Inevitable Changes/Sliced, Diced and Mashed

Inevitable Changes

All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

                                                                                                …Ecclesiastes 1:8

                                                                       

            Basketball was once known as Duck on a Rock.  This was played without a backboard, but eventually a backboard was placed to detour fans from interfering with the ball.  Times change; sometimes too fast.  We think we are the generation that invented basketball, or close to it, then we find out the game was called something completely different from what we know of it today.

 Even the golf tees have changed.  Now players can perch a tee on their lips and taste their favorite flavor.  Yes folks flavored tees, any flavor you like.  Now I have heard of flavored teas, but this was a new one for me. Golf clubs have been made of all sorts of material each redefining the game and what strategy was necessary. 

            We may come up with new ways of presenting an old idea, but it is just that, new and improved. We are never satisfied, and in some cases that’s alright.  But, most always we are dissatisfied with material or beautiful items that begin to show the slightest wear, ready to trade it in for another.  My husband might as well trade me in, ‘cause I am showing wear!!! Mileage has surpassed the limits allotted a human being. Come back to reality I tell myself.  Life is that way.  Some things we have no control over; no matter how much money one may have.

            One thing does not change, and that being that death will come to all of us.  Not a pleasant thought, but bearable knowing Jesus is in control of our life and death, and death, brings eternity with Him.  You see, I believe Christ died on the Cross, was buried and rose again the third day, to save us from a lost eternity.  I live in Him, and He in me. His death on the Cross is proof of His love for us.  I trust Him fully to take me to a better place, than what I know of here.

            Heaven waits for those who have asked Jesus to wash their sins away.  Not with the best soap on the market, even that will change tomorrow.  But with the precious shed blood of our Savior.  His blood has never been polluted, watered down, or mislabeled. The price has always been the same; free.   Tell Him thank you and accept His free gift of Eternal Salvation today.  You can still reach God through prayer, asking forgiveness; that hasn’t changed.  And you can be changed today. Trust Him, and see what happens. 

Harder Than a Rock/Sliced, Diced, and Mashed

Harder Than a Rock

O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

                                                                                                                                                 …Jeremiah 5:3

                Noticing something of mine hanging out of the young ladies purse, I dared confront her about it before she went rushing out the door.  Camp items were being kept in the back room awaiting the time to open the doors of the newly built camp.  Hiring a woman to give me a hand in cleaning was great, but when I realized she was stealing from us, her job was terminated on the spot.

            When I confronted her asking why she stole from us after we had been so good to her, she replied, “You have two of these; I have none so I took one.  It sounded good to her.  She played awfully dumb and even played the violin sad song to us, but to no avail.  She saw, she wanted, and she took.  Sound too familiar in today’s society.  

            Excuses she had and to her all of them made sense in her mind. It is easy to justify what we do.  You may even believe what you did was not wrong.  What does the Bible say about it?  God calls sin, sin, and doesn’t chocolate coat it.  My helper knew she was doing wrong, or she wouldn’t have hidden the items; she would have paraded them in front of me free of concern about consequences.

            In rebellion, this woman puckered her lips tight almost like a draw string bag.  She was mad, because she lost her job, but mostly because she was caught in the act. She did not want to receive correction and her face turned hard as rock.

            Jeremiah says, Lord, thou has stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou has consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock;

            Look at someone who is really mad, and notice how hard their faces become.  Harden not your face or your heart dear friend.  God has known what rebellion is since the days of Adam and Eve.  Receive correction if needed, and return to Him!

An unusual Remedy

An Unusual Remedy

The coffee lid flew and the hot contents of the cup drenched dad’s pants, burning his legs.  He did a bit of a jig after the hot coffee hit the skin, taking off into the house.  I dare not enter now I thought, as he hurriedly placed “my” apple butter all over the area where the coffee landed.  Getting out of the car, he caught the door on the breakfast from a fast food restaurant. 

                        My mother and dad were delighted with the cinnamon mixture and promised they would try it at breakfast.  While I was out gardening in their front yard, dad pulled up in the driveway.  I didn’t know just what he did until I entered the house later.  At first, sensitive “me” wanted to say, “What did you do with ‘my’ apple butter?” But I kept quiet realizing he was really hurting.  My father likes his coffee hot, but did not like wearing it. 

            Dad used the apple butter as first aid just like his mother.  He went on to tell me his sister pulled a hot kettle of water from off the stove accidentally spilling the contents all over her.   The cool apple butter was used as the solution for the bad burn. Whether that is recommended today I do not know, but then, it was thought to be a helpful suave. 

            Once I gave the apple butter to dad, it was no longer mine.  He could choose to use it anyway he so desired.  I used to feel hurt when I saw my Christmas present to someone returned, taking it personal.  Now once something leaves my hands and is given, and is no longer mine to make decisions over on how and if used. 

            The apple butter had a higher much greater use, and after thinking about it, I was glad it was there to provide relief for my dad.  Just as there is more than one use for homemade apple butter, so is there more than one reason for Hell.  Some feel God is a cruel God allowing there to be a Hell.  But as the scriptures read, Hell was not made for us; it was made for Satan and has angels.  God gave his Son, not that any should perish, but have everlasting life.  God gave his Son to die on the Cross; the remedy for a sin sick world.  The remedy has been there all along, but many try their own way, resulting in less than heavenly results.  No guessing at whether it will work.

            You have been given a solution, an answer for your eternal destiny.  What you do with it is up to you.  Why choose a place made for Satan and his angels, a place not even made for you?  Why not accept the gift of eternal life to experience what God wanted and desired for you from the beginning? The gift is yours.  What will you do with it?

               

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever lasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

                                                                                                              …John 3:16-17

Flying High/And it's not Cocaine

Flying High

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
                                                                              ...Isaiah 53:5


It was almost magic, as if the children’s dreams were towering the sky, right along with their theatrical presentation of floating designs.  The winds rush the kites up and onward, while embracing the colorful creative shapes.

Flying Kites has always been a favorite pass time of children all over the world.  Brazilian children especially come up with innovative ways to make a kite from paper bags to newspapers, to anything lightweight in nature.  The richest child to the poorest could own the sky for a few hours of pleasure while flying kites. The heavens note not the status of those who fly kites.

In the small town of Pouso Alegre, M.G. Brazil, we had taken our six-year-old to fly her kite as promised.  We found property where we could do just that, right outside of town.  Bill did everything to keep April's kite in the sky, but it desperately needed a tail.  Nothing was found to serve that purpose so we began to walk back to the car.  Disappointment was felt by all----Bill, April, one year old Bobby and me.
Then I remembered," Hey, I have nylons on!  That might work!" 

Just having a couple of pairs brought from the states, it was very hard to let go; to sacrifice for the soul purpose of flying a kite.  It was definitely a hard decision to make for a moment, but only a moment, after seeing April's face light up.  Taking my USA nylons off in the middle of the field and knotting them up took courage.  Bill helped April toss the kite to the wind and take off running.  Up it went, but this time it stayed.  We all watched with delight as it towered overhead.  Bobby was ecstatic with the sight of this colorful activity in the sky.  It was worth the letting go of the hosiery for the joy it brought our 7 year old.

We call these acts sacrifices, when in reality they are what should be expected everyday, the giving of ourselves.  I was caught in a moment that day, a rare form, of me thinking of someone else.  What we think are sacrifices, are really self-less acts of memory making, to show someone we care.  Most of us do not know what true sacrifice really is.

Self-less acts can make a big difference and maybe even help turn someone's life around.  Make a memory, not for the whole world to see, but for your heart to feel alive.  What self-less act will you do for someone today?  Talk about flying high!

Real sacrifice is what Christ did.  If you don't know Jesus, call on His name and your heart will be so light after burdens have been lifted, that you will feel like soaring right along with the kites.  He alone can lift away your burden of sin.

Exquisite Flaws by Carol Levergood

Exquisite Flaws

It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.

…Lamentation 3:22-23 KJV

Picking up a stunning piece of pottery I wondered why everyone passed the beauty up to go on to another item at the yard sale. I knew the piece was an antique and was almost stumbling over everyone to be able to examine closer. Picking the pottery up I realized at the bottom of the exquisite piece there was a chip but not seen unless observantly looking for flaws.  Snatching it up was without delay not taking my hands off the newly unearthed treasure.

 It wasn’t the value of the pottery, but the work involved that intrigued me, it was striking in appearance.  The item would have remained on the table proving that most found it not worth much with a chip on the base.  This piece of clay could have been thrown in the kiln, broken to pieces for art projects, or thrown away.  Didn’t look like much of a future for this art piece before I came along.

Buying the vase was my first thought to add to my collection of my tiny flawed Rembrandts that a professional collector would not even consider purchasing.  But I regarded them as Rembrandts because art is to reveal something about the author or owner.  The artist has something to reveal to the onlooker.

In this pottery I saw myself and the many imperfections or defects whatever you choose to call them.  But these flaws of my life tell a story and sometimes not such a pretty story.  I could only be bought by the only one who is without error.  Only Jesus could save me from destruction.

My hopes are to allow God to change that part of me not so attractive as I give my life completely to Him.  Those flaws have been forgiven, not overlooked.  The Master of my life sees past the blemishes and sees what I was meant to be.  He sees me without the flaws. Wow! He knows what I am made of; He was there at my making.  He knows what I can hold, because He will not give me too much of anything I am not meant bear.  He still finds me useful for His service.

Here I am Father!  Use me; fill me with your Son Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit until my vase runneth over.  Then no one will even notice the imperfections; they will only see the work done in me through you, Father.  Yes I am flawed, but I don’t always remember, because my Master treats me like a beautiful piece of art and ready to dawn His table at the Marriage Feast.    Our value is great, but only because of the price paid for it to be rescued.

Shattered Pieces

Shattered Pieces

Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.  Isaiah 30:13

Shattered windows. That’s what we witnessed many times as we drove between the cities of  Pouso Alegre  and Campinas, Brazil.  We could surmise what had happened.  Cars headed down a sharp hill, hit a valley, then climbed back up again and the tremendous changes in air pressure caused their windshields to burst.  Halfway through our two-hour trip and our front windshield shattered.

”There’s no reason to buy lunch now,” my husband said, “We’ve already had our fill of fresh meat today through the busted window.”  We did pick some strange things from our teeth.

Had we pressed our hands against the windshield, or rolled down a window to ease the pressure inside the car we may have saved the glass from breaking, but we didn’t know we were entering a high-pressure area.  We were so distracted by the beautiful scenery or by talking with one another that we sometimes forgot to watch for upcoming pressure areas.

The pressures of life can also be great, like periods of highs and lows, especially like these trying times around us.  The pressure is on. Bills need to be paid and money is sparse but that doesn’t mean ignoring the preparation.  Finances can be tricky—never knowing when our planned pathway will drop or curve.  The pressure will change but God encourages us to be prepared for whatever lies ahead.

Walking on Water

Walking On Water

And he said, Come.  And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked

on the water, to go to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  

                                                         

                                                                                 --Matthew 14:29-30

Cheboygan, Michigan’s’ Lake Mullet sparkled with an appearance of glitter over the skirt of the body of water.  Crisp early June mornings are my favorite times on the lake.  The quiet spring hours seem almost noisy with crickets, Katie-dids, and frogs harmonizing in natures’ Hallelujah chorus.  It took my breath away at times, watching the baby mallard ducks swim in a row frantically trying to keep up with Momma Mallard.

The light waves brush against the shore where footprints of yesterdays’ activities were slowly being washed away.  Evidence of play still remained with little rock piles around, treasures of an innocent child.  Our children and I skipped rocks with their Dad trying to out do the other in the amount of skips over the top of the water.

 Skipping stones is the biggest challenge of the day on this wonderful vacation.  But in the attempt to skip the stones, the children throw pretty wild; the ducks run for cover and fish find refuge far away from the shore.  Robert is sure his sister is trying to wipe him off the face of the earth, and vice versa.  When one of us is successful in skipping the stones at least five times, accomplishment is felt.

Peter felt accomplishment only after feeling what it was to fail, denying Jesus, three times.  Peter at this time now feels the accomplishment of walking on the water, which is impossible without Jesus.  Peter starts to plummet to the bottom of the lake, when he began to take his eyes off his Savior.  He then fixed his eyes on Jesus accepting the intimidating storm around him, and rose up to face the Savior, the one who controls the storms.

Peter forgot the storms even belong to Jesus.  While the disciples were frightened, they still didn’t realize God kept them from the full fury of the storm.  Gods’ full fury will be felt one day on this old world, so fix your eyes on Jesus.  “Peter began to sink,” this is not “Peter sank.”

There is hope for you who feel you are going under.  Keep your eyes on the Master and like the stones, you will skip more gracefully across the rough waters.  The rough waters will seem more like the passing of a speedboat, then a tidal wave.