Sunday, January 29, 2006

Though He Slay Me

I've been thinking about Job alot lately.The Bible says that Job was blameless and upright;he feared God and shunned evil(Job1:1 NIV).Job was one righteous dude.Smile.Righteous in that he was in right standing before God.He had been blessed with much in his life.He had many children and much in the way of animals and servants.He was living well until his entire world began to cave in around him.Satan had convinced God to let him take away all that Job had held dear on this earth.Family.Health.Livelihood.Things we can hold dear as well.Satan was convinced that Job was only serving God because God had blessed him with so much.He was so convinced of this he told God"Stretch out Your hand and strike evrything he has and he will surely curse You to Your face."(Job 1:11 NIV)But God knew Job far better than Satan.God had created Job.He knew him at his very core so God essentially said"bring it on!"Job had no clue as to what was coming.Disaster upon disaster befell him.All in a fairly short amount of time...
My husband Steve and I have been facing storms that have been Job-like for about 8 years now.We have lost family members in death.Loss of health.Loss of income.Loss upon loss.Bad news daily it seemed at times.Our world,like Job's,turned on it's head.Pain and tears and fear.And nowhere to look but to God.When all human comfort,all human resources had fled or been depleted,God was there.Faithful.Waiting patiently while the enemy of our souls assalted our lives.Knowing the outcome would bring glory to Him(though we cannot see it yet)and shame to ther enemy.We received another huge assault from the enemy of our souls this last week from two sources.These two things have the potential to totally wipe out our already fragile finances(CA is trying to take child support from my husband's disability checks;his"children"are adults and on their own or on the verge of it)and adversely affect my husband's health(Medicare Part D issues.Mistakes on their part really).However,I choose to say,along with Job,"though He slay me,yet will I trust in Him..."(Job 13:15 NIV)I'm going to keep trusting God for we have seen His faithfulness to us in the past and His word in Malachi 3:6 says He never changes!I am fully expecting to see God do great things for us(see Psalm 126)and that we will see miracles in the days to come.I will share them here when they happen.Smile.
Blessings~Sharon

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Times of Transition

I love the month of Janruary.New Year.New beginnings.Fresh pages to fill in the journal of our lives.Time to relax after the busy holiday season is over.I also love this month because I know that in a couple of months spring will be here.New life bursting forth everywhere.The promise of warmer temperatures and sunny skies just around the corner.The promise of loads of color in our town after months of leaden skies and liquid sunshine.Change of pace.Change of scenery.Change of weather.Transition.The local weather guys called today a transition day.After about 2 months of rain literally we are due for about 3 days of partial sun.It will officially start tomorrow but today was the transition day.No rain.Partially clearing skies this afternoon.A noticeable drop in the temperature due to the clearing skies.As we drove about town on this transition day there were amazing signs of life everywhere.People were out walking in the cold afternoon sun.The bare trees and the snow capped mountains east of here shouted to us that it is still Janruary.But we saw signs of imminent changes in the weather as well as the season.We saw small buds on the bare trees.Crocus were beginning to bloom in a neighbor's yard.Daffodils and tulips were sending up their slender green stalks through through dark earth to the warming sun above.Grey clouds parted and gave way to white,fair-weather,cotton ball clouds.Bits of blue sky began to herald the wonderful change.We are in a time of transition and I am loving it.Even optimists get weary of winter.Both on the calendar as well as in our lives.Steve and I are in a transition period here personally as well.Though I'll not share the details of the potential change I am looking forward to seeing God change not only the season weather wise but this particular issue that suddenly assaulted us this weekend.I am trusting God that just as the calendar is on the verge of a new season; a transition time to warmer weather and sunny skies, so are our lives on the verge of sunnier weather.
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"For,lo,the winter is past,the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth,the time of the singing of birds is come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
~~~Song of Solomon 2:11-12~~~
Blessings,Sharon

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Our New Addition

We have a new addition here at home.She came to us around the holidays via our son(he bought her).She's adorable.Her name is Madison.She's 8 months old and is one of the cutest puppies I have ever seen.She's mostly Beagle but has some Bassett Hound in her which would explain her length and her occasionally droopy eyes.Sometimes she evn looks like she is part Pointer.She's white and light brown.Not a bit of black.She's beautiful.She absolutely loves Steve and I she loves to sit and sleep with us.We are her caregivers 90-95% of the time.We're still not sure how that happened except that perhaps our son did not count the cost before purchasing her.So we bathe and feed and walk her.We love on her and she on us.Sometimes she looks up at us with sheer adoration, bordering on worship,in her puppy eyes.We've had to puppy-proof the apartment some since her arrival.Steve's medicines are no longer on his night stand but tucked away in a cabinet out of Madison's reach.All in all she's been a good experience.Steve and I are animal lovers who have not had pets since our youth.We now are getting to reap the benefits of having Madison(Maddy,Mad-Hatter,Maddy-Monster,Maddygascar...she answers to all of them:-))in our lives here because our son paid the price to purchase her.It struck me the other day that it's just like Jesus.He paid the price for our sin so we could enjoy all the benefits of eternity with God.Someone else paid the price and we are reaping the benefits.Even greater than puppy love is Jesus great love for mankind.He loved us so much He was willing to die for us.He paid the price for us.We honor Him and the price He paid by living for Him.
Blessings,Sharon

Friday, January 06, 2006

You Say Tsunami,I Say Salami?

The Bible in Proverbs 17:22(Amplified) says"A happy heart is a good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing,but a broken spirit dries the bones."I love to laugh.Fortunately I come from a humorous family and I married a very amusing man.I think laughter is one of God's greatest gifts.I had opportunity recently to laugh till the tears fell.My husband had called his mom to check in.He does that daily or at least a few times a week as she is nearing 80 years of age.In the course of the conversation she had told my husband of some predictions for 2006 she had seen on the 700 Club earlier that day.One of the predictions was for Tsunami's on the West Coast.But she pronounced it"Salami's!"Now,since I tend to be very visual and think in pictures you can imagine the imagery that conjured up.I began to chuckle.Then to laugh.I laughed so hard the tears began to flow.I love laughing till the tears flow.My husband was laughing pretty good by this time too.The next morning we were still chuckling over his mom's verbal faux pas.I told Steve that I could just imagine what the headlines might say"Subversive Summer Sausages Stalk Unsuspecting Swimmers and Surfers in Waters off West Coast."Just try and picture it.Use your God-given imagination.Have fun.Laughter....it's a good thing.
Blessings,Sharon