Month: May 2018

The name of the righteous is used in blessings, but the name of the wicked will rot.  Proverbs 10:7

Are you one of those people who tend to make all kinds of resolutions at the beginning of the year?  Is that your time to recalculate and search for answers as to why things happened previously, but even more importantly, how you’re going to make a positive difference in the future? 

I might be a little different.  Ok, so my family might think that’s the understatement of the year but hear me out.  Is it really the best time to evaluate your life right after what many would consider one of the most hectic and emotionally charged times of the year?  Times like those can bring about good change or they can simply push you to make bad decisions.

When I take a deep a breath of salt air and get onto island time, then I’m able to take a good look at what I’m here for and where I’m to be going.  I ask myself, “Is what I’m doing lined up with where I’m going?”  That’s not always a fun thing to consider.

I was told that I needed to visit a lighthouse on this current quest.  The answers I was searching for might be located there.  Was it because there is some kind of magic that takes place in a lighthouse?  Of course not!  A lighthouse does help us see our surroundings from a new perspective though.

Did I find what I was looking for?  I suppose in a way I did, thank you for asking.  I prayed for my eyes to be open to see what I needed to see.  When I first got there, I was able to extend kindness to a couple people who were there ready to climb to the top.  My first lesson was that I could make a difference even while I was still at the bottom…at the beginning of a journey.

With my heart beating a little faster from climbing so many steps I realized lesson number two.  Even though I was walking in circles, I was climbing tremendously high!  The key to this lesson was to keep climbing while circling.  See, we can still get somewhere even when we’re going in circles.

I reached the top and stepped out onto the landing to be startled by a volunteer stepping out from behind the door.  He laughed and tried to assure me that he didn’t do that on purpose.  His enjoyment of my surprise left me questioning the legitimacy of that statement.  Lesson number three was to expect the unexpected.  In life, God knows what’s behind every door. Instead of worrying about what’s next, I can be assured that’s His grace is big enough to cover the unexpected.

That volunteer and I discussed the beautiful view.  What I thought I would see wasn’t the same as the reality of what was there.  There’s been destruction of trees in the area, and I thought I’d see that devastation.  What I saw was plenty of healthy forest that survived.  There it was.  That big lesson of climbing the lighthouse.  It was all about rising higher and getting a new perspective.  Lesson number four taught me that I don’t see the big picture when I see only the small area around myself.

After some insights about all the dead trees, I realized just how important diversification is to have a healthy ecosystem.  That was lesson number five for me.  This is the same with life.  If I only surround myself with people just like me, everything may seem easy and great to start out, but give it some time and instead of a healthy and lush life, I could be surrounded with an area that doesn’t produce an environment for growth.  I just might find myself amidst a big ol’ mess!

I thought I learned my lessons.  Good trip to the lighthouse.  Which one or ones were to help me understand what I’m here for and where I’m going though?  If I looked at it from my new perspective, they all were pieces to the big picture.  However, something was at the back of my mind that I was missing the main lesson.

I remember reading about there being holes in the lighthouse.  They never really stuck out to me before.  It wasn’t until they were highlighted that I paid any attention to them.  They were there for ventilation to prevent condensation from building up inside.  I had to think on this for a while.

Holes…holes…what did it all mean?  Slowly a light came on.  I’ve been feeling like I have holes in my life.  When people see me, they don’t notice the holes at all, but they’re still there.  It was just like the lighthouse! 

I’ve had this feeling that something has been missing.  Have I been trying to fill the holes because I thought they were a bad thing?  The holes in the lighthouse were put there on purpose.  Could my holes have a purpose?  Maybe it wasn’t because I was defective and something was wrong with me!  Maybe God put them there for a purpose.

If all the holes were sealed, what would happen?  Would I find myself with dampness and mold inside?  That wouldn’t be very healthy.  I think I found my big lesson for the trip!  I need to stop fearing the holes and start embracing that God knew what He was doing when He made me.

Those holes that I thought I should be ashamed just might end up being a blessing!  Sometimes life isn’t all about the next thing to change.  Sometimes it’s about accepting the holes in our lives.  I was trying to fill something that would’ve started to create rot inside me. 

Maybe some of the holes get filled eventually, and possibly new ones are even created.  As long as there is a dedicated spot that remains for the Creator who knows how to keep me at my healthiest, I don’t need to worry about any holes in my life.  God will work all the holes in my life for the good.

How about you?  Have you been fretting about the holes in your life that nobody else sees?  If so, isn’t it freeing to know that as long as God has filled the center of you, you can lighten up?  Trust that He’ll take care of everything in His time.  Oh, and if you’re trying to fill somebody else’s holes, you might want to stop that…pretty immediately.  Just saying; it will only frustrate you and them.

I challenge you to be careful with how you’re trying to fill your holes.  If it’s not through the righteousness of Jesus, you might start to see some rot starting to happen! He doesn’t need you to take over His job.  Remember…ventilation to prevent condensation!

 

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

As I was wrapping up my night a couple weeks ago, my front tooth felt funny. I couldn’t imagine why the bottom of it was so sharp. When I looked in the mirror, I realized that I had a chip out of it! During those first couple days it felt like I had a little razor in my mouth that kept cutting my lip before it got worn down a bit.

I scheduled a dentist appointment and found out that it was the same tooth that I had fixed several years ago through bonding. The dentist wasn’t sure how long it would last back then, but it did better than we ever expected.

He was going to try to use bonding again. He roughened the surface, put down an adhesive material, and applied a resin that’s the same color as my tooth. He shaped it and used an ultraviolet light to harden it.

Since this was the second time my dentist did this procedure, he didn’t seem too optimistic that it would be a long-term solution. He said that pressure on it could make it come apart, and he was right. Part of it is already off.

It seems to me the issue wasn’t with how it was bonded (put together) but what was bonded. It makes me think that trying to bond something fake to something genuine is going to be a bit of a problem. It might last for a surprisingly long amount of time, but eventually the pressure will make it come apart.

It reminds me of relationships. We can have a strong bond with someone immediately, but if there isn’t sincerity and genuine character, that bond will come apart under pressure. It will often leave someone being hurt by the separation, like my lip from the razor-sharp end of my tooth. A connection can’t hold with fake expressions.

On the other side of the issue, a more permanent bond can be made slowly with sincerity. It’s a stronger attachment. Just like with the bonding process of teeth, heat and pressure can make it more secure when dealing with authenticity.

It says in the Bible how a man leaves his father and mother and he’s united with his wife. That’s bonding in its strongest form! This is how relationships last. The adhesion becomes even better as two people face all circumstances as one with genuine and honest communication. Isn’t it awesome that we have the means to make that happen?

I challenge you to bond through honesty and sincerity to create a strong hold in all your relationships. I especially challenge those in a marriage to throw off fakeness today. Experience a true and lasting bond with your spouse, while allowing God to be the glue that gives you the strongest adhesion possible. Don’t treat it with dread as if you were going to the dentist…have fun with your bonding process today!

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Last week I went to the doctor’s office for my Lyme checkup, I got the full set of questions that’s asked every time. Was I taking a multivitamin? My answer didn’t change. I still was trying to get my nutrients through the food I eat.

Something clicked in my brain. Was this their way of telling me I should be taking a multivitamin? After all the months I’ve been there, I finally thought to ask if this was something they wanted me to do. The answer was simple. Yes, it was in the paper they gave me. Wait, what?

I felt like a child who failed at getting their chores done. I wasn’t doing as I was supposed to. I apologized and told her I didn’t know I was to be taking that and I didn’t think that I received the paper she was referring to.

Oops! After they looked in my chart, they realized they forgot to give it to me. Sometimes when we hope to be almost done with treatment, we get the information that almost no longer applies! I’m determined to answer my questions “correctly” during my next appointment.

I got everything I needed and started the new multivitamin yesterday morning. I remembered that I needed to take it with food because if not, I get sick. We’re talking give-my-hubby-heart-failure-because-I’m-suffering-morning-sickness-while-running-to-the-bathroom sick.

I took all my medicine while I scrambled an egg. Then, I promptly panicked because I figured I probably should’ve ate the egg first. I quickly grabbed a banana and ate it as fast as I could before devouring the egg. I thought I made it. Nope! Everything was coming back up.

I have to tell you that I almost NEVER get sick like that unless I’m pregnant. It taught me a lesson for sure. Unless I want to have come out what just went in, my body needs to be prepared to handle what I’m feeding it.

This incident got me thinking about the power going out last night. My kindle was plugged in while I was watching something on it. It never even paused for a second even though there was no electricity feeding it. It kept running because it had been charged. I had a backup power source. If the battery was low, I wouldn’t have been able to continue until it was fed more power.

First lesson…sometimes we need to ask for clarification. God’s thoughts aren’t always our thoughts, so just like I had to ask the nurse, we need to go to God to make sure we understand what He wants us to do in the situations we find ourselves in. It’s not always just handed to us and we should search.

Second lesson…I didn’t realize how much help my body needed while taking my medicine. It needed to have the extra help in order for me to stay healthy while my immune system was lower. If something did attack (like the power going out), I’d have the backup help I needed already waiting inside me.

Third lesson…refer to the first two. Clarify what God wants us to do in the first step. Then, recognize we need to have the Holy Spirit inside us to keep us powered when the lights go out around us. In the last step, we need to make sure that our body is prepared for what we’re feeding it so that it doesn’t just shoot out all the nutrients that need digested from God’s word.

What can you do to keep from losing all that you’ve learned? What will keep you going when it feels like there isn’t a power source and the electricity is out? Will you remember that our Power Source never goes out? Will you go searching in the dark or find the Light amidst the blackout because you were able to fully digest what’s being told to you?

I challenge you to drink of the water the Lord gives so that you will continuously have a power source that you can plug into. Better yet, stay connected so that there isn’t even a blip when everything seems dark, don’t wait until it no longer applies, and remember, it won’t do you any good if you can’t keep it down!