Don't you just love the Chronicles of Narnia?  I still pick up our copy (all the books bound in one huge book) and read it over and over again. 

There's a particular moment in Prince Caspian that is forever in my heart. 

After Aslan returns and the Telmarines are defeated.  The battered Kings and Queens of Narnia bow in front of Aslan.

Aslan says to them, "Rise Kings and Queens of Narnia..."  Everyone rises except Prince Caspian. "... all of you." 

This is the part that is so profound.  If you blinked during the movie you might have missed it or if you were reading you might have read right over it.

Caspian says, "But I'm not ready!"
Aslan, "And that's exactly how I know you are."

Seriously, C.S. Lewis!  That's profound.

It's the things God asks of us that are too big, the things we just aren't qualified for, those are exactly what he's called us to do.  Why?  Because we need him.  We can't do it on our own.  He never meant for us to.  

You're not ready?  That's exactly how He knows you are. 

A wise friend shared with me how several years ago her husband lost his job.  They were just devastated.  They didn't know what they were going to do.  They didn't know if he'd be able to find another job as good as the one he lost. 

She shared how she made herself sick with worry and anxiety.  Then she went on to tell me how that her husband found a job he loved.  A few years later he was able to retire and draw pensions from both jobs!  God's hand was in everything if only they could have seen it at the time. 

Her retelling of these events reminded me of 2 Corinthians 4:17:

For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

The things happening in the present may be difficult and we may be overcome with panic and fear but if we just have a little faith we'll see that they won't last very long and the rewards of the things we endure are priceless and eternal!  It's important that somebody gets this today.  I don't know what's happening in your life presently but trust that God's working it out for the future. 

This is never more true than in our finances.  So many times people sacrifice the future in favor of enjoying the "good life" today.  If we just suffer a little while, drive that old clunker a little longer, make do with the hand-me-downs, go without that favorite treat, manage that small space more effectively, stretch those groceries a little further... Those investments produce for us a peace of mind and freedom to serve God in ways we've never imagined that vastly outweighs the perks of having it "right now". 

I read this recently, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey but spiritual beings on a human journey.” Our true home is beyond this world. Let's look to the future.  Let's endure today's troubles with the journey ahead in mind. 

Spending time in prayer for a dear friend over the last couple weeks brought back memories of this bittersweet time in my life. 

Reposted from December 18, 2008: 

It seems like yesterday and yet forever ago.  We had just moved to Telford, TN for my husband's work.  We lived in a rural area with hardly any neighbors.  We had our first daughter.  She was almost two.  My husband worked long hours and I was mostly alone. 

We were thrilled to be expecting our second child.  We waited until I was about ten weeks along to announce our news.  We had seen the baby "bean" on the ultrasound.  Little heart fluttering and growing just as beans should.  As the news made it's way to all our family and friends, I began to miscarry.  At our twelve week visit, we learned that it wasn't to be.  No reason why.  One of those things.  That's what everyone told us. 

I've experienced real depression twice in my life.  I'm not talking about being sad or a little down, I'm talking about depression.  This was one of those times.  I desperately wanted to be okay.  I wanted to shake that feeling.  I just couldn't.  So, I began to take proactive steps to getting better.  I ate right, exercised even when I didn't feel like it.  I tried to do all the things that the "experts" recommended. 

Here's the lifeline that God threw me.  I fell into a job as the youth director at Jonesborough Presbyterian Church.  

At that time it was a smallish church with a dozen kids or so.   JPC gave me a generous salary.  I loved my job.  I loved the kids.  I loved the pastor.  I loved the people.  My preschooler accompanied me everywhere.  It was bliss!  Depression lost it's grip on my heart and life quickly returned to enjoyable. 

I was still sad about the miscarriage.  I still felt a tremendous loss.  But I no longer drowned in the sadness. 

A little time passed and we were expecting again.  Fear threatened to overtake me instead.  Through faith and support of friends and family, I trusted God for the future.  He blessed us with a beautiful baby girl!  Our 3 year old thought we had given her a living babydoll.  She was ecstatic!  I could hear her coming down the hospital hallway squealing because she had a baby "sits-ter!" 

Hindsight is 20/20.  What isn't clear while we're in the midst becomes very clear when we look back.  I still don't know why we lost a baby.  I do know that through it all, God was there.  He held our family in the palm of his hand. 

This article flooded me with bittersweet memories.  You see, I've ate the bread these ladies bake.  God used it to sustain me. 

Edit:  The article is no longer online.  It was written about two of the church ladies who baked homemade rolls every 3rd Sunday for the church family luncheon, for every birth of a baby, every funeral, every meal provided in love.  My time with them was a time of healing.  Reading the article reminded me of how God used them in my life.  I'm sad it is no longer online.

The song, "Held" by Natalie Grant reminds me again of what God did for me during this dark time.

"This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held"

I remember the first time I heard the term fault finder.  My husband and I were sitting with a dear pastor trying to make sense of a terrible situation. Our pastor friend was trying hard to navigate an explosive situation created by fault finders. 

It was then I realized that the "glass half empty and glass half full" accurately describes the ways of seeing the world.  There are those who look at the world and only see flaws and imperfections. Their eyes are trained to see the shortcomings.  Half empty.  Fault finders.  Then there are those who see flaws and imperfections but aren't obsessed with them.  They’re looking for something to appreciate. They see the world as half full.  Mercy seekers.

I can tell you the mercy seekers are a lot easier to be around than the fault finders. Fault finders may be self-satisfied but joy isn’t exactly following them around.

Mercy seekers, on the other hand, are happy — they show mercy because they want to receive mercy, they look for ways to appreciate the people in their lives and joy follows them around like a sweet smelling perfume.

If we choose to see the world as a fault finder, not only do we poison our own mind, we poison the mind of the person we find fault with, and the bystanders (listeners) of our fault finding.  We create a toxic environment.  It isn't healthy for anyone.

If we choose mercy, we bring healing to ourselves, to the person receiving the mercy and to the bystanders.  "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."  Matthew 5:7.  

I read a story about an elderly man who lost his home to Hurricane Ivan some years back.  A photograph published in the Des Moines Register showed the man on his knees with palms flat on the sand.  His head rested on his hands while he was crying. Behind him were the remains of his home. Nothing was left standing.  Hurricane Ivan had destroyed his Pensacola, FL beach house.

We could react as a fault finder and distance ourselves from him and judge him a fool for ever building a house there to be begin with. We could say he should have known better; he should have seen it coming.

But then we could look upon him as a mercy seeker.  See him with compassion. How would you feel if you were him? Were any family members injured? Did he have adequate insurance? What precious belongings did he lose? Can or will he rebuild? What will happen to him? What can I do to help?

Practicing mercy is a choice and habit worth making.  Consider it an investment in others that will pay great dividends when you face your own hurricanes. 

"Treat everyone with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you. Remember that you show compassion to others not because of who they are but because of who you are."

"The most effective way to achieve right relations with any living thing is to look for the best in it, and then help that best into the fullest expression."
Allen J. Boone {American Author}

We all hate to be judged.  If we can refrain from judgment, from negative expectations, from 'seeing the worst', we open up the possibility for positive developments. Understanding that others are already doing the best they can, and that if we help them do better everybody is going to benefit.

When we really see the 'best' in others, we can draw so much more from them - and so much more from ourselves. Every person has tremendous potential. 

Let's start today, 

“I believe in you,” “I’m grateful for you,” “I see God using you,” “I appreciate you,” and “I’m glad you’re in my life.”

The bible instructs us to,

"Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

We're told to be real.  To be transparent and honest.  Some think being real means straight up saying how you feel.  My heart is torn between "straight up saying how I feel" and basing life on truth, not feelings.  Basing life on God's word not my passing moods. Want me to get real?  I want to live real. 

Being real:  I'm tired.  I'm running on empty.

Living real:  God is my strength and my healer. 

Being real:  I miss my family and friends.  I miss Pizza Town.

Living real:   They visit! Facebook and email!  DOUBLE BLESSING of old friends and NEW friends.  El Ranchito. 

Being real:  Toxic people.

Living real:  God's favor.

Some criticize my lack of "being real" (straight up saying how I feel).  What they don't realize is that I'm choosing to "live real" (straight up believing in God's word). 

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice and fear), but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." 2 Tim 1:7

Dangerous disposition also called hazardous attitude or HazTude, are behaviors, philosophies, and temperaments that can harm people.  Allowing these toxins to be introduced into the environment can cause extreme detriment to mental outlook. 

Mitigating  the risks associated with hazardous attitudes may require protective equipment (quiet time, God's word, fasting, and prayer).  Persons who may come into contact with dangerous dispositions (me) are also often subject to monitoring or health surveillance (the Chief) to ensure that their exposure does not exceed exposure limits.  

We hear about toxins in our environment all the time.  From the pesticides used on our fruits and vegetables, to toxins in the air we breath.  But what about toxic people?  HazTude affects our physical, mental, and emotional health. 

People with HazTude criticize, complain, gossip, make others feel guilty, put others down, take and don't give in return...

They drain us.  

What protective equipment do you use in dealing with HazTude? 

A museum guide's job is to lead people to the paintings, answer their questions, and step out of the way. 

I read a story about a young guide who initially succeeded in his job.  He walked the clients to the artwork, identified the artists, and stepped out of view.  When they were ready, he would lead them to the next masterpiece and again identify the artist and step out of view.  He took great pride in his work.

Over time, he took too much pride.  He began to forget his role.  He started thinking that the people had come to see him.  Rather than step away from the work of art, he lingered near it.  As they oohed and aahed, he felt his chest lifting.  He even responded with an occasional, "thank you," taking credit for work he didn't do.  Little by little he inched closer to the painting until he blocked the entire piece.  People could see him but not the art.  The very work he was sent to reveal he began to conceal.

"So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important.  Only God, who makes things grow is important." 1 Corinthians 3:7

"He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." John 3:30

It's not about us.  It's about Him.  We've got to remember to step out of the way. 

"Anyone who has tended a fireplace knows that it needs to be stirred up occasionally." -William Booth

Churches across the nation started out the new year with a 21 day corporate fast.  It was a wonderful awakening.  We saw God move in the lives of many people and in many situations.  Following the fast, one of things that we heard again and again was that people felt fasting should a more frequent part of their lives.  Not just once a year. 

Jesus  spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry.  Ash Wednesday (today) marks the beginning of this forty day period of prayer and fasting.  It leads us up to Holy Week and Easter. 

This is a great season to stir up that fire in our hearts that we felt during the Awake 21 fast.  I am so excited to participate in the Awakening Easter Devotional. Go check it out.