The Fatherless, The Widowed, the Abandoned- on Father’s Day

19. June 2010 by Starr.

 

This is Father’s Day weekend, and for some, it isn’t an easy weekend, nor is this entire “father” thing an easy concept to grasp. If you’ve had a father in your life who supplied your needs without you having to coax them to provide you shoes, coats, food or provide for your emotional needs, then it’s much easier to have confidence in the truth of how our Heavenly Father provides for all of our needs. 

However, many who suffer the pain of abandonment, by fathers who fail to supply their children with their needs (and I’m not just talking about physical=  physical needs can be met, but if emotional and spiritual needs are left out of the picture, the physical needs feel empty, and the abandonment is still just as real) often marry partners who are abandoners also, in one form or another, and so the cycle continues.  Basically, if you are fatherless, you are abandoned, and if you are abandoned, you are widowed or a widower.

My friend….how did that feel to read that?  How did those words feel to your heart?  Did they ring true?  Did you feel…”Oh, yes, that’s me?!” 

Dear reader, that is NOT for you. You are NOT that.  You may have EXPERIENCED those occurrences in your lifetime, but that is NOT who you ARE.  You ARE a child of God. Period. You are not your experiences.

You have an Ultimate Father in Heaven who is the Father to the Fatherless and who will never abandon you.  Who will supply every single need that you have, if you only let Him.  Here’s a kicker….many people say that you also have to ask, or that you have to do your part and that He helps those who help themselves.   No.  God knows our needs before we know what our own needs are.  He knows His plan for our lives when we were created in the womb of our mothers.  He certainly doesn’t need us to ask, nor does He need us to do a thing.  I’m sure He loves us to ask.  (Matthew 7:11 says for us to ask) Yes.  But He doesn’t need us to, is my point.  Sometimes we can’t ask…..sometimes we don’t know what to do or what to ask for.  Know what I’m saying here?

God knows our needs and He will supply them according to His will.  We just need to believe Him.  We just need to believe not only IN Him…but BELIVE HIM. First, submit into His hands our lives…then believe Him to do HUGE things. 

This Father’s Day….Let Him be the Father of your world for all eternity.

 ”Father to the fatherless, defender of widows-this is God, whose dwelling is holy” (Psalm 68:5 NLT).

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).

~You are welcome in this place, Mighty God.  You are welcome in this place, Abba Father.~

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Driving Your Life

12. June 2010 by Starr.

 

Imagine that you just purchased a new Maserati..  I’m sure there would be boundaries as to where you would drive it….and where you wouldn’t.  You may even have stipulations as to who would drive it and who wouldn’t. You may even have rules as to who would ride in your new car. You would want to protect that investment that you worked so hard to attain.  Driving a car along a highway, is not so different than leading a life.  

Consider this scenario:

So, we’re driving through life each day in our new Maserati.  As we go along, many people cross our paths. When that happens, we have a choice….and so do they.  T.S. Eliot once said, “In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” 

It’s the same concept with people.  We are driving our life.

Question 1:  Who will we allow around our car, in our car, and who will we allow to drive that new car while we are driving around, in our life?  

Question 1 Echoed:  Who will we allow around our life, in our life, and who will we allow to drive our new life while we are driving around, in our life?

Get the picture?

Folks, have you ever invited friends or family to come on vacation with you?  Has any of them ever responded by, “Sure, we’ll come with you!”  Did you feel pleased when you looked in your rear-view mirror when you saw that small caravan behind you on the highway and noticed the group of people following you, supporting your plans?  These are the people along life’s highway who help drive your life.

Unfortunately, not everyone responds that way.  There are those people who will respond by saying something like, “That idea is ridiculous!  Don’t expect me to come along.”  Friends, beware of these types of statements.  People behind these statements are the ones along life’s highway who usually don’t only NOT need to be in the driver’s seat anywhere near your life, but they do not even need a seat in one of the cars.  These need to be left at home to mature a bit more as you pray for them with love and patience.

Then you have the types of people who just wander in to say, “Hey, I hear there’s a vacation.  Can I tag along?”  They aren’t really caring about your plans, or the trip, or the why of the thing…they’re just in it for the “What’s in it for me?” idea (and the free food).  They will get into a car with their rumpled clothes and a plastic bag with one outfit and floppy shoes with no socks, and no money to pitch in, expecting someone else to pay their way.  These types of people can’t drive their own cars because they have no drive at all of their own, so their only hope is to hop on someone elses caravan and go along for a free ride.  These folks need help, yes.  They need prayer, indeed.  They need structure, discipline, and lots of love.  But, enabling them won’t help them.  This situation needs to be assessed on a case by case basis.  I suggest you talk to God to ask for guidance with how to deal with the “no drivers” of the world.  God will prompt you with what to do.  But remember, sometimes when they get left behind, is when God teaches them the best lessons about “growing up.”

You can’t take everyone with you as you are driving your life. Not everyone is ready to get in the car with you…or get in one of the cars along with you or following you in encouragement and prayer, as you drive along.  

Get serious about who is and who isn’t ready for your life and draw boundaries.  Friends, get serious about YOUR own life.  Drive that thing like you mean business!  Get behind the wheel and pray.  Basically, protect your life, with your life.

Whoever you are reading this…..know that you are loved.

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Fear is Not a Four Letter F-Word

2. June 2010 by Starr.

 

I recently had a conversation that went something like this:

“Starr, I keep thinking about a title of one of your blogs. I am a bit surprised, knowing you as I do, that it says in the title, “The Heart of Tears Doesn’t Always Begin with a Four Letter F-Word.”

I responded, “Well, I think Fear should be a bad word.”

My friend said, “I see what you mean, but not necessarily.  Certainly not always. Fear can be legitimate and healthy if it prevents arrogance and promotes a trust and reliance on God.”

There I had an “Aha moment!” My friend was right.  I had been wrong about fear being a Four Letter F-Word.

As humans, and yes, even Christian humans, sometimes we are high on the mountain top, and suddenly we find ourselves low in the bottom of the swamp, in the midst of trials, seeking peace.  Sometimes we get there by God’s own tests of our character by God’s will and sometimes we get there by our own disobedience and sins.  But that life in that swamp, that life where we just want peace, is not the life that God planned for His children at all.  He planned for a life of power high on that mountain of faith in Him, of love for Him and of rest in Him and of peace in Him. 

Therefore the key to peace…and here’s the Aha…is to fear NOT having peace and rest.  To know that we do not want to be in that swamp but we want to be on that mountain top and we want God and we want what God wants for us up there.  We will not know what His plans are for us until we get up there, either.  If you’re tired of not having peace and rest, then you know what I mean.

My friends, I stand corrected.  What have I learned in this?  Fear is only a Four Letter Word if we let it stand between us and God.  Fear can be a good thing, it is the beginning of wisdom.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.” Ps. 111:10

If you are tired and weary, and seek rest…trust God with that.  Just lay it all down.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavyladen, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28

We have a promise in entering His rest.  Let us fear NOT having it…so we will strive to retain it.  Let the fear work for you, not against you.  Let it bring you closer to God and let it help you climb to your mountain top.

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it” Hebrews 4:1

Dear reader….do not let fear steal your faith, love and peace in God.

(Special thanks to my friend who taught me a very valuable lesson in a gentle way.  It’s funny how even with fear in the glass, it can still be half-full.  I thank God for you and all you have done for me and my ministry.  God bless you and keep you and watch over your goings in and comings out forever.)

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New Publishes

26. May 2010 by Starr.

Look for Starr’s article, “Separation Anxiety and Psychosomatic Illness in the Classroom” in the back-to-school issue of “Teachers of Vision,” 2010.

 Also, look for her article, “The Father’s Day,” in “Insight” Magazine’s June, 2011 issue.

Recent publishes on eHow.com:

How to Make a Lily Pond

How to Improve Communication with a Difficult Person

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Paint & Ink- In the Kitchen- In the Heart

18. May 2010 by Starr.

Recently I watched a documentary about the life of writer, dancer, and painter, and extraordinary woman, Marta Becket.  I can’t stop thinking about it.  She left New York after finding a run=down theatre in a small town with a population of 10.  The town is Death Valley Junction, California.  How amazing that she would bring life to a place that was surrounded by sands of the desert.  What some people might see as “wasteland” or “badlands,” Marta saw as passion potential. 

Passion potential.  I think in every artist, be they painter, writer, dancer, singer, songwriter, sculptor, actor, or etc., has that passion to accomplish what their soul is crying out to fulfill.

Henry James once said, “We work in the dark- we do what we can- we give what we have.  Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task.  The rest is madness of art.”  Some may call it madness.  Therefore, therein lies the quandry for us.  For many do not understand that passion or that madness.  

Marta Becket speaks in the documentary about her Amargosa Opera House, that she was not a perfect wife.  She said that her husband left her in the midst of her Opera House project.  She was painting murals on the walls and ceilings of Amargosa.  She mentions that she feels that perhaps he left because, even though she had great passion for her craft, and she had great talent for painting and for the dance…her talents didn’t include being a gourmet cook or doing tasks that wives usually did.  She says that, for example, her kitchen was filled with paint.  That makes sense to me, for, the kitchen is the heart of the home.  If her heart is filled with paint, doesn’t it make sense that her kitchen would be? 

But Marta’s husband did not understand that.  Therefore, her husband left.  She was greatly hurt by his abandonment, not only of her, but of her project.  My take on this, as a fellow artist is, to Marta….he abandoned her passion.  For a partner, a mate, or someone who is supposedly the other half of our lives to abandon our passion….this is the greatest of travesties.  It is treason to our souls.  It is not something that can heal easily, if ever on this planet.  Only the Healer, God Almighty, can help us with that one.

I completely relate to Marta.  I used to dance in my life, and recall how it felt to do so, but that part of my life is now in the past.   It is hurtful to discuss, but that is an over subject.  I, too, have been abandoned by a husband in the midst of a project.  I know the pain of that.  I also, feel my passion in my “kitchen.”  My first devotional book for women is titled, “Watermelons In the Kitchen.” 

However, in my home, I’m not sure my kitchen is the heart of it.  I think my bedroom is the heart of my home.  I have a wonderful large sofa, and a wonderful antique desk and an antique lamp that is the only project my mom and I have ever done together.  That room is where all of the important talks go on.  That is where I do most of my thinking…praying…crying, and all of my first drafts of everything are written in there, either in my mind or on paper.  That is where the heart of this home is, I believe. 

That room is where most of the ink is, also.  Papers, pencils, pens, notebooks, books…but it doesn’t stop there.  Folders, books, manuels on various subjects, market guides, envelopes, reams of paper, staplers, pencil sharpeners, slips of notes where I have jotted down ideas or thoughts that only make sense to me lay almost everywhere, and it may look like mayhem to someone else, but to me, it makes perfect sense.  I am sure it is difficult, for someone to accept this “mess” as “art.”

Another thing Marta said that broke my heart when I heard it, she said about her husband, “Didn’t he know, that I was working on a project, and that one day it would be finished?  I just wanted to do well.  Didn’t he want me to do well?”

Some of us are just created to be passionate, artistic, people….that run for the “madness of art.”  We can’t help it.  We just are created that way.  Some people just don’t “get us.”  They don’t understand why we aren’t “normal.”  I have had someone say to me…”Why don’t you just live in the real world?”  Well, if I lived completely in the real world, I wouldn’t be a writer, would I?

Marta Becket talks about how she chooses her world of the dance, and of her Opera House, instead of the “real world” outside of it.  And because of that, she has created this awesome place in the Death Valley.  I’m so glad that she did.

Marta…I’m glad that you wrote “To Dance on Sands.”  You are such an inspiration to passion-filled artists everywhere.  You are definitely a flower in the desert.  I’m sorry you never got your Dad’s approval.  I know how that feels to never get someone’s approval, also.  But  know, that your Heavenly Father approves of you very, very much. 

 

 

http://www.amargosa-opera-house.com/

 

Author’s Note:

My special thanks to Marta Becket, for giving me permission to use her image for this blog, and to Richard Rignell, Director of Operations, Amargosa Operation House & Hotel, for responding for Marta via email and ensuring that she read this blog.  (Marta, I’m glad that you were touched.  You have touched my life, also.)

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Lion of the Tribe of Judah: Part 2

16. May 2010 by Starr.

(Aslan:  A messianic figure in C.S. Lewis’s “Cronicles of Narnia.”)

 

The Chronicles of Narnia and the meanings of it, have been argued for years.  Many similarities to the Bible, however, cannot be argued.  As a writer, the importance of every character, every word, every action by every character, and even every single scene, is vital to the one writing it.  In other words, NOTHING IS BY ACCIDENT.  Let me propose this thought:  C.S. Lewis was an expert in mythology having studied it from an early age. It is utterly impossible that he did not know what he was writing.

Many believe that the lion, Aslan, depicts Christ and represents how Christ would appear if He were to appear in a fantasy world where animals could talk.  Many other references, also, are within the novels.  I won’t list them all here, but will leave them for the writer, C.S. Lewis to reveal to you, on his own.

If you have never read “The Chronicles of Narnia,”  I highly suggest you do so.  You will be blessed, not only when looking at it from a perspective of Biblical similarities, but also just for the pleasure of a wonderful work of fiction.

 

(Peter in battle, wearing the armor, holding the shield with the Lion crest.)

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The Lion of the Tribe of Judah Battles Beside You

16. May 2010 by Starr.

(The Lion of Judah on the coat of arms of Jerusalem.)

(The Lion of Judah is a deliberate direct reference to a worthy Prince “Of the Blood of Christ.”)

 

“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” (Revelation 5:5)

Many have noticed that my blog site has been quiet this last week.  In all honesty, since the day before Mother’s Day, I have been in several spiritual battles and felt defeated, victorious, exhausted, energized, ready for battle, and like I was on death’s door from the battle, at one time or another, this past week.  I have felt like I have been on a roller coaster. 

Allow me to propose this scenario.  A man was standing on the street corner.  Jesus was discussing with that man the importance of giving his life to the Father.  The man says to him, “Well give me an example of how my life will be.  Show me one week in the life of some random Christian person.  If it’s good, I’ll give my heart to the Lord.”

If Jesus was to show my last week to that man, the man would surely run wildly away screaming ”No!  I don’t want all the stresses of a life like that!”

But here’s the thing…being a Christian, doesn’t mean having a life without stress, pain, or problems.  Jesus never promised it would be perfect or we would be perfect.  After all, if we were perfect or our lives would be perfect, would we need God?

God has promised us victory in the midst of trials, not immunity from pain.  “Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.”  (1 Peter 4:12-13)

Remember that you have the Lion of the Tribe of Judah battling beside you.  When you put on the armor of God, you have the very best armor possible! Sometimes it does get exhausting, and we want to just relax for a moment, feeling battle-worn, and we want to put our shields down a moment and rest.  Friends, the moment we do that- the moment we put down our “shields of faith” we open ourselves up to the arrows from the enemy.  (Keep in mind that this can mean that you can be the one attacked, OR the one doing the attacking!  Being hit by the enemy sometimes does cause us to think we are so very right in our actions, and sometimes causes us to harm others in the process of our words or deeds.  If we take an action not out of love, that’s still a hit against us, if we allowed it.  It’s a hit against the other person, also.  Basically, it’s a double-whammy!)  Even when we rest, we have to keep the shield of faith up.  Your shield depicts the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.  Have you ever considered that you fight for that tribe, also?  Being a man or woman of Faith, means holding that shield of fiath up always.  You are part of God’s army.

“Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints….”  Ephesians 6:10-18

We must remember to live in the safety of the armor of God.  This gives us a oneness with Jesus, so we can expect to share his struggles, as well as His peace.  “Put on Christ.”  (Galatians 3:27)  He is your victory.

“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”  (1 Corinthians 15:56)

Author’s Note :

In ancient times there were 12 tribes of Jewish people. Out of those 12 there was a tribe that the Jewish priests had to come from and a tribe where the Kings came from. Jesus was descendant of the tribe of the Kings, which was called Judah, thus the Lion of Judah. The Lion being the King of the Jungle.

 

(My special thanks to God who provided me with an inspiring writing jacket.  I needed this jacket, and this jacket needed a home.  This is the first blog that the jacket has experienced.     My Prayer:  God, You are my Ultimate Muse, may you bless the feet that brought this jacket to me, with your warmth, comfort and love.  May you bless all that read these blogs…may they glorify You and may all who see this blog hold up their shields of faith strongly with courage and love for their Lord.  Help me, to follow Your will =my writing and my life is Yours…I publically confess now that I do not have a perfect life, I am not a perfect person…and praise be to You, God that You are not looking for perfect people to be warriors in Your war, You are seeking willing warriors.  You use ordinary people who simply want to see what’s right be right, but who understand that without You, they can do nothing.  Thank You, for battling beside me.  Thank You for battling beside all of Your children.  I love You, Lord………and I lift my shield…my sword….my pen.   CS)

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The Heart of Tears Doesn’t Always Have to Begin With a Four Letter F-Word

7. May 2010 by Starr.

 

I can remember hearing this statement:   “Don’t do that or you’ll be in a ‘heap of trouble.’ 

Okay, well, that didn’t really scare me.  I pictured a ‘heap’ in my mind as being small…maybe about the size of a lump of dough. I’m not sure I really understood the entire “heap” thing.  However, the statement is still true, if we do something incorrect- against ourselves or against God, we will, indeed be in a heap of trouble. 

The statement about the heap may have been correct, I however was incorrect.  If you look up ‘heap’ in the dictionary, the definition of it is :  many things together as a mass.  Have you ever been in a situation or situations where there are just so many issues going on that it just feels like everything is just piling up, one thing on top of another, higher and higher and higher…and soon, it begins to feel like a mountain, doesn’t it? 

After years of that, it does become a mountain, in a sense.  Things begin to grow on it, or out of it.  That “heap” takes on a life of it’s own.  It sprouts “trees” or vines ….regains hard spots or “rocky places”…places you begin to hide or think you hide from people become “caves” and you begin to build that mountain higher and higher and higher and it begins to feel very scary.  We wonder what monsters lurk within that mountain.  We wonder how they got there in the first place!  Bigfoot and Sasquatch have nothing on these kind of creatures, for these creatures are shape shifters and can change from person to person and they know each person’s worse fear.

Ah…there’s that four letter little f-word. FEAR- or I’d rather think of it as, False Evidence Appearing Real. 

Take a look at what God has to say about Fear.

“God is our refuge and our strength, and ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam, and the mountains quake with their surging. Be still and know that I am God.”  (Psalm 46)

Friends, I have read that passage for years.  For years every single time I read that, in my mind I pictured an image exactly like the image I have posted at the top of this blog.  A beautiful mountain and a lovely sea.  I pictured God, being able to literally toss the mountains into the sea, so…knowing that if He could do that action, certainly He could handle my problems, too!  Folks, that’s true!  But, there is a deeper meaning here for us, as well.  Let me share with you something I saw in this passage last night. 

Hebrews 12:2 states that “Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.”  I know that with God, He is the ultimate Author and he did not just toss words willy=nilly into our Bible, but every -single-word was put in there for a reason, specifically for a purpose.  The Bible tells us that every single thing about us was created on purpose for a reason, so definitely He would do the same with His words.  As a writer as well, I know the value of words.  Every word has meaning!  Lets take a closer look at the above passage.

I looked each of the words in Psalm 46 up in the dictionary.  Here is what I found.

Mountains:  a large pile or heap      

Fall:  to descend, tumble, collapse, to be wounded or killed in battle, to sin

Heart:  Hollow muscular organ that circulates the blood by alternate dilation and contraction.  human heart- center of emotions.  the central or vital part- the core.         

Sea:  any of various smaller bodies of salt water

Lets talk about these definitions a moment.  So a heap and a mountain are the same thing in the dictionary by definition.  As far as falling….in the scripture when it mentions the mountain falling into the sea….can you see God seeing your problems (mountain or heap of troubles) literally descending, tumbling, collapsing…into the sea?  No?

I didn’t see that, either.  For some reason…that seemed far reaching into my human mind.  The problems were too big…the sea was too far away…the sea was too beautiful for God to throw my heap o’troubles into!

Ah…but then here comes the next part of the scripture…

 “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

Remember fall also means, to be wounded, or killed in battle.  Ever felt wounded or killed in battle?  Fall also means to sin.  Ever sinned?  I’ve done and felt all of those.  Have your mountains (heap of troubles) ever left you wounded…ever left you sinful?  ever left you feeling like a part of you died in the battle?….

The heart… I find it wonderful that God uses the organ in our bodies that circulates the BLOOD.  Blood is such a powerful thing…He uses it in sacrifice in the Old Testament…He uses it for His Blood Covenants…He used it for protection in the Passover.  But the heart circulates the blood by alternate dilation and contration.  What does that remind us of?  The rising and the swelling of the SEA.

Remember the sea is….any of various SMALLER BODIES OF SALT WATER.  Can you think of any small bodies of salt water?     

What are tears?   The dictionary says:  Drops of the salty fluids which fall from the eye.

What is the eye?  The dictionary says:  The organ of sight-judgement-vision-observation-opinion

Don’t we roar and just sob sometimes when we cry?  We sometimes just feel like we are foaming…our heart is just sobbing so hard, our chest is literally pounding…it is like the tide of the sea pounding on the beach, and the seafoam is washing harder and harder on the beach.  It hurts, because our heap of troubles just crumbled into the heart of our judgement…and we see that we were wrong about something…or were wronged…we were wounded…or we saw something wrongly….or we sinned and we made problems for ourselves or a hundred other scenarios that it could be based on these definitions of these words…everyone’s situation is different…but we are all human and no matter the situation, God knows each one, personally.

My friends, lets take a look at the scripture in whole, again so I can show you in fullness, my point this morning that God laid on my “hollow muscular organ…my center of my emotions.”

“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way  and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam, and the mountains quake with their surging.  Be still and know that I am God.”

It’s not easy to not fear.  After all, God warns us here.  He says…”though the waters roar and foam (basically, I see this as…though you’ll cry alot, sob tears of pain…) and the mountains quake with their surging…(your heap of troubles will try their hardest to scare you and try to get your attention).   God guides us with what to do when all of this happens. 

One thing that I love…is that last night…I was thinking how wonderful that the definition for sea is “any of various smaller bodies of salt water” and God created us that our tears are salt water.   Friends….isn’t it awesome that to God….ONE…1…tiny tear is as important to Him as the sea?  One tear?  He doesn’t say seassss.  He says….the mountain falls into the SEA. 

Friends, God sees your heart in one tear.  One tear is all it takes.  Do not fear.  That is a four letter word.  Make that a word just as bad as the “other words” that you’d rather not say. 

Just be still…know that He is God.  He’s got you.  Go to Him with faith and trust.  He will move that mountain out of your way so that it isn’t fearful, anymore.  He will keep your heart safe, and guide your tears into tears of joy.

If you’ve never read all of Psalm 46, I suggest you do so.  You’ll thoroughly enjoy it and gain understanding. 

May God bless you and keep you today.

 

 A special hello and welcome to all the new friends who have registered on my blog site.  I hope you enjoy reading them and please feel free to email prayer requests anytime. 

 

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Looking for Strength?

30. April 2010 by Starr.

“The Lord gives strength to his people” (Ps. 29:11).

We work out, jog, drink health shakes, increase our intake of protein, work out some more, jog another lap, drink another protein shake, and push our limit to walk another mile or try to add to how many pounds we can bench press.  Why?  We try to add to our strength so that we can add to our health so that we can ultimately add to our quality of life and our lifespan.  Some, even go so far as to try hot stone therapy, crystals, chakras, and the list goes on and on.  I’m not saying any of the above items listed are bad or unproductive or unhealthy…I’m just suggesting one thing…why tap into something small, when you have access to the Ultimate source of strength possible in the universe…the One who created it all, in the first place?

Have you ever considered that you have direct access to that strength and power?  God’s word tells us that He gives strength to His people.  The key words there being…”His people.”  If God knocked on your door today, would you answer?  Do you feel that you are one of “His people?”  If you are not, that is something that I suggest you rectify right away, for this world is no place for weakness.  This world is honestly a place where courage, strength, heart and being focused on a mission for the eternal outcome is definitely required.  Basically…we are just passing through this planet, into our eternity.  This is no place for sissies.  (I say that with love, friends. )

I wish that you could be sitting beside me right now, on my big comfy sofa in my bedroom as we talked.  With a glass of milk in our hands and a warm chocolate chip cookie, and we could sit face to face, and I would tell you this….. God is who He says He is.  God can do what He says He can do.  God is Huge, and He has huge strength.  You, have access to that strength.  What is it today that you need strength to do?  What is it that you wish that you had the strength to accomplish, but feel you cannot?

The enemy will suggest to you, that you have never accomplished before, so you will not in the future.  That is a lie.  What was the past - it is gone, that means nothing now.  Basically…as S.E. Hinton said, “The difference is, that was then, this is now!”

God can heal, He resurrected His son from the dead, He can certainly handle anything that is worrying you, today.  We have access to the power and strength of God.  Strength comes through the remission of our sins.  Strength in response to prayer we offer to God through Him.  ”I can do ALL things through Christ, who strengthens me.”  Phillipians 4:13

Also, remember, you cannot add a minute to your life, God already controls that.  Your days were numbered when He created you in your mother’s womb.  He is your strength.  He’s in control.

“Commit your activities to the Lord and your plans will be achieved.”  Proverbs 16:3

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Here’s to Hannah

28. April 2010 by Starr.

Today I was in a store and I heard this little girl say to me, “Isn’t this birthday card funny?  My daddy would love this.”  It took a moment for me to realize that she was talking to me.  I was lost in thought, while standing at the notebook section.  I looked at the birthday card and said something like, “Yes, that’s rather cute.”  I thought the conversation was ending there.  God had another idea.

In my eyes, this moment began here, with this little girl.  In God’s eyes, it didn’t, for I am convinced God had it planned.  Just this morning, I had asked God, in my prayer time, to use my day as He wished and to send someone who might need me, across my path today.  I told God my life was His.  My heart was wanting so much to be in His service.

So, I chose a notebook and was looking at the other supplies when, there again was the little girl, chattering away to me about American Idol.  She wanted to know if I liked it or not.  I answered and still, I thought that she was just making conversation for a moment.  But, then, after the American Idol question, she said something that caught my attention.  She said, “My dad’s girlfriend likes it.”  That’s all it took for me to hear the change in her voice and I knew that something was different.

I looked back at her, and asked her if she liked it, however?  That opened the flood gates.  She started talking to me about all kinds of things and as she was talking, I stood there looking into the eyes of this precious little girl and I realized, that she needed someone to stop and listen and I just happened to be there.  She told me about a lie she told her grandmother recently.  She told me about how bad she felt about it.  She told me about her father’s girlfriend who is constantly packing her bags and pretending to leave him and how that makes her feel.  She told me about how she thinks this girlfriend is coming in between her and her relationship with her grandmother.  She told me about a fight she got into on the bus after school and that she feels so guilty about it.  She told me that her mother died when she was four years old and she misses her mom. 

The entire time I stood there, holding my notebook, listening, responding, nodding, wondering.  I learned her name and met her grandmother, who found us there, talking.  I learned that her grandmother plays piano at a church.  The grandmother seemed tired and worried, to me, but hopeful.  I gave Hannah a big hug, and my phone number and told her she could call me any time to talk and the grandmother let me write my number in her address book.  I told Hannah I would be praying for her and that when she feels worried or lonely or missing her mom or guilty, she can talk to God about it anytime, and God has her. 

Hannah looked at me and said, “I’m really an A student.  I really am!  You can go to my school and see.”  I told her that I didn’t need to go to the school and see, that I could see what was in her heart.  I told her that even if we really aren’t in the visible…but we are in our hearts…that means we really are because we have that in us and then all we have to do is bring it out from the inside to the outside and it’s done.  She smiled very brightly and hugged me again and said she was glad she met me and I told her the same.

Then as I was getting ready to check out, I heard her call my name and she ran up to me and asked…” Oh…one more thing…what do you think about our president?” 

A girl full of questions, that one.  She wasn’t letting me out of there without an answer and one that she could understand.  I gave it to her, truthfully from my heart.  She sighed relief and said..”Oh, me too!  I feel the same way, and did a report on that today and got a 100% and that’s not a lie!”

I wonder how many “Hannahs” do we miss out on meeting because we are simply too busy to stop and take notice.  We just move on through our days without really listening or noticing others.  I’m so thankful to worship a living God who notices the person…who pays attention to their heart and what they have to say.  The Word tells us we are to be more like Christ and to be Christ to others. 

I’m so blessed that God brought Hannah my way today.  The enemy would have liked to suggest, “You’re busy and in a hurry, she’s just a little chatty girl who will slow you down and you have better things to do with your time.” 

Christ would suggest, “A friend loveth at all times.  Be a friend to  her, for she is My child, also.  Show My love to her.”  I’m glad I took the time to stop and listen to her, and show her friendship.  Don’t we all just sometimes need someone to take the time to stop and listen to us when we need to just vent and make a new friend in the process? 

I think no matter how old we are….if we are in the third grade…or if we are thirty…the Golden Rule still stands as a guideline for us all.

“Do unto others as you would have them do to you.”  Luke 6:31

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