RUN the Race

I have never been much of an athlete. Sports have never really interested me, probably because I wasn't good at any of them! I do enjoy watching certain sports, and I love watching the Olympics. I know that people who run in a race, whether it be a sprint or a marathon or any distance in between, dress as lightly as possible. They don't want to be weighed down by heavy clothes because that would prevent them from running as fast as they could. In longer races, a runner who chose to wear bulky/heavy clothes would not have a chance of winning, and they very possibly would not even be able to finish the race because they would be too exhausted and/or overheated.

The Christian walk is often referred to as a race in the Bible, with the finish line being heaven. I did a search online for the word "race" in the NIV Bible and specifically looked for verses where the word was used to describe how we "run the race" or "finish the race" and found 6 references (Acts 20:24, I Corinthians 9:24, Galatians 2:2, Galatians 5:7, 2 Timothy 4:7, and Hebrews 12:1). For most of us, the race of life would be more of a marathon that a sprint, so it is very important that we are not being slowed down by carrying along things that weigh us down.

The other day I read the following verse: Philippians 3:13b -14 says "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." When I read this verse, I was reminded of how easy it is to focus on things that have happened in our past. It doesn't matter whether it is something that happened to us or whether it is something we did, we can allow ourselves to be weighed down by our past. If we are running this race called life, why would we risk not being able to reach the finish line....heaven?!

If you are holding onto things that have happened to you in your past, it is time to turn those things over to God and throw off those chains that are weighing you down! If you are focusing on things you did wrong in the past, ask God to forgive you of those things and then let it go! When you ask God for forgiveness, He forgives and FORGETS all of the things you did worng. It doesn't matter how big or small those things are. You don't need to keep worrying and being weighed down by chains that God Himself removed from you. Instead of slowly dragging yourself through life because you are weighed down by all this junk, get rid of it so you can RUN to the finish line!

I think those verses in Philippians can be paraphrased like this: "Forget about all the stuff that is in your past! Turn it all over to God and keep moving forward no matter what. When you reach the finish line, you'll receive the best prize of all...eternal life in HEAVEN!"

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God said it so BELIEVE it

In Hebrews 13:5, you find these words: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Since I'm a stay-at-home mom and my husband's one job is our only source of income, our finances are definitely not where we want/need them to be. It has been a real struggle at times to make ends meet. I almost had to laugh when I read "keep your lives free from the love of money" because for us it sometimes seems like we've kept our lives "free from money". LOL! It sure can be hard to be content with what you have, especially when you know that you need something but you can't afford it. We currently have just one vehicle, and that one probably isn't going to last much longer since it has over 130,000 miles on it and has been definitely showing signs of its age. I have seen though how the Lord has been faithful in meeting our needs. He always seems to provide for us when we need it most; and I truly believe that's because we've been faithful in praying about what we need and then doing our best to leave it in His hands and not worry about it. I'm not saying we never worry about finances because we do. My husband seems to worry about it more than I do, but I know that's because he wants to make sure he is taking care of his family and being a good provider. I'm so lucky to have him as my husband! When it's time for me to pay the bills, I often pray over the checkbook because I can see exactly where we're at and it can be scary! I don't want to give satan that foothold so I simply say something along the lines of "Lord, you know exactly what we need. You know we don't have much money left so I pray that you will continue to provide what we need. Thank you!"

Hebrews 13: 6 says the following: So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

I love the fact that it says we can say WITH CONIFIDENCE that the Lord is my helper! We don't need to be afraid of what may come our way. We KNOW that the Lord is WITH us! He KNOW He will NEVER LEAVE us! Since we know God never lies and always keeps His word, we know He will always do what He says He will do. Therefore, we can be certain that He will always be there to help us and we don't have any reason to be afraid! PRAISE THE LORD!!

Our God is an Awesome God

On Sunday morning, my husband Bob started our one remaining vehicle and we immediately heard a loud noise. We looked at each other and I asked "muffler?". Bob said he didn't know and then promptly asked "What did you do to it?" I was taken aback and said excuse me?! For those of you who don't know, this was the car (SUV) that I drove all the time, but he's been the one driving it for the last month since his car was the one who died. Anyway, in response to me wondering why in the world he was blaming ME for doing something to the car, he said "well you were the last person to drive it!" Well, I was VERY amused by that comment and smiled as I pointed out "YOU were the last person to drive it!" He looked at me with a questioning look, so I smugly pointed out that I had driven the car to worship team rehearsal on Thursday night...but HE drove the car to work on Friday! His face registered defeat and he muttered "well it wasn't making that noise when I parked it." LOL! Aren't husbands wonderful?

As we drove to church, Bob thought it could also be the catalytic converter...which he knew would cost us at least $200 to replace. With finances as tight as they are, we were both hoping Bob could be able to fix the car quickly and easily without costing us too much money! To top it all off, the car needed to be inspected this month and even though I had reminded my wonderful husband over 2 weeks ago to call and get an appointment, he "forgot" so he HAD to call and schedule an appointment to get the inspection done THIS WEEK. He pointed out that he wasn't going to be able to get the car inspected now until he got the car fixed, but I encouraged him to call on Monday and schedule the appointment anyway to assure that he could get in if indeed he fixed the car. Of course, I did tease him that if he had listened to me, the car would already have been inspected by now and he wouldn't have had to worry about that. LOL! When we got home, he checked the car and determined that it wasn't the catalytic converter (YEAH!) nor was it the muffler. A clamp that was holding 2 pipes together had rusted and the pipes were moving. The pipes were also quite rusted, so he knew he was probably going to have to buy them too.

He came home from work yesterday and the first thing he did was call to schedule an appointment to get the car inspected. His appointment was scheduled for the next day, so he knew he HAD to get the car fixed today (which was actually yesterday). Someone had told him that he would have to take the pipe off before he bought the parts because there is a part inside the pipes that may have gone bad as well. We were worried that if he took it apart, he wouldn't be able to get it back together because the bolts and stuff that had held the clamp had also rusted badly and he was afaid they were going to break when he tried to take them out. With no other car to use, we would need to find someone to run him to the place to buy the parts if he couldn't get it back together.

He was outside working on it for awhile and I suddenly decided that I needed to start praying about the situation. I prayed that he'd be able to get the car fixed, that he'd be able to get the pipes put back together to be able to drive and get the parts or that we'd be able to find someone who could be willing to drive him there, that God would give Bob the knowledge to fix the car and that he'd be able to remain calm and not get frustrated, and finally I prayed that the parts would cost under $100. I know car parts can be expensive and I knew Bob was going to need quite a few things. I felt that I needed to state the price that I wanted the cost to be under. I just kept hearing "ASK ME!" so I prayed earnestly for EXACTLY what I wanted God to do. I then called the kids down so we could all pray for daddy together. I told them what we needed to pray for and they each said a prayer, and then I prayed with my kids pretty much the same prayer I had already prayed alone. Seconds after we prayed, Bob came in and I asked him if he was going to be able to drive the car to get the parts. He said he didn't think so, but he didn't know who to call. He doesn't like making phone calls in the first place, and he also doesn't like asking for help; so you can imagine that this wasn't something he wanted to do. I told him I'd call my dad for him. I made the call and said a quick prayer that dad would be home. Dad answered the phone as soon as I finished my silent prayer and he said he'd be right over! I love my dad!

They didn't have one of the parts (the flange on the end of the pipe), but he was able to buy everything else. He put everything on the car quickly. For now, he just put the old flange back on and put some sealant around the connection. It is much quieter so he should be able to get the car inspected today and hopefully it will pass. I think the guy will pass it if he knows Bob is going to pick up the part afterwards and put it on. If not, I'm sure he'll allow him to come back another day this week and pass it then. I asked my husband how much everything cost and it was under $30 (that includes the cost of the flange that they had to order in for him). God answered everything I asked of him, and the cost was WAY below the price that I claimed and believed the parts would be under! Our God is an awesome God!!

We Have To Ask First Before God Can Act

Our church goes to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware every year for a Ladies' Retreat. Last year was my first year attending one of these retreats, and there were about 60 women who went. That was a record since it use to be only 30 or 40. This year, there were a total of 83 women who attended, and half of them were women who don't attend our church! The retreat this year was May 1-3 so I just returned last night from the retreat.

The theme this year was summarized in one word: Heart. We learned that we need ask God EVERY DAY to open our spiritual eyes so that we can see what He wants us to see, learn what He wants us to learn, and do what He wants us to do. I learned a lot and am eager to start putting into practice what God taught me while I was there. I am really excited about one thing in particular that God taught me and that is what I want to share today.

On Saturday morning, the pastor's wife was speaking and she said "We need to act first before God can act." She continued to say that sometimes we may pray about something in the morning or evening, but then we don't ask God for it when we really need to. I immediately realized this was exactly what I was doing! As most of you know, I've been using a cyberschool to homeschool my daughter and I have really been struggling with controlling my tongue. When she ignores me or talks back to me, I often say things I know I shouldn't simply because I'm too frustrated or angry to stop and think first. I've been praying every morning for God to give me patience and help me with this, but God let me know this weekend that I wasn't asking Him for patience at the right moment. I needed to be asking Him for it when I feel myself getting frustrated or angry! God made it so clear to me that what I need to do is stop school immediately and tell Sarah that I need to pray. I then need to pray aloud for God to help ME stay calm because I am starting to feel frustrated. I also should pray for Sarah to listen to me as I speak so that I don't continue to feel frustrated. I can also ask Sarah to pray for God to help her listen. It seems so easy, yet I hadn't ever thought to do that before. DUH! I'm thankful God finally taught me this...even though I wish I would have been told about this 2 years ago! LOL!

We broke up into small discussion groups after this session and I decided to share what God had taught me. I knew it was God who led me to share when a few minutes later another woman in the group started to talk and thanked me for sharing what I did because it helped her to see what she should be doing with a little girl she babysits for every day. God is so awesome!!

I don't know what it is that you may be struggling with. You may be like me and ask God daily for Him to help you resist a certain temptation or handle a situation the way He wants you to, but then you fail when you are faced with that temptation or situation. Next time you are faced with that temptation or situation that you are struggling with, stop immediately and pray for God's help! I'm sure He will then give you exactly what you need to help you successfully make it through.

Are You A Fool?

No one likes to be called a fool or even foolish. I know I sure don't! I guess that's why Proverbs 29: 11 struck me. It says "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." OUCH! When I read that, the first thing that entered my mind was "OUCH!" because I realized I do not act like like very wise most of the time when I get really frustrated (or angry). There have been many times when I would be telling myself "you shouldn't be saying this" as the words come to my mind, but I just couldn't seem to stop myself and the words would come flying out my mouth. I do apologize later, but that NEVER makes it right.

Words hurt and you can't take back what you said. I am reminded of an analogy that was used at church to show my kids this very thing. If you take a tube of toothpaste and squeeze the tube, you will see it is very easy to get almost all of the toothpaste out of the tube (yes, they actually had the kids do this! They had a BLAST squeezing all the toothpaste onto a paper plate! LOL!). Now, try to put the toothpaste back into the tube. You should have seen the kids' expressions as they looked at the toothpaste on the plate and tried to use the plastic knife to put the toothpaste back in the tube. They quickly realized it was IMPOSSIBLE...just like it is impossible to take back what you say.

I've decided that I do NOT want to be a fool anymore. I am really going to work hard on ALWAYS keeping my tongue under control so that I don't say things that I shouldn't. I know it isn't going to be easy, but I know that I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! If you have the same problem as me, I encourage you to make that same decision. With God's help, we CAN do this!!

Upwards

I enrolled my daughter Sarah in Upwards Cheerleading this year. She loved it! I took my first video using my digital camera last night when she performed a pom routine with her team. I was so proud of her! She dropped her pom at the beginning, scooped it up quickly and kept right on going! She is in the front row, second from the left. Hopefully you can see and hear the video. I apologize now because I did move some near the beginning, but overall I don't think it is too bad of a video...especially for it being my first try doing it! LOL!

God Is Good

Since it has been over a month since I last wrote on my blog, I figured I should let you all know I'm still around. The Lord continues to be good even though there are times I struggle with why He continues to put up with me. I'm so thankful my Saviour is patient and forgiving! God is good!

This past week I checked an e-mail account that I had totally forgotten about. I was amazed to see an e-mail from someone who did a search for something and one of the posts I had written on my blog came up in her search! Of all the places she could have gone, she chose to come to my blog. The post I had written helped her and she took the time to write an e-mail to me to thank me! She had sent the e-mail to me a month ago and even though I felt bad that so much time had passed, I was thankful it hadn't been 4 months or more like some of the over 250 e-mails I had in my inbox were! I wrote back to her and just have to hope that she reads it because it truly did make my day to know that my blog helped someone. God is good!

I also wrote another song this week! Technically, I guess I wrote 2 even though the one is more of a little ditty than an actual song. I wrote both songs on Thursday, the same day I had already planned on getting together with the worship team leader at my church so we could finish figuring out chords for the first song I wrote. She has heard a little bit of the second song I had written and had mentioned that it sounded like a children's song. Thursday night as we worked on finishing up the chords on my first song, she mentioned that that one too sounded like it could be a children's song and she thinks God may be giving me children's songs. She told me to pray about it to see what God tells me, but she said she had been thinking it would be neat to put together a CD of children's songs so that the kids in the church could have music to listen to that is geared to their level. She has only written 2 songs, so I guess it is possible God has given me a few songs to help bring her dream to fulfillment. Even though I never thought of my first song as being for kids, I know the chorus is very simple and would be easy for kids to pick up. I truly am humbled to think that God may have blessed me with songs for other kids to enjoy, as well as learn Biblical truth from since all 3 of my songs have a Bible verse in them. The little ditty I wrote was just a way for my little boy to learn how to spell Jesus, but God may be giving me some other words for that one as well. I'm keeping my heart and mind open to whatever and however He wants to use me. Yes, God is good!