A Friend Is...

The dictionary tells us that a friend is:
a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

Many of us have Facebook friends, work friends, church friends, neighborhood friends. How
many of those are true friends? I have 880 Facebook friends - some from high school (or before), some from college, some from work (or past jobs), some from church, a couple from the neighborhood and many family members.

However, when I think of people that I would turn to in a time of need, those first people I would contact with big news, the ones who would do my laundry or other household chores if something happened to me (while my husband was attending to my every need, of course), how many of those 880 people fit into that category?

In Proverbs 17:17, I see that "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." That makes me wonder how loosely we use the term "friend." Stop and think about who will actually be there for you in your time of need, when you need a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Who will celebrate a new job with you? Or a new baby? Or a marriage? Will every one of those people on your Facebook friends list be there? I can almost assure you the answer is no.

While I realize that many of the people on my friends list may post on my wall and tell me they're praying for me or they're thinking about me or offer congratulations or whatever the situation warrants. However, if I were to make a list of the people who would drop what they're doing and spend hours on the phone with me or drive hours to get to where I'm at, that list would dwindle. In fact, that list would include 4 or 5 that I know for sure. Don't get my wrong. I'm thankful for each and every person I'm connected to on Facebook. I'm beyond blessed by those couple of friends who have been part of my life for decades. You know, those kind of friends who you don't have to talk to or see every day to know they care, yet you can pick right up where you left off and laugh or talk for hours? I have a couple of them. I also am blessed with a couple great friends who I added to my life about 7 years ago. 2 ladies who are always there to encourage me and pray for me. Do you have friends like that?

Sometimes people may think I'm stand-offish. I'm not. I'm introverted. I'm afraid of sounding stupid. I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing. I'm afraid of opening myself up to people. So I stay quiet. Of course, those who truly know me would say I'm not that quiet. haha But, we won't ask them!

I know this is not an eloquent blog post. I already told you I'm not a writer. Maybe I'm the only one who will read this anyway. Maybe I'm the only one who reads 99.9% of what I write. That's ok. I can only do what God told me to do. He told me to blog every Thursday. He didn't tell me anyone would read it. I'm ok with that. Today, I waited and waited for Him to tell me what to write about. He told me (finally!) that I was supposed to write about friendship. Thank you to those few of you who are my closest friends. You know exactly who you are. To the rest of you (those Facebook friends I went to school with, work with, attend church with) know that I am here to pray for you. I may not share the details of my life with you. But I don't share those details with everyone. Don't take offense to that. To my family (who make up the rest of my Facebook friends list and many beyond that) you have no idea what you mean to me! I love each and every one of you. Thank you for loving me the way I am. Thank you for encouraging me and sharing this journey of life with me.

Next week, I hope God gives me a more eloquent post...or tells me this one was so horrible I don't have to blog anymore. haha

Checking In and Sharing a Concern

It's me again! You might remember that last week I shared with you the goals I've set for myself for 2015:

1. Write in my journal every day. Try to focus on something God is teaching me

or a way I saw Him at work during the day.

2. Blog every Thursday.

3. Finish reading "A Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George.

4. Read through the Bible...again.

5. Find a classroom of my own.

6. Be the wife my husband deserves.

I'm happy to report that I've kept up with #1 every day. I'm here for week two of #2. I'm still working my way through #3 and I'm keeping up with #4. The last two are a little tricky. #5 isn't completely dependent on me. #6 may not ever be fully possible no matter how hard I try. My husband is a rock. He deserves the greatest woman on earth. Yet he settled for me. So, I'll strive to be the best God made me to be and hope that's enough.

Now, on to a concern that God laid on my heart last week. On Friday, school was closed due to bitter cold and bad road conditions. So here I was enjoying a snow day at home. I was cleaning the house so I didn't have to cram it in on Saturday before my grandson came for the day. As I was vacuuming, I heard a voice say, "Why do some churches make new families feel so welcome but then start ignoring them if they can't give enough?" It was so audible I almost thought someone was in my house. But it got me to thinking.

First, let me say that I'm not including every single church in this. I'm not saying it's your church or my church. God didn't make specific to me what churches He's concerned about. He simply asked me why. He asked me to delve into this question and find some answers. Of course, I certainly realize He already knows the answer to this question. Why He wants me to discover it is beyond me. But far be it to argue with Him! I've done that before. It landed me in college at the age of 35!

Here are the facts I have so far (I'm not done searching for this answer. God has been telling me to write a blog about it since Friday and I decided to wait until my regular weekly blog. After all, I'm probably the only one who reads this anyway. So, why rush?)
1. I have heard from people who have had to stop attending church due to health reasons. The concern in this - no one from the church seems to think about contacting them to see if they're ok or if there's anything the church can do. No calls, no cards, no visits. Why?? These are people who have attended their respective churches for decades. There's no reason for people to be forgotten.
2. I know there are people who felt like they were joining in a family reunion when they walked into a new church for the first time. However, when they weren't able to give much financially to the church, weren't able or interested in helping with children's ministries or had no desire or ability to help with cleaning or repairs around the church, they became almost invisible to anyone in the church.
3. Jesus was good at welcoming people who came to Him for the first time. But He also never ignored those closest to Him.
4. I struggle with anxiety and panic disorders and also an inferiority complex. I have a problem reaching out to people. I know I need to work on that. While I can't change the anxiety and panic disorders, I can work on feeling less inferior. I can learn to believe that what I have to say is worthwhile.

So, these are some things I'll be chewing on for awhile. I'm waiting for God to tell me why He wants me to find the answer to this question. However, I'll simply search for the answer even if I never know why. Be patient with me.

Blessings,
Brenda

Blank Pages

What is the first thing you do when you get a new notebook or journal?

If you're like me, you flip through the pages, imagining all the things

you're going to write on its pages. I like notebooks and journals. I collect

them like some people collect stamps or plates. I have many pages to fill 

with thoughts, things I've learned, things I want to remember, etc. 

A week ago today, we were each given a brand new journal. It's called a year.

God writes on the pages of our journal every day. The choices we make are

written on the pages of our life. What choices are going to be written in your

journal this year? No matter what things were written in your journal in the past,

this journal is brand new. It's a whole new chapter. You can make it the best

chapter yet. 

Many people make resolutions for the new year. I don't make resolutions.

I set goals for myself. For some reason, I tend to do better with the word

"goals" than with "resolutions." I made a few goals this year.

1. Write in my journal every day. Try to focus on something God is teaching me

or a way I saw Him at work during the day.

2. Blog every Thursday.

3. Finish reading "A Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George.

4. Read through the Bible...again.

5. Find a classroom of my own.

6. Be the wife my husband deserves.

So far, I'm keeping up with #1. I haven't missed a day yet. I'm also keeping up with #4. You're reading the first edition of #2. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up. I don't have confidence in my own thoughts and writing. When God told me to set goal #2, I argued about it because I don't think anyone will find value in anything I write. So, perhaps I'm only writing this for myself. #3 shouldn't be a problem. I'm halfway done. #5 I'm hoping God has in store for me. #6 I don't know if that's even possible. But I'm sure going to try. 

So, what's going to be on the pages of your journal. Make the most of every day. Listen for God's voice. Be kind to everyone you meet. Remember, everyone has their own struggles that we don't know about.

See you next Thursday!

Brenda

Unexpected Blessings

One of our two cars has been out of commission all week. The belt wouldn't stay on for some reason. My husband had put it back on several times but it would just slip off when the van was driven. So, we parked it in the driveway and our other van became the family taxi. I would drop hubby off at work, drive to school for the day, return to pick him up from work in the evening and then he would pick our daughter up from working her late shift. We made it work because there was no other choice. A dear friend saw our need and said, "Maybe I could have [my husband] come over to take a look at it." And she did. He came Wednesday and discovered it was the harmonic balancer (which mean absolutely nothing to me except that it wouldn't keep the belt on...or our harmony was not balanced!) He said if we got the part and a new belt, he would fix it Saturday.

Fast forward to tonight. When hubby got off work, we needed to go get the part. I had printed out the paper with the information so I looked to see whether we needed to go to Auto Zone or Advance Auto Parts. Drew said, "It's the same price at both places." Knowing that they were both on the same road, I said, "But you have a rewards card for Auto Zone. We might as well go there." So, off we went.

We walked in and were the only customers in the store. We showed the paper to the gentleman and he gladly went and go the part and belt. He rang it up and it came to $92.00 with tax. The guy scanned Drew's rewards card and said, "You have $20.00 in rewards on your card. Would you like to use this towards your purchase?" Ummm...YES!!! I now know exactly why I knew we should go to Auto Zone and not advanced.

Not only are we blessed with amazing friends but God's guidance. Thank you, Lord!

Fix What's Broken

We live in a broken world. Broken cars, broken homes, broken dreams, broken people. Unfortunately, many of us don't realize we're broken. I happen to be one that realizes it. Now, I spend lots of time asking God to break me to mold me into what He wants me to be. Being broken to be made into what He wants is a good thing. But being broken and not asking to be fixed is a bad thing.

As I sat here watching Joyful Noise with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, I heard a song. It's a short song. The words repeat over and over. However, it's a song that should be every Christian's prayer. I know it's now my daily prayer. These simple words were written by Jennifer Hudson. Queen Latifah sang them beautifully. Jesus, fix me!

Fix me Jesus, fix me
Oh fix me, oh fix me, oh fix me
Fix me Jesus, fix me

Fix me for my home on high
Fix me Jesus, fix me
Fix me for the by and by
Fix me Jesus, fix me

Fix me for my starry crown
Fix me Jesus, fix me
Fix me for a higher ground
Fix me Jesus, fix me

Oh fix me, oh fix me, oh fix me
Fix me Jesus, fix me
Fix me Jesus, fix me
(Fix me Jesus)
Oh fix me

Just As I Am

Many of us have been singing this hymn of invitation for years. But have you really paid attention to all the words? Have you thought about what it means to truly come to Jesus "just as you are?" That's a scary thought. The good news is that o matter what kind of baggage you may be carrying, Jesus welcomes us in when we are humble enough to ask. Tired of trying to do things on your own? Finally realize you can't make it through life with Christ? Come to Jesus...just as you are!

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Lessons Learned on a Saturday

I took my parents to run some errands today. What started as an errand trip ended up being a really fun morning/early afternoon. We started at a local farm to get some fall decorations. I get to decorate my parents' front yard on Monday :) We went for coffee then to the grocery store. Sounds like a fairly boring day, right? Wrong! Here's what I learned today.

1. There is a "pumpkin" that is pink and looks like it has barnacles or peanut shells attached to it. It's called a Peanut Squash.

2. Watching people at Starbucks is fun. I saw an elderly gentleman doing his Bible study, a family that had just completed the Color Run, college students working on homework and a family from Pakistan (or somewhere around there) working on sight words with their Kindergarten student.

3. I learned that the motto "God is my Co-Pilot" really rubs me the wrong way. Folks, if He is your co-pilot, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG SEAT!!!!!

4. I met Melinda who works in the meat department at Meijer. She is from Poland. She moved here with her family 20 years ago but sends her kids to Poland every summer to visit family. I met a lady in the produce section who is expecting a baby any day. She is from Bosnia. Her Mom is here to be with her when the baby is born. Just saying hello to people around you may put a smile on their face. Take time to make someone's day a little brighter.

5. I learned that running into a childhood friend and her Mom after many years can be great! This lady was someone I thought was really my Aunt for many years. I still call her Aunt Joy. Her daughter and I were able to share memories from our childhood.

6. I learned that fall colors are simply stunning.

7. Most importantly, I learned that my parents can be tons of fun! It was nice to hear them laugh, see them smile and hear the say (multiple times) "I'm having so much fun!"

What a blessed day!