Aliens and Strangers on Earth

 

 ^{Hebrews 11:13} All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

'These people' were not living for the red part, as Francis referred to it. 'These people' are the righteous ones recounted in the 'Hall of Faith' - Hebrews chapter 11. They knew what was in store for them in the part after the red part of life. 

Many times feeling like Aliens and Strangers in this land, as far as human tradition goes, means there's something wrong with you.. maybe you're depressed, need to have some 'fun', need to go spend some money, need to find some one/some way/something to give you love or for you to love...

I honestly love feeling like a stranger in my own land and do not want that to change. Knowing that my heart does not jive with this world and the human tradition in this place brings joy and comfort.  I do not belong in a world of broken pieces, as the song goes.

But being human, made of flesh that is sinful and rotten, I am broken and there are days where the world suffocates and overwhelms and then that feeling of alienation turns on the self-pity and the oppression and I feel some sort of victim. These are the days when, leading up to, I have not concentrated my time on living for Jesus.  Leading up to these spiritual droughts, I have taken on my own agenda, like my master plan is so much better than God's.  'Have you not heard?! Do you not know?' (Isaiah 40 comes to mind!)

I read Hebrews 11: 13 yesterday, the Spirit foreshadowing the trials of today. And I was slow to listen. I did not hear with my ears. 

And a lesson has been learned. Mental note: I am not living for the red part. And any time this world wants to pull me back into that red-part-thinkin', I will now train myself to shout back to the darkness - 'I am an alien and a stranger on this earth, and you can't take that away from me!'

What part of the rope might you be living for? At the end of the day, was all your striving for your agenda or for God's?

Throw Away Pride, Accept and Yearn for Wisdom

 Seeing the miracles in a day is all about accepting the Truth found in the wisdom of God.  Miracles come in small packages and the small packages add up to one big, mighty God. But there are too many things in this world of darkness that can keep us from ever seeing those miracles, that can keep us from seeing God.  We must pray that our souls yearn for wisdom from the one True King.

This is a wise woman: When it's hard to find time for God & prayer

I want to echo Ann's wise words today to you so that you can take a step closer to seeing God for who He wants to be in your life.

In case you wonder, this is how God works!

Last year I was able to find this bookshelf/desk for our daughter on craigslist; love cragislist ~ we ended up with a desk, chair and matching dresser for $30! It was one of those shiny off-white lacquer looking with funky old gold/white plastic handles kind of piece from 20 or so years ago. And this weekend, we were able to transform it, for less than $3 worth of paint and some miscellaneous hardware samples from grandpa into a really cute piece of furniture for her room.

But ever since finding this piece for her, her older brother has been wanting a desk. And I'd still been searching craigslist periodically for a desk we could afford that was decent looking or had potential, as this one did.  And finally I found one on Thursday night and it was only $12!! So I emailed it to my husband and asked him if it was something we could pursue. So he took care to send an email and find out if it was still available.  And we waited... for a day.. and heard nothing. So I sent an email, letting them know my husband had emailed and maybe they didn't get it, but we were interested and was it still available. I'm so used to my emails not getting through, it's not even funny! I think about 80% of my emails get lost in cyberspace somewhere. So I heard back right away, and they hadn't gotten my husband's email but someone was coming to look at the desk that morning and they'd let me know if it was still available after that. This was Saturday, and that night I heard, the desk indeed was taken.  So now, at this point in my life, I know that meant God had something else in mind and that this desk was not meant for our household.

So Sunday morning we went to church on our usual route, around 8:30. We went to get a few groceries and then to church for a few hours and then headed back home the same way. And at our Pine Bluff turn, where we had just been not more than three hours earlier, there on our side of the road outside the lovely bar (ha!ha!) on the corner, was this desk! Almost EXACTLY like the one we fished for on craigslist, just wood instead of metal looking. My husband was talking to me and out of the corner of my eye and in his sideview mirror I nearly shouted, I was so excited, "Did you see that desk!?!" He was mid-sentence and I literally threw the truck in reverse and sped back to it! Hazards went on and less than three minutes later we were headed home with a perfectly good conditioned desk for our eldest.

The first thought or feeling I felt was the surest sensation that this desk was almost dropped there from heaven just for him. I just felt the love in this gesture from God. How he knew that we couldn't truly afford the craigslist desk and that he had another one in store for us, just that next day for free.


We are big fans of putting things out on the curb with 'FREE' written on a sign for them. We know God has someone in mind for each piece we put out there. Being on the receiving end of that, and KNOWING it came from God, is just as awesome a feeling as being the giver. Whether the person who put it there felt moved by God or not, we KNOW this was His gift to us, a very sweet gift.  Be still and KNOW that I am God, he said. 

Do you chose to 'KNOW' God and watch to see how he works? Or do you chose to think all is 'coincidence'?


ALL IS 'gift and grace'. Christ is ALL and is in ALL. What an awesome confirmation of God's love that filled our Sunday.

Simple Life

For those who know us and have known us for longer than, say a few years, you might label our lives as simple right now.  For in the past, we both were clock punchers for a long time, like most of you reading this post I'd imagine. And at some times, double and triple clock punchers! Again, like most of you.  And our lives then could be summed up with these labels: paycheck-to-paycheck, trying to find breathing room, struggling to make ends meet, feeling like we'd never get ahead, typical double-income family struggling to get by with kids in daycare, car payments, and jobs just to pay the bills. Free-time, unheard of! Are you kidding me?! It was come home from work, make dinner, do dishes, bath time, kids to bed, make lunches for the next day, wake up and do it all again, early rising, scramble to get the kids ready for daycare/school, just to rush to work to accomplish something for someone else. Weekends were for catching up with sanity and the laundry.

How did this get simple? All is 'gift and grace'. (this is my new favorite truth!)

There was a point in our lives, just a few years ago, where we had a decision to make - it was a definite moment of decision, there was no gray area about it. And it was a test of our faith, and we knew it completely, there was no question; we needed to make a choice to follow and EXPLODE on the faith path we'd been slowly following OR deny it, deny our Creator God, and leave Him in the dust.  This moment was a gift from our Father and how we chose to open and use that gift was the determining factor for the other gifts he had waiting for us.

This moment of decision was not, by any means, SIMPLE. It was surrounded with fear, tears, questioning of sanity, blind faith, the unknown and a giving up of control. 

And this blog should give you a hint of the choice we made ~ together. Speaking of 'together', our marriage today is a direct result of this choice and the gifts our Father bestows on just our marriage alone each day.
All is 'gift and grace'. ALL - EVERYTHING - EV'RY-THING IS A GIFT OF HIS GRACE.

So today our life is Simple.  Because we CHOSE to open the gift of God's grace. When you open a gift, that's just the first part of a gift. You must accept the gift then too. And once you open and accept it, then you decide whether to use the gift or lay it to the side and let it collect dust and be forgotten.

We did not forget this gift of grace, which brings along with it a deeper wisdom, a spiritual discernment that goes so much deeper, a heart transformation where life is not about going through the motions but living it out in actions to show a true romance with our Creator.  Oh, no, no - forget it, are you kidding me?

Our lives are simple, not because, we don't do anything, but because we do the work of the Lord. We are still living paycheck-to-paycheck. Isn't that funny - you think, 'they were working the daily grind for so long and were hard-pressed for money, now they are doing the work of the Father and are still hard-pressed for money'. Goes to show a few things: 1) whether you've got 'secure' income as most call a 'job' or whether you put your 'income' in the hands of God, the outcome is still the same - and that is whatever GOD's plan is for you, not how much you think you earned or the world tells you your worth. 2) Now we know God, in his faithfulness, WILL provide as he ALWAYS does.  3) It shows that 'security' of a job is false security and when you give the control to God, life can become simple, the more you losen your grip on the control, because your life can be secure in God.

Our lives are simple because we trust in him, we dwell with him, we love him and we claim him as ours and name him as our source of everything.  And for this, his love overflows and out of his unfathomable love for us as his children, he provides according to his will for us.

As some of you know, YouFactor (our gym), is at a decision point; sign a lease at a monthly payment we, by way of our own means, can't afford, or, what, move to another place? Is there another place for our gym? We can't really afford any place at the slow place the gym is at currently.  Is the stereotypical moment of panic for most. And most would look at us and say, most businesses make it or break it in the first year. Gyms have never thrived in that location. You have no more money to invest in your gym, how will you keep it going? And that's just it - 'we' will not keep it going. Remember that choice we made way back then .... 

God is in control. We handed over that control to him...remember that choice.

I once was told that God would not ask us to live beyond our means, that he would not lead us in a direction where the means we had currently could not support the direction God was leading us in. What a fatal mistake - can you find a smaller box to put God in? When God leads, anything is possible. Do we have the money, right now, to keep YouFactor going another month let alone a year - absolutely not! Does that mean God can't show up tomorrow with the means for that too happen? Absolutely NOT! And this again, is where life is simple. We know, if it is God's will, he WILL provide for YouFactor. And if it is not his will and YouFactor's doors need to close, then he has a different plan for our lives. It's as simple as that.

Simple = Trust

And this is how it plays out:

Husband lies in comma in hospital - God provides peace for me and rest and restoration for his body
8 months preggo and landlord says after 5 yrs, time to leave - God provides shelter and a way for us to own our own home
Husband has a passion to start a gym - God's house he provided is the perfect set-up for a starter gym
Gym gets too big for the space - God provides a tax return to afford a retail space for us to lease
Deer totals only car - God provides our trusty steed, the 'truck'
Children need godly friends to follow - God provides local church with just that
School kids are just plain yucky to Ashlynn, to the point I'd pray for God to just bring her home where she can feel loved all the time - God provides the closest thing this side of heaven, homeschooling by a family who fears God and lives by love
Mortgage is coming due in 2 or 3 days - God provides a landscaping job or some other means
Relationships need attention - God's Word provides wisdom
Souls needed to be fed and grown - God provided a new venue

The world, human tradition , would label us as lazy, maybe moochers, maybe saying we're expecting handouts - I'm sure lots of labels are running through our minds.

But when God leads and we follow life is simple.

Have you all forgotten? We are all part of God's plan. Have you forgotten, you are living on this earth by 'gift and grace' and your purpose is not to serve yourself but to serve God's purpose. He's just waiting for you to unwrap his gift and make that choice for yourselves, sometimes more than just once, too.

Somethings our lives are NOT filled with - not a lot of material things, none of our closets are even halfway full, we do not have possessions boxed up in storage,  we do not have tons of 'extra' space in our house, no clutter, no duplicates of items or clothing or shoes or toys and for me personally, I do not have a space filled with things I'd love to do if I had the time. I did stamping for a while and had a good collection of supplies - but after kids, there is not time for that. I had scrapbooking stuff and lots of art supplies and paper goods, etc. for those - 'what if I want to do that sometime?' moments. What I learned after letting all that go, letting go of the control of my time, is that my time is not spent thinking, oh, I should be doing this project now instead of sitting here with my kids, I should be using those stamps I have sitting in the closet instead of spending time talking to God or seeking wisdom in his Word, I should be crafting instead of spending time next to my husband enjoying just him. My time is now spent on what truly matters, the truth of why I'm here, for those relationships God has place in my life -my husband, my kids, my friends and Him.  It's not a struggle to know where to spend my time now.

Our lives are simply filled with lots of love, lots of mystery (ie. faith) in how bills will get met, lots of excitement in waiting in expectation, lots of time to sit and read scripture, lots of time to memorize scripture, lots of time to spend focused on our kids, lots of time to spend focused on our health and fitness, lots of time to spend focused on our relationships - not because we have no jobs (do you forget we own two business, volunteer at many different locations, serve the local Fire Dept and community?) - and certainly not because we're lazy...

Because WE CHOSE to accept 'gift and grace'. We name it and give it the praise it deserves, DAILY. We've simplified life (through God's gift of grace).

Really, it IS SIMPLE.  MAKE TIME FOR THE ONE WHO MAKES TIME.

Taking time to be still

It's quiet time in our house right now. One is napping. One is making a box about how God made her and why she is special.  And I am reflecting on this quiet time, this time to be still, this time to listen.

There are not too many times in the day of a child or an adolescent or an adult, that we'll CHOOSE to be still and stop thinking about past or  future to just be, right here, right now.  As an adult, you might be familiar with Psalm 46:1o:

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

Many focus on the part 'be still' and quickly give up because it's impossible to be still, it's so hard to not let the mind wander or to think of the to-do list. And this is true for me, in the sense that I cannot find a place where my mind does not think about anything, my mind cannot be still. And so that is something I pray for.

But right here and now, the part he's pointing out to me is not the stillness but this... 'and KNOW that I AM GOD.'

KNOW - that's a definitive, concrete word; he didn't say 'contemplate, wonder, figure out if I am God'

NO, he said 'KNOW' that I am God. That leaves no room for doubt. The rest of Psalm 46 speaks of the power and majesty of GOD.

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

 ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

 ⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 ⁸ Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

 ¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

He is a refuge, he is strength, he will not fall, he is our fortress, he is Almighty, he is an ever-present help - this is what he wants you to KNOW (not wonder about, not doubt, not think maybe this is what he is but I don't know for sure).  Therefore, DO NOT FEAR (vs 2), but be still, still the innards, calm the butterflies, chase away the fear because you KNOW who God is.

And you want to KNOW who else he is:  (from Exodus 34 - God is describing himself to Moses)

⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

He is GOD. He reigns sovereign in each of our lives from beginning to end. To KNOW him means to have faith in him, without doubting who he is. To KNOW him means to have faith in what he can do, which is far more than anything we could conceive of ourselves, to KNOW him means not to limit him by putting him the Bible Box and telling him he can only do what he has shown he can do in the bible.

To KNOW God means to not know what your tomorrow brings and to trust him with your today.

So put to rest the fluttering, the worrying, the list-making and ACCEPT that he IS GOD. KNOW HIM.
Practicing quiet time for everyone, adults and kids alike, allows each one of us to observe how God is working in our days and helps us to turn over the control, giving back to the one whose hands it is best in.

A life that lives for God's glory is FREE

A life that lives for the glory of God (that in all and through all he will reign majestic) frees, is freeing and is free.

Today we got to experience some of the cutest of God's creation, some beautiful horses, ducklings, chicks, bunnies, a very friendly and cute goat (yes, this goat was cute!) and chickens.

This was such a gift to us! A woman, committed to God shared her abundance with us.  She runs a daycare and a summer camp at her home, which is on several acres of land. And she gives God all the glory for the way he's turned her gift for children and her passion for animals into a livelihood.  She was not shy to declare this today and it was awesome to experience.  And because of her devotion to our Father and the faithfulness she witnesses each day working out all the details so that she can keep doing what she's doing, she extended God's grace to us and allowed us to come share in it as well.

Though she always has her financials in mind, as her husband has been out of work for two years and the bills still need to be paid, she did not ever ask for a dime for us to come and share in God's gifts.  She could easily charge a fee to each person that comes to visit her but that is not what God asks of her.

Although she has to face her financials and look her unemployed husband in the eye each day, her trust in the Father allows her to be free, unencumbered by the money. God's faithfulness frees her from having to be a 'penny pincher' because to her, she's been given these gifts of time to share, passion for animals and kids and she is just giving back what God has given her so freely.

And in turn, we, along with all the others she entertains at her place, got to give our children a gift, that all too often is unaffordable when payment is required. We got to let them spend time being free with our Father's creation, to experience the joy his precious animals can give, all soft and furry, cuddly and playful as they are. And it was absolutely Free. As a mom on a very tight budget, moments like these, are memories I cherish forever.

And I'm forever grateful for the grace God bestows on us to allow us to have this experience and the grace he bestows on her that she knows him too, and knows the power in his freedom which he freely gives to those who seek him.

Thank you Joan!

The miracle too often overlooked each day -

There have been many situations/events in my life that many would consider 'serious' as far as the implications of the outcome, but God delivered me so much peace, those times almost seemed simple.

Or for instance, it has never been a question for me to wonder if God exists. This is something my heart has always known. More recently, I've opened my eyes to see that not only is God real, but he is really involved in every moment of my life and I want him to be in control. And fundamentally I do not  question this either.

These are graces God has bestowed on me. I realize, not everyone sees God for who he is without questioning his existence and his majesty and the fact that he will reign sovereign to the end, when heaven is made new on earth.

I realize not everyone is blessed with the faith and trust in God that I have been given. God tells us it is time for my husband to quite his FT job - our major source of income.  My response was simply - okay. God allows a deer to total our car, our only car. My response was simply - okay, I know he'll make it right. God says it's time to take on a car payment again and buy a truck for the landscaping business. My response is simply - okay, I know he'll provide for it.  God says he'll provide for us, making a living on two small businesses, both dependent on having clients, both with seasons of ebb and flow. My response is simply - okay, I know he will provide.

This should not be mistaken as a careless, lazy or 'hand-it-to-me' type of attitude. There is a difference in trusting God enough to allow him to be in control and simply sitting back and expecting God to hand the riches down to you. The biggest difference in the two attitudes is your heart.

And he knows your heart, what's really on the inside.  He knows if you are trusting his sovereignty or if you are mocking him. And people around you who do trust God know the difference as well, they can see it in how you live your life. And if you don't trust God to the degree that you allow him to have control and you see someone who claims to trust God and it appears they're just sitting back and everything somehow is going well for them... well then maybe you're missing the boat!

The boat called G R A C E.

Grace is the daily miracle that 99% of the time is overlooked.  God works all things by his grace, all things. Know this, as sinners, we deserve not one ounce of the life we live.  It's God's grace that let's us wake up with breath in our lungs. It's his grace that puts food in our mouths, his grace that gives us a shower to use, clothes to cover us, a car to transport us, a ski show to entertain us, a church building to worship in, a sun to light our days even when it's stormy. It's his grace that's allowed you to have the job you have which provides a paycheck and maybe even health insurance, his grace that affords you the wisdom and knowledge you need to do that job, his grace that has given you the spouse that you love and that loves you. It's also his grace that brings you hardship, because by these hardships he's challenging us to grow and learn - just as we challenge our kids to grow and learn through discipline. He loves us, perpetual sinners, so much that he wants us to grow to be more like him and the only way we simple-minded humans can learn to be more like him is by messing up or facing hardships and coming through them as he designed, by his grace.

Every moment of every day can be considered a miracle of God's grace - but that's an attitude you have to chose.
The other side of it - well it's GREED.
Thinking you deserve the car you have or maybe even a better one, you deserve a raise in pay (telling God what he does pay you is not good enough), you deserve a vacation, you deserve to have more 'toys' or electronics or the latest iPhone or iPod or laptop or the biggest flat screen out there or a summer house on the lake or in another state, or that you deserve more attention at your job or in your family, you deserve to have better food in your fridge or more time to yourself or more money to spend on yourself or more money so that you can go out more often....

Need I go on? The human race is sick with greed and it's God's grace that waits, patiently, giving all of us every last opportunity to turn and see his grace and respect his sovereignty so that we may come to know him for who he really is and accept his son as our gift, to live forever in the new heaven on earth.

For those of us who have been blessed with an inherent understanding of God and his grace, we are able to live lives a bit more free of this greed each day we are still here on this earth.

So each day I choose the attitude of gratitude - cliche - but oh, so POWERFUL. This life is a battle of the mind. When you choose to focus on grace by way of being grateful for every moment of each day, one moment at a time, you are giving the control back to God - where it should be.

If you know me personally, then you're witness to what God's grace looks like played out on this earth. It's not sitting back and expecting handouts, it's giving the wheel back to the one in control and thanking him for loving me enough to spill his grace on me.

Look for your miracle of grace today! Maybe tell me about it in a comment.
Remember, Grace means getting something you don't deserve.