"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength." (Isaiah 40:30-31, NIV)
As I started reading my devotionals this morning, one seemed to speak directly to me. It described my current situation to a "T" running around, so busy with life that there was no time for a much needed spritual refill. I have found that I need more than a weekly visit to God's house to get me through the week. That is where I fill my spritual tank with God fuel. But I also need regular refills through the week. If I don't get those I seem to get mired down in the stress of it all. Especially now that I have gone back to work. Funny how that works, you are stressed out because you aren't working, then you start working and you are stressed even more. I didn't free myself of anything I just shifted it around and added to. So now I not only have to keep house, and all the responsibilities that are associated with that job, I still have the responsibilities that I took on while not working at church, and in my community, pile on top of that family needs, the holidys and all the extra little things associated with them. Then put the cherry of learning a new job and you have my life.
What I have found is that if I can take time each morning to spend a little quiet time with my heavenly father then it helps me to better deal with it all. I look at it as topping off my spritual tank with the necessary fuel to help me deal with the challenges of the day.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Doing the Right Thing
Doing what is right seemed to be the theme for my devotionals this morning. One talked of the holidays and newlyweds figuring out how to share time with both families during the holidays. This was the one that spoke very loudly to me. My extended family is fairly large, six children and eight grandchildren. And I have always enjoyed spending time with them all especially during the holidays. To me it is the big family gatherings that mean the most and make it all, Christmas.
I don’t have children or grandchildren in my home so I cling to those gatherings as if they were a life raft. And I have been somewhat vocal about the desire of my siblings to try and change the day that we all come together to celebrate. Years ago, Carolyn, my stepmother, said I don’t care where you go the rest of the year you will be at my house on Christmas day. Then we all started getting married, and that brought in a whole new twist, the in-laws. Of course they wanted their children at their house on Christmas day too. So what happened Carolyn caved and we started celebrating at different times of the month of December. At first this was fine with me, but as the celebration started getting farther and farther away from December 25th I started to get more and more upset. After all this was my only Christmas. Ray’s family is for the most part all gone so spending time with them is not an option. And to be honest Ray is not “into” Christmas like I am. So the very idea of spending Christmas day alone at home, just the two of us is pretty dismal. So I started complaining and grousing about our family being just as important as the families of everyone else and why did our family have to be the one to compromise. I even thought about boycotting the family Christmas just to show them. But the only one who would really be affected by this would be me. So did I want to as my grandmother would say “cut off my nose to spite my face? No, I truly love being in the middle of that chaotic celebration.
So I am trying to “do the right thing” and be sensitive to the needs of others, even though it is difficult at times. We all have a tendency to put self first, but I am also learning that there is truly joy in doing what is right and dealing justly with others as the scripture says.
I don’t have children or grandchildren in my home so I cling to those gatherings as if they were a life raft. And I have been somewhat vocal about the desire of my siblings to try and change the day that we all come together to celebrate. Years ago, Carolyn, my stepmother, said I don’t care where you go the rest of the year you will be at my house on Christmas day. Then we all started getting married, and that brought in a whole new twist, the in-laws. Of course they wanted their children at their house on Christmas day too. So what happened Carolyn caved and we started celebrating at different times of the month of December. At first this was fine with me, but as the celebration started getting farther and farther away from December 25th I started to get more and more upset. After all this was my only Christmas. Ray’s family is for the most part all gone so spending time with them is not an option. And to be honest Ray is not “into” Christmas like I am. So the very idea of spending Christmas day alone at home, just the two of us is pretty dismal. So I started complaining and grousing about our family being just as important as the families of everyone else and why did our family have to be the one to compromise. I even thought about boycotting the family Christmas just to show them. But the only one who would really be affected by this would be me. So did I want to as my grandmother would say “cut off my nose to spite my face? No, I truly love being in the middle of that chaotic celebration.
So I am trying to “do the right thing” and be sensitive to the needs of others, even though it is difficult at times. We all have a tendency to put self first, but I am also learning that there is truly joy in doing what is right and dealing justly with others as the scripture says.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wait for the Miracle
If I ever doubted that God works miracles then all doubt was erased yesterday. On December 5th 2008, I returned from lunch to the law office where I had worked for more than 4 years, to find a letter terminating my employment on my desk. There had been warning of this event and there was no explanation as to why. Suddenly I had no job. Two months prior to this my husband, Ray, had a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery. So that meant he was not physically able to work. Normally I would have panicked, but something told me that everything would be ok. Now don’t get me wrong, there was a moment of terror, but it didn’t last. I knew that if I would trust in my Heavenly Father all would be ok.
So like a child I turned to my parent and said please take care of us and he did. Things have not been easy, and there have been times that I wondered how I was going to pay all of the bills. But the really funny thing is that I was able to pay the bills on time, and that had not always been the case. One time in particular when I was trying to figure out how to juggle everything there was a knock on the door. There stood a man that I know, I can’t say that he is exactly a friend, but just someone that lives in the same small town that we do, and he handed me a one hundred dollar bill. He and his wife had been talking and they thought we might need it. That one hundred dollars was exactly what I needed to get everything paid that month. I knew then that God used his children here on earth as angels.
Over the past two years I have sent out resumes, and I have gone on interviews, a few times I was even called back for a second interview, but no offers. I was either over qualified, or under educated. Thanks to another friend, I was able to work in a local tax office from January to April 15th of each year, and the rest of the time I was on unemployment.
This is the last week of my unemployment benefits, and I already knew that I had work beginning in January. I was scheduled to do my tax training on Friday of this week. But now I don’t have to. My miracle happened yesterday. I received a job offer with what I believe is a very good company, run by Christian people. I had gone on the first and second interviews and I really felt good about it, the only drawback was the starting salary. Now don’t get me wrong, any salary is a good salary when you aren’t working. But we all have responsibilities and I knew how much I needed to make to meet them. The offer was for the amount that I knew I needed, I didn’t ask for it, but it was provided. Now to me that is a miracle. So I start on Monday and I am looking forward to a long and satisfying relationship with this company and its owners. I have finally learned that if I will have faith and let him do things in his time it will be worth it.
So like a child I turned to my parent and said please take care of us and he did. Things have not been easy, and there have been times that I wondered how I was going to pay all of the bills. But the really funny thing is that I was able to pay the bills on time, and that had not always been the case. One time in particular when I was trying to figure out how to juggle everything there was a knock on the door. There stood a man that I know, I can’t say that he is exactly a friend, but just someone that lives in the same small town that we do, and he handed me a one hundred dollar bill. He and his wife had been talking and they thought we might need it. That one hundred dollars was exactly what I needed to get everything paid that month. I knew then that God used his children here on earth as angels.
Over the past two years I have sent out resumes, and I have gone on interviews, a few times I was even called back for a second interview, but no offers. I was either over qualified, or under educated. Thanks to another friend, I was able to work in a local tax office from January to April 15th of each year, and the rest of the time I was on unemployment.
This is the last week of my unemployment benefits, and I already knew that I had work beginning in January. I was scheduled to do my tax training on Friday of this week. But now I don’t have to. My miracle happened yesterday. I received a job offer with what I believe is a very good company, run by Christian people. I had gone on the first and second interviews and I really felt good about it, the only drawback was the starting salary. Now don’t get me wrong, any salary is a good salary when you aren’t working. But we all have responsibilities and I knew how much I needed to make to meet them. The offer was for the amount that I knew I needed, I didn’t ask for it, but it was provided. Now to me that is a miracle. So I start on Monday and I am looking forward to a long and satisfying relationship with this company and its owners. I have finally learned that if I will have faith and let him do things in his time it will be worth it.
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