God

5 Thing You Can Learn From Nature

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Enjoy the pond, even though it might not be yours

I was at the Duck Pond this week and was amused by the sight of the turtles.  You see it is called the Duck Pond. It was designed around the ducks. There were lots of ducks there, but the turtles didn’t care.

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The turtles did not have to deal with the current of the Trinity River or the other creatures that live in the river. They enjoyed the amenities of the Duck Pond with their friends. That is what we need to do. If you are a turtle, enjoy swimming in someone else’s pond.  Don’t try to change the name to the Duck & Turtle Pond.  Just enjoy your swim. When it is time to move on, move on.

Even birds have down time from the flock

One thing I noticed about groups of birds is that it is like an endless game of tag. They all fly to one point and before the last one gets down, the first one takes off again. It is kind of like a house with a bunch of kids, they are seldom all still at the same time.

 

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So as long as I have been walking at this place, there is always one bird like this one. It sits in the tall bushes and people watches. Like this bird, we need to get away from our flock and see the world around us for what it is. We need moments to sit in the tall grass, dip our feet in cool water and rest.

Everyday is the opportunity to make a masterpiece

The sun is starting to rise earlier. On one hand I love it because I can actually see the world around me instead of dark blobs. On the other hand, I hate it because traffic is much thicker because other people can see the road too.

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As long as the Lord paints pink morning skies, there are opportunities to be had during that day. Each day is an incredible work of art and we have the chance to make it a masterpiece.

Sometimes our enemies can’t be seen

One of the most sinister enemies in the State of Texas is the heat. We all feel we have been around long enough to manage the heat or that it is not that dangerous. But heat will sneak up on you and destroy you. You may feel tired, sleepy or weak. Manage your time in the heat and hydrate.

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During the winter and spring months I could walk late in the afternoon. But as summer rears its hot head, I am making plans to walk in the cool of the mornings. Just because you don’t see your enemies, doesn’t mean they are not out there trying to destroy you. Sometimes God holds things back from you to protect you. Just like the heat, respect your enemies.

Sometimes the skies are blue and road ahead is full of obstacles

We are all on the road to somewhere and there are usually things in the way. This week I was encouraged by Muhammad Ali’s life as told by Billy Crystal in his 15 Rounds. Despite all of the obstacles, Ali continued to see himself as the Greatest. You are great too.

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We are all going somewhere and your perception of the journey will determine everything about it.  We need to be like the birds. Praising God for his timely provisions with songs. Everything about this life He has designed for you. He is telling you through all of the things around you. You only have to “Be still and know He is God.”

 

 

 

End of a Chapter

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I love it when a story end well.

This week started out stormy. It rained and flooded. I read countless jokes about building an ark. My theory is that our lives are so dirty, God is washing away the filth.

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I remembered worrying about how I would navigate through the storms. All of my morning drive times was supposed to be filled with storms. Yet, every time I thought I would have a battle, God stepped in and handled it. Not one storm during my drive time. Although I did get soaked a time or two this week. Yet there is something about the water that falls from heaven. It makes things grow. It will destroy man made things, but it will make things of God grow.

I found that one of the benefits of this wet spring is flowers. I have been able to smell the fragrance of flowers before I am ever close enough to see them. That is some powerful fragrance.

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When something out of the ordinary happens, it causes a ripple effect. All of this rain also keeps birds on the ground because one of their main sources of food come up for air. I just get a kick out of a bird standing under a shade tree. They have the ability to soar through the sky, but they stay on the ground.

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The sun came out, the skies were blue with white puffy clouds. I was able to get many steps in frustrating my friends in our Fitibit challenge. (If you need to lose weight, get your competitive friends fitbits. My friends and I almost kill ourselves trying to stay ahead of one another.) Yet sometimes during the most common moments of our lives, the greatest moments come.

During this dreary rainy week, my daughter graduated from high school completing something she had been working towards for 12 years.  In the few minutes walk from the car to the staging place for the graduates, life fell apart.  The shoes she bought didn’t fit like they did in the store and began to come off with each step. We left the umbrella in the car and it began to pour rain which would make her beautifully straight hair into a nice sized afro. We were getting wet. (But I was getting my steps in)

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She didn’t fall walking across the stage. She graduated. We made it. Even though storm struck in the final hours, God held it all together. This is what life is like.

Today, I officially offered her my blessing as she entered adulthood. I had good friends write blessings to her reminding her of His faithfulness in the past. And I prayed for her. An old chapter ended and a new one began. God is faithful.

 

You can’t follow if you are in front of me

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When my kid was little I would constantly tell her that. She was always in a hurry to get to wherever we were going. To be honest, we were probably running late. She would be out in front of me, but going the wrong way. We finally got to a point where I would just look at her, and she would say, “I know, I can’t follow you in front of you.”

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She was a pushy little kid who would have talks with me asking if we could leave early because she didn’t want to be late. She was always in a hurry and talked constantly until she passed out sleep.  She hated naps and sleep. She loved going and doing.

She has matured since then and this week we will celebrate a major milestone. The time for her to follow has come to an end and it is time for her to blaze her own path.  I am so excited!!! (I am so tired of bumping into this child because she is trying to slow down for me)

Even though I am a single parent, I cannot say that I did it by myself. I truthfully have to say, God did it and used me and an awesome community of Family and Friends.  I could not have done it alone. But let me tell you the secret: You let your child know up front Joshua 24:15 is your motto and stick to it. (No you don’t get to choose when you go to church and you don’t get to choose when you go to bible study.) It was my duty to teach her God’s ways (and you can’t teach His ways without His Word.) Then surround that child with people who will pray for them daily. (Pick people who actually know God and have a relationship with Him)

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Our lives have been filled with storms and sunshine, but the fragrance of prayer to Jesus has always been present. He has been faithful through the cloudy days, torrential rains, high winds, lightning and thunder. He has outlasted jobs, homes, churches, people.

He taught us to join a group of believers and serve. We were members at several churches and served there. We participated in bible study. I taught her to put feet to your beliefs. Don’t listen to what people say. Look at what they do. Many will say they are Christians, but will live like the devil. Live like Jesus told the truth.

Your children will do what they see you do. If you are a whore, they will be whores. If you are a drunkard, they will be drunkards. If you are a Trekkie…

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I am excited because this is not my work. It is God’s work. I am reading C.S. Lewis’ The Weight of Glory. He explained we like to talk about what we sacrifice, and not so much the love God has lavished on us. The Lord has lavished amazing love on us through this journey. I have met some amazing men and women of God who have prayed us to this point. Thank You, Lord.

He has begun a good work in my daughter’s life and will see it through.(Philippians 1:6) His plans are higher than my plans because He doesn’t think like me. (Isaiah 55:8-9)  She is about to start a new path where there will be sunshine and storms. She knows prayer will lead her safely through.

What A Day

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It was amusing for me to have a type of day that started at 7am and will end well after midnight. The sad thing is that I did not get all of my 10,000 steps in. (And I was too busy to take extra steps.) And true to my personality type, there were lots of tasks to be done and they were done.

Duck

As I waited for my photo client in the park this morning, I saw this duck. unlike all of the other ducks at the pond, he stayed in this position. The birds around him walked, swam, flew and interacted with one another. This one flipped around occasionally, but this is what he did the couple of hours I was there.

I assumed something was wrong with it and could not help but feel sorry for it. It had the power to fly, swim and walk but did not use it. It is like people and their gifts. They have the power to do amazing things, but stay cloistered in their little worlds and never spread their wings to do the things they were designed to do.

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Had an awesome photo shoot with this lovely young lady who is about to graduate high school. It was a good time capturing the moment of her life when she is about to take off in flight. I can’t help but think that if God gives wonderful gifts to birds, what amazing things He places in us.

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I also got to meet new people at church and spend fun time with my daughter. One of the things that I love about my daughter is that she is concerned about my growth as a Christian as I am hers. She challenges me and I will miss it as she moves off to college.

Turtle

Yet here is a lesson I caught. (LOL) Even though this pond was titled around ducks, full of ducks and that is who the people came to see, this little turtle didn’t let it stop him from enjoying the duck habitat. Sometimes we can’t enjoy a place because we are all caught up in what it is called.

This turtle swam in the water, sat on wet concrete sides and probably ate the food intended for the ducks.He did not let not being a duck stop him from enjoying the world he was in. A lesson well taught little turtle.

It’s A New Season

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I am on the verge of a new season. It is exciting. I look forward to what God is going to do in and with my life.  There are some people who get sad and lost at this time in their life. But as I was listening to Beth Moore with Priscilla and Lisa last week, it reinforced the idea that if God is the center of your of life, everything else will fall into place. It is not a good thing to make your children your idols because when they leave you are lost.

Some women fall apart when their kids move off to college. But God has been planting seeds in me that are waiting to burst forth at the proper time, when I have finished this task. I am helping her pack and praying that my next mission has a beach involved.

God has a plan for all of our lives and I want to open all of the treasure boxes. I am spending this month with Isaiah 42 and reading chapters from Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. The verse I am embracing is Isaiah 42: 16. I will turn darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. I believe it and receive it.

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Like this rose beginning to bud, there is something beautiful coming. It is surrounded by lots of sticky stuff now, but it is coming. I told my daughter, even though it looks rough, you have to trust God’s plan. He said he would make it smooth.

I love it when God starts a new thing. It is like a brand new day dawning.

 

This song reminds me of my roots, my Christian roots

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One of the things I love about music is that it can take you places you have been before. It stirs up memories and feelings. I am on the cusp of taking my daughter to university, and am reminded of my own college days.  When this song came out, most Christian artists didn’t sound like this.

This month marks the 25th anniversary that this song went number 1. I love Amy Grant. It reminds me of my Christian roots. This week we celebrate with her.

 

Privateers

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It was the stuff dreams were made of: nightmares. Claire fought with pirates, local and federal authorities chasing the truth and learning that she was much stronger than she thought.  Would it be enough?

Privateers

A single young woman is tricked by modern day pirates losing everything she owned. As she tries to figure out what happened to her belongings, her world crashes around her as government and private agencies treat her as a suspect. Determined to find the man who did this to her, she stumbles onto a government top secret. Finding this modern day pirate turns into a race against lethal forces.

You can purchase this book on:

Amazon

Createspace

 

 

You are going through these struggles now

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because it is building up your faith. Like a caterpillar struggles to get out of the cocoon, you are building up your faith muscles. If the caterpillar didn’t struggle to get out, its wings would not be strong enough to fly. Change the perspective on how you face the struggle. Whatever you are going through is helping you get to where God wants you to be. Instead of “Lord, why me?” ask “Lord, what do you want me to do here?”

Today as I found myself in a situation I did not like, I had to keep telling myself, that there is something God wants me to get from this.  There is something He wants me to do. Change my perspective.

There was this man who a few days ago caused me a great deal of struggle. It was not his intention, he was just doing his job, but it interfered with mine. Needless to say, he did not fare very well in my book.

So today, here he was again. Oh brother. He had no clue of the trouble he had caused or so I thought. I had a choice to make. I could light him up and let him know how much trouble he caused me. I could let him know that he was not wanted near me today. or I could greet him as if we were old friends.

Yeah, I chose the latter. Let me tell you, he was the most helpful person on the floor the rest of the day. He went out of his way to be helpful and did things I had not ever seen him do. By the end of the day, I was like “Wow.” I changed my mind about this person.

Whatever type of situation God has placed you in, look around you. What is He trying to tell you?  He has already told us that His ways are not our ways (which means He is not going to make everything easy). He will do things to strengthen our faith. He is going to get some glory from your situation.

 

Privateers

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Anger drove her to find the ones who invaded her life, but Claire was sure that was not going to be able to sustain her when she finally caught up with the pirates.  As she chased the pirates, she found the only help she had came from a local cop and a federal agent, but would that be enough?

 

Privateers is the story of a single young woman who is tricked by modern day pirates losing everything she owned. As she tries to figure out what happened to her belongings, her world crashes around her as government and private agencies treat her as a suspect. Determined to find the man who did this to her, she stumbles onto a government top secret. Finding this modern day pirate turns into a race against lethal forces.

You can purchase Privateers:

Amazon

Createspace

 

We are family

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The final section for this series is Emotional. It speaks to making social and meaningful connections with others. These are the people you encounter and who influence your life. Sometimes is it family, sometimes it is friends, sometimes it is strangers on the street.

Do I think I can walk out of the house in my pajama pants to run some errands? My sisters and daughter would kill me.

Do you ever really leave BSF leadership? I have friends who still taunt me with “We sure miss you in the mornings.”

The other day I encountered a woman who tried to hold it together while she told me how her life was falling apart. I could not put words together to console her. After she had walked away, the Holy Spirit gave me instructions and I followed His wisdom.

The last couple of years of my life has focused on the connections that influence who I am.  One of the things I learned was that the only thing that last forever is your relationship with God. All of our other relationships on earth come to an end but everything else builds on that relationship with God. If you want to have peace, allow God to have the most influence in your life.

If God takes someone from your life, trust Him. He knows what is best for both of you. I had too many influences or the wrong influences. God showed me through a series of trials that things that I thought were true of people was not.  People who I did not like, He taught me to love and cherish. People who I loved, He cut from my life.

When I was younger, I had a good friend who I met in college. She had a great deal of influence in my life because we were friends. She was intelligent and well connected. She had a lot going for her. She also had some things going on in her life that God’s word did not approve of. At that point in time, God did not have the influence in MY life to counter the influence she had. God removed her from my friends list and began to teach me His ways. Looking back over my life, He was right.

So today when He starts removing people from my friends and family list, I roll with Him. When He adds people, I roll with Him.  I know it is not about me. My influeners list is short. All of the people on this list KNOW God and LOVE Him.

Take a serious look at the people you are connected to. This area of your life can take all your energy and drain you if you allow the wrong people to have influence. I look at the stop signs God has placed in my life and I know He was right.

I remember one time He gave me a “go” sign and I thought He was tripping.   I was doing a small group study through my church. I remember sitting at the little table for sign ups. I had one person from church interested in joining my group. Then I watched God surround this Ph.D student with a bunch of seasoned social workers. I remember thinking, “Wow, God that is soo cool.” We have all been praying for each other ever since. Trust Him. My small group is better than your small group.

The only thing better than my small group (and yes my sisters are part of my small group) are my sisters, Pooh and cousin Kisha. I am going to send a shout out to the travel group, WWC because I do not want anyone smothering me with a pillow on our next trip.

I spend time with these people and share life together. We don’t always agree, but we do lots of laughing. Make sure the people who influence your life can make you laugh, support you when you cry and point you to the Most High God all the time.

These are the people who influence my life. They say “That’s stupid, don’t do that.” Or as my younger sister says, “I have friends in this city and do not want to see you on a episode of Cops.” We are family.