God purposes every single thing in our life for good. It’s hard to believe that those horrible things in our lives were for our good but I believe they were. They stretch us and move us out of our comfort zone and our lives aren’t the same yet in some ways better if we allow them to be.
God comes to our aid, and kisses our cuts and bruises, he just doesn’t just pick us up, he walks us through. There is an obvious love that the Lord has for us that shows in the way he handles things for us.
The man that you choose to marry should want to help you right the wrongs in your life. He should want even the heavy and hard stuff to work out in your favor. He should begin with the end in mind. Life isn’t just some roll of the dice thing. Yes there are spontaneous things but for the most part it should be planned. He should not however be willing to do the work for you. The man that is looking to do the work for you is looking for the ego gratification of rescuing a damsel in distress. The minute the damsel is no longer in distress he gets stressed because he’s out of a job. So he goes looking for another damsel.
Expect a man who has planning and that vision. If it’s not there, your life will be a rollercoaster of good and bad with no way to gauge what will happen next. A woman needs to feel secure in her life. We look for that as our number one need. It’s easy to fall into a trap of a man who fixes it all but remember, the bible doesn’t say God fixes it all, it says he perfects it all. We fix our own messes, he helps heal and get us to learn our lesson. He turns the negative into a positive. He never berates us in the process. He never says ‘I told you so’.
I love clothes and fashion and everything about being a woman. I love shoes the absolute most and I like a good purse. I refuse to be a slave though. I wear what I want and what makes me feel good. I used to follow the no white after Labor Day rule but don’t anymore and haven’t for some time. I didn’t do it as some sort of rebellion but in California it’s still hot in September and white is cool and summery. I do have to say that as the summer days grow to fall and winter, my white generally goes away but I do have a suit with a white skirt that I wear in winter at least once.
Where did the rule come from anyway? So here’s a article of explanation. Enjoy it and remember, if it was good enough for Coco Chanel it’s good enough for us!
We went off for a two day break. We call these Leadership Advances because we get refreshed and renewed. We get away from the noise and the tyranny of the urgent and get to what’s important, listening to that still small voice and taking an assessment of where we’ve been and where we’re going. So as we drove through the mountains, our destination was on the horizon.
We arrived, and immediately did a drive-by of our favorite spot. We were happy to be free for a couple of days. Thank you God for a some rest. The next morning we got up bright and early, had a good breakfast and went to set up camp!
We settled in for the day. Neither of us really saying a word. We really needed to be quiet. Let the Advance begin!
We stayed until the sun began to set and it started to get a little cold. As leaders though we are never quite alone. There are always those who need ministry and today was no exception. They came to sit at our feet.
My husband, the pastor, never misses an opportunity to preach the word. So he gathered them around and began.
The looks on their faces were priceless!
We went home that evening happy and refreshed and ready to do it again the next day.
As Brooke Fraser ministered to me through my Ipod with her song, Indelible, the view was incredible, the sun was shining and God was whispering. I had been sensing a connection that was unlike one I had experienced before and I was glad that I was not disappointed. How magnificent You created the earth to look, Lord. Who could not have faith in You when they see Your wonders?
Our friends were back and we relaxed in the beauty of the wonders He has created.
We stayed until the sun began to go down once again. We are headed home now as you read this. Refreshed, renewed, anointed and invigorated. Praise God for His blessings!
Today I want to direct you to a really good friend of mine and fellow Pastor’s wife blog. Her name is Dr. Gayla Holley and she is the President of Moms Against Hunger. As you will read her prayer list she has some exciting things that we can get involved in. There are people that can use our help and if we all just pitch in a little, it will go along way. To the right of my home page you’ll see a donate button. Please donate to this worthy cause. There are people who are quietly working for the betterment of others and Dr. Gayla is one of them. Click here to view her blog.
I received some sound advice from Crystal that I wanted to share with you. I LOVED this idea. I WISH I was that planned out with my children but I love the fact that now that I have this information, I can share it with you and one day, I can share it with my kids for my future grandkids.
Crystal said that in her family there are chores to do. She pays for chores done around the house. There is a list posted on the fridge of these chores.
Okay, not so different than our home but very different in thought-process here’s why: In our home we have a chore list on the fridge as well. I never paid my children for chores. I didn’t want my kids to grow up thinking that someone was going to pay them for throwing out their trash. I wanted them to learn that as a family things had to be done for the good of the family. Doug pays his children for chores.
Crystal pays for chores each week.
I never paid for chores. Doug pays like Crystal weekly.
Crystal sits down once a month for bill paying. Not her own but get this; her children’s.
I never did this. Doug never does this.
Crystal has her children give a minimum of 10% to charity and 10% to savings of total earnings. Then she charges them 20% for room and board. This is where it gets good! Her reasoning is she is setting them up for life. This is how a paycheck goes. You don’t get a paycheck then just blow it on anything! You have a responsibility to give back to your community. You have a responsibility to save for your future, and you will have housing and living expenses. Your work goes towards living your life responsibly!
Haha! I love it! It gets better!
Crystal says her children are allowed to do with the 60% of their leftover income what they will. Her son#1 is materialistic so he buys with gusto and is in debt up to his eyeballs. DEBT??? How does a 12 year-old get in debt? She acts as a bank. If they want to buy something and don’t have the money for it, they can borrow from her, up to a pre-approved limit, with interest! Then each month, during bill paying day, they must pay the minimum monthly payment and the interest that accrues or the balance avoiding the interest. I LOVED that!
Son#2 is frugal. He will ask for everything in the store but when she says, “Did you bring your money?”, suddenly the item isn’t important. He will figure out the cost of something but she says he hates interest so he only borrows, if anything, what he can pay off the balance for the following bill paying day.
I asked her about when they get older and want cell phones and cars how will she handle that? She says cell phones will cost a certain dollar amount based on a percentage of what it cost her and any overages will be their responsibility. Cars will be bought with matching funds. Gas and insurance will be paid with a job they secure on their own.
Gosh, I have to tell you, I really like this. I think it works. I think it really works!
Proverbs 12:1 If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it – how shortsighted to refuse correction!
2 A good person basks in the delight of God, and he wants nothing to do with devious schemers.
3 You can’t find firm footing in a swamp, but life rooted in God stands firm.
4 A hearty wife invigorates her husband, but a frigid woman is cancer in the bones.
5 The thinking of principled people makes for justice; the plots of degenerates corrupt.
6 The words of the wicked kill; the speech of the upright saves.
7 Wicked people fall to pieces – there’s nothing to them; the homes of good people hold together.
8 A person who talks sense is honored; airheads are held in contempt.
9 Better to be ordinary and work for a living than act important and starve in the process.
10 Good people are good to their animals; the “good-hearted” bad people kick and abuse them.
11 The one who stays on the job has food on the table; the witless chase whims and fancies.
12 What the wicked construct finally falls into ruin, while the roots of the righteous give life, and more life. Wise People Take Advice
13 The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble; the conversation of good people keeps them out of it.
14 Well-spoken words bring satisfaction; well-done work has its own reward.
15 Fools are headstrong and do what they like; wise people take advice.
16 Fools have short fuses and explode all too quickly; the prudent quietly shrug off insults.
17 Truthful witness by a good person clears the air, but liars lay down a smoke screen of deceit.
18 Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise.
19 Truth lasts; lies are here today, gone tomorrow.
20 Evil scheming distorts the schemer; peace-planning brings joy to the planner.
21 No evil can overwhelm a good person, but the wicked have their hands full of it.
22 God can’t stomach liars; he loves the company of those who keep their word.
23 Prudent people don’t flaunt their knowledge; talkative fools broadcast their silliness.
24 The diligent find freedom in their work; the lazy are oppressed by work.
25 Worry weighs us down; a cheerful word picks us up.
26 A good person survives misfortune, but a wicked life invites disaster.
27 A lazy life is an empty life, but “early to rise” gets the job done.
28 Good men and women travel right into life; sin’s detours take you straight to hell. “The Message”
I read. A lot. Right now I’m reading three books, blogs, twitter, facebook, emails, texts. I have a hunger to learn all that I can. I believe there is wisdom in books. I’m married to a reader and my four kids are readers. We read.
So why did it bother so much when a person in our church said, “You know us Hispanics, we don’t read.” It bothered me on levels I guess. One, is that there is still prejudice in our country. While we may have a half African American president, there are still times like last week when I went into a store whose sales clerks didn’t greet me but greeted the other woman who came in and asked her if she needed help finding anything. Funny how the same clerk looked shocked when I was checking out came and asked, “Was anyone helping you?”, and I replied, “No, everyone was too busy to even greet me, knowing that I was the only person in the store at the time.” It’s not lost on me that these things still happen. So when ignorant blanket statements about Hispanics are made by Hispanics themselves it makes me angry on a certain level.
Two, if in fact we are called to be followers of Christ but profess not to read, then our knowledge of him is limited and based on what we’ve heard rather than what we know. This is a dangerous place to be because you can be fooled into thinking anything. If you don’t know your rights in the kingdom then you can’t exercise them. It becomes a never-ending circle of ignorance.
Three, it excuses you to remain ignorant and on a level lower than you were intended to live. This is not kingdom living. This is merely existence on the planet. Reading is a gift that many were not given. There are people who would love to know how to read. You are throwing the gift of reading away as a casual thing. Reading can change your life.
So let’s stop bragging about how we hate to read and begin to access the gift of reading and get out of the self-imposed pit of ignorance.
I wrote this blog two and a half years ago. So what do you say? Have things changed? Looking forward to your answers.
art.com
Fat, dumb and happy, this seems to describe the average American right now. We are the most obese nation in the world as well as, fat with information, education, money, resources, have the most consumerism and yet we can’t be filled. There is simply never enough for us as we consume everything set before us and are left empty and desiring more.
Our children are considered the least educated, compared to the countries that are our counterparts. Our teachers scream they aren’t paid enough and more money would fix the problem yet, we spend per capita the most per student of any of these other countries. We have a powerful political teachers union and what is actually eating the money is, the administration of how it is spent, we spend at the top, recruit the best teachers into administrative positions. Then there is the fact that we have some inept teachers, whom we can’t fire because they have tenure, and we can’t hire new teachers, who are on the ball, because we don’t have the funds.
We no longer teach spelling anymore because as the teachers at my children’s school told us, we don’t need to, we have spell check. But if you didn’t come close to spelling the word in the first place, then it’s of little help. Those of us who read blogs see the spelling errors, and know what I am talking about. And forget sentence structure, I didn’t learn it either. Even the newspapers today have misspelled words.
We watch television for all of our information and we rarely read anything. Try to get someone to read a book and they act like Superman with Kryptonite. Some people actually brag, “I haven’t read a book since high school, bless God!” With the No Child Left Behind Act, at least here in California, kids are being passed and yet they can’t read beyond a third grade level. This limits their potential and I don’t understand what we think they are going to be able to accomplish with their life.
We play video games for hours and hours and we allow our children to play them for hours as well. We ignore the violence in them and call them harmless entertainment. When I was in school we had one overweight kid in our class, his name was Carl. The rest of us were just average sized kids. Drive by any school today and average sized kids aren’t the norm anymore. We are a sedentary group who prefers online chat to riding a bike. When we were kids we played outside after school. The increase in childhood illness increases daily and diabetes and heart disease is being detected earlier and earlier. We’re endangering our children and we don’t seem to mind so much. Fast food is what we eat and Super Size It!
Kids have cell phones, portable DVD players, credit cards, every video game known to man, portable video game players and yet, they are always bored.
We have been lulled into thinking this is life! We’ve been told that to be fat and dumb is to be happy. This is a total lie. The fact is people have never been more miserable. Anti-depressant medication is being prescribed like candy. We have more stuff but it doesn’t fulfill us.
We live in the best country in the world, at least I believe so. People are literally dying to come here. Yet we, who should be thanking God that we live here, complain and act apathetic. We can live a different life. We can live a truly content life but it’s going to take us standing up, deciding not to drink the punch of passivity and getting active. Active in determining that we don’t have to live like the neighbors. Determining to be active as we take control of our health and well being. We need to get active in believing that we can live life more peacefully debt free and giving ourselves to service, rather than to consume all that we have and mortgage our lives away. We can get active by more family activities and less stuff. We can learn to read what is really happening in our world and then actively making positive changes to fix it. We can learn to be properly informed about what is going on in the world and that requires not just reading what our media is telling us, but getting some international news and reading a different perspective. There is a whole world out there that we are missing out on.
There was a time when we interacted with one another, now we text, call on cell phone and email and somehow that makes up for fellowship. Yet studies show that people live longer and more satisfied lives when their life is simple and they meet with friends on a regular basis. So the choice is, fat, dumb and happy or healthy, informed and fulfilled. Seems simple but it requires we get off our collective butts and get moving in the right direction!
/superlocal/ 1355931714/ Korean men carry their woman's purse!
God loves me. He counted each strand of hair on my head and that’s love because I have a thick head of hair. He knew me before I was in my mother’s womb and he chose me to be his before the foundation of the earth. He moved heaven and earth and he sent his son Jesus in human form legally to buy me back when I was sold in a garden. It cost Jesus his life and the pain and suffering he went through during his life was bad enough, rejected by people and called names and lied on and yet it was not the worst part. They tortured him in the worst way and then hung him on a cross to die a brutal death. While those who professed to love God stood by and mocked him and yelled out. He did all of that for me. So truly there is nothing he wouldn’t do for me.
When choosing a man, you need to choose one that is for you and not against you. A man that knows that when you bear his children your bond to that child will be so strong that you will want to stay home and raise them and that he will be willing to get a second job to support you during that time. He will want to protect you and keep a roof over your head and he will never expect you to carry the weight of the family alone. Your man is looking for a partner. The man you chose is a man who has found his passion in life and he isn’t looking around to see if there is a better-looking woman standing around. He loves you. He isn’t comparing you to anyone. He is willing to get you a glass of water in the middle of the night when you wake up with a migraine. He loves you both with a passionate love that one has for their lover and an enduring love that one has for their best friend. He doesn’t mock your ideas or dreams and he wants and expects the best of everything for you. You are his woman and he is your man and together you build a life worthy of each other. He is committed to the long run.
I listened to Dr. Laura one day as a woman called in. She said that she had just had her breast removed because of stage two cancer. She said she desired her husband but was afraid of sexual intimacy because she didn’t want him to see her like that. Her voice was pained and it touched my heart. She continued and said her husband said he loved HER and not her breast and would do anything for her but she was having a hard time believing that.
Dr. Laura softly said something so profound. She said, that the caller had to believe her husband’s love for her and that as he caressed her body with his hand that she had to know that as his hand caressed over where her breast used to be, that he would gladly give his hand to make her whole again.
That’s a godly man. That’s the kind of man you want.
Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Today was my first day off in over a month. Even when my husband called a day for a date a couple of weeks ago, we had to spend half the day in meetings and work, and then a couple of errands for church, so it really boiled down to a meal and we ended up skipping the movie because we were too tired.
I knew I was running on empty and we as followers of Christ know that Jesus went off to pray on a regular basis. I knew I was way overdue for some time to get away. I tend to begin to feel very caged in by circumstances and the things that happen in the course of ministry tend to get amplified when I am not rested. So I called a Sand Seminar (thanks Linda for the idea). I told my husband I was going and asked him to go with me if he could.
I went to bed that night with anticipation of going away for a day without work. I thanked God for making a way today. I also repented for the part that I play in all of this. I woke up singing and happy, which is totally unusual for me because I am a grumpy person in the morning. I believe my song was specific:
You are unfailing God, Your love’s unending
And Your word is eternal, Firm in the heavens it stands
My husband cancelled an appointment and we went to Monterey Bay for the day. On the way we stopped at Costco to get some fruit and a new book to take with us to our usual spot on the beach. I couldn’t get this song out of my head. I just was in a mode of worship!
There is this chocolate that I love. It’s called Amber Lyn and it’s not sold anywhere, I normally get mine online. It’s a great quality chocolate that is sugar free and gluten free. I have one square of chocolate each night before I go to bed. I do this because Amber Lyn chocolates cause me have sweet dreams! I have been out of chocolate for a month now and each night before I went to bed, I’d say, “I’ve got to order some chocolates in”. I was normally just too exhausted to do so and when I woke up each morning I wouldn’t even think about it. So guess who was at Costco with a special display? YES! YES they were! Amber Lyn’s display was right there! Not only did I get a my usual chocolate bars, I tried some new flavors and they gave me a few for free for being a loyal customer! They were $7.00 off the case price and I saved shipping as well! What are the chances? I mean really, I believe this was a divine ordered God day!
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
He really does love you! He really does want you to have a great day. He really does want to have this relationship with you where he just flat out comes first in your life, because you flat out come first in HIS! I hope you really do believe it! Trust God, pray to him, believe that he has your best interest at heart and then watch as you have an Amber Lyn day like I did!
Unfailing God
by Desperation Band
Unfailing God
Though my eyes may fail me, I will follow after You
Though Your promise seems forsaken
I’ll remember the world’s in Your hands
And You’ll find me singing
You are unfailing God, Your love’s unending
And Your word is eternal, Firm in the heavens it stands (repeat)
Though sorrow’s my condition
And pain holds back no blow
Though this be my darkest hour
Your lamp is leading me home
And You’ll find me singing
Eyes can’t see but I feel You near
I know you’re working through my tears
I trust You Lord, I trust You for You never walk away
Unfailing God, Unfailing God, Your love is unending,Lord
Pastor Susan 