Life 89.1

A Cold Thanksgiving…in the Frozen North!

 I was about 13 years old and it was Turkey Day!  Normal activities were happening around the house.  Dad was watching football in his brown recliner, my brother was playing a board game on the floor, and I was helping mom in the kitchen.  Mom usually cooked the large bird in the oven overnight, basting it every couple of hours, and letting it cook long and slow.  She wanted to make sure that we had the juiciest, tastiest, most tender turkey meat ever!  Well, on Thanksgiving Day 1982 - the electricity went off.  UH OH!  That meant…NO COOKED FOOD!  It was off for hours…and it was 40 below outside!  BRRRRR   Finally after many, many hours, it came back on, and the turkey finished cooking, as did all of the other side dishes and pies.  I think we ate about 7pm that night.  After that mom swore that she would own a gas-powered stove so we would never have a late, stressfilled Turkey Day again! 

I thought it fitting for today, as Hurricane Fay looms on the horizon…to take a look at some very recognizable lyrics from Casting Crowns.  May we always look to the Lord for our strength, help and protection.   A great reminder today is to: “Be anxious for nothing, but be in prayer about everything”.

Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it’s still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
“I’m with you”
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can’t find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

I’m thinking I may get a few comments from this particular blog.  Why do some married men choose to not wear a wedding ring?   I’m very perplexed by this.  Recently I asked a good friend of mine where his wedding ring was, and why it wasn’t on his left ring finger.  His response…the typical one that I usually get…”I keep losing them.”  How do guys lose their wedding rings?  Do they not get them sized correctly so that they stay on their finger?  Do they forget where they laid it when they change the back left tire?  Or do they lose it when they fix the garbage disposal or fish those lincoln logs out of the toilet?  Hmmm….does it bother their wives that there isn’t a ring on their finger showing their commitment?  I’m just wondering…I truly have no answer to this and was hoping to hear from some ladies and/or men about their feelings and experience with this so called “lost wedding ring phenomenon”.   Let me finalize my curios wanderings with this finale, I have never met a woman who has “lost” her wedding ring.  I usually see the same wedding ring on a woman’s hand that she had put on the day she said “yes”.   My daddy has even lost a couple of rings…the first one was when he accidentally cut his finger off with a chainsaw…I think that is a justifiable excuse. 

Love you daddy!

What is it with men and the growing of grass?  Why do they take deep pride in fertilizing, watering, mowing, edging and weed eating the lawn?  Why do they stick out their chest as they make it grow greener, bigger and taller…when all it leads to, is having to mow more frequently?  Is it really worth trying to be “the lawn master” of the subdivision…where all the men have “lawn envy” of your corner masterpiece?  I think I’d rather spend my time at the pool for a few hours than cutting every Saturday for 3 or more hours.  I think they like to have another reason to go to Home Depot and buy more tools…like today…we bought another yard tool that requires gas!  I think that is what men really want…more tools and more toys!  I don’t think it has to do with the outside of the house at all…it has to do with how many power tools he owns.  He who has the best looking lawn, owns the most tools…HE is KING of the neighborhood!  My husband is the KING of TURF!  And you know what?  He’s happy!  So, as long as that is one of his desires…I will keep buying tools, and recommending that he go out there and make us PROUD!

This weekend I spoke at a women’s meeting.  The subject was worship, so I found the first place that the Bible mentions worship (at least in my concordance)…and found that it was where Abraham took Isaac up on Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him…they went up on the mountain to worship first.  Now before that stressful time started…a bigger mess was made.   You see, God promised Sarah and Abe that they would conceive and become parents…that Abe would be a Father to many nations!  Well, after the promise was made…Sarah got impatient and took things into her own hands.  She told Abe to sleep with her servant Hagar.  Out of that ridiculous encounter, Ishmael was born.  Ishmael was NOT God’s plan for their lives.  After a bit…Sarah did conceive, and they became the parents of Isaac.  Isaac IS God’s plan…through his lineage, Abe would become a Father to many nations.  Now, Fast forward a few years… It says in Genesis 21 that Sarah saw Ishmael (NOT God’s plan) mocking Isaac (God’s Plan).  The little twerp was bullying Isaac.  I can hear him now,  ”I was the first born.  I get Father Abe’s blessing, inheritance, yadayadayada. Dad loves me best…etc…”  Now, if you are a momma…you know what gets your goat…especially when it comes to your kid.  If someone picks on your kid, tattles on him, takes his toy, pokes him, bites him, hits him, whatever…you get your kid out of that situation.  You go tell the kid to knock it off, you go to the teacher, principal, parents…whoever, and whatever to take care of the situation.  Well, that’s what Sarah did.  She saw Ishmael (NOT God’s plan) mocking Isaac (God’s plan), and told Abraham to send the child and his mother away, get them out of here, they are picking on OUR son!  Abe was pretty upset…b/c no matter how you looked at it, he did father this child (NOT God’s plan)…but God told him, “Abe, don’t be upset, it’s okay…send them away…I will take care of them.”  You see, God knew that they were NOT in His plans for Abe and Sarah, and they did not need to have the distraction and frustration of having something keep their focus off of what was His plan for them.  So, He told them to send the child and his mother away.  NOW…here is what I learned…we all have “Ishmaels” in our lives.  Things that we have done, choices that we have made, divorces, addictions, bankrupcies, abuses, felonies, etc…things that we did or had done to us, that seem to mock us.  They were NOT God’s plan for us, but we did them anyway.  And here, years later…they mock us and tell us that we are not good enough to have God’s plan, God’s best for our lives.  That we are not worthy of our Isaac!  Finally, there comes a point that we must tell our Ishmael to shut up, stop mocking us and keeping us from God’s plan, our Isaac.  We must send our Ishmael packing!  How dare he (or that situation) mock what God wants for you!  YOU are worthy because God has made you worthy!  God is telling you, get rid of it, don’t allow it to mock you, to speak to you, to dictate your worth to you anymore!  You are free to focus on what I have planned for you and  your life!