In The Middle Of The Night

What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night?  Do you count sheep, toss and turn, get up for a glass of milk?  All of us have problems at least once in awhile with interrupted sleep for various reasons.  For those of us, where a full eight hours of sleep is very often evasive, we’ve tried all the recommendations about falling back to sleep.  Many times without any success and we get more and more frustrated.

I certainly can’t provide you with any great new miracle for a sound night sleep, but I can suggest that if sleep evades you, put the time to good use.  I certainly am “preaching to the choir” with this blog.

Use the time for prayer for your family, friends and others  who need someone to be praying  for their situations.  Spend some time in prayer for yourself and the day that will need to be gotten through with limited amount of sleep.  Give your cares and concerns to the Lord in prayer during the middle of the night–He is always awake and wanting to hear from His children.

Counting your many, many blessing is another way to spend sleepless time.  Start with being thankful for God’s gift of salvation through His son Jesus Christ.  Then your list may include your spouse, children, parents, employment and the fact that you have a roof over your head and food in the refrigerator.  Count your blessings of  having the freedom to attend the church of your choice.  Add to that the blessing of Christian friends that love and care about you and your family.  We are such an incredibly blessed people in the United States, even those who are on the lower rungs of the socio-economic scale.  Sure, we all want more and strive to get another step up the financial ladder, but be thankful for what God has provided for you at this time.

Between spending time in prayer and counting your many blessings, the time spent in the middle of the night will pass quickly and be used in very productive ways.  What can we do that is more important than prayer and be thankful?

May you have a wonderful, God touched day.

The First Long Weekend Of The Summer

In just a few days we will be celebrating Memorial Day and the long weekend that surrounds it. My husband and I, along with countless others around the nation will have family and friends join us on Monday for a cookout or picnic.

Many of you will head for the first big beach weekend or head for the mountains.  You may take a trip to the local zoo, a race, or some other event that is part of your family tradition on Memorial Day weekend.

As you are busy with your family, please remember to take time to remember what Memorial Day is really about.  Believe it or not, it is not designed to give everyone an extra day off from work,  a trip,  an extra day to sleep or a chance to catch up on projects around the house.

Memorial Day is a time to reflect upon and remember all of the military heroes  throughout the years that have given their lives during a time of war.  It is not specific to any particular war, although, originally it was designed to remember those who lost their lives during the Civil War.

Please take time to teach your kids and grand-kids about this special day and the significance it has for our nations history.  Talk about the various wars and those who have given their lives so we may have freedom.

If your family personally knows of someone who lost their life serving in the military during a war, remember their family.  Perhaps send a card, make a visit or set aside a time of prayer for their family.

You may want to go to a Memorial Day Parade or walk a cemetery and observe the graves with military markers on them.

Please remember, this is not just a weekend of fun and travel, for many families it truly is a time of remembering their sons or daughters who have given their lives for us.  This is a weekend of great grief for many while at the some time great pride.

May you have a wonderful, God touched day.

It Came On Just The Right Day

Within the past couple of months I have become the recipient of at least a thousand  unused greeting cards.  Many were purchased intending to be used and others were received as little gifts from friends and family.  Most of these cards have been packed up in boxes, stored away safely for future use.

The problem is that the future never came and they were never signed, addressed, stamped or put in the mailbox.  When I think of all the encouragement and joy these cards could have brought people throughout the years it makes me sad.

One evening last week, I sat on my couch and sorted these cards by categories; blank friendship/encouragement card, birthday cards, graduation cards, anniversary cards and virtually every other occasion you can think of.  I marked gallon zip lock bags according to categories and spent four hours sorting.

The other day, I told my husband that our kids would “inherit” a good share of these cards someday.  I thought there are more cards than I could ever use.  He said that I would use them all, sending many of them to our kids.

I have made a conscious effort over the past two or three years to send more cards to people.  As our kids have moved away and are on their own, I have wanted to establish a ministry of sending them cards on a monthly basis to encourage them.  Now that we have a grandson, I want him to think of me as the Nana who sends him cards also, so he also gets a  card once a month.  There is also the birthday calendar online which makes it so much easier to send cards to those whose birthdays I am aware of.

My elderly father-in-law is among those who receives cards on a periodic basis from  a few  people.  He will keep those cards by his special chair and look at them again and again, hour after hour, day after day.  To this gentle man with severe dementia, cards are a literal way for him to see that people love him.

At my place of employment, Hope Cancer Ministries, we send countless cards of encouragement to those families affected by cancer.  In fact, we have large groups of volunteers, that send cards to those who are hurting on a regular basis.  What a blessing each of these cards are when received by the cancer patient or family member.

I have always thought that the United States Postal Service was in charge of the mail, but over the years of working with Hope Cancer Ministries it is obvious that belief is in error.

Time after time, I have people tell me that “the card came just on the day I needed it most”.  God is actually in charge of the delivery of these wonderful cards on just the right day to encourage those who are hurting.

Cards seem like such a small thing to so many of us, but they are really a huge thing for those who receive them.  They are often a direct love message sent from God, through the sender.

Think of the people in your life and ask God which of those need a card sent by you today to show them encouragement and love.

May you have a wonderful, God touched day.

Apples of Gold

When working at my in-laws house several weeks ago, I came across an old Apples of Gold book.  My husband and I had also received one for a wedding gift.  I do not even know if  ”Apples of Gold” books are published anymore.

It made me think about the soft, gentle encouraging words that were always spoken in these books.  They could either be an encouragement when you needed a lift or they could sit on your coffee table looking nice, but not providing the encouragement they were designed to bring.

I believe that is how our words so often can be used.  We can encourage someone who is going through a tough time, or we can sit on the sidelines and not say a word.  Encouragement to others is a Biblical concept that is taught time and time again throughout scripture.  Let us do our part to say the simple words of encouragement when we come across someone who is hurting.

Often, those who are hurting, feel as though they have a huge hole in their heart.  It may be due to a death, divorce, poor relationships with family members or any number of other everyday things.  Sometimes, people don’t have a clue why they feel so badly, but they still do.

Let us take our words of encouragement and start to fill the hole in their hearts. If a number of people give enough encouraging words, those holes begin to be filled with thankfulness and love.

A word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.  Proverbs 25:11

May you have a wonderful, God touched day.

Does God Love Them?

You may remember as a child singing Sunday School songs about God’s love for the children.  Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Love the Little Children, come to my mind as I think about this.

I am eternally thankful that Jesus does love me.  There really is not anything more important in this world than the relationship I have with my Lord and Savior because of Jesus’ great love for me.

I am also thankful that:

Jesus  loves the little children

All the children of the word,

Black and yellow, red and white

What happens though when these little children grow up to be vile, arrogant, mean, sinful people?  What happens when these sweet little children, of every race on earth, truly start to hate others?  What happens when they kill our sons and daughter, fly airplanes into our buildings and try to inch their ways into our very own schools and communities?

What happens is that God still loves them, just as He loves you and me.  He still has the plan of salvation through asking for forgiveness of sin and deciding to live a life of following Christ available to them.  His heart hurts that they have chosen a sinful path in life and are not headed for eternity with him.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the kid down the block that has a really bad attitude or if it is the terrorist that does unbelievably terrible things, God loves each of His creations and desires that each and everyone turn their hearts and minds His direction.  God desires each human being to come to His loving arms through Jesus’ death on the cross for their sins.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”  John 3:16-18 The Message

Please take a minute today to thank God for His great love and to pray for those “children” who do not know Him as their heavenly Father.  The next time you see someone doing something vile, mean and sinful, say a prayer for them that they would come to know Jesus personally through salvation.

May you have a wonderful, God touched day.

The Things of Spring

Along side the allergy medications, nasal sprays, sneezing and coughing there is a beautiful new birth that happens every spring.

Although we do not hibernate as some forms of animals do during the long winter months, most of us do indeed become less active, stay at home more and just bury ourselves in more during the winter.

The clock changes to Daylight Savings Time and we enjoy the extra hour of daylight in the evening.  We enjoy the Easter season with our family and remember Jesus’ death for our salvation.  We watch the lawns turn green again, even if it is with weeds.  Some of us plow for a vegetable garden or at least move some plants outside and plant new ones.  We do spring cleaning both inside and outside at our place of residence.

Springs gives us such a new feeling of life and all that is to be enjoyed about it.  So, take the allergy medication,  pour a cool glass of ice tea and enjoy sitting on your deck this weekend with your family.

May you have a wonderful, God touched day.

8 Adults, 1 Toddler and 5 Dogs

What do you do when you have 8 adults, 1 toddler and 5 dogs in the same house?

For our family this past weekend, it included many hours of meal preparation and cleanup.  Countless washing of tablecloths, dish cloths and towels.  Several times of using the vacuum cleaner, a few naps, lots of toys to be played with and late night conversations.  Of particular joy, was the hours spent enjoying our families 2-year old toddler as he played, talked with us and brought hours of enjoyment to our family.

Must important though  it included love of family and thankfulness for Jesus giving His life on the cross for each of us so that we may live eternally in heaven.

As our children have grown to be adults and live in different areas, the times of everyone getting together are limited so we place great importance on the times we are able to do that.

God’s basic structure for society is the family.  He created us to live in family units  for the benefit of raising children, supporting each other during difficult times, strengthening our spiritual relationship and to enjoy “the good times”.

Often, we get overwhelmed with the day-to-day  needs of family life and all of its challenges.  During those times, please make an effort to think of God’s design of families and give each of your family members a hug and tell them you love them.  I believe that when we express our love to our family members we brings joy to our Lord.

May you have a wonderful, God touched day.