Willing to Wait

Life’s Like This — From the mundane to the profound moments of our lives — from waiting on traffic lights and elevators to the end of suffering or the fulfillment of dreams — life gives us no choice but to wait. Yet waiting is not a quality that most of us can honestly say we have, in fact, patience seems to be a virtue in short supply. In our fast paced, hectic world, patience seems to be eluding all of us in some degree or another. It isn’t surprising to find ourselves caught up in situations where it would be helpful to have that extra degree of patience to help us get through a difficult situation or even seemingly insignificant moments that can cause us undue stress. There are some of us that seem to have the patience of Job, a man that lived a very faithful and righteous life, yet endured one infliction after another without ever cursing God’s name. It would be nice if we could all lay claim to the example of Job, but unfortunately, we instead get frustrated or angry with the situation we are confronted with and often resort to behavior that is shameful or simply immature. And when we lose patience in any given situation, it is, in most cases, ourselves that suffer the consequences of our behavior.

Wall of Shame

Life’s Like This — Quite often, God will give us opportunities to demonstrate the things we have learned. Hopefully, we are good students of life and learn our lessons well. But in reality, each of us have our unique learning curve, and because of that we may require extra coaching in some areas of life. I find this especially true in matters of faith and how we live out our Christian lives. As Christians we are called to reflect the life and ministry of Jesus Christ — a tough act to follow. If it was meant to be easy, then there would have been no need for Christ to die on the cross for our sins, because prior to His crucifixion, just as it is today, mankind was caught up in willful disobedience and constantly turned to the pursuit of self-interests rather than the fulfillment of God’s Word. God does not expect us to be perfect in any of our endeavors, but He desires us to have a heart in pursuit of Christ-like behavior and thoughts so that we can be brought into closer harmony with His will and purpose for our lives. It would be so much easier for us to live Christ-like lives if when we went through a spiritual transformation that left our new-found faith and love for God so deeply embedded in us that nothing could separate us from His will. As much as we may want to be faithful in our walk with Christ, the nature of sin and its constant tug will always be present and seeking to undermine our relationship with Christ.

Unbridled Compassion

Life’s Like This — A thoughtful act or kind word may pass in a moment, but the warmth and care behind it stays in the heart forever. It seems that you can’t go a day in your life without something pulling at your heartstrings, something that arouses a deep concern or sympathy for the plight of others. It may be a story you hear on the news, one that speaks of a family searching for a missing loved one. It may be images of children in third world countries living in squalor and whose bodies are so emaciated that they are on the brink of death. And, it may be those children with special needs, who live with a variety of debilitating conditions that we may sometimes prefer to close our eyes to and pretend they are not there. The truth is, there are countless people whose lives are filled with despair, and who, on the surface, may appear to be living lives with no hope for the happiness that we so often take for-granted. Unfortunately, even within our own family, circle of friends, neighbors and people we work or associate with, there can be sadness and hopelessness that cries out for someone to show some compassion and understanding for the situation that is consuming their thoughts and day-to-day lives. This is the nature of life — it is filled with told and untold stories of those that are in need, who are suffering from situations or conditions, and that are in need of people to reach out in a spirit of love and compassion to help them through the storm in life they are passing through.

The Blessing of Maggie

Life’s Like This — Blessings come in all shapes, sizes, and forms. As humans, we have a need for companionship unlike any other creature on this earth. God must have had this in mind when he created us and then populated the earth with all kinds of living creatures, especially those that we have domesticated and have taken into our homes to love and care for. It should come as no secret that cats and dogs have taken a place in our families and that our attachment to them can be as strong as their human counterparts. These precious creatures each have their own unique personalty and characteristics that make them who they are and have a way of forming an emotional bond with us that is unbreakable. While some people might gravitate more to dogs that have come to be known as “man’s best friend” — cats with their independent spirits, can evoke a bond that can be just as strong as a dog. I realized this recently, when my wife and I made the difficult, but timely decision, to have Maggie, our 17 year-old cat euthanized. It was a decision that caused a swelling of emotion and flood of tears that I had not expected, tears for a cat that was unlike any other cat that I had known.

The Christian Family

Life’s Like This — We all need relationships that stimulate and challenge us to become the people God wants us to be. God did not mean for us to go through this journey of life alone. He wants us to have relationships with each other that are loving, supportive, and fulfilling. Finding the right people to enjoy a Godly relationship with is critical for our spiritual growth. For some of us, we like to wing it by ourselves, hoping that our relationship with God can be strengthened without any interaction with our fellow man. But that was not God’s plan — God did not mean for us to be alone; He created us with the intention to have fellowship with each other; to have relationships that will nurture friendship and bring us in closer harmony with God’s will for our lives. Once we recognize the need for Godly people in our lives, we can then continue our christian journey with renewed zeal and hope for happiness that is founded on God’s Word and our relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ.

God's Precious Gift

Life’s Like This — With all the blessings we can receive from God, the blessing of forgiveness is perhaps the most precious gift of all. It would be quite difficult to go through life and not be offended or hurt by someone; It may be a stranger, co-worker, friend, or even a family member that causes you distress and feelings of animosity. Whatever the source of pain, the act of forgiveness can free us and allow us to go forward at peace with ourselves and at peace with the one that caused the offense. A story of profound forgiveness was beautifully portrayed in the film, “OctoberBaby” in which a young woman was faced with choices after learning, not only that she was adopted, but that she was almost never born because of a failed abortion attempt. As a result of the failed abortion, she had to cope with numerous health conditions that made life difficult for her. But upon learning the reason for her health problems was directly related to the failed abortion, this young woman set out on a mission to find her birth mother and to try to understand why she was not wanted by her. Along her journey of discovery, she comes to understand how she could finally be free of her anguish by extending the simple act of forgiveness.

 

The Gift of Christ

Life’s Like This — There is no obstacle in life, predictable or unpredictable, that can’t be conquered with a spirit of hope and determination. We all go through life hoping that it will be filled with experiences that have the least amount of adversity and disappointments. Unfortunately, life will always present you with your share of adversity — it’s inevitable– but what is not inevitable is how we face the adversity we are confronted with. Finding boundless joy and happiness in life is something we all long for and that we should strive for, but when circumstances arise that create situations that are unpleasant and difficult to deal with, we are faced with the choice to either rise above the situation and conquer it, find some middle ground to cope with the situation, or give up in defeat and allow ourselves to succumb to it in despair. For many of us, the easy road is to give up, to throw in the towel, to sweep it under the carpet, to rid ourselves of the problem by walking away from it and pretending that it no longer exists. In reality, problems are never solved by walking away from them and pretending that they magically disappeared. The presence of sin in our lives is one of those problems that encompass so many of the short-comings and failures that we must confront in life. We then need to decide if we are going to be victors over the sin, or allow it to rule our behavior and lead us down a path that can further separate us from God.

Smiles From Heaven

Life’s Like This — Anyone can make you smile or cry, but it takes someone special to make you smile when you already have tears in your eyes; my mother was one of those people. It’s been a year now since my mother passed away. During that time I have discovered that while her physical body is no longer on this earth, she is still very much in my heart and mind. Her presence in my life is so real, that on days when I have something troubling me, I find myself saying “I need to call mom” but quickly remember that she is now in heaven, enjoying a new life with Jesus. But despite her absence, I know that she is smiling down upon me with the same impish eyes she had when her physical body was here. Memories of her are intricately entwined in my life and will never be forgotten. Despite the hardships my mother endured on this earth, she was always there to love and comfort me and the rest of our family with grace, humility, and spiritual wisdom — she was truly the heart of our family.

Preserving Your Marriage

Life’s Like This — If you truly want to preserve a loving relationship, you need to be willing to put in the work to cultivate and sustain that relationship. You need to be willing to communicate and share your needs so that your love can grow. And just as important is a willingness to listen and respond appropriately to the feelings and concerns of the one you love. In marriage, effective two-way communication is the thread that ties every aspect of marital life together. When two people commit themselves in marriage, they have embarked on a journey that will have peaks and valleys; times when everything in their relationship will gel and go smoothly, but more often then not, there will be rough patches that can put a strain on even the most loving of relationships. When two people blend their lives together a journey of discovery begins; a discovery of character traits, interests, insecurities, temperament, and a host of other relationship issues that in many cases had not been known before they made their commitment to each other. If truth be told, even prior to marriage, these things may have been revealed in some degree but ignored out of what can only be described as “love blindness”. We all want to see the best in people, especially the person you chose to spend the rest of your life with. We have romantic illusions that love will conquer all; that there is nothing that can tear apart the love that binds you together in marriage. The reality is that loving relationships are tested everyday, and with the passing of time, comes the opportunity to embrace all the virtues that you can tap into to cultivate and sustain the love your marriage was founded on.

Planting Seeds For Christ

Life’s Like This — Never underestimate what the Lord is doing in your life. You may not think it’s important, but it is. What you say to people, how you treat others, the way you handle adversity — God uses these things to reveal himself to the world. When you stand for righteousness and refuse to compromise, you are bearing a witness for Him. [Source: Charles Stanley] — Living your life for Christ is a challenge beyond all challenges. It entails a devotion to reflecting Christ-like behavior, actions, and thoughts in every area of your life. If doing this sounds like an impossible task, it’s because it is. This is the dilemma all christians face in their walk with Christ. While we may have a faith that is unshakable, the realities of life, coupled with our sinful nature, cause us to fall short in our efforts to reflect the life of Christ. We owe our failures to sin that we have allowed to take root and infect the way we think, the way we respond, and the way we act toward ourselves and others. For many of us, we may have doubts that we can ever be used by God — we may think that we are such failures that there is no way that God can find anything redeeming in us that can be used to serve Him. Yet, despite our short-comings, God can use us just the way we are to reveal Himself to others. We just need to allow Him to come into our hearts so that we can be molded into a character that reflects His love for all of us.