Together 50 Years

Last July our children and grandchildren gathered a few friends around Denver to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  They did such a fantastic job they could start a business and be millionaires. We had such a fun evening and couldn't stop smiling for.... actually we're still smiling.  Our wedding day was December 29th and we are still amazed that we have been together 50 years.  We feel blessed and protected by the Lord. 

I was 19 years old when we were married and very ready for the responsibility of home, family and a loving husband that did everything my way.  Shoot that 22 year old hunk must have missed the memo.  What I wasn't prepared for was a husband who didn't have a clue how to live out those vows.  

(Malachi 2:15)  "You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God's wise plan, when you married, the two of you became one person in His sight".  

As you can see it turns out good but we did have a little trouble getting to "ONE" in His sight. We started off with "I got my eye on you". But after the wedding day that quickly turned into "don't tell me what to do".  The years of the power struggle were and I for and I. Then life got busy with children and work and we spent many more hours apart than together.  We both misread the 'no time together' and 'lack of conflict' for a good marriage.  I have to laugh - how many people does that happen to?  Naive, not schooled in relationships, just doing the best we could to do good to each other. I took my helpmate role quite seriously and I set out to take care of everyone in this family. Of course I gleaned my wisdom from my own family experience.  It never occurred to me that my husband's wisdom from his family experience would be so contrary to my view. Yikes that caused serious trouble through the years and bad names formed in my brain towards my husband.  That's not healthy. We were both church people but neither of us had ever known to ask Christ into our lives as Savior and Lord. Through the Holy Spirit it becomes a living relationship with our Creator.   

Now you are probably thinking ok now that they have the Lord they are fixed.  Not exactly.  We seem to have a recurring pattern: we've got our eye on you Lord, not real comfortable being told what to do, an I for an I struggle, Bible studies, Christian family camps, church and community service kept us busy.  We both misread that full and busy life for being a good Christian family.  We were changing, we were growing but we were also missing something much needed. 

A pearl to string: Receiving the Holy Spirit and being filled by the Holy Spirit are not functionally identical. All Believers receive the Holy Spirit at salvation but you don't get filled just one time and ride that out for the remainder of your life. In Ephesians 5:18 the Greek word for 'filled' is a verb (present passive imperative) that, based upon the tense, speaks of a continual process of filling.  In other words, the filling of the Holy Spirit involves a continual process in the Believer after salvation.  When you are full of the Holy Spirit, you are led by the Holy Spirit. When you are led by the Holy Spirit, people see the attributes of Jesus Christ flowing out from you, the "fruit of the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-23) 

And that my precious friends is beautiful

it's what we aim at and pray for in our walk with the Lord and in our marriage

My handsome husband I love you with my life and I am so proud of you. Treasuring

our 50 together Immersed in His love

                                                      Lyndi

                                        

The Other Side of Christmas

Love is in the air, giving is in the heart, gifts under the tree, lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of "Merry Christmas" to those who pass us in the streets?  Ahhh.... traditions!  Is this really Christmas? 

For many people, Christmas is a time of sorrow. They don't have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family, and friends. Many are saddened at Christmastime when they think of their loved ones who will not be able to come home for various reasons. It's a hard time to feel Christmas cheer if you're still reeling over sickness or the recent loss of a loved one. Sometimes, until we heal, the full holiday effect is just too much for our wounded spirits. If the whole “Christmas experience” is overwhelming to you, try narrowing your celebration down to simple worship of God for the gift of His Son.

True Christmas is all about Him instead of us. It need be nothing more. We make it far too complicated because we center its significance on people, not God. I hear people say all the time, “Christmas is all about the kids.” Well, it isn’t. It’s about Jesus. If it’s not, we’re setting ourselves up for cruel disappointment. Kids will grow up and leave home. Sometimes loved ones die. Divorce happens. A lost job will leave your pockets empty with nothing under the tree—if you can even afford the tree! When the people and things we love leave us or let us down, it crushes our love for the season; but when we focus on Him, however, as rightly we should, other things are small and less significant in comparison.

A pearl to string:  Please don’t despair, for paring down your expectations and shifting your priorities can make this season a time of joy again. Your return to sincere worship will not only shut out the noise of the things that cause you pain, but your Heavenly Father actually hovers close to those who praise Him. Don’t take yourself into the places where you haven't healed. Take a break from that part of this season and just go back to Jesus. There's no sadness associated with His birth, and that's where our true celebration begins. Peace will permeate the hurt places in your life.  With Jesus as the centerpiece of this holy day, you need never hate or dread Christmas again. All the other things which make it a dreadful time for some--shopping nightmares, stress, shortage of money, painful memories--these have nothing to do with Jesus. Stay focused on Him. The pure simplicity of His birth doesn't require anything more than a grateful heart; so whatever else tries to crowd out your Christmas spirit, push it away from the center of your life and just rest, like the baby in the manger, in the infinite goodness of a God who was willing to give His very best--for YOU.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you."   (Isaiah 26:3)

Merry Christmas for real

"Above all, love each other deeply..." ~1 Peter 4:8

You are loved,

                Lyndi

BOTCHED

How do you know when you've botched a burglary?  When all the guns are pointed at you. Report in the DFW News 12/5/12 Springtown, Texas:  A suspected burglar called 911 after the owner of the home he broke into caught and held him at gunpoint as he sat in his pickup truck parked in their driveway.  Awkward!

I'm sure that guy would like to start his day over again.  I've had days like that.... well I have never been in a pick up truck with guns pointed at me but I've been under the shadow of darkness because of my chosen behavior.  I'm the one responsible for my actions and reactions and I hate to behave in a sinful manner. Charles Spurgeon said,

"The door of repentance opens into the hall of joy."  What a gift God has for me and for you. (Psalm 32:5) "{When} I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD'—and you forgave the guilt of my sin."  

A pearl to string: With Christmas approaching rapidly the thoughts of joy flood my soul.  It's not the shiny new Christmas gifts under the tree that bring lasting joy. Once the newness of the gift wears off, the joy starts to fade. Presents get lost, toys get broken, and dreams of long-lived happiness begin to evaporate. The truth is, nothing in this earthly life offers unending joy.  It's not the presents... it's His presence! The Bible says in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." All sin, all unrighteousness—past, present, and future—is washed away by the blood of Christ when we confess our sins and receive his cleansing salvation. Our souls are forever freed from the crushing weight of guilt, thanks to the loving sacrifice of our Savior.  

I've been praying for you that the challenge of going through a negativity fast last week would set you up for repentance.  If you've walked through the door of repentance, then you've awakened into the hall of joy described by Charles Spurgeon. This is the message of the gospel that we celebrate at Christmas—God's pronouncement of everlasting joy to the world! 

Merry Christmas

His birth is our gift of JOY everlasting

                                                                Lyndi

 

No Joy Theft

It's December!  As if you didn't know that fact.  We are all knee deep in Christmas groundwork .  I discovered some years ago a secret ingredient to Christmas preparation that freed me from experiencing joy theft while getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  CLEANING! Not the house although I do recommend doing that. A winter-cleaning for the soul: A Negativity Fast!  That’s right a Negativity Fast.  What pray tell is a Negativity Fast you ask? Refrain from a negative thought for 24 hours.  It may take a whole month to achieve – well it took me a whole month!  Every morning I’d wake up, stretch and say good morning Jesus, then my brow furled and a negative thought formed in my upper brain and traveled down the back of my head and with centrifugal force came into fruition. Coffee stain in my sink I’d think loudly.  Ugg!  I hate coffee stains in my sink.  My feet would hit the floor running and I’d get to the sink and sure enough –there they were – coffee stains in my sink along with the realization that I had a negative thought before my feet hit the floor.  Drats !!! More negative thoughts. Oh double drats !!!  I immediately start to blame my husband, 'Oh Lord why can’t he clean this up'?  I shout inside my head.  Then I’d remember his idea of clean and my idea of clean wouldn’t even appear on the same calendar in a year.  I remind myself how lovely it is that he brews delicious coffee every morning and the other thing that occurs to me: the world would never understand murdering a husband cuz he left coffee stains in the sink!  Oh my, that is as stupid as killing one of those husbands because they squeezed the toothpaste in the middle. Better to focus on the good news that he used toothpaste.  I’m sunk Lord and I stink at a Negativity Fast.  Can I start my negativity fast after everyone leaves?  That might give me a running start. !!!!!!  As you can see it's easier said than done.  Give it a try... just 24 little hours but the blessings will continue beyond the fast.  

A pearl to string: God's Word tells us: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ".  (Colossians 2:8/^NIV) 

An animal trainer will take a stool with them when they step into a cage with a lion.  Why?  Because it calms a lion better than anything else except maybe a tranquilizer gun.  When the trainer holds that stool with the legs extended toward the lions’ face, the animal tries to focus on all four legs at once.  And that paralyzes him.  Divided focus always works against you.  "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you".  (Isaiah 26:3^NKJV) 

Our negative thoughts allow satan to get a foot into the door of our hearts.  You don't want to be forced to run satan's errands (Timothy 2:26/^MSG)  "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour". (1 Peter 5:8/^NIV)   

The measure of a woman is when she is facing her tribulations to eradicate their influence from her life’s story. For I, says the Lord, will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst. (Zechariah 2:5) Blessed is the woman to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no negativity. (Psalm 32:2) 

May the celebration of Jesus' birth be a living joy in you

You are loved

Lyndi