Wisdom & Understanding

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8 THINKING ! Trying to figure things out! Analyzing every little detail! That's me! While sometimes this can be a real gift (like for the FBI)...other times it can drive one crazy!!!! For the past several years I have had a lot of changes in my life. I'm sure I have not had anymore than any one else, but for someone like me who loves stability and...okay I'll admit it...I don't particularly like change! I'm of the "if it ain't broke...don't fix it" group. It has been a whole new "normal" for me. Sometimes when I get a little low, I pull out all the hurtful, negative things that have happened to me and begin to try and analyze why those thi...

"This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see." — Corrie ten Boom (The Hiding Place)

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 With the Christmas season approaching, it brings back many good memories of a season in my life. The year was 2001 and my husband and I were waiting for my son, his wife and the two grandbabies to come home for a visit. In anticipation of them coming I had already set up the pre-lit tree and had taken the ornaments out of the garage. In my mind I could just see them arriving with the children to a homey house already decorated for Christmas. I was looking for a reprieve from the stress of taking care of my dear husband whose health was rapidly declining. To me decorating the tree and having everything in place when they arrived, would have been a spark of joy over the recent events that had taken place in our lives. But one night as I went into the living room preparing to decorate the tree, my hus...

“There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still." — Corrie ten Boom “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39 A friend requested prayer for their family member that had to be hospitalized for a mental condition. While many with compassion rushed to let her know that they are indeed praying and believing God for restoration. One well meaning soul decided to question the decision to hospitalize and even of...

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” Philippians 4:11-13 I am sure we have all heard “Bloom where you’re planted”. Well to me this morning it related to my Mums on my front porch that I was watering at the time. They are so pretty in full bloom, in spite of the conditions…cold outside…restrained and contained in a pot, dry and without water (sorry…I did water them though), they get no real attention like my houseplants…and yet there they were this morning just blooming away. It reminded me of us, sometimes we may not have the ideal situations: don’t like our jobs, don’t get along with relatives or associates, your money may be funny, age is creeping up on you, etc. There are a million an...

One night while watching a documentary on MSNBC, it was about the DC Snipers. In October 2002, a man and 16 year old boy went on a shooting rampage that ended in the death of 10 people and wounding several innocent people. The case worker of the young boy involved, spoke of how he had such a bad case of "lost identity" that he could not understand his accountability for the deaths of the people he had killed. He would say things like "I did what my father told me to do" and that he would do anything that he asked of him. He had lost all sense of who he really was. His sociopath state of mind was so merged with the older man, that every technique they tried to "seperate" the boy from the older man failed. That is until this determined case worker who was of Carribean descent as the boy, went back to his hometown in the Islands and tape recorded the boy's relatives. She asked his relatives to record their memories of the boy when he lived at home. The co...

"But the fruit if the Spirit of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, KINDNESS, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Galations 5:22-23 Someone came up with that phrase a few years ago, about people "...doing random acts of kindness." While I do appreciate the effort and sentiment into getting people to take notice to others needs and doing something about it. I scratch my head when it comes to the "random" part. The word "random" means -"occurring without definite aim, reason or pattern; without uniformity; to do something haphazardly." -Webster Dicitonary Haphazardly? hmmm Well I guess it worked for some people, I mean I've seen numerous commercials on TV of one person helping someone across the street and then that person returns a purse to someone who has dropped it and it goes on and on in a chain reaction. But does it really work that easily? There are plenty of people that will see an act of kindness and it does not affect them at all....