Have Patience Don't Be In Such a Hurry

    One day I was at school with my students, and we were coming inside after playing outside. I went to work setting up lunch while my co-teacher helped the students wash their hands. After washing their hands, the children sat at the tables to eat lunch.

   I was still working on getting all the lunch items out on their plates. I was going as fast as I could. One child sat down and said, "Ms. Kat, you forgot my vegetables." Another student sat down and said, "why did I only get two crackers?!" I looked at my co-teacher in shock. I was literally in the process of opening more crackers and the students could not wait seconds for me to open the crackers. My co-teacher began to sing a song about patience.

   I looked at the students and said, "do you see that I am working on it? Please be patient!" Then we talked about how sometimes you need to wait for things and people. We also talked about how teachers are not octopi. We can only do so much at once.

   That's not the first time that has happened and I'm sure it will not be the last. But it is a good reminder that we all need to practice patience. Sometimes we want things right away. We want God to give us things. We want God to take trials away, and we want it right away. 

   Romans 12:12 reminds us to "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Sometimes trials come for reasons we cannot know or see. That's when we must trust in the Lord. We must pray and remember his word so we can get through the trial. Easier said than done, but still true.

   So, how are you doing in the patience department? Are you relying on God when trials come? Pray and ask God to give you patience and trust when trials come.

 

An Empty Gift: A Christmas Blog

   Today is the day. The day my students are talking about before it's even Halloween. The day where kids believe a man in red has come down their chimney, whether you have a chimney or not, to put gifts under your tree. But how would your kids feel if those boxes they thought had presents in them were empty? How would you feel if someone gave you a present and nothing was in it?

   The funny thing is, the greatest gift we have ever been given came in "boxes" that are now empty. Jesus came to earth and was placed in a manger that is now empty. He died on a cross which is now empty. He was placed in a tomb that is now empty. Those packages help remind us that while they are empty, we are not. 

   Jesus came to give us the greatest gift, salvation. Then he didn't stop there. God sent the Holy Spirit to guide us. He sent us so many gifts through the Spirit. But we must empty ourselves of ourselves. We must give up our desires, our selfishness, and our sin. We must become empty so we can be filled in Him. We must be born again.

   So, this Christmas, remember that just because something is empty doesn't mean it's bad. Remember to thank God for what he has done for us. For the gift he has given us. Remember to empty yourself of your desires and be filled with God.

   1 Corinthians 6:19, John 14:26, John 3:6-8

Look For Glimmers

   I began a grueling time of COVID. I've had COVID before. It did take a lot out of me. I had many of the same symptoms as before. I just expected it would be about the same as the times before. I was wrong.

   I was congested beyond any level I had been ever. I was exhausted and unable to sleep. When sleep did finally come I didn't want to wake up. I wasn't hungry but when hunger came it was ravenous. The problem was I had no energy. Yeah I could hardly even sit up at a table. Chewing? Took the energy out of me. And when I did get any headway, my head would start aching and pounding. 

   That went on for at least 10 days. 10 days of misery. 10 days of questions. 10 days of "God why?" "God did I sin?" "God do I need to learn a lesson?" "God tell me what to do to get better, please." 10 days of crying out for healing. And, nothing.

   I wasn't even able to make it through a whole day of work in that time. I was weak, tired, and losing hope. So what do you do when you have nothing left?

   I had to look for the glimmers. What was good? Where did I see God? I saw God in him sending my boyfriend to be my helper. I saw God in the scriptures, as I listened to healing scriptures for many of those days. I saw God in people reaching out to check on me. I saw God in the songs he sent over the radio. I saw God in the podcasts that randomly played while I was resting. I saw God in women praying in the spirit over me for healing. I saw God in my students listening and helping me. I saw God in my bosses being supportive and caring. 

   None of those things changed my circumstances, but it did change my perspective. I was still tired and in pain but I was thankful for those around me. I was still congested but I saw the help coming. And, as I write this, I'm still sick. But I know God is with me. Will I still face thought battles? Probably. Will I still get emotional? Probably. I don't know if there's a grand lesson in this suffering. I don't even know if I'll make it through work tomorrow. But I know whose I am and who is for me. That's what I need.

   So, when challenging times come what do you do? Where do you look? Who do you look to?

Hands Up in Battle

    Each day we wake up to a new morning and a new chance to grow in God. We may not know what battles we will face that day, but we know who is on our side as we face those battles. Yet, some battles are harder to face or defeat than others.

   In Exodus 17:8-16 the Israelites are fighting against the Amalekites. Joshua is leading the charge against them. Moses is standing on a hill holding his hands up to God. Now, maybe there's been a time where you had to stay in a certain position for a long time. Your body starts to have some kinks in it, but you keep going. Then your body begins to ache, and you just want to switch positions. That's probably how Moses was feeling. The only problem was, when he put his hands down, the Israelites began to lose the battle. Because of this, Aaron and Hur held up Moses' arms so they would win.

   This battle was in the physical realm, but it was in the spiritual realm where it was won. It emphasizes the fact that God is with them. It emphasizes that God won the battle for them. That's what we must do sometimes. We must be prepared to face our battles with God. And, when the battle draws on, we must remember to raise our hands to God. We must ask for his help and provision.

   So, what battles are you facing? Are you facing them with God or trying to face them on your own?

https://youtu.be/sxXU0kBlh1Q?si=Sdsh0gCZOsKJtswk

Your Everyday Impact

   One tradition I have at the end of the school year is asking the students who are graduating what song they would like to dance to on their last day. This year many of the songs we danced to at holidays were songs by Christian artists. I didn't expect them to impact the children as much as they did. They were so impacted that many of them said they wanted to dance to Shooting Star by Owl City.

   This made me think about our impact that we have each day. By choosing to find songs by Christian artists, with a good message but not too didactic, I was able to reach those kids. It was something little but it could make a huge impact on their lives.

   Matthew 28:19-20 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." In using songs by Christian artists I was reaching students. They were learning good morals and having fun while they were doing it.

   Have you ever thought about this in your daily life? Is there any way you could do or change something little in your life to make an impact for the kingdom?

https://youtu.be/jjJeAh7sCuk?si=ww-ILgtiZHxpFo8V

Peace Be With You

 One day I was at church just sitting in a chair waiting for the service to start. The pastor came down the steps and was making his way to the front. As he passed me, he said, “Peace be with you.” Now it is very rare that I am so quick thinking when it comes to quips and jokes, but in that moment, I said, “my peace I give to you.” The pastor stopped, smiled, and said, “I like that.” Then we moved on with our days.

I thought about that exchange afterwards. What I said was for real. I did want to give him my peace. But I had also said it because of a Bible verse. John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 

Jesus left this earth and gave us peace. We can have his peace. That’s mind boggling for me to think about. Because we have his peace, we can offer his peace, and in turn our peace to others as well. 

Here’s the thing though, to offer others peace, we need to be at peace ourselves. We need to have Biblical peace, which is not just calm and tranquility. It is having peace during those times but also in the storms of life as well. When things are going wrong and our world seems to be crashing around us, we are still calm because we have peace. We know God has a plan and nothing the world throws at us can hurt us. The worst thing that can happen to us is death. If that does happen, we will be with Christ.

Once we are at peace with ourselves and our circumstances, we can offer peace to others. We don’t have to fight them. We don’t have to argue. We can turn the other cheek. We can offer to go the extra mile. We can give them our cloak as well. Through those actions people will notice there’s something different about us. Then we can tell them how to get perfect peace.

So, are you at peace right now? How can you remember to have peace daily no matter your circumstances?

https://youtu.be/QZFzcc_6Mbw