WE are not in a Recession

Funny thing, this morning as I was preparing to go to work, I thought about the current recession (that's not the funny part). As I pondered the state of our country, I thought about the fact that God is not in a recession (that's not the funny part either : ).

God is not in heaven right now, distraught trying to figure how He'll be able to bless ALL His children this month. He's not worrying about how He'll be able to keep heaven with the housing market looking like it does. He's not thinking of where He'll find the time to answer everyone's prayers once He gets a second job.

God has everything. His resources are infinite, His time is infinite. He's not at all concerned about the economy. He probably hasn't even thought twice about, except for the fact that His children are living in worry and concern about their futures.

Why?

Why are we so concerned about what's going on in the world.

1. We're just here for a short while anyway. A lifetime is nothing compared to an eternity.
2. God told us not to take thought for the morrow, but to let it take care of itself [I'll post the verse when I find it].
3. He also said He will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus [Same here].
   

Don't worry. Just trust.

So the funny part of all this is that this morning when I was thinking it over, I was thinking "Christians shouldn't say we're in a recession." because we're not. The world is in a recession, but this is not our home. When people say we're in a recession, we should say "Y'all (yes, I'm from the South : ) are in a recession. I'm not. God doesn't operate according to man's terms. God has infinite resources, and so do I. He'll supply all my needs regardless of what's going on in the world."

Maybe this is one of those "easier said than done" situations, but I just found it funny to tell someone " 'WE'RE' in a recession?? No. Y'all are in a recession" and watch them give you the ultimate crazy look. Lol.

Anywho, that's it for now. Thought it was humorous, and wanted to share.

God bless you!!

: ))

I'll Stand

I was working on a paper, and decided to play some music to drown out neighbors.
I decided to play Hillsong, because they're just so awesome.
The following song, entitled The Stand, started playing, and I had to stop working and just focus on these lyrics:

I'll stand,
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe, of of the One Who gave it all
I'll stand,
My soul Lord to you surrendered
ALL I AM IS YOURS

These aren't all the words to the song, but these are the lyrics that arrested my attention.

Just take some time, and really let these words sink into your spirit, then rise in song to the Lord...

God was with HIM??

So I have this goal to read through the Bible. I think it's a great way for me to practice discipline (i.e. once I decide to do something, I should stick to that decision regardless of whether I want to do so).

In accomplishing this "reading through the Bible" thing, I've decided to try to read my Bible daily. I know, you may be thinking, "You don't read your Bible daily?? Who do you think you are?? But its your 'DAILY bread'. 'Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every Word that preceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. Matt 4:4 ' "

I know. I know. The world wasn't built in a day (<< style="font-size:130%;">THE WORLD to me. Having these feelings is meaningless without the actions that corroborate them. I want God to see that I love Him. I completely understand that I could NEVER EARN His love, but that doesn't prevent me from showing Him my love. Geeze.

Anywho, back to the Bible-reading.

I'm reading the story of Joseph (around Genesis 38), and I was thinking about all the obstacles in Joseph's life.

His father loved him more than his other brothers (not the obstacle part) and his brothers knew this (the obstacle part). To add insult to injury, Joseph wasn't shy about showing his brothers the gifts his father gave him.

[That actually kinda led me to believe Joseph may have been a little naive (Naive: (adj) Leslie's middle name). If I knew that a group of strong, towering men disliked me AND I knew why, I definitely wouldn't fuel that fire.]

Now to get to the point of God was with HIM??.

God was right there with him, when he was sold into slavery by his own brothers, He was with Him when he was promoted to head of Potiphar's home and all his possessions, He was with him when he was thrown into prison and falsely accused of propositioning Potiphar's wife, He was with Him when he was promoted to keeper of all the prisoners in Potiphar's prison - and that's as far as I've gotten so far.

When Joseph was the apple of his father's eye or the keeper of all Potiphar's possessions, the Lord was with him. When Joseph was at the bottom of the bottom as slave to the Ishmaelites, the Lord was still with him.

What I got from all this: Having the Lord on our side, and constantly being in His presence doesn't mean that life will always be a "walk in the park" - although depending on the size of the park, the terrain, the heat index, and the humidity, that doesn't really seem like the best part of the Life is GOOD/TERRIBLE spectrum, lol. It just means that He is with us in the midst of it all.

For so long (i.e. forever), I wondered what the reasons were for my life being so sucky. I wondered "Ohhh, what I have I done to deserve such a sucky life." And actually, what I wondered went more like "I HAVEN'T done anything to deserve this life, so why do I have it? Why am I the one always struggling, et cetera et cetera et cetera."

SILLY ME.

Who am I, to think that my life is supposed to be without difficulty? What basis do I have to make such an ignorant assumption? Just like God doesn't have to explain His blessings, He doesn't have to explain the, sometimes circuitous, paths that lead to those blessings. If He did, more than likely, I wouldn't understand. His knowledge bank, compared to mine, is....well....to put it modestly....a gazillion times fuller. It's the trials and the obstacles that make the success so much more rewarding.

Isaiah 43:2 kinda sums up what I'm getting at here. It's a great scripture. Oh, and there are plenty of stories with a similar theme - Job is the one that sticks out to me.

Have a blessed weekend remembering the incredible SACRIFICE our Savior made for us ALL!!!!

"Laughter Doeth Good..."

"Kathy Lee [Gifford], is absolutely beautiful, glowing, youthful...I hope that I look that good when I'm 400. And it's not fair. Because she's like a V-list celebrity..." - a quote from Marinka over at her blog.

A "V-list celebrity" as apposed to an A-, B-, C-....or U-list one.

I though that was hilarious.

Oh, and I found my primer that I had dropped and couldn't recover yesterday. I sooo appreciate the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I'd be so lost and sad without it.

Have a great day!!

Today...

...I didn't have time to make my lunch this morning.
...I still can't find my other favorite earring.
...I dropped a freezer box full of PCR reagents.
....when I dropped the box, I lost a primer I just purchased.
...I didn't have time to fully peer review an article that needed to be turned in today.
...a person I used to consider a friend, but called me a jerk recently, sent me 2 angry text msgs - that last one ended in "Farewell".
...this PCR I keep doing still doesn't work.
...could have been worse.

...there was a piece of cake waiting on the fridge to greet me when I came in this morning. : )

Through it all, Jesus is still Lord. :)))

Jesus, Take EVERYTHING

There's a song by Seventh Day Slumber called Take Everything. [Maybe most of you know of this song, but it's new to me, so I thought I'd share...]

The chorus says:

Take the pain inside
Take the brokenness
Don't stop till there's nothing left
My arrogance my pride loss of innocence
Jesus, take everything.

That is my cry. I want God take away the pain of my past, and teach me how to let it go.
I want Him to take away my arrogance, my pride, and my loss of innocence.
I want Him to take it all away.

The song goes on to say:

There's nothing left of me
That's when I feel alive.

That is so awesome!
I want to have nothing left of me in me. I want God to feel me with Him - with His love, His compassion, His Holy Spirit.
I want everything like me to be replaced by the characteristics that are like Him.

My prayer is for God take EVERYTHING.

OH, what a day!!

Today has been such a marvelous day for me. Just listen to the events that have occurred...

1. I've been craving a salad, but since I don't currently own a vehicle, trips to the grocery store are limited and buying them at lunch is costly. Today I had lunch in the cafeteria with some very lovely young ladies, and I ended up getting a salad and not having to pay for it. Thank God!!

2. I made a cake last night and was able to share some slices with the Human Resources (HR) department in my building. They were so surprised and so thankful to be getting cake. One lady ended up asking for the recipe and for pointers, because she was planning on making it this weekend.

3. After blessing several people with cake, they told me that I could get some free pizza that was left over from a staff meeting [and boy, do I LOVE free food :)].

4. I finally received correspondence from the Supervisor at an antibody supplier for our research lab, regarding a problem with an order I placed 3 months ago. I've been calling for months, but today they actually returned my phone call. To my surprise, the Supervisor was very soft-spoken and timid. I think the 3-month time span was to prepare me for speaking with this person in a kind, soft voice.

5. I went to the library and found the exact book that I need to study for taking the GRE in the upcoming months.

6. People have been holding doors for me, saying 'excuse me', and saying 'thank you' all day! The kindness and gratitude I've experienced today has been so refreshing!

7. I asked someone down in HR this morning, "How are you doing?" and he replied "Wonderful!" That blessed me too. I really appreciated his optimism and positive spirit. He said "When I wake up, I tell myself 'Today is going to be a great day!' " That was quite the encouragement for me.

There are probably more awesome things that have happened to me in the past 24 hours, but those are all I could think of right now. Be blessed - to be a blessing, of course!! : )