I Know...Do You?

Trying to Discern...

I'm reading a really interesting book, "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment". A real "thinker" as I call it. So much so I may have to re-read it to pick up all the little nuggets I missed the first time. The author, Tim Challies, defines spiritual discernment as the skill of thinking biblically about life, and attempts to teach us that this is a discipline, not a God given talent. I'm in chapter 6 of 10, so I still believe the lightbulb will go on and I'll be enlightened in the end. Or maybe after the 2nd reading...I'm a little slow.

The ultimate definition of spiritual discernment, as defined by the author, is "the skill of understanding and applying God's Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong". Wow, I'm all about that! This is a crazy world, and there are so many influences trying to tell you that everything is shades of gray, that we should be tolerant, etc. etc. No more black and white, baby. But I don't think that is true. Certain truths are infalible, right there in the Good Book, and we as Christians must seek them out and stand by them.

If you are a Christian, you know by now it's not an easy thing to be. But it tells you it won't be easy, right the in that same Good Book! So we understand that, yes? We aren't looking for easy anymore, we are looking for enlightenment, for understanding of what God would have us do while we are here on this Earth to serve him, please him, and help others to find that same path. And while we also know we will never become omniscient, we thinkers strive for it. Do I think I'm smarter than any one else? Definitely no. But I spend a great deal of time thinking...maybe that's why I have so many headaches!

There are many references in the Bible telling us to "cling to what is good, avoid what is evil". The challenge is to understand what IS good and what IS evil. To do that, we must study The Word.

"TEST everthing; hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil" is the challenge. ~1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

A Love Story...

I just have to share a story with you, one that has been shared all over the world and will give you new hope for mankind, if you haven't caught up with it already. In brief, here's the story:

Stephanie and Christian Nielson

Stephanie's sister, C. Jane (Courtney), has a blog that she updates daily with beautiful stories about her sister's children, her life, and progress of the couple's healing. I enjoy looking in daily as it almost always brings tears to my eyes: C Jane Run

She even updates her sister's blog daily with old (favorite) posts from her sister's blog, the NieNie Dialogues. So many people were following the Dialgues sight and EVERYONE is on board with helping raise funds for the tremendous costs involved in the couple's recovery.

Share your favorite blogs with me...but only if they are uplifting...the world has enough of the ugly stuff.

Forgiven

Please forgive me for not blogging in such a long time. I have to be in "the mood" and my mood has been "exhausted", "concerned", "confused", even "worried" (oh, that's really bad!) It's so darned hard to let God handle all our worries! Does that make me a control freak, or human? See, now I'm going to worry about that (just kiddin'!)

Some people find it exceedingly hard to forgive others. That can just cause YOU so many problems. It will make you sick, literally. It will stifle your spiritual growth, and it just takes so much ENERGY to stay mad!

I don't know why I am the way I am. God had something to do with it, for sure! I just don't stay mad at people. I don't hold grudges. I forgive, but alas, forgetting is harder. Yes, it IS! It is almost impossible to actually forget, meaning you can't recall the incident at all, ever again. But forgetting is more like not holding it against the person, not letting it control your actions towards that person, realizing that GOD FORGIVES YOU AND FORGETS you hurt him! Wow, that's an incentive!

I've learned forgiveness from watching the Master, as I know God has truly forgiven me for some of the hideous, unexcusable, sinful things I have done in my life. If I didn't know that in my soul, I really wouldn't be able to function!

I found an interesting website with some good food for thought if you are having trouble forgiving and/or forgetting.

If you think forgiving is a sign of weakness, a sign that that says "go ahead and hurt me", then think again. It's a sign of strength, a sign that you care more about the person than the hurt, or the potential to be hurt again. And don't forget Psalm 130, my friend...

We Are Family

It's been two weeks since we returned from our 1st annual family vacation-at-the-beach, and it was an unforgettable week! I'm just now catching my breath after catching up at my J-O-B, getting Sara back in school, yada yada yada. You really can't take a week off; you just work twice as much the week before and after! Hey wait, that means I need to get paid for another 40 hours ...somewhere ...hmmm?

The attendees were (in order of beauty): Celia, Debra, Lana, Judy, Keven (okay, not in order of beauty!), Fumiko, Terry, Jimmy, Merry King, Rachael, Oliver, Grace, Justin, Sara, Tiffany, Jessica, Lucas, David, and Benjamin! I think that's it - 19 people in 6 bedrooms. It was awesome, really it WAS! We had some much fun and so many laughs! Lots of good weather, good food, good reading...just plain GOOD! I think everyone really relaxed & felt no pressure to do anything or BE anything they didn't want. Which was the purpose entirely.

We sang and danced,

We played Quiddler...a lot...

We ate, and ate,

We slept,

It was a great week with a lot of good memories (nice boxers, Justin! Nice splotches, Debra!) Anyway, if you can only go on one large family vacation in a lifetime, I'd say this was it! I'm so grateful for the time we had together...maybe the stars will align and we'll be able to do it again...