Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

Today's Bible Study Reading coupled with the Disciple Bible Study reading for today made me go "eww!!!"  My thought was "seriously God, this is what you want me to talk about today???"  As you can tell, since I am writing about it, the answer was yes.  There is a good reason!

Right now I am reading through Second Kings and I've gotten to the section where the chapters get short because they tell the stories of one failed king after another.  It tells how the king came to power (usually by assassination) and it consistently uses phrases like:
 Or you read this:

"In God's eyes he lived an evil life...he didn't deviate from the sins of Jeroboam...he plodded along in the same tracks, step after step." 

"He lived the way God wanted and did the right thing.  But he didn't come up to the standards of his ancestor David..."

Then there is this week's reading in my Disciple Bible Study which focuses on the Book of Job.  Here's a man who we know, right from the start, is blameless in God's eyes yet he loses everything!  So then his friends show up to offer "comfort" all the while spouting off that it's obvious that he did something wrong and he should just fess up!  With friends like this, who needs enemies?

Yeah, not exactly light, heady, uplifting reading!  But there are a couple of modern day parallels in all of this.  Start with Kings.  Substitute "government official" for king and you get a picture of a person in leadership who hasn't deviated from the patterns of the past and continues to plod along.  I won't be the judge of whether or not that is a sin, because that's beside the point.  The point is, the average American thinks that our leadership is doing nothing to address the current problems our country faces. 

Then, there is Job.  He had it all by worldly standards and yet he lost it all through no fault of his own.  There are a lot of people in this country in similar situations.  They worked hard, they did the right things, they are good people, yet they lost their job, their homes and their savings.  My guess is they have a few friends who probably sit there beside them and say "well, there must have been something that you did wrong to cause this to happen?!"  Again, with friends like this who needs enemies?

Where's the uplifting part in all of this?  It has to do with how we respond.  In the question and answer part of Disciple Bible Study is this statement:

"The Christian Disciple knows that suffering causes a person to choose bitterness or creativity."   

Now add this from 2 Corinthians 5:

"Cheerfully, pleasing God is the main thing, and that's what we can aim to do, regardless of our conditions."

Ah ha!  Is the glass half full or half empty?  How do I respond to what is going on around me?  Am I able to respond with hope, faith and love or do I respond with anger, frustration and bitterness? And as a Christian, regardless of my circumstances, can I still find a way to serve?  Can I cheerfully please God regardless of my condition?  

I'll be honest, my initial response when something goes wrong tends to fall on the half empty side.  (Told ya I wasn't perfect!)  After I calm down a bit, I can start seeing the half full side but it takes some time!  My husband on the other hand is the eternal optimist!  It takes an awful lot for him to flip to the half empty side!  That's why he is so good for me because he makes me look for the blessings in disguise and try to find the silver lining! 

I do think there is a lesson here for each of us personally.  Initially, anger and frustration can spur you on to make changes.  But anger long lived, leads to bitterness and bitterness shuts down creativity.  If you can't get beyond focusing on what you have lost, it's tough to look at what you have left and figure out a way to use it differently and creatively!  You plod along in the same ole way, do the same ole thing and as a result nothing changes!

Ya know, I know a lot of very smart people who got some very cool degrees in very specific fields who have never worked a day in their life in that chosen field!  Yet, they have been very successful doing other things!  Each and every one of us has untapped potential.  So maybe you didn't train in a certain field, so what?!  Are you passionate about it?  Do you have gifts and abilities that would allow you to do the job?  Then why sell yourself short?  Why not take those God given talents and find a new way to use them? 

This also applies to serving others as well!  Do you see a need in your church or community?  Sort of a big gaping hole that seems so obvious to you but yet, nothing is being done about it?  Why not take that passion and energy and creativity and come up with a plan!  Or maybe, there is a need, there is a program but you are not involved yet.  You may be exactly the person they need!  You may not feel that you have a lot to offer but take the leap anyway!  You might find that volunteering is the toughest job you'll ever love and in the process you may find a gift that you have always had but never noticed! 

Trouble comes.  Bad things happen to good people.  How you respond can make all of the difference.  It's normal to be angry and frustrated to begin with but the key is to choose the path of creativity over the path of bitterness.  Is the glass half full or half empty?  My darling friends, if you are on the half empty side I pray that today is the day that you choose to look at the half full side!  I pray that today you focus on what you have rather than what you have lost.  I pray that you choose to serve regardless of your circumstances.  I pray that you choose to tap in to your God given creativity!  Today is your day!  Rejoice and be glad!

Use Your Head!

How many times have I heard this phrase over the years?  It also falls on the list of "things I swore I'd never say but yet I did utter those very words!"  I'm beginning to think in this day and age, it's not such a bad thing to say!

I ran across the phrase in The Message paraphrase of Colossians 4:

"Use your head as you live and work among outsiders.  Don't miss a trick.  Make the most of every opportunity.  Be gracious in your speech.  The goal is to bring out the best in others in conversation, not put them down, not cut them out."

Use your head, be gracious, bring out the best in others, don't put them down-that's some pretty sound advice if you ask me!  Sort of falls along the lines of the old phrase "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar." 

In our day of "instant everything" asking someone to really think seems like a tall order!  It's a critical skill worth cultivating.  Phrases like "think it through", "think before you act", "think before you speak" why do they matter?  They matter because what you say or what you do matters!  You can have a positive impact on your life or someone else's life  Or, you can have a negative impact.  If you want to avoid the negative, then you had better use your head and think it through before you say or do anything!

Thinking is something that Wesley encouraged as well.  One of the church terms that gets used without a lot of explanation is "Wesleyan Quadrilateral".  Simply put, Wesley believed that scripture, tradition, experience and reason are the tools to use on your faith journey.  A life of Holiness is a continual process of engagement not a "check your brain at the door and just do what I tell you" style of living.  Nope!  It involves thinking and doing.  It involves work. 

Wait a second!  We're saved by grace not by works!  (That's what you're thinking, right?)  That statement is absolutely correct.  "Trudy, you just said I have to think and do and work!"  Yes, I did.  On the surface, it may sound like a contradiction, but it's not.  Think of it in terms of your life.  Did you get your diploma, or your job or your house or whatever by hoping or wishing or did you go out, do your homework, come up with a plan and then work towards achieving the goal?  Of course you researched and created a plan and did the work because that is logical!  That's how you achieve goals!    

I've said it before I'll say it again.  Grace is a gift.  It's a gift from God.  In accepting the gift it is understood that you are not going to be the same person you were before!  You're not going to do the same things that you did before!  You are expected to share this gift of grace!  You change and grow inwardly.  That change is then reflected in what you do outwardly!  The change reflects a change in thinking, which leads to a change in how we act towards others.  Rather than discouraging independent thinking, it encourages using your head!

Wesley believed that scripture was God inspired.  Tradition means asking how has this scripture has been consistently interpreted and how does someone else's interpretation line up with the traditional interpretation?  Reason asks "does this make sense?"  Experience shows whether the "latest, greatest" interpretation pans out in the real world.  Bottom line, it matches perfectly with what Paul was saying about using your head!  God is not asking us to sit back and let someone else give us the answers.  God is encouraging us to think and to act! 

How do I help and encourage others?  What can I do to bring out the best in myself, my family, my church, my community?  These are the sorts of questions you start asking on your faith journey.  The God inspired ideas start coming.  Work becomes a joy because your hands reflect the ideas in your head which reflect the change in your heart! 

So let's all use our heads!  That's what the good Lord made it for! 

My Birthday Wish

It's my birthday and I'll write what I want to!  hee hee hee

Actually, I do that most days anyway!  It's real simple-I wish for joy and happiness for my family and friends.  I believe if you can find joy even in the smallest of things than you have a spark of hope!  Don't underestimate the importance of hope.  It goes hand and hand with faith and even a small portion will move mountains!

Today I turn 43.  Not a milestone birthday but it's another birthday that I can celebrate which, in my mind, is better than the alternative.  I still have lots and lots of things I want to do.  Places to go.  Things to see.  Things I want to learn about.  Most importantly, people to love on!  I have made mistakes-some were doozeys!  I have suffered through some rough patches.  I've had times of feeling helpless and hopeless.  I have been a failure!  I have earned every wrinkle and gray hair!  I wouldn't change it because I am the person that I am because of where I have been!

Despair is a terrible disease.  It is grief and anger, hopelessness and helplessness, bitterness and loss of joy all rolled up in to one.  So many people today are feeling this way.  They don't see any hope.  They don't feel any joy.  They feel trapped and pinned in to a corner with no way out!

I know how that feels, I've been there and I don't mean figuratively or philosophically.  I mean I know what it's like to be at the very bottom clinging on desperately by your fingernails and wanting to just let go because you're tired of fighting.  My name is Trudy and I even failed at attempting suicide many years ago.  I am the ultimate epic fail!  Yes, I have been there.

I don't talk about it much.  It's a dark chapter with a long journey.  But it was a turning point-a wake up call!  You see, I survived.  I got to see the aftermath and the impact and how devastated my family and friends would have been had I actually succeeded.  I thought I was alone.  I thought even God had abandoned me. 

That my friends is a big fat lie and it is the greatest self-deception out there!  You're never alone!  You may not believe it right now, but trust me, I speak the truth because I have been there!

The question I was asked most was why-why would I even consider suicide as a possibility?  The best answer I have is being soul weary.  If you could see my soul-you'd see a bleeding gash here, a festering sore there and a gray almost lifeless lump barely breathing-struggling for every breath.  The pain is always there, it never goes away and you've lived this way for so long that you have given up all hope that it will ever change.  The only thought is ending the pain.  You're not trying to purposely hurt anyone else or exact revenge, you simply want to stop the pain.

I know what it is like to experience that still small voice of God because I heard it on that day.  It was a moment of crystal clear clarity.  I didn't really want to die!  I wanted to live!  I remember with tears rolling down my face praying one last prayer "God I don't want to die but I don't know how to live."  And that still small voice answered back "you're not going to die today because you have things that you need to do, you WILL live!"  And I did!

My homeroom teacher showed up at that moment.  He literally dragged/carried me to the nurse's office where I took a dose of Ipecac and spent the next few hours throwing up every pill I swallowed.  I owe my life to Tom Sargeant, one of my homeroom teachers, and Cindy Senning the school nurse who alternated between holding the pan and holding me!  My family, my friends they held me a lot tighter too.  They were angry, they were hurt, they wanted to understand but most importantly, they wanted me to know that they loved me and that I didn't have to go it alone! 

Healing did not come overnight.  It was a process that had to be worked through.  But healing did come and so did hope and joy and happiness.  It came from love!

I am blessed.  I got a second chance.  Life hasn't always been easy since then but I have never given up hope!  I am happy.  I do have joy! 

So when I say that my birthday wish for my family and friends is joy and happiness I mean it with all sincerity!  I don't want anyone to ever feel that they are alone!  I don't want them to feel that there is no hope!  I'm here, I love them and I want the very very best for them!  And I promise, I'll hold them very tight and I won't let go!  You are never alone!

If you are reading this and you are at the place that I describe, reach out, grab a family member or friend and let them help!  If you are a friend, don't wait to be asked, just go and help! 

And to my beloved family and friends-thank you for not giving up on me.  Thank you for holding tight and carrying me when I needed help.  Thank you for kicking my butt when appropriate!  Thank you for loving me-warts and all!  I am blessed indeed!

Happy birthday to me!

Where Compassion and Common Sense Meet-A Bastion of Hope

"But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"  Amos 5:24

I want to ask you all a question.  Dear friends, I am serious about this and would really like some feedback.

To give you an idea about the enormity of the needs out there let me share with you a link to a website called Down but not Out  which contains personal stories from people who have experienced first hand what it is like to live through long term unemployment.  Some of these stories will break your heart!  There is also the issue of underemployment.  People are working but they are just barely hanging on and one tiny push will put them over the edge.  This is real and it is happening now!  This is so much bigger than politics, it's about people and their ability to provide for themselves and their families and to contribute to the community around them!

Throughout the Old Testament I see a coupling of righteousness with kindness, particularly in Proverbs.  How we treat the poor, the orphan and widow are important!  Israel was called in to judgement over and over again on this very thing along with worshipping other Gods.  I think that righteousness and kindness intersect at the point where compassion and common sense meet.  The church in particular should be a bastion of hope!  Historically it has been and now is the time to become that bastion of hope once again!

How do we help-really help? 

So that's the question that I humbly ask.  Thank you in advance for your responses!

Get Everything Ready For You In The Field

I find it interesting that my Bible readings today both come from the book of Proverbs!  Let me back up and explain-I am using a daily plan that will allow me to read through the entire Bible by the end of the year.  I also have been working through Disciple Bible Study on my own and the focus of this week's readings happens to be the book of Proverbs.  I'll tell ya what, I am beginning to think that anyone in a leadership position should consider this book of the Bible as required reading!  It's like peeling back an onion, the more you read it, the more you see!

I don't know about other bloggers but I actually pray before I write-it's real simple "please dear Lord, don't let me stick my foot in my mouth and let me say something that will be helpful to someone!  Guide my way.  Amen"  I wait until that still small voice kicks in and then I start writing.  I call it my "spiritual nudge" because that's the best way that I can explain it.  I've talked quite a bit about having faith and hope and using your God given gifts, tapping in to your God given creativity, etc. etc.  Personally, I thought it was time to move on to something new.  Nope!  Apparently, I haven't said it enough times yet, so you and I dear friends, are gonna cover the territory again!  This is good stuff though!  We're just mining a little deeper and coming at it from a different angle, looking at the same message, just in a different way!

Here is what Proverbs 24:27 says:

"Prepare your work outside, get everything ready for you in the field; and after that build your house."

Hmmm....now that's interesting!  First, you prepare your work and get everything ready out in the field THEN you build your house.  Say what?  Doesn't common thought dictate that you put a roof over your head first and then you do the other things?  Yet this is saying to reverse that order.  Why? 

There's a life lesson here!  Wait for it...wait for it.....

In an agricultural community how do you feed your family and how do you produce an income?  From your crops and livestock.  So preparing your field is investing in your future!  You plow the field and plant the seed or the grape vine or the apple tree. Then there is a period of time where you have to wait-it's called growing season.  You still have to tend to the various things-pull the weeds, watch for disease, water when necessary but essentially it is not as labor intensive as the initial planting season.  This is when you can work on building your house.  Because at the end of growing season you're going to be busy gathering the harvest.  Harvest comes in due season but there will be nothing to harvest if you didn't prepare the field in the first place!  And, if you haven't taken the time to build some place to put that harvest for safe keeping it will not last!

Some of you are probably thinking "that's nice but I'm not a farmer so I don't know how that would apply to me."  Think bigger!  Be creative, broaden your perspective.  Maybe your "field" is to get more training.  Maybe your "field" is to get in touch with someone who can help you write that business plan.  Maybe your "field" is to start a new ministry or outreach program.  Maybe your "field" is to be a mentor.  Your "field" is that gift or idea that you need to invest in so you can reap a harvest, either for yourself or for others!  Think about the possibilities!  This is taking that God given creativity and making plans and doing the work now so you can reap a harvest later!  It is literally taking the steps necessary to get the ball rolling!  You are taking a carefully planned leap of faith! 

I remember reading about the pioneers and how they would build their barns  and outbuildings or plow their fields before they built their houses-something I didn't understand at the time but now I do.  It was a statement of faith and hope.  They planned and planted and built because they had faith that harvest would come!  They were willing to do the work to make it happen.  They had the courage to take a risk! 

There are great ideas and plans out there that will never see the light of day, let alone a time of harvest if someone doesn't go out there and plan for them.  They will never see the light of day if someone is not willing to take a risk.  Pray, study, ask, discern.  Is the time right?  Is the time now?  If it is, then what steps need to be taken in order to start?  Start getting everything ready now so you can be ready when the time is right!  Harvest time only comes when you are willing to do the work in the first place!  Pray, plan, prepare!  Have faith and hope!  Believe that God truly does want the very best for you!  Mediocrity is easy.  Great things involve great work and a whole lot of planning!  Are you ready?

An entire life lesson in one simple verse!  How cool is that?!

Simple Acts of Kindness

Proverbs 12:25 has this wonderful bit of wisdom:

"Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up."

Anxiety I had in spades!  Tuesday morning I had a 3:00 crying jag because I wasn't exactly sure how things were going to turn out. 

It all started Monday.  After my darling husband was able to fix the air conditioner so we didn't roast, I had to move on to another issue that had been weighing heavily on my mind-dad's funeral.  I knew mom was concerned (okay, she was starting to stress out) because all of the children and grandchildren were coming to her house-at the same time!  First off, it's not a big house.  Second the well is let's just say slightly tempermental.  Sure we could set up tents in the back yard but if the well went down, that was going to be a huge and very expensive problem to fix!  So after talking to Kenny, we decided that it would be best to try to find a place to stay. 

Most people think of Vermont as snowy-a place to go skiing.  Actually though, the busiest tourist season in the state is summer time because of the lakes and fishing and hiking and a host of other activities.  So I knew I was facing a virtual "Mission Impossible" to try and find something that was available and that we could afford to rent.  So I started making phone calls.  First I called a good friend of mine who not only owns a vacation rental company but I also worked for this individual.  Someone was supposed to call me back-they never did.  Now I could talk about how hurt I was by the snub, but I'm not going to.  I would much rather tell you about the kindness and generosity of spirit of two wonderful ladies who I have not met but will hold dear in my heart for the rest of my life! 

When a return phone call didn't come, my next call was to Stowe Realty Rentals where I spoke to Kim Rushford.  They did have a beautiful small cottage available on Harvey Lake.  I loved it, my husband loved it but we weren't sure we would be able to afford to do the rental.  So I told her I would call her back once we made a decision.  I tried a few other places and then someone suggested that I call a realtor in Craftsbury.  I left a message and within less than an hour I had a call back from Barbara Paterson.  She actually owns a couple of properties and has her own website called Never Enough Vermont and her cottage was available at a price I thought we could afford.  I fell in love with it as well! 

Long story short, I was getting ready to call Kim back and let her know that I had found another place when Kim called me!  She apologized and said "I quoted you the wrong price" and then told me what the correct price would be for the rental.  We couldn't pass it up! 

I can not begin to tell you how incredibly grateful I am to these two wonderful ladies!  They went over, above and beyond the call of duty!  Their incredible acts of kindness for a complete stranger makes me so proud to be able to say "I'm from Vermont!" 

If you ever get a chance to visit Vermont in the summer time (and I highly recommend that you do visit), call either one of these fabulous women!  100 gold stars for both of them!  They are true gems and they represent the Vermont that I remember and cherish and love!

Thank you Kim and Barbara for your kind words and outstanding help and service!  From a grieving but grateful heart~Trudy

Opinion is not Religion

One of the shortest John Wesley sermons that I have read is his sermon "On the Trinity" where he starts out with this statement:

"Whatsoever the generality of people may think, it is certain that opinion is not religion... Persons may be quite right in their opinions, and yet have no religion at all; and, on the other hand, persons may be truly religious, who hold many wrong opinions."

Wesley was talking about people who had a hard time believing in the Trinity (the 3 in 1 of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) because they couldn't fully explain or understand it.  But I think his statement, taken in a broader context, can sum up pretty precisely why there is so much conflict in our world today.  We have allowed opinions to be turned into quasi religion!  Say it long enough and loud enough and people might just start believing it!

Not that this is a new or modern phenomena.  Ah yes, history does love to repeat itself because we choose to ignore the past!  In Luke 18, Jesus is telling the story of the Tax Man and the Pharisee.  I like how The Message Paraphrase words it because I can clearly picture it in my head:

"The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: 'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people-robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man.  I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.' Meanwhile, the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, 'God, give mercy.  Forgive me, a sinner.'"

What a contrast in approach!  Here's the kicker:

"Jesus commented, 'This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God.  If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.'"

God's view or the world view? Time and again, we are asked to choose our source.  This occurs all the time, whether it is at church, or in politics, or science, or life in general.  Getting to know God's view, choosing him as our source takes work, especially if you want to become more than yourself! 

The tax man knew who he was and didn't make excuses or try to deny the truth.  He knew he was a sinner!  We don't know the rest of the story but if you look at your own life, change happens from within when you get honest and choose to simply be yourself.  When you acknowledge your shortcomings and ask God to work through you, inward change is reflected by your outward response to the world around you! 

The Pharisee on the other hand was living in the world of opinion that became his "religion".  He "posed" before starting his prayer, he was "all that" and he knew it because he was an "expert" he was "high class" he was obviously better than the common man!  But who did Jesus say was made right with God that day? 

So where are the modern day examples you ask?  Let's start with church.  How many people stay away from church because they think they are not good enough to be there in the first place?  They make a statement like "I will go to church when I..." (insert whatever various reason they give for not being good enough to go in the first place).  And let's be honest, the church hasn't done a lot to change that perception!  Somehow we have managed to make people outside the church think that they are not welcome unless they have it all together.    

Then there is politics.  Agreements can not be reached nor plans made because the latest opinion poll shows that compromise might effect the possibility of being re-elected.  So they do TV interviews and make speeches about how right they are and how wrong the other person is without regard to what is best for the country.  They do nothing but try to look good while we teeter closer and closer with the cliff edge.

In science you have individuals who have researched and have formed opinions but they haven't been able to prove them yet.  The good scientist clearly state that it is simply an idea that they haven't proven.  They are humble enough to admit that they could be wrong.  The arrogant scientist will word their opinion as fact even though it hasn't been proven.  And heaven help the individual within the field who might disagree because they stand a good chance of being ostracized because they are not in the same league as the "great and mighty one!" 

Oh how the mighty will fall if they continue to walk around with their nose in the air!  They take their opinions and proclaim them with a religious zeal that would be the envy of any great camp meeting preacher!  The religion of opinion?  World view prevailing over God's view?  On the surface, it may look like a hopeless situation, but it's not.  There is always hope with God!

I have a choice.  I can start with me.  I can start with simply being who I am.  I can study the Bible and pray and follow in the way that God leads.  I can do what God asks me to do and I can strive to change what I can for the better.  I can treat others with dignity and respect even if we differ in opinion.  I can look for common ground and work to find solutions. We all have that God given power!  We don't have to bow to the religion of opinion!  One person can make a difference!  And the change will happen when we start with being who we are and confess just like the tax man "God give mercy.  Forgive me a sinner." 

The difference between the tax man and the Pharisee comes down to humility.  One chose to listen to opinion, the other chose God as his source.  Each of us has the same choice as to who we will listen to and what path we will follow.  Choose your source!  Choose wisely!