Monthly Archives: June 2018

Stop Scrolling and Start Living! Satellite TV & Wasting Time!

Stop Scrolling and Start Living! Satellite TV & Wasting Time!

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Because of where my family lives,  we have to have satellite TV, if we want any reception at all. There is no option for cable, or even an antenna,  it is satellite or nothing and since I would go stark raving mad if all I did was sit around listening to my own thoughts in my head everyday. We pay for satellite. Oh! We could do some of the options on the internet that are out there but I like to watch current shows, I am don’t like to watch pre-recorded shows unless I am the one recording them. (Remember my story on I don’t like Re-runs?)

 

So the satellite network we subscribe to, allows for 4 different profiles. Because although we pay for a couple hundred channels. We actually only watch a fraction of them. And me being the good mother that I am, and perhaps the only one that cares in my family. I have been gracious enough to go into our satellite account and create different profiles.

 

I have a profile for just the movie channels we watch, Hallmark is my favorite by the way.  I have a profile for sports for my husband and his western shows he so dearly loves, I have a profile for the nature and hunting channels that my son likes to watch. Then, there are the channels that I love, those are the ones that have anything to do with cooking, & decorating.

 

I do this because in our package we pay for there is multiple channels that are spanish speaking, and although I our love our mexican brothers and sisters, I can’t speak their language so it does me no good to watch those channels. Then, there is the hockey channels and baseball channels, which no one in our family watches. Oh! And we can’t forget those shopping channels that I am not for sure anyone should watch.

 

So you can see why this is such a good deed that I have done. Now my family doesn’t have to scroll over all those channels we will never watch when searching for something to watch. I have eliminated all of these things my family doesnt need.  I do this out of the kindness of my heart, because when we are scrolling through the guide, who wants to have to scroll through things they aren’t even interested in or relevant to them. When we have to do that, it take as much time to find something to watch, as it does to watch it. I mean who wants to have to dig through junk to get to what they are looking for? It is such a waste of time.

 

But for some reason occasionally, I find the TV put back on, the “All Subscribed Channels” profile.  Which is a huge frustration to me. See, I don’t see why anyone would want to look through all those channels that they aren’t even interested in, to search for something that is worthy of their time, when they have been clearly given optimal choices in the profiles section.

 

But in the same breath I don’t know why people look everywhere for peace and contentment when they have been given that gift by Christ already.  Looking for that, is like my family scrolling through the all the channels on our satellite, having to pass through all the junk that we have no interest in, could care less about and in most cases have no business watching.  It is such a waste of time.

 

People everyday are looking for that unconditional love in everything but where it comes from. They look for it in multiple sexual partners, in over drinking, overeating, drugs, they look into black magic and sometimes even in their work. We gossip about our neighbors to make us feel better about ourselves or strive in ourselves to be perfect only to be disappointed when we can’t meet that unachievable standard. We often do anything but what God has told us to do.

 

The bible says, in Deut 30:19 …….I set before life and death, blessing and cursings, now choose life…….. It is that simple, just like I have set before my family good choices on our satellite profiles and I have weeded through the junk that isn’t relevant to them. So has God set before us choices everyday. Sure there is always going to be the good and the bad, the right and the wrong for us to choose from but God’s word also promises that in 1 Cor 10:13…….God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure…. .

 

I wonder if God gets as frustrated with us as I do with my family. I have laid out the best plan. Given them good choices and laid it before them. But they don’t always choose to follow my plan. Just like we don’t always follow God’s.

 

Now my family isn’t going to die and go to hell because they choose to waste all that time finding what they are looking for, but we will die and go to hell, if we don’t choose God and even if we finally decide to choose Him we often take so long to make that choice.  We lose so much opportunity to tell others about this unconditional love that Christ gives us. The sooner we submit our will to His. The sooner we choose to make the right choice. We can share this amazing love with others and we all know someone who needs to know they are loved by the creator of the universe and He has a great plan for their life?

 

The bible tells us that he that knows to do good and doesn’t do it to him it is sin.  James 4:17

 

So the bottom line is which choice will we make? Will we waste time like some of my family chooses to do. See, the only difference is,  taking forever to find a TV show to watch isn’t as detrimental to our life as taking forever to follow Jesus.

 

The choice is yours and the right choice is always following Jesus.

So find a church home, get in a small group to learn more about God’s word. Pull out your bible, computer or phone and download sites like You Version or Bible gateway. Read God’s word and learn it!  Make the right choices today and skip the junk! It is time to stop wasting time and do what we know is right to do!

A Way that Seems Right!

A Way that Seems Right!

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When I was a little girl one of the my favorite things to do was play with my Barbie Dolls. In fact, I remember having the whole basement set up as my very own Barbie town. Being raised as an only child, my parents pretty much allocated the whole basement for me to play in.

 

One corner was a semi finished room that I had chairs facing a desk with a chalkboard hanging on the wall behind the desk. That was my school room. I went in there and pretended to be a teacher with my imaginary class full of students.

 

But my favorite thing to do was play in my Barbie town. It included a Barbie townhouse, Barbie boat house, along with a Barbie pool and that isn’t even counting the end tables and coffee tables I turned into houses for my dolls..   

 

Along with store bought furniture in my barbies home, the majority of furniture was homemade by my mom out of egg cartons, cotton stuffing and material.  Just about anything we could think of we would use for their house, the lid off a hairspray can became an end table or footstool. We were always creating something for my barbies homes.  I had several barbie families that lived in the little town I created.

 

But even at the young age I was, there was one thing that was certain, my Barbie and Ken dolls never lived together until they were married,  and to be married, my dad being the minister that he was, had to perform the ceremony. Because I was taught at a young age, that living together before you are married goes against what God word says. So I even made my daddy married our full blooded dachshund dog before I would let him breed with another dog. I took it that seriously. But at eight years old what do you expect!

 

All this got me thinking? Will my grands and their children have the same morals and values? In the society we live into today, where it is almost common place to live together before you are married I am worried they will not take what God’s word says seriously. Oh! I don’t mean that they need to have their dogs and dolls married. But by my parents instilling in me at such a young age of right from wrong. It was my choice to blanket that decision in every area of my life.

 

What worries me, is just how much instilling of right from wrong is the next generation getting in this country? My parents sat down with me at taught me God’s word. They didn’t condemn others when they made mistakes but used it as a learning opportunity for me to teach me what God’s word said and realizing that word was the ultimate authority in our life choices.

 

Proverbs 14:12  says “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death”  We seem to think that God wants to just keep us from having fun or doing what we want. But the bottom line is that God wants to keep us from hurt and pain.

 

We justify our idea of living together before we are married because we say that, it is a better way. We use it as an insurance policy to assure we won’t get divorced later. Which is an understandable concern in this country where there is a 50 percent divorce rate. That theory might have some relevance if the statics agreed,  but the truth is statistics say:

 

Those who DID NOT live together before marriage

83% were still together after 10 yrs and 68% were still together after 20yrs.

Those who DID live together before marriage:

Only 71% were still together after 10yrs and 51% were still together after 20yrs.

So you have a 17% less chance of staying together after 20 yrs if you live together first compared to someone that doesn’t.

 

Only 1 in 5 couples who live together make it past 7yrs. And now they have a lifetime of memories with someone else.

 

So I have to wonder why would people do it? Are we so blinded to the facts or is it just that we refuse to die to our own wills and desires until the appropriate time? I had a conversation with a young man not to long ago who asked me to tell him where God says in His word that premarital sex is wrong. To which I informed him the word fornication is premarital sex in the bible and yet this man refused to accept it because he wanted to see the actual word “premarital” in the bible?

 

How can any of us even begin to live a life, let alone for Christ if we have to have everything our own way. I mean in this life there are things as adults and even children that we have to do, when we don’t want to, and it seemed this young man wanted it his way or he refused to believe.  

 

I don’t believe our country has a sex traffic issue, gun issue, a bullying issue, a racist issue, or crime issues, our country has a heart issue.

 

Matthew 15:19 says “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

 

See even as a little girl I was taught early on that I couldn’t get everything I wanted, I was taught  I had to wait for even the little things. Oh! I may of had a Barbie town, but this girl got only 2 pairs of dress shoes a year as a little girl. A white pair for summer and a black pair for winter.  It created in me a discipled to wait, even the creating our own doll furniture taught me to deny myself.

 

In the society today I don’t see a whole lot of anyone giving up their wills to what God’s word says is right. Most live by the statement  “If it feels good do it!”

 

But remember what Proverbs 14:12  says “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death”  

God is warning us here, not to rely on ourselves but listen to Him, learn His word, hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against it. Attend a church where you can be taught to understand it. See, God is the only one that has already seen what is ahead for us and He so desperately wants to guide us from harm. He gives us a choice so the question is what will you choose today? The way that leads to death? (Oh! It may not be a physical death but it is the death of many hopes and dreams) Or will you choose God’s way? Because trust me, the choice is yours and it is never too late to turn around and start over again.

The Best is Yet to Come

The Best is Yet to Come

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On June 9th 2013 my world was turning upside down, my oldest son was getting married, while at the same time we were preparing to move from our home of 14yrs, the only real home I had ever known, our daughter was graduating high school, our youngest was learning to drive, that along with about 10 other major life events, were happening in our lives, all at once. So to say the least, I was a tad bit overwhelmed.

 

I think one of the things I remember most about Lee’s wedding was trying to find places to slip away and cry before anyone saw me. Maybe, it was the fact that my momma, who adored Lee was unable to come, knowing she would want to be there more than anything and realizing she wasn’t going to be around much longer was almost more than this girl could stand. Coupled with trying to access my new duties as a mother-in-law. Let’s just say I was pretty heartbroken and uncertain of so much..

 

But fast forward 5 years to the day and guess what this girl was doing? She was hanging out with her first grandson and namesake to her husband. If you don’t think that was special then you obviously don’t have grandchildren. It is the first time our little man has gotten to spend the night at Mimi and Poppy’s all by himself. His parents were celebrating their anniversary and his siblings was hanging out with other family members. So we had him all to ourselves and since this guy lives four and a half hours away we relish every minute we get with him. So,  needless to say, I wasn’t feeling heartbroken or miserable anymore.

 

I was feeling blessed at the hope of the future as I looked into the eyes of that little fellow. My heart leaped with joy when he at 2 yrs old, mumbled out as best he could “ I love Mimi” when his Poppy asked him to say “I love Poppy”. I was reminded that God does answer prayer as we watched him play and catch bubbles in the air as we blew them.

 

All this got me thinking? Doesn’t things like that happen, a lot to most of us? I mean how many times do we feel lost or hopeless only to have in a few weeks, months, or maybe even years later, our feelings and emotions are completely the opposite. Sometimes about the same thing.

 

God reminds us that our feelings are fleeting and that for everything there is a season. In Ecclesiastes 31 verses 1-8 it tells us.

 

“To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.”

 

I think in short that means don’t give up hope.  Because we also know the bible says that in this world we will have trouble. (John 16:33) and it says, that God has a plan for our life and that plan is for good and not to harm. (Jeremiah 29:11)

 

So when we get overwhelmed with this life, when we feel like everything we hold dear  is falling apart. When nothing we planned is going our way. How about we remember this? God said, It will be okay! Oh, not exactly in those words but I think that is what He means. So trust Him, don’t give up, tie a knot at the end of the rope and hold on cause, the best is really yet to come!  

 

Which Girl are You?

Which Girl are You?

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This past week I did something I haven’t done since the summer of 1991. I walked out of a cabin and at the same time, a friend walked out of the cabin right next to me. My mind flashed back to the first time she and I met. We were both scared young pastor’s wives who because of the position of our husbands, (or lack thereof)  were throw into circumstances we would never chosen on our own.

We were at Junior Camp! Now Junior Camp is a camp that happens once a year just outside Wichita. It is where all Kansas Assembly of God Churches send their kids for a week of spiritual renewal or what some might refer to it as Klingon Camp. Because kids ages 9-13 away from home for the first time, just might kling on to you as a camp counselor.

She and I first met walking out of our separate cabins and frankly, we were probably more scared than the kids. I am still not for sure if I was more scared of the primitive lodging or the fact I had to not only coral 15 girls for a week, but participate in outdoor sports, and don’t even get me started about what the bathrooms looked like. See for this girl, who considers roughing it going to a hotel without room service,  you might as well have dropped me off in the middle of the forest, like one of those TV shows that gives you a week to find your way home.

But this year, my friend and I were not at Wheat State Camp outside Wichita,  we were at Woodston camp, which is known for being a much more primitive camp. When we walked out of our cabins that first time, and met each other this year, we were not staying in the non-air conditioned/bunk bed cabins, where we shared the bathrooms with probably 100 other people at the end of the building.

No! This week things were totally different than they were so many years ago when She and I first met. This year, we stayed in new cabins with private baths, with air conditioning, carpet on the floor and nice queen size beds. This year we were not scared young pastor’s wives. This year her husband is now the District Superintendent of the Kansas Assemblies of God which in layman terms means he is the Pastor the all the AG Pastors in the state of Kansas and my husband serves on the Presbyter Board or in layman’s terms he is on the Board of Directors for the state of Kansas Assemblies of God and this year both of our husbands were speaking at this camp.

I couldn’t help but think of the difference in the girl that walked out my cabin door this past week compared to the one all those years ago. She has had so much happen over the years. That girl that walked out of the cabin all those years ago would of been impressed with the woman that walked out of those cabins doors this past week,  That girl would of thought these women have it all together and their lives must be of always have been perfect and full of peace and fulfillment. That girl would of desired to be who those woman are today. But that girl didn’t know what it took for this girl to become who she is today. This girl, isn’t the same girl that hid in the corner of the tabernacle at camp and cried her eyes out because she was so scared and knew she just wasn’t as smart and pretty as all her counterparts on the other side of those walls. This was not the same girl who had panic and anxiety attacks every time she went to a state event.

My friend and I reminisce about all the water that has went under the bridge in the time we have know each other. Some of the water was smooth sailing, some was pretty rocky and felt more like white river rafting, while others were more like babbling brooks.

See not only has our husbands positions changed, but we as woman have changed. I am not the same person I was back then. Oh! The changes are more than the weight I have gained, the wrinkles on my face or the silver streaks in my hair. I have changed because of the challenges I have face.  See, all those tears I have cried has made me stronger. I have faced obstacles both personal, physically and spiritually. I have faced rejection and victories, I have seen God’s hand at work in all of it.

It is those trials and tribulations that gives me the strength to do what I do today. See because I have made it through those test and I have come out on the other side. No! Not everyone of the outcomes was what I expected, in fact most were not what I had wanted or planned, I’ve been homeless, lost loved ones, lost friends, had failed ministries, been rejected by God’s people, family and friends. I had the rug pulled out from under me. I’ve made some really stupid mistakes, and faced challenges with our kids, cared for a handicapped mother and watched her die before my eyes. My marriage has struggled, and dealt with infertility..

My successes have been few and far between, but I count the most important ones as the children I have had, and the grandchildren added to my clan. But none if it is worth anything if my children have not caught the joy of living for Christ. See because they have seen my life and the challenges I have faced they have also seen the hand of God come along side and sometime even pick me up and carry me. They have seen the miracles He has performed in our lives, the checks that came in the mail, the doors that have open for us, the gifts He has given us. Time and time again God has shown up!

See this girl who used to strive for a title now, is no longer impressed with peoples status. She is more about where people’s hearts are, she is more about being who God has called her to be.

She is thankful for all that she has went through because it has given her the ability now, to look back and say….. “Bring it on devil, Do you see where God has brought me from?”. “If He can do that, My God can do anything!”, ”You can’t mess with me satan because my daddy is the King” , “Whatever comes my way, my God will take care of me”

So this girl now refuses to hide in corners and cry her eyes out. She refuses to allow man to define her. She stopped listening to those negative voices in her head, she now knows whose she is because her daddy God has showed up time and time again to rescue her. She is not the fear driven, people pleasing, person she was all those years ago, intimidated by everyone and everything. No! This girl has experienced the unconditional irrefutable love of God, not because He gave her everything she ever wanted but because He taught her that God’s word says “ I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5. This girl knows that she can be content when things don’t happen the way she planned because it must mean that God has a better plan. (notice I didn’t say easier one?)

This girl also knows, what Deuteronomy 31:6 says,  Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” See that girl knew what it said all those years ago, but until she experienced it she didn’t have to assurance that it was true.

This girl has had to learn to give up her will and follow after God. This girl has realized that He is not a God sitting up in heaven like the arcade game, whack-a-mole, with a big stick just waiting for me to mess up, so He can hit me over the head..  He is actually a loving God trying to direct my paths, because He knows the way that I need to go, He has been in the future and He knows my past, while at the same time He is my very present help in time of trouble.( See Psalms 46:1)

This girl who lived all her life in a church full of condemnation, religiosity, in fear and intrepidation. Learned that there is a loving God who is up their with arms outstretched bidding for me to come to Him, asking for me to trust Him, telling me that I am His child and He will take care of me I have nothing to fear. He reminds me I only need the approval of the audience of one and that is Him. That no matter what those around me think or do I am safe in His arms and if I will only strive to please Him, He will carry me through. He reminds me that, He is not half as hard on me as I am on myself. He tells me I am complete in Him and because of that, I now walk with my head lifted up, no longer ashamed or in fear. I have straighten my crown that He gave me and smile with confidence of whose I am. Not because of anything I have done, but because of who lives in me and loved me so much He gave His life for me.  So the question today is, Which girl are you?