Bending Over Backwards

 

"I'm not bending over backwards for them!" Have you ever heard someone say that?

It's probably not healthy to do this in relationships to get people to like me quite as much as I do, but isn't that the spirit of the Golden Rule? And doesn't our Father want us unified? Isn't a good friendship worth a little effort?

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
Loving favor rather than silver and gold (Proverbs 22:1).

The Cure for Loneliness

At church when I was fourteen, and again when I was eighteen/nineteen, there were no other teen girls. I was the only one! That isn't too unusual, but to hear some people talk you would think I would have really struggled with loneliness. Now that I've thought about it, I realize that loneliness was never an issue for me. At all!

 

I always was friends with everyone at church. I tend to be rather quiet and un-needy, so when I enter a room with a bunch of people, I usually try to talk to the person who looks the most neglected and needing a friend - whether or not I know them - and be a friend to them, trying to cheer them up. The result was normally an immediate new friend, and honestly, a friend is a friend no matter how old or young!

 

So if you're feeling lonely and want someone to reach out to you, try doing the reaching out yourself and see what happens!

There's No Way!

I was sitting in the bus, riding home from a day of therapy and silently asking God to mend some seemingly impossibly-broken relationships between close friends. I felt deeply discouraged, hopeless really. In the middle of my prayer, I said, "God, there's just no way!"

 

And then, it was like God softly whispered, "But I am the Way!"

 

There is a God, so there must be a way!

 

I don't think it's time to give up yet. :)

 

My (Recent) Testimony

Thanks to any of you who have prayed for my family and I since my car accident last Halloween! Many people have asked me whether I've had any depression, which would be typical for someone who's just recently had a brain injury. And while I have gotten upset for a few minutes a couple of times (like everyone else), really I'm full of joy, and much happier than I was before my accident!

 

Before my accident, I met weekly with an older woman to get her counsel in dealing with the bitterness I was struggling with. As much as I've tried to, I can't remember what I was bitter about, but needless to say, I'm certainly not bitter about anything now!

 

Before my accident, I had also just started attending Celebrate Recovery to get help with a lustful addiction I had struggled with for more than a decade. God took that away through my accident, too; and since I woke up from my coma a few months ago, I haven't even wanted to go back!

 

I feel grateful for how God has used my accident to cleanse me of sin, show His power, bring His people together in prayer, show those people His ability and eagerness to answer prayer, surround my family with His care, and every other way He has used it! I never really expected God to find that much use for me; but I wanted Him to, and I'm glad He did.

 

As to what He's taught me through all of this, I would say it's joy. God is a good God, and everything He does is good. That includes what happened to me. I used to think that car accidents were always bad things, but now I know that at least mine was a good thing.

God's been showing me that since He controls everything and He only does good things, I can have joy in all days of the year, all circumstances of the day, and all people of the world. There is nothing for me to be anything other than happy about!

Great Is Thy Faithfulness!

 

African, Asian, European, Native American . . .

So I've always known that I had European blood (from England, Germany, and Hungary on Dad's side). Poppy seed kuchen, anyone?



And I've pretty much always known that I had Cherokee blood from Mom's side.

 

But lately I've made some new and very happy discoveries.

Pappaw and Mammaw (Mom's parents) have always told us that we are descended from the tribe of Manasseh, so I always knew I had a little Jewish blood, which is nice enough. But then I started thinking - who was Manasseh's mother? If you don't know, you probably at least know the name of his father or brother. Does "Ephraim & Manasseh" ring a bell? And their dad's name was Joseph, right? Well, who did Joseph marry? An Egyptian woman! So that makes me a little African!

But there's more. What continent is Israel in? Think about it now. It's not Europe. It's not Africa. That leaves Asia; so I'm part Asian!

As far as I know, I'm not related to any Antarctic explorers, Australian Aborigines, or South Americans, but I'm a sister to Jesus' siblings in all those groups! And with having biological relations to people in four of the world's seven continents, I feel like Dad's word for it - Cosmopolitan - is a very good one. And I'm glad it applies to me. :)

Thirsty?

 

John lived in the wilderness and baptized in a huge river, the river Jordan. And right after Jesus was baptized in that same river, God led Him into the wilderness to be tempted.

This seems typical of the Christian experience. A lot of times, life can feel like a wilderness. However, God always has a river for us!


"Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools" (Psalm 84:6).