Forget the Petty, Drop the Pity

Some days in life there are things that are going to bother you. Things that probably wouldn't get to you tomorrow or had an affect on you yesterday could bug you today. The sound of a barking dog, a traffic light not turning quick enough, a cellphone ringing and other things.

On those days we need to learn to forget the petty things such as what was listed and drop the pity we want to feel. The pity that we are having a bad day. Pity that we don't feel good. Pity that everything bad in life that has happened is all our fault. Pity that the world has to be against us.

Not everything that happens does so as a strike against us. They happen because they happen and we need stand strong no matter how we feel and not allow the petty things to get to us as we allow them to blindly lead us where we shouldn't go. 

Therefore let's forget the petty, the little things in life, and drop the pity, the feeling sorry for ourselves. Your day will go better. Your life will go stronger. 

They Call Me,

Grandma


Copyright 2015 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing 

Everyone Has a Story

As my granddaughter Brooke and I sat in church one Sunday the preacher talked about Paul's story. He then mentioned the fact that everyone has a story.

One by one the preacher asked volunteers to tell their stories. As people were talking my granddaughter Brooke reached out and gave me a hug. She knew in her heart her grandma had a story to tell whether she got to tell it that Sunday or not.

As there was no time to share it at church I am sharing it now for Brooke and all my other grandchildren. So here we go kids, this is grandma's story:

At the age of twelve I accepted Christ into my life thanks to the fantastic witness and example my preacher Rev D L Penhollow (Penny) was as he displayed his love for Jesus daily. God was going to test that commitment I made as I was declared disabled twice in my life. The first time in my twenties when I had epilepsy and again in my fifties with my breast cancer.

What I learned during my first disability were things I was going to need to survive during my struggle with my cancer. Lessons on how to deal with stress and how to effectively lean on Jesus. Already out of the way was the battle with the "why me" struggle with my epilepsy that kept me from going there when I got cancer. I learned about forgiveness and the poison of bitterness and the short falls of self pity and giving up.

Jesus was and still is my strength thru it all. He was the guide I was going to need to lead me out of the darkness using His word, the Bible. When I wasn't taking well the test of life He was patient with me. He granted me grace when I needed it and mercy when I didn't deserve it. He has always made me feel loved and worthy of what He has to offer. He has walked me thru many trials and picked me up when I have fallen.

He has always been there for me. He has tickled me when I couldn't laugh or smile on my own. His hand has wiped away many a tears from my face. His arms hugged me when I was alone in the darkness. It was His angel He sent to comfort me outside my kitchen window. He has never let me down. He has disciplined me as a loving father does his daughter.

He has shown me again and again how much He cares. Therefore as my second disability carries on so will my love for Jesus. As He is there for me so will I be for Him. My holy reverent fear of Him makes it so I don't have to fear what is ahead of me.

Stick with Jesus my love ones and you too will have a fantastic story to tell. It may not include angels or disabilities but it will contain the same story of love Jesus has to offer you as He offers me and those who have gone on before me such as Penny Penhollow.

Seek God and be amazed at what you'll find.

Picture DEES~~~A New Selfie

In the midst of a discussion one day I was informed by one of my grand kids that, "they were born that way and I needed to get over it." As I looked them in the eye I told them they were right, they were born that way.

Truly what I was hearing was an age old argument that probably started with Adam and Eve. One we try to use as an excuse that we are born the way we are therefore we are excused to stay that way. Wrong!

We are all born sinners, fleshly people that are greedy, impatient, selfish, loud mouth , out of control, undisciplined, unforgiving, and so much more. People who need to be taught how to discipline ourselves, how to be generous, selfless, patient, forgiving, and how to control our tongues.

This is why we accept Jesus in our lives to help us take off the old and put on the new. The new selfie that looks good, behaves well and has the attitude of Christ instead of an out of control person who can't see passed an unproductive nature. A life that weighs one down instead of builds it up.

Our entire lives from the time we were kids needs to be spent finding a balance between improving ourselves and accepting ourselves as we are. Too often we fall to one extreme or the other. We try to change too much that which wasn't meant to be changed in God's eyes or we refuse to improve ourselves at all.

The choice is ours and the consequences too if we don't do what truly needs to be done in God's eyes not our own when it comes to our "selfie."

Just because we were born with our finger stuck up our nose or yanking our sister's hair doesn't make it something that is permissible the rest of our lives. Think about it. Pray about it! Allow God to help with your new selfie.

Copyright 2014 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Anger: Action or Reaction?

As much as we think we are taking action when we get angry at something we really aren't. If you think about it, anger is not an action it's a reaction. It's not an action but the dead end to stupid street.

Too often we lose our temper and get mad at something then blame the object for "making us mad." Nothing can make us mad. It's a choice we make. We choose to get mad at the kid at school. We choose to get mad at our parents. We choose to get mad at our siblings. When all these situations lead us to anger we become angry and react in a non-productive way. That in turn leads us down the road to stupid street and poor choices as we do something we shouldn't.

Believe it or not anger can be a good thing when it is an action that leads us to a positive outcome. We get angry with cancer so we fight against it to find a cure. We get angry at the way our government works so we run for office and work at changing things. We get angry at world hunger so we give our money and time to try and stop it. All of these things leading us in the right direction.

Even God in the Bible recognizes the fact that we will and do get angry. He just reminds us to stay off stupid street and do not sin in your anger, don't let the sun go down on your anger, and don't let anger control you, you control your anger. If we don't handle it properly yes we find ourselves stuck in the dead end of stupid street.

Oh you don't like the fact that I keep calling angry people names. Well it's true and I am one of those people who have and still do, walk the darken path of stupid street. Looking at stupid as an adverb it means to act in an unintelligent and careless manner. To give in to unreasoned thinking or acting. Therefore, as long as we allow anger to be a reaction it will never be an action. So don't think you are taking some kind of action against something when all you are doing is reacting. It's better to use anger as an action to drive you to make something better, as an energy to make a difference and a choice to change things instead of a reaction of striking back, hurting others, and seeking revenge. The choice is ours, no one else can make us put the 're' on to action changing what should have been an action instead of a reaction.

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Hope in God, the best Hope there is

Hope is keeping your eyes fixed on the promise God has given you without giving up. It’s how we look at things, our perspective.       

There are many things in life we hope for. We hope for a new bike for Christmas, we hope for a new car, we hope we can go to Disneyland for our birthday, we hope Grandma’s cancer will go away. In some of the things we hope for they do come true and in other incidents they do not.

 

The best thing we can do with our hope is to keep our eyes fixed on the promises of God without giving up on them. Hope is a matter of how we look at things. It’s our perspective or viewpoint of something. There will be days when we feel like we have no hope but that isn’t true. There is no such thing as “no hope.”

 

Recently in the Philippines with thousands of lives lost and homes destroyed they must feel like they have no hope. In some ways when you put it up to the light and look at it they don’t have much hope. However, there is one thing that tornadoes, hurricanes, tidal waves, and earthquakes cannot destroy and that is the hope we have in Jesus and in the promises we are given.

 

If you read your Bible you will find countless numbers of promises for us to hang on to. Promises such as “God will never leave us nor forsake us. In Christ we can do all things, God is preparing a place in Heaven for those who believe in and follow Him” and many more promises.

 

It’s not a matter of how we are “feeling.” As I tell the grandkids don’t go by your feelings, they are fickle, flawed and cannot be trusted. It is a matter of focusing on God and the hope we have in Him. Too often Satan will try to get you to focus on the bad things around you that make you feel hopeless. When he does you need to sit down with your Bible, turn to the Psalms and get caught back up in the promises God has to offer you and pray, pray, pray!

 

You can read the Bible front to back ten times and you will never find a promise that says you will never feel pain, you will never be hurt, everyone is going to love you, and you will never have a reason to cry, fear, or suffer. You won’t find those because God knows we live in a fallen world who has given in to ungodly ways and poor choices.

 

It is through the pain and suffering we go through that we finally will focus on the promises of God. If we had it good all the time we would be like Adam and Eve in the Bible who didn’t think they needed God let alone listen to Him. It was that attitude that got them kicked out of the garden and placed in what must have seemed like a hopeless situation.

 

Just remember no matter how bad life seems to be there is hope in God, let that be your focus, your choice of attitude, your way of life.

 

© 2013 Karen J. Gillett at Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing for KarensKidsKorner

Kid DEES ~~~~~~~ Jump or Stand

“Problems get us to the edge but we choose to jump”

 

It is no secret that life is hard. As much as we would like to stroll thru life without a care in the world it doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t matter if we are a teenager, college student; young adult or elderly; problems will always linger nearby.

Problems such as our relationship with others, health problems, problems with work or at home, and even other people’s problems invading our life and more. Each problem listed carrying its own degree of how bad they are or not with some people having more than their fair share to deal with.

 

It’s important to remember that “problems” don’t choose their victims they are things that just happen. We are the ones who make the choice through our actions to be a victim to the difficulties we face.

Indeed there will be times when problems or difficulties in life will drive us to the edge but it’s our choice whether we are going to jump or not. That edge where we are about ready to lose our temper, get mad, get even with those causing our problems. Its here at the edge where we make the choice whether we are going to stand strong against our troubles or allow ourselves to become victims and jump into something we shouldn’t.

 

It’s our job to be ready at all times to face life’s difficulties. Our readiness comes from the preparation of our hearts, how well we trust in God, and how strong our spirit is. As much as we try we cannot face our problems alone. We need to God to help us through them. The best way to accomplish that is through the reading of God’s scriptures and prayer.

 

A scripture such as Proverbs 3:5,6 can carry us a long ways through our troubles. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Also the scripture in Philippines 4:13, “I can do everything through Him (God) who gives me strength.”

 

Running from our problems is never an answer. Ignoring them will never work either. Standing up to them and fighting them through the strength God supplies is the only way to successfully overcome and win the battle against our troubles, difficulties, or problems.

 

Fight or flee. Jump or stand. The choice is up to us. The one may get us over the problem but never through them where true success is found.

They Call Me,
                                        Grandma

Fading rainbows

As the pain from the previous night's ordeal continued to stab me in the heart I went out on the porch to take in some morning air. Looking up at the sky I told The Lord if this is what your will is then I accept. God is the Sovereign God, the Almighty, Designer of the universe, Creator of my soul, wounded and hurting or not. Who am I to question Him?

In the process of looking into the sky I noticed a rainbow above my parents' home. It was a fading rainbow that flickered in and out. It acted as if it was ready to go out or grow brighter. In the midst of my tears I began to praise The Lord. Wounded or not if what was going on in my life was God's will then 'Shelah' or so be it I was going to praise God anyway. Even if God's will appeared to be crossing over my will I still could find things to be thankful for and I did. 

I praised Him for the rain, for His love, His discipline, the birds in flight, the cattle in the fields, and the quietness in the air, His watchfulness, and my ability to enjoy what I was hearing, feeling, and seeing. I praised Him I'm not physically beaten, that I love my husband and He loves me in spite of mixed messages we often give to one another.

The more I praised God the more I was hoping the rainbow I was barely seeing over my parents' house, would brighten with each praise but it didn't. Still doing its fading in and out I thought if that is what I get then praise God anyway. I don't praise Him to earn merits or brighter rainbows. I praise Him because I want to and He deserves it.

The same with the other situations in my life, if that is what I get are faded relationships or whatever, that flickers in and out in between the negative times then so be it. If this is God's will, I accept. Some day I will be granted brighter rainbows that do not fade but until then if it's God's will that I have to wait then so be it, I accept.

Oh how true it is that when the days seem the darkest, that is when God shines His brightest hope. Today I have brighter hope, the Sovereign God has not over looked me, forgot me, or is punishing me for all eternity for a sin committed many years ago. He is there, He still cares, He is still in control. Therefore, if it's God's will that my rainbows remain temporarily faded until brighter rainbows come then I accept.

I love you Jesus,

They call me Grandma,

Karen 

Duct tape and toothbrushes

 When it comes to our relationship with Jesus we need to all have our own personal relationship. For example, like a toothbrush. Everyone has to have their own toothbrush to use, you would never think of using someone elses. The same with your relationship with God. It doesn't work to try and use someone else's relationship. Its a must you develop your own.

What grandma has, what the preacher has, what your neighbor has with the Lord is strictly between them and God. No matter how wonderful their relationship works for them it is never good enough for you to use also. Like a toothbrush you can get one that looks similiar or pattern your relationship with God after what you see Grandma's relationship is as long as you have your own.

Same with the worn out Bible that is held together with duct tape. A Bible that belonged to someone else that was passed on down to you perhaps. You need to put your own wear marks on your Bible, reading it and studying it and applying it to your life to the point that you need to add your own duct tape because you are using it so much. The wear and tear put there by someone else does you no good.

Make your own, get your own toothbrush!

They Call Me,

Grandma

Not Worth It

The indoor arena was lit up and excitement was already in the air. It was an enthusiasm that even was felt in the long line we had to wait in to enter the arena. Finally positioned in our seats the lights were turned down as the anticipation level grew as people waited the arrival of the bands scheduled to perform.

 

At last the moment we were all waiting for came as the sound of the music rocked the place. As I stood and sat and stood again clapping along with the crowd to the beat of the music it made me think about what Heaven was going to be like. The excitement in the stadium as everyone sang along with the bands was outstanding. The joy of the Lord could be felt bouncing off the walls and each spirit there. If this is what it felt like on earth I could only imagine what the real stuff was going to be like praising God for all eternity.

As I pondered more on Heaven and the joy and excitement that will come with it I thought to myself, “there is not a sin out there that is worth going to hell over” and missing all this joy in the Lord. The lie we told, the jewelry we stole, the hatred we harbored in our lives, the thrill of drugs, the satisfaction of revenge, the temporary fulfillment of things that separate us from God or not trusting in the Lord as we take matters into our own hands will not be worth being separated from our Lord.

Too often people think the excitement will be outside the gates of Heaven not inside but that is far from the truth. Booming music, people laughing and praising God in loud voices are all things that are far worth it than the pain and suffering that will be going on outside of Heaven within the torments of Hell.

 

It’s important that we stop listening to the lies of Satan who tells us our sins are worth it. It was him that convinced Eve it was worth it for her to eat the forbidden fruit, and it was worth it for Cain to get his revenge on his brother Abel. Wrong.

 

Temporary enjoyment or fulfillment of some emotion we are feeling will never be worth it in the long run if it separates us from God. We need to make the decision now which we would rather do. Would we rather sing praises to God for all eternity in an area full of the excitement and joy that was in that concert arena or live it out in a continuation of earth’s pain and suffering magnified in greater numbers outside of Heaven.

 

I choose Heaven and its joy, I choose repentance and telling God sorry on a day-to-day basis for all I have done and often continue to do. I choose to turn my life around now while I can for the excitement and thrill and joys of heaven.

 

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord. Indeed there is not a sin worth it when it comes to keeping us away from spending eternity in the joys of Heaven. The excitement I feel standing in the long waiting line waiting to get in is worth it when it comes to living out the joys of the Lord, in the Heaven He prepared for those who choose to go.

 

Streets of gold or a lake of fire the choice is ours and it’s made thru our actions, attitudes, and choices here on earth, the waiting line to eternity.

Proper Use of Quickness

                                                      

 

As a young kid one of the cartoons we watched was one called “Quick Draw McGraw.” The cartoon character always seemed to be getting himself into all kinds of trouble. Perhaps you could say, He was too quick for his own good.

                                                                                                       (image courtesy of Bing.com)

As people we suffer from the same problem he did, we are way too quick. Too rapid to jump into things, too hasty to jump to conclusions, too speedy to speak before we know what we really should be saying.

 

We need to slow down and think before we jump into anything. It’s important we find our balance between being way too quick and too slow. Both have damaging effects if not properly handled.

 

Our quickness should be used to refer to how quickly we turn to the Lord and lean on and trust in Him. The too slow needs to be time utilized to wait for the Lord and be still in Him. Sooner or later we catch up to God and He tells us it’s time to move forward in Him. Staying still forever is not an option no differently that jumping into things we shouldn’t be before we think things out is not a choice either.

 

Save your quickness for proper use and once again save yourself from unnecessary pain and suffering. Acting instead of reacting is always a better way to go.

 

© 2013 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Just a target on the road

 

As I drove to church one day I noticed an empty pop cup laying on the road being rolled around by the air currents created by passing cars. As I got closer I wanted to try and hit it as I passed by. I’ve always been one of those who see some things as targets on the road. For example, the tumbleweed that gets blown on the road, the empty pop cup, the clod of dirt, anything that wouldn’t be too harmful to hit such as animals, fallen ladders, hay bales and more.  
 

As I approached the cup the wind from my car blew it away before I could hit it. Instantly my thought wasn’t “darn it I didn’t get it” surprisingly my mind went someplace else. It made me think of Satan and how to him we are just a target on the road to try and hit on his way by.

 

 

We can lay there on the road and allow ourselves to be what they call “road kill” or we can move with the wind, the breeze of Jesus and get out of the way. We don’t need to stay in the dangerous areas of life’s road hoping we can dodge the hazards around us. Playing truth or dare, or some “prove” how brave you are games and try to stand up to Satan alone just doesn’t work.

 

Through our choices we can move out of Satan’s target range. Unfortunately sometimes we are not going to be able to move out quick enough and there will be times we get hit by Satan’s sly and evil ways. When this happens we need to get up and keep moving with the wind of Jesus and go to the great physician, God for healing.

 

 

We are supplied with tools to fight Satan’s attacks such as the armor of God we are told to wear daily. The helmet of salvation protects our minds from Satan’s target games. The breastplate of righteousness shields our hearts from being entered into with things that don’t belong. The shoe of readiness gets us up and running out of the way in order to keep us safe. The belt of truth and the sword of the spirit, which is the truth from God’s word, is our fighting tool to slash the tires of Satan as he goes by.

 

 

Last but not least is the shield of faith the tool that fights off Satan’s fiery darts he tries to throw our way. The darts of lies telling us we are road-kill, we are no good, finished, done, and worthless. We need to allow the wind from us putting up our shield of faith every time to move us out of harm’s way of Satan and into the presence of God. Settling safely in the shadow of God’s wings, bound for Heaven, destined for His glory simply by the choices we make and the armor we wear for Jesus.

 

We don’t have to be the target on the road. Satan is the one that is going to wind up “road-kill.” Our target needs to be Jesus and the Heaven He is preparing for us for all eternity, streets of gold, peace eternal, laughter and love forever and ever. Amen? Amen!  

 

© 2013 Karen J. Gillett at Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

God loves us so much

God loves us like a grandma who is always carrying around pictures of her kids and she can't quit talking about them.
 
How awesome is that knowing the Lord loves us that much. We are not a number to Him, an account He has stock in, a faceless person hidden in a long line of other faces waiting their turn to meet Him.
 
We have a face to Him, He knows what we are thinking, He knows our hearts. He carries with Him a piece of us like the grandma we talked about. His children mean something to Him. He rejoices with them, He mourns with them, He is pleased as well as disappointed in their behavior yet He loves them.
 
The fact that He even knows our name to talk about us is such a wonderful warm thought to think about. As God loves us we need to love Him as well, showing that love through our actions, our behavior, our attitude, and the choices we make it life.

Laughing contest

One day on our way back from church my grandson and I started to have a laughing contest. One by one we tried to out do each others laughs making up new ones along the way. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen and heard. It really lifted my spirits and it seemed to do wonders for him. As a recorded our event on my phone I wanted to make sure I captured this moment the best I could.

I tried to send the audio I made to my blogspot to share with my readers but it didn't come through. Bummer. You missed a good laugh. When I was in Arizona at the Cancer Treatment Center of America they had a class titled, "Laughter is the best medicine." I didn't get a chance to take it but I bet it was just like what my grandson and I had done that day coming home from church.

It's important to find a good balance in this area of our lives with laughter. Sometimes we don't laugh enough and at other times we think something is funny when it really is a serious matter. We need to find that balance between the two and maintain it.

Life is too short to go around upset and grumpy all your life. Getting upset over the milk that just spilled isn't going to get it back in the glass and the floor all cleaned up. Crying over the fact that we just embarrassed ourselves in front of people will not undo the task, we need laugh at ourselves to give ourselves the best medicine for us.

Laughter releases tension, it can get your mind off the seriousness of some situations and it can erase the embarrassment of others. It would do us well to grow a sense of humor to allow ourselves a chance to heal, grow, and share a joy that would otherwise would have been lost.

Living Intentionally instead of drifting aimlessly

It’s important that whether we are young or old we need to make up our minds we are going to live our lives intentionally. That means to make choices and do things on purpose without leaving everything up to chance. When we do this we have better control over our future. Much better than being like a boat without a rudder or in the case of this picture a "dock" from Japan floating around to wash upon some random shore.

 

We need to want to go somewhere instead of always being a drift just to see where the waves of life will take us. To some people they think it sounds exciting to just randomly go out in life and see where fate takes them. In some cases that kind of action has worked for some people but the chances are very small.

Nope, the best place to start in life is deciding to have a purpose in mind for how we want to live it. That purpose may change occasionally as we explore new avenues but that’s okay. There are plenty of things in life that will throw you off your course due to an illness or accident or something. However, when it happens you take control again and start moving forward toward new goals and revised plans.

In our relationship with Jesus and others we need to live that same intentional life. Indeed a life that never leaves a relationship with the Lord and others up to chance but choosing to have a purpose in it. Our relationships are exactly what we ourselves put in to them. They weren’t meant to be there for our convenience and gone when we don't want to deal with them.

Once again the best way to deal with anything in life is to do it intentionally. Deliberately done in a way that clearly reflects more of Jesus in our choices and less of what we want for ourselves. When we do this we will go further and accomplish more toward something that will last forever.

Praise the Lord we don’t have to live our life a drift when we travel with Jesus.



Rules to Live By

A simple set of rules not only for our kids and grandkids to live by but rules for all of us to apply to our lives.

Rule #1 Pray Always

Rule #2 Be thankful

Rule #3 Take responsibility

Rule #4 Choose to be happy

Rule #5 Go to bed with a forgiving spirit

Remember: There are no giants, only mountains yet to climb, so take action!


Pray always. Praying always to God keeps us in touch with our Lord and Savior. Our purpose in life is to establish a good relationship with the Lord and we do that thru communication. If we tried talking to our parents or the teach at school only once a week for an hour or two they wouldn't like it. No relationship can be built on the lack of communication and our relationship with God is no different.

Be thankful. As human's we have the tendency to not be thankful. Tendency?! Wrong word we are flat out very ungrateful people. We can find an excuse to grumble about anything. Instead of looking at what we do have we would rather reflect on what we don't have. Instead of being thankful for the things other people are doing for us we would rather find fault in the things we think we could do better.

Take Responsibility. Too often we fail to take responsibility for our actions. We would rather blame our parents, our teacher, our siblings, the full moon, or the change in the atmosphere for our behavior instead of taking responsibility for it. When we do something whether its good or bad we need to take responsibility for our actions. Own up to what we have done. It's not that good of a thing we have to "own up to" then we need to use this moment to correct whatever it is inside of us that made us do what we did. Spouting off at the mouth and saying, "Well I own up to it, that is just the way I am" is not a good attitude to take. We need to step down off our high horses and our thinking that we are the ones that rule our lives and that everyone gets to do whatever they want in life, good or bad.

Choose to be happy. Daily we need to make the choice to "choose to be happy." Circumstances, people, money, or anything else is responsibility for making us happy. It's a choice we make for ourselves. Many relationships have broken up over the fact that one of the people in the union wasn't being made happy by the other person. That is our job to choose to be happy. It comes from our attitude, our choice to look at things in a positive manner. It's not something we can rely on others to supply us with. Indeed others can make us very happy but its not their responsibility. If our attitudes weren't correct in the first place whatever they did would never have worked. It comes from us.

Go to bed with a forgiving spirit. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to go to bed with a forgiving heart. Doing this forces to deal with things immediately like they should be done instead of sulking over them only to get madder and madder. It's best to take care of it and deal with your differences now instead of later. Hanging on to our anger and hatred for someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It just doesn't happen, we are the ones who wind up injured from our anger.

Remember, there are no giants, only mountains yet to climb, so take action. Too often we look at things and think they are too big for us to deal with. We get scared at the tasks ahead of us instead of stopping long enough to just move forward in faith, faith in our Lord and Savior that tells us he will never leave us nor forsake us. The only way we can access that promise is through faith. We need to be looking at the size of God not the size of the task in front of us. Instead of holding ourselves back from accomplishing great things we need to take action knowing we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

It hurts

 One day as my granddaughter went out to do her "farm chores" she ran into something she wasn't expecting. The bottom step of the new deck we built had enough ice on it to make it slick. Sure enough she slipped scrapping up her knee. 

 

 

As we looked for a bandage she complained about it hurting. "Grandma, it hurts," she said again and again. After giving her a hug I told her, "Well, it wasn't meant to tickle." Later as the words I spoke to her echoed in my mind I thought about them in my heart.

 

 

I meditated on the different situations in life that create pain and how grand it would be if they were meant to tickle. Unfortunately that isn't the way it works. There must be a reason that we experience or have to deal with pain.

If you think about it pain teaches us things. You hurt yourself on a hot stove you've just learned to not do that again. The pain of our choices teaches us to not make that choice again. Pain teaches us to rely on God more. It helps us to learn endurance which is something we need whether we ever experience pain or not. Pain prepares us to be able to help others thru it.

We don't have to go seeking pain in order to become wise and strong early in life, pain finds us. Our part to play is to be prepared for it and know how to handle pain. Sadly enough there are a lot of people who don't know how to handle their pain. Some get angry and try to cause other people pain to go along with the misery they are feeling. Some run from pain and commit suicide. Others give in to the pain and become worthless to themselves and others. Others like to bury it alive and not deal with it. It doesn't work. 

 

 

My granddaughter knew exactly what to do when she hurt her knee. She ran to grandma and the medicine cabinet where the bandages are kept. My prayer for her and all my grandchildren and love ones is that they will know exactly what they need to do when they experience emotion, spiritual, and even physical pain and that is to Jesus Christ and the medicine cabinet of the Bible, God's holy word to see them thru. My prayer is that none will run or hide from it or get lost in it.

The solution is Jesus. Pain is inevitable, certain, unavoidable, predictable, in other words it's going to happen sooner or later. It doesn't matter if it's a little or a lot we need to be ready. We don't need to compare our degrees of pain and figure who is worse off than who. Pain is pain and we need to use it as a tool to learn not one to use as our play toy for a pity party of "why me" why not someone else.

Practice preventive medicine and turn to God first and stay close to His medicine cabinet, The Bible, God's Holy Word.

Graduating Class of 2012

June is the month of graduations. If you just graduated from something like kindergarten, Jr. High, High School, or college, Congratulations!


(The picture here is my graduation picture from 1976 along with Mary and Debbie)

Recently as I was listening to someone talk about their busy schedule they told me that they were, “All graduated out.” In other words they had so many things going on surrounding the graduation of their children that it was wearing them out.

Another parent could be seen writing notes of endearment to their daughter on their car windows stating, “Congratulations Gracie we are proud of you. We love you” as she graduated from kindergarten (this is Gracie in the picture). Next on the scene was the grandparent sitting on a hard bench bearing the pain just to watch their 8th grade granddaughter graduate into High school. Each of these families in their own ways offered up encouragement to their loved ones.


However, it’s important the encouragement doesn’t end there. We need to keep encouraging our kids more and more. Life out in the “real” world isn’t as kind and sweet and easy as they would like to believe it is. There will be hills to climb, bridges to cross, roads to travel down, and valley’s to go thru. At times they will run into an occasional brick wall, dead end, bridge out sign, and pot holes that will slow them down but they must know that they need to keep moving forward.

(In this picture is my granddaughter Marissa who graduated from 8th grade. I was the grandparent that was struggling to sit on the hard bench. Ouch! )
The best traveling companion they can take with them is their attitude. Believe it or not our attitude is what makes or breaks us. It is what will slow us down or speed us up depending on what kind of attitude we choose to have. If we go out into life with anger, bitterness, negative, disrespect, selfishness as the base of our attitude we won’t go far. However, if we have a caring, loving, upbeat, positive respectful attitude we will get much further in life.

Begin your journey with seeking God. Don’t wait till you’ve gone out and “did your thing first.” Always put God first in your life and all the other things needed to survive life will fall properly into place. God is where your strength will abound, it is through Him you’ll find peace for yourself, its with Him that mountains can be conquered, bridges crossed, and pot holes filled in to make traveling much easier and definitely more successful.


World, I present to you this day Class of 2012. God bless them all.


“Lord God above, watch over each and every one of them as they move up, move on, move forward in their lives. And may each of them appreciate what they have and look forward to the one true graduation ahead. The one where we graduate into Heaven as we fall alive into eternity with You Heavenly Father to the place of no pain, no tears, no struggles, no trials, no fear but only the blessings that come with having accepted Christ into our lives.” Amen


Christ, I present to you this day Class of 2012 and every year before and after that. We are blessed thanks to you.



They call me, Grandma



© 2012 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

King

In Sunday school today we made crowns. It was to go along with our story of Solomon. He was one of many kings in the Bible. The true lesson to be learnt regarding the crown is to learn who is king of your life. It should be Jesus. Too often we try to wear His crown ourselves and it just doesn't work.

Kneeling Side-By-Side Together Forever in Prayer

This weekend together my granddaughter Brooke and I made a prayer pillow to kneel on. What a wonderful thing it is to kneel side-by-side in prayer to our Lord God. What a blessing it is in our own humbleness to kneel before God together, forever and ever.

Prayer is our avenue to Heaven to keep in close contact and develop our most intimate relationship with the Lord. It was through the shed blood of Jesus that swung open the door to the throne giving us access to our God via prayer and the Holy Spirit.

Prayer is not the road taken to get what we want whenever we want it. It is the path developed to link us to God. It’s not a wish list conveyer belt with a return shoot quicker than quick. It is our communication with God, our path to peace, strength, guidance, wisdom, and so much more.

God tells us in the Bible that some day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We can do it now or wait till judgment day when sentences are handed out according to our choices on earth.

Waiting is good for the enemy and bad for us. Now is the time to humble ourselves before the Lord in surrender. The short time on earth that we have has no comparison to the moments of eternity in Heaven we can have with the Lord if we so choose.



Side-by-side, together, forever. Join us!



They Call me, Grandma

What's the Point

As I went to pick up my grandkids for church one Sunday morning running out of the house was only one kid. “Where is everyone else?” I asked. “They didn’t see the point in coming,” was the reply I got.

“The point?” The fact is a life without Jesus is like an unsharpened pencil…..there is no point. It’s hard to get people to understand especially 7, 10, 11, 14 years olds the fact that the greatest effects of reading the Bible and attending church are often silent, quiet and hard to detect at the time they are being produced.

The point of going to church and reading our Bible is to worship God, to learn about Him, to get spiritually fed so we grow up to be the children we are meant to be in Christ. The point isn’t to be entertained, catered to, and served.

The Bible is our love letter from God preparing us for the time in which we will see Him face-to-face. It guides us where we need guidance, it strengthens us when we are feeling weak. Going to church reinforces that in our lives as we surround ourselves with fellow Christians trying to reach the same goals.

The church isn’t by far the “perfect” place because it’s filled with people, people like you and me that are far from perfect. You go there to try and become perfect not because you already are. Believe it or not we are all born sinners; we all fall short of God’s glory. Reading our Bible and going to church helps take care of those shortcomings or at least it should with the right attitude and discipline.

They both work together to keep us on the right road to Heaven. A road we are told in the Bible is narrow. As much as we would like to make it wider and wider thinking God accepts anything and anyone as long as they’re “good people” doesn’t work.

God has His path, He has pointed to Christ as the door we need to enter thru via our faith and obedience in Him. The point is getting to know Him so that some day when we stand before Him He can’t say, “I never knew you! Get out of here!”

No, the words we should strive to hear from Him are, “I know you. You were a steadfast, well disciplined, determined servant; a true friend on earth. Someone I noticed was always seeking even when the road grew dark and rough. Come in, good and faithful servant.”

That’s the point! Getting to know God and being obedient to His word.


They call me grandma



© 2012 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing