Worry gets in the way of having a happy life
(Published in The Bay City Tribune May 11, 2011)
Another school year is coming to an end and graduation season is upon us.
High school seniors are celebrating the end of their childhood and are ready to head off to college or trade school.
College students are looking at the end of their school years and the beginning of a whole new life.
While this is a joyful time, a time to celebrate new beginnings, it also can be a scary time.
College graduates, or those high school students who don’t continue on to higher education, no longer have the security of school life.
It is time for them to go out and find jobs to support themselves and a future family.
Some may already have families to support.
My son is graduating from college Friday and is so worried about what is next, he can’t even take joy in what should be one of the happiest times of his life.
He has made it through four years of college by hard work and determination.
He started working his senior year in college and, through scholarships and his job, he will be graduating with no student loans or debts of any kind.
He should be excited about the new beginnings ahead of him instead of worried about what is to come.
While where to go with their lives is a big decision, graduates shouldn’t allow their lives to be consumed with worry about what is to come.
Worry is something all of us struggle with at some point in our lives, almost daily for some of us.
We worry about finding or keeping a job, if we are making the right decisions about where our life should go, where the money to pay for bills will come from during lean times, the decisions our children are making and so much more.
But worry is a useless and wrong frame of mind.
Matthew 6:27 says, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” None of us can.
In fact, worry and stress can affect our health in a negative way and actually subtract time from our lives.
Worry also gets in the way of faith in our life.
When we worry, we assume responsibility for things in our lives we were not intended to handle, we take away from the faith we should have in God to handle all things.
Worrying does not change anything; it only draws away the joy and peace promised to us through our faith in God.
Worry is the opposite of faith, it suggests that God cannot be trusted to provide all we need.
Worry allows fear to take the place of faith.
Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
By taking our worries and turning them over to God we can, through faith, know that everything will turn out according to His will, that we aren’t alone in making decisions and working out problems.
He is always there with us, guiding us.
All we have to do is turn over our cares, listen to His voice and follow where He leads.
Matthew 6:34 says,” Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
We should replace all of our worries and anxious thoughts by offering thanksgiving from our hearts that are full of trust in God as all sufficient, as a provider of all our needs.
Then we can fully embrace joy and peace, two of the Fruits of the Spirit, as promised us by God.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Mother's Day column
Mothers should be honored every day of the year
(Published in The Bay City Tribune May 4, 2011)
This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day, a day set aside to honor our mothers. Many children, both those who are still children and those who are already grown, fathers and husbands are scrambling to find the perfect card or gift or deciding on a place to take the mothers in their lives to a special meal on Sunday.
I know I will take advantage of the day to let my mother, stepmother and mother-in-law know how much I love and appreciate them — they have all been wonderful, loving influences in my life. Only I want them to know I appreciate them more than just that one day a year. We should honor our mothers, and our fathers, each and every day of our lives. Ephesians 6:1-3 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise – that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life.”
As a mother, I know what a difficult, exhausting and sometimes thankless job it can be to raise children. I also know what a blessing it is to be given the gift of children to raise. Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” I thank Him every day for the reward He has given me. Not only did He give me three sons of my own, He also gave me three more when He brought my husband into my life. Never will I think of any one of those six boys, three of them are young men now, as any less my son than I will another. They are all precious gifts given to me.
It isn’t always easy. In fact sometimes I wonder what I did to “deserve” such a gift. But then I think about how much they have brought to my life, how much I have learned through raising them and how much better a person I am through them. Without knowing the love a mother has for her children, I wouldn’t even be able to imagine the love the Father has for me. No matter what my boys do, my love for them will never lessen, just as the Father’s love for us never dims.
I have struggled long and hard through my life with patience. There is nothing in the world that can teach you patience like being a parent can. That isn’t a battle that I have always conquered but it is one that, with the Lord’s help, I am much closer to winning than I was before. Selfishness is not even an option for mothers. The children come first, period. Past wrongdoings of the child are put aside and forgotten, anger is overcome by a smile or a whispered word of love and all that is remembered at the end of the day is what a wonderful gift we have been given.
I Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous; is not proud; is not conceited; does not act foolishly; is not selfish; is not easily provoked to anger; keeps no record of wrongs; takes no pleasure in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”
That verse says so much. It pretty much describes the love a mother has for her children. It tells us how we should love as parents, as children, as husbands and wives, as brothers and sisters on Earth and as the children of God. We show our love for God through our love for one another.
Proverbs 31:10-12 and 25-31 serves beautifully as a final word on honoring the women in our lives:
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life.
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
(Published in The Bay City Tribune May 4, 2011)
This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day, a day set aside to honor our mothers. Many children, both those who are still children and those who are already grown, fathers and husbands are scrambling to find the perfect card or gift or deciding on a place to take the mothers in their lives to a special meal on Sunday.
I know I will take advantage of the day to let my mother, stepmother and mother-in-law know how much I love and appreciate them — they have all been wonderful, loving influences in my life. Only I want them to know I appreciate them more than just that one day a year. We should honor our mothers, and our fathers, each and every day of our lives. Ephesians 6:1-3 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise – that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life.”
As a mother, I know what a difficult, exhausting and sometimes thankless job it can be to raise children. I also know what a blessing it is to be given the gift of children to raise. Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” I thank Him every day for the reward He has given me. Not only did He give me three sons of my own, He also gave me three more when He brought my husband into my life. Never will I think of any one of those six boys, three of them are young men now, as any less my son than I will another. They are all precious gifts given to me.
It isn’t always easy. In fact sometimes I wonder what I did to “deserve” such a gift. But then I think about how much they have brought to my life, how much I have learned through raising them and how much better a person I am through them. Without knowing the love a mother has for her children, I wouldn’t even be able to imagine the love the Father has for me. No matter what my boys do, my love for them will never lessen, just as the Father’s love for us never dims.
I have struggled long and hard through my life with patience. There is nothing in the world that can teach you patience like being a parent can. That isn’t a battle that I have always conquered but it is one that, with the Lord’s help, I am much closer to winning than I was before. Selfishness is not even an option for mothers. The children come first, period. Past wrongdoings of the child are put aside and forgotten, anger is overcome by a smile or a whispered word of love and all that is remembered at the end of the day is what a wonderful gift we have been given.
I Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous; is not proud; is not conceited; does not act foolishly; is not selfish; is not easily provoked to anger; keeps no record of wrongs; takes no pleasure in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”
That verse says so much. It pretty much describes the love a mother has for her children. It tells us how we should love as parents, as children, as husbands and wives, as brothers and sisters on Earth and as the children of God. We show our love for God through our love for one another.
Proverbs 31:10-12 and 25-31 serves beautifully as a final word on honoring the women in our lives:
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life.
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
How Shelly's Story began
Easter: A time to learn to forgive self and others
(Published in The Bay City Tribune April 24, 2011)
Easter Sunday brings to mind Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, colored eggs and jelly beans.
Children are eagerly anticipating Easter egg hunts and visits from a giant bunny that hides brightly colored eggs or plastic eggs filled with treats.
As a parent I spent many years filling Easter baskets and hiding eggs.
My children are older now; the youngest will be in high school next year.
While he has still put in a request for a chocolate bunny, “the biggest you can find, please,” the marketing appeal of Easter has been put away to be replaced by the real reason for the day.
Easter, or as our pastor calls it in an effort to remind people what we really celebrate, “Resurrection Day,” is a time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice.
Our Father gave his Son on the Cross as our Savior, to forgive us of our sins. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed.”
After Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, he was resurrected to take his place with the Father.
As a parent, I cringe and even feel physical pain any time my children are hurt, either physically or emotionally.
One of my sons went through a phase of “gauging” his ears.
The holes in his ears were so big that when he took one of the gauges out you could see through it to the other side.
I couldn’t even bear to look at his ears.
Another son is going through some difficult times emotionally right now that I wish I could just fix for him, but I can’t. I can only be there to support him.
If even these small things are hard as a parent, can you even imagine how the Father felt as his son was beaten and hung on the cross to die?
No, there is no imagining that for me.
My mind won’t even go there. But God did. Why?
For us, to give us forgiveness and salvation through His Son.
If He can do that, who are we that we can’t offer simple forgiveness in our lives?
I know there are hard things to forgive.
Things go on in this world that I can’t even wrap my mind around.
It is something that I struggle with and have to work on each and every day.
Some things are much easier to forgive than others. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
Not only must we forgive others; but we must forgive ourselves.
That can be much harder than it seems.
Seeking forgiveness allows us to receive God’s mercy and a forgiving spirit brings blessings from God and good to ourselves and others.
Don’t let the Father’s sacrifice of his Son be forgotten.
Accept the forgiveness given freely to you and extend it to those in your life, including yourself.
(Published in The Bay City Tribune April 24, 2011)
Easter Sunday brings to mind Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, colored eggs and jelly beans.
Children are eagerly anticipating Easter egg hunts and visits from a giant bunny that hides brightly colored eggs or plastic eggs filled with treats.
As a parent I spent many years filling Easter baskets and hiding eggs.
My children are older now; the youngest will be in high school next year.
While he has still put in a request for a chocolate bunny, “the biggest you can find, please,” the marketing appeal of Easter has been put away to be replaced by the real reason for the day.
Easter, or as our pastor calls it in an effort to remind people what we really celebrate, “Resurrection Day,” is a time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice.
Our Father gave his Son on the Cross as our Savior, to forgive us of our sins. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed.”
After Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, he was resurrected to take his place with the Father.
As a parent, I cringe and even feel physical pain any time my children are hurt, either physically or emotionally.
One of my sons went through a phase of “gauging” his ears.
The holes in his ears were so big that when he took one of the gauges out you could see through it to the other side.
I couldn’t even bear to look at his ears.
Another son is going through some difficult times emotionally right now that I wish I could just fix for him, but I can’t. I can only be there to support him.
If even these small things are hard as a parent, can you even imagine how the Father felt as his son was beaten and hung on the cross to die?
No, there is no imagining that for me.
My mind won’t even go there. But God did. Why?
For us, to give us forgiveness and salvation through His Son.
If He can do that, who are we that we can’t offer simple forgiveness in our lives?
I know there are hard things to forgive.
Things go on in this world that I can’t even wrap my mind around.
It is something that I struggle with and have to work on each and every day.
Some things are much easier to forgive than others. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
Not only must we forgive others; but we must forgive ourselves.
That can be much harder than it seems.
Seeking forgiveness allows us to receive God’s mercy and a forgiving spirit brings blessings from God and good to ourselves and others.
Don’t let the Father’s sacrifice of his Son be forgotten.
Accept the forgiveness given freely to you and extend it to those in your life, including yourself.
Entering a new territory
Have you ever wondered how in the world you end up at a certain place in your life?
If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would be managing editor for a newspaper I would have laughed until my stomach hurt.
If they had told me I would be divorced, raise three children on my own, buy my own vehicle and my own house, before meeting and marrying the wonderful man God had chosen for me, I would have laughed even harder.
But that is exactly how my life has turned out. Now I have been called to do something even more difficult to imagine.
I recently started writing what I call a Christian slice of life column for my newspaper.
While I grew up going to church and knowing God and accepting Jesus as my savior, I was not baptized until I was in my 30s. Even then I was not in a church that taught me how to live a true Christian life. That is something I am still in the process of learning and will continue learning for the rest of my time here on earth.
When I felt the call to write my first Christian column a couple of months ago, I was hesitant. After all, what do I know? What if I got something "wrong"? What if it sounded stupid or people told me I had no business writing something like that?
But the call to write it was even stronger than the fear, so I wrote. Then I wondered if the publisher would even allow me to put it in the paper, but he did. And I got none of the complaints or criticism I was worried would come. Instead people were telling me how much they liked reading it.
After that I began publishing a column every week in the Religion section of the paper. I still am unsure often about what I am writing or how to write it. But I have found a lot of prayer before beginning, for what to write about and how it should be written, is a fail free way to produce that weekly column.
When I stop letting the Lord lead in my writing and try to take control myself I find my hands freezing on the keyboard and the words stop coming. As soon as I turn it back over to Him, the words start flowing freely again.
So now, at 41, I am starting a new chapter in my life. I am even starting this blog, which I have to admit I had no clue how to start a blog before today. But the Lord has given me a talent in my writing and provided me an opportunity to share His word through that talent.
I have no religious training or background other than being one of God's children. I am just a woman looking to Him for guidance in my life and hoping to share some of the ways He has led me through the things we all face in this life.
Maybe by sharing what He has done for me and my family and loved ones it will help someone else who is going through the same type of things.
1 Peter 4:11
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would be managing editor for a newspaper I would have laughed until my stomach hurt.
If they had told me I would be divorced, raise three children on my own, buy my own vehicle and my own house, before meeting and marrying the wonderful man God had chosen for me, I would have laughed even harder.
But that is exactly how my life has turned out. Now I have been called to do something even more difficult to imagine.
I recently started writing what I call a Christian slice of life column for my newspaper.
While I grew up going to church and knowing God and accepting Jesus as my savior, I was not baptized until I was in my 30s. Even then I was not in a church that taught me how to live a true Christian life. That is something I am still in the process of learning and will continue learning for the rest of my time here on earth.
When I felt the call to write my first Christian column a couple of months ago, I was hesitant. After all, what do I know? What if I got something "wrong"? What if it sounded stupid or people told me I had no business writing something like that?
But the call to write it was even stronger than the fear, so I wrote. Then I wondered if the publisher would even allow me to put it in the paper, but he did. And I got none of the complaints or criticism I was worried would come. Instead people were telling me how much they liked reading it.
After that I began publishing a column every week in the Religion section of the paper. I still am unsure often about what I am writing or how to write it. But I have found a lot of prayer before beginning, for what to write about and how it should be written, is a fail free way to produce that weekly column.
When I stop letting the Lord lead in my writing and try to take control myself I find my hands freezing on the keyboard and the words stop coming. As soon as I turn it back over to Him, the words start flowing freely again.
So now, at 41, I am starting a new chapter in my life. I am even starting this blog, which I have to admit I had no clue how to start a blog before today. But the Lord has given me a talent in my writing and provided me an opportunity to share His word through that talent.
I have no religious training or background other than being one of God's children. I am just a woman looking to Him for guidance in my life and hoping to share some of the ways He has led me through the things we all face in this life.
Maybe by sharing what He has done for me and my family and loved ones it will help someone else who is going through the same type of things.
1 Peter 4:11
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
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