Summer Siesta Bible Study... Ruth...

I've just finished the first week's lessons of Kelly Minter's Bible Study... Ruth. I am loving it and already have learned some interesting things that I didn't know about the book of Ruth. This is a special season in my life where I feel like I'm just where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Waiting on the next thing to happen in my life, but all in all feeling pretty stable.
That is not the case in a few of my friends lives. This week I have encountered three women who are at a loss as to what to do with their lives. Their marriages. Their jobs... My heart goes out to them.

This statement from the bible study just keeps coming to my mind as if it's my duty to meditate on it. It's a quote from Matthew Henry reminding us that fleeing our circumstances doesn't necessarily remedy them. "It is our wisdom to make the best of that which is, for it is seldom that changing our place is mending it."

I think this verse means that even if we find ourselves in a situation that seems hopeless, or desperate, or completely wasting our time, that we should learn to make the best of it. That changing the situation isn't going to fix the problem... Because, honestly, the problem we have with anything, be it another a person, a situation, a marriage, a job, a child, a sibling, a co-worker, a whatever, the problem is OURS... It's not anyone else's... And even if we leave that "thing" that we think is causing all our grief, we really don't leave it, because the problem is IN us... Unless we resolve the issue that we have a problem with in our own hearts and minds, we will always have the problem...

Honestly, if we leave one situation, chances are we'd just find fault in another situation as soon as we got involved because again, the problem is IN us.

We must choose to humble ourselves and lean not on our own understanding of things. Let God be in control of our comings and our goings. We have to turn to God for our daily bread. We have to seek him for our paths. Willful disobedience is a scary thing. It is choosing to not surrender to the Lord. It is trying to do things in your own might.. by your own willpower. God says that nothing is impossibly for him, and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me... But it all must be done through Christ... Through a daily dependence upon Him. Oh, for those who struggle with depending on Jesus... If you only knew that there was FREEDOM through OBEDIENCE... It is for our blessed freedom that we learn to depend on Jesus...

It's not just enough to know God's will, but we must DO God's will. We must actually follow him along the path he has laid out for us. The Bible Study gave two examples of men who wept and was asked to do the will of God. One did it and the other didn't... Paul in Acts 20:22, 34-36 knew God was leading him to Jerusalem where he may have to suffer tribulation and possibly jail... but he went... The other example was the Rich man in Mark 10:17-22. Jesus asked him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, and then come follow him, but the man wept because he had a lot of money and loved his money more than God... He walked away from what he knew the Lord wanted him to do... Willful Disobedience... What a scary place to be in... This is where the hardening of the heart comes into play... Once we start saying no to God, our hearts will become harder and harder to hear his voice and to do his will... Oh, my friends... listen and head the voice of God today. Turn from the path of selfishness, and thinking of only yourself, and heed the voice of the Lord... Let him love you into the fullness of his righteousness and surrender your heart to him today.

Oh what peace we often forfeit because we don't trust and obey...

What a lesson for me through the book of Ruth... I can't wait to see what God is going to do next in my life, but until then, I will fill myself up with his goodness and grace...

Until next time,
Lea Anne

40 years of the good life...

I turned 40 last week and I have to say it's been a pretty good ride so far.



I've been reflecting on the things in my life that have developed who I am...



I've decided to put a few reflections down on paper and in no certain order so that I can measure my growth in the coming years. I believe the best is yet to come and I have a lot to learn yet.



1. 19 was way too young to have a baby... but 44 seems just right to have all adult children... Perspective is important.



2. What I know about God couldn't have been told to me at an early age, I had to live it to learn it.



3. Childhood friends last a lifetime...



4. You don't have to know what your career will be when you're 13... People change and likes and dislikes change also.



5. You get out of life what you put into it.

6. Faith is only grown when you trust in something bigger than your own ability to accomplish something.

7. Prayer works!

8. Attitude is everything. Talent is just added value...

9. Live... Laugh... Love.... there's a reason this is on plaques!

10. The joy of the Lord is my strength... Nehemiah 8:10

These are just few reflections that have gotten me through the last 40 years. Important ones...