In Honor of Valentine's Day-My Parent's Love Story

I am reposting my parent's love story as featured on CBS morning show in the Fall of 2007. for those of you who are new to this site, Mom passed away January 7, 2009. As you might guess, we miss her every day.

Always,

Hope

What Is Holding You Back?

On Sunday, during another wonderful service, there were several people who chose to have prayer for various needs in their lives. While praying the Pastor asked God to release people from their chains or in other words from those things that were keeping them bound up and unable to move forward. This brought on a beautiful time of release and the ability for many to move forward in their lives. No longer would they need to feel held back or frozen in a place of no movement.
This morning, during my own time of prayer and reflection I was struck by something that excited me so much I had to interrupt the Coffee Guy to tell him about it! I really believe this could be one of those life changing moments and I wasn't going to enter it quietly.
As long as I can remember, I have had a love/hate relationship with food. I love it when I want comfort and hate it when it makes me feel out of control. I am one of those girls that could more easily name the very few diets I have not been on as opposed to naming everything I have tried. Its one of the culprits I have blamed when I didn't fit in (literally) yet I have come to know it so intimately that there isn't a dish on this earth that I wouldn't be willing to try and prepare. Food was my friend when I was lonely, my target when I was angry and still there to celebrate the big events of my life! So of course, food must be to blame for so many of the ills in my life, right?
Recently I have been pondering this relationship and have been frustrated to find the answer so elusive. I mean really, everybody seems to have a angle. From cutting out certain foods to how many times a day you eat to writing down everything you eat. We count calories, fat grams and water intake. I have done all that and more! So why can't I get a grip?
While studying Acts this morning, in Chapter 15, Paul and Barnabas were confronted with another group of men teaching about the need for circumcision. It struck me that so many of us are doing the same thing! Circumcision is an act of the flesh, part of the law and an act of cutting away the flesh. I had become part of this argument. I found myself a couple of weeks ago convinced that its not about what we do with our flesh but its our hearts that need to be changed. Sure, our actions will follow but until our hearts are changed, its jut an outward act of the law.
As I read further, I came upon the place where Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Acts 16:25-30 they sang hymns. As they sang, an earthquake shook the entire prison, the doors flew open and their chains fell off. This is where it really hit me. They were busy singing and praising the Lord when they found the sweet release of their chains falling off. They weren't busy examining their chains to see what they were made of or how strong they were. They didn't sit around discussing how they got on there or the unfairness of their situation. They praised their Lord! They concentrated on praising God while in their chains. They continued to seek intimacy with Him instead of excuses to resist intimacy!
My chains are not food. Food has been covering my chains! When I gave up food for exercise, then it was exercise that covered my chains. When I followed the laws of "diet", I was shackled to the law. As I shopped for the perfect clothes, car or mate, those things covered my chains. When I set out to be the perfect wife and mother, those things distracted me from my real chains as well. These things have been diverting my focus from the real bondage all along! The real bondage is going to be different for everyone and I'm still seeking God to figure out mine. Most likely I will find some pride, lack of faith or something else that keeps me from truly being intimate with God. Whatever it is, Romans 8:1-15 tells me to walk in the Spirit. Its a lack of trusting Him and turning to whatever I have considered my chains to be that has kept me from the freedom He intends for me to have!
Today is a day that I am celebrating freedom! After seeking Him, asking for wisdom and having prayers of revelation spoken in my behalf, He is revealing to me that it is time to step forward. Moving away from the old and facing a new day! I can almost audibly hear the chains falling off of my mind and heart.
What are you seeking to be free from today? Do you really want to keep carrying those chains around? Isn't it about time you seek the only one who can make you truly free?

Always,

Hope

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is one if those words in which the same basic meaning can be applied to a variety of situations. We reconcile our checkbooks, marriages and ourselves.Dictionary.com states:
rec⋅on⋅cil⋅i⋅a⋅tion

1.	an act of reconciling or the state of being reconciled.

2.	the process of making consistent or compatible.

The ministry of Jesus was to reconcile us to our God. Because our sin separated us from his righteousness, He came and removed the barrier by paying a debt that we couldn't pay. This has given us the ability to have an intimate relationship with Him when otherwise, we would be on our own. Without this agreement, the purpose He created us for, fellowship with Him, would be impossible.
Jesus not only came to reconcile us to His Father but to each other as well. He tells us to love each other. One of my favorite passages Scriptures is Philippians 2:1-4 "¹ Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, ² fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. ³ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." What is better than giving our Lord joy? He died for us! Isn't obeying him the least we can do?
We are also told to love on another and that includes our enemies. Those who dislike us or treat us poorly are still to be blessed by us. That's why I believe that love is not a feeling but an action to be taken. To be patient, kind, not rude, not selfish, etc. is a choice that we make. Its part of the process of reconciliation and goes with taking thoughts captive and forgiveness. In order to have an intimate relationship with Christ, we need to be willing to be obedient to His Word. That involves dying to self and reconciling to each other.
The other interesting thing is that it is a "process of making consistent or compatible". We have to be willing to go through the process. We can't look back, only forward in order to truly reconcile. We have to willing to admit our own mistakes as well as forgive the shortcomings of others. At times we have to be willing to accept forgiveness extended to ourselves.
Is there someone you need to reconcile with? Are you ready if someone is prepared to reconcile with you? What steps are you willing to take today?

Always,

Hope

Distractions

I have mentioned before how much my Mom loved the Word of God. She loved to read it, soak it in and even teach it. (She was a part of Bible Study Fellowship International for twenty years or more.) She also didn't just study it, she practiced it.

I often wonder if it would be the same now. Would she have the time or with all of today's distractions, would it be more difficult with cell phones, cable/satellite  TV, internet and all of the activities that pull us in different directions. Then I remember, she raised five children, four rowdy boys and one perfectly well behaved daughter (ahem). Actually, I'm convinced that the daughter gave her more prayer callouses on her knees than the four boys combined but that wasn't until we were in adulthood but that is a whole series of posts for another time. The fact is, she took the time and made it a priority.

I remember her telling the story about how she couldn't find time to finish her homework every week. No matter how much she tried to schedule it in, she wasn't getting it done. She even prayed to find the time. She began waking up in the middle of the night. The first few times it happened, she would lay there in frustration, trying to get back to sleep. After a few nights of this it hit her, she had been asking for time and there it was. She began to go into a small room, quietly read and study. For several days she would wake up at around 3 a.m. and made it her routine until finally she was able to find a time during the day. The a.m. wake up calls stopped and she found her niche.

Sitting down, just to be quiet, to listen to God and to soak in His Word can be much harder some days than others. Its not even just the above mentioned things or the fact that its so tempting to check messages every morning. Social networking sites have waylaid me from reading or writing on more than one occasion lately but some mornings, its just the clutter of thoughts in my mind that keep me from hearing what I need to hear. I'll start to read about one thing while a thought pops up reminding me of the past or something on my "to do" list. Like "Dug" in the Disney movie UP!, I can be mid thought and yell "Squirrel!" as my head whips around in a different direction.

I am convinced that we need to make ourselves be quiet. No TV, no radio, no internet, no outside input but just surround ourselves with quiet at least once a day. The "busy"ness crowds into our minds and clutters our hearts with things that need to be thrown out or at least recycled into something positive. We need to empty ourselves and allow our Creator to refill us daily so we can know His heart. We can find peace and direction when we know Him. We can start small and as we cut out distractions we can better see our destiny.

Where will you carve out a place to seek peace today? When will you make time to just sit and listen to what is being spoken into your heart? Like making time for your favorite show or activity, will you make time to rest your mind and fill your soul?

Always,

Hope