Im running short on funds, friends, and fun! boo hoo!!

You ever feel like you are running low on funds, friends, and fun? Maybe not all at once, but maybe at different times. I feel like I'm running low on all three at present, but whether you are low on one of these, all three, or several other things in life, we all have two choices in how we are going to deal with it. Have a grand pity party, become bitter and bummed, wallow in it, and go nowhere, OR realize everything that hits our lives is first sifted through the mighty hands of God. I think I often battle with the idea that life should go my way....I have an attitude of entitlement I am ashamed to admit, I am entitled to posses what most other people I know posses. Funds, friends, and fun! I am in a season of continual stripping...almost everytime I look up, something else is being taken from me. Now my first response is often that of a 2 year old, gripping on to whatever is being taken from me with a fierce grip and shouting at the top of my lungs NOOOOO!! MINE!!! But, no matter how loud I yell, no matter how fierce the tantrum...God takes it from me. Now is God being mean to me? Is he being unfair? No, not one bit. You see if I choose to look at my life through my God glasses, I can clearly see with 20/20 spiritual vision that God takes away for good reasons...and in time, He will give back in His way. It's a time where God wants all of me, He wants all my allegiance...I am easily distracted, I LOVE people, fun, activities...I like to have enough money to be able to have fun. But God is saying, not right now, Diane...those things are not bad, but they distract you from what I currently want from you...your allegiance, your time, your affection, your life without distraction. Now if Im not careful, my bad attitude can become the distraction. I don't want to wrestle with God, I don't want to foolishly fight against what He is doing and desiring to produce in my life, so I have to discipline my mind, I have to make my mind think on what is true about the character of God. He has only the best in mind for me, not the best in reference to what we in our flesh define as best, ie, plenty of money, health, perfect children and marriages, ect. ect. But what is best in reference to my life as a Christ follower...what in life is going to make me more sensitive to that which is eternal, what is it that will make me more compassionate to those who suffer, to those who are lonely, to those who have far greater needs than I do...well, its the ability to relate with them on some level. If my life goes the way I would like it to go, i would be living in my own shallow world of fun, friends, and funds and everyday would be a party!! I would be making my fun plans all the time! I would have little time or concern for those who are less fortunate than myself...I would be inclined to have pity, but perhaps not do a thing about it in a tangible way. There are more reasons than these for going through hard times, but in short, whatever suffering or uncomfortable things come our way, it is just God in His sovereignty telling us he loves us too much to allow us to live in our selfishness...he wants us to experience life as He intended it...GIVING to others, investing in others, walking through the hard times with others..as we look at the life of Jesus 2,000 years ago, that's what He was all about...others...loving on them, investing in them, hearing them, spending time helping them. If I call myself a Christian, (defined as little Christ) I am challenged to live like He lived...after many years of being a Christ follower, I still have so much to learn and implement in my life..He will keep stripping, i will keep learning, and hopefully one day very soon I will be implementing the lessons He has taught me and life will be pure joy...I know that is what HE desires for me...and you as well. He who began a good work in us, will be faithful to complete it...blessings to you my friends.

wait....but I want her life..

Do you ever find yourself gazing out the window of life and seeing that other life that you wish could be yours. You know, its the girl with the Mary Poppins life...practically perfect in every way. HER REALITY: Her house is adorably decorated and ALWAYS clean, her children are well behaved and look like little Target add models most of the time, her husband brings her flowers, cooks and cleans for her, and takes the kids every Saturday so she can have a day all to herself. Money seems to be limitless in their household. She is thin, but eats what she wants because she runs 5 days a week. She knows her Bible better than most and shares her latest passage she has memorized with you on the phone, Psalm 119. Her marriage is perfect, she has friends galore, and in conversation with others about her, everyone is more than generous in the compliments they praise her with. YOUR REALITY: Your house is, at best, clean once a month, your kids are usually messy from playing outside in the dogs food, water, and poop. You are struggling financially to get by, your hubby never gives you a day to yourself, you need to lose that last 15 pounds of baby fat, you don't have time for exercise, and your lucky if you can remember what you have to do today let alone memorize any Bible verses. People don't seem to sing your praises in conversations about you, in fact, you are pretty sure your name doesn't even get brought up in conversations. Oh the pain of your reality in comparison to her reality...or what looks to be her reality. It is healthy to admire someone and to learn from them in ways that your life will benefit. In my 20's I had two kids and a third on the way, I had a friend similar to this 'perfect' one I am talking about here. I used to compare my life with her to where it became unhealthy for me. I learned many wonderful things from her, I learned how to get my home in great order, learned how to schedule my cleaning throughout the week, learned how to cook some delicious and healthy food. But the reality of what I perceived was her reality wasn't reality at all. Yes, she did have some awesome things going for her, that couldn't be denied, but she had may areas of struggle that she learned to cover. She worked very hard at giving that ' I have it all together' image. But, weather a person truly has it all together, or just works really hard at giving off the perception that they have it all together, isn't the focus here, the focus here is learning to accept the imperfections of life and grow from them. Put on your God glasses for a moment. God has plans for our lives, for every facet. His desire is that we are humble and dependent on Him. Struggles humble us...that is a GOOD thing. Imperfect lives cause us to see our deep need for a PERFECT savior. When our lives are imperfect and we are brave enough to let others in on that reality, we bring comfort to their souls, because they long to connect with another imperfect person as are they. There is such release of pressure when others see that its ok not to be perfect. Its ok to argue with your husband at times, to let your kids wear mis-matched clothes and to have boogers running down their noses. Its ok to not have the house spic and span 24/7. It's ok to not have money for all the luxuries in life, MONEY DOES NOT MAKE YOU BETTER OR HAPPIER! When we fall into the comparing trap, we when look out the window of life and long for they lives they have, we are telling God He has made a mistake with our life. We need to embrace where we are at today. WE need to evaluate what we can work to improve on, but we need to understand that God has us where we are, with the husband we have, the kids we have, the income we get, the friends we have, the home we have, the neighborhood we live in, for HIS reasons, to work what HE wants to work in and through us. Change that attitude of wishing you had...to thank you for what I have. Our lives are a written prescription by the perfect physician just for us. He knows what we need, who we need, and how much we need of it, so surrender to him and EMBRACE all that you have, let go of what you wish you had, and be content....knowing that God will bless you for your choice to be thankful and bloom right where you are planted. Circumstances don't make a person happier anyways...maybe more comfortable, but real happiness is internal, dependent upon the condition of your heart...a life rightly connected to and abiding in Jesus...make Him your passion, and when you do, all the sudden your tiny house seems much bigger, your empty bank account seems plentiful, your seemingly insignificant life has huge purpose and meaning. We just have to discipline our minds to meditate on what really matters in this life...being humble followers of Jesus Christ.

How do I do this thing called parenting anyways??

My heart is heavy, as of late, for the difficulties parents are having knowing how to parent their children. Many Christ following, Bible reading folks are confused about parenting due to the culture that gives us very different methods of parenting. If we are looking to the culture, to the worldly child psychologists, to the generation of the godless, if we look to these for instruction and help, we are going to be doing our kids a grave disservice. God has given great instruction in raising our kids, I know, I have raised 3 children into adulthood, and have the grand finale, number 4 in high school. The Bible is enough, prayer is enough, spanking them is right on, within the confines of the butt-ox, within the boundary of their willful disobedience, never out of anger, with a controlled voice and I controlled spanking hand with a spoon in it, to bring a good sting, not to draw blood, but it has to hurt to be effective. The Bible is full of Scripture supporting a good old fashioned whack on the fanny. You cannot reason with a two year old who has foolishness bound up in his little-terror sinful heart, it has to be driven from him with the rod of correction. Kids are suppose to be a blessing when present, not frightening terrors causing others to do anything they can to flee your presence. I am not talking about perfect little robotic kids, i am talking about well behaved children who know mamma means business when she tells you no. I am talking about parents being the parents of their kids, not kids being in control of their parents. Parenting God's way does in no way guarantee your kids turning out perfect, it does not guarantee them growing up to follow Jesus or make you look like the best parent there ever was, but parenting God's way will free you to have peace in the years of parenting, joy in the years of parenting, joy for those who keep company with you and your kids, and confidence in knowing God is going to bless your efforts to do things His way. We are equipped with the Word of God and the Spirit of God to raise these blessings up in the way of the Lord...and that requires love, consistent discipline, prayer, prayer, and more prayer. It also takes those that have gone before us in this journey called parenting, gleaning from them, picking their brains for the wisdom needed in this journey. We are on the same team, with the same goals...raising up children who respect adults, have been introduced to Jesus, understand the link between obedience and blessing..please don't be too prideful to ask for help...when you see older kids who you want your kids modeled after, ask those parents how they did it...hopefully their response will be....but the grace of God, on my knees, with His word and Godly friends to help...Would love to help you on this journey...by no means am I perfect, but God has been good to me, gracious to me, and has helped me raise 4 amazing human beings...Not perfect human beings by any stretch....but amazing in may ways..Be blessed on your parenting journey...and make sure you get all your guidance from the right source...the One who knit those babies together in your very own womb...God. The One who made them, knows how they need to be parented....look to Him. <3