Acts 2:42-47
Believers devoted themselves to a daily teaching and reading of the Word of God. They made time for fellowship and set aside time to pray regularly. As they did this they were witness to many signs and wonders from God. Selling their possessions as was needed for the good of the entire community they never went without a need met. Daily they got into a habit of worship, eating together with gladness and of a simple mindedness. These believers praised God everyday and everyday God added to their community of believers.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Stuck vs Unstuck....
Sometime we get STUCK, stuck in programs, stuck in the ritual of busyness, stuck in health issues, stuck in managing our own little world thinking that “we have this covered”, God can use His time on someone else. So many times I have felt stuck but never when it traveled parallel with God. Only when I choose (for whatever reason) to take the vertical direction did I find myself stuck.
I am reminded of a story long time ago when I was 6 years old. We lived in a trailer court. (The PC word in 2011 is Mobile Home Park) but nonetheless it was a place where trailer living had you “parked” on a piece of ground and you paid rent to keep your trailer parked there. A rather nice community of people who believed that the “American Dream” had not but one day would occur for them. (I digress a bit)
I am reminded of a story long time ago when I was 6 years old. We lived in a trailer court. (The PC word in 2011 is Mobile Home Park) but nonetheless it was a place where trailer living had you “parked” on a piece of ground and you paid rent to keep your trailer parked there. A rather nice community of people who believed that the “American Dream” had not but one day would occur for them. (I digress a bit)
Stuck vs Unstuck....
I was best friends with Bonnie Gabanny; her dad was paid to manager this trailer court. The neat thing was they lived in the only house on the “court-land” so I enjoyed the spacious life of a house everyday as we played.
The best part was we got to play house with our dolls in vacant trailers. With peanut butter, wonder bread and a plastic knife in tow we enjoyed our imaginations. One day Bonnie’s dad left the large ladder propped up against the maintenance garage so we decided it would be fun to climb to the top of the garage and see what was on top or as we like to think, the wonders of the world. Bonnie went first b/c she was not as afraid as I was to get in trouble. Next it was my turn. Getting up the brave heart to start the climb I got have way up then decided to look down, my first big mistake. My fear froze my actions. I was STUCK!
There are many kinds of stuck-ness w/the God. Pastor Tom described them this way: Fear: (Jer 4:19-20) that overwhelms us. Fatigue: (V21) so very tired of whatever has been consuming us. Foolishness: ( Jer 2:25 & Jer 5:21-22) the ignorance or selfishness we determine to be “our own” and not God’s. So caught up in the world and forgetting that God said “Be in the world and not of it.” Faking it: (Jer 5:23-24) giving God mouth service and not heart service. There are times where we just go through the motions tipping our hat toward God 1 hour a week.
The best part was we got to play house with our dolls in vacant trailers. With peanut butter, wonder bread and a plastic knife in tow we enjoyed our imaginations. One day Bonnie’s dad left the large ladder propped up against the maintenance garage so we decided it would be fun to climb to the top of the garage and see what was on top or as we like to think, the wonders of the world. Bonnie went first b/c she was not as afraid as I was to get in trouble. Next it was my turn. Getting up the brave heart to start the climb I got have way up then decided to look down, my first big mistake. My fear froze my actions. I was STUCK!
There are many kinds of stuck-ness w/the God. Pastor Tom described them this way: Fear: (Jer 4:19-20) that overwhelms us. Fatigue: (V21) so very tired of whatever has been consuming us. Foolishness: ( Jer 2:25 & Jer 5:21-22) the ignorance or selfishness we determine to be “our own” and not God’s. So caught up in the world and forgetting that God said “Be in the world and not of it.” Faking it: (Jer 5:23-24) giving God mouth service and not heart service. There are times where we just go through the motions tipping our hat toward God 1 hour a week.
Stuck vs Unstuck....
Well on that ladder I was full of fear and fatigue. I started crying, Bonnie started screaming for her dad and as hero’s always do, Mr. Gabanny came running around the corner. He pranced up that ladder in two shakes, grabbed my waist and the next thing I knew I was standing on green grass. I was UNSTUCK. Yeah me!
Pastor Tom shared how we can get un-stuck. Read Jeremiah 6:16. It says that we should ASK for help (I did) Listen and abide by that very help (or what I wrote in my journal) DO IT. In that minute I find REST.
Ask by looking to the wisdom of others who have gone before you…”the old godly way.” Attain wisdom that comes from God’s word and believers who have already walked that path. Don’t just give lip service but actually do what they/or God tells you to do. And only then will rest find you, find you standing on green grass, feet firmly planted in a safe place.
Pastor Tom shared how we can get un-stuck. Read Jeremiah 6:16. It says that we should ASK for help (I did) Listen and abide by that very help (or what I wrote in my journal) DO IT. In that minute I find REST.
Ask by looking to the wisdom of others who have gone before you…”the old godly way.” Attain wisdom that comes from God’s word and believers who have already walked that path. Don’t just give lip service but actually do what they/or God tells you to do. And only then will rest find you, find you standing on green grass, feet firmly planted in a safe place.
Stuck vs Unstuck....
Today after worship I found Pastor Tom and told him that I was stuck in Fatigue, so tired of many things that have occupied my heart and my mind. There are personal struggles that allowed its ugly head to have a stronghold over my life. There are tired days of doctors and my mother’s health, days of struggle w/relationships that I so want mended but know it is out of my hands.
I have asked for wisdom from God Himself and wise believers. Just like screaming for help as a child on that ladder, I’m flat tired. Today I started resting. Today I am UNSTUCK. Like the rungs on a ladder, I use them as a measuring devise for my believers walk thru this world. Some days I climb high enough to see what God has to give me and some days I freeze on a rung, standing still for a while only to finally realize that I need help. So I ask, do it, and rest again.
I am so glad God’s grace is pouring over me daily. I am so glad God never gives up on my poor soul; He never tires of rescuing me from me.
I have asked for wisdom from God Himself and wise believers. Just like screaming for help as a child on that ladder, I’m flat tired. Today I started resting. Today I am UNSTUCK. Like the rungs on a ladder, I use them as a measuring devise for my believers walk thru this world. Some days I climb high enough to see what God has to give me and some days I freeze on a rung, standing still for a while only to finally realize that I need help. So I ask, do it, and rest again.
I am so glad God’s grace is pouring over me daily. I am so glad God never gives up on my poor soul; He never tires of rescuing me from me.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Timing is Everything....
....people say this all the time but do they really mean it? Do you believe that you are in the right spot at this appointed time of life, even if it is a crummy situation? I mean really, sometimes timing is crap-ola. (there is really no other word for it)
Just this week our daughter and family was ALMOST to gymnastics class and got rear-ended bad! The 2 older girls sitting in the back of the van got the brunt of the shock from the suburban. A few years ago we were excited about serving alongside our other daughter and her husband in Georgia but 10 mos later we find ourselves searching for employment. A friend and his wife have gone thru some unsettling life experiences over the past few years, still together and strong but what they have gone thru , no one should have to experience so young.
Yet in each situation ( some in the present some will have to be in hind sight) we can/will see TIMING come into play.
Today I awoke with only 5 hrs sleep, drove to Newark to take my momma for more tests. After 2 hrs we hit McDee's for lunch on the go and I took her back home. I really wanted to stay awhile but my head was hurting and I was getting tired fast. I decided to get her settled and left with a hug, kiss and my cheeseburger. Half way home I called Steve to "pray me home" b/c I was so tired. I could of closed my eyes and fallen asleep driving down the road. As I get to a town w/a larger Kroger store, my mind goes to a Starbucks....maybe they have one in the Kroger store! Well my fire went out when I drove into the parking lot ....no Starbucks and I refuse to have a McDee's coffee in the middle of the day. (their coffee always taste burned)
So I drive to the end of the strip mall to turn around. I noticed an elderly lady by the trunk of her car, wailing her one free arm in the air, packages and sacks all over the pavement. I pulled up and stopped. Her fingers were caught in the trunk of her car and she said the key lock was frozen, she could not open it. I tried to pry it open but to no avail. I noticed she was going into shock so I called 911! She was 73 yrs old and her pupils were so dilated that they were as small as pen points on a page. Long story short, the EMT's came, we got her hand out, no broken bones but very very bruised. So relieved!
Timing WAS everything to her today. I am so very glad that I was tired, didn't fall asleep at the wheel, stopped for a coffee on the left side of the road instead of McDee's on the right side. So glad I didn't find a Starbucks in the Kroger store and drove all the way to the end of that strip mall. I didn't spend more time w/my mom today, b/c I was suppose to be there searching for coffee just for that ladies sake.
So the next time I find myself throwing a pity party over a unusual situtation or mad at the world for something that happened when I was NOT AT FAULT or maybe just living life as it is given to me..I want to remember this lady and the way God planned for me to be there at the right TIME.
Just this week our daughter and family was ALMOST to gymnastics class and got rear-ended bad! The 2 older girls sitting in the back of the van got the brunt of the shock from the suburban. A few years ago we were excited about serving alongside our other daughter and her husband in Georgia but 10 mos later we find ourselves searching for employment. A friend and his wife have gone thru some unsettling life experiences over the past few years, still together and strong but what they have gone thru , no one should have to experience so young.
Yet in each situation ( some in the present some will have to be in hind sight) we can/will see TIMING come into play.
Today I awoke with only 5 hrs sleep, drove to Newark to take my momma for more tests. After 2 hrs we hit McDee's for lunch on the go and I took her back home. I really wanted to stay awhile but my head was hurting and I was getting tired fast. I decided to get her settled and left with a hug, kiss and my cheeseburger. Half way home I called Steve to "pray me home" b/c I was so tired. I could of closed my eyes and fallen asleep driving down the road. As I get to a town w/a larger Kroger store, my mind goes to a Starbucks....maybe they have one in the Kroger store! Well my fire went out when I drove into the parking lot ....no Starbucks and I refuse to have a McDee's coffee in the middle of the day. (their coffee always taste burned)
So I drive to the end of the strip mall to turn around. I noticed an elderly lady by the trunk of her car, wailing her one free arm in the air, packages and sacks all over the pavement. I pulled up and stopped. Her fingers were caught in the trunk of her car and she said the key lock was frozen, she could not open it. I tried to pry it open but to no avail. I noticed she was going into shock so I called 911! She was 73 yrs old and her pupils were so dilated that they were as small as pen points on a page. Long story short, the EMT's came, we got her hand out, no broken bones but very very bruised. So relieved!
Timing WAS everything to her today. I am so very glad that I was tired, didn't fall asleep at the wheel, stopped for a coffee on the left side of the road instead of McDee's on the right side. So glad I didn't find a Starbucks in the Kroger store and drove all the way to the end of that strip mall. I didn't spend more time w/my mom today, b/c I was suppose to be there searching for coffee just for that ladies sake.
So the next time I find myself throwing a pity party over a unusual situtation or mad at the world for something that happened when I was NOT AT FAULT or maybe just living life as it is given to me..I want to remember this lady and the way God planned for me to be there at the right TIME.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
ogledantzlergorman card 2010
Classic Red Square Christmas Card
Personalized Christmas cards at Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.
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