Striving VS Chilling

It's 4 a.m. and I am awake. I am WIDE awake! My mind will not shut down long enough for my body to rest. Not a good place to be.

A friend of mine shared with me that when I am trying to be in control more often than not I am striving. Striving keeps me awake at night. Striving steals my joy. Striving makes me a control freak. Striving causes me stress and stress for everyone around me. Striving makes me have a short fuse. Striving causes me to miss the sweet moments in life. Striving causes me to wear my feelings on my shoulder.

I am reminded of the lyrics of an old song: "Slow down you move too fast. You got to make the morning last. Just kicking down the cobble stones. Looking for fun and feeling groovy." I haven't been doing too much of that lately - "feeling groovy" - CHILLING!

Why in the world would I choose to live a life of strife when I know I could chill? Seems like a no brainer to me!

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the Lord will 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."

That tells me to Let Go and Let God! He is the wind beneath my wings. When I get ahead of God and I am in the flesh, I am striving.

Jesus said: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Paul wrote: "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13 

I call that "Chilling with God".

So it is pretty clear to me that I need to Let Go and Let God. His plan always works.

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart  and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

TRUST GOD - LET GO --- CHILL!

Thought for the day:

"Life is better when you LAUGH a little."

God says: "I've Got THIS!"

Recently I almost missed a blessing because I was in too much of a hurry. I was at the church office and the Pastor asked me if I wanted to join them for a short devotional when I got through working on something for them. I got through faster than I thought and my spirit convicted me that I needed to stay for the devotion.

Pastor Jerry shared Psalm 91. This particular Psalm has lots of special memories for me as it was my go to scripture during a time I was going through breast cancer surgery and my mom having colon cancer surgery.

As he read, it brought tears to my eyes and reminded me that through "it" all God said "I've got this!"

So bear with me as I share the entire Psalm and watch for His "I've got this!"

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. (I've Got This)

⁴ He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.  (I've Got This)

⁵ You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. (I've Got This)

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  (I've Got This)

⁸ You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,

¹⁰ no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.  (I've Got This)

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;  (I've Got This)

¹² they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  (I've Got This)

¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.  (I've Got This)

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  (I've Got This)

¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

I am so glad that I stayed and let God remind be that He's Got This!

Celebrating Life

What a wonderful opportunity we had July 26, 2012. We celebrated my daddy's 90th birthday! We didn't do anything fancy. It was so special just to be together and have lunch.

I am so proud of him and all he has done. He has taught me so much and I treasure that because I am who I am because of the example my daddy and mama lived before us.

If you go by to see him and have some time,  he would love to play a hand of  "Seven Up" with you! And you had better watch him - He is good! My daddy loves country music and he loves to dance. He has been a trooper since we lost mama six years ago. He still lives by himself and tries to stay as busy as he can.

So here are a few of the photos from our special day with Daddy.

I told you he loves to dance. So here he is with his two great granddaughters dancing to a Loretta Lynn song in the background.

Daddy and Rebekah

Daddy and Anna

 

Birthday cake with the birthday boy:

My Sister - Tena , Daddy, Me

Kelly, Rebekah, Anna 

Charlie, Me, Daddy

James, Tena, Daddy

Love you Daddy! Thanks for everything!

40 Years And Counting . . .

My, my, my - how time flies when you are having fun! And I am having fun! Met my soul mate at the University of  Georgia and it has been an adventure every since. On June 17, 2012 we celebrated 40 years of marriage!

What I love most about Charlie Merwin is his love of life. He makes the most of every moment. He is easy going and very patient with me and he makes me laugh when I don't feel like it. He has been my rock and my best friend.

I don't think I would have ever traveled as much as I have or experienced as much as I have had I not met him. I know more about turkeys and deer than I could have ever imagined. I am a pretty good fisherman because of him even though I do still get really aggravated if I have to fish out of the back of the boat. AND he taught me how to ride a motorcycle! I truly believe that God reached down and picked him out and put him in my path 42 years ago.

We have learned so much together too. We have learned to love MUCH and forgive MORE. We know that there are times in our days that we need time to ourselves - to breathe - AND times that we need to cling to each other to get through STUFF. If everything about a relationship was easy, what fun would there be in growing together?

So thank you Charlie Merwin for the time of my life! May God continue to bless us as we LIVE, LOVE, and LAUGH.

Ramblings

Charlie and I love to just get in the car and start driving - not a specific destination in mind - just wherever our spirit leads. We haven't had a chance or I should say haven't taken the time to do that until this past week. So Thursday morning we got in the car and just started driving.

Our first destination was Americus where we had lunch in a Bistro adjacent to a well known hotel there, The Windsor.

Our next stop was Star Racing. Such a great group of people. Charlie got his own personalized tour :) Check with Charlie on the details. I didn't have a CLUE what they were talking about!

They will train you to be NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) certified on this little baby:

This bike will go 1/4 mile in 7.6 seconds!

Our destination for the day was Carrollton where we stopped to visit with friends and share a wonderful meal at Little Hawaiian Restaurant. Great food and desserts!

Since this was our turn around point, we headed south the next morning and rambled through LaGrange and worked our way towards Macon for a Pre-Father's Day visit with my daddy. An added bonus was to see my sister and brother-in-law for a while too.

Our ramblings included having supper with daddy at Jeneane's (a wonderful place for home cooked meals) and riding downtown to check out the filming of the movie "42" about Jackie Robinson.

This Brooklyn 1940s scene was recreated on Second Street in Macon. The cars were amazing!

Some other precious memories made with my daddy and his dogs and his one and ONLY cat:

Yep, there we are with all the dogs: Zippy, Nona and Pretty Girl :)

Then it was time to come on home and we rambled one more time in Tifton with a special friend of ours who has a heart for ministry. He was having a special event for an organization called Hope Ministries. So we ended our day with Earl (the Pearl) Perry :)

As I look back over these pictures, I am thinking that Charlie and I need to RAMBLE more often. It was fun! Love the adventurous spirit in my sweet "Charming" Charlie!

Be blessed today and take time to enjoy TODAY!

Gardening

It seems like it has been forever since I have done any writing. However, today I was outside doing some gardening and the Lord was speaking to me as I worked. I love it when this happens. It seems I am always so busy that I don't let my mind slow down to listen for His still gentle voice.

As I was working really hard to trim back an Indian Hawthorne that we have, He reminded me of the words Jesus shared concerning the vine and the branches. We had sprayed some Round Up to get rid of some unwanted trees and vines - that's Red Neck pruning - and as would have it got some of it on the Indian Hawthorne which we did not want to get rid of.

However, the chemical got to it and it started to die. As I cut it back trying to get to the root so we can completely get it out and start over, the Lord reminded me of a few things.

Yes, we need pruning and sometimes in the process of getting rid of the bad we also injure the good. Notice I said "injure". The root of the Hawthorne was still strong and underneath the leaves and mulch there was new growth. Amazing! I had to dig deep to find it but it was there.

So it is with us. Things happen in us that cause us to bear poor fruit. God prunes and in the process even some of the good stuff might get hurt. But at the root - new growth occurs!

Aren't we glad!

The Little Engine That Could

I have been leading a group of ladies at our church in Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer. In our lesson today "Please make everything easy; I can't take it if things are too hard!", I m reminded of a book that most of us read or someone read to us as a child, The Little Engine That Could. What most of us remember about it is there was a small train filled with good things for boys and girls. It had toy animals, teddy bears, dolls, airplanes, tops, (you get the picture) and the "funniest little toy clown you every saw" and they needed to get over the mountain.

We know the story. The little train has a break down and can't move. Several engines come along but all of them have an excuse as to why they can't help the little train. Eventually a little blue engine comes along and saves the day. We remember the favorite line - "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can." and as he goes down the other side of the mountain - we remember the famous words "I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could."

We leave the story usually with the lesson being we can do anything we put our mind to. Right?

But let me drop back just a little bit and remind you of someone in the story that is what I feel like the key element and does not seem to be very important as you read. Remember "the funniest little toy clown you ever saw"? Check him out again. Every time one of the engines that they stopped and asked for help gave them "some excuse" as to why they could not help, THE FUNNY LITTLE CLOWN was there to cheer them on, waving his flag to stop the next engine to ask for help. He NEVER gave up! He was their encourager. He consoled them when they were disappointed.

After I read that years ago to my high school students as motivation and encouragement to them, I realized that God was telling me that He has done that for us. Only it doesn't come in the form of a little toy clown. When we became His child, He gave us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. Not just a little bit of it - but ALL of the Holy Spirit. Not just enough to get us through a few things but to get us through EVERYTHING. His Spirit is always encouraging us, nudging us, pushing us, telling us not to give up because we will "at the appointed season" reap! (Galatians 6:9 "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.")

The next time you think you "can't" do something - picture the Holy Spirit cheering for you, encouraging you as you push through a difficult situation so you can say "I knew I could. I knew I could. I knew I could." because HE can!