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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Impossible?

I was reading in Exodus today and one of my devotions was talking about all the miracles Jesus performed while He was here and earth. And I just began to think about it. In today's society we spend so much time on worry. We worry about the mortgage payment, the car payment, health insurance, who to vote for, our children, our spouses. We spend so much time doubting whether or not God will take care of us.
And you may think, well sure it was easy to believe in the days of the Bible. Jesus was performing miracles all the time. In Exodus, God did miraculous things. He spoke, He burned bushes, He delivered the Israelites. He was present in all those circumstances, but not now.

Well I would submit to you, that He is every bit as present today as He was then. We may not be able to see His face and touch His scars, but Jesus walks among us every day. We still see miracles every day. I was talking with a friend about how we ask God to provide for us and how we always think we know what that will look like. The car dies and he provides the money for the repair. Well, sometimes he provides an inexpensive repair and that is every bit as much of a miracle as miraculously getting a check in the mail that was unexpected.

We see miracles every day, but sometimes, we don't recognize them for what they are. My son has a brain injury from birth. It affects him still today but not severely. As I was doing research on it I realized just how badly it could have gone for him. There was basically a perfect storm happening when I gave birth to him and he could have been born severely brain damaged or even died. So the fact that he is alive and has minimal damage is nothing short of a miracle.

I look around my life and see these subtle miracles every single day. If you were to stop and examine your life, what miracles would you find? I encourage you to do that today. And then thank God for those miracles. He loves you so much that He is mindful of you every moment. He is alive and He is present and with God, all things truly possible.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Thank You Daniel

Our church is doing a 21 day Daniel Fast. Now, I'm a girl who likes meat. Steak is your friend, chicken, free range or not, is just plain yummy, seafood has it's place on my table as well. But truly, as much as I enjoy food, I could almost live on a Daniel Fast were it not for the lack of yeast in the diet. My 10 year old even said tonight after dinner, "thanks mom, we should have more of that. It was delicious!" Those are beautiful words to a mother's ears, especially when he's talking about food that good for him!

But, what I am finding difficult is the fast from Facebook once a week. I know right! You would think that a one day away from Facebook shouldn't be difficult. Now, I wouldn't say I'm addicted to Facebook, but I would say, it has definitely become a habit. The kids say something funny, I tweet it. Fun and exciting news, OH! status update! I wonder what everyone is up to today? Let's check the News Feed.

I have found it rather disturbing how many times today I have gone to my computer to update my status, send someone a message or just "check in". I'm not in withdraw not being able to do it, but it truly has become a way of life. So my question to you is this? What is in your life that has become a habit or a "way of life", that you do even without thinking? And then, is it necessary? I think I will turn this Facebook Fast into a way of life. I may schedule some time each week to unplug and show my flesh that my spirit is in charge. So guess what I did tonight? Instead of getting on Facebook or tweeting, I played and read with my son. Got some reading done and had a nice relaxing evening.
Thank you Daniel