Fears and Moving Forward

I just need to put it out there.  I'm scared of spiders.  They are creepy crawly things that, for some bizarre reason, I'm afraid will attack me, and I will lose.  It makes no difference that I'm exceedingly larger than them.  It makes no difference that I can think and mentally process ways to destroy them.  It makes no difference that I am faster than them.  They scare me. Even the little ones.

I was reading today in my Bible, the book of Exodus, chapter 14.  It tells about the Israelites and their escape from the Egyptians.  What a great story!

Tacos with a side of Peace

At the request of my son, we made homemade salsa last night to have with our tacos. I made my typical homemade guacamole and also created a black bean, corn(fresh off the cob)and mango salad. Let's just say the kitchen looked "well-used."  I'm not telling you all this to pat myself on the back for being an amazing "did it from scratch" type of cook.  That's not really me at all.  The point to my little story is the afterwards.

 Earlier today I was "stretching my brain." by clicking the button way too many times at Stumbleupon.com.  Okay, I admit it, all rationalizing aside, I was wasting time.    Anyway.... I came across this video that said "A Single Year in 40 seconds."  I was curious.  I watched.  I watched again!  I was struck by the fact that in reality, time really does fly.  Often I miss the best moments with my spouse, my kids, or a good friend, all because I think something else is of greater immediate importance.  Watch the video.  It's only 40 seconds!  And then ask yourself:  What am I missing out on today, because I'm letting time just fly by me?
Blessings on your Sunday!

http://vimeo.com/2639782

Moving Forward

For years, I was nervous to make homemade bread.  I was afraid it would be too difficult, too time-consuming, I'd mess it up and my bread would be more brick than anything else.  Then someone gave me a sourdough starter and I gave fresh homemade bread a try.  I don't mean to brag but my bread was amazing!  I began to see myself as a Betty Homemaker and let me just humbly say, I was astonishing!

Often we hit points in our lives when we want to take a step forward, but we're frozen.  We fear one step forward will mean three steps back.

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Sustain

I am fascinated by words, how they are used, how they fit together, how different meanings are delivered by circumstances, inflection, and other words used. Recently I read Psalm 147, verses 5 and 6:
   
     Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his 
     understanding has no limit. The Lord sustains 
     the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.

I was grabbed by the word "sustains," and I wondered if there was a deeper meaning in what I was reading.  I checked on the meaning of the original Hebrew word and it meant "sustains."  I read some cross-references, hoping for a comparable word.  The other verses used "sustains."  So I did what all good English teachers do:  I looked up the word in the dictionary and thesaurus.  Let's just say the word came alive for me.

Sustain means to support, hold or bear up from below.  It means to keep going, to provide necessary life, or means, or funds.  It can mean to support by aid or approval, to uphold something as valid, just or correct.  

Isn't that cool?  God, the one who is OUR Lord, who is GREAT, plus MIGHTY IN POWER, He supports me, holds me up.  He keeps me going, provides necessary life to me.  When I need it, He, with his fathomless understanding, gives me aid and/or approval.   But wait.... there's more....

Synonyms for the word sustain are:  aid, approve, assist, bankroll, bear, befriend, bolster, brace, buoy, carry, comfort, confirm, defend, endorse, favor, feed, foster, help, nourish, nurse, nurture, preserve, prolong, prop, relieve, save, shore up, standby, supply, support uphold, validate. WOW!  

Being a Princess is amazing!  All that the King does for those who are willing to be humble before Him is overwhelming! All that I need, my God supplies.  He sustains me.  

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I was reading this morning in Psalm 147.  What a great section of Scripture!  Verse 1 states, "Praise the Lord.  How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!"  It's one of those verses that makes me want to dance!  I find praise powerfully energizing!  I love that fact that the verse tell ms it's good, pleasant and fitting.  
As you read the next several verses in Psalm 147, you can see why it is good, pleasant and fitting:  the Lord builds up Jerusalem (v2); He gathers Israel's exiles (v2); He heals the brokenhearted (v3); Binds the wounds of the brokenhearted (v3); He can count all the stars (v4); He knows the names of all those stars (v4); He is great, mighty in power and has limitless understanding (v5).     Talk about sweet!  

I was struck by the idea that the Lord "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (v3). I wondered if God heals the brokenhearted, why are there still wounds to be wrapped up?  I did some digging and discovered that when the word brokenhearted is used here it's referring to one's feelings, will and even the intellect.  God is ready, willing and able to heal the very center of who I am, and who you are.  God longs to bring complete wholeness to those parts that are so hurt and messed up on the inside of us, that we often don't even deal with the pain, or the issues that bring the pain. But that's not all!  (wait.... there's more...)

I looked up the Hebrew word for binds and the word means to bind, wrap firmly, compress. Figuratively the word means to stop, to rule over, to govern. That's when it made sense to me! God longs to heal my hurts, all that breaks me on the inside.  He will heal me, and then all that "stuff" that created the brokenness within me, He's going to rule over it, govern it, so that it never has to cause me grief again.  Talk about a good, pleasant and fitting reason to praise Him.  Talk about a reason to dance!  

So today, I'm bringing my hurts to the God who loves me and gave Himself for me, so that I can be His daughter, His Princess.  I know He has healing for me, and will protect me from those hurts causing me grief again.  He is that awesome! After all, verse 5 tells me "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit."  

I will most definitely praise Him!

Sometimes, life just gets busy.  The things we plan to do, hope to do, want to do get set aside for the necessary, and often mundane, every-day things of life.  Like I planned, hoped and even longed to write more often.  Obviously life got too wrapped up in the every day things that need to be done.  Perhaps I need to make this more of an every day type of activity: like showering, eating breakfast, or drinking copious amounts of coffee.
It's the every day things of life that really make one's life what it is.  It's the every day conversations that lead us to create the best relationships.  In those regular dialogues we come to grasp what another's rhythm is, what makes him tick or what she has become passionate about.    It's the every day struggles that mold us, form us, and often transform us as we set forth to conquer the mountains that protrude on the path we travel.  It's the daily rolling out of bed to an alarm set too early, just to work out, or grab moments alone in quiet, that shape the reality of who each of us is.
Life IS busy.  And yet.... we find time to do things that are inconsequential: from watching a rerun on TV, to searching the internet for yet another thing to buy (that we probably don't need).  The question that I must ask myself is:  Do I want to be busy, or do I want to live?  
I want to LIVE! And I want to live in the EVERY DAY of life. It's where the little things happen that are, in the long run, some of the best things.  May THIS day, in all it's dailiness, be extraordinary: for me, for you.  
Blessings.