10/30/07

THE LORDS SMORGASBORD

Three little old ladies out doing errands together. It is getting late and they are hungry and tired. Head for Costco, and say a blessing in the car before heading into the store. And what a feast awaited them. Appetizers of salmon and two choices of hummus served on crackers, bagel bites, spicy chicken legs and deep crust pizza, salad with Ranch dressing and almond topping, choice of fruit punch or strawberry-kiwi to wash it all down, and pumpkin pie for dessert. Now does the Lord know how to feed his children, or what?

10/20/07

CONSULTING THE PRODUCT MANUAL

"See, I set before you today life and prosperity,
death and destruction. For I command you today
to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and
to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you
will live and increase, and the Lord your God will
bless you in the land you are entering to possess."
(Deuteronomy 30:15-16)

It both pains and puzzles me to know that there are folks who struggle desperately to lose weight, or to overcome some other stronghold in their life, and who will try anything but a Bible study on the topic because they feel that to do so would be an attempt to manipulate God. Who can know best what steps we need to take to remedy our problems than the God who created us?

God knows what makes our bodies tick, and just as a manufacturer provides consumers with an instruction manual, He too has given us a set of guidelines to follow that cover every possible scenario we may be faced with in this journey through life (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

Some of these guidelines, for example, relate to how we need to fuel our bodies for optimum energy and good health, and if we follow them, weight would never be an issue. So how then is getting together as a group to study these principles so we can see where we have gone wrong and correct it, an attempt to manipulate God?

Somehow I am reminded of the prisoner anguishing about being locked up in a dark prison cell with no way of escape when all along the door was unlocked and he could simply have walked out anytime he wanted to.

10/11/07

MORE LESSONS FROM THE TOMATO PLANT

"...at the proper time we will reap
a harvest if we do not give up."
(Galatians 6:9b)




A few posts back, I wrote about my huge tomato plant that grew only one small tomato all summer long. Now, here we are, mid-October--just about--and it is heavy laden with fruit. God surely does use the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).


10/5/07

IT'S A PUZZLEMENT

"He who has no sense of self-importance
cannot be offended." - Phillip Keller

Having grown up in a family where silent treatment was the favored punishment for real or perceived wrongs, I became supersensitive to being ignored. To this day, not being acknowledged is a major frustration.

Now I do see the wisdom in Phillip Keller's words (taken from Chapter 6 of his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23) , and it is something I am working on, but I am puzzled as to how one applies these principles to practical situations that do require responses.

For instance, here I am, supposed to be moving to a new apartment on October 15th. Have friends coming to help me move stuff on the 16th, and a professional mover a few days later for the heavy stuff. Have already made arrangements for my utilities and Internet to be switched over. Apartment needs to be inspected before I can sign the lease, but with only four business days remaining, still can't get any answers from the Housing department or the property manager as to what's going on. Phone calls and e-mails remain unacknowledged. Very, very frustrating!

9/28/07

AND LOOK WHAT I WON . . .


Seems like Alexandras--old and young--are enjoying a winning streak these days. Look at what grandma won. It's a back to school basket.

Not as fancy a prize as namesake Alexandra's GPS system, but hey, it was fun to find out I had won something, and now I can look forward to watching the four younger grandchildren divvy up the spoils.

9/23/07

TRACKING DOWN MESSIAH

While listening to a Books on Tape rendition of Tribulation Force, the second novel in the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, I was struck by the unique way one of the characters presents his conclusion that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Tsion Ben-Judah is a fictional rabbinical scholar who has been commissioned by the Israeli government to conduct a study on how the Jews would be able to recognize the Messiah when he comes. He likens the process to the way a letter placed in the mail will be delivered to the one person it has been addressed to, with not even that many markers needed to track them down.

In other words, by sending the letter to a particular country, you eliminate much of the world. The city narrows it down even further. Then the potential recipients are cut into smaller and smaller fractions as the letter makes it way to a certain street, a certain number on that street, and then a certain apartment. And finally, with the recipient's first and last name on the envelope, you have singled him or her out of all the billions of people who populate this planet.

In the same way, the Old Testament has given many clear prophecies that only one person in the entire human race could ever fulfill. Like the address on the letter dropped in the mailbox, these Messianic prophecies eliminate, eliminate, eliminate until only one person can be their fulfillment.

Since I'm not sure what the rules are for posting long quotes on a blog, and I don't want to wind up getting in trouble for not having the authors' permission, I'm not going to copy this process of elimination that Tsion goes through. However, if you are interested, you can find it on pages 391-396 of the book. Of course, none of it is new, and it can all be found in your Bible too, but I just thought it was a fascinating analogy.

9/3/07

THE GRASS IS NOT GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE

You are my hiding place; you will
protect me from trouble and surround
me with songs of deliverance.
(Psalm 32:7)

Well it's that time of year again when one lease ends and another begins, and my thoughts turn to greener pastures.

Not only am I facing another increase to a rent I'm already having problems coming up with each month, but there has been a mass exodus from my apartment complex and the management is desperately trying to fill the empty apartments with an offer of a free plasma TV to anyone who moves in before the end of the month. Does this also mean they will relax their standards and we will wind up with troublesome tenants as in earlier days before the new administration stepped in and cleaned things up?

And then there is the matter of church, which has been an increasing source of frustration. It is a cold, cold place I attend but where I've never felt I belonged. Why do I stay? Because it is close to home and the teaching is sound. And yes, I have tried to make a difference by involving myself in various ministries and trying to reach out to others, but I am not seeing any fruits of those efforts.

My thoughts keep going back to an ad I saw for a church starting up 60 miles from here. It sounded so welcoming, and so warm, and I wished it were not that far away. Imagine my delighted surprise when on an impulsive check of www.rent.com, I saw an ad for a new apartment complex located close to that church, where the rents were half what mine are. It sounded too good to be true. I was so excited I couldn't fall asleep, and the next day being Sunday, I set out to visit the church and apartment.

Half a tank of gas and 165 miles later, I discovered that the grass is definitely NOT greener on the other side of the fence.

Yes, the folks at the church were very warm and welcoming, and as I entered the building, I thrilled to hear the choir practicing the old choruses I so miss. But when the worship started, I had to keep my eyes closed to keep from being distracted by all the chit-chat going on around me, and found myself missing the reverence in my church's sanctuary where people stand to sing, raise their hands in praise, and this sort of behavior would not be tolerated.

As for the apartments, it took me three hours to find them--despite my MapQuest directions--and when I finally got there, the complex was not at all what I expected. For starters, it was definitely not new, the rental units lacked most of the amenities I currently enjoy, one of the buildings had recently burned down and stood like a charred eyesore in the midst of the property, and a bunch of youth loitered under one of the stairwells, engaged in who knows what. In the end though, none of it mattered because there were income restrictions that I did not come close to qualifying for.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. I regretted having missed communion at my church, and also the delicious London broil my daughter and son-in-law were cooking that I had been invited to share. The day had started out with such great hopes and expectations, and all kinds of plans already mapped out in my head. But along with the disappointment, I was also grateful that the Lord loved me enough to take me on this little adventure rather than zap me with a bolt of lightning for murmuring and complaining about my current circumstances.

I thought of all the times I have given up something in favor of something else I thought would be better, and then lived to regret what I no longer had. This time, by His mercy and grace, I had only given it up in my imagination run wild, and still have a second chance to stay where I am and view it from a different perspective.

8/28/07

LESSONS FROM A TOMATO PLANT

Where I'm going with this, I'm not sure. I just liked the title. What I am sure of though, is that I have failed in my first attempt to grow tomatoes.

My well tended seedling quickly grew to be almost as tall as I am--and is still growing. It is covered with yellow flowers, and every day there are more and more of them, but only one small tomato, which has not grown or changed in appearance since my post and pictures a couple of weeks ago. Even the bug waiting to take that first bite has long since given up and hopped away.

According to Dr. Google, who I consulted about my plight, the bountiful harvest of tomatoes I had eagerly anticipated is not about to materialize. It seems I coddled my plant too much.

On the other hand, its stunted and neglected brothers and sisters back at the camp are just teaming with tomatoes. Go figure!

Could the lessons be something like all that glitters is not gold (not even golden flowers that are supposed to turn into lush red tomatoes), or appearances can be deceiving, or don't count your chickens (or tomatoes) until they're hatched? Hmm!

8/24/07

THE PITY PARTY

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Father of compassion
and the God of all comfort, who comforts us
in all our troubles, so that we can comfort
those in any trouble with the comfort we
ourselves have received from God.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Well, it started out innocently enough. A passing twinge of resentment at an e-mail that failed to thank me for something I had done--not even an acknowledgement of it. But then that was par for the course where this person was concerned--and others too. And now the twinge became more than a passing one as I started thinking about other people I had sent things to who had failed to acknowledge receiving them either.

At this point I decided I had better get back to work before my thoughts became totally unbridled. But that was not to be. The Internet was down, and a little demon perched himself on my shoulder, gleefully pushing buttons that filled my mind with hurtful memories from the past. As each one resurfaced, it triggered a bunch more, and soon I was partying with anger and resentment at all the wrongs done to me (both real and imagined) from as far back as the day I was born and disappointed my mother by being a girl instead of the boy she had hoped for.

Things were starting to get a bit out of hand, when I was rescued by an unexpected phone call from a good friend. By the time I got off the phone, the Internet was back up and I decided to check out some blogs before getting back to work.

One friend's post piqued my interest in another one posted on SmallGreenRiver's blog. As I scrolled down, the header Bam Bam caught my attention and I started to read it--including the comments. What was left of my pity party came to an abrupt end, as I shamefully realized how petty it had been.

Hurting people hurt people, but God can turn it around for good and for his glory. Like Joseph said to his brothers, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done..." (Genesis 50:20)

So thank you, James, for not deleting those comments, devastatingly painful as they must have been for you to read. If you had, the Lord could never have used them to shock me back to reality. And who knows how many other folks he may have ministered to through them as well.

8/18/07

AND YOU THOUGHT I WAS A WEED

Several posts ago I showed a picture of the little tomato death camp survivor I had adopted. A well-intentioned friend told me it didn't look like a tomato plant to her, and this view was confirmed by some chuckling neighbors who found it amusing that I should be spending so much time and energy on what looked to them like a fast growing weed. Even I was starting to have some doubts, but continued nurturing it anyway.


Well, as you can see, it is a tomato plant after all, but maybe an overly coddled one, for it's not near as fruitful as it's more neglected sisters and brothers still at the camp.

Although it has grown big and tall, and is covered with many little yellow flowers, only one tomato has shown up so far. And who is that strange bug lurking in the background? He seems to have taken up residence on the railing--sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. Hope he's not waiting to take the first bite.