Happy November

A lot has happened in the last seven days of November…

We gained an hour over the weekend, 

it gets dark a lot earlier now, 

gas prices have gone back up, and 

America has re-elected President Obama for another four years in office. 

I am comforted in knowing that whatever happens, the Lord is sovereign over all, and it was His plan all along. He has a plan for us and for our country and the Lord will use Obama to carry out His plan. Our job now is to pray for wisdom for Obama as he tries to lead our country the best he can. I went on facebook for a quick minute last night just to read my notifications and came across this 'Bible Emergency Numbers' on 98.5 KTIS's facebook page. I think today would be a good day to share this with you being that we all have mixed feelings about the next four years. 

Bible Emergency Numbers

When you are sad, call on John 14

When people have failed you, call on Psalm 27

When you have sinned, call on Psalm 51or 1 John 1:8-9

When you are worried, call on Matthew 6:19-34

When you are facing danger , call on Psalm 91

When God seems far away, call on Psalm 139

When your faith needs encouraging, call on Hebrews 11

When you are lonely and scared, call on Psalm 23

When you grow bitter and critical, call on 1 Corinthians 13

When you feel no one is on your side, call on Romans 8:31-39

When you are seeking rest, call on Matthew 11:25-30

When you are seeking peace, call on John 14:27

When the world seems bigger than God, call on Psalm 90

When you want Christian assurance, call on Romans 8:1-30

When you feel you're failing, call on Psalm 121

When your prayers grow narrow or selfish, call on Psalm 67

When you need courage, call on Joshua 1

When you want to get along with others, call on Romans 12:9-21

When you don't understand what God is doing, call on Isaiah 55:8-9

When you want to live a happy life, call on Colossians 3:12-17

When you pray, call on Matthew 6:9-13

When you are in need, call on Philippians 4:19

When you are losing hope, call on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

When you need an idea of Christianity, call on1 Corinthians 5:15-19

When you feel depressed, call on Psalm 27

When you want to do good works, call on John 15

When your pocketbook is empty, call on Psalm 37

When you're losing confidence in people, call on 1 Corinthians 13

When people seem unkind, call on John 15

When you're discouraged about your work, call on Psalm 126

If you find the world growing small, and you great, call on Psalm 19

I hope this is able to bring you comfort not only in the season this country is in, but in your own personal lives as well. Just remember overall that God is the one in control and He works everything out for His good. Happy November!

Resting In Him

Have you ever felt like just curling up in a dark closet to escape the stressors of life?  My last two weeks have made me feel like I could do just that until the month of June is over. I've been so busy, and I feel like I have been going non-stop with no breaks to just sit and relax. I haven't been sleeping well at night because my mind is constantly making mental notes of what I can cross off my to-do list, what I have to add to my to-do list, and what is already on my to-do list that still needs to get done. By the end of this week I felt like I had gotten to the end of my rope, tied a knot, and have been hanging on for dear life. I couldn't even figure out what day of the week we were on by looking at my calendar. The Lord has been quietly nudging me and telling me to rest, but I am so stubborn that I think to myself, I'll rest later once I finish my to-do list. There is always something to add to my to-do list though, and rest keeps getting put on the back burner. With every passing day the last two weeks, I have found myself getting crabbier and more irritable over littler things that normally wouldn't bother me. I have grown less patient with my husband, and we have fought more each day over stupid things that we would normally never fight about. Today I finally opened my ears to what the Lord has been telling me to do. I took a few hours and I rested and this is what I realized:

When I grow weary and cry for more energy to make it through the day, I need to trust the Lord with my many worries and responsibilities. I need to rest when He tells me to. He is my heavenly Father and He knows what I need. This is why the Lord gives us one day each week to set aside all of our work, and rest. I need to allow my body and mind to refuel while I rest so that I can be more effective in what I do. The Lord wants me to let Him be my refuge when I'm weary from life. He is the one who wants to bear all my burdens. I need to rest in Him to receive His perfect peace, which will refresh and renew my strength. The Lord longs to give rest to my soul and peace in my heart. I need to position myself completely in the Lord's care and let go of all of the things that race through my mind. Then I will find true peace. In the middle of chaos and busyness, the Lord will always be my safe place - a place of peace. 

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." -Isaiah 40:31

I've been so busy and consumed in my own plans the last couple of weeks that I haven't even taken much time for my Lord. This makes my heart sad to know that the Lord creates each day for me and I can't even find a minute to thank him. This coming week I am going to make sure I take a few minutes to an hour each day to just rest in the Lord and thank him for the day. I am going to say no to people so that I don't over-committ myself and cram up my schedule to the point where I burn myself out. I am going to capture each day individually and not waste my strength in the present day worrying about tomorrow. Each day is the Lord's gift to me and I want to be able to enjoy it. If I look for God in each day He gives me, I will see the world differently. I want to live each day to the fullest, and that does not mean cramming every event I can into each day. I am going to start living each day for that day.

"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." -Psalm 118:24

Make Today Great

I went to the doctor the other morning because I had a bad rash on my arms that was not going away (I found out I have seasonal allergies… yay). While I was sitting in the quiet lobby waiting for a nurse to call my name, I couldn't help but think to myself what a dreary day it was as rain continued to pour down outside.  It was one of those days where you just can't help but feel unmotivated to do anything because of the weather. As I continued to watch the rain collect in a large puddle on the sidewalk, the squeaking of wheels along the floor brought me back to the lobby of the doctors office. An elderly man pushing a beverage cart asked me if I would like any coffee, tea, hot chocolate, lemonade, or water to drink.  I replied with, "no, I have a water, but thank you very much!" Then I flashed him a smile thinking to myself what a cute old man he was. The man smiled back and said, "Okay, make today great!" Then he winked at me and wheeled his squeaky cart along.

After my encounter with the charming elderly man that morning his words "make today great" kept echoing through my head. I decided to use his words as motivation for my day. I accomplished my whole list of things to do for that day, plus some other things that I didn't expect to get done until at least a few days later. I found that with that little bit of encouragement that the elderly man offered me (probably unknowingly) I was able to accomplish a whole lot more than I would have without hearing those words. At the end of the day I felt very accomplished, but most of all, I felt encouraged. This made me realize just how important encouragement is to others, and how much of a difference it can make in people's lives. 

Encouragement…

• keeps us going
• makes us better
• gives us hope
• turns lives around
• empowers teams
• leads to great things

We can lift people up or we can take people down. The world is starving for appreciation. It is hungry for compliments. But somebody must start the ball rolling by speaking first and saying a nice thing to his companion, friend, co-worker, stranger, etc. Benjamin Franklin says, "As we must account for every idle word - so we must account for every idle silence." Can you imagine how many lives would be turned around if everyone complimented at least one person a day? My challenge to everyone is to do just that! Give someone you see tomorrow a compliment.  Make it a daily ritual. Wake up every morning and ask yourself, "Who can I compliment today and how can I make today great?" I would love to hear your stories and ways you have felt encouraged, or ways you have encouraged others. 

"God's love for us gives us the reason to encourage others. 

God's love in us gives us the ability to encourage others. 

God's love through us gives us the way to encourage others."

 - John C. Maxwell