“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” (Philippians 4:12b, NIV1984) Wow – that Apostle Paul sure sets the bar high, doesn’t he? I think I would be content, through and in Christ, regardless of what comes my way. But, would I, really? A year ago, when my marriage was in danger, was I content? Nope. But, did I cling to my Daddy in Heaven? Absolutely. Ten years ago, when my then 22 year old daughter was critically ill, could my emotional state have been classified as “content”? No way. Did I crawl up into God’s lap and hang on to Him for dear life, more frequently than usual? You’d better believe it!

It’s so easy to look for loopholes.

But, God! Paul was talking about being poor. And hungry. He doesn’t say anything about being content when your marriage is in shambles or when your sweet daughter is hospitalized for 63 days. Surely you don’t expect me to be content THEN, do You?

Of course, those justifications come spilling out of my sense of not quite measuring up. Feelings of being spiritually inadequate. Just in case I wasn’t up to par in the contentment area, I’m gonna convince God that, technically, it wasn’t a requirement in my particular situation. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (Philippians 4:12b, NIV1984). Grrrr….Paul. For real??

When I finally stop debating God and begin listening to Him, He fills me with His sweet reassurance. And, I reexamine those dark times, remembering the peace He placed in my heart. Is that only because He made everything all better, allowing my daughter (for the most part) to recover? And, because He brought healing to my marriage? I’m not sure. As with each of us, I continually ask Him not to take a loved one from me. Through any means. I watch, in awe, as two of my friends and co-workers continue in life after losing someone very, very close to each of them. And I wonder….what would I do? Could I be accepting and content if I lost my spouse or my child? “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13, NIV1984) Yet, here I sit, saying “Please God, oh please never put me to the test. Take me Home before you ever decide one of my babies or my husband needs to come live with You in Heaven.”

I’m sure that’s human nature. And, I’m just as certain that Satan uses those doubts and fears in making me question the depth of my faith. Obviously, there is always room for improvement. Yet, Satan likes to make us feel as though we’re complete failures. And, so many times, we’re willing participants in his quest. What our Heavenly Father wants us to do is simply to trust Him. Trust Him with our spouses, children, and grandchildren. Trust Him with our own health. Trust Him with our homes and jobs and cars and bank accounts. When we arrive at that place, we find true contentment.

They experienced all of the joy and excitement that comes for every parent. A few minutes after Michael Aaron’s birth the doctor said he was concerned.

It turns out that this new bundle of joy is facing Down’s Syndrome. Aaron Shust spent some time with Jerry Woods talking about how their family is experiencing a little bit of fear and a lot of joy in their new journey in life.

Catch the entire interview here.

Horizons II --$600.00 painting stolen from a Washington gallery.

It’s a scene right out of a Mission Impossible movie.  Two men scale the roof of the Matter Art Gallery in Olympia, Washington.  They cut a hole in the skylight, and then rappel to the gallery floor.  They take two huge paintings, and then make their escape.  One painting, “Tribute to the Concussed Skier”, is worth $800.00 and the other is worth $600.00.   These thieves put all this time and thought into the robbery for $1,400 dollars worth of art, when there were other pieces worth much more!

Gallery owner Jo Gallaugher said, “The pieces they chose are pieces that are most often admired by men in their 20s.”  Ouch!  Basically she said that they didn’t have mature tastes, that they didn’t know what great art looked like, or both.

The same might be said for us as people who live on a fallen planet.  We look for value in a whole lot of things.  Those things might include money, fame, power and owning the latest stuff.

I’m reminded of the rich young man in Matthew 19 who came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to be saved?”  Jesus answered by telling him, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 19:16-22, NIV)

The young man responded by saying that he had kept all of those commands since he was a little boy.  He wanted to know what he still needed to do.  Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then, come and follow me.” 

The Bible says the young man went away very sad because he had a lot of wealth.  He traded in a chance to spend not only this life with Jesus, but eternity as well for to keep a lot of money!

We may look at him at say he made a horrible choice, but I wonder how many of us make the same choice on a regular basis.  There are so many things that look good to us on the surface.  That new 60-inch, 3D TV, newest Apple toy or a vacation to Europe are all pretty appealing.  A huge house with a pool in the backyard, and an expensive luxury car in the garage would make us feel like we’ve got it made!  Or would they?  Someone once said that if money made people happy, then there should be a whole lot more happy people.

While some of these things might satisfy, that satisfaction is short-lived.  At the end of the day, nothing this world can offer is worth very much.  That TV will break.  That vacation to Europe will end.  That home will have to be kept up, and the car will be replaced by a newer model.  The only thing that holds up to eternal value is a relationship with the one who made every good and perfect gift, Jesus!

You can have $1,400 hundred dollars worth of paintings or you can have every masterpiece ever painted and personal relationship with the one who inspired every work of art.  Don’t settle for the junk.

My son, almost 4 now, told his first fib yesterday. It was a flat our lie. In a nearby room he gave his twin a sister a “smack down” move perhaps worthy of the WWF. I heard it and then watched in slow motion as his little sister rounded the corner crying with her arms flailing in re-enactment.

“Chase! What happened?”, I shouted.

“Huh? Nothing…” he said as he entered the room, his cheeks fading from pink to white.

I was angry that he hurt his sister and part of me wanted to give him justice right there with no questions asked. However, I also wanted him know that he could trust me enough to tell me the truth. Speaking to him more softly, I asked him to come close to me.

“You need to always tell me the truth, Chase. No matter what. Chase, I know what happened. Please tell me the truth. Did you hurt your sister?”

His lips started quivering and his eyes filled with fear. “Yes. I did it. I hit her.”

Surprising myself, I pulled him into my arms and hugged him. I told him I loved him and his little body shook as he sobbed saying, “I’m sorry”. I was just as surprised by my emotions as he was by my hug. We cried together as we hugged. I knew he wanted to do the right thing but sometimes he just makes mistakes.

Yes, he was sent to time-out after that because I had to be consistent. He knew the consequences were still coming and he accepted them without question, turning on his own without any instructions to go to the “time-out” spot. He seemed almost relieved to go there.

I can not comprehend how much I love my little boy; it is truly beyond my ability to measure. And I can not even begin to comprehend how much God must love us. I may get the consequential “time-outs” here on Earth when I make some mistakes, but the thought that God wants to hug me like that and let me know how much He loves me even after I make a mistake is a new perspective for me on the love God has for us as His children.

Here’s their conversation:

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Now, if you’re like me, on January 1, 2012…you woke up the same person who went to bed on December 31,2011.  The only thing that changed?  The plans.  As if New Year’s Day is permission to dream big again.  “This is the year I’m going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro!” Who am I kidding – I’d be lucky to climb Mount Mitchell in a car.

But I can have big new goals and big new dreams because it’s a brand new year!

Why does that make a difference?

Have you ever really thought about that?

Why does it seem so special when we wake up on January 1^st with big ideas and big goals when we’re afforded a brand new start with each and every morning??

We’re given a new start every day when we wake up…and we have a decision in that split second after we open our eyes: are we going to cooperate with God today or are we going to get in His way today?

That’s really what it boils down to with you and me…we’re human!  We like to dream big and we like to map the path to get there!!!  Woo hoo!!!

But we don’t ever really remember that God has far, far bigger dreams and goals for us than we could ever imagine.

AND, He’s practically willing to drive us there if we’d just listen.

Right now you may be knee deep in a big ol’ mess of life wondering how ANYTHING good will ever come your way again.

I’m sorry that it won’t help a stinky situation stink less, but I do know for certain that better days are coming your way.  Help’s coming.  God has big plans for your life!  You just have to trust that I’m not lying and actually let go of whatever it is you’re so sure can’t be fixed.

We’re like God’s toddlers that way.

We’re holding on to something so tightly…so stubbornly…and we ain’t gonna let go.

And when we’ve made a huge mess of things we STILL just won’t let go.

So, God has to shake our little tiny fists and try to get us to drop whatever we’ve got such a grip on.

Maybe it’s a job.

Maybe it’s a relationship.

Maybe it’s a house.

Maybe it’s a dream.

Maybe it’s a bad place you’ve been in so long you can’t remember how “good” feels.

Whatever it is, we make a conscious decision every morning to hold on to it because we’re afraid God isn’t going to fix the mess, can’t fix the mess or He won’t do as good a job fixing it as we can.

The sad part is because we won’t let go, He has to work really hard to get our attention.

He’s just trying to get you to LET GO of whatever it is you’re holding on to so He can show you His plan for your life.

If I had held on tightly to my “purpose” in life, I’d be sitting in a dank office of a questionable business doing things that went against my heart because the money was good and the benefits were amazing.  I thought God wanted me to be there to provide for my family AND to help bring His light to that dark corner of the world.  But that was what I mistakenly thought God wanted for me to do.

Turns out, He had bigger plans…far bigger than I could have ever imagined.

He wanted me to pick up my family and move across the country to a part of the world where we didn’t know a soul and work for Him every day.  No questions asked.

With a HUGE amount of doubt in my heart, I said okay…because I knew God has our backs.

But, everyone we knew said we were nuts.

Some folks even said, “Tell your husband not to quit his job…and do NOT sell your house!”

I thanked them for their advice and smiled quietly at God.  It was like a little inside joke He and I were sharing.

Now, these were the SAME folks I had always run to for advice in the past.

Sure, in the past, I’d pray about the Problem du Jour, and run to these folks for advice and wisdom.

This time, though, I chose to go to God FIRST…and I didn’t care what these folks said.  I wasn’t asking their advice…I was telling them what we were doing.  And in their eyes we were crazy.

What we were doing was letting God map the course for us…we sought His counsel first, and it was the single most difficult thing my husband and I have ever had to do!  Typically, we would rely on our intelligence…we would research everything about every option that related to what we were planning to do, talk with folks we knew about the issue and then decide if it was a good decision.  After all of that, we’d finally pray that God would bless whatever decision we had made.

Like He’s some sort of line cook – can I get an order of eggs, some grits, a side of bacon…and can you please make sure it’ll bless me real good today?  Thanks, God!  You’re the best!

But I find that when I go to God first about my problem, then wait a couple of days to see where He leads me, I’m much better off.

Now, you have to realize that I talk to God like this:

“God, you know I’m not really bright.  And I have this problem _____ and I really need your help.  I just ask that you would show me – in ways I can clearly understand – what you want me to do here.”

Seriously.

It’s not that I don’t respect my Heavenly Father, it’s just I need Him to understand that I want His will, but sometimes I can’t always hear him because life gets in the way.

I don’t have time to reflect for an hour – I have two small kids, a full-time job, laundry that never ends…you know the drill….there’s NOISE in my life and no time for me to take an hour to sit quietly.

Was that Him??  In the song that just played?  In an email from a friend?  Was that Him as I reached for the yogurt at the grocery?

God speaks to all of us differently because each of His children is different and each of us has different needs.

My only suggestion to you – as your sibling – would be try a new approach to your new beginning.  You’ve got one coming your way tomorrow, as a matter of fact!  Wish yourself a Happy New Year if you have to and look at each new day as a chance for a brand new beginning, just like New Year’s Day.

Ask God what He wants you to do with whatever you’re facing.  Big or small, God handles ‘em all…you just have to be willing to trust Him, be willing to listen, and then be brave enough to actually do what He’s asking you to do.  However crazy it may sound in your head or to folks in your life.

After all, it’s not really their opinion that matters, is it?

 It started early this morning when my recently turned two-year-old called me to get her out of her crib.  When I picked her up, she made a strange sound.  The next thing I knew I was covered in last night’s dinner.   

My little Maya was so tired that after opening just a couple presents, she didn’t want to doanything but cuddle.  For a child that normally is running nonstop from dawn to dusk this is usually a welcome development, but not under these circumstances.  A couple hours later we settled in to watch a DVD and it happened again.   I showered again and started more laundry. 

The rest of the day I spent holding my little girl in my arms.  I felt so helpless watching this little one zapped of all of her energy on Christmas Day.

When you have a sick child, you’re very focused.  For me, on Christmas Day, it gave me a lot of time to think.  I thought about the baby Jesus.   The Bible is incredibly silent from the time that Jesus is dedicated as a baby in the temple to around the time he is 12 and gets separated from his parents in Jerusalem.  Still, if you’ve been a parent you can probably imagine what it could have been like.  I wonder if Jesus was a colicky baby.  Were their nights when he kept Mary and Joseph up with his crying?  Did Mary rock him to sleep and try to comfort him as he was teething?  The Bible does tell us that he was human just like us.  Even though he was God, he came to earth as a tiny, helpless baby.  And, somehow with my sick baby in my arms this all became more real for me.

Baby Jesus didn’t just become grown-up Jesus in one day.  He was a baby, a toddler, a tween and then a teen.   If you think parenting your kids is tough, Mary and Joseph got to teach their son about the beginning  of the world– the same world that he created.  They had to teach him about the fall and the plan of redemption.  The plan that he came to carry out!

This just past Christmas is one I probably won’t forget.   While it probably won’t have the fondest of memories, I think I just might have a slightly better understanding of what Jesus gave up to be born a baby.  And that’s my prayer for you in 2012.  May the depth and breadth of your relationship with Jesus grow in ways it never has before.   Happy New Year!

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the player below:

You can learn more about the book at:

http://www.chattingatthesky.com/the-books/

You can see Emily’s blog at:

http://www.chattingatthesky.com/

Yes, we just had Thanksgiving….stay with me for a minute.

Why do we RUSH through Thanksgiving?

We rush to get food on the table.  We rush to get done with dinner so we can watch the game.  We rush to get cleaned up so we can rush to go shopping.  We rush from one house to the next so we can spend a few minutes with family, just to rush off to yet another house to see more family or friends…then, when it’s all over, the only thing we’re thankful for is that it’s all finally over.

In all the rush, I think we lose sight of what the day really means…a day set aside to give thanks.

The day won’t be perfect….you and I both know that.

But we want it to be perfect, just like that Normal Rockwell painting.

Why do we want to be so perfect on just that day?

Aren’t we still thankful for our food, even if it doesn’t look like the picture in the magazine?

Aren’t we still thankful for Grandma, even if she can’t remember who we are?

Aren’t we still thankful for the ability to gather around a table, even if the year has been one of the worst we can remember?

We need to be thankful – not only for those perfect and wonderful blessings we beg and beg for, but also for those little moments of perfection that happen in the middle of the chaos of our ordinary lives.

I find that life is a series of moments…some are amazing moments!  Some, well, not so much.  But, all in all, each moment was orchestrated perfectly for me.  And, I have to be thankful that God cares enough about me to do all that work for me.

After all, I don’t deserve that kind of goodness.

Neither do you.

None of us do.

But, God’s grace is enough to cover us and all of our flaws… our mistakes…our imperfections.

The dinner that wasn’t perfect.  The family gathering that wasn’t perfect.  The day at work that wasn’t perfect.  The life that wasn’t perfect according to our plan.  The perfect and good intentions that never came about.

God’s grace can cover all of it.

This year, during Sharathon, a woman called me to talk about something she had heard on one of the teaching programs on 106.9 The Light: “What if all you had left today is everything you thanked God for yesterday.”

Whoa.

If that were the case, I’m not sure how much I’d have right now.

Would I have a sense of smell?

The ability to remember family and friends?

The ability to walk, talk or communicate?

Gas in my car?

Air to breathe?

Money to cover the groceries?

All ten toes?

Why is it we only set aside one day each year to be thankful, and then expect that day to be PERFECT beyond our wildest dreams??

I assume you’ve seen those little “30 Days of Gratitude” emails floating around.  You have to proclaim one thing you’re thankful for each day for the entire 30 days of November to help you mentally prepare for Thanksgiving.  Some of the things folks are grateful for are really deep.  Some are really silly.

Well, I’m going to ask you to try to be thankful for something today, no matter how small.  Then, I’d like to ask you to be thankful for something tomorrow.  And the next day.  And the next.  So that next year, when all the retailers try to make you overlook Thanksgiving, or you start to focus on the showstopping Thanksgiving dinner you’re going to work on, or if your friends ask you to find 30 things you’re thankful for, you can sit down with a truly grateful heart and make a list of things you’re thankful for that would circle the globe.

A hundred times.

Just one thing you’re thankful for.  Each day.

That isn’t so hard…is it?

What about that little tree outside your window that had such pretty yellow leaves this fall?

Or that sweet old lady you see at church every time the lights are on?

The big and obvious things will be easy…it’s the little things I’m going to challenge each of us to find.

Besides, it’s the little things that make up our lives.

I’ll even start.

Today, dear one, I am thankful for you.

Okay.  Ready?  GO!

- Heather
Connect with me:

Email: heather@1069thelight.org
Twitter: @heathershelley
Facebook: facebook.com/morningheather

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Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the book. Hear the entire interview by clicking ‘play’ below.