The GOOD is not the BEST

"Learning to say no to what is not a top priority and yes only to the requests that fit my personal mission statement...has been one of the best skills I have learned."  Becky Tirabassi

I read this quote this morning and it resonated with my spirit.  The ability to learn to say "no" is a very difficult ability to learn.  We, especially women, are raised to try and meet everyone's expectations.  At least I was.  So, when I was younger I would say "yes" to almost any and every request made of me by anyone in my church or among my close friends.

I was a young working wife, and mother of 4.  I had many responsibilities in that role, but I would "add on" all these other requests.  I'm not sure how old I was when I finally realized that my first priority was not to fulfill every request made of me.  Learning to just say a simple "no" without guilt or even explanation was a huge, and very freeing accomplishment for me.  

"But let your communcation be, Yea, yea: Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." Matthew 5:37 

As I got older, and my children were leaving the nest, and then as I retired, "responsibilities" in those areas were greatly reduced.  It was at this time I became aware of the 2nd step in this area:  that a good use of my time and attention was not always the best use.

The words in the quote above, "my personal mission statement" just jumped off the page at me.  We each have our personal calling and function as our part in the Body of Christ. That truly is our personal mission statement.  My constant prayer the past 9 years has been to endeavor to fill my life with the best and not just the good each and every day.  Do I always succeed?? NO!! ~~~~ but being conscious of His call upon my life and aiming for His best certainly has helped me truly be active and busy in fulfilling MY PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT.   
  

EDITORIAL - THE POWER OF WORDS

I assume most all of us watched Hillary Clinton give her speach last night at the Democratic Convention in Denver. It was a really good speech and it sure seemed to rally the delegates and others in attendance. I have already declared who I will vote for this year and it is .

This post, however, is not about the election, but about THE POWER OF WORDS.

As I was thinking and praying about this this morning I thought ....why don't we, as Christians, take a good lesson from Hillary Clinton. Why don't we sound the clarion call for unity of The Body of Christ. Why aren't we shouting to The Body of Christ, and subsequently to the world, "Put aside your denominational differences and arguments, band together and fight united FOR God and AGAINST evil."! Quit fighting each other and permitting the enemy to win, at least the temporary battles. We know God wins in the end, because we've read the final chapter!!

There was a good and faithful Christian who closed down her blog recently because she had been duped by another blogger (I'm not familiar with this and don't know who she was making reference to) into believing the blogger was suffering from a terminal illness and then had found out it was a hoax to get money. She was so disallusioned that she threw in the towel and quit. My position is that situations like this should make us all the MORE determined to get our good, honest , true faith and committment in Our Lord and Savior out into blogland. Don't just abandon it to let the evil ones take over and push us out. Use THE POWER OF OUR WORDS for good and for God in blogland, our families, our neighborhood, our community, our nation and our world.

The following is a Percentage source from the CIA: The World Fact Book (2007)

When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions (Paris - car burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats (Amsterdam - Mohammed cartoons). (I have more of these percentage facts that I will share on another post)

It is time for Christians to stand up and boldly use THE POWER OF OUR WORDS to get the truth out FOR our God & Savior Jesus Christ and AGAINST any and all evil in this world: abortion, pornography, child abuse, drugs, human trafficking, genicide, and on and on.

I for ONE am determined to Fight this good fight of faith and to run this race that has been set before me.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

PRAYER - Clarification

On my previous post on prayer:



Danielle said...
Susan, you say-"I am personally against in praying for the sick is using the phrase "If it be your will please heal Mary." God is the healer........it is always God's will that we be healed. Satan is the one that comes to kill, steal and destroy not our God and Christ paid for our healing, as well as our sins, on the cross at Calvary."This reminded me of two things in my going to church years. One was that it always seemed to be implied that God's will was not your own. (Your will and not mine be done, his ways are not our ways, etc, etc). I struggled a lot with this in my young adult years, because I was programmed to think that everything that I wanted (my will) was something that God *didn't* want, and therefore, practically everything I perceived to be good was a sin. Secondly, the healing thing- My good friend's husband was diagnosed with a rare disease that made his bones turn to sponge. He had a month to live from this at the time that I found out about it. There were many healing services and prayers being held for him, and when he was not being healed, they said it was because his faith was not that strong. They convinced him, in the last month of his life that the faith he had was not real. That's psychologically a very bad way to die. Hope you don't mind me sharing.
February 28, 2008 10:50 AM

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Jennifer said: Susan, I am proud of the discussion that went on about prayer too. Help me understand prayer for healing. I don't know how to pray if I don't ask Him for His Will to be for healing. What can I say if they don't recieve healing, that Satan had more power than Jesus? Can Jesus in His Will not say 'NO'. I completely feel the scripture about By His Stripes we are healed. But isn't that spiritual healing? Let me say right now that I am not arguing with you. I truly would like to understand. I have so many questions that God will answer and meanwhile I would like to know how you feel. Your blog always gives me blessing and makes me think! Jennifer
February 28, 2008 8:20 PM

&

I also had a private e-mail voicing some of the same thoughts. This is my reply to that e-mail:

Thanks for this e-mail and your thoughts. I was afraid I might be misunderstood on that but I had to say it to be true to myself.

I am FULLY aware that God does not always choose to heal. Just a few minutes ago I got word that a young 36 year old mother in our church has died this morning of cancer. Our entire church prayed last night for a miracle for her, because we knew it would take a miracle. Our church has been in constant prayer for this young woman for about 15 months now. We lost Mickey's younger, and only, sister to a terrible disease that literally, over a few years, took her legs, hands and body parts before her life. . We prayed and we believed.

I just don't personally like that phrase "if it be your will" because I have to believe in my heart it is His WILL to heal, just as it is His WILL that all be saved. It's just that we don't understand the full scope of the reasons why in His judgement it does not occur. That is where our Hope and Faith must then take up. Are we going to get angry or quit believing because our prayer was not answered? I will not, because my God is so much bigger than I can begin to understand.

It would have been so easy for me to not address that but like I said, to be true to my self I had to. I try very hard to be truthful, sometimes to my own hurt, on my blog. I hope you understand my heart. I'm not judging those who chose to use that phrase......I just personally do not like it. I made a real effort to point out it was my personal opinion. Do you think I stated it in a judgemental attitude or way? If so, that was not my intent and I will surely go back on my blog and state that fact.

To Danielle, & the person who e-mailed me, I have to say how terribly sorry I am that someone would say or indicate :

1)"and when he was not being healed, they said it was because his faith was not that strong. They convinced him, in the last month of his life that the faith he had was not real. That's psychologically a very bad way to die. "

or 2) " I had a friend tell me basically that it was God’s will that my Mom didn’t get cancer and die…if only we would have prayed harder…or believed more… or whatever … she wouldn’t have died of cancer. It was as if she was saying God wasn’t in control and Satan was…due to our lack of faith or prayer. "

I do not blame God, and no Jennifer I certainly do not believe satan wins........satan was defeated at the cross of Calvary. I know the faith that Mickey and I were standing and believing in when we lost his sister. I know the faith and prayer and belief that was operating when I lost one of my forever friends, back in 1986, at the young age of 45. I know it was not because of lack of faith. I believe in the sovereignty of God. I believe His ways are higher than our ways. I believe in Romans 8:28 " And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

It was just my PERSONAL OPINION and I do believe in my heart that it is God's WILL that all be healed and that it is God's WILL that all be saved. I would not pray "Please save Mary, if it be your will" and therefore I chose not to pray "Please heal Mary, if it be your will."

I really am sorry if my comment in any way offened anyone. I think we need to be very careful with our words that we do not step on toes and certainly that we do not step on tender hearts. I realize we all carry our particular hurts, pains and experiences that color and shade our views.

As I further told my e-mail correspondent :

" I know it is a very sensitive subject and like so many things in life we will just have to agree to disagree on this small phrase as we agree wholeheartedly on the fact that God is GOD and that Jesus is LORD!!!.

To Danielle, Jennifer and my e-mail friend I certainly appreciate your views and opinions. I certainly don't think for one minute I have all the answers or am above being wrong.

To any of my others readers: If what I said offened you or caused you personal hurt I am very sorry. I am glad I serve a God who looks at, sees and knows our hearts. I am also glad I serve a God who shows me Grace, time and time again.

PRAYER - The other side - prayer requests

I was contacted by a dear blog friend (you know who you are!) who e-mailed me with her thoughts about my post on prayer yesterday, along with this request:

"To further that, I was wondering if you would write sometime about the other side of the prayer fence, asking for prayers. I struggle with this a lot in that I often times think people ask for prayer for attention."

I was a little taken aback by the request because to be truthful I had, to that point, not thought about the side of the Prayer Requests. I have been pondering, thinking and praying about this request for the past 3 hours or so since getting the e-mail.

At this point in my life with God I do see that EVERYTHING comes from God and does not take God by surprise, althought a LOT of things surely take me by surprise. I've also begun to try and immediately respond to things as I feel God is placing them before me. As an example, 2 weeks ago I received a telephone call on a Saturday morning from our Sunday School teacher requesting me to teach the Sunday School class the next day because both he, and his wife, were ill. In the natural I wanted to say "no". Actually, in the natural I wanted to run the other direction quickly. BUT, I knew that it was more than the Sunday School teacher making this request and that God was asking me to step out of my comfort zone and walk in faith and trust with him. After only a few minutes hesitation (which seemed like at least a 1/2 hour to me) I said, yes.

I view this request in the same vane, while coming from a dear blog friend in the natural, really coming from God and stretching me to think, and respond about an area of prayer I really had not given much thought or attention to. So in obedience to that I will endeavor to put down my thoughts.

I guess the reason I haven't given the issue about asking for prayer too much attention is because Mickey & I are not really much ones to request prayer. Now occasionally, if something really big or tramatic comes up in our lives I will, and have, asked for prayer. Even here on this blog in the last year I know I have put out a general request on a couple of occasions that we coveted your prayers. The incidents concerned our beloved Granddaughter's decision when she left Tulsa and us for a while, and when our son returned from California and was facing some big issues and problems in his life.

Now that I really have begun to look at it I have to ask myself a couple of questions: 1) Do I not ask out of pride and a feeling of self sufficiency; 2) Do I not ask out of a feeling that it's my problem and I shouldn't bother others with it; or 3) Do I feel, that except for those rare occasions, it is my own responsibility to "come boldly to the throne room of God" and "storm the gates of hell" myself on behalf of my self and my loved ones and others needs.

At this point of just beginning to analyze this I'd have to say it's probably a little bit of all three. I truly see ourselves as having complete and total access to our Father God and not needing an intermediatary of any kind because we have Jesus as our advocate, sitting at the right hand of God ever making intercession for us. Because we have walked with the Lord and seen so many victories in our lives I know that I have a God that not only hears our prayers but answers our prayers. I know sometimes we do not see the manifestation of that answer immediate, or how we thought it should be. But, I know he hears and he answers!!!!!

As I'm writing this I see that I'm really addressing it more in a personal way than the actual question about other people making prayer requests. In response to that, and in agreement with the questioner, I do have to say that I have known people who seem to always be asking for the same thing, over and over again, and sometimes asking for things that ,in my humble opinion, are issues they should be dealing with and addressing themselves. BUT, having said that we must remember that we are the body of Christ and that we are there to fulfill the needs of the other members of the body. Period........and without reservation and without judgement. We are certainly all at different areas in this journey with our Lord. And we have to constantly remind ourselves it is a journey and not a destination. None of us have arrived!!!!

I am not happy with this post. It is rambling and not thought out. It is sitting down at this keyboard and typing my Penless thoughts as they flow from my mind and Spirit. I know I have done what God has placed before me and called me to do at this moment in time and space. I trust that those who He directs to read this will understand and show me the same grace He does!!!

This was a post that I wrote at 3:15 and sat on until now to re-read and decide if I was going to post it or not.

OBSERVATIONS

The following are my personal observations and comments. We all have our opinions, and one thing about blogging is that we are free to express our opinions. One of the things I've observed in my almost 3 months of blogging is that bloggers seem to fall into various categories. These are my opinions of various categories.

SERIOUS BLOGGERS: These bloggers have strong opinions, usually on political or moral issues. They use their blog as an avenue to take and expound on the issue at hand. Most of them are good writers and their posts tell an interesting story and are not just rants or boring facts. I enjoy reading serious bloggers and have bookmarked many I read daily. They stretch me and make me think.

THEOLOGY BLOGGERS: I find these to be SERIOUS and very knowledgeable students of the Bible. They are good writers and have a way with words that captivates me with the topic being discussed. Some of them have regulars who comment and there is a lively flow of ideas and opinions back and forth. These theology bloggers captivate me and stretch me and make me think. I have several bookmarked. I have "lurked" on these blogs since the beginning and seldom left a comment. I am just now "Tip Toeing" in, a very little bit, because I feel I am way over my head. They are being very kind to me.

PREACHY BLOGGERS: These differ totally from the above theology blogs. They are throughly indoctrinated into their PARTICULAR denomination and/or belief systems. They do not view The Church as The Universal Body of Christ. They use their blog as a soap box to preach their particular beliefs that in their view are the "gospel". I do not enjoy this type blog and do not read them once I realise this is their format, soap box, and purpose.

FRIENDLY WELL ROUNDED BLOGGERS: Many bloggers fall into this catagory. They are very nice people who post a variety of posts. They can be serious, informative and very funny depending on their mood. My blogroll contains these and several have, and are becoming, good friends.

PRETTY BLOGGERS: These bloggers have pretty, eye appealing sites and present a lot of pretty and beautiful items for display. Sometimes they follow a particular skill ie; quilting, scrapbooking, a craft, etc. and give instructions on how to make various items. These fill a very needed niche for those interested and involved in like activities. I enjoy the eye appeal of these sites. They are a pleasure to visit.

ORGANIZERS BLOGGERS: These seem to have all their household skills together and are there to teach and enlist others to do like wise. They love encouraging others to set goals, make lists, etc. Some of them have huge followings and names for themselves so it appears there is a need for these blogs. They do not appeal to me or my needs so I do not follow them.

RECIPE BLOGGERS: This really could be a sub-group of the above.

KNOW IT ALL - END ALL BLOGGERS: Fortunately I haven't stumbled onto many of these but they are there. They have very big Ego's and think they know it all. Not only do they know it all, but the KNOW the know it all!!!! They take every opportunity to inform you that they know it all. Guess what? No, I don't have them on my blogroll.

BUSY BLOGGER SITES: These bloggers probably have some very interesting things to say but I find it almost work to plow through their blog because there is too much there. Too many pictures, too many items on the side bar, just too many of everything and too busy for my taste. Because I enjoy this blogging experience and find it fun I don't read many of these sites because it is work and it wears me out.

OUT OF THE U.S. BLOGGERS: This name is self-explanatory. It is all those bloggers who are located outside our borders. These bloggers expose me to locales, places, sights, ideas and views of our great big world that I would find difficult to get any other way. Actually, these fall into sub-categories within this broader group: 1) those U.S. citizens living out of the U.S. for various reasons; missionaries, jobs, choice, etc. & 2) people born and raised outside the U.S. These are absolutely my favorite bloggers. I have, and am, learning so very much from them. I am seeing sights, through their beautiful pictures, my eyes would never be able to behold otherwise. I am getting such a much broader view of our world and how very much alike we truly are. My favorite part of all: I am getting a REAL feel for The Body of Christ that I always knew existed.

PHOTOGRAPHY BLOGGERS: These bloggers who delight our eyes with the beauty they capture so well with their cameras and their skill in the art of photography. I so enjoy these sights and what they share with me.

HELPFUL BLOGERS: These dear souls have been a life line to me as I've struggled to learn (a little bit!!!!) of the technical aspects of blogging. There are others who I have reached out to for particular advise (apart from the how to of blogging) who have been so ready and able to offer me help when I've asked for it. I'd love to name names here (but that wouldn't be nice!) but YOU ALL know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!


Everyone may be getting tired of hearing me say it....but I have to repeat it again and again. I am so thankful for each and everyone of you who bless me daily. You are so sharing. You share your ideas, your needs, your advise, your comments, your joys, your sorrows, your fears, your jokes, your photos, your stories, but most of all you share YOURSELVES with me and you allow me to share all of these things back with you.

YOU'RE SPECIAL TO HIM...

YOU'RE SPECIAL TO ME..

THANK YOU AND GOOD BLESS YOU!

GREAT QUOTES

I, for one love great quotes. Here are 10 of them to share.

• The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.
• Winston Churchill
• In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing
• Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt
• I believe that unarmed truth & unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Winning is not everything - but making the effort to win is.
• Vince Lombardi
• Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either.
• Golda Meir
• Tact: the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
• Abraham (Abe) Lincoln
• The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise then saved by criticism.
• Norman Vincent Peale
• When you're green, you're growing; & when you're ripe, you start to rot.
• Ray Kroc (founder of McDonalds)
• One truth stands firm. All that happens in world history rests on something spiritual. If the spiritual is strong, it creates world history. If it is weak, it suffers world history.
• Albert Schweitzer
• Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion.
• Benjamin Franklin

I'd be interested in which is your favorite and why.

My favorite it Albert Schweitzer's "One truth stands firm. All that happens in world history rests on somethings spiritual. If the spiritual is strong, it creates world history. If it is weak, it suffers world history."

I feel we are in a stage of such spiritual weakness that we are suffering world history.