The Chief and I are leading a small group called Fun 101.  On the surface it sounds like a rather shallow small group doesn't it?  But it has a very unshallow purpose.  You see, many times we are so busy we forget to laugh.  We have to be reminded that in between goals is a thing called life that has to be lived and enjoyed.  We invite participants to drop their worries and learn to just chill-out.  We provide an atmosphere that allows people to connect and get to know one another better while we enjoy a meal and laughter. 

It has especially been good for me.  That's God for you.  He uses the class to teach the teacher.  Ha!  I needed to lighten up. It is really just family fun night, only larger and in our church social hall instead of at home. 

Learning to laugh a little more gives you better health, better relationships, changes your perspective, brings healing... It just may save your life.  

"A marriage without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs — jolted by every pebble in the road."  Henry Ward Beecher 

"At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities."  Jean Houston

"Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit."  Author Unknown

"Mirth is God's medicine.  Everybody ought to bathe in it."  Henry Ward Beecher

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book." Irish Proverb

We kicked off our first Fun 101 class with this video by Ken Davis, "God is the Author of Joy".  Hope you laugh lots! 

"But Lot's wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt."  Genesis 19:26

There is a reason God calls us to leave behind specific things in our lives.  When we are faced with this choice, we need not miss what He has for us by longing for the things we leave behind. The Lord has told us what direction to take.  It's time to move forward.  We must travel down the path our wonderful Savior has given us. 

Lot's wife chose to look back and her choice made her a pillar of salt.  Let's choose to look forward and let our choice take us to throne room of God. 

"Our very lives are fashioned by choice. First we make choices. Then our choices make us."

-Anne Frank

The thing about heartache is... it changes your perspective on life.  It can make you bitter (if you let it) or it can make you better (if you let it).  It can make you more understanding.  It can make you love bigger.  It can make you able to help others who experience the same hurt.  

Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men. Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - Romans 12:14-21

Being right in the eyes of others doesn’t matter as much as being faithful to the heart of God.   The people who hurt us, are the ones we spend the most time with. We laugh with them, cry with them, counsel them, equip and empower them.  So what do you do… never trust again, never love again, never pour into lives again?  You do it again.

If I want to be blessed, I must first bless others.  It's a biblical principle. 

You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.  - Zig Ziglar

God blesses those who continue to bless other people.  Each time I bless another person, two people are blessed in the process, that person and me.

I was reminded of this as I sat and listened to a wise friend share with me recently.  I am so thankful for the people God places in our lives who can speak into our hearts and we can know with confidence that they are speaking from their time of walking with the Lord.  My heart willingly receives. 

As I listened to her share from her own experiences, her mistakes, her lessons, her dreams, her heartbreaks, it became resoundingly clear that God uses all things to good.  Romans 8:28 is true! 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

I came away from that conversation knowing that God is at work in my life even when circumstances tempt me to believe differently.  God is not nearly as concerned with my happiness as he is my holiness. 

So, if we find ourselves stuck in a certain position, situation, circumstance, job, house, health condition, town, state, country, school, whatever... maybe it is God's will that we are stuck there.  Maybe just maybe he has a purpose and a plan.  Not maybe.  He does.  He DOES have a plan. 

Isn't it just the coolest thing that you can be riding down the road and God can orchestrate it so that something you REALLY needed to hear plays on the radio at just the precise moment you need to hear it?  This song was just that for me.  God used Donald Lawrence to sing me a sermon. 

Our Katie took this picture with her cell phone.  When she showed me, I couldn't help but think of this old song.  Give it a listen and you'll understand why. 

It's a dreary title, isn't it?   

Lately, I find myself overwhelmed by the deep loss and deep grief so many endure. 

Isaiah 53:3, "He was despised and rejected--a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care."

All through Jesus' childhood, and even as an adult, he was pursued by nasty remarks about his birth, rumors that he was an illegitimate son, born to a woman who was thought to have broken her vow to her fiancee. His brothers misunderstood him and did not believe in him. They were embarrassed at some of the things he said and did. It was not until after the resurrection that they believed in him.

He was called a drunkard and a glutton, and was said to be possessed by a devil. He was called a Samaritan, a disparaging term. He had no home to go to. He said himself, "Foxes have holes, birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head," (Matt 8:20, Luke 9:50). 

“Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." Luke 6:38

This verse certainly applies to money but not only money. It applies to anything in life. If you give a smile, you’ll receive a smile. If you give comfort, you’ll receive comfort. If you give anger, you’ll receive anger.  If you give teaspoons, you'll receive teaspoons ("the measure with which you measure").  If you give gallons, you'll receive gallons! 

A dear friend shared with me the other day how she believes that if you need something, you should give something.  In particular she needed encouragement, so she chose to give encouragement to another, knowing as she did that she would receive encouragement.  I love love love her thinking! 

God pours himself into our lives, and we turn right around and pour into the lives of others. We continue to give as we continue to receive. May we give with good measure so we can receive with good measure! 

Receiving really does = Giving.
 

I listened to a message recently that asked the question, "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"   Perhaps marriage works to develop Christlike character - forgiveness, love, respect, perseverance. 

As I listened, I couldn't help but ponder if all of life is meant to make us more holy?  Which is quite ironic because as people we usually strive for happiness more than holiness.  Holy and happy are sometimes very far apart.  I want to be happy. He wants me to be holy.  I’m busy trying to find happiness and I have to wonder, how many times am I avoiding His attempts to make me holy?

Look at the New Testament. People being martyred, tortured, persecuted, abandoned - yet they love their Lord and they want to see Him glorified. 

Remember Paul's words in Philippians 4:11-13?  "For I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

The word HAPPY means: feeling or showing pleasure or contentment; having a sense of confidence in or satisfaction with (a person, arrangement, or situation).  Happiness is a feeling. It is something which changes all the time depending on our emotions.

The word HOLY means: dedicated or consecrated to God; devoted to the service of God; morally and spiritually excellent.  Holiness isn't a feeling instead it is an action.  

Times of trials are just so hurtful and tiring that I sometimes forget that God's end purpose is to make me a better person.  Like Paul, I must learn to be content in any situation.  My prayer is that we will desire and aim for the greater joy in God and not the lesser joys of the world.

I am living in the land of palm trees.  When you come from the mountains and you are use to pine, cedar, oak, maple... Well, palm trees are a novelty.  I love them.  I soooo want one (or two or three) for my yard. 

I just love this verse, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." Psalm 92:12a  I'm standing on this.  I want to flourish like a palm tree.  I am so amazed at how the palm trees endure through hurricanes, extreme drought, mistreatment, and even neglect.  The surroundings may seem detrimental to its growth, but it reaches its fronds to heaven and its roots find hidden resources contained within the earth. 

Our personal situations may not be perfect (work, church, extended family, community), but we can take hold of Jesus and draw from his power.  We can root into the Word and flourish like these palm trees.  We can be persecuted and actually thrive.  We may have coworker or even family situations that are sour, but we can still come into success.  Our success is not dependent upon our surroundings.  It is dependent on our ability to reach into that supernatural strength that comes from our Heavenly Father. 

God says we will flourish.  I believe him.