Emotions Are A Gift

All of our emotions are a gift of God. Sometimes you're going to feel
angry. Other times you will feel sad. There will be times when you feel lonely, or any of the wide array of natural human emotions which are nowhere near being happy. You're a human being; you're supposed to feel those things when life takes a wrong turn.

The desire to be happy all the time, to avoid feeling those "unpleasant" or "unwanted" emotions, is what leads many people to use drugs to change how they feel. As a healthy human being, you know that it is okay to not feel happy sometimes. These feelings help you examine the circumstances so that your can work out a new plan of action and make a change. You do not need to change how you feel at that moment your feelings will change as your circumstances change.

In fact when you feel unhappy, accept how you feel, make your peace with it, and know that this too shall pass. Your unhappy state of mind is neither your identity nor your permanent state of being. This is simply how you feel in this moment and you know that brighter feelings will come eventually.

Use your gift of the natural medicine of humor to ease your way through rough moments of life. You'll be amazed when you go back to review your journal to see that it all starts with a simple smile of knowing that the sun will return to your life.

God Created Children

GOD CREATED CHILDREN (AND IN THE PROCESS GRANDCHILDREN) 


To those of us who have children in our lives, whether they are our own, 
grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or students... here is something to make you chuckle. 

Whenever your children are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that 
even God's omnipotence did not extend to His own children. 

After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. 

And the first thing he said was 
" DON'T !" 
"Don 't what ? " Adam replied. 

"Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said. 

"Forbidden fruit ? 
We have forbidden fruit ? 
Hey Eve..we have forbidden fruit ! " 


"Do NOT eat the fruit ! " said God. 


"Why ? " 

"Because I am your Father and I said so ! "God replied, 
wondering why He hadn't stopped creation after making the elephants 

A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break 
and He was ticked !  "Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit ? "God asked. 


"Uh huh," Adam replied. 

"Then why did you ? "said the Father.. 

"I don't know,"said Eve. 
"She started it! "Adam said. 

"Did not ! " 
"Did too ! " 
"DID NOT ! " 

Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve 
should have children of their own. Thus the pattern was set and it has never changed. 

If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give children wisdom and they haven't taken it, don't be hard on yourself. 

If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you ? 

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT !

1. You spend the first two years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next sixteen telling them to sit down and shut up. 

2. Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children. 

3. Mothers of teens now know why some animals eat their young. 

4. Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word 
what you shouldn't have said. 

5. The main purpose of holding children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children more awful than your own 

6. We childproofed our homes, but they are still getting in. 


ADVICE FOR THE DAY: 

Be nice to your kids. They will choose your 
nursing home one day 


And remember the parents curse, when you said "I hope when you have kids they turn out just like you."

Five Fingers of Prayer

There are five fingers to real prayer:

Prayer is internal not external.  One does not need to say a prayer aloud for it to be real.

Prayer seeks inner fulfillment, rather that outer manipulation. 

Prayer is standing at attention before God ready not only to speak to God but also to listen for God. Before you say amen, shut up and listen for a time. 

The goal of praying is not the fulfilling of our request; it is communication with God. 

In prayer we don’t need to tell God what to do, we need to seek God’s message for us.

Alter Ego

Forty-four year old my eldest daughter was born and what a Joy she is to me. As a history buff I wanted to name her after a strong woman in history. I loved the story of Queen Zenobia of Palmara and how she stood up to the Roman empire for many years. So I wanted to name my daughter Zenobia but her mother objected to that name so we agreed on Katherine.

All this to say that she, who has long been aware of the name story, has chosen the name Zenobia as the name for her gritchy alter ego. I love my darling daughter!

Happy Birthday

The Lowly Mesquite Tree

I grew up in the panhandle of west Texas where any three trees in sight of each other are considered a national forest. Most trees do not naturally grow there unless planted and watered by people. The exception is the lowly Mesquite tree. Though the mesquite wood makes great bricketts for the grill.

Mesquite trees put down a long taproot that they use to locate enough moisture to keep them alive in the dry season. This feature allows them to survive through long droughts. There are recorded instances of taproots of the mesquite tree reaching a depth of almost 200 feet down into the soil. The roots of the mesquite can regenerate if the tree is chopped off above, making the mesquite one tough tree to get rid of. Ranchers feel that the mesquite sucks water from the land that could be used for livestock and farming, making it unpopular with those individuals. On the other hand cattle eat the bean pods and spread the seed around in the resulting fertilizer.

The bible in the book of Isaiah 61 likens God’s people to trees of righteousness. Because we carry the precious seeds of faith, reconciliation and love we can draw others into the kingdom of God. Like the desert Southwest our life can often be like living in a drought when trouble hits, as it will. If we, like the mesquite, will put down deep spiritual tap roots in the Holy Spirit then we can weather the spiritual droughts.  Those deep roots will let us have enormous potential to reproduce the gospel in other people.

Taking God's Name in Vain

During a Bible Study I was asked the question, “What does it mean to take God’s name in vain?” This is a serious question that causes a lot of people to worry because it is breaking one of the Ten Commandments.

To begin with it is not a casual curse asking God to bring damnation on someone or something. It is a serious sin and in some cases a serious crime.

It is an act you do on purpose and with the understanding that it is wrong. A person takes God’s name in vain when he or she swears an oath in the name of God knowing at the time that it will not be kept.

One example is making a marriage vow in the name of God while planning to commit adultery is taking God’s name in vain. I have known people to do just that.

 Another example is swearing in court in the name of God that you are going to tell the truth while you know that you are going to tell a lie. That happens to be serious crime as well as a sin. It is called perjury and you can get jail time for that.

The Way of All Flesh

The term “The Way of All Flesh” refers to the fact that all people who are born also die. This is part of the master’s plan and I am comfortable with the fact that at some point my physical body will cease to function and my soul will return to the creator of the universe.

"Doctors think that you only call palliative care when your patient is about to die," says Diane Meier, M.D., director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "Patients don't know what it is and don't demand it. They don't realize they have a right to care that is focused on improving function and quality of life."

As a pastor I have watched many people go through the process of moving from their physical life to their spiritual life. Some people make that journey suddenly because of accident or a swift illness. Others go slowly with advanced age or by way of a slow painful illness. When it comes to the later most doctors don’t like to give up on finding a cure and that is their training. There is an issue of the quality and dignity of our life at the end and that it is our choice.

We each do have a choice to make now before the event of our death is close and emotional. Do I want to fight for life to the bitter end no matter the cost or pain? Do I want to choose the conditions where I can say enough is enough let me go?  I have already done that by creating and signing my “Advance Directives” and informed my family and my doctor.

It is your right and your choice, either way you want, to choose how you prefer to die given a terminal illness. The time to make that decision is now while you have a clear mind and you are in control.