A Lesson from Gurt -- God Loves Us As We Are

Today I am going to share about our cat Gurt. When Gurt's mother was pregnant, Christopher (my youngest son, 8 years old at the time) loved yogurt more than any other food. We like to play around with words and we would break yogurt up to “Yo! Gurt.” We joked that we could name one of the kittens Yogurt and call it saying Yo! Gurt. Well, her name ended up being just Gurt, or Gurt Gurt.

Have you ever heard the expression "Curiosity killed the cat”? Well, that describes Gurt. She has to examine and explore everything. She has to check out every box, every surface of the house, and the “great wilds” around our home. She can be extremely mischievous.

As in the photo above, she is frequently in the way. She used to love sitting on the monitor, often with her tail in the way of the screen. (She would still do it except we now have flats screen monitors). As a kitten she and her littermate would climb the Christmas tree and attack each other from the top limbs, toppling the tree more than once. S he loves to get on my desk and knock papers onto the floor. She jumps up onto my wardrobe where I have things collecting for a clothing exchange at church. She knocks down some things, or makes herself comfortable and takes a nap. I then have to re-wash the items she has covered with fur. It doesn't matter what I try to do to stop her from jumping up there, she finds a way.

She has figured out how to open doors that do not latch, such as our bathroom door. She lets herself in when I am taking a shower, letting out all the warm air. I then have to get out into a very cold bathroom. Her favourite time to seek my attention is when I am in that room.

The most frustrating thing is when she brings me presents from the great wilds around our house. A lot of people share stories about how their cats will leave dead mice as presents. Well, Gurt loves to play. So, she brings me live critters so I can play, too. (Chipmunks are much worse than mice – they climb the wall halfway and then throw themselves at you!) From her frame of reference, as I go chasing mice or chipmunks all around the house, I am playing. She has the satisfaction of knowing that she has given her mom a good gift!

I love Gurt. I am sometimes annoyed by her, especially at her gift of chipmunks! But, really, she is just being a cat. It is her nature to be curious. It is her nature to enjoy boxes and heights. It is her nature to hunt and play. It is her nature to seek attention when it is convenient to her. Some of the things that frustrate me about Gurt, are really things that endear her to me (and the rest of the family).

Well, we are made in the image of God. In some ways, the way we love our pets has similarities to how God loves us. Just as I accept Gurt's sometimes frustrating behaviour, realizing it is simply her nature as a cat, God accepts us. It was only in the past few years that I came to understand that God knows I am human and He is OK with that. In print, that statement seems so basic, so obvious. However, for over 20 years as a Christian, it was anything but obvious!

I understood that God loved me. However, I felt like He was always disappointed in me. As much as I tried by my power and with His power to get rid of the sin in my life, I still remain a sinner. For me to understand that God is OK with that was life-changing. Yes, He wants us to repent and grow, but He knows that I will not be perfect until I enter the gates of Heaven.

Rom 5:8 tells us: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Did you see that? While I was still a sinner Christ died for me! While you were still a sinner, Christ died for you! Jesus didn't die for us at our best, but at our worst! He knows that we are human and it is in our nature to sin. He loves us even with the sin in our lives!

I had a prayer walk the other day where I tried to understand how He could hate sin so much, yet love us sinners. It is so hard for me to separate the sin from the sinner. I got the response that He delights in our transformation. He delights with every change in our lives that brings us closer to our original glory. He loves it when we repent.

Jesus declares in Luke 15: 7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Most of the time we understand this verse in the context of someone coming to know Jesus. However, that morning I got the sense that it applies to each one of us with each sin we repent of. Jesus delights in every step of our journey that brings us into a closer relationship with Him.

Oh Holy Father,

We praise Your wonderful Name! You are a God of great love, mercy and faithfulness! We thank You for Your Word and the wisdom it provides. We thank You that it is living and active. A passage can speak to us is a new way after seeing it one way for many years. Thank You for our pets and the joy they bring to us. Thank You that You can use almost anything in our lives to teach us about You. Thank You that You accept us where we are. You don't just accept us, You love us. You loved us at our worst. You will continue to love us in ways that will refine us to become who You want us to be. You delight in each step of repentance. May there be repentance in my life today that will bring You joy! May each person reading this also take a step of repentance that will bring them closer to You. May You open our eyes and our hearts to see the evidence of Your love that is all around us!.

All glory and praise and honour to the God of mercy and love!

Smokey - a Lesson from my Cat

Hello again. I'm sorry I have been absent. The past few month have been challenging and emotionally painful. I am not able to share about the struggle at this time, but I want to praise God that He has been so very present through the entire time!

He has blessed me personally with a deeper relationship with Him and the gift of His peace that passes understanding. He has blessed my family in that my brother has come to Jesus! It feels like my 16 year-old son has matured five years in the past month! My business (which I asked God for His direction and will as to what I should do to earn a living) has really taken off! God is so good!

I am an animal lover. Cats are my favourite. I have three cats living with me, and there are three more that moved out with my oldest son. My brother, who lives with me, has a dog. Each of these animals has a very distinct personality, and I can learn from each of them. Today I will share about one of them. I will probably share about others in future posts.

SMOKEY

Smokey came to us a little over six years ago. I used to feed my cats on our porch and stray cats would sometimes come to take advantage of the free food. I would shoo them away. I can't afford to feed every cat in the neighbourhood. Smokey was one of these cats. However – there was something different. I realized he was sick and very thin. He was so terrified of people that he probably wasn't a stray but rather a feral cat (a wild undomesticated cat). He was wheezing so badly there was no way he could hunt. I live in the country and there are plenty of small rodents to feed hundreds of cats. However, a mouse could hear Smokey a mile away.

I started to feed him, but I had to go back into the house, as he wouldn't come anywhere near me. Well, to make a long story short, we ended up adopting him. It took many months for him to let us come near him, but eventually he moved in. As an example of how little he understood our world, it took 4 years for him to learn that he could sit on the window ledge and look out the window. Prior to that he was so scared at being picked up that nothing registered. Now he will tolerate being picked up. He loves sitting on anyone's lap, and can't get enough attention. He still has that wheeze and other messy health issues, and periodically a bad cough that needs antibiotics.

So what do I learn from Smokey? His is a story of salvation. Like every person that comes to Christ and finds a new life, Smokey found a new life with us. He is so grateful! In spite of constantly being sick, he is the most playful of my cats. He also wants to be with me all the time. He can't get enough of me. I think of Psalm 42:

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

Do I have that attitude with God? When I am sick, is my life still characterized by joy and gratitude? Do I long to spend time with God? I can get annoyed at how much Smokey wants to spend time with me. He head buts me – hard – trying to get my attention. Can you imagine how God would feel if we were that desperate to spend time with Him! I am often busy and don't give Smokey the attention he so desperately wants. God is NEVER TOO BUSY, but if He was, would I want Him so badly that He would get annoyed?

Oh how I need to grow in my love and appreciation for what God has given me! I have a new life that is so much better that what I knew before! Do I really understand salvation. Like Smokey, I was dying. Then Jesus came and fed me with the Bread of Life – Himself. He gave me Living Water – His Spirit. These gifts did not cost me anything, but it cost Jesus His very life! I lack for nothing, as God meets all my needs in Christ. I have shelter, safety and protection under the wings of the Lord Almighty!

So, how do I show my gratitude? How do you show your gratitude for your salvation?

Blessed Jesus,

Wow! There are life lessons all around us. Please open our eyes to see them. Open our hearts to understand them. Thank you for Smokey. Thank you for his example to me. Let each of us have that desperation to spend time with You, just sitting in Your lap and enjoying Your presence. May we come with gratitude, rather than a list of things we want You to do for us. Help us to be grateful for what You have already done on the cross. Help us to be so in love with You that if You never gave us anything else, our gratitude would still be overflowing. Thank You for Your incredible gift of salvation! Thank You for loving us when we were dying and had absolutely nothing to offer! Thank You for loving us in spite of our messy imperfections and sins! Thank You for giving us hope and new life! Let us feast on You and drink deeply from the Living Water that You provide! All praise and glory and honour be to Your Holy Name. Amen!

God's Amazing Grace, Part 3

I thought I had posted this a week ago. Sorry about that!

Let's continue with the study of Grace, based on  1Cor13.

• Grace does not envy, 

envy: grudging desire for or discontent at the sight of another’s excellence or advantages.

Immediately after Jesus’ baptism, Satan tempted him with everything imaginable.(Mt 4:1-10) Jesus was content, however, with living his life to please his Father. (Jn 5:30) And what about God the Father? Paul answers that for us in Acts 17:24-25.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

•  grace does not boast,

boast: to praise oneself

Although God is perfect and holy, he doesn’t bring us down by praising himself. Jesus never boasted about anything. He did many miracles, and taught with great wisdom and authority, but He always gave the praise to His Father.

• grace is not proud.

proud: feeling that you are better and more important than other people.

synonyms: haughty, arrogant, lofty, supercilious, conceited.

Although God has all power, all might, all knowledge, and all wisdom, He is the very embodiment of humility, not pride. Rather than demanding that we worship Him, Jesus died on the cross to demonstrate his love for you and me.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself and became obedient to death --

even death on a cross!

(Php 2:5-8)

• Grace is not rude,

Rude: impolite, discourteous

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Mt 11:28-29)

I am rude when I have run out of patience, when I am being critical, or when I am focused totally on myself. God never runs out of patience. He is never critical. He is never self-focused. God, in his amazing grace, is never rude to us!

• grace is not self-seeking,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of God our Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Gal 1:3)

Often my motivation can be selfish -- avoiding pain or hard work, wanting praise or attention. God is never motivated by selfishness. He gave himself for me. He gave himself for me when I was living as his enemy. He gave himself for me now that I am his daughter. God’s grace is all-giving. God is not looking out for his interests, rather he wants to give us life and love in all abundance. Since his grace is not self-seeking, it is not offered on a conditional basis. His grace will not run out.

Oh Gracious Father! It is such a privilege to be able to come before the King of the Universe with all confidence. That confidence does not come from anything I have done, but because of the sacrifice of Your Son. When You look upon me, You see the righteousness of Jesus!  Oh Father, thank You for Your incredible love and grace! Thank you that Your love and grace are so focused on pouring out everything You have for us. You want to bless us. You could easily demand that we worship You, but instead You chose to  sacrifice Your One and only Son that we may see how much You love us. Then You give us the choice to worship You or live for ourselves. Help me with every decision of every day to chose to worship You! It can be so easy to make selfish choices, yet when Jesus walked this earth, He never made even one selfish choice. He constantly gave, served, sacrificed, and lived for You. But in living for You, He found incredible joy and peace. May we also find that joy and peace that You offer to those who follow Jesus. To You praise and glory, Amen!

God's Amazing Grace, part 2

Today I will continue the study of God's amazing grace. 

In my last post, we substituted "God" for "love" in 1Co13.  In John 1:14 Scripture tells us that "Jesus came full of grace and truth.  We I'm a mathematician. So, I hope I don't lose you in the mathematical approach. If the math scares you, just jump down to the Scripture below.

God = love

Jesus = grace and truth.  

Jesus = God

Mathematically, these  are all equal.  We substituted "God" for "love" in my last post.  Today I am going to substitute "God's grace" into 1Co 13.

God's grace is patient, God's grace is kind. God's grace does not envy, God's grace does not boast, God's grace is not proud. God's grace is not rude, God's grace is not self-seeking, God's grace is not easily angered, God's grace keeps no record of wrongs. God's grace does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God's grace always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God's grace never fails. (adapted from 1Co 13:4-8a )

I'm going to look at each phrase individually.

• Grace is patient:

patient: bearing pain or trials without complaint: showing self-control: calm: steadfast, persevering.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2Pe 3:9)

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners -- of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only god, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1Ti 1:12-17)

God bears with our foolishness, our stupid decisions and our sin because he wants us to come to repentance and join him in heaven! Although he hates our sin, he does not have a temper tantrum over it. He is calm and self-controlled in his response to our stupidity. Long after I have given up on myself, God is still working with me and those around me to bring me to repentance, and ultimately to heaven.

• Grace is kind.

kind: of a sympathetic, forbearing or pleasing nature: arising from sympathy or forbearance: benevolent, benign, gracious.

Kindness is to genuinely want what is best for someone else.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb 4:14-16)

 

Our Great High Priest is kind to us. He knows we are weak. He knows we fail. He knows we sin. He knows that sometimes we commit the same sin over and over and over again. He sympathizes with that weakness. God doesn’t want to zap us into oblivion every time we make a mistake. Rather, as our Father, he wants what is best for us. Sometimes that requires discipline, but not abuse. God has never been guilty of child abuse.

Oh Great and Gracious Father, Thank you for Your Amazing Grace. Thank you that you are patient with us! Thank you for not giving up on us, even when others have given up on us or when we have given up on ourselves.  You are patient, working in our lives and our circumstances to bring us into a more and more intimate relationship with You! You are kind. Some of us have had harsh parents or other harsh discipline in our lives. You are never harsh. You understand our sinful nature, and You give us grace in our time of need. Thank you for always wanting what is best for us, and for working toward that end. Thank you that we can rely on your loving kindness, and patience when we face trials or failure. May you be praised forever and ever, Amen.

God's Amazing Grace

The next few posts come from a chapter in my unpublished book on dealing with depression with wisdom from deep study into God's Word.  This comes from Chapter 16: A Study of God's Amazing Grace. 

Many years ago a good friend preached a  sermon on God’s grace that I found very enlightening. We often have no idea how to define grace. When I don’t know the meaning of a word, I turn to the dictionary. The 1989 edition of  the New Merriam- Webster Dictionary provides the following definition.

grace: help given man by God (as in overcoming temptation): freedom from sin through divine grace: a virtue coming from God^.

Do you now have a better grasp of grace? Me neither. The dictionary has left us even more baffled than before we opened its pages.

Let’s go to the Bible. Grace is one expression of God’s love for us. I want to start by looking at God’s love, but I will bring it back to grace. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God.” (1 Pe 4:16b). The best description of love anywhere is in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Co 13:4-8a)

We can replace the word love with God, because God is love. By doing such we have a great description of God’s character.

God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails. (adapted from 1Co 13:4-8a )

We will continue to go deeper with this passage in the next post.

Dear Gracious Father,

We praise You and thank You for Your incredible love and grace. We are so unworthy of Your affection, yet You shower us with Your blessings. Thank You for Your Word which gives us the very words of life! In the pages of the Bible we find hope and direction for every aspect of our lives. We praise You for Your character. We praise You for Your beauty which we see all around us in Your creation. As I write this prayer I hear the birds (the dawn chorus) singing Your praises as they welcome in the new day. May we learn from them to start our days in praise to You, our Creator, our Father, our Friend. Amen.

Condemnation Disappears at the Foot of the Cross

I have been meditating and praying a lot lately about how to reach out to those who are gay. Over the past couple of months I have visited the church that my son and his dad attend in order to see (hear) my son sing. That church promotes itself as an inclusive church where everyone is welcomed. This past Sunday the announcements included a petition to join in the upcoming Pride parade – a parade that celebrates those in the GLBT community. I agree with welcoming them, but I still see that the Scriptures teach that homosexuality (and many other things that we tolerate) are wrong.

So, how can we reach them? I still don't have that answer, but God has directed my thoughts on a tangent. Many churches and individuals calling themselves Christians are very vocal in their opposition to gays. I have to ask why? Statistics show that people calling themselves Christians are just as guilty in almost every area as those who do not identify at all with Christ. (see this blog post by Bill Peddie Does Christianity Make a Difference?) In the Old Testament, those who committed any sex outside of marriage, whether homosexual or heterosexual, were condemned. The penalty was either stoning, or forced marriage with no opportunity for divorce. (Deu1813-30, Lev 20:11,13) And then Jesus taught that lust is equivalent to adultery (Mt 5:27-28) I am quite certain that some, if not many – considering today's culture of sexual “freedom” – of those bashing gays are guilty of sex outside of marriage and lust (pornography is a perfect example).

.

I'm brought back to the familiar account of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:4-11). Jesus told her accusers that he who had committed no sin was to cast the first stone. When we attack one group of “sinners” we are casting stones at them. If we really follow Jesus, as the name “Christian” indicates, we should not be casting any stones unless we are free from sin.

There lies the problem. Too many Christians think they are free from sin. Jesus has purified His disciples by His blood shed on the cross, so we are free from sin's eternal punishment. He sets us free from slavery to sin. Many people change radically, overcoming deeply rooted sin in their lives, when they decide to make Jesus Lord. However, we still have sin in our lives. 

In my times of prayer and meditation God has revealed something to me.When we add more religion to our lives, we think we have little or no sin. When we can follow the rules of dos and don'ts, we begin to think we are good people – righteous people. We compare ourselves to those people who do not keep the same list of dos and don'ts and we think they are NOT good people – not righteous people. This is where self-righteousness comes from.

When we add more of Jesus to our lives, there is a different response. The closer we come to our Creator, our loving and compassionate Father, our Counselor, our Prince of Peace, our intimate Friend, our Beloved Saviour the more we see how much we don't measure up to His perfection. But in that intimate relationship we are able to receive His truly amazing grace and we are motivated to do whatever we can to please the Lover of our souls. There is no longer any list of dos and don'ts. Do newlyweds follow a list of dos and don'ts to please their lover? NO! Nor should we need any sort of list of dos and don'ts to please our God who desperately wants to be our Lover. When we love Him with all our hearts and all our minds and all our strength then the need for lists disappear. Yes, we need to obey His Word – that is part of loving Him with all of our mind. We need to know His Word to know what pleases Him.

When I draw close to the righteousness and holiness of God Almighty, to Jesus the sinless One, to the Spirit of Truth, I see who I really am. I see my pride. I see my selfishness. I see my weakness. I see my failures. I see my faithlessness. I see how I hurt others with words and actions. I see how my thought life can be soooo far from what pleases God. When He who defines righteousness is my standard, I have no hope whatsoever of measuring up on my own. My only hope comes from Jesus' death on the cross. From this standpoint at the foot of the cross every sinner has the same desperate need for a Saviour. If we go to bed at night and can't name any specific sin (sin is missing the mark of God's perfection) in our lives for that day – and thus praise God for His saving grace – then we have more religion in our lives than relationship with Jesus.

When our relationship with God is truly one of love, deep love, intimate love, passionate love (try reading the Psalms or Eze 16:7-14, Is 62:4-5) then we see our own sin. We no longer think we have the right to condemn others, for in doing so, we condemn ourselves. If I want to reach out to someone who is gay, or anyone – because we are all sinners worthy of the death penalty – then I can't think I am better than that person. If I come at the person with condemnation, then I have become religious and self-righteous. If I come at them as a representative of my Lover, my Saviour, and my Friend, then I will come with a message of love and grace and forgiveness – a message from one sinner to another. I AM NOT any better than that person. 

If we think we have the right to condemn others, we have left the foot of the cross. When we leave that place of desperate humility, we start to think we have the right to sit with Christ on His throne. (That is a promise for heaven – not for earth) We make a list of dos and dont's and count ourselves worthy when we do well with that list. Then we compare ourselves to others who don't know or care about that list and we feel even better about ourselves and our righteousness. Sometimes our lists of dos and don'ts even contradict the Word of God – in those situations we have booted Christ off His throne in order to sit there ourselves!

So how do I reach out to those who are gay? One sinner to another. I share the message of hope and redemption and grace of a loving God that has something much better in mind for our lives. I must be humble enough to confess my own sins. I stand condemned of death for the sin in my life – not just the sin before I became a Christian, but the sin I have committed as a Christian – the sin I still commit. Why am I worthy of death? In order for me to have redemption from my sins – past, present and future – Jesus had to die. I am guilty of crucifying the Son of God! I do not have to stay in that place of condemnation, because God loves me and offers me His grace and forgiveness. However, as many of my other blog posts have mentioned, Jesus wants repentance and commitment in our loving and intimate relationship with Him.

Today's Christian culture has made homosexuality the worst of sins. To Jesus, religious hypocrisy and self righteousness were the worst of sins (Mt 23). It is no wonder the world condemns Christianity today – Jesus would condemn much of it Himself!

Oh Jesus, Lover of my soul, I come to you this morning with great awe for your love. Your love is so intense, so passionate, so sacrificial that you died on the cross to pay for my sins – my specific sins. You died for each and every one of us. Please forgive us when we think we are righteous because we can follow a list of dos and don'ts. Please forgive us when we judge others. Help us to see and deal with the planks in our own eyes before we address the speck in another's eye. Please give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that we may know You better – that we may know Your perfection, Your holiness Your love, Your grace, Your compassion. May we then share You, our Saviour and Friend, with others. Let us rid ourselves of the condemnation we place on others, as we realize that we, too, deserve condemnation. You have given us salvation through Your grace, not by our obedience to a list. Help us to extend that grace and love to others. I praise You Jesus for Your amazing grace – Your indescribable love! All glory and honour and praise be to Your Name. Amen.

Strengths and Weaknesses, Part 3

This post was originally part of the previous post, but I felt it was too long, so I broke it up. Hindsight is telling me that I left it at a bad point. So, here is part 3, not even 12 hours later.

When I was trying to raise my two boys alone while also facing my own health issues, I was completely unable to cope. Their extreme behaviours and meltdowns drained me of every lost drop of energy. A social worker that came to our home could see that I needed help. The home was beyond cluttered, as I wasn't able to maintain laundry or dishes, or cleaning the bathrooms. We were then blessed by the assistance of a homemaker. I was to work alongside her and work on maintaining cleanliness in the home.

Well, I had to let that homemaker go a couple of months ago. When seeking a replacement, it was pointed out to me that I really didn't need that help any longer. I became defensive. I am trying to start a business and still have chronic fatigue! I am using the funding for a housekeeper to help me get off government disability assistance! Well, I sought some advice from a friend who works full time and manages her home even though she has fibromyalgia – which comes with chronic fatigue. She had some great wisdom to share.

God has given me an opportunity to become independent of that help once again. I need to push through for 15 minutes a day, beyond what I think I can do, and get one task done. It is time to give up that government assistance. She also shared that seeking help from people that haven't faced what I face is frustrating for everyone. That advice made me realize that just like my boys were unable to understand another person's point of view, the people advising me on how to maintain my home could not understand my challenges.

After more prayer and meditation, I have realized that I do still need help with my home,  However, I have been seeking the wrong help. What I need is help from someone who can help me organize my home and my life in a way that empowers me to have success, and it doesn't have to come from government funding. (Give a man a fish and he eats for a day – teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime). I need to get that help from someone who understands how scatterbrained I am, and can help me to work within that weakness. All the advice I have ever received in terms of housekeeping has been from people who have no clue what it is like for me and no patience or desire to understand. I am not making an excuse, but rather sharing an epiphany!

There is hope for me – I just need to get help from someone who knows how to address my weakness! Just like my students who were able to do math when given blue paper, I can manage my home if given the tool that address the real problem! I can clean toilets and mop floors and don't mind doing so. That is not the issue. The issue is organization and distraction. So, I'm not sure how I will go about it, but I am taking steps to organize my home to make it easier to maintain. A friend has given me a website that has all sorts of organizational ideas. I have dropped some of my other responsibilities and commitments in order to have more time. I have even taken a few weeks away from the main aspects of the business in order to create organization in every area of my life.

When we give advice to others, we need to realize that not everyone can do things the way we do, or the way we think they should. Let us learn to give people the benefit of the doubt. When someone is trying, but still failing, we need to find out why. A person dealing with failure needs encouragement and help to understand what is at the root of the failure. Too often, just like the teachers my students had in the past, we judge the problem to be effort or some form of stupidity. Sometimes effort is the problem, but often there is a deeper problem that has led to failure so many times that the person believes it isn't worth trying any more. Stupidity is a harsh term that I believe is NEVER true. Perhaps that person has a real weakness in one or more areas in their life, but they DO have strengths. If we focus entirely on their weaknesses, we destroy the person.

As I finished editing the previous paragraph (some of which was also in the last post), I realized I already know the perfect person to help me with organization! For much of his life he was called stupid. He can read at the level of about an 11 year-old. A few years ago I told him with all sincerity that when my boys grow up, I want them to be like him. My boys are bright in terms of academics, but they lack the walk with God that leads to character, peace, and work ethic in this Christian brother. We had a flood in our basement a few months ago. What was already a disorganized storage and work area became a disaster. This awesome brother came and organized the mess for us! I believe that for me to organize that basement would have been the equivalent of this brother trying to take one of my university chemistry courses. Yes, I think I found a solution that will bless us both.

Praise people's strengths and give them encouragement and help where they are weak.

Dear Father,

Thank you for Your incredible love. You made each and every one of us just the way you wanted to. No one is a mistake! Each one of us has strengths and weaknesses – and you planned them. No one has it all together. I thank you so much that I can learn from someone I would have looked down on before I became a Christian. In those days, academics was everything to me. I praise you for how you change us and renew our minds to your thinking. Please help us all to realize everyone around us has something they can teach us. Everyone around us has weaknesses that are a result of how you made them, not because of lack of effort. We need to accept them as you do, with love and grace and patience. Please help us not to cram everyone into a box. We may fit very well in that box, but not everyone does. Sometimes we think the other person is the problem, when the problem is our box. Thank you for making everyone different and giving everyone a role in the body of Christ! Your love is so amazing! Thank you for this new day to worship and praise you!

Amen.