Satan is alive and well

I have to tell you that this has been quite a week. What ever could go wrong has gone wrong. Im not just talking about myself here, the folks around me have had a trial of a week too. So.....it should have come as no suprise to me yesterday when a customer at my job lashed out at me. First of all they were rude on the phone and when they didnt get the reaction they wanted, they showed up in person to remind me just how flawed I am.

It has happened on more than one occasion over the years and each time I try to handle the situation with grace. I have been cussed at, yelled at, called stupid and incompetent. I usually have divine intervention as the Lord seals my lips and I sit speechless. I am usually able to eventually brush it off. I just figure if blaming ME allows someone to justify the chip on their shoulder, than I can take it.

Yesterday, however, was a little different. The final blow, the arrow that pierced my heart was when this person told me that they were sure that I just didnt care. "wow, that hurt". The person does not know me. They have no idea that I care deeply about many things.

Satan used this person to try and ruin my testimony. He wanted me to crack under the pressure, to yell and hurt back. I stood firm. As a last resort he hit me where I live, knocked the wind right out of me and danced in victory as my spirit crumpled.

1 Peter 5:8 reminds me to be self-controlled and alert. My enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The spiritual battle is alive and well and it is not just being faught in the Heaven's on our behalf, no friend, the battle is going on right here at ground zero and we must keep the armor on.

Pondering Holiness

"Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord"
Hebrew 12:14

Points to ponder........

Submission is the only way into God's holiness. Without holiness, we wont see God's presence in our daily walk, our family, our witness or our ministry. He watches over our struggles to be holy with great patience. Only God has the power to keep us holy, we can never accomplish it in our own strength. Which brings me back full circle..... Submission is the only way into God's holiness!

Such a simple concept to grasp, but easier said than done. Im trying, I really am. I take great comfort in knowing my Savior understands my feelings.

Added bliss:
My daughter sings in her sleep. Once in a while, I can hear her singing songs we've heard on KLOVE. It touches me so deeply to hear her singing to our Heavenly Father while she is sleeping. How sweet is that?!?

Be A Light Unto The World

Somewhere in the middle of a very casual conversation the other
night a young adult began to pour their heart out to me about
their childhood. You see, she was raised in "the system". I
have to tell you that the story of her life just broke my heart
into pieces. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I have an
absolute weakness when it comes to children. If I could, I would
gather all the hurting, broken kids that I come into contact with
and just bring them home with me.

This conversation was so difficult. I was mad and screaming
on the inside at her circumstances, but I knew that it was
very important that I just quietly listen without reacting.
I just wanted to weep at how she talked so matter of factly
about the abuse that she endured on a regular basis.
As I sat there, The Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, "Just
love her, she will be mine, just love her".

The Lord instructed me to get this person a Bible. I prayed
over this Bible with another prayer warrior before giving it to
her. God heard our prayers. The first time she opened this
Bible to read it, the Lord took her to a verse that He chose
just for her. She found healing and comfort in that verse
and turned her life over to God!

What an awesome God we have. What an awesome
responsibility he has given each of us to shine His light
to the world. We are called to Love others as He has loved
us.
*************
sidenote:

The alarm rang at 6:30 am. I threw back the covers and got
up for work as usual. I made my side of the bed. I went out
to the kitchen, turned on the coffee pot, checked on the
kiddo sleeping and then went back to my room to get
ready. I went into the bathroom, washed my face, brushed
my teeth and got dressed. I walked back to my side of the
bed to get my purse off the floor and noticed 2 shining coins
sitting there where I had recently been sleeping. I thought,
"WHAT IN THE WORLD?" How did they get there?
There is no way that I could have slept with them there
without them falling. It is even less likely that I could have
made the bed with out noticing them or disrupting
them, yet there they sat side by side. I woke John up to
see if he had put them there. He didnt. He thought I
was crazy.

I wonder if God was trying to get my attention, maybe He
wanted me to blog today. Maybe someone else will be
blessed by something He would have me write. Maybe
I AM crazy, but I decided to share this story anyway.

Reflections

Someone referred to me as "old" the other day. They came up behind me and made a wisecrack and then stood there waiting for my reaction. I think I disappointed them when I laughed and said "Im old and I own it baby!"

I love being middle aged, or over the hill or whatever they call 46 these days. I would not want to be twenty years old again, or thirty something for that matter. I would not want to live any moment of my life over again, because you see, what most people dont know about me is that my entire life's journey has been completely UPHILL!!

Most people know that I am somewhat quiet in public, but the truth is Im quietly rebellious. I have had to learn every single lesson in my life the hard way. I am strong willed but I have also learned great patience.

So yeah! Im old if old means finally reaching a plateau in my life. I dont miss the uphill struggles. I dont mind the even ground one bit. Life is good and God is great!

I dont believe I will ever really get old. I fully believe that we'll be in glory long before I am able to tap into my social security benefits. You may disagree with me on that point and thats your prerogative, but I'm keeping my lamp trimmed and burning anyway.

I know I must be homesick

Lately........ all I can think about is going Home. I read about it in scripture. I dwell on it throughout the day. I imagine that I see glimpses of it in the sky as Im making pictures. I dream about it sometimes at night.

Lord, your will be done but come quickly. I long to see Your face.