Available

This weekend in church our Father discussed how so many of us tend to be so super busy we don't have time available to schedule any incidentals, and most of the time no time for ourselves.  By the time we cram pack our days and weeks with all of the things we have scheduled whether it is a work, with kids, chores at home or errands we MUST run,  we often have no time or energy left for much else. We over schedule and often times double book ourselves and commitments. We are often too busy being busy.  Sometimes we don't even feel that we can cancel something we have scheduled for something that may pop up at the last minute that may be more important. How do we determine what is important? We say well maybe we can fit it in between getting off work and picking the kids up from daycare- oh wait that is only 20 mins, the drive would be longer than that. If you have a calendar like me, I am a busy body and I feel like if I am not constantly doing something I am wasting time. If I really look at some of the things I am doing though, I probably am just wasting time.  This weekend I rescheduled my household duties to help some friends. Do I love a clean house, YOU BET, does it make me feel organized for my week, HECK YES. In my opinion however, a person is more important then dusting. Yesterday I dropped what I was doing to run an errand to help someone out, was the paperwork I needed to do there when I got back, to my dismay yes, unfortunately no one else did it for me! LOL.
God wants us to be aware when He is calling us. Is he dialing our phone numbers, texting or tweeting? No, but his people are.  HE is not standing outside our boat directing us to cast out our nets in the middle of the day when least expected. But like Peter, HE is calling us to be fishers of men. HE wants us to be available to help HIS people when they are in need. Whether it be a pop-by where we stop to say hi to someone who may be reaching out that we haven't noticed until it is too late. A shut in, a family friend, a widow, someone who is struggling with a loss, needing help to move, someone who may not ask for our help, but that God is directing us to connect with when they need it most. Are you too busy to listen to HIS calling? Can the laundry and household chores wait another day? Can you go to dinner, see a movie or shop another time?
With technology today we should be aware and available to see and listen to what we are being called to do, who we are being called to influence and interfere in their lives with our smiles, kind words, and our time. They are putting it out there, on Facebook, Twitter and all kinds of social media updates! Are we tuned in to other people's needs? Or are we too busy posting our own status? Time is precious to all of us, but sometimes what we think are priorities are just things that keep us busy. Stop today and read some of these posts, call up someone you haven't connected with in awhile, listen to what you are being called to do. It may not only benefit that person, but you as well.
Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind. Proverbs 21:5 MSG

I do

I often wonder how some marriages stay together and others fall apart. Granted they say people change over years and due to circumstances, however everyone and everything changes on a daily basis. Some people chose to grow together and some apart. The key to staying together- compromise- loving that other person more than yourself, giving unselfishly, making sacrifices and building that other person up and showing your support, understanding that you cannot change a person unless they want to change, committing yourself and not giving up- (I am not talking about abusive relationships or extremely negative circumstances) just your average 2 people who fall in love and together grow and prosper with life occurrences that most people go through. I am not one to judge others without being in their shoes, but I do know from what I have seen over the years and getting older that some people give up too easily, because it is easier than trying.
Today on the news they showed a couple that have been married for 80 years who won the 2013 Worldwide Marriage Encounter award (a Christian marriage enrichment group based in San Bernardino, Calif., that organizes a search each year to promote the virtues of lasting marriages and inspire young couples.) Growing up my parents were a part of this Marriage Encounter group where they traveled around and gave enrichment weekends to help other married couples enrich and enhance their relationships and marriage by teaching them how to most effectively communicate with one another. Not only did I see changes in my parent's communication while growing up, it changed the dynamic of my family life. I was young when my dad passed away, but I still remember learning some of the things that they did to make each other feel special and keep the communication between them open and healthy.
Many people now get  married a lot later than 17 like this couple did, so if we live until 97 I will not beat this 80 year mark, however we can take it as an example of how life can bring us blessings if we follow some simple advice.
Before their 80th wedding anniversary in November, John and Ann Betar told ABC News that they considered themselves "blessed."

"We are very fortunate. It can be repeated and repeated," Ann, 97, said at the time. "It is unconditional love and understanding. We have had that. We consider it a blessing."

Though the couple is hesitant to give out marriage advice, their secret to so many happy years together is simple: compromise and don't hold a grudge.

Congrats to the Betars who will be receiving their award at their granddaughter's home this Saturday! May they be an example to all of us as we move forward.

Saying Goodbye

Many of us dread the day when we will lose a loved one. Whether we are young or old we will experience a loss of some sort from some one that we know. No matter what type of loss or how the person is connected to you it will in some way effect you and make you value the miracle and the beauty of life that we often take for granted everyday. The saying goes, enjoy the people you love every day, make them know how much you care as if it were the last time you will see/talk to them, it may be.
My husband's best friend lost his mother yesterday after a short battle with cancer, she was a young 58. She was the kind of person who was always smiling, whose smile would light up a room. Her peppy bubbly attitude brought her many friends. She was very well liked and would bend over backwards to do stuff for her family and friends. It is amazing that these types of people, the ones who have the most impact on our lives are often the ones that we lose before we think it is their time. We often wonder why the time is shortened or why we have such a short period of time to say goodbye to some and a longer time for others. This isn't something that we will probably ever understand, and trying to would just take too much energy with no result. Maybe those who hang on longer take a harder time convincing that the family/friends they are leaving behind are truly going to be okay. From all we have heard about Heaven and afterlife the person we leave will be more than okay. We are hoping for something we do not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently. -Romans 8:25 NCV
We often wonder why some live to be so old and some so young, why some barely have a start at life, a chance to make their mark and others live long and die simple. Examples you see every day, in your own life, in the news, amongst family and friends. From these same friends' little baby boy who 4 years ago never had the chance to take his first breath, to my best friend growing up who died at the young age of 10 from cancer, to an acquaintance whose son dies in their early 20's in an instant in a car wreck with absolutely no warning, to my dad who died when I was 14 years only 2 months after being diagnosed with cancer at the young age of 54 to my grandmother who lived to be 96 and just didn't wake up one morning.
You should value life on a daily basis, thanking God for what you have, who you have and what you have accomplished every day. Wanting less, complaining less and living life to the fullest as if tomorrow will never come is the key to your happiness that you create. Be content in your current state, it is okay and healthy to want more as long as you enjoy what you already have. Don't take it for granted. When you accept rather than fight your circumstances, even though you don't understand them you open your heart's gate to God's love, peace, joy, and contentment. - Amy Carmichael

Here is a poem I wrote shortly after my father died I will share with you today:

Meet Him in the Sky

 

I sit and watch the tide go by,

My emotions stirring deep inside.

I watch the lonely flower grow,

Realizing I must now let go.

The birds soar high in the sky,

Why do I want to cry?

It’s hard to live in a new way,

But I must take it day by day.

As the wind blows its gentle breeze

I know one day I’ll feel “his” free.

Walking through the woods I see

God’s little signs of eternity,

They warm my heart with memories

As I look up to the trees,

I recognize the sweetest song,

And now I know it won’t be long.

He is waiting for me somewhere up there

Watching over me with tender care.

As the wind blows it gentle breeze

I know one day I’ll feel “his” free.

The wind is calling its magic words

“Don’t worry I’ll be here” I heard.

Through all the doubts in my life

This thought would overcome my strife.

I couldn’t help but think of he,

The man I wanted here for me.

The peace I felt just then

I knew would come again.

As the wind blows its gentle breeze

I know one day I’ll feel “his” free.

-Dani Miller