Garbage Day Again

It's garbage day again! :)

Garbage is out at the curb in its proper containers. Its a feeling of satisfaction for me. I have developed the habits required to do the job properly. Some of you probably think this a weird thing to be satisfied with but getting the garbage out is always something I have struggled with. I always forgot or was too late.

I don't know about you but I kind of have a hard time with habits. Not bad ones! Those are easy to develop. It's the good habits that take some effort. They say it takes 21 repetitions to create a habit. ( I think I am stubborn and take longer). Anything that I can use to help me develop the good habits is appreciated. I have a devotional emailed to me so it is right there on my blackberry first thing in the morning when the alarm goes off. I look forward to reading that now and seeing what the Lord has for me today. It did take habit forming though. Not just for me but for Orrie, who would rather I get out of bed than lay there and read it.

As you probably guessed, today's was about habits. I learned something too. I didn't realized that Jesus cleaned up the temple twice in His ministry on earth. Once at the beginning of it and once right before His crucifixion. He didn't go in the second time and say that he gave up on us because we didn't learn the first time. He did what was needed. If Jesus didn't give up on us then I guess we shouldn't either.

Paul wrote: "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:9 NIV)
God is with us to help us with the habits. To help us form the good ones and also to help us get rid of the bad ones. We need to step forward and start working. and pray! And God will be with us even when we fall. He will clean us up and get us moving again.

Isn't that freeing? We aren't alone and... " I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" (Phillipians 4:13 LAB)

Anyone have habits they need help with? Maybe we could be each others accountability partners. Diane

Use the Stain Remover!

Hmmm.. a few years back my mom had given me a container of Oxyclean. It sat on my shelf.. I didn't even try it. Then one day I spilled some rapsberry salad dressing on a pair of almost white pants. I laughingly joked with a woman I was sitting with.. and she said "Have you tried Oxyclean?" (Actually I think that was you, Rachel Gossen!) Anyhow.. I kinda felt silly. It was sitting right at home unused.

I went home and tried it... and you know what? It worked!! The stain came right out as if it was never there!

How many of us are like that? We have stains and spots on our hearts and our lives... hurts or wrongs of our own or others doing. And God says to take it to Him... He is Truth and His truth will set us free. Do we leave that promise on the shelf? Sometimes I have... trying to fix a hurt or wrong and holding onto a grudge a bit in my heart. But the simple truth is we can claim His freedom from sin or guilt or sadness or hurt. It may take a while to soak in His words...but claim His promise today. Let go of those old stains!

Leaving a Smell Behind

I was walking around the kitchen the other day and sorry to admit it went to rub my nose on my sleeve... it was itchy and I didn't want to touch my nose with my fingers, okay??? Anyhow... as my nose passed my wrist I smelt the most beautiful smell. I don't wear perfume so then my eyes popped open wondering where this smell came from. It was exotic.. so beautiful. I started wondering who had I touched? What had I touched?

This little encounter got me thinking about people... me. What odour do we leave behind when people are in contact with us? What rubs off? Do we leave with a bad smell, people remembering the critical attitude we had or our negativity? Or do people feel refreshed and left with a smile as our attitude toward life leaves them smelling an exotically wonderful aroma? I want to leave people with a sweet smelling aroma.. pleasing to God, don't you?

(FYI: I think the smell came from rubbing against a flower arrangement a friend gave me of some beautiful orchids!)

Why a Setback? Leaves of Change

Hmmm... all but one group discussion was gone off our group last night. Several of us felt quite sad... things had just gotten going! Several of us prayed about it... and we decided to retry. Start again. I felt pretty good, but later in the day I felt that questioning.. WHY? WHY a setback, God? I am tired. Can you relate to those feelings? I prayed later in the day. And the thing that happened was that suddenly several new ideas popped into my head.. new topics... new meaning. I had previously kind of gotten a bit burned out.
Do you ever do that? Life can be hard.. there can be a lot of setbacks, sometimes one after the next. And then we question.. why? Why setbacks? The thing that echoed in my head was my neighbours words today as she gave me a tree she was going to move from her yard to take inside. It was beautiful.. full of leaves and blooms. But she said, "When you take it inside all the leaves will probably drop off.. But then in time more lush growth and flowers will come back, probably more.. AS IT ADJUSTS TO THE CHANGE."
Hmmm... got me thinking about change and difficulties. Sometimes they are hard, but God says "ALL things work together for our good". Setbacks can often inspire us-- they can change us for the good. You know... difficulties make us better or bitter. Sometimes we have to embrace the pain or difficulty. We need to look it straight in the face with God's help to see what new life God will grow in us.. teach us or inspire us about ourself and Him. Leaves of change. God makes all things beatiful IN THEIR TIME.
OHHH... and as I sat down to add ideas... the group discussions were all back. Gone for the day but back now...COOL, eh?

Garbage Talked

Ever get a good feeling about garbage? When I first moved here, I looked and the green container, and the blue box and the grey box and was confused. I wondered how you ever figure out what goes where. I was a bit overwhelmed.
Today I put out the garbage and felt good! I had put the stuff in the right places and put the proper containers out to the curb and had a strange feeling of simple satisfaction. I found the instructions! They are in the phone book. It was an accidental finding but very helpful. I just had to sit down and read the phonebook. ( sounds pathetic I know ). It certainly made my life seem so much more simple.
It hit me this morning how simple life can be overall if we follow instructions. Not something that I always jump to do. Come on, we can figure it out by ourselves. Right???? I remember talking to my daughter once about learning from others. She said that she wanted to make her own mistakes. I thought it was a silly response but realize how many times I have done the same thing.
Life is not easy, so I would like to keep it as simple as possible. I am trying to open my eyes and ears to what the Lord is teaching me. A lot of times those words come from others. I know I can tend to blabber but I would like to hear what others are learning too. Blabber or not, I believe we all have something to learn and to teach. And it is simpler to learn before trudging through the consequences of mistakes. Diane

Sometimes It Just is SIMPLE

This one has been mulling around in my mind.. But your comment on facebook got me going, Tina! We tell our kids to listen.. We need to listen. Child-like faith. Have you ever thought about and relished the fact that God is our Father? Sometimes I just sit amazed that we are His children and that as He says we need to be like children. Parenting my own children has made me realize even more what he means.. That He too is saying.. "Hey it is okay.. I am right here" when we are worried. That He is behind us on the stairs of life... ready to catch us and lift us up. That He knows why certain things are harmful (stove burners so to speak)and certain things are for our good (broccoli?). That He wants us to run to Him.. tell Him about what is going on and how we are feeling. Our five year old tells me that he loves me as high as heaven and as big as God. And I tell him I love him soo big too. And that I try to love as big as God... but I know His love is the biggest! God is "Slow to anger and abounding in love" (Numbers 14:18) (not sure mine always is that way)... His love is everlasting. I want to be simple.. and have faith like a child. Free from worry. Free from fear. Living it...simple because of His great love.

Super Mom : Thoughts about Do ONE Thing at a Time

I keep thinking about the devotions on Thursday and the part that keeps coming back to me is the letter D. Do 1 thing at a time. Oh, can I relate to multi tasking and its dangers. I used that as a survival technique for many years of my life. Super Mom, Super Woman. I tried to do everything and for the most part it was so that I didn't have time to stop and really examine myself and how I was feeling. I had read a bible verse the day of that talk and it was about praying in a quiet place. Taking time alone with the Lord and being quiet and listening to what He had to say. Not just talking and asking what I wanted. Being constantly in prayer is easy because it falls into a multitasking life and you can do the "surface living" without really allowing God to talk to you. I have been convicted of this many times and I am learning that living "in the moment" is so much important. Being fully present in everything you take on. I guess that is proper stewardship of our time eh? Whether it is time with God, or time with our kids, we can't do both properly at the same time. Sure there are things that we can multitask. I can watch TV and knit at the same time. I can even eat and read at the same time. I have this weird fear of wasting time and therefore I think in terms of multitasking all of the time. Then I end up with a numb brain and I can't remember anything that I really accomplished. Ever get that way?
Dianne

Choosing Love

Sometimes whe don't feel like loving... do we? Sometimes it is hard to find love in our hearts when others acting in ways that we don't like. But God reminds us that His greatest commandment is that we "love one another" (John 15:12).

This week I saw this "choosing to love" in a few ways through the women on the Break Away Team. One wonderful woman whose heart of love shines on her face shared the verse "Love always trusts, always hopes" (1 Corinthians 13:7) in a situation where a decision had been made to choose to love and believe someone after a bit of a bump in the road had been made by that person. And then another of the women.. a very fit and fabulous woman... laughingly shared with us last night how she smiled and said "I love you" instead of grumbling when her husband came home just at the moment she had to leave the house... not a moment too soon.

Sometimes we just don't feel like loving... do we? But God reminds us to choose to love...just as he has chosen to love us. Our feelings aren't what we are to rely on... our emotions and attitude aren't a good control panel for our heart sometimes. God reminds us and commands us.. choose love. Thanks for living it, ladies!

Well...Why Didn't I Do That BEFORE?

Do you ever feel like you are at the end of your rope? Sleep deprivation, attitudes, emotional breakdowns and differences of opinion in our family of six can keep me hopping... to say the least. I just read The Message paraphrase of Matthew 5:3 where Jesus says,"You're blessed when you are at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule". Okay... so I am really blessed right now!!! But the truth is... the longer I live the more I can see clearly that I am not able to do this life thing on my own. I REALLY need help and more of God's rule.

But the question is... do I go right away or try on my own? I have to admit that often I try to find words and ideas to solve problems on my own or to go to the person and try to fix it and then go to God after. But just the other day as I was tackling teenage attitude and feeling in that zone of "how do we get through this" I prayed for God's help as I was talking (okay this is a new multitasking I haven't tried before)...and man... the difference was amazing. I had ideas on what to say where no ideas were there before and they listened! Things actually went smoothly through! I guess that is why God says to "pray always"... it works! Thanks for always being there, God!