The Hunt for Annoyances

There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.

...Rita Dove

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Since August I've asked myself, "Which things annoy me most around Hobbit Cottage?"

Gee--the long list surprised me!

Yet I've plugged away slowly and fixed a few annoyances. The huge ones were that broken down old couch of ours and our oh-so-brown living room. Both are gone now--whew! Now I spend too much time in that room because I'm in love with it.

When I showed you a certain photo of our open living area I thought, "Uh-oh! Now the kitchen looks all oh-so-brown. Gah." Stay tuned for a couple painting changes I'll make in there. 

Tom's 'man cave' overwhelmed me for months each time I even stepped through the door. Well, I rearranged parts of it, cleared away some unnecessary items and--although not nearly finished--I can walk in there and not feel like hyperventilating. heh.

More? I hung a new shower curtain liner to replace the ratty ol' tearing one. I've been keeping up with the sycamore tree bark, crushing it by hand, and spreading it as mulch in my flower beds. My bedroom closet needed a light for two years(!) so I finally hunted up an extension cord and placed a lamp in there. My nightstand blocked too much light from my bedroom window (oh, how I crave light!) so I replaced it with a small iron bistro table.

(Our sycamore trees are going naked this year.)

Why share these? Because any average, run-of-the-proverbial-mill person can complain. And unless you're complaining to somebody with the power to change things? Well, moaning just wastes breath, energy and well, your life. 

The good news: pro-activity is better. Amazing, even.

Now, can we change every annoying thing? Uh, no (sometimes God prefers that we change, instead). Yet God can give us wonderful ideas, ways and the means to make changes when we choose pro-activity instead of whining like helpless babies.

We are not helpless.

No, the huge God of all creativity dwells inside us, the one through whom we can do all things and mostly? I believe He waits around a lot, you know, for us to ask for help. Sometimes we're clueless, overwhelmed and discouraged simply because we forgot to ask for His ideas, His help, His creative Spirit.

But how wonderful when we remember!

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"You have not because you ask not."  ... From the book of James.


You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.


... Shirley Chisholm 

Compassion? Or a Saviour Complex?

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."   1 Corinthians 12:7

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If the daily news has you feeling discouraged about the whole human race, I highly recommend watching mega doses of Undercover Boss (3 seasons can be found through instant Netflix). It will remind you that hard-working people of excellence, purpose and compassion still exist everywhere. 

Yet it also reminded me of this post, below, when I began questioning the fingerprint I'm leaving on this planet. I remembered I can only do what God's asks me to--and if I do--it will be enough.

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I knew a Christian blogger who said he had so much compassion for the poor, hopeless people of this world that it made him sad all the time. He cried for poor, lonely people, prayed for them, of course, too. And over time I watched him become 'paralyzed,' for he felt so sad, so much 'compassion,' that he became overwhelmed and spent his days resenting how numbers of people are being mistreated and having hard lives. He became mad at Christians who didn't do enough, angry over his own limitations, he quit blogging and ended up helping no one.

satan will use anything to knock us out of the game.

Then there's a Christian author who feels great compassion for single mothers having rough times and teens, too, who are wandering so far from God. She meets these people, and unlike the man above, she gives to them what God nudges her to give, money or gifts or just the right words. So that's wonderful, but she always feels it's never enough. And the majority of her years she's spent in sadness, grieving for others.

If you've read here long you know I'm a big proponent of balance. And seasons! Seasons exist for everything, also. A time to weep with those who weep--yes! But that season is not 24/7 all the days of our lives, for the Bible also adds there's a time to rejoice and dance and praise God with joyful songs and to see good days. 

It also says His joy is our strength.

True, godly hope--I think that's what may be missing in the hearts of those sad, 24/7 weepy Christians who say they're just extra compassionate. I mean, godly hope is full of anticipation! Pray some prayers with godly hope and you'll begin looking forward to their being answered. To you, it's only be a matter of time, and in the meantime, you can rest in anticipation that God will come through with awesome answers.

What matters most is that I do my God-given part and that I believe God will save the day, heal the hurt, become the friend who sticks closer than a brother. Not that I rush around alone all Super Christian-like, trying to save humanity. Uh, no. (That may sound funny, but I've known people who believe they are called to do that.)

No, God would never ask one person to help everyone. (Personally, I don't believe He'd place that huge a burden on anyone.) Rather, we each have a necessary piece in this huge puzzle and what remains is for us to do his/her part in meeting those needs, so that in turn, all needs will be met.

And if God asks us to do a thing, He will enable us to complete it and it will get done. It won't send us to lying prostrate on a couch, hopeless, overwhelmed. God isn't mean like that. 

If He's asking us to help three people, then He'll equip us to help three people. But we're being foolish if we allow a 'paralyzation'to creep over us because we couldn't help three million souls, instead. Or the whole neighborhood, the entire town or the complete unwed mothers' home.

If we obey God's direct requests, He'll give us the joy of obedience which then becomes additional strength to complete more of His will... 

... as well as great anticipation of the other prayers He'll answer farther along on our journey.


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"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." ... Matthew 11:29


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The goal is never that we become anyone's everything. That goal is God's, alone.


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"The joy of the Lord is your strength." ... Neh. 8:10

The Incredible Silence

"But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

 

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So. Remember our new red couch? Well, guess who's been sitting there, quietly, lately? Oh, peacefully, not unhappily, but just in a pondering sort of way, even as I watch tv shows (or hopping up to work), hearing the same thing within me:

"Things will change soon. Get ready."

Yet this time I'm not feeling the "get ready" part means to race around and do emergency preparedness things (well ok, a tad perhaps), but more than that? It's like God's holding me close to His heart, pouring strength into me for upcoming days in this tired old world, a world which feels stretched and ready to burst.

I've noticed lots of us are feeling that things can't keep spinning this way forever. Something's about to snap.

I'm recharging, I think, and when one recharges, she doesn't speak as much, but rather, she listens, even when she's not hearing specifics. It's weird, but sometimes you learn more about how to be when you listen to God's silences; it's as though He's able to mold you better, Himself, without a bunch of words, especially your own.

Or something like that.

And actually? I'm loving this silent time, this extra-closeness, and not feeling an ounce of dread over an unknown future. I'm a believer, after all, and believers should, well, believe that whatever happens, we'll be ready. If our yesterdays, todays and tomorrows find us shoulder to shoulder with the One who's actually seen the aforementioned 'snap'.

He's certainly not worried ... and neither am I.




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"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.…"   1 Thessalonians 5:4-6


"Oh taste and see that the Lord, He is good!"   ... Psalm 34:8


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Netflix now has Undercover Boss, a show which makes me cry while watching people being kind to one another (the Johnny Rockets one had me sobbing. gah). Yet I laugh a lot, also, especially at what Candid Camera (also at Netflix) called, "people caught in the act of being themselves."

Humor + Sentimentality = one of my all-time favorite combinations.

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Enjoy peeking inside old-fashioned travel trailers? You might love this one.


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