David and Goliath

A week or so ago Phil, our preacher at Church, spoke on David and Goliath. I have been thinking  about his lesson and have gone back and read I Samuel 17 several times. David had faced some "giants" in his life before coming face to face with Goliath. He had experienced God's presence when he was faced with a lion and a bear trying to steal his sheep. He acknowledges that God was with him and rescued him from these "giants". 

We all have "giants" in our lives that we face....some we overcome and move on hopefully learning from our battles. Some of us will face the same "giants" every day of our lives.....alcoholism, pornography, gambling, overeating, over spending......any number of things that hold us captive and we struggle daily to face these things....our "giants".....and it's hard. God tells us that it is hard BUT that he will be with us as we face these "giants". WE ARE NOT ALONE IN OUR BATTLES!!

There are a couple of verses that have really been eating at me.....well really.....God trying to tell me something!! LOL In I Samuel 17: 38-39 Saul is preparing David to face Goliath. He dresses him in his own tunic, gives him a coat of armor, a helmet made of bronze and a sword. David tried walking around and it just didn't feel right....too much for him to carry.....David tells Saul that he cannot wear these things because he was not used to them. 

In the battles David had faced with the lion and the bear he didn't have any special armor.....it was him and God against the lion and the bear. I have thought about this a lot......Isn't all we need when face our "giants" is God on our side? People give advice when we are struggling and and we can hear 50 different ways to handle a situation.....or be told how we should feel.....what direction or decision we should make.....all of the people that love us and care for us. Many times we listen to them and try to face our "giants" by taking the advice and it just doesn't work for us....we feel uncomfortable and insecure with no confidence.

I have thought a lot about the fact that all David knew was that God had been with him in the past as he faced the lion and the bear.....he states: "The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of the Philistine." David didn't fear this "giant" because God had never let him down. 

When we are fearful of the "giants" in our lives....it's not our friends and family we should go turn to for help.....the first place we should go to be equipped to face our "giants" is God.....His word....He will be the one to equip us for our battles. He alone is all we need to shed our fear and overcome the "giants" in our lives!!!

Friends, this has really hit me hard....I have a tendency to ask people's advice on things....not just one person but several.....all giving me different answers. When God and His word is the FIRST place I should go when I have "giants" in my life to face. I believe the more "giants" we overcome with God on our side.....the more confident and stronger we become to put the "giant's" behind us and go about doing God's will!

Now for a funny story about David and Goliath!!!

Last year I had the privilege of taking Cooper my then 3 year old grandson to his daycare every day. Brad would drop him off at my house on the Southside of town and we would travel the 15 to 20 minutes it takes to get across town. Cooper is very talkative.....I know.....can't imagine where he gets that!! He also has a wild imagination.....so you can imagine the conversations we had over the 9 months. I have written them down and saved them and I also shared them with his parents. I want to share one conversation we had and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoy sharing it.....you will never be able to read about David and Goliath again without laughing. 
 

This is how our conversation went this morning particular morning:

 

Cooper:  Granny, did you know there was a man as tall as a building?

Granny:  There was?

Cooper:  Yes and this little boy killed him with a rock!

Granny:  Are you talking about David and Goliath?

Cooper:  Yes, the little boy David threw a rock at the tall man and killed him! And the tall man had a sword!!!

Granny:  David was a very brave boy!!

Cooper:  Me and David were friends.

Granny:  You were?

Cooper:  Yes, I helped him kill the tall man!

Granny:  You did?

Cooper:  Yes, I put a rock in my slingshot and "slinged" it around and around and hit the tall man with it. Then my friend David put a rock in his   slingshot and "slinged" it around and hit Goliath in the head and killed him and fell right on his face!!!

Granny:  Wow Cooper you are really brave!

Cooper:  Yes but that was a long time ago!

Granny:  It was?

Cooper:  Yes a really long, long time ago!

Granny:  How old were you when you were friends with David and shot your slingshot at the tall man?

Cooper:  Oh probably about 5 years old.....it was a really long, long time ago!!!!

 

 From my corner of the world.......facing my "giants" with God on my side!!!

Unanswered Prayers

Have you ever taken the time to think about all of the unanswered prayers that in your perspective God didn't answer? Maybe He didn't heal your loved one of the cancer.....Maybe He didn't save your marriage from ending......Maybe you didn't get the job promotion you wanted and deserved....Maybe He didn't save your teen from the life of drug and alcohol abuse. I have had some of my prayers not answered the way that I thought I wanted them answered. Leaving me questioning God and His will in my life and the lives of those that I love.

I have often thought about the unanswered prayers that I God has blessed me with.....yes blessed me with unanswered prayers. There have been times that I just knew that God had opened a door for me....it was so obvious to me. I prayed about the decision.....because that was what I was supposed to do....ask God for guidance.....only to find that the door slammed in my face!! Really God.....that door had my name on it. Then two months.....a year....maybe even 5 years down the road...I would look back and see that my prayer really had been answered.....by God not answering it!!! What I wanted to happen was not what God had in His plan for me.

Often we don't understand why God closes some door and opens others. We pray and pray asking for what we honestly believe to be the very thing that God is calling us to only to find out God had a completely different road for us to travel down. As I look back on some of the hardest trials and heartaches that God has brought me though.....they have been some of the greatest blessings in my life! Losing my parents....I thought that was probably the hardest thing I would ever have to endure. I often asked God "Why? Why my mom and dad and why now.....when they were so young?" I still needed them.....my kids were young and they needed their Granny and Papa!!!! As hard as that was to lose them at that time in my life.....I grew in faith more that I thought would be possible......I had to lean on God and not on my own understanding!! He carried me when I couldn't walk. When my marriage ended about 27 years I was devastated, heartbroken, lost and it almost destroyed me! Once again I asked God the why questions....."Why me....why now after all the years of loving him.....what am I going to do....how will I make it on my own?" So many questions. I prayed daily that God would restore my marriage bring my ex-husband back to me....didn't happen....unanswered prayers. Or so I thought!

I look back and realize that God was working the whole time in my life during the hardest of times. He was indeed answering my prayers. Sometimes it took a long time to see or feel the answers but God was working on me and with me to bring me to where I am today. I may not have been able to see Him working and sometimes I couldn't even feel Him working.....but He never stopped blessing me....loving me and working on my "unanswered prayers".

Because of some of the unanswered prayers in my life I have been given the greatest blessings and my life is overflowing with love and joy. I may not always understand the will of God or the paths that He leads me down or the doors He opens for me BUT what I do know is that God is in control and that He knows the master plan and He knows now what I will need in 1 year.....3 years....10 years from now. All of His answered prayers and unanswered prayers are Him working on me....molding me and nudging me to be all that He wants and needs me to be!! I love Him for loving me enough NOT to answer all of my prayers and to bless me with some "No" answers and closed doors!! I now understand when my prayers are not answered - it's for a reason only God knows!!

 God is good!!

Garth Brooks......I know I'm dating myself now....he sang a song entitled Unanswered Prayers. Here are just a few lines:

Sometimes I thank God, for unanswered prayers
Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care
Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers.

Some of God’s greatest gifts…are unanswered,
Some of God’s greatest gifts…are all too often unanswered...
Some of God’s greatest gifts…are unanswered prayer

From my corner of the world......thanking God for unanswered prayers!!

Empty Nesters

Having an empty nest is WONDERFUL!! Some of you may think that since Ken and I have only been married for a short time....4 1/2 years....that we can't appreciate the empty nest. Well in the 4 years that we have been married all four of you kids have lived with us at one time or another. There have been a couple of times when we had two of them living with us. So yes we may have been older and our kids grown when we got married but we still can appreciate the empty nest.

I know that I am not the only one that really likes and enjoys the empty nest. I have had several conversations with couples of our age and they too rave about the empty nest. I have compiled a list of 10 things I like about an empty nest. These are in no certain order and not listed of any order of significant....just random reasons why I love an empty nest:

• I DON'T HAVE TO COOK...Ken and I are good with eating popcorn, cereal and such for meals. I know it's great isn't it?. We got out to eat a lot....almost as cheap to eat out as it is to buy the food and cook....at least in my thinking. AND when I do cook....Ken is soooo happy he will eat whatever I put in front of him!!! LOL
• I can get the laundry done in 3 loads instead of 6 or 7 or even 12 loads. Yup....definitely not as much clothes to wash!!! Or to fold!!! On a side note the only clothes that I won't wash are Kens scrubs....not sure what might be on them and what they have been exposed to....he has to wash his scrubs!!! LOL
• It's QUIET.....the TV isn't on all the time....no loud music is coming from different rooms....different stations!! AHHHH we like quiet....not all the time but it is nice to sit and be quiet with each other!
• We each have our own bathrooms. I love this one!!! I don't have to wait to get into the (my) bathroom to get ready in the mornings. I have my stuff arranged how I like it and no body uses my stuff and doesn't put it back.....You all know what I am talking about!!! LOL
• We don't have to wear clothes if we don't want! I know that is too much information but all you empty nesters have to admit being able to walk out of your bedroom in your birthday suit is pretty good! Am I right?? YES....sorry kids I know that is putting bad images in your head but just wait until you have an empty nest!!! LOL
• Our grocery bill is incredibly low!! It's like having a pay raise!! Seriously!! We don't have to go to the grocery store as often and we don't spend as much....well except on all the snacks that the grand kids like that their mom and dad's won't let them have but Granny and Papa Ken will!!! LOL
• There is plenty of time to spend on our hobbies and favorite things to do. Ken LOVES his model railroads!! He spends hours out in his "train house" in the back yard....doesn't bother me....I know where he is and what he is doing!! I often go out there just to be with him!! I love to read.....can I say that again....I love to read!! I love to sew too...so while Ken is with his trains.....I am reading or sometimes sewing!! And sometimes I will read out in the "train house" while Ken is running his trains!! Perfect!! LOL
• I get to have Ken all to myself!! It's just him and me and we can sit and talk, watch a movie, go out with friends or stay home and snuggle on the couch. I can have his undivided attention and he has mine!! We can spend hours staring into each other's eyes....have I mentioned that he has the most beautiful blue eyes? LOL
• Travel.....we can get up and go anytime we want to....and we do!! We don't have to worry about school schedules, or ball games. We can just plan a trip, make the reservations and GO!! And there is plenty of room to put all the fun stuff we buy along the way!! LOL
• The house stays clean! I don't have to pick up all the time because most of the time Ken and I will pick up after ourselves. Yes I still hate to do the dishes BUT when I don't cook much there isn't many dishes to wash!!! The only time the house gets really messy is when the grand kids are at the house and that my friends is a great thing to have to clean up!! LOL

So there you have it 10 of my favorite reasons that I LOVE the empty nest!!

From my corner of the world.....loving Ken and my empty nest!!