Category: Uncategorized

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.)

PRESENT DOORS

Yesterday, I was thinking about all the things I have not been able to do since March, of this year 2020. This virus has changed so many things in the past months. Church services have been on zoom and YouTube. I have not hugged any of my church family in that entire time!  Each month, I have always had a birthday party for family members, whose birthday is that month. I have not had my family over for almost 6 months! At work, I am in a back office trying to stay safe from this virus. We are not letting clients in the building. Part of the job I have always enjoyed is interacting with our clients face to face. Comforting those who have to say goodbye to their pet, who were such an intricate part of their lives. We have had to hide behind masks to keep us from this silent virus, while it continues to wage war against the very breath that we breathe.

Going through that door of past reminders, of what has been lost, makes me so sad that our new reality, of what we must live by, (at least until we can get control of the spreading of this virus and get a vaccine), are in the confines of a new normal! I know I have been so “spoiled” by my past life of conveniences and availability to go and do what I want. My heart becomes heavy dwelling on what could have been.

So, what do I need to do when I start sinking into that darkness? I need to remember that as I am thinking of all I have lost, that I am wasting the valuable time I am in right now-right this minute! What can I do right now to serve my Lord? The answer to that will be different for everyone who is reading this blog. God has given each and every one of us talents and a purpose or purposes, to fulfill while we are here on this earth. There are so many examples in the Bible of people who have gone on before us and the purpose that those men and women served at that particular time in history. Yes, trials and tribulation came upon these men and women of God, but it helped prepare them for their future and what God had planned for them.

Let’s look at three scriptures in the Bible.

Jeremiah 29:13-14. God was talking to the Israelites through Jeremiah to give them hope, strength and peace. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity.”

Romans 8:28. God was talking to the Christians through Paul, who were being persecuted, to let them know that He was with them. What they were going through was really for their future good. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:37-39. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life; nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Just sit and meditate on these verses. What do you see in these verses to help your present situation? Let me share with you what I see.

• I see that all of those hurtful, painful times I have had in my past, were there to help me in my future! The older I get; I see the reality of that fact.
• I see that God only wants good for us. We need to remember to lean on Him-reach out to Him-trust in Him, because He is working for a brighter future for us.
• I see that each one of us has a God given purpose for our lives. He uses us to shine His light to this world.
• I see that nothing, even a pandemic, can separate us from our God and His love for us. He is always within a prayer-a thoughts distance from us and even when the hard times come, we just need to remember His promises and the hope for our future!

We ask ourselves, why did God allow all of the things (I listed quite a few headlines in my last blog) that are going on right now-today! But instead of lingering on that, why not start looking at this day-this moment-this second and hold on tight. Time passes so quickly! My daughter posts things from the past that my grandkids have done. She posted one today from seven years ago of her boys. Now, one is in middle school and the other is right behind him. How can that be? Its like I want to catch that moment in time and just travel back to it, holding on tight! But rather, I need to look at this moment in my life and use it for good. Although I agree, we must look back at some things in our past-cherish them-learn from them. We also need to make plans for our future-our eternal future as well as our earthy. But we need to stop right now and look at our lives. What are we doing right now-right this minute? What or who do we need to grab ahold of and enjoy the time right now in our present?

One day, I made a list of everything I did that day. How long it took me to do it and how long I actually spent on it. I was amazed at how much time I did nothing productive. Of course, there are days when we are not feeling good or we are just tired from a day at work. Yes, we need down days. But if our down days become our every day, we need to reevaluate our present door that we are going through and use it more productively.

I like this quote from Joyce Meyers. “Since you can’t undo anything from the past-you might as well do something great with today.” As you have been reading this blog, time has marched on. You have spent some of your valuable today, to read my thoughts and I thank you so much for that. Your encouragement means the world to me.

So, what am I saying? Stop right now. Look around you. Is there someone you need to say you love them? Is there someone you have meant to call-text-send a card to but keep finding something else to do? Where is your Bible? Is it sitting on a shelf somewhere gathering dust? Go get it, dust it off and absorb what God has given us, to give us hope and peace. What could you be doing right now to spend time with kids or grandkids-in service for the Lord-to quiet your spirit-to rest-to remember God’s nature-whatever in your life that maybe you should be doing right now?  Don’t waste your time in the present. God gifted you this moment in time. That is why it is called the present. Just don’t only look towards tomorrow, but hold on to today. James 4:14 reads, “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.” Everyone reading this realizes that time goes by quickly. When I did my ladies days, I spent an entire year before preparing for it. Then, when the day came, it seemed like it went so fast like a vapor.

Now, after reading this, do not start feeling guilty or bad about what you do or have done in the moment. Every second we live is a new beginning. It is a time to rise from the ashes of this world and what is going on in it. A time to learn from the past-live in this moment-to make a better future!

I am going to end this blog, with a quote from a tv show, “Call the Midwife.”  At the end of each show, there are words of wisdom that are associated with that particular show.

“The seasons will always turn-the clouds will gather-the cold will come-we will survive them. We will grow old regardless of the weather. We will know wonder where there has been despair-then, there will be happiness. We will be remembered-there will be friendships we won’t forget. Love is the constant whereby we endure-it is what gets us out of the storm-that will help us thrive. Welcome the darkness as a draped canopy from which the stars can hang for there are always stars. When we are where we ought to be-among the faces we love best-each with a place-each with purpose-as fixed and familiar as the constellations Darkness is beautiful or how else could we shine.”

Your present doors quickly become past doors. Cherish this day that the Lord has given you. You will never return to live it any differently, but you can learn from it. Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” What plans do you have for today?

Till next time.                                          Keela

(The picture at the first of this blog, are my daughters two boys six or seven years ago. They live on the Navy base and planes fly low & right over their house. This was the first time Owen had seen a plane that close. Poor Adasen was focused on just trying to peddle his brother in the cart. Priceless!)

UNPRECEDENTED TIMES

Don’t know about you but I am getting tired of hearing those words! Since we hear that word so much right now, I decided to look the word up. I had to look at precedented and add a “not” to it. In Webster Dictionary precedented is defined as: “acts of the same or a similar kind.” Add a “not” to the first of that definition. In other words, nothing we have seen, heard or done in our lifetime. Then I remembered a verse in the Bible. Ecclesiastes 1:9-10. “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See this is new’? It has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come, by those who come after.”

I started writing down some events of today and of late. Here are some of them: two hurricanes headed at the U.S. at the same time-murder hornets-riots & looting destroying businesses who have already been hurt by the pandemic-our children going back to school wearing masks & the fear in parents’ hearts that they will get coronavirus-depression among many-swarms of grasshoppers-colleges starting and having huge parties with no masks-parents unable to feed their children because they have lost their job or business-more and more people dying every day from this pandemic-shark attacks next to shore-historic wildfires caused by lightening. I am sure I could add more but really, do I want to? What is next?

Our country of freedom, has gotten comfortable in that freedom. What do I mean by that? Before the pandemic, most of us have been able to provide for our families-get on an airplane without thinking about the risk-enjoying the excitement of going back to school or college. We have had more wealth than any other country. Me? I have not been able to go see my little grandkids in Va. I have tried to go every six months in the past.  I have not been able to see them since last Thanksgiving! It is still too “scary” to get to them, on an airplane. We as Americans have had so much freedom to do what we want, when we want, how we want. We had become a very comfortable country. Now with the pandemic, our lives here in the Unites States have been turned upside down. We do not know how to have a new normal. There are those who refuse to wear a mask saying it is their freedom. But the new normal reality is that if we are to get this coronavirus under control, we need to listen to the scientists and health care workers who are taking care of the dying in the hospitals, who want only the best for us, to wear that mask.

“Nothing new under the sun.” We here on earth have always had problems, sickness, wars, loss of what we know to be normal. The facts are that, most of us, in our lifetime, as a comfortable society, have not dealt with so many of the particular things that I listed above all at once. But if you get into a study of the Old Testament in the Bible, you are going to find there were plagues, swarms of insects, wars, hurricanes, death & much, much more. God allowed those things to happen to His people. Do you think maybe He was trying to teach them something?

There is so much negativity around us, but yet there are so many amazing happenings too, showing the core of our country are good and want to reach out and help others. A police officer saw a man in a wheelchair on a train track as a train was speeding towards him. She pulled him back just in the nick of time. Children having lemonade stands to help buy food for the hungry. Donations are poured into groups who are helping feed the long line of cars who are hungry and can’t feed their families. Police officers who talk to little children to give them assurance during the pandemic and riots. We have all seen the pictures of officers and people who are in the peaceful marches, hugging in agreement of what the march stands for. Women sitting at sewing machines hours every day to help supply the masks that are needed. (In fact, one of our clients of our animal hospital made about twenty masks for us with cats-dogs and many different colors.) People going to an elderly person’s home, having them come out on their porches, and singing out in the street to bring them joy. There are so many acts of kindness in this pandemic also!

Well, what can we do personally? There are so many things that we as individuals can do. Think about the elderly who have been confined to their home for six months now. How can we help them or others who are at risk who have been quarantined or those who have been sick? I think all of us can answer that question. Sit down and make a list of things YOU would like others to do for You! Don’t put it off! NOW, is the time to step up and do what WE can. Don’t sit back by watching all the negativity being shown in the news and shake your head at what is happening. But be a part of the positivity that we as believers of God can shine on others. Yes, these are precedented times! It does not mean that there has to be only the bad news out there, but these times also give us opportunities to shine our lights. Be a part of the solution, not the problem!

Why has God allowed all of these happenings, to be going on all at once, in our lifetime? I do not have that answer, other than to look towards scripture. I am going to leave you with some verses to make you think. Let’s read 2 Chronicles 6:23-25. Read the chapters before and after to get a grip on what is being said and why. Solomon was standing before the Israelites speaking to them.

“… hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.”

Then, one of my favorite verses that also applies to us. 2 Chronicles 7:13-15. God was talking to Solomon. “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.”

(All of the underlined words in both of these scriptures, were done by me to show importance of particular words in the text.)

Are we living in unprecedented times? Absolutely! But we have many opportunities to show God’s love and give Him all the glory. We can have and show, teaching moments, by the small acts of kindness and care we can do every day towards others.

Yes, we live in unprecedented times. But God can supply unprecedented help, through us shining our lights!

Till next time.                                              Keela