Worry, Fear, Anxiety, Depression

These are words we hear often these days. Most of us have experienced these feelings at times and for some they are a serious daily battle. We live in a troubled world and in troubled times. How do we deal with all of the possible tragedies that are just lurking around waiting to crush us? We all know that our world as we know it could be changed in a moment by one, single event.

I was reading an article today that showed Muslims marching through the streets of LONDON holding up signs with threats to behead, butcher and destroy anyone who mocks Islam. One of the signs even said: "Be prepared for the REAL Holocaust! Another sign said: "Islam will dominate the world!" Still another sign read: "Europe, take some lessons from 9/11." And....one more sign said: "Freedom, go to HELL."

With this kind of threat to our world, with the shooting that just took place at Fort Hood,  with sicknesses such as the H1N1 threatening to flatten us & a myriad of other "fears" we are hit with continually, where do we find peace? How do we keep from fearing that we may be the next target of some horrible tragedy?

As I was reading my Bible today, I decided to do a little study on the word "fear."

The more I studied, the more excited I got!

Did you know that we are actually supposed to fear something? The Bible is full of scriptures that command us to fear the LORD!!! That is the one fear we are supposed to embrace!

In Deuteronomy 6:13 it says: "Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name."

and in Proverbs 19:9 it says: "The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever, the ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous."

Psalm 33:8-11 says: "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever., the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Psalm 34:7-10 says: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

In Psalm 111:10 it says: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise."

There are oodles and oodles of scriptures throughout the Bible that command us to fear the Lord!

Here's another one: Psalm 46:1-3 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

Verses 10 & 11 of that same scripture say: "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Wow! I am so pumped up with excitement and reminded again that God is my Sabbath rest!

He is so much stronger than any man or anything on this earth......so why do I still give into fear sometimes?

I was reading in Hebrews and I found this passage rather interesting:

Hebrews 5:7-11: "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. "Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek."

Did Jesus shirk his suffering? Did he run away, try to avoid it, rebel against it? NO.....instead, he ran to his father and pleaded his case through tears....obviously he agonized over what he knew was to come! But....the key here is his "reverent submission." He didn't submit because he knew he had to. He chose to  reverently submit. He was willing to obey out of reverence for his Father. I decided to look up the word "reverent" and this is what I found:

·  feeling or showing profound respect or veneration; "maintained a reverent silence"

·  godly: showing great reverence for god; "a godly man"; "leading a godly life"

·  showing respect or reverence; respectful

·  reverence - fear: a feeling of profound respect for someone or something; "the fear of God"; "the Chinese reverence for the dead"; "the French treat food with ...

·  reverence - a reverent mental attitude

·  reverence - regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of; "Fear God as your father"; "We venerate genius"

So.....Here's the exciting thing the Lord showed me: If I am taking the things I'm not supposed to fear to the One I am supposed to fear, I will have peace! I just have to humble myself and obey the Lord, give up all rights to the control I don't posess anyway and trust HIM!

 Phillipians 4:4-7says: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When I was growing up and we would visit our grandparents, at some point during that visit my Grandpa would make it a point to seek out each of us grandkids and look us in the eye.

He would then ask us how we were doing....at least this is what he would ask me. If I was struggling with anything or even if everything was going great, Grandpa would always take my hand in his big hand and with passion and kindness in his voice he would say: Remember Proverbs 3:5,6, Jana: "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he SHALL make your paths straight."

He would then, with emotion in his eyes and care in his voice say:

 "Stay close to Jesus, Jana"

Wow! I had no idea then, the impact those simple words would have on me for the rest of my life. If I do those two simple things he ingrained in me every time I saw him, I have peace! When I start leaning on my own understanding and looking for answers to life's questions in other places.....I get further and further from Jesus and then caos and confusion begin to rule and reign in my mind.

It's like Peter.....he could walk on water as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus! I can walk boldly with confidence and peace if I give up my lowly humanity and right to control......and cast all of my worries, cares & frustrations, on him....and keep my eyes on him and look to him for understanding. He always, faithfully guides me and helps me to see things with clarity. When my eyes are on him, caos and confusion cease to exist.

Life with Jesus is so simple.

We, in our humanity make it tough. When we put our eyes on the circumstances we come up against or in evil threats or in illnesses or numerous other things that could happen, life becomes difficult confusing & we find ourselves sinking down, down, down.....drowning in the depths of depression. Jesus wants us to keep our eyes on him and when we do, we will "walk on water" without fear.

So be encouraged!

 I wrote this song several years ago when I was going through a really hard trial & recently sang it for a Mom's Night Out:

Just Rest In Me

Verse 1: Steam rising up from the coffee in my cup. Tears falling down in little tiny drops. My burdens are heavy, my cross seems too great to bear. I ask the Lord for mercy and relief from all my cares.

Chorus: He answers: Just rest in me. I'll help you through the storm. you'll feel it beating all about but you will not be harmed. Will you trust me totally? I'll make you stronger through it. Will you put your hand in mine and let me walk you through it?

Verse 2: I take a sip of coffee as I think about my pain. I wonder why this storm has come and what there is to gain. Oh Lord, why me, I cry? What good can come from this? I'm weary and I'm worn, this I must confess.

Chorus

Bridge: As I meditate on him and read his Holy Word, I feel his presence in the room, his comfort strong and sure. I know he wants the best for me. He understands my heart.

 He knows what storms I must go through and that each one plays a part.......in making me more like him; a good work he's begun. He'll bring it to completion as I look to his Son.

Verse 3/Revised chorus: I answer, yes I'll rest in you. You'll help me through the storm. I'll feel it beating all about and I know I won't be harmed. I will trust you totally. You'll make me stronger through it. I'll put my hand in your big hand and let you walk me through it.

I'll put my hand in your big hand.......and let......you.....walk me through it.

God bless you!

Jana

So......EVERYONE goes to the pumpkin patch in the fall, right?

If you are plum sick of pumpkin patch pictures, STOP right here!

This has potential to be VERY boring for you!

Last Tuesday was our Co-op's little field trip

 and we had a nice time. We managed to make it through the field with only a couple of raindrops descending from above & a fair amount of wind, but it wasn't too bad!

First stop:

The Bouncy House.

Levi thought this stop was the ONLY stop on the agenda so in typical 2 year old fashion he made his displeasure known as I attempted to whisk him away. I really didn't think everyone at the patch needed to know whose son he was in that moment, so I waved goodbye to him, joined the group & left him in his nice, soft spot in the grass.....loudly doing his little two year old displeasure thing as we waved bye-bye to him & headed off to enjoy a hay ride. As soon as our big group walked away, it got really quiet behind us and the next thing I knew two chubby little legs were running like crazy accompanied with a little voice calling: "Mommy, I come too...Me too?"

In spite of his naughtiness, he is incredibly cute! Now, if we could just keep the cuteness & be done with the naughty part, we would have a really sweet little deal on our hands. Experience tells me it's not gonna happen though.

So, as you can see below, our cute sinner was having a great time in the big bouncy house! How RUDE of his mother to make him go on a hay ride!

We all climbed in the big wagon & got seated on the hay bales. I whipped out my handy dandy camera and had a great time snapping pictures of our happy group.....can ya tell they weren't all that thrilled with the snap happy mom sitting across from them?

After a while they stopped noticing my little camera and started to enjoy the ride.

Next stop

The train depot!

Whoo hoo....

All Aboard!!!

And we were off!

When we arrived back at the train depot, my friend, Sarah was there with her kids. She had her two youngest children in a wheel barrow & it was so cute I couldn't resist a little more snapping:

This is a nice seat!

The had some great looking pumpkins on that farm!

My wonderful friend; Donna!

And another wonderful friend: Karla, with her youngest daughter

The kids had a great time feeding the animals at the petting zoo

And the suckers from the little store were a big hit, while feeding the animals.....

Back at the train depot for another spin around the farm.

A couple of cute passengers

Getting settled in their seats.....sort of....

Next stop

Tractor Rides!

Anyone brave enough to let this guy take you for a ride?

Okay, so they didn't drive them.....but they did have a great time sitting on them & this time they didn't mind the snap happy mommy with the camera. They even smiled!

Time to pick up our pumpkins and head for home

And....

that's a wrap, folks!

Blessings,

Jana

From Little Boys

Come Men......

How does this happen?

It seems to me that a boy needs to be around men, modeling after them, gaining wisdom and instruction from them, watching them love others in a manly way and a boy needs to have the personal experience of being loved by a man in order to learn how to become one.

It is an amazing thing to watch a little boy morph into a man.

I've seen this phenomenon a few times, but it's a vastly different experience when it's your own little boy that you see growing up, watching his Daddy, looking up to him.......eyes shining with pride & that special and priceless message emanating from your son's eyes as he looks at his Dad &.looks up to his Dad. That message reads:

"That's my Dad &

  I'm gonna be just like him when I grow up!"

How does a boy become a man?

What does it take to be a man?

Our society today has demasculanized men to an alarming degree. No longer is it okay for men to do the basic, manly things that God wired them to enjoy. Eyebrows go up, tsk, tsk, tsk is heard from the lips of folks who look on with disdain when a man acts like a real man should. Men are supposed to cry now, to be wimpy, lazy, fat, overindulgent, soft, laid back, beer drinking, belching, womanizing  idiots who let their wives walk all over them. At least those are the images of "men" that are portrayed in many of the popular sitcoms and movies these days.

There's nothing wrong with a man showing tenderness, even shedding a tear now and then.

There's nothing wrong with a man expressing himself & the fact that he has feelings. However, the men in my life that I truly admire, respect, adore and feel safe with are the men who are tough.....rugged, God fearing, strong, kind, gentle, steadfast, caring, morally upright, men who know what it takes to really love. The men in my life that I adore are the ones that I know would give the shirt off their backs to help someone in need. They will cradle a baby tenderly in their arms, get down on their hands and knees and play with children, making them laugh & obviously enjoying that play time as much as the kids do. These same men are not afraid to challenge those kids to grow.They're not afraid to chastise them when necessary and to help them see the impact their behavior has on others. These same men lead their families in prayer, share God's love with them, lay down their lives for them & make sacrifices every single day for their loved ones.

The men in my life that I admire the most are my Dad, my late Grandpa and my husband. They really "get" what it takes to be a man.They love with abandon, appreciate the opinions and input from their wives, they work hard to make a living, they take a strong leadership role in the family, but they are not controlling or demanding. They can laugh at life and laugh at themselves. They have an outstanding sense of humor. They are balanced, rugged, manly & most of all godly. My Dad raised my brothers to be like this. They are all faithful, loyal, hard working men who genuinely love their wives and make sacrifices for them every day.

"Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. " Ephesians 5:25-28

God's Word teaches the balance of true love from a godly standpoint.

God created men to be the providers for their families & to love them, care for them & protect them.

Sometimes the things men do with their children leave us moms speechless, on our knees in prayer, wringing our hands & downright scared. But, if we stop them. or interfere, we also aid in demasculanizing them and thwart the growth of our own children. Our kids, and especially our boys, need to know that it's okay to take risks in life and they need to learn how to do so in the safest way possible. This is why the way men relate to them is so important. We are the ones who will snuggle them, kiss their owies, comfort them, etc. Those are motherly things to do. But a man will wrestle roughly, swing a child up onto his shoulders, let them climb a tree while encouraging them and teaching them how to do it safely, toss a child high into the air, teach them how to survive in dangerous situations and even teach them how to hunt, target shoot, use a bow and arrow, rough it in the wilderness & all those other "manly" things boys enjoy and need to have the ability to do. These are the things that balance them out, make them good protectors and providers. They learn critical thinking from their fathers and they learn how to be courageous. 

I am not a risk taker in any way, shape or form. I wring my hands, look the other way and pray hard when my kids climb trees, wrestle and do all those rough playful things. I can't watch when my sons-in-laws and my husband are tossing the kids in the air and playing rough with them. I have to walk away, pray and get my mind focused on something else. I'm so thankful that I am not the only influence in my kids' lives because if I was, I would raise a bunch of sissies, I'm afraid. They need the balance of their Daddy's influence, their brothers-in-laws' and their Papa's in influences. Each of these men relate in different ways to our kids. Each of them are invaluable. Each of them are teaching my children different things and all of it culminates in balance.

I'm grateful every day, that I have such a wonderful and balanced husband. He loves our kids and takes time to relate with each of them where they're at. He has learned their personalities, likes and dislikes, fears, desires etc. and he spends time with them accordingly.

Recently Rich, our son-in-law, Micah and our friend John took Timmy on his very first "plinking" trip.

I asked Micah to take my camera to commemorate the event and I'm so glad he did. Timmy loved every minute of it and came back with a huge grin on his face, animated and somehow a little bit changed. There is a confidence in his step since that trip. There is a little more of a manly look to him.....that only a mom would notice & I think it's mostly because he was with strong, loving, balanced men who took an interest in him. These men had confidence that at 8 years old, Timmy could handle a gun. They enjoyed him, they showed him he is special. The message they gave him was: "You're one of us, Tim!"

Boys Need Men!!!

God is faithful to provide those role models, even if there is no earthly father present. We just have to trust Him, pray for our kids and know that God will mold them into a man if we are willing to step aside and let Him.

Below Dad is teaching Timmy gun safety and "how to's"

First Try:

John giving Tim a hand:

On his own......good form!

And.....one last special picture I found in my camera.

My son-in-law has an awesome sense of humor. We never know what he will say or do and he keeps us laughing every time he is here.

So, I found this little surprise picture in my camera that day. A self photograph of:

Micah!

And that's a wrap, folks!

Blessings,

Jana