Too Busy

Come unto me, all ye that labour

and are heavy laden, and I will

give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

I told myself two years ago when we moved to Tennessee that I wouldn't fall into the trap...the trap of being too busy. I was reminded of this as I folded the church bulletins for a recent Sunday service. I prepared four different insert sheets that had to be folded and stuffed into the poor weakling bulletins that already looked too weary to bear the load. Believe it or not, I'm not bemoaning the task as it's for the Lord and no one else.

I thought when we arrived in Tennessee, our new home, that I would spend my hours soaking up the mountains through meditation, prayer and relaxed reading. I determined to breathe deeply and even break out in a song like Maria in The Sound of Music if I wanted to. So what happened? I began substituting on the piano for the services and that's not much really. I subbed for the pastor in typing some Wednesday evening prayer sheets which was nothing at all to do. My love of course is teaching...the door opened for me to teach a ladies class. The pastor agreed to a ladies Bible study...we talked...now I do a ladies Bible Study twice a year. It just seems that a ball started rolling down a mountain and I couldn't do anything to stop it. There went my opportunity to traipse on a hillside singing, “The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music....”

We had come from the busy life of a city, and the busy activities in a pretty large church. In some form or another, I was doing here many of the same things I was doing there. I meant well even though the things I'm doing come almost as second nature to me...kind of a comfort zone thing.

Perhaps I'm preaching to the choir in all of this because many of us run on overload most of the time. I don't have the added responsibility of having children in the home. Busy moms have car pools, soccer practices, youth activities, and on and on it goes. Even then, I fear parents have their children running on overload just like they are. Children like adults all need unwind time.

As I face a new year, I want things to be different and only I can do that. My husband might kindly suggest that I need to unload some things, but for the first time, we are together 24/7 and for the first time in our 43 years of marriage, he's seeing how all of this evolves with me.

I don't believe in New Year resolutions. I think they are a waste of thinking time and I only end up kidding myself. What I have chosen to do is set some goals that are reasonable. When we come up with some worthy resolutions and per chance mess up on one or two, we feel defeated and feel we can't pick up the resolution and continue on. The defeat is usually too great. When a goal is set, if I miss one somewhere along the line, I feel like I can pick up where I failed and go on. It's amazing the different two words make...resolution or goal...but there's a big difference for me. Someone once said to me, “Aim at nothin' and you'll hit it.” No matter our age, I believe we should always be stretching, learning and coming to know God better than ever before. There are always areas where we can improve just in the everyday things of life.

I'll share some things I'm praying about and contemplating.

• I want more time in God's Word and not just for studying to teach a Sunday school lesson or ladies Bible study. I need more meditation time...more soaking up the Word with Holy Spirit guidance.
• My prayer life needs lots of improving. I want to be more faithful in keeping a prayer list. All of us at one time or another assure people we will pray for them and it's so easy to forget. I just want more time of praise and worship. I want the Lord to know how much I love and appreciate Him.
• I believe I should continue writing my blog even though it takes a great deal of work. I so appreciate friends who read it, but I have been shocked at folks from other countries who are regular readers. I've come to feel a real responsibility to encourage friends from Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Columbia, England, Canada, Pakistan and others. In some of those countries, a reader could probably be in trouble if caught reading any Christian literature. In this process, I pray for their protection.
• Without a doubt, I will continue teaching. It's God's gift to me and in His power, I want to be faithful in doing it.
• I want to put into my regular schedule more alone time. I've been used to having it until Brian retired. We have no problem being with each other day in and day out, but I personally feel the need to have more alone time.
• I need to work more exercise into my life. We live in a perfect place for walking, whether in our neighborhood or taking off for the mountains. I need the exercise not just for my body but it's so good for the mind...airing out the cobwebs.

I could list more things that have to do with family and friends and those things I don't necessarily want to plan because then they become “have to's” instead of “want to's.”

None of the things I've listed are difficult. They will require discipline on my part that I really don't have built into me, but the Lord will enable me to do what I need to do.

What is your new year looking like? Are we stuck in neutral, expecting each new year to be a carbon copy of the last? Are we praying about something we need to drop from our schedules that have just become a comfortable place to park. Perhaps God has something new for us this year either in our own personal growth, improvement or service for Him? There have been times I've been afraid to pray about what I should add or subtract from my life because God might answer that prayer with something I don't care to do for Him. If I first give my days to Him (they are His anyway), He knows how to direct my activities and abilities to the fullest.

May God grant each of us a wonderful new year of life and love. May we clear our slates of any ill will, hurt feelings or negative events we've allowed to take over our thinking. Let's begin 2013 with a fresh breath of spiritual air, anticipating all the wonderful things God wants to do with us. What a wonderful opportunity for adventure in the life God has in store for each of us.

Dear Father, we don't know what the new year will bring our way. As is with life, there will be positives and negatives we will experience but in it all, You will shepherd us, leading us into a deeper walk with You. Thank you Father, for keeping Your hand on my life. I love You. Amen.

What's In A Name

                                                  And His name shall be called...

Isaiah 9:6a

Isn't it amazing how we can hear a name...it could be the name of someone we knew in high school, at a former place of employment, a historical person from our own generation, a relative we haven't seen in years...and the moment we hear a particular name, there is an instant thought about that person that crosses our mind. We might not even have a name attached to someone. It could be someone we really didn't know but had some experience with.

When I was four years old, my mother and grandmother wanted to go to the Wisconsin Dells. Of course my baby sister and I went along. During that trip my grandmother and I were both bitten by a dog. When we got home, the doctor said that both of us would have to have injections for about ten days in a row. A friend of my mother's was a nurse and probably a very nice lady. Back then I knew her first name but not now. The nurse agreed to come by our house on her way to work to give me my shot. After a couple of days, I caught on to the program. As clever as they tried to be with the nurse's approach, I knew what was happening cause I wasn't just another pretty face. This friend of my Mother's told her something my Mother just did not believe. The nurse told her, “No matter how long Glendarae lives, when she thinks of me or hears my name, she will hate my guts.” I must tell you that in the here and now, I don't hate the woman but I don't like her. When my mother and I talked about this shortly before she died, she felt my attitude wasn't what Jesus would approve of. Jokingly I told my mother that when Jesus was four years old, he didn't have some woman sneak up on him and stick a needle in his backside. Sorry for that, but that's what I said.

Names have great meaning. They are so important that almost the minute a baby is born, the hospital office wants to know the baby's name, friends and relatives ask the baby's name just about from the time a couple announces they are expecting. It is something that a little human being will bear for life and will appear on a grave marker at the time of death. When different folks who know or have known us, hear our name, there will be something about us whether positive or negative that registers with them. The only person I can think of whose name(s) should always ring a positive note with us is any name(s) we know Jesus by. His name should cause us to always think positively.

I have been in the habit the last several years of purchasing Christmas cards I give out that stress the names of Jesus. This year I found a beautiful card. The front is lime green, the printed names in various sizes and styles are printed in red, white or gold. The names printed on this card are: “I AM, Bread of Life, Anointed One, Jesus, Alpha and Omega, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, Saviour, and Everlasting Light.” I have one of these cards on the table by my comfy chair. Jesus is every one of those things in my life but, He is so much more. So I have been looking up other names for Him that are found in Scripture, names that I can look at, remember and perhaps hide more Scripture in my heart, that helps me concentrate on Jesus more. 

Let me list a few more names for our blessed Jesus with a Scripture that can be looked up:

The way, the truth,and the life: John 14:6

Bread of Life: John 6:35

Alpha and Omega: Rev. 1:8

True Vine: John 15:1

Son of God: Heb.4:14

Hope of Glory: Col. 1:27

Good Shepherd: John 10: 11,14

I am reminded of the following song:

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

There's just something about that name.

Master, Savior, Jesus

Like the fragrance, after the rain.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Let all heaven and earth proclaim

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away

but there's something about that name.”

Thank You Father for the magnificent gift of Your Son. What a privilege it is celebrating His birth and His name. May there remain in me the joy of Christmas everyday. I want to celebrate You, Jesus and all You have done for me. I love you. Amen

Christmas Past

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:

but this one thing I do, forgetting those things

which are behind, and reaching forth unto those

things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize of the

high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3: 13,14

We've probably all watched “A Christmas Carol” on TV almost every year we have lived. Remakes have been done on the movie but I still prefer the original. To be honest, I never liked the idea of going to sleep on Christmas Eve and having three beings enter my bedroom during the night just to teach me a lesson. I think of the three though that I preferred was the ghost of Christmas past. Part of Scrooge’s past was okay but, I have news for him. I could take him back to some of my Christmas past experiences that would make his look like a Sunday school picnic.

I guess we've all done it at one time or another. When Sunday school people thought you and I were little and cute, they wanted us to say a Christmas “piece” for the children's program. Those teachers were smart. They not only approached us but they also worked on our moms because it was the moms who were going to faithfully drill us on those poems that we didn't understand.

My first performance without going into a very long saga was when I was five. It could be I was four...I forgot. No matter the age, it was the nearest thing to emotional abuse I ever went through. Everyone, friends and family were much more excited about my “piece” than I was. My grandmother knit me a long-sleeve, red, WOOL sweater. That was the physical torture part of the whole ordeal. That stuff was scratchy and close to unbearable. At our last rehearsal, I froze. A very nice lady by the name of Alma Lockman who was sitting on the first pew directing things, walked up to the platform where I was standing. She stayed on the main floor and looked really short from my perspective. She gently took hold of my two ankles and said everything she could to calm my nerves. Finally, she said, “Glendarae, you don't have to be afraid because Jesus is here.” I looked all around that place and didn't see Jesus anywhere but let me tell you, that definitely didn't calm my nerves. The thought of Jesus showing up to hear me say my “piece” was no comfort for me. I got through the program though, collected my little brown bag that contained an orange and some stuck together Christmas candy, and was happy to head for home.

Since that time, I said other “pieces” but eventually graduated to bigger and better things. I have been in Christmas plays and cantatas. I have sung from a choir loft, balcony, from behind Christmas trees and even up in a Christmas tree. I've gone Christmas caroling with youth groups, and believe me, we weren't anywhere near to being the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

In all of it, I must admit that with all of that in my Christmas past, there was very little of it that meant anything to me at all. When little, I was too scared to even know what I was reciting or the meaning of it. Many times since, I have just dutifully done what a choir director asked of me. When in high school, most of the time I played either the piano or organ to accompany what needed accompanying. You see, people who direct these things are usually up tight about sound systems, soloists running late, a flu bug circulating among choir members, lighting, etc. Very few times have we been encouraged to recite, sing or play with the real reason for Christmas and keeping our focus on Him. My last choir director was the only one who did things differently from the rest.

I guess all the frills and activities of the holiday are somewhat necessary. However, how much of Christmas do we really take time to think about? I personally feel that Christmas like Easter should be and everyday celebration. One time in the middle of July, some very sneaky friend left a gift on the hood of my car that was parked in the church parking lot. The gift was wrapped in Christmas paper with a beautiful red bow on it. Attached to the bottom of the box was...yep, you guessed it....a Christmas card. It was a card with Scripture celebrating the birth of Jesus. I don't know to this day who she was but whether she knew it or not, she taught me a great lesson that day.

Despite what our Christmas past experiences have been, we can have a wonderful Christmas present and I'm not referring to gifts when I use that word. I love Christmas cards that celebrate the various names for Jesus. Those can be given any time of year. If you're on a committee to help plan a banquet, (maybe a mother-daughter thing) why not a Christmas theme? The same could be done with an Easter theme. Jesus is Someone we can celebrate any day of the year even pulling out our Easter or Christmas decorations for a special event. He is worthy to be celebrated more than just a couple of times a year.

So, forget Christmas past...plan some Christmas “nows”, all the while anticipating our Christmas future with Him for Eternity.

Dear Jesus, I so rarely welcome You to my world. I love celebrating who the world would say You were at one time but You are just as real now. May I recognize You in a celebratory way most every day. I love You and am so grateful You came, coming to save me. I'm so grateful for the fellowship we can have on a daily basis. Because we're where we are this time of year, just let me say, “Happy Birthday, Jesus” Amen

Spiritual Forgetfulness

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all

that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and

forget not all His benefits.

Psalm 103:1,2

No matter your age, do you sometimes have a problem remembering where you put something? My age has nothing to do with it so I can't blame the years I've racked up. I have learned if I can't find my car keys, to always check the refrigerator. Once, several years ago, I found an important file folder the the freezer of the refrigerator. What about forgetting where you parked your car? I left a hospital one night after being there on official business for the agency I worked for and thought I knew where I parked Brian's small, blue-green Ford Escort. There were some lights in the parking lot but even with them, I unfortunately came across 6 of the same car parked in different places on the lot. I couldn't believe it. All I could do was try my key in each of the car doors. Forgetfulness that night wasn't the problem.

I have a problem remembering names, especially last names but that's always been a problem for me. We have moved so many times that my acquaintances would go into the hundreds. I envy some of my high school friends who have lived in our hometown all their lives where they know everyone by name and have established a memory base that is enviable.

It was a blessing during the month of November reading on Face book all of the things folks listed that they were thankful for. The lists went from family members to friends, circumstances to materials things. I may not know many of the folks mentioned but I love the spirit with which this process was done.

I, like those folks, find that there are things I want to remember and never forget when it comes to life experiences and the wonderful people who have been such an influence on me. However, there are things that have to do with my faith that I don't ever want to forget, blessed things of God I always want to remember.

To help me with this process, several years ago, I began journaling. It wasn't an unusual thing for me to do. My mother used to purchase small purse size date books. Everyday in each square, she made note of the weather for a given day. If she had cleaned someone's house, she would put the persons name and what she was paid. She, on rare occasions wrote poetry, much of which she gave to me when I was in college. Most people wouldn't know anything about the writer in my Mother, but I believe she would have loved to do more with it than she did. I believe even now, she has a part in everything I write as she inspired me to write. I don't want to forget that.

All of us have people...neighbors, folks at church, school teachers...who had strong influences on us. Those people won't know until Heaven how they helped launch us into the interests, careers or spiritual endeavors we enjoy today. Many of their names I have listed in a journal as they have come to my mind...Mrs. Crowell, my piano teacher, Ruth Young who first recruited me into teaching in Bible School. I said I couldn't do it but she told me I could and I did. I guess I've been teaching ever since. I think of the many pastors who faithfully preached the Word of God week after week to me and others. I can't remember a single sermon title right off hand but I know that through their preaching and teaching, my life was consistently being changed and renewed...I learned and I grew.

I could list more and so could you. It doesn't hurt us to walk down yesterday's road with grateful hearts for those who have meant so much, who in some cases labored at great personal expense to help us get where we are. However, none of it would have been possible unless it had been made possible by the deep and abiding love of God for each of us.

We may forget the goodness of others in our lives, careers, even family events but I never want to forget all that God, my Heavenly Father has poured into my life. I wonder how often any of us take moments to remember not just the big things He's done, but so many of the small, seemingly miniscule things He orchestrated in our lives. If we were to be robbed of any access to God's Word, how much of Scripture could you and I recite to ourselves. We've all had wonderful answers to prayer through life. How many of those have we jotted down or can bring to recall.

The Scripture verses I have noted above are not friendly suggestions. Both verses are commands. With everything in us, we are to bless God's holy name, but it's the second verse that really convicts me. I'm commanded to NOT forget all the benefits God has brought into my life. I would have to spend a lifetime in listing all of the ways God has provided for and protected me. The times He has led me where He wanted me to go are countless. Answers to prayer?...too many to count. What about the times I've spent in His Word and the Holy Spirit spoke to me and taught me things I could never have understood on my own? There have been those times when God was especially near during those times of real duress and concern....what would I have done without Him.

We dare not forget His benefits, not because of any threat, but because in remembering God's goodness in our lives, we are blessed and encouraged. When offended...remember His benefits. When depressed...remember His benefits. I would dare say that anyone working for an employer in this day could tell you in a matter of a few short minutes, the benefits that are his/hers that came with the job. There would be insurance coverage, retirement, sick days, etc. Think of God's benefits in our lives that we don't bother to even think of, those general ones for all of us to enjoy and yes, benefit from:

• We own a personal copy of God's Word
• We have the opportunity of worshiping in the church of our choice
• We can pray and be heard by the very God of the universe
• If a born again Christian, we have the Holy Spirit residing in us
• At this point, we have freedom of religion in our country
• Through our Father, we have Christian friends with whom we share kindred spirits
• God provides for our every need
• An eternal home in Heaven awaits us

I dare not list more or I'll end up having a happy spell. It is mind boggling how God has loaded us down with benefits. May we never lapse into spiritual forgetfulness. Our Heavenly Father doesn't forget us for one single second.

Since a young girl, I have seen so often, sitting in front of our local VFW a sculpture of a fallen soldier in sitting position. Just under the soldier on the base, I believe it says “Lest we forget.” May you and I never forget all God has done for us from sacrificing His Son Jesus to sending His Holy Spirit to abide in us for a lifetime....”forget not all His benefits.”

Thank You Father, for Your love, care and every other benefit in my life. I love being loved by You, a love that is unconditional and consistent. I praise Your name today and never want to forget Your goodness in my life that I just don't deserve. I know I'm just a sinner saved by Your wonderful grace. I love You. Amen.

Controlling Holiday Depression

This is the day which the Lord hath made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

A few years ago, I spoke with a friend who has been involved in the funeral industry for several years. In the course of conversation, I asked this person if there is one particular time of the year that seems to be consistently the busiest week or month in their funeral business.  My friend told me that January was the month that for their business ranked #1 by far according to office records. When I asked the reasons, as if I didn't have some idea already, I was told that in our day, a strong emphasis on holiday's begins the first of October and lasts through New Years Day. It's on New Years day that some people wake up in the pit of depression...no more parties, no more elaborate food, no gifts to unwrap, Santa isn't present in stores for children to sit on his lap, decorations look old, stale and tacky, Christmas cards lose meaning, school programs are done and over with and the mall no longer seems the place to be. There are folks who struggle with the loss of loved ones through death or alienation of some sort. Some who already have serious emotional problems, find everything compounded and they seek an easy way out...suicide. There are also house fires, car accidents, crime victims in goodly number in January along with natural death events.

All of us have felt some of those things at one time or another and would never consider suicide, but for some people, it's been a reality. We look back to November 1 and wonder where time went. We soon find we are waking up and it's a new year. We glance back at recent, happy days of smiles, singing, giving and now, it's like we are left with an empty bag, the victim of a pretty lousy joke. The why's of all of this I think are two fold but in both cases, we are very much in control whether we believe it or not.

I have a favorite craft store I love that would be very familiar in name to most. When Halloween décor was out in full bloom, Thanksgiving things were almost mixed in with all of the orange, black and pumpkins. Pumpkins do overlap into both holidays. Then bumping up against those shelves and into a corner, there began the Christmas tree décor, not yet in full display but the beginnings. Have you noticed the big emphasis on Halloween these days? Even adult costumes are a huge business. So lets say that from October 1 through January 1, we are taken on a wild ride of holiday madness because of what various industries put us through. We are bombarded with TV ads, fliers in our mailboxes, adds on our computers, etc. So through the industry, we are exposed to all of the latest of everything from costumes to hand held electronic devices. It's all paraded before us doing all that can be done to make us feel guilty that we are depriving loved ones of joy and happiness if we don't indulge in the purchase of each advertisers wares. There's nothing we can do about the industry. It's their job to sell things, to make every item look its best and its most inviting

There are parties and programs to attend and for about three months, people are in a holiday frenzy that won't quit. It's almost a kind of narcotic high...a high that can take us where we don't want to go or causes us to be who we don't want to be. Soon, we are sitting almost in a daze the first week in January. There's nothing left in the way of activity, parties, spending and there are people who go into the deepest of depression at that time. Nothing will tell us who we are like sitting alone, after the activity is gone and all the lights have been turned out.

So what are some practical things to do:

Keep Jesus in the season. He should be a part of Thanksgiving as well as Christmas. This takes some planning. When planning holiday activities, don't shove church events to the bottom of the list. The things that go on at church should take priority.

We should turn a lot of things off in our thinking and have a determination to maintain a sanity with our family in mind. In it all, children are watching and learning from we parents what is really important about the holidays. Few families even discuss in days leading up to and during Thanksgiving Day those things we should be grateful for. Few families concentrate on those less fortunate at Christmas. Some feel they've done their fair share if they drop a dollar into a Salvation Army bucket.

There are many opportunities over the holidays for children to do things for others. Nothing will kill depression like jumping in with both feet to do for others. On Thanksgiving Day a little over a week ago, I wanted to take a dinner to a lady in our church I knew would be alone. I asked my two oldest grandboys (ages 5 & 3) who were here if they wanted to go with me to deliver dinner to a lady. They busied themselves making a nice card for her. When we got to her very small, humble residence, each boy carried some of the food into the house. They gave this lady hugs and before we left, we held hands with her and I prayed for her. The boys were somewhat quiet on the way home but asked several questions about the lady. I think the trip left an impression on them. I believe it was their mom who said that she didn't think the boys had done anything like that before. Come up with something children in the family can do for others during the Christmas holiday time. It will leave more of an impression on them than one can believe.

Maintain as much of a normal schedule as possible during holiday times, especially with children in the home. Children don't do well when everything is in an up-heaval for extended periods of time. They still need regular meals and consistent bedtimes as much as possible.

Don't fall for all the holiday and commercial hype. It's our fault for being holiday dupes. We can say “no” to many of the requests that come our way. We need a plan if we are going to maintain some kind of sanity in all of these days of glitz and glitter. This is only the first of December. This is the time to sit down and decide how much we will be involved in holiday festivities...what parties will we attend, what our Christmas budget will be, what useful and practical gifts will we purchase, etc. Without a plan, we can fall into a holiday and financial abyss that we can't crawl out of.

After a huge holiday, have something else planned a day or two afterward for the family to enjoy. Having something to look forward to after a big Christmas day can take the edge off of the holiday let down.

Let's remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Never thought I would type that sentence as I really don't care for it because it's become glib, trite and really doesn't mean much to people. The statement is true but our actions that back the statement are often weak at best. If you have a pin with that saying, wear it. It is a witness and testimony.

In Psalm 118, we are shown the importance of one day and that is the present day we are living in. It doesn't speak of yesterday or tomorrow but stresses THIS day. God doesn't play favorites with days. Every day is important to Him. He wants the best from us on THIS day. With Jesus at the center of our lives EVERYDAY, we can handle the big and small events of life whether they be joyous or troubled. God is the creator and controller of our days. He wants everyday to be of major importance to us because THIS is the day He's ordained for you and me. I can give a gift to someone TODAY...I can send someone a card TODAY...I can even eat turkey and dressing TODAY if I want to...I can sing “Joy to the World” TODAY and can offer my praise, thanksgiving and appreciation to God and others TODAY. Holidays will come and go but our Father is interested in what we do with every TODAY, no matter the date.

Father, thank You for sending Jesus, Your Son in human form. I'm not thankful for that just at this time of year. I'm grateful everyday for the salvation He made possible for me. Help me to make the very best of every day here on earth. Help me also to be generous with my time and effort in serving You and others. I love You....Amen.