Our pastor, Edgar, has been teaching from the book of Joshua, regarding the praying of audacious prayers. If you recall the story, or if perhaps you have never heard it, Joshua looked up at the sky before going to battle with the Canaanites in the Promised Land and basically asked God to allow the sun to stay in one place until they had won the battle. God heard his prayer and the sun stayed overhead until the Israelites were victorious.
What this is teaching us is that we don't always have to have all the facts. We don't always have to have all the right words or sound like a professional orator for God to not only hear our prayers but come through for us in incredible, mighty ways. Sometimes you can ask God for something or ask Him to work for you and you can ask Him boldly!
I went to Baptist school as a kid. We were not taught to pray audaciously. In fact, the phrase "If it be Your will" was standard in every prayer. I'm not an audacious person anyway - I'm actually fairly quiet and my relationship with God tends to be more in a whisper than out loud. But I decided to put this to the test!
I've been struggling at work with a few things. It's better than it was, but it isn't my cup of tea. Being a bank teller requires a lot of thought, attention to detail, routine and thick skin. I pretty much lack ALL of these things. But one thing that I need to 'earn my keep' as they say, are referrals. Referrals are my point of contention! My view is that people are coming into the bank to do specific things and they don't feel like being coerced into a new benefit, product, savings or checking account or whatever! This is difficult for me! I hate asking people to sign up for a new credit card, or ID protection, or trying to convince them that they really need to upgrade that checking account to a different one. It is NOT in my personality to 'sell' things to others. I'm not convincing.
Since April, I have averaged about 3 referrals per week. Yesterday I was inspired to ask God boldly to bring me the right people. I told him I would ask EVERY customer about something, but I needed Him to bring me the right customers. The funny thing is that I did this on my break, right in the break room. I actually said it OUT LOUD - "God! I need referrals this week! I need LOTS of them!"
You know what happened? I got more referrals yesterday than I did in 5 days last week!
Now, this may not sound like something really urgent, like being healed from cancer, or having a relationship miraculously restored, but I really needed God to come through for me at work. It's hard working at a place that views you as being nice, but not really doing 100% of your job. My manager even told me that I definitely earned my keep yesterday.
Big thanks to my Big God, who cares enough about me not to leave me hanging on by threads at work!
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
The Belief That We Shouldn't Believe
I was watching Penn Gilette arguing with Kevin Pereirra on Attack Of The Show last night.
Penn is a seriously militant atheist. His book, "God, No" is out now. His argument is that everyone is an atheist. Everyone, even the devoutly religious, are atheists who have deceived themselves. He says he is not anti-Christian. He is, instead, anti-faith. He doesn't believe there should be any kind of religious beliefs of any kind, including Islam, Buddhism, Judeaism, etc.
His arguement is that if we all believed in a god, like we say we do, we wouldn't need to stop at stoplights, or lock our doors, or protect ourselves, or work to feed ourselves, because a benevolent god would always stop everything bad from happening to us all the time.
At least, that's what I think his argument was. The problem is, that it was also a lot of wordplay and mind games where he would twist things around. It wasn't a very..... compelling argument. I'll put it that way. I am always inclined to listen to anyone's argument because I myself have struggled with doubts and I'm willing to hear you out if you think you've got it all sorted.
I really, really would love to get some comments on this one. Do you have any thoughts or arguments as to why or why not anyone should have faith or religious beliefs?
Penn is a seriously militant atheist. His book, "God, No" is out now. His argument is that everyone is an atheist. Everyone, even the devoutly religious, are atheists who have deceived themselves. He says he is not anti-Christian. He is, instead, anti-faith. He doesn't believe there should be any kind of religious beliefs of any kind, including Islam, Buddhism, Judeaism, etc.
His arguement is that if we all believed in a god, like we say we do, we wouldn't need to stop at stoplights, or lock our doors, or protect ourselves, or work to feed ourselves, because a benevolent god would always stop everything bad from happening to us all the time.
At least, that's what I think his argument was. The problem is, that it was also a lot of wordplay and mind games where he would twist things around. It wasn't a very..... compelling argument. I'll put it that way. I am always inclined to listen to anyone's argument because I myself have struggled with doubts and I'm willing to hear you out if you think you've got it all sorted.
I really, really would love to get some comments on this one. Do you have any thoughts or arguments as to why or why not anyone should have faith or religious beliefs?
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Growing Happiness
Take a deep breath with me, exhale slowly, smile and imagine everywhere you look there is food growing at marvelous paces. That has been my morning thus far. Happy. Peaceful. Full of growth.
I now have two places where I am utterly happy. The first is my beautiful garden.
The second....wait for it, cuz it's CRAZY...... is our church. When did that happen?! I don't know, and if you knew me during my teenage and college years, you remember that I hated church. I used to barf on purpose to get out of going to the church I went to as a kid. But now, I find peace in the walls of our sanctuary, beauty in the stained glass and the vaulted ceiling and rest in the presence of the Holy Spirit being there. And that is the difference. The church I went to as a youth had.....issues. The one we are in now has God - the real God. :)
Last week I finally went to the farmer's market to get strawberries. We've had a bad season for strawberries. It snowed until May for example. Our local UPick went out of business. Fortunately we live near the Indiana/Michigan border, and there are plenty of Michigan farmers willing to share their harvest. I bought a 'flat' which is about 8 pints and brought them home. Today, finally, I will be able to finish slicing and freezing them. Some for jam, some for just eating with sugar and cottage cheese, and some are also going to be made into strawberry-rhubarb pie for a beach party we'll be attending this weekend.
Today I have a massive to-do list, and yet, here I sit at the computer. It's my day off for the week, and I LOVE my days off. I get to do those things at home that I love to do. Cook, garden, crochet booties and fulfill orders from the Etsy shop , fill pages of blank journal with thoughts and ideas and rest up. Well, I did get the floors vacuumed, the sheets washed, the dishes washed and the bathrooms cleaned. From here on out it's just errand upon errand. And that's okay! Some of those errands include trips to friends' houses to drop off the tomato and pumpkin plants that I have excessive amounts of. (Did you want a few??)
Did I mention that I have a little over 40 tomato plants and about 400 pumpkin and gourd starts?
I'm going out to finally purchase the food dehydrator that I promised myself 2 years ago when I started canning and preserving. Today's plan is to harvest chamomile and dill and get them dried and sealed up for later use. Especially the cham. That has been a staple in my tea chest for some time now.
Oh! Before I forget, Alex and I have accomplished something financially that we are quite proud of! We paid off 3 small credit cards! All were carrying balances between $100 and $400 - and we knocked them out. One more credit card to pay off for us, and we will officially be out of credit card debt. Then it's on to student loans. :)
I now have two places where I am utterly happy. The first is my beautiful garden.
The second....wait for it, cuz it's CRAZY...... is our church. When did that happen?! I don't know, and if you knew me during my teenage and college years, you remember that I hated church. I used to barf on purpose to get out of going to the church I went to as a kid. But now, I find peace in the walls of our sanctuary, beauty in the stained glass and the vaulted ceiling and rest in the presence of the Holy Spirit being there. And that is the difference. The church I went to as a youth had.....issues. The one we are in now has God - the real God. :)
Last week I finally went to the farmer's market to get strawberries. We've had a bad season for strawberries. It snowed until May for example. Our local UPick went out of business. Fortunately we live near the Indiana/Michigan border, and there are plenty of Michigan farmers willing to share their harvest. I bought a 'flat' which is about 8 pints and brought them home. Today, finally, I will be able to finish slicing and freezing them. Some for jam, some for just eating with sugar and cottage cheese, and some are also going to be made into strawberry-rhubarb pie for a beach party we'll be attending this weekend.
Today I have a massive to-do list, and yet, here I sit at the computer. It's my day off for the week, and I LOVE my days off. I get to do those things at home that I love to do. Cook, garden, crochet booties and fulfill orders from the Etsy shop , fill pages of blank journal with thoughts and ideas and rest up. Well, I did get the floors vacuumed, the sheets washed, the dishes washed and the bathrooms cleaned. From here on out it's just errand upon errand. And that's okay! Some of those errands include trips to friends' houses to drop off the tomato and pumpkin plants that I have excessive amounts of. (Did you want a few??)
Did I mention that I have a little over 40 tomato plants and about 400 pumpkin and gourd starts?
I'm going out to finally purchase the food dehydrator that I promised myself 2 years ago when I started canning and preserving. Today's plan is to harvest chamomile and dill and get them dried and sealed up for later use. Especially the cham. That has been a staple in my tea chest for some time now.
Oh! Before I forget, Alex and I have accomplished something financially that we are quite proud of! We paid off 3 small credit cards! All were carrying balances between $100 and $400 - and we knocked them out. One more credit card to pay off for us, and we will officially be out of credit card debt. Then it's on to student loans. :)
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Creative Inventory Q&A Part 7
Does nature influence your creativity? How so?
In a word, yes.
But this sounds very similar to the question about whether or not there is a certain element that draws me.
I am a Taurus, and Earth-sign, and one that is definitely influenced by nature. Sometimes I am exasperating to others because I simply must stop in the middle of whatever it is I am doing to go and examine those roses over there, or the leaves of that tree, or the texture of those rocks. I am often compelled by Nature to stop and take in the beauty all around me.
I am always stunned by the amazing detail that is in the Earth. It's one of the things that leads me to believe in a Creator God and not just billions of years of accidental explosions - although I do have elements of the theory of evolution that I believe whole-heartedly. I just don't believe that it all came from nothing and will some day all return to nothing. (Call me crazy, it helps me feel like I have hope and a purpose on this waterball of a planet we call home.)
Side tangent - sort of. Often Christian ministers will remind their flocks that God is their Father, and the perfect father; the one who nurtures, and loves unconditionally and never fails, so unlike many earthly fathers, especially in our modern society. But I always had trouble finding God to be a heavenly Father because, well, my father was about as close to perfect as can be. I love my Daddy, and I don't think he has ever let me down yet. He isn't God, but he was unselfish and supportive through our entire upbringing. It's hard to replace that earthly father with God if you don't really have a reason to. It was at this point that I started identifying God as more of an Artist and source of true inspiration for me. Now of course, I recognize all the elements of Christian faith, but it was when I began to seek God for a facet of His personality that I could actually identify with, that I began to have a real relationship with him. God does fill gaps in our lives - He just doesn't fill the same gaps in everybody's lives.
Nature brings me to my knees in wonder. Just as an example of how I draw inspiration, I will mention that I've always been a bit of a collector and still to this day I have a collection of stones and seeds and dried flowers lined up on my kitchen windowsill. The different textures, colors and patterns have incited different landscapes in my stories, specific details in my paintings and probably most importantly, make me smile during the day.
I thank God for the beauty and detail of his marvelous Art Project. Nothing brings greater joy to this artist's soul than knowing that He made it to help draw my best ideas out of me.
In a word, yes.
But this sounds very similar to the question about whether or not there is a certain element that draws me.
I am a Taurus, and Earth-sign, and one that is definitely influenced by nature. Sometimes I am exasperating to others because I simply must stop in the middle of whatever it is I am doing to go and examine those roses over there, or the leaves of that tree, or the texture of those rocks. I am often compelled by Nature to stop and take in the beauty all around me.
I am always stunned by the amazing detail that is in the Earth. It's one of the things that leads me to believe in a Creator God and not just billions of years of accidental explosions - although I do have elements of the theory of evolution that I believe whole-heartedly. I just don't believe that it all came from nothing and will some day all return to nothing. (Call me crazy, it helps me feel like I have hope and a purpose on this waterball of a planet we call home.)
Side tangent - sort of. Often Christian ministers will remind their flocks that God is their Father, and the perfect father; the one who nurtures, and loves unconditionally and never fails, so unlike many earthly fathers, especially in our modern society. But I always had trouble finding God to be a heavenly Father because, well, my father was about as close to perfect as can be. I love my Daddy, and I don't think he has ever let me down yet. He isn't God, but he was unselfish and supportive through our entire upbringing. It's hard to replace that earthly father with God if you don't really have a reason to. It was at this point that I started identifying God as more of an Artist and source of true inspiration for me. Now of course, I recognize all the elements of Christian faith, but it was when I began to seek God for a facet of His personality that I could actually identify with, that I began to have a real relationship with him. God does fill gaps in our lives - He just doesn't fill the same gaps in everybody's lives.
Nature brings me to my knees in wonder. Just as an example of how I draw inspiration, I will mention that I've always been a bit of a collector and still to this day I have a collection of stones and seeds and dried flowers lined up on my kitchen windowsill. The different textures, colors and patterns have incited different landscapes in my stories, specific details in my paintings and probably most importantly, make me smile during the day.
I thank God for the beauty and detail of his marvelous Art Project. Nothing brings greater joy to this artist's soul than knowing that He made it to help draw my best ideas out of me.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
A Moment of Thought
Today a poor bird flew into our picture window, broke his neck, fluttered to the porch floor, closed his eyes and died..
And yet somehow, the Holy Spirit used this to bring to mind a Bible verse that seems to be just for me.
Matthew 6:26
"Consider the birds of the air; for they do not sow, nor do they reap, or stow away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them (and provides care for them). Are you (precious children) not even more valuable (to your Heavenly Father) than they are?"
And yet somehow, the Holy Spirit used this to bring to mind a Bible verse that seems to be just for me.
"Consider the birds of the air; for they do not sow, nor do they reap, or stow away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them (and provides care for them). Are you (precious children) not even more valuable (to your Heavenly Father) than they are?"
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saying and Doing
A few months back I was trying to enter a business arrangement with a small company where a friend worked. I thought things were going really well, but in the end, they fell apart. The owner of the company did some very strange things, including telling me after our first meeting that I was no longer permitted to speak to her directly and needed to carry things out through her assistant. She also strung me along, promising a presentation, assuring me that she was interested, etc. only to have a receptionist call me at the last minute and cancel the presentation for the employees and ask that I never set foot in their place of business again. I called another friend who had been approached by this same woman for web design and she assured me that she was treated in the same way. In fact, it seems that a lot of people have been treated badly by this woman - she had a tendency to approach people for things and when she couldn't aquire them for free, or if it might cause the IRS to question her business practices (which I assure you, were questionable) she would quickly turn into a nasty bitch.
Later, I saw on Facebook, a comment about this woman on the profile of the friend who worked there. This was the comment: "Ohhhhhh! You work for So-and-So?! She's wonderful and she looooooooves Jesus!"
So she loooooooooves Jesus, eh?
Give me a break.
A lot of people can say that. And maybe she does looooooooove Jesus. But loving Jesus and then treating people like they're vermin pretty much cancels out the 'loving' part.
I thought we were supposed to follow two great commandments? You know, I believe Jesus DID say the greatest commandment was "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength" but then he added something. He said "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Go ahead. Love God all you want. But if you can't treat other human beings with the same love you've been shown - or if you're doing something that you know is wrong and in turn, it causes you to treat others poorly? - what good is loving God?
You know what the number one thing I heard that the world hates about 'Christians'? It isn't that we believe in unreasonable hocus-pocus, or that we turned a philosopher into a god - it's the attitude of self-righteous arrogance and hypocrisy that 'Christians' walk around with. It's pride. It's bigotry toward those who can't see the truth in the same way that they do.
Believers, we were not given an option on who to love. We don't get to choose to 'love' the people around us that we hold most dear. The people we were commanded to show love to are those that hate us, those who are our enemies, those who are not worthy of loving.
Don't walk around claiming to love Jesus if you haven't even figured out how to be nice to the poor girl at the cash register, or the harrassed server at the restaurant.
And for God's sake, take that damn Jesus fish off of your car.
Later, I saw on Facebook, a comment about this woman on the profile of the friend who worked there. This was the comment: "Ohhhhhh! You work for So-and-So?! She's wonderful and she looooooooves Jesus!"
So she loooooooooves Jesus, eh?
Give me a break.
A lot of people can say that. And maybe she does looooooooove Jesus. But loving Jesus and then treating people like they're vermin pretty much cancels out the 'loving' part.
I thought we were supposed to follow two great commandments? You know, I believe Jesus DID say the greatest commandment was "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength" but then he added something. He said "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Go ahead. Love God all you want. But if you can't treat other human beings with the same love you've been shown - or if you're doing something that you know is wrong and in turn, it causes you to treat others poorly? - what good is loving God?
You know what the number one thing I heard that the world hates about 'Christians'? It isn't that we believe in unreasonable hocus-pocus, or that we turned a philosopher into a god - it's the attitude of self-righteous arrogance and hypocrisy that 'Christians' walk around with. It's pride. It's bigotry toward those who can't see the truth in the same way that they do.
Believers, we were not given an option on who to love. We don't get to choose to 'love' the people around us that we hold most dear. The people we were commanded to show love to are those that hate us, those who are our enemies, those who are not worthy of loving.
Don't walk around claiming to love Jesus if you haven't even figured out how to be nice to the poor girl at the cash register, or the harrassed server at the restaurant.
And for God's sake, take that damn Jesus fish off of your car.
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