Just a few random thoughts about God

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calling, character, comfort, family, lost causes, love, Love of God, relentless pursuit, unconditional love

1. How freeing it is to apprehend that God uses every circumstance (even though He does not cause them all) in our life to develop both our character and our calling (purpose!)

2. God is all about family. He is the good, good Father, and we (every human being) are fully and unconditionally loved by Him. (thank you Chris Tomlin) That’s it! Our purpose as human beings is so simple … yet we mess it up all the time. Our individual calling (purpose) is simply to receive the boundless love of God, then share it with each & every person we encounter. Simple!

3. Since God is all about family, He sees no rejects, no losers, no lost causes. Since the beginning of time, He has desired a family. His desire is for ALL to join His family to share His goodness and His love, and since the beginning or your life and mine, He has been working to bring us into His family for the purpose of loving us. That’s it! No rules. No obligations. Only love! But … such unconditional love is so foreign it frightens most of us. Why?

4. Perhaps the most difficult concept to understand @ God is that He is much more concerned with our character than our comfort. He works continuously to craft each of us into unique billboards that radiate His love, so all may come into His family. It is God’s love that comforts us,  corrects us, compels us & challenges us to share the love we so richly & abundantly receive. God is forever motivated by love, and so, too, we, as God’s sons and daughters are compelled to  act out God’s love in our own lives.

5.”What if you rejected everything about God that wasn’t God and accepted Him for who He is — God for you?”  This is from a powerful little book entitled, IF, by Mark Batterson
How much of what we attribute to God ought to actually be attributed to the words, attitudes, or deeds of certain believers? The single most radical concept of God is that He chooses in every case to love each person, AND He  continuously moves heaven and earth to draw each one into His forever family. Unfortunately, none of us get it right … even most of the time,but He never stops drawing us. e never stops teaching us. He never stops lov

Why not ask Him about it?

🎶 Good Good Father 🎶

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Why the Future is Bright?

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family, friends, life, love, moments, time, treasures

Why the Future is Bright? (click here)

From calendar page to calendar page….
the years are blinks and all these moments are our lives.

The HEART of the Matter

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celebrations, Christmas, dingy manger, Expectations, family, Hanukkuh, heart, LONELINESS, meaning, The HEART of the matter

Have you been to the mall? Are your decorations up? Is your baking done? Did you get your Christmas or Hanukkah cards in the mail? How about all the Christmas music on the radio, tired of it yet?

Last weekend, I had to pick up some chocolate chips for my daughter. She wanted to make some fudge. I stopped at the local grocery store and went directly to the baking aisle. It was overwhelming!(I am NOT one who enjoys the art of shopping, so I am typically in and out within 15 minutes!) I headed down the baking aisle in search of a deal on what I needed, spotted the rascals on the left side of the aisle, and stopped momentarily to compare prices. A young woman with long black hair, glasses, and a scowl was behind me where I stopped. She looked up at me (and I’m only 5’5″) and with a sardonic smile said, “Yes, every time you stop, the whole line has to stop!”

Well, I only had stopped ONCE! I kind of looked at her in disbelief, and looked back at the shelf. When she didn’t make a move to circumvent me, I looked back at her and she told me to, “get f*’d!” I smiled politely and said, “same to you!”

As I finished my shopping, though, my heart broke for her and the thousands like her who have been totally engulfed by our secular, anti-goodness society. It’s not a new thing entirely, but godlessness has become a national past time in OUR time. Only recently, has it become socially acceptable to be selfish, self-centered, and unkind. It is everywhere now. (Watch drivers, if you have any doubt.) People think only of themselves, their agenda, their needs and are completely unaware? or unconcerned? with others. “Screw you, lady! You’re in MY way!”

The HEART of the matter is GOD! Many people, whether alone or surrounded by others, are lonely these days. GOD, whomever we understand Him to be, is relegated to a distant dark corner of our pseudo-sophisticated society only to be recognized as the source of some fringe lunatic. Darkness increases while those holding the Light remain well shielded by the protective bushel of their/our choosing, and we wonder why society is breaking down.

The attitude of this one young woman shocked my heart, my reality. She was not suffering from some obvious disease, but her heart is sick. Mine, too, struggles under the burden of perfection portrayed by TV and movies … the perfect Christmas or Hanukkah celebrations always show scores of happy family members laughing and embracing one another with tables loaded with boundless delicacies and truckloads of gifts for everyone. I don’t live there, do you?

• But the dingy manger? THAT I can relate to! Our best laid plans sometimes fail.
• The hardship of that journey to Bethlehem with Mary at 9 months pregnant? THAT I can relate to … discomfort is a big part of life!
• Alone in a strange town, crowds of people milling around yet, no place just for them. THAT I can relate to! Surprises! Unexpected journeys!
• Supplies insufficient to the task at hand? THAT I can relate to! Making due with what’s on hand is daily life, and it requires faith in something or Someone bigger than me!

At this point in time, the media (TV, movies, magazines, etc) sets our expectations for more than any of us realize. Today’s movies always show the various holidays … PERFECT! There may be a bit of a struggle to get there, but perfection always arrives. LIFE is not perfect! It is not orderly or predictable. It is our daily challenge to make order out of chaos.

The moral of this story? When the Christmas lights are unplugged, when the Hanukkah gifts are given, when the parties are over and the cookies are eaten, what is left? GOD is there in my emptiness and unfulfilled expectations, and He’s there in yours, too! He didn’t stay in that dingy manger, and the oil has still never run dry! He is not necessarily where we expect Him to be, that’s all. Though we have tried for centuries to package Him and present Him all neat and tidy, He reminds us constantly that HE is GOD, and we are not!

Look for HIM as you celebrate … or as you endure whatever hardships and discomfort is your life. He is THERE!

NEXT STEP, AMERICA … ?

Tags

2013, celebrations, Chanukah, Christmas, family, Looking ahead, Muslim Brotherhood, patriots, unemployment, US Constitution

It’s Christmastime, and life is busy. I find myself unwilling to even think about the sad … disgusting direction our nation has chosen. Our President is on record professing his desire to “improve” the US Constitution that has stood for 236 years. He speaks pleasant sounding words of “fair distribution” and “equality,” but his ideas are far from fair and just as far from equal. Especially in this spiritual season, how empty and pathetic it is to eliminate GOD from every facet of public life and call it … the Constitutional separation of Church and State! HOGWASH!

If only Americans understood the Constitution. If only the TRUTH was taught instead of the radical progressive doctrine of the left or even alongside the left’s interpretation. If only we refused to permit the “sterilization” of American culture and tradition in light of the deterioration of “quality of life” in our culture. Incidents of increased violence, increased drug & alcohol use and abuse, increased promiscuity and unwanted pregnancy fill our tabloids and newspapers, and still GOD is pushed further and further out of the picture.

It is really hard for me to embrace the “new” ideas of this administration when I consider the results:

• Unemployment continues to grow as thousands are laid off because of the staggering costs of “The Affordable Care Act,” – Obamacare; and because of continued Union demands that price American-made goods out of the market with unreasonable benefit packages and pensions subsidized with PUBLIC funds.
• Look at the storm raging in the Middle East, supported and financially subsidized by American funds. The media would have us believe that “Democracy” is the goal of those rioting to overthrow the brutal governments. DEMOCRACY is nothing more than majority rule, and not necessarily an improvement, and certainly not AMERICA. (American government is structured as a Constitutional Republic, NOT a Democracy!) The Muslim Brotherhood is just the political cover arm of al Qaeda/Hamas that has their own agenda – global jihad to impose Islam, via Shariah law, on an unsuspecting, naive West. Look at London!  Look at Dearborn, Michigan, and Detroit, for pete’s sake!

The bottom line, my friends, is that the Obama administration and the liberal leftist agenda offers no hope – NO HOPE – to those MILLIONS of Americans out of work and struggling to make it. No hope of recovery! No hope to help them stand again in the dignity of satisfying work. President Obama only offers more of the same, so it is up to us- neighbors & friends – to reach beyond our own needs & issues to those in need.

Oh fellow Patriots, enjoy your Christmas (or Chanukah,) your family, and faithful friends by helping others as you are able! I encourage you to celebrate the reality of Christ as fully and as thoroughly as you wish. Who knows if by next year, Christmas may be illegal.

Afterwards, as 2013 begins, may we unite in humility &  repentance as we muster to develop a plan to bring about the ReBirth of a stronger, moral AMERICA.

NO HOPE … without men and women of FAITH giving of their faith.
Not religion, but FAITH!
Not tradition or dogma, but HOPE!
Not rules and regulations, but genuine no-strings compassion!
LIVE IT!

To My Dad … Miss You!

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"life lessons", character training, Dad, family, Father's Day, gratitude, heritage, love, memories, spiritual

Ah daddy … I think of you so frequently these days. Our relationship was one that, though ripe with promise, never fully blossomed. You’ve been gone so long, and yet I miss you more each day, it seems. You and mom, both. My vision is so much clearer now, with some maturity, and I can see the richness of the love that passed so freely between the two of you. I can see now how that love bubbled over and dripped down onto my brother and me even when we didn’t know it. I cannot thank you enough for all you were then and for all you’ve become in my heart. Thank you.

Happy Dad’s Day

My Dad & I didn’t get along too well while I was growing up. He just didn’t know how to deal with me … too emotional for Him, or something. I do have some special memories, though … things that were special just between us.
• My Dad started in the Dairy Queen business when I was 2. I vividly remember tagging along with Him on Saturdays and playing while He got the store open and running. At one point, he had 4 different DQ’s scattered around the area. I loved the Saturdays I was allowed to tag-along with him as he built his businesses.
• As I got older, I used to fall asleep with my radio on (before they made ‘sleep’ buttons) and He would come in after closing and kiss me and turn off my radio. It was my private time with Him … sort of.
• I was / am a swimmer. I had the great joy of sharing this with my dad. I swam competitively from the time I was 3 – yup, 3 … all through high school and college both speed & synchronized swimming. As busy as dad was with the stores, He NEVER missed a meet, no matter what else was going on or where the meet took place. NEVER!

My dad passed away 11 Jan 1992. My kids are I had spent the previous Saturday evening with mom & dad watching the Steelers v Bills playoff game. Dad actually slept through much of the game, but that wasn’t unusual. That year, our Steelers lost to the Bills, ending post-season play. Monday evening, after supper, dad kissed mom, sat down in his chair, and died. My brother and I were there within minutes.

There are several things I know about my Dad.

He loved God. He was not a religious Man, not sentimental or weak in any way. He was seldom very verbal about His beliefs, but His life told His story clearly in the way He nurtured and provided for His wife & family.

He loved Mom. They were married 48 yrs before He died. They had a good, healthy relationship – a rare and wondrous thing any more.

He loved His family. He may not have always known specifically how to deal with me, but I have no doubts about His love. As an adult, his love shouts out boldly to me in the little things he was about – his faithfulness, his trustworthiness, and his quiet integrity. He was an honorable man.

Grampa's loaded lap! My youngest babygirl is missing in this photo, not yet thought of, but certainly just as loved as these three! Gramps with Nikki (my niece on left) , Joya & Josiah!

The night He died, we found His notebook all prepared. Life insurance, phone numbers for us to call, everything was ready and in order. He planned well for Mom, too.

Now they are together again. Mom joined him in 2004. I miss them. Dad was a rock for me and sometimes a really miss that. Mom was a friend. My kids each have good memories of my parents though they were young when dad passed. I’m grateful for the memories. Thanks Mom & Dad. What a great heritage you’ve passed on to us. Thanks …