it is well with my soul

i was having one of “those” weeks. you know, the kind where things just go wrong, take longer than expected, when life throws you a curve-ball. and i was feeling pretty down about the whole thing. i mean, seriously, can’t life just flow along smoothly without tossing me about like a ship in a storm? i don’t have time to put life on hold because of the mess that curve-ball created. i was grouchy. i was annoyed. i was in physical discomfort. until i had an “ah-ha” moment.

it came mid-week at my MomsNext meeting. not only did i need the break from “life,” but i needed to hear what our speaker shared that day. she talked about how you get that joy that comes from the Lord. when life gets hard, when things don’t go the way you expected, how do you find / keep / get that joy? well, in short, it comes from having an upright heart. you know, that heart attitude that seeks God in all things, that keeps it’s eye on Him no matter what, that finds contentment in knowing He’s got this. instead of being all down and pissy about whatever is happening {or not happening}, thank Him, praise Him, ask Him to show you the silver lining.

so that fire in the oven that started my week off on the wrong foot? yeah, it was scary. yeah, it changed my plans for the whole week. but it could have been much worse, at least it was contained in the oven.

the mess of fire extinguisher chemical that was everywhere? {and i do mean ev.ry.where! all over the kitchen and clear across the room to the furniture on the opposite side of the living room.} well, i’m glad we had a fire extinguisher on hand and i’m glad i know how to use one. {like knowing CPR, having a fire extinguisher and knowing how to use it properly is one of those things everyone should have and know, but no one ever wants to use.}

the days, and i do mean days!, that i spent cleaning the kitchen, breakfast area and living room from ceiling to floor {literally!}? well, that’s not how i had planned to spend my week. i thought it was getting in the way of “life.” but cleaning that mess up IS life. life is what happens while you’re busy making plans. and i’m glad i don’t work outside the home anymore because it means that i was able to take the time necessary to fully clean up that chemical from the fire extinguisher and give those rooms a much-needed deep cleaning.

my body hurt all over from the work of cleaning cabinets, dusting blinds and cleaning drapes, moving furniture to vacuum every inch of carpet, contorting myself to clean out the oven, sweeping and sweeping and sweeping again and then finally mopping. but those aches and pains mean i have a body that works the way God designed it, a body i was able to use to clean up our home and keep my family from breathing in whatever is in those fire extinguishers.

then one night that week we had terrible storms, complete with insanely loud thunder and a hail and tornado threat. of course that meant no one slept. but in the morning, i was relieved to discover the worst missed us. my fervent prayers over the night asking God to protect our home and property were answered. we were tired {oh so tired!} but we weren’t waking up to storm damage.

of course, after a night like that, we were running late for school and i was annoyed {because i don’t like being off schedule, no matter what the night was like}. i was annoyed that the ambulance that pulled out in front of us caused us to sit through 2 cycles of the light, making us even later to school. but about 4 blocks down, when we rounded the bend and saw the ambulance’s destination, i said a prayer of thanksgiving for allowing us to run late. if we had left on time, we might have been in that 3 car accident.

when i finally made it to my MomsNext meeting, i discovered every high school girl’s worst nightmare had occurred – i started early. good thing i always have the necessary item in my purse. but, as “luck” would have it that week, i picked the one bathroom stall with the broken toilet. i had to reach into the tank and lift the flapper to make the toilet flush. in the process, i nicked my thumb on the metal ring the chain is supposed to attach to in order to lift the flapper when the handle is pushed. seriously?! this! on top of everything else i was dealing with! i was feeling pretty pissy about it all, because, well… ladies you all know that time of the month just makes everything more crappy. however, having that to deal with means my hormones are working as they should and my body is healthy. i live in a first world country where sanitary items are readily accessible. i might have picked the broken toilet, but fortunately i know how to fix one. and i might have cut my finger in the process, but my tetanus shot is up to date. {and, again, i live in a first world country where i don’t have to worry about tetanus because vaccines are also readily accessible.}

it started off as a really crappy week. but the ending? pretty darn good! i am blessed. i am content. i am actively trying to find / keep / get that joy that comes from the Lord. as the old hymn says…

as the sea billows roll

it is well, it is well with my soul.

do the angels miss us?

it’s strange the random things that pop into your head. today on the way home after dropping the kids off at school, i was thinking about an old friend from high school. the last time i saw him was 3 years ago at a memorial for the priest from the church where we grew up. that night i also saw his mom and told her that it was good to see her again. it had been 2 years since i had seen her and my old friend. and that was at the funeral for her husband, my friend’s dad. she said it was good to see me again too but unfortunate that both times it was because of someone’s death. a sad reality these days.

i thought about how we miss the people we love when they pass, how hard it is to handle those intense emotions. despite being Christians and believing in a spiritual life after a physical death, it’s still hard for our physical, human bodies and minds to come to grips with the fact that our loved one is no longer here physically. we grieve and miss them terribly. we know we will see them again when we join them in heaven, but darn it! it’s just so freaking hard to be here in this physical life without them! even though we know in our spirits that they are happy to be back home in heaven with Jesus, our finite, selfish, physical selves still grieve their loss deeply.

but today, i had a new thought…..

compared to eternity, we are here on Earth for a very, very short time. to our physical bodies, it seems like a long time, especially at different stages of our lives. but as spiritual beings, as Christians, if we believe we have an eternal soul that hung out in heaven before our birth, joined our physical bodies during our lives on Earth and will ultimately return to heaven to spend the rest of eternity with God, our time on Earth is like a blink of the eye.

we miss our loved ones who have gone before us, we struggle with what seems like such a very long time to live in our physical bodies without the presence of our loved ones. but do you think the angels in heaven feel the same way? do they miss our spirits while they are down here on Earth hanging out with our physical bodies? do they miss our souls when they join our bodies at our physical creation, the way we miss the physical bodies of our loved ones when they die and their souls go back to heaven? we rejoice when a child is conceived and born and grieve when that person’s physical life comes to an end. do the angels in heaven grieve when a soul is sent to Earth at the creation of a new person and rejoice when that soul returns to heaven at the end of the person’s life on Earth?

just a thought…

i guess i’ll find out when i get back to heaven…

a different perspective on temptation

this past weekend, the Gospel reading was Matthew 4:1 – 11, when Jesus was tempted by satan in the desert. it’s a passage of scripture i’ve heard countless times and have heard pretty much the same sermon regarding this passage each time. you’ve probably heard it too – Jesus was tempted so that He could experience the intensity and lure of temptation as a human in order to better identify with us and so that we can know that we can turn to Him for help when we are tempted because He’s been there, done that and won.

but this weekend, i heard something else, something new, something that sheds light on satan and temptation in a way i’ve never considered, in a way that gives me a new understanding and strengthens my spiritual backbone to stand taller and firmer when tempted.

during the sermon, the priest commented that here was Jesus, God in the flesh, the creator of everything, standing on Earth in living, breathing flesh and blood human form. and here’s Jesus, out alone in the desert, having fasted for 40 days he was hungry and probably tired and he’s being tempted to turn stones into bread. but Jesus held strong, didn’t do it and responded with scripture {“It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 NIV}. then he’s tempted to get into basically a pissing contest to see if God really would protect Jesus. He was told to throw himself down from the top of the temple and see if God would send angels to save Him. but Jesus put satan back in his place by telling him not to put the Lord God to the test. {Matthew 4:7 NIV}

but then there’s the 3rd temptation…. bow down and worship satan and he will give Jesus everything He can see, all the kingdoms of the world and all their riches and splendor. seriously? did satan, the fallen angel, really think he could tempt Jesus, God in flesh, with all the world has to offer? did satan, the fallen angel who was originally created by God, actually think he could tempt Jesus – God the creator, here in flesh and blood – with the limited offerings of the world {a world God/Jesus had created Himself}? seriously? a creature made by God, cast out of Heaven by God, is tempting God Himself with His own creation {and a limited portion of it, no less}? wtheck?!?! how arrogant satan must be. how deluded. how confused. nothing but an arrogant, mislead, narcissistic creature. who says “hey, i know You created me and all, but if You’d just worship me i’ll give You all this stuff. nevermind that’s it’s only a small fraction of all the awesome and amazing things You created Yourself, i’ll still give it to You.”? that is just some seriously messed up logic and really pretty pathetic. stupid satan. of course he isn’t going to win against Jesus! and i love how Jesus responds – “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” {Matthew 4:10 NIV}

even better is the next line: “Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.” Matthew 4:11 NIV. yep, he tucked tail and fled. rightfully so!

unfortunately, satan is real and powerful and has lots of demons helping him out. but one of the wonderful things about being a Christian is that if we abide in Christ, He abides in us and through Him we can resist temptation. by calling on His Name we can resist satan and the demons and stand strong in our faith. as evidenced by Matthew 4:10 – 11, satan will flee when Jesus tells him to, we just have to call on Jesus to help us out with the heavy lifting. {check out Ephesians 6:12, James 4:7, Zechariah 3:2 and Jude 1:9 or see this post for further explanation}   

seeing satan with the understanding that he has a flawed view of things {arrogance, narcissism} will hopefully help me to see through the smoke and mirrors and resist temptation. we all know it’s foolish, and exhausting, to try to argue a point with someone who is arrogantly insistent that they are right. and with wisdom, discernment and life experience, we learn it’s just not worth it to carry on with them, the conversation never goes well or ends well. so it is with temptation. it’s a conversation with someone who is arrogantly persistent in leading us astray. just don’t go there. call upon God, call out the Name of Jesus, to help you in those moments. He will come to your aid and make satan flee. that understanding makes me feel a bit taller, a bit more confident in my position as a Christian to call on Jesus for help and to hopefully not get so ruffled under my collar when tempted. i hope it helps you, too.