Mom! Don't Forget Me!

+AMDG+

Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;

my LORD has forgotten me.”

Can a mother forget her infant,

be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Even should she forget,

I will never forget you.

-Isaiah 49:14-15

The love of a parent for a child is such a powerful force. It can change and transform a child into a beautiful and wonderful person. That love can help a child grow, overcome adversity, heal a wound, accept a reality, cause a child to keep fighting and most importantly can cause a child to become  an adult. The knowledge that becomes passed down will hopefully enlighten and inspire. The love that is passed down will hopefully change and transform for the better.

I think of my own mom and dad who have caused me to grow. Dad challenges me to strive for better, to not settle and to think of the future. Mom challenges me to be present to the person who needs my love the most, to consider others in my life first and to learn how to run a home. I am an intelligent person and I wonder how much of that is attributed to my mother who never doubted for a second that I was anything but that.

Now I think of that love of a parent and the Lord tells us through Isaiah that your parent will forget you before I will... wow that is powerful. Imagine a love even greater, a love that seeks to protect you, envelope you and develop you. A love that accepts you as well as pushes you to become more than what you currently are. A love that says, "Be not afraid!' Another way to say that is "do not limit yourself! Be limitless! Do not hold yourself back by fear and live with the pain of regret. Seek to live life to the fullest and make everyone else's life better in the process. Share my love with everyone!" Love is so powerful that it is the very fabric of the universe itself.

Stop Complaining!

+AMDG+

Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged. 

Behold, the Judge is standing.

-James 5:9

I used to really love to complain. It gave some sort of superiority to whatever I was talking about. Whether it was about how things are done at a job, other people, politics, food, TV shows just about anything really. I would sit as if I was a great and experienced chef as I would say my Chicken Nuggets are not as tender as they were last week. Or I would watch a movie as if I was a famous a critic and complain about the main actor driving a motorcycle into a helicopter. Or I would even complain about people not doing what I think is best for them but what is what is best for me.

At this point in my life I have a rule. I will allow someone to complain about something once, they get free venting at no charge; then after that if they complain to me again about something I say, "well what have you done to change this. " If the response is I can't or no I haven't then I say then I don't want to hear it. I find it very helpful to do this especially for myself. When I get into one of my complaining modes I say, What have you done to change this? Then stop complaining about it. Unless you are willing to do something about it then it really doesn't bother you that much. Come back when you are willing to do something different than just complain.

Those Greedy Pigs

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Why is this so disturbing?

Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

-James 5:4

When I first read the reading this morning it really ... bothered me. I am not sure what it was that got to me. Maybe it was the anti-rich comments that did not seem to be qualified. Is St. James talking about a specific kind of rich person? All rich people? Maybe he was anti-capitalist but capitalism did not exist yet. So I was not really too sure. And then I thought that I could either read this Scripture and point to other people who I feel need to hear this or I could look and see how I need to change; since The Lord taught me better I chose the latter and not the former. 

There is always a learning point for your growth in the Scriptures.

I thought about what passage stood out for me when I read this and the one under the picture stood out for me. I read it and thought about from whom do I withhold. Do I give people all my attention? Do I put my best effort forward for people or task that I am given? Do I show people I love them and not just say it? There are so many ways I can be withholding. I end up becoming that greedy pig who is scared to lose what he had amassed. I do not want to a greedy person. I want to be a life giving person. Someone who is guided by the Love that is shown to me in Jesus. I don't want to be the swine but rather be the One who can share his life with all.