PAIN

  Today is another day of accepting God's will for my day.  Does
this sound familiar?  We make a choice to let God be in charge
or not.  There is no debate!  We answer yes or no.  I say it is 
best for me to allow Him to lead and I am a thankful follower.

   Once a decision is made, to be in charge or let God be in charge,
it changes everything.  For me, there is no wondering why this or
that happened.  I don't waste the energy I still have thinking about
the "what ifs" of life.  All I have to do is be attentive to what God
wants me to do and do it.  I don't need a doctorate to follow Him.
He knows everything about me and all that is happening in my
life.  What a relief!  I can just do one thing,,,what He wants me
to do.  

   So, in my life, there are lots of opportunities to live above the
circumstances of physical pain and emotional trauma.  Every
time a "hard" day happens, it is another learning experience
from the Greatest Teacher anyone ever has.  Because He 
created me, He knows me inside out.  He knows what needs
to change and goes about lovingly drawing me to a mature 
life close to Him.

   Life on sinful earth is not supposed to be a party.  It is hard
and it was harder for Him.  I cannot wake up each morning
expecting things to go as planned.  In fact, it is best to have
a very loose plan so He can do what needs to be done.  If
I am so enthralled with my plans I will miss what He has
in store for me.  There are people that He wants me to
touch and I cannot do it without Him leading me.  Every
woman deals with hardship every day.  He is our only
Joy and Peace.  It is all worth it!!!!

As I sit with an ice pack or a heating pad on my back, I
thank Him for the rest.  He knows that I will not stay down
unless He does it for me.  I would already be worn out if
not for Him.  He takes better care of me than I would do.
He does this for all of His children.   Pain is a part of what
we will leave behind when we go to Heaven.  That is my
focus on Painful days.  He is with me and you.

LEARNING

  Are we ever too old to be a learner?  Is it possible to be the wise
person in every situation?  Do we learn by experience, study,
listening or application?  Is it necessary to be a lifelong learner as
a Christian in today's world?

   I am now 67 years old.  I have learned by each of the above 
mentioned criteria.  Each day older, I realize that there is so much
more that God has to teach me.  I have heard thousands of 
sermons and God keeps refining and redefining my understanding.
It is so exciting to know that He has more for me to learn.

  Experience has been a very important part of my education.  If 
you pay attention, you can save yourself  time and pain by learning
a lesson once.  I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity
to share with people who are going through something I have been
through myself.  It is interesting that many people say they
understand when they cannot possibly understand if they have 
not been in the situation. It is encouraging to know that God will
use every circumstance we have dealt with to help someone else.
Many times the person we help is not as strong as God knew we
were.  He lovingly gives us only what He knows we can handle.

  Study, for me, means that I make time with God a priority.  It
is an essential part of the day.  I cannot go on without His input.
I need Him to be a part of my day.  I want His leading to make
any decision.  Prayer is a major part of this dynamic.  He is
always available...especially when I just call out His name for
help.  The mind takes in the information but reality is using
the information to do what He wants.  This is my spiritual
workout that keeps me in shape.

  Listening and application come when we are sitting under
a teacher, pastor, counselor.  Church means nothing if I am
not prepared to be open to God's message for me.  I must
be ready to grow in knowledge if I am to receive anything
from what I hear.  Too many times information is taken
and stuffed in a pocket until next time.  God holds us
accountable to use what we have learned.  It is not an
option.  He gives me opportunities  to share and I need
to do it.  What a blessing when I can help someone with
something that God has given me.

Yes, I believe that we are all lifelong learners.  It is a gift
from God. He loves it when we want to know more about
Him.  I am thankful that He continues to bring me along
gently.  He is such an encouraging teacher.


   



  

UNCERTAINTY

Why did this happen?  What if this happens?  Do you think
we will be okay?  This is the plan.  

These are a few statements that are commonly heard.  In
casual conversations with family or friends, we begin to
talk as if we can do anything about our future.  The future
is one moment from right now.  There is nothing we have
to say that makes any logical sense.

As a child of God, we know that He is at work in every 
moment of our lives.  All of us can testify to the surprises
 that come when we are least expecting them.  Some of
us have experienced things we never thought we would 
have to face.  Whether the future has been wonderful
or very difficult, you made it through and so did I. 
Our God was not away from us for a millisecond.  He
is never away from His child that He loves.

The world we live in is always in a state of change.  At
this point, most of the change is damaging to the
child of God.  We need not fear because God has
overcome the world and continues to overcome.
We wear a smile because we already know the end of
the story and God wins!  Victory is already ours to
take.  We have the answer to all of the questions in
Him.

Why am I here?  Why are you here?  We need to show
the world what it is like to be free from fear and dread.
We need to tell the world why we can smile and 
continue to do things that show God's love.  We are
not on vacation until we go to heaven.  This is our
occupation until God takes us home.  We live and
speak so that God gets all of the glory.

Are you with me?












o

BLESSINGS

One day at a time

It is interesting that a majority of people waste precious time on things that
cannot be changed or will never happen.  Why is it that people in general do
not appreciate each moment that we have been given?

Each day is a gift from our Heavenly Father.  It is another opportunity to be
a blessing to our family and friends.  We have a lifetime which can end at
any moment.  Only God knows the length of our life.  When He calls us home,
our time of sharing who He is and how He loves is over.  

We are here to shed His light not to have a happy life!!  Joy comes from doing
what He wants.  He will fill us and give us the words to say if we allow Him
to be in control.  God knows us and He has specific tasks for us to do.  I do 
not need to waste time trying to MAKE things happen.  His perfect timing
takes care of everything.

When God gives us a day  to rest, it should not be filled with things of our
choosing.  He knows when we need to just let our physical bodies rest and
recuperate.  There are other challenges ahead and we need to be prepared
to meet the challenge.  I know how weak I am but I trust Him to strengthen
me for what comes next.  It is wonderful to live for Him and be used by Him.

Each day is an incredible adventure.  He knows what a day holds but is
exciting for me to see what happens!  There are people waiting to be touched
by Him as we walk through our day.  Our eyes need to be open to see those
who need a word of kindness from Him, through us.  I love how God does
all the work and we are His tools to do the  work of ministry.

I do not want to miss one day of watching what God can do.  He does
the impossible in peoples' lives every day.  I want to be a part of that.
God cares for me and want others to know about my Father.  Each day
is a gift...use it wisely. 

TROUBLED TIMES IN LIFE

God continues to encourage His children in the midst of  life on this
 earth.  It is amazing to watch the care and concern that God has for
 each of us.  If we look for Him, He is always there.  There is nothing we
 endure without His constant companionship.

Because of the various ups and downs of the past nine months, God has
 been ministering to me concerning various and assorted trials in 
life.  A very kind missionary friend commented when I sent her a list of
 "what we were dealing with".  She wrote, "God must really trust you."  I stopped to think about this statement.  Wow!  Does that mean that the horrible circumstances of life that we pray about have to do with God
 trusting us to handle things?  That is a major thought in this world of 
self gratification and selfishness.

A month has passed and the same message in church today.   Can God 
trust you to be a faithful when trouble comes?  Yes, I was encouraged
 once again.  When life is normal,  it is easy to say God is so good.  It 
requires no sacrifice and worship to expound on the gifts of God in good
 times.  It is an honor to be trusted to deal with the hard stuff of life.  Our
 God is so individual in His dealings with us.  He knows what to do to encourage each of His children and He is there to minister to us.

We need to train ourselves to notice the droplets of encouragement that
 God gives.  Each day He showers us with the beauty of His creation, the
 smiles of our children and grandchildren, the love that is shown to us by others, the cards and gifts received from people who care about us.  God
 wants us to grow up and be able to endure hardship.  People are watching 
us during the troubled times in our life to see if our faith is real.

This brings me back to my sister, Bonnie.  She endured hardship and 
thanked God for each day.  God used her in many lives to demonstrate
 real Christianity.

I am thankful that God can trust some of us with troubled times...

Bonnie Jean Clapp (Frydenlund)

One week ago, my sister and best friend went to be with her

Heavenly Father in heaven.  She is rejoicing in a place we spent

major time talking about.  We smiled thinking about the place

that children of God spend eternity.  Her suffering in this life

is ended.

Bonnie invested herself in people.  I was one of the people that

she forever changed.  I don't think many women will ever have

a person in their life who was a constant cheerleader.  She was

always on my side.  She encouraged me and lifted me up through

many of life's hard knocks.  We often spoke about our relationship.

We were very different personalities and yet we loved our 

differences.  Though we were born sisters, we did the work of

becoming best friends.  We even look alike!!  Those who know

her will remember how sweetly she would say, " Oh honey, I am

sorry."  

Bonnie was real.  There was no pretense about who she was or

what her opinion was.  I love that.  In our world today there are

so many pretenders.  They play with words and don't tell you the

truth.  She made a difference in so many lives because she was

willing to listen and then help as much as she could through her

wisdom.  She was an amazing woman of God.

Bonnie struggled with health issues most of her life.  She did not

complain.  She would not give up making memories because she

was in pain.  She lived her days to the fullest.  She was an 

inspiration to me.  I was able to do many things in ministry which

she could not do.  I would tell her that she was part of everything

I did because she PRAYED.  

Bonnie left 4 children and 9 grandchildren with many examples

of how to live.  She was able to spend quality time with the

grandchildren very close to the time of her departure.  They know 

how much grandma loved them.  She left treasure boxes for the

little ones so they can have a connection to her.  She gave precious

gifts to her children while she was alive to see their joy.

Bonnie left a fragrance of Christ behind.  I will never have her

to talk to on the phone but she is with me in so many ways.  We

loved Starbucks and talking; we loved the same tv programs; we

loved harp music as a background; we loved our grandchildren;

we loved talking about how good God is all the time.  I will miss

her.  

I hope that when I am gone I will have had an impact on this world

like my sister, Bonnie