Sunday, January 29, 2012

Opening the Many Gifts available along life's paths!

This picture depicts to me the many gifts that lie waiting for each of us along our many paths in life! It does not matter where we stop or turn, there are always piles and piles of gifts of all shapes and sizes, waiting to be seen, or not; waiting to be opened, or not; and waiting to be enjoyed to their fullest if we desire! Some are surprising! Some are unusual and take time to figure out. Some require a bit of instruction to "assemble". But all are designed perfectly for us, without any missing or damaged parts, for us to use and enjoy, and are available to help give all of us an abundant life, if we desire. We also can pass many of them on to others to help, heal and give joy.

Some come in friendships or just acquaintances. Frequently I find them in encounters with strangers. Often I discover many come with hardship and pain, sometimes in difficulties or even seeming attack or injury. But if I can stop before judging or reacting negatively to anything, I find there are gifts in every experience of life, no matter how difficult or painful. Even in an emergency or urgent crisis, evidence shows we are more effective if we are calm, taking time to sop and pray for wisdom, peace and help, if only for a moment. God gives us strength, comfort and support, all gifts. Even grief and sorrow can cleanse and heal older hurts that have never been attended to.

Sometimes the gifts are not seen right away or we are still waiting for the one that makes us feel really good, but as we are waiting and trusting in God, God provides the little gifts along the way that smooth the path, strengthen us and comfort the hurts, if we surrender to what we cannot control, turn everything over to God, especially what we find painful, disappointing, discouraging or frightening, and pray for wisdom and discernment, peace and stillness of heart, mind and spirit. God always provides the supply of all we need when needed.  God is not usually early but God is never late! Keep looking for the gifts, ask to be shown the way, God's way. When the gifts are seen, be thankful for even the little ones and realize there really are no little ones and lots we take for granted. En-JOY life along life's way on  life's terms, always good according to God's provision and leading.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Growing Faith into a Tree of Life, Peace and Joy!

Faith takes time to grow, a lot of work, practice and patience, and protecting small levels of faith in the storms of life. But, experiencing the fruits of faith: peace, joy, serenity and trust, is well worth all the hard work and patient endurance.  It seems not that long ago, that I had very little faith. My symptoms were constant anxiety, fear, frustration, anger, depression, despair, controlling behavior and constant efforts of analyzing and developing plans and alternatives for managing my life. I sought many teachers, methods, beliefs and tools for the wisdom and labors I thought I needed for controlling and managing my life as I perceived it and wanted it to be. I had very little acceptance of anything or anyone that was not the way I had planned or expected. I certainly had no self acceptance of myself, being unlike what I wanted or thought I should be, or how others told me I should be.

Today I am really beginning to experience the fruits of my faith in a delicious and productive way! Seemingly facing more challenges than ever, I find daily many opportunities to practice my faith, something essential to grow it. Without the need to practice, when everything is going very well, just the way I like or expect, I can sink into believing I am in control and the "old" patterns start to emerge.

Yesterday I had another opportunity when walking into my kitchen for the first time for the day. While getting myself a cup of water, I found the refrigerator light off. I thought it was the bulb, but then for some reason (my higher power), I checked the freezer light and it was also off. It seemed unusually quiet, so I turned up the temperature dial and the system did not cycle on. I assumed my fridge needed repair. Ugh! Then again something told me to look around as I was praying for help, something I have learned to do right away. I noticed the microwave was dark and then that the phone light was off. Checking both, they were dead. I tried the fuse box switches but everything seemed OK. I moved the phone cord to another outlet and it turned on. It was an electric problem. Ugh! I prayed some more.

Calling a couple of friends and one of my neighbors who works in construction, I took down the names and numbers of some electricians whom I proceeded to call. Leaving messages but wanting immediate help, I got on the Internet and searched for ratings of electricians and called a couple more after my research, still praying for God's help and guidance, believing all would work out OK. One of my friends had mentioned the need for a new fuse box and while looking on line, I noticed the prices for that was in thousands! OMG! I started to panic, and then again, practiced my faith that things would get taken care of. I did not know what was wrong, as I have learned many times: that I often do not know the true reality of my situation or of the myriad of possibilities for outcomes. I have learned not to jump to conclusions or make assumptions that seem obvious to me. If I pray, I am learning God leads me to the truth of my reality. I have come to trust in God who provides all my needs and works things out for good, if only to grow my faith in the process.

One of the contractors I found on the Internet was calling me back and while on the line with him, another call came in and something told me to take the other call. My usual logic is the first call is best but it was a strong hunch, so I told the first caller I would have to call them back and took the second call. Reluctantly (because of my systematic brain and usual logic) I told the second caller to come right over. It was as if another person within me was making my decisions (my spirit!)  I needed my fridge working since I had just filled it with groceries only hours past and did not want to throw everything out, so I went ahead with the quick, seemingly irrational decision. A few minutes later, the electrician called me back and told me one of my next door neighbors who I had not called, just called him and the electrician realized it was an outside problem with my electric utility after asking me a few more questions while I checked out my oven and AC, both not working but on other fuses and electric circuits. He was honest enough not to show up and charge me the emergency call visit anyway. He told me to call him back if it turned out otherwise.

I called the utility and was told there were no other reports. I called my neighbor and asked him and another neighbor who was having a similar problem to call the utility. A few minutes later, we were advised of a construction project that had damaged some equipment causing the higher voltage power not to be working, so each of my neighbors had different symptoms, depending on their wiring, but was caused by the damage to the utility's system. A utility truck was present on a few minutes. Nine  neighbors were impacted and we all saved emergency repair call costs, getting our power back in a few hours. Yeah!!! The probability of me calling the same electrician as my next door neighbor in a city with hundreds (maybe thousands) of electricians is amazing, on top of me finding one that was honest enough not to charge me unnecessarily. Wow!

All the time, I experienced a lot of calm, peace and certainty that everything would work out despite my financial situation and busy schedule for the day. God even used the process of checking things out to help me find something in my kitchen that I was looking for and had not been able to find!  I had my moments of frustration and panic, but truly only moments, and not minutes or hours, or even days, of unrest, anxiety and unhappiness interfering with my life! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Let us rejoice and be glad! This is the day that the Lord has made!


My life seems to be full of challenges daily, especially the last 4 years when I took on managing my mother's care. This was on top of already dealing with health problems and disability that forced me to give up my career 22 years ago, fighting like crazy against doctors' conclusions that it was inevitable and unavoidable. The last 2 years, the challenges have been increasing in quantity and strength, like lifting weights under the supervision of  a personal trainer who is continually adding pounds.

I believe God is my personal trainer who cares about me and my increasing strength, but often seems unrelenting and almost sadistic in pushing me into dealing with more and more.  The results of course are rewarding, like the firming muscles, developing body curves and lost pounds from physical workouts, I am developing my faith and trust muscles and growing my soul to receive more and more joy and peace in my life, no matter the circumstances, which today are increasingly difficult for growing numbers of people. The great thing about my personal trainer, God, is that God is always there, loving and supporting me, providing all I need with encouragement and deep abiding comfort, if I continually turn to God in acceptance of what is, surrendering to God's guidance and provision, in the ways and timing only God can provide. God's ways are often frustrating to my plans and expectations, but are undeniable proof to me of God's constant existence and loving action in my life.

I love when God puts a thought in my head (or a song in my heart) especially when my thoughts have been disturbing or depressing, based on the difficult circumstances of my life, and the resulting songs or feelings from these circumstances have been sadness, hopelessness, depression or even anger. I have been hearing this phrase in my head every day for weeks: "This is the day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad! " It is the 24th verse from Psalm 118.  I have been saying it each day as it comes to my mind on the way out of bed, with a little more meaning every day in reflecting on what it means to me. Today it finally took hold in my heart as it came to my mind and a geyser of joy arose and filled me! God indeed has a wonder-full day planned for me today! No matter what happens. There is good for me today that I can enjoy, even if I have to lean on God a lot today because things are overwhelming. God never lets me down! God shows me He is there always with a plan, if only lessons to be learned and "muscles" to grow that keep me stronger and allow more joy and peace in my life, no matter what!

To top the morning off, I turned on one of my favorite "preachers" this morning and his teaching was on this verse, Psalm 118:24. Can you imagine that! I can! With God, those repeated frequent kind of "coincidences" are God's living signature on His whispers of love in our hearts. You can check out additional enjoyable teaching on this verse by James Merritt at the link below.

http://www.touchinglives.org/multimedia/video-broadcasts/?showVid=315

Saturday, January 7, 2012

New Year! New Beginnings!


A New Year brings new beginnings! But every day, even every second, brings the opportunity to make a new beginning! Come January 1st, our minds seem to more easily shift gears to embrace the opportunity more fully! It is just one second away from December 31, but, it seems a doorway to a new world of the next year! I am thankful for that stretching of my awareness and perceptions that I can have a new beginning, especially when I have been in a slump, stuck in a valley of  seeming darkness or fighting alligators in my "swamp" of life! I get weary of the struggles against the tide washing over me, over and over! But thanks to God, I have constant opportunities to float on the wings of my God, rest in the peace of acceptance of life on life's terms, knowing my God loves me and provides all I need if I but surrender all to God and ask for help and wisdom about what choices I do have to better my situation and avoid the pitfalls of despair and hopelessness. If I wait patiently, listen and follow the still small voice, I find new beginnings, providence and opportunities I never realized were just waiting for me to discover!! Oh, the joy of letting go and letting God!!