......would be something I would KNOW is a lie.  Phil doesn't eat potato chips.  If you told me that Phil just ate three bags of CANDY.. I might believe you.  Phil loves to eat candy.  After years of marriage, I know lots of stuff about Phil. Some of it is BIG stuff, and some of it is SMALL stuff. But it's the STUFF of a relationship.  It's stuff you know when you really KNOW someone. You may know about PHIL.. but.. you will never know him like I do.  And that's the way it should be.  Why would you want to know as much about Phil as his wife does? You wouldn't.

People know ABOUT God but they don't really know Him.  The Bible says that He rewards people who diligently seek HIM. The key is to KNOW God.. to KNOW and believe He is who He says He is. He is LOVE.  He is HOLY.  He is MERCY. He is GREAT. 

When you don't know God you believe the worst about Him.  You believe He doesn't care. You believe He isn't there. You believe He isn't listening.  

But when you KNOW Him.. you KNOW that He is faithful. And that even in the most confusing circumstances.....He is doing whatever is BEST for you.

When you know God you can say.. "God is good"........no matter how bad my life looks at the moment. 

If you cannot say that.. maybe you just know ABOUT God... and don't really KNOW Him as the Father He truly is. 

The ultimate goal in life is contentment.  There are lots of people giving lots of advice about how to achieve contentment.  The FIRST secret to finding contentment is to find a relaltionship with Jesus.   There's nothing like knowing your sins (past and future) have been paid for.  There's nothing that brings contentment like knowing God has adopted you as his child.

There are thousands of secrets of contentment. 

Today, we will talk about #406.  Which is "To count how many people I love rather than how many people love me."

YUP.  There it is.  If you think about it, most of our emotional problems stem from the truth that someone - a parent, a spouse, a child - doesn't love us the way we would like to be loved.  Sometimes, we think it's the way we DESERVE to be loved.  Secondly, people whose goal in life is to get lots of people to love them, lots of "fans", lots of admiration.......will never have enough.  And will soon discover what Jesus knew - that it's pointless to seek the approval of people. 

Thinking about how much a person doesn't love me can be torture.  Until I discovered that if I focus on how much I love (or don't love) that person I completely forget that they dont' love me.  

YUP. That's it.  I am supposed to love - my enemies.  I am supposed to do good to those who "despitefully use me."  Yes.. to people who USE me.  I am supposed to LOVE THEM.  PRAY FOR THEM. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... that's a joke, right?  Wrong. It's a commandment.

At times, in my past and in my present, there are people who haven't (and don't) like me.  Forget love. They don't even like me.  I could spend my hours wondering why.  I could lose weeks and months and years debating how they misunderstood me, how they did me wrong.

But when I am on my knees... pleading with the Spirit of the Lord to put LOVE for THEM in my heart..........when I sincerely PRAY FOR THEM......suddenly all that striving, and stress, and tension, and anger...........disappear. That's right, I said the word, "disappear."

I focus on my lack of love for that person.  I focus on my heart of unforgiveness and how it must grieve the ONE WHO TRULY LOVES ME.  And I don't try to talk myself in to believing He isn't serious when He commands me to LOVE OTHERS AS HE LOVES ME.  SO I confess I cannot, in my own strength love that person.  And I ask God to give me love.  And when I find that HE has placed love in my heart for someone who doesn't love me.....

I am content.  At peace.  

Counting how many people I love  - and asking God to help me love more - rather than how many people don't love me......has definite rewards.  

...couldn't have a baby.  She is a woman the Bible tells us about.  Her husband loved her deeply.  But.. he had another wife also.  It's bad enough, heartbreaking enough, devastating enough to be a woman who has infertility problems, but......then........your husband has to marry a Fertile Myrtle type?  And wait.. Fertile Myrtle was MEAN to Hannah.  And taunted her with the obvious fact that she had lots of kids and Hannah had.. well.. Hannah had... NONE!

... her husband tried to comfort Hannah with the fact that she had.... HIM!  OK. OK.  It's nice that he loved her..  But when a woman wants a baby a woman wants A BABY!  And while it's nice that Hannah had a husband who comforted her.......he wasn't a baby. He wasn't what her heart longed for.  Every woman knows that you love your husband and you love your child with the same deepness - but with a different kind of love.  

...what is it about Hannah and her story that could possibly relate to our lives today? 

Hannah wanted something that was BEYOND HER CONTROL TO GET.  She longed for a child, wept for a child, couldn't imagine living life without a child..........and she could do nothing to fulfill this longing.  Furthermore, when she arrived at the most Holy Place for her - the Temple - and she was praying with such emotion to the ONLY ONE WHO HAD THE POWER TO GIVE HER WHAT SHE LONGED FOR.......the religious leader there, Eil the High Priest... SCOLDED HER.  He thought she was drunk because of the way she was praying. 

Have you been where Hannah was?  Have you had something that you wanted so desperately and had no power to get it?  Have people around you tried to brush it away and make light of your inner groaning?

What's the difference between Hannah and many of us?  She never stopped praying.  She never stopped asking.  She prayed ONE MORE PRAYER.  And the priest told her that God had heard it THAT DAY.

I have been encouraged many, many, many, many (ok.. multiply that many by a kazillion) times by the story of Hannah.  Not so much because it has a happy ending (she had a son, Samuel.  She dedicated him to God's service. And had more children after) 

We all like happy endings.  But Hannah is my heroine because she didn't give up. She prayed ONE MORE PRAYER to a God who had not answered thousands of previous prayers. She believed ONE MORE TIME though her life had nothing to show for her faith in this silent God.

I can relate to thinking that God isn't listening, God isn't going to answer, God isn't being fair.  I know what it's like to be desperate for something and to know that ONLY GOD can arrange it so I have it.  And when I remember Hannah... I always remember that today could be the day that I pray the prayer that gets the answer.   

You might be like me and like Hannah.  You are tired of praying for something you cannot imagine living without.  And no one around you "gets" it.  No one truly believes you will ever get what you are praying for.  And you may ask:

"How many prayers does it take to get an answer?"

Answer: One more than you've already prayed.

(The song, "When The Answers Do Not Come" was written by me as a song Hannah might have sung - IF I HAD been alive thousands of years ago to write it.. You can click on the link in the green column to your upper left if you want to listen to it.)

IN RANDOM ORDER -

1- Would I have the heart to cheer for my beloved N.Y. Yankees if the Chicago Cubs actually made it in to the World Series - and they were playing the Yankees? This is a decision I pray I am never forced to make.

2-What is the thought and emotional process the cashier standing at the "Fifteen Items Or Less" CheckOut Line endures when there are no customers with less than 15 items in their carts in the store, much less standing in line? Is he embarrassed at his lack of service to Kroger Humanity?  Does he allow guilt to induce him to motion   toward a customer with more than 15 items? 

3-What possible purpose could additional chin hairs serve in the life of an already unstable and tempermental menopausal woman?

4- Why all the babies being named after geographical locations?  Isn't nine months enough time to find a baby name in a book other than one that has the title "Rand McNally" in it?  And why are some city names - Paris - better than others - Hoboken? 

5- Is there any scientific evidence to support that the spending habits of insomniacs are less controlled than the general population?  Is that why most TV stations air infomercials in the middle of the night?

6- Isn't the term "church split" an oxymoron?

7- If Jesus loves me......does anything else really matter?

8- If you read this blog on a regular basis, would you take the time to comment?

9- Do people who know me see true love in me?

10- Is there anyone who is ever too far gone for God's love to come in and HEAL everything about them and their life?  This one has an answer. (HINT: The answer is NO)

The Lord will not fail you.  The Lord does not deal with you like people do.  The Lord is not swayed in His steadfast faithfulness to His children.

Be encouraged in the faithful love of Almighty God. At times, it's true, it seems like He doesn't notice you.  He does.  At times, it seems like He isn't concerned about you.  He is.  Be encouraged.  If you keep trusting Him.. keep believing He is who He says He is - you will look back on your life and see that God has rescued you, provided for you, made a way for you, performed impossible miracles for you.  

Don't give up today.  Don't believe the lies that whisper to your heart.  God is good. Even when things are bad.

Whisper a sentence to Him.  Ask Him for more faith to believe He is faithful.  He doesn't mind your doubts... He already hears every one.

If you ask for Faith.....you will receive it.  First comes faith......and then when the Holy Spirit births real, deep true faith in WHO GOD IS no matter what GOD DOES.. then trusting in God's faithfulness is as natural as breathing.  If you don't have that kind of faith.. ask for it.

No good thing will He withhold from you. 

I prefer my summer wardrobe.  It isn't ONLY because I dislike winter. 

It's because I am just a summer, casual, non-formal kind of female human being.  I like just throwing on a sundress and sandals and driving to Target or Kroger.  It's fast and easy.  And even though winters in the South are nowhere near as cold as the northern ones I grew up with, I still have warm clothes, heavy sweaters, boots, scarves and gloves. 

There comes an important ceremonial moment - it's a private ceremony in my closet - when my closet gets changed around. 

I accept the inevitable end of summer.  I move the clothes from the previous season to the back of the rack, and move the clothes that fit the season to the front.  I mourn when I'm moving the summer clothes to the back.. and rejoice when they are front and center again.

Seasons change and the wardrobe I wear must correspond with the season. 

In January, when I go outside - I wear HEAVY CLOTHING and the HEAVY wardrobe keeps me alive in the below-freezing temps in January.  BUT if I wore that same wardrobe in hot, humid, sticky, 104 degree July in Tennessee weather - it would kill me. The wardrobe that keeps me alive in January will kill me in July.  What changed?  The season.  What changed it?  The Jet Stream. 

Yes.. The wind changes the season as much the planet's position to the sun. (I saw this on the Weather Channel - therefore it is absolute truth.)

The sun (and it's position to the planet) causes the jet stream to move it's position. And so, the warm jet stream of the equator moves and so does the season.  Long before my sandals and sundresses get moved to the front of my closet, the unseen wind is orchestrating a seasonal change.

Furthermore, changing seasons is what brings life to the planet.  Any place on earth that does not have seasonal changes is dead.  Too hot. Too cold. No life.  If you want life - and the fruit that comes from it - you must have seasons that are continually changing. 

And God spoke this to my heart several years ago... right after we moved to Tennessee.  Before we moved, our lives were dedicated to full time ministry.  I was a Pastor's wife,  I taught Bible Studies, I had a TV show, I had speaking engagements,singing at concerts..... and when we moved to Tennessee.. I left that identity back in the Northeast. And for a while, it really bothered me.

God - the Father God who loves me - came on the scene one day and spoke to me in my heart and mind.  He showed me a picture of a woman who was wearing the same wardrobe she'd warn in a previous season and it was suffocating her.  I wouldn't change with the season.  I wanted to keep doing the same thing I had BEEN doing.  I kept insisting that it was the right thing to do - and it was - for THAT SEASON. But I hadn't been able to feel the new wind blowing through my life.

God was orchestrating a new season.  A new path.  A different set of opportunities.    The verse in Isaiah says, "Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it?"

And... it hit me that so many times I cannot SEE THE NEW THING GOD IS DOING.. because I am dwelling on the past. In order to see the NEW THING.. I have to FORGET the former things. I do not perceive the new thing - I cannot feel the wind of the Holy Spirit - when I am focused on and dwelling on the past.  Good things in my past.  Bad things in my past.  The past is past. 

Furthermore, just because in "January" the wardrobe I clothed myself in was the right wardrobe.. it doesn't mean I must INSIST on being who I was, doing what I did..LIFE... REAL LIFE.. ALWAYS COMES because seasons change. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  I took a deep long spiritual breath.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  A new thing.  Something new.  Show me, Lord.

And.....for the past twelve years... life has been good and wonderful and free and fun. Different than it was.. but... better.  And the Holy Spirit knew.. long before the moving truck arrived at our northern home that a new season - a good season - was coming.

The secret to a contented life is knowing when to move your current wardrobe to the back of the closet. 

The problem with the average day is that it has to compete with those amazingly above average off-the-charts wonderful days. 

Some days are amazing - you're at the beach with your family and the weather is perfect, and you go out to eat at a restaurant with perfect food, perfect service..and you get a window seat overlooking the sun setting behind the horizon.  Some days, you just schlep around the house doing laundry, paying bills and making tuna casserole.

There's a third alternative - another type of day that isn't the vacation/sunset perfect day or the schlepping around the house doing laundry day.  There are some days when you face horrific tragedy.  Bad news about your health.  Someone you love dies.  Tragic horror.  

I think we would all choose a perfectly average day instead of the horrific tragedy day.  That's a no-brainer. 

When you go to sleep at night.. having lived a perfectly average day... you have been blesssed indeed. I know some extremely unhappy people.  They scorn the perfectly average day.  They feel entitled to think every day should be perfectly amazing.  These are the people who think Life only offers two types of days: average, boring days OR wonderful exciting vacation days.

They forget the third alternative to the kind of day they could live through.  They forget that any day could turn in to a day of horrible sadness, terrible tragedy, gut-wrenching bad news.  

Today could turn out one of THREE ways - perfect, average, tragic.

Yesterday was a perfectly average day for me.  Thank you God. I will be so thankful if today turns out to be yet another perfectly average day.

If you can find joy in a perfectly average day....you will find joy in life. 

Sooooooo, last night my husband and I spent the evening attending a baseball game.  We got great seats to watch the Nashville Sounds.. three rows back from the field... in between home plate and first base.  The Universe came in to alignment, and it was a COOL NIGHT.. in JULY.. in Nashville, TN.  There was a breeze, the sky was clear,  Phil was sitting there holding his glove, waiting for errant baseballs...and.. we had fun.

The stadium was not as full as it usually is because.. well..it WAS Wednesday night, after all... and there is always church on Wednesday night.. but..  we......went......to......A BASEBALL GAME!

We cheered for the Sounds.  The game went extra innings.  We got home after midnight. Guilty? Not for one second.  My husband and I held hands.. and had fun.

Did Jesus have fun?  The Bible doesn't tell us about Jesus having fun, but that doesn't mean He didn't.  That doesn't mean He didn't have moments of enjoying the very things He had created.  We know that for the three years of His ministry, He was focused on dying for Humanity.  He was focused on Twelve Men.  But did He jump in the water when He was needing to be refreshed?  Did He enjoy the taste of the food He ate?  Did He ever think, "Wow, that peach tastes amazing?"  Did He marvel at the colors in the flowers?  Did He enjoy their aroma?  Did He laugh when another person said something funny?

I guess the answer to that question can be answered with another one:  Was Jesus human?   Of course He was.  I don't think He was a comedian. I think some people confuse comedy with joy.   I don't think He forgot the seriousness of people around Him spending eternity eternally separated from God. But did He have fun? Was He happy? Seriously?  Yes.

AND NOW...at this moment... I IMAGINE HIM.... being seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf, having WON OUR VICTORY FOR US....

I imagine Him knowing the price He paid..comprehending the enemies He has defeated for us.... seeing the future He has in store for us... knowing that He told us that we should "be of good cheer, because I have overcome the world"... 

and looking down at some of the seriously sour-faced group of followers, shaking His head and saying to the angels who surround Him..and shake His head sadly, saing......

"They should be dancing!"

Do a little dance today. For the love of God.

I am convinced that the powers that be at Kroger have decided.. somewhere in some huge conference room... that people who are less than 5'1" in height have given up their inalienable right to use Half and Half in their coffee.  FOR THE RECORD.. I am no longer considered 'SHORT'.  I am UNDERTALL.

I cannot reach the Half and Half.   It's on the tippy.. toppy of the refrigerated section of the store.  Yesterday.. once again.. without my better (and taller) half.. I had to stand there scoping out the height of every person who went by..and then deciding on the spot.. if that person would be kind enough to grab me a carton of half and half.   Finally... a tall (5'6")woman had pity on me and grabbed me one.

I prayed about the possibility of praying about drinking my coffee black. Some things you just don't even have to pray about.

I am writing with the hope that those of you with height - 5'2" and over - will open your eyes to the need out there.. and when you are shopping up and down the aisles of your local supermarket..

HAVE MERCY ON THE UNDERTALL among you .. and grab a box of Cheerios from the top shelf every once and a while.. we thank you from the very close to the floor bottom of our hearts.

On Father's Day, Phil and I were getting something at Kroger, and while we were waiting in the check-out line, a boy who was about 11 or 12 was waiting there with a Father's Day card in his hand. 

It was a hot day (it's always a hot day in southern Tennessee) and he looked sweaty and like he'd either walked or pedaled a bike to the store.  Since he only had the card, I offered to let him go ahead of us.  When it was time to pay for the card, he was counting out all his change, and came up short.  He didn't have enough money to buy the card.

I saw the scene and saw Phil watching the kid.  Phil reached in to his pocket, pulled out a five dollar bill, and handed it to the young man.   The boy muttered, "thanks", took the money, paid for the card and left the store. Just like that. 

The boy muttered, "thanks", but I thought he'd say a BIGGER thanks.  After all,  I was not required to give him my place in line...Phil was not required to help him pay for the card... but just did it because he had mercy on the boy. 

The father would receive a card he had no idea some stranger had helped pay for.  The boy would give a card he hadn't really paid for. 

I don't know the boy's story.  I cannot read his thoughts.  Maybe he was embarrassed and just wanted to get away from the scene of not having enough money to pay for a card.  Coming up short in front of everyone can be humiliating.

And I am like that boy who will always come up short when it comes to paying for my sin.  It's always humiliating to see yourself for what you really are - falling short of God's requirements for sinners.  

I saw an example of God's love when Phil handed that kid five dollars.  Unmerited mercy to a complete stranger.

I saw myself in his response.

"Oh, thank God—he's so good! His love never runs out.
   All of you set free by God, tell the world!
      Tell how he freed you from oppression"  Psalm 107:2 (The Message)