Life As I Seize It

When bad things happen to us, our first reaction is "why me?" When good things happen to others, often, in our flesh, our initial reaction is "why not me?" Oh, we are happy for the other person, for their good fortune, but inside, in that secret place, we think to ourselves: "Why not me? After all, I'm a good person, aren't I?  I mean, Why not me ?" It's a wail, a plea to 'the universe' because of the 'unfairness of it all'. We might even tell ourselves, I'm a  much  better person that he (or she). Why not me? In our humanness, we want the good, but not the bad. It's only natural.  Who wants to just "get by" when the alternative is wealth?  We see wealthy people who win the lottery, and say, "You have to be kidding!" Someone who didn't need "it" won the big payout, and we ask . . . why not me ?  Why can't we hit the jackpot or be the surprised heir of some distant relative...

Since my return to Texas from Florida, I had been thinking that I don't fit in very well over at Stonewater - the church that I had been visiting for the past two or three months. For one, I am not a couple . . . I am a single . . . which in a church geared to families kind of leaves me at loose ends.  If you are a frequent reader then you know that I am quite content with my "singleness". Secondly, the "single" groups are broken into baby-boomers and non-boomers . . . and they have defined the baby-boomers as anyone 50+.  I have to be honest with you . . . I do not see myself as a baby-boomer, nor do I act or think like one.  I may be a Presbyterian Deacon, but I am certainly no old f*rt, and although I am 52  36 there is no way I am going to admit to being 52 !  I don't care HOW much of a savings I can get through AARP or at Kohls, I am NOT going to join or admit to being eligible to receive a discount! I would rather pay the full price and call it a d...

I had this written back Thanksgiving and am now just getting around to posting it.  I know that the purpose of a blog is to blog and then post . . . obviously I had to amend a paragraph or two . . . I have had a lot on my mind lately . . . other than the change in latitude . . . Every day, periodically through the day I have begun unconsciously doing a spiritual check-up, and have been asking myself: When people see me, do they see Christ?  Do I reflect Him?  Am I giving the non-believer, the unsure, those seeking something more from life, a glimpse of Christ?  Over the past months I have been spending more time with the Lord and less time with the distractions of the world.  I am in the world, yet somehow I feel as though I am detached from it, especially from things that steal my inner peace and time with God.  I have an incredible hunger for more of the Word that seems insatiable. It's a thirst I cannot seem to quench. God has put it on my heart ...

Written December 12th. 2009. In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over, he is superior.  ~ Sir Francis Bacon For some time God has been interrupting my life.  When God interrupts it is usually unexpected, often unwanted, and generally poor timing . . . at least on my part. Lord, I'm kind of busy at work right now . . . Lord, I just can't take time . . . Lord, I am not the one who should be apologizing . . . and on and on I go, arguing with God.  When does arguing with God ever accomplish anything? A few months back someone in my family acted in an inappropriate, mean, and most un-Christian way towards me; I was hurt and surprised, but considering a lifetime of selfish behavior from this person I have no idea why I was caught off guard.  In retrospect, I think I was stunned because I am generally the peacemaker in my family; besides, we are orphans, all grown up and beyond past misconceptions and hurts, or so I t...

Nine and a half hours to make the dinner, twenty minutes to eat it. Thanksgiving is a gastric 3,000 calories behind Americans with the only after effects the unspoken recognition that we need to take off those extra few pounds after the first of the year. Yesterday it was Thanksgiving. Today it's Black Friday. Morning has broken across the nation, and for the majority of Americans, with only 28 more shopping days to Christmas, it is the start of the Christmas yuletide season. It should be no surprise to anyone that today, of all days, heralded the announcement that a state government in this nation, the one nation under God with liberty and justice for all, is under fire from Atheists regarding traditional Christmas, i.e. Christian, symbolism. The state of Washington has caved into (the clearly minority) Atheistic demands and ruled that there will be no nativity scene inside the state capital this Christmas. So what should Christians do about the anti-Christian attacks on Chr...

In my last post, an eon ago, I mentioned that I had moved across country and was in search of a new church home so that I would feel as though I really had a home here in North Texas. What I didn't mention in that post is how God encouraged me to make the move. I know people talk about wanting a sign from God, but God was so determined for me to come out here that He was making it nigh on impossible for me not to get the message that I was to pack and GO! NOW! As I was saying in my last post, I ended up visiting my niece's Baptist church for three weeks because she asked me to attend with her. Now, the fact that she had been saved and dunked like a donut by the Baptists is especially funny to me because it reminds me that when praying to God, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it . . . but not in the way you imagined! I forgot to ask God to make any non-saved relatives Presbyterians, or Lutherans, Methodists or Episcopalians, so He dropped her down among...

T he problem with "Christians" is that well . . . they are so fallible.  I am a Christian, and like every other "Christian", I am fallible.   As a former student of Latin, perhaps "fallible" is not the best choice of words since it stems from the Latin "fallere" to deceive . . .  On second thought maybe 'fallible' is the right choice after all: "We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves." ~ Goethe You see, I accept the fact that, although I am a believer, a follower, a disciple, an officer of the Church, I sometimes fall short of the expectations of others and it's likely that the first response from others is: "And she calls herself a Christian! " Quite frankly, I often fall short of my expectations for myself.  I am certain that I also fall short of God's expectations, which I suppose makes me most thankful that I believe in the New Testament and that a certain carpenter was God with skin on.  I don't ...