Mother Teresa's Philosophy

"It is in giving that we receive."  Mother Teresa

All I ever knew about Mother Teresa is that she lived her life dedicated to the betterment of the lives of others.  I picked up this little coffee table book on clearance at Borders titled, LOVE, the words and inspiration of Mother Teresa.  Reading her story, and of her dedication to loving the "unwanted", I am in awe of a life given over to others.  It doesn't seem that she lived even a day for herself, but continually poured herself out to homeless and hurting children, the sick, and the dying.  She rescued babies left in trash cans in India,  and provided shelter, medicine, and food for abandoned children living on the streets with disease.  Where there was news of abandoned children during a war, she would, herself, at age 75, drive in the war zone to personally rescue them.  When a limousine was donated to her by Pope John Paul IV, she immediatly sold it and donated the funds.  She said, "why own a limo when I can walk or take a bus?"  She worked hard to think outside the box to reach the needs of the people who were otherwise forgotten.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes of hers from the book.

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put into what we do."

"The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody.  The greatest evil is the lack of love and charity, the terrible indifference toward one's neighbor..."

"A smile is the beginning of love."

"Joy is love- a joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love, for she gives most who gives with joy."

"In these times of development, everybody is in a hurry and everybody's in a rush, and on the way there are people fallingdown, who are not able to compete.  These are the ones we want to love and serve and take care of."

"Never let anyone come to you without coming away better and happier."

"Intense love does not measure, it just gives."

Let's live each day looking for someone who needs our love, our encouragement, a warm smile, a kind word.  In doing this, one by one, we can heal the hearts of this world!  Let us be encouraged by Teresa's example, that one life, humbly poured out, CAN change the lives of many.

simply CHRISTmas

The Christmas hoopla is all well underway.  For many of us, it's an exciting time, full of Christmas music, decorating, shopping, and baking, and parties. But for nearly as many others, it's a rough time to get through, for a long list of reasons. 

It's so easy to lose our focus this time of year, with the good and the bad.  With our focus on gifting, there's a great financial burden for a lot of people.  With the focus on activities, there's the stress of a TOO packed December schedule, and how to fit it all in.  For a lot of us, the family "reunions" that happen this time of year are equally as stressful.

The danger each year, though, is to miss out on simplicity of what Christmas is all about.  With the focus on Christ during CHRISTmas, we are all able to breath a sigh of relief, and grab onto the peace and hope that the story of Jesus so abundantly offers us.  When we choose to embrace what it's all about, and maybe forego some of the other stuff, we also can CHOOSE to reduce some stress and busyness.

Let's celebrate Christ's birth like we never have before. Let's be intentional to sit with our families and our young children, and tell them what it's really all about.  Let's set our hearts on the gift of His son, born to die for us.  Christmas is what we make it.

the birth of Jesus:
Luke 2:8-20
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Let's glorify and praise God for the gift of his son!

Get out of the boat!

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
²⁹ “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

If we want to experience the greatness and awesomeness that the Lord has in store, we've got to get out of the boat.

Peter could have been greatly inspired just be seeing Jesus walk on the water, and still remain "secure" from inside the safety of the boat, as the others did. They were able to witness God's power from inside the boat, but only Peter was able to experience the intimacy and greatness of walking WITH Jesus out on the water! 

I believe Peter had an understanding that the others in the boat may not have had.  He knew that, although the water carried the threat of drowning, of the unknown, it offered something that he could never experience within the boat. We are wise to grasp this concept. 

Once Peter took the leap of faith and stepped out of the boat, Jesus gave him a supernatural ability that was outside of the "human" realm of possibility.  This was something that Peter could only have experienced had he trusted his Lord!  His faith allowed him to walk on water.

Is there something God has in store for your life that you're missing out on because of your lack of faith? Are you settling with mediocrity? If life feels stagnant, and you feel ineffective or feel a lack of purpose, maybe it's because you've chosen to stay in your boat.
I challenge you to not be content with being "inspired" by witnessing God's greatness in the lives of those around you.  Don't limit yourself to living vicariously through the faith of others.  Pray that you have Peter's eyes to see what he has for YOU outside the boat.  Whatever is it, it will surely deepen your relationship with him, and your faith, and give you a great story to tell.

Give Thanks, or Selah!

Selah: hebrew- meaning to pause and praise.

In other words, stop what I'm doing, take a pause in my agenda, and thank the Maker of the heavens and the earth!

Happy thanksgiving, everyone!

I hope we all took the time to have a "selah" today, even amidst the busyness of the holiday.  It's so easy to get caught up in the little day-to-day details of life that we forget to be thankful. 

My Selah for today includes (but is NOT limited to) these thoughts of thanks:

-I am so grateful to the Lord for being all-knowing, all I need, and SO gracious, more than I deserve.

-I am so grateful that He doesn't always answer my prayers in my timing, because His is always better.

-I praise Him that He "gives and takes away".  Any time He takes away, he gives us the opportunity for a greater faith, a clearer world view, and more wisdom.  He also increases our influence- allows us to help and encourage somebody dealing with the same thing.

-I thank God for seeing the whole picture when I may only see what's right in front of me.

- I thank God for so strategically placing amazing people and circumstances in my life that make me stronger and wiser.  A better friend.  A better mom.  A better person. 


A Psalm of thanksgiving:
Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.

Acknowledge that the LORD is God.
He made us, and we are His —
His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the LORD is good, and His love is eternal;
His faithfulness endures through all generations. — Psalm 100

Don't Judge

"Don't judge, or you too will be judged."  Matthew 7:11

This topic is near to my heart for two reasons:
 1)  I think a critical spirit is the problem that divides us as sisters, and keeps us from loving eachother as God commands us to!
2) I've had years and years of struggling with this issue. God has had to tear "logs" out of my eyes time and time again, until I finally started to see ALL people as God's creation, all sinful and selfish in nature but loved by God regardless! 


Exerpt taken from My Utmost For His Highest.  (This devotion book is a MUST.  If I could only save two books it would be the Bible, and My Utmost.)

"Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, “Don’t.” The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.

 If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see Matthew 7:3-5). Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24). Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact, which we know nothing about, in every person’s situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of, or lose all hope for, after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God."   -Oswald Chambers

So, it comes down to this.  When you catch yourself being critical and judgemental, be humble enough to allow God to show you the ugliness of that, and ask Him to help purify your heart. It's only with a pure heart and loving motives that we will have any hope of shining the love of Jesus to all people.

Be a woman of grace, love, and encouragement!  Resist the temptation to compare and critisize.  It only darkens our hearts, and prevents us from loving people the way we should!!! Shine on!

Truth or Lie?

"If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  -John 8:31-32

 Now re-read that and put emphasis on the IF and the THEN.

IF, meaning that if you do not hold tight to His teaching, the truth cannot set you free! And don't we all long to be free from something? Some kind of physical or mental bondage?  Some heaviness that lingers?  A nagging sin, the regret of a bad decision, a lie that keeps us from being at peace, the list goes on...

But God didn't die for nothing!  He died to free us from bondage and He promises that IF we cling to His teaching, and His truths, the result (THEN the truth can set you free...) will be freedom. 

However, it's vital to understand that we won't experience total peace and freedom just because we believe in God.  It requires a degree of dedication on our part.  Dedication to being life long learners, being humble before God, and holding the words of the bible close to our hearts. 

It also requires that we are comitted to putting our thoughts (and other people's words and advice) through a "truth" strainer. 

Feelings are not facts.

A half truth is a full lie.

"Be self controlled and alert.  Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  -1 Peter 5:8

"The devil....is the father of lies."  -John 8:44

Satan disguises himself very well in the world we live in today, just as he did in the very beginning, sneaking around as a serpent in the garden.  His messages fill our ears through the radio, tv, newspaper, internet, advertising, even "christian" authors and teachers.  If we aren't committed to distinguishing God's truths from the world's lies, the grey area becomes huge.  And before we know it, we are justifying outright sin, and allowing satan to feed us lies that keep us from experiencing the joy and peace God promises.

I highly recommend the book called, "Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh Demoss. 
Take a look at a few common lies women believe and check your heart to see if you find them there.

1.  God isn't really enough.
2.  God doesn't love me.
3.  I'm not worth anything.
4.  I have a right to act how I act.
5.  I can sin and get away with it.
6.  My sin isn't that bad compared to so and so...
7.  God can't forgive what I've done.
8.  I have to earn God's love through good deeds.
9.  I have to have a husband to be happy and complete.
10.  My husband should always make me feel happy and complete.
11.  If I feel something, it must be true.
12.  I can't control my emotions and I can't control how I respond when I'm hormonal.  (hahaha.)
13. It's all about me.
14. I am a product of my circumstances and my past, and I can't change how I am.
15.  I can't live up to God's standards so why try?

Start by praying and asking the Lord to give you a spirit of discernment, so that you are quickly able to judge God's truths from Satan's lies.  Ask God to show you what lies you have been believing that have kept you from experiencing the fullness of God's love and freedom. 

Because the TRUTH is:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God."  - Romans 8:38-39

Are you filling buckets?

I once told a homeless man, a total stranger, that I loved him.  Sounds totally weird but it just came out.  I guess I could say it was an overflow of the love God has shown me...and it just spilled over.  But he was touched, and smiled, and said, "God bless you."  And I am pretty darn sure God knew he needed to hear it, and let me be the messenger.  I am also pretty sure that in that moment, God put his heart for that man into my heart, because I genuinely felt like I meant what I said. 

I am grateful that someone once said to me, "When you wake up, you should pray that you will have the eyes to see who God needs you to bless today."  Because there is someone, every day, for you to minister to, if you only have your eyes open to see.  It may be someone in your close circle, it may be a stranger at the grocery store, and it may be someone who is downright unloveable.  Ever since I started to pray that way, God has opened my eyes.

When Selah was in preschool she participated in an activity called the "joy-giver."  Each student is to go around and say something kind to someone else, and then they respond with, "thank you, joy giver!" 

Aww, sweet isn't it?  But also very practical.  And the concept is highly minimized in this self-serving world we live in. 

Micah came home from kindergarten and told me the "bucket story."  He explained that everyone has a bucket, and everyone deserves a full bucket.  When we love other people, or are kind to them, our buckets get filled, and so do theirs.  But when we are hurtful or unkind to others, we empty their buckets, AND our own.

If we were willing for God to use us this way, to see each person as having a bucket that you yourself are capable of filling, how blessed would we all be? 

Jennifer Kennedy Dean wrote, "We are the dispensers of His life.  What He wants to do in your world, He will do through you.  The Father will put you where He wants you.  He will bring into your life or to your attention everyone He wants to love through you.  You've already been assigned.  You will not have to find God's will; God's will finds you.  When His life flows through you to others, you will have the privelage of seeing the power of God at work.  It will produce in you exuberant joy. "

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,  which God prepared in advance for us to do."  -2 Tim. 3:5

So I challenge you to see each day, each interraction, as having the potential to be a God-ordained moment.  It may not mean telling total strangers you love them.  Just slow down long enough to make eye contact and give a warm smile to someone who may be hurting and losing hope in humanity.  Stop and ask how their day is going.  Buy a stranger a coffee.  It's really really simple to make a deep impact.  How did we ever get moving so fast that we forgot that the girl who checked us out at the grocery store is human?  Might sound silly, but since I've been thinking this way, God has allowed me to witness some amazing moments, just by showing His love to total strangers.  If christians aren't "being" Jesus to the hurting and lost world, who will be?

Remain in Him

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned."  John 15: 4a, 5-6

I discovered the truth about this verse firsthand.  I had this beautiful potted shrub that I had somehow managed to keep alive for over a year.  (I have a black thumb..)  When I got home from vacation, I saw the poor thing dried up and brown...crunchy, really.  No life left. I had forgotten to ask my friend to water it.  My stomach sunk because this was a special gift I had received after my grandma died.  So, I decided to give it a last chance at life and cut all of the dead stuff off...which was everything.  It was left with a few pathetic stubs.  So I watered it.  Seems silly to water these little stubs, but within a day or two a vibrant green leaf had sprouted!  And every day, it's getting healthier!

This is a perfect illustration for our hearts.  Are you feeling dry, and thirsty? Kinda dead and ugly inside?  We have all been there.  The next question is where have you been drawing your "water" or energy from?  The world?  Yourself?  Or the Lord?  In John 15 he promises that IF (IF...) we remain in Him, and His love, and His Word, he WILL remain in us, and will never leave us. He promises we will produce fruit.   But without being closely tied to our Father, our life source, we are sure to end up weary and fruitless. 

If you allow Him the control of being your "gardener", of pruning off the "dead" fruitless junk in your life, He is SURE to replace it with something better!

Have you EVER been able to keep a dozen fresh cut roses alive? Not more than a few days.  Once they've been cut from their life source, they are sure to shrivel, dry out, lose their vibrant color and sweet scent, and be thrown into the trash.  But if those same roses stay attached to the "vine" from where they grew, they can last season after season.

Unity!

So our church, the Refinery, has a great new concept called Refinery U (as in university) that allows us all to come together at church Wednesday night and then go take a "class."  We chose the marriage class with Roderick Logan, a great preacher and christian counselor.  Anyway, I was inspired tonight by his focus on the word "unity" and how crucial it is to have healthy relationships, especially in marriage.

Unity:  Oneness, agreement, harmony, peace

A lack of unity leads to a lot of strife, hurt feelings, even broken families and marriages.  What prevents unity?  We do.  I think it's in our sinful nature to keep striving to fulfill our OWN needs- to have other people conform to our hopes and expectations, rather than focusing on the giving.  Also, we grow weary when we rely on that person (or that role) to "fill us up" and we lose focus.  Why are we doing this?  What's the point again?

Well, let's consider what the opposite of the word unity may be.
Opposition, strife, division, egocentrism?

 A self-serving attitude creates division, and there's no way around that.

When it comes to family, (our church family or birth family), spouse, best friends, work associates, teammates, there HAS to be unity.  And,  as Roderick so simply stated, (and in regard to marriage especially) this requires three things:

1) Volunteerism (from everyone involved)-  You make a choice to give of yourself- no one can require this of you or demand it

2) mutual love- a CHOICE, not a feeling.  Something you decide to give unconditionally, that doesn't rely on what you receive in return. In hebrew, "ahav" which translates to "benevolance to the other at a cost to me."

3) mutual respect- usually requires a degree of self sacrafice and compromise, "choosing" your battles for the good of the other person (or the good of the vision)

If you find yourself in an "agreement" or a relationship where you feel burden and lack of unity, first take a look at your heart's attitude.  Are you lacking in volunteerism, love, or respect?  Have YOU lost the vision? If you feel irritated as you give your gift, it's not really a gift,but a disservice to the recipient.  Give as Christ gave to you.  This fact alone should be more than enough to carry us through when we feel "dry." 

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His love for us, in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  NIV

1 Peter 3:8  "Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude."  -NLT

Thank you for my suffering!

WhAt?! 
 
When is the last time YOU felt like praising God in the midst of a trial? "Thank you, God, for allowing me to experience this current trial or hardship.  This pain and suffering is going to make me such a better person!  You must have something great planned!"  Hmmm....not so much?

This message is nothing like the messages of the world.  The world would have us go buy something to bandage the pain, to comfort the bruises of our flesh.  The world would say that there's a pill, a doctor, a book, or a bigger house (...or atleast a great pair of shoes) to ease the pain.  The world, and even our own selfish, prideful nature, would have us do our best to bandaid the hurt or frustration we experience as we go through trials. 

Satan's message is even more self-destructive.  He says, "You don't deserve this!  You are a good person!!  If God really cared about you, He wouldn't let you experience this!  It's not fair.  No one can be trusted.  Not even God, if He even exists at all.  So from now on, you should probably just crawl into a pit of self-loathing and self-protection.  Keep people far away so you can't get hurt!  This terrible experience defines you now. You deserve to waste as many years of your life, as many hours of your days, fully focused on your own pain.  Feed that bitterness with self pity until it becomes you."  The result is a bitter, hardened heart unable and incapable of loving or receiving love.  A heart that has tuned out the voice of the Savior with the rage of their own voice.

But God has something different in mind for you completely.  Holiness.  A bigger faith.  Perseverance through trials.  Integrity.  Peace.  Greater joy.  Humility.  Compassion.  A softened heart.  Victory.  Purpose. 
Oswald Chambers said, " The lives that are getting stronger are the lives in the desert, deep-rooted in God." 


Much of our "happiness" or contentment with life relies solely upon our perspective of the "storms."  One person sees the storm brewing from afar and gets excited!  Now, none of us may ever get to that point.  But regardless, the storm is a declaration of the greatness of God.  The pounding thunder and the flashing lightening all can remind us of His awesome power.  His ability to maintain control of the violent weather and still bring a sweet fragrance of the dew following it, and maybe even a rainbow!  Others hear the thunder and shudder at the fear of what might be coming.  "What if...?!"

We don't experience one single thunder storm that God doesn't know about.  He goes behind and before you, always offering unconditional love and comfort. And thank goodness, our feelings are not a good gauge of the facts.  His love remains whether we feel it or not!

In my life, I've found this to be completely true.  Each heartache I experience has become an opportunity for God to answer me with a resounding, "I LOVE YOU and I WILL CARRY YOU."  And when I approach the hardships with a complete trust that I serve a sovereign God who knows better than me, I always am able to see His hand working through it.  He doesn't desire heartache and pain for us.  But He does intend to make us more like Him, and sometimes that's a painful process. 

Next time you encounter a storm check your heart.  Are you angry first, or prayerful first?  Do you ask, "Why me?"  or  "God, please help keep me humble enough to hear your voice through this." 


Aim for this to be the condition of your heart through trials:
 "Lord, I don't get it. But I've learned that I don't have to.  You see the big picture...you look at my life from an aerial view while I'm on the ground staring at what's right in front of me.  Help me to see that you intend you USE this for my good, or for YOUR good- for someone else's benefit even.  Help me to trust in you so completely, that my fear is silenced at the sound of the rolling thunder..because even that sounds reminds me you are there." 


Romans 5: 3-5 says, "Not only so, but we^c also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. "


Romans 8:35, 37-39  says, 35 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. "

The Light of the World

Hi! Thanks for stopping by and checking out the new blog. My intention is to use this blog to encourage women and deepen their relationship with their Savior. I think we could all use a little more peace and quiet in this loud world...and if we don't allow ourselves time to listen for His voice, we will miss something vital in the hurried pace of our noisy lives!

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

God's promise to us is that whoever follows Him will NEVER walk in darkness. Have you ever had to walk down a long dark hallway, or through a dark parking lot to find your car? I can almost feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up just thinking about it. Your whole body can feel the darkness. It's so thick, that it seems to wrap its arms around you tightly.

God doesn't promise we'll never have to walk through a dark time in life...a time of sorrow or hardship, or loneliness. What He is promising is that He'll never leave you alone, and He'll always shine enough light on your path to keep your steps steady and sure, as long as you let Him lead you.

When you walk through the darkness with a light going BEFORE you, your path is well lit, atleast enough to see your next step. When we turn our backs to that light, our own bodies cast a dark shadow on our steps, and we can no longer see well. That's when our own pride and false sense of self assurance cause us to stumble.

So when you find yourself in a dark spot, remember that God wants to wrap His loving arms around you, so that you don't feel the heaviness of the darkness. The darkness can never own you, never take you over, as long as you keep following the light. And His light never goes out.