Tomorrow

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. – Dale Carnegie

Are you familiar with the Bible verse in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”? I had the opportunity to see this verse in action recently.

I have had a few health concerns and the doctor wanted to do an endoscopy to get some answers. My initial response was no. I freaked out at the idea of a camera going into my stomach through my mouth and esophagus. My desire for health trumped my fear. However, every day leading up to the endoscopy, I woke up with fear and thoughts of “what if?”. I battled it with reading scripture, listening to a sermon, watching a worship video on YouTube and surrounding myself with praying friends.

The day of the endoscopy, I woke up without any fear. What?! Then I remembered this verse. Worrying about tomorrow led me to daily fear. When tomorrow was today, I was OK. God provides what we need when we need it. I didn’t need peace the day before or the day before that. I needed peace the day of the procedure. He gave it.

When I sought out this verse for today’s blog, I discovered the verse before it.

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Every day I had fear and worry, I sought Him. His kingdom and His righteousness were my focus. I had done what the Bible instructs. I never knew those 2 verses were connected. I knew them, but separately. I applied verse 33 and my days didn’t stay in worry.  Our best weapon against worrying about tomorrow is to seek! It seems simple because it is. Sometimes we need to seek Him hourly to battle our worry. Maybe even minutely. That’s OK. Just seek!

He knows our frailties. He knows our weaknesses. He knows us. So, He made it simple. Seek!

Dream Big! Pray Big!

(Health update: we got some answers that day and have a few more questions to answer but so far I’m doing OK.)

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Thankful for our catfish

I read a devotional written by Chuck Swindoll. In it, he shares a story about codfish. In order to keep them fresh when they transport them across the country, they found they needed to be shipped alive. Not just alive but in a tank with their natural enemy – the catfish. The fish had to fight for their lives all across the country until they end up on your plate. The fight kept them fresh.

What catfish is in your life that is keeping you fresh? Who or what is challenging you daily and forcing you to stay close to God in order to handle daily life? When we sit in our tanks and swim around all comfy and cozy, we rarely think to connect to God. We just enjoy the leisurely swim. We enjoy the view and casually interact with others in our tank. When that catfish enters the tank, we are on our guard. We are fighting to stay alive or at least, whole.

This season of thanksgiving I am challenged to be thankful to the things that are keeping me on my knees and in front of God’s throne. I am not thrilled to face health issues but I am. I daily lean on God for strength and to keep my focus on today not “what if.” I am not comfortable releasing my kids more and more into the world but I am. They are teens and tweens and need to experience life a bit more on their own. My girls are often gone the entire day exploring their passions. I miss them but pray for them to grow, cling to God, and be His light in their sphere of influence. I am not eagerly awaiting the next big confrontational talk in a relationship that is tough right now but I show up. I seek God’s wisdom when I speak and seek Him for the next steps to healing.

Those are just a few catfish that swim in my tank. Some days, surprise catfish show up. Do they keep me on my toes? Yes, indeed! I can almost say I am thankful for the catfish. I’m working on that. I know they make me stronger, more faithful and a better person.

Romans 5:3-4 NIV says “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know tha suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

A speaker in my Bible Study gave a great tip to remember the benefits of suffering (a.k.a. catfish) for those of us in California. Think of PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) – perseverance, character, hope. Catfish lead us to PCH. PCH leads us closer to God.

This thanksgiving, thank God for the catfish and the perseverance, character and hope that comes from their presence.

Dream Big! Pray Big!

Soccer Mom

I am a soccer mom. 2 of my kids play soccer. One is in AYSO and the other is in club soccer. It is one of my favorite sports to watch. I love the fast paced game and the amazing skills these young kids already possess. I have been known to yell at referees and am usually one of the loudest cheers you can hear from the sidelines. I attribute that to my cheer leading days where I learned to yell from my diaphragm.

This past weekend, my daughter’s club team went from Sweet 16 to Elite 8 to Final 4 in Cal South’s League Cup. So exciting! The match-up for our Final 4 game was against the number 1 Premier team in our league. They were undefeated all season. Our team is Silver Elite. We were playing a team 2 levels above us. We fought hard and at half time it was still 0-0. Great way to spend a Sunday morning at 8 am. (I even made it back in time for church, too.) Our team played amazing and were not dominated. However, we lost 0-1. Our parents cheered and applauded. It was a victory for us. As I glanced to the other side of the field to the “winning” team, I noticed no cheers or high fives or any sign of celebration. They were mad they only won by 1 because we were a lowly team. Their coach had made several threats to his team during the game at how much trouble they were going to be in at their next practice.

It got me thinking about success. Is it always winning? Of course not. Is it playing your best or giving your all? It can be. For our team, success was only losing by 1 to this advanced team. For the other team, success would have been winning by a landslide, which they normally do. What are you striving for in your life right now? How will you determine if you are successful?

Relationally: success may be a restored and/or thriving relationship.

Professionally: success may be financial gain or completion of a major task.

Financially: success may be making your payments with money to spare.

Spiritually: success is having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our success spiritually is easy to define. You know Jesus and have a relationship with Him or you don’t. If you do, you have success. Knowing Jesus and leaning on Him through all areas of my life (relationally, professionally, financially, etc.) brings me great joy. I hope you too can find this type of success in your life.

Dream Big! Pray Big!

Toaster

I bought a toaster. I haven’t owned a toaster since, I don’t know when. I have always used a toaster oven. But lately, our toaster oven isn’t toasting our toast well (3 toasts in one sentence – yikes). I was at Wal-Mart and saw one for $15. Done! Let me tell you, our toast is better. Our frozen waffles are fantastic. It’s worth the lost counter space.

You may be asking yourself, why is she blogging about a toaster? What does that have to do with anything? Well, it has to do with simple pleasures. For $15, our breakfast is elevated to a new level. That’s a simple pleasure.

I just found a bag of tea I forgot I had – Vanilla flavored black tea, decaf. I am sipping it now. It’s fabulous. Simple pleasure.

I am blogging a day late because I enjoyed an extended cup of tea time with a friend yesterday. Simple pleasure.

Simple pleasures are just what they say they are:

Simple (Oxford dictionary says) – easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty: “a simple solution” synonyms: straightforward, easy, uncomplicated, uninvolved, effortless... (Funny side note – Webster’s Dictionary had 10 definitions for simple which was in no way simple.)

Pleasures (Oxford dictionary says) – 1. a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment: “she smiled with pleasure at being praised” synonyms: happiness, delight, joy, gladness, glee, satisfaction, gratification, contentment, enjoyment, amusement.

So what easy, uncomplicated delight can you add to your life or your family’s life? Maybe you can bake a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies (store-bought dough counts). Or tie a cute bow around your dog’s collar.What would make you or someone you love smile today? Indulge in that simple pleasure.

Psalm 16:11 – “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Dream Big! Pray Big!