Success and Failure Blog

Life is full of problems. Ask most anyone these days. There are few unique people who have no problems to share. To dwell on the negative, the pain and sorrow, the challenges….can be easy indeed. After all, that is what Satan would have us do. He goes after our weaknesses, prides himself on our downfalls, thrills himself with our misery.

The upside to any problem is the Lord. We can go through our problems and misery alone, or we can hold God’s hand and tread the dread knowing our Savior is with us all the way. There are times when we feel as though we are hanging on by a thin thread, for sure, but the important thing is to not let go. So it’s a thin thread, it’s still a thread and it’s still there.

If life is a dance, would you rather do it alone or with a partner? Even when we feel we are dancing alone physically, God is there holding us up spiritually. I am a clutz when it comes to being led on the dance floor. I step on toes; I trip over my own feet; I get confused as to which way my partner is trying to lead me. But even then when I am embarrassing myself, God is quietly guiding me. He gives me the choice: laugh at myself and have whatever fun I can, or hide in a corner alone and watch everyone else.

To share joy is one of the greatest feelings on earth! God brings us joy even in the bleakest of times. But we must be willing to receive that joy. We want our earthly partners (our husbands and our wives) to help us when we are down. We sometimes practically beg them to give us a reason to smile. We even cause them to walk away disheartened at the efforts made. Then we ask God why He isn’t helping, and the answer is there all along. He might as well shine a big sign in our faces that states, “I am, child, open your eyes, your ears, and your heart.”

Some days it’s as though we have to grab a snow shovel and dig down deep to find the blessings. We don’t even have to do that alone. Grab your Partner, God, and pray while you dig. It’s helpful on days like this to take a pen and paper and sit for just a few minutes. Go over your day from the time you woke up and purposely seek out the blessings you missed. You may be amazed as the list grows. There is always something to be thankful for, even in the worst of times.

Need examples? Think of someone who has a worse situation. Believe me, there IS always someone who has or has had it worse no matter how bad it is for you. Want another angle? Put that Google search partner to work and find people who have suffered tragedies and came out better for it. There are articles online every day about winners who were born with jaw dropping disabilities and learned to conquer their challenges.

Does it mean we are silly and stupid when we get down and out and feel like life isn’t worth the effort? Of course not. God gave us emotions. We’re supposed to experience them. It’s not a sin to be angry, lonely, depressed, or whatever the case may be. It’s how we handle that emotion that’s important. It’s okay to allow the feeling, but to allow it to take over our lives is another matter indeed. Each emotion has a time and a place to be used.

We have probably all read that email that pops up from time to time about people coming into our lives for a reason and a season. So, we have many partners really. God gave us every one of them! He brings people to us when He knows we need that added physical support form. We get teachers, an ever-changing list of friends, parents, children, club members, prayer warriors, pastors, and many more partners along life’s path. Each of these is a gift from the Lord. If the only partner you have at the moment is the Lord, rejoice and remember all the other partners He shared with you over the years! When it’s time, He’ll bring you more.

My husband built me a bird feeder from a welding rod can.  It was painted a beautiful red color with a white cap (made from a stove element cover).  I thought it was sure to withstand anything.

That is, until my nightly bird coon came along.  The pretty raccoon in the picture gave me a joyful surprise when I discovered he’d been visiting my feeder.  I was confused, but wondered why the squirrels suddenly developed big enough muscles to begin disassembling my indestructible feeder.  Turns out the squirrels had been sharing their bounty with the bird coon.

I could’ve gotten angry that the squirrels decided my pretty red feeder was fair game.  I could’ve gotten even more angry that the raccoon decided it was a great place for a nightly treat.  After all, eventually, they had warped the lid I was so proud to have my husband assemble and had begun to wiggle the feeder off the screw he’d mounted to hold said feeder onto the post.  Finally, after many nights of abuse, the feeder could stand no more.  It toppled to the ground, and with it my heart fell a little.  It had been the first feeder my husband ever made for me; and the fact that he’d made it from the welding rod can was even more special.  He’d begun to follow a welding career, you see.  It was yet another landmark in the path of our marriage.

However, I decided that God loves all creatures great and small, and so should I.  The squirrels are sneaky little buggers and are quick to high-tail it out of sight whenever they suspect I’m anywhere near.  I rarely get a glimpse of them, but it delights me that they feel free to enjoy my donation to a good cause.

The raccoons, on the other hand, brought another creature to my bird stand.  On more than one occasion, I found a possum eating from the bounty placed on the stand.

After the critters made their disgust of my beautiful red feeder known, I retired it to the junk heap and dug out a plastic container.  The container had held a batch of cookies sold at Wal Mart.  It made a perfect feeder for my newly acquired friends.  They found it a joy to climb into the container and eat to their hearts content.  It fit snugly enough onto the screw that they left it alone as long as I provided treats.  Once I forgot to fill the container, so they knocked it to the ground to show their frustration with my careless abandon of their newly acquired nightly adventures.

Once I saw that they wanted to be regular visitors, I discovered that the critters liked our table scraps.  So, I began to put the scraps in the plastic feeder nightly.  By the next morning, all signs of the scraps were gone.  Occassionally, I would hang out clothes on the line just after dark.  As I’d go out the front door to round the corner to the clothesline, I’d catch my possum or racoon friends snacking on the feeder post.  It was amazing to me that they became brave enough to stay and allow me to pass within five feet of them.

I love animals.  God loves animals.  I know it is hard for the wild animals to dig up enough food to satisfy, so it made me happy to help provide for them while I was able.  I guess my possum friend was either discouraged by the competition or decided the snacks had gone past his ability to enjoy them.  I noticed the raccoon visiting earlier in the evenings, so I’m guessing he was beating the possum to the grub.  God’s wondrous creatures became my wondrous creatures.  I respected their need to be left alone to eat, aside from getting a picture every so often for my scrapbook.

I wish that more people could respect God’s creatures.  Why is it that we humans feel that because we are different and somewhat “superior” to the animals, that we should bully them into submission?  Why must we overtake their habitats and then become angry when they impose upon our own?  Why can’t we just admire their beauty and learn to live in peace with them the way the good Lord intended?

I believe that the way we interact with God’s creatures, be it bird coon, possum, squirrel, or whatever….says something about our character.  If we can’t have compassion for the wild creatures, why are we worthy of His compassion for us?  He created them with love.   They give to us so much that we take for granted, much like we take God’s gifts and abilities for granted.

Allow God to show you a new direction.  Take the time to learn from His other creatures.  See what you can learn from your own bird coons and such.  And remember, God loves ALL creatures great and small.  So should you.

Christ is in our hearts and souls.  Christ is also a part of our bodies.  These bodies about which we complain, abuse, neglect, and despise belong to our Lord and Savior.

When someone asks why we should exercise, one of the best answers would be because Christ needs the best of care.  Physical exercise is a must if we are to give our bodies the best of care.  The best we can give depends on our abilities.   Some of us are limited, but as long as there is any part of our bodies that can move we should move it.

Maybe the thought of exercise makes us cringe.  The hardest part is to just get started.  If all we could move is our hands, then we should move our hands.  Make it a point to use those television commercials.  Each commercial has a different musical background, find the beat and tap through them.

If exercise seems like too much pain, start slowly.  Stretching is exercise.  Use a timer and increase the movements you choose each day.  Start with one day a week, mark it on the calendar and make it two days the next week and three the next, etc.

As Christ’s children we should respect that He gave us each a body to use while we are on this earth.  Our bodies may not seem like the most beautiful, the most healthy, or the most capable, but they are ours.  One of our gifts to Jesus should be that we take care of our bodies the best we can.  We are the vessels through which He moves.

Why whine about what we are given?  To make the most out of what we have is the best gift we can give back to our Savior and to ourselves.   The physical Christ looks us in the face each day that we awaken, so awaken the Christ in your mirror!

Easter as we know it consists of several things.  One, the honor to the Lord for giving up His son for our sins.  Two, the selflessness of Jesus as He gave up His own life and returned to sit at the right hand of the Father.  Three, family gathering.  Four, commercialism:  Easter candy, baskets, presents, decorations.  Five, fun for children:  hunting eggs, the Easter bunny, special (and sometimes elaborate) feasts, Easter programs in which to participate at church.

This year my kids are too old for the egg hunts, Easter basket surprises, and sitting on the Easter bunny’s lap for a holiday photo.  What they aren’t too old for is church.  One of my gifts this Easter is that my children are in church.  My son and his wife are with the in-laws.  My daughter is with the boyfriend, whose father is a pastor of a church nearby.  It’s not that I’m surprised that they are in church, but my son works out of town and sometimes out of state.  He doesn’t always make it to church services.  In my opinion, he especially needed the service this morning to renew his closeness to God.

My husband is recovering from dental surgery, so I’m home in case he needs me.  My decision was to watch church on television.  Yes, I have scoffed at such activity in the past.  But since I didn’t make it to church in person, I am grateful that there is indeed church on television.

One reason I’m grateful this Easter is because of an unexpected gift.  God spoke to me during the service I had waited several hours to hear.  There is a favorite pastor I like to listen to and watch.  I forgot what time his service appeared, so I went through two services waiting on his broadcast.  I was about to give up when I noticed that he was up next.

My unexpected gift was a release of tears, always a relief.   The pastor spoke of pain as a way for the Lord to reach us.  I have often reached out to others who were suffering in pain, hoping to reach them, hoping to relieve their burdens in whatever way I was capable.  I wanted them to know that the Lord is here through our pain.   But, of course, when it came to my own pain, even though I knew better…….I had begun to wonder if the Lord was here for me during my pain.  He assured me, through His wondrous ability to speak through another person, that He is indeed here for me through my pain.  It touched me.  I cried.  I recognized the unexpected Easter gift God sent to me.  Thank you, God, for touching me with your unexpected gift.  I should know better than to wonder, but it sure is nice to be reminded when I need that special touch to keep me going.

We tend to focus on our loved ones here on earth when Valentine’s Day comes around. What about our Heavenly Father? He should be at the top of our list of Valentines.
My Father, Son, and Holy Spirit gave His love to us before anyone did. He brought us to life, touched our hearts, and gave us the power of choice. We should choose, without having to consider, that He receive our love first. Our Valentine Lord looks upon us with the utmost of love and compassion. He shares with us when we are too selfish or greedy to put Him first. He touches us when we whine and complain, when we pray for forgiveness, and when we feel there is no love left for us from anyone. He offers a love that is everlasting.
Yes, today should be an easy day for us indeed. A day to humble ourselves and gracefully bow before our first Valentine of all. Lift up your hearts, pour out your thankfulness, and open your arms to receive the Almighty Love.
It’s all well and good to give gifts and cards to our loved ones. We should be grateful and should show them that we care. For us, seeing is believing. Everyone wants to be accepted and hugged, kissed and shown love. It’s not a bad thing to want to lift the spirits of the people in our lives. We were given these priceless gifts by God. Of course He wants us to show our appreciation to them as well as to Him. Read 1John 4:8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Other scriptures that remind us of God’s love and how He wants us to love (yes, loving God also means loving the way He wants us to love others) are:
1John 4:10, 1John 4:20, Leviticus 19:18, Luke 6:27 There are more scriptures, of course, just look in your concordance in your Bible under the word “love”.
Although it is usually John 3:16 that is the focus of how God loves us, He also shows us His love in many other ways. Sometimes these ways are subtle and seem more like punishment than love. Have you ever been late to work only to realize that if you hadn’t been late you could’ve been in a wreck? Have you ever prayed for something you didn’t get only to realize later why it was better that you didn’t get it? Have you ever been hurt by someone who told you a blatant truth you didn’t want to hear only to realize later that the person was right and your life has improved because of it? Sometimes when we think God must hate us, we need to remember that we are seeing our present selfish desires, not the long-reaching wisdom and love of our Lord.
Human love can be blind. God’s love is never blind. He knows us better than we know ourselves. So, today I say, “Happy Valentine’s Day, God! Thank you for knowing me best.”

We’ve seen the bumper stickers on cars: God Isn’t Finished with Me Yet, God Doesn’t Create Junk, etc. I suppose not everyone believes what they read; after all, we still don’t believe we’re worthwhile.

Well, the idea behind God creating humans was that we be different. We all have our own personalities, even if we’re born half of a set of twins. We also have our usefulness for the differences in our make-up whether it be physical, spiritual, or mental. We are worth more because we are not all the same.

God sees our beauty. We say we trust the Lord, but we don’t trust His divine opinion that we are each beautiful in our own right? Am I the only one who sees something wrong with that picture?

What good would the world be if we were all the same? There would be no motivation to better anything about ourselves. There would be no interesting friendships. What’s the point in having a friend if that friend is exactly like us in every way? Friends should be just alike enough to be able to relate to each other and yet just different enough to bring something of interest to the friendship. Without differences, there would be a boring, monotonous world with no reason for existence.

God appreciates our differences and loves us because of them and regardless of them. He knows our worth. He has a purpose and a reason for each wonderful design. What we see as flaws, He sees as a special quality.

The trick is to use our differences for the benefit of the Lord. We are to put ourselves to good use as He wants. We have a beautiful gift in each of us only if we choose to use that gift in the proper way; we must use it as it was meant to be used.

Big feet, crooked nose, fuzzy hair, stutter, fear of something? It’s not a problem for the Lord. It may be a problem for you, but only if you allow it to be.

The grace of our flaws is that we can also use them as our strengths. Pray about it. Wait for the answer. Be willing to see or hear the answer when it happens. Then go and make your differences useful!