Star-fish

     A woman in my current college class noted her need to do things perfectly and to try to avoid making mistakes. I quoted Albert Einstein to her,  “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." I ended with this statement from  Conrad Hilton, founder of the Hilton Hotel chain,  “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”       I could empathize with this woman as I fear failure. I don't want to look dumb, be embarrassed in front of others, let others down, or fail at my given task. But this type of expectation, as I am aware, is unreasonable for myself or others. I suggested this woman offer herself a bit of breathing room and a little grace. I told her I would try to do the same for myself.      God is so good. He knew my faults, forgave my mistakes, and gave me a second chance through His Son Jesus Christ's death on the cross and...

             I met with a dear friend today and she was telling me about some new revelations she had received as she compared and contrasted the Old and New Testaments. She said she was reminded of the importance of looking at both, as one is the prediction of the other. The following commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh shines a light on what the Prophet Habakkuk wrote about the times that are to come. The main take away from his writing is that we must be saved. We must call on Jesus Christ to save our souls and write our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life.             John W. Ritenbaugh wrote this commentary on Habakkuk 2:2-4,  “Terrible times, God says, are coming, and the proud will be caught in that time. If we want to be spared, if we want to be saved, if we want to witness these things and live eternally beyond it, then we must live by faith and wait for it. It will require perseverance and endurance.” Hab...

      I began this morning on a mission. The garage needed to be cleaned. After spending the whole day cleaning, reorganizing, reboxing, and relabeling items in our garage; I had gained little more than a few feet of space. How is that possible? Could it be due to the new items I had purchased for our new home which needed to be stored? Could it be that our Christmas stuff that gotten shoved in a corner due to my husband being in the hospital undergoing double bypass surgery on Christmas eve, which left me with little interest in properly packing those holiday items? Or could it be we just have too much stuff?      I'd say all of the above. Stuff can really be a blessing and a burden. Too little and you don't have what you need. Too much and you can't find what you need, so then you go out and buy more. (Must have been the reason we had over 20 paintbrushes!) What does God say about stuff? In Matthew 6::19-21 Jesus spoke to the people by the Sea of Galile...

            As followers of Jesus Christ, we must make daily, intentional decisions to grow in the Word of God. Paul was encouraging the Corinthians to seek not the gifts of the spirit with wrong motives, but rather seek to serve others in the love of Christ, when he wrote,  “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” I Corinthians 14:20 (ESV)             In I Corinthians 3:1-3 (NIV) Paul stated, “ And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly .” Paul was instructing the men to chose the more difficult, rewarding road of following Christ.              In Hebrews 5:12 (NIV...

   I looked up the definition of idolatry and found the following: " The definition of idolatry, according to Webster, is 'the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.' An idol is anything that replaces the one, true God. The most prevalent form of idolatry in Bible times was the worship of images that were thought to embody the various pagan deities."  Read more:   http://www.gotquestions.org/idolatry-definition.html#ixzz3abw8xy25      God and Jesus in the old and new testaments go into great detail about idolatry especially in the area of other gods and money. Money can be a god as defined above, since anything we have "excessive devotion to," is idolatry. Do I worry about money? Am I concerned about losing or gaining money? How much of my time is spent thinking about money verses thinking about God?      Maybe you have other idols. What might they be…things that you hold onto with all your mi...

      I saw this on Facebook today and it spoke to me about my past and how often I didn't attempt things because I was afraid of failing, making mistakes, or even just embarrassing myself. I wonder how much life I've missed living because I thought it had to be lived perfectly? So many times I wish I could’ve lived my life without making any wrong turns. In reality, a path like that doesn’t exist. We fall. We get lost. We make mistakes. We get up and live. The Lightworkers Academy      Today is a fresh start. A time to move forward. The quote by Coco Chanel speaks to this issue of overcoming, "Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door." Michael Jordan said this about success, "I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that's why I succeed." I like those thoughts as they remind me that resiliency only comes through adversity. But best of all, God said it this way, "For I know the plans I hav...

My time during the next 3.5 years will be limited due to my doctoral studies. I thought I'd include my responses to the professor's weekly devotional questions. (Yes, it's wonderful to be going to a university with a biblical foundation.) Week 3-Devotional Question “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it — lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?” Luke 14:28-30 (NKJV) A doctoral dissertation is like a story, with a beginning, middle, and a conclusion. These elements are tied together, with each one leading logically into the next.  In the same way, a dissertation has a beginning, middle, and a conclusion that are tied together logically. How will you determine if the conclusions of your research are logically supported or not? Do conclusions that are not lo...

      Today we spent the day picking out flooring, cabinets, faucets, etc. for our new home. What a blessing that God has allowed us this opportunity! We went into the day with many anxieties, but prayed for God to give us peace. We didn't have the notes we had taken earlier this month and couldn't find information we needed, but a friend had texted me and reminded me to "breathe" and so I did. I breathed out fear and frustration, then breathed in gratitude and thanksgiving.      I made the comment to my husband that many would love to have our "problems" today. How many days do I forget that what God has given me is good, even when it is difficult? Does being "hard to do" automatically make something not worth doing? Maybe I ought to be seeking out the things that I perceive as overwhelming, maybe I'd encounter more "breathtaking" experiences. Psalm 150:6 (NIV)  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

     I recently started my coursework to attain a doctorate degree. The professor asked how we could apply Proverbs 19:2  (ESV) ,  "Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way," to our current journey in college. I wrote the  following  in reply:      Desire in the Bible is often spoken of as a wayward behavior whether immoral or foolish. 1 John 2:17 (NIV) tells us, “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” Throughout Proverbs the fool who speaks out of his own thoughts becomes synonymous with folly such as in Proverbs 29:20 (NIV), “Do you see someone who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for them.”      In my desire for knowledge, I must first “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give [me] the desires of [my] heart.” (Psalm 37:4 NIV) I need to desire God’s wisdom and understanding i...