A Word of Encouragement

The last several months of my life had been characterized by transition. I'll be honest and say that it is getting old and I have begun to become a little discouraged.

What's the opposite of discouragement? Encouragement!

I received a "good word" the other night when I took my "lunch break" at work. (Lunch break is in quotations because it was 2:30 am!) Tonight I feel compelled to share it.

"Cease striving and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10a

Just seven words, but so full of encouragement. And exactly what I needed to hear and meditate on this week.

Don't you just love it when you find the right verse at just the right time.

Patience- Part IV

In case you would like a little review or need to catch up, here you go...

Patience- Part I
Patience- Part II
Patience- Part III

I am still waiting, still being patient, so I am still learning. AND sometimes I like to blog about what I am learning. :)

I don't know what it is, but music has the ability to get to a part of me like nothing else. It hits something deep inside and evokes emotions that lay dormant most of the time. Music has the ability to break through all the walls in a few notes and/or words. There are songs that just make me want to get on my face...others where it impossible to keep my arms from lifting in the air. Songs where I feel God's heart being revealed...song where I fell my heart is being poured out to God.

The following is one of those song in which I feel like the writer knew my heart. What I have been longing to say, but could never quite find the correct words. The song that has been my heart's cry for the last several months...even thought I hadn't heard it until this morning on my way to work. John Waller, who wrote and sings this song, wrote "but the important thing to remember while we're waiting on God is to not just wait but to actively wait. Serve, worship and be faith with what you have, where you are...'even while (you) wait." I don't pretend to know everything, but I think that is some pretty good advice.

Now, one disclaimer before the video...In the first verse it says that waiting is painful. I guess I can see where he is coming from, but I am not sure that I completely agree. Waiting can be frustrating. Waiting can be difficult. You know...Now that I am thinking about it more, yeah, waiting can be painful. Maybe not the kind of pain that we think of first, but pain nonetheless.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this song.

Patience- Part III

Just in case you want to go back and refresh your memory or in case you are new to my blog, you can go back and read both parts 1 and 2.

Patience- Part I
Patience- Part II

As I finished up reading about perseverance, I came across Romans 8:24-25.

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

It was the last phrase, "with perseverance we wait" that really stuck out to me. I began looking at patience which lead to studying out perseverance/forbearing. I realized that waiting was going to be next. Waiting is a part of patience. All of these go hand in hand. I shouldn't have been surprised. Several of the verses that I had studied back in Psalms that used the phrase "wait patiently" (Psalm 37:7 and Psalm 40:1-3).

Not only does the Bible say that we should wait patiently, but how to wait, what to wait for, as well as benefits of waiting:

• Our soul sometimes waits in silence (Psalm 62)
• Wait for God's word (Psalm 119:74, 81, 114, 147)
• Wait for the Lord (Psalm 130, Isaiah 40:31)
• Wait for His lovingkindness (Psalm 147:10-12)
• Wait eagerly (Isaiah 26:8-9)
• Wait with hope (Isaiah 49:23)
• Wait expectantly (Isaiah 51:5, Micah 7:7)
• The Lord is good to those who wait (Lamentations 3:24-26)
• Wait continually (Hosea 12:6)
• Wait for what the Father promised (Acts 1:3-5)
• Wait patiently (Hebrews 6:15)

Another verse that really hit home was Psalm 27:13-14.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD (NASB).

Now that is some good stuff.

I've also read a couple of different excerpts from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers, but I will have to share those at another time. I guess that means there will be a Part IV! :) Maybe I will eventually draw this to a conclusion, but until then I guess you will have to wait...

Patience- Part II

Did you think I forgot? I have actually continued to search out Scriptures about patience and also used synonyms like "perseverance" and "forbearance". Bible Gateway has been a tremendous help in all of this.

Now, where were we?

Oh yes, lets begin where we left off.

Forbearance...which is "refraining from something, forbearing conduct or quality; patient endurance; self-control, an abstaining from the enforcement of a right."

So, can I interject at this point, I don't like it when a word is defined with a form of the exact same word. I mean, "forbearing conduct or quality" does not help me at all. I'm so glad that I got that off my chest.

Fortunately Dictionary.com does define forbearing- "to refrain or abstain from; desist from; to keep back; withhold; obsolete, to endure; to refrain, hold back; to be patient or self-controlled when subject to annoyance or provocation." I also found forbearance defined as "the act of waiting, the exercise of patience."

Interestingly, I found forbearance used three different times in Scripture (Romans 3:21-26, Hebrews 3:9, and Hebrews 5:1-3 all in the Amp. version) and in each instance it is talking about God's forbearance. I don't know if that is significant or not, but it does make me wonder.

While all this makes sense, it doesn't look any easier than being patient. Which reminds me of a song my nephew use to have to sing when he began to get inpatient.

"Have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry.
When you get impatient you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient too
And, think of all the other times He's had to wait for you..."

Okay, He has had to wait on me a lot in my life. Maybe I should begin to sing this when I start to get impatient.

To be continued...

Patience- Part I

So here is the deal...Recently I have felt that I just can't catch a break. I had two different things in my life that feel flat in a single 24 hour period a couple of weeks ago. To be honest, it was hard, and I was not a happy camper.

After a period of mourning...you can give me a hard time about it, but that is what I felt...I knew it was time to move on. I was still frustrated, wondering when my dreams would ever come true. I had been so close, but yet so far away. A wise friend suggested I do a word study on patience. Yeah, that's what I wanted to do, study patience. Thankfully I was in the middle of reading through the book of Galatians. However, I knew when I finished I would take my friend's advice. At the end of last week I pulled up Bible Gateway and began.

This morning I ran across the following passage:

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Colossians 1:9-12 (NASB)

Then I flipped to another translation:

For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special] request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things- That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition]. [We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God's holy people) in the Light.

Colossians 1:9-12 (Amp.)

Verse 12 says, "[We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God's holy people) in the Light."

Invigorated, strengthened, powerful, endurance, patience, joy, thankfulness...whoa! That is a tall order. Can't I have the invigoration, strength, power, and endurance without the patience, joy, and thankfulness?

In the Amplified version there are those two words that follow the word patience...perseverance and forbearance. Dictionary.com defines patience as "steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement" or as a theological term meaning "continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation." If I am to be honest, I have not done a good job of persevering. I have allowed the difficulties, obstacles, and discouragement to change my course...at least make me think about changing.

Forbearance is "refraining from something, forbearing conduct or quality; patient endurance; self-control, an abstaining from the enforcement of a right." This one hurts. I think I will take a break and tackle my thoughts on forbearance at another time.

To be continued...Keep scrolling down as this is my second post for today!

Lessons Learned Part II

I've lost track to a degree. I think I have seen almost 20 houses and two of those I have seen twice. I am also back to square one, but I will press on and continue looking. In the mean time I thought I would share some new lessons that I have a learned during this experience.

• There is a reason there aren't any pictures of the interior.
• You should never start off a listing with, "This is a sinkhole property..." Any sane person will hit the back button on the browser before reading any further.
• If the price looks too good to be true, then it most likely is.
• If you list "volumed ceilings" as an asset to you home, you should at least call it the correct term..."vaulted ceilings".
• When a high selling point of your listing is that the single wide trailer on the 1/2 acre of land is surrounded by $400,000 homes on either, side...well, you don't want to be the person who buys said trailer. I am sure the neighbors would be ever so excited and friendly.
• There is no such thing as the perfect house when you are on my budget...I will have to make compromises...the question is what should they be.
  

I'll keep everyone posted on this little adventure!

Saturday Deals

Deal #1- Why You Should Purchase the Warranty

On Wednesday I noticed that my lap top had a crack in the plastic cover. At first I was distraught at my find since my computer is less than a year old. Then it hit me, it's less than a year old so it should be still covered by a warranty. After this nice realization, I also remembered purchasing the extended warranty.


It's been a busy week (Wednesday was church, Thursday I saw 6 more houses, and Friday was Bible Study) so today was the first chance I had to head to the mall and the Apple store. I also happened to be meeting a friend for lunch so I was able to save on a little gas.

I entered the Apple store and as always was greeted by some very nice people. I explained that I had a problem with my Mac to which they asked if I had an appointment. An appointment...hmmmmm...hadn't really factored that in so I acted all cool and like I knew I needed one and said no. I was very happy to find out that they had one at 5:00.

I met my friend and enjoyed a great lunch at Too Jay's followed by coffee at Starbucks. My friend gave me a tip on a new drink that I can enjoy without a side of guilt. Several months ago, when I kicked off my new healthy life style, I gave up my mochas and switched to the Americano. She introduced me to the nonfat latte...with a packet of Splenda and dash of cinnamon, it was almost as good as a Cinnamon Dulce Latte...but this not the point. We did a little shopping together and then split up. By the time I had made my purchases it was time for my appointment.

I found out that it was going to be no problem to fix and I would just need to return in a couple of hours to pick it up.

Now, I know you can't see the numbers in the picture below, but the receipt says the repairs coast $363.12 while the paper behind says that because of the warranty I owe $0.00. Sweet!



Deal #2- On Sale and They Have My Size

While waiting for my appointment I did a little shopping. When Stuart and Michelle were here a couple of weeks ago, I bought a couple of new skirts. One happened to be navy blue so I have been on a quest for navy blue dress shoes. I enjoy shopping, but I abhor shopping for dress shoes. Mainly because I wear a 10 narrow. Actually it's about a 10 1/2, but they don't make those, so I have to either buy a 10 or an 11.

Dillard's was having a shoe sale so I began the quest. I eventually found a pair that was okay. I asked the nice salesman if he had the shoe in a 10. He headed off. (Since I wear a 10, I know this can take some time. I have had several salespeople that seem to get lost at this point. Either shoe companies do not make a lot of 10s and 11s or stores do not stock very many.) Eventually he returns with 2 boxes. He explains that he as a 9 1/2 that just might work...I want to roll my eyes and wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard this. I humor him and try it on, and of course my heel is hanging off the back. He does hand me the second box which is a 10, but a little different. He ends up bringing out everything that he has in a navy blue 10 (only about 5 pairs) and I narrow it down to two. Both were nice, but one was one sale so I choose that one. What do you think about my choice?



I then went back to another store and purchased a navy and white skirt that I have been admiring for weeks since I finally have the right shoe to go with it. (Sorry, no pictures of the cute skirt and the blue top.)

Deal #3- And a Gift Card Too!

While killing the two hours before I could pick up my computer I headed to Target to do my weekly grocery shopping. One of the things on my list was razor cartridges. Earlier in the week I needed some and ran to CVS on my lunch break. I planned to grab a pack of refills for my Schick Quatro, when I saw the Venus Embrace which boasted of five blades. My head began to swirl...what could be better than four blades? Well, five of course! I picked up and have fallen in much love as you can with a razor.

However, my new purchase left me with only one refill and as a compulsive shaver, it just would not suffice. Imagine my surprise and delight to find the refills on sale, and to make the day complete, when you bought two packages you received a $10 Target gift card. So, now I have 8 refills and $10!

Lessons Learned on the House Hunt

For those of you who have not picked up on a small detail in my life...I am looking into capitalizing on the extremely sad housing market here. I spoke with a realtor a couple of weeks ago and he sent me my first set of listings. On Monday I saw four homes. I received a second set of listings (condos this time) yesterday and tonight sent a list of both condos and homes I would like to see.

This is what I have learned from a whopping two weeks of looking at homes:

• You shouldn't take pictures of a dirty house and post those for potential buyers to see. This includes, but is not limited to: dirty dishes in the sink, wet towels on the back of the office chair, beds not made, "gifts" from any pets on the floor, and laundry in the floor.
  
• Pictures listed can cover a multitude of "sins". While a picture may be worth a thousand words, they also lie.
• When it says that there is a washer and dryer hook up and a shed that is code for the washer and dryer hook up is actually in the shed.
• Diamond in the rough is code for "needs TLC" which is also code for prepare for some back breaking work.
• "Quaint home in charming neighborhood," "older home in mature neighborhood," and "located in the historic district" can mean that this house is in the ghetto.
  
• Located in Central Tampa with easy access to 275 and downtown also means located in the ghetto.
  
• It doesn't matter if a home has hardwood floors, ceramic tile, wood burning fireplace, granite counter tops, and stainless steel appliances, if it is painted lime green, it's in the ghetto. Trust me, I drove by just to make sure because I decided the outside could always be painted.
  

Out of the four homes I saw, two had some potential. One was too small and the other backed up to a major road. This next set seem to have some potential, but I've already learned that the truth comes out when you walk through the front door! I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens...I'll keep you all posted!

Lessons I Learned Today

Today has been one of those days and I actually began a post earlier...but after a couple of hours I have more perspective. Here is what I have learned.

1. There are no "do over" days in life. At least I can apologize tomorrow.
2. Never blog when you are mad, frustrated, or upset. I have a feeling it could have come back to "haunt" me.
3. Never make important decisions when you are tired. Always wait until you are rested...especially those life impacting decisions.
4. When you get to the point you are ready to cry, hit something, or throw something, take a deep breathe and try to find a more constructive way to deal with your emotions. Well, crying would have been okay if I had not been trying to drive. In the past I would have curled up and become one with the couch and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Today I debated whether to take a jog or get a pedicure. Neither were laced with unwanted calories. I decided to get a pedicure. A jog would have been more economical, but at least my feet are pretty.
5. It's time to pack away the jeans when you can just pull them off.
6. Going shopping is more fun when you buy everything smaller than you have been and when you hit a incredible sale buying two items that total $12.56!
7. Don't ever buy veggie sausage and think you are going to like it on your first try. I have now tried two different brands and I think I am just going to stick with turkey sausage. There are some things that veggies should not be turned into and trust me that sausage is one of them. (If you are a personal fan of veggie sausage, I apologize, but this Texas girl just can't do it!)
8. Tomorrow is a new day.

Speaking of tomorrow, I am headed to Dallas for a conference. I was actually in Orlando last week at a conference. I've only had about 2 days between the two and they have been jammed packed. Yesterday I ran errands for over 8 hours and today I worked for over 8 hours. I still have one load of laundry to to do and several more things to iron, but I should finish in the next several hours. I apologize for the sporadic posting, but I hope to get back to "normal" next week when I get home from Dallas.