Life's Little Frustrations

Have you ever bought a gift with the price tag glued on

And tried to peel and scrape it off until the tag is gone,

But when you've finished doing all that you can do

Still left behind for all to see is the icky sticky glue?

Remodeling

Romans 8:29 New Living Translation, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters."

I am in the process of remodeling my kitchen and one bathroom, and I have learned more about remodeling than I ever wanted to know! It's a long process. One improvement highlights the need to make other improvements. When you think the end is in sight, there are still more things to be done. It makes a huge mess to renovate. When you have cleaned up one area and have one part of the process finished, you have to mess up what you have just cleaned up to work on something else.

The entire project takes much longer and is much more complicated than you anticipate. Much patient endurance is required. But I am hanging in there because I know I am going to love the result.

I, too, am a remodeling project. God took me as a helpless, hopeless sinner and began to transform me into the image of His perfect Son, Jesus Christ. This is a lifelong project. The entire process is much more complicated than I anticipated. Once I have learned one lesson, there are always more things to learn and apply. I will think I have gotten my life running smoothly, and another complication arises and messes up my routine. God stirs my nest time after time so I will learn new things and make further changes.

All of this process requires much patient endurance and trust on my part. But I am hanging in there because I know I am going to love the result. God will do His part just as He promised. I can count on that. Just as one day my house will look so much better, so much more like the ideas I had in my mind, one day God will really make me--and you--into the beautiful, glorious image of Jesus. Imagine!

Thank You, Father, that You are continuously working on us to transform us into the glorious image of Your Son. May we patiently endure the process and look forward with great anticipation to the results. Amen.

Life's Little Frustrations

This may strike fear in our hearts, I say.

It's less than two months until Christmas Day!

Between now and then we'd better be hopping

In order to finish our Christmas shopping!

Forgiveness

Proverbs 10:12b, "Love covers over all wrongs."

From time to time I try to journal, believing that journaling is a good tool for growing spiritually. However, my commitment in that direction never seems to last longer than a week or two. I have several journals that I have started but never finished.

Pastor Matt sent us an email this week saying it had been quite helpful to him during the years to write down each day what he said to God and what God said to him. So I hitched up my determination and pulled out a partially finished journal, intending to try Mat's suggestion. My eyes, however, fell on the last entry I had written, and I was astonished to see my anger flowing all over the page.

One of the qualities I cherish in a person the most is dependability. You know how literally and completely children believe adults will keep any promises they make, and I guess I've never really outgrown that expectation myself. But a person had made me a promise one afternoon and had broken it before nightfall, very blatantly choosing to do something other than what he/she had promised me. I was hurt, disappointed, frustrated, and angry. But as I read what I had written some weeks earlier, I realized that I had totally forgotten the incident. I did not run it over and over in my mind like a video to keep stoking my anger. In fact, I had long since forgiven this person even though he/she had no idea how angry I had been and had not asked for forgiveness.

The person concerned was someone I love and admire and respect and enjoy very much, and someone who loves me and has shown it in many tangible ways. I had put my anger behind and focused on all the wonderful attributes of this person and the pleasures of our relationship. I gave this person the gift of my forgiveness, but I was also reminded once again that the peace which comes from forgiving someone else is one of the best gifts we can ever give ourselves.

Heavenly Father, thank You that You have forgiven me of all my sins, and they are many. Thank You for the privilege and relief and joy of being able to forgive others as You have forgiven me. Never let me carry a grudge against anyone. Amen.

Life's Little Frustrations

As winter comes on we adjust to this increasing sight,

We will have less and less day and also more and more night.

When daylight savings is over, it gets dark so soon

Night time has already come when it should be afternoon.