Will you choose worship over worry?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Cor 1:3-4

I received another potential diagnosis last week.

                               Another one! Geesh. How many can someone get in a year's time?

Anyway. I decided that I'm not going to spend much time thinking about it, I won't research it and I won't waste time worrying.
                 
                               Even though on this one, they brought out the big guns so to speak.

This arrived in the mail yesterday, with some worried call from the pharmacist about medicine and to call my doctor, blah, blah, blah...

I will. Because it's obviously important to many people that I get these things out of the bubble wrap.

But this time of year, this season of lent, is a special time for those of us who follow Christ. It's a time to look at him, reflect on what he accomplished for us and worship him fully. And I don't know about you, but I can't worship when I'm worried.

               Instead, I plan to look toward my Lord.

                        I will take comfort in our father. How incredible is it that He is called...

                                 The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.

That's just what we need. That's all we need.

Won't you join me for the next 38 days and rejoice in God's comfort?

      And share! Don't forget to share the ways he's comforted you so that you can comfort others.

Jesus didn't hold back anything from us. Let's worship and praise Him during this time.

Five Finger Fasting

One great thing about getting older is that you care less about what others think and more about what's really important.

Another great thing is that you begin to lose a little bit of your memory.

Now, I realize most people wouldn't think that's great at all, but I do, because it makes things simple for me. I find that when I struggle to remember something, I become more creative. Like when I start to forget people's names, I begin to focus intently on them and try to find ways of remembering.

That narrowing makes me more focused, and when I focus intently, everything becomes clearer and sharper. Check out what Steve Jobs says about focus:

                                    Yikes! This Fast Company Magazine photo makes Steve look like he's focusing on you.

"That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking down to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."

        Moving mountains.

No one on earth knew better about moving mountains than Jesus. He said that with faith, his followers would be able to move mountains, and some people I care about are in desperate need of a miracle. Because fasting is one way to break through strongholds and obstacles, I've decided to fast for awhile.

In case you're not familiar with it, fasting is when you give up something for a designated time and pray instead of indulging in what you've given up.

Because my memory is poor, I made up a simple trick that's been helpful for me in the past. I just put the initials of the thing or people I'm fasting over on my hand, like this:

This picture represents five families in need of a breakthrough. The "R" on the thumb represents my own family - we've been struggling with various illnesses for over six months. Maybe you need some sort of breakthrough too, and if so, I hope you'll ask God for help.

"...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

The Awkward Samaritan

Yesterday, on the way home from church, I got the opportunity to be a Good Samaritan. I was driving  50 miles an hour down one of our main roads, glanced to my right, and saw a man stuck in a ditch. He was a disabled guy on a motorized scooter who'd somehow ended up in one of the gullies on the side of the road.

I could not believe my eyes!

Not only because there was a man in a ditch, but because it was Sunday in the South, and people were just driving by. Then, several thoughts flashed through my mind...

 Maybe I didn't really see that. 

 But what if I did? 

 What if he was really stuck and I was the only one who saw him? 

 It's my responsibility to get him out.

 How am I going to get him and his scooter out of that ditch by myself?

 Why didn't anyone else stop?

So, I made a U turn, slowed my car down and started searching along the sides of the road for him. I instructed my daughter on how to use the hazard signal while I safely pulled over. The debate about whether I'd actually seen him was raging in my car. But I knew what I saw because this man was hard to miss.

He was an extremely black man on a shiny red scooter. I say that because I think sadly, that may be why some of the other cars didn't stop.

Anyhow, I spotted him and just as I was pulling over, I saw another man walking toward him to help. I was encouraged and grateful because I was sure this guy and I could do it without having to ask my teenaged daughter to help me. I smiled at the other Good Samaritan (GS2), rolled down my window to talk to him and and realized...

                     the man in the gully was peeing into a jug. 

Just then, GS2 realized what was happening, looked at me and quickly turned around so that his back was to the guy. "Hey, there buddy. You need some help?" 

I'm in my car yelling at my kids, "Face front! Don't look over right now." Of course they do. GS2 and I had one of those moments. You know the kind, Jeopardy music began playing in my head as I tried to figure out how long I should wait. You can imagine the conversation in my car, and I finally said, "The poor guy! Who knows how long he was down there waiting, what's a person to do?"

Thankfully, when I asked if he needed my help , GS2 assured me he was able to get the man out by himself and the next thing I knew, they were making their way up the hill. Sheepish, but smiling.

"If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"  Ecclesiastes 4:10