Archive for July, 2008

Cures for Technology Overload!

July 31st, 2008

I have been having problems with my cell phone recently, and it has made me painfully aware of something, I am WAY to hooked to technology and it has infiltrated my soul to the point I feel very insecure without it. So, here is my list of things to do to pull the roots of technological overload out of your soul and start getting healthy.

1) Go to the store without your cell phone. I know, it is hard, but you can do it. It is especially hard for those of us with the Blackberry that we put our shopping list on. Do yourself a favor, get a pen, a piece of paper, and write the darn list out.

2) Drive home without listening to music, even Christian music. Last I knew my stereo in my car had an off switch, I just have to remember that once in awhile I can use it.

3) Spend 30 minutes a day in concentrated and focused effort to read. Do not read blogs, do not read light novels that waste your time. Read to stretch your mind, and those of you with the Kendall from Amazon or something like it, put them away.

4) Put the lap top away. Put an out of office reply on your e-mail so people know you mean business, turn it off, leave it with a friend if you must. Believe me, your family will love the look of your face without the gentle glow from the laptop illuminating your every wrinkle and dimple.

5) Eat dinner at the table. No music, just conversation. you will be amazed what you might hear from your spouse, or your child.

6) Kill the television. I find myself wanting it on, even when reading for the background noise. It stinks. I must work hard to tell my soul to be quiet within me. But when I do, boy does God get to talking sometimes.

7) Spend one weekend a quarter in the mountains. Go to a retreat location, someplace that you can get quiet and away from technology. Pray, read the bible, fast, and listen.

8) Avoid going to a small group meeting that is at a restaurant or coffee shop that is busy and overwhelming. Meet in individual houses, or at a park. Someplace that you can focus on the things you are there for and nothing else.

I am sure there are many more, please post what you do to get away. I just have found myself so overwhelmed, and I did not even know it, with technology.  I need to put more then a few of these into regular practice myself.

 

 

Health Update

July 24th, 2008

So, I went to the Doctor today. We have good news, and bad. Good first. I do not have cancer. I also do not have hemachromatosis which was what they thought. I was hoping for that, because then my enemy has a name and I know how to treat it. All I would have to do is give blood regularly to keep the iron levels low. So much for that. The bad news is, no one knows what the problem is. So more blood work, more waiting, more wondering if we will find what is going on and how to fix it.

I am moving in two weeks. That is stressful, add my health, add that Amy is not feeling so well (she is in a definite flair up) and we are just hanging in there. We are surviving, not thriving. I look forward to thriving again some day, but today we are surviving.

I am looking forward to going to the Dominican Republic later in August with Compassion. I always get so much energy working with children, seeing what God is doing with His children, and seeing how Compassion can change the course of a Child’s life. I am so humbled.

Today I am humbled, and grateful, and a little scared. Scared of the unknown, but hopeful that my doctors are good, and that God has a plan. I just have to be patient, and have more courage.

I am sharing with 300 of my fellow employees in a few weeks about courage. I am investigating how to get Audio up on my website and I will post it here for anyone interested if I can. It is quazi-autobiographical in nature, and a good reminder to myself.

Sorry posting is light. I have some things in my brain  but they need forming, and until I move I would not expect much to come.

~Selah~

Where is Your Courage?

July 17th, 2008

I am still thinking more about courage lately. I am going to be sharing about it at Compassion in August and here is what I have come up with. I am still living it. I still have no test results on the liver but will update this blog when I do. Sorry things have been a little silent. Please keep praying for me and my family. We are in a time of fluctuation and courage is definitely required.

Courage requires:

1) Humility

When God called Noah to build an ark, he needed to be humble so that he could understand what the Lord was saying, and to courageously follow him when the world was looking at him and saying “there is no rain here, it is not going to flood, how are you going to float your boat? When Noah’s friends came to see the boat and they asked “where is your rudder dummy?”

2) Patience

When David was a shepherd boy and in the fields and anointed to be king he was probably thinking “yes, I am ready God, take me.” But God had other plans, many years of plans for him before he could take the throne. He was indeed a courageous man, and a man after God’s own heart, but he had to live in the wilderness for awhile to figure that out fully.

When Noah was living in the land and farming and doing those things that were pleasing and appropriate for taking care of his family and God said “build an ark” I am sure glad he obeyed, but the ark did not get built over night. Nor did he stay in the ark just 40 days, it was more like a year.

3) Sacrifice

In order to have the courage to answer God and follow his chosen path we must be willing to sacrifice for it. Sometimes we have to sacrifice a lot. David sacrificed the comforts that were afforded him in his fathers house in order to follow God. Gideon sacrificed his life (hiding from those who had taken his land captive) in order to follow the calling God gave him. In return David was called “a man after God’s own heart” and Gideon was offered the throne of Israel after he routed the enemies by the thousands.

Where are you being called to have courage? In what circumstance do you find yourself that you feel God is not in control or that you feel God is not being glorified?

Has God placed a call on your life and you can see it, but are yet to attain it? God is in control, be patient.

David knew his calling, but he waited on the Lord. In that time he was shield bearer to the King. He was in the courts when Solomon was planning warfare, engaging in diplomacy, and doing all things kingly. He had to learn how to be King before he became king. (here I will share some personal reflection on waiting upon the lord as long as time allows)

What dream has God placed on your heart? Is it to build a ministry, to start a business, to support 50 Compassion Kids? Take that dream captive, keep that dream alive, and work on it. It may take awhile, but if it is from God it will be done in and through you.

I have been privileged to sit at lunch with several people from Compassion and hear your dreams, and I treasure that. I know that when you are sharing with me what you are dreaming or where God is leading you that you are sharing the divine imprint that God has built into your spiritual D.N.A. and I consider it an honor.

Closing

Remember to take time to Praise God for what He has given you.

When Mary found out she was pregnant, and she was to raise Jesus she praised him.

“ Luke 1:46 And Mary146 said,147“My soul exalts148 the Lord,149 1:47 and my spirit has begun to rejoice150 in God my Savior, 1:48 because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant.151For152 from now on153 all generations will call me blessed,1541:49 because he who is mighty155 has done great things for me, and holy is his name; 1:50 from156 generation to generation he is merciful157 to those who fear158 him.1:51 He has demonstrated power159 with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance160 of their hearts.1:52 He has brought down the mighty161 from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position;1621:53 he has filled the hungry with good things,163 and has sent the rich away empty.1641:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering165 his mercy,1661:55 as he promised167 to our ancestors,168 to Abraham and to his descendants169 forever.”

Remember that your spirit is a Womb for God to work His divine love, His miraculous blessings, and His plan for your life in. It is just like a womb because it is a place of protection, of intimacy, nourishment and a place of rest. Remember to rest in the knowledge that God is giving you the courage, the vision and the path to take to fulfill your calling, in His timing.

Lost in the midst of courage!

July 7th, 2008

Today has been  a bad day, a very bad health day to be exact. I need to rewind a little here to tell you what has been happening and explain the somewhat silence of this blog.

I have been battling a rare condition called an Arnold Chiari Malformation. It is in my brain, it hurts a lot and it has driven me to taking pain med’s, and sometimes anti depressants. In otherwords, it sucks. Then this week some routine blood work came back and it was not so routine. It appears that my liver would rather not work as a liver, it would rather sit in my body and do nothing but give me pain. I would rather it work, In fact I am demanding it. I am not sure what the problem is, but the doctors have mentioned the big C, as in cancer. Wow, what a sucky thing to hear. I have been there with others when they get the diagnosis, and I have been at their bedside when the cancer worked its final deed in death, neither of them are fun times to be there, but they are holy moments as well.

I have been giving myself the speech about courage that I give most of those who I have the honor of ministering too, but boy does it sound hollow. In fact, it just falls flatter then my momma’s home made bread when she does not put the yeast in. I remind myself of that line in Princess Bride where the Dread Pirate Roberts (aka Wesley) says to his beloved “life is pain”. I do not want life to be pain, I want it to be roses and pony’s and cotton candy. But alas, growth does not come in the good times, it comes in walking through the pain.

I feel like a wuss, a really big one. I think of all the saints that have gone before me, I think of all the men and women of the Bible of whom “the world was not worthy” (Heb 11:38) who walked in a faith that makes mine look so miniscule and incomplete that I could never compare. I am constantly reminding myself of my previous post with the I am… statements, and I have to remember that I have all of that at my fingertips, I just have to search it out and rest in it.

In the meantime, I am still working and I am moving the 2nd week in August. We have been forced into a bankruptcy and we will be moving north, which means closer to work and some great schooling for Jacob. I go to the Dominican Republic the 3rd week of August for work and I see the neuro surgeon somewhere in that timeframe. All will come into sharp focus over the next month or so, but right now waiting just stinks. I have never been good at waiting, but in this case I am learning quickly how to wait upon the Lord.

I ask not for your sympathy, but for your prayers. I am marginally concerned that if I have to stay off work I am not going to have much sick time banked. I have used much of that taking care of Amy. I have FMLA which secures the job, but the finances will be another thing. I get long term disability after 90 days, but it is at 60 percent of my already stressed out salary. It could get really ugly, but I also know that God truly has the reigns on this one. Oh, and pray I do not scream like a baby and betray anything masculine about me when they poke my liver this week and run a nasty looking needle into it. I am not looking forward to it, and I hope to be out like a light when they do it.

~Selah~

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