Be Resolved

  To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

What a wonderful verse written by Paul to the church at Thessalonica through the Holy Spirit.  Aren't you glad that God will make us worthy of His calling and that He will glorify the Lord Jesus through our endeavors by His power?  We cannot make ourselves worthy of anything.  He does it all if we confess our sins and turn to Christ. Be resolved to do good and glorify the Lord Jesus...and He will do the rest.

Dads

Today is Father's Day.  Being a dad is an easy job. Being a good dad calls for effort. Being called a great dad is an honor, but so often is the opinion of the one being 'fathered' and that label might change from child to child for whatever reason.  Isn't that true for any of us?  No one is all things to all people, but 'Dad' is a special title that carries with it responsibilities.
My dad has been dead for many years.  He and I were never really close and while I used to think it was his fault, I wish he were here today so I could thank him for being my dad.  My parents divorced when I was a young teenager.  After that, he was in and out of my life, mostly out...by his choice, but I was not unhappy about that.  He had a temper.
I look in the mirror and see my dad.  No mistake about it.  My dad stares back at me. (Even my brothers agree.)
He was the baby of nine.  I don't think he ever grew up in the way of needing and demanding attention.  In hindsight, I would like to tell him that it's okay and to show him love.  I understand him better now than I ever did.  That's what God does.  He teaches us how to love people...especially those closest to us.
If love comes easy for your dad, thank the Lord.  If it doesn't, and you know the Lord, you can change that. Strive to make a difference in his life and forgive.
I asked my dad to forgive me a few weeks before he died.  I had not been the daughter he might have needed me to be.  I also told him that life is hard at times and that if he ever wanted to yell at someone, he could yell at me and it would be okay. He thanked me...and never yelled at me again.
Months later my dad fell and went into a coma and died within days.  He was fifty-five. It isn't always the quantity of time we are given, but the quality.  You and I can change the quality of the lives around us...just by choosing to love and forgive.  It is worth the investment - not only for them, but for us.  Mostly for us.

Live Simply and Simply Follow

I am in the middle of reading two books.  It is not unusual for me to be abusing my mind this way. I often mix them together in my head.  In this case, it works well.
I am reading "not a fan" by Kyle Idleman and "Living Simply" which has no one author but is a compilation of many quotes and verses - put out by Renewing Minds Press.  Next to the title page is a statement: Contentment is an invisible line.  It's the line between "I need" and "I want."
Mr. Idelman's book asks the question - Are you a fan or a follower?...of Christ Jesus. Everyone says, "Oh well of course!  I am a follower!"  But do we really know what it means to follow Jesus completely?  Do you?  Do I?
So, I am on a journey...to live simply and simply follow.
Matthew 16:24-27  Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 
Luke 12:33-34  Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 
Sound counsel for a simple seeking follower like me.

Reachable Summer Goals

Tommy and I recently drove home from Iowa...an eighteen hour trip.  Now, that is a long time to be in the car, but we love it.  It allows us time to talk about everything under the sun.  I once wrote a post about all of the things Tommy does while driving. I came up with nineteen things.  I decided not to post it, though.  Didn't seem fair.  Plus, he could retaliate one day and write something about me...if he wanted to.
So, on our long journey home I got out pen and paper and we set some summer goals - ones that we both agreed on. (I know.  I ended with a preposition.)  Ones on which we both agreed.  How's that?
Anyway...we came up with a great list of things which included having neighbors over, reading three books each, making much needed visits to some, and much needed phone calls.  I also added some yardwork and he nodded yes to that one.  It involves a chainsaw.  In the end, we came up with about eleven things...and some of those are weekly.
These may not seem like noteworthy goals to you, but we are trying to make this summer count in our world.  I challenge you to come up with ideas that would benefit others this summer....or yourself.  Read more.  Visit the library.  Visit the elderly. Have a luncheon.  Make phone calls just to encourage someone.  You know what you need to do, so make a plan.
You will need a calendar, a favorite pen ;),  a phone, and perhaps a decision to get out of your comfort zone. (Mine had gotten way too big and waaayyy too comfortable.) So join me.  Redeem the time you have left this summer.  Make it count.

Real or Counterfeit?

I visited a church in Iowa today and the pastor preached on counterfeit Christians.  In order for something to be counterfeit, something genuine must first exist.  Something genuine.  I call myself a Christian, but are my actions genuine all the time?  Do I serve the Lord with a joyful heart, bearing fruit, and giving thanks?  Am I grateful?  For everything?  I am the only one who can honestly answer that and the answer is no, not always.
Counterfeit disciples exist alongside genuine disciples just as tares exist alongside the wheat.  Does my Maker know me? As belonging to Him?
Matthew 7:21-23  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' 

Matthew 12:36-37 "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." 
Did you read that?  We will account for every careless word.  I say many careless words.

Ephesians 5:17-21  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 
There is that word 'gratefulness' again.  Give thanks always and for everything.  All for Christ.  Be real. Be His. And let's watch our words.  May they be gracious and kind, worth saying.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

Tonypandy

What a funny sounding word.  I learned it this week as I read a book by Josephine Tey titled "The Daughter of Time."  In the book Detective Grant uses the word, "Tonypandy" to describe widely believed historical myths, such as the Tonypandy Riot, or deliberately falsified history, such as the life of Richard III.
So, in other words, it's when the historical facts have been altered over time and the truth has been twisted and tainted for so long that it is anything but truthful. Tonypandy is actually a town in Wales where a riot occurred, but the events were so exaggerated over time that the term 'tonypandy' was attached to any such marring of historical truth.
And so the account of Richard III killing his two nephews (ages ten and twelve) in order to attain the throne has been regarded as tonypandy.  In 1984 England - centuries later - a trial was enacted with the defendant being the long departed Richard Plantagenet.  Evidences were given and closing arguments made for both sides. Though the jury found him innocent of the murders, the debate will go on forever, I suppose.
I personally like the idea of him being innocent of such a crime. 
Recently - in August 2012, remains of a body were found under a parking lot and DNA testing proved it to be that of Richard III. He was then interred at Leicester Cathedral. This brought to light again, the question of his guilt or innocence. 
Will this new discovery someday be labelled as tonypandy?  With all of the documentation we have today, I think not.  And so you ask, "Who cares?"  Well, not me really.  I just like the term 'tonypandy' and wanted to share my new found knowledge of a man of which I knew nothing.  So, there you have it.  (Smile.)

Flag is Number Sixty

Flag is an Italian Greyhound belonging to my son Luke, his wife YuJueng, and two year old daughter Mae. He is very good at terrorizing squirrels, rabbits, and anything else that wanders into his yard or the ones nearby as there are no fences to mark boundaries.
Luke googled smartest dog breeds and found as he suspected that Italian Greyhounds are not the brightest around.  Now, really.  Why look up something that is going to bring shame on the loved pet in your life? Flag ranks number 60 in a list of 79 breeds. Flag told me that it isn't true.  I keep trying to help him move up the line by improving his talents and skills, but each time I give him a point, he does something worth taking it away again.
The data also revealed how many times it takes for each breed to hear a command before grasping it. Italian Greyhounds - forty to eighty times.  Now that Flag has heard us laugh about that, I think he is counting the number of times we call him, knowing we don't expect him to obey until we have repeated it at least forty times.
When he is near Mae, he becomes protector, raising one paw and being on the alert for any rabid squirrels or pesky rabbits.  Mae loves rabbits and makes us draw 'toggis' (rabbits in Korean) on the sidewalk.

Mae watching mama pull weeds.  I drew the rabbit...I mean toggi.

The dog next door is a Siberian Husky.  Very beautiful and fifteen points ahead of Flag and he only has to hear a command twenty-five to forty times.

Who in the world stands there and counts how often it takes a dog to respond?  And who in the world would write about it in her blog....at midnight? Someone who can't get to sleep, that's who.











Flag, you might get a boost in your ratings if you would pull some weeds.  "Okay," he says.  "Just ask me forty more times and maybe I will."