TV time...

Ok....so....I don't watch a lot of tv. But, next to blogging, Netflix is my best friend who keeps me company when the boys go to their father's for a weekend.

Who says you can't get anything of any value from tv? I picked these little gems up just this past weekend. Enjoy!

"Some of the best lessons are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom of the future." (Dale Turner, quoted on Criminal Minds)

"Anyone can achieve their fullest potential. Who we are might be predetermined. The path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or the expectation of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Your destiny can't be changed, but it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one." (from NCIS [my favorite show!], episode "Endgame") Now, of course, I don't agree with this entirely....our destiny can be changed completely....by giving it to Christ!

Iceberg

I view the part visible above the surface to be my level of faith the world can see. But the important part is that which is beneath the surface....the power of Almighty God behind me. He is the driving force to all that I can do! Praise you, Jesus! Have a fabulously delicious day, my BB's! ~ Merana

Please watch

This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I pray it will touch you as it has me!

http://www.godtube.com/featured/video/i-was-there-september-11-tribute

Lost

I have felt an uneasy, discombobulated, restlessness deep within my spirit this week. So much is bouncing around in there, that even with prayer, I'm finding no sense of cohesion. I cannot formulate a thought process from beginning to conclusion. I can't concentrate. Everything is random. I know God wants to say something...but what? I try to gather myself here before you.

I think part of what has me held captive is that lovely "September Blue". I know you know it. Remember that glorious shade of blue the sky held on 9-11-01? I've been blessed to see that a lot this week. And I always get very reflective the week before 9-11. I always spend some time during this week looking through my magazines and a book I got at a yard sale introducing us to know a bit about every person who died that day, with a picture of them. And I always watch the 9-11 documentary that just happened to be being filmed at a fire company when this tragic day occurred. The film captures so much, I'm amazed even after all the times I watch it. I always watch the people in it & wonder, 'did you make it out? did you?' And then to watch what takes place inside the building as they realize it's coming down on top of them. I bawl my eyes out every single time. Now, I know some people will say I shouldn't subject myself to this, but I'm always going to! I'm not trying to be macarbre. I'm not trying to stay focused in the past. But it's my simple way of respecting those people whose lives were changed forever that day, and to honor those who lost their lives. I can't NOT do it. I keep all these things in what I call my "9-11 Box", which, presently, I cannot locate...it's been misplaced from recent work I had done on the house. Furthering my sense of restlessness.

So many times in life we find ourselves lost ... or just feeling as if we are lost ... you know, when you feel hopeless, like there's no purpose, nothing makes sense no matter how hard you try to analyze it, there's no clear sense of which direction to head. It's rather like this...

aimless, endless, barren, with storm clouds overhead!

I'm so in love with Michael Buble's song, "Lost", as I've posted before. The lyrics speak right to my soul: Life can show no mercy, it can tear your soul apart, it can make you feel like you've gone crazy but you're not. Things have seemed to change. There's one thing that's still the same. In my heart you have remained. And we can fly, fly, fly away. 'Cause you are not alone. And I am there with you. And we'll get lost together, til the light comes pouring through. 'Cause when you feel like you're done, and the darkness has won. Babe, you're not lost. When the worlds crashing down, and you can't bear the cross, I said, baby, you're not lost! Every time I hear it, I swear I feel like it's the Lord singing it right into my spirit, reassuring my spirit...we are NOT lost!

I associate so much in life with music. I can hear a song & instantly be taken back...the song remembers when. I recently heard a song that always reminds me of one of the stupidest mistakes I've ever made (of which there are many, admittedly). Every time I would hear that song, I'd switch to the next song so I didn't have to deal with the emoutional upheaval hearing it would bring. But this week, as I reached to hit the 'next' button, something stronger held me in place & said, "NO! You need to listen to it this time. You need to stop deflecting & ignoring & burying & hiding. You need to suck it up & deal with the pain this song evokes. But, oh my gosh, is God beautiful & faithful to heal! This time I heard it not from my perspective, but from His. The lyrics he brought to the forefront are poignant: Spinning on another wheel, goin' round in slow motion. You can make a better life, you're just waiting for the right moment. You can find another way, you're just waiting for the right moment. When you gonna reach out, only you can turn your world around. When you gonna let go, and forget about the life you knew. When will you surrender, and wake up to the real. Now you know that it's all borrowed time, and still you waste another day. But you watch and you wait for a sign...all along the way. ("The Right Moment" by Gerry Rafferty)

I believe we all must somehow become lost in order to be found. "Only you can turn your world around" like it says above. We must make the choice to invite Christ in. No one can do it for us. When we're lost, He will light our way. We have that assurance. Isaiah 42:16 ~ I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Thank you, Father, for taking all the negatives and making them positive...just like you promised you would. But thank you most, Lord God, for extending your hand to take mine and show me the way. May the paths I travel bring comfort to others and reach them in ways that only you know they need. Please just direct me when I'm at the crossroads to take the path you would have me take, light the way for me, and direct my steps. In Jesus' holy, and most precious name. Amen

Arms Wide Open

If we believe that God love us equally, we understand that He loves all of fellow mankind who don't quite live up to the righteousness that we, as Christians, are called to do. And we need to realize that His love also transcends time. We cannot think for a moment that He loves us any less than the Israelites He saved over & over ... delivering them countless times (often from themselves!). So those promises He made to them stand true for us still. Just as He made a covenant with them, we are in covenant with Him. When I read in Scripture of how many times they turned their back on Him, yet He never left them...never stopped loving them, I am so reassured. Now certainly, He let them get what they had coming to them often...as any good parent would in order to teach their children a lesson of value. But never once did He turn His back on them, as they did to Him.

Remember the game "I love you thiiiiiis much!" with outstretched arms? Well, that's what God does! The only thing we need to do is lose our inhibition & run into those arms that are ready to scoop us up & pull us in to the most loving, welcoming, warm embrace that permeates our very being.

We need to let let go of looking at God solely as "Father", and start viewing Him as "Daddy"... a lap we can curl up into, lay our head against His chest, and pour out our hearts to find the solace for which we're crying out. Can't you just almost hear that heartbeat...boom-boom, My grace, boom-boom, My mercy, boom-boom, My love, boom-boom, My peace?!

Now I realize that this is almost like wrapping your mind around some type of fantasy. And I know it's especially hard for those who had/have an absentee dad, or an abusive dad, or even just a disinterested dad....much like Mack in The Shack.

For me, I have such distrust of men because I have been hurt so much by those I trusted most with my innermost hopes, fears, and dreams who used those things back on me as weapons. Or those who look upon me as strictly an object of lust, not affection - even those I thought were only friends. Or those so disinterested that I begin feeling insignificant/lacking in some way. But, God has been so patient with me. He opened my heart to see that that's why I wouldn't trust Him....because He was a "he". We're working on that road to recovery. He says now, "Don't be afraid to meet men. You don't have to trust them. Just trust ME with those people I bring into your life." I'm still not there yet...admittedly, a work in progress! Truthfully...I'm content to wait!

Always...this is where I chose to be! Ah, can't you just imagine yourself here?

"No arms, No legs, No worries!" -- Nick Vujicic

What a phenomenal man! Next time I think I have it bad, Lord....I'll just shut up! Thank you for what you've done in his life that he might inspire others for you & speak to your grace & mercy!

Satan's a genius....

I've come to the conclusion that Satan is a genius. Well ok, maybe not genius, but he sure does know each of us. Think about how many people there are in the world. And he figures out exactly what "gets" to us...each and every one of us (because we're all different). Just think about how much work that must be for him and his forces of darkness to prey upon us by attacking our soft underbelly...our weakness...

Perhaps your escape is .... or maybe this is where you find release...

most likely this is where you find comfort when the trials of life get to you...
... could be here ...
or the struggle with & constant preoccupation of this... or even the love of .... or worse yet, the pursuit of, with no regard for who gets hurt in the wake...
or maybe the fascination with this...or seeking it outside of marriage...

Whatever, the Prince of Darkness finds that gets you, really all any of it is, is just ...

a hook, a lure, to get us away from the life that Jesus wants to offer us, of the plans for hope and a future in Christ.

Satan creates within us ...

doubt...in those around us, in ourselves, that good can prevail, even in our faith-our foundational belief & trust in God's power over all situations;

fear...of the unknown, of harm, of risk, of stepping off the edge with uncertainty, even of "living";

longing...for better circumstances, for change, for those things we lack in our lives, even just to "let go" of something;

the list goes on...

And if we give in to these things, Satan wins..even if only for awhile. I can picture him just snickering, rubbing his hands together in conspiracy, saying "he-he-he, I got another one!" But this is where his genius turns to stupidity. It is here that his ego has taken over his faith. Yes you heard me, Satan's faith. He, and all his minions, know of God & fear Him. James 2:19 ~ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.

Then, he takes us to court to accuse us before the Throne. To which our Counsel simply says, "Your honor!",

opens his hands palm up, and the gavel comes down with a resounding "FORGIVEN!!"

Call your next case, Counselor (of which, there is a loooong line).

What is it they say about "genius"....it can drive you mad? I guess in this argument, it really is rather an oxymoron.

Even on our best day, abiding by the righteousness God put in our hearts, we're still sinners. We will always fall short! Thank you, Jesus...that when I mess up, when I'm tempted, when I display doubt or fear or longing, YOU are there to strengthen me ... more with each situation I face ... so that we don't even have to appear in court. And thank you, Jesus, for the times that we do, you've already received my sentence. Thank you that you're teaching me how to live instead of simply existing!

To you, my dear, precious Lord and Savior, be all the honor and glory that my life can display!