Reminding myself...

This is a Facebook note I wrote in January, 2009:
This Was God's Idea
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 10:43am

I have to remind myself of that.

It's just the sort of thing He would do...put us in a house with a staggering, budget stretching mortgage and then tell us to fix it up.

When we bought the house back in 2005, the home inspector gave us a green light on it; in fact, he seemed impressed with it. There were only a few things that he recommended the seller fix for us.

We since have learned that its beauty is only skin deep. And the fixes, when they happened, either didn't fix the problem or were done improperly and created new problems. Everything...and I mean everything...in this house appears to have been done as cheaply as possible to look good. It was all about appearances.

It looks pretty good from the curb; it's in a nice neighborhood. This house shouldn't be like this.

But God was obviously in charge of us getting into this house. Never once did I pray asking Him to make it work. My prayer was that, if we were not *supposed* to be here, the deal would fall through somehow. I didn't want to live in a house that wasn't in His plan. Especially one that came with such a big debt load.

But, unlike all the others we were interested in before this one, it didn't fall through, even though there were opportunities for it to fall through. So I have to conclude that God put us here. I considered the mortgage to be the giant in the promised land and reminded myself of that over and over when the worries hit me late at night.

Now there are repairs needed that cannot be postponed. And that budget-breaking mortgage does not leave us resources for them. So, I confess, I was rather put out with My Heavenly Father. It didn't make sense.

And do you know what He did? He pointed me to Hosea and reminded me that it didn't make sense for a man of God to marry a prostitute, either.

Could it be possible that there is some sort of illustration here?

The people we purchased the house from were not Christians; they practiced a pagan religion. Somehow, I began to see the message how pagan philosophy is all about appearances...nothing good and solid on which to build something. Our task is to restore structural integrity to a house that has only a nice appearance. Yes, a powerful illustration.

Also an expensive one. But if this is what God wants us to do, He's got the resources for it. My prayer now is that we'll be strategic in finding and using those resources.

It was, after all, His idea.

We just had a contractor in yesterday to look at FURTHER repairs needed from, basically, the same issue...cheap materials and construction processes. And, once again, we've found that the repairs should've been made LONG ago, and, since they weren't, there is much more extensive work required to a)fix the bad stuff and b) stop further problems.

So I searched back through my FB notes to find that post and remind myself what we're doing and why. This is His idea. His illustration.

And, oh, we have a Wedding happening in less than 8 weeks. Hopefully Phase 1...the essential structural repairs...will be done by then.

I am not going to panic. I am choosing to Trust.

My part, at the moment, is to clear all my sewing stuff from the area by the end of the week. And find SOMEWHERE to put it...

The 'Quarterly Break'

In January, the annual first-of-the year fast at church always includes the Internet, so January's break was included there-in.

In April, we lost power for 5 days; I counted that as April's Break. Not exactly up to snuff, since by rights I should've taken the break the week before the storms hit. It snuck up on me.

But July's break is scheduled to start today...and I think I'll pay attention and take it.

Not that anyone would notice much here, since I am pretty much doing good to get just the Friday Faithful Faves post up right now.

But, this week is the yearly Girl's Ministries retreat, so I'll be gone half the week anyway. I'll be back next week and I'll be starting the New Testament w/the FFF when I get back online.

Where has the summer GONE???

Faithful Friday Faves: Malachi

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

We've had some internet issues this week; our connectivity has been rather intermittent. So I haven't been able to post on things like (gulp) my second post-50 birthday, which was way harder to face than the 5-0 itself.

Maybe that explains why, out of all the instructions and exhortations in Malachi, the verse that stands out to me today is 4:2

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

That sounds pretty good to this creaky 'vintage' late baby boomer...

Faithful Friday Faves - Zechariah

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Back in the day, when I taught youth Sunday School and our curriculum was a six-year tour through the Bible, I found Zechariah to be one of the most difficult books to teach. There are true gems in there, but to comprehensively cover all the visions in such a way as to make sense to teenagers was a real challenge.

The passage that jumped out at me today is something of a challenge...to everyone:

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.' - Zech.7: 9 -10

Study on that awhile. Each aspect of it. There's an incredible amount of instruction in that little bit of Scripture; not the least to monitor our thoughts.

Do not think evil of each other.... that really is pretty profound. That means that I'm not to think the guy who cut me off in traffic with horn blaring as if it were MY fault is a jerk; I'm not to look at folks on the other side of the political spectrum as folks acting under deliberate wicked intentions (Misguided, ill-advised, illogical, maybe ;-) );basically, I'm not to assume the worst about any other individual for whatever reason.

That's hard. Really hard. 'Cause, you know, I probably would never plan to tell someone else my bad opinion of a third party...but I sure would think it every time that third party ticked me off. And then I'd be surprised when it actually came out of my mouth someday...possibly to the wrong person, who could not be trusted to keep said bad opinion to him/herself and so the yuck grows.

But...mercy and compassion will keep that judgmental stuff from getting rooted in my spirit...and if it's not in my spirit, it won't come out of my mouth when I accidentally, momentarily drop the guard.

Faithful Friday Faves - Haggai

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The return of the exiles to Jerusalem had begun; building programs were shaping up. But they had become discouraged in their efforts to rebuild the Temple and had come to a halt because of pressure from the surrounding nations and ultimately by a decree from Artaxerxes.

But with a change of administration in Babylon came a shift in political leanings and the time was ripe for the construction to resume. However, the people were now not eager to undertake the construction...perhaps they remembered how they had been rebuked before, or perhaps they were just so caught up in their day-to-day responsibilities that they just didn't want to pursue it. Or maybe a bit of both.

But God knew, better than the Jews, how important the temple was to both them and to His plan. It was time to take up the tools and focus on God's house.

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house." - Hag. 1:9

This is a question of priority.

And, you know, sometimes priorities are good things to check. They tend to creep off center if they're not inspected. God was calling on the Jews to look at their unfavorable circumstances and consider their priorities.

Which, by the way, they did...and they began the building process again, which was actually approved and encouraged by the government (see the post on Ezra) and blessed by God.

Checking (and, if need be, adjusting) priorities is always a good thing.

In the Waiting Room

I have a little dream...

And the little dream has a little sister.

I kind of packed them both away for long naps. I'd wake them up and play with them just a bit every now and then, but, as the time was so not right, I would tuck them back in and sing them to sleep for another season or two.

But now things are moving and there might be a chance for little sister to come out and meet the world. And, if little sister does...maybe someday the dream itself will follow.

But I really don't have much to do with whether or not it's time.

So I wake them up, dress them in their pretty Sunday ruffles and patent shoes, and wait patiently for a chance to introduce them to someone who will either be glad to see them or be completely not interested in what they might be able to do.

I have knocked gently on the door...I don't want to cause a problem or intrude...but now I'm wondering if my knocking is ignored or just unheard. If it's unheard -- I should knock louder. If it's being ignored, louder knocking would not be a good thing. Perhaps it's just not a good time to knock on the door.

If the dreams are sent packing at this stage, there's not much chance they'll get to come out again.

But...if they are real, God-given dreams, there should be a time and a place for them to come out and grow. If they are not real, God-given dreams, I am beyond disillusioned; where did they come from and why have I invested so much of my heart in them?

This is not just a test of the dreams, it is a test of my character.

It would've been easier if the time had just stayed obviously wrong; I could still hope. But when it looks to be sort of right...it comes to the moment of truth.

And I fear the verdict. But I wouldn't want these dreams to flourish if that is not His plan. If these are the wrong dreams...I need to find the right ones.

After I tuck these back into their boxes and say the funeral prayers.

But, you know, the prayer of my heart isn't that favor comes to my dreams...it's that, whatever happens to them, I honor Him in word and deed. Because I've messed this part up so bad before; I don't want to mess it up here again.

Who knows...maybe the whole point was to teach me the proper way to crucify my flesh and submit to authority. With the proper attitude.

If we substitute burial shrouds for the ribbons and ruffles, that's what I'll tell myself.

I keep reminding myself that it is not a people decision, it is a God decision. If this is the time, the favor will come from Him. If it is not the time, it is not the fault of anybody. It is simply not time.

But. Until I have a direction, we will wait to see if anyone else thinks it's time for the light to shine on a little dream's little sister...

Faithful Friday Faves - Zephaniah

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

When Old Testament prophets are mentioned, just kind of general, in a group, the collective image is, I'm afraid, of someone proclaiming doom and gloom and judgment. I don't think that's actually true of OT prophets as a group, but that is the stereotype.

However, it is somewhat true of Zephaniah.

And Yet.

Look at the declaration in 3:9:
Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.

Did you catch that? "Peoples?" As in, more than one people? Maybe, even what it says a few words later, 'all of them'?

I don't think this is talking about universal salvation; put it context and it's rather obvious that this is talking about everyone who's left after the judgment. But it does seem to indicate that there will be folks from ALL people groups who call on God's name and work for him shoulder-to-shoulder.

Personally, I think that's gonna be pretty neat.