Death

I've been pretty absent recently. Sorry about that!

The last week or so, there has been a lot of death around here. The greatest thing about it: Those I know who've passed, have gone to see the Lord. What a great peace.

But somehow, for me, it doesn't make it any easier. I always have the same questions:


How do some deal with death, especially those who are not believers? How do you help those who've lost a non-believer grieve. How do you help those who've lost  a believer grieve the physical loss and resume life without them?

I do have some answers for those, and generally it's safe to say its different for each person. Ultimately there will be no one answer and just something that you have to learn and respond as the Holy Spirit guides.

I read an article the other day on NPR. It was about an atheist whose husband had passed. This line was written:

"I was searching frantically for anything that would help me get through this," Fiore recalls. "But everything I found had to do with God: putting your faith in God, believing that God had some sort of plan. I found nothing to help me."

After that I was thinking to myself that she turned to God and He got her through this....but that was not the case. She is now writing grief books for atheists.  Ultimately I know there will be no comfort for those who do not turn to the Lord in times such as those.

Here is a link to that particular article if you want to read it: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/16/168563480/after-tragedy-nonbelievers-find-other-ways-to-cope

Nearly a year ago I was faced with a situation that made me realize that life is so easy to lose. You could die of anything at any second. I hear the phrase "tomorrow is never guaranteed". I always think to myself "5 minutes from now isn't guaranteed!"

I had a wake up call. I knew that's what it was. But for a week or so I had no idea what it was. Then one Sunday a guy named Mike came up to me at church. (This guy is awesome, he reminds me a lot of my dad!) Mike said to me "God has plans for you".

And that was all I needed to hear. God can so easily take me home. But He hasn't. So what is His plan for me? I don't know, but I know there is one. Every day of my life is part of that "plan" and I made a pledge to make sure I listen to the Lord and live out His plan, not my own.

Sorry for all the ramblings and jumping from topic to topic, I hope it wasn't too unbearable =D

Fail.

Do you ever feel like you are just failing. At Life.

I do.

My job, my husband, my friends, even my spare time.

The saddest thing: I don't feel like I want to change it! I don't see anything I should have to change so therefore the problem is with everyone else.

HA

Not.

I'm just smart enough to know that if there is the same problem with every place in my life: It's Me.

So I just ask for you to take one minute and send out a little prayer for me.

Who We Really Are

I’m reading a book right now, Radical by David Platt. So far I agree with a lot of what he says, but there are other parts I don’t agree with. So I will be going through this book and making sure God is directing it so that no thought enters my mind that mis-portrays the Lord to me.

Here is an excerpt that I really like so far. 

“God beckons storm clouds and they come. He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately. He speaks to the mountains, ‘You go there,’ and he says to the seas, ‘You stop here,’ and they do it. Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator…until we get to you and me. We have the audacity to look God in the face and say ‘No.’”

Aint that the truth! Just by something I want to do and not listening to the Spirit edging me the other way, I’m telling God “No.” Why? Why do we have to be so….humanly!

Fortunately we do have God, our Lord! Who is FAITHFUL to us! In my regular Bible Study with my ladies we learned about God’s faithfulness. One of my favorite passages from the chapter:

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful – for He cannot deny Himself. “ – 2 Timothy 2:13

I like this not only because it shows that God will always be God and nothing, ever, can change that; but because when I screw up, He will still be faithful to me.

My challenge to myself and to fellow Christians: live like the mountains and the seas! Live like you cannot deny the Lord in the big or small things (in everything). Know that no matter what, He is being faithful to us right now.

What's that? "Radical???"

I once saw on a blog someone who was struggling with what to write. She battled between what she thought people wanted to read and what was really going through her mind. So she wrote both. I am going to adopt that idea. The text in red is stuff that I typed out....thought about deleting...and then decided: No. This blog is for them to know what I'm really thinking. I'm not going to sugar coat it. So if you don't want to know what's really going on inside....avoid the red at all costs =D

So us "Christians" have heard this term before: Radical. Being Radical, Radical Christians.

I think we (as "Christians") are scared of the word radical. I would even go as far as saying we are scared of radical Christians. Why? I'm not talking about those crazy ones who do illegal stuff to make a point. I'm talking about those who actually live like Christ through their daily lives.

This post is not ... formulated. I'm just rambling about whats on my mind currently. This has been on my mind for quite awhile now.

It all started with a radio show.

It was one of those "1 minute with So and So" types.

The guy started talking about Christmas and what we have turned it into.

The part that got my attention was his comment about gifts.

Why do we give gifts?

Our answer is: "To Bless others around us" or something along those lines.

If we are wanting to Bless someone...why would we only do it on a "national" holiday when everyone else is giving and getting gifts on the very same day? If you see someone in need...would you not bless them immediately? or if you are walking through a store and see something and it makes you say "Oh! So-and-so would LOVE that!" Why not get it for them then?

But really....Christmas is about one thing: The Birth of Christ.

Look what we've turned it into! A month of spending more money than you have, crazy traffic, gifts for people, getting gifts, getting days off work, a slow stop to all businesses (mail takes longer to get places, banks shut down for a couple days, etc). Luckily we have also turned it into: A joyful month, being able to see someones face when they open a gift they love, spending time with family, growing closer to those in your church, refocusing on Jesus and why He did come down to earth for us!

So...to tie in my Radical point here: Think to the holiday, Halloween. Most Christians AVOID it. I know I do! No parties, no dressing up, no excessive candy (I already try to maintain a balanced candy diet :) ). You all know what I'm talking about. We avoid it because its "evil" or because it's not "religious".

Now think about Christmas. Think about the random things we do. the tree, the lights, the gifts, etc. Why do we do that? Where is that in the Bible? What part about that screams "I'm celebrating the Birth of Christ today!"

If we were to really live out a life of Jesus....What would we see in our lives, that is not Christ like and would need to take out of our life?

That's a hard question! Back to the gifts at Christmas. If we were to take out gifts and not do them any more. Wow. That would be "Radical" and wrong. Right? Isn't that what "society" tells us? Isn't that what churches tells us?!

Those are just some of my thoughts. You know how you think about stuff, have to think about it for a long time, then you come to a conclusion. I'm still on the "think about it for a long time" step. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. Maybe I'm way off! I do that sometimes when I have no one to bounce my thoughts and questions off of =D.

To be honest...I get scared. I am afraid of revealing what society, culture, and the world has ... impressed on me? Not the right phrase...Let me try this one: Have you ever thought about something you read in the Bible, have you ever thought that the way we "interpret" the passage might be incorrect, because of the way the world portrays things to be?

For example (now this is coming from the top of my head, so it's not going to be very developed). "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world." It says plainly there "Do not love the things of the world". I love....jackets! Jackets are my ticket in. If I see an amazing jacket, man, it's hard for me not to buy it! And if I have to clean out my closet and get rid of some...its hard. Does this verse mean that loving jackets is wrong and that I do not have the Father in me?! (scary). Our answer is "As long as your love of the jacket is not above your love for the Lord and it is not getting in the way of your relationship with the Lord". Well it most certainly is not! I love the Lord more than anything in this world, including my husband and even my life! So I'm good, right? Hmm. The verse doesn't say "Do not love the world or the things of this world more than your Father." See what I mean? Think about it. That is what I'm afraid of!

I'm sure these thoughts and questions are another step in my walk with the Lord to grow me and teach me things as I "grow up". I could be way off right now, but one thing I know for sure: God will reveal the truth to me as I dive into His words.

Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas to you all! A couple days late....sorry....

I hope this Christmas you really got to enjoy the time with family and friends. (and days off work if you were blessed in that way =D)


This year is my third year spending Christmas away from my family. Luckily...I wasn't NEARLY as sad about it as I was on Thanksgiving. But man do I miss them!

I did get to see them though!!! My dad has some new toys and after a lot of persuasion he finally started to play around with his webcam on his laptop. So thanks to Google Hangouts via Google+, I got to see him and my sister along with my nephew, mom, aunt and uncle! (FYI....that many people is a little too much to understand whats going on via webcam!!!) It was a lot of fun being able to see them and not just imagine their voices through typed words or imagine their facial expressions through a phone line voice.

For Zech's family we had their annual Christmas Eve party (though...it didn't happen last year, so this was my first experience at it =D). I just want you all to know...it's so much fun spoiling people and watching other people be spoiled by family that loves them! (and being spoiled of course, but that's not what Christmas is about......) We all had so much fun hanging out together. It truly is a blessing to have such a big family that loves everyone so much!

Of course I was having way too much fun hanging out with Mirm and then rushing around getting ready for the party to remember to even think about NOT forgetting my camera. (Aka...I forgot my camera and have no pics to show of our fun).

Today

Today...has been one of those days. We all have different meanings and visualizations for what "one of those days" means.

Here's today:



I'll keep adding them as I find good pictures that really get to the point when we say "One of Those Days"