The Way God Works

For the past month, my high school students have been reading the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The book is set in the 1930's and the plot revolves around a black man that has been falsely accused of raping a young white woman. Atticus Finch (The Lawyer) decided to take on the case of defending this man, even though he knew it meant that he would be looked down upon and would receive insult after insult by the white community. Even though he was consistenly put down by others, he continued to treat those people with respect and dignity.

The main lesson that Atticus was trying to teach his two young children through this case and his actions towards others, is that you can't make assumptions about people until you have walked a mile in their shoes. This theme is all throughout the book. As my students have been reading this novel, we have been talking a lot about how often we tend to think certain things about people without even knowing who they truly are.

Well, the Lord has been teaching me this lesson this week. For the past week, my husband and I have had a 19-year old staying at our house. He came to Clermont from Wisconsin because he wanted to help our church (we are a new church plant) out in different areas. Well, "John" is a free spirit. He's all about adventure and he's all about developing relationships with others. He's also a college age student. One who doesn't always clean up his room or his mess in the kitchen. If you know me, you know that I tend to be a clean freak! So, it has taken some adjusting on my part. At one point, I was allowing myself to really get mad about all of this. At one point, I was getting annoyed by the smallest things. Then it happened. The Lord really spoke to me. He reminded me of what I was just teaching my students this past week. He reminded me of who it is that we are called to love. He reminded me of those people that he reached out to. All I have to do is think of the 12 Disciples. Talk about a crazy group of men. I'm sure they were not always the easiest men to get along with. But you know what, the Lord loved them, believed in them, and helped them in any way possible. And guess what-The Lord has told me that this is what I need to do with "John"-love him, encourage him, and help him in any way possible even if I get "annoyed" at times.

So, who in your life is the Lord calling you to love, encourage, and help? Who are those people in your life that tend to annoy you?

When you start to get annoyed with someone, remember how patient the Lord is with us. His love for us never fails. He continues to believe in us, encourage us, and help us-if we will allow Him to.

Blessings,
Jen

The Daffodil Principle...

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house, I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren. "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car."

"How far will we have to drive?"

"Oh...just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "But I'll drive. I'm used to this."

After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn.

"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the.

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read.

The second answer was, "1 at a time, by 1 woman. 2 hands, 2 feet, and 1 brain."

The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.

Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time -- often just one baby-step at time -- and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal 35 or 40 years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle.

Stop waiting.....
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So... work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching.

If you want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to someone special. I just did!

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

(Author Unknown)

Proverbs...

I LOVE the book of Proverbs because there is SO much wisdom in almost every verse. Here are two of my favorite verses about God's plans for our life from Proverbs.

"Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:6

"Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3

What do these verses mean to you?

New Year...Already?

I still don’t feel like it’s a new year. I am a planner and organizer, so usually by this time I have my new calendar ready, my list of goals prepared, and all of the previous year’s “stuff” put away. Well this year is completely different. I’m still sorting, dreaming, and getting ready for the New Year. Where does the time go?

As I was starting to think about goals for 2007, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that the most important goal is “Becoming the Woman God Desires,” which can only be done by growing my relationship with God. I’ve decided that if I put all of my energy into developing this important relationship, then everything else will fall into place. Don’t get me wrong, I have LOTS of other goals and aspirations for the year (I warned you that I was a planner), but in reality in order to accomplish those things I must be spending quality time with God letting Him lead my life.

My “Quiet Time” has become the most sacred part of my day. It is during those moments that God begins to mold and shape my life. Over the years my “Quiet Time” has looked very different. However, just a few months ago, I adopted a new format that has radically changed my life and most importantly my time with God. I learned this method from Becky Tirabassi when I saw her in conference. However, since then she has released an amazing book, “Sacred Obsession: What you Chase After, You Become.” I highly recommend the book, in fact, I’ve been passing around several copies to all of my friends…they are tired of hearing about it! Anyway, in the book she outlines the prayer method that she has used for many years. So, I decided to try the method for myself. There is nothing radical about it…just a way of responding and listening to God speak. What happened for me was amazing. I would sense that God was telling me something, so I would write it down, then in most cases it would be confirmed in the scripture readings for the day. It has been an amazing experience, that hasn’t happened just once or twice, but almost daily. As a friend says, “it is like God is sitting on my couch and we’re having a conversation.”

What is your primary goal for 2007?

How do you spend your time with God?

Have you read “Sacred Obsession” by Becky Tirabassi? If so, what were your favorite aspects of the book?

Do you practice Becky’s prayer method? If so, please share your experiences.

Happy New Year!

Can you believe that it's 2007 already? I can't. Today my husband and I decided to do some shopping that relates to one of our resolutions for 2007-getting in shape once again! I found it very interesting how stores like Target and Walmart "strategically" placed a variety of work out equipment in areas that people would no doubt see them. Like many other people, my husband and I have really decided to make excercise a priority this year. No more excuses for us. We have also made the resolution to eat healthier. First off, we just spend way too much money on eating out and then when we do eat out, we eat the not so healthy stuff. We are determined this year to not only eat healthy, but to actually take the time to eat at home. My goal is to lose 30 pounds this year. I'm DETERMINED!!

Another area that I am really wanting to explore this year is that of writing. For some reason, I have just felt like the Lord is really laying it on my heart to not only develop my writing skills, but to also make time to write those things that are upon my heart. My goal is to hopefully try to attend 1 writing conference this year, hopefully two.

Lastly, but yet, most importantly, I desire to draw closer to the Lord. I don't know about you, but it's so easy to allow everything else to get in the way (kinda like the whole excercise thing) that by the time the day ends, you have not spent one minute with that most imporant person in your life-Jesus. I am determined to focus more on what the Lord has to say to me both through his word and prayer. Like most women, I have my days where I'm like, ok, what am I here for? Lord, what are you doing in my life? I have those times where I experience that deep longing that only the Lord can fulfill. But yet, I allow the things of this world to take me away from spending that precious time with him. You would think that since I know what it is that would fill that longing and yearning, I would chase after that, but alas, I don't always do that. My goal is that by the time 2007 comes to an end, I would not be the same Jennifer that I am today. Instead I want to be the Jennifer who is so well connected to her Lord, that she allows nothing to take the place of His time with her.

So there you have it-my goals and aspirations for 2007. What do you hope to accomplish in 2007? Looking forward to reading your responses.

Blessings,
Jen