In my last post, I talked about the things we need verses the things we want. Here's alittle more of my thoughts on that.
As I sit and write this, my brain is whirling a hundred miles an hour. What are my needs? How do I learn the difference between what I think I need and what I truly need? What about what I want? Well, let's see if we can figure it out.
We, as human beings, have some basic needs. We need food to make our bodies work. Yes, food is a good thing. I may not always have exactly what I want to eat all the time, like a nice, thick, juicy T-Bone steak with a loaded baked potatoe and a salad, but I have food to keep my body running. The way God designed our bodies is amazing to me. He knew exactly how much of each nutrient we would need, how much oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, etc that it would take to make our bodies function. If one little thing is out of whack, it throws the rest of our body off track. I have diabetes and my thyroid doesn't work right, so my body is so out of whack. But, we must still feed it for it to be able to function. We also need water to keep us hydrated. You can go up to a month without eating and still be ok, but after 3 days of no water, your body will shut down. It can't function. Jesus says that if we come to Him, He will give us Living Water. Water that is so much better than what we need to survive.
We need shelter. A home. A roof over our heads. That doesn't mean we must have a million dollar home. I guess it would be nice to have a great big ol' house with lots of space, but think about all the dusting you would have to do. :). Our shelter, no matter what size, can be beautiful. We must take care of the the shelter God gives us. My house is old. It needs alot of work, but God blessed us with this house. We have no mortgage. It's a blessing.
We need clothing. Yes, not many people would want to see me running around naked. It might blind them. But, I don't have to have clothes that cost as much as a car payment. My jeans are old, but they fit and cover me up. I still have shirts that I had before Kierstynne was born. When I met Tim, I had 84 pair of shoes. Now I have 4. I don't need designer clothing. I just NEED clothing to cover me up, keep me warm, and look nice. God blessed me in this area too. My aunt lost almost 100 pounds and gave me all of the stuff she couldn't wear anymore. 8 bags of clothes to be exact. So, now I have nice things to wear to church and around the house. I don't need to have thousand dollar shoes and a purse to match them. God has given me what I need.
We need a car. In today's world, you really can't get anywhere without one. I would love to have a new 2012 Chevrolet Camaro. Have you seen them? They are beautiful. I WANT one. Do I NEED one? Nope. We have a Trailblazer that sometimes needs a little help but it gets us where we are going and back. It gets me to the store to buy the food we need, it get's us to church for the Living Water, and it runs. That's all we NEED from a car. Sometimes, our cars frustrated us, like when mine sprung a leak, but God fixes that too. He sent my cousin up here to fix it. Would I like to have a beautiful, shiny, brand new, straight off the showroom floor Camaro. You betcha. Do I need it? Nope.
We need jobs. In order to survive in this economy, we need to work. I have been blessed to be able to stay home and homeschool Kierstynne. That is my job. I am a mother, wife, housekeeper, taxi driver, laundry maid, cook, accountant, planner, and a repairman. I have many jobs, but don't earn any money. Tim works and works hard. He brings in the money that we survive on. Does he NEED his job? Yes. Does he have the job he really WANTS? No. God has provided a good job with medical benefits and a decent hourly wage. It could be better, but it could be alot worse. God, in His Word, tells us we need to be good stewards with what we have. If He can't trust us with a little, how can He trust us with alot? I admit that I am not a very good steward. Sometimes I let my wanting get me in trouble. I have really been trying to do much better and slowly I am learning. If Tim had the job he really wants, to be a Christian Artist, singing for God on the road, we wouldn't have much time with him. He would be gone alot. There would be more money coming in, but at what cost? What would we have to give up in order to have more money? God knows the plans He has for Tim and if it means singing, that's awesome. If not, that's ok too.
We need family and friends. God never meant for us to be alone. He devised marriage and family so that we wouldn't be alone. God knew exactly what He was doing when He picked the family you would be born into. We may not always like that family and sometimes even wonder why He picked it, but He sees the big picture where we only get a snapshot. There was a rhyme and a reason for why God put you in the family you are in. God also places our friends in our lives for a reason. Some friends only stay for a season. They teach us something. Some friends stay around for years and years and become like family. I have a couple of those kinds of friends and I wouldn't trade them for anything. We NEED people to communicate with, to share our feelings with, to share our good times and our bad. We need our family and friends to support and encourage us, to lift us up, to help guide us. We may want to have a different family, or different friends, but we do need them.
So, I am slowly learning about the things we need. I have realized that I NEED a relationship with Jesus. I NEED to listen to His voice. I NEED to read my Bible everyday. I NEED a strong and consistant prayer life. I NEED God's grace and mercy. But, I also NEED to WANT these things. These are wants that are profitable for me. Wanting more money, a bigger house, nicer clothes, a shiny new car, and more stuff are not wants that are profitable for me.
Help me Lord to learn to WANT things that are going to help me in my walk with You. Teach me about the things You want me to want. Guide me, lead me, and show me the path You have laid out for me. Thank You God.
Journey along with me as I travel the road of my life. It may not be always an exciting journey, but it is mine and I will live it to the fullest.
2014 Life Verse
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. Proverbs 3:5-6
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Some thoughts
Well, it's been a while since I last blogged. Time flies when you are having fun. We have been pretty busy lately. Lots of stuff happening.
Since my last post, my car broke down, Kierstynne lost another tooth, we got to go to the Third Day/Tenth Avenue North concert for free, went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate two birthdays and I have been taking a School of the Holy Spirit class at church. I have reconnected with two friends from my past and have a had a couple of chances to witness. So all in all, it's been a pretty good past few weeks.
My cousin came up and fixed the car for the price of dinner and a can of Stopleak. What a blessing. Family is such a good thing. Sometimes we get frustrated with our family, but 99% of the time, they are great.
Kierstynne is so excited to have lost another tooth. It's one of the top front ones so now she looks like a snagglepuss. She is so cute, but looks so funny. The tooth fairy forgot to come visit her last night so I had to send her an email this morning. I can't believe she forgot...what a bad tooth fairy.
A friend of ours hooked us up with a volunteer position for the Third Day concert on Sunday night. We had to sell merchandise, but were well compensated. It turned out that there were too many volunteers, so Tim and I , being the last ones on the list, got to so in and watch the entire concert for FREE!! Plus Tim got a t-shirt and I got the 3 pack of CDs. The new Third Day cd, the new Tenth Avenue North cd and a cd from a guy named Trevor Morgan. He is new on the scene, but he is very good. His song, "Jesus Rides the Subway" is an awesome song.
Saturday, the 5th, we went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate two birthdays. One turned two, the other turned 28. Father and Daughter, born on the same day. How cool is that. We had a blast. Kierstynne ended up with over 1200 tickets from playing games. Of course, her dad and I helped, but she had so much fun playing those games. I love that place. Where else can your kid go, have lunch and play games while you sit and talk without having to worry about her being kidnapped. It's great.
Two of my friends from my past looked me up on Facebook. One I went to school with and the other I met through some other friends. Michelle, my hs friend, was in a really bad accident in June. She broke her pelvis in a few different spots, had severe lacerations and the dash crushed her leg. She was in a wheelchair and hospital bed all summer. She is very blessed to be alive. She is walking again, but it's slow going. She started with a walker, moved to a cane, and now can walk on her own, but she has to take it easy. She has to use the motorized wheel chairs in places like Wal-mart, because her legs and hips give out on her. All because someone else wasn't paying attention. We tend to forget that we aren't the only ones in the universe and that we have to be aware of others. If the other person had been paying attention, the accident could have been avoided. So many times we have "accidents" because we are too focused on ourselves and our plans instead of paying attention to the world around us. Stop and take a look around. It's amazing what you might find.
My friend, Brandi, has Hogekins Lymphoma. She has been through chemo and radiation. She lost all her hair, and was sick as a dog. This is the second battle with cancer in her short life. She's younger than I am. Brandi and I were inseperable for a long time. The last time I saw her was 14 years ago at Jimmy's funeral. I have missed her beautiful smiling face. She was telling me that she is so thankful to have the life she has. She doesn't have everything she wants, but she has everything she needs. We all should be that way. God doesn't guarantee us everything we want, because there is alot of stuff out there to want, but He does guarantee us He will provide for all our needs. What do we really need?
Pastor Rugg began the School of the Holy Spirit 4 weeks ago. It has been very interesting. I am so enjoying learning in his class. He is a great teacher. One of our assignments has been to witness to atleast one person every two weeks. I thought this was going to be next to impossible because I really don't go anywhere to witness. But, God has put people in my path for that very reason. It is amazing what God can do when we let Him.
Tim has been smacked up side the head by God these past few weeks. Two different times he has heard the same message, "Give God your dreams, desires, wants and see what He can do." I don't know what Tim's dreams and desires are, but I think he is getting the picture. God can do amazing things with the little we give Him. He gave the oyster the ability to make a beautiful pearl from one grain of sand. One chunk of compressed coal turns into one of the most valuable gems in the world, the diamond. He spoke this entire universe into being with ONE word. He sent His one and only Son to make a way for all human life to spend eternity with Him. God can do alot with a little. Why not let Him?
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