He's Always There

      I will confess that I am not much of a reader.   Perhaps that's why I write blogs and not novels.   Oh I  used to enjoy reading.   But nothing seems to keep my attention for very long.   Not even movies.   My family would  definitely agree.   Many times we've sat down to watch a movie and I have left the room  to fold  laundry or do some other household chore  and then returned and ask what I've missed.   They finally got to the point where they would pause the movie and wait until I returned.   It was easier that way. 

      But back to reading.   Recently I was writing a financial editorial for a local business magazine.  It was quite a challenge since I actually had to do real research  and leave out most of the funny stuff I would have preferred to put in.   People just don't find it funny when you joke about their money.  

        Anyway I asked some of my family members to read the article and see what they thought.   While at dinner one night with two of my son,  I handed the article  to one of them to read.   His brother and I were shocked that he read it in less than a minute.   Actually it was probably less than 30 seconds.   When we ask him how he read it so quickly, his response answered a question and concern  I have had for years.

      His answer simply was that you leave out the words that are always  there.   You train your mind to skip over those words.   My heart skipped a beat and my mouth dropped open. (Thankfully I wasn't chewing at the time!)  I know both of the boys thought something was wrong with me.   But there was nothing wrong.   It was actually something right.   Something oh so very right.  

       You see  when I read  The Scripture  or a devotional or book or anything that talks about God,  I find myself skipping over the words God, Jesus, Lord or any other name describing my Lord.  For years I have felt guilty that I do this.   I mean how can I skip over the most beautiful words ever?   How could I be so disrespectful?

       But this conversation  changed all that.   I realized that I skip over those words because HE  is always there!    I was not doing it intentionally.   But I do rest  in knowing that my God  is always there.  

       What a wonderful lesson I learned  that night.   My guilt is gone.  My heart is filled with knowing that HE is always there. 

        Now.  Do you know Him?   Would you like to?

Cherish

     Cherish.   To love and to protect.   To value someone or something because of a deep emotional connection.   For whatever reason this word and its meaning have been on my mind lately.
      On a recent trip to the local courthouse I walked up the steps and right into a wedding before I realized what was going on.   Sweet.   Young.   Innocent.  All smiles.  And promising to cherish each other for a lifetime.  
      I walked passed  them to the clerks office so I could renew my notary public license.  A few minutes later the brand-new couple came in to the room to file their marriage license  and make it legally official.   The looks on their faces said at all.   Love.   Hope.  And cherish. The future was there just waiting for them.
       Anyway  I just keep thinking about that word, cherish.  We get so busy with our every day lives that I think sometimes we forget to really cherish what and who is important.   Oh, we mean well.   But time gets away before we realize it.  
     I personally had wanted to be a grandma for a very long time.   But then one day not too long ago I realized that once that happens my relationship with my own children will be different.   So I decided to cherish the time I have with them now.   I am absolutely amazed at the young adults they have become.   And while I do enjoy this empty nest,  I have to admit that I shed tears when they've been here for a while and then leave.   I cherish my time with them.   I cherish them.
      God has blessed me more than I ever imagined.   But I could not see that until I  chose to look at things through the right lenses.  Rose colored glasses at times?   Maybe.   And that's OK.  
     The Word  tells us in Philippians 4:8  that whatever is true,  whatever is noble and right and pure and lovely,  whatever is admirable,  if anything is excellent or praiseworthy,  we are to think about these things.   And you know what?   Seeing things through those lenses,  thinking about those things,  well it sure makes cherishing a whole lot easier.  
     And you know something else?   There is one who cherishes you and me more than anything.  He cherished us more than life itself.  Jesus.  Do you know Him?   Would you like to?

What If.......

     "Did you hear what she did?  Oh my!  You will not believe it.   Let me tell you........"   Have you ever had a conversation like that and, next thing you know, the person  you were talking about walks into the room.  Boy. Are you ever embarrassed. 

      But what if that person doesn't walk into the room?   What if you go through the whole story and tell all the horrible details and no one hears it but your one friend?   Is it any less wrong if no one else hears it? 

      Or what about this..... what if you are telling this story and Jesus walks into the room?   Would you try to plead your case with the Lord?  "But Jesus.  Did You see what she did to me?   Do You  have any idea how badly that hurt me? "  Or would you just hang your head in shame?

     This thought has been on my mind a lot lately. And I have to confess it has changed the way I feel, think and talk.  

      Yesterday  I spent pretty most  the entire day cleaning out the garage.   One of the items I came across in a box of books was a Bible from when one of the children was in elementary  school.  In the front he had written the date he became a Christian.   It was so sweet to see that in his hand writing.   I open the Bible and  saw Matthew 2:13  underlined.  " therefore keep watch,  because you do not know the day or the hour." 

      Isn't that the way it is?    Jesus could walk in at any moment.  Would you know what to say?    Or what if, right now,  He  returned for those who know Him?  Would you be ready? 

      When I opened  that same Bible to another underlined passage I read from the book of  Obadiah  chapter 1 verse 15  " The day of the Lord is near for all nations.   As you have done,  it will be done to you;  your deeds will return upon your own head."  Are we really ready? 

       Whether I like it or not I guess I am classified as an older woman.   Titus  chapter 2  instructs "older women to be reverent in the way they live,  not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine,  but to teach what is good".  Can I teach this behavior if I don't live it myself ?   Most likely not.   But I can teach it if I am living my life with 'What if........."