Cloudy days - Cloudy mind

Recently, we had storms in Michigan. The picture below does not show how dark the lingering clouds actually were. What I like is that there is an obvious distinction of where the clouds stop. You can see a light ahead. It is an excellent visual of what depression feels like. Like clouds, depression can dissipate. Unlike clouds, sometimes it takes more than just waiting for it to pass.

It is incredibly difficult to watch someone head under the clouds. When all they see are clouds. Dark ones.

For the days that may be more than just days. When you don't see the road going anywhere. When you don't see the light ahead. When your mind feels cloudy and rainy and just generally yucky. For the days when you realize that you may need more help. When you need to reach out, but don't feel like you can. May you know that there are friends and family waiting along the sidelines to bring you into the light. May you know that there is a God that loves you through anything.....especially the darkest days.


Isaiah 40:30-31 (NIV) Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Don't "DIS"miss....discuss.....

I like to play with words. Sometimes because English is SO confusing. Sometimes because I'm kind of nerdy like that, but Hey! worked for Dr. Seuss! :)

I remember hearing the phrase, "Don't diss me". Usually this was used as a way of saying don't be disrespectful.  Recently, I was thinking of the way that using the prefix dis really changes the whole meaning of a word. In fact, in most of the ways I can think of, using the word dis makes the word become more negative.

I had a list kind of going in my head, but I admit I "googled" to find some examples. There were more than I had thought of. A few examples:

Read right side first:

 

If you focus on the list on the right, the words seem pretty positive. Go back and read them again though putting dis in front of the word. Discouraging!

One of my favorite things to harp on lately seems to be communication. This does not mean I am good at it. I can knock out a piece of writing....talk to me and I feel like I trip on my tongue. Call me on the phone. I may not answer. Some people are excellent talkers and not so great at writing. Sometimes communication just seems to come to a halt. To keep with the dis theme here, DISCUSS. Whatever way you have to do it. Blogpost, whiteboard, text, letter, over coffee. Find a way that works and use it! (Just try not to do it when frustrated when it is WAY to easy to say things we don't mean and turn things into a disaster)

In our lives and in our communication, we can be encouraging or discouraging. I know which one I want to be.....to others and myself. However, too often I find words of discouragement creeping in. Do your best to find a way to keep it positive and to be empathetic realizing that the person you are dealing with might be having a really disgusting day and creating a disgusting mood. Do your best to see past that and find the real reason for the attitude. (ESPECIALLY with teens.....and don't take it personally) At my house, usually I disregard (!) the first few things out of my loved ones mouths....especially if it involves mornings!

Be blessed. Be a blessing. Find a way to take care of yourself so you can take care of the others that come across your path. A little kindness goes the distance. :)

Class dismissed....for now. ;)

Job 4 (NIV)
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

Proverbs 17:27-28 (NIV)
27 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. 28 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.

But HOW do you KNOW?!?!?!?! Who moved?

My early AM pondering is leading me, as usual, to thoughts of belief....and unbelief. I was raised going to church (2x most Sundays). My dad (God bless him!) read a devotion for us at dinner.....where we all sat down and ate together. In later years, grandma V.V. was there too. The T.V. was off. We talked to each other. Do I remember about what? Not necessarily. Do I know I miss those days? YES!

I have felt guilty that I let myself get too busy, too distressed and too depressed to carry on our family tradition. I did much better when our kids were little. It was "easier" then. It seems that with all the time-saving devices and technologies we would have MORE time. Sure doesn't feel that way though. More time wasters maybe.

I don't remember ever really questioning my faith. I guess I always just accepted it as true. I remember that I didn't think/know/realize about the personal relationship part of faith until much later. I know that even though I now understand the relationship better I still don't spend time doing things I think I SHOULD do, but find plenty of things I WANT to do! One of our pastors used to say his wife got frustrated that they did not sit as close to each other in the front seat as they used to when they dated, etc. He was driving. So he said, "Who moved?"

I see this in my relationship with God also. He's driving. He's in the same seat. IF I'm not as close as I want to be? I'm the one who moved....and needs to slide back across that seat.

I used to be surrounded by friends and family that did not question their faith either. This makes it MUCH easier to know what I believed. Lately, I have been around many more people that would consider themselves atheists or agnostic. I've been to classes and heard talks about "evangelizing". When you are around people of your own faith and beliefs, you can get out of the realization that everyone may not believe as you do. I think this is what is happening to me.

Someone very close to me is one of those people. A couple of the things he asks me is what if you had not been raised "that" way? What if no one had told you about God? I try not to think about it, but my mind keeps getting drawn back to those questions.

I would LOVE to think that if that were true, I would look around at the nature around me....at my own body...that has held and produced a little bundle of joy.....at his body and how he was grown from my baby to full grown son. The fact that my heart beats, my lungs breathe and my eyelids open and shut without me ever thinking of how those things happen. I would like to think of the people that I have been blessed to know. I would like to think that I would KNOW that a piece was missing in this puzzle of life. I would like to think that someone would give me reading material, a Bible so I could form my own opinion.

Thankfully, since I had a foundation to build on, I have found that easier. Many have not been given that opportunity. I have great respect for adults that come to faith. By the time we are adults, we have formed opinions on information. We have logical minds that try to override a loving, not so logical heart and soul. We have to ponder if we even have a soul and where does it go?

I have to admit I don't have ALL the answers and I'm grateful that I do not have to. In the meantime, I will continue to pass on the insights I've been given, plant the seed if you will. I will leave it up to others along the paths of life to help take care of it....to take care of you. I will pray that you will find a way to KNOW that works for you. I will pray that if you are feeling the need to move back or find that missing piece that you actively search for answers that will bring you peace....and understanding....that you can know.


Colossians 4 (NIV) Further Instructions
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

The Power of the Cross: Fashion edition

It's Good Friday! Well, every Friday seems good as we get to head into a weekend and a chance (possibly) to relax. However, in a religious sense, we celebrate this day mostly, and especially, because we know what's coming. As Tony Campolo says, "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!"

This AM I put on one of my favorite necklaces then I found earrings that mostly matched. They are crosses. Today I guess more than usual I was thinking about why I like them. I've heard people mention why would someone wear such a symbol? If you really think about it, in ancient days a cross was a torture device. I would never wear an electric chair symbol so why a cross?

A cross symbolizes the physical torture that Christ (and others) went through to bring death to a body. In the situation of Jesus though, there was additional mental and emotional struggle realizing that He was separated from His Father during that time. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the Trinity. God is God AND Jesus AND the Holy Spirit? How do you turn your back on yourself?

I don't know if I honestly love anyone enough to be willing to physically die for them. I would love to think that if in a situation where I had to make a decision I could selflessly do that. But honestly? I'm not sure.

In most cases, a person condemned to the electric chair or death by injection has been found guilty. They may have murdered someone. We are worried about if they feel pain as they leave this earth. That their death is more humane than the death(s) they may have caused. Jesus did not get that same consideration.

I may not be able to grasp all of it, but the part I do understand is that Jesus was willing to put His life on a cross for sins we had not even committed yet. He was betrayed by one of His 12 closest friends. He was judged unfairly. He was whipped. He was NAILED to a cross through his wrists and ankles. He was made fun of. He was spit upon. The humiliation alone makes me feel horrible.

It does not matter if I/we can figure it all out in our logical minds. He was willing to do that FOR ME. For you. Whether you "believe" it or not. He knew that not everyone would. He did it anyway.

So I put on my cross jewelry. I'm glad I live in a country where I am free to express my faith with outward symbols. I will picture the cross as God at the top. Jesus on one side and the Holy Spirit on the other. I will not downplay the inhumanity He suffered. I will recognize the fact that there is spiritual significance to this day.....more than just my fashion choices.

May you have a most blessed weekend. Here in Michigan, the sun is shining FINALLY! The grass is getting greener. I have noticed green stirrings from the ground and even some daffodils. SPRING is on the way. Resurrection Sunday is on the way. Hallelujah!

If you have questions about believing in God and salvation, I may not have all the answers you seek. I am willing to help you search! If you're not at the point of "feeling" or "seeing" God, start a conversation like you would with a friend. ASK Him to reveal himself to you. Then keep your eyes, heart and spirit open and not try to explain away what might seem like coincidence. God SHOUTS through Creation. He whispers to your soul.

I was just going to find a verse from this passage, but the whole thing is worth a read. A prophecy foretold, fulfilled in Jesus:

Isaiah 53 (NIV)

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression (arrest) and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

(www.biblegateway.com)

Desires of our Hearts?!!?!?

DESIRE: 1:  to long or hope for :  exhibit or feel desire for <desire success>

2a :  to express a wish for :  request <they desire an immediate answer>

 

If you are looking for the "desires" expressed in late night commercials....(especially lately....jeez!), I apologize in advance. You will be disappointed. If you want some recent thoughts? Read on.

 

I admit that I have thought that the desires talked about in the Bible had to be BIG things. Things that we knew there was no other way to explain them than God bestowed them upon us. I have experienced situations like that....where all the people and places aligned and I have no other explanation. (She lives in our house!)

 

However, especially lately, I have come to realize that sometimes? Our desires can be small and seemingly insignificant to anyone other than us. I still have no other way to explain it. I'm not looking for an explanation just thinking about the need to acknowledge when desires are met....ESPECIALLY when they would matter to no one else but me....or you. 

 

We all have desires - call them what you want: dreams, wishes (sprinkle of fairy dust?) :), wants, needs, etc. Some are long-term, some are immediate, some are really just "well, it would be nice if ______". I have had a couple of the last ones that keep bubbling to the top of my mind so I figured it's time to let them fly out my fingers. I will warn you that these will sound like small things (even in my own opinion), but I bring them up to hopefully get you to thinking of recent (or long ago) things that have just worked out. 

 

#1: Towels. I will mention I like LOVE pink and purple. If my house could be painted those colors and not stand out terribly, I would paint tomorrow. If you have been married for any length of time (or just bought towels a long time ago), you eventually start to notice that your towels start to thin and wear. It really should be time to get some new ones, but money is tight and the old ones still function. They still dry you after the shower, but maybe just a bit more drafty! Hand towels would be nice, but the old ones work even if they no longer match the colors in your bathrooms (from when you moved 13 years ago). Decor has really never been one of my main concerns anyway......

I also LOVE thrift stores. Maybe a bit too much! Even just to look around. You never know what cool item(s), clothes or other oddities may be lurking on the shelves. (My version of hunting!) AND the prices are usually a great deal...and in most cases, I'm supporting a good cause. ;)

On one of my excursions, I find pink AND purple hand towels right next to each other. They look practically new, would look nice in my bathroom AND (did I mention) they're pink and purple! AND cheap! I was not even really looking for (or even thinking of) towels....yet, there they were. A nice little smile for my day.

#2: Perfume. I like Sand and Sable. It has been getting harder and harder to find. I usually look around Christmas time. Then I wait for the after Christmas clearance and IF it's still there, I buy it. This past Christmas, I did not see any "holiday collections" of my favorite scent....and I looked. A lot of places, as in every time I was in a store that would possibly have it, I checked. Nothing. 

My current supply had been dwindling. I'm sure I could and do have other (almost as) favorite brands. Fast forward to early January. We were in a part of town we would not normally be in. We stopped at a store we would not normally have stopped at. I find the Christmas clearance aisle. I look through a few things and spot a few perfumes. I see a tannish looking box. Dare I hope? 1 box. Holiday collection (big and little bottles) Sand and Sable. Half off. :) girl!

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I will mention that I often don't look for stuff for myself. I enjoy finding things that others might not get for themselves (or realize they might want....or not really need....and have probably been re-gifted.... hee hee) and if I get it at a bargain....I am one satisfied customer.

The above 2 examples are something that would not have mattered to anyone else.....but me. I had not mentioned to anyone that I wanted them. They are small items in a big world....but it mattered on those days....to me. 

What would I really want/desire? World peace (of course, beauty pageant answer!)

 

So, after ALL that, the questions I pose to you (and me) are: What do you desire? Have you told anyone? Written it down? Know it if/when you get it? Prayed for it? Would you be OK if it looks different than what you expect? Are you ready to be amazed?

I have not taken the time to ponder lately. I think this is worthy of pondering. If we don't know what we want, how will we know when it shows up? Start dreaming. Start desiring. Watch God show up in BIG ways and those seemingly little ones....that will matter only to you. If we don't look, we won't see.

Psalm 37:3-4 (NIV) Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.