Category: Uncategorized

REALITY

I have been in a “bubble” of my own making. I had 3 and half days off of work, starting the new year of 2021. That does not happen very often when I can stay home. I literally did not do anything. I watched Hallmark movies-read a book that I had started and never finished-went to bed late & got up late-started a study of Nehemiah that I had been wanting to do-played with my son’s dog-took naps. I was certainly being lazy in my little “bubble.” Have you ever had any times like that? When you can shut out the world and do those things that you love so much. Reality finally hit and I had to go back to work and come out of “hiding”.

Today, when I am starting to write this blog, I had so much to do on my one day off. Laundry, phone calls and vacuuming. All the things a person, who works, has to catch up on. I decided to take a break and sat down to watch tv. What I saw was violence-destruction-a riot-fear.  I wondered what country this was from. But wait, it was MY countries capital building! What in the world! I started to cry and my heart started to race. How in the world could this be happening in my great country? This was happening to us as Americans who have so many freedoms and that was built, so long ago, on the foundation of God. Whether I agree or not, voted for the president or not, this was wrong! Acts of violence like I was seeing, was sinful!

We, as Americans, have become too spoiled to our freedoms. Some have become violent and take our freedoms for granted. There are select groups and people, who love to insight this type of violence. They build up the emotions of people and prey on their peaceful demonstrations.

We, as Christians, need to get on our knees and pray for our country and the new president who is coming into office. We need to pray that those who are in sighting this type of violence, making us feel fearful, will be brought to justice.

What a way to start our new year of 2021. Everyone started the new year so hopeful that these new vaccines will help us contain this terrible silent enemy. The pandemic of 2020 has brought us all to our knees and made us fear the very essential act of breathing. But then, this happens.

Whew! Well, I got that out of my system! Those of you who know me, realize that I always try to see the glass half full instead of empty. Always trying to see the good in a bad situation. As I sat on my couch and watched all of this violence enfold, it was very hard to see anything good, or see anything I could do to not feel so fearful.  Or is there?

Let’s look at a couple of things that we can do to see a glimmer of light and hope in the middle of the chaos.

1. PRAY: I was talking to my dad that night. I could hear in his voice, that the scenes that were happening and were being shown on the tv, were upsetting him, like they had me. I told him to turn off the news and go back to the westerns he loved. That is what I had done as well (not to watch westerns) but to get away from those images that were upsetting me. Yes, we need to stay informed, but when our hearts feel so heavy and hopeless, we need to get away from those visuals. We need to get on our knees, pray for our country and these people who have done wrong. Isaiah 41:10-13 reads “Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all those who were incensed against you, shall be ashamed and disgraced. They shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them. Those who contended with you, those who war against you, shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.” God isalways just one prayer-one thought away, to help us to not be fearful. We can always reach out to Him through prayer. God is our safe place.
2. DO SOMETHING ELSE:  Play a game with your kids. Listen to their squeals of delight in their innocent voices. Throw the ball for your dog. Take a walk. Take a deep breath. Focus on your breathing and calm that fear. Open your Bible. Go to your favorite verses and let them calm your soul and help you remember, that no matter what is going on around you, that God is helping you and walking by your side. Acts 17:11 “…they received the word with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily finding out whether these things were so.” When you have God’s word in your heart, those verses will automatically come to mind when the tough times come and will bring peace to your troubled heart.
3. TALK TO A TRUSTED FRIEND: Let us as brothers and sisters in Christ, band together and help each other through this hard time. I sure have turned to friends through the years. When I have something troubling my heart, saying it out loud to a friend, helps me to see things in a different light. It helps to take that burdened heart free from the chains I have wrapped around myself, setting me free from the weight that is trying to push me down. I have always told people, that if they do not share their heart with me, how do I know how to pray? Proverbs 18:24 reads “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer that a brother.”  Friends are truly a gift from God!
4. PRAY A SPECIFIC PRAYER: Center a prayer on one thing throughout yourday.Our law enforcement came out in huge numbers during this assault. Their lives were put on the line while trying to keep peace and order. My oldest, grandson, is in the police academy and will graduate within the next month. The year of 2020, showed us scenes of some police officers not doing the right things. Using their authority to hurt others. During that time, there were riots, looting and burning causing much pain and endurance of our police. Once again, some fueled those who were having peaceful demonstrations, to do some unthinkable things to innocent people who had already been hurt by the pandemic. Please lift up my grandson and other police, that they will have the courage to keep the peace through the tools that they have been trained to do. Also, pray for this silent virus, that has claimed so many lives. Pray that these vaccines will help defeat it. I have a granddaughter who is in the medical field and is working at a hospital where she has to treat COVID-19 patients. Pray for her and the other health care workers-other essential workers-that God will be with them and help them to have physical and mental strength to make it through each day.
5. THIS IS NOT MY HOME: The reality of our world we live in, the country we live in, is that the devil is working really hard to pull us away from God. The devil is laughing in the realization that he has caused chaos. Yes, we have a home here on this earth, but it is not our final home. If we are blessed to live many years, (like my grandmother who was a month away from being 100 years old) those years are nothing to compare to the eternity that we will live with God, if we have been faithful. We will not have the pain of what this world brings us. Revelations 21:4, reads “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”  Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” That is our home! Eternal life! Forever with God. When we live through the burdens of our life, we must hold onto the promises that only our God can give. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us about these promises. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God keeps His promises.We cannot say that about everyone on this earth. The final hope is that this earth is not our forever home. Heaven with our God is our final home.

Thanks for reading this blog. The actions of some during this last week has helped me to remember that this earth is not our home forever. Put everything aside and pray right now for healing for our country-for our earthly home right now and thank God for His promises!

The reality of the situation we all observed at the capitol is, all of that is a part of this world. Remember the reality of the hope we have in God’s promises if we obey and trust in Him, we will be able to make it through another day on our journey to a better home-heaven. I want to leave you with a verse we can hold on to.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart, and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God, is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”

Till next time!                                  Keela

THE LIGHT OF THE BODY

As the plane sliced through the clouds getting higher and higher, I realized that I was getting farther and farther away from my daughter and grandbabies. I was blessed to be able to go to my daughters for Thanksgiving in Norfolk, Va. I had ten beautiful days with them. Even though we could not go places or eat out like we usually do, we played games, did stickers, played store and barbies. What an amazing trip! I had not seen them for a year, because of covid and now, it was once again time for me to fly back to the reality of life without them close. There is something I will never forget when they dropped me off at the airport to come home. As I hugged each one of them and held my daughter close, I will never forget my nine-year-old grandson’s eyes. He reminds me so much of my husband who has been gone from this earth for eleven years. He has curly hair; acts like he never knew a stranger and has those big brown eyes. After I hugged him, I looked at him and his beautiful brown eyes were a huge pool of tears. He realized that the day had finally come that I had to leave. In his eyes, I have always seen the look of when he is kidding you and when he is being serious. There is so much expression in just looking into those eyes!

With the coronavirus, even more prevalent in our lives, we are realizing that one of the important things to do in order to be safe from the virus, is to wear our mask everywhere we go. At work, I wear my mask all day, except when I eat or drink. Some think this in infringing on their rights as an American. But they still stop at the stop lights and obey the laws that have been in force. There are just some things a person must do in order to stay safe and in order to keep others safe. With us wearing masks, we can only see each other’s eyes. We can learn so much from a person’s eyes. I have realized that looking into people’s eyes we can tell if they are sad, happy, serious or just thinking. Those eyes tell us what a person is thinking or feeling inside their hearts. The eyes are the light of the body.

Matthew 6:22-23 reads “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light, But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.” Those who are blind, only see darkness. They cannot see all the sparkling lights of this time of year. They cannot look at the beauty of the ocean or a baby’s smile. They always live-in darkness. But these verses are not talking about the physical darkness, but the spiritual darkness. When a person does not follow God’s light but would rather follow the darkness that sin can cause, they are walking in darkness every day. I would rather walk in the light, wouldn’t you?  In the darkness, I would rather have a flashlight so I could see where I am going so, I do not fall. Psalm 119:105 reads “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” This verse tells us if we are to walk in the light, that we need to study and put into practice the study of the word of God, the Bible. The Bible tells us how to maneuver thru this life. How to stay in the light of God and be a light for God. It tells us what path to follow in order to not fall into the snares of the devil, who is full of darkness. 1 John 1:5a thru 7 reads, “…God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The word “walk” means that some kind of action is being done. Our lives are to reflect the light that is given us through Jesus. We are to be a light unto this dark world. Our light must be so bright by our everyday activities, that others see that light and are drawn to us because they see only the light and not the darkness that they have been surrounded by. Those who are in darkness, want to know and understand, thru us, how they can live in that light also. With God in our hearts, He will light our path and our everyday activities become clear. If our God is mighty enough to ignite the sun, could it be that He is mighty enough to light our path?

Won’t you be glad when the new year comes, when we can leave this year of 2020 when so many have been thrown into the darkness. A report I was reading said that 40% of Americans, in the month of September were depressed. That is almost half of the people in this great nation of freedom that we live in. Maybe you are one of them. The elderly are having a huge struggle. They have been confined to their homes for almost nine months! I have been so proud of my dad. He has found things to do while being confined. He does puzzles, watches westerns and keeps his mind busy. It is hard when you have been used to getting out and going places and being with people and then have to stare at four walls every day. I have not hugged my dad in all those months. That is so sad. My family are huggers. That is one way that we show our love for each other. I miss the fact that when with my church family, we cannot hug. But yet when I look into their eyes, I can see the love and appreciation for each other.

Just like those pools of tears in my grandsons’ eyes, we can tell a lot about a person when looking into their eyes. There are so many emotions in those lights of the body! Try looking into people’s eyes and see what they say. Are they showing God’s light or are they showing darkness because of a life of sin?

When Jesus died on the cross, He gave each one of us the responsibility of continuing His life of light. Did you realize that a candle, when lighting another candle, does not give up any of its own light? Have you ever been to a candle light ceremony? One candle lights another and then that candle, lights another. Before too long, the whole area is full of light! Where there was darkness, now there is light! Show this world that there is a better way to live their lives, by lighting the path of others. Is there something you can do to light up someone else’s day of loneliness because of this pandemic?

This has been a dark year but it also has been one of much light. Just look around you. My daughter’s husband who is in the Navy, was deployed here right at Thanksgiving and Christmastime. Their children are four of my eight grandkids and one great. They are all under the age of 11.  My daughter can see darkness because he will possibly be gone until next June! But she is strong and has the light of Jesus shining within her giving her courage to face the next few months with strength and courage. She was at the store the other day buying necessities and her bill was about $50 dollars. The person behind her paid for all of it! Someone showing their light in this darkness. Can you do something like that for another and shine your light?

I will never forget those precious brown eyes looking at me with pools of tears. Those sweet eyes have several months to go till his daddy comes home. But time goes by so quickly, one day will go into a month after month until the time he comes home.

Look around you and you can see, even in this year of darkness, light shining forth from people’s eyes and their actions. If you feel darkness, starting to engulf you, reach out to others. Let them use their lights to shine your path forward. By your actions be a light to others. Shine forth from your eyes the light of God. Let your eyes be the light of the body! The eyes. Had you ever thought of them being a light of the body? Think about it next time you talk to someone and look into their eyes and see if they need your help to guide them back into the light. The true light of Jesus!

I will write my next blog at the first of next year. May you have peace and find the light amidst this time of year! Be a light! God has allowed this year to be a reality. Maybe He has been teaching us something. What have you learned from this year? This holiday season will be different for most of us, but find the joy and light in each moment. The light comes from our Savior. Let that light shine brightly for others to see. What do others see when they look into your eyes? May God bless and keep you safe!

Till next time!                     Keela

(My daughter took the picture at the top of this blog. It is when I got to the airport and I could finally hold my grandbabies for the first time in such a long time. Priceless!)

A STILL SMALL VOICE

1 Kings 19:9-12

“And there he went into a cave and spent the night in that place; and behold the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here Elijah?’ So he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am alone left, and they seek to take my life.

Then, He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a still small voice.”

Do any of those words from the Bible sound familiar to our today? We have had hurricanes-one right after the other in the southern part of the US. We have heard of earthquakes in other countries. We have seen the pictures of the fires in the west. Maybe you are one of the ones who has had your world turned upside down and have come back to nothing left by fire, earthquake or hurricane. Someone you may know or a family member have been in a pile of rubble trying to survive.

This pandemic has touched each one of us also. At the time of this writing, I have to get tested for the coronavirus. Someone, I know tested positive. I am fearful! What if I test positive? Will I be one of the ones in the hospital? Will I miss out going to visit my grandbabies in Virginia for Thanksgiving? Will I be one of the many who have lost their lives to the invisible force that has held all of us captive, not just in our country but also around the world!

In the verses above, God’s prophet, Elijah had been in a depression. The verses before tell us the process God took to take care of him physically. I love those verses! An angel touched him and told him to eat, drink and rest. Read those verses before this passage. There is so much we can glean from them. He traveled for forty days and nights. He went into a cave in mount Horeb. He had been running for his life from a force that was threatening to kill him because he was a prophet of God. God met him where he was. In his depression. God came to Elijah. There are too many times that we feel alone just as Elijah felt. God meets us where we are in our lives, whether: we are living in sin-we are left homeless because of fire, earthquake, hurricane-we feel fearful-we feel hopeless-we feel alone-we are depressed. On the news, they reported that 40% of Americans were depressed in the month of September, 2020. That is almost half of the population in our great United States! Everyone has these feelings at some time or the other. Our most vulnerable, the elderly and those at risk, have been in their homes for 8 months. My dad has done so well. He has kept himself busy doing puzzles, watching westerns & riding his new scooter to get his mail. Think about yourself. If you were confined like our elderly and at risk, how would you feel? What would you need or want from another person? Write down your thoughts. Then, do something for one of those who are confined.

God led Elijah to this cave in mount Horeb. God told Elijah to “go out.” Elijah stood on a mountain top. Elijah knew what God could do. (Read the chapter before to see the magnificent things God had just done.) God sent a strong wind, enough to break the rocks of the mountain. God sent an earthquake. Then, God sent a fire. But yet, these verses tell us that Elijah did not hear God in any of those three things. Can you even begin to imagine what all that would have been like? When God sent all these things, I am sure it was a magnificent “show.” (I don’t know about you but I might have been getting back into that cave!) Elijah stood there and experienced all of those noisy, boisterous, earth shattering things. But yet God was not in those forces. It was not until all got quiet, that Elijah actually heard God. Have you ever gotten up in the middle of the night and heard nothing? Sometimes it seems I can hear my heart beating at those times. When all is quiet, it is so soothing! My thoughts are so much clearer. When I do hear something, maybe a coyote, it sounds so clear. Do you think that is how Elijah felt?  

Our country and other countries, have had to stop-stay home-be with family-had time to just think-slow ourselves from the grueling work schedules we have. I feel that God has allowed this pandemic to help us remember what is truly important in life. This time has helped us evaluate our lives and how we are living them. There are so many struggling without jobs and their businesses have gone under. I don’t want to devalue any of that. Life is hard for many and their life has been turned totally upside down. There has been so much outpouring of love towards others. Help for the weary hearted. The pandemic has given the people with the means, to help those who are desperate. God’s power has worked through those who have helped those in need. During this pandemic, it has been reported that a record number of Bibles have been sold. Souls are searching. Souls are realizing that there is more to life than the hustle and bustle of life. That there is hope through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

So, let’s think about four things of what we can see from this period of time in Elijah’s life that can apply to us today?

1. God does have power in all the mighty things of this life. His power is in the boisterous waves, the ravaging fires and in the rock shattering winds. God is all powerful! He has the power to cause a flood that covered the entire earth and save eight souls in an ark. God has the power in the creation of the seasons. This season, the fall, is my favorite. In each season we see His magnificent power.
2. God shows His power also in the quiet parts of our lives. He has power in the silence-in the stillness. His power has gone into our very souls with this pandemic because we have had to slow down and remember what is truly important. His power is seen and heard in the laughter of a child-in the quiet snowfall-a gentle rain and the freshness afterwards-in the rustling of the leaves in the trees-in the time we are given quietness to think deep down into our souls.
3. In the verses after the ones quoted above, God tells Elijah that he is not alone after all. There were others who were seeking Him. God also showed Elijah that maybe it was a time that he went another direction in his life. There was still work for Elijah to do for God. Maybe you think your life is over and you are financially strained to the breaking point, but realize that even though your path of life has changed, that there is still goodness, maybe even a better life awaiting you.
4. Even when we are at our worst-even when we have lost everything and do not know where to turn-even when we are at the lowest part of our lives we have ever been-God is there just waiting for us to reach out to Him. As in Elijah’s life, when he felt hopeless and helpless-God met him where he was in his life and reached out with physical and spiritual help and love.

I will end with some verses that I hope will give you hope and peace.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Psalm 9:9-10 “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You. For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek Him.”

Remember, no matter what is going on in our lives, that God is always there helping us take one more step-helping us when we fall-helping us when we are feeling helpless, alone and hopeless. Lean on our Almighty God. He will never fail you. He will meet us where we are in our lives. He will nourish us physically and spiritually.

Be thankful that this pandemic has caused us to slow down and remember what is truly important in this life. God is a God of physical power, but He is also a God of the stillness. In the stillness, is when He patches up our lives in our hearts. God took care of Elijah physically and then spiritually. Listen for that still small voice! Maybe it is time to change the direction of your life. Like Elijah, who felt his life was over, God is letting you know there is still work for you to do for Him but just on a different path. God is trying to tell you something, that is full of hope and peace for your future!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving! Maybe this year, thank God for that still small voice you have heard because of this pandemic! Think about it and listen to what God is trying to tell you!

Till next time!                                 Keela

(By the way, my Covid test came back negative! Praise God! So, after Thanksgiving, I will have many adventures to share with you about my trip to see my grandbabies in Virginia!)

FUTURE DOORS

August 4, 1973. That is the day my husband and I said I do. We would have been married 47 years this last August. We were so full of excitement for the future and what it would bring. Our future brought us so much happiness. We had three children and were busy being parents and all that brought. My husband preached at small churches in the area who did not have a full-time preacher. He was such a good speaker, who spoke from his faith filled heart. This ability spread to his love of boy scouts, being a scout leader and even teaching leaders how to lead the boys. He spent summers at scout camp. He loved the boys and gave them comfort when they were first year campers and wanted to go home. He led our two boys to become Eagle Scouts. He was a chaplain at camp for many years until camp told him to not come anymore, because of his health and fear of him falling. We dreamed of a time we could retire and buy a camper. He wanted to go throughout the US preaching God’s word. I wanted to follow him with that dream. What a great dream for the future! But the year 1999, started the spiral of knowing that future was not to be.

My husband and I started down a sometimes-scary-worrisome path, not having any idea what the future would bring, not even knowing what the next day might bring. His 10-year illness kept him captive to the reality that his future was crashing down around him. He had a debilitating depression caused by his illness, that swallowed him whole and became his focus. In the middle of those years, our active daughter was busy with her life and her future dreams. During those years, we were blessed to have five grandchildren. There was much joy but also sorrow at the lost future that was not to come. My husband became focused on the lost future instead of making the best of each day he was given, which in turn caused his past to become darkened by regret.

There is so much I can say about those years, but that is not the focus of this particular blog. I told you those things about my husband, because I want you to realize that sometimes our hopes and dreams of our life here on this earth, do not happen and they turn into a future that we never imagined. Have you ever had dreams of a future that did not come about? Those of you who are older, think back to the time when you were full of dreams. Those of you who are younger, middle aged, what about your future dreams? What do you think the future holds for you? I want to stress here that it is good to have hopes and dreams for a future here on this earth. That is one thing that gets us all out of bed in the morning and keeps us going to work or school or whatever our particular future hopes might be. How we spend our days will affect our future. Also, how we look at the past will define our future. God created us for a particular purpose. But when our hopes and dreams do not come about, some of us just get stuck there and do not move ahead. We are so overwhelmed by the dark future ahead that we cannot remember that God is our light towards a better path of life. He is that glimmer of hope. In the darkness, we can always find the light-that glimmer of hope that is waiting for us to find and reach out towards.

Sometimes I weep about the lost past that did not work out like I thought it should. But when I do that, I am wasting so much of my time and draining the very energy out of me that I need to have for today that leads to my future. If something does not happen the way that we think it should (like the effects of this pandemic), we need to remember that God is still in control. He is still on the throne. There are so many prayers that I felt were not answered during those years, I just referred to. But then when I take a look back now, I see that God was working for my good, for my future without my husband. God has plans for your future and He is helping you work through what has happened in your past, to become who He has planned, all along, for you to become. Let’s look at some verses in the Bible. Let them guide you through tomorrow.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, Amen.”

James 4:13-14 “Come now you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven; A time to be born and a time to die.” (we will look at all of these “times” listed in this chapter, in future blogs-in the meantime, take a look at all those times listed in this chapter.)

We are not assured another day on this earth. If you need to forgive, if you need to tell someone you love them, if you need to put those things that are holding you hostage to your past truly behind you, do not delay. We are not promised tomorrow or a future that we have dreamed of. If you have not accomplished something that you have dreamed of for years, maybe it is time to set that aside and strive for something else. I feel strongly that if I am not able to accomplish a dream I have in the past or right now, that maybe it is not the right time for that dream to come true. Maybe God has a better timing for me in my future! Don’t stay in your comfort zone, step into your faith zone! If something does not work out, we have to have faith that God has a better plan for you. If God wants us to do something or have a dream, it is going to happen. But if He does not-it is not going to happen. God is leading us into our destiny and our future. If we become so stuck in our past, how are we going to be able to go into our future and fulfill what God has planned for us. Sometimes, we are waiting for things to change but God is waiting for us to make a decision to put that in the past and go into the future that He has planned for us.

I have plans to fly to Virginia, to visit my grandbabies, that I have not seen in a year because of this pandemic, over the Thanksgiving holiday. What is in my future? Will I be able to go visit them? I do not know what this earth is going to give me in my future. But I know one thing for sure. God is all knowing. He is all loving. He is my father and only wants the best for me. If it is safe for me to fly to Virginia, I will have those babies in my arms.

Forty-seven years ago, when I said those marriage vows before God, did I even have a thought that my words “thru sickness and in health,” would be tested. I realize now that was part of my past that has made me the person I am today. The good and yes, even the bad!

Yes, we have to make plans for the future! We have to “pack our bags” for our trip into the future. We have to go thru that open future door with the assurance that God is there with us. Guiding our steps and holding our hand when the path gets too rough and full of “mud puddles” that this life can leave for us. Don’t stay in that door of the past, which is like a weight holding us back. We must stand in the present door and make the most of our day. We have to have faith to step through that future door with the full assurance that God is waiting for us to come live with Him in heaven one day. We have to learn from our mistakes in the past, live today for the Lord and step into that future door, with faith, love and conviction that I am looking forward to my home in heaven! Jesus died on the cross with His arms wide open for us. God is waiting for you to go thru that future door, with His arms wide open for us to come into our forever home! What does your future door, that is standing wide open for you, look like? There are only two future doors for us to go thru: heaven or hell! What does your life, right now, show the door you are going thru? Don’t be afraid of the door that leads us to eternity, but rather realize that door is actually your birthday into eternity with our Lord!

I have, within the last few months, had blogs about our past doors, our present doors and now, our future doors. If you have not had a chance to read those blogs, I ask you to now, so they can all be pieced together. The past reaches into the present and programs the future, through your recollections and your internal rhetoric about what you perceive to have happened in your life. That future door stands open, waiting for you. Reach for it, even if it is not what we had planned for our future!

Till next time!                                           Keela

EVEN IF

Walking into the church building, the morning after my husband’s funeral was hard. The night before, there had been over 500 people at his funeral. At the back of the auditorium, chairs had to be placed because of all the family and friends who had come to honor this man who was a great man of God and loved by so many. I remember being surrounded by my children and grandkids, going to the last pew and sitting down. We got there right before communion and services started. After communion, I remember the song leader getting up. The song he chose was “It Is Well With My Soul.” I remember I could not sing that song because it was NOT well with my soul that my husband was not on this earth. I was not angry with God by any means. It was just too raw and painful to sing something I was not feeling at that moment! Losing my husband was one of the hardest times in my life. Those of you who are widows or widowers know exactly what I was feeling and the feeling of just being able to put one foot in front of the other.

The song “It Is Well With My Soul,” was written in the 1800’s by Horatio Spafford. He was a prominent lawyer and property owner in Chicago. Very wealthy and a Christian. He had four daughters and one son. He went through many loses. His only son died. The great Chicago fire destroyed almost every real estate he owned. In 1873, he and his wife wanted to “get away” for a while to Europe. (I understand that feeling of just needing to get away for a bit, to rejuvenate myself and just breath.) He had some business to attend to in Chicago, so he sent his wife and four daughters ahead in one of his ships. Shortly after, he got a telegram from his wife. The ship had shipwrecked, killing all four of his daughters. Back then, they could not get on an airplane and fly. He had to get on a ship and cross the same sea that had swallowed up his daughters. On his way to his grief-stricken wife, he wrote “It Is Well With My Soul.”

This song was borne out of unimaginable grief and heartache. But how could that be? How could someone write a song, almost 150 years ago, that has touched so many hearts and is sung today? The answer to that is, he was a man of great faith and had hope in his Father, God! You know, hope is hard for us to see in this pandemic, fires, hurricanes and loss of so many lives. Sometimes we have to dig deep to get back that hope that God is with us and cares for us. Hebrews 6:17-20 tell us, “Thus, God determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”  These verses are full of promise and hope, because God does not lie in the fact that He has promised through His word, that we will have salvation and promise of heaven, if we are followers of Him. Hope is like an anchor in the fact that it is secure. When a boat lowers its anchor, it stays put. Even the huge waves cannot cause that security to fail. It does not mean the waves are gone, but there is an anchor holding that ship firm. Just like in our lives, those “huge waves” can seem overwhelming at times. But when we have Jesus as our anchor, we can turn to Him and be anchored in His promises. That makes me feel safe, secure, held and loved by Him.

A popular singing group, Mercy Me, has an amazing song out right now, called “Even If.” As we all know, sometimes things are going well in our world. We feel like singing and cannot keep that smile off our faces. But then we have times when that smile “is upside down.” When that frown feels like it is going into the very morrow of our bones because of happenings in our lives. There are times when our prayers are answered and times, they are not according to how WE want them to be answered. This song tells us even if, things do not go the way we think they should, that we need to lean on this hope and the promises that God is taking care of us, working through us and is with us, even when we do not feel that He is. We need to remember that God is with us no matter what. Even the times, when we are doing wrong or even when we are faithful and are reaching out to Him in prayer, we need to remember His promises and keep them an anchor for our souls.

That statement goes back to me walking into the church building, which a few hours earlier, held my husband’s physical body. A time when I felt that heart wrenching pain. That first song I heard, did not hold the comfort that I felt I needed at that time. But since then, when I hear this song, it holds memories and also deep love and respect for our Father God. Sometimes we just have to go through a lot of huge, scary waves to get to the true meaning of having hope anchored within our hearts. Titus 1:1-3 reads, “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness, in the hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior…”   That hope of an eternal life when we leave this world, is what sustains us when we are fearful of what the future holds, when we fall in the “mud” of life and when everyone else is against us. Our hope is imbedded in the fact that Jesus died for us so many years ago to save us from sin and one day we will live forever with Him.

When we sing that song at church now, tears come to my eyes not because of me not feeling it is well with my soul, but because I see the hope that God has given us through the death of His only Son, Jesus Christ. I see that no matter what I am going through-EVEN IF it is good or bad-EVEN IF I do not know what is in the future-EVEN IF I have grief so overwhelming that I can hardly breath-EVEN IF our lives are a mess-EVEN IF my home has burned to the ground and there is nothing left-EVEN IF a hurricane has destroyed, with water, everything in its path-EVEN IF this silent virus has brought death to several family members-EVEN IF the answer to prayer is not what I wanted-EVEN IF I have lost my job and business-EVEN IF my family is going hungry and I have to sit in a line of cars to get free food-EVEN IF sickness and pain is ravaging my body; I need to have faith and trust in my God who is with me helping me take one more step at a time-one more breath at a time, with the realization that there is hope in a better place when we leave this earth!

EVEN IF is something to think about and pray about, isn’t it? Hold onto that anchor of the soul-hope. Sometime in the future, maybe in the next minute we or someone we love, will leave this earth or we might lose everything on this earth. Realize, even in the tough times, God is right by our side. We just need to reach out to Him! I will leave you with a verse in Psalm, that I hold onto. Psalm 37:23-24 reads “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” There is no better hand I want to hold on to,how about you?

It is not easy, but “EVEN IF” we feel hope is far from us, we need to learn to say “IT IS WELL, WITH MY SOUL.”

Till next time!                                           Keela

(Just a side note. One of our technicians, at work, fell yesterday. She will be ok but is in pain right now. Pray for her healing and peace.)