Let Down

I have been looking forward to going to work this week in Daytona since last year when I found out that we would be at this location. Today for no real reason I was completely let down by the airline and travel agency. My flight was changed by 12 hours and a 3 hour layover added and I was not notified until I showed up at the airport this morning 8.5 hours early for my REAL flight. As this is the day of travel there is nothing I can do but be very upset and let down because someone somewhere dropped the ball.

I wonder if this is what God feels like when we let him down?

Just a thought.

Wild Goose Chase

I was sent on a wild goose chase yesterday at work and it got me in trouble with the right and the left hand because neither knew what the other was doing. I found this very frustrating and unnecessary but I had to be the one apologizing in the end because everyone's feathers were getting ruffled.

I woke up this morning determined to find a way to use a "patch" for my problem. This all started over a certain computer program. I need it for my new job and I guess it is not easy to get hands on this program. I found and old student version of this program yesterday and I loaded it to try and "patch" my problem.

Well the student version doesn't work with the data I am using (my data is too big) and so I was sunk. Just then God took my eyes and hands and sent me to the programs list for this computer (one they are letting me use while I work on my PhD). THE PROGRAM WAS THERE!!!! Before this laptop was loaned to me they had just automatically loaded a VERY expensive statistics package that I had rarely ever used before and had not asked for.....amazing. I cannot help but think that God designed this moment for me 7 months ago when this laptop was bought and set up for a lowly graduate student who doesn't like goose chases but can see the lesson in them all the same.

Wow. Take a moment and make sure that you look at all possible options before you set off on your own unnecessary frustrating journey. There's lessons in everything, that's been confirmed yet again today.

Have a wonderful Day!

Thought for Meditation

My pastor's daughter posted this as her Facebook status a little while ago.

"When the sky rolls up and the mountains fall on their knees, when time and space are free, I'll be found in You, still standing."

I feel that this would be a great banner for my life. I could read this every day as I find it inspiring. I am not sure if they are lyrics to a song, scripture, or if she just wrote it but I have read it ten times already this morning and keep going back to it. It is a profound statement.

We had strong thunderstorms last night and as usual I was in wonder at the power and majesty of my Lord. To think that He is so much more than that and that is what we are fighting for is wonderful for me.

Make it a goal to find a personal statement for you that reminds you to your core what we are doing here on this Earth.

Friendship is a Blessing

In my nightly readings I have been reading about David and Jonathan and the friendship they had. 1 Samuel 18:1 says, "Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself." This kind of friendship doesn't come along every day and is very special.

After I spent the morning with a very dear friend of mine today I was reminded that I am very blessed in friendship because God has put many people in my life that I love as myself. I would describe myself as someone who has a lot of friends but only very few of them close. But I realize today that I am very lucky to have no less than three friends like this in my life.

With friendship at this level comes love which the Bible tells us over and over is very important. In having these people in my life I give love and get it in return.

So, take a moment today to thank God for any dear friends that you may have or ask for one if you don't have one already. We were not made to walk our journey alone. Thank God for Friends!

Spend Time With God in Nature

One great way to stay connected to our Bible is by getting out in nature and enjoying the God-breathed things that we have in our lives. It is amazing to me to think about people in Old Testament times and that many of the things in their nature we still have in ours. They looked upon skies, mountains, rivers, oceans, trees, and grasslands just as we do today.

I find the most peace when I am camping next to a lake and I can sit out under the stars and listen to the water lapping on the shore, the insects singing, and the birds chirping. I have also picked up a photography hobby and I love to shoot things in nature. It never fails that when I focus on a beautiful shot I think of God and how he shows us how awesome He is.

It is on my “to-do” list to go through my photos and to match some of them with scriptures that make me feel the same way the picture does. I did find a website that has just that, pictures of nature with scriptures included. Take a look at: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/207135362fNqVgS if you would like to see.

Even if you are in the city and busy working take time when you are outside to look at a tree or plant and think of the nature gifts that God has given us.

Paul's Journey with biblestudyforkids.com

Linda Shanks, creator and head of Biblestudyforkids.com is a wonderful lady who has created a very detailed and fun program that is designed to help a person study the travels of Paul. It is a series of lessons that can teach and strengthen people from all walks of life.

Linda has been doing this curriculum with our church. There are activities for all ages. The children have coloring and activity pages and the adults have a detailed study of the scripture accounting Paul's tales. The study also does a really good job of going through what the lands that were traveled look like and who lives there today.

The reason for the creation of this series is Linda is taking a once in a lifetime trip later this month. She is traveling with Mark Moore and Mark Scott, both with Ozark Chritian College in Joplin, Missouri, to Turkey, Greece, and Italy to see first hand where Paul traveled and spread the news of Jesus.

It is going to be a wonderful trip and Linda plans on keeping a blog and streaming some video while she is there. I invite and encourage you to visit www.biblestudyforkids.com and follow the link on the left side of the page to enter the exciting world of Paul's travels.

Good Friday

This year the Easter cantata that we are singing at my church tells us in one of the pieces that, "He grew the tree that He knew would be used to make the Old Rugged Cross." What a powerful thing to think about. I don't know how many of you have children but imagine planning, before they were born, to sacrifice them when they turn 30. Now imagine 30 years before they were born planting the seed that would someday grow to be the cross your child would hang on. God's divine plan is something that we cannot ignore and His sacrifice often brings up painful emotions in us of inadequacy. It should and then we need to train ourselves to immediately turn to God with prayers of THANKSGIVING.

Picture a great chasm with the earth on one side and hell on the other. There is a bridge between the two places and Jesus is standing on the Earth side trying to get people to turn around. Every person who will get on that bridge has to push Jesus out of the way to do so. This is a perfect picture of how a person goes to hell. The gift of eternal life with Christ is free. Repent, be baptised, and spread the word. Those things may cost pride and cause self-reflection but there is no cost compared to the price that has already been paid for all of us. We just need to pray and accept the gift.

It is extremely important that we think today about the day Satan lost and Jesus won. The day that all of our repented sins were washed clean. Call on this sacrifice made for you and let it take over your thoughts.

Sunday we rejoice, Friday we mourn.