Never Alone

Do you ever feel alone in the world? As a Christian, there are two ways we can feel alone. The first is when you are surrounded by unbelievers. Sometimes it can seem very isolating to be the lone-Christian, the lone person who disagrees with the status-quo or who refuses to go along. People think you are "holier than thou" when truthfully, you just do what God is calling you to do.

But there is another way Christians can feel very alone. And that is in comparison to other Christians. You see Christians often put on the "I'm perfect" image to the world. "Jesus saved me and now I'm so good." To other Christians who are still experiencing worldly struggles that "perfect" Christian makes the imperfect one feel like maybe they missed something, or maybe they aren't really a Christian at all.

Being a Christian means accepting Jesus as Lord of your life and acknowledging he died for your sins, he is your savior. It doesn't mean your life is perfect. Christians experience death, disease, and divorce just like non-believers. So sometimes when you see that "perfect" family, it can be very isolating.

But you know what? You're never alone. Jesus promised to be with us forever. He is perfect, but he embraces us inspite of imperfections, and in fact died for us because we couldn't get it right.

Are you struggling today, feeling like you're all alone? You're not. Jesus is with you, now and forever. He loves you just as you are...but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.

Deuteronomy 31:6 -- for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Matthew 28:20 -- {Jesus said} And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Romans 5:8 -- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Thankful Thursday - 8/26

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to know Sonya's dad, a wonderful man who left a huge legacy of faith to his family. He will be missed so much, but what an incredible man of honor. It was a pleasure to have known him.

2. I am thankful for the pastor who said "We can't bring him back, but we can make sure we go where he is." I know where I'm going when I die. I'm so thankful that Jesus paid the price for my sin, so I can be in Heaven.

3. I'm thankful for a friend who gave me a big pile of clothes that don't fit her after baby #3. Woo! Thanks, Gwen.

4. I'm thankful that Gigi got to help her 5th grade teacher set up the classroom. She had the best time, and it was great relationship building with her new teacher.

5. I'm thankful for these last 2 weeks before school starts to love up on my kids. My little Cici starts kindergarten, and while she is ready, and I am ready, it will still be a big deal!!!

It's Not Fair!

If you have kids, you might hear the phrase "It's not fair!" quite a bit. If things are not equal, kids think they're not fair. A wise mom of 6 once told me, however, the difference between fair & equal. Fair literally means "free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice." So when she gave each child a handful of goldfish at snack time, the children may not have had equal amounts, but it was indeed fair.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like life isn't fair too. When playing the comparison game it can look like I come out a loser...and that's not fair! Whether comparing income, family members, or (ahem) published works, I can think it's not fair when someone gets something seemingly more than I got.

I need to look at the example of Jesus, who was God, yet didn't try to be equal with God. Instead he took on a servants role, which wasn't fair at all. But he did it, so that I could get something I didn't deserve. As unfair as it is, Jesus died so that I may live with his Father in spite of my sinful nature.

In life we can't compare things on the terms of equality. Everyone gets a different handful of gifts, and a different handful of problems. God may not be doling everything out equally. He is, however, fair.

Colossians 4:1 -- Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

Philippians 2:5-7 -- Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.


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The Numbers Game

Recently I've talked to several bloggers playing the numbers game. Questions and comments run back and forth like this:

"Have your comments/visits dropped a lot this summer?"

"I LOVE all the people I’ve met through blogging, I can’t see the point of working so hard for the amount of visitors I get."

"It's frustrating to have 5 comments after 3 days, and visit someone else who posted 5 minutes ago and already has 10 comments."

I've felt the same way before. Sometimes it seems like a lot of work to come up with several blog posts a week, if no one is reading! Consider, however, Noah.

God told Noah to build a huge ark. It took hard work, determination, and energy. Noah then had to gather up all the animals and put them in the ark. He had to care for and feed the animals. (Have you ever been to the zoo? Imagine the smell in the ark!) But the Bible tells us the Noah did everything just as God asked.

Do you know how many peoples lives were impacted by Noah's hard work? Besides Noah, only seven. SEVEN! Out of all the people in the entire world, only seven were saved. If Noah, who the Bible calls righteous and blameless, could do all the work God called him to do for only seven people, shouldn't we be able to do the same?

If you feel like you are called by God to write, then don't get caught up in the numbers game! Because for God, there is more rejoicing over just ONE sinner who repents, then in 99 who do not need to repent. Write for that one!

Genesis 6:9 -- Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

1 Peter 3:20b, 21 -- ...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.

Luke 15:7 -- I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Thankful Thursday 8/20

5 things I'm thankful for this week:

1. I'm especially grateful and thankful for my 10 yr old daughter who celebrated her birthday on Tuesday. She is a source of joy in my life.

2. I'm thankful for my husband's work. So many are without work now, I'm so thankful that he is working.

3. I'm thankful that we don't have any more expenses this month. With new expenses of school uniforms, school supplies, birthday gifts and my convention, this was an unusually expensive month. Thankful we don't have months like this often!

4. I am thankful that after 10 yrs of leading my stay home moms Bible study, that I am going to join another study group at my current church, and be the nurtured instead of the nurturer for a while. And I am ESPECIALLY thankful for those who are rising up into leadership so that our wonderful group will continue on without me.

5. I am thankful for a God who knows my heart and always arrives, not in my time, but in his own.

What are you thankful this week?





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Book Review: Rick & Bubba's Guide to the Almost Perfect Marriage

Honestly, I'd never heard of Rick & Bubba when I ordered this book from Thomas Nelson to review. What I was expecting was a really funny book on marriage. I love humor! But not the kind in this book.

Rick & Bubba are evidently syndicated radio personalities who used that huge platform to become authors, and New York Times best sellers at that. The book's humor was very "redneck." Lots of hunting and fishing jokes, and even a couple of "pull my finger" references were made. Women of course always get lost, and have to be apologized to for everything, even the dog tracking mud in the house while the man is at work.

Honestly, I gave up about 1/2 way through the book. But then, I decided to finish it in good conscience so I could review it, and order another book. I don't know if I had lowered my expectations, or if the book got better in the second half, but something happened.

The chapters on respect, date night, and protecting your mates honor from negative friends resonated with me. And the chapter on surviving the loss of a child (which Rick & his wife did) brought me to another level of respect for him.

The truth is, this isn't my kind of book. But Rick & Bubba seem to be good Christian men who wrote a book that will probably be enjoyable for the folks that listen to their radio show and enjoy it. My best wishes to them both, and my sincere condolences to Rick and Sherri on the loss of their son.

God Knows My Heart

It's no secret that I don't take rejection well. God knows my heart, and so when I submitted my very first article it was accepted. This was the jump start I needed to get me to continue writing. I subsequently found out that my experience was very rare and that rejection is the rule in writing. I then started to get rejected. But I kept getting enough acceptances to keep me writing.

The writers conference was hard. I felt overwhelmed. So many good writers...where do I fit in? I wrote this draft blog post last Wednesday.

One of my favorite children's authors is Kevin Henkes. I love each of his books so much, but my favorite is Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum is a little girl mouse and she loves her name. She loves everything about it...until she goes to
school. Then when the other children tease and taunt her she comes home and
tells her parents, "School is no place for me."

I know how she feels. I love writing. I love everything about it! Yet, after attending the writers conference I feel like running home and exclaiming "Writing is no place for me!" I'm not thick-skinned and I don't face rejection well. The truth is, the writing market is filled with writers all hoping to be published.

I'm not a great writer. On a good day, I'm a good writer. So where does that leave me? Well, Chrysanthemum got macaroni & cheese, and Parcheesi to cheer her up.
But the thing that made the most difference was when her favorite teacher
validated her worth.

My favorite Teacher is, of course, Jesus. Certainly he has validated my worth. He died for me. But where does that leave me as a writer? Still confused. Perhaps I'm just called to be a Blogger Extraordinaire. Perhaps I'm to write magazine articles. As Simon Cowell would say, maybe I'm good enough for the Karaoke bar, but not for a recording label.

Maybe that's okay. Because God didn't call me to be published. He called me to write. So I will.

I thought I'd publish this last Friday, then decided to "sleep on it" and perhaps post it today. A funny thing happened on Friday. I received a contract for a piece I'd submitted. A piece I'd already received a rejection letter for. This contract was a COMPLETE surprise. I had nothing out for publication, and didn't plan on sending anything anytime soon.

To me, God is encouraging me to keep submitting. It doesn't mean I have to write a book. But perhaps I am called to write and seek publication. So I will!