"Hand In Hand... Dear Jesus..."

Change is scary. I described to someone at work today what it felt like the bakery was going through. It feels like... here we are... on this highway... going through this huge storm of grey clouds, lightening, and torrential rain.... we can see the road up ahead of us... and it looks kind of like this bigger, darker, more ominous looming storm that we are heading towards. It is discouraging to feel like we are never going to get through the storm. As I look forward... I try to feel peace and comfort that can only come from the Lord. I search the skies for any sign of a break in the clouds. I eagerly await a ray of sunshine peeking around a cloud... and I am in constant prayer to finally be able to see the rainbow that God promises is his covenant of peace that we will not be destroyed because of these storms. These storms of life I guess you could say. AND I LOVE REAL STORMS! (go figure!)

I am blessed with the knowledge that God will not give us anything that we cannot handle. (He must think so highly of me!) Boy I tell ya... all I have to say about this week is... "Whew...*SIGH*... I am so glad it's over!"

I would like to thank Shelley for her comment from yesterday's post. I really do try to do my best... as if I were working for God. He is such a much more wonderful boss to work for than the ones of human form that I have encountered. God is straightforward... doesn't beat around the bush... doesn't have hidden motives and reasons for doing the things He does. He is simply the main man, head chief, manager above all managers, the big guy, the dude in charge... but what makes him such a great people person... is that he truly loves us first... before being our boss.

Change is so difficult though. It takes us out of our comfort zone. It removes our security in the things we know for sure. What is so hard about working at Walmart is that everything you thought was right... can completely be different the very next day... only to be followed by going right back to the way it was the day before. Just frustrating.

"Sometimes, in order to change things... we need to completely start over." ~a recent word from God I have received~ Start from scratch. I have done that many times in my life. The biggest time of change for me was when we picked up and moved our family to the Oregon coast for two and a half years. Talk about moving out of one's comfort zone. That was an awesome life changing experience that I would do over again in a heart beat!

Some of the changes we are going through now in our personal family life is learning and actually making ourselves sit up and repair our financial difficulties that have tagged along behind us for so long. I have been in the deep pit of financial despair... (and I know others may be there too... and there is always someone worse off than we have ever been). I believe that God is faithful and will give favor to those who diligently seek His guidance from financial problems. I have been on the receiving end of experiencing the favor. It is such an awesome feeling to conquer financial problems! Such a feeling of freedom. It is nice to see those little tiny rays of sunshine peeking out from around some of the clouds. We have been working so hard at mending our past that we ran from. To make things right in the eyes of man... and of God.

It is not just finances that we need to make right in our lives. As humans... we need to make right our spirits, our voices that are heard, our thoughts that run through our minds, and our actions that others see. We need to be more like Jesus. He prayed for the God to forgive the very men who were crucifying him! How humbling is that? What an honor to the Lord that was.

I have such a long long way to go... to honor the Lord in such a fashion. I find myself with such horrible thoughts sometimes when stress gets to me about work. Spiteful thoughts... thoughts about the character of those that I work with that I should not have. Thoughts that Jesus would never have. I am sure that he would always look past the faults of others... and see the goodness in them. Unlike me... I see stupidity and my mind just wants me to say to someone... "Do you realize how stupid you are?"

A friend told me something once about people in general, "... people sometimes reach their potential before they ever get good..." ((or something like that))... but you get the picture. It's TRUE! I pray to God that I can always be teachable and willing to learn something new...and have the ability to do it well.

So... for now I will go and rest... so that my ability to do my job well next week will be a little easier. I actually have Saturday and Sunday off this week. Probably the ONLY whole weekend I will ever get to have off unless I have a weekend during a vacation time. I am going to enjoy some much needed relaxation. Stressful times drain you a little extra... sucking the last drop of energy and goodness that could ever exist from your body, mind, and soul. Finding peace... that is truly a gift from the Lord.

"...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. ~ ...Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ~ ... If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ~... Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. ~ ... do not worry about your life... Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ~...Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ~... Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. ~...Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ~...Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness... do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own. ~...Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. ~... If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." (Various verses from the book of Matthew.)

It's like a road map through life... the words of Jesus. Guiding us... teaching us... comforting us. He is there WITH us... we are not alone.



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(... Another great song from "New Mercy")