I will choose to love

I have been reflecting on somethings that the LORD has exposed before my eyes. One of those has been my reactions to the actions of those I care about. Actions that don’t seem right! How have I responded to the decisions being made by the ones I love and I am not in agreement? 

A few days ago, I sat down with a colleague and I kept complaining about how upset I was about the decisions that someone close to me was making. I thought she was going to agree with my reasons for being quite upset. May be she did agree but the response I received from her was very eye opening. She pointed to me that I was judging this person rather than just loving her. I put up a big defence; I told her I wasn't judging. 

Her rebuke sounded rather harsh. But I needed it. I needed to be told that being frustrated with this person over the decisions they were making wasn't going to make them better. She asked me if this person was a Christian and I said that she wasn't. She then told that this was normal because of the absence of the knowledge of the Savior to this person and what following HIM requires. 

How quickly I had forgotten the person I used to be before I knew the LORD! The decisions this person is making are not any different from the ones I made back then. I was blind to the truth of the Savior  but I was loved. I have come to realize that I have been judging the person I used to be. 

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

~Mother Theresa 

This is so true. I had stopped loving as I should and I was spending much time criticizing and complaining and asking questions like “ How can someone make such choices?’’

I need to be more understanding and gracious. I was in the same shoes before but I put them off. This person can do that too and being mad at them won’t help. I will choose to Love no matter what.

July for us.

July is my favorite month of the year. I am reminded of the many gifts God has Blessed me with.

The Biggest highlight for us was celebrating Hamlet's 7th Birthday. I am truly thankful for this young man.

 

Hamlet is a true Blessing and I am truly thankful to God.

Yesterday was another day to be thankful to God for my life. A day that could easily have been terrible, did not turn out so bad. On my way to work, my motor cycle guy lost control and we crashed.  No serious damage and i just got up and was very thankful that i was okay. I was mindful to watch my response to situations, good or bad. Instead of sulking and being frustrated, i was filled with thanksgiving in my heart. A lot of beautiful things have happened in my life. Even when the bad creep in, what should my reaction be?

 I am thankful for how July has turned out.

Well, well.... The lessons I have learned!

This week at work I have been blessed to lead devotion time. I chose to share from Jonah. Jonah the Prodigal Prophet. God the forever Redeeming God.

I have learned from this book how not very different I am from Jonah. Often times, I run away from my mission. It is easier to run as far as I can.

My sin has been totally exposed. I have at times run from sharing about the Lord, from sharing about the consequences of disobedience (Usually the hard part!) to those I should.

Sometimes it is because of my own prejudice. My superficial assumption  that they are past hearing, past restoration, past redemption.

I read once that Jonah’s mission couldn’t have been any different from a Jew being sent to the Germans during the WWII with a message like Jonah had. A message that implied the Germans would face destruction if they continued to annihilate the Jews but if they stopped, forgiveness would be available.  The Jew would most likely take off in a different direction like Jonah did.

As I read chapter 1, I am reminded that My sin is very much laid bare before the LORD's sight. He spoke to Jonah, Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
My Sin/ wickedness can not be hidden from His sight.

The other  observation I get from here is that I often run from my task. When He sends me, do I always do His bidding? "But Jonah ran away from the Lord"
  
It is when we are in the Belly of the fish, Stinky/slimy dark place that we remember who is in charge. Just like Jonah, I have been in that place. And God has come to the rescue. Maybe not in the same way.

As i read Jonah chapter 3, I had to real pose hard and go past being amazed. The people of Nineveh responded in a way that Jonah least expected. They were sorry/repentant. They grieved over their own sin. they took a round about turn. 

What do I learn from this? 
Maybe i have written off some people thinking they are beyond salvation. It is the least likely people like those of Nineveh that can change from their wicked ways to a path of repentance. I have prejudiced some people. But how i would be surprised if they actually turned around for GOOD.

The last chapter is another story to tell. Jonah was mad that the people repented and God was merciful. This reaction is kind of funny. 

Jonah himself called on the mercy of God and enjoyed the mercy of God when it was extended to Jonah. Now he resents it when it is extended to others. What if God treated Jonah the way Jonah wanted God to treat the people of Nineveh

My own Selfishness was exposed here too.  

I am glad  "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love"

I  am truly a work in progress but i am thankful for the Lessons i keep learning everyday.

Hamlet's 6th Birthday.

I am a bit behind on this post.Hamlet turned 6 years on 19 July 2014. It was a very good day. I decided that I was not going to have a big celebration. Spending time with him was a good idea. He picked the place he wanted me to take him. He was in for lots of fun.

The day before the big day, I prepared cake for him. With the help of my dear friend Cassandra, it did turn out just right.

19th July, I took him to a children's fun place.The pictures tell it all. It was a successful and fun 6th Birthday for my precious Hamlet.

Then we went to that slide thing. Oh my! Hilarious. The kids went up and down. I wished at some point I was young again. I so badly wanted to go down sliding like those kids

Jireh, Hamlet's friend.

At the end of the day, he was tired but very Happy.

The caged Bird Sings.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

How beautiful this sounds! Have you ever felt this way? I have. And like the Caged Bird, I choose to Sing. I sing of things unknown yet longed for. I sing of Freedom. The longing for the Unknown never ceases but i will Hope.

Reflections....

Praise in every situation?

As I reflect on the past months of this year, I have a mixture of emotions.

In one of our office devotions I was reminded to give praise no matter what.

This is a bit of a stretch; “give praise in every situation”.

Well that is not what I feel often times, after all that I have been through these past many months, it is easy to see what has gone wrong and miss out on things to be thankful for.

I have not been happy in awhile. I feel so overwhelmed with everything.

I feel let down by people that normally one would expect support, understanding, love from.

My relationship and trust in family has been crumbling. The very place that one would normally find solid connection, has failed me.

So then, how do I reach that place where giving praise is possible no matter the circumstances?

Often, friends tell me to have faith. May be I need to have a little more of that and then I will learn to praise in every situation. Without faith I may not come to that place of constant praise.

Grumbling/complaining..... when is it okay?

Today as I went about my business, I was pulled into conversations where I was led to conclude that we humans do complain way too much. We complain about the rainy season, and the hot season. We complain about power outages, bad traffic, government laws (new ones and old ones). We complain about a particular preacher's sermon.

We basically complain about every little thing. But why is that?

Who ever promised us that we were going to have everything perfect? Well then, when things are upsetting,are we not allowed to complain? Even just a little?

When is it okay to grumble/complain?  

Christ’s Unconditional Love

At age 17, I was introduced to Jane Austen’s pride and Prejudice.

It is one of the books I love to read over and over. At that time, I cared more on understanding the book, finding relevant themes. Basically, I wanted to excel in my literature class and get good grades.

But of late, after I read a devotional on Christ’s unconditional love, I got another perspective. A new theme.

Love in many circumstances is very conditional just as in that book and even in our world today.

As you read this small excerpt from Pride and Prejudice, you may develop your own new ideas/thoughts/lessons….… Feel free to.

“[Our daughters] have none of them much to recommend them,’’ replied [Mr. Bennet]; “they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.’’
“Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.’’

“You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.’’

“Ah! you do not know what I suffer.’’

“But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.’’

“It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.’’

“Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty I will visit

them all.’’

Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develope. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

—From Pride and Prejudice

Mrs. Bennet’s ill breeding is on display from the onset of Pride and Prejudice. Noisy and foolish, she lacks even basic manners or social skills. Her single, driving life’s focus—finding eligible husbands for her five daughters—is so exhaustive that over the course of the book she will succeed in driving away nearly every potential suitor.

Mrs. Bennet’s intellectual shortcomings are in stark contrast to her husband’s dry humor and quick wit. Twenty three years prior, Mr. Bennet chose to marry a silly but pretty wife, and it seems clear that he daily regrets his choice. To compensate for his unhappy marriage, he withdraws into his study and takes pleasure in books, teasing his wife, and indulging his sarcastic humor. His favoritism of smart, funny Lizzy only further elevates his superiority toward his wife and deepens the chasm between them.

Comical though it may be, Mr. Bennet’s poorly executed role as patriarch runs counter to the Bible’s directive to husbands: “Love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. . . . He who loves his wife loves himself” (Ephesians 5:25, 28, emphasis added).

Jesus didn’t wait until we deserved His love to give it to us. Instead, He committed to love us first. This required serious sacrifice—the same kind of sacrifice a husband and wife should commit to each other, even when the other is acting neither lovingly nor attractively.

Christ’s example teaches us this: love is not first and foremost about finding others physically, emotionally, or intellectually our equals. It is about the commitment to love . . . no matter what.

I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. - Hosea 2:20