppose a woman accepts a proposal to marry -- only to discoverover the few months prior to the wedding date that the relationship is a big mistake. Better to be honest and suffer embarrassment or break his heart now than create the long-term heartache and eventual failure of a formalized commitment.

However, the general rule about keeping promises cannot be formed by exploring the exceptional cases. And the principle that holds a society together is that we must keep the promises we make to one another.Employment contracts, land sales, bank notes, installment loans --these formalized contracts about "things" require documentation and signatures. We enforce them in courts.Then there are the adult promises we make to one another. They shouldbe regarded as even more important to our integrity as human beings than the contracts we sign about mere things such as cars or money.

Arethey?

A Christian leader recently made negative headlines with his televised comment about keeping promises. A caller asked what advice to give afriend who had begun a romantic involvement with another woman after his wife began suffering the dreadful effects of Alzheimer's disease."I know it sounds cruel," he said, "but if he's going to do something,he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her."The speaker's on-air partner asked about the traditional -- and biblical -- vow to love and remain together "in sickness and in health"until death parts them. "If you respect that vow, you say 'til death dous part,'" he continued. Then he added: "[Alzheimer's] is a kind ofdeath."

Lots of things are "a kind of death" -- ranging from bankruptcy to paralysis from an auto accident to disfiguring cancers to Alzheimer'sdisease. That's why we make promises and are called by God to keep them. That's how we take uncertainties out of the lives of the people we love. That's how we preserve integrity in complex and painful times.

This is what the Bible says about making promises: It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it (Ecclesiastes 5:5 NLT). Amen.

Waddle Or Fly

Waddle Or Fly
By Elizabeth Gunter Wallace

There is something stirring about watching geese fly in perfect V-formation across the sky. Their flying south for the winter is poetry in motion. It is who God created them to be. It looks effortless, but for them it is a lot of work. I am not sure if this is a phenomenon just in the southeastern United States or if others experience this, but in our area many retail or office parking lots have become home for a flock of Canada geese. I am sure it started off innocently enough. A flock of geese on their natural migration route got a little weary, so they decided to take a break in a parking lot. At first they grazed on the grass in the medians, and then they discovered random food that someone dropped. Soon the parking lot become more and more appealing. Why spend all that time flying back and forth when we can make a pretty good life right here? Sure, we will miss out on flying across the bright blue skies, in rhythm with our Creator, but we've got French fries! In my car the other day I watched in amazement as Canada geese once again stopped traffic as they took their leisurely time walking in front of me. They were completely unfazed. I wondered how long it took them to get de-sensitized to the large metal objects on wheels that could crush them. Did they used to run scared? When did walking across a parking lot become normal? As the goose parade continued, I noticed at the very back of the line a baby goose doing its best to keep in step with the others. Unbelievable. This baby goose was born in a parking lot because these adult geese aren't flying like they are designed to. So this baby is growing up thinking a parking lot is the natural habitat for a goose! Just as condemnation of the geese began to swell in my heart, God gently tapped me on the shoulder. "Don't you do the same thing when you choose to live from your soul because living in your spirit is too much work and discipline? Don't you have days where you choose French fries in the parking lot over my beautiful design for you? When you choose to live in your soul instead of soaring in your spirit, it impacts not only you but others. How many baby geese are following you in your earthbound parking lot?" All of a sudden, my bird-watching was getting a little too convicting. We all have situations when our soul is dominant. It will happen because none of us reaches complete maturity this side of heaven. But where have we gotten so comfortable that it feels normal to live in less of who God made us? What are those familiar places or relationships that cause us to so easily slip into old patterns without even realizing that we have stopped soaring and we are now waddling on asphalt?
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Father, forgive me for being satisfied with anything less than the fullness of what you designed for me this day spirit, soul, and body. Show me the areas where I have settled for the familiarity of "less than." I choose to fly to higher heights. By your grace, I will soar in your magnificent design of me.

A day in the life of Mrs. In style

Larry came into my room and said, "Get up and pray!" Have you ever noticed that when you are in a hurry it takes forever to get your clothes on. I sleepy walked in and Larry said, "Someone has painted our roll up door." The words said, "Heroin sold here with a phone number. Larry called the police and made a report and it was also given to the NAR unit.

The rest of the day went as usual. I put 2 months of checks in Quick Books. I felt very accomplished. I read a few post but did not up ride. I have done a lot of reading. I went to to the bank and pick up lunch. Had a great conversation with Autumn. We got the wood making machines finished. I am now dressed to go to church. I am wearing a red top and pants with a yellow jacket. Call me Mrs. In style,