Balance

Blog posts for me are a result of months of cogitation that periodically erupt onto the page (albeit digital).  I entitled this one "Balance".  I hope it will make sense as I attempt to put words to my ponderings.

Balance:
1. An even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.
2. A condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.  (fairness, justice, impartiality)
Verb:
1. Keep or put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fail.
2. Offset or compare the value of (one thing) with another

As one who has spent the last 50 years or so struggling with weight issues, I have become well acquainted with the "balance" (the word for scale in French).  I have been learning throughout the past 5 decades that losing weight is a balancing act.  It means eating a balanced diet while exercising.  One must consume less and exercise more in order to "tip the scales" and head in a downward trend.  I have just hit the one year mark of staying at my goal weight, having lost 62 lbs and arrived at my goal March 28, 2017.  It's a continual balance.  If I eat too much the numbers go up.  If I don't exercise, the same thing happens.  It's all about balance.

Financially it's the same thing.  We are in debt.  Yep, one of the millions of Americans struggling with credit card debt. I'm ashamed to admit it, but there it is!  So, these same principles apply.  We must spend less than we take in.  Oh hey, a "balanced budget"!  What a concept!  Yeah, we're still working on that.

Recently my daughter and I have started learning karate.  The style we are learning is called "Goju-ryu" and is a traditional Okinawan style of karate.  The term actually means "hard-soft style", which refers to the closed hand techniques (hard) and the open hand techniques and circular movements (soft) that comprise this martial art.  Here, again, I see balance.  It also takes a certain amount of balance for me to stay upright whilst learning to kick, punch and block.

Finally, I see balance in the way God has dealt with his people (and continues to do so).  We see passages about how God is strong and He is loving. (Psalm 62:11-12).  We see how Jesus was full of grace and truth (John 1:14), and we see how we are to "speak the truth in love"  (Ephesians 4:15).  (And here is where this gets even more practical for me)  You've probably seen this meme.

These days we are not lacking in controversial topics.  Even just listing a few here might cause some to respond heatedly.
Gun Control
Transgender
Government spending
Trump
Obama
Abortion
Gay marriage
First/Second Ammendment
Planned Parenthood
Sanctuary States

(I'll stop there)
Did that get your mind racing and your fingers ready to type out a quick response?  Before you engage in a heated debate on any one of these (or other) topics.  Balance.  Speak the truth in love.  Don't leave out either one.  We must be "kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition..." (2 Timothy 2:24).  Be full of grace and truth.  Be strong, yes, but be loving.

Balance.  It will help me/us stay upright and steady.  It will help me/us to be fair and just.
Hard/Soft.  Grace/Truth.  Truth/Love.  Gentleness and Respect/Correction.

2. • 
     
5. • 
     
     
     

   
   

Lessons from the Garden

The dreaded heart-shaped vine. (Morning Glory) It's beautiful.  Its leaves are heart-shaped and the flowers are a gorgeous purple color.  Problem is, it takes over and chokes out all living plants around it.  Our summer garden has long since been gone not having had much fruit at all this past summer, due in part to these beautiful deadly vines and due in (large) part to our neglect. 
As I went out to cut them all down today and try to free the thin string of lights I had placed around our garden this past summer, I noticed the vines and woven themselves tightly around everything! The wire fence was wound tightly with green vines.  The thin wire connecting all the little lights was so tightly wrapped up that separating the vine from the lights became impossible without cutting the wire, resulting in the severing of the power source. 

As I worked and tugged and cut these vines I thought about how small habits that may seem harmless and, oh so pretty, can soon become a tightly wound labyrinth of growth suffocating all other living things within its reach.  The pretty lights that once surrounded the garden were also enveloped by this crafty, snaky vine.  All that was left before I began to cut and pull and clear the tangled mess was brown, dried, hardened vines with one or two purple flowers clinging to life.
Be careful what you allow to grow in your life. 

"Listen!  A farmer went out to plant seeds.  As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.  Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.  But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died.  Other seeds fell among thorns that few up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!  Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand....
The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced."  (Matthew 13:3-22)

"Since we have such a huge crowd of men and women of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor.  He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God."  (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The Power to Change

It's been a very long time since I "blogged".  My life has gotten even more busy, tho I'm not sure how that is possible.  I don't even remember the last thing I wrote on here and I don't want to take the time to go back and look.  I might get distracted and forget the things burning on my heart to say right now.
Okay, so, here I am in October of 2013, teaching High School French.  I really love my job.  That is, I love my students and love teaching them a language that I love.  More than that, though, is the fact that I firmly believe God has called me here, not necessarily to teach French, but to be His hands and feet... His presence in this classroom.  It's my daily prayer that He will use me here to communicate His love and grace to even one kid.  There may be only one student in the many that pass through my door every day, that needs a word, an encouragement, a prayer... and even if it's only one, I want to be here for that one.

Today we had an assembly "Anti-Bullying Assembly".  We have a strict "anti-bullying" policy here on our campus.  It's good to make kids aware and to remind them: 1) We will not bully others  2) We will try to help other students who are bullied.  3) We will try to include students who are left out.  4) If we know that someone is being bullied, we will tell an adult.  These are all really good things, and I hope our students will take this seriously.  (It would be nice if this were posted other places too, like Church, Board rooms, Congress, etc... *wink*).

Our speaker today was really good!  He connected with the students in a way that most of us cannot.  He challenged us to reach out and help those who are silent or broken.  He talked about the changes in his life and how he went from being a bully to being one who reaches out and helps. It was all really good.  But what struck me as I listened to this was.... "where is the true power to change?" There's a lot we can do to "better ourselves" but there is no real power for lasting change just in ourselves.  I know me.  I know that, without the Lord present in my life, helping me, changing me from the inside out I cannot be different in a way that lasts.  Only He can bring about eternal change.  We can do lots of good things and helpful things and we can make a difference.  But what about eternity?  As Christians we can make a difference today, tomorrow and on into Eternity.

"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life."
-Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

I Can't Stay Silent

Too often my fear of people's opinions keep me from speaking up on "social issues". It's really ludicrous to talk about abortion as a "social issue".  It truly is a matter of life and death.  I am pro-life all the way.  I value human life.  I try not to really think about what happens in an abortion procedure.  I can't stomach it.  I force it out of my mind at times because I can't bear the thoughts.  I don't know how those who are "pro choice" can justify killing a baby.  I just don't understand!  How can they not see that it is a baby... a living human being?  How can they not see that this is murder??  Anyway,  I just read this blog post and want to encourage you to read it as well.  Their blood is on our hands as well if we remain silent.

In Sure and Certain Hope

.... of the resurrection.
"But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And  the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words."  (I Thessalonians 4: 13-18)

Thank the Lord for this promise!  Even though we miss our loved ones terribly, we will see them again!      Mom, Dad, Andy.... we love you and miss you!  We will see you again!

Vulgarity...

This is one of the many reasons I enjoy "Downton Abbey".  This is my current "addiction" and I'm loving watching this during my break from school!

Be the change

I experienced something the other day at school.  We had a special day called a "Challenge Day" for students and staff.  It was about "being the change" and accepting one another for who we are (not who we pretend to be).  We were challenged to just be ourselves, with our pains, our regrets, our strengths, our dreams, everything.  It was a great day.... emotionally exhausting, but great.
The first thing we, as staff, did was to create a "tunnel" for the students to come through as they came into the gym.  We lined up on either side and cheered, clapped, smiled and high-fived the students as they walked in and came through the "tunnel" to find their seats in the gym.  What a great welcome it was for them, knowing that we were genuinely excited for them to be there.  We celebrated them!  We clapped and cheered for them!  We didn't expect anything from them... no grades, no homework, etc.  We were just glad they were there. 
The rest of the day was a series of "ice breakers", hugs, high-fives, smiles, leading up to a time when we would talk about "if you really knew me".  The leaders gave us the opportunity (staff and students alike) to talk about what we're really like... the pain, the anger, the frustration, the good things, the hard things.  It gave us the opportunity to physically see that we are not alone.  I saw others, teachers and students alike, who have lost a loved one to suicide.  I saw students who deal every day with really difficult home situations.  With every hard thing that came up, we offered love, hugs, acceptance and friendship.  We didn't judge, we didn't correct, we didn't lecture.  We loved. 
I walked away from that day thinking, "why isn't the church like this?".  What if, our Sunday morning, as people came to worship, there was a line of people cheering and welcoming us?  What if we knew we were loved and accepted and wanted and celebrated even with all our faults, sins, pains, and weaknesses? This is what the Lord does for us!  We have this in HIM, but what about "His Body" the church?  Too often the church is where we are judged, condemned, gossiped about, ridiculed for being weak, for not being what others think we should be. 
I am challenged to "be the change".  I want to make a difference where I am.  I want to smile and let people know I care.... I really care.  People matter!  My students matter to me!  I love them!  My family is everything to me!  I would die for them!  I love them more than I can express.  How much difference it would make, even for one person if we were genuinely happy to see them, if we welcomed them, if we cared for them.... smiled and helped. 
This is my challenge where I work and where I live.
Love someone today.

Pray for our Nation

This is so good.  It's also eye-opening and scary.  We must pray for our nation!

Balance

Well, my word for this year is "Balance".   It's kind of a weird word.  But it really fits how I'm thinking about things.  I need to balance work and play (or work and rest).  We need to live with a balanced budget. ;)  Then there's balance between extremes... not living in the past or worrying about the future.  I need to be in the center.  There's a praise chorus from a few years ago, "Jesus, be the center".  I need to have Him be the focal point, the center from which I find my true balance.  I haven't yet thought through all the implications of this word, but I'm thinking this is where I need to be.  

1. a state of equilibrium or equipose;  equal distribution of weight, amount
2. something used to produce equilibrium; counterpoise
3. mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment
4. a state of bodily equilibrium:  He lost his balance and fell down the stairs.

Forget the past

"I will no longer waste my time relieving the past, instead I will spend it worrying about the future."

Haha....  Truthfully, this is how I often live.  I spend a lot of time reliving the past and, alternately, worrying about/planning the future.  This morning my husband spoke about these words from Isaiah in the Old Testament.

“Forget about what’s happened;

    don’t keep going over old history.

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.

    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?

There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,

    rivers in the badlands."

Isaiah 43:19

Most New Year's eve I reflect on the past year and look forward to a New Year.  This year want to take seriously the words from Isaiah and forget about what's happened.  I'm a little anxious about the New Year. So many things seem so uncertain.  I pick a "word" for the New Year.  I haven't picked one yet.  Last year's word was "contentment".  I feel I was/am pretty content.  This year.... hmmmm.... I don't know yet.  I want to live expectantly, to trust wholeheartedly, to take risks, to be bold, but there is a certain amount of fear.  

So, what should my "word" be this year?  What about your word?  

Ahhhh

Today was such a relaxing day.  I want a whole string of days like this.  We had a fire in the fireplace, junk food out and a puzzle starting on the dining room table.  It actually felt like vacation today!
I don't want it to be Sunday tomorrow.

Would You Want to Know?

If you could know what the new year holds, would you find out?  When I opened my email this morning, there was a link for horoscope with a subject line something like "find out the future".  In some ways it's tempting.  But, what if the year has a lot of bad news?  I wouldn't want to know that!  
I've been pondering my "word" for the year.  Every year I choose a word for the year.  I pick a word that expresses what I want to "work on" or one that I Hope for.  Last year I chose the word "Contentment".  My husband chose the word "Hope".  
As I think about this last year, I feel I was content but also challenged to make some changes.  I've been learning a lot about faith.  I need to trust God for every moment.  True faith doesn't need to know what tomorrow holds.  True faith trusts in the Sovereign love and power of God, our Father who loves us.
I still have a few days to think and pray about my word for 2013.  
I have a fair amount of anxiety about the future as I look at the news... "The Fiscal Cliff"...  unrest in the Middle East, increasing violence in our country in places like malls, theaters and Kindergarten classes.
I wonder about my job(s) (of which I have 3)... my husband's work (he also has about 3-4 jobs)... our own personal debt and the future for our children.  How stable are our jobs?  How stable is anything, really?
Hmmmmm...

Neither were they thankful

2 Timothy 3:1-4 Amplified version

3 But understand this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].

² For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane.

³ [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good.

⁴ [They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.

I was working in the kitchen, getting things ready for the morning when heard the news about all the sales for "Black Friday".  Some have been camping out in front of stores since yesterday morning!  It used to be that stores would not decorate for Christmas or advertise for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving. Is anyone truly thankful?   

Can we not just take even ONE day to set aside and thank GOD for all He has given us and how He has blessed us?  Instead people are lined up, camped out, elbowing their way toward the front of a line to buy something that probably don't need with money they don't have.  

Those words from Paul to Timothy came to mind as I was working in the kitchen.  "in the last days difficult times will come... " .  Look at how Paul describes them and see if they don't sound like today!  "lovers of self, lovers of money.... ungrateful, unholy....".  Seeing this fleshed out before my eyes makes me both scared and sad.  Scared because things really are getting worse, and our society has lost its moral footing.  There is no fear of God, there is no more decency, no modesty, no common courtesy (or at least very little of these things!).  It makes me sad because God has given us so much.  He gives us life and breath every day!  He makes the sun rise and set.  He sets the starts in place.  He changes times and seasons.  We think we've done it all!  How foolish are we?  

In Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 1 he says,

"They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. ²⁰ For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.  ²¹ Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. ²² Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. ²³ And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles."

My husband preached on giving thanks last Sunday.  One thing he mentioned was that sometimes we need to be thankful for things like hunger and thirst, for when we truly know hunger and thirst then we are truly grateful for food and drink.  We (I) should be thankful for what we have but also for what we lack because God is working in our hearts to be truly blessed and truly thankful.

I am thankful.  I am blessed.  I am glad I will be with family tomorrow, relaxing, giving thanks and not camping out on hard cement to get my hands on some new toy.  God has given me/us so much.  

Let us give thanks!

and more...

33. New tooth brush
34. Headache is almost gone
35. Cool breeze coming into the house
36. Electricity so I can run my oven, computer, lights, etc.
37. That God uses misfits! :)
38. Fresh bread baking
39. Clean, comfy socks
40. Tissues

Still more....

26. Clean teeth!
27. Christmas music (for the record, I'm not listening to it yet, just practicing it)
28. Red Converse High Tops from my husband
29. C.S. Lewis books
30. Oranges
31. Hazelnut coffee
32. The wastebasket in the living room that has been there for as long as I can remember.

more...

19.  Scars on my hand that show God's healing
20. "The Messiah" - fabulous music and inspiring words
21. The colors of the trees on our street, bright orange, red, green, yellow...
22. Sleep
23. Rain
24. The ability to speak another language. It is SO cool!
25. Contentment

My Partial list of things for which I am thankful

1. Hot water
2. Orange Juice
3. Shelter
4. Food
5. My husband!
6. My four wonderful children
7. The ability to work
8. My jobs (plural, because I have 3 part time jobs)
9. Health
10. Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell
11. Intelligence (although some would doubt that in me)
12. The ability to play the piano
13. A week off from school coming up
14. Our Cats (they are so cute!)
15. Our Dogs (mighty protectors of the yard...:) )
16. Our extended families.
17. Supper cooking in the oven
18. Firewood

I am Thankful for...

...for an unexpected break today.  I came home from school not feeling well today and found out that my piano lesson was canceled.  I am thankful for an unexpected afternoon on the couch to rest.

One Generation shall commend Your works to another.

Thoughts come to me at the strangest times.  I think those must be the times when the Lord speaks more clearly to me.  I was talking with someone yesterday morning before church about my family and "the Drug Store" in Exeter.  More and more people will refer to "the Drug Store" with great fondness of a simpler time.
One of the events of the "Drug Store Years" for my family came around this time of year.  It was the time when my grandfather and father would make "Titrating solution" for the orange growers.  I'm not exactly sure what it was for but I know it was important.  We had a huge tank in which the solution was made.  From there we had an "assembly line" that included my grandmother, my mom (obviously my grandad and dad) and us four kids.  The gallon bottles were filled, a piece of foil was placed over the mouth of the bottle, the cap went on, a string was tied around the bottle top to secure it into place and then red wax was used to seal it on the top.  The bottles were set aside for local orange growers.  (There may have been other steps.  Those are the ones I remember).  For me it wasn't so much what we were doing but it was that we were all together and doing something for our community.  It was a family thing and I still have really fond memories of those times.  I think my brother has the titrating tank now, and there are much more advanced ways of accomplishing the same things.  I can't even begin to understand it.
All this made me think about, in another sense, telling stories from one generation to another.  My kids will hear this story (and the older I get the more they will hear it I'm afraid!) and someday they might tell their children about "the Drug Store days".

 In Psalm 145 it says,   "I will exalt you, my God and King and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise.  No one can measure his greatness. 

Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; 

let them proclaim your power. 

I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.  Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue I will proclaim your greatness.  Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness."  

How much more should I be telling my children about God's mighty acts and His faithfulness in my life and in the lives of their ancestors!  I have stories going back several generations of how God was mighty and faithful in the lives of my family.  My husband has similar accounts to relate to our children.  It's important to pass on family heritage and history and even more important to remind them of God's faithfulness, grace, mercy and power on behalf of His children throughout the ages.  
One generation proclaims to another....

11/11

Today marks 11 years since we arrived here in California (well, on Tuesday that is).  I am thankful for the past 11 years.  It hasn't all been wonderful.  In fact, some of it has been downright sad and upsetting.  But, I am thankful for God's planning of the "curriculum" of my life  He knows what He's doing.  His ways are perfect.  God is worthy of trust.