Casting Cares

I used to sing this song when I was little.  I sang it all the time, and I meant the words that I sang.  Somewhere along the line, the words didn't mean as much to me anymore. I don't know if they just became wrote, or if all the "stuff" in my life just kind of blocked them out.
I cast all my cares upon You
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet
And anytime I don't know what to do
I will cast all my cares upon you
Wow!  What a simple way for Him to say that he cares for me and will take my cares and burdens and shoulder them for me.  I let the devil gain some ground in letting him tell me that these words were insignificant.  These words are AMAZING!  They come from 1 Peter 5:7 where it says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."  You can sub "cares, worries, burdens" for anxiety, but anxiety fits for me today.  Like I said, such a simple statement.  It sometimes may seem too simple.  So, all I have to do is let him have it and he will take it over?  Yes, the key is, though, to not take it back.  I don't know about you, but anxiety can be suffocating.  We have people come into the clinic thinking they are having a heart attack and it is just anxiety.  It is not easy to let go when you are in the midst of anxiety.  However, just think of this simple verse and cast it onto the Father and he will take care of you.  One thing I have learned about the Father is that He doesn't just "say" things to say them.  He means these words and He WILL take care of your burdens.  I woke up with this little song in my head and I know that He put it there to remind me.  This was my favorite as a kiddo. Cares Chorus

Renewing Mind

It's been a tough day.  Losing Lucky was pretty hard for me.  I delivered this goat from her mother. I didn't think I would take it this hard.  I found myself starting to lash out last night.  It seemed as though everything was bothering me.  Today, I was just teary and overwhelmed all day long.  As I drove back from getting groceries at the store, the Lord reminded me that I have to be constantly renewing my mind.  I could let that darkness of depression sneak up on me.  I could let it overwhelm my mind and heart, but I don't have the strength to climb out from that pit right now.  What I really need is the Lord to renew my mind and constantly take me from that place of darkness and set me in His light where I can be surrounded and soak in his light.  

Romans 12:2 says Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will.  Yes, I need to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.  Lord, wash over me!  I need to know your GOOD, PLEASING, and PERFECT will.  

Have you been here?  Are you here?  It takes just a minute to start, just ask the Lord to help you focus on something of him, something good and He will remind you whose you are.  I am a daughter of the King, I am a child of the creator.  Blessings.

Life

Wow, it has been a LONG time since I blogged.  I just don't keep up with it much anymore.  Life gets in the way.  Have you ever said that about anything?  "Life gets in the way."  Wow.  What a statement.  Life, that fragile thing that sustains us.  The thing that is not always fair or easy, but if it is not there....well.  The Bible says a lot about life.  It is always in relationship to the Life we have with Jesus.  Without Him life wouldn't be worth living.  John 1:4 says, "In him was life and that life was the light of all mankind."  How many times do we let loving our 'life' get in the way of letting Life be the light of all mankind.  See, when we let Jesus work through us, life becomes something totally different.  Life becomes light and light SHATTERS darkness.  Read verse 5 in John 1, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  The word always says more than once that if we love our life, we will lose it (Matthew 10:39, Mark 8:35, Matthew 16:25, Luke 9:24, John 12:25).  Meaning if we find our life without Jesus, who shatters darkness and gives us eternal life with Him, we lose.it.all!
It has been a tough day.  We learned of a child who lost his life over the weekend, and we lost an animal to a random accident while we were out of town.  Life is fragile in the fleshly world.  Good thing that Jesus has overcome the world and has overcome death.  I know losing an animal pales in comparison to losing a child.  I cannot imagine what those parents have to deal with now.  It is still painful and you still go through the grieving process.  I rejoice in the fact that I have Jesus to break through the darkness.  I am grateful that the Life HE gives is abundant and full and eternal.  That momma will see her baby again one day.  It will be hard every day until then, but there is Hope.  My heart grieves for her and I pray that she will find the Light in all that darkness.  My life isn't getting in the way anymore.  I am enjoying the life that God gave me with my husband and my kids, my family and friends, and those around me who need to find life with Christ.  So next time those words try to escape your lips.  Remember, life is not a bad thing.  It is where you find your life that is important.  Life with Jesus and the gifts He has given you is always living.  It is not something that just happens to you.  It is something you take hold of and march through the darkness with Christ on your side.

God is good

I am so unbelievably blessed beyond measure! I started my new job this week, my first nursing job ever. I put in one application to the place where I wanted to work, and I got the job. In this economy I am more than grateful to have this opportunity. I am well aware of people out there that have been looking for jobs for a year or more. I honestly am humbled and a little nervous that the Lord would trust this to me.
I started this journey knowing full well that it was a gift given to me by God. I fully intend to honor this gift by giving it back to Him. The new company that I work for is a Christian company that does mission work, which is totally what I want to do. Short term medical missions. Another sweet, sweet blessing.
I have a lot to learn from my coworkers and supervisors because I feel like I have all of this knowledge in my head that I need to recall at a moments notice. This comes with experience, I know, but I can't help but feel very slow to do that at the moment.
So many things have shown me recently that He is in control, so I am just going to leave it to Him!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I can't believe I did this, I made an awesome Valentine snack and I only got one picture of the whole process.  I guess I was tired or something and not thinking straight.  I did make them at 11:00pm last night.  I found this recipe online the other day and HAD to try it.  All you need is a bag of bite sized pretzels, a bag or tow of Hershey's kisses or hugs, and a large bag of M&Ms.
1.  Preheat oven to 170*F.
2.  Line up the pretzels on a baking sheet.
3.  Place unwrapped Hershey's on top of pretzels.
4.  Put in the oven for 4-8 minutes or until the Hershey's can be smooshed down.  I actually got mine a little too melted, but it worked out anyway.
5.  Quickly smoosh down the Kiss or Hug with an M&M in the center.
6.  Put the baking sheet with the 'buttons' in the refrigerator until chocolate is set.  (around 10 minutes)

I used Hugs and Peanut Butter M&Ms.  They turned out great and they were SOOOOO easy!!  Next time I'll get pictures!

Creating?

I know, it has been days since I created something new, right? Well, I have been pretty busy. I just passed my NCLEX-PN and I'm now a Licensed Vocational Nurse. That is super exciting as I have been working really hard towards that goal. We have also been in the process of replacing the flooring in our house. This has been a long time coming, too. We replaced our yucky carpet with vinyl plank and i love it! We have been waiting so long to do this and it has finally paid off. Of course, we had issues with installation and our dryer quit in the middle of al of it, but it is finished. Mostly. A little touch up paint and we'll be there.

Tolerance?

So, I need an outlet for something God is working out in me.  It may be a touchy subject, but I think God's grace will cover it.  I started this journey just trying to understand why it is that some of my friends and family have appeared to reject all they have been taught about our Savior.  Let me be clear.  I don't think that God is a Republican or Democrat, left wing or right, He is God and His word speaks for Him.  I try not to get caught up in politics because I know that men/women are flawed and those that run for office (save a few) most likely have bigger problems.  I do my part and vote for the candidate that I believe holds my values and stands up for those values, I don't care which party they belong to.  Anyway, I wanted to put that out there.   This is not a political debate.  It is an outlet for what God is showing me about things I see going on around me.  There, I think I covered the preface.
In growing concern for my loved ones (I will keep names and situations out of this), I began to ask the Lord what I was missing.  Am I being a close minded person?  Am I missing something that You want to do because I don't think this mindset is healthy or right?  So, I began to pray about how to view these people and situations.  I don't like to feel judgmental, so I take these things to the Lord.  I asked God, "Are you Tolerant?"  "Lord, I remember that you hung around sinners and tax collectors.  I remember that you took up for the woman that was going to be stoned.  I remember that you still ministered to the thief while on the cross.  Am I missing something?"  The response that came next was, of course, "Look deeper."  So, I did.  I don't believe that God is tolerant at all.  I believe that God is Love.  Not in a hippy commune type of way.  You see, in every instance where Jesus hung out with sinners (which the Pharisees hated, by the way) He had called them away.  Mark 2:17 says, "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  He called them away from their behavior to follow Him.  It was an immediate action.  In Mark 2:14 just before the verse above, Jesus sees Levi sitting at a tax collector's booth (sinner of all sinners back then) "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.  Wow!  That is amazing.  I really wish in all my 'righteousness' getting up and following Jesus would be so easy.  In this, He does not confront them, he plainly states, follow me.  There is no protest, there is no petition, just a simple act of faith on the part of the sinner.  Ok, let's look at another example, the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Luke 15: ¹ Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

 ³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.  

Again, Jesus is talking about repentance.  Next, the adulterous woman. Luke 8: ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

   But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

   ⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

   ¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

   “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  

What did He right in the sand?  I have no idea, but here is another example of Jesus calling the woman away from her sin.  

I will end with this passage from 1 Timothy.  I love this!   1 Timothy 1:¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. ¹³ Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴ The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

 ¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Wow!  What a statement!  This sinner (and we are ALL sinners) was CHANGED by Jesus!  He didn't condemn them, he didn't necessarily confront them, but He CALLED them to leave their sin and follow Him.  This sinner just happened to be Paul, formerly Saul, he did GREAT things with this sinner (after he called him away).

So, do I believe that God is tolerant of sin (any sin)?  No.  I believe that he LOVES us enough to call us away from that sin.  Do we as believers need to take it upon ourselves to call sinners out?  I don't think so.  We are called to so much more, but I believe that Jesus does the calling.  We are to share the gospel and love like He loves us.  Does this mean we should sit and dine with (unrepentant) sinners every night?  From what I see in these passages, Jesus called, then he spent time with them discipling them.  He did not take up their cause and make them feel better about who they are.  He simply loved them and guided them, then released them to do the same.  

Does this make me feel better about where my loved ones are turning, no.  It does help me know how to pray for them and to know that He will give me words and love for them.  I know it's not all the answers.  I don't pretend to know them.  I know that he still calls people out of their sin and I know that people are out there searching for things and ideals to put in place of Him.  We as believers should be Love, not Tolerant.

Just rambling now, but you can see my thought process.  This was not meant to offend anyone.  It is the process the Lord took me through this morning for understanding.  I hope and pray that if you are reading this and feel the calling of the Lord, that you will reach out to Him.  If you have questions, please comment.  Again, I don't have all the answers.  Only God does, but I can pray through until something happens!

Blessings!