I Found God Inside Me... And You... and You... And You...!

WATCH THIS - a video about Jordyn who was treated at St. Jude's Hospital. See if you hear about THE MIRACLE...

Did you catch what cured her?
The answer was INSIDE HER all along!!

St. Jude was able to remove her bone marrow (the same marrow that was breathed into her by God when she was formed). Scientists could then facilitate the natural "killer" cells already within the marrow to reproduce into a cancer-killing army, and they could return the enhanced army of marrow back into her. The "killer" cells, backed by millions of new helper cells, could now fight the cancer and put Jordyn into remission.

Scientists and doctors used the very material that GOD had created within Jordyn to cure her cancer. No factory-made medicine, no man-made cure - but a cure based on what God had already created. Frankly, it just gives me chills to think about it!

I've written before about God & Glue, showing that within each of us, there is a special material that is shaped like the cross. Now we have a cure for one girl's cancer - with the possibility to cure hundreds? thousands? more. Both instances where GOD was literally WITH US... for nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

I once read an article that offered the idea that all of the "discoveries" or "inventions" of the world were hidden on this Earth by God like little Easter Eggs. With our diligence and unshakable faith, we can find them - i.e. airplanes, space flight, vaccines, cures for deadly illnesses, etc. Man has come up with nothing on his own; rather he has stumbled upon one of these little Easter Eggs whenever a new idea/concept/cure/invention/etc. is discovered. I don't know if that's true, but I liked the idea, anyway. The idea that God has ALL of the answers - we just have to have FAITH and look for them.

In the meantime, it sure looks like St. Jude's Research Center has found one awesome Easter Egg!
:) Mags

I Found God in WiFi...

This summer, we went on a cruise from Anchorage, Alaska to Vancouver, Canada. Both my husband and I are very "techie," and we noticed quickly, that our cell signals and WiFi connections vanished as soon as we set sail out into the deep, blue sea. Now I know most people can turn off their their cell phones on vacation, but David and I have iPhones and use ours to play games against each other -- games that require an internet connection. So when we sailed close to land, one of us would notice that the the "little bars" were back and jostle the other one so we could get quick access to Facebook, our email, and our latest game stats. Then we'd sigh as we saw our bars slowly disappear as we again sailed away from the nearest cell tower...

I was reminded of this when I passed the sign at this great little church down the street from my house; it read:

PRAYER Needs No Internet Connection

During our cruise, David and I would be holding up our cells to find even one bar of signal. Luckily, GOD doesn't need a nearby cell tower to receive our prayers! He doesn't require a Hot Spot, WiFi, Ethernet cable, or Dial-Up Modem. He doesn't even need you to speak OUT LOUD for He can hear your thoughts, desires, lamentations, and prayers from right within your heart and mind.

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Psalms 145:18

Aren't we LUCKY that our God can get to us instantaneously?! We don't have to wait for a priest, a portal, a telephone, or a WiFi connection! We can talk, and laugh, and cry, and pray to the Lord of all directly. And God would not want us to wait until Sunday! He's available every day, every hour, every minute to each and every person on this Earth. I don't need to call the cable guy or satellite technician... God has time for me NOW and is EAGER to hear from me.

When was the last time you reached out to God...? With your thanks, your worries, your prayers? No need to wait for all 4 bars... God can hear you now.


Thinking of you today - and hoping you are enjoying the bountiful blessings God has gifted you,
:) Mags

I Found God On A Walk...

I am impatient and uber-efficient. I like to get things done quickly and as streamlined as possible. It's a good thing that I live during the "information age" - As a teenager, I needed to by physically near a working telephone... just in case I needed to contact someone (or get a call). When cell phones came out, it wasn't long before I was sporting my StarTac flip phone on my belt loop. Now I open 4 Internet browsers simultaneously while I check email, Facebook, and eBay with one eye ... and monitor the App Updates on my iPhone with the other. I become a multi-tasking machine... eyes racing across the screen, fingers flying over the keyboard, mind racing to the next "thing" I have to do. I like things fast and efficient.

I can't stand SLOW.

So I was struck today by something one of our pastors said today during his sermon. Craig was speaking to us on the topic of "WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT FROM US?" He said that

"Walking humbly with God meant staying on pace with God - not running ahead and not lagging behind."

I must admit, I often run way, way ahead of God... I race off in the direction I think my life should go - and then get frustrated when I realize that I'm heading off all by myself... that God is patiently standing back at the fork in the road waiting for me to turn around and join Him. Fortunately, God doesn't just stand there tapping His foot and rolling His eyes at me... but I do think that sometimes he cups His hands around his mouth and shouts, "YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, MAGGIE!!!" :)

Micah 6:8 says that God expects us to act justly, to love mercy and kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Walking with Him does not mean running off half-cocked, ahead of Him... nor does it mean sulking along behind Him grumbling about trapsing through various thorns, briars, or other hardships. It also doesn't mean splitting up your attention to 20 other "things" plus Him.

It means walking WITH Him... in tandem... together. It means listening to His Word... letting him grab your hand to pull you up when you fall... being respectful... being grateful... being faithful. Walking WITH the Lord requires us to S L O W D O W N, stop multi-tasking, and cherish each amazing moment: the moments we celebrate, laugh, cry, mourn, worship, pray, study, praise, heal, sleep. While you may try to juggle many moments at once, you can't multi-task when you're talking with the Lord - He wants, and, frankly deserves, your undivided attention.

And when I actually --S L O W D O W N-- and pay attention to what God expects from me, I see that He expects me act justly: to do the right thing, to behave in a manner that makes Him proud, to use the talents and gifts He has entrusted me with to parent our 2 two children effectively and to be the kind of wife He wants me to be.

He expects me to be kind - to help others without regard to my pride or my own gain, to give generously of my time, talents, money, brain, or labor. The "Golden Rule" isn't supposed to be just a pretty saying cross-stitched on a pillow - but a keystone to living right, and He expects me to live it.

Finally, He expects me to walk humbly with Him. Not ahead, not behind - but side-by-side.

Are you living up to the expectations God has of you?

I Found God on Facebook...

I love Facebook - reconnecting with people from college or high school - or even elementary school can be so much fun! It's like all of the "good-byes" you had to say at graduation because you just knew you would likely never see that friend again have been erased (like the rewritten history on a soap opera), and now you can pop in and see what's been going on with them for the past decade or two.

Facebook is also a way to re-invent yourself from the way you were viewed in high school or college (or elementary school). Some people haven't changed, for sure. Some people have gone in a life direction that I surely would not have chosen for myself (i.e. My status will never say, "WOW... I'm still drunk this morning...") *sigh* But I've found that many people HAVE changed - me included - I really enjoy catching up with them.

This morning, I found GOD... literally... on Facebook. He has a page. You can become a fan. And at my joining today, God had 1,455,171 fans. Undoubtedly, some people joined because they were being obnoxious. And some people joined because they were being reverent. I suspect that it was more of an "Average Joe" who set up the page just to see what would happen rather than the Lord, Almighty. Regrettably, just a few hours after I joined, I had to UN-sub due to the massive amount of nasty trash photos that appeared on the page. But I did like the info that appeared on my profile page:

I like that it said, plain and clear, "Maggie became a fan of God" for all 239 friends of mine to see. :)

Would it be so outrageous to expect to find God on Facebook? If He was, he would certainly attact both the faithful AND the mockers - just as with his life as Jesus. Jesus spent most of His time with basic people. Not buddies with kings and queens - but befriended the lost, the hurting, the searching, the weak... the average. He dealt with His share of ridicule, mockery, abuse, and torment. I suspect that if God actually set up a page on Facebook, most people would be too skeptical to believe it was really Him, anyway... And, as with this particular fan page, the non-believers would, indeed, line-up to mock, ridicule the other believers, and post lewd and obnoxious content just because tearing down someone for their beliefs makes them feel better about their own lack thereof.

This "God" page aside, I love that Facebook is filled with thousands of "average Joe's" - sharing their lives, their triumphs, their hurts, their celebrations. Within Facebook, I've been able to "celebrate" the friends' birthdays, pregnancies, or anniversaries. I've grieved with friends who have lost loved ones-- some who have lost children. I even learned of a couple's impending divorce on Facebook. Each time I post to this blog, it syncs up with Facebook and posts the same content there. All of these people who knew me when I was 19, or 16, or 12, or 6 see my faith out in the open - and just maybe, they are impacted by something I write.

God is everywhere - why NOT on Facebook... ??

Psalm 139 (The Message)
1-6 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand.
I'm an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I'm never out of your sight.
You know everything I'm going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you're there,
then up ahead and you're there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can't take it all in!

7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you're there!
If I go underground, you're there!
If I flew on morning's wings
to the far western horizon,
You'd find me in a minute—
you're already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I'm immersed in the light!"
It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you.

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I'll never comprehend them!
I couldn't even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!

23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I'm about;
See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.

When you sign-up for Facebook and start letting "in" people to your profile, you are in essence inviting them to investigate your life. Your status updates, the groups you join, the wall posts you make all reflect on YOU. What does your Facebook activity say about you to the Facebook world? Is that a true reflection of who you want to be?

A Google search of "God and Facebook" did yield some comical results. One funny one was here: http://www.huc.edu/libraries/LA/sheryl/FBGenesis/ Another one I edited to remove some obnoxious content but overall, thought the "Wall" posts really mimicked Facebook's overal look:

One final thought - I spend a lot of time on facebook; it is my homepage now. But, I found THIS ARTICLE to be quite the good reminder that in order to truly to truly add God to YOUR friend list, you need to seek him earnestly and truly with your heart. It's not going to happen with a quick "Add To Friends" button! :)

I Found God In An Online Quiz...

I found a link to this quiz on The Broken Man's blog and had to give it a try. It's on the 7 Deadly Sins; these are my results:

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	High
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Low
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	High

Discover Your Sins - Click Here

Now isn't that interesting... Considering that I'd be MUCH healthier if I lost about 50 lbs. not to mention I could stop taking blood pressure medine, I wasn't too surprised at the pitiful gluttony score. I also wasn't surprised by the "sloth" score - A sloth is actually my favorite animal... just because it IS so lazy. While I feel like I'm constantly busy, I could, happily, be a completely bum and couch potato all day long (which undoubtedly would raise the gluttony score even higher! LOL!). I also hate to put things away... another slothlike tendency!

The wrath score was surprising - I always considered "WRATH" to be BIG, YELLING, AGONIZING, ANGER - like a tornado of evil - and that's not me, fortunately. But I know myself - and I have lots of small, tiny, grumblings that probably, over time, could add up to a "wrathful feeling." I have a low tolerance for ineptness or stupidity, and in my mind, when I'm annoyed, I'm usually thinking "dumb*ss"... I only hope that I really am thinking it IN my mind and not muttering it aloud where kids could hear!

The greed score was probably accurate if not rated a little low. I'm a scrapbooker - digital now - but when I scrapped with paper, I HAD to have all of the latest toys, gadgets, and products. The Sizzix die-cutter with 4 alphabet sets and other assorted dies, a self-sharpening 12" cutter, the Wishblade personal die-cutter that connects with my laptop computer to cut out any title I desire, plus a ton of other little tools that filled my 5 (FIVE!) scrappin' bags. If someone asked for something, I could usually whip it out of one of my bags. I had too much. I still have too much. And I always wanted more.

Likewise with diaper bags. I have two kids. They are now 7 and 4. Over the course of their toddler years, I bought 17 (SEVENTEEN!!!) diaper bags. This one was too small... that one was too large... maybe a backpack would work... that one didn't have an insolated area... this one didn't have a place for my cell phone... etc. I've sold many at various garage sales, but our hall closet is still home to about 3 of them and the boys' closets still have another half-dozen stored! Who really needs 17 diaper bags?! :(

I also have been known to say that "sharing is an over-rated concept" (not Christian, I know... I'm a work-in-progress, remember?!). I can be very generous, but I can also be quite stingy when people want to borrow something of mine. If it's a dvd, cd, or scrappin' tool, I will invariably attach a label with my last name on it so there can be no mistaken it's ownership. I don't like to lose things - and probably over-compensate because of it!

I'm proud that envy and lust scored low. I find envy to be a useless cycle. I figure that if you want something bad enough, either work for it or make the appropriate choices so you can buy it/obtain it. Often if you save up for something long enough, you find that you no longer want to spend that much money on whatever anyway. And because I'm apparently greedy, chances are I already own it anyway... *sigh* As for lust, I'm married to my college sweetheart, a 6'7" beautiful man who is a wonderful Dad to our two children and who can still make me laugh. WHY in the world I look elsewhere?!


Which brings me to the big shocker... pride.
Wow... that was my worst fault? Really?

It's probably my pride that has me stumped on this one... Probably my pride that had this result coming out of left field for me... Probably my pride that is an undercurrent in all of the other areas too.

I remember in high school, I was in the highest tracks of classes. Not just "college-prep" - that was the 3rd highest in my high school - I was in I.B. (International Baccalaureate) and I remember feeling like that qualified me to be treated differently... better. I remember being stopped by a hallway security guard when I came late after a doctor's appointment. I had a note, but I distintly remember being annoyed that I would be stopped at all. Didn't he know who I was? I wasn't one of those hoods from the lower tracks - I was in I.B....

*sigh* What an obnoxious attitude to have!

The Bible says a lot about pride... here are some nuggets of wisdom:

Psalm 10:4

In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

Proverbs 16:18

First pride, then the crash— the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.

Proverbs 18:12

Pride first, then the crash, but humility is precursor to honor.

Proverbs 21:4

Arrogance and pride—distinguishing marks in the wicked— are just plain sin.

Proverbs 29:23

Pride lands you flat on your face; humility prepares you for honors.

OUCH!

There are many other verses that come when you do a search for "pride" in the Bible... and unless they are talking about a "pride of lions," I'm not thinking I'm going to find many positive verses on the subject! There aren't any that say, "Please... Do be full-of-yourself - that, truly, is the way of the Lord," is there?!

I know this quiz was created by a human - and probably subject to a LOT of error... but I found the results revealed a lot about myself (and sadly, not in a good way!). Why don't you give it a try too... feel free to leave me a comment with how you do! It may give you something to think about and work on... helping you be a better Christian tomorrow that you were today. I know I've got stuff on my personal To-Do List now!

I Found God In Email...

Normally, when I get one of those forwarded "Christian emails" it is some type of SPAM: Either it says to forward this to 287 people if you love Jesus and a little boy with cancer and two heads will be healed or a random prayer request for a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend's-cousin's-adopted-daughter's-neice's-half-uncle. They usually are loaded with those little "forward arrows" because so many people don't actually take the time to clean up an email before they sent it on, and the text is disjointed and spread across several lines. This drives me crazy, and all of those types of emails end up in the delete folder...!

BUT...

Everyone once in a while, I get a great Christian email that I actually want to share. This particular one came via my Scrappin'-With-Faith friend, Sharlotte:


One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. So he called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time.

When he returned, he told God, 'Yes, it is bad on Earth: 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.

God thought for a moment and said, 'Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion.' So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time.

When the angel returned he went to God and said, 'Yes, it's true. The Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good.'

God was not pleased. So He decided to email the 5% that were good, because he wanted to encourage them, and give them a little something to help them keep going. Do you know what that e-mail said?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

No? Yeah...well...I didn't get one either. :(


I wanted to share it not just because it said "rascally" which gave me a giggle considering so much of human behavior can be summed up as "horrifying," "stomach-turning," "pitiful," or "depraved," -- not merely rascally, but also because it struck me as simple, yet poignant.

So many of us are quick to point the finger that "the other guy" - we are sure that WE are doing all of the right things... WE are acting Christian... WE aren't doing anything wrong...

But we forget that God doesn't divide sin into neat piles of "good," "bad," and "ugly." He doesn't put the murders and molesters in a different category than the ones who "borrow" office supplies or who gossip about their freaky neighbor, or who lie, or who cheat. It is sooooooo hard for us to comprehend that idea because humans DO weigh sin. We are quick to separate ourselves from the "criminals" or the "undesirables" - thinking that our minor transgressions aren't nearly as bad.

Jesus talks about this in John Chapter 8 (NIV translation):

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.

They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."


No one was able to cast a stone at the woman because NO ONE was without some sin of their own. I did not get God's email because while I try to live my life in a Christian manner, I invariably screw up each and everyday. It might be "small" things... cursing, socially-acceptable-little-white-lies, watching garbage on TV... but it is sin nonetheless.

God knows this.
And He loves me just the same.

And because He loves me and all of my faults and sins, I am encouraged to try each day to think and behave just a little better than yesterday. In fact, I often end my prayers to Him with, "Thank you, Lord, for your blessings... and help me to be a better wife, mother, and Christian tomorrow than I was today."

How about you?

Did you get God's email? And what are you going to change in your life to make God proud of your choices?


Prayers for you this week... and your 2nd-cousin's-grandmother's-half-uncle's-step-son. *wink

♥Mags

I Found God In Google...

You just got to love Google...!

On the right-hand side of this blog is a Feedjit Widget that keeps a running tab of who is popping by the blog and in some cases how they arrived on this side. I love seeing the Google searches that bring people here. One from yesterday said this:

East Lansing, Michigan arrived from google.com

on "Everyday Places: I Found God In My Blackberry..."

When I followed the Google link I found this in the search box:

can i sync my blackberrys calendars to my boyfriends

I'm sure the searcher meant "Can I sync my Blackberry calendar to my boyfriend's Blackberry calendar" - but in just using the plural of boyfriend, it seems as if she is asking if she could sync her Blackberry to ALL of her boyfriends... and the result was God leading her to my Christian blog. :)

Here are some of the other Google searches from the last week that brought people to my blog:

karoake grace like rain

poem about homecoming with God

sweetly broken karaoke

in the gym i met son of god

jordan sparks "god loves ugly"

god & vegetables

laziness ignorance spelling

"to the cross i look" & "to the cross i cling" & "was bruised and crushed"

There were actually two searches for God & vegetables that brought people to my site in the last 5 days. Guess people will try anything to get their kids to eat those leafy greens! :) And I love that the last search listed above only had one result on the Google search... THIS blog! :)

This shows me that you never know how your words or actions will impact others.

Here I am just writing my random thoughts on finding God in everyday life to a small audience (anywhere from 9-20 people/day according to Stat Counter) hoping to make some sense of my place in this world, and some days, complete strangers might do a Google search and find their way to my story. Maybe something I type will impact them in a positive way... leading them close to God as they traverse their own faith path. Maybe something will spur a discussion with their families... or cause them to re-think some choice they've made.... or give them a good chuckle... or find them a new song for their iPod.

Regardless, my choices of what to write on this blog make small ripples that move outward affecting others. Similarly, this happens in our interactions with others day in and day out. With friends, aquantances, and even strangers, our words and behavior leave impressions.

And it's up to us to choose wisely the way we want be viewed by others and the messages we want to send.

Fortunately, when we live in a manner that is pleasing to God, our words and behaviors honor him. Like Simon Peter and Andrew, we do become "fishers of men:"

Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee,

Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew.

They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work.

Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you.

I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass."

They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.

Matthew 4:18-20 (The Message)

I hope that in a small way, my words on The God Blog cast out into cyberspace like a net into the ocean... snaring individuals and giving them a few minutes to walk with God. I am honored to be used by Him - and so happy that God has chosen one of my favorite pasttimes (my computer!) to allow me to spread His message.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you'll be one of the ones listed under "returning visitors" in the future.

♥Mags

PS... Stat Counter cannot tell me "who" you are... just where you can from. If you enjoy posts on this blog, I love to read the comments that are posted. Just click below on the link that says "COMMENTS" and leave one. You can still remain "anonymous" when you do it - and I really love the feedback!! Thanks! :)

I Found God In My Blackberry...

I have a new phone... a Blackberry Pearl... and not much else makes me happier than a new tech toy!! I've had this phone for about 2 months - enough to figure out how to use about 75% of it, and one of the features is the calendar. I can fill in the calendar either on my phone (slow!) or in Microsoft Outlook (much faster!) and sync the two together. I've discovered that my phone will "chime" about 15 minutes before any activity or event that I've logged into the phone - alerting me to the fact that I'm supposed to be somewhere or doing something in just a few moments.



My husband's phone displays his calendar as well... but I notice that he is more weary when checking his calendar... the resigned sighs as he looks over the meetings in his workday... the heavy eyelids as he grapples with the amount of work he needs to accomplish that day...



...And, I started to wonder about God's Blackberry... it must be chiming ALL of the time!! There must be rings and alerts going off every second... sometimes many simulataneously!

Chime! - Appt. with Mary and family today at 8AM - she's having a mastectomy.
Ring! - Divorce Care Group meets at 7PM
Ding! Ding! Ding! - Church services... just about everywhere... Sunday...8AM... 9AM...11AM...
Alert! - Little Jimmy fell in the well!
Buzz! - 7,043 families have requested travel mercies this week


Does God ever roll over some morning (does He ever sleep? And does he have a Westin Hotel "Heavenly Bed?") look at his Blackberry and just sigh, "Today is going to be a b-u-s-y day..." Some days, there are HUGE catastrophes in the world... plane crashes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, terrorists, train derailments... events where there are mass-casualties, and MANY people are calling out for mercy, or help, or in despair, or pain all at once.

The idea that our God can handle all of these major events - events with hundreds or thousands of people calling out for help at the same time - should help us rest easy that our God can also handle our small issues... our "smaller" prayers for help in the day-to-day tasks of our life. God says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) He does NOT say "Come to me... those of you with 'big' problems..." - but rather He invites us ALL to come to Him with our burdens and trials.

God's Blackberry IS alerting Him to our needs all of the time... but fortunately, He does not get weary or tired of us coming to Him. He wants us to seek Him out - He craves a relationship with us, His finest creations. Your problems are neither too small nor too large for Him to handle. And once He is on your side, as it says in Philippians 4:13, "I (You!) can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." :)

This week, take one burden and pass it on to God... He's watching his Blackberry for a message from you.

♥Mags

I Found God in Battery Back-Up...

At seven o'clock last night, just as my kids were getting ready to watch Tom & Jerry, thunderstorms came in, and we lost power.

This is a catastrophe in kid-land for two big reasons:

1. As I've written before, my kids are the human version of Tom & Jerry... therefore they must be able to watch this show to see how to beat and poke each other most effectively. (please notice the sarcasm)
2. At seven o'clock, I relish this brief 1/2 hour of peace... because my kids are watching Tom & Jerry, I can check email or do some other techie-thing without a kid interrupting me.

But when there is no power, we lose the lights, the TV, the desktop computer, video games, DVR, and all other electronic devices.

However... Mommy has a laptop... with a battery.

So when the kids converge into the den in panic:

"Why are the lights out?"

"Is there a tornado?"

"I'm scared!"

"How can we watch Tom & Jerry?!"

"WHY is your computer still on?!?!?!"

I tell them that Mommy's computer has a battery back-up that allows it to work even without power... that they'll just have to (gasp!) play with toys until the lights return... that obviously God didn't want them to watch TV at this moment - otherwise He wouldn't have struck out the lights... (No... I'm kidding!! I didn't say that last part, I promise!). :)

Fortunately, it's summer and 7PM means that with the windows open, there is still plenty of sunlight left with which to see. But at other times, no power can mean we are all plunged into darkness... with no light to guide our way. And the darkness IS scary... even for grown-ups.

And it got me thinking about God... and how he always has a battery back-up. God is always available to us... even in our darkest hours. If we are lonely, in some tornado of chaos or calamity, or weathering the storms of everyday life, God is there with open arms and a flashlight to guide our way.

1 John 1:6 says God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him. So surely... at our darkest moments... God... THE MOST POWERFUL BEING IN THE UNIVERSE... can provide us with the light and comfort needed to get us through the tough times.

Turn to Him. When you are lost... When you are scared... When you are lonely... When you are weary. When you are at your darkest place, God can guide you back into His warmth and light. All you have to do is ask. Just like my battery back-up, His light is always on.

♥Mags

I Found God In a Spelling Test...

When God wants to tell me something, He knows that all He has to do is wreak havoc on my computer. I will stop EVERYTHING to make sure my laptop is functioning properly - specifically my email, Internet, and Paint Shop Pro (PSP). I've just spent 8 hours (straight!) working on a PSP issue... on a day where I was going to be "kid-free" and could "play" on my computer as long as I wanted to, I ended up using up all of my time and energy on trying to fix my computer glitches.

One of methods in my problem-solving is to "Google" my problem and hope that someone has posted somewhere a simliar problem (and solution!). In this case, I Googled "Paint Shop Pro initializing tracker" because one of the problems was that PSP was freezing on start-up while it was trying to "initialize the tracker" (whatever that means). I could not find my specific problem - and several hours and numerous Google-searches later, I stumbled upon a solution for "Initialising Tracker."

WHY didn't this come up the first time.......?

Look closely... "initialising tracker" - the person who had posted the solution had MISSPELLED the word "initializing!" Hours of my time could've been saved if that person had spelled the word correctly... *sigh* Sure I understood what this person was talking about when I read his post... but in my quest to solve a problem... a simple misspelling got in the way of actually finding his solution.

So what is the point of this post? Was God was telling me that I need to spell-check my blog posts? Will one day... some everyday, ordinary person be searching for God, and something I have posted or will post will NEED to be spelled right so they can find it?

Maybe. (That would be cool, wouldn't it?!)

However...

My lesson today is NOT really about spelling...

In grade school, my Mom used to say that "the easiest test in school is a Spelling Test... because you know all of the answers ahead of time." Nowadays, with "spell check" on nearly every computer program or an online dictionary just a "Websters" search away, the only two reasons one might misspell a word is LAZINESS and IGNORANCE. Either that person is too darn lazy to look up the correct spelling... or doesn't actually know that the word is misspelled.

Can you afford to be lazy or ignorant about God?

Do you think that you will have all the time in the world to invite Jesus into your heart? At best, you (and I) have long years ahead of us with a quiet, peaceful end due to "natural causes." Maybe there will be a lingering illness that affords us the time to be introspective and follow a windy, albeit s-l-o-w, road to Christ. But... it's entirely possible that our end will come with a Mack truck and a split-second.... with no 2nd chances.

Ignorance is just plain "not knowing." So if a person has never heard about Jesus at all - he or she doesn't even know to follow. I don't know how God deals with that - I'd like to think that our loving God has a place for people who never had the chance to know Him... not because they chose to turn away, but because they just plain had no idea. However with evangelical Christians and missionaries spread out all over the globe... with the availability of the Internet and the thousands (millions?) of Christian websites... with a Bible in nearly every hotel room you can find... it's hard to find an isolated place to stay ignorant... but I suppose it's possible...

Which leaves us with LAZINESS... and that is another matter altogether. A lazy person has heard of God... has heard of Jesus Christ and the miracles and sacrifice of His life... a lazy person may even attend a church - sitting with her friends, snoozing during the sermon, doodling on the bulletin - but not really taking action to understand or learn more. A lazy person may say, "Hey - I'm a good person... I follow the 10 Commandments... mostly... it's not like I've killed anybody... surely, I'll go to Heaven?" But the lazy person isn't taking the time or making the effort to learn, and understand, and know Christ.

And the lazy person might argue that there are so many different religions in the world, how do I know I'm picking the right one? It's not about YOU picking teams... God already picking YOU when he sent his Son to live on earth and sacrifice Himself for our sins. You've already been chosen... all you have to do is accept. It can't get much more effortless than that!

And as for the argument about "all of the other religions," well...

I would rather live my life as if there IS Christ, and die to find out there isn't...
than live my life as if there isn't, only to die to find out there is.

What's your choice?

The answers have already been given to you... the "cheat sheet" is called the Bible. You can buy one. You can borrow one. You can Google one. You can find one in just about every hotel room in America. Probably, if you just asked, any church would flat-out GIVE you one for free. So the only excuse now not to find out more about what Christianity is all about is laziness.

And, laziness is a poor excuse for not finding salvation.

I wish you peace and answers in your own faith-journey...and I thank you for walking along with me today. Of course, I hope that all of your Google searches are successful... and that you ace any tests where the answers are already given to you... :)
♥Mags

Some interesting links on this topic...

• The Good Test - find out once and for all if you are "good" enough to go to Heaven (if you've paid attention at all... you know that there is no such thing... but go ahead and try it...! :)
• 2005 ABC News Report about "IS THERE HEAVEN?" - by Barbara Walters - lots of fodder for future blog posts!! :)
• Want to double-check your spelling? Visit the Top 100 Misspelled Words and Tricks to Remember Them! :)

I Found God In Persistence...

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I'm a "techie girl" - I LOVE technology... I love my computer (most of my friends live in it!), I love my iPod (all of my music is in it), I love our DVR (all of the dumb shows I watch are saved in it!). So of course, when Mother's Day rolled around, and my DH (dear husband) said he'd get me a new phone, I was ecstatic!

Forget diamonds or pearls, my favorite "bling-bling" stores are Best Buy and Cincinnati Bell Wireless! Hmmmmmmm.... smell the fire wire.... hear the ringing of new phones... feel vibrations of gigabytes working... see the flat screens... taste the, er, never mind... nothing to taste in the electronics store! But, you see what I mean... I'll take a 17" Dell laptop over a new bracelet any day! Give me a flat screen TV over a ruby ring in minute! Unroll me a 10" USB cable instead of a 14" gold chain any day of the week!

So when we ventured into the phone store, I was giddy with excitement - I could upgrade from the simple flippy/camera phone to something with some extra bells and whistles. After lots of hemming and hawing and ooh-ing and ahh-ing, I settled on the Blackberry Pearl 8100 in dark gray and silver. AHHHHHHHHHHHH... It was supposed to sync all of my contacts (complete addresses, phone numbers, and email addys) as well as sync my calendar, tasks, and a memo pad with Microsoft Outlook. Even though I use Incredimail for my email program (I want the fun stationery and smileys in all of my emails), I was willing to type in the details of every person I've ever met into Outlook just to have my own custom "white pages" at my fingertips!

Day 1 - Unwrap phone. Immediately email the picture I want as the screen background to my phone. Attempt to email the Buffy The Vampire Slayer theme to set as my ringtone. That part doesn't work. Install software on my computer. Type in nearly 200 contacts into Outlook.

Day 2 - Buy mini SD card for holding photos and ringtones. Load said "stuff" onto the card. Transfer it to the phone. Set ringtone (Yeah... Buffy!!). Try to sync Outlook. Contacts show up but incomplete. Try a multitude of syncing options. Upgrade software via website. Makes it worse - now contacts are showing up as first names only and it's syncing from Outlook Express instead of Outlook. 4 hours later, I'm no closer to an answer. I'll try again tomorrow.

Day 3 - Try to sync Outlook again. Join four different Blackberry forums to gain an answer. Post queries on eBay Techie thread. Uninstall software and reinstall it. Outlook stops being an option on the Blackberry desktop manager at all. Syncing through a .CSV file only causes more problems. Send off aggravated email to the dude who sold us the phone asking for help (no reply...ever, of course). Contemplate tossing phone out the window and writing all of my contacts down on notebook paper. Pray for help. Go to bed.

Day 4 - Deep breath. Start over. Completely remove any software, program, or file with the name "BLACKBERRY" associated with it from my computer. Insert disk. Re-install. Try again. Somehow, a whole new screen appears with lots of syncing options (I swear - I NEVER saw this over the past four days!) - including Microsoft Outlook. Tentatively, holding my breath, I press sync. I pick up my phone, click on "Contacts," and view the results... IT WORKED! WHOO-HOO!!

Names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails are all there! Phone rings the Buffy theme when someone calls me! Background says "MAGS" (so there's no mistaking that it's MY phone!).

And I'm reminded of a quote I once saw by Calvin Coolidge:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

God tells us to Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4 NIV)

I'm not sure I felt "joyful" as I was struggling to fix my techie-issue. But, I can say that I felt an immense feeling of satisfaction (ok...it was more of a gloating "I BEAT YOU, BLACKBERRY!") at solving this problem without hiring an expert...! While I would have preferred it to work properly the first day, sometimes the fruit of our efforts is all the sweeter when we have to work for it. God didn't drop a boat down to Noah - he told him to build it himself! Likewise, when we put in some extra sweat (and sometimes tears!), we can accomplish great things - and when we include God in our efforts... those great things become miraculous.

In April, our church, along with another church, built two house frames for Habitat for Humanity. A couple hundred volunteers of all ages came and helped build the walls that would frame two four-bedroom houses for two needy families. The effort was immense - but the rewards were greater. The planning started months before. Even our Children's Ministry got involved with their Sunday offerings (which yielded enough money to build more than 2 walls!). The result was two fully-framed homes ready to be transported to their sites!

God will reward your persistence... your job is to never give up!

I Found God In A Computer System Crash...

Yup... think I did... my laptop system crashed in a near-fatal way last week. Some registry file went missing or corruped, and it was unable to start-up.

• 3 Phone Calls to Dell,
• $40.00 in "support fees,"
• 6 installation disks,
• over a week,
• and several headaches later...

I had manually re-installed the entire XP operating system.

This week, I reflected on the events leading up to the crash... mainly that I had been neglecting my Sunday School duties for about 3-4 weeks (I do the class weekly email-newsletter), although I was still spending a TON of time on my computer working on some new digital scrapbooking items for sale. I had also neglected this blog - even though I knew, when I started it, that I felt some pull from God to create it in the first place.

And I remembered this quote from our Pastor that has always stuck with me:

"God allows hardship to enter our lives

to warn us we are on the wrong path."

At first I wondered if God was trying to tell me that a (financially-rewarding?!) hobby of selling digital scrapbooking elements was NOT in my future. But, all of my files were safely backed-up and ready for use after the re-installation. I think now He was trying to tell me to get my priorities in-line - that my job of providing the announcements, praises, and prayers of my classmates was more important than the tasks I had set above it. That contributing to this Blog... even if I had no readers (yet?!) was also more important.

Consider this verse from Malachi 1:7 (The Message Version):
"When you say, 'The altar of God is not important anymore; worship of God is no longer a priority,' that's defiling. ..."

Take a look at the things, activities, or people in your own life that you are placing ahead of God, and committ to re-prioritizing that list into one that has God at the head rather than at the caboose. When you honor God, you will be blessed.

:) Mags

I Found God In My Computer...

Seriously... some crazy glitch/crash/mess happened in my computer last week. All of the subfolders and folders that housed my various emails I've saved dumped out of each other and organized themselves in ABC order... so I had 65+ email folders all "out" and not neatly tucked away within the 10 or less main folders. And I use Incredimail; all of the saved IM Letters (email stationery) neatly organized into some main folders, dumped themselves out as well.

The time it took to re-organzed was lost when I rebooted my computer, and THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN!!

In addition to the folder issue, I could receive my email, but not send any.

To fix the situation, I started doing all I knew how to do... re-installing software, clearing out temp files, restarting the computer, checking out IM and Google Help sites - NOTHING was working!!

Finally, I stopped,
Took a breath,
Closed my eyes,
And I prayed.

I prayed to God to either fix the computer Himself or guide me to the knowledge to find the answers I sought.

Then I opened my eyes, took another breath, and started through yet another re-install/upgrade of the IM software.

Within a half-hour, my email was working again!!

Thanks, God!!!


This wasn't a miracle on the scale of water-into-wine or loaves-and-fishes, for sure - but in my little world, my laptop and my email is a B-I-G deal... by myself, I could not fix my problems, but as soon as I asked for God's help, I was able to solve my problem.

Coincidence?
Maybe... but I doubt it... that's what this blog is all about... Finding God in small doses... in everyday places... working in my life. :)