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With God It’s Never a Coincidence…

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God has really been working on me lately about reading my Bible. I’ll admit that I have slacked off on it and I have no excuse for that. He’s working on me.  It’s subtle, but I know that God is guiding me to and through His word.

Last night I read my current novel (Savannah Comes Undone) before bed. I got a few chapters read and put the book down before reaching over to my nightstand to turn off my lamp. As I reached across the nightstand, I noticed my Bible there.  I felt a nudge to pick it up and read it, but continued to reach for the lamp because, well, I was tired. The nudge won over and I picked up the Bible and began to read where I had placed the ribbon marker the last time I read it. I have a goal of reading through the New Testament, but I have admittedly not been reading as regularly as I should. So, last night my reading took me to Matthew 6:25-34 which reads as follows:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV)

That is a passage about worry.  It was a passage that my heart has desperately needed lately.  Our family has had some financial struggles over the last year and a half or so. I think it goes without saying that financial struggles are some of the hardest to face because, well, money is so essential to getting by in this life. I have been praying for a solution and have asked God for guidance, wisdom and His continued provision. All of which He has freely given, in His amazing ways. Last night’s reading was such a comfort to me because I needed that blessed assurance. I needed to once again realize that my trust needs to be fully in God’s plan. I needed to find that release. He gave it. He guided me right into His word and took me to the passage that my heart so desperately sought even without me knowing it. It’s not a coincidence that my reading last night took me to that particular section of Matthew. That was God and with God there are no coincidences.  I just feel so blessed that He, the God of all creation, gave that to me at that time last night. At a time when I could have worried myself to bits and pieces, God brought me to His word and reassured me yet again. He didn’t have to do that, but He did.  Amazing.

I think it’s so important to remember that God doesn’t always come to us in ways that move mountains. Sometimes He nudges. Sometimes He whispers. We might think we NEED Him to yell, to get in our face, to guide our feet, but His way is THE way and we have to trust in that. We have to be willing to move according to Him and not ourselves. I find that hard sometimes, I won’t even begin to say that I don’t. How many times have I reached over that Bible and turned off the light to go to sleep without reading? Too many. But, not last night. And, He blessed me for it. Praise be to God!!

If Life Were a Movie…

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I don’t know exactly WHY this thought popped into my head last night, but as I was getting ready for bed I started thinking about what it would be like if my life were a movie that I could watch. At first I thought about how cool that would be.  Who wouldn’t want ot relive the great memories, right? I also know there are LOTS of good things that have happened that I have simply forgotten over the years. That would all be pretty fun to  see again. But, then it occurred to me that there are just parts of my life that I’d rather not revisit. I’d rather leave that footage on the cutting room floor to be swept away never to be thought of or seen again. Aren’t we all like that? Don’t we all have regrets along the way? I’ll confess that I certainly do. It’s human nature because we’re born sinners. Try as we might, no one gets through this life without some sources of shame. So, more than wanting to see my whole life as a movie, I think I’d rather see the highlight reel. I’d rather see the beautiful moments and relive some forgotten good times. Wouldn’t that be pretty amazing?

I hope it doesn’t sound corny to say this, but in writing this I realized that Jesus came to provide believers with a cutting room floor for the sinful times in our lives. Okay, I know. It’s a bit corny, but stick with me. It’s true, right? Because Christ came, taught, was crucified, died and rose again we have the awesome gift of losing the sins of our past, present and future. If we accept and believe. Now, that’s incredible. Because of Jesus, we have the highlight reel and the rest is forgotten in Eternity. That’s not to say it’s forgotten during our lifetimes. I don’t mean that we should dwell on mistakes of our past or that we should live under a depressing cloak of guilt. That’s not the way of Christ. He has promised us forgiveness that comes by faith and trust. So, our mistakes are washed away, but I truly believe that the lessons we can take away from them need to remain. If we don’t acknowlege and repent, then we don’t move forward. If we don’t realize our wrongdoings and work to make sure we better ourselves, we don’t really let go of the mistakes themselves. I have gotten bogged down in the sadness of my own mistakes. I keep thinking that sometimes things are just not forgiveable. But, that is not faith talk. That is not faith in action. To believe fully in Christ is to know that ALL is forgiven by His sacrifice. We cannot and should not remain in the mire of our sin, but we can take valuable life lessons from our mistakes and move forward. We can live our highlight reel every day! All we have to do is accept, confess, repent and believe. How awesome is THAT?!

1 John 8-9:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Now, THAT’S Good Customer Service…

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I wanted to post some due kudos for Hanna Andersson for their outstanding customer service. Back in August, my dad and step-mom offered to purchase Macey’s backpack for her Kindergarten year. Macey picked out one she wanted from Hanna Andersson which was this one:

Macey also got the matching pencil case and lunch box. She loves the print and has been so thrilled with her school “stuff.” In September I received this email from Hanna Andersson:

I saved the email in one of my trusty Yahoo folders and didn’t think much more about it because at the time we weren’t having any issues with Macey’s backpack. About a week ago, I noticed that one of the lining in the backpack straps was starting to come undone and was fraying. I called Hanna Andersson and was given the option for a refund or to get a new backpack. I opted for the new backpack because Macey already loves hers so much! I was told to keep our current backpack and they will send a replacement in another month or so once they are in stock again. Excellent! We haven’t gotten it yet, but I have no doubts that it will arrive in the timeframe given.

That is excellent customer service from a very reputable company. For one, they were proactive in getting the word out about potential defects in their product. This wasn’t even a defect that would be harmful to children and I wouldn’t really consider it major, but I am glad it was brought to the attention of the consumers and that solutions were offered. Kudos, Hanna Andersson! I was already a fan, but now I’m even more impressed!

My thoughts on our new President Elect…

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This morning I have been thinking a lot about the outcome of our Presidential election. I expected that I would be disappointed if McCain didn’t win because he was the candidate our family had chosen to support. I will say that I am somewhat disappointed that he didn’t win, but I am a far cry from “devestated” or upset about it. There would be no point in letting an election affect my life to THAT degree, in my opinion. I decided a long time ago that whichever man won this race would get my full support. I stand by that and will fully support President-Elect Barack Obama. I will pray for him and hope that he leads our nation with Christian character, upstanding morals and unfailing integrity. I believe he will do that. He has a whole nation to answer to, not to mention the God he also serves.  I believe him to have a true heart and a desire to work hard for this nation. I would like to see us all unite in support of him because he has some challenges ahead and he NEEDS prayers and support as he goes forward.

Despite “my” guy not winning, I will say that it feels pretty cool to be living in this historic moment. Our first “non-white” President has been elected. That’s HUGE. Really huge. I have never been really sure that we’d see that in my lifetime and we have. That excites me. That shows progress from a nation that was once so racially torn. I’m all for unification on the racial front. After all, we’re ALL God’s children. He designed and created every race, every individual in His own image. We should embrace and appreciate His work in people.  1 Samuel 16:7 has a passage that states this better than I ever could. It says this: “…The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Amen!!

I encourage all of us to really put our prayerful support behind Barack Obama and the other leaders of our nation. A change is coming and we can pray it to be change for good. I won’t go into this whole “God bless America” business either because I don’t believe in my heart that God will bless a nation that doesn’t turn to Him prayerfully and faithfully. I think that has to be first. I will pray that God guides America and that our leaders turn to Him for guidance, wisdom, courage and discernment. I hope we will all do that. Let’s move forward with hope and trust. Let’s pray this through, shall we?

I voted…

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Today I got to exercise one of the greatest privileges that we have as Americans. I voted.  Although I know that my one vote won’t ultimately affect the outcome of any election, I still know how important my vote is because of the privilege it carries. I took my girls to the poll with me today and they were SO well behaved. Macey is starting to understanding the process of voting, so she was particularly thrilled to be there. The wait was almost nothing and the poll workers were all SUPER sweet to the girls and me. We all left there with our stickers on our shirts having proudly voted today.

My ultimate hope and prayer for the Presidential election is that whomever assumes the role does so with the utmost integrity and solid faith in place. I do hope that “my” candidate wins, of course, but I will support whomever and I think we should all remember to do just that. Not because I said so, certainly, but because it’s our duty as Americans. We don’t have to agree on everything and we don’t have to like everything the President says or does, but I believe that he deserves our support as a nation united.