When I was a teenager growing up in Alvin, we attended the Apostolic Faith Church on Adoue Street.  I was active in our youth group and really loved our youth leaders, Gail & Tina MacLeod.  They spent a great deal of time sharing their faith with us and I’m grateful for that.  Gail was so funny, and I remember one of his sayings very clearly:  “Garbage in, garbage out.”  He really tried to impart the wisdom that we had the ability to control what we filled our hearts and minds with, and whatever we chose would surely show in our actions later.

My cousin posted this image on her Facebook page and it reminded me of the old youth group days and Gail’s wisdom.  I’m not familiar with the ministry from which the image came, but regardless, there’s a lot of truth here!  If you constantly feed on negative influences, it can’t help but affect your attitudes, your actions, and so forth.  But there’s hope in the fact that choosing to pursue a real relationship with Jesus Christ will do the exact same thing.  You’ll find yourself living a much more loving and peaceful life as you try to walk in His steps.  There will be challenges, for sure, but knowing that you don’t face them alone makes it so much better.

Blessings

I remember hearing this song when it first came out and thinking “oh, that’s a pretty song.”  Little did I know that the pretty words would mean so much more to me at a later date, when something completely unexpected hit me and knocked the wind completely from my sails.  The first few days I cried until I didn’t think I could cry any more, crying out to God over and over, in complete desperation.  As I’ve searched the scriptures, with great shame I thought about how long it had been since I’d prayed so diligently, read the Word with such intensity.  And yet the Lord is so gracious, because in spite of my inattention, He keeps revealing his truth and mercy, and most importantly, his love.  When I opened my Bible, it fell open first to Jeremiah, where I’d highlighted the following verse so long ago, I don’t even remember why I did.  The timeliness of this promise was such comfort to me!

Jeremiah 31:13 — “I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”

Then I discovered this one, too.  I’d highlighted it at some other point in life, and who knew that it would be so meaningful to me now, years later?

Psalm 51:10-14 — “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.  Save me from blood guilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.”

“Create in me a pure heart” ...after being gone so long from a  real relationship with the Lord, this is my heartfelt desire:  to seek after the Lord with such determination that the intent of my heart is clear without question.  

“…renew a steadfast spirit within me”  A steadfast spirit which is determined, resolute, relentless, implacable, single-minded — does not change, waver, hesitate, falter,  or compromise.  It’s such a scary thing to put those words out there, because it means no more “playing church” — it means getting down to business and following my Savior no matter how difficult life may be, how difficult life is right now.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation…”  This encourages me that it is possible to find my way back.  I accepted Christ into my heart as a child, but I’ve not always been the most dedicated Christ-follower.  It’s such a comfort to know that restoration of my relationship with Christ is possible.

Wednesday night I attended the prayer service at our church.  I’d never been before, but I’m so glad that I went.  It truly is a prayer service, with Brother Gary saying a few words, and then those in attendance praying for the needs of those in our congregation and beyond.  I could hardly believe the few words that Brother Gary shared, though.  He read the following:

1 Peter 5:7 — Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:10 — And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

I melted into a blubbering mess on the back row because I’d been trying to carry all that anxiety and worry on myself.  It was as if God had said, “You don’t need to worry about that any longer.  I’ve got it.”  At one point, I heard one of the others there say, “Our lives are changed from victim to victor so that we can testify to the amazing grace and mercy of God.”  I believe that is true.  I believe this difficult thing that my family is going through will not tear us down or apart.  I believe that in the end there will be an awesome testimony of God’s grace and mercy, that will somehow minister to others — so I’ll cling to the words he shows me and I will give thanks for being part of his greater plan.

Today has been a long and to some degree emotional day.  While I’m working on getting in the habit of blogging daily again, I think I need to focus on reading my Bible for a few minutes and then getting a good night’s sleep.  Goodnight, sweetheart . . .

My friend, Maria, blogs at My Barefoot Soul.  We met many years ago when we were both blogging over at Xanga.  (Does anyone still blog there?)  Anyway, earlier today she wrote about choosing a “word of the year” and I think she chose the perfect one for herself.  Toward the end of her post, she asked if any of her readers had chosen a “word of 2015” for themselves, and I realized that not only had I not chosen a word for this year — I’d never chosen a word for any year.  So I thought about it and I have a word for this year:

Persistent

/pərˈsist(ə)nt/
adjective
adjective: persistent
1.
continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
“one of the government’s most persistent critics”
synonyms: tenacious, persevering, determined, resolute, purposeful, dogged, single-minded, tireless, indefatigable, patient, unflagging, untiring, insistent, importunate, relentless, unrelenting; stubborn, intransigent, obstinate, obdurate; formal pertinacious

2.
continuing to exist or endure over a prolonged period.
“persistent rain will affect many areas”
synonyms: constant, continuous, continuing, continual, nonstop, never-ending, steady, uninterrupted, unbroken, interminable, incessant, unceasing, endless, unending, perpetual, unremitting, unrelenting, relentless, unrelieved, sustained

I think persistent is a good word for quite a few reasons, which I will share with you now.

1. In 2015, I plan to be persistent in my pursuit of a stronger relationship with the Lord.  It’s been heavy on my heart for months that my commitment has been less than stellar, and that for a long time.  When I realized that I’d had “good” excuses for missing worship and fellowship with my church family for almost two months, I thought “what a sorry example of a Christ-follower you are.”  The Creator of everything that is, my heavenly Father who sacrificed his Son for me — am I so important and so busy that I cannot carve out time in each day for prayer?  And yet, when a crisis hits, I truly do pray without ceasing.  Hypocrite, much?  So this year, if you see me standing in the paper goods aisle at Kroger and I look like I’m talking to myself, I may just be having a little visit with the Lord.
2. In 2015, I plan to be persistent in the love of my family.  Sometimes loving family members is not easy.  Sometimes it’s not convenient.  Sometimes it’s a downright pain in the backside to love, and the sense of obligation (because it’s family) makes it even harder.  When I think of what my life would be like without my husband, daughter, and extended family, though — oh, how I love them all!
3. In 2015, I hope to be more persistent in looking for opportunities where I can serve.  I have often used the excuse that “my plate is so full right now,” or “I do for my extended family” or “I made a donation.”  I really need to stretch myself and look for opportunities to serve face to face with people in need.
4. And lastly (because if this list becomes too long, I might as well blow it off), in 2015, regardless of circumstances, I plan to pursue persistent joy.  That kind of joy that gets you through the saddest times — because you know that everything’s going to be okay even though you feel as if you may die.

So do any of you have a “word of the year” for 2015?

Tunnel vision:  defective sight in which objects cannot be properly seen if not close to the center of the field of view.  • informal — the tendency to focus exclusively on a single or limited goal or point of view.

The definition of tunnel vision indicates it is a bad thing, a defective thing and when applied to difficult circumstances, the definition fits well.  Imagine you’re facing a most difficult challenge.  This challenge is of such magnitude that you can’t see anything else except your foe and the likelihood that your foe will triumph over you.

Now imagine that the challenge, the foe, has been replaced with God.  Imagine your tunnel vision has allowed you to ignore every other complication, every other distraction in your life and all you can see at the end of the tunnel is the magnificent glory of our heavenly Father.  Maybe tunnel vision isn’t always a bad thing.  Maybe it can be used as a tool to hone one’s focus to the one true God.

I’m hoping that 2015 is full of a spiritual kind of “tunnel vision” for me, where I focus on the Lord and block out distractions that would interfere with my developing a stronger relationship with Him.

So I am working on this “prayer without ceasing” thing.  Carrying on a conversation with God throughout the day, and it’s been interesting.  Something really incredible happened this evening and I’m thrilled to share it with you.

My niece requested a Pandora bracelet rather than a senior ring, and her mother gave it to her for Christmas.  My niece asked her mother to choose the charms and my sister selected charms that had great meaning for both of them.

This evening they were running errands at an outlet mall about an hour from their house, and when they were almost home, my niece realized her bracelet had fallen off her wrist somewhere along the way.  When I talked to her, she was very upset because the outlet mall is large and the odds slim that someone would turn it in if it was found.

I suggested that while her mom drove she call the stores they’d been to, to see if anyone had found it.  After we hung up the phone, I prayed — I asked the Lord to reveal the location of the bracelet to an honest person, someone who would turn it in so my niece could recover it.  After I prayed, I decided to call my mom and ask her to pray with me for the bracelet’s return.

The Lord is so good — roughly an hour after the bracelet went missing, my niece called a shoe store they’d visited and the sales clerk discovered the bracelet in a boot my niece had been looking at.  I’m so glad that my niece’s bracelet has been found and so in awe of how the Lord cares about even the most “minor” details in our lives.