"Flip the Buts!"

'FLIP THE BUTS'. 

The title of this blog is taken as paraphrase,  from Tony Evans a renowned pastor.  I do not know the title of the message and I only listened a few brief minutes to his sermon while driving yesterday.  These 3 words have landed deep into my thinking! I have not been able to shake the phrase as I process my thoughts about today and my future.

My faith is being stretched a bit more these days than I am comfortable with.  Generally on a bad day I am a half glass personality.  I find in most situations the good, the blessings, the lessons learned and run with those thoughts to keep me moving forward.  Worry drains me and I hate that feeling.  I hate being down and looking for the negatives in life.

'FLIP THE BUTS'  determines how we are going to succeed and make it through life.  I am a Jesus Christ follower.  No apologies, no embarrassment and grateful!  However, I am human and my faith no matter how many times God has been proven Himself faithful to me, I will waiver from time to time in my trust.

So what does this 'FLIP THE BUTS' look like?

'God is good but life is hard!' vs 'Life is hard but God is good!'
'God is in control but I am afraid!' vs 'I am afraid but God is in control!'

Today this entry is short but hopefully if one is reading this, you will be profoundly moved as I was yesterday and today! 'Flip the Buts' and allow God to show you He loves and cares for you.   The alternative is pretty grim!

The next time the word BUT comes out of your mouth, stop!  Think!
Put God in charge and let Him prove His faithfulness to you (me)!

The Calendar Page Turned

The calendar turned the page and I awoke a year older.  I look the same, I feel the same and from yesterday to today I am pretty much the same.

When I was young I thought old people were a different species.  What has caught me off guard and taught me a huge life lesson is: We remain who we have always been.     Our deep core of personality is us.  Our souls remain uniquely us.  We hopefully mature.  We hopefully become wise. We hopefully have chosen to be kind and forgiving. We hopefully have learned how to navigate life successfully. We hopefully grow into a better person, not a bitter person, but we are uniquely us from birth to death.  

I will embrace today.  I will embrace what this next year will bring.  I know for a fact many life changes are on the near horizon.  In the past I have loved and embraced change.  These upcoming changes have me running to the Lord quite often as I am not as eager to jump into what is 'next'.  I know God has it covered!  He has blessed and cared for me beyond words or comprehension.  I know!

The theme for me this next year is to remember.  

He (God) knows our frame and remembers we are dust! Psalm 103:14  

For the reader who does not know God this may sound very weird.  But it is not!  God created man out of dust.  He created us/me!  He loved His creation and He cares deeply for me/us.  I am a fragile human that is important to the creator of the universe.

What ever this next year brings I will be cared for and carried by the one who created me!

Let year #67 begin!

Day 365

It has arrived!  The last day of 'Route 66- The Sixty Sixth year'. Is time not the craziest thing?
It can seem so slow and then blink, it disappears.

Last year on the 365th day of 65, I was sailing to Cuba! Cuba! One of my top life experiences!

Today, I am home and reflecting on one amazing year.  I LOVE adventures and travel.  God has blessed me with both.  I have no idea why I have been given the opportunities in my life!

However, I will say, I do look for them.  I look for them locally and around the world!  Since I was a little girl I have known there is a big awesome world out there and I want to know about it.

I live in a Mayberry kind of town.  Our income is average for our small community.  I should not by any stretch of the imagination been on the adventures that this past year afforded me.  As I list them here and reflect, I am thinking this is not real.  I have stayed in beautiful places and in the poorest of areas.  I cherish all that I have been blessed with.  I take nothing for granted!

Cuba,  Dubai, Zambia, Honduras, Costa Rica (2x), Oregon, Florida (3x), Grand Cayman, Cartagena, Panama, Cozumel (2x).  Each time I return to Illinois.  All of this during my 66th year!

On this last calendar day, before I begin year 67, I would encourage those who may read this entry to embrace each day that has been given to you.  If you have a 'bucket list', then start filling that bucket! No day is ideal!  I have yet to have a day where my plans have played out as I either desired or orchestrated.  I do know that to have adventures one must not wait for 'someday' or to expect perfection!   It never comes!

None of us knows when our last breath will be breathed.  But I encourage all to embrace each day! Where ever we are placed we have a purpose in life.  Take a risk! Do that thing that is a 'someday' thought.  Someday never comes unless you make it happen.

The Bible, is my source of wisdom and comfort.  I close today with these passages.

Our lives last seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow;
indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.

Teach us to number our days carefully

so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Lord—how long?

Turn and have compassion on Your servants.

 

Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love

so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.

 

Make us rejoice for as many days as You have humbled us,

for as many years as we have seen adversity.

 

Let Your work be seen by Your servants,

and Your splendor by their children.

 

Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;

establish for us the work of our hands—

establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 90:10, 12-17 (Bible) 

How many days have you clocked?

Yikes...the countdown is really going fast!  Am I ready to let that calendar roll over once again?

Ready or not it will happen, 3, 2, 1 days from now! To answer the question, yes I am ready!  We really have no choice, life goes on.

So far I have lived 24,225 days since I was born.  Have you ever added up the days in your life?   When I look at life with total numbers of days or minutes or seconds it is eye popping.  When I look at those numbers I ponder the deep question of, 'Did I live them well? '.

I have to say that as I reflect on many of the days that I remember, I have been blessed and hopefully I have lived most of them well.  Oh, trust me there have been many sad days, angry days, scary days, sick days but OH so many more good days.

Do I like getting old? Not really!  Would I want to go back in time?  Not really!  Do I like feeling disenfranchised as I seek to find my 'next' calling?  Not really! However, with each chapter or actual day for the rest of my days, I am going to embrace the fact that I am here because God has numbered my days.  I am to be about loving Him and loving those He places in my life.   I am certain this focus will afford me the adventures I love and the purpose I am to fulfill.

I know how I am wired and I know that as the opportunities arise to take an adventure, or serve someone in need or be available to pray, that it will happen.   My hope and my comfort are found in Jesus Christ and the promises given to us in scripture.  With out those I would be a blubbering mess, full of worries, scared for my future and fighting for my 'rights' and my 'wishes'.

I do not know who reads this beside me.  I do hope that if there is a reader who does not know God, through Jesus Christ that you do your self a favor and check it out.  Honestly, do your homework your very life does depend upon it.

If I have to sum up my thoughts for todays blog they are taken from scripture.

"Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."  

Philippians 1:21 Bible 

Make Life Worth Remembering!

I have 7 more days until the birth calendar tells me I have aged another year. Seriously, another year?  This is surreal, didn't that birthday thing just happen?

Those numbers assigned to our life can really play havoc with the mind.  Am I too old to do....?  Well, if I am honest, yes because my body and my mind do not always agree on what is best.  However, I am not going to stop dreaming or planning adventures.  I might just die doing it.  That would be okay for I am enjoying life!

I have found myself pinning and worrying about some chapter closings ahead.  I do not want some of these chapters to close!  I do not want some changes that will come about!  In these emotions though I am realizing that I am robbing myself of the moments I have been given. 

None of us knows when our last breath will be taken.  Each night as I lay my head upon my pillow, I pray and thank the Lord for the gifts He has given to me each day.  Some gifts are being able to trust Him to handle what I cannot. Other gifts are pure joy, both ends of the spectrum include Him.  

I must put off the worrying that is a new habit I find myself pulled into.  I have no reason to worry for God has more than met my needs through out this short life here on earth.  If everything were taken from me today, I have been blessed beyond measure by my creator. 

Tonight another calendar page will turn as the clock continues to tick.  If I am given tomorrow here on earth I have a purpose and privilege to live life to its fullest. 

Have you ever thought or wondered about 'why' you are here and 'what' have you done to make this world a better place?   This is a constant thought for me and as I reflect on this often, I come to the conclusion that I still have things to do and people to meet.  i have people to help and encourage and people that need to know about God.  How this will take place is the adventure I am looking forward to experiencing. 

Wanting to Know!

May 9th.  I have 11 more days in this 66th year.  It has been a wild ride of highs and lows. In a day or two I will recap my adventures for posterity sake. But as I have been thinking through the year, I realize how quickly we forget the good and focus on the worries of the future. 

A lot is going to change for me, known changes at the end of 2017.  7+ months away and I have been hand wringing with worry over the unknown.  Is that not crazy?  The rest of the day is unknown and I am just doing what I do each day.  I live.  I have plans, meetings, chores and I expect to see them accomplished.  Today.  No big deal I am not worrying about today.  

What is it about us humans that we must feel the need to try and control 'everything' in our world.  With today's science, a pregnant woman can know the sex of her child.  No surprises just one more area where we 'think' knowing will make life easier.  We live in a world where we think we can control and know all things.  We crave that information. 

I guess I would long to know what God has planned for me, no surprises. I want a spiritual ultra sound that gives me the 'what next's'' of my life. If I stop long enough to really think about this desire, I know it is a faulty longing.  In my 66 years of life, I have had so many blessings and delights that were not of my doing and dropped into my lap by God, who protects, loves and blesses me! He has been doing this my whole life!  To have known what was coming would be like knowing what is inside a wrapped birthday or Christmas present.  

So today I claim these scriptures from the Bible. 

“So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to. “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time. Mathew 6:32-34 (Bible NLT) 

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. "So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.  Mathew 10-29-31 (Bible) 

It is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in men.  It is better to take refuge in him than in the mightiest king!     Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is so good! For his loving-kindness is forever.      Psalm 118: 8 & 29 (Bible NLT)

Chapters

How do you end chapters in your life?  Is there a manual?  Is there a 'How to say Good Bye for Dummies?'   'How to Grow Old for Dummies?'  The Dummy theme for me seems to resonate that the journey is unique for each of us. 



As the count down for our next 'whatever' has begun, I am a bit numb.  Congratulations are flowing in for Don. The well wishers are so kind and gracious. He is an amazing man of God, who has walked this road well.  Perfectly, no.  No one is perfect, but his heart is one after Gods.  Having lived with him for 46 years, I know him well.  I married a boy who has become a man, a humble servant of the Lord.  He is a great husband, father and now 'PaPa'.  God has blessed me by allowing me to walk this road with him.   Soon we will walk a new one, for me the most uncertain in all of our lives.

My emotions, from the congratulations, have been all over the place.  We still have 8 months before we end this chapter!   Did we achieve some great feat by serving the Lord? Did we live long enough to claim the title of 'retirement'? Did our congregation grow into a 'mega church'?   We don't even plan on quitting, we long for the 'next'. 

We have just done life a day at a time, desiring to be all God wanted us to be.  Have we done it perfectly?  No way! We just did the next thing that we believed was right. Blessings and burdens made up our days and years. Some people liking us, others not so much.  

"Sunrise, Sunset 

Swiftly fly the years,

One season following another 

Laiden with happiness and tears." 

Fiddler on the Roof 

As this Route 66-The Sixty Sixth Year blog continues, my day to day journey of relying upon the Lord for peace is my life line.  I can't do this on my own.  I am grateful I do not have to. 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” 

Joshua 1:9 (Bible)

Now What?

After months of being quiet,  I decided that I needed to end this Sixty Sixth Year Blog with some reflections! May 20, 2017, will start a new year in my blogs. Blink and another calendar page is flipped.   Many changes are coming my way.

When did I become 66 soon to be 67?  Seriously, this is wild when I ponder the brevity of life! Mine!

Sunday, Don (husband) announced to our congregation that he would be retiring as Senior Pastor at our church the end of this year.  We have served here 33 years.  33 years, one church, one job, one place!!   People have come and gone through the years but Don has remained the constant.  Now that constant is about to change for him, for me, for our family, for our church family and questions and emotions abound. 

What do you say or do when there is a line drawn in the sand, a date is set and life changes forever because of this choice or decision? Cary has been our home.  Cary has our heart. 

We have known for a while that this day was approaching.  The reasons are simple.  We are getting old and nothing is 'forever'.  We love the people we serve.  We love the calling God has blessed us with. We love the church.  We love them too much to stay!  Chapters end and new ones begin, if life is granted to us.

Philosophically we do not believe as Christ followers that we are done serving The Lord. Retirement to play the remaining days of our lives away, is not why we are here.  Until The Lord takes us to heaven or we are physically unable, He has us busy serving Him.

I have no clue if anyone will even read these remaining Route 66 - year blogs.  This is okay for the journaling of the journey is what will help me become ready for the next chapters in my life.  In the days to come this blog will reflect this journey.  The happy and the sad emotions that make up what we call real life will probably spill forth. 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9 (Bible)