Living All Out

When my kids were very young, their dad would often have them stand on an elevated stair, or the side of the pool. As they balanced their precariously above him, he would tell them - "Jump! I'll catch you!" Everytime, they would stop, size him up - consider carefully - then gather their courage and make the leap - propelling themselves into the air, to be caught safely in their daddy's arms. Never once did he drop them - and never once did they refuse to jump.

I realize now what an important exercise this was for them. They put their complete trust in their daddy - knowing that he was strong, and that he would never let them down.

I think that in today's society, complete trust is very hard to come by. People disappoint, circumstances falter - things change. And there is a very heavy emphasis today that the only person you can truly depend on is yourself. For this reason, marriages fail, friendships break, and children stop speaking to their parents.

I don't disagree that it is risky to put a lot of faith into people. I know that I have let people down by my forgetfulness, or by not making things enough of a priority. And I know that I have been let down as well - sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. But, knowing whom you put your trust into is important. Knowing if the person is reliable, honest, and stands by what he says gives weight to his reliability ratio.

Is there a person worth throwing yourself off the stairs for? Is there someone that will 100% of the time, catch you and keep you safe? Not on this earth, I don't think. People are fallible. However, God is infallible. He is EXACTLY what He says he is - perfectly loving, perfectly just, perfectly righteous, perfectly worthy of trust.

Giving up our own hang ups of trust - and living by faith - putting our complete well being into the hands of the only One who is truly strong enough to handle it - is so much better than trying to manage it on our own.

Fight the Good Fight

My husband always gives me a hard time because I am a "peacemaker". This would be in contrast to his rather abrupt and upfront methods of dealing with any particular issue - be it the slow old lady driving her car ahead, or the errant child, or the situation with the neighbor. (He's really not THAT bad, but I have to draw the contrast!).

This would probably come as a shock to my brother. He's 2 1/2 years younger than me, and frankly, we were really good at fighting when we were young. He knew my buttons, and I knew how to react. His quite tactics and my big mouth got both of us into a good bit of trouble for quite a few years.

Now that I am older, fighting has taken on a whole new meaning. Now I fight to get rid of my extra weight, I fight to keep the house clean, I fight to stay awake.

There is a verse in the Bible that states "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" Now this is the kind of fighting worth the effort. And it does take effort.

Another Bible verse says "Fight the good fight for the faith. Keep holding on to eternal life, to which you were called and about which you gave a good testimony in front of many witnesses." (1 Tim. 6:12)

Pondering what it means to fight the good fight brings about a couple of thoughts for me. Lately, life has been hard for me. Work saps me of my energy, there are alot of challenges in my day that take too much of my attention, that frankly don't deserve all the effort they demand. Things don't seem to fall together easily - or even somewhat agreeably. My budget is stretched, and there just isn't any good news on the news these days. All of this STUFF can really bring a girl down! Yet, I am encouraged to count it all joy when I face trials of many kinds.. So how do I do this -how do I fight the downward pull that would take me into discouragement, and depression? How do I choose joy in the midst of trial? By fighting the good fight!

But HOW? Last night, as the 4th thing in a row went wrong, I was able to stop, and with two very good friends, pray. And God brought to my mind Ephesians 6 - "Put on the full armour of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil... " The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, the Shield of faith - and feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.

Life was never promised to be easy - however, God has promised to give us every tool to be victorious thorugh His Son Jesus Christ. And it isn't my effort that this is dependent on, but rather my dependence on God to fight this battle for/through me.

So I'm gearing up - and getting ready for the fight. I really don't expect things to be easy, but I do plan on being victorious!

Soaking it all in

My mom occasionally used sponges in her kitchen when I was growing up. Every now and again they would dry out and be as tough and unbendable as a brick. In fact, I'm sure I used one as a weapon against my poor brother more than once.

But once that old nasty dry sponge touched water, they would spring to life. Soft, Supple and Useful.

I occasionally find myself feeling rather dry. With this dryness comes a rather dull outlook on life. Nothing is as wonderful as it once was, and life is bland. I begin to long for something to revive me and to bring colour back into what has been fading into sepia colours.

How blessed I was to be invited to Germany with David for a 5th year anniversary of our plastic card printer supplier, Digital Identification Solution. David is not a big traveller, and he doesn't share my lust for adventure, but just the thought of seeing a place I'd never been was enough to
get my feet itching to go.

It was 5 days of interesting people, new landscapes (so much like back home in Oregon!), ancient buildings and stories from hundreds of years ago!



I felt like a kid in an amusement park - all wide eyed and in wonder. The people, who were from all over the world, were open and interesting to talk to; the land was lush and green, the air crisp and cold; the rich history of the places we visited gave me such a sense of smallness - realizing that so much has happened before us - things that were so monumental - and yet time just carried on - and there are now only stories and relics to remember it by.

It was enough to recharge my adventure batteries, and even David remarked that if "this" was traveling then he rather enjoyed it!

No more a dry brick, I'm now ready to do and be all that I need to do and be!