Chosen

I am convinced that we were created with a deep desire inside of us to be chosen. 

I remember when I was in first or second grade at Shirley School in Missouri being the next to last person to be chosen for a game of softball.  It was a terrible feeling standing there waiting and watching all the other children be chosen ahead of me.  But how relieved I felt when FINALLY my name was called and I went over and stood with my team. 

Now, I think about the last poor child who was left there un-chosen.  He wasn’t picked so he had to be on a team that didn’t choose him.  That had to be much worse than being chosen next to last.  I imagine he grudgingly picked up the bat and swung when it was time, full of bitterness that he was making any type of effort toward a win when nobody really wanted him on the team anyway.  I wish I could say that he made a home run or won the game for them but I don’t remember any of that.  I really just remember how great it felt to finally be CHOSEN.

This is why getting engaged is such a big deal for women.  They want to be chosen above all the other women in the entire world.  They want to believe they are special and the only person their love would desire to spend the rest of his life with and that nobody else will do. 

It’s the same thing with a new job or promotion.  When we are passed over and another is chosen, we take it personally.  We want to be chosen. 

I have to say, even at a very early age in life, I KNEW I was chosen by God.  My dad was a Primitive Baptist Minister and taught me that truth.   

However, in my mid-twenties, one night I chose God.  (Mind you, I was already a Christian.)  But I didn’t understand the life changing magnitude it would have on me to choose God.  To say to Him, sincerely from my broken spirit, “I’m surrendered to Your will in my life, whatever that may be.”  

This is when the relationship truly began because before then I was trying to be a Christian.  When I chose God in this way, my life changed.     

As much as we desire to be chosen in life, God wants us to choose Him, too.

I have chosen the way of truth, I have set my heart on your laws.  Psalm 119:30

Crazy BEAUTIFUL

I may have mentioned I have three boys.  :)

They're not actually boys anymore.  The two older ones are now men.  Josh is nearly 26 and Jestin will soon be 21.  Joseph is the baby and almost 12.  


Being from a large family, I grew up with four sisters and four brothers.  So, I've always had women around, at least until I got married.  My husband and I moved away not long afterwards and every time we had a child, it was a boy.  

Needless to say, I longed for a girl.  I wanted to fix her hair.  I wanted to paint fingernails and buy cute clothes together.  I couldn't help but wonder who would take care of me when I get old?  (ha ha)  But it wasn't God's plan for me. 
    
However, this young lady has been hanging around our house for a couple of years now.  She is deeply in love with my middle son.  (I can't say that I blame her!  He's quite a catch!  lol)  

                               

                                 

At first, I wasn't sure what to think about her hanging around all the time because I was used to keeping all of my son's attention for myself.  I admit though she has definitely grown on me.  I've gotten to know her pretty well over the past couple of years and I wouldn't trade her for anything.  

Honestly, when she's not here for a couple of days I start missing her. 

I'm beginning to feel a little bit of what it must be like to have a daughter.  Because sometimes she acts just like one of my kids.

Here are some examples:

"Where's the Windex?"
"Wanna get a pedicure?"
"Are you cooking tonight?"  
"Can I make brownies?"
"Will you make a dessert?"
"Will you make cookies?"
"Can I talk to you about something?"


Sometimes she's funny and carefree.  Sometimes she's a little cranky and hormonal.  But ALL the time she is crazy BEAUTIFUL.   

I'm thankful God brought this young lady into my son's life (and mine).    

He LOVES me...

He loves me... He loves me not...

That’s the question most young girls want answered.  (Women too!)  

I remember many summers as a young girl picking daisies along the roadside.  I'd walk as I pulled the petals from the flower stating "he loves me" and then "he loves me not" removing the petals one by one with the great hope that when I got to the last petal it would be on “he loves me”.

I'm not sure if this was a popular thing to do all over the world, but it was definitely the thing to do in the country where I grew up in Shirley, Missouri, if you wanted to find out if someone special might love you.

It seems like a silly thing to do now that I look back because if the last petal ended on “he loves me not” - I’d just grab another daisy and continue pulling petals until I got the answer that I wanted - "he loves me".  

Then I would be happy and content believing the flower confirmed the love I hoped for from my crush at the time.

As I've gone through life a ways, I have to say that I thought many different people loved me.  I'm sure some truly did and I'm sure some did not.  

How to really KNOW? 

Well, many said, "I love you"  and I believed their words and later realized that they were just words.

Some have found themselves completely crushed by putting too much trust in the words of another person.  Actually, we want to be loved in such a way that we are never let down by the one we love.  But that's not even possible.  We will let others down and others will disappoint us or break our hearts because we believe their words that don't measure up to their actions.

But I must say, I know someone who LOVES me and He proved it with His words and His actions.  

He loves me when I'm at my worst.  He loves me when I'm at my best.  He loves me when I'm unlovable to everyone else.  I believe Him.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

    

I KNOW I can trust His words.  I KNOW I trust His actions.  I believe Him. 

I know He LOVES me! 

(I hope you do, too!)

Be Like A Maple Seed

God knows how to make a seed right.   

I am amazed EVERY spring when the Maple seeds begin to fall from the trees.  They really don't fall but fly.  How amazing is God that He would put a wing on a seed?

When I was a child, I picked them up, tossed them into the air and watched them spiral back down to the ground.  I never thought much about how remarkable they were. (I believe we called them helicopters.)

But when I was in my early twenties, I fell madly in love with Jesus.  When this happened, I saw most everything differently.  The Maple seed now astonished me for the first time in my life.  How incredible it was to sit in the back yard and watch hundreds of these seeds fly though the air!  I marveled at their creator and how incredible it was that He would consider placing a wing on a seed so that it would fly in the wind and be carried away from the tree it came from to grow into a tree somewhere else.

Now, in midlife, I am STILL amazed by these seeds!  They remind me of that tender time when I fell in love with Jesus.  They also remind me of Christians.  

Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.  They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once, they left their nets and followed Him. 

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.  They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets.  Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. 

The scripture says AT ONCE – they left their nets and followed Him and IMMEDIATELY they left the boat and their FATHER and followed Him.      

We are also called to follow Jesus but sometimes we find it difficult.  We may want to follow our parents.  We may want to follow a pastor or a particular denomination.  We may want to follow anything, it seems, except Jesus. 

I know in my life, I found it difficult because the most spiritual person I knew was my dad who was also my pastor.  I loved my dad and I loved my church.  I wanted to continue in that denomination and did NOT want to leave it.  But as I grew as a Christian, God called me away from that church.  He placed me in another church where I flourished.  

I found it very difficult to leave what I’d known my whole life.  I didn’t want to disappoint my dad.  I didn’t want to hurt him.  But I was called to follow Jesus not my dad.  Looking back, it was exactly what I needed at the time. 

So, be like the Maple seed.  

When the time is right for you to let go and fly, allow the wind to carry you to the place God has for you.  Trust Him.  Believe what He says in the Bible.  He will NOT lead you in the wrong direction but to a good place.  A place for you to grow and flourish because that's what healthy things do.

 Follow JESUS and nothing else.