Timeless

Les' dad arrived last night.  In his luggage is this Bible:

Bill received it after joining the Navy in 1951 when he was 18 years old.  Nearly 66 years later it is as enduring as ever.  Tucked in that Bible is a note from Grandpa McElhaney written in 1952 telling his youngest son to live right and honor the Lord, and that his dad would be praying for him.

Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."  It is timeless!

Cleaning House

Is there “junk” in your life? What kind? How do you get rid of it?

I decided to use Friday's prompt today because I spent all day yesterday cleaning house.  Tuesday is my regular cleaning day, but everything got a little extra attention because  Les' dad and Lance are arriving before the grand McBRAAM departure on Saturday.  When it comes to cleaning house, the final thing I do is light a candle.  I want my house to be clean, but I do not like the smell of cleaners!

The big thing on my to-do list while Les is gone is going through closets and cabinets.  Since he started working in Hawaii in 2013 we have let a lot of stuff accumulate. I threw our collection of maps away yesterday - some were as old as 1983!  Shoes, clothes, books, etc. will be going in donation boxes.

Of course there is other junk that accumulates.  Les taught a Sunday school lesson last month about forgiveness.  We can't let unforgiveness pile up in the closets of our lives.  Forgiveness is an intentional act.  Even when forgiveness is not requested, we need to forgive in order to get rid of some of the junk in our lives.

It isn't easy to get rid of emotional junk.  Just like cleaning house there are things you have to get rid of over and over.  Old hurts sneak up like dust bunnies and we have to get the vacuum back out.  But Matthew West's song called Forgiveness has this powerful line, "The prisoner that it really frees is you."

It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those who don’t deserve
It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just too real
Takes everything you have to say the word

Forgiveness, forgiveness

It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you’ve got a right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying set it free

Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

It’ll clear the bitterness away
It can even set a prisoner free
There is no end to what its power can do
So let it go and be amazed by
What you see through eyes of grace
The prisoner that it really frees is you

Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

I want finally set it free
Show me how to see what your mercy sees
Help me now to give what You gave to me
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness

Celebrate Good Times

I'm using today's title but not the writing prompt.  This week is the kickoff of a long anticipated event - McBRAAM ~ The McElhaney Brothers' Bicycle Ride Across America.

These two brothers, Lance and Les, will be riding their bicycles across the United States of America!  It has been on their bucket list for years and it is finally going to happen.  Les' dad, Bill, affectionately known as Pops, will be driving the support vehicle.  The route looks something like this:

They will leave Southern California on Saturday, September 30th and plan to be in Savannah, Georgia by Saturday, October 28th.  The two most common questions I have received:

1.  Are They Crazy??
Well, yes, a little.  Or maybe a lot.  However, this goal is not out of reach.  Les and Lance are both strong riders.  They will not be racing.  Pops will have water, fuel and tools in the van if (when) somethings goes wrong.  All three of them are very intelligent (it's actually kinda scary how smart they are) and they have spent months planning, researching, thinking, and planning some more.

2.  Are You Going With Them?
No.  Originally they had considered renting an RV and Les told me I was welcome to go along for part of the trip.  My response, "I'm not living in a rolling locker room for a month!"  This is a boys' only trip.  I am happy that they are doing this but I am happy to stay home.  I've got a to-do list that is growing and I hope to actually get it all done.  I will be flying to Atlanta during the final week to meet up with them and be in Savannah for the grand finale!

I'll be posting updates here from my perspective from time to time, but if you're interested they plan to blog daily at their own blog ~ McBRAAM.  Let the good times roll!

Writing Prompts September 24-30

September 24 - Standstill
For a moment today, time stands still — but you can tweak one thing while it’s stopped. What do you do?
September 25 - Celebrate good times
You receive some wonderful, improbable, hoped-for good news. How do you celebrate?
September 26 - 2100
The language of the future: what will it be like? Write an experimental post using some imagined vocabulary — abbreviations, slang, new terms.
September 27 - A bend in time
When you’re giddy with excitement, does time speed up? Slow down? Tell us about the experience of anticipation.
September 28 - Ebb and flow
Our blogs morph over time, as interests shift and life happens. Write a post for your blog — but three years in the future.
September 29 - Cleaning house
Is there “junk” in your life? What kind? How do you get rid of it?
September 30 - On the road
If you could pause real life and spend some time living with a family anywhere in the world, where would you go?

No Fair {Repost: If Only I Were God}

Tell us about something you think is terribly unfair — and explain how you would rectify it.

There are many things in life that are terribly unfair but when I started working on this post I remembered something I wrote along this lines several years ago.  I looked for a particular quote, then decided I just needed to re-post the entire thing.  So here it is, "If Only I Were God."

I recently read "I'll Watch the Moon" by Ann Tatlock.  It was an amazing read!  Here is the book description:

When polio stalked Minnesota in 1948, fear was every mother’s constant companion. Young Nova Tierney and her older brother, Dewey, live a mostly idyllic life despite sharing living space with a motley assortment of tenants at the boarding house run by their Aunt Dortha and mother, Catherine. Dewey, nicknamed “Galileo” for his love of astronomy, dreams of some day walking on the moon, and he and Nova spend many happy hours looking at the night sky together in their backyard. When Dewey is hospitalized with polio, Nova promises to watch the moon for him (thus the title) until he is well. But will he recover? In her bitterness over a childhood secret, her late husband’s infidelity and her son’s desperate illness, his mother turns her back on God. “Sometimes, I wonder how we all go on living,” she muses. Hope begins to return when she strikes up a friendship with boarder and Auschwitz survivor Josef Karski.

I didn't know much about the polio epidemic, being born after the vaccine, but it was one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the 20th century.  People who were finally getting their lives back after WW II, were now facing a dreaded disease.  While Dewey is in the hospital, his mother has many conversations with Josef.  She questions how he can go on believing and trusting in God when his entire family was destroyed during the war and he spent years in a concentration camp.  Josef tells her a story that he heard while in Auschwitz.  He questioned if God had turned His back on him.  A Jewish rabbi shared this story with him:

A Jewish rabbi was standing high on a hill with a couple of his students, looking down at the town where his school was. Suddenly a group of Cossacks on horseback attacked the town. As he saw many of his students, along with the men, women, and children of the town being slaughtered, the rabbi looked up to heaven and said, "Oh, if only I were God." One of his students said with astonishment,"But, Master, if you were God, what would you do differently?" To which the rabbi replied, "If I were God I would do nothing differently. If I were God, I would understand."

We often hear people say, "If I were God, I would..."  or "How can a God of love allow such?"  But we are not God.  We can never fully understand His ways.  Josef concluded his story to Catherine with this:

There is so much of suffering that I will never even begin to understand. But I am content in believing that I don't have to understand why the story unravels the way it does so long as I know that in the end everything will be all right.

I've been thinking about my brother Rod a lot lately.  Really missing him!  I could spend the rest of my life saying, "if only I were God..."  But in the end, everything really did turn out all right for Rod.  He left this life, with all its pain and sorrow, and received a crown of life.  If I were God, why would I change that?

Bookworms

Grab the nearest book. Open it and go to the tenth word. Do a Google Image Search of the word. Write about what the image brings to mind.

The nearest book was Mom's Bible.  The following quote is on the inside cover:  "Other books are given for our information.  The Bible was given for our transformation."  The tenth word "was" brought up exactly zero images.  But the word "Bible"... I really didn't even need an image search for it.

The first image that came to my mind is from Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  The Bible can definitely cut at times, but I like what the 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes says, "An amplification taken from the nature of the word of God, so powerful that it enters even to the deepest and most inward and secret parts of the heart, fatally wounding the stubborn, and openly reviving the believers."

Another word in the quote is "transformation."  This image came up and it is very fitting:

I have seen lives transformed by people who embrace the word of God.  There is no greater book, any time, any place than the Bible!

So Many Prompts, So Little Time

I didn't use any of the writing prompts last week - not because I didn't want to, but I really didn't have time.  I was in Fresno Monday and Tuesday for a funeral and that put me behind the rest of the week.  The funeral was for Bro. Richard Hull, the original school principal at Truth Tabernacle Christian School.  I'm so glad I was able to attend - he was a unique person and it was a great celebration of his life.  He's the one we pulled the original April Fool's joke on (read about it here.)  He's also the person who first taught me how to use a computer back when I had a giant Commodore 64!

I was able to sneak in some family time while in Fresno - dinner with my sister, Kim, and her girls, Krysten and Lauren.  I got to see Kim and Rodney's new house and spent the night with the twins.  I also got in lots of hugs from so many of my Truth Tabernacle family.  The only picture I took was on my way there:

This week will be back to normal and now I have two week's worth of writing prompts to choose from!

Writing Prompts September 17-23

September 17 - The cat says meow
Write a story about yourself from the perspective of an object, thing, animal, or another person.
September 18 - Naked, with black socks
Are you comfortable in front of people, or does the idea of public speaking make you want to hide in the bathroom? Why?
September 19 - Are you being served?
What’s the most dreadful (or wonderful) experience you’ve ever had as a customer?
September 20 - No fair
Tell us about something you think is terribly unfair — and explain how you would rectify it.
September 21 - We can be taught!
What makes a teacher great?
September 22 - Practice makes perfect
Tell us about a talent you’d love to have…but don’t.
September 23 - Non sequitur
Write a post about anything you’d like, but be sure to include this sentence somewhere in the final paragraph: “He tried to hit me with a forklift!”

Writing Prompts September 10-16

September 10 - Six of one, half-a-dozen of the other
Write a six-word story about what you think the future holds for you, and then expand on it in a post.
September 11 - Thank you
The internet is full of rants. Help tip the balance: today, simply be thankful for something (or someone).
September 12 - Toy story
What was your favorite plaything as a child? Do you see any connection between your life now, and your favorite childhood toy?
September 13 - Snark bombs, away!
Try your hand at parody or satire — take an article, film, blog post, or song you find misguided, and use humor to show us how.
September 14 - Bookworms
Grab the nearest book. Open it and go to the tenth word. Do a Google Image Search of the word. Write about what the image brings to mind.
September 15 - Sorry, I’m busy
Tell us about a time when you should have helped someone… but didn’t.
September 16 - Super sensitive
If you were forced to give up one sense, but gain super-sensitivity in another, which senses would you choose?

Luxurious

What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?

Merriam Webster defines luxury as:

1:  a condition of abundance or great ease and comfort :  sumptuous environment lived in luxury 
2a :  something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary one of life's luxuries
 b :  an indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease

It wouldn't take long for me to come up with a full list of luxury items that I take for granted. When we lived on Oahu in 2013 we were in a one bedroom apartment.  I learned that I can live without a lot of the luxurious stuff that I think of as necessities.

Ask anyone in a shelter in Texas today and luxuries are the least of their worries - clothes, shoes, a place to sleep and a warm meal feel luxurious when you've lost everything.  Folks in Florida evacuating before Hurricane Irma are deciding what to pack up and what to leave behind.

In 1994 we were hit by the Northridge Earthquake.  I wrote about it following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and said, "The dishes we lost were more than most Haitians will own in a lifetime."  In 2003 Les was in a bicycle accident and the following day a fire devoured the hill behind our house.  In an email to friends and family I wrote this, "I decided to start packing things at that time. If you've never had to determine what is really important in your life and what is not, a fire in the neighborhood will help you do that very quickly. I loaded about 3 boxes of pictures and financial records in the back of our van and decided everything else what just that - things!"

The truth is most of us love our stuff more than we should.  Our "creature comforts" make life easy.  But Jesus said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  (Matthew 6:19-21)

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."  John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible says this, "The Gospel is called a "treasure" which is so styled, because it contains rich truths, and an abundance of them; comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones, for the price of them, their antiquity, distance of place from whence they come, and their duration; because it has in it rich blessings, spiritual ones, the blessings of the new covenant, solid, substantial, and irreversible ones, and a fulness of them; and because it consists of exceeding great and precious promises, of more worth than thousands of gold and silver; free, absolute, and unconditional ones, which are yea and amen in Christ, and relate both to this, and the other world; and also because it exhibits and shows forth to us the riches of God and of Christ, of grace and of glory; which are unsearchable, substantial, satisfying, and durable."

Take this whole world but give me Jesus!  There's nothing more valuable than the treasure of knowing Him.

I Am A Rock

Is it easy for you to ask for help when you need it, or do you prefer to rely only on yourself? Why?

I think it's ironic that this topic came up after last week's post about Jezebel.  Jezebel's name translated in Hebrew is "without cohabitation; an island" which literally means that she will not live in one accord with anyone.  I studied Jezebel during my study of the Women in the Bible in 2015.  Of all the women I studied, she was the most evil.  Not only was she devious, but even after a curse was placed upon her she never humbled herself to ask for help from God or man.   Her final act was "she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. " (2 Kings 9:30)  "Jezebel did this that she might present an imposing appearance to Jehu and die as a queen.  ((Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament) 

In 1624 John Donne wrote, "No man is an island."  I would be foolish to think I can rely completely on myself.  Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.  You can be strong and confident but you will still need help in life.

It can be something as simple as when I asked the worker at Target this morning to reach for something on a shelf.  I'm 5'2" and without a ladder, I wasn't going to get the item. When I started training for my first marathon, I searched for a training plan.  I knew without help that running 26.2 miles was not going to happen.  Of course it's much bigger than that - we need help spiritually, physically, emotionally, and even financially sometimes.

Needing help is a two way street.  There are times when I need help but there are also times when I can help someone in need.  Galatians chapter 6 says, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.  For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." (verse 2, 3, and 10)

"I Need You To Survive"

Chorus:
I need you
You need me
We're all a part of God's body
Stand with me
Agree with me
We're all a part of God's body
It is his will that every need be supplied
You are important to me
I need you to survive
You are important to me
I need you to survive 

Bridge:
I pray for you
You pray for me
I love you
I need you to survive
I won't harm you
With words from my mouth
I love you
I need you to survive

Name that... You!

Do you know the meaning of your name, and why your parents chose it? Do you think it suits you? What about your children’s names?

I had to do a little research for this post.  I have probably read it in the past, but the meaning of my full name, Kathryn Marie, is:

Kathryn:  Pure.  This was the meaning in every language listed.  I know Mom and Dad were looking for a "K" name if I was a girl since our family at the time was Kimberly (woodland clearing of the royal fortress), Richard (powerful leader), and Rodney (fame).  I would have been Randy if I was a boy.

The meaning of my middle name is a little bit different:
Marie:  Wished-for child; rebellion; bitter.   Mom wrote in my baby book, "Kathy is the fulfillment of our fondest dreams, a family of two girls and two boys."  The first definition fits, but hopefully the other two never do.  I'm choosing wish-for child over "pure rebellion."

As far as my name suiting me, after 53 years I can't imagine having any other name.

Writing Prompts September 3-9

September 3 - Blogger with a cause
If your day to day responsibilities were taken care of and you could throw yourself completely behind a cause, what would it be?
September 4 - I am a rock
Is it easy for you to ask for help when you need it, or do you prefer to rely only on yourself? Why?
September 5 - Imagine all the people
The next time you’re in a public place — a coffeehouse, a park, a store — observe the people around you. Pick a person, a couple, or a group, and imagine what their lives might be like.
September 6 - Regrets, I’ve had a few
What’s your biggest regret? How would your life have been different if you’d made another decision?
September 7 - Luxurious
What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?
September 8 - The excitement never ends
Tell us about the last thing you got excited about — butterflies-in-the-stomach, giggling, can’t-wait excited.
September 9 - What a twist
Tell us a story — fiction or non-fiction — with a twist we can’t see coming.

Repost: Book Review ~ Evicting Jezebel

Pastor White briefly mentioned Jezebel during his Bible study on Wednesday night.  I was reminded of this post, originally posted on September 6, 2013.

I downloaded a free book for my Kindle the other day ~ "Evicting Jezebel: The Rising Trend of Aggressive Women."  The book description says this:

Jezebel may float like a butterfly but she stings like a bee!

Case studies are starting to emerge that women and teen girls are becoming more assertive, aggressive and violent. In biblical history, these were all of the tactics and techniques of the queen Jezebel. The contrast of the new creation of the butterfly, Jezebel stings anyone who threatens her ability to control and manipulate others.

Evicting Jezebel sheds light on the alarming trend in aggressive women in our families, communities and churches and searches the Bible for answers by comparing the traits and technique of boxing to the traits and techniques of Jezebel. It also gets to the root so that you can serve her with an eviction notice.

It's only 70 pages, so this was a very quick read, but gave me much to think about. I'm sure I'll be going back and re-reading much of it. Just a few of the highlights:

Chapter 1: Our Decay by the Decade
This is a review of how our society, especially women, has changed since the Sexual Revolution. Television programming has introduced a new breed of women - those who became the head of household while dads stayed home. The women were dominant and assertive. Thirty years after the sexual revolution, Sex & the City made airwaves. Four women who regularly met at bars and talked endlessly about men. The women were successful in their careers, but broken in their personal lives. Of course there are also Desperate Housewives and cougars, women who prey on younger men.

Chapter 2: Who Was She? The Ancient Jezebel
Jezebel's name translated in Hebrew is "without cohabitation; an island" which literally means that she will not live in one accord with anyone. She was a master manipulator who surrounded herself with enablers. She despised men of strength and anointing, they weren't easily manipulated or intimidated.

Chapter 3: Who is She? The Modern Jezebel
The modern day Jezebel is the exact same spirit of the ancient queen of Israel, using the same tactics. This is a comparison of the two Jezebels:



Chapter 4: She Floats like a Butterfly, Stings like a Bee
This chapter is devoted to different types of boxing techniques that Jezebel uses to manipulate those around her. The Jab, the Cross, the Hook, and the Uppercut.  Of course her hits are usually verbal, not physical. She also uses False Innocence, the Blame Game, Victim Mentality, Deflection and Escape. 

Chapter 7: Jezebel in Men.
The goal of the spirit of Jezebel is control, which is found in men when they use strength and violence to obtain control and domination. This is most often seen in domestic violence, rape, and human trafficking.

The Jezebel spirit is found in relationships, friendships, and in the workplace. It is dangerous and destructive.  Jezebel is all about herself.  A godly woman will build up and nurture those around her.  The Biblical example of the contrast of the Jezebel spirit is Ruth:



The Jezebel spirit is found in the home, in the community and even in the church. The only answer is to evict that spirit. Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters," so if the Jezebel spirit is found in someone's heart, His Spirit is not.

The fruit of the Jezebel spirit is found in Proverbs 6:16-19: "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

In contrast, the Fruit of His Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

I didn't mean to write such a lengthy review, but I do highly recommend this book (currently $2.99 on Amazon for Kindle.)  There were more than the usual amount of grammatical errors (missing commas, sentences that didn't make sense, etc.) but it was worth it to keep reading.