Month: November 2017

When Troubles Seem They Will Last “4EVER”

Posted on by Paula

The bright orange construction sign grabbed my attention as I approached. The bold lettering was easily read from afar, “ROAD CLOSED.” However, as I drew closer, I could see that someone had added, “4EVER.”

From the looks of the construction site, it appeared that there was still a lot of work to be done before the road could be driven on again. I imagined that the person who added “4EVER” to the sign must have been someone who had driven by time and again, wondering in their frustration when the construction would be complete and when their inconvenience would come to an end. To them, it certainly must have seemed like the road would be closed “4EVER.”

Isn’t that the way life seems sometimes? We can be happily navigating along when suddenly, we find ourselves in a difficult situation that lasts much longer than we had anticipated. As our waiting period grows longer and longer, we start to lose hope that things will ever get better. It seems like the struggle will last “4EVER.”

Are you going through something right now that seems it will never end? Take heart! Wise King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Life consists of times and seasons, and some of those seasons can last for a very long time. Whatever you are going through, remember that God is with you. Turn to him. Pray, search the scriptures, hold on to God’s promises and remember all the wonderful things that he has already done.

When the season continues to drag on, ask yourself a few questions, “Is there anything that God is asking me to do in this current situation? What can I learn from this incident? How can I use my experience to help others who may be struggling as well?”

Our life here on earth is short and though our trying seasons may seem like they will last “4EVER,” they really will come to an end. So while we are here on earth, we hold on to God through these tough times, we allow him to transform us through the experience to be more like Jesus, and we wait for the day when he will take us home where all of our difficulties, all of our suffering and all of our struggling will finally come to an end. Hold on to the hope that one day those who belong to him and have endured to the end will be living in his presence in a perfect place “4EVER.”

A Thankful Heart

Posted on by Paula

Today, I write with a thankful heart and am having trouble keeping my words few. Last week I spent a lot of time counting my blessings and reflecting on all I have to be thankful for. I kept a notebook and my favorite pink ink pen on my nightstand and started a list each morning when I woke up. I carried my list around with me and kept adding to it until I went to bed each night. As I thought about each thing that I saw, heard, smelled, touched and did, I realized that I have so much to be thankful for.

My heart grew more thankful with every new day. The list on just the third day was over a page and a half long before I even got out of bed. That is also the day that I totally depleted the ink from my pen and was thankful that I had another pink pen that could take over. At the beginning of the week my list started with, “I am thankful for…,” and by the end of the week, my list became a prayer of “Thank you God for….” It was through this simple little exercise, I have gained a thankful heart.

Some of the things that I am thankful for seem obvious. I am thankful for a family who loves me, for a home to live in, for a rewarding job, for a dependable vehicle and for an abundance of food in my pantry, refrigerator and deep freeze. I have a closet full of clothes to choose from each day and a washer and dryer right inside my house so that I never run out of clean things to wear. The list goes on and on and on, but as I wrote each item down, I realized that not everyone has a family who loves them, a home to live in, a job, a vehicle, food, clothing…. I am thankful. I am so very thankful.

Some of the things that I am thankful for are things I could easily take for granted. I am thankful that I can breathe despite being an asthmatic. I am thankful that I can see and that I have glasses to improve my vision that has gotten worse as I grow older. I could easily take for granted the clean water available to me any time I am thirsty or need to clean something. I don’t always give much thought to the fact that I have access to electricity so that I can turn on a light when it’s dark, have access to hot water to shower with, heat or cool my home so that I’m comfortable or charge my phone so that I can talk or video chat with my son who lives over 1000 miles away. There are so many things I could easily take for granted. Yet again, not everyone has been blessed with these things. I am thankful. I am so very, very thankful.

Some of the things I am thankful for are the experiences I have had and the learning that resulted from those moments. I am thankful that though my mind is starting to fail at times, I still have so many memories from my past. I was blessed by being born to loving parents and had a wonderful childhood. I am thankful not only for my parents but also for my husband, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, school teachers, Sunday school teachers and pastors, and for the many, many important things that those relationships have taught me. It may sound absurd, but I am especially thankful for the difficult times in my life; the personal and meaningful lessons I learned through those storms of life helped me grow. Those seasons have given me more strength, wisdom and purpose. My experiences, both good and bad, and the people who helped me along the way all brought me closer to God. And that thought leads me into my most important blessings of all, my spiritual blessings.

God has blessed me over my 49 ½ years in ways far greater than I could have ever asked or imagined, and he continues to wow and amaze me more and more all the time. Just the fact that I am part of God’s family is more than enough. My greatest blessing, what I am most thankful for each day, simply and truly is God. I am thankful that he is on my mind the moment I wake up each day. I am thankful that he loves me. I am thankful that he sent his Son, Jesus to die in my place and that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life so that he could shed his blood to pay for my many, many sins that separated me from God. I am thankful that God chose me and that I heard his Spirit calling me. I am thankful for his forgiveness, his mercy and his grace that I do not deserve. I am thankful that God sent the Holy Spirit to live in me, to comfort me, to convict me, to bring me into his truth and to lead me in his will. I am thankful that God works in me, through me and around me. I am thankful that he is approachable. I am thankful that the veil in the temple was torn in two so that I have direct access to God through a Jesus Christ. I am thankful that the All Powerful, Almighty, All Knowing, Omnipresent, Sovereign God who created the universe desires a relationship with me. I am thankful that he who began the good work within me, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. I am thankful that through Jesus Christ, my Savior & Lord, that I have the promise of eternal life and that one day, I will be IN THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD in the most perfect place that my brain can only begin to imagine. Yes. I am thankful. I am so, so extremely, eternally thankful. Thank you, God for giving me a thankful heart, and that in you, I am given more than enough. I am blessed!

Making Preparations for Family

Posted on by Paula

With one son in college and another living over 1000 miles away, we don’t get to see each other often, but by the end of the week, all four of my children will be home for a visit. One of my sons will drive an hour; another will fly about 2 ½ hours. I am excited to have them all here, but I also have a lot of preparations to make before they arrive. I need to clean the house, shop for their favorite foods and put fresh sheets on the beds. I also need to stay on task in the office so that I won’t have to work late the week that they are home. I want to make sure I get all of the necessary preparations finished before they arrive so that we can enjoy as much time together as possible.

When I was making a to do list to ensure that I get everything done, the words of Jesus recorded in John 14:1-6 popped into my head,

’Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

As I was deciding what preparations I needed to make before my kids come home, I wondered to myself, “What preparations could Jesus be talking about making before he takes us home with him?” I had always thought about him sort of decorating my room just how I’d like it, but that didn’t exactly make sense to me when I thought about how he simply spoke the world into existence.

Jesus had just washed the disciples’ feet, eaten his last supper with them, revealed to them that one of them would betray him and told them that he was going somewhere that they could not go. He even said that Peter would deny him.

Knowing that these things troubled the disciples, Jesus spoke words to comfort them. He assured them that his going away was for their good. You see, we are all sinners. Sin separates us from God, and the penalty for sin is death. Jesus, who lived a sinless life, died on the cross and shed his blood to pay for our sin. This sacrifice is a gift to all who believe and put their trust in him. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through him.

By going to the cross, Jesus was preparing the way for us to spend eternity with him in heaven where God has plenty of room for his large family to dwell forever. The work is done. Jesus has gone to the cross to prepare the way for eternal life in heaven. Someday, those of us who believe and put our trust in him will be home.

Celebrating 30 Years of Love

Posted on by Paula

I was 19, and he was almost 23. We hadn’t even known each other a year. We met in the middle of January, were engaged in May and married at the beginning of November in 1987. We couldn’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. We were in love.

Life was an exciting adventure in the beginning. However, we quickly found out that there were a lot of things we didn’t know about each other. In fact, we discovered that we were pretty different and really didn’t have much in common. We even learned that the person who we married wasn’t perfect.

We didn’t truly understand when we first got married, what it really means to have Jesus at the center of our individual lives and at the center of our marriage. Because of this, we struggled and fought for a long time. The only reason that we have made it through 30 years of marriage is that we have stayed committed to God and to each other.

As we grew closer to God over the years, we also grew closer to each other. God taught us to love each other with the same love that Jesus loves us with, and that has made all the difference. The love of Jesus is a love that isn’t dependent on whether or not the recipient is lovable or worthy. It is a selfless love that comes from obedience to God’s commands. Some of Jesus’ last words to his disciples before dying on the cross were, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13). We are to love with the love of Christ regardless of the other person’s behavior. Learning this truth has made a huge difference.

Over the past 30 years, we have experienced many happy times, but there have also been some times of differences & struggles. I am thankful not only for the good times but also for the bad because it was the difficult times that brought us closer together and taught us what true love is.

Today I am thankful for a husband who has stayed committed to me through my good, my bad & my ugly. I love Sam even more than I did 30 years ago when I thought my love for him was complete but didn’t truly understand the depth of love that is possible through Jesus. I am also thankful for a God, who taught us that “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

God has blessed us over the years in ways far greater than we could ever have asked or imagined. We have been blessed with good career and ministry opportunities and four of the most amazing children in the world. He has always blessed us with more than we need and far more than we deserve. Our greatest blessing of all is Jesus and his unconditional love.