Hope and Change

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the economy and about Obama’s promises of ‘hope and change’. It seems lately, however, that the only thing those words mean to me is that I ‘hope’ I have ‘change’ for my coffee in the morning!

Not that I’m against Obama … I hope and pray that he is successful. The thing is, if we are counting on Obama to ‘fix it’, we’re going to be incredibly disappointed. He can’t - even if he found a way to find more jobs, improve the economy, make healthcare more accessible and better education options, and not only end, but resolve the war - it wouldn’t be ‘fixed’.

Think about it … I’ve learned just from trying to fix dinner for mom, Morgan and myself … that no matter what I ‘fix’, everyone isn’t going to be happy. Now, how many people do we have in this country?? And we think they’re all gonna be happy??

Ask yourself this … IF Obama was able to ‘fix’ everything just the way you would do it, would you really be happy? Think a minute … I’ll wait.

I’m guessing that after considering everything that our President can do for us, your answer was a sigh and a ‘no’. Here’s why… ‘It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.’ Psalm 118:8

Obama – or Bush – or any other president we’ve ever had (or will ever have) cannot give us – personally or as a nation – what God can give us. Only God can offer true hope … hope for eternal life. And only God can offer true change … the change that can only be made in the depths of our heart.

When you put your trust in God … not in man … real change can occur. It occurs from within. When you find that peace … that trust and security … the things that other people do and say become much less important than what God has to say. The war, the economy, healthcare, education … they don’t become less important, or less in need of ‘fixing’. But when you look to God to ‘fix’ it rather than man, at the end of the day, you won’t be disappointed. God will fix it … and it will be fixed correctly. The hard part is that He will only fix it in His time – not ours!

How do I know this?? God told me … “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.." --Romans 8:28

So be patient … Obama is doing the best he can with what he has. And remember, the outcome isn’t up to him … it’s up to God … and it will be good!

Bring on the rain!

I try to take one day at a time – but this week, I think they all ganged up on me at one time!

Ever felt like ‘when it rains, it pours!’ I can see a few of you nodding emphatically, even as I type!! There has been so much uncertainty lately - in our employment, our economy - even in the weather! Do I wear shorts or mittens today??? It all seems to be coming down at once. I was feeling like that, and I thought about Noah. I wonder if he felt that way? I wonder if he got tired from building an Ark that everyone laughed about. Maybe he got frustrated with the animals – maybe the fox was chasing the chickens and the children were arguing about who gets to ride the pony next. Maybe he looked at the falling rain and looked up at God and asked ‘will it ever end?’

Then I thought about God’s promise. His promise to never send a flood again. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I can’t help but smile when I think He must have meant the down-pours that we experience in our lives, too. We may have rainy days in our lives – maybe even 40 of them – and it may all come down at one time – BUT God promised He would not send a flood. So that must mean, that even though things are going crazy, God isn’t going to let us drown. He’s going to see us through, and there will be a rainbow at the end of this storm as clearly as there was a rainbow for Noah.

Whether it’s physical rain, freezing rain, emotional rain, or just a bad case of the gloomies – God won’t send the flood. But - he didn't say he wouldn't send mud puddles. Many of us personally are struggling in some pretty deep mud puddles. We, as a nation, are spinning in the ruts of a really big mud puddle. The church is spinning her wheels in a mud puddle. BUT we won't flood. We will gain traction and find our way out of the mud ... maybe not the way we want to, but we will make it out. This, too, shall pass – and there will be a rainbow at the end – to remind us that God was with us the whole time, to remind us that He keeps his promises, and to remind us that we are still his children.

Isn’t it great to know that God will always see us through even the darkest of days!!

It's not about the stuff!

It’s amazing what a blanket of snow can do! I am not a ‘winter’ person – I hate to be cold, despise scraping windshields and dream longingly of warmer days. So, I was quite surprised at my own excitement when my company’s name went across the bottom of the tv screen ‘CLOSED’ – and Morgan and I bundled up to go play in the snow – while it was still snowing!!

We had a great time throwing snowballs, sweeping the snow off my car and trying to build a snowman. Somehow, it didn’t seem so cold with snow on the ground! I’m not sure how it works, but 35 degrees and rain is much, much colder than 30 degrees and snow!

After we had sufficiently covered the entire yard in footprints, Morgan and I came in and curled up under a blanket on the couch. We started talking about ‘I remember when…’. I remembered sleigh riding when I was little. As dad and I were walking back up the hill from the last ride of the evening, I convinced him to let me pull the sled. Sneaky little me flipped it around and went flying back down the hill for one more ‘last time’. I don’t remember getting in trouble – but I remember having the best time that night! Morgan remembered the little snowfall that we had several years ago – I had given her some squirt bottles with water and food coloring in it to color in the snow. We had a great time that day, too.

It occurred to me, as we shared memories, that none of them involved ‘stuff’. None of those memories involved presents or toys or games. Each of the memories that we shared were simple – they were about time together, laughter and love. So why is it that we spend so much time buying and giving our kids – and spouse, friends, parents – expensive gifts? Even in today’s economy, we seem to be so conditioned to spend money on things that we forget that the best memories we have didn’t involve money at all!

I’ve never met someone, when remembering their life, say ‘I wish I had spent more money on…’ or ‘I wish I had worked more’. I have, however, heard ‘I wish I had spent more time with…’.

The snow is almost melted, but this weekend is supposed to be quite warm! Spend some time this weekend – a walk in the park, a picnic lunch, even a project you can do together. Live each day so that when you are looking back over your life, you will be able to smile at all the memories rather than regretting the missed opportunities.

Have a great weekend!

Michele