Simply Trusting...That is all!

Simply trusting every day, Trusting through a stormy way;

Even when my faith is small, Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Refrain:

Trusting as the moments fly, Trusting as the days go by;

Trusting Him whate’er befall, Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Brightly doth His Spirit shine Into this poor heart of mine;

While He leads I cannot fall;  Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Singing if my way is clear, Praying if the path be drear;

If in danger for Him call;  Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Trusting Him while life shall last, Trusting Him till earth be past;  

Till within the jasper wall,Trusting Jesus, that is all.

From winter to spring to summer

Psalm 43:10  "Be still and know that I am God."

"Oh the goodness, the goodness of Jesus...satisfied...He is all that I need...may it be...come what may...

that I rest all my days in the goodness of Jesus!"

Last July 31, 2021, I shared a picture of the same flowers...but no words.  And now...a year later...I took the same picture of my front flowerbed...reflecting once again on the seasons of life.  My last post on this site was in January...and then silence.  I find it interesting that I went silent about so many things that I was struggling with and learning while living each day trying to focus on doing what I needed to do.  Sometimes are like that!  Struggles are private things...that sometimes we share once we get to the other side.  I know people see when we struggle...but they don't know the deep down stuff unless we share it.  They may assume...I know because I do it...but they will be totally misinformed and mistaken!  For now...I just know that each season of life brings struggles that are private heart matters and I am not obligated to share all the details of what God is doing...till He prompts to do so.  In a day where everyone feels the need to post the good, bad, and ugly...I'm finding the richness of holding on to some times as just for our family.  Such sweet times with Him are so personal...maybe in the next season...I'll be ready to share the good, bad, and ugly.
 

Missing Peace

                              "Don't allow other people to hold the key to your peace of mind."

We are living in a world of no peace!  Satan has attacked the peace of Christians and they have continued to hold on to the lies that satan has used.  Now...no one has peace!

Shame on us!

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not asthe world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

It is so discouraging these days to go out and about anywhere in our state of Michigan.  People are out of their mind...mostly impacted by the fear of what may be.  No peace...masked faces and darting eyes...wary or accusing at every turn.  I cannot and will not live like that!  I smile at people when I go out!  But more often than not...I don't go out...because I can't take the oppression and lack of peace.

And even sadder...people of the church are living that same exact way!  It stunned me when one lady even went so far to say "You need to do the Christian thing..." when it comes to CDC or WHO standards that are ever changing and flip-flopping.  What!?  We are now two years into this mess...and we still are blinded by the lies of satan and his army. 

It bothers me greatly...yet...I feel that I cannot even utter an opposite view because I will be (have been) attacked and labeled unloving and uncaring.  Since when did we move away from taking care of our own house...family?  Who on this earth decided that the government will make decisions for our home...family?  We have never consulted them before and will not start now!  They do not know what is best for our home...family.  They do not point me to God's way...so why do so many people think that I will even consider their way?  These are the same groups of people who kill babies and elderly.  These are the same people who ignore and silence God's Word and His way.  They are working in opposition to God's laws...so why now in 2021 and 2022 would I all of a sudden begin to follow their recommendations for life? or godliness?

FEAR of getting sick or dying?  Really.  Like I can control what only God has control over!?

2 Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

I will not follow our governments' way of thinking because it is anti-Bible and anti-God!  I will take care of our home...family...in the best way by following years of sound instruction for physical, mental, emotional, psychological  and spiritual stability!  Take care of the body God gave you by eating healthy food.  Sleep.  Exercise.  Vitamins.  Washing hands regularly.  Working hard.  Spending time in prayer and in God's Word.  Trusting in the sovereign God who has always been faithful!  A shot isn't going to fix life's problems!

And when God decides to announce it is my time to leave this earth...I will gain Heaven!  So we choose to live in peace...here on earth...by quieting the noise of the Covid chaos and craze that is driving everyone to their breaking point.  

Either way...I win following God's way...peace here and now or Heaven!  Some Christians need to spend time reading God's Words more than listening to man's words.  Remember...satan, the enemy of God...the great deceiver...is still walking around as a roaring lion...did you forget that God said it would be this way?

What is wrong with those that say they follow Christ?  You have an opportunity to live out what you have said you believe...but yet...all I hear is attacks and name calling and accusations that I am "not being Christian.'  What?!?  And what you are doing is Christian?  

Jesus called out those who were spreading lies and doing things under the guise of religion and they hated him for it.  As a Christ follower, I am doing my best to follow Christ's example.  He did not cower under the evil of the Roman government.  He obeyed the will of His Father...Who is also my Heavenly Father!   My God says not to fear.  My God says let not your heart be troubled.  My God says I should be perfect (mature),stablished, strengthened, and settled.  My God says I need to watch and wait for His coming.

 I Peter 5:7-11

I am done being told by Christians to just follow what the CDC and WHO are telling us to do.  I will not take counsel from fearful people or institutions who endorse killing people.  I will take care of the body God gave me using the brain that He gave me to research and find the truth as best as I can.  Do not spread your fear on me and then be ugly about it.  That is NOT how a Christ follower should act.  That is NOT loving.  That is NOT truth.  

I am tired of all the noise from all the fear-filled people.  I wish more faith-filled people would stand up and be louder than the noise...but FEAR has silenced everyone!  And so we say nothing...so as not to cause a scene or be labeled unloving or uncaring.  We are admonished to show grace...but I believe we are misusing grace!  But that is where Christians went with this whole Covid chaos right from the get go...show grace and do what the evil government tells you and don't ask questions.  Where is my grace?  When will it end?  Where is the line?  The damage to our testimony as a Christ follower has been done...and Christians have helped.  I'm curious...what will it take to get your peace back?

Always remembering that there is something to delight in each day!

 

With each new year comes many moments of reflection and remembrance, usually regarding the previous year.  The older I get, the farther back I go in counting the blessings that have added up year after year.  This week in Kindergarten, we have talked about why Jesus came at Christmas.  I have shared with my class that Jesus didn't stay a baby...He grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52.  He grew up and lived his life without sin!  Jesus is our example.  He taught us how to love others as He loved His Father.  Each evening, I have the opportunity to talk to my husband who is a thousand miles away working.  Most days, I am able to function in peace and happiness.  But if I am honest, there are many days that I am hanging on and trying to be joyful in our present situation and it is so hard my throat constricts with tears when I see he is calling.  I will myself to not dissolve into a puddle of tears when I hear his voice.  I long for his hugs and company.  We share the usual pleasantries and exchanges about our day or the latest news...both working through the loneliness...and then the real stories of the day start...and I find my resolve to find my strength in the Lord and keep going each day...

because God has given my husband a work to do that is far beyond the business of this world!  Ted shares the conversations and questions that he has each day with co-workers on all different levels...often at the hardest times...and I wipe the tears silently away and pray for his wisdom and strength to keep on doing what is right in the face of hard.

I'm a grown up.  I have lived 52 years so far...and still counting thankfully.  I would like to think I have friends and can get along with people.  But the part of the verse that has hit me this week as I have explained it to my class..."in favor with God..."

I want God to be happy with my life.  And right now He is asking me to live for Him in Michigan while my husband lives for Him in Georgia.  I am spending a lot of time looking back to what God has taught us through our years together.  I am choosing to delight in the circumstances that God has brought to our life right now in 2022.  And I want to be genuine in my thoughts and life as I share with my five and six year olds that Jesus' way is the best way to live in favor with God and man!  I won't lie and say it is easy, but I will say that it is worth it if people can see Jesus in our lives.

"but his delight is in the law of the LORD..."

Psalm 1

LORD, please help me to think right!  Help me to focus on the right things...even when it is hard.

What does discipleship look like?

I have learned through the years that there are many ways to touch lives with love and support.  I have learned the importance of having your eyes and ears open to notice the opportunities that God gives.  I have witnessed many people turn up their noses, claim schedule conflicts, hold to the thought that it isn't their thing, and ignore opportunities.  I know who students won't go to for help and encouragement because of past situations.  What happens to adults that they lose their way in what is important in life?The students always get the blame as having bad attitudes or being disrespectful.  Yet not one person ever stands up and confronts the why of how things got to that point.  No one ever calls out the provocation.  Our student spoke up and asked for help.  So...we jumped into "Operation Help Our Kiddo with a Project" that needed a staff chaperone. 

Four bags of 450 balloons each...plus a couple hundred more, four air compressors, five hoses, nine seniors, two adults, ten pizzas, and three two liters...as they finished their spirit hallway decorations.  It was a struggle for two weeks to get things going.

We enjoyed hanging out with these seniors.  Talking and sharing time with these young people who are getting ready for a big change in a couple months.  Want to stay young?  Eat pizza.  Laugh.  Blow up and tie hundreds of balloons till you can't feel your fingers.  Laugh.  Encourage.  Stay out late.  Enjoy simple things...and you will see big smiles...just because you were willing to be there...so they could see a plan play out.  Encouragement is not hard!  It takes time...how selfish we can be as adults.  How quickly we forget what it was like to be that age!  Do you ever think about what you needed when you were that age?  Be that person...now!
 

"Be strong...in the grace that is in Jesus Christ."

"Be strong, not confiding in thy own sufficiency, but in the grace that is in Jesus Christ."

As I think and pray for my sister each day, I have also taken some time to read about the treatment she will be enduring to combat the cancer that is in her body.  She had no idea it was there, till she felt a little lump.  Due to the affects of Covid-19, she had to wait to get in for an appointment, did that little lump grow and change?  How long had it been there?  What will it do?  Where else could it be?  Will it respond to treatment?  How drastic will treatment be?

So many questions.  So many concerns.

We know treatment for cancer will not be fun.  We know there will be nasty side effects from these treatments.  

The team of doctors feel that Mari will respond to these treatments and the lump that is cancer will shrink or even go away.  They are hoping for less invasive procedures to remove the lump.  And we know that God is the Great Physician.  We know that He alone knows the end from the beginning and we choose to trust Him.

It is hard to watch someone prepare for the path of treatments for cancer.

Tests to endure.  

Waiting to experience.

Tears to catch.  

Fear to fight off. 

It is hard to watch someone go through the treatments for cancer. 

As I watch and prepare to help in the fight, I cannot help but think how much cancer is like sin.  We wouldn't choose to have cancer in our body.  I'd like to think we wouldn't choose to have sin in our heart.  That wasn't God's plan when He created man!  God created a world that He called "VERY GOOD" but sin entered the world by one man's choice...and affected the whole creation. 

Cancer starts off as a small problem, and when we don't know of or acknowledge its presence and realize the danger of its growth, we are at its mercy.  Thankfully through the years, medical experts have learned about cancer, how it grows, what makes it grow, and how cancer can be dealt with in the body.  Every body is different.  Every cancer is different.  Every treatment will be adapted as bodies respond differently.  We, of course, are praying for God's will that Mari's body and the cancer will respond in the quickest way to the treatment with the least harmful effects!

Sin works in much the same way.  When we do not deal with our sinful choices, we allow for other choices to be made.  We make excuses and allowances making room for satan to attack us in our weaknesses.  Pretty soon, we are down a path that leaves no consideration for thinking of how we could or should please God with our choices.   Sin always takes us farther than we want to go...and with the help of others...we can make a change in our direction...to prevent further destruction.

Cancer can be treated...but you need the help of knowledgeable people.  The medicines and treatments are strong.  There is pain and unpleasantness.  We hope and pray the cure doesn't cause lasting damage or kill.

Often there will be some warning signs that may signal there is something wrong, but we might ignore it due to busyness or ignorance.  Sometimes, we don't even know how bad the danger is till it too late to prevent some long lasting consequences and even death.

Some people have a physical cancer to fight.

Other people have a spiritual cancer to fight.

Both have a choice in whether or not to fight the cancer.  Both need help and support to fight the cancer whether it is physical or spiritual.  

No fighting....long-lasting consequences...sickness or even death.

No help and support...consequences...discouragement or devastating choices.

Help and support and tools to fight...the will to go on, healing, and restoration.

We make the choice!  

God gives the strength and healing in His time and His way.

 

The world in solemn stillness lay...

I've noticed through the years that there are pictures of Christmas morning that looks similar to this one.  Most are marked with a time that is earlier than any other day of the year...ranging from 4:00am to 6:30am.  If I have a picture of it...that means I was the one up that early!  This year is no different.  I think this was the worst night of sleep I have had in a very long time.  Not to be rude, but there was a strong, loud outside force at work...so I won't go into any more detail.  I laid there.  I surfed on my phone.  I prayed and eventually dozed for while...but finally just got up...made coffee, let the dogs out, and now we sit in the still of the early morning.  There is something so calm and peaceful sitting here in the dark.  Outside there is a light blanket of snow that fell while we slept.  The Christmas lights add a soft light.  The smell of the lit candle adds a cozy glow.

Quiet

Comfort

Joy

Peace

I think that this is exactly what God wants us to experience when He says in Psalm 46:10

"Be still and know that I am God."

The writer of the song captured the idea. "The world in solemn stillness lay..."

And that is when the angels sang...God had everyone's attention...nothing else making noise and distracting them from the most important news of the hour.

Jesus was born.

He came to die...that we might live.

God's plan.

Hope for the world.

Yet...we allow the busy, the noisy, the crazy to take away the quiet, comfort, joy, and peace. 

2020 has been a year full of things that have taken our eyes, ears, and minds off the hope that God gave us so many years ago.

I don't want to forget the truth that I am reminded of in the stillness of these early morning moments God brings to me when I sit in the quiet of our home...surrounded by the comfort only God can give. 

Everything in our world is constantly attacking and stealing the joy and peace that I have in Christ.

On this Christmas morning, I am taking time to be reminded that God's plan for me is much better!