Are You Doing Enough?

This morning while listening to KTSY, a message of giving came on. I've heard it before, but not like I did today.

The husband was talking about how another couple was housing some homeless people. He felt he needed to do the same utilizing their garage. His wife reminded him that they only had a car port. He then said they could utilize their back yard to feed the homeless. His wife reminded him that their fence was basically right outside their back door. She also told him that he was already giving to others. It didn't matter how big or how small. That the little things matter just as much as the big things.

Still he felt that he wasn't doing enough, that he had to do it big as well.

Do you ever feel like you aren't doing enough? I know I have many a time and I'll start volunteering for this and that and start to stretch myself too thin. I keep thinking, "We are meant to give of ourselves and nothing is too big for the Lord." But He comes a long and reels me back in. He'll do something that makes me slow down.

So today, it was the perfect timing. It hit home. We don't have to push ourselves until we can't go any longer. We don't have to keep up with those that you feel give all and you aren't doing enough. I kept thinking about our Pastors and the staff of our church and how they keep giving and giving and giving. There are times you know they are dog tired, but they keep going. They keep giving. I kept telling myself, this is exactly what we are suppose to do.

But, and this is a big but; He wants us to do it His way, not our way, not the way of others. This is where many of us fall short. We keep trying to do what we think is the right way. Or we try to imitate what others are doing. That's when He steps in and says, "I'm going to stop you and you need to listen to Me." If we still don't listen, He'll make it even harder for us, and will continue to do so until He gets our attention.

I often think, "Man, He has to be sitting up there thinking, where did I go wrong with her? She is so stubborn!" But I know He loves us so much, that He never gives up on us. So we must hang on to that and do our best. All we need to do is get quiet and LISTEN! Let Him be our guide. Let Him tell us what it is we are suppose to do.

You know I may never get it right, but I'm sure going to try harder to take that time daily, in the morning to invite Him in and ask Him to guide me through the day into the next day. I'm going to ask Him, "Daddy, what is it you want me to do today? Please guide me through every task that is set before me. Father, I'm yours, use me as you wish." This is what I don't do enough of. I have those good days where my mind functions and I remember. Then there are those days that my day starts out hectic because I just couldn't get up in the morning to take that special time. So then I think, I'll do it later. Then later comes and I'm "busy."

We should never be too busy for the Lord. When you face a day like that, remember that no matter what you are doing, where you are, you can still talk to Him. I carry on a constant conversation with Him throughout the day, mostly thanking Him, but I don't ask Him to lead me. So now is the time to pray for a clearer mind, one that remembers, one that isn't muddled with "stuff."

I'd love to hear from any of you with ideas of how you overcome the obstacles of every day life, and how you came to a time in your life when listening came natural. I pray for peace, joy, love, wisdom, and prosperity for all. God Bless

Rest

Matthew 11:28[Jesus said,] "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

This came from Crosswalk's Heartlight. You can click on the link on the side bar to go there and read the whole message.

Hmmm, this is a good one to ponder. We must allow ourselves rest in order to do the Lords work. After all, did He not say, "on the seventh day rest?" If we are tired, we tend to become cantankerous which can give off some very bad vibes. This is counter acting what we are suppose to be doing.

If we are tired out, we are opening ourselves up to allowing the enemy to enter much easier.

God's timing is perfect as always. I for one needed this verse, as for some reason I've been extremely tired. Although this could be do to being woken at 3 am. ;) I'm too stubborn to go back to bed and instead fall asleep in my chair which does not allow me to sleep continuously. Therefore, I'm tired, I tend to be shorter on patience, become cranky, and do not share the light of the Lord in this manner, instead, allowing the enemy to break in and take over what should be a beautiful time with family and grand kids. They then become irritable which only enhances the problem.

Lesson learned. Get plenty of rest. Your body is telling you to rest, hmmm, actually, God is saying, hey, slow down, rest and take care of your body so you can carry on by My will. Part of my problem is thinking I have to do it all to relieve pressure from others. Feeling like I'm failing if I don't try to help and much as possible where ever I can, and then becoming stressed, tired...you name it, and it just doesn't work that way.

For the first time in years, I sat down, allowed my son to clean up the kitchen and realized how nice it was to allow someone to help. He actually thanked me for allowing him to help. Eye opener? Oh yeah, big time. Oh I love how He works in our lives. Thank you Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit! You're Awesome!!!!

Listen for His Instructions

In today's Crosswalk, Live it issue; it talked about a couple that had a baby and decided that God was telling them that they should only have one child. So the husband had a vasectomy. As time went on, mom began to feel empty, their marriage was struggling some, dad wasn't feeling the same thing.

It took a Christmas miracle to wake them up. While watching a nativity scene being played out, their daughter pointed out that they were using a real baby this time instead of a doll. Dad grasped the desire for another child then as well.

God talked to them both telling them they were to have another child. The reason for them not having one was the risk of the child having problems since Dad had health issues. The following Christmas season brought the couple another child on Dec. 23rd!

So the lesson here is to seek Him, listen for Him, follow His instructions. He has it all planned out for us. When we follow His instructions, life goes much more smoothly when we listen to Him and follow His words. You can read the article in full here.

Thought for the Day

Thought for the day: We can always do more than we "think" we can.
So think less and imagine more.

This was taken from a screen saver at Webshots.com

This is a lesson I've been given by our heavenly Father. There was a day He placed on my heart to perform a certian task. I thought there is no way I can accomplish this in that short of time. He told me to trust Him. So I did, and wow! Needless to say the task was completed and paid off. If we listen and follow the Lord, we can do more than we "think" we can. :)

If Jesus Complained

This all came about after dropping my daughter and her children off. I have rheumatoid arthritis, and it's getting worse. It particularly affects my hands, arms and knees. I take care of 2 of the grand children full time--a 4 year old and 4 mo. old, and 1-2 of the others after school and on the weekends--a 6 year old and 7 year old.

You see, I have come to realize that one of my callings is to do for others, help as much as possible and lessen the burden on family members as much as possible. Well, lately I've been taking the kids longer, and have been go, go, go with them. The reason being is one of them is very depressed. We've been really worried about her. She is living in an abusive situation, which is having an affect on her little sister too. Their family life is not very good. Paccah (there grandpa) & I have been praying for guidance on how to deal with the situation. Our main concern is the little ones as they can not do anything about it.

Well today, I had 4 of the 5 grand kids today. Thankfully, Paccah took care of the baby, so Omah could be outside with the others. They rode bikes and Omah was there to pick up the youngest often as she kept getting knocked off her bike. Then we carved pumpkins. OMG, Omah is sore. :(, That is a lot of carving, especially with the big ones, let me tell you when your hands don't want to work and your arms are already hurting, but it was worth it to see their joy and exitement as they pulled out the innards and then saw the finished product after Omah finished the carving.

Then our daughter wanted to go get groceries and said she would take a couple of the kids with her. But, none of them wanted to go, so we were going to have all 5 kids. Okay, no biggie until Paccah says he won't be here. But oh well. So I fixed dinner, and of course they all wanted something different, which Omah usually doesn't do, but was not prepard for a bunch to feed, so it was okay. Then mom decides she had better wait to go shopping as she could tell the kids were a handful. After dropping them all off, I could feel every muscle in my body screaming at me. I started to whine to myself, then it hit me.

I love the Lord and His sense of humor, but still gets through to us. This is what He said to me:
Have you ever thought about what it would be like if Jesus whined and felt sorry for Himself? Think about it. I would get to the point where I would throw my hands up in the air and say, "That's it! I've had it with the whole lot of you! I'm finished; I can't take all of you whining all the time." I felt silly then and told Him I was sorry and would share this on my blog, as I could tell it was a message He wanted others to hear as well. We have chuckled over my stubborness often. Thank heavens He has a sense of humor and is so forgiving. He has told me that yes I am a stubborn one, and sometimes He wonders about me, but He still loves me! :) This happens when I tell Him that He must get really frustrated with me sometimes when I get stubborn and try to do it on my own. But He gets my attention real fast and reminds me. I can't imagine life without our Father in it. God is Good!

So when you feel like life is getting too strenous and you feel like whining, ask yourself, What if Jesus complained? Then remind yoursel of all the good He has done and the suffering He went through for us and not once did he whine! We all go through our seasons. Sometimes God puts us in tough situations to bring us closer to Him. He has a reason for everything. God Bless!