Surviving Loss

     What do you say to someone going through a loss.  You may have gone through it yourself at some point in your life.  However, everyone’s loss is different; everyone’s need is different; everyone’s relationship with the one that has passed on is different; everyone’s loneliness or void in life from that loss is different; everyone’s grieving process is different.

     As with any loss there is truly a void, and this void needs to be filled with something good.  There must be a mind-set; a mind-set for joy in life, regardless of the circumstances.  God is in control, and He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  I believe, herein, lies the answer we seek.

     When someone or even your most treasured pet passes away, God has a reason.  He is taking care of that loved one during their season of need.   Yet, God’s plan for the one suffering through the loss is for them to fill that void with love for Him.  He still has plans to give you hope and a future.   God truly wants you  to enjoy every moment.  How do I know this?  God says it in John 15: 11, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”  He follows it with the commandment, “Love each other as I have loved you.”  To do this we have to follow the commandment to love God and other people.  We must ‘set our minds’ to look outside of ourselves- outside of our loss.   Keep in mind that loving other people, means loving yourself as well.  Be good to yourself, allowing yourself to have your moments of grief but set your mind to continue to enjoy life.     

     In Joyce Meyer’s book, Power Thoughts, she states: With Jesus Himself speaking and praying such powerful words about His desire for us to have joy, how could we ever doubt that God wants us to be happy and enjoy our lives.  If it is God’s desire that we enjoy life, then why are so many people miserable and unhappy?  Perhaps it is because we fail to set our minds to enjoy life.  We can easily fall into a pattern of surviving and enduring rather than enjoying.  But a new mind-set will release you to begin enjoying life like never before.  The more you enjoy life the more enjoyable you will be.  Meditate on and say repeatedly, “I live in the present and enjoy each moment.”
     To reinforce the fact that God intents for us to be joyful we find in John 10:10:  "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."   

     I understand there must be a grieving process in death, but we must not allow our joy to be stolen and to fall into a pattern of surviving and enduring without “setting our minds” upon enjoying life. 

     There is a quote I often use in my own life when it seems I have to pull myself up and regain my own “mind-set”:  “If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it.”  God will, indeed, give you the victory through this journey!   I also use one of my favorite scripture verses which is yet another reminder that God wants us to have joy in our daily lives.  "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." 
     Through the dark hours and the lonely days of loss, there is a hand stronger than ours which is reaching down to us.  He can restore your joy as you set your mind to reach up and accept it. 

       

       

The Rock

     I have not written in some time now.  It seems I have let a large and over-whelming project assume all my attention and rob me of my relaxation and my time in "my friendly shade".   However, my Rock and my Source of Strength has never left my side.  In fact, while I have been trying so hard to accomplish all that was needed to complete this new project, it was my Rock who blessed me by sending just the right people, at the right time, to get the job done. 

     A rock, by definition, is a hard substance; it makes a solid foundation and a strong support.  Yet when I think about rocks and stones I visualize the jar of pebbles that so many people have used to make a point.  It seems you can fill a jar until it is completely full of small, hard pebbles, then you are still able to add substantial amounts of sand until the jar cannot hold another drop of sand.   If asked, most people will say the jar is full; however,  it can still hold an enormous amount of water. 

     While we, as Christians, have the Lord, our Rock and our strength living inside our very heart, body, and soul, we continually fill our minds and bodies with our idols of desires; we move our minds away from time spent in communication with our Rock; we hurry along the various roads we think we must travel.  In so doing, we let the grains of sand and the potholes of water fill our jar too full, and they sift our foundation until we weaken from the load we are trying to carry alone.  We become tired and frustrated.  It is then, that we realize our Rock is still there just waiting for us to lean upon.  He can remove the sand and the water that we have allowed to slip into the crevices.  He can make our foundation strong again.  He can restore our peace of mind if we only rest in His love and grace.   

The Gingerbread Man

Thanksgiving should be daily throughout the year, but as the holiday closes the Christman season enters in with thoughts of spiced apple cider and gingerbread cookies.  School classrooms are preparing for making those famous gingerbread houses.   That is what inspired the following, and it was written for my favorite classroom teacher, my daughter, and her class:

 

The Gingerbread Man

It’s Christmas!

Bah Hum Bug …
What was this all about?
I rolled under the sheets and gave them a tug.
I was just a ball of dough
 with nothing much to show.

Then something magical happened-

First one hand rolled out;
 then another began to sprout. 
I soon found two feet,
 that kicked me out of bed.
Eyes appeared upon a small round head.
I was all smooth and flat
 with a beautiful tan-
just like a gingerbread man.

“Wow! Look at me!”

I exploded in glee.

Christmas! It’s Christmas!

I was going to have to rush!
My scent filled the air,
 and I had not a second to spare. 

I grabbed for my vest

 and began to get dressed.
There was a class full of girls and boys
 choosing me over bright red toys.

Brandon, Coe, and Jay

 had all said, “Send a gingerbread man my way.”
Lia, Cade, Savannah, and Reed  
 put me on their list, as they all had agreed. 
Tyler, April, Emily, and Alex
 wanted me to fill their stockings and sacks.
Noah, Sapana, and Trae
 had requested that I come their way.
So many were looking forward to a spicy Christmas day.   
Even Carson, Seth, Autumn, Zac, and Caylin
 said I was just the right mix and blend.

Then I could’nt forget Ms. Legg!

She didn’t want any ole dough from a store-bought egg.
She’d requested me for her gingerbread house.
I’d surprise her! Slip in quiet as a mouse.

Excitement overtook me

 as I sent myself a kiss,
 for I was top on their list.
I dashed on more ginger, added sugar and spice-
Hmmm, I smelled really nice.
In my haste,
 I snuck a taste.
Yes! I was all sweet,
 from my head to my feet.

Next I buttoned my vest,

 which fit tight across my dark tan chest.
I fumbled with its buttons of red
 as the scent of ginger filled my head.
Then looked in the mirror -
 but  something was all a’miss!

“Oh my! Where was my sugar coat?”

I had to have that around my arms and my throat.
I quickly donned those beads and pearls,
 for that would be missed by those curly-lock girls.
But what about the boys?
Not to worry-
 they’d be too busy with their games and their noise.

A magic suddenly filled the air

 as I tapped my heels with a flaire.
I had much to do -
“It’s Christmas!” I said with adieu.
I’m spicy, all sugar and sweet-
 just right for sampling, and oohh - so sweet to eat.
I’d fill out those stockings- Just right!
All eyes would be happy and bright.

“OH,Yes! It’s Christmas,”  I shouted out.
This was what Christmas was all about!
I was in such a thrill,
 it gave me a chill. 
I thought, “It’s all up to me.
I’d be just the key,  
 to complete Ms. Legg’s gingerbread fam’ily.”
                              Mary Crisp Jameson -11/25/2012

 

For Love of Country

     With the upcoming election for President of the United States of America Mitt Ronmey asked,  “Will you vote for “love of country,” or as President Obama stated, “for revenge”? 

     I believe that God is the One true Leader of our great nation.  Without Him in it, whatever the cause, we are nothing.  I believe that we, as a nation of people, must adhere to the principals established and given to us through God’s word.  We are not a people who should “take revenge” toward another party within our blessed nation.  We should strive to work together.  To listen to the President of the United States of America make such a statement is alarming.  God said it Himself in Romans 12:19: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”  

     We are a blessed nation because of God, and it is only God who can divide the waters and save the nation like He did for Moses as he led the Israelites into God's promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  Our nation has been prosperous in the past, and we can be prosperous in the future if we trust, believe, and seek God.  It is only God who can deliver our nation like He did when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down.  Time and time again, we are given accounts in the Old Testament of victory, only when the people listened and obeyed the Word of God. 

     It is time that the people of the United States of America come together.  We should not just be  Democrats or Republicans; we should be a nation of people who love each other; we should work together; we should do what is to the best interest of its people, and, most of all, we should get back to the principals of life as established by God.  Those principals can be found in the living word of God. 

    

 

Down Payment

     I had to put a down payment on a contract the other day.  This was something I really wanted, but I sure didn't like having to shell out the money it would take to secure the contract.

 

     Do you ever stop to think if God had second thoughts about the down payment He made when He allowed His Son to die for our sins?  Yet He did it anyway, knowing all the while, that this deed would be rejected by so many.  There would be people who would mock Him.  They would do anything in their power to prevent prayers, His commandments, His people from existing in this very world, today.  God knew, even those who accepted Christ into their lives, what kind of life they would live. 

     I am guilty on so many counts.  I am sure I disappoint the indwelling Spirit much like a child often disappoints a parent, or vice versa.  Rebellion and discord are built into our very nature.  They are not placed there by God, but by our own fleshly, self-fish motives. 

     Do I think and say the right things at the right time?  Do I care? Do I watch what I put into my body, keeping it clean for the indwelling spirit? Do I love others or just, at times, wish they would go away and leave me along, taking their burdens with them so I don’t have to shed a tear, help, tend, and care about them?  Do I resent giving my time and tithe to God and to others, even when I know without a shadow of a doubt that all I have and all I will ever have comes from God?

    Even if God had second thoughts, I am so glad He sealed me.  I am so glad He loves and forgives me.  I am so glad He directs my path.  I am so glad He laid out His promises for me to read about, seek, and to claim. 

     God is All Power.  His power can move mountains; His power can heal; His power can change lives.  What is so amazing is that God shares His power through the Holy Spirit living within me.  He bestows His power to me!  That power will allow me to change.  It can turn my self-fish desires into love.  It can take my weakness and turn it into strength.  It can give me the desire and the will to break the chains of any bondage in my life so that I can have a truly joyful walk with Him.  
     I do not believe that God regrets, for an instant, the downpayment He made for our lives.   

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.  Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is god, Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” 2 Corinthians 1: 20-22

 

 

Maybe It's Not Too Late

     This morning as I was trying to find a way to remove specks of rust from a stainless steel soap dispenser I began to wander how this had happened.  Had I been too busy and neglected the dispenser over the course of time? 

     The soap within, of course, was still good and there to assist in removing germs, the enemies of cleanliness.  It was just the outer container that was the problem.  As I continued to examine those small specks of rust, I began to make excuses.  It must be the quality of the metal.  We all know there are different qualities of stainless steel. Some are just more rust resistant than others. Much depends on the elements added as it was developed.  “That was it!  I had just bought a cheap stainless steel dispenser,” I reasoned, as I reached for my faithful brillo pad.  It took a little scrubbing, but the rust was coming off a little at a time.   However, the shine was not what it should have been.  Then I thought, “A little wax of some kind will help to polish out the scratches and put it back to normal.  It wouldn’t hurt to try.  Maybe it wasn’t too late.”  

     Is that the way it is in our Christian walk?  Maybe it’s not too late!  As Christians, Jesus lives within our very souls.  He is there to lift us up, to keep us clean, and to keep us on the right path.  However, outwardly, many Christians fell to add the right elements, and we develop poorly.  Overtime rust begins to form.  The Element of cleanliness, lying just beneath the surface, is kept at bay.  When that happens, our enemies spread like germs, making us sick.  Depression erupts, selfishness takes over, and self-pity enters our thoughts.

     It would be good to wash and clean our vessels, our minds and our hearts, every day by having quality fellowship with the One who lives within instead of waiting until we have to reach for the ‘brillo pad’ to scrub away the rust of neglect.  Only by having a daily walk with God can we create a pure shield of protection; a shield that will stand firm and endure through the rusty times in our life; a shield that will fill in the scratches made from having to scrub away the areas in our lives that we have ignored and neglected for far too long. 

     Maybe, just maybe, it is not too late!      

A New Armor

A NEW ARMOR

 Take me out of the battlefield

I prayed and appealed!

 

I was shackled and worn-

Beaten and torn;

Then the sun shone through-

A light appeared as the dark sky turned to blue.

 

I was re-dressed-

Given a shield to cover my breast;

A new armor of protection-

A light for direction.

 

I was given victory in the battlefield.

Wounds were beginning to heal;

My chains of weakness disappeared.

The helmet of faith covered my head-

My weariness was quickly shed.

 

Take me out of the battlefield

I prayed and appealed.

“The demons are too strong to bare!”

My shout rang out, and He heard my prayer.

 

He set my feet on solid ground.

His mighty Book was in my hand;

A weapon polished from His word.

I was strong in battle with the sharpest sword.

 

Shackled and worn-

Beaten and torn;

Taken out of the battlefield,

As I had prayed and appealed.

                                              Mary Nell Jameson -10/18/2012

 

 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.  Psalm 24:8