Submission

Once again the word submission is on my mind. I even went online to a dictionary to look it up. It means:

1. The act of submitting; the act of yielding to power or authority; surrender of the person and power to the control or government of another.

2. The state of being submissive; acknowledgement of inferiority or dependence; humble or suppliant behavior.

I found these definitions at define.com. This quote was also included; No duty in religion is more justly required by God...than a perfect submission to his will in all things.--Sir W. Temple.

What does that quote mean? Who is in perfect control of everything that happens in my life? Is it me? Am I the master of my own destiny? Or is God in complete and perfect control of all of the circumstances of my life? Do I have the duty to submit to God?

The answer to that last question is of course. I belong to Him and so my first duty after loving Him with all of my heart is to submit to Him. This doesn't just mean on a Sunday morning when I am at church, it means in all areas of my life. When I am at work if my boss asks me to do something I don't really want to do I need to remember that He is the one who put my boss in the position he or she is in. It was God who gave me the husband I have, the church family, my earthly family, all of it.

There are so many times I am tempted to become angry at work when I feel I have been used unfairly but I must remember that God gave me those circumstances. I have watched so many Christian coworkers become angry and bitter because of decisions made by the boss. Their lives have become so difficult because of that. We all have a tendency to blame people when something doesn't go the way we would like it to go but we must ALWAYS remember that God is always in control. He doesn't make mistakes. The circumstances of my life are always for His glory and for my good.

I have noticed that the times I forget that He is in control of all things are the times that I tend to refuse to submit to those who surround me at work, at home and at church. I am learning more and more to rest in Him as He teaches me to submit more and more fully to His will. Thank you, Lord.

Till next time....

PS I rode my horse last Saturday. I did fine and managed not to fall off, get bucked off, stampeded, or embarrassed in any other way!

Horse work

Well, I have to admit that I'm a little nervous! All of my Saturdays and Mondays through October will be taken up with cattle work. The typical fall work; weaning calves, vaccinating, preg-checking. All of the work I haven't done in over 7 years. I stopped helping when I got pregnant with my youngest. I haven't stepped on a horse since then! Will I be able to get on? Will I be able to STAY on? I am looking forward to it. This will be the first time that the little one will be able to help like this. When my two other children were little they came with us all of the time. While it seemed hard at the time to work while taking care of them, it was so good for them. They loved going along and helping Dad. When they were little they would ride with us and we would spend all day together. It was such a blessing to have that time with them. There were other people who had more money and more things than we did. Now that my kids are grown, that time has become even more precious. We appreciate those things we did together. I didn't realize how much until my son shared with us how disappointed he was when his dad lost his job at the ranch. He had big plans to be out every day helping his dad with the ranch work. Truly, I think I was so wrapped up in my own fear and disappointment that the trial the situation was to my children didn't really register. Of course they were 10 and 12 when my husband lost his job so I was guilty of not realizing how hard it was for them even at that young age.

I hope that I remember not to discount the trials of someone just because of their age. I hope that I remember to pray for them.

I can't wait to help out with those cattle. It will be fun. And challenging! I'll let you know how it goes.

Till next time...

My Colorado

I grew up on a ranch/farm out in Eastern Colorado, in Lincoln County. After my husband and I got married we lived on a ranch in Eastern Colorado, near the town of Karval. I loved living in those places. We lived for about 9 years in Western Elbert county (El Paso County was across the road from our house!). It was pretty there. We were right up the hill from a beautiful creek. We saw all sorts of wildlife and loved the life there. After that we lived in El Paso County for 7 years until last July when we moved back into Lincoln County. I didn't realize how much I missed Lincoln County until we moved back there. Each day, I admire the view as I drive to school. As we leave our house we have to pass through a place that they call Stony Point. Stony Point looks out over a valley that runs northeast to southwest and is breathtaking. My sons and I climbed up to the top and took school pictures from there. I cannot drive through that country without praising God for bringing us back to that part of the state!

I have heard people talk about how boring it is in that part of Colorado. There are no trees, no wildlife, no scenery. When you top the Genoa hill and look down and you can see that huge expanse of land, when you are traveling from Karval to Highway 71 and you can see Pikes Peak jutting up like a huge sleeping dragon, you know that there is beautiful scenery out here! Your heart just has to be big enough to take it all in. When I was a child summers were spent on horseback, checking cattle; we watched for lizards, horned toads, snakes, baby antelope and occasionally a deer. We looked for rocks and if we were lucky we would find an arrowhead or a piece of petrified wood. No scenery in Eastern Colorado?! AS IF!

When I travel east, I can feel the "scenery" closing in on me. The closer we get to Kansas City the more closed in I begin to feel. I think Western Kansas (from about Russell on) is my favorite part of any trip. When we cross the state line into Colorado, I can breathe a little easier, I can feel my heart expand, it's good to be headed home.

The Rockies are beautiful. But I like looking at them from my beautiful prairie. My beautiful "Home on the Range". I am thankful to be living in this place!

Till next time...

Blessings

Today was my birthday. Today I praise God for His goodness and mercy to me. I praise him for a beautiful family. I praise Him for a faithful minister who is diligent to preach from His holy word. I praise Him for my wonderful church family. I praise Him for the gift of jobs we love for myself and my husband. My heart is full, my life is full of the richness, joy and peace that He brings. I praise My Heavenly Father now and always, with my heart, body and soul!
Amen and amen.
Till next time...

A Disclaimer

God uses every circumstance in our lives to either bring us to repentance or to drive us from Him, whether for a while or forever. He has used every experience I have blogged about to show up some hidden sin in my own life. The sin of pride, the sin of unforgiveness, the sin of exacting a price for my forgiveness when God forgave me all of my sins without payment from me (for we know that we can never repay this debt, we live a life of thankfulness and praise for the rest of our lives), the sin of always questioning authority and not submitting. He has shown me that when I refuse to submit to the authority of my boss at work, my minister and elders and my husband I am REFUSING to submit to HIM! This refusal to submit then causes all sorts of other problems in my life and all sorts of sinful behaviors sprout from that one refusal. After all, who put those people in their positions? If we believe, as I do that my loving heavenly Father orders ALL things, then it logically follows that He has ordered the circumstances in my life, whether it be at work, at home or in church. I MUST come to the belief that this is so! So long as I fight it I am stating my own unbelief. So therefore if I disagree with something my pastor says or my boss at work requires of me and I take it to the authority over that person and the higher authority rules that my complaint is without foundation, I must submit to that and trust God for that decision. At bottom, top and all through the issue, GOD is in control. HE is the ONE who has caused the circumstance to be! HE has done it for my good and HIS glory! HIS will is perfect! If I become angry with a boss or elder or my husband because of a decision made, it is not a reflection of how unfair that person is....it is a reflection of my own sin and unwillingness to submit to the will of GOD!
Now about my disclaimer....This post (and truly all of my posts) refers to ME and to MY own experiences and the things that I am learning. It refers to the shift in attitude that God has brought about in my life, the changes that He has caused in my walk with Him, in my relationship with my family and in the way I view the happenings at work and try to deal with them in a way that will bring glory to God. I am excited about the changes God has wrought in me! I am thankful for the way He has shown me that true submission also brings true freedom, true joy and true thanksgiving.
Am I stating that I am without sin? HEAVEN FORBID! I know the state of my heart and I still do get angry, I still do question God at times. But through all of the events of my life He is bringing me a joy and peace that I could have never imagined! And at rock bottom that joy and peace come from learning to submit daily to the things God has ordained in my life. The second piece of the puzzle is that God has shown me through the circumstances of my life to be thankful for ALL of those circumstances. Will I stumble in the future? I can guarantee that the answer will be yes! But by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit will convict my heart and bring me to repentance. God is faithful when we are not! He always keeps His covenant!
God just keeps on winnowing and showing me even those secret sins to which I have become attached. He keeps on bringing them to my eyes and turning me to repentance. To some this will be offensive. It is not intended in that fashion. This blog contains the thoughts and ramblings of a joyous daughter of Christ sharing her journey and that is how it will continue.
I cannot contain my joy for the things God is doing in my life!
Till next time....

A New School Year

Well, we finished our first week of school with kids. The vibe has been so different this year than in years past. The administrators all have such a positive, upbeat attitude and it is filtering down to the students. The first day back each student got a blue Buffalo t-shirt to wear every Friday. The kids were all so excited! It was really neat to see that sea of blue all over the school yesterday. The atmosphere was great. I am so excited. This school is getting back on track after many years. We also got word that our school is receiving a BEST grant (if it's funded) to build a new school. That will be exciting as well. I will be getting a NEW library! No more being stuck in half a modular with no bathroom! Wow!
I am looking at these kids at school and I know that for some of them the only smiling faces they will see are the ones they see at school. For some of them, I may be the only person who is happy to see them. The meals at school may be the only hot meals they get, even the only meals of the day for them. When they get snarly and mean with me I need to remember that for some of them school is their only haven and I need to show them my own joy. I need to remember that even the ones with new clothes and enough to eat may be on their 3rd or 4th step parent and that brings its own pain. I need to be patient with them and longsuffering. AND I need to maintain this attitude all year, even when I am tired. This is all part of showing them what it means to be a Christian. Please pray for me as I try, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to do this.
Till next time...

Whatsoever Things Are Good

Well, school has started for another year for me! I am so excited for it! Last year was a difficult year at school. There was so much negativity, grumbling and dissatisfaction among the staff that it was hard some days to be there. Two teachers were let go during the school year and that caused a lot of upheaval. Both were tenured so several staff members were very unhappy about that. But they were changes that needed to be made. We had HUGE staff turnover this year. We only had one middle school teacher returning. But these are all good things. Last week was the week when all staff came back to school for meetings, room preparation, etc., getting ready for kids to come in on Monday. The atmosphere was totally different. This is not to say that there are not pockets of dissatisfaction but it is not pervading the staff.
There has been a real push on the part of our administrative team to squash the grumbling when it begins. There is a push to encourage those who are satisfied to stand up to the grumblers and rebuke them. It works! They may still be grumbling but they are not grumbling to me! The grumbling in the staff work room has diminished significantly. It is SO encouraging!
I have noticed that when you complain and grumble and are generally not thankful for the blessings God has given you, you attract other grumblers and complainers. Soon that is all you can think about; those grievances, slights and wounds. You can't think about the good things in your own life and the way God has blessed even in times of trials. Once you turn the corner and begin to think on those good things and dwell on the many blessings of our faithful Lord, you have a hard time complaining!
I have seen it in the school where I work and in my own church family and here at home. When we complain and pout and generally act like a pill, we make ourselves miserable. Then of course we want to blame others for our own stinky attitude. "Well he shouldn't have done that, said that, acted that way to me". "It's his fault (or her's) and I shouldn't have to be the one to reconcile". I have been doing a lot of thinking about the "good things" lately. I look back on those difficult years right after my husband was fired from his last ranch job and thankfully God has brought me to a place where I can see His hand in all of it and can see the blessings of losing the job, having a business partner who left us holding a mountain of debt, and all of the other things that happened during that time. I also see how He uses the faithful preaching of His word and the fellowship of the saints to bring us to repentance if we belong to Him.
This is why He did tell us to think on those things that are good. When our heart dwells on the good things, we can experience the joy of our salvation. When we dwell on the "bad" things we rob ourselves of that joy.
It is with a joyful and a thankful heart that I say,
Till next time...