Category: General Writing

I thought we could use some cheer this week. 

It seems like I’ve been surrounded by sad news lately.  Maybe you have been too.  At these times we surely can use some cheer.  I’m not saying that we should not take sad situations seriously, but we cannot get sucked into the melancholy that encircles them.  We need to remain solution-minded and expect positive outcomes in our lives and in those around us.

Biblically, the words “be of good cheer” are used meaning “take comfort” or “be of good courage” or “be bold”.  For example, Jesus said, “be of good cheer” to a man who was sick of the palsy, to the woman who touched the hem of his garment, and to his disciples when they were afraid.  He could say this because he knew there would be a positive outcome.  We must have the same confidence in our lives, not only for ourselves, but also for all those we care about and pray for. 

This shows us that cheer embodies comfort and courage.  These are essential for perseverance.  And perseverance is essential when facing negative situations.  We don’t always see a positive outcome right away.  Often the solution takes time.  So it is vital that we remain confident (be of good cheer) that we will indeed receive a successful resolution for ourselves and for those we care about and pray for.  And when we have that kind of confidence, we cannot be down-hearted.

After we receive the resolution of a negative situation, we rejoice, whether it’s our own success or the victory of someone we have been praying for.  This is also cheer.  Merriam Webster defines cheer as “to rejoice”, “to utter a shout of applause or triumph”, “to make glad or happy”.  Doesn’t it make sense that cheer begins with comfort and courage and results in triumphal rejoicing?  It all fits together! 

And if we follow this through, we see that we can be cheerful in our lives no matter what circumstances we face.  If it’s a difficult time, we can have comfort and courage, and if it’s a great time, we can rejoice.  Now, I’m not naive to think that we will never be sad in our lives.  We will have broken hearts, we will see loss, we will fail.  But no matter what happens, we can still have courage.  And if we never see the resolution to our problem, we can be comforted in knowing that we’re going to heaven and all hell can’t stop us.  And boy, won’t that be a time of rejoicing!! 

Being cheerful is an attitude we can foster by putting cheerful thoughts in our minds.  Not only thoughts of comfort and courage, but also thoughts of past successes and victorious stories, and most importantly thoughts of love.  We can remind ourselves of how much God loves us.  (He always has, and He always will)  We can remember the great love that Jesus Christ showed us by being our savior.  We can think of all the people that we dearly love.  When we have these thoughts, love will abound in our hearts, and when that happens, our positive believing is energized.  And it all culminates in thankfulness. 

When we’re thankful, our eyes are open to the blessings around us.  From the tiniest sign like the gentle flutter of a butterfly’s wings to beyond-belief miracles, God is always working for us.  With His mighty strength, He fights for us.  With His wealth of resources, He provides for us.  With all the love in His heart, He cares for us. 

No matter what is staring you in the face, be of good cheer.  God is ready, willing, and able to help you overcome any adversity.  Have courage because He is in your corner ready to fight for you.  His arms are outstretched to comfort you.  And when all is said and done, He has a home prepared for you in heaven.  Knowing these things certainly gives us the ability to be full of cheer.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Note to my readers:  Cheers!  I am expecting great things for you!  Thanks for reading.    

Many years ago on a trip to New England with my parents, we were crossing Pennsylvania on Route 80.  At that time, there was considerable construction on that highway and the state had installed rumble strips to alert traffic to it.  These strips were very aptly named as the car truly did rumble when it crossed them; and on this trip, we must have crossed one every 10 minutes for about two hundred miles!  Plus, to make matters worse, I was pregnant and carsick.  Every time I would manage to doze off to ease my symptoms, I would be awakened by the rumbling.  It was so unnerving that we finally stopped at a rest area to inquire how much further the strips continued.  We were told by the woman at the information desk that they continued until the end of PA, which was about another hundred miles.  The alternative was to drive down to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which would have added about two hours to our trip.  After confirming that I would be able to tolerate it, my dad decided to stay on Route 80.  The couple standing next to us opted for the turnpike.  After we got back on the road, the rumble strips stopped in about 10 miles.  Apparently, the woman at the rest area was misinformed.   I always felt sorry that couple who drove so far out of their way. 

When I think about this story, it reminds me how life can be sometimes.  Life is a journey – a million ‘trips’ to a million destinations.  These are not always literal trips, but they all involve movement of some sort.  It may be movement of our bodies or of our thoughts.  It may be changing locations or changing our minds.  Sometimes these trips come off without a hitch, but sometimes there are bumps in the road, detours, or even dead ends. 

Imagine yourself on your way toward something you really want to do.  You are prepared, you are excited, you are ready to go.  You start your trip, and all is well.  Suddenly, an unanticipated problem arises (an annoyance, a hinderance, an unforeseen predicament).  You are then faced with a decision.  How are you going to handle this circumstance?  There are negative choices – freak out, get angry, quit. Or you can be solution-minded.  You must decide which direction your thoughts are going to travel. 

On the trip mentioned above, I started out being positive, “This isn’t so bad, I can handle it”.  But as the annoyance persisted, I grew more and more uncomfortable.  My thoughts traveled toward focusing on my discomfort, and I started getting cranky. I began with the best intentions of handling the situation with a positive attitude.  But since I didn’t see a resolution in a timeframe or manner that suited me, I got frustrated and slipped into a negative pool of thought, which was manifested by complaining.  Being cranky doesn’t help any situation, nor does complaining.  And frustration is a sneaky enemy. 

You know – negative thoughts really are pools – actually cesspools.  Picture a pool of filthy water in your backyard.  Normally you avoid even getting close to it, but once in a while you walk over to check it out.  The water might not look too bad, and you might think it’s ok to jump in; but if you do, you find out that it’s just a disgusting mess.  Maybe you are randomly wandering around your backyard and fall into the pool.  In either case, you soon realize that being in that pool is not where you want to be, and you must get yourself out.  When we find ourselves in a pool of negative thoughts, the way out is achieved by replacing our negative thoughts with positive ones. 

Now picture the same pool in your neighbor’s backyard.  How do you react if you see that they have fallen in?  You might see them flailing around and want to run away.  Or you might think, “that’s their problem”.  There may even be times that you do the unthinkable – and jump in with them.  But none of those are good reactions.  The best thing that we can do for someone who is in a pool of negative thoughts is throw them a rope of positive words to help them get out.  We don’t judge because we know that we’ve spent time in our own pools.  And we’re not hesitant to help because we know that we have needed help before too.

That’s a little side trip about pools, but now we’ll get back to our travels…

We cannot always prevent obstacles from getting in our way on our journeys in life.  They are usually as unforeseen as they are unwanted.  But we can decide which way our trip will proceed.  Are we going to rise above or succumb to negative pressures?   Are we going to remain optimistic or give in to pessimism?  Will we be solution-minded or get talked out of our ideals?  We may need to change the road we’re on, maybe it’s a dead end or full of potholes.  We may need to stay where we are and patiently continue to persevere.  (Along those lines, there is a saying, “this too shall pass”, which always seems to help me.)  Whatever we need to do, we must stay determined to not give up.  We can change directions, we can regroup, we can start over, but we cannot quit! 

Who would have ever guessed that there would have been 200 miles of rumble strips on the highway?  (Note to my younger readers – this was before GPS!)  But you know what?  After those stupid strips ended, the highway seemed as smooth as glass, and the rest of the trip was pleasant.  I give my dad a lot of credit for being patient through the whole ordeal.  It was one of those situations that we kept thinking, “surely this will end soon”, but it didn’t.  And then we found ourselves so far along, we couldn’t turn back.  So we had to keep moving forward despite the hinderance.  It was a real exercise in managing frustration, which I didn’t accomplish very well.

No matter where our life’s travels take us, we may run into obstructions.  It’s just the way the world works.  How we handle those impediments makes all the difference in how our trip turns out.  Jumping into the pool of negatives doesn’t help anyone.  Ignoring a problem doesn’t solve it.  Quitting NEVER works.  But things like patience, endurance, and positive expectations can turn an obstacle into a victory.

Of course, not all of our travels will meet with difficulties.  It would be hard to accomplish anything if they all did.  Smooth sailing is a good thing!  But we may take those times for granted.  Often it seems we revel in the difficult times rather than the easy ones.  We should always remember to be thankful for the easy trips.  I know that overcoming adversity is wonderfully satisfying and I certainly love to hear success stories.  But just because there didn’t appear to be an obstacle to overcome doesn’t mean that trip was not a victory. 

I learned this lesson quite a number of years ago.  A great man, affectionately known as Uncle Harry talked about a car trip from New Knoxville to Dayton Ohio.  There was a rather severe snowstorm, but the trip needed to be made.  So he and those traveling with him prayed for a safe journey.  And when they returned to New Knoxville, Uncle Harry asked a group of us if we wanted to hear about the trip.  The answer was a resounding “yes”.  He said, “We had to drive to Dayton in a snowstorm.  So we prayed for safe travels and now we’re back.”  He must have seen all our faces drop in disappointment.  So he continued, “Were you expecting me to say something like we slid on the ice for a mile, bounced off 3 cars, hit the guardrail and continued unharmed?”  (Which was exactly what I was expecting).  But he explained, “We prayed for safe travels and God answered our prayer.  We had a safe trip.  Just because there wasn’t a dramatic rescue, doesn’t mean that God wasn’t protecting us.”   

I wholeheartedly believe that God wants us to be happy and blessed.  Why wouldn’t He?  I surely want my children to be happy and blessed.  God is always ready and willing to take care of us.  But He can’t help us when we are wallowing in the sludge of negativity; because negative thoughts oppose God and therefore tie His hands.  But when we cast our cares on Him, God is able to go to work for us.  We, by ourselves cannot fix most of the problems in our lives, but God CAN.  He knows the right path through the wilderness.  He can make a way where there is no way. 

Psalm 103:5

Who [God] satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

In your travels, why not allow God to illuminate your path and lighten your load?  He can and will guide your steps, especially over the rumble strips of life.

Note to my readers:  Happy Trails!  Thanks for reading!

I’ve always liked clouds.  And I don’t think I’m alone in this.  Artists paint pictures of them, and poets and novelists write about them.  Clouds are also popular idioms for some of life’s situations.  For instance, “on cloud nine”, or “under a dark cloud”.

My favorite clouds are the cumulus clouds.  Those are the big white fluffy cotton balls that drift lazily around the blue sky changing shapes and evoking our imaginations.  When I was a kid, I used to lie on my back in the grass and imagine I saw all sorts of images in those clouds.   My second favorites are the cirrus clouds.  Those are the wispy brush strokes high in the sky.  I imagined God sweeping the sky and the cirrus clouds being the streaks from His broom.

There is something to be said for the beauty of big white clouds against the blue sky.  They seem to make the sky bluer, or the sky makes them whiter.  Whichever it is, it’s beautiful.  My husband says that clouds add interest because a cloudless sky is boring.  I would have to agree that I watch a cloud-filled sky much more than I do a cloudless one.  Although I’ve always loved the sky’s color.  Have you ever noticed that it is particularly blue in contrast to the autumn leaves? 

Clouds are also responsible for breathtaking sunrises and sunsets.  They capture the sun’s rays and disburse them through their layers to produce all the lovely colors of the sun’s appearing in the morning and disappearing in the evening.  Without clouds, sunrises and sunsets would be far less dramatic. 

One of my favorite cloud scenes is when sunbeams break through the clouds with visible rays of light that seem to stretch to the ground.  As a kid, I thought that meant God was smiling.  I still think that today.  Of course, now it’s symbolic.  But why not think about God being pleased?  That always makes me happy. 

Obviously, clouds are an integral part of the weather, and they have their ominous side.   Without clouds there would be no rain and without a gang of clouds, there would be no storms.  We could probably live without the storms, but not without the rain.  There is an account in the Old Testament where it didn’t rain in Israel for about two and a half years because of all the evil in the hearts of the king and the people.  Without rain for so long, they were in dire straits.   But when it was time, God told Elijah what he should do and then it would rain.  So after Elijah fulfilled his mission and showed God’s power to Israel, he went up to a mountain to await the rain.  He told his servant to go and look for a sign that it was coming.  And you know what his servant saw?  A cloud.  After that it says, “that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.”  (1 Kings 18:45)  Can you imagine no rain for two and half years?  How welcomed those clouds must have been! 

Just like any other element of nature, the sun, clouds and blue sky during the day, and the moon and stars at night influence our emotions.  Think of how you feel on a bright sunny day with the brilliant blue sky dotted with white puffs of clouds.  Especially if you are in a wide open space where the sky seems to spread out forever, you feel spectacular.  Those days seem to warm you on the inside as much as they do on the outside.

Years ago, I worked as a cashier in a pharmacy.  I quickly noticed that on sunny days the customers were happy and on very overcast days they were not.  I would quip that if I were not able to see the weather myself, I could always tell what it was like outside by the customers’ demeanors.

Perhaps the reason that I like clouds is because of their effect on my feelings.  There is contentment in watching billowy clouds float through the sky and serenity watching the high-flying wisps.  Even the clouds bringing rain can be a refreshing cleanse to our thoughts.  And the beauty of the sky after a rainstorm when the sun breaks through the clouds is one of the most invigorating sights I know.   

Clouds can be expressive metaphors / similes for our lives.  When we’re in love, we feel like we’re floating on a cloud.  When we’re much bothered, we feel like there is a cloud hanging over our heads. There are many such comparisons. 

And I’d like to add one… “Clouds add interest because a cloudless sky is boring”, my husband’s statement made me think that our lives would be pretty boring if there were never any clouds in it.  What if your life was always cloudless?  After a while, you might forget to appreciate that or eventually find it boring.  You would have nothing to strive toward, no accomplishments to claim.  What if you never achieved the success of getting out from under a dark cloud?  Those clouds in our lives offer us opportunities to grow by facing and overcoming our challenges and by that, receiving the joy of being on cloud 9.   And then, the icing on the cake – we can use those experiences to help others. 

If dark clouds are hovering in your life right now, remember that clouds wander the sky, they are never in one place for very long.  And once they drop their rain, they dissipate.  Remind yourself also that “every cloud has a silver lining”.  With prayer and trust to God, we can rise above our troubles and see the victory that God will provide, and then rejoice in our triumph.

Note to my readers:  If you’re on cloud 9 right now – I’m rejoicing with you.  Enjoy!  Thanks for reading. 

It seems that the world is topsy-turvy right now.  It’s scary.  It’s messy.  And the future seems uncertain.  But I am reminded of a verse in the Bible…

Ecclesiastes 1:9  [NIV]

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

…there is nothing new under the sun.  It has all been done before.  It might have had a different face, but it has always been ‘the same stuff, different day’.  Why is that an uplifting thought?  Because since the days of Adam, the world has been topsy-turvy, and people have managed to survive.  If people have done it before, we know that we can do it again.  We can learn from the past and put that knowledge into practice so that we can turn things around in the present.  Of course, the Bible offers us valuable insights, but much can be learned from our study of history itself.

My mom lived a lot of her childhood during the Great Depression.  Her family was put out on the streets because they couldn’t pay their rent.  She had to wear shoes that were too small and hurt her feet because there was no money to buy her new ones.  But despite these and many other hardships, she still had fond memories from those years.  Her family adapted and managed to survive those bleak times to go on and live happy full lives.  Those lean years taught them to be frugal and industrious.  They learned that there was always someone less fortunate, and they shared what they could with them.  They learned to be thankful for the little things.

We all probably have heard stories of past hardships from our relatives.  My parents’ generation saw not only the Great Depression, but also WWII.  Their parents lived through WWI, which was called, “the war to end all wars”.  Did you know that there was a hurricane in Galveston, Texas in 1900 that destroyed much of the town and killed an estimated 8,000 people?  It is still considered the worst natural disaster in our country’s history.  All of these events and many more like them, although absolutely devasting, led to some kind of positive recovery. 

Look at the world’s history.  There have been hundreds of occasions of hostility and unthinkable cruelties, of abject poverty and suffering.  Slavery was commonplace in ancient cultures long before the time of Moses.  There have been natural disasters and manmade calamities over and over again.  And through all these things, mankind has managed to progress. 

I bring up these unpleasant periods to illustrate that people have been able to survive them.  They banded together and figured out how to overcome their circumstances and make things better for themselves and their families.  “What has been done before will be done again”.  We also can overcome our circumstances and make life better. 

There is something to be said for the strength of the human spirit, or survival instinct.  This is a basic ability that God instilled in man. Think about the Pilgrims that first came to our country.  They survived incredible hardships to secure their settlement in Massachusetts.   What about the day to day lives of civilians who were oppressed in occupied France during WWII?  Consider the impacts and the aftermath of natural disasters.  These kinds of occurrences can showcase the human spirit at its best.  People bond and take care of each other.  They work together for the profit of everybody.  I have to think that God is working in these situations as well, for that greatly strengthens men’s resolve.  There have always been and always will be those who selfishly use the hardships of others for their personal gain.  And they are the people who oppose the human spirit.  But even in those instances, good can succeed and with God’s help, good will succeed. 

The Bible is full of wonderful accounts of God delivering people from hardships, wars, and calamities. 

Noah is a great example. 

At the time of Noah, society was as corrupt as it has ever been.  It says in Genesis 6:5 that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And in verse 6, it says that God regretted that He had made man.  But the account goes on to say that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah was the only person who believed God in his day and time.  No one else, not even his family believed.  So God worked with Noah to deliver him and his family (mercifully), and God made a covenant with Noah.  We all know the story – Noah built an ark and it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.  But think about the specifics of his task.  First of all the ark was a craft like nothing that had ever been seen or built before, and it was HUGE.  Plus, the situation for which it was being built was beyond comprehension.   Noah had to completely trust God’s instructions to accomplish this task and it took around 120 years to complete.  Consider Noah’s plight.  He was the ONLY one who believed in what he was doing.  He didn’t even have the support of his family.  And I’m sure that all those evil-thinking people around him were not kind nor helpful to him.  So for about 120 years, he labored alone in this endeavor, and probably suffered ridicule and criticism constantly.  But he persevered because God was with him, and he believed. 

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came, and he, his family and all the animals were in the ark for a little over a year.  And when they left the ark, their entire civilization and everything they had known was gone.  What must that have been like?  There is a lot we can learn from Noah’s experience.

So far in our world today, we haven’t reached the level of widespread evil thinking that took place at the time of Noah.  And it helps to remember that the evil we see now has been evidenced before.  Therefore, as God took care of Noah, He will take care of us.  We know for a certainty that we are not alone as Christian believers.  (There are millions of us who believe God and trust in Him.)  Look at what God did to take care of just ONE believer!  What will He do for all of us?  He was willing and able to do it before, He is willing and able to do it again!

When the news seems too much to bear and you have reached the end of your rope, remind yourself that there is nothing new under the sun.  The craziness surrounding us today is as crazy as it has always been.  There is nothing new about it.  Dig down deep and renew your conviction to rise above the craziness and enjoy seeing what God will do for you. 

Note to my readers:  Another key for survival is prayer.  Praying is not new.  It worked before, and it will work again.  Surround each other in prayer.  Thanks for reading. 

Several years ago, I showed my high school graduation picture to one of my husband’s co-workers – why is a long story.  But his response when he saw it was (and I quote), “Wow, you used to be pretty.”  On another occasion, I went to a local donut shop to get a cup of coffee.  The newly hired server had to ask the manager for help to prepare my selection.  Then when it was time to pay, I received the “senior discount”.  The young server questioned the manager’s decision to give me the discount as she had not seen my ID.  To which, the manager replied (and I quote), “If they look old enough, give them the discount”.  I was not a ‘senior’ at that point.  I share these rather embarrassing experiences with you as examples of how words communicate.

Now, I easily could have been offended in either of those situations.  But I wasn’t.  Why?  Because neither person who spoke really meant any harm.  And because I don’t take myself too seriously.  I have learned that it is healthier to let ill-chosen words roll of my back than it is to harbor them.  Usually the people who say these kinds of hurtful things, don’t do it intentionally.  So why should I be angry with them or take their words to heart?  And if I’m honest with myself, I was pretty in high school, and I’ve always looked older than I am. 😊 So there is no reason to let these passing words bother me.  I have told both of those stories on many occasions, and they always generate lots of laughter.

Words are the foundation of our communication.  We speak words, we hear words, we read words, we translate words into ideas and vice versa. Think about how we teach children to talk.  We show them an image and tell them the word that it represents.  We even identify ourselves by words. Remember the thrill it was to hear your child say, “mama” or daddy” for the first time?  This word-based teaching is also used for children’s behavior.  A child quickly learns the word, “NO” because they hear it so often. 

We understand communication in our minds by the use of words.  Words convey images, and we communicate those images by words.  It is a marvelous cycle of speech hearing and sight working together.  Words can have a profound effect on our lives.  Therefore, we must guard the words we take in as well as the words we give out.

There are times when people say very hurtful words purposefully – usually in a fit of anger, jealousy, or frustration.  These words are often cruel attacks that are not true, or at least are greatly exaggerated.  But true or not, they are hurtful none-the-less.  How do we deal with these kinds of words?  If we can’t resolve the issue with calm agreement, we must determine what we are going to do with those harsh words that we can’t unhear in our minds.

I often think of my mind like a bank vault full of safety deposit boxes.  I have the most frequently opened boxes toward the front for easy access.  These hold the most relevant information for my day to day living and are organized by priority.  Then there are boxes for other information that are arranged by frequency of use.  And way in the back as far away as possible, are boxes that I use to lock up all the information that I don’t want to think about.

We can take those hurtful words spoken in the heat of an argument and lock them up securely in the back corner of our vault.  As those boxes remain untouched, they begin to rust.  And as they rust, they become more difficult to open.  Eventually their rusty state overshadows our inclination to open them, and the contents of those boxes fade from thought.  These boxes can help us refute all of the unprofitable information that comes into our minds.

Have you ever written a letter?  Oops, just dated myself – written an email?  Maybe you just met someone and spent time getting to know them; or stayed up late talking with a friend.  How about sharing the deep feelings of your heart with a loved one; or talking on the phone with a far-away relative?  All of these involve words.  Our relationships require communication, and communication requires words.  Now don’t get me wrong, communication involves more than words alone.   Inflection, tone, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, actions, etc. are all involved in effective communication.  This is evidenced by how often an email or text is misunderstood.  In the course of speaking, those things accentuate the words for clarity and emphasis.  But they can also undermine our words.  For example, a wife says, “I’m fine”, but she is crying.  Her husband doesn’t believe her words.  Conversely, a husband smiles and says, “you look nice tonight”.  His smile has given credence to his words. 

Relationships are a vital part of our lives.  And words are a vital part of relationships.  Words are how we get to know someone.  And words are how we unveil ourselves.  Think about one of your fondest relationships.  Different things may have sparked an attraction, but the relationship developed by getting to know each other through conversation — words.  And it grew by continuing to share personal and heartfelt words.  Being able to talk about anything including your most intimate thoughts is a big part of any satisfying relationship. 

The words we speak can make or break a friendship, or any other bond.  The Bible refers to the tongue as an “unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:8)  That is figuratively referring to the tongue as it is used for an organ of speech.  With our tongue, we carelessly blurt out hurtful words that we don’t really mean.  With our tongue, we criticize, judge, and condemn one another.  With our tongue, we are quick to revel in someone’s misfortune.  With our tongue, we speak hateful words that can cut someone to the bone or break their heart.  Therefore, it is crucial that we make every effort to control the words that come out of our mouths, and not permit ourselves to utter any of those kinds of words.  A good rule to follow is “speak as you would like to be spoken to”.

Of course I cannot talk about words without considering the greatest words of all time-the Bible!  The Bible is called the Word of God because it is God’s communication to us.   With words, God reveals Himself to us.  With words, He directs our steps.  His words set us free.  His words never fail.  When we make God’s words, our words, our speech will be seasoned with grace and sprinkled with love, so we won’t fall into the trap of speaking hurtful callous words like the world throws at us.  When we speak God’s words, they will accomplish the things that God wants accomplished because they have power.  Think about it… we can speak the words that lead a soul to salvation!  How great is that?  We can speak words of deliverance, words of kindness, words of truth, and words of health.  What a privilege God has given us!

So the next time you open your mouth, think about your words before they are voiced.  Do your best to speak only words that bless people, not tear them down.  Words that will encourage people, not discourage them.  Words that you would like to hear. 

Note to my readers:  Words are a big part of my life.  I hope my words have blessed you today!  You’re the best!  Thanks for reading. 

With so much unrest in the world today, it seems like we all could use a little more peace.  I know I could! 

There are basically two kinds of peace in our lives, outside peace and inside peace.  The two go hand in hand in many situations, but not always.  Our inside peace is not necessarily related to our outside peace.  It is available to be peaceful inside in a bad situation, just as we can be unpeaceful when nothing is wrong. 

When the craziness of the world is encroaching on us, we will often seek a peaceful place to which we can escape.  Maybe we retreat to nature, or curl up with a good book, or even take a luxurious bubble bath.  Immersing ourselves in quiet surroundings and doing something we enjoy can help us combat the world’s insanity and put our minds at ease.  This is not a bad practice.  The Bible says that Jesus Christ sought quiet solitude on multiple occasions.  (Example, Mark 1:38) 

The reason we seek peaceful surroundings is to gain peace on the inside.  The chaos of the world is very unsettling, and sometimes it can rob us of our inside peace.  Perhaps there are situations in our lives that seem insurmountable.  Those times can certainly send our minds into a flurry of unpeaceful thoughts.  Finding a tranquil environment helps us regroup.  Our external surroundings can provide calming affects, but to really have peace on the inside takes more than that.  It takes an internal conviction. 

The most peaceful thing in this world is God’s peace.  It is perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), and God gives it to His people (Psalm 29:11).  In John 14:27, Jesus Christ says that the peace he gives is not as the world gives.  God’s peace is what we need.  This is the peace that guards our hearts and minds.  It is the peace that allows us to be patient and assures us of God’s answers to our prayers.  It is the peace that keeps our minds focused on our future in heaven.

Even though God generously provides His peace, the realization of that peace happens when we believe God’s words.  Did you know that every Pauline Epistle includes the words, “peace from God” in the salutation?  It must be an important thing for us to have.  It is!  When we are filled with God’s peace, we will rise above our circumstances rather than our circumstances taking us down.  When we have that peace, we will be able to see positives instead of negatives, see the big picture, see the light at the end of the tunnel and those things, in turn, will give us the peaceful assurance that we’ll be okay.

In practice, we must claim God’s peace in our minds.  We must fight for truth and not allow the world to talk us out of it.  I heard a teacher call peace, “the state of undisturbed believing”.  Isn’t that what we all want?  Those stupid thoughts that creep into our minds and cause us to doubt and worry will be defeated by the peace of God that surpasses our understanding. 

So when the world starts raising a ruckus in your mind, it’s not a bad idea to take some time to secure an outside peace so that you can restore your inside peace with God.  Then allow that peace to flood your mind with its comforting encouragement.  When you do that, you open the door for God to go to work by your undisturbed believing. 

I referenced more scriptures than usual in this post because it really is the peace of God that we need in this world today.  The best that the world can provide for people is a false sense of security that can be taken away at any time.  When we trust God and look to Him to take care of us, we will have a peace that the world cannot take away.  We will live above the madness!

John 16:33

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Note to my readers:  Peace!   Thanks for reading. 

Dictionary.com defines routine as:

1. A customary or regular course of procedure.
2. Commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals; typical or everyday activity
3. Regular, unvarying, habitual, unimaginative, or rote procedure.
4. An unvarying and constantly repeated formula, as of speech or action; convenient or predictable response

As you can see from the definitions, the word ‘routine’ can carry negative connotations as well as positive ones.  Especially in my youth, I thought of ‘routine’ as something mundane and boring.  Who wanted that?  But as I’ve gotten older, I relish my routine.  My routine is no longer boring or mundane, it is a welcomed, even necessary part of organizing my day by day activities. 

When I was a kid and we visited my grandparents in Maine, our mornings were always scheduled around my grandfather’s routine.  It never varied and it included him sitting in his chair and shaving with his electric razor for 15 minutes.  Then he would splash Aqua Velva on his face and wait a few more minutes for it dry.  Now, 15+ minutes was like an eternity to a kid who was ready to go out and have fun.  So with all the kindness of a spoiled child, I would groan and complain throughout the whole process.  Looking back at the orneriness of my grandpa, he probably shaved for 5 minutes when we weren’t there, but he was all about teaching me lessons.  He accomplished his task.  But I often wonder if he knew that it would take me many years to understand and appreciate his lessons.  I bet he did.

Generally, when we were young, we yearned for excitement.  We were happy if no two days were alike.  We steered away from routines except for maybe school or sports.  Then as we aged, routines became more necessary.  College, jobs, families etc. demanded at least a semblance of a routine.  Even more so as our families grew.  Getting one child to football practice, another to ballet and a third to the library after working all day; and making sure homework got done, lunches were made, and clothes were washed took a regular organized effort – otherwise known as a routine. 

Think about it.  Jobs and schools have routine schedules, routine procedures, and routine meetings.  We care for our cars with routine maintenance.  We care for ourselves with routine physicals.  We are surrounded by routines!  However, even though routines may be necessary, they must be kept in proper perspective.  Sometimes people can be so focused on their routine that their lives become “all work and no play”.  This can be as detrimental as the “all play and no work” lifestyle of having no routine.  Life must be kept in balance.

A routine can help us keep our priorities straight and make sure we have time for the really important things in life.  Things like reading our Bibles, prayer, going to fellowship or church, family time, date nights, even relaxation should be part of our regular routines. 

Time marches on and we reach retirement age.  The kids are grown.  Our jobs are done.  No more routines.  Au contraire!  Routines become a crucial element of keeping us productive.  It can be easy, without the structure of a job or family, to become lazy or at least unfocused.  You hear about it all the time.  People retire and end up sitting on the couch and watching TV all day.  Not much of a life!  Routines can help us avoid that fate. 

When you think about it, it’s actually exciting.  You get to determine your own routine!  For most of our adult lives, we worked and /or raised families.  Our routines centered around the requirements of those responsibilities.  Now we can determine our own activities and make our routines accordingly.  The things that we always wanted to do, but never had enough time for, can be built into our routine.s  Of course, even in retirement we have responsibilities, like my husband still wants to eat and we still need clean clothes, but our time is much freer to plan and enjoy other activities.  Hobbies, classes, exercising, book clubs, volunteer work, even writing a blog can be worked into our retirement routines without the concern that we’re taking too much time away from other duties. 

I will admit that thoughts of retiring arose in my mind a few years before I actually retired.  Some of my friends had started retiring and that sounded very enticing.  But at that time, I realized that I wasn’t ready for retirement because I needed the structure of a job to keep me on track.  I didn’t have a real plan for my future.  I didn’t have goals or ideas to pursue in retirement.  I would have become one of those couch-sitting TV watchers! 

During those years, however, I began to develop my goals and aspirations for the next phase of my life.  I made lists, I talked frequently about my ideas and formulated my thoughts.  So when the actual day of my retirement came, I was ready. 

Much has happened since that day.  And I’m still working toward my goals and aspirations.  But I’ve learned that without some kind of routine, it isn’t always easy to accomplish what I want to.  There are days when my brain just wanders around bumping into things as it tries to figure out what I should be doing.  There are days when my will fades into oblivion (those are TV watching days).  And there are days when I just get sidetracked.  In any of these situations my routine helps me get back on track.  It reminds me of what I need to get done and gives me ideas for my extra time.  It allows me to be successful in the things that I want and need to accomplish.

Routines are a good thing, and a positive aid for managing our time.  But we can’t get so caught up in our routines that we miss out on the glorious things of life.  Remember to always include love, laugher and giving in your routine.  Don’t be afraid to deviate from your routine schedule if you just need to have some FUN!  But if you find yourself sitting on the couch all day and doing nothing – dust off your routine and get moving! 

Note to my readers:  My blog is a big part of my routine.  Not because it’s a duty, but because it’s a joy.  I hope you continue to enjoy reading it. 

Last week I visited with a couple of my longtime friends.  (I say ‘longtime’ rather than ‘old’ for obvious reasons. 😊)  It was a delightful relaxing visit that refreshed our souls.  After returning home, I began to think about friendships.  Why do certain people become our friends?  Why do some friendships last, while others wane?  How do we maintain friendships?

Friendships are an integral part of our life.  Of course, our families are usually our first loves, but friendships can carry us through the ups and downs of life, sometimes when our families can’t.  We all need friends.  And when our friends are family members, that’s a real blessing! 

There are different kinds of friends.  There are neighbors or co-workers with whom we are friendly.  They make our lives pleasant.  There are friends with whom we may have common interests.  We may enjoy spending time with them centered around that interest.  But what happens if those interests change?  Circumstances may change or we may just change our minds about our interests, then those friendships tend to fade into the background.  So there must be more than pleasantries and common interests in a strong and lasting friendship.

There are.  Many other factors are involved.  For example: personalities, understanding, acceptance, agreement, trust, encouragement, honesty, compassion, laughter, loyalty, and beliefs.  All these and more are involved in a strong and lasting friendship. 

Personalities may draw us to others, whether it’s a personality much like our own, or one that is so different, that it intrigues us.  It is usually someone’s personality that first catches our attention.   However, we can’t always go with our first impressions.  Have you ever initially thought less of someone who turned out to be really great?  Never judge a book by its cover.  But when personalities mesh, friendships begin to blossom.

But there is still more to a strong and lasting friendship than personalities.  I often say to my friends, “you know me and you’re still my friend?”  I say that with tongue in cheek, but I do marvel sometimes that my friends still like me even after my melt-downs or the stupid things I say or do.  This is where acceptance and understanding come into play.  Friends look past frailties and faults and are kind.  But they are also honest and encourage us (even reprove us) to help us get back on track when we are making mistakes. 

All of us have deep feelings and concerns.  We may have secrets or inner pains.  Friends can be our confidants regarding these innermost thoughts.  They will have compassion for our pains and be loyal to keep our secrets.  Friends can share their hearts with each other and build lasting bonds of trust and understanding.

Having a friend who can make us laugh is a joyous benefit.  There are so many times in life that we just need to laugh.  Worldly circumstances can be discouraging and overwhelming.  Those are the times that we may need a distraction from the weight of the world, and laughter is a great remedy.  Sometimes a friend who can make us laugh in the face of adversity can help our us to collect our thoughts so that we can get through a difficult time.  And really, laughing with friends is just plain fun! 

Of course, our beliefs are a vital part of a strong and long lasting friendship.  It can be difficult or impossible to be friends with someone whose beliefs oppose our own.  Now to be clear, I’m not talking about opinions or even accepted schools of thought.  I’m talking about our deeply held life-guiding beliefs that are at the very core of our being.  We can put certain ideas aside and maintain a friendship, but without an agreement on our core beliefs, we won’t have enough to build a strong friendship on.  At best we can be friendly, but we won’t achieve a heart-connection.  We won’t be able to talk about the things that really matter to us. 

A lot of my friendships are with like-minded Christians because we have so much in common.  We share our beliefs and our interests are commonly centered around God’s Word.  We trust one another, treat each other with honest respect, and have compassion when it’s needed.  We encourage each other and accept each other for who we are.  And we are not afraid to laugh about life.  These are some of the qualities that I want my friendships to be built upon.  I gravitate toward those who show these qualities and I endeavor to exhibit them myself. 

I’m certainly not saying that only Christians can be friends.  But I am saying that whether we are Christians or not, we should determine what qualities we want in a friendship and demonstrate those qualities ourselves.  Like my mom always said, “if you want a friend, be a friend.”  If you want a long-lasting friendship, be the kind of friend that you want to spend time with.    

I pray that you all have many sweet long-lasting friendships that refresh your souls.  And if you have a friend that you haven’t talked to for a while, why not give them a call?  Tell them how thankful you are for their friendship.  I bet you’ll be glad that you did! 

Note to my readers:  I truly appreciate your friendship, more than you know.  And thanks for reading! 

Recently, I had back to back visits with my sons’ families.  It was a delightful time!  Grandchildren are the best!  Especially mine. (I may be biased.)   But as always, our time was also one of reflecting on my children at similar ages and even myself at their age.  How fast time flies!  You hear it all the time- “seems like only yesterday”.  And as you get older, it really seems impossible that so much time has passed in such a short period.  Anyway…

My oldest grandson is 15 and closing in on the “magic” age of 16.  Sixteen, when all of life changes because you can get your driver’s license!  Oh how I yearned for that freedom!  Wheels would bring the world to my doorstep.  I could fly down the road with the wind in my hair and go places I had never been before.  It would be one giant step toward adulthood and being my own boss!  Well, at least that’s how I looked at it back then.  Since this was a topic of conversation while my grandson was here, I began to reminisce about my 16^th year of life. 

I turned 16 in February of my Sophomore year in high school.  I asked for driving lessons for my birthday.  One could take Driver’s Ed in school for free, but the classes were full for the year.  So my birthday present would be to get lessons, so I didn’t have to wait until the next school year to drive.  (That would have been absolute torture!) 

I can still see my driving instructor.  He was a young man.  Well, I say that now – he was younger than my parents, but at 16 he was still old.  He was short, but again compared to my 6’3” dad, he was probably average height.  He was extremely patient and well suited for the job because he didn’t panic once while I was driving.  In contrast to my mom who panicked all the time when she rode with me while I had my learner’s permit.   I give her a lot of credit though, because I panicked so much with my kids that my husband had to teach them to drive. 

My initial driving practice began in my mom’s car, which was a Ford LTD and as big as my living room.  Thinking back, no wonder my mom panicked all the time; a 16 year-old novice driver maneuvering a land yacht through narrow town streets!  I never hit anything, but I often wonder from her perspective how close I came.  She never yelled, she would just grab the door handle and gasp.  I was oblivious to any danger.

One particular lesson I remember from my driving instructor was that pulling up to a T–intersection is an understood stop, even without a sign.  I learned the lesson, but I also taught the instructor something.  He would teach this lesson on a side street that ended in a T at the road that went into the cemetery.  There was no stop sign, probably because there was no traffic on that street unless there was a funeral.  He had instructed me to drive down the street and turn at the T.  However, he didn’t mention right or left.  So when I reached the T, I stopped awaiting further instructions.  He marveled that I knew to stop and asked me how I knew to do that.  I had to confess that I only stopped because I didn’t know which way he wanted me to turn.  I had foiled his plan.  I bet every kid after me was told what direction to turn at that T so he could show them how they made a mistake by not stopping!

Then came THE day – the day of going to the State Highway Patrol Station to take the driving test and actually get my license!  I wasn’t terribly nervous because I still had that 16 year-old ‘confidence’ that I could do anything.  Well, long story short, I failed the first test.  I got a perfect score on parallel parking, but I failed the driving because I started to pull out onto the highway in front of an oncoming car.  I was able stop in time, there was no accident, but the officer said very kindly, “you know I have to fail you, right?”  Yeah, I knew.  It was a devasting blow.  But two weeks later, I passed with flying colors.  Those two weeks of agony and feeling sorry for myself, had finally ended.  I got my license, and my life was back on track.

The next step in my driving career was learning to drive a standard shift because my dad was going to give me his old Volkswagen Beetle.  One Saturday, he took me up a big hill and let me drive down to learn to use the gears to help me slow down.  Then he let me drive up a big hill to learn to use the gears to give me more power.  Needless to say, coming down the hill wasn’t too bad, driving up the hill was a disaster!  But we eventually made it home and he told me that I could take the car to go into town to see my best friend.  Sixteen long years I had waited for that moment!  Total freedom at last!  I drove to my friend’s house smiling from ear to ear, envisioning all the places that we would go.  We could go anywhere we wanted without having to beg for a ride!  Life was definitely good!  Until… the unthinkable happened.

My best friend and I were cruising around town through the neighborhoods, and we came upon a house where several Junior class boys were hanging out.  It was on a corner of two streets, and the one we were on had the stop sign, and an ever-so-slight hill.  After making sure that all the boys noticed us, I shifted into gear and hit the gas to proceed, only to stall the car.  I heard some snickering.  Ok, it happens – try again.  Stalled again. More snickering and a little laughter.  SIX times I tried amid all the laughter and jeering before I was able to drive away.  I was sure at that moment; my life was over.  I didn’t want to go back to school on Monday.  I figured the incident would make headlines in the school newspaper.  I thought that news of my embarrassing failure would on the lips of every upperclassman.  Probably even the underclassmen would know about it by Monday.  How could I ever show my face at school again?  My life was over.

Much to my surprise on Monday, no one at school seemed to have heard anything about the incident.  NO ONE, even the boys that were there, mentioned one word about it.  Although I was stunned, I was grateful.  I concluded that the boys felt sorry for me and were being kind.  Actually, it was probably more true that they didn’t really care about it one way or the other.  The great car-stalling episode did not end up in the annals of high school history as my 16 year-old mind assumed it would. 

Eventually my little VW Bug, whose name was Bud, gained fame around school because, after I learned the art of shifting on hills, I was unstoppable on my journeys.  That poor little car was ridden to the point of exhaustion!  I would give anyone a ride who needed it and go anywhere that all the kids were going.  My little Bug did leave his mark on high school memories; not for stalling but for being everyone’s friend. 

I hope my reminiscing has given you a chuckle or two.  But I share it especially for parents of teenagers.  It’s important to remember that life as a teenager can be hard.  The transition from childhood to adulthood can be a rough road. 

So much about living life is perspective.  We know as adults, that most of the situations teenagers face are not the ‘end of the world’.  But we should remember that to them they are, and we should be there for comfort and help when needed – while not getting upset if we’re ignored.  Of course we must reel them back in if they are out of control and be firm on the rules.  But for the most part, parents of teenagers just need to be patient and thick-skinned.  I can’t even count the number of times that I told my mom she just didn’t understand.  And I remember at that time, I truly didn’t think she did.  Afterall, things were very different for her when she was a teenager.  How could she possibly understand my life??  But as it turns out, it wasn’t different at all.  Nor was my life different than my children’s.  It was the same teenage stuff, different day.

We Christian parents have a huge advantage because we can gain wisdom, understanding and guidance from God’s Word.  God’s advice is always the best advice!  Also, we can imitate God and deal with our children, even teenagers, the way that God deals with us.   God treats us with kindness and patience, but, when necessary, He does put His foot down – which is always done out of love.  We must do our best to love our teenagers like God loves us.  And then maybe one day, when they’re grown, we can laugh about how many times the world did NOT end when we were teenagers. 

Note to my readers:  A famous comedian once said, “Grandchildren are the reward for allowing your children to live.”  So if your teenager is making you crazy, just remind yourself, ‘someday – grandchildren’.  Thanks for reading!

Please note that I will be on vacation next week, so there will be no new post next Friday. Love to all of you!

Think about all the life that surrounds us.  Plants have life.  Insects have life.  Animals have life. Even microbes have life.  But I’d like to talk about the life we have as humans. 

Our lives have three parts.  Obviously, there is the physical part.  This is the part that we (and everyone else) can see.  Our physical bodies come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.  We have different kinds of hair, different eyes, different smiles, different ways of speaking.  Some of us are tall, some are small.  We can be slender or round.  Because it is the part we can see, we often focus on this part. 

Physical bodies can be a source of pride, like with athletes or dancers.  They take great pride in their body’s accomplishments, which they have worked hard to achieve.  Even if we are not celebrated athletes, we also can be proud of our physical bodies when we exert the effort to care for them. 

Physical bodies can also be a source of dissatisfaction.  This often comes from comparing our physical appearance to someone else’s, or by listening to someone else’s unfavorable opinion of our appearance. We see this frequently in young women, but it certainly is not limited to that segment of the population.  Many people are dissatisfied with at least one of their physical attributes. 

However, our physical bodies are only one part of who we are, and even though it is what we see, it really isn’t where our focus should remain.  The second part of us is our soul, which comes from the breath of life that God breathed into man at the beginning, (Genesis 2:7).  A person’s soul is the part that makes them – them.  Our soul is designed to govern our body.  Our souls are even more distinctive than our bodies because they are not limited by physical constraints.  They include our minds and our hearts.  Emotions emanate from our minds.  (Advertisers know this and capitalize on it.)  The discipline to control our bodies comes from the convictions we have in our hearts and the decisions we make in our minds.  Our outlook on life comes from the beliefs that we hold deep in our hearts, where our innermost thoughts and feelings reside. 

The most wonderful thing about our souls is their uniqueness.  And the most fascinating thing about our souls is that they can change.  We readily accept that changes take place between childhood and adulthood in both body and soul.  Neither our bodies nor our souls are the same as they were when we were children.  But sometimes when people reach adulthood physically, they think their soul has reached its final growing state as well.  Fortunately, that is not true.  Our souls can be always growing and changing until we take our last breath.  When we learn something new, we adjust our thinking.  When we experience elation or heart-breaking situations, our souls adapt.  I will qualify this by saying that our very deepest convictions may not change unless something greater than us comes along, which brings me to the third part of our lives…

When we got born again, we gained a third element of life, which is holy spirit.  It is the gift that God gave us at that wonderful moment.  It’s now part of who we are and should be our number 1 focus.  It is an open line of communication with God, and it is a source of power in our lives.  When our lives are working the way God designed, our spirits govern our souls, and our souls govern our bodies.  Our innermost thoughts and feelings will be based on God’s truth.  Our outlook on life will be determined by the guidance we receive from God’s words.  And those God-based convictions will permeate our souls and further affect our physical bodies.

Think of how great life can be when we have all three parts working together in proper alignment.  The spirit guiding our steps, our souls following with conviction and our bodies under control.  This arrangement allows for the most freedom and greatest success.  Because this lifestyle is one of Godly design, we have His assurance of support and guidance.  We can tap into His resources and operate the power that holy spirit provides us.  We can live a life that is more than abundant.  We can have joy and peace that is not dependent on our surroundings.  We can have the wisdom and understanding that God’s Word provides.  We can shine as lights in this crooked and perverse nation, (Philippians 2:15).  We can have a truly wonderful life!

There is so much more to life than what we see with our eyes.  We cannot see the life that makes plants grow, but just about everyone appreciates the beauty of a flower.  We can’t see an animal’s breath-life, but we like having pets and watching wildlife.  We cannot see each other’s souls, but we fall in love when our souls connect.  The greatest things in life are not seen, and what we do see wouldn’t exist without them.

When we recognize these invisible things in life, we must not forget about our gift of holy spirit.  That gift is just as real as our breath, and just as vital.  Oh, a person can live a long and healthy life without holy spirit, but his life on this earth is all that he’ll have.  It is only with that spiritual connection to God that our victory is guaranteed.  We have an abundant life now and eternal life to look forward to. 

So, delight in the life you can’t see, and be thankful.  Focus on the invisible parts of life and don’t allow all that your eyes see to distract you from what is really important.  Let God’s Word direct your steps, live according to God’s design, and reap all the benefits that life has to offer. 

Note to my readers:  When you are beautiful on the inside, you will be beautiful on the outside too.  Thanks for reading!