Weeds

Weeds - we all hate them. They serve no purpose except to kindle frustration when tending to our lawn or garden. Since having moved to Hawaii, we now have a house which is part of a fourplex and with that comes our yard. Our section is technically bounded by measurements from here to there, but we decided to go ahead and take care of the whole lawn anyway, no biggee.
Over the weekend, we purchased lawn equipment: rakes, fertiliser, mower etc...and today, Josh spent the majority of the day outside tending to the lawn. I came out and helped him for a bit. What I found was that out lawn contains many, many weeds.  Lots of 'em. In fact, there are places where there are more weeds than grass. Not only do we have a plethora of weeds, we have several different types. As I was pulling these weeds, it reminded me of the weeds in our lives.
See, to me, our lives start out as a fresh area of grass - pure, untouched, green, fresh. As time goes on, if left intended, the outside invaders -sin (aka weeds) creep in.
Just like in our yards, there are many different types of weeds in our lives.
In our yard, we have one particular weed that masquerades as grass - yet it is choking the grass and prohibiting growth. Such could be a person or friend in our lives that seems harmless but in reality is a negative impact on our spiritual lives.
Other weeds snake through the grass and grow in its place, leaving more weed than grass in the lawn. There are also weeds like clover which grow in clumps and never really seem to go away and are always just...there. Then, there are even other weeds whose roots grow so deep that you would have to dig up a good portion of the yard to completely dispose of it. Such are the weeds in our lives. Jealously for example - perhaps jealously snakes through our thoughts, completely masking the good that God has placed into our lives. Or, like the clover, there's that sin that is just always there - never really going away. Or, the bigger ones - the ones whose roots go so deep that it seems impossible for them to be completely gone. And if they're torn up and exposed, what they leave behind is a patchy, bare, mess.
My friends, every lawn has to be torn up now and again. In order for the grass to grow again the weeds have to be removed. In the case of our yard, it requires a chemical fertliser, but it your life, what does it require? I know that the sins I. My life have required me to take a hard look at myself and admit otherwise painful things that I know are true. It requres me to die to self and do the things that inconvenience me, if only to bless other people. It requires me to be on my knees, asking to to yet again forgive me because I have messed up. It requires me to realize and believe that I am a sinner, and I desperately need a Savior. What do the weeds in your life require to be rid of them. Sure, it's easy to ignore them - but over time, they will eat away at you and leave you with a constant reminder if their presence.
However, if you deal with the weeds in your life, there may be holes left behind. But not to fear. Jesus can fill those holes. And while they may not be completely filled right away, know that He is working behind the scenes. Just like grass doesn't grow over night. That takes time, especially when the weeds have penetrated for so long. And eventually, just as the dark comes before the morning, you will soon see new growth, new grass, a fresh start.

Redefined

Over the course of the last 6-7 months, I have walked through several transitions. I left my government job on December 15^th, got engaged on December 19^th, married on January 8^th(also becoming a military wife), started school and coordinated a move, had our wedding ceremony, graduated community college, and then moved 5,000 miles to Hawai’i leaving behind most of my friends, my training academy, my family, and all things familiar to me and my life.

To be honest, the first few days were like vacation. It was a new experience, a new place and it was so cool. Blue water actually exists!

Then reality set in. I missed my family, I missed my pups, I missed my car. I had no idea who I was. I had nothing familiar except my clothes suitcases and material things I had brought with me. Who was I? Besides being a new military wife, I couldn’t begin tell you who I was.

See, my identity has been wrapped up for so long in the material things of my life – I’ve been an engineering intern, a government contractor, a lifeguard, a jiu jitsu player, a judoka – and all those identities resided in Maryland. When I left Maryland, I left a lot of those identities behind.

I feel powerless, as if I don’t know who I am any more. And this has been a huge emotional struggle to walk through. I’ve had to step through several life transitions and as my husband can attest, it hasn’t been a walk in the park. There are some days where I feel completely normal, like it’s no big deal. Other days, I’m a wreck – missing material things that would only temporarily relieve the heartache and loneliness that besets me at times.

Just as I prayed for God to unsettle me throughout this journey, I had failed to think beyond that prayer and what would happen after He unsettled me. Then, tonight, it happened. We were sitting at dinner – Josh was devouring succulent crab legs, happily cracking them and dipping them in butter. I was poking away at my delicious salad and contemplating all the above mentioned thoughts when a word popped into my head – Redefine.

For the past 6 weeks, I have been identifying myself as in the past – who I used to be, where I came from. And that has effectively stopped all forward motion. I cannot progress if I live in and/or lament the past and what used to be.

So what am I? I’m a wife – happily married to, cliché as it is, the most wonderful man in the world. I am a military wife, which means moves like the one we’re in will happen again and again for the near future. I’m still a Jiu Jitsu player, though my game has been put on pause while we transition. I’m still a Judoka, I’m a sister, a daughter, a Godmother and aunt, and Lord willing, will be a mother – All those things have not changed and will not change even though my circumstances inevitably will. It is reminiscent to our relationship with God. Regardless of where we are, who we are, what we’ve done, what we will do – we are Children of the King – and that will never change.

The truth of the matter is that we serve a God that doesn’t change and yet we live in a world that is constantly changing. While I may not like or want to accept the changes, I know that they come from a never changing God.

When things change, there are things lost and things gained – friendships, familiarities, material things – and the thought of losing any of said items can be a hindrance to accepting change. However, we are reminded in Philipians 3:

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Those last verses – “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” – that, my friends, is exactly what God laid on my heart this evening. I am first, and foremost, the daughter of the King and whatever calling he has/will lead me to is my first priority. But to do that, I must let go of the past. In a way, it’s like letting go on the “old self” when you first accept Jesus into your heart. When you take on the new self, you essentially take on the duty (and burden at times[I mean burden in a positive way]) of living for Christ. You’re setting aside all worldly thoughts, emotions, ways of living, now striving to attain the prize, as Paul said, which can ONLY be found through faith in Christ. It’s taking up the cross and following Him, laying down our nets, our occupations, to pursue what our calling is for his Kingdom. I’m reminded of a song that occasionally comes on my playlist when I work out. It’s called “Answer the Call” by Steve Green. Some of the lyrics are

“I answer the call
I take my stand
I choose to live my days on earth
A faithful man
And to that end
I give my all
And in the strength and grace of God
I answer the call”

The same is true for me. I came here to Hawaii knowing I had a purpose. But I was so caught up in what I left behind that I failed to see the incredible opportunity ahead of me. I am rooted and grounded in Christ – the rest is a clean slate. Through God’s strength, I can redefine who I am and who He wants me to be in this next chapter of my life, all while keeping the roles I mentioned above. God can do amazing things in your life – but only if you let him break and unsettle you – and then allow Him to pick those pieces up and put them back together again.

Life is more than Food

When God speaks to me, He doesn’t do so in a loud thunderous voice with paragraphs and paragraphs of things for my brain to digest and chew. No, My Heavenly Father knows me very well. He knows how I learn. I learn in segments. I learn in pieces. I take as much time as I can on each piece until I know it well and then move on to the next one. Each one builds on top of the next one. It is the same way in Jiu Jitsu. I take each technique and focus on one aspect of it until I feel comfortable with it and then move on to the next aspect. For some people, they may consider this as slow learning. I have never been one to be a late-nighter, day-before-test-crammer, and succeed (though I admit, I am a day before test crammer). And so it is when the Father soeaks to me. He speaks in segments, phrases, small words or short verses. And then gives me time to mentally chew it and digest it, absorbing all of the spiritual nutrients I can from it. And then He’ll give me another one. He’ll lay another verse, phrase or word on my heart. The last time I walked through this experience, God gave me, over the course of several months, 5-6 verses that I believe He specifically wanted me to read and reflect upon. The end result was a paragraph of biblical truth that I needed to apply to my life.

I believe I wrote a post about how what has been on my heart lately was “Unsettle Me” and I wrote about how God was doing that in my life already. Here’s what He’s put on my heart since then and other things going on because of it.

Background: Back home, before I left for Hawai’i, I was going out to dinner with some ladies from church. I got there early and there was a Christian Book Store nearby and so I went in. As I was perusing around, I picked up a book called “Made to Crave Devotional”. As I picked it up and started reading, I was encouraged that someone had written a book documenting struggles that I have been going through for the last several years. I realized there was also a book called “Made to Crave” which had come out before the devotional. I went back and forth on which one I wanted and ended up with both of them. I had also bought a book called “It Starts with Food” and had been reading that.

 Let me preempt this background with the knowledge that I have always struggled with my weight and body image. I have been on the low side of the scale and the high side. I have done all forms of exercise, tried different kinds of diets, only to be frustrated and discouraged in the end when the results I was expecting didn’t come. I have seen more infomercials than I can count and wished countless times that I was on the other side of the screen in my skinny jeans holding my “too big now” pants, proclaiming the amount of weight and inches I had lost on this new miraculous diet. I have asked people if I look fat, only to have them tell me no and still in my mind not believe them. I have been in clothing stores, looking longingly at outfits that I can only dream of wearing. I could go on,  but you get the idea.

When I got to Hawai’I, I decided to include the books into my devotional i.e. read a chapter each time I read my bible and journal my thoughts and reflections. This is the book from which God used “Unsettle Me” From. The newest thing he laid on my heart was two fold:  1) Life is more than food, 2) you are more than enough.

Wow. What a revelation. Life. Is. More. Than. Food.

I had never thought of food in that context before. To me, food was good, bad, delicious, yummy, you name it. I never thought that food could be the source of a spiritual struggle. As I delved deeper into the book, the author describes her spiritual struggle with food. How when she gives into cravings, she’s giving into temptations and thereby letting Satan have control over this area in her life. I was dumbfounded. And then I turned the microscope on me – in what areas was I letting Satan have control over my life? You got it – my body image and my weight. The Bible says “There is no fear in love” and it also says that “God is Love”. Well, if every time I step on the scale, afraid of the number I’m about to see, how can that possibly be a God-honoring way to live? Living in fear of a scale? Living in fear of a number, a clothing size – no thank you! Even on the flip side – being AFRAID of a food because you think it will make you fat? I repeat – NO THANK YOU!

As I looked at my life and really examined some things in my life I struggled with, I pin pointed a single item which had me in bondage. Coffee.  But coffee is good for you, it has so many antioxidants, how can you not have coffee – could all be potential responses from people who don’t understand how this is rooted in spiritual struggles. I’ll outline mine for you:

1)      I always looked forward to my coffee i.e. I was beginning to feel that I couldn’t live without it. If someone had challenged me to live without coffee for a week, I’d look at you like you were crazy.

Coffee has no longer become something I can simply enjoy, but more of a necessity. I think of the verse “Man does not live by bread alone”. If I insert coffee, or any food for that matter, my outlook on coffee is in direct violation of that verse.

 Any time I have ventured on a diet, the coffee was one thing I couldn’t give up. I HAD to have my coffee. Living life with that kind of need, whether it be food or something else, is not healthy.

         2) Portion control, when it came to coffee, was a foreign concept to me. The author of the book has an excellent chapter on portion control and I can honestly say that portion control and I do not have a monogamous relationship. The temptation to eat more and more is so hard to overcome and most of the time, I end up losing that battle. With coffee, it was the size of my drink. I always love a big steaming mug of coffee in the mornings and love the cream when it makes the coffee the right color.

Let me just add that I am not singling coffee out. This is my struggle. For some people, that struggle may be sugar, or soda, bread, snack foods. You get the idea.

As I went through these chapters, I felt God calling me to give up this area of my life. I have tried so many times and failed. But this time it felt different and so I prayed. I prayed for God’s strength to get through this. I challenged myself for a week (7 days) of no coffee. (as I type, I’m on day 9). I was in the middle of a pretty nasty 4 day headache when I made this decision and then incurred 4 mouth ulcers (fever blisters) that were excruciatingly painful that hurt whenever I talked, ate, moved, etc. I firmly believe that it was a spiritual attack because of the nature of the headache and the blisters. I had a little relief from medicine but nothing which helped the swelling in my mouth go down or something which took away the throb of my head. I went to be with my dear sister Mandy and we spent a lot of time talking about the Lord and spent some time in prayer. While I was with her, I noticed an almost 100% difference in the swelling in my mouth and a decrease of pain in my head. I am convinced that last week’s pain was a direct result to my decision to not drink coffee, in obedience to what I felt the Lord was showing me in regards to my food choices.

***This is where I left off while I was typing. I'm picking up and it's now into week 3 of now coffee ;)***

And so this ends another post full of ramblings – God’s doing great things in my life. He’s addressing character flaws that I have and one by one, picking out the weeds. This journey’s going to be amazing – I just know it.  :) 

Yet another Cliche

I say this post on a Facebook Page of one of the radio stations I listen to and it got my mind th'inking. I'll see if I can find it and post it here since it fuels this afternoon's edition of "The Catherine Ramblings". 

" "Just reading a post from a buddy of mine Gregg who 'went off' on his FB page after yesterday's tragedy. I have to say, Gregg -I agree! What do you think?
He wrote, "Thoughts and prayers” on social media is a cliche’, it just makes those who post it look shallow and insincere; like you are looking for attention. Why say it, if you really have prayers, have a silent prayer – there is no need to continually tweet it, it is trite. I’m not saying you don’t care, but the only reason to tweet “thoughts and prayers” or post it on facebook is to prove how much you care, it’s bad form.
Finally, it is so early into the incident that you really have to stop believing anything you see on twitter, even the journalists are getting it wrong in the name of being first. Question everything until we have some answers." "

In the comments that followed, a barrage of emotions showed themselves. Some commenters were incensed because they felt like they were 100% sincere in their "Thoughts and prayers" postings etc. while others were a bit more respectful in their disagreement with the post. 

I have to agree with Gregg (or whoever wrote the original post). I saw comment after comment where people expressed their emotions at the post in forms of capital letters, exclamation points (don't forget to at the questions mark too if you really want to add emphais: ?!?!??!?!). People were also saying that this guy was unpatriotic and insensitive etc. All I could think what, is this where we've sunk? Is this how our nation communicates now? Do we have our noses so stuck to our phones and other people's FB pages that we have forgotten how to interact with people? I am one of these people. I always have my phone with me. If I am bored, I look at Facebook to keep me occupied. Look around you - Doctor's offices, Grocery stores, even classrooms - and you will see more than one person on their phone. When was the last time you walked away from your phone, or God forbid, left it at home when on an outing? 

I can bet that you and I know more "Facebook facts" (as I'll call them because of course nothing is official until it's on Facebook) about one person on Facebook than we have Bible verses committed to memory. 

So, my challenge to myself this week, count how many hours I spend on FB (a rough estimate). 

Then count how many hours I spend pouring over my Bible. 

The week after, reverse that trend, by deactivating my account if I have to. I have created a bad habit with myself and social media (Really only FB becuase Twitter is for academic purposes). I am on FB more than I would like to admit. I may not post stuff, but in a moment of boredom, I will scroll through the newsfeed endlessly. I find myself, hunched over, chin resting on one hand, eyes glazed over as the melodrama from my 600+ friends scrolls up my computer screen. It's become a sad, sad addiction. 

Are you defined by your social media and what's on it or not on it? If we are becoming a nation defined by what is on our facebook, we are headed to Hell on a Magic Carpet Ride. That's a "Whole New World" right there, friends. What happened to the good old human interaction? 

I also read an article about the 5 things to not do when dating - and the first three had to do with social media. Since when did dating become something reliant on the internet and communication over it?? 

Some people view social media as a good way to keep in touch with people or reconnect and in some ways I can see the validity of that argument. Then there's the other side of the spectrum - the people who are on social media all the time with their posts, daily life, current feelings, general drama. 

So, I make this challenge to myself and anyone willing to do it with me. I would rather learn more about my Bible and my Savior than I would all of my friends combined. Not saying it's a bad thing to be informed about your family and friends, but since my relationship with Jesus is my number 1, doesn't it make sense to put that one first? 

Obedience training - not just for dogs

Training has begun. Not for a job, not for a tournament…oddly enough, training has begun for my pups. As it turns out, I think they turned the tables on me this time. Allow me to explain.

I have two dogs – a Border Collie and a German Shepherd Hound Mix. Schafer is 6 and Ava is about 3. I’ve had Schafer since 2007 and he had some obedience training. Ava, on the other hand, has little to no obedience training – she is a good dog though. Lately, I’ve been noticing some idiosyncrasies with the both of them. Schafer isn’t coming when he is supposed to, though after a few calls, he comes. Ava, when off leash, just does her own thing and comes when she wants to. She’s also extremely hyper when we come home, or when we pull out the leash. She gets so excited that her tail moves her whole body. Whenever you go to pet her, she just about dies with excitement and can’t wait to kiss you all over. If you’re petting someone else, she will butt right in for pets. Schafer lately has been growling at dogs when we meet them on the street. He’s not being aggressive, but I realized he’s picking up on me and how I react to dogs. He also gets fixated with toys and sometimes I’m afraid that if a small child were to try and play with him, he would play like normal and be too strong for the child. Since we don’t have kids (yet), I can’t really warm either of them up to kids and have them get used to kids on a regular basis. All of these things got me thinking – I need to start a training program.

So, last night, I started reading Cesar Milan’s book about dogs and it was extremely insightful and helpful. I couldn’t put it down. Yesterday and today, I started implementing some of his tips and tricks. It’s only been a matter of hours, but already, I can see signs of improvement. Here are some of the things I’ve been implementing:

1    -  Feeding time: They already know to wait before diving ino their kibble. I’ve now been running my hand into their kibble, while they’re eating so that they know, that Mom is their Alpha.

2    -   Going outside: Yes, it’s tedious and time consuming, but I have them sit before I even open the door. Once I open it, I step outside first, then they follow. This shows them that they are following me, I’m the pack leader (Not to mention it stops the stampede from the ‘who’s going to get outside first rush’)

3   -  Me. They react to my emotions both good and bad. If I am in a bad mood, they will pick up on it, especially Schafer. So yesterday and today, I’ve really worked at keeping a calm, even mood around them. If Ava gets jumpy, I walk away and ignore her. If I’m petting Schafer as a reward for being calm and she gets pushy, I ignore her until she calms down, then I pet her. But through all if it, I am trying to remain as calm as assertive as possible.

These are only a few things I will be implementing in my dogs’ life and structure. They need it – they’re not humans. We can’t treat them as such, even though I love them dearly.

Another thing this training has brought to mind is perhaps how God deals with us sometimes. You see, when we’re given free reign, no boundaries, we either don’t know what to do and get overwhelmed and get bouncy (like Ava) or, we just go our own way with sometimes no consideration for others (Schafer at times). What I’ve begun to realize is that, perhaps, we are in “in training” as well. I look at some of my behaviors and realize that there are things I should modify. Maybe how I act, or how I speak to a specific person. Then I think that maybe God is training me as well. When Schafer or Ava do something wrong, like kick up grass after relieving themselves, they get a collar correction. It’s a tug on the collar, not enough to hurt, with verbal command they associate with “That was wrong”. Eventually, they get it and they don’t do that behavior anymore.  I wonder sometimes if God has been collar correcting me and I haven’t noticed. There are times when I will tell Ava to sit and she doesn’t. She just looks at me. Then, maybe after the 3^rd time, she will do it. It takes so much effort to not get frustrated, angry and stomp off in a huff. That behavior does me no good and it certainly doesn’t do my animals any good. I can’t imagine what it must be like for us as humans to simply tell God no. I know I’ve done it – when there been that little tug in my spirit to do something and I choose not to. It’s also funny to liken Ava’s behavior with ours sometimes. She can get so impatient for that walk or that affection that she pushes and pushes to get it. When this happens I ignore her – I have to. I can’t praise that behavior because she will continue it and will probably get worse. When she has calmed down, I will then give her the affection she so desires. Maybe that’s how God is with us. When we want something SO badly, we jump up and down, do circles, push our way in, to make sure God knows what we want. But He already knows. Maybe he’s waiting for us to calm down (surrender) before we receive it.  Being a Dog Mom is a 24/7 job. It can be tiring. It is a responsibility and yet I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I set out yesterday to train them, to bring about the good behavior that I know resides somewhere in all that fluff. The funny thing is, I think at the end of it, I will also be receiving training from my Alpha and Omega. 

Moving Right Along

I've realized that a lot of my blog posts are titled with something that reminds me of a time in my childhood. This particular title is from "The Muppet Movie". It's a song Kermit and Fozzy sing as they're in their Studebaker, driving in pursuit of a dream. Not only is the song now stuck in my head, but it represents this particular time of life I am in.
Having grown up in Maryland my entire life, the only time I have ever really been anywhere was when I traveled to Germany for a week. It was, no doubt, one of the best experiences of my life and I can't wait to go back. However, another opportunity awaits on the horizon. Without jumping the gun, I'll put it this way - we are most likely moving to Hawaii.

Hawaii.

A place people wait for years to go see. And I could very well become a resident in 3 month.

The thought is so exciting and yet petrifying as well. I have never lived outside of the state of Maryland and this would definitely be pushing the limits. Heck, it's not even within the continental US! I realize it's not a different country, but my goodness, what an amazing experience. Not to mention, I will (prayerfully!!) be joining my big sister once again. I can only imagine that this is a God thing. And God thing are so cool.

So, as of right now, Josh is set to leave in the May time frame and I'm all set to go on June 28th.The reason I can't go until June is because we wanted to get our animals through the prework as it is extensive to get into Hawai'i.

But this changes so much. We leave behind our family, our church, our Judo and Jiu Jistu academies...and so much more. (One of the plus sides is that there's already a "when we are going to visit Catherine Sign-Up Sheet" going around)   :) But I also realize that this is "the norm" for a military family and that's what we will be. I knew what I was signing up for when I said "yes". In a way, I almost feel as if God has prepared me for this. See, Mandy (my big sister) moved to HI in 2009 after we had only been working together about a year. But the bond that grew has stuck and I have missed her greatly. To be able to be close to her again makes my heart leap and sing with happiness. I've also applied to the University of Hawaii and I (think??) I have been accepted. Once there, I will continue my Judo, Jiu Jitsu and my academic pursuit. What I'm most excited about is that I'm not going by myself (although there's absolutely nothing wrong with that). I will be going with my hubby-to-be and I can't think of a better place to begin our married life!

Musings for a Rainy Day

I love my house. I really do. It’s got plenty of space for all of my clutter and square feet upon square feet for my dogs to roughhouse. It sits on a hill in a pretty neighborhood. The neighborhood is still being developed and you can affirm this fact by the sounds of Mack trucks and their diesel engines struggling to drive up that big first hill at 6am on a Saturday morning. But I love my house because it is a safe haven for me. A Place of comfort. A shelter in a storm. I trust that when those winds blow that the engineering that was put into the construction of the house will stand tried and true. And it does.

                How did the construction crew know where to build this house? How did they know that this land was good and solid? Well, someone had to come check it out first. And if you couldn’t tell, I’m taking another ordinary life situation and applying it to the Christian walk. I like to do that, you know, finding parables in this life. I find that it helps me to understand what it means to be a Christian. Anyway, going back to building a house.  I’ve never built one but we did have a project similar to that in Engineering 101. We had to design a laboratory for testing detectors. When I first hear that, I immediately thought “We have to design what to do what??”. Truthfully, the project became clearer as we were halfway through it, but I accomplished the task. We were given a set of requirements and based on those requirements we set out to design this laboratory. We went through different scenarios such as where to build, how far away from the next major city, what kind of land, what kind of materials etc. We had to analyze each part because even in small ways, it could have had a negative effect on our building (hypothetically speaking). What I realized, is that we don’t necessarily realize where we have to put our trust when we become Christians. I may have mentioned this a while back in a post titled “Where is your hope built” but I think it’s good to reinforce this time and time again. As Christians, we realize that our hope and trust needs to be in Jesus. But what does this really mean. You see, when life is good, when things are going our way and it seems like blessings from heaven are just falling like lemon drops and gum drops, it is “easy” to be a Christian. Sure, Trusting Jesus is NO problem if life is like this! But what happens when those lemon drops and gum drops feel like they’ve turned to acid rain? What if it feels like there no escaping the torrent of hail and wind storms that life brings? What happens to your faith then? Does it shake? Does it shatter? This brings me back to the foundation example. Our faith, our trust MUST be rooted in Christ, during good times and bad. When the storms of life strip away our shingles, our sidings, even the contents of ourselves, what is it that will remain standing? The foundation? Or nothing? Sometimes we have to go through trials of fire to reveal our true character. To refine our faith and sharpen our minds.

                When I was in school, one of my subjects was Bible Memory – and I hated that part. Not the Bible, but memorizing bible verses. Let’s face it – I can memorize stupid facts. I can tell you what the gravitational acceleration of a falling body is, I can tell you why oil is liquid at room temperature and why butter is solid at room temperature and so on. What is hard for me to do is memorize stuff that’s really important…like things for school…things that have a grade attached to it. Bible Memory was one. I remember one of my assignments was Proverbs 4. I had some verses memorized and they were completely in the wrong order. See, we memorized 4 verses at a time and recited them at the end of the week. Week 1 was verses 1-4, week 2 was verses 1-8, week 3 was verses 1-12 – you get the idea.then came the week where I had to recite all 28 verses. And it was just. Not. Happening. So my friend who would come over to our house to school while her mom was at work, sat with me and we went through the whole thing verse by verse. Well, I ended up recited it perfectly to my mom and I still remember it today. I guess where I’m going with that is that committing those verses to memory has paid off more than I ever could have imagined. See, when we know stuff, we are able to recall it when we need it (Academic tests are a WAY different story). Same thing with verses. When we are going through a situation, good or bad, we are able to recall verses to mind and hopefully, it helps direct our thoughts. It keeps our minds with a heavenly perspective and doesn't allow the Devil to wear us down. Hebrews 4 says “The Word of God is living and Active, sharper than any double edged sword”

So going back to the house analogy  but where is your foundation built? I know where mine should be but sometimes it takes a few humps along the way to remember that it’s not in my power, strength or self that my foundation is. Being a Christian is a 25/7/365 experience. And I am guilty of making it a “when I need it” experience. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ takes time and commitment just like any other relationship. If there’s one thing God’s been pressing on my heart lately, it’s my lack of being in the Word. I need to be in the Word continually. That way, when my own storms threaten on the horizon, I’m ready.