While We Wait...

People wonder all the time what to do while we wait for God to answer the prayers we send to him. The truth is, we don't. What we wait for is what we want the answer to be.

God ALWAYS answers prayers. Sometimes, the answer is 'Not now,' or to the negative in some way. What we have trouble with is something different than what we thought the response should be. There is a classic joke that goes like this:

A town had flooded, which forced this man to his roof. Now, this man was a young christian, he had just taken christ in his heart a few months ago. As the water rose level with his roof a boat floated by and the driver yelled, 'Jump In, I'll save you!' The man yelled back, 'No thanks, God will save me.' As the water reached the the middle of the roof another boat came by and, yet again, the man declined saying that God will save him. As the water reached his ankles a helicopter flew over to offer a final salvation from the rising current - which he declined for the last time with the intent of God saving him. Finally the water engulfed him and he drowned. When he arrived at the seat of God he asked, "Lord, why did you not save me from the coming flood?" God looked at him and answered, "What do you mean? I sent two boats and a helicopter to save you. Why did you not accept them?

When we ask God for something in prayer we have to understand that God will answer it on is own time. He knows when it is right for us. He knows what answer suits us.

It's the right decision to ask God; but it's not the right attitude to pray for what you want to happen. Or even to expect that will give you exactly what you want. When praying it is very imperative to understand and pray for God's will - not your's.

God guides us with his alknowing, understanding, and merciful will. He knows our paths long before we decide which turn to take. The road that God built for us to travel through this life. However, we tend to travel a different road, unless we truly ask for God's will. Unless we know that God has great things in store for us. God knows our destiny. But it's our will to accept it and follow his guidance.

While we 'wait' for prayer we need to understand that God either has already answered it, or knows the perfect time to answer it. God knows our needs, and when to give us what we need.

I'm reminded of this song; the chorus simply says 'Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.'

So trust that God is doing what is right for you. God knows what you need and how to get you there.

Pray for God's will. Don't wait on him to answer with what you desire; but, realize when he does answer it - in His way.

For all of life's problems, ask God.

FML

No, I don't mean FML... That's what this is about.

You do know what that means correct? It means F*** My Life. Why though?

Isn't your life worth living? Isn't your life happening for you? Isn't your life worshipping God? Sometimes, it does seem like your life is coming at you at a really fast rate, just take a deep breath and try to make sense of it all. God will not give you more than you can handle - but you will!

Learn that you're not Superman. You can't do everything. That's the we tend to say FML - because we're frustrated when we can't do everything on our agenda. If you're mad that you have three papers due tomorrow, and you have to start on all three, that was you're mistake. Take everything in strides, get over what you can't accomplish and learn to be less critical of yourself.

You'll find you'll be a lot happier when you realize that what you're doing is all you can do. I personally find myself in these situations all the time. I have my agenda so packed that it is about to explode. Tha't when I don't plan anything else, I just get through what is already scheduled. However, time managment is just part of the FML stress of everyday...

The second part is when you decide to learn from your mistakes - as I said before, be less critical. The truth is, you're NOT perfect - and no one expects you to be. Do what you can the best way you know how, and live for God, and yourself.

In Maslow's heirarchy of needs, we see that we must first meet our physiological needs (breathing, hunger, thirst, et cetera); then we must meet our safety needs (security of what's around you, your job, family, health); next is our love/belonging needs; followed by self-steem; only after all of that is accomplished do we reach self-actualization. At this point we are most proud of ourselves and truly don't care what others think.

The truth of this is that self-actualization is not static, it waivers. People very seldomly find self-actualization and it is only for a miniscule amount of time.

So love your life, be happy with who you are, even though psycology says you'll very seldomly reach that plateu. Love your life.

Let's start substituting FML with LML (Love my life). Because it doesn't matter what comes at us, we can handle it, we can overcome it, and we can learn from it.

Have a wonderful day. I love your life. You should, too.



For all of life's problems, ask God.

Where are we going? And, why do we want to get there so fast?

Driving down the highway I realize that you get honked at when you are driving slower than 10 miles over the speed limit... WHY? Why can't we just slow down, relax, and enjoy life? Why is our day filled to the brim with miniscus curving upwards? Why does our life seem to fly by? It is the goal of Americans to do the most they can in the least amount of time as possible...

When was the last you woke up and just layed there for a few minutes thinking about how good your day will be? When was the last time you walked outside, just to see what God has created that day? When was the last time you wathce the sunrise or the sunset? When was the last time you DID stop to smell the roses?

I know that I am guilty of this and have recently thought about 'cooling it.' The inborn desire of me is to be busy all the time. Something tells me to keep going. I have to relax this feeling and be able to relax myself. If we keep going all the time at some point we will just explode; our feeling, our emotion, our want and desire to keep going, our will will just become nothing but benign. It will not even sting when we think that we are doing nothing.

As Americans we have such an inborn tendency to be busy, to be doing something all the time, to get to where we are going as fast as possible, to cram our day full so we can experience everything we can in the shortest amount of time. We do this so much that the weekend is that time for us to just become numb and relax our bodies and minds.

I think we all need to learn to relax. I think we all need to learn how to wake up and smell the coffee. We all need to take the scenic route. We all need to stop and smell the roses.

Not only is speeding down the road not safe. It's not healthy for you soul, body, or mind.

We need to relax, to stop, to see the world as it comes around us - not while it's speeding passed us in this perpetual, dismal, bleak, fast-paced world. We create our own lives; who we are, what we believe, and how fast we want to travel through this existence. Our struggles in life are promised to us, and we can't do anything about that. But we can relax every now and then to prepare mentally and physically for the next one.

Now, that's not to say that you can't do stuff unless going throuhg a problem; it just means relax intemittenly. Overcome that biological predisposition that says to keep going.

After all, what's the rush anyway?

For all of life's problems, ask God.

I Believe in the Future

    It doesn't take much to start a revolution. A simple spark can ignite people for something they truly believe in. I think it's finally time we, as a country, recognize and practice Dr. Martin Luther King Junior's quote, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that; hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that; the chain reaction of evil must be broken or we will be plunged into the abyss of annihilation."

    I have a good friend named Shelly Burke. She is one of the most caring, loving, kindest individuals that I've ever met. She practices Dr. King's philosophy on a daily basis. Her morals, ethics, and beliefs can be summed up into two simple phrases; 1) the goodness of man, and 2) the greatness of God. She stands behind these beliefs, never wavering, relentlessly immersing herself in goodness, and perpetually creating an atmosphere of love. Shelly not once begs the question, "What do I get in return." She n ever wonders, "How does this help me." Shelly's concern is with helping her fellow man; assisting those around her; loving all of God's children and creatures.

Webster defines light as, "Something that makes things visible or affords illumination." Shelly does just that. She illuminates all the good that surrounds her; she offers her hand, or her heart to those in need. Shelly makes things visible that most people can't see. When people see a broken down spirit that is hopeless and will never be repaired, Shelly sees a lost soul that needs to find its way back on track. Some of my most notable memories of Shelly are on Mission Trips to Mexico. My first mission trip to Mexico was her third. We befriended each other fairly quickly. That's not just because we are a lot alike; she also struck up conversations with me, and played games with me, and went out of her way to make me feel welcome on the mission trip. However, that wasn't what really stood out about her from that mission trip. In Mexico we set up Vacation Bible School (or Escualita Biblica) sites to help share God's word to the kids in Mexico who would have never heard it otherwise. While we were passing out flyers Shelly and a couple of other people met a girl named Altalia. Shelly would later tell it this way. She had a disease, and was either forced to be in bed or in a wheelchair; therefore, she could not go out and play, so she didn't have many friends. However, she was very happy and content with what she had, and who she was, even though an illness threatened to claim her life at any minute. Shelly, being the caring person that she is, broke down and cried for this girl. She didn't only cry for Altalia, she prayed for her, prayed for her well-being, and prayed for God to take care of her. As Americans we have a tendency to do the least we can to get the job done. It is really easy to be nice to someone if you never see them again. However, Shelly's kindness and light do not end at praying for her, they extend far beyond that; the next day Shelly went to the little two-room house that Altalia's family lived in. She took Altalia herself to the VBS site; she pushed and pulled her wheelchair through the mud until they finally arrived. And, of course, when it was over Shelly wheeled Altalia back to her home. This went on the whole week but, by the third day they were able to take the church van to pick up Altalia. Shelly's light defies many 'real-world' expectations. Like Matthew 5:14, 16 says, "You are the light of the world…. Let your light shine, so that [men] may see your good deeds and worship your Father in Heaven." Shelly does that on an everyday, every minute basis. Shelly doesn't lower herself to the 'real-world' or 'modern-day' world expectations of compassion.

Shelly's love for those around her abounds in such a way that she destroys hate, much like Dr. King's quote says. An example of this happened, again, in Mexico. This was my second year to go to Mexico. This year was different than the previous for many reasons. Even though our usual 'leaders' did not opt to come this time, even though we went on a completely different month than any of the nine years prior, even though we had so many fewer people, one thing stayed consistent – Shelly's love. The weeks prior to the trip Shelly was asking if she would get to see Altalia again; however, we were in a different part of the town this year, and she was unable to. Even a year later Shelly didn't forget that girl, and was anxious to meet her again and pray with her, and care for her, like she did the previous year. However, this year Shelly got to meet someone new, someone else whom she could help and pray for. We were located at a church called Iglesia Bautista Principe de Paz, which means Baptist Church Prince of Peace. The day we passed out flyers was rainy and the streets were flooding. The neighborhood wasn't very big, but Shelly managed to pass out all of her flyers even with such a definite language barrier. The second day of VBS Shelly the rain had ceased a little which meant a few more kids had come than the day before, totaling about 20 kids). Shelly was inside playing with the kids and singing along to some of the songs, when she noticed a girl sitting in the corner. Shelly wanted to include everyone, so she went to get the girl and bring her into the crowd. When she got over to the little girl she noticed that it looked like something was wrong with her. Her mom was there and in her eyes she could tell that the mom was saying, 'she's sick, pray for her.' Shelly knelt on the ground right then, took the little girl's and the mother's hand and prayed. As Shelly prayed, the girl's mother prayed with her. And even though two different languages were being spoken, she knew that both prayers were the same. The Bible says that where two or more are gathered in God's name, He will be there. Shelly knew that God was there, transcending the languages and helping the little girl. Even though Shelly couldn't meet Altalia again, she had another experience that she will never forget.

Shelly's love is so raw, that everyone who comes around her can feel it, almost touch it. Like Nelson Mandela once said, "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, it's that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in all. And as we let our own light shine we consciously give other people permission to do the same." Shelly has conquered the fear that Mandela proposes, and she lets her light shine. She is doing her best to break that chain reaction of evil. However, just one person's work will not do it. As this country grows, as the anger inside us grows the chain gets longer faster than Shelly can break the links. She will not stop trying. And we as Americans need to help her. We as humans need to help her. We need to break those links on the chain of evil. We must uphold the moral fabric and ethical integrity that is born inside of every human. We must allow goodness to overwhelm us. We must allow kindness to teem from the very root of our core. We must allow light to manifest itself in us so that even when we have a 'bad day' or a 'stressful time' we still have that light inside to show to the world. Not just in Shelly. Not just in some. In all. We must team up and break the chain reaction of evil. We must change the abyss into which we are currently being plunged. Because of Shelly's light, I believe in everyone. Because of Shelly's love, I believe in the future.

To err and forgive

How can we live? How can we succeed? How can we truly know life if we don't experience it? But, how can we get the experiences we want without the sin, and guilt? We truly have no other way except through God. And, as everyone learned in Sunday School, Man is seperate from God, by nothing except by sin. Sin is a beast; wild, untamed, and completely common.

The truth is that everyone has at least one thing they want to do; one thing they want to experience; one thing they have always wanted to try, just once. And most people don't end up doing it because they are in fear of sin, as they were taught in sunday. This feeling is absolutley common, and absolutely correct. Our life is filled with choices; choices we must make, and choices in which we must suffer the consequences (regardless of which decision you make). And those consequences make us feel guilt. That guilt can be that we feel guilty for the sin because we chose to succum to temptation, or guilt that we feel because we didn't do it - and we REALLY wanted to.

Sin is natural. Sin is bad. Sin is inevitable. After all, "To err is human, to forgive is divine." You know that saying, 'It will chew you up and spit you out?" This is not completely like sin. Sin will chew you up. But it will not spit you out. Your addiction to the sin will carry you farther than you ever intended to go. Sin will swallow you whole and resist every attempt to have you climb back out. It is your job to fight this sin. You must fight it. It is a never-ending battle; not just for you, but for all of mankind. The only thing that can truly save us is God, through his perpetual mercy.

For all we have, God has given us. However, for all we sin, it gets taken away. Until that one glorious moment in which we accept God, and his forgiveness. From the bowels of sin, from the depths of addiction, from the torture of pain, we must beseech God to forgive us and rise up from the ashes of what once was, as a Phoenix.

We are nothing, we have nothing, we know nothing; unless God is with us, and in us. Sin casts so great a shadow that God cannot be caught in its darkness. He can conquer - and is the only cure - for the blackness that it leaves in its wake.

Pray for forgivness. Ask for His mercy. And beseech God for His protection.

In His name. Pray. Amen.

This Cyberland...

This place, made for those who like to express, without the threat of criticism or fear of retributrion. It's amazing how freely people will put what they don't want to say no the internet, where anyone can read it. Although, sometimes it's easier. Sometimes people don't want to talk to their friends or anyone about their true feelings about a give topic. That's the amazing thing, out technology has given us the new ability to have a 'virtual diary,' whether we want people to know it's us or not. We live in a world where people are willing to share with total strangers because society has told us that we shouldn't make our friends mad or upset, otherwise, we're a 'bad friend.'

Anyway, that is really everything I have to say today. Just check back. What I have to say may not be important, but it may be what you need to hear. Anyway, talk to you guys later.

Marshall...