August's WOW - IRA or ERA

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Proverbs 23:5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle towards heaven.

Wow, I don’t know what you think when you read that verse, but my head and my heart so need this visual truth. It’s almost like you can see dollar bills of every denomination sprout wings and fly away, especially after a session of bill paying, huh? Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by today for our Coffee Hour! It’s that time again, our WOW time! Whew, I can’t believe August is almost gone. Where has this year gone? Anyway, if you’re new to CPM and TCU, WOW stands for Weapons of Warfare and/or Words of Wisdom so grab your coffee and your strand of faith and let’s go tie some knots as we put ourselves into our WOW for August.

Just last week, I parked my car in the credit union parking lot, ready to bang my head on the steering wheel as I contemplated what I was about to go do: -- no, I wasn’t about to rob the bank; J however, I was going to withdraw yet again from the savings account. My mind raced with all sorts of thoughts, positive, negative and everything in between. I was getting closer and closer to the ledge of despair as I calculated how much we needed this month. “But at least we have it,” I muttered aloud. Another negative thought pulled on my emotions, and again I pushed it away with a positive thought. I reminded myself that it never pays off to put our hope in money.  But let’s be honest: it sure does help us along, doesn’t it?

I tried not to dance with the enemy by entertaining the constant thoughts and questions flitting through my head as if they were all doing the fox trot on hallowed ground, but I wasn’t quite able to send all of them out on their butts. I had sort of a scowl in my heart, and honestly, I questioned God, asking Him why I had to be tested so much; I’d surrendered to my calling in ministry; what more did/does He want? A groan escaped me as tears ran down my face, tears that cried “When will you put my husband back to work?” More tears came trickling down as more questions surfaced unspoken: When would I have to stop simplifying and minimizing in the name of a budget, and when would my needs be met according to His riches in heaven? (Phil. 4:19)

What an emotional tug-of-war that was, aka, a pity party and I was the only party present! Have you ever been present at anyone else’s pity party, or thrown your own? Well, there’s nothing positive about a pity party and the longer we stay there, the more uninvited guests will show up; you know, negative Nellie, desperate Debra, sad Sally…you get the picture.  I blew my nose, wiped my face and gathered my purse and phone, ordering the thoughts to go away.  Truth pushed me out my car door and into the door of the credit union, the truth that at least we have a savings account to take from.  Funny thing was I walked right up to a teller; there was no one in line. I guess God didn’t want to give me any more time in my pity party.  I was in and out of there so fast my head was sort of spinning!

By the time I got home, I had left my pity party, physically and emotionally; I had moved on to the next thing: my last class for the semester! It wasn’t until the next morning in my own Coffee Hour with my Abba that He reminded me of that pity party with Proverbs 23:5 and I can still hear Him in a gentle kind of stern voice ask me: “Will you set your eyes on that which is not?” Oh, His Word can really render me silent and humble! And then I finished reading:”For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle towards heaven.”

Oh, Coffee Hour friend, there is nothing concrete about money and as I continued on with my time with Him, I was reminded that to have an Eternal Retirement Account is so much better than to have an Investment Retirement Account. What are we investing in? Are we diligently and consistently seeking after the things of God, with God and for God? How do we spend our days? Are we too busy worrying how our next bill will get paid, so much so that we miss out on those moments where we just know His fingerprints were left upon us and He provided?

Really what it comes down to is we just need to be about His business because He’s all about ours and He does have our every need in His heart and will meet it. Perhaps we confuse need with want and when we focus on a want, perhaps that want may escort us right into a pity party. Will we walk into that party, or will we turn the other way and seek to find a praise party?

The more I learn, the less I know, but this I do know: HIS WORD NEVER LIES! His promises are checks that will not bounce! You can deposit them…in the depths of your soul that you may withdraw from them whenever you need them.

As you read this, I pray that you will hear Him ask you these questions in such a loving and assuring voice and that you would know that you know that you know that He will never leave you high and dry, never leave you or forsake you and He will never leave you in time of need…as long as He’s invited to the party of your life!

Love,

Evinda

July’s WOW Worship…or Worry?

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

“Cast your cares on the Lord; He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” Psalm 55:22

Happy day to you and thanks for returning for our Coffee Hour and our July’s Weapons of Warfare and Words of Wisdom! Grab your coffee, journal and your Strand of Faith. I’m praying you will tie some major double-knots in that SOF! I left off with hearing the words “worship or worry”!

I shook my head with conviction as I pondered on those words. Immediately I confessed my choosing to worry instead of worshipping. I got the movie and watched it from where/when it had started, ever so slow and sneakily. I should have harnessed it right back on track, but instead I followed the pull and rewinding it and really looking at it, I can see the track it took me to: seeking control! That’s not living up to God’s standard…to trust Him in all things knowing that His plan is to lift us up, not tear us down! Oh, how true it is, another mini download He gave me: the more we seek control, the more we worry.

Oh to be utterly and completely out of control trusting the “One “who has all the control. I guess a good way of saying it is the more I relinquish control the more in control I am.  But there’s more; He wasn’t done with me yet and He added some distance to my intended run! And what I heard next did stop me in my tracks…I nearly tripped over this gentle form of conviction: “Did you know that worry is a form of worship?”

As I stood there for a few minutes, I repeated those words with my own question attached to them: “How and who?”

“Worry is a form of self-worship!”

Ouch… Yes, my Coffee Hour friend to worry and be anxious about anything is missing the mark by not living up to His standard by failing to believe He loves us enough to carry us over and above all that worries us and causes us anxiety. Oh, how I love these promises that come right after the simple directive of casting our burden upon the Lord, our Abba, for He will sustain us and He will never let us fall…so this is as much for me as it is for you, Friend. Are you crumbling under worry and anxiety, or you casting all that concerns you upon the One who loves you and will never leave or forsake you?

Father, forgive me for thinking higher of myself than I ought to by trying to tend to, hold on to every detail physically, emotionally and spiritually. Please help me to worry less and worship you more…knowing YOU got this!

Letting go…hourly…of worry,

Evinda

July's WOW Worship…or Worry?

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Psalm 55:22 “Cast your cares on the Lord; He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”

Thanks for taking time out of your day for our Coffee Hour! I almost forgot about our monthly WOW, Words of Wisdom and/or Weapons of Warfare. Oh, how true it is that the Word is our greatest tool, turned weapon , in times of difficulty, times of reaching out to others, times of joy, sadness…all the time the Word is powerfully refreshing, granting a new perspective, especially if we make a habit to feast upon it! Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith (SOF) and let’s go and talk about worry!

I am really good at minimizing this word, offering a cliché statement like, “everybody does it,” or “who doesn’t have worry?” Well, over the last several weeks, more than I care to admit, I’ve been in a constant state of worry and anxiety, finding it difficult to take a deep breath, let alone breath normal. Let me tell you, I am learning that neither of those statements actually negates this truth: that while the Bible doesn’t call worry a sin, He does grieve when we worry. Why? Because to have worry and/or anxiety as a constant companion is actually a failure to trust the “One” who loves us so much He sent His Son to die for all that I/we worry about, for every ounce of our worry and anxiety! I so wish I would have had this vision earlier of disappointing Him. I can almost see Him standing there, looking at me run around like a chicken with my head cut off, shaking his head not in frustration or anger, but in sadness, holding His hands out, asking ever so quietly, “Are you going to give me that which worries you, Evinda, that which is causing you so much anxiety?” Oh, what a visual.

I can honestly see how easy it is to get caught in a whirlpool and undercurrent of worry! Why oh why did I minimize the dangers of worry and anxiety? There is absolutely no excuse, especially since many of His promises have come alive in me in my lifetime! Well, I am guilty as charged and now because of what I know, I must choose a different way of stress management.

Let me share how I came upon these truths:

It wasn’t until I was out for my run just the other day that this hit me…nearly stopping me dead in my tracks while allowing a source of lightning of understanding pulse through to my soul. There I was, running…not very fast. As a matter of fact, my thoughts were definitely running faster than I was, felt like at the speed of lighting. Inside my head was what felt like a thousand details to tend to for our Five-year anniversary party which was just a few days away at that time and you would think the faster the thoughts came, the more I picked up speed. Normally that’s what happens…but not this time; I think a turtle would have caught up to me!

As I wrestled with several of the details, I’m sure if someone were to take a picture of the inside of my brain, they would have seen a giant roller-coaster whose track went in every single direction, including dips and climbs, and someone resembling a freaked-out mouse on the track! :-)

I can hear you say, “Why didn’t you delegate?” Oh, I did, trust me…but could have done so even more! Anyway, I’m running along and all of a sudden, in the quietness of my soul two words came up and out and I mean I actually spoke them after I heard them! “Worship or worry”?

I almost stopped but I wanted to hear more…and I did!

Join me tomorrow for the conclusion to our July’s WOW!

Letting go of worry…one minute at a time

Evinda

June’s WOW Life in the Fast Lane and the Narrow Road

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Matthew 7:14 “For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Thanks so much for joining me today for our Coffee Hour and more of our WOW for June. Can you believe it; June’s about gone! Whew, talk about the fast lane! Grab your coffee and your strand of faith, and let’s get back to my car situation where I had completely blown by a dummy light, which turned out to be a real warning sign!

There is a double edged sword to being in ministry because what I teach, I must live and as I write from my heart to yours, I have to tell you, I have told/taught my trench students over and over again to pay attention to the emotional dashboard, analogizing it to the dashboard in our cars! Well, hello! My car was trying to tell me something and I was too busy to listen! Really!?!  Yes, because I was too busy, and didn’t make the time to take the time, I blew right by the warning signs.

A few days after telling my husband the first time, I got in my car…in a hurry, and saw the light again. Hey, at least I was slowing down enough to see it! I dug into my memory bank, deeper … farther … oh, yeah, there it is! I remembered! This light was trying to tell me something about my tire; that’s right. I breathed a sigh of relief and pushed it back, though not as far down, but still down the hallway of my mind, moving on to my next destination. It could wait for later, I thought. Besides, the car felt fine. I didn’t feel anything different.

Well, later didn’t come until a week later, and only after my husband had asked me, for the “inth” time, if I had gotten it taken care of and got tired of hearing me say, “I haven’t had time,” did he take it to our local tire place. When he came home, he was a tiny bit irritated with me, letting me know that, unbeknownst to me, my tire was screaming for help and what apparently started as a little hole, became a bigger one and had to be replaced!

How in the world did my car even know that? As I realized the possible ramifications and just how many angels He must have had watching over me as I went here and there and everywhere on the crazy freeways of California, and how wonderful my husband is to take care of things I just don’t make the time to take the time for…my heart squeezed with humble joy, knowing I am loved that much. Oh, how I take so many things for granted.

I hugged my honey, and thanked him for taking care of it for me, for making me feel taken care of as well, and didn’t think too much more about it…until the next day when I got in the car to go to a meeting that required some freeway driving.

I don’t even remember where it was I was going; all I remembered noticing a difference in how the car drove! It was ever so slight, but I noticed that the ride was smoother and there wasn’t this pull … to the right.

That made me think; wow, life can be like that, right? Little by little, day by day, if we don’t do our tune-ups, do our maintenance, meet with our Maker, aka the Tour Guide, life can tend to pull us off track, off the narrow road and onto a path more traveled, and before we know it, we are going with the flow and against God’s will. When that happens, Coffee Hour Friend, stop, right where you are and allow yourself to be guided back to the narrow road!

Love from above,

Evinda

June’s WOW Life in the Fast Lane and the Narrow Road

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Matthew 7:14 “For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and thanks for joining us for this special time of the month, our Words of Wisdom and Weapons of Warfare. Oh, how awesome it is when something in our lives collides with a circumstance and fills it with wonder, with hope, widening our knowledge while narrowing the road in our journey. Come on; grab your coffee and let’s go talk about the narrow road.

As I read this verse, and did a little research on it, I was reminded of something that actually brought it to life for me. Before I tell you how and why, I have to ask you this: did you know that gate and road are analogous to “way” and that “life” is used in this context as eternal life? So let’s rewrite it just to wrap our hearts around it: For the way is narrow and the way is hard that leads to eternal life!

Wow, in other words, the high way to heaven is the hard way, a narrow way but the good news is that the closer we stick to our Travel Guide through this life, the more we’ll hear and see the warning signs and the less we’ll detour. I must admit, there are times when I’m moving so fast I forget to acknowledge He’s even there.

As I was driving along the other day, I noticed one of my, what I refer to as, dummy lights on the dashboard … “what is that telling me?” I wondered aloud. Well that thought was fleeting, as I pulled off the freeway headed towards my first to-do of the day, thinking about the rest of the day’s appointments and things I needed to get done at the office … until I got back in the car several hours later and there it was again.

Later on, I told my husband that the light was on, thought it was something to do with the tire, but I wasn’t sure. His response: “You should take it by Good Year tomorrow.” Again I pushed it into the crevices of my brain!

Oh, how many times have we done that when temptation of any kind strikes? You know what I mean, when we ignore that little still voice of the soul that warns us not to do something? I know I have my hands raised and anything else I can to admit: I’m guilty! Those warnings are there for a reason: to keep us from danger and/or harm!

Our bodies give us signals; for example: I know my body doesn’t do well with too much sugar, especially the chocolate kind, but it’s even more dangerous for me right before bed. Why? I’m so glad you asked: Because I wind up in a full-blown hormonal panic attack! Do you think that has stopped me from doing it again? Uh, well, no. I have repeated it but not very often. I try to pay attention to that warning within.

But what about those life-altering warnings that had we heeded, just maybe things would be different; for example, a not-so-healthy relationship choice, or a temptation to return to an old not-so-healthy habit/behavior because, what the heck, everyone else does it?

When we are so busy living life in the fast lane, we can tend to lose our way, wind up on the wider road, go in a direction we shouldn’t…but the good news is that God can right the wrong turn, the wrong choice, the wrong road taken…if we slow down enough to take the time to make the time to seek Him in all things. The farther we stray from His Spirit, the more we’ll miss those warning signs and the wider the road comes. The wider the road, the faster life goes. I know this because in ministry, though I know what I believe and am confident of my relationship with Him, life can get very fast and though the road is still narrow, I can tend to lose my way if I get even just a step ahead.

Join me tomorrow for the conclusion to this month’s WOW! And remember, keep your eyes and ears open for the warning signs that try and keep you away from the road less traveled…and try to avoid the fast lane!

Love from above,

Evinda

May's WOW, Tasty Words!

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Thanks so much for joining me today for the conclusion to our May’s Words of Wisdom and Weapons of Warfare. Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s get back to these tasty words found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians.
So we’ve been encouraged by Paul that even in light of disagreement with others and their beliefs, we are to add sweetness to our words with the spice of grace. He then continues to add flavor by saying: “. . . seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Well, if grace is the sugar, what is the salt? In Ephesians 4:29, Paul warns us about corrupt words coming out of our mouths and to make sure that what comes out is good for necessary edification and that it imparts grace to the hearer. So is the “salt” necessary edification? Let’s explore that through the Greek concordance.
Ouch! Salt translates to “prudence.” So in other words, we must be slow to speak, not only think before we speak, but pray before we speak.
Metaphorically speaking, salt refers to character and condition of the believer. Salt is also used as a metaphorical symbol of peace and of wisdom.
Did you know that salt has purifying, perpetuating and antiseptic qualities? Think about it: salt on a wound does what? Salt on sweet fruit does what? Do you see the significance and the healing power our salty words could have?
Jesus used salt figuratively as a symbol of spiritual health and vigor which is essential to Christian virtue and counteracts the corruption that is in the world. Is it any wonder that a sign of our Spiritual health is revealed in and through our Tasty Words?
Oh, to be more sweet and salty . . . Join me tomorrow for Croley’s Corner @ Chicklit Power and Faith Filled Fridays!

Evinda

May's WOW, Tasty Words!

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Thanks so much for joining me for a little coffee break today and more our WOW for May. Grab your coffee and come on in away from the demands upon your life and all the worldly noise, and don’t forget your Strand of Faith so we can tie some knots.
By the way, if I left you a bit hungry yesterday, I do apologize! :)
Let’s get to our tasty words – actually before I do that, let me give you sort of a historical backdrop so we may digest them with a whole new enjoyment!
Paul is writing his letter to the Colossian church from a prison cell in Rome and I can only imagine how helpless he must have been feeling as the stories of syncretism were coming to him. In other words, the Colossian church was combining principles and ideas from other philosophies and religions, such as heathenism, Judaism with a bit of Greek thought with an emphasis on special knowledge that denied Christ as the Savior.
Let’s stop right there for just a minute! Dang it; I thought I was going to get away with a light-hearted blog this time, and not be so serious – (I’ve been in the trenches with my trenchers for eight weeks now to help others OUT of their wounds, weaknesses and worries and could use a little laughter) -- but this demands a bit of attention, this syncretism, which is in some ways like mixing sugar and salt, tempting! The teacher’s heart in me won’t just skip it.
It encourages my soul to know that “New Age” philosophies aren’t so “new agey,” if you know what I mean! More and more we are hearing about this doctrine that comes from mixing this and a little of that. For example: esotericism, a religious perspective that is based on the acquisition of mystical knowledge and is a form of Gnosticism. Or what about the “angel” craze? Anyway, the Word of God warns us about this and tells us we are to have an answer for our faith, to defend why we believe what we believe, and this is the motivation behind Paul’s letter that he wrote to the Colossians from his prison cell.
In verse 5 he is encouraging the Colossians to walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, meaning toward the non-Christian, the false teacher, the atheist, the prostitute, the addict . . . the list goes on and on. And then once you are in front of them, Paul says: Let your speech always be with grace – let’s stop right there.
Well, I’m sorry to be negative Nellie, but “always,” really? Fail! But as much as is possible – and I am in no way changing Paul’s Spirit inspired letter to the Colossians and to us; I just know I fall short every day but I get back up and try again, and His grace gives me permission to do just that!
The kind of grace that is referred to requires a divine influence upon the heart and indicates favor on the part of the giver. In other words, as we make our way toward the unbelieving soul, we are not to be accusatory and/or critical in speech but our words are to be flavored with graciousness, i.e. a little sugar.
Join me tomorrow for the salt!

Evinda

May's WOW, Tasty Words!

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Tasty Words
Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power! I can’t believe we are already close to summer! May’s halfway gone so I thought this would be a good time as any to get to our May’s WOW (Words of Wisdom & Weapons of Warfare)! Grab your coffee and your red Strand of Faith and follow me to the kitchen.
Since we’ve been talking about communication, I thought this verse was incredibly relevant for us and to us.
Have you ever made popcorn and then thrown in some chocolate chips, or some M&Ms? For some of you, that may be old news but it hasn’t been that long ago when someone told me to try that combination for the first time. I looked at them as though they were crazy. But when I actually tried it, oh, my goodness! It was like my taste buds burst with gladness over the combination of salty and sweet! But the balance has to be just right in order to achieve that taste-bud explosion that feels so good all the way down to the tummy.
I don’t know about you, but for me, texture is another important factor, though, so it’s not like I can just combine anything salty and anything sweet and experience that same ah-ha sensation. For instance, French fries and milkshakes doesn’t do it for me; in fact, I cringe when I think about that combination. Apple pie and cheese sort of makes my tummy queasy, though I can munch on a bite of apple and chase it with a piece of string cheese and enjoy it. It’s just not the same type of taste-bud explosion as the chocolate and popcorn combo!
As we get older, we are told to stay away from the salt – I can almost hear myself saying it in that ominous tone while holding my fingers in the shape of an X indicating the danger! But don’t you just love salt on cantaloupe, or honey dew melon. Again, the first time I tried that combination, I was shocked at the result: the salt made the fruit sweeter! And despite the warning about salt, I find the older I get, the more I crave both salt and sugar!
Well, the more I read the Scriptures, the more I crave, and the more I realize just how much He loves us, and how He gets us, every little thing about us: From our pet peeves, to and through our flaws, in our physical and emotional desires, and to our spiritual needs, He is there to meet us right where we are, and He even uses food to teach us!
The other day, I had opened a new jar of almond butter from Costco. Now, I replaced peanut butter with almond butter over a year ago and am still acquiring a taste for it, at least this brand. Well, in my half-asleep self, I had a brilliant idea: I bet it would be awesome if I added some salt to it! So, I grabbed my Morton’s Sea Salt, and let her rip … and a nice little heap came out.
My eyes got big, like I finally woke up, and I thought, I wonder if it’s too much? I must have sat there, stupefied for at least 30 seconds and then I moved into action. I grabbed the wooden spoon and began stirring … ever so slowly because if you have ever bought almond butter, you know that the worse thing about it is the oil does not cooperate! You have to stir it up and mix all that natural oil that stays at the top ever so slowly but firmly or else it oozes up and out everywhere. So I stirred and stirred… I considered that my arm workout for the day, and then satisfied I had mixed all the salt…. and oil, I cleaned up my mess, made my almond butter rice cake, grabbed my coffee and off to my Coffee Hour with God I went.
When I took my first bite, I wondered: Did I not stir it up right or is it just too salty? A thought fluttered across my mind, dancing like a star and I realized, we actually can be too salty in our speech, say too much and turn others away. So while salt is necessary for flavor, too much is not a good thing! It was a reminder for me in two different ministry situations that while salt is incredibly important to season my speech with grace, I need to go easy… and not dump a whole lot at once!
Join me tomorrow for some tasty words!

Evinda

Coffee in Cabo Aprils WOW

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

It Takes Courage to be Discouraged!

Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be  dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Welcome to our Coffee Hour and our WOW for April! For the next couple of days, we’ll be having our coffee in Cabo and as I write this for you and to you, imagine the sound of crashing waves, one right after the other. There is a seagull flying just out of our view now. The sand is warm between our toes, and all is right in the world in this moment. So before April’s gone, grab your coffee and your Red SOF and let’s go talk about courage.
I actually chose this WOW before I left to come to Cabo and set it aside to begin writing it when I got here, but my interest was truly piqued about this topic from one of my professors who spoke on this subject just last week. He began the class by asking us to shout out one word that described the best characteristic/virtue needed to live a fruitful Christian life … and courage was not up there, not even once! The majority of the virtues given were words all having to do with integrity and faith.
He then went on to share that he felt that courage was the most undervalued virtue in the Christian life. Talk about proving his point in the first few minutes of his lecture! Have you ever thought about it, the fact that it does take courage to live a life of faith-filled fruitfulness? Just two weeks prior, I realized the value of courage as well as the necessity and was able to see that God had indeed given me doses of courage along the journey of writing and ministry, but I don’t think I quite gave it the placement it needs to have in the realm of virtues.
So let me get back to our professor and this lecture on courage. He went on to share a couple of quotes that really tugged on my heart; the first one is by Aristotle: “You will never do anything in this life without courage.” As I rewound the years that had brought me to that night, I could see that courage was a big piece of the puzzle of my life.
Professor Cervantes gave us another quote, only this one by C.S. Lewis: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
Don’t you just love those truths?
So these quotes, especially C.S. Lewis’s got me to thinking; uh-oh; that’s dangerous! :) Anyway, if courage is the form of every virtue at its testing point, then that means, for example, when tempted to not be completely honest, it takes courage to defy the temptation and keep your integrity. It takes courage to love someone, especially when they are unlovable. It takes courage to work through fears. I mean think about it; anyone can be happy when things are going right, right? But it takes courage to choose joy when surrounded by trouble; it takes courage to overcome sorrow. But how can it be that it takes courage to be discouraged? Because at the testing point of courage is discouragement!
Here’s the definition he gave for courage: Courage is the capacity to persevere through fear, uncertainty, doubt, disappointment, pain and injustice for the sake of something greater than one’s self.
Isn’t that what God told Joshua in our WOW? And not just once; but three times in His pep talk to Joshua He told him not to be afraid, dismayed, discouraged as He prepared him to take over Moses’ position to lead the Israelites into the promised land … finally!
Oh, what courage it takes to get to our own Promised Land. And while everyone’s Promised Land is different, each of us will need courage to go where He sends us, to let go of what He takes, to give what we didn’t know we had, to trust with abandon the One who tells us: “Have I not commanded you, ______?” (Fill in your name.) “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go, _________.”
Oh, I can hardly wait to share a dose of courage I gained as I worked through a bought of discouragement, and more than once, on this trip to Cabo!
Join me tomorrow for more
Encouraged …

Evinda

The Waiting Room … In the Hospital of Life March's WOW

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.: Phil. 1:6
Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to share Coffee Hour with me … and more of this month’s WOW, The Waiting Room in the Hospital of Life. I truly hope you are enjoying what we are discovering as we walk through the rooms in the Hospital of Life with our Great Physician. Grab your coffee and your Red Strand of Faith.
So I shared a couple of exam room experiences, experiences that truly changed my life and the direction of it. Let me return to that first example, because it was shortly after the exam where He told me He was going to be taking me off of work that He actually came and took me to the O.R. room!
The morning after the county’s doctor called in an off-work order, I remember being somewhat dazed and bewildered by the events leading up to that very moment. Memories of His words spoken to me in the exam room in the mornings preceding the actual work release came flooding back to me, offering me hope, peace, beckoning me to let go and take His hand, to let the deep work begin.
I sat in my big, comfy chair with my thermos of coffee, my journal and my Bible. I remember I literally cried out, “But I’m a court reporter,” and He countered with, “No, you’re not; that’s what you did for a living. Now you will become what I’ve created you to be.”
In the months that followed, through what I deemed a spiritual open-heart surgery, He peeled back many layers, revealing lies that I had bought into, removing them through extensive counseling therapy. While on that first operating table, He also cut away a lot of bitterness and un-forgiveness I had buried towards my abusers all the while exposing some of the many painful memories. These memories were what the bitterness and un-forgiveness were wrapped up in and bound by; but now that they were out in the open, no longer suffocated by life, they left me completely, now powerless over me.
Then my Great Surgeon closed me up, temporarily, and gave me glimpses of what He was preparing me for by sending me out to speak, transparently, about my open-heart surgery and my Great Physician. Those were some powerful, out-of-body experiences, kind of like being in a recovery room sort of dazed, but cognizant of what has just happened!
That was just the beginning! I can’t even count the number of open-heart surgeries that He’s performed since then, and promises to keep performing, that I may become more like the image that He created me to be: Like Himself. (Genesis 1:27)
And in between surgeries, I walk through the hallways of The Hospital of Life, and God introduces me to so many other patients, patients in so many different walks of life. When I am discouraged, He brings nurses into my life to encourage me to stay in The Hospital of Life.
Because of all my surgeries thus far, I am able to recognize those who are in pain, and I am able to encourage them as we pass each other in the hallways of The Hospital of Life. But there are those that He brings me to walk alongside of, those other patients that have consented to open-heart surgery, allowing the transformation process to begin in the Hospital of Life, that I may comfort them with the comfort I’ve been given after each surgery. (2^nd Corinthians 1:4)
Yes, knowing that He who began this work will be faithful to complete it until the time of Christ keeps me looking in all the rooms of The Hospital of Life, that I may be His heart, His hands, or His feet. I’ll see you in The Hospital of Life!
Love,

Evinda

The Waiting Room … In the Hospital of Life March's WOW

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.: Phil. 1:6
Thanks for stopping by for our Coffee Hour and more of our March WOW! We hopefully we will be done with it before the month is gone! Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s go ties some more knots in the exam room of the hospital of life!
I don’t mean to sit in this room In the Hospital of Life, but there are some pretty powerful things that happen in this room! I remember several pivotal meetings in the exam room In the Hospital of Life … and exactly when the serious exams began. But the funny thread of commonality in those exams is I had to consent. I was in the habit of meeting with Him for our time each morning, which could also be considered preventative medicine, spiritually speaking. But it was in this exam room that I thought I heard some life-changing words, words that spoke of something that would change the direction for the rest of my life. I remember gasping with confusion, wondering if I had heard Him speak of His enemy. See, I had just purchased a brand-new home, filled with lots of upgrades, got my dream car – after asking for His permission, of course – and what I heard in this exam room was definitely life-jolting. He said: “I’m going to take you off work.”
Seriously I was speechless, which doesn’t happen too often with this girl! :) How could that be, I wondered. I’m trying to think of something to compare it to, how bewildered and frightened I was at the first mention of such a directional life change – ah, got it!
It was just a couple years prior to that, I had to go in for a checkup for my tongue; I had noticed there were a couple of spots on it near the back. Oh, did I mention I was smoking at least one half of a pack of cigarettes a day? :( That’s why I was reluctant; I just knew that whatever they found, it was going to force me to quit and, darn it; that was going to be incredibly difficult because I actually enjoyed smoking!
So I made the appointment, reluctantly, knowing I had to. There wasn’t as long a wait as I had anticipated; in fact, they got me in within two days, which for that medical group was a miracle.
As I sat on the exam table, with my mouth open, the doctor’s eyes staring through his instrument that was crammed in my mouth opening it nice and wide, I waited, and waited … and waited as he pulled it out and my mouth tried to return to normal. He turned his back, shook his head and then ever so slowly turned around suddenly spilling out a medical term so long with an accent thicker than peanut butter I was forced to ask him to tell me what he just said in English!
“It looks to be tongue cancer. We will have to do a biopsy to confirm that, but I would advise you to quit smoking. See my receptionist to schedule the biopsy.”
I got up from the table, stunned! My eyes threatened to spill over, but within seconds, I was able to sense this peace because He had spoken to me in the exam room at home during my quiet time before leaving for this appointment: “This is just a warning.”
As it turned out, by the time I had the biopsy, God had healed me and I did quit smoking … for a while!
I share these two instances with you because oftentimes, our Heavenly Father often prepares us in the exam room for things to come, just like He did all those years ago when He warned me that I would be taken off of work. I fought it for several weeks, and heard the words “He maketh you to lie down in green pastures.”
Two days later, I was in Human Resources, unable to even hold a pen to fill out the report to go see a company doctor, and the next day, there I was in the exam room in the Hospital of Life, crying out to God, “I’m a court reporter.”
His response; “No, you’re not; that’s what you did for a living. Now you will do what I created you to do … you will write, teach and encourage others.”
Oh, friend, be sure and make at least one stop a day in the exam room in the Hospital of Life for you never know when He’s going to put you on the operating table of life!
Join us tomorrow for a possible conclusion to this series!
Loving His ongoing Physician’s touch …

Evinda

The Waiting Room … In the Hospital of Life March's WOW

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.: Phil. 1:6
It’s great to be with you and share from my heart to yours this month’s WOW (Words of Wisdom and Weapons of Warfare). Grab your coffee, your journal, and don’t forget your Red Strand of Faith as I am sure He will give us some reasons to tie some more knots!
So we left off with the exam room at the hospital … in a spiritual sense, of course. :) But one of the most important things we need to understand about this room is we don’t have to wait until something is wrong to be examined! And His love letters to us even give us an exam time, a daily exam time: In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly (Psalm 5:3 NIV.)
What do we do in the exam room? Psalm 139:23 tells us how easy the exam can be. It begins like this: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Oh, but that means we must take off the mask! Hmm, that reminds me of a conversation I was having with a new friend in a leadership class I’m taking; she described it as a “church face.” What if we were to look to Him as the ultimate physician, and allow Him in to treat all – emphasis on all – our wounds?
Do you have a hard time actually making the time to go to the doctor? Do you like your doctor? Are you intimidated by your doctor? I actually have a great relationship with my earthly doctor, and he has an amazing bedside manner, never talking above me or down to me, but always, always he takes the time to explain the reason for symptoms, whether they be immune-systematic, or sinus-related, or even orthopedic-related. But he has to have the information first before he can give me a diagnosis!
Well, our Heavenly Physician is even better than our earthly doctors! Why? Because He knows all our symptoms, the diagnosis and He has the cure for whatever ails us. However – yes, there is a “however” -- He does like for us to share our burdens, speak to Him, with Him. When I think of real people talking with/to God from the Bible, I have to say one of the greatest role models in this area is David for he was real before God. He never put a mask on or hid what was in his heart when talking with God! I mean talk about a guy who had a lot to talk about with God! He was on the run for several years of his life for his life, an outcast, lost his BFF; he was betrayed time after time after time from someone who was like a father to him.
His visits to the exam room were consistent, and I would bet they were more than once a day.
And then when he became a sender instead of a leader – if he had gone to the exam room then, he may not have walked right into temptation. But he didn’t; instead, he continued on in his temptation, deeper and then had that affair. He stayed out of the exam room and that led to his next sin, the murdering of the husband whose wife he had the affair with! Talk about an incredible drama! Wow.
I can almost see him running from God, and the exam room! I’m not sure how long he stays away, but he does come back to this room and in Psalm 51, we are able to witness the most beautiful prayer of repentance because he returned to the Great Physician and allowed Him to do an in-depth examination!
Oh, Coffee Hour Friend, how long has it been since you’ve allowed yourself to enter the exam room?
The great Physician is waiting … for He who begins His work in the exam room will be faithful to complete it … until the time of Christ!
Love,

 Evinda

The Waiting Room … In the Hospital of Life March's WOW

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.: Phil. 1:6
Hello! How are you? I’m excited you joined me for more of our WOW and our Coffee Hour. Grab your coffee and your red Strand of Faith and let’s get back to the Waiting Room … in the Hospital of Life!
So were you able to realize what it is you are waiting for? I was reminded of another example of waiting, and I can’t leave this out. How many of us are waiting for that prodigal child to come home, to leave their addiction, to make better choices, to surrender? Oh, but that’s a painful waiting time, one that can only be endured through prayer and often requires fasting as well. These are spiritual battles we fight in the waiting room of life and spiritual battles require spiritual weapons. Whenever we try to stay in the battle with our flesh, we make the waiting time worse.
Well, now I hear someone calling us. It’s time to go into the exam room.
Just hearing that word “exam,” don’t you sort of cringe? When I go to the doctor’s office and I am in the exam room, it’s usually for something that I just can’t beat, something that is pesky and won’t go away, and it usually is something that is trying to take me down. I need to share all my symptoms with my doctor. I have been guilty of saying, “I don’t have time for this; I don’t have time to be sick,” and what I don’t say, but think to myself, is “so hurry up and figure out the problem so I can get on with my life!
Now let’s look at this from a spiritual perspective. What would our lives look like if we went into the exam room each morning, and shared our struggles, symptoms from the day before with Him? What if we were to look at the “exam room” of life as a safe place to spend sweet time with the One who will never leave us or forsake us, the one Who goes before us, defends us and validates us, the Divine Physician?
I can tell you that spending time in the exam room daily has prevented many symptoms that could lead to some horrible life-altering infections! He longs for us to stay spiritually healthy so that when the threats and attacks of physical and emotional circumstances come our way, and they will, we remain spiritually strong.
But, let’s be honest. Oftentimes, we don’t come into the “exam room” of life until there is something happening that is causing pain and/or a physical or emotional infection of sorts. By then, the symptoms of anxiety, worry, nervousness, which manifest themselves in and through the body creating uncomfortable physical problems, and before you know it, we are a hot mess, just waiting for the Doctor to show Himself, to speak, to do something so we know He’s there.
Maybe it’s time we visited the “exam room” in The Hospital of Life daily as a form of spiritual preventative medicine, to be still and know that He is God.
What’s that I hear?
Oh, it’s Him: But you, Coffee Hour Friend, it’s time to come to the secret place and shut the door and when the door closes, pray to your Father who is in this exam room, and I who see you there will reward you. (Matthew 6:6)
Oh, He has one more verse for us to encourage us to visit the exam room daily because He longs to talk with us: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
When we visit the exam room of life daily, we are better able to appreciate the fact that He who begun His work in us will be faithful to complete it until the time we see Him face to face.
Join me tomorrow for Faith Filled Fridays at Croley’s Corner of Chicklit Power!
Love to you …

Evinda

The Waiting Room … In the Hospital of Life March's WOW

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.: Phil. 1:6

Wow, can you believe it; it’s WOW time … in fact, March is more than halfway gone and though time passes faster as we get older, there is ONE thing that remains a constant, one thing that can slow us down and splash some perspective on the speed and quality of life: His Word! Grab your coffee and your red Strand of Faith and let’s go tie some knots in our March’s Words of Wisdom and Weapons of Warfare. I’m going to begin with a bit of a story.
I held my husband’s hand as he prayed; it’s what we do when we pray. First he prays and then it’s my turn. As he finished, the words that began to come out of my mouth were certainly Spirit inspired, not anything I had planned, and at the same time, this month’s WOW was confirmed. I prayed that as my husband was in the waiting room of his life, that he would take this time to right anything wrong, or the appearance of wrong, especially with his son, my stepson, knowing in my heart that we need to take the first step towards reconciliation in this broken relationship. I prayed that he would busy himself with kingdom things instead of anxiously searching and seeking for business opportunities which could literally pull him toward unnecessary risks. I prayed that he would find rest in the waiting room, knowing and trusting that the plans our Father has for him are to build him up, offer him a hope and a future, not to tear him down. And I prayed that I would be able to encourage him while in the waiting room…
The funny thing about praying those things for my husband is that prayer was also for me; it encouraged my soul, reminded me of truths that I must cling to at this time of our lives.
Just the day before, while I was talking to a former Trench Class student -- someone whom I am incredibly fond of and admire, someone who is very teachable and yearns to get over herself -- this same concept of The Waiting Room in the Hospital of Life came to me after powerfully poignant questions came gushing out from her heart: “When will this be done? Am I just destined to this misery and this conscious uncomfortable awareness of what needs to change? Will I ever be happy again?
Oh, how I so empathized with her, that feeling of wondering if I will ever get beyond the current infection revealed by a lesson needing to be learned. The silence suddenly filled with a giggle that erupted from me unexpectedly. I just love all the different analogies He gives me … first … and then for others.
“What’s so funny?’ my friend on the other line asked.
“Oh, I was just reminded of something that He showed me when my deep healing began years ago, right after being taken out of my court reporting seat and put on what I have now come to accept as the operating table of life. It’s not just a diet, friend, this sort of open-heart surgery that takes place in life, and more than once. See, spiritual surgery is necessary over and over; it needs to be a way of life and the sooner we understand that life is like being in a hospital, the easier it is to get on that operating table; and the easier it is to trust the Divine Physician. And, oh, the joy in between surgeries”!
I could hear her sigh, almost feel her thinking!
I continued.
“I mean, it’s not like I jump up and down for joy every time He comes to take me to the Operating Room, but I go now without fear and dread, anticipating the recovery period, for there is joy after surgery.”
“That’s really good,” she said.
I smiled.
“Think about it, I said; there are many rooms in the hospital; we are not always on the operating table or in the O.R. room. The Divine Physician performs a particular procedure, then closes us up, and picks us up, and allows us to go to the Recovery Room for some rest, to process all that He has just accomplished and cut away. Sometimes in the recovery room, our recent surgery is put to the test and we are forced to deal with others who interrupt our schedules, our train of thought, our agenda, people that may annoy us, and we are once again forced to slow down, be still, and acknowledge that He is God so we may prevent a premature surgery. “
“The point is, my friend, He who began that work will be faithful to put us back into the O.R. as needed, and keep on performing whatever surgeries need to happen until the time of Christ.”
I could feel her smile … and again, I could feel her thinking.
Suddenly we were both building on this analogy, talking about all the rooms within a hospital creating this month’s WOW, encouraging each other, hoping to encourage you in The Waiting Room of the Hospital of Life …
Join me tomorrow for more.

Evinda