Putting Things Into Perspective

Everyone, everything was focused on Friday, December 19th! You could feel the anticipation, the giddiness, in the air! You see that was the 'big' day.........the day we got out for Christmas break at school! YEAH! Not only that.......but it was a 'half day'.......not only was it our last day for a while......but we got to go home at 11:00 am!! The students were excited, and the staff was, too! It was such a happy time! Gifts were being exchanged, everyone was wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas!" Classroom parties were going on! Fun times!

Then it happened.......in the blink of an eye.........the parties stopped, heartache feeled the air, tears were there where laughter and smiles just were. One of our students and his mother found out that their beloved father and husband had just been killed..........murdered at work. The hurt and sorrow was unbearable. Just moments ago the atmosphere was light and happy, and in the blink of an eye it was somber and sad.

We are a small school and a small community, so news like this hits us all hard. Everyone knows everyone. The good thing is that we all pull together in support and love for each other. That 11:oo we were waiting so intently on........didn't mean a thing anymore. The wishing of a lighthearted "Merry Christmas" changed focus for us. We wished it now to each other with an entirely different meaning, it was followed by hugs and tears, and thankfulness. We were thanking each other for their friendships and telling each other what we mean to each other. Many women were calling their husbands, just to hear his voice.......I know I did! We were aching to get home and have our family all together, safe, and in our arms. Christmas was put back into perspective at that very moment.

While we don't understand why things like this happen...........they still happen. This world is sick in sin and it shows it through tragedies such as this. As I drove home in silence and grief for that family, God's peace kept washing over me in song. How wonderful to KNOW Jesus Christ as my personal Savior! He IS the reason for the season! I just don't know how anyone can go through one day without Him! Here is the old hymn that God kept washing through my mind, heart, and soul to give me comfort:

"Sometimes I'm discouraged, My load's hard to bear. I feel myself stumble, 'neath my load of care. And I ask Him this question, 'Oh my Lord how long?' Then I hear a voice whisper, whisper, whisper 'Soon you'll be coming home.'

Oh, I need Jesus.......to carry me through.....along life's journey.......yes, you need Him, too...
And when you're in trouble........don't know what to do.....just call on Jesus, Jesus, Jesus....
He'll carry you through.....

When storm clouds are raging, and wild billows roll. When sad winds of sorrow sweep over my soul. Then I search for a refuge, a safe hiding place, and I know that He keeps me, keeps me, keeps me in His wonderful grace.

Oft' times I'm forsaken, can't find me a friend. So sad and so lonely, so troubled within. Then I go to my Jesus, on Him I depend. And the Lord gives me courage, courage, courage, all my battles to win."

Friend, if you don't know Him, I pray that you will end 2008, or begin 2009, asking Him to come into your heart. If you have ever, ever felt like one of those verses of the song above..........just trust in Jesus, He WILL carry you through! I need Jesus, every hour, every minute, every second of the day! We may never know what may come our way and change our world forever....what a peace, what a sweet consolation to know that NO matter what.......He will carry me through it!

Sleep

I don't know about you, but I need my sleep! We had a lot of rain come our way last night. It started raining hard around 10 pm and didn't stop until about 8:30 this morning. They say we got almost 3 inches of rain! The drive into work was scary, flooding everywhere. I am thankful for the rain, we need it! Because of the storms, I didn't get much sleep last night. It was so hard to get up this morning. The bed seemed to be calling my name. Have you ever been that way?

I was reminded of the scripture in Psalm 121:4, 'Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.' I'm so thankful for that! Last night when the storm, the lightning, and the thunder kept me awake, I was still able to have peace. How, you ask? Well, all I had to do is lay there and pray to my Father, He's got it all under control, and he requires NO sleep. He's always available and ready!

As a child, my Dad used to come into my room and proclaim, "Up and at 'em!" With a slow stretch and squinty eyes, I knew that once again, another day had started! Isn't it wonderful to know that no one ever has to tell our God that! He's always ready! I'm so thankful that no matter what comes my way, whether I'm awake or sleeping, my God is always ready to speak 'peace be still' to the storms that come my way.

My body has to stop and rest. No matter what things I have not accomplished yet, I've still got to have sleep. I'm so thankful that when I pillow my head at night, my Father is there to watch over me and my family, he 'neither slumbers nor sleeps'!

Peace

During the Christmas season, we hear alot about 'Peace'. The word is in all of the Christmas plays. It's used throughout the Bible. True peace is only possible through Christ. The world is so thirsty for peace, but it is found nowhere. Only on a hill called Calvary can peace be found! I'm so thankful for that day as a seven year old girl, that I found peace through the blood of Jesus Christ!!

As a mother, I often long for 'peace'! We are constantly running and doing and working. Children are running in and out, the dog is barking and its utter chaos!!! I'll show my age here, but does anyone remember the commercial, "Calgon, take me away!!!!" It was a bubble bath, aimed at those stressful moms who have had enough and needed some peace!! Why is it we get so stressed out that all we wish for is 'peace and quiet', and then when we finally get a moment alone, all we want is someone to come around and make some noise!

In my Bible Study this morning, I read a sentence that gripped my heart. It sums peace up perfectly and puts it all in perspective. It read, "Peace isn't about our outer circumstances, but our inner environment." Wow, let that soak in! When I'm where I need to be with the Lord, a tornado can hit around me, and I'm still okay! When I've been in God's Word, and been in my prayer closet, life is so much sweeter, so much more peaceful! And yet, all the madness is going on around me. The girls are running and screaming, the dog's barking and tearing things up, my husband is in need of my assistance, or everything is breaking loose at work, it doesn't bother me..........why? My inner environment!!! He gives us peace, Him and Him alone! See, what's going on outside, it's just 'circumstances', circumstances change constantly. Our circumstances are always different. But our environment is more a constant. Environments vary and adjust, but they fundamentally stay the same. That's why I got such a blessing from that statement! If our environment is that of peace, then it doesn't matter what the circumstances are!

If we stay focused on Christ, our inner environment is that of peace, and our outer 'circumstances' don't mean a thing! We can be at peace no matter what is going on around us! What a sweet blessing! I just praise God for His peace! I'm so thankful that it is there for anyone, anytime. Those days, I forget, and let my circumstances take over, I'm so thankful I can still go to the Father and my peace is restored, refreshed, anew each day!

I'm Determined!!

I'm determined I'm going to see things through! How about you? Are you determined to get your prayer through? Are you really? Often times, I pray and tell God my needs, my wants, my desires, but in the back of my mind I'm already defeated. I tell myself that it really isn't going to matter, God's not going to answer my prayer. Have you ever felt that way? Come on now, am I the only one? My desire to have the prayer answered is there, but how determined am I to see it through? We've all heard that saying, 'when the going gets tough, the tough gets going!' That's being determined, my friend.

Matthew 15:21-28 tells of a Canaanite woman's faith, and determination. She came to Jesus there in the region of Tyre and Sidon. His Word says she came out and cried unto Him. Hey, she was determined for Him to hear her! But wait now.........keep the right attitude with your determination! Be determined to get an answer from Christ.....whether you like the answer or not, let Him have His will in the matter. One of my favorite phrases is, 'your attitude determines your altitude with Christ'. So be determined to see it through, but keep your humility! As she cried to Jesus, the first words out of her mouth were..."Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David..." Her daughter was possessed with a devil. She wasn't a Jew, but she had heard of the miracles of Jesus. She knew He could help her!

But, in verse 23, Jesus didn't answer her. But she must of kept on crying out.......she was determined! Because the disciples then urged Jesus to send her away. Her cries were getting on their nerves! Now if you stop there, it sounds like Jesus is uncaring. The disciples certainly dismissed her.

Jesus began to speak, and you think, okay, now here's where Jesus is going to do this big miracle, and they all 'live happily ever after.' But, He turns to her and told her that He was sent only to help the Jews! Wow, that doesn't sound like our Lord does it? She could've hung her head and turned back. But, she kept her humble spirit and her determination, look in verse 25. Instead of walking away in defeat, or getting a 'chip' on her shoulder and marching away in disgust, she worshiped him, and pleaded for him to help her! What a blessed picture!!

But hold on.........after all this, now we're really expecting Jesus to perform the miracle and see the happy ending, right? But he looks at her and tells her that it's not good to take bread from the children and give it to the dogs. What? He isn't going to share the miracles with Gentiles.....only the Jews? Keep reading! IN verse 27, what does she do? Now, most of us now would have just said FINE, and walked away........right? Oh, but she kept her attitude in check and stayed determined!!! She said, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." She wasn't being rude or critical. She spoke truth from her heart.....and in verse 28, Jesus gave her her miracle! Because of her great faith, He gave her the desires of her heart and immediately her daughter was made whole!!!

Keep your attitude in check, and stay determined in your faith! Sometimes God tests us to see if we really mean what we say! I am determined to stay focused on Christ, to keep Him first in my life, to stay kneeling at the foot of the cross! I am nothing, I don't deserve even the crumbs from His table, but through the His precious blood, I am now His child!

I Want to be a Tree!

I just love trees. I love to look at them, watch them sway in the wind, smell the pine trees and the cedar trees, and when I was a child, I loved to climb in them. I enjoy God's nature so much when I am on my run. As I went for my run the other day, I was looking at all the trees. They are so beautiful........no matter the season! In the summer they are full and green and so full of life. In the spring they are just beginning to bud, just beginning to show new life. In the fall, they are brilliantly colored, absolutely radiant! And, yes, even the winter, I have to say they make me smile. Their leaves are gone, and you might even think that all life is gone. But I notice their strength. True, their leaves are gone, but that's when you can truly see their branches. Their strength as they quietly stand there, is seen in massive display. Nothing can be hidden, you see the tree for what it truly is. The leaves aren't there to hide any flaws. There's no fruit hanging to distract you from looking at the tree.

The Bible mentions trees many times, and in many ways. Job 14:7, "For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch therof will not cease." Psalm 1:3, "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" God is saying here that if we delight in His law, and meditate in it that we will be as that tree. Jeremiah 17:8, "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be anxious in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Now there are many teachings found in that verse alone!

I could go on and on, but here is my point. No matter the season, the tree is there. It adapts for the cold as well as the heat. Just when you think its dead, the warm days come again, and the tree starts to bloom. The roots that we cannot see, they run deep, they travel to find water so that they can live! I want to be a TREE!! I want to keep my roots in that everlasting water, so I can bloom for Christ! I want to stand strong, no matter what is going on around me! I want to adapt, and be what I need to be for Christ, whether it's blooming in spring, green and full for summer, radiant and glowing for autumn, or bear, but holding strong during my winters! I want to be a shelter for someone, help someone, in need that may be out in the 'heat' of this old world!

I want God to 'prune' me, so that I can grow for Him, so I can be the best 'tree' I can be for Him! A tree also helps oxygenate the atmosphere. So can we, as 'christian trees'. Think about it......if our roots run deep and are in the 'water' (God's Word), then our branches will bring forth fruit, we will be exactly what we need to be, no matter the season.....and by doing this, Christ Himself is seen through us.......we will 'oxygenate' this dark world with Christ's light.

I could go on and on, about all the different kinds of trees, the fruit bearing, the oaks, the pines, the evergreens, there is so much that can be taught. I'll let you study all of that, let you find what nuggets God has for you. But, aren't you glad there are so many different kinds of trees? We have them to use in different ways, and then just the point of looking at the beauty of the different trees. Aren't you glad that we are like that, too? We are all christians, but yet we are all different, with different talents and uses for Christ. What kind of tree are you?........and most importantly, are you a christian? Are your roots founded in that everlasting water? That is the only way that you can ever bloom to your maximum ability, that is the only way you can ensure that your tree won't wilt or even die! So next time you are outdoors, notice the trees, and thank God that even a tree, can teach us to be a better christian!