New Year, New Perspective

Our last day to live in the year 2009...what will we do today? This last year has been a year full of pleasures, joys, sadness and troubles, yet it is probably like most of my prior years. Lots of changes in my family this year, kids changed schools, started working, stopped working, healthy, ate gluten TWICE and got sick again, friends move...lots of changes. With all the changes it makes me feel unsettled, in a fluid motion I would say. I don't do well with changes. I like things more constant, firm and grounded. It makes me feel secure that way...when I can "predict" and "control" my life. As the year went on and the changes came my way, I would try and figure a way to bring everything back to normal and stable again. VERDICT: I created a lot of inner turmoil for myself and for my sweet family around me.

My sweet husband shared something with me during one of my battles of normalcy and told me in a nutshell that I just need to "Embrace the Change". I had no earthly idea what he was talking about. He shared more with me that I needed to trust in the plans the Lord has given me, trust that He wants the best for me and trust that with God we will all be okay. He was so right. I started falling in love with the word "EMBRACE". Here is what the dictionary says about the word embrace;

1. to take or clasp in the arms; press to the bosom; hug.
2. to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly: to embrace an idea.
3. to avail oneself of: to embrace an opportunity.
4. to take in with the eye or the mind.
5. to encircle; surround; enclose.

I like the second definition, to take or receive gladly or eagerly, accept willingly. That was my answer. I need to trust God. I need to trust in the plans He has for me. I need to embrace the life and circumstances He has for my life and for those whom I love. I need to know that regardless of the current unknowns, that whatever He makes known, I can trust in Him and that He loves me and those I care about...so what can change that...NOTHING! So, for the New Year I am going to work on embracing, not controlling my life.

A thought came to mind when I wrote that. When I embrace, it doesn't mean I sit back and do nothing in my life. It means that I still seek God for the direction of my life, I seek God for wisdom in the decisions that I make, I seek God for His will in my life and then I LIVE, I MAKE DECISIONS, AND I FOLLOW HIS WILL...all the while I embrace the life that unfolds in the process...

Yesterday I had much needed quiet time with the Lord and asked Him to help give me a new perspective on the upcoming year. I didn't want to go about my life doing the same things and expecting different results. I knew that my perspective needed pruned, watered and fed by our Lord Jesus in order for it to change.

So that is my prayer, a new perspective, a God given perspective to live each day according to His will and to live each day with a thankful, and joyful heart. My prayer is to embrace each day and the circumstances that surround me with the strength of the Lord.

Happy New Year!

Beth Moore Simulcast

Finishing one chapter as another begins...

I am sitting at my desk at home just reflecting on life... It seems like yesterday that I was giving birth to my firstborn son Alec, so scared and unsure of the life ahead of me. Alec was such a blessing to me and so many around him. I remember sitting at my work, a single mom, feeling completely inadequate and alone. I literally cried out to God that day as I contemplated whether I could be a mother right now. I remember sitting there in my cubicle as God filled my soul with His peace. I knew that this child growing in me was a gift from God and that this child was going to be used by God and that He would never leave me, I would never be alone. God has kept His promise and blessed me with Alec and an amazing husband Charlie. Charlie adopted Alec as his son on May 5th, 2000. On Thursday, June 12th, Alec will be graduating from the 8th grade from Rancho Community Christian School. My heart is full of so much joy as I watch him grow and mature in the Lord. My heart also aches as I watch my once "Itty Bitty" take another step on his journey in this life.

Alec will be wearing a charcoal gray pinstripe suit tomorrow, wearing a pair of his dads dress shoes...I am so proud of him and the young man is has grown up to be. He is graduating with Honors and has achieved several awards throughout his Middle School years. I think though his greatest accomplishment is that he has learned what it means to give honor and respect to his dad and I and to others around him. Although it has taken ALOT of trials and tribulations for him to learn that, it has been a journey I wouldn't trade for anything.

Please pray for my son as he closes the door behind him and opens the one to high school. Pray that he continue to seek the Lord with all his heart, mind and soul and that he stand firm in His faith and to have courage to share it. Pray that he would not be tempted or in harms way during the next four years and that he would have fun, learn about the world God has created and that he continue to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Alec will be going to Greak Oak High School and was accepted into the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. This is going to be very challenging and time consuming for Alec, but he applied for it and wants to accomplish this goal for himself!

I am so proud of you Alec James Clare! I love you!