Whatever He Says

By Belinda "Then..." is what follows "What if?"  :) After my Thursday post, I had to come back and give you, dear reader friends and encouragers, an update on the last two days, since my Potentially Pending Panic Attack. Writing out my 5 what ifs, had an immediate calming effect on me. Peace settled like a soft blanket around a baby, and I physically felt myself exhale. Why would such a simple exercise have such a profound effect? Because all of the "what ifs" were possible! They were simply choices I could make. I was not a helpless victim of my circumstance. I had some choices to make, and dreaming of what if...helped me choose well. On Wednesday night I knew that I had two working days left. I could have spent all 16 of those hours in my office and still not accomplished everything I wished I could do. But--I didn't tell you this--Thursday was a Staff Connection Day. I was out for 6 hours of that day in a church, celebrating with 35 wond...

Found this song on one of the blogs I enjoy and it's in my link list, Hey look, a chicken! . The song is a great reminder to give up control to God. I'm tempted to say that I'm "working on it," but that sounds like such an oxymoron. :)

Fridays by Susan. Belinda's post yesterday blew me away.  Those five "What If" questions she asked herself were profound in their potential to change her landscape and how she fits into it over the next several days.  By the time I reached the last of her questions, I was already formulating my own list...   What if I stopped doing "what feels right" most of the time and began to ask myself this same series of questions as deadlines approach - and long before they get to the "looming" stage!  Let me re-phrase them in a way that is generic. What if I figured out the most important things that are possible to do today (or this week?, or before that deadline, etc, etc) What if I didn't worry about the myriad of things that cannot get done? What if I made a list of those things that cannot get done so that I don't forget them - and then I scheduled blocks of time to do them at a later date? What if I keep on weighing what is most imp...

By Belinda I leave for England on Monday, and have only two days left at work before being away for two weeks. I am staving off low level panic at the coming boundary over which there can be no leaping! At the same time I have an opportunity to choose to be panicked or not, even though it might take some talking to myself to accomplish. This makes me think of a thought provoking post at my friend Marilyn's blog, As Good a Day as Any. You can click here to read it. It was entitled "If," and challenge us to ask ourselves the question "What if...?" Marilyn's post, and several other good ones in the blogosphere, was based on a blog post by Donald Miller, The single Most Powerful Question You Can Ask So, I'm asking myself 5 What If questions as I prepare to leave after this weekend: What if I figured out the most important things that are possible to do by Friday evening? What if I didn't worry about the myriad of things that cannot get don...

By Belinda A couple of months ago when our daughter-in-law Sue was painting a room in our house, she stopped for a tea break and scanned one of my bookshelves. She found a book by A.W. Tozer; The Pursuit of Holiness and started reading it. When I got home, she asked if she could borrow it. "Keep it," I said, "I've had it for years, meaning to read it. It must have been meant for you." Sue loved the book and decided to order a compilation of Tozer's sermons in a book to study with a group of young women at her house. We caught the wave and decided to study the same book in our cell group. This Thursday evening we finish our group study on A.W. Tozer's The Attributes of God . We will be cramming a little to do it; two chapters in one night--the Holiness and Perfection of God; but since some of us will be away for the following two weeks, and we are so close to the end, we thought we'd do it. I still haven't got over last week's cha...

By Belinda I said hello with a smile as I strode up the steps of the church, but she, going in the opposite direction, clutched my arm gently, her eyes bright with news to share. Soft perfume wafted around her, and I noticed her elegance and femininity. She wore a stylish, long coat and a silk scarf. Made up perfectly, her eyes were set off by soft, light brown eyeliner; tastefully applied with a light hand and her hair; soft, light brown waves; framed her face. She must have been very beautiful in her time, I thought. She leaned in towards me, conspiratorially, pulling me closer with the hand on my arm. "Did my daughter tell you what they've done for me?" she said, smiling. "No," I said. "They've said I can live with them," she said, "James--St. James I call him, is so good to me." Her daughter and son-in-law (James): in their 50's: had walked on ahead of her as she confided her happy secret to me. I knew that she had b...

From the Archives (originally posted March 22nd 2007) By Claire Alexander Isaiah 55:8-11 (New International Version) 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” A friend attending a seminary class was able to drive me from our rural town to the subway, after I learned that this year’s final Bible study for retired alumni was being held in Toronto. The unusual topic, from 1 Kings 22, dealt with Micaiah, the true prophet of the Lord, and 400 false prophets of Asherah (1 Kings 18:19). Photo shots of archaeology showed recent findings of Ahab’s palace, verifying 2800 years later the syncretism of his version of the Hebrew faith, and the ivory of his house (22:39). At the end, as I waited in the entrance of a college closer to the subway, I was musing on my own need for “pure religion,” when a small, unshaven man dif...