Death

Death

1 Corinthians 15:55 ~ Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Today my children experienced death for the first time.  Ashleigh’s kitten, J.J., was hit and killed by a car sometime last night or early this morning.  To see my poor daughter as she suffers the loss of her beloved cat is heart wrenching.  I wish I could shield her from the pain of loss, I wish I could take their sorrow, but most of all I wish I could tell both her and Aaron that there is no such thing as death.  But death, like birth, is a part of life. 

Ashleigh lost something very precious to her today and we allowed her to see J.J.  before she helped dig his grave and make a wooden cross out of sticks.  We helped Ashleigh grieve the best way we could.  Will she get over the loss of this beloved pet?  YES.  Will she ever forget this kitten that she thought the world of?  Probably not!

This is the perfect opportunity to teach my children that though death is final, it is not the end!  I can teach my children that even though we have a purpose here on earth, our greatest purpose is yet to come.  We are born as a sinner into a sin filled world.  We that are chosen are quickened by the Holy Spirt and at the appointed time are received into HIS fold.  By HIS Grace we do the best we can to be the best example of Christ and to witness to the lost. 

I can teach my children that although this is a sad and painful time in their lives that we can still rejoice.  We will always have the happy memories of J.J.  The things that he would do to make us laugh and the silly little quirks that made him unique.  The sting of death is painful, but it does not last forever and I can tell my children that one day we will live in a place where there are no tears, pain, sorrow or death.

Lastly I can teach my children there is a Savior and HE will give us life eternal.  I can tell my children that for those who believe we will spend an eternity with the One who has conquered the grave.

For those who are lost death is final and that is the end, there is no more; but for those that are reborn death is just the beginning.

Pull, Push & Hold ~ Part 2

I see a mother in a hurry at the store with her three children; she has many thoughts going through her head.  She is trying to remember if she grabbed that extra gallon of milk or that art supply needed for one of the many school projects.  Her mind is also at the same time going in a totally different direction, maybe she is thinking about dinner, a loved one, her children’s school activities or maybe that one bill that just won’t seem to go away.  But as I observer her and her three children I see that in her hast she is pulling one, pushing another and holding the third.  Now this is just an example of how we may treat our children when we are in a hurry or have a million things on our mind, but we know when it comes down to it and the important decision that we have to make concerning the welfare of our children the phrase pull, push and hold take on a new meaning.

On this installment of Pull, Push & Hold, I would like to concentrate on how God will Push us for our good and His Glory.  Sometimes God has to push us out of our comfort zone to accomplish what He wants done.  And after that nudge He guides us.

We are stubborn people by nature.  We hate to be told what to do and how to do it.  We feel that our way is the best way and sometimes are not able to listen to reason.  At times we treat God the same way.  God will ask something of us and give us instruction on how to do it and we will go against God so we can do it our own way.  God will then have to push us in the right direction so that He can guide us upon the correct path. 

God pushes us to do things that we would not normally do.  For example get up and sing in front of a crowd of people or maybe teach Sunday school or even invite someone to church.

I have been singing in church since I was a teenager, but it's not easy, even after 20 years I am still terrified to get up and sing.  But God has given me a small talent and I use it for His glory and yes sometimes He has to push me to do it.  Maybe the area that you could best serve God would be in a teaching type environment, leading a choir or maybe just being a part of it, or maybe it is just being apart of your churches vitiation program.  What ever work God has planned for you to do, I can almost guarantee it will at some  point take you out of your "comfort zone".  If God has called you to do something and you fight Him or you walk in the opposite direction He will push you down the path He wants you to go down. I would much rather be in the will of God then kicking against the pricks (Acts 9:5).

But once God has pushed us in the direction we are to go, He will guide us. 

Psalm 73:24 ~ Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and   afterward receive me to glory.

John 16:13 ~ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:  for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:  and he will show you things to come.

I have thought about Jonah while writing this post, I would suggest reading the whole book (shouldn't take about 15 or 20 minutes, it is very short, I promise).  God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, but he ran in the opposite direction and once God got a hold of Jonah, he realized there was no running from God or what He had planned for him.  In the end Jonah did what he was told to do and God was glorified. 

We can never hide from God no matter how hard we try and in the end He will push us down the  path He wants us to take, but he will never leave us during this process, He will be there to guide us every step of the way.  God will get the glory for everything we say and do, no matter our obedience because He is sovereign.

Pull, Push & Hold ~ Part 1

 

I see a mother in a hurry at the store with her three children; she has many thoughts going through her head.  She is trying to remember if she grabbed that extra gallon of milk or that art supply needed for one of the many school projects.  Her mind is also at the same time going in a totally different direction, maybe she is thinking about dinner, a loved one, her children’s school activities or maybe that one bill that just won’t seem to go away.  But as I observer her and her three children I see that in her hast she is pulling one, pushing another and holding the third.  Now this is just an example of how we may treat our children when we are in a hurry or have a million things on our mind, but we know when it comes down to it and the important decision that we have to make concerning the welfare of our children the phrase pull, push and hold take on a new meaning.

I would like to break this down into three parts and take each phrase and discuss how our heavenly Father Pulls, Pushes and Holds His children.

First of all you have to be a child of God to be pulled anywhere.   What is a child of God you may ask - well let me tell you.  First you have to be adopted, God has already chosen those who will be a part of His family, the bible tells us in Ephesians 1:4-5:

4 ~ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of    the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

5 ~ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

So what this means is God decided before He created this beautiful world in which we live who was going to be a part of His adopted family.  God pulls those He has chosen into His fold.  He is our good shepherd and we are like sheep; John 10:27-28

27 ~ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28 ~ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Only those who God has chosen will hear His voice and know Him.  Not everyone in this world can hear the voice of God and not everyone in this world is chosen of God to be saved and adopted into His family.  When God calls His children we are unable to ignore that calling and once we have received God and are accepted by Him, then and only then are we adopted into His family. 

For every direction we are pulled there is a divine purpose.  God will never pull us down a path of utter destruction.  We may have hardships and heartache from time to time, which we call Trials, and we are to learn from these.  But God places Trails in our lives for His purpose and for our good – Romans 8:28 & II Timothy 1:9

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

II Timothy 1:9

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

 Sometimes God uses the Trials of others to reach out.  God will pull you into a circumstance and use you as the tool to do His work.  Let me tell you a true story ….  

There was once a woman who worked for a store at the mall as a sales clerk when a homely woman walked in to purchase some scented lotions and sprays.  The whole time the sales clerk was speaking with the customer she could feel God pulling her to speak to this woman.  So she started talking to the customer about the products, but God said no, that’s not what I mean.  The sales clerk kept telling God, but I can’t, and every time she said I can’t she felt sick to her stomach.  Finally the woman’s purchases were rung up and paid and she started to walk away.  The sales clerk at that point was so sick she needed to find a bathroom and she heard God pull her again to the woman as she was leaving the store.  The sales clerk ran to the woman in tears.  She said excuse me, I know you don’t know me and I am not sure what I am to say to you, but I just want you to know that God loves you and He cares.  The clerk then asked the woman if she went to church anywhere and the customer started to tell her that she did attend church, but she was going through an awful divorce, the woman cried and was touched.  The sales clerk hugged the woman and told her she would be praying for her.

The sales clerk never imagined that God would ever use her to reach out to someone else in this fashion.  Not only did the customer get a reminder that she was not alone in her circumstance, but the sales clerk received a blessing, knowing that she had minded God and reached out to someone in need.  The sales clerk was also reminded that she could not resist the Pulling of the Holy Spirit and that she serves a Sovereign Savior.

Know that God pulls us in many different directions for many different reasons.  He could put us on one path and then that path could change directions.  God pulls us because He wants us to do His bidding and be in the center of His will.  God has a plan for each and everyone one of us and He will pull us in the right direction so that we are on the path He has set before us. 

Answer to Prayer

How many times have we prayed asking God for something, never mind what it is.  We sometimes ask for a pretty outfit we saw at the local mall, the newest smart phone (because we have to keep up with the Jones’), or maybe it is something really expensive like a new car.  Now these requests are what I like to call desires.  What if our request was more of a need verses a want?  Sometimes we ask God to allow our grocery bill to be under a certain amount at the checkout counter because we know we won’t get paid for another week, or maybe we have a friend or a loved one that has been sick and needs a healing touch, or maybe it’s finding that new job. 

Well in my case it’s the new job, I have finally been offered a new position within the UnitedHealth Group Appeals Department, after many, many years of searching for something else.  I have had a very stressful job and many days have left so depressed all I wanted to do was lock myself away and cry.  The job I have is not hard, but it wears on you, when you listen to people yell and scream and call you all kinds of names day in and day out.  Now I know that my new position will come with its own set of problems, and I am sure at times it will be stressful. 

Now God answers prayer in His own time, not ours.  I have been with UnitedHealth Group for 10 years and have been applying for different position within the company for probably the last 7.  I would constantly get responses to my applications that the position had already been filled or no longer offering the position at this time, and sometimes I would get a response that I was not qualified.  A few times I got an interview, that would lead nowhere.  I also gave my resume to other companies, but also never heard anything.  It felt as if God was telling me NO.  I see now it’s not that God was telling me NO, but wait, I have something better for you.  I believe God has answered this prayer for me, because I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to keep my sanity with the customer service department and God pulled me out in the nick of time.  Because I have been with the customer service division for so long I have been able to learn so much about the ends and outs of the company and the many departments within UHC and have learned from them as well.  So during my interview the hiring manager was surprised when I told her I already had entry level knowledge of one of the systems that they use on a daily basis, I would not have been able to say that a few years ago.  God placed someone in my life who thought it would be beneficial for me and my current job to be able to access appeals and give our members info on the spot so they wouldn’t have to wait for a letter from the appeals department.  You know what they say, hind sight is 20/20, God was preparing me all along, it never ceases to amaze me how God is in control of every aspect of my life and it is He who is gently guiding me along this journey. 

We always need to remember that God has a divine plan for all of our lives and He has mapped it all out before we were even born. 

Ephesians 1: 4 ~ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

We complain from time to time and we fail to see God’s hand in our lives, when what we should be doing is praising God for his Sovereign Grace. 

Psalms 143:1 ~ Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, [and] in thy righteousness.

The River

I can’t believe it has been three months since I took the time to sit and think about what I was going to blog about.  We have had such a busy summer, we have been camping, hiking, kayaking, VBS, revival and just being plain lazy. We have enjoyed our time together as a family and are thankful we have all made it safely thru the summer.  I was talking to a friend last night who was involved in a really bad car accident a few years ago and while he was telling me about the accident and all that he had been thru, I kept thinking oh my goodness you poor thing.  He then told me even though it sounds really bad it could have been worse and I thank God that I am alive and able to walk around today.  That got me thinking about my little accident that I had over the summer while kayaking with Jason and Jeremy on the New River.

 

It started out as a normal trip on the New River, the mountains have had a lot of rain this year, and the river was up.  We got about half way through our trip when we came upon a low water bridge.  Normally we have to lie down in our boats and just float right underneath the bridge, but not this time.  It had rained so much there was very little of the bridge above water; most of the bridge was either under water or just level with the water.  Jason went first, thinking he could just skim right over the top, and he got stuck.  I was in the middle and Jeremy was bringing up the rear.  When I saw Jason was stuck on the bridge, I started to back paddle to allow myself to come in at a different angle so I would not plow into my husband.  While I was back paddling I got caught in the current and it pushed me into the bridge and some debris.  Jason at this point was walking on the bridge and came over to help me push the kayak away from the bridge, but then my boat got tipped and started taking on water and then I flipped.  Now I have flipped my boat before, this was not the first time I have been dumped in the river, but never before have I been caught underneath my boat before.  I was scared and kicking and clawing for my life, the next thing I knew I was under the bridge.  I grabbed for the bridge and was trying to pull myself up for air, but I was panicking and I kept hitting my head on the underside of the bridge.  I kept thinking I am going to drown, but God.  As I have said in the past I love this phrase, but GOD.  At what I thought was the end, I felt a sense of peace as I remember all of my white water rapid training from the past.  If you have ever been white water rafting the one important thing they tell you is this … If you fall out of your boat, don’t try to swim back to the boat or stand up, and just allow your body to be carried with the current.  At that moment I relaxed and allowed the current to carry me out from under the bridge.  As I surfaced Jason jumped in and grabbed me, I have never been so thankful to take a breath of air, to feel the air fill my lungs and be able to breathe was such a blessing. 

 

Now just like my friend Andrew, it sounds bad, but it could have been worse.  God could have allowed me to drown and take me home, He could have said Constance I don’t need you down there anymore, your journey is over you have run your race and it’s time to come home.  But GOD has other plans for me.  I don’t know what those plans are, but I have not finished my journey.  There is still a great work that God needs to have accomplished.  As the bible says in Hebrew 9:27 ~ And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment.  I am so thankful that God had not set my appointed time to be July 16,  2013, not that I am not looking forward to spending eternity with my Savior, but I am human and this old flesh is selfish and I would like to be around a little longer for my husband and children.  As I said before, God spared me for a reason and I don’t know what that reason is and I may never know.  There still might be that one that God will reach through me.  I may never talk with this person or it could be someone that I am close to.  Whatever the reason, I pray that I will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and when He speaks I pray that I will listen and be obedient.   I am so thankful to be one of His children and that He spared me and has allowed me to continue on my journey.

Prayer Garden II

Well it is official, she has died.  Who, you ask, my sweet Weeping Cherry tree.  I had such high hopes for her; she was going to be the center piece of my Prayer Garden.  Oh well, I guess it is back to Lowes to replace her with another.  I have not given up the idea of a prayer garden, just having to put it on hold for the time being. 

We went to the mountains this weekend and I had to make a gas run for the lawnmower.  While I was there I saw a man selling beautiful plants out of the back of his truck and I thought to myself, they will be so expensive.  I went over to the man and asked him how much his plants were and he told me $5.00 and I said $5.00 and he said yes, these are just left overs and I was not able to sell them.  I went back to the truck, pumped my gas and asked Aaron if he would like to go and pick out a nice plant for Nana.  So we pumped our gas and pulled the truck over take a look.  We picked out two one for me and one for Nana to plant at the mountain house.  Aaron was so excited, when we got back to the house he was telling Nana we got her a flower and when she asked where I got it from I told her at the gas station and then she asked if he had any more and how much they were.  I said you’re not going to believe this, but only $5.00.  She then tells me to get back in the truck, she wants more.  So we get back in the truck and head back to the gas station and she picked up four more plants and I got three more.  Now I have already told you that my poor Weeping Cherry has passed on, but I do plan on replacing her with another.  But I also could not pass up the opportunity to add to my prayer garden.  I don’t know where I could get such beautiful plants at such an inexpensive price.  So here is a picture of the plants that I picked up in the mountains and hopefully will be able to add to my garden. 

I am still trying to think of a name for my little “Prayer Garden”, but I believe I have a verse … Isaiah 51:3 ~ For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

I am taking name suggestions; please place any suggestions in the comments box.   

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer Garden I

I believe everyone needs their own special place where they can go to spend time with God, for example a prayer closet or garden.  Sometime in March I approached Jason about starting a prayer garden and I told him I wanted a place that I could go and work in the yard and spend time with God.  I have been playing with the idea for a few months, I love to work in the yard, but it takes time and money and I don’t have a lot of either.  He really didn’t have much to say and so in April I purchased a pink Weeping Cherry tree as the focal point for my prayer garden.  I went to Lowes and walked among all the pretty flowers and made my way back to the trees.  I looked at everything from a Bradford Pear to fruit bearing trees, and then I saw them, the tree I was looking for the Weeping Cherry.  The trees were beautiful, small, but beautiful.  The tiny white and pink flowers looked so delicate on the long wispy limbs.  I had one of the Lowes guys take several down so I could inspect and study each one and choose the perfect tree.  After going over several trees I picked one with the straightest trunk and one with no visible distressed marks or blemishes.  I had my tree and I could not wait to get her home (yes it’s a she, why wouldn’t she be, she’s pink) and plant her in the ground.  As soon as I got home I planted my little tree in the general area that I would like my little prayer garden.  I have been trying to figure out a name for my little garden, maybe some of my friends/family can shoot some ideas my way.  I have so many ideas about how I want my garden to look and flow, but it is going to take time and money, so for right now I have my little tree and it is the start of my “Prayer Garden”.