Finding Blessings on the Journey

Women of Faith:

I’m a little late this week because I know that life is a journey and unless I look for the blessings on the journey, getting to the end of the journey will have no meaning. So I have been taking the opportunities of enjoying the blessings as they have been presented.

“Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops; What if Your healing comes through tears? And what if a thousand sleepless nights; are what it takes to know You're near? What if my greatest disappointments; Or the aching of this life; Is the revealing of a greater thirst; This world can't satisfy? And what if trials of this life; The rain, the storms, the hardest nights; Are Your mercies in disguise?” Blessing by Laura Story

Occasionally life’s circumstances become a gentle reminder to remember to look for the blessings around every turn, especially when it seems as if life isn’t going exactly as planned.

Blessings were found when I spent extra time with my mom after knee replacement surgery. The gift of a mom (who, for most, is their child’s first hero) is often overlooked especially as we get busy with our own lives and families.

Blessings were found, not only for myself but for many around, in renewed friendships with family and friends who shared grief, comfort, and memories at the funerals of those we loved and shared with each other.
Blessings were found as we became reacquainted with friends at chance meetings in “foreign” places.

Blessings were found in the “timeless” enjoyment of children and grandchildren where common frustrations of daily life, laughter of silly occurrences, and a babies babbling could all be shared without interference of the outside world.

Blessings were found in prayers, caring words, and acts of kindness for family and friends who are undergoing sufferings, struggles and family pain and grief—knowing that we could lighten their burden and share their pain made them a blessing for us, and we a blessing for them.

“And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”  Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” Lk 17: 15-19

Each of these struggles, each of these burdens and pains is a blessing in disguise. Will we see the blessings? Do we look for and thank God for the little (and big) things in life that by God’s design are meant to be a blessing?

And do we remember to give thanks as the Samaritan did, or do we walk away as if the gifts we have received were something we deserved?

“None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s…. As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” Rom 14: 7-8, 12

Will we be saved by our perseverance in faith? And will we accept the “muck” of our own choices, and the happenings that God allows, so that we are saved because in faith we can find the blessings and enjoy the journey with the knowledge that God is always at our side?

Heavenly Father, It is for your glory that I live. Help everyone who is experiencing some sorrow, some suffering, or some pain, to be able to see beyond, to accept their burdens and their grief and to find comfort in the blessings you are constantly placing in our lives. May I search not for gold, but for the silver lining of your blessings. Thank you for giving me the faith to enjoy the journey. Amen.

Recommit yourself to finding the blessings in the relationships you share. And in taking the opportunity to enjoy the journey with each relationship you are given.

Life is a journey. Be blessed by it!
Charlotte

Companions on the Journey

Women of Faith:
We are all on a journey. A journey that is a direct reflection of the companions we have on the journey with us—be they good or bad—an angel or the devil.

So who are my companions on this journey? And where is my journey going?

Are my companions a reflection of Christ? Are the laws I am following to take the journey God’s laws and will my journey take me to my goal of heaven?

Or do my companions reflect Satan because they find it easier to follow the laws of society? Are they on a journey that is “all about me” and don’t believe in heaven or hell ? Do they deny God’s very existence and live only to seek selfish desires, doing what they want, rather than searching and doing what God wants?

I spent some time this weekend behind the scenes of the Christian Experience Weekend for men (CEW). Even though I was not directly a part of the retreat (for obvious reasons, it was a men’s retreat—the women’s will be next weekend) –indirectly I could feel the change as they became “companions on the journey,” faith companions which support, serve, and nurture each other’s faith journey.

From the very beginning God knew that “it was not good for man to be alone” –so for Adam he created Eve. He invented marriage—between one man and one woman. Even in the beginning he knew sin would create death and if His world was to continue it would take male and female together.

And after Adam and Eve, came Noah who “two by two, male and female came to Noah into the ark” Gen 7:9 so that when the great flood was over they too could repopulate the earth.

And even in the times when Jesus was said to be “alone”--The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. Mk 1: 12-13—He was not really alone for he was tempted by Satan and supported by the angels. Both God and the devil were with Him. Even Christ had to choose his companion for the journey.

Our first and foremost companion is God but we are given the choice to decide if we will allow him to be with us on our journey.

We don’t choose our first earthly companions. Those companions are our parents. None of us could be on earth without two people who have become one. And even those who have a “single” parent were created not by one, but by two. And we are joined by them to our family.

But as we grow we are given the choice as to who our companions will be, and who will become our support on the journey of life.

Will we choose friends who are the Satan’s that tempt us? Or will we choose an angel of God who supports us to reach an eternal goal?

Who are the companion’s on your/our journey? And how are we taking care of those who we meet on the journey—with patience, in support and with compassion and kindness?

"You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove him, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD." Lv 19: 17-18

'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."Mt 25: 44-46

So I watched men come who came to CEW as individuals, each with their own personal reasons for choosing to attend, walk out changed because they had become companions—companions in faith. They had begun to share their individual stories of sin, conversion, forgiveness and healing—and now had a new found group of support and a renewed sense that their journey was not for them alone, but that their journey was to be together with Christ.

Heavenly Father, Praise be your company in my life. Thank you for the friends and family who read this reflection and support me on my journey with you. May your Spirit guide me to be the companion you want me to be for others, and to choose faithful companions for myself. While our paths may be different, may we all be joined together, in the end, with you. Amen.

Blessings on you and the companions you have chosen in your journey,
Charlotte

It's All About Me????

Women of Faith:

Is it all about me? Or are you coming to realize that just because our society says ME, ME, ME, doesn’t mean that God says so?

It seems as if none of us wants to accept the blame, few truly forgive, and even less forget, and seeing someone serve another person without “pay” or reward is a rarity. As spouses, serving and forgiving, which are the core principals of love and marriage, are at the “root” of many of our breakdowns in relationships. We live with the consequences of pride, anger, and jealousy; greedy and unwilling to “see” God’s love and understanding in our lives.

We want to be taken care of, pampered, and made to feel as if we are right all the time. We spend money for instant gratification, we expect to always be right and put ourselves in charge so that we can have “power” for our own purposes. And if a spouse doesn’t justify the other, they go in search of “love” from other “feel good” /addictive/ areas, or another person thru adulterous affairs; and no one seems to think any of this is “abnormal” or wrong, because society has made it “right” by its frequency.

We have religions that support gay marriage, abortion, and birth control. Religions who believe in “a god”, who don’t believe that Jesus has lived, and/or who’s teachings circumvent the full truth so that they will feel better about the way they are living.

The California courts have thrown out the ban on gay marriage, voted on by the people, saying that it is “unconstitutional” and yet it was the people who put it in the constitution by their vote. Literally the judge is saying—IT’S ABOUT ME, “I don’t like what was voted in, so I’ll just make a new law I like by banning the people’s vote/law.”

God doesn’t work that way. He doesn’t need us to be right. He is RIGHT! He put us here with His love; He put us here to serve each other. He put us here so that we could be with Him in heaven.

We have a shining example of “pure love,” “pure acceptance,” and “pure service,” in the person He gave us to bear His son, Mary.

“Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Luke 1: 38 She accepted God’s request for her body and spirit wholeheartedly. “Done according to HIS word!” She said nothing about her own desires, nothing about I or me, only about God’s desires.

So do we worship Mary? No, but we do pray "thru" her, honor her with the greatest reverence, and ask her to lift our prayers to her Son, Jesus and to God. As Martin Luther said in 1531, “She is the highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ. She is nobility, wisdom and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.”

At the foot of the cross, with some of his last spoken words, Jesus said to his disciple, “Mother, behold your Son. Son, behold your mother.” John 19: 26-27 Jesus gave his mother, Queen of the universe, to us ALL, so that she would be OUR HEAVENLY mother, as she was/is God’s GIFT of a PERFECT mother for Jesus. And just as we requested our own earthly mothers intercede with our fathers when we were youngsters, so does Jesus tell us to take our prayers to His mother Mary, so that they will reach a greater glory with God, our Father.

Mary is our example that none of our actions should “be about me.” But instead, they must be “about God.” We are called to love and serve as Jesus (and Mary) did. We are also called to forgive and give as they did.

Dear God: Praise be the gifts of Your Son, Jesus and His heavenly Mother, Mary. Thank you for the Beauty and Blessings bestowed on us thru her intercessions for us. Help Me to be more like Mary, ready to serve, giving of my life, willing to forgive, and pure of heart. Help me NOT to be “about me” but “about living my life for you.” Amen.

Help me to be “about you” this week—

Blessings,
Charlotte