Life is now

There is something in our society that tells us we cannot be happy until we find the "one" we were meant to spend the rest of our lives with. Movies are filled with it... these miserable single people just waiting for life to start and then the right one comes along and life is suddenly wonderful, their cares are over, and life is good. I've never been married, but I can tell you for a fact from watching the successful marriages that surround me in my parents, grandparents, brother and sister-in-law and the many others that I have been able to witness, the cares and the struggles do not go away with marriage. They give you someone to go through the hard times with so you don't have to do it "alone", but they do not eliminate them. They cannot make you happy. You can find great joy in them, but ultimately happiness is dependent on the choice you make to be happy. 

I think this part is important:   life is now. God gave us this moment right now. I know in my own life hundreds if not thousands of prayers have been prayed for God's will and for the man I will marry, both by me and my family and friends. While I understand very well my own limitations and understand that I don't always have the answers, I can rest assured knowing that my prayers have been heard by the One who not only knows the right way, but loves me enough to withhold the wrong thing even when I (or others for me) really want it.  I don't believe it is in my right, while knowing God is in control, to put my life on hold for the "one" because I don't believe that is why God is giving me the gift of single right now. I do believe it is a gift, and to all my single friends I hope you are able to see the gift in it as well. Not so you can believe you are a little superior to the married people, just like I hope the married people can appreciate the gift of marriage while not deprecating the gift of single.

Regardless of whether we are married or single, life is now. It's not meant to be a time of mourning. It's meant to be a time of service to our Heavenly Father. We can do great things in both situations. Both sides bring their limitations, but they also present their unique opportunities. Take advantage of that fact. Don't let what you don't have be your focus. Focus on the good because there is always good to be found.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." ~Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

turning 24

Today I turned 24. (It's technically the day after but since I haven't gone to bed yet I feel like it still counts.) I've decided that this is my year to do great things. I'm not sure if it's because my basketball number was 24 and I have a fetish with it or if it's because this is the only time I have at the moment, but I have great plans for it.

I started 2012 with several new year's resolutions that I am hoping to actually complete. I want to run 750 miles (yes I am crazy), do the 90 day challenge of reading the Bible cover to cover in 90 days, and I want to start a pro life website that focuses on what a great gift life is both for those of us who have had a birthday and for those who would like one. I also told my sister I was going to get married this year. However single life has been a gift so if it is God's plan that I keep it for a while longer that will be a blessing too. Oh and I had a very exciting plan for about a week to go back and play college basketball before I found out my eligibility had run out. Life goes on... again.

The goals are big, and there is a high risk of failure in each one. I learned something as an accounting major though about the risk/return ratio. The higher the risk the greater the return. The lower the risk the lower the return. It's easy to look at the possibility of failure and allow the fear that things might not work out to keep us from even attempting our goals. I know I have done that on numerous occasions. And it's not that it doesn't hurt when we aren't able to complete some of our goals. Strange as it may be I really wanted to play college ball, and I was disappointed when that door closed again, but God has a way of moving us in the direction He wants us to go. I don't claim to know the exact details of how He does it, but I do know that I pray for intervention in my life and not just to make me feel better (although that is a wonderful thing that comes out of it.) So dream big. Start with this year, this very day. Pray for God's will and know that He has a plan for you even if you don't know it yet. He will reveal it in His good time, and it will be better than you ever expected.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

uncertainties

These are the things that make up life. There will always be uncertainties, because we aren't given the ability to see the future. Even when we think we know the direction we want to go in life so often there are roadblocks in the way. Some are meant to make us stronger and to see if we really want it, others are put up to steer us in another direction, and they aren't always clearly marked. There are moments when these can be frustrating especially when plans are needing to be made one way or another and we are not sure where to go or what to do. More often than not our plans affect others both directly and indirectly and not knowing causes stress and other things that aren't always pleasant.

The truth of it is, life is uncertain, but we serve a God who knows our future. He has great plans for our lives if we will choose them. He never changes. He is steady. He absolutely loves us! We are blessed with the ability to pray to Him for guidance, and while often times the answer doesn't come to us immediately, it comes in His timing which I have found is always better than my own. I have no idea why, but I often forget about the fact that God loves us. He wants so much more for our lives than just fine. It does however require faith.

Tony Dungy said it this way, " Christ doesn't call us to understand it all, to see all of God's plan for His Kingdom and our role in it. Instead, He wants us to have just enough faith in Him to continue to follow Him day by day on the path He has set before us." We don't have to see the whole picture today. Pieces will unfold in God's timing. We just need to keep praying for His will and direction. He will prepare us, guide us, and open the right doors at the right time. I wonder how often I have neglected my preparation trying to find the end result?

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Whom Can We Trust?

These were the words of George Washington after he found out Benedict Arnold's plans to hand over West Point to the British. "Whom can we trust?" This betrayal left Washington in a state of bewilderment, and with the uncomfortable thought that trust could be a luxury of the past. His men might even lose their trust in him, and how do you lead without trust? Moments like these can make or break a man. What do you do when you don't know whom you can trust?

Washington gave the answer in a letter he wrote. He said, "In no instance since the commencement of the war has the interposition of Providence appeared more remarkably conspicuous than in the rescue of the post and garrison at West Point." Even in the time of tragedy he saw the hand of God, and learned the answer to the ever important question, "Whom can we trust?" We have an unchanging rock in our Almighty God that we can always trust, even in uncertain times.

I read something yesterday that questioned why it mattered to us today what George Washington thought. He lived and died over 200 years ago and times are different. The importance of George Washington to our present lives I believe is this, he was a man of character, a man of principle. While men like this will eventually die, they are important to give us insight into how God's ways really are the best, and when we live in accordance to them not only our life but so many others' lives are better for it. Times do change, but principles do not. We may not be able to change our current leaders' hearts to trust the Lord, but we can change our own, and hopefully leave a legacy that inspires others to do the same.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight." ~Proverbs 3:5,6 (NIV) 

You See George

"You see George, you really had a wonderful life."
"Strange isn't it? One man's life affects so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"  ~ Clarence


I love the perspective "It's a Wonderful Life" brings.The reminder that we each have been given a great gift. The gift of life. We have also been given the gift of choice on how to spend our lives. A blessing with a great responsibility attached to it. 


The new year is a wonderful time for me. It allows me to evaluate and come up with new year's goals. Even if they are never fully accomplished there are great plans in the works as a new year rolls around. There are ups and downs in a year. I don't know that there are ever years that are fully up which is probably a good thing because the down side would be sure to come and it would not be fun. The ups provide the spice of life. The downs often provide perspective and fresh reminders of what we are truly here to do, Who we are here to serve. 


As I think of the new year with all its prospects and reflect on the ideas in the movie mentioned above, my mind drifts back to George's statement to Clarence after deciding that suicide probably wasn't his best option he said, "I suppose I wish I had never been born." As the movie plays on George is given the gift of seeing the impact he made on others. How even though life didn't go the way he had hoped and dreamed, it went how it needed to go. Not to say that we shouldn't have hopes and dreams, just that maybe sometimes when they don't work out it doesn't  necessarily mean we failed but that there was possibly a different plan for our lives, a better one. 


We really are given a gift of life. A gift that so many have not been given. What will we do with this year? Will we make great and daring plans even though we might fail? Will we wish we had never been born, regretting the gift I'm sure many would have liked to have been given? Will we just let life happen because we're too scared to try to do great things? The choice is ours.


"But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands." ~Isaiah 37:8

Jane Eyre

I watched Jane Eyre for the first time tonight. I watched a movie recently that had the book in it. I had only seen the book's cover but had no idea the story that lay in between the pages. When I saw that it was on t.v. I decided I wanted to know more so I watched it. It's the cheater's version I know, but I was glad I cheated. I'll try not to ruin the story. I will however tell this about Jane Eyre. She was a woman who betrayed neither her heart nor her integrity, but it took not wavering in her integrity to not compromise either. Had she given in to her temptations she would have lost both.

I originally thought the moral of this applied only to a small group. It actually applies to each one of us. I have thought for a long time how we often forfeit blessings down the road for the pleasures of the moment and how if we could only see ahead and forgo those momentary impulses with lasting consequences we will find that true happiness we long for. Sometimes that means giving up what we long for entirely, other times it simply means not now. Unfortunately in the moment we hardly ever know which it is, and so too often we leap now and then regret later.

The story of Jane Eyre taught me that both the heart and integrity are important. She had an opportunity to leave her heart behind (on an impulse), yet she did not, and in the end gained what she desired. This was without the bitter empty feeling that acting without integrity almost invariably leaves because she had maintained her honor in the days prior to that. We are meant for great things in this life, but we must remain true to our heart and our integrity to fully attain them. Both are necessary.

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." ~Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

There's More to the Story

I am reading a book about "the 7 tipping points that saved the world." As I began to read the first tipping point, the book was giving names like Judah, Sennacherib, Assyria, and Lachish. I recognized them all from the Bible but couldn't pinpoint the story in my mind so I put down that book and began looking in the Bible for the story. I opened a Bible with archaeological helps in it and came across an article entitled "The Lachish Reliefs." It described 12 stone slabs that were placed in Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh. The slabs "vividly depict Sennacherib's victory over the fortified Judahite town of Lachish in 701 B.C." With this knowledge, I looked up the page at the story of King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18. The story started out talking about Hezekiah's background and about his faithfulness to the Lord. In verses 6 and 7 it says, "He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow Him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him, he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him." Then in verse 13, "In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them." The text went on to say that Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib that he had done wrong and asked him to withdraw. Then Hezekiah gave him all his silver and even stripped the gold off the doorposts of the temple of the Lord. At this point I whispered to myself, "This doesn't make sense." In the verses before it said that God was with Hezekiah and gave him success in whatever he did, but in the verses after it and from the Lachish reliefs it sounded as though Sennacherib had won. Then the thought occurred to me to read on. The story was not over there. As I continued reading I discovered that Sennacherib's men came and blasphemed God's abilities to Hezekiah's troops. Arrogantly stating that Judah didn't have a chance against their army. When Hezekiah heard about it he tore his robes, and prayed. The Lord sent word through Isaiah that He had heard his prayer, and Isaiah delivered to him the word the Lord had spoken against Sennacherib. In chapter 19:35, "That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies!" It continues in verse 36, "So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there." The last verse of the chapter describes the assassination of Sennacherib by his own sons.

It's easy for me to get caught up in what is going on in this moment, and sometimes what is going on in this moment does not seem good to me. Sometimes I stop before the story is over saying, "I don't understand." The thing I can bank on, if I will, is that God is faithful 100% of the time. It's us who aren't always faithful, who don't always hold up our end of the covenant. Don't stop before the end of the story. Stay faithful to God because He is worthy of that faithfulness.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." ~Romans 8:28