IMMERSED

Today, while sipping my morning coffee, I watched a Dove as she fed at my bird feeder on my deck rail. My feeder is a sort of makeshift feeder if you will, one that isn't so pretty but it does the job. It consists of a birdhouse that I purchased at the flea market and on either side, two plastic food containers for holding the bird seed. Yeah, like I said, not pretty but utilitarian completely. As I watched the dove feasting on the seed I noticed that she must have been hungry because it seemed that she couldn't get it fast enough. Then I laughed out loud because she stepped over the edge of the container and sat down right in the middle of the seed and just ate around herself. I think one reason I laughed so hard is my complete relating to her situation. There have been days, I thought to myself, that I was lonely or depressed or just bored and I have spent the day surrounding myself with food to alleviate the problem. I felt like I was eating around myself being fully immersed in the middle of my stuff! This dove was a vivid reminder of just how "immersed" we can get in our issues. It's as though nothing else matters or we don't even notice how consumed we  can get while trying to alleviate our pain by eating around ourselves. It's a funny and ridiculous picture but I'm sure it happens to others as well. Honestly! Tell me I'm not alone in this! At any rate, if you can relate at all just ask yourself this question. . ."what is it that I feel that I've fully immersed myself in and I am mindlessly medicating myself with?" You may be so immersed in your work that you are sleeping all the time and you feel that life is passing you by. You may be suffering grief so badly over a loss of someone that you are self medicating with drugs or alcohol. Or maybe you are so caught up in the mundane things of life like house cleaning, wiping little noses and picking up endless toys or laundry that you feel like you are immersed and drowning in your own weariness. Whatever that looks like just know that the issue isn't in what you are immersed in but the problem or issue comes from our response to that immersion. We can sit in the middle of our stuff and mundanely eat around our pain or we can be like that dove who, just now I might add, stood up and stepped out of where she was and flew off to the rest of her day. We can respond by changing our responses. We can change our obsessive working hours of overtime to get more of the almighty dollar and spend more time with our families instead of sleeping the time away from fatigue. We can grieve for those lost loved ones but reach out to others for companionship and help in the midst of our grief instead of closing the door and sitting alone in our stuff. We can get some housework done, maybe not all of it and then allow those toys to lay there on the floor while we take time for ourselves and our children by getting outside or going to the park. That stuff will always be there to do but our children won't. So what are you immersing yourself in and what is your response to that immersion? The best answer I can give you is one that either you've heard many many times or one that you don't desire to hear at all. The truth of it, for me at least, has been to fully immerse my self in my relationship with God through worship, fellowship with him in prayer and by the reading of His word. This was the crucial key to my responses to problems and issues when they arose. I no longer want to "eat around myself" medicating my pain with food but what I have immersed myself in and fed upon has been the thing that has equipped me to step out of the seed bin and go on with my day in a victorious and purposeful manner. It has been the answer! You know that little term " you are what you eat?", well, it's true. When you immerse and eat upon the word of God and feast in His presence and worship Him and send up your prayers to Him He will fill you and guide you through your pain, problems and issues. The more deeply we are immersed in a relationship with God the more you love Him and the more you'll look to Him for help. It says in II Timothy 3:16-17 " All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be throughly equipped for every good work". So, your immersion question is answered! Immerse yourself in Christ, his word and a relationship with Him and He will be the only medication or remedy to your issues or pain. Praying for you today my friends that you will be free from "eating around yourself" and equipped with His bread of life for newness of life! 

Milk-ee Or Milk-er?

"WAS IT A BAD DAY? OR WAS IT A BAD 5 MINUTES THAT YOU MILKED ALL DAY?

Oh man! I laughed straight out loud when I read this little note online the other day. I know people like that! Truly, don't ask them about their trouble if they just proclaimed it loudly for everyone to hear. You will most assuredly get an earful.. . . . over and over and over again. Each time they think they have someone's attention to their plight they revel in replaying the whole thing. Oh the agony but no ecstasy! If you happen to work in a large office you most probably have seen it played out many times. The "milk-ee" is totally at the mercy of the one who is replaying their story, the "milk-er"! How many times do you need a compassionate "awwww" or a "that was unfair to you" before you feel vindicated in your pain? And, like the note says, was your whole day bad or did you just become a "milk-er" for a problem that took place in 5 minutes? So sad isn't it, to think people are so starved for attention, accolades and affirmation (the AAA of worldly self esteem) that they have to drag others through their muck over and over and over again to make themselves feel better. Here we go again, the "me" pushes its way to the forefront shoving selflessness to the ground and stands center ring in a victory clasp! I pray that I've never been a "milk-er" but sadly I can almost say with assuredness that I probably have been. Let me take a moment to say that if you know me and I've done the milking, I apologize profoundly. It is never my heart to revel in my misery and pain and may I add, continue to do so many many times. It's not Gods heart either I believe. When we spend so much time focusing on the plight or problem we can be pushing ourselves further away from the solution. While we think the solution of milking it and sharing it with others will help us get through, we are sorely wrong. It's sort of like putting vinegar in an open wound. It hurts and stings continuously and we think the vinegar will heal it and make it better eventually. Wrong! "Cast all your cares on ME, for I care for you" says the Lord. NOT others, ME! "The Lord hears me when I call him. . . Search your hearts and be silent". We have such a boundless fountain of "how to get it right" and all of it is laid out in Gods Word. Run to him, pour out your complaint to him, be silent and search your heart and I can guarantee you that if you do that first you will be less likely to defile the eyes, ears and hearts of others with your problems. And yes, the Bible does say to bear ye one another's burdens and having a close friend to confide in and help process your solution can be good but beyond that where it involves many others, not so good. Ultimately when we get it right by running to the only one who can make it right, we will win the day! You can then maybe ask your self, "Was it a good day? Or was it a good 5 minutes talking to the Lord and giving him my problem?" When milking time is over it's time to rest awhile and isn't it a better feeling to know and rest in the one who cares for you better than anyone?

Advertising Assault

Today I am sitting at a phenominal auction that is chock full of old advertising items. I Don't think I've ever seen so much of it in one place before. There are old drug store signs, old magazine pages with vintage Coke & Pepsi ads, old showcases from the old 5 & 10 cent stores and I could go on and on! I am experiencing a visual assault of epic preportions of paper, photos and company logos. It's amazing isn't it how much of what we purchase and partake of is driven by all this stuff! If I want my mouth to be "minty fresh" then I must buy some Wrigleys Spearmint Gum. If I want to have a "heavenly coffee" experience then the only coffee to drink is Chock Full O Nuts! And, if I want the whitest smile ever, I must "brush my teeth with Pepsodent"! Wow! How do we get by in life without all of this valuable guidance? How can we know??? How do we choose? It's too overwhelming! I know, I know, these companies are out to just make a living and it's called "free enterprise" but seriously, shouldn't it be called " assault in disguise"? What did people do before all this advertising came into play to "help us along"? Are we gullible enough to believe all of these super slogans? Hmmm. As I sit here and ponder whether I am going to Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds for my favorite coffee after this auction, I have no trouble at all making my decision because I've tried them all and my taste buds have already made their choice so the cool pink and brown sign nor the mermaid will sway this Golden Arches girl!

Insight Insert:   We are "assaulted" on a daily basis with things , opinions and pictures that tell us what we should do, buy and how we should live. Switch off the tv this week, disconnect from the Internet and pull away for a bit and talk to your creator! Ask him where you should go, what you should do when you get there and what you should say when you encounter that moment of destiny. Trust him fully to guide your steps and be surprised at how it feels to listen to one voice only and act upon that! Life as you know it could change just a bit!

Scripture:  Isaiah 30:21.  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying "this is the way; walk in it."