Unredeemed

I'm not planning on turning this blog into my Top Ten music picks! But lately, God has been grabbing hold of my heart and ministering to my soul through the songs that I hear. Selah's latest song, Unredeemed stops me short every time I hear it. What a precious reminder that God will not waste any of the pain or struggles in our lives. He will redeem them for His purposes!

Pain

Sometimes it seems like pain is engulfing everyone I love. The circumstances may be different for each, but the result is the same, unrelenting pain.

Right now, several people who are dear to me are in those circumstances. They are hurting. And life keeps throwing more pain their way.

I try to remind them that, regardless of their situations, God is in control. But sometimes, even as I say that, I hear my own whispered doubt ask, "If He's in control, then why is it hurting so badly?"

I want to be able to give the wise answer that takes away their pain, that eases their suffering and answers their desperate questions. But I can't. All I can do is remind them, and myself, that we only see a fraction...not the whole. And from that fraction, our vision is short-sighted and incomplete.

But God, who is in control, sees the whole picture. And He will use these current threads of pain, to weave a beautiful tapestry, if our lives are surrendered to Him.

So, press on through the pain, because God is in control.

Costco - For the Budget-Minded Bride

I was checking my email before signing on to my blog and I came across the ubiquitous Costco ad. I usually get two or three of these a day, but I couldn't ignore it. So I "enabled the link" and there before me was the usual plethora of items for purchase.

However, tonight I found something I had never seen before. Tonight, I saw... the Costco wedding gown! Really! Nothing says romance like the giant big box store! It made me giggle as I realized that, these days, you can do your whole wedding from Costco and save BIG bucks.

Think about it. Wedding rings? Check. Flowers? Check. Wedding cake? Check. Reception food and drink? Check. And now...ta da...the wedding dress!


The one thing that troubles me a bit is the lack of dressing rooms. I mean, most girls like to at least try on the dress before they buy it. And somehow, trying to pull it on over your shirt and jeans and stand in front of one of those propped-up mirrors just wouldn't work for me if I was a bride-to-be!


Okay, I KNOW that the dresses aren't really at the stores. This is a special event that you sign up for. But I've gotta say, I'm liking this trend. After watching all the episodes of "Say Yes To The Dress" where all of the wedding gowns are at LEAST $2000 (ranging up to $10,000) I had begun to despair at the thought of ever getting a wedding dress for our daughter when it is her turn.


But thanks to Costco, Elizabeth can look forward to wearing a beautiful gown on her special day! And if she'll agree to get her dress there, I promise to buy her all of the frozen cream puffs she can eat at the reception!

It's All Relative

I am learning that so often how I react to life is simply relative. It all depends on the context of what else is happening in my life.

Example, I've been dreading the arrival of our credit card bill. It has Christmas purchases on it and so I knew it would be considerably larger than usual. Then last week, I received an email from one of my neighbors warning us that someone had broken into her mailbox. She wasn't sure how many other people's mail might have been stolen, but she wanted us to be aware of it. This happened just about the time that I should have been receiving my credit card bill. Suddenly, the piece of mail that I wanted to see the most, was that credit card bill! And when it arrived safely, I was overjoyed. I'd never have guessed that reaction a week before.

My daughter has been living in St. Petersburg, Russia for the past four and a half months. It's not where I really want her to be. For the past couple of weeks, however, she has been traveling around Europe. Most of the time she was with friends. But I knew that as of Wednesday, she would be heading back to Russia on her own. This involved not only a flight by herself, but most disturbing to me, a 12-hour bus ride back into Russia. Since I knew that this same bus ride out of the country had resulted in a seven-hour delay at the Latvian border due to the discovery of drugs on board, I didn't have much peace about her making that trip alone. But God took care of her. So here I am today, overjoyed that she is in...St. Petersburg!

So you see, it really is all relative. Life might just be a little easier if I can keep that in mind.

FarmVille Addendum

So apparently my last post was not too far off the mark! From what I hear, "Dr. Phil" and I are in the same field, if I might use a little FarmVille rhetoric.

My friend, Sue, told me that Dr. Phil just had a show on addictions and he did a story on a woman whose life has ceased to exist outside of FarmVille. She no longer cooks meals for her teenage children, barely does any grocery shopping, and no longer does laundry...all because it takes her away from her FarmVille time. Her kids feel abandoned by her. Wow! And I was only sort of kidding when I wrote my post.

After Sue told me about the show, I told her that she had better be careful. I don't want to see her swallowed up by FarmVille. Sue said I have nothing to worry about because...she'still wearing clean underwear. Good to know, if maybe a little bit too much information!

It's An Addiction!

I'm sure that some of you who are reading this post are all too familiar with the little picture above. For some of you, the very sight of it gives you a high and your fingers start twitching as you struggle to hold back your desire to harvest those crops!

And then there are those of you who are like me. You've never seen this before because, you too, are a Facebook virgin (that's a story for another time). But while I have never actually seen FarmVille, I have witnessed, first hand, the addictive powers of this insidious little game.

Let me back up a bit. I have a friend at work, let's call her Sue since that is her name, who one day was telling me about this little game she had started playing on her computer. She explained that it was all about a little farm. Someone had "invited" her to be their neighbor (a Facebook thing) and she had accepted and now she had this cute little farm with fences, crops and a few animals.

Sue was explaining how she really wanted to get some more fences and cows when all of the sudden she looked at the clock. In a panic, she told me she had to go because it was almost time for her to harvest her soybeans! Say what? Soybeans?

It has been a sad thing to watch as my dear friend has gone from enjoying a simple little game to complete addiction! No longer is she content with one barn and a few cows. Now she craves multiple barns and herds of bovines! She NEEDS more tractors and "plowers" (her term, not mine) to keep up with her ever growing estate. She is consumed by her desire for the almighty FarmVille Coins! Where will it stop?

The other morning, when Sue arrived at work, she confessed that, the night before, she had been on FarmVille for three full hours and hadn't even noticed the time go by. (Wouldn't you have a "dead end" by then?) But even with that confession, there was a slightly maniacal smile on her face and a glazed look in her eyes. An addiction, I tell you!

If this was simply a story of an addict, it would be heartbreaking enough. But sadly, it goes beyond addiction. Because, Sue has now become...a pusher. You heard me correctly. A pusher. By her own confession, when her son and boyfriend teased her about the time she was spending on her farm, she drew them in.

First she asked them to help her out by harvesting her crops when she couldn't be there (pathetic!). Then, once they had been bitten by the harvesting bug, she suggested that they should start their own farms and "invited" them to be her neighbors! How low can you go?

Like I said, she's an addict AND a pusher, and she needs help! Sure it keeps her out of the casinos, but at what cost? Someone needs to stop this mindless waste of time. Obviously, I can't help...remember that whole Facebook thing. I try to offer support and alternative hobbies like reading a book but all to no avail.

So here's the bottom line. My friend needs help! She's living in the land of make-believe. And from what I'm hearing, she is NOT alone! I just hope that with this whole FarmVille thing, we won't see overalls as part of the Spring fashion lineup!

I'd Need a Savior

Sometimes I hear a song that haunts me as it plays over and over again in my head. This song by the group, Among the Thirsty, has done that to me all week.

While the lyrics are true for everyone one of us, they remind me of my own desperate need for Jesus.