38 DISTRACTIONS, DISTRACTIONS

Where am I going and what am I doing this morning?  

  

Well I am going to make bread, the first time since January 10^th

(Before we left for  California)…and we  got to come see you and Zach…that was a blessing…and we have special memories!!

SPRING  has sprung…the grass is riz…I wonder where them flowers iz?  (From somewhere in my childhood, and it still hurts my ears!!  *Smile* )     

But spring is here!?!   YEAH !?!   But He (God) said all these things will change, BUT MY WORD SHALL NEVER FAIL!     

So glad He is in control!  

Now about distractions…I had some very distracting distractions yesterday…very!!     

Now what do we do with them?    

Ignore them?   

Get all huffy and try to quell them?      

Try to understand them?     

 Maybe I just say , like Jesus said to  Peter, ‘What’s that to you…Follow Me!’     

I also just figured out a way to  get past them, but can’t figure out if I am being  ridiculous, rebellious, or what!!   (Not ME?)  

 Oh yeah, I forget you know me pretty well….so who am I kidding?  *Smile*

Some distractions are good, maybe…some are bad,  maybe.  

 I'm like a woman who is decisive, maybe…smile…but I seem to get distracted easily, especially when it comes to sitting at His feet, and just soaking up His presence.  Now I know those distractions are not good.

But this morning, as I watched the snow fall,  (when I wanted sunshine) I found a little nugget that spoke to my heart.  

  

 1 Peter 4:7 sez, ‘Keep sound-minded and self-restrained  AND alert…therefore for the practice of prayer.   

 Hmmmmm...practice of prayer?!?  So God is telling us something that we already know…just in a practical sense…if you repeat anything for 30 days, it becomes a habit.   So we need to create a habit of prayer.

If we keep our mind sound, are self-restrained and alert, we definitely need the Holy Spirit daily in our lives…actually our spiritual lives depend on it.    

So this is our challenge, today….

"be still so we can hear and recognize His voice so we can be alert and pray without ceasing for whomever you bring to our minds (Holy Spirit)…whatever situation that needs immediate  prayer and intercession.”    

I am readily brought to the time when you, Greg, had flat-lined…and I got up at 2:30 a.m. (Arkansas time,)  to call the hospital to see if there had been ANY change…I remember when I talked to Donna (later) that she said, 

“God woke her up at 12:30 a.m. to pray for you.”   

  

That was the time I called for an up-date, and the I.C.U. nurse said, 

"yes, he just rallied at 12:30 a.m. and we just took out the breathing tube, and he is doing very well.”   

I said, "that was GOOD news,"  and he replied, ‘No--that was GREAT news,’  because they didn’t think you were going to rally.   

Thank you Donna, friend and prayer-warrior for being obedient.

God I am so intensely  aware of MY needs, Greg's needs,  Mindy's needs…that I forget there is a whole world full of ‘Calvins’ out there….who are literally dying without Christ, while I am living in my own little bubble, praying for our own little family.    

You have taught me something, Greg,    

 Father help me be like  Greg, who is learning to reach out and touch others….in spite of what ole’ slewfoot is throwing his way. 

  I  loved what you told Calvin (neighbor upstairs above you):

”If God had to take me from Sacramento, to Vallejo, to Michigan, to Spokane, to Spokane  Valley through all the pain, misery, ‘pooh’...everything...heart-attacks, stents, mini stroke, open heart surgery, divorce…just to tell Calvin that God loves him, then you guess it was worth it.”

 “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus ,  Life's  trials will seem so small, when we see Christ.

One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows He’ll erase, so bravely run the race,

‘till we see Christ!”

So keep looking up, hang on tight to His hand,  we’ll see you here, there or in the air!

See ya in the morning, Cray, and you are right, Greg is one strong, tough cookie!!!

Love ya, Nanny…Mom…Sis

 

27 Life Lessons

Well, I had a wonderful lunch/chat with a very Sweet Lady yesterday. We have been wanting to spend some time together, and we finally made it happen.  smile

By the time the afternoon was over, I felt like a truly 'blest woman.'  I was trying not to hog the conversation with all my 'blathering' (we Whitt sisters are well known for that, we can't blame our Mother anymore, she has been gone for years...she sure loved to talk.)

As I was recounting one area that happened in my earlier days, my lunch partner said, 'oh, thank you for that, it was just what I needed. I can handle my situation the same way you did, I can do that too.'  That felt pretty good, because the story I told was one in which I dragged my feet ....with Jesus pulling me, kicking and screaming, because 'it was too hard...too hard.'

 But when it was all over, I definitely had made the right choice, because it effected how Greg responded to the same situation..."Mom, if you can do that, I can too."

Wow...I always want  those who come behind me...to find me faithful...But I don't always make good choices, some I have to go back and do-over, and 'do-overs' are not  easy...and sometimes you have done things that cannot be changed...there they are, hanging there for all the world to see, and cannot be corrected.   Oh, that we could really walk in His presence, every day, every moment, so we wouldn't have to do...do-overs.  smile

Now today, I just talked to Greg (at dialysis) and he had just talked to his kidney Dr., and Greg said that he just couldn't keep taking all these drugs that he is taking.  He doesn't want to go back to those heavy pain killers that are so addicting.  So they decided he would eliminate them and then ask the Lord for wisdom on what he should take.  (The Dr. didn't say ask God for  wisdom, but just maybe, Greg, here is a good time to let God use you as a witness.  Think?)

So our lives are not just something to do, or somewhere to go....We are here, journeying toward Heaven, our ultimate goal, and my Bible said I was put here in THIS generation, for a reason...........what is that reason?  

I can do something that I was made for...you know we are fearfully and wonderfully made...He has plans for us...you, me...individually and we need to be about our Fathers' business....which is not necessarily my choice of business, but like the above story, why kick and scream and leave skidmarks all the way?   

Let us see what the Father’s business means for each of us....not what your friend wants you to do, but what God has planned for you!!

Only one life, t'will soon be past...

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Wow, what a concept?   smile...

Do we already know this?

Yes we certainly do!  

Do we willingly comply?  

No we certainly don't.  

So if what you are going thru, or have been thru, in the past, is going to be used for His glory, (as was tested with our lunch yesterday) if I could have seen ahead, maybe I would have been more willing...He tells us again and again, that He has plans for us, trust Him and relax in Him....He will take us through...whatever it is we are going thru.

This is 'No Easy Road' like the book so entitled, by Dick Eastman, many years ago...

But:   It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.

          My trials will seem so small, when we see Christ....

          One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase,

          So proudly run the race, till we see Him.

It won't be long,...He sez when you see these things coming to pass....Look Up!!  (look at all the signs)

Your redemption draweth nigh!

Look up!  Hang in there!   Hang on tight to His Hand, and we'll see you here, there, or in the air!!

See you in THE morning!!

Nanny