We Meet Again

                One day a student walked into my office, head bowed, and a distressed look etched upon her face.  I greeted her as I always did and asked her how things were going.  She replied that things weren’t so great.  Now I’m the type of educator that is very honest with my students and I encourage them to be honest with me as well.  So my next statement was “define not so great.”  She continued to look at the floor and shuffle her feet as I waited on a response. 

                When she finally responded she said with dread “I REALLY didn’t want to come and see you again!”  Now this statement would floor most people, but I’ve gotten used to it.  You see over the span of my professional career I’ve worked intensely with students that are having academic issues.  For the last 4 years (at two different universities) I have taught a class that instructs students about techniques that help them to learn.  This particular student had already taken my class and felt awkward coming back to me and asking for more help.

                During my conversation with her, I was having a totally separate conversation with God in my head.  He showed me my relationship with him through my relationship with my student and I thought it was an important lesson to share.  Many times we read our bibles, go to church, and try to walk the walk of faith as He has instructed us.  Unfortunately, we aren’t perfect so we slip and fall from time to time.  It is in these moments that we are faced with a choice;

• a)      Do we stay in our mess and wallow in it?  Do we remain angry with the situation and allow it to get the better of us?  OR…..

• b)      Do we seek God’s face for correction (because He corrects those He loves) and get back to the plan He created for us?  Do we acknowledge that we were wrong, let Him help us up, and allow Him to dust us off so that we can move forward in His peace and forgiveness?

The student made a brave decision.  She chose to come in and acknowledge that she needed help, and with this help she was able to go on and do some wonderful things!  Are you tired of walking around the same test over and over and over again?  Well do something different!  Stop going down the path that you think is right and talk to the Lord!  I mean He is the one with the master plan for your life.  He knows your path better than you ever will and He’s just waiting for you to open your mouth and ask for help!  He’s waiting on your path’s to cross and when they do, He’ll greet you with love, open arms, and a smile. 

And in my mind, as I sat talking with this student, I could see God clearly.  The only thing I could think of, at first, was “So, we meet again?”   I finally told God I needed his help and His reply was, “I’ve been expecting you”.  Things have been interesting ever since.  Did you know God was waiting on you?  Well He is, so how about you acknowledge your issue and run back to the Master planner for your instructions.  I promise He’ll be waiting because He’s been expecting you. 

Open your mouth and let Him speak....

(This was originally a status update, but I thought I'd post it as the shortest blog ever :)  ) 

The daughters of Zelophehad had the courage to stand up to a system that did not allow women to inherit their fathers property after his death. Their decision to speak up not only allow them the chance to inherit their fathers land, but it changed the law for a nation! What are you keeping quiet about that could change the the way masses of people view things? All they had to do was open their mouths and God handled the rest....
~My Dad grants the desires of my heart~

In the End It’s My Choice

Genesis 29: 31-35

              These scriptures hold the story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.  Jacob was a twin born of Isaac and Rebekah.  Leah and Rachel were the daughters of Laban.  Now Jacob comes to Laban's land because his mother has warned him to flee from the wrath of his brother, but she has told his father that she wants him to go away to find a wife.  Jacob, with the assistance of his mother, conned his way into Esau’s blessing as their father lay dying.  Of course when Esau finds out he is hurt, confused, and highly upset.  (But can you blame him?)  Jacob, the trickster, had gotten one over on him again!  So Jacob goes into the land of Laban to hide out while his brother calms down.  (Doesn’t this sound like a soap opera?)
                While in the land of his father, Jacob meets and fell in love with Rachel, Laban’s youngest daughter.  He loved her so much that agreed to work for Laban for 7 years for her hand in marriage.  Now that’s love.  At the end of the 7 years Laban put together a wedding feast for the couple to celebrate.  But late that night instead of taking Rachel to Jacob’s bed, Laban took his oldest daughter Leah.  So Jacob, not realizing what had happened, slept with Leah.  When he woke up the next morning you can only imagine the look of shock on his face as rolled over and there lay LEAH.  So he went to Laban and asked “why did you trick me?” May I take one moment and say how amusing it is that the trickster has been tricked?  I mean this is the equivalent to a conman being conned.  The things you reap can be crazier than you could have ever imagined.
                After being asked what happen Laban responded that their custom was to marry the eldest daughter off first and then the youngest daughter.  Jacob was so hype about getting to Rachel he never took the time to research the rules and regulation for the place he resided.  Do you have customs that you alert people to when they enter your space or home?  Are those customs clear?  Furthermore, have you taken some time out to research and find out about the customs, rules, and regulations for the places you go and for the people you hang out with?  What I mean by that is what are your friendships costing you?  Do the terms of your relationship have loopholes that could bring harm to your front door? It is best to ask those questions up front.  The lack of knowledge is deadly.  In the end the consequence to not knowing the customs of the land caused Jacob to work another 7 years (to total 14 years) to receive Rachel as his second wife.

            Verses 31-35 speak of Leah’s mission to make Jacob love her more than he loved her sister. As twisted as it is, Leah has been placed in a losing battle.  She felt that if she could give him a son that he would love her more than her sister.  Within these verses Leah had 4 sons.  After the first three she rejoiced because each time she felt that she would receive her husband’s affection, which is a manipulative tactic.  The scriptures never notes any change in his love for Leah.  I want you to ponder this:  What are you continuously becoming pregnant with, carrying, and birthing that you are using as a tool of manipulation to make someone else react to you differently?  Is it really worth it?  Why do we carry things that we aren’t supposed to carry just to make others in our lives happy?
Oddly enough after the birth of the fourth son, Leah’s attitude changes (for a short period of time).  Instead of her focusing on her husband and his love, she turns her response to the provider of her children.  In verse 35 names her child Judah, “for she said, ‘Now I will praise the Lord.’”  The tool of manipulation was disarmed and she was able to rejoice about her son being born.

           Something in her clicked, and the moment her perspective changed was the moment she changed her thinking from competitive to contentment.  She was content with the blessing of children that God had given her in a moment when her husband didn’t really love her the way she thought he ought to.  She found a peace in her current situation.  No matter what situation you are in or are placed in you can find a place of peace and contentment.  Be honest and ask yourself, what area of your life are you lacking contentment?  Why are you not content?

1 Timothy 6:7-9 (NLT) states:

7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

            So as long as our needs are met we should be content.  We have been provided with that and so much more, so why is it so hard for us to find that place of contentment?  Take a moment today and be thankful that you have your needs and some, if not all, of your wants met.  How can you stop the competitive thinking and starting operating from a thankful, grateful, content heart?  From contentment comes peace, from peace is freedom, and in the end we are suppose to have all three.  I choose to be content, peaceful, and free in my now for the simple fact that God continues to be God guide my every step.

Divine

Ruby or Rubbish

Growing up in church I was taught that “you should be the Proverbs 31 woman”.  This woman is touted as the “perfect help meet”. During my formative years women of the church neglected to tell me that this chapter is knowledge passed down from a mother to her son as a guideline.  For years I’ve been hung up on Proverbs 31, especially the 10th verse.  It reads:

“Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?  She is more precious than rubies.” (NLT) 

Or for those of you that love the KJV:

“10Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.”

      Now the definition of precious is “of great value or high price; highly esteemed or cherished.”  As I read over this chapter time and time again I wondered how one person could ever live up to the example she set.  I mean this woman was a BEAST!  Her business was in order at home as well as out in the community.  Each time I read this chapter I became frustrated with the prospect of not measuring up.  However tonight after reading that one verse the following question popped into my mind:  What is the value of a ruby?  I mean I need to know what the floor is so that I can understand how her value is far above that of a ruby.  So I set out to do some research.

     A ruby is a precious gemstone that ranges in color from pink to “blood red”.  It is held as one of four precious stones.  It is second to only the diamond.  The ruby is ranked nine out of ten on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, which measures the scratch resistance of the gem (or minerals in the gem).  The diamond, again, is the only gem higher on the scale.  The thing that I found interesting is that a natural ruby will have imperfections.  These imperfections are used by gemologist to ensure that a ruby is naturally and not synthetically created.  Some gemologists call these imperfections the gems “fingerprint”.  Natural rubies may also contain needle inclusions called rutiles that give the stone a silk effect when under a light.  Again it’s just another “fingerprint”.  So the gem that the bible offers as the comparison has flaws!?!  A couple of things became apparent to me.


      1) The woman, as she is presented in Proverbs 31, has lived life.  She has grown up, possibly making mistakes, learning from them, and building on the foundation of her youth.  She has married and had children.  She has gone through the process of life finding out what works for her and what doesn’t.  She has learned to be trustworthy, responsible, and loyal.  She has also realized at least a portion of the treasures that were placed in her by God.  This woman was walking with purpose, not only for herself, but for her family!  She had crafted a balance in her life.  Finally it makes sense.  The reason that this has been so frustrating all these years is because no one has every explained that the woman presented in Proverbs 31 is a product of her experiences and learning opportunities!  You don’t wake up one morning with the ability to enrich your husbands life, spin your own material, take care of the families needs (both physical and emotional),  and run a business.  You do not gain wisdom and dignity over night.  It takes time.  Just as you can’t wake up one morning quoting scriptures that you have never read.  You have to study the word of God continuously because it is a living, breathing work that continues to be relevant in every life situation.

      I’ve started to notice over the last few months that the way I do things is beginning to change.  I’ve stopped being EXTRA selfish in my thinking (yes I was selfish :o) ) and started to think about people that are coming into my life that might not be here just yet.  The only way that I can be prepared for my husband and my family when they arrive is to begin the preparation, the process, now.  I have to learn to balance my career, education, health, and home now so that when my family arrives I am aware of the ins and outs of balance.

     2) I think we as women of God sometimes have a twisted thought process.  We spend so much time trying to explain to people our value; or in some cases we spend too much time trying to promote ourselves to force everyone to see how valuable we are.  Your value is in your experiences.  So many times we think that only the people that have never gone through a thing are valuable in the kingdom.  You can’t participate if you are coming out of a situation that is less than “holy” or “pure” (whatever that means)!  My value has grown with each mistake and experience.  I will be able to talk to my children open and honestly about the pitfalls of life because I have been there and God showed me love, grace, and mercy.  In spite of all of my unnecessary foolishness, he continues to bless me with his grace and pull out the treasures he stored in me.  In the end, we as women have to be who Christ has called us to be.  Our goal should not be to become the Proverbs 31 woman, but to possess the characteristics that she has honed throughout her life experiences.
     So now I get it!  I can flow with the process of preparation knowing that my goal should be to walk out every treasure God placed in me and to be an example to those who come after me.  Through the process of life the characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman will be shaped, molded, and defined in us.    So, the question is… will you be above the value of a precious (of great value or high price; highly esteemed or cherished)  ruby,  or just the rubbish you see in the world.  Let’s stop trying to be the Proverbs 31 woman and be the BEST that God created us to be; holding those characteristics displayed in the Proverbs 31 woman.

~Divine~

You Can’t Carry Both of Those…

   “One thing I've learned about myself is that when my house is in chaos it’s an indicator of the rest of my life.”  This was a portion of my status this weekend.  My house and my life have been out of control and up until this weekend I had not had the energy or the willingness to do anything about it.  Tired has been a state of being and I couldn’t figure out what was going on.

     Well last night I caught the end of a message by one of my favorite preachers.  She was breaking the word down into nugget sized pieces.  I always walk away from her sermons in deep thought.  During last night’s quiet time I heard God for the first time in a long time, and He was as clear as can be.  He stated very clearly “you are selfish”.  WHAT!?!  Me, selfish!?!  I immediately went into explanation mode.  Isn’t it funny how we try to convince God that He’s wrong, like He has no background on us?  We treat Him like He’s a random man from the street, when He’s our creator…but that’s a whole other note J !  So I’m in the middle of explaining to God how I’ve changed and I’m nowhere near as selfish as I used to be.  And then the final words hit me…not as selfish as I used to be.  These words sent me to the concordance in the back of my bible.  Yep I had to take a look at the word selfish to put it in context.

     Two scriptures stuck out to me.  Both Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23 have the same wording, but to two different groups of people.

Matthew 16:24 (NLT) states “24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Luke 9:23 (NLT) states “23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

     The message was the same for those in His inner circle and those in the crowd.  If you are coming with me you have to put down the selfishness and pick up your cross! And most times you have to do so daily.  You can’t hold on to both of them, so pick one!  Whoa…

     During the course of my quiet time I realized that I had been selfish!  I was told to do something and I basically told God no because I was so concerned about how it would make me look to others.  I was disobedient and selfish.  I refused to put down my selfishness and pick up my cross, which in essence could have helped someone else.
The timing of this conversation was very interesting.  I’ve been on the lookout for the things in my life that are blocking me from following the path God has set for my life.  Who knew that I was the biggest distraction and hindrance on my path!  Now to be completely honest I’m totally upset with myself, but on the other hand I’m thankful to God that He loves me enough to correct me when I’m wrong.  And in the spirit of correction He showed me one last scripture (just in case I was still in the mode of justification)!

James 3:16 (NLT) states “16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” 

     So that’s it.  The disorder in my house and life is a fruit of the selfishness that had silently set itself up in my life.  My refusal to do/share things that I know I’ve been instructed to do/share has caused a ripple effect in my life.  So tonight I’m pulling this thing up by the root and acknowledging my part in blocking my path and the blessings that lie on the path.  I’m making the conscious decision to put down my selfishness and pick up my cross.  I thank God for His love for me and His willingness to check me on things that I hide so well from others.  How many times have you hidden things thinking “No one will ever notice the difference”?  Well I’m here to tell you God notices and He’s waiting on you to decide what you’d like to carry.  You can’t carry both your mess and His cross, so the question He leaves with you is what will you carry?  What are you holding on to that you need to let go of so that you can pick up your cross and walk out all that God has for you?

I Can See Clearly Now

I’m sitting on my patio right now in a totally new head space.  It’s one that is completely out of my comfort zone, but then again, it feels so familiar.  It’s Sunday, so I went to church this morning.  Now I’m not the type of person that goes out of habit, but out of the need to refresh and revitalize before the beginning of another week.  Today’s sermon, “Your oppositions are your opportunities”, was the catalyst of a change in perspective.  Throughout my life I’ve been so focused on the drama that comes in my life and those that were against me, that I failed to see the miracles that were around me daily.  I never stopped to think about all that God was walking me through!  And through it all I was never harmed.  Small things, like not having car accidents when at the time they seemed inevitable, or having my mom survive cancer, just to see another day.  All these years my perspective has been wrong. I’ve been standing at the wrong place, looking at the wrong thing.

Over the past few months the Lord has changed my perception of me and how I perceive others around me.  Trust and believe this has come at the expense of my pride, but that’s a trade I will gladly make.  I see so many things happening in my life right now and I’m in total awe of how God is orchestrating it all.  A few Sundays ago I gave God my firm yes.  Yes, I will work out every gift and blessing you placed in me.  Yes, I will go after people you send me to.  It was my firm commitment that my soul purpose for being on this earth is to reach out to others and show them the God that walked me through so much. 

My life has never belonged to me.  It was always His, but He patiently waited on me to change my perception.  Now with an alternate view of my life I am going to walk this thing out.  I understand that it may not be easy, but my dad always told me nothing worth having is going to come easy.  The only exception to that is salvation.  You may not know it now, but God is waiting on you just like He waited on me.  He gave you so much to do and the only things you have to do are: change your perception and get to work.  After service today I found myself looking at the opportunity in the things I used to see as oppositions.  I know that God’s hand is on my every move and in the end all that happens around me will work out for my good.  It might not make sense.  It might not happen as swiftly as I want it to, but He has the map!  God is my GPS and He’ll never give me more than the next road or turn because He wants me to focus on the present.  Are you so wrapped up in the end product that you are forsaking the journey, or the next step?  Learn to treat each step like it is the life changing step because in reality…IT IS!  Your next step is the step that you need to take to get the very gifts God placed in you out into the world.  Your gift is not for you, but for the person sitting next to you or the person you walk past in the grocery store. 

God is calling me out (and has been calling me out for years).  The difference in this call is that I hear Him clearly, have a perspective of total trust, reckless abandon, and a firm yes.  You hear Him talking to you, so why ignore the very thing He is saying?  Why make this process harder than necessary?  This has nothing to do with your friends or family.  They will either walk with you on the path He leads you down or they won’t.  Either is completely fine with God and should be ok with you as well.  They may not recognize what God has placed in you, but in the end they only have an opinion.  Their opinions mean nothing, especially when God’s plan is the focal point.  So stand up, wipe your eyes so that you can clearly see the next step God placed before you, and take the step!  Take it with the reminder that Paul left us; “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT)

~Divine~