Everyday we make the choice to either be happy, or to be something else. Its easy to be depressed in the world we live in. There are so many people to compare ourselves to, and so many things others have that we don’t. Too many times, we get lost in our “have-nots” and don’t think about all the things we do have.
Health
Family
Friends
Knowledge
Wealth is nice, and truly I tell you that you are probably a lot wealthier than you believe. (If you don’t believe that, go visit any third world country.) But there are so many things that money can’t buy.
You can buy all types of medical procedures, but none of them can truly make you healthy.
You can buy people off with gifts to have friends and family want to be around you, but they will never truly love you just for those material things.
You can buy a college education, but more times than not, it won’t actually make you smart, but it will train you for a better paying job.
God gives us so many great gifts, and love is at the top of that list. God’s love is what truly makes your heart beat in your chest, and your brain think in your head. God’s love is contagious, and when it seeps from your pores, it pours out into others. Do you know anyone who is truly infectious? Someone you just love to talk to because they always seem happy, and make you feel happy too? They always have a positive outlook and always seem to lift everyone up?
That’s who we should strive to be, infectious spreaders of God’s love! It takes some practice, but feeling grateful for everything you have is the first step. Always think about what you do have, not what you don’t have. Grateful people tend to get more of the good things, because they rejoice in God’s grace and mercy.
When you focus on good, you receive good.
When you focus on bad, well, most times you receive bad.
God knows what you desire long before you do. Focus on gratefulness, and let God do the rest.
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. <Biblegateway.com>
How to be Right
“I will never eat meat again.” I think this is probably one of those passages of the Bible that we read, then wrinkle our forehead in confusion, and then just dismiss. Why would Paul say he’s not going to eat meat? Is it bad to eat meat? It’s not bad to eat meat.
One of the things I really like, is being right. I study and read and educate myself, and in an argument, I really like to be right. I think I can say that most of us feel this way. Being right feels good, it feels smart, and being wrong feels terrible.
This passage of the Bible tells us that it’s more important to love others, than it is to be right. Paul is talking about eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols. This meat is then eaten by the pagans, in expectations of receiving some sort of blessing from their false god. At the time of this letter to the Corinthians, most of that region was in a famine, there wasn’t much food to go around. Plus, most of the Christians there were converts to Christianity. They had been brought up worshipping idols, but had received salvation by accepting Jesus as their savior. They are now children of God. Some of them thought it was wrong to eat this meat, and some thought it was ok. The ones who approve of eating the meat know that only God is God, there is no other god, and therefore this meat has been sacrificed to nothing. There’s no harm in eating it, because there is no other god. The ones who disapprove think that eating the meat shows some allegiance to these false gods, these idols.
Paul basically says that its true, you can eat the meat, it doesn’t matter. But here’s where it gets sticky. So you, in your knowledge of God, go and eat the meat. You know its ok because there’s no one else but God, eating the meat has no connections to any idols for you. But if someone with a weaker faith than you sees you eat the meat, and they are confused and eat the meat too, even though they believe it does have connections to the idol, then you have made them stumble in their faith. You pulled them into sin because they don’t have a mature faith yet. They are still learning and still studying. You know the truth, but they don’t understand it yet.
It says knowledge puffs us up, but love builds us up. We think we are better than others because we know so much. In this letter, Paul is saying that its good to have knowledge, but its better to help your fellow Christian follow God than to be legally right and cause them to stumble. If you have a friend who is a recovering alcoholic, then you shouldn’t drink alcohol when they visit you. You wouldn’t want to tempt them back into addiction. There’s nothing wrong with you having a drink, but to be a supportive friend, it’s a good idea to abstain while this friend is with you. And in this same example, Paul says that if you have a friend who doesn’t want to eat this sacrificed meat, you shouldn’t try to push them into doing it. They feel that it’s wrong, and so to them, it is. Legally by God’s laws, you are right. You can eat whatever you want, but they haven’t gotten there yet, so don’t push them in the wrong direction.
Those of us who do study the Bible to become more knowledgeable are actually in a dangerous position. We know what God did for us by putting Jesus on the cross. We know that there is nothing we can do that hasn’t already been forgiven. We know that once we accept God, we can never lose our salvation. God made us free from sin on that cross. Jesus took every sin ever committed, and every sin that would ever be committed and he bore that heavy weight on the cross. He died one time for all sin, and in his sacrifice, made us one with God. He freed us from the slavery of sin. He freed us from death. We have God in us.
But there are those people who don’t understand the amazing thing God did for us. They think that they are bad people, they are sinful people, and they have to work hard to get into heaven. There are people who are following all the Jewish laws trying to be good enough to get into heaven. There are people who condemn others who are different from them, trying to make others follow these laws as well. I know that there is nothing I can do that will make God love me any more than He already does. I can’t win His affection by being good because I already have it. Once Jesus died for our sin, He took all that away, and made us new creations in Himself. He won’t ever stop loving you, and once you give Him your life, you can’t take it back.
But having this knowledge, I need to share it and to be a good example to those around me. I need to help others see how good God is so they too can share in His love. Once you have truly experienced the freedom and peace and joy of God’s love, you want everyone to experience it! It a joy you can’t contain! But not everyone is there yet. And for the weak in faith, if they see you doing something they thing is wrong, they might do it too. You may know it’s not a sin, and it’s not a sin for you. But if they think it’s wrong and do it anyway because you did it, then you have helped them stumble. Stumbling takes us farther away from God. And if we cause people to stumble, then we aren’t loving people the way God intends for us. We aren’t loving people the way we need to in order to draw them into the family of God.
Knowledge is a great thing to have, and the more you know the better. But another thing about knowledge is the potential for it to make you prideful. If you keep reading in 1 Corinthians, you get to chapter 13, one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible. The second verse says “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” You could actually be the smartest person in the world, being able to read the Bible in every one of its original languages, and be able to interpret dreams, and heal people with your faith, and perform miracles. But if you don’t have love in your heart for your fellow man, you have nothing. All those amazing things are for nothing. Without love, we are nothing. God is love. Without love, we are nothing. Without God we are nothing.
So instead of being right, or prideful, or getting angry at people who “just don’t get it”, we all need to take a step back, and love like God does. In spite of our weaknesses, in spite of our differences in theology, in spite of our pride and anger and self-righteousness, we need to love and have love for those around us, no matter what they believe. For then, we will have love, and love is everything.
I love animals, so it makes sense that I have a few pets. A part of owning pets is the veterinarian. I have been very lucky to find two wonderful vets to help take care of my beautiful companions. One of my friends is a 14 year old cat named Dude. Dude has a thyroid problem and has to take a pill every day.
If you’ve ever needed to give a pill to a cat, you may know my struggle. He hates them, and seems to be able to find the pill in anything I put it in, rejecting it and leaving it laying on the floor. I have tried everything from peanut butter (which works great for the dogs) to butter, cheese, and cat food treats. He always spits it out. But then I found:
PROSCIUTTO
Prosciutto is a dry cured ham sliced very thinly and is popular in Italian cuisine. Yes, its a bit spendy sometimes, but so are vet bills. I take a piece of prosciutto big enough to wrap the pill in twice over, and Dude eats it every time. When I open the bottle of pills, he now comes running, eager for his “treat”. He used to run and hide.
I know this post may seem trivial, but some of the little things in life are the thing that cause us stress. I used to spend up to 20 minutes trying to get this cat to take the pill, chasing it around the house, and sometimes getting scratched as I tried to make him eat it. Now it takes 2 minutes, no one gets hurt, and he enjoys his treat.
Its the simple things in life that make me smile. And the prosciutto tastes great wrapped around a piece of fresh mozzarella too.
A lot of people aspire to lose weight, or exercise more, or eat better. It seems like it is usually health related, either mental health or physical health. But the thing with resolutions is: most people break them and then just give up.
If you want to be healthier, there are lots of ways to do this. But the number one way to be healthier is to eat healthy food. You are what you eat, and if you eat a bunch of junk, well, you get the picture. The easiest way to eat healthier is to start at the grocery store. If you don’t buy junk food, it has no way of getting into your house!! When you have healthy food in your house, that’s generally what you will eat if you’re hungry. (But ALWAYS read the label on what you are buying. If you can’t pronounce the ingredient, you probably don’t want to eat it.)
What about sleep? Do you get at least 7 hours of sleep a night? Do you meditate? Do you read before bed? New science discoveries tells us not to use a light emitting device to read from before you go to sleep. But reading a paper-paged book can help ease your mind.
Are you able to manage your stress level? (If you do, please tell me how. )
Are you trying to be more organized? More diligent about your financial situation? Or do you want to stop a habit or addiction you have? What is it that you want to do to make a better life for yourself?
We don’t need to make resolutions. We don’t need to broadcast anything to the world. We can make one better decision at a time, and that will be better than any resolution. Each good decision we make brings us one step closer to the next better decision. And once we start making better decisions every time, we truly become better people. But if you mess up and make a bad decision, remember: don’t cry over spilled milk. I love that old saying. Don’t freak out and stress out about it because there’s nothing you can do to change it. Clean it up, and be more careful next time. We all make mistakes, its part of being human. But by making these better decisions, we’ll make less mistakes and we’ll be happier, healthier people all year, not just the first week of January.
That sounds so terrible when I read it, but that’s how I’ve gotten to feel over the years. Run, run, run. Try to buy presents for too many people, spend too much money; and what to get for Grandma who has everything? And then wrap, pack, haul to the parties, unwrap, pack, haul back to my house. And then I have to put the things away, find homes for new items, and decide what to do with the ones they replaced. Did I forget anyone? And then the neighbor shows up with a gift. Do I have time to grab something from the closet to re-gift? What about a card?
Luke 2: In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.)3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
As Christmas becomes more and more commercialized, we are growing further and further away from the true meaning of Christmas.
What if we removed the gifts sector from Christmas? Christmas would still happen, it would still be December 25. The sun would rise with the absence of Santa Claus, and the sun would set, marking another day from the calendar. But then I would miss it. I love giving gifts to people I love, but I don’t like the frantic-ness of the holiday season. Everything builds up for weeks and weeks, and then, its over. Its over. Some children receive so many gifts, they are so overwhelmed by all the stuff, and they can’t even play with it all. I get overwhelmed trying to buy gifts for everyone, and it’s hard because I don’t even know what they all like, or what they already have.
I remember when I was a young girl, my mom read all the stories from the “Little House on the Prairie” series to my sister and me. Their Christmas was very simple, with handmade gifts and a few pieces of candy. The gifts they gave and received were very special and from the heart. They were true gifts, of time and love, and they were appreciated by the receiver I think probably much more than the gifts we give now.
And what if we were able to hush all the running to parties and rehearsals and shopping and concerts. The world has gotten so much bigger, yet so much smaller. We have too much to do and not enough time to do it. And once the children are grown, we have to plan around their schedules too, if we want them to come along. And what if your family lives an airplane ride away? There’s all that to contend with as well. How does anyone pull off the perfect Christmas?
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
I don’t think we can. I think the only way is to remember the reason for Christmas, remember that manger with the newborn baby. Imagine the chaos of Mary and Joseph’s first Christmas. I guess maybe ours isn’t so bad after all. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
The snow flakes shimmer under a dull gray sky, twirling and whirling, and flying up in great swirls of wind. The leafless trees stretch their naked trunks and branches upwards, into the gray, upon gray, upon gray. The cold winds deter me from doing anything outside. Even though outside is my favorite place, the unfavorable temperature and bone-chilling winds make it less bearable this time of year.
Here I remain, trapped indoors. The dogs are sleeping, as are the cats. The husband and son gone for the morning and early afternoon. What to do. What to do…
So honestly, I have a ton of hobbies. I think I’m one of those people who needs to have something to do. I can sit and read quietly for only so long, and then I need to do SOMETHING. Cleaning house is rewarding only to a certain extent. I have to use my brain, my creativity, and my hands. I love to paint, but my talent only goes so far. I have a very large collection of houseplants that only need so much nurturing before they become angry in their winter hibernation. I can only cook so much food for a small number of people. I can write only so much before people stop reading it. I used to enjoy sewing quilts for my children when they were young, but how many quilts does a person need? I crochet to a certain extent, but its a time consuming process that yields yet another blanket, or set of dishcloths, or a scarf to add to my collection. I make jewelry, and have a fabulous collection, even though I rarely wear jewelry. I have made rugs, sweaters, greeting cards, curtains, clothing, shelves; all sorts of things. But what next? What’s the next thing to do?
I think a lot of people struggle with the winter blahs: trapped indoors with no real sense of purpose. Our great-grandmothers would probably tell us how lucky we are having all the modern appliances that make life so much easier. I remember as a child, my grandmother had an old ringer washing machine, and doing the week’s laundry took the entire day. They washed the clothes, ran them through the ringer-press to get the water out, and then hung them on the line to dry. Once dry, all the clothes had to be brought in, folded or ironed, and put away. It was a great deal of work to keep their clothes clean. For me to do a load of laundry, I simply put the clothes in, toss in a gel pack of detergent, close the lid and push the button. Elapsed time: one minute. Then I transfer the clothes to the dryer, toss in a softener sheet, close the door and press a button. Sure, I do have to fold them and put them away, but that takes a fraction of the time because I do a load every day or two and then fold and put away as I have time. In fact, my washer is working right now as I sit and type; there’s nothing hands-on about it.
Our lives of chores have gotten easier, and I won’t complain about having a high efficiency washing machine, but now that the kids are older, I don’t have as much to do at home any more. Its strange how the hurried days of childhood taper off so quickly. I now have the time to do the things I always wanted to do, but it seems I’ve forgotten what those things are. Perhaps I’ll learn a new language, or finally learn to play the piano. (I have one in my living room so I might as well!) I think its important to always keep learning. It helps occupy your brain, helps you use your creativity, and maybe its even something to do with your hands. Never give in to boredom, there’s always something new to discover, or something to create. I do treasure my time alone, since I don’t get a lot of it. But I still need to have something I want to do. What are things that you do to occupy your time? I’d love to hear about them in the comment section! And thank you for reading!
Its one of the most annoying things in the world to me: unsolicited advice. But its more than that really, its when people try to tell me what I should do.
What I should think.
What I should believe.
Why would anyone think they have a better strategy than me for living my own life?
Why would anyone think that the way I’m living my life could be improved if only I did what they said?
Or thought the way they think?
Or believe what they believe?
I think that each of us has a burning in our heart, put there by God, to do what is right for ourselves. I think that there is no other person who can possibly know everything in my heart, who can be a better “me” than I am right now.
Don’t get me wrong, I do ask for advice sometimes, and if I ask, then do please try to help me. But if I don’t ask, then why on earth would someone decide to just interrupt? Why would someone try to impose their thoughts and beliefs on my purpose?
I think that humans have a huge ego problem, where we think we know better than others. We think we’re the smart one. We think we’re the one with the answers. I feel that way sometimes too. But unless someone asks for my advice, or opinion, I try to keep it to myself. I don’t expect someone to give up their religion because I don’t agree with what they believe, but on that same note, don’t think you can change what I believe.
I don’t expect someone to change their opinions or political beliefs because I don’t agree with them, but don’t have your telemarketers call my house five times a day telling me how I should vote. I have stopped answering my phone when an unrecognized number calls, do you think they get the hint?
I believe that each of us needs to make up our own mind, and decide what to believe on our own. I don’t trust any of the commercials on television anymore, especially the political ones. I need to read about the candidates, and the measures, and decide for myself how I will vote. So stop calling me. Stop leaving fliers in my door. Stop trying to manipulate me into siding with you, because more than likely, I’ll do the opposite of what you keep harassing me to do. I don’t want your politics, I don’t want your religion, and I don’t want your manipulation. I just want to live my own life, doing what I believe is right, the way I believe it should be done. I have my own politics, my own religion, and my own mind full of my own opinions and my own beliefs. If I ever decide to change them, it will be because of my own reasons, and not because some telemarketer with a terrible accent told to me to vote yes or no. And seriously, how did you get my cell phone number?
I am an outgoing person. I can talk to anyone, and I enjoy people. Most people would probably assume I’m an extrovert.
But I’m not.
I recharge my batteries by being alone. I like to think about things before I do them. And I need quietness and peace in my life.
I always thought I was an extrovert until I had a job where I was alone most of the time. That made me realize that I do enjoy being by myself, and having the time to just think, without any interruptions. Before that, every job I ever had was basically in customer service, working with the public and dealing with people all day. My job now is back to the same; people, conversation, and enjoying visiting with my customers, friends, employees, and sometimes even complete strangers. And I like it. No, I love it.
But I also need time to be alone, to think, to contemplate life and the world and the universe. I feel complete when I am recharged. I feel rested. I feel like there is less chaos and craziness in the world when I can detach from others and look inside myself. I also feel that I’m a much better person by taking the time to make myself feel this way. I have more patience, and I have more empathy for others.
I don’t think I’m a true introvert either though. I like people. I like talking to people and learning about their lives. I like hearing their stories, especially older people’s stories of “the good old days”. I could never be a hermit in a cave, never talking to anyone. I do need socialization in my life, just not all the time.
I have friends who recharge by being with other people, and they are the true extroverts. They love social events and parties and being in a crowd. I like being in my living room, with a good book; the dogs snoring on the couch and a cat curled up on my lap. I love spending time with my husband, and my children.
Maybe you aren’t sure which group you belong in either. But you can just be happy being the “you” that you truly are and not worry about all the other fluff that goes with trying to categorize people into one of two groups. Maybe we’re all a little bit of both; introverts and extroverts. Please tell me what you think in the comments section!
“How many swear words will we have with this project?”, came the question from the garage.
My husband; he’s a do-it-yourself kind of person, a go-getter, a “just do it” guy. I always admire that about him. He’s never one to be a procrastinator, he likes to get the work done right away. In the time it takes me to finish this blog post, he will have replaced the power steering hose on his truck. He also bought the parts he needs to start fixing the wheel bearing, tie rod end, ball joints, and the bushings on the van this weekend. (Its been a hard week for vehicles at our house.)
I wish I had that quality. I’m more of the “why do it now when I can do it later” kind of person. Not with everything, mind you, but with things that I don’t want to do. Or maybe I do want to do them, but I think its going to be a lot of work, or it will take too much time. Or maybe I’m not sure where to start, so I just don’t.
Do you ever feel this way?
One thing I have learned in my life, is that things do take time. I’m not a magician, and I can’t just say “Abracadabra!” and whatever thing I want done, does itself. (I think that would be great though! My house would always be clean!)
If something is going to take up my time, it needs to be worthy; worthwhile, if you will. I would much rather read a good book than vacuum, but reading doesn’t make my carpet cleaner. I’d much rather work in my garden than pretty much anything else, but that’s only a few months out of the year. Sure, its very worthwhile and provides a lot of food and beauty, but then winter comes, and I can only try to keep my houseplants alive for the cold months until the spring dawns and I can put them outside again. So in the winter I paint, and write, and do that cleaning and organizing I didn’t do when I was in the garden.
My husband however, he does everything. I kid you not. He does everything as soon as he sees it needs to be done. I’m working on it. I’m getting better at doing the little things that need to be done right away, and not letting my bookwork pile up, or the mending pile get too big. I have projects at work that I’m getting done, and I’m getting better at prioritizing my projects and doing what needs to be done first, and then worrying about the things that need to be done later. I tend to do the things I like to do first, but I’ve realized that I can waste a lot of time doing things I like to do, because I know that I have to do the things I don’t like to do, next.
So now I do the things I don’t like to do first. Yep, first. I don’t like to do bookwork, so I do it first thing after the opening chores at the store are finished. Then I make my list of projects and things I need to do, or people I need to call, or emails I need to return. If I get all of this out of the way, then I will be able to relax when I’m at home, instead of worrying whether or not I got everything done that needs to be done. I signed up for automatic bill pay too, and that also helps with making sure the priorities are taken care of.
What are ways that you have made your life easier? Are you a procrastinator like me? Or are you a go-getter like my husband? I’d love to hear your story.
Each year, my husband and I try to go somewhere we haven’t been before. This year I finally got to go see the Peace Garden. It truly is a very peaceful place, and you can sit and just listen to nature.We went on a Sunday, and even though there were quite a few people there, it was quiet and peaceful.
I grew up in the Midwest and surprisingly knew very little about the Peace Garden. On July 14, 1932, 50,000 people came for the dedication of the garden. It sits on the border of the United States and Canada, half in each country. You can see where the border is, and of course I have a picture of it. The Peace Towers are my favorite, one half in the US and the other half in Canada. There are so many things to see in this place, and the Peace Chapel is a must visit as well. I included a picture of the quote by Buddha, but there were so many good ones. I believe I read them all.
The garden was made to swear an oath made by our two countries. “To God in His Glory, we two nations dedicate this garden and pledge ourselves that as long as men shall live, we will not take up arms against one another.” If you ever get the chance to go, its a great place to stop and enjoy the beauty. I took so many pictures of the plants, the huge succulent collection and the cacti collection, along with the regular gardens and the sunken garden. I’m a plant person though, so I won’t subject you to all those pictures. The place is amazing!
You don’t need a passport to get back into the US, but you will need at least a drivers license. We didn’t have any problems going through customs, in fact we got some fishing pointers that helped out for the rest of our stay at Devils Lake. The fishing was great, the weather was beautiful, and it was a short, but much needed vacation.
Ramblings 