Am I Looking For Him?

Last night, Rich and I were able to go out to a friend's house for the evening. We arranged for David to be cared for at home while we were gone. As is usually the case, after we left the house, David repeatedly walked out the front door and to the driveway looking for us. We were gone for about five hours, and David kept looking for us to come home.

Was David looking for us because he needs us, because he misses us, or because he felt like things weren't quite right without us? I'm not sure, but he was looking for us.

Early this morning I was reading my Bible and I realized that just like David looks for us when we're gone, I should be looking for Jesus to come back. I should look for Him because I need Him in my life; He is my strength. I should look for Him because I miss Him; how often I've thought about the joy of looking into His face and seeing the One to whom I have prayed and talked so many times. I should look for Him because life just isn't right without Him involved in everything I do.

Revelation 22:20 "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Perspective...

We were fortunate to have our brother John visiting from Boston over the Memorial Day weekend. On Monday afternoon, we grilled beef kabobs, chicken kabobs, burgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob. My thinking was if I grilled a lot of food at once, we could have the leftovers for dinner and throughout the week (I'm always looking for ways to cook less!!). At lunch time, David was allowed to eat a lot of food, but there were some hot dogs left. Now you need to realize that David LOVES hot dogs. I think, given the right circumstances, David would kill for a hot dog. So needless to say, David was not happy that there were hot dogs left that he was not allowed to eat. We kept telling David he could have those hot dogs for dinner but he was not happy with that answer. The more time went on, the more upset David became. When we did eat dinner, David was allowed to have the remaining hot dogs, but by that time he was very upset and agitated.

In his perspective, we were not fair to him and we mistreated him. Now, anyone taking a good look at David can see that he is not malnurished, but his perspective was only on the hot dogs he couldn't have, not on the pretzel dish he is allowed to eat out of at any time, or of the bananas and oranges on the counter he could have had. He focused his perspective solely on those hot dogs.

I know David's conditions, and I know that he never gets a feeling of fullness after eating. David will eat until he throws up and still want to continue eating. To be a good caregiver, I have to "cut him off" and not let him eat as much as he wants. My perspective tells me I'm taking care of him; his perspective tells him that I'm being unfair and mean.

I think as a Christian I think of God the same way. There are things I want but God won't give them to me. For example, Rich and I have wanted children for many years. We have had two miscarriages. It has been easy for me to think of God as being mean and keeping me from something I want, but the truth is that God knows what is best for me and is protecting me. It's all in the perspective. Let's all be sure that we try to see God's perspective and not our own as we go through our days.

If It Quacks Like A Duck...

WARNING: This blog is not intended to be read by those who are easily offended by inappropriateness!!!

Last night during church, I had to take David to the bathroom. As we were walking down the aisle toward the doors, David started "quacking." (In our home, whenever David farts as he is walking we call it "quacking" because with every step he "quacks!") Back to the story... As we were walking down the aisle I wanted to disappear because David quacks so loudly. When we hit the hallway David started burping. I guess he saw no need to limit his noise to only one portion of his body... Throughout the rest of the evening, David was quacking and burping. Pretty humiliating for me around a group of people, but David didn't have a problem with it. It's a natural part of who he is.

As I thought about this, I realized that we should live our Christian life with the same comfort level. If we are Christians, we shouldn't have any trouble dressing like a Christian when we go out into the world... it's a natural part of who we are in Christ. We shouldn't have any trouble speaking the words that show we are a Christian... it's a natural part of who we are. When people look at me and watch my life, can they tell I am a Christian or am I just another person with some weird hang-ups?

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." I Corinthians 5:17

Leave That Scab Alone!

David has a bad habit of always picking at his scabs. A simple little scratch may takes months to heal because he won't leave it alone. His recent "injury" was a pimple on the side of his nose that left a little scab after it popped. That little scab is now a little larger than a pencil eraser. Each day I admonish David to leave it alone, and each day he picks at it a little more.

In our own lives, we have tendency to pick at the "scabs" of hurts we face. Someone does something that hurts us or upsets us and we forgive them, but we pick at the hurt and never really let it heal. As a child, something horrific might have happened to destroy our innocence, but as an adult we still mull over the incident never allowing it to heal.

Let's make today the day we all decide to allow our wounds to heal. A healed scar is better than an open wound!

How Long Does Your Attitude Last?

This afternoon has been a rough one for David. When I picked him up from his workshop, he was very agitated. As we drove past a Burger King on the way home without stopping, he become very vocal about his frustrations. All evening, he's been annoyed with us, for no apparant reason. My guess is something happened at the workshop that upset him and his routine and it has carried over into our evening. I prepared a dinner that David likes, we have given him a little treat for his dessert, but he's still upset about something that happened several hours ago.

As we have tried to "cheer" David up tonight, I've thought about how often I have taken some frustration or upset in my life and allowed it to saturate all other areas of my life. Maybe someone said something at work that hurt my feelings, so I stew about it all day and then my husband comes home to a grumpy wife. Or, maybe I feel a little neglected at home so I'm grumpy at work all day. (Rich is wonderful and doesn't neglect me... although sometimes my selfishness says he does!!) I've known people who have stewed on things for days, and even weeks, and it was always so difficult to spend a lot of time with those people.

This is an area of my life that I must work on constantly. The Bible says in Psalm 119:165, "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Every time I allow myself to be offended, and to stay offended, I'm exposing to all who see that I don't love the Bible like I should. By nature, I'm a critical spirit, and tonight has been another reminder that I need to watch my spirit and my attitude!

The Razor Is Not A Toy...

David enjoys getting shaved. He is quick to demand my attention to his head and face if I don't shave him often enough (in his opinion). The only problem is that David thinks the razor is a toy. He likes to smell it, he likes to run his fingers over it, etc. This can cause bleeding and a big problem if not dealt with immediately. Every day, at least once, I say to David, "Put the razor down; it is not a toy."

As a society, we act much like David does with the razor. We take useful tools and use them in inappropriate ways and then we wonder why our society is bleeding. The internet is a useful tool to find information and to share information; but too many use it for pornography, or some other detriment to our society. God has given us brilliant people who know how to make pharmaceuticals to help us when we are sick; but we have a generation of teenagers who are pill-popping addicts looking for the next high from our medicine cabinet.

These are just two examples of millions. If each of us would be careful with our lives and use the God-given tools and benefits we have the way they are intended, this world would be a better place.

Living with the Laundry Police...

Living with David is like living with the laundry police. We keep a laundry basket in our walk-in closet and David believes that that basket should be empty at all times. As soon as we take our clothes off to get in our jammies at night, David wants to carry the laundry basket into the laundry room and for us to follow to start a load. If for some reason we do not do laundry for a day or two, David becomes very agitated. He will constantly come into our bedroom, walk into our closet, point at the laundry basket and make noises. If that doesn't get our attention, he will pick up the laundry basket, carry it to where we are, and make noises until we tell him to bring it to the laundry room or to put it back.

David has been known to try to do the laundry himself, if we are not attentive enough to stop him. More than once I have gone into the laundry room to find the washing machine running with a single sock or handkerchief in the wash tub! Of course, this is the same David that thinks nothing of dropping garbage on his bedroom floor and stepping over it until Rich or I walk in to his room and tell him to pick the garbage up!

Too many of us are like David in our Christian lives. We have our "pet" sins (dirty laundry) that we don't mind stepping over, but if we see a "dirty laundry" in someone else's life, and it's something that we have under control in our own lives, we are too eager to step over our garbage to point a finger at them!

Let's all strive to keep our own laundry washed and put away and not worry about someone else's laundry.

His Way is the Only Way

Living with David is never dull. David believes that things must be done a certain way. For example, David will not turn his television off unless it is on channel 9. I don't know what's so special about channel 9, but that's the way it is. We have tried encouraging him, cajoling him, threatening him, but if it's not on channel 9, the television will not be turned off. That's the way David is programmed, and we have gotten used to it.


My husband Rich has related that to how God is. We try to do things out of order or in our own way and God insists on things His own way. Salvation is a great example. Many people try good works or baptism or even giving money to a church to earn their way to Heaven. No matter how many good people do those things, God has never, and will never change His way to Heaven. God's Son paid the price, and if we don't accept His gift, we don't go to Heaven. We can try to cajole God, we can try to reason with God, but it doesn't matter. It's God's way or no way.

God's way means we must realize and acknowledge that we are sinners. Some of us sin more often that others, but we all sin. Romans 3:10 says, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." We tend to think of sins as big (murder) and little (a "white" lie), but God sees sin as sin.

Just as I earn a wage (paycheck) for working at my job, there's a wage for my sin... eternity in hell. The Bible says in Romans 6:23a, "For the wages of sin is death; ..." An eternity in hell is one wage I don't want to receive, nor do I want anyone else to receive.


Thankfully, the story doesn't end there. God has paid our sin wage for us. In Romans 6:23b, the Bible says, "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Jesus Christ, God's Son, is perfect (sinless). He came to this earth, lived for thirty-three years without sinning even once, and died a horrific death on the cross as our sin wage. His holiness allowed Him to suffer our sin payment for us. The love God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son has for us is totally overwhelming. Romans 5:8 says, "But God commandeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."


Not only did Jesus die as our sin wage for us, He rose from the dead after three days. We have the opportunity to have a LIVING God save us. Throughout history, many people have died for their friends and for a cause in which they believed; but none of them have risen from the dead. Our Saviour was strong enough to bear our sin, die for us AND to live again. The Bible says in Revelation 1:18, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." I want a Saviour who can conquer (have the keys of) hell and death!

I am amazed at how much Jesus would endure for me. But the truth is, all of His suffering and pain, and even His victory would be futile if I didn't accept His gift of salvation. I love my husband very much. Say I wanted to buy him the perfect gift. I spend days thinking about what he might like, I spend hours going from store to store to find just the right color and size. The big day arrives and I hand him his gift. If Rich does not take the gift from me, all of the effort and planning that was put into that gift wouldn't mean much to him. Rich must take the gift from me to receive it. Salvation is the same way. God the Father and Jesus the Son spent eternity planning, preparing and purchasing our salvation, but it is up to us to accept the gift. In the Bible, John 1:12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

Salvation is accepting the gift of forgiveness and pardon from Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible says in Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Calling upon the Lord means that you are trusting in Him and the price He paid to take you to Heaven, nothing else. I think everyone should try to live a good life, but living a good life won't take you to Heaven, only faith in Jesus Christ can. I think we should all try to help those less fortunate than we are, but that won't get us to Heaven. The Bible says in John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

If you want to go to Heaven when you die to spend eternity with God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son, why don't you ask Jesus to save you right now? You may say something like this,

"Dear God, I know I've sinned and don't deserve to go to Heaven because of my sin. I do believe that Jesus Christ, Your Son, was perfect and that He died to pay my sin wage. I know the only way I will ever get to Heaven is by trusting in You and only You to take me there. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart. Thank you for being a living Saviour and for saving my soul. Amen."

God tells us in I John 5:13, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." If we believe on the name of the Son of God (Jesus), we can KNOW we have eternal life. I KNOW that 4 + 4 = 8; always will be. I also KNOW that I have eternal life because I have believed in Jesus.

Just as having the television on channel 9 brings comfort and security to David, following God's way brings comfort and security to us. Our God is constant and faithful and we don't ever have to worry about Him changing His mind. Once we have asked Him to save us, the Bible says in I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." What a wonderful promise!

Wash me, God...

My brother David, like most three year olds, does not like to have his face washed. He always wants to be cleaned up and dressed for the day, but when it's time to wash his face he fights! I think his preference would be that I just wave the washcloth in front of his face and we be done with it, but it doesn't work that way. Unless I take the washcloth to his face and scrub behind his ears and around his mouth and nose, he isn't really clean.

How often have I acted that way toward God? I'll ask God to wash me and help me rid my life of sin, but when God's washcloth of correction comes toward me I'll squirm and fight and try to run away. Afterward, as I'm living with the smudges of sin, I'll realize how foolish I was. Life would be easier if I would just accept the "face scrubbing" as God's care for me and not as some event to be avoided.

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according unto the multitude of they tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."