GOODNESS IN A SHOEBOX

Don't you just love the way God takes care of us?  Even in the little bitty, everyday things....things like a shoebox?

Yesterday, because my daughter had something to do early, she dropped my 4 year old granddaughter off at my house so I could take her to preschool an hour later.  When she arrived, the first thing my daughter asked me was "Do you have an empty shoebox?"  I did and told her I'd get one from the attic.  My granddaughter needed to take one that day for a preschool project. 

Simple request.  But between the question and her leaving, we covered the instructions about things in the backpack, lunch and seeing the granddaughter's newly painted fingernails.  Thoughts of the shoe box went right out the door with my daughter.

We got ready, I dropped off my granddaughter at preschool and then I went on about my day.  Gym and then shopping at Target, where I spent close to an hour or more.   I "just happened" to buy a pair of shoes while there.  They were not on my list, but needed them and when I saw them, decided I'd go ahead and get them. 

It was after noon when I checked out and as the cashier drew the brown shoebox across the scanner, a light went off in my head.  "SHOEBOX!! SHOEBOX! Oh No, I forgot the shoebox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  Panic struck, knowing that when the teacher had called for the students to get their shoeboxes, my granddaughter would quickly have realized that Mimi had forgotten hers.  I knew the result of that devastating realization to one who wants everything to be PERFECT!!!!  It would have meant a total meltdown.  And it was all Mimi's fault!!!:(

I left Target trying to decide what to do next.  Call the school?  Just apologize and hope the teachers brought extras for those who forgot?  As I was driving down the road, it hit me.  Well, Dummy, you HAVE a shoebox in the car.  Take it to her.  Maybe....just maybe they haven't done the project yet.  "Please God...don't let them have done the project yet."

I sped toward the school, and as I entered I wondered who I would get to go check for me as I knew I could not go in the classroom.  And, lo and behold who should be checking in at the desk but her beloved teacher from last year!!  I explained my dilemma and she asked if I wanted her to take the shoebox inside.  "NO!  If she has already missed it, that will just upset her more. " So she peaked inside and reported "I see a lot of shoeboxes....but, let me check with the teacher and see if they've used them yet."  She disappeared and returned with a big smile.  "They haven't done the project yet.  Give me your box and I'll give it to her." 

Whew!! I was SO relieved and SO grateful to God who cares about the little things in our days.  No this was not an earthshattering thing.  It was not life or death (except to a 4 year old).  But He understood my plight and He intervened out of His great mercy and grace.  He understood the desire of a grandmother's heart not to cause distress to her granddaughter.  He loved His children so much, He graciously met our need. 

God cares about everything in our lives...the BIG and the small.  The important and the not-so-important.  He is not interested just in the tsunamis that shatter a nation like Japan, but He is also interested in the tsunamis that wreck our personal worlds.  He is also interested in the minute, mundane things that can sometimes shake our world too.  God is in the details of our lives.  And I, for one, am so glad He is!!

TRUE LOVE

Within every human heart, there is a longing....a deep-seated desire....a need to be loved.  God made us to be relational beings.  And, He desires relationship with us.  He gave us free will....we are not robots with no choice in the matter.  We can CHOOSE to love Him or reject Him, but.....it won't change the way He feels about us.  Just consider this...

God's love is:

Unconditional...

Unfathomable...

Never ending...

Pure...

Undefiled...

Faithful...

Immeasureable...

He never lets us down and never lets us go....NO MATTER WHAT!

He will never abandon you.

He will never forsake you.

He will never reject you.

He does not look at the color of your skin, the kind of car you drive or where you live.  He is not impressed by your bank account, your dress size or the initials that come after your name.  He does not care whether you can spell correctly, operate a computer or know how to operate an iphone.  He is not interested in how many friends you have or don't have; how many jobs you've lost or how many times you've failed your ACT test.  None of that is important to Him.

His love is patient, kind, never rude, never self-seeking and never boastful.  His love never behaves improperly, never envies, is never evil at its core.  His love bears all things, believes all things and endures all things. 

If you are seeking this kind of love from any other source than from Him, you are going to be disappointed.  No human can love like this.  So no matter how wonderful your spouse is, how precious your children are, how devoted and loving your parents are, how fabulous your best friend is....eventually each one of those will disappoint you, let you down, hurt your feelings or fail you in some way.  Not necessarily intentionally.  In fact more than likely definitely NOT intentionally.  But they each have a sin nature so you might say it is the nature of the beast.   And, that is not all.  You, my friend, will also fail at love too.  YOU will disappoint, fail, let down, hurt feelings and fail to measure up in some way on someone's love scale. 

But God is different.  His love is different.  Because He IS love.  It is His very nature.  He can be nothing less than love.

So today, I urge you to just think how blessed you are to be loved by Him.  Yes you.  No matter who you are, where you are, or what your resume says about you.   Know this:  GOD LOVES YOU!  No strings attached.  Nothing you have to do to earn it. 

God doesn't say "I'll love you IF...."

God doesn't say "I won't love you unless...."

GOD JUST LOVES!!  And He loves YOU!!! 

Take a moment and really absorb that thought.  Bask in it.  Revel in it.  Let it soak into your inner most being.  Meditate on that thought for the rest of the day. 

GOD LOVES YOU LIKE NO ONE ELSE EVER HAS OR EVER WILL!!!!!! 

LEST WE FORGET

"No greater love than this...that a man would lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

Today, March 25, 2011, marks the one year anniversary of the death of three heroes...Misty Brogdon, Doug Phillips and Cindy Parker who lost their lives when their Hospital Wing helicopter crashed just after dawn while on a return flight from a Jackson, Tennessee hospital. 

To honor their memory and to pay tribute to them, I am posting a repeat of the blog I wrote in their memory last year.  May we never forget the sacrifice they made and let us lift up their families today as we remember them in our prayers. 

IN MEMORY

Death comes to all men at some point in time. Yet when it comes suddenly and unexpectedly, it shocks us and brings us to our knees. Moreover, when it comes to those who have put their lives on the line in the service of others, it shatters us in a totally different way.

So it has been to the Hospital Wing family of Memphis, Tennessee this week as three of their comrades lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Thursday in Brownsville, Tennessee.

Three lives dedicated to helping others, to SAVING lives.

Most of us come and go through our daily routine with little thought of those who are laying their lives on the line for us throughout the day. Policemen, firemen, paramedics and those who fly in their "aerial intensive care units". Yet when we are in trouble, when our lives are threatened by violence, by fire, by a life-threatening accident, they are the ones we want to see and see immediately!! We do not think of the danger they themselves may be putting themselves in to rescue us or help us. It is their job. They signed up for this. But oh how grateful we are that they did !!!!!!!

I have a special place in my heart for the Hospital Wing because my son-in-love works serves as a flight paramedic with them. It was his dream job and he was so thrilled when God opened the door for him to go to work there. You HAVE to love it to do this kind of work. You have to love helping others.

Doug Phillips, Misty Brogdon and Cindy Parker also loved their jobs and they gave their lives in the service of others.. They were just returning from delivering a patient to the hospital in Jackson, Tennessee when their chopper went down in bad weather.

How do you say thanks for a life given to help others? How do express to their grieving families that they did not die in vain? They were heroes. They did what they did not because they HAD to but because they CHOSE to, knowing that every time they stepped into that helicopter there was the potential for danger. They did not dwell on that fact but it was always there, in the back of their minds, yet the greater good was to be served...helping those in need.

As we remember these three today, let us be ever mindful of all of those who serve us daily.  In memory and in honor of Doug, Misty and Cindy, would you take the time today to bless a medic, a policeman or a fireman.  Tell them how much you appreciate their dedication and their service.  In some small way, I think that would be a blessing to the memory of these we honor today.



BLESSINGS by Laura Story

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

(Chorus)

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

Chorus

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know the pain reminds this heart

That this is not, this is not our home

Chorus

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are your mercies in disguise



WHO WILL COME FOR THE CHILDREN?

A week after the disastrous earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, there is a classroom of 30 children still quietly waiting for their parents to return to get them.  They sit playing games or reading while teachers watch over them.  Reporters are not allowed inside the classroom because they are afraid even the opening of the door might give the children false hope someone is coming.  Who will come for the children?

I can' t imagine what must be going through their minds.  I have two precious granddaughters.  I'm not sure the youngest, who is 2, would notice at first.  But eventually she would begin to cry for Mommy.  My older one who is almost 5 would certainly begin to ask questions by the end of the day, and every day after that.  The very thought of those little eyes looking and longing for their mommy and daddy, asking where are they, when are they coming for me, breaks my heart.  "When are they coming?" I can hear her asking. 

Who will come for the children?

One article said relatives waited with the teachers.  But if that is so, why have they not left with them?  Are they,too, waiting there just in case...not wanting them to NOT be there if miraculously, the parents DO arrive?

The school they are in was in the worst hit area where thousands are still missing.  Officials say they think the death toll has been miserably under-reported. Some estimates are that over 100,000 will eventually be the death toll. 

Some of the younger children had already left for the day when the tsunami hit.  Those going in one direction were probably safe.  Those going in the opposite direction were probably swept away.  The children in the middle age group were being picked up at the time.  Their parents were pulled inside and kept safe along with the children.  But this group of children between the ages of 8 and 12 are still waiting.  Who will come for them?

One thing is for sure.  Our heavenly Father knows exactly where they are.  He has not lost sight of them.  He knows each of these children by name.  He loves them and He cares for them.  He spared these 30 children's lives for a reason.  It is difficult for us to understand why their parents were lost, why their lives were taken and the children orphaned.  But, God has NOT abandoned them.

We do not know who will come for the children but God does.  Let us pray today for those to heed His call and to arrive soon so that these children will know that they are not alone.  Let us pray there are family members even this moment making their way to get them.  Let us pray that not one child will be left unclaimed by someone. 

What about the children of the teachers?  Where are they?   Do the teachers know?  How difficult it must be for them to stay and wait, yet they have not left these children alone.  Thank God for these teachers who have stayed and cared for these children all this time. 

It is difficult to look at a photo like this and imagine anything good coming out of this.  Yet God is in the restoration business.  Let us not be remiss in praying for the PEOPLE of Japan.  It's easy to think in terms of a country, an entity and not the people.  Let us not forget the PEOPLE, just like these 30 children.  When you pick up your children at school today, remember those 30 children of Japan.  When you tuck your little ones in bed tonight, remember to pray for the 30 children who are still waiting.  And pray for God to send someone for them soon.  These 30 children only represent the thousands who are still waiting, still searching, still hoping to find their loved ones amidst all of the devastation like what you see in the photo above. 

Pray and ask God how YOU can help.