God's People are Everywhere!

I have said it before but I will say it again now.   I LOVE grocery shopping!  It's not because I am a foodie or that I like spending money or just like shopping in general.  In fact, I have a hard time walking around a grocery store because of the way MS affects my left leg and then there's just the fatigue of dragging my leg around with me wherever I go.  No, the actual act of grocery shopping is tough for me.

The reason I love it so much though is the people God sends my way while I'm out in the world running my errands.   I am always excited the morning of a shopping day to see how the Lord will work a holy appointment with another believer in to my shopping schedule. 

Guess what?  Today was shopping day and God arranged a meeting with a lovely believer in the clearance section of Fred Meyer!  She and I were praying together and praising God right there in the middle of the store!  It was AWESOME!  We exchanged numbers and exchanged stories of how the Lord had been working in our lives and where we need prayer and how we are feeling the spiritual warfare in our families.  We built each other up and encouraged each other to be bold in speaking the name of Jesus!  It was truly a divine appointment made by God.  And I pray our meeting was a testimony to those who navigated their carts around us and heard our stories.

There are believers everywhere and we need to be building each other up, encouraging each other and praying for each other.  It is so easy in this State of Washington especially to feel isolated and afraid of speaking up for truth and righteousness.  But everywhere I go I meet other believers and I hope our loud conversations when we meet and discover how we are related as sisters and brothers in Christ are heard by the shoppers around us and that some would be saved after hearing how God has blessed and helped us in our lives.

Are you open to meeting complete strangers and talking about Jesus wherever you go? If not, why not?  It is such a joy and a blessing and you are missing out!  And the world is ripe for a soul harvest - it's our responsibility as Christians to get out there and snatch as many people as we can from the jaws of hell.  Don't hide your light under a basket - share it so the world can see and emerge from the darkness of sin all around them into the light of forgiveness and grace.  Let yourself be so filled with the love of God that it spills out on everyone around you!

Don't be Discouraged

Have you looked around you and seen all the insanity surrounding this election?  Are you hearing all the hate and lies and seeing all the fear and is it getting to you?

Me too.  I'm weary of it all and sometimes I start to get discouraged.   

I don't tend to look at my personal life as a disabled person with plenty of challenges to overcome and get discouraged.   THAT is not what gets to me.  And the reason it doesn't is that I daily remember what Jesus suffered while He was on this earth - and especially right at the end of His time here.  Any "suffering" I might be going through is  laughable by comparison.  And there are numerous examples of people truly suffering in this world who would trade places with me in a heartbeat.  So, my personal struggles with MS do not discourage me - I am blessed to have MS and no one can convince me otherwise. 

But what DOES tend to discourage me sometimes is the complacency of Christians all around me.  The unwillingness to jump in with both feet and risk their comfortable lives to make a difference to the world around them.  I believe the Lord will more than bless those who take those risks for Him.  

I think a big part of the problem with Christians today is discouragement!  We have taken our eyes off the Lord and are overwhelmed by the circumstances we feel we are suffering through.   But is it TRUE suffering?  Can we really claim that as an excuse for being ineffective for Christ?  Look at Peter, Paul, any number of faithful Christians persecuted and martyred for their faith!  I would rather suffer for Christ than use a poor excuse for suffering to keep me from obeying His calling in my life.

Let's always look up and remember those nail-pierced hands and feet and recognize that nothing we experience in our lives comes even close to the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross that day.   And banish the spirit of discouragement from our lives, living boldly for Christ - and backed up by an army of angels!

Pray, Vote, Love

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:7‬ ‭- When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Regardless of your political views, you have to admit it is hilariously creative that our daughter baked and decorated a Trump MAGA cake for her friend’s 16th birthday party last night.🤣

It was all in good fun but it's interesting to me that this group of girls are even interested in politics at all. It speaks to the environment we find ourselves in now. Parents are much more politically engaged and everyone is aware of the political tensions- the divisiveness is palpable.

When this election season is over, regardless of who is voted in, there will likely be unrest. It will not be pretty. 

In the end though, we will need to find a way to work together again - we are, after all, Americans and on the whole I believe we want what's best for our Country. 

As believers we need to point attentions to the One who can truly unite our divided people. Jesus holds the key and our Country is ripe for revival and the freedom from sin and judgment that salvation brings.

I am praying that we, as Christians, will be the first to extend grace, kindness and understanding to those with opposing views.

Regardless of the outcome of the election we need to remember that God is sovereign and in complete control even when things look bleak.  

I hope you will all vote because it's our duty to uphold what we believe is right - even if we don't agree with everything in a candidate's profile. We need to stand against the things that Christ stands against- you've read God's word and you know what He hates. If we don't vote at all, we are endorsing whatever the outcome happens to be and have no standing before the Lord. We can't just shake our heads at the immorality and stay home, silently disagreeing but doing and saying nothing to express that displeasure.

But if you don't vote or if you don't agree with me, that's okay, I will still love you because I make mistakes and have incorrect views sometimes and God still loves me. He doesn't agree with everything I do or say but He still loves me. He should be our example for how to love people even when we don't agree with their views.

Will you help with the healing after the election?

I Survived October!

Isaiah 40:29 - He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Let me tell you about the last week of October in our family of 4.

Friday night I took the kids to youth group where they participated in a cooking competition. They had a blast but it went late so I didn’t get them home until a little after 10pm.

Saturday was our daughter’s high school choir fundraising performance. I had to have her to the school by 9am to set up and rehearse all day for a 6:30pm performance which I attended with my son, mom and sister. It was really fun but because our daughter had to stay and help clean up afterward, it was another late night. I actually drove our son home after the performance and got him to bed and went back to get our daughter at about 10pm.

Sunday was church and I get up first usually - at 7:30 which is sleeping in late for me these days. Thankfully, my husband prepared Sunday dinner for us so all I had to do was clean up afterward.

Monday morning our son woke up with a minor sire throat. I took his temperature (which was normal), gave him some pain medicine for his throat and fed him breakfast. After dropping both kids off at school, I went with my husband to his dental cleaning appointment. BOTH kids had dental appointments after school. Because my husband was too tired to fix dinner and I wasn’t home to do it, we ended up eating out.

Tuesday morning my husband left on a trip and I went grocery shopping after dropping the kids off at school. I quickly put the groceries away and then headed to our son’s school to volunteer over his lunch break. He was trying to convince me that he needed to go home because he was sick but I discovered the day before that he had been having difficulties with a kid in his 5th period class who was being mean to him. So, while I was at the school I contacted the teacher who immediately addressed the situation and my son was SO relieved and actually joyful at the end of the day. After picking our son up from school, I had him do his chores and then left to get our daughter who was staying late to get her essay looked at by her English teacher and to get suggestions for improving it. There were several kids there so she didn’t get done until 4pm. We got home and she started on her chores while I started on dinner (french dips made with the left-over roast beef from Sunday’s dinner). After all was cleaned up and lunches were packed for the next day, our daughter worked on her essay while I carved a pumpkin with our son - he drew the face, I carved it and he gutted it.

Wednesday morning I found out my husband’s flight home had been massively delayed so instead of being home before lunch, he was coming home after bed time. It was just as well though because I had my annual health check-up immediately after dropping the kids off at school. Then our son has early release every Wednesday so I picked him up and then, because he really DOES have a minor cold, I let him soak in the bathtub for awhile. I took our daughter to her annual well child visit after school and then headed home to make dinner (Gyoza). After dinner was all cleaned up and lunches packed, I popped some popcorn and the three of us (me and the kids) played a rousing game of Apples to Apples. So much fun! My husband got home just as I was getting in to bed.

Thursday was Halloween. All week has been Spirit Week at our son’s school and I have been helping him choose outfits for each theme day (Monday he wore red for wear your favorite color day, Tuesday he wore a silly hat for crazy hair/hat day, Wednesday he wore all black for twin day and Thursday he got to wear his knight costume for Halloween day - today (Friday) is dress fancy day so he is in a sweater, nice pants and his Sunday shoes). I helped him with his knight costume before breakfast. By Thursday he was pretty congested and feeling run down. He’s a trooper though and was determined to participate in all the Halloween festivities. I gave him some cold medicine in the morning and took the kids to school. My husband and I ran an errand after doing our Bible reading Thursday morning. We sneaked a brief nap in after lunch and then I left to pick the kids up from school. I had to get dinner ready early because I was taking our son to go trick-or-treating in downtown Bothell and that event was early (5-7pm). I chopped up the remaining roast from Sunday, cooked it in a pot with the left-over gravy and served it over the left-over mashed potatoes. Then, I put a candle in our carved pumpkin and put it out front and we left for the annusl candy grab.😉 Of course it started raining right after dinner so I took an umbrella with me. It was fun but exhausting too. We got there at about 5:30 and spent an hour going from store to store, sometimes waiting in line to get candy. We went to a couple of our neighbor’s homes after that who were waiting for us and he topped off his pumpkin bucket with some candy from home. We were thankfully home by 7pm. It was a challenge walking around carrying an umbrella in one hand and my cane in the other - especially when my son handed me his helmet to carry. But we made it and now another October is in the history books.

And that was just the last week of October. The previous 3 weeks were every bit as busy and here I sit on November 1, grateful for the strength the Lord provided me with to make it through each day along the way.

Our daughter has early release today because it’s the end of the 1st quarter of school. I will be leaving in about 15 minutes to go pick her up. This morning my husband and I went through open enrollment at his work and made our medical benefits elections for next year. Once my daughter gets home she will be frosting and decorating a cake she baked last night for her friend’s 16th birthday party tonight (a sleep-over party). And tomorrow we turn our clocks back an hour.

Time is marching on and while November isn’t as packed with activities, thankfully, I still find myself needing to rely on the hand of the Lord to get me across the finish line each day. He has never failed me and He never will!

Remember the Grieving

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

There are a number of grieving people in my circle. People who have had spouses or other loved ones pass away - some more recently than others. But regardless of the length of time a loved one had been gone, people will always be in need of lovingkindness. We so often neglect to continue comforting each other months or years after we have experienced a loss.

My mom is one of those grieving for a spouse. Although my dad passed away nearly 7 years ago now, I know she still feels acutely lonely at times. She keeps that to herself for the most part so until I check in with her, I am not necessarily aware of her need for fellowship. But it IS a need. Without it, she will be more vulnerable to spiritual attack.

Last week, a widower in our church who lost his wife in May to pancreatic cancer sent me an email. He has been doing so much better in recent months and has been adjusting to the massive changes in his world surprisingly well. But he misses the fellowship with me and others when things weren’t going as well. And this morning he told me that he misses having someone there to physically touch him. In the wake of his wife’s passing, I was regularly sending letters to him, emailing him and talking to him for extensive periods of time at church - frequently hugging him and putting a hand on his shoulder. And I am not the only one who provided this level of comfort. But school started in September and then October hit and my busy children have had my brain on overload and I stopped checking in on him mid-week. How quickly everyone moved on to the next crisis and left this grieving soul behind to struggle on his own. I am guilty of neglect!

My husband still grieves for his parents. His dad passed away more than 15 years ago and his mom passed away 9 years ago. He is in need of regular and ongoing comfort.

Through all of this I am realizing the need for us to check in REGULARLY with people who have lost close loved ones - especially spouses. Most of them will never let on how much they need a loving squeeze or a check-in text or email. But they DO need it!

So, while we comfort our friends and families who have experienced more recent losses, let’s remember not to neglect those who have been experiencing more long-term losses.

Power in Prayer

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” - ‭‭1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It seems like we, as Christians all believe to some degree that prayer has power. We don’t always see proof of God’s protective covering over us or those we pray for though and sometimes we even question the effectiveness of our prayers.

I try to get a variety of perspectives on the events happening in the world around us so I often read things that wouldn’t necessarily be picked up on and published in standard media outlets. Lately I have seen much evidence that prayer is having a major impact on our world.

One story was actually related to me by my daughter who saw an Instagram reel from a satanist-turned-Christian. She had previously been someone who was used by demons to identify people who were susceptible to attack. She said that it was obvious when someone was praying because there was a blue protective shield over them and the demons would stay away because they were afraid of those people. Prayer protects us. Even when we aren’t necessarily praying for our own protection, prayer IS protection in and of itself. Be constant in prayer.

The other story I read just the other day. It was a story about self-proclaimed witches trying to cast spells to negatively impact former President Trump in this election. There were quotes from forums discussing potential spells they could cast to harm President Trump by “witches” discouraging it saying it would not only waste time and energy but actually have the opposite effect because “there is an energy around him that feeds off the negativity and turns it for good” and acknowledging that “there are a lot of people praying for him”. What was amazing to me was the acknowledgement that prayer is EFFECTIVE! They admit that God is real and provides real protection and yet they reject Him!

The sad fact is that the conversations quickly turned the focus on to Trump supporters saying “they are more vulnerable”. And they are probably right because many of Trump’s supporters are not believers in Christ. We need to pray for the protection of our Nation.

Yesterday my husband read to me something that was about steps to dismantle a free society and it is scary to see how the current administration has been working so obviously and ao effectively to implement these steps with very little pushback from us! So we need to pray, but we also need to vote and to speak out against the obvious attacks on morality and our freedoms.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b                

Be Joy!😃

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today I went grocery shopping. Mundane task that seems simple enough but for me it is exhausting and anything but mundane. And yet, I absolutely love grocery shopping! Today I spent time praying while I was driving to my first stop (to fill up the gas tank). I was praying I would be open to anything the Lord brought my way. And I was praying I would recognize any blessings or spiritual battles.

My shopping day was uneventful - there were a few really big smiles that came my way from other shoppers (which I returned of course) but nothing worthy of mentioning in a blog post. 😉 I DID bring a stack of gospel tracts with me and placed them in several shelves throughout the store. 😁

After stopping for fuel and going making 3 different stops, I got home and put my groceries away. I didn’t have time for lunch before I had to leave to pick up my son from school (early release today). He took his shower and did his chores and then I left to pick up my daughter. After I got home with her I had to get my son to his counseling appointment. My daughter stayed home to do her chores (bless her for being responsible to do the cleaning while I was gone). I stayed in the car while my son went in to talk to his counselor. I was so tired! I really wanted to take a nap in the car but I didn’t want to be sleeping when the session was over so I toughed it out.

On our way home traffic was horrible and there was a lot of construction on our route. I stopped to let someone turn from a side street and enter traffic in front of me. And there it was! The woman driving that car smiled so big and waved so aggressively in thanks to me that it made me smile and wave aggressively back and as she merged in, I got a good look at her license plate. It was a custom license plate that said BE JOY. I drew my son’s attention to it and he got a big smile on his face too. That driver, smiling and waving like crazy to me was being and spreading joy.

We have so many reasons to be joyful and it’s really important to SHOW that joy outwardly. It’s contagious and it’s exactly what our hurting world needs.

I want to be joy, show joy, spread joy and share my joy in the Lord.

An old Sunday school song keeps repeating in my head this evening: “The joy of the Lord is my strength”. By the time I had that encounter with the joyful driver, I was depleted of strength and energy. Her joy and her license plate reminded me where my strength comes from and how much I needed to call on the Lord for strength to get through the rest of the evening. I felt a big boost in my energy level after that and was able to get dinner on the table, lunches packed, etc. without the energy crash that often comes after a long, busy day.

One person can make a difference in the life of a perfect stranger. Be joy - be that person who lifts the spirits of those around you!