Happy New Year 2010

With every new year there is the hope that things will be better than the year before.  We spend a great deal of time reflecting on the past year’s events and labeling them “good” or “bad” in light of how they affected us.  From our list of “bad” things, we develop our list of “hopes”:

• we hope the economy will improve
• we hope there won’t be as much sickness or death in our families
• we hope the storm seasons will be less harsh
• we hope we will behave better in certain areas

 Once we fill up our “hope list,” then what?  Unless we plan to do something about each item, we blindly sit back hoping that "good things come to those who wait" (to coin a very grating cliché).

Still, even when we try to make our hopes come true, placing our hope in failed world systems, the nature of life and death, unpredictable weather patterns, or our own weak will-power tends to result only in broken New Year’s resolutions… just like last year… and all the years before.  With each broken resolution comes a sense of disappointment, failure, or hopelessness.

I declare to you today that there is One in whom you can place your hope who will not disappoint, who cannot fail, and who is never the source of hopelessness – Jesus Christ!

He is not waiting for you only at the stroke of midnight on January 1^st of every year, but every second of every day all year long!  You don’t have to wait for a new year to find new hope, you can find it anytime you’re ready to receive it.

Lamentations 3:22-23

 ²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

 ²³ They are new every morning;
       great is your faithfulness.

Psalm 68:19

 ¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
       who daily bears our burdens.

EVERY DAY – the Lord is compassionate toward YOU.

EVERY DAY – He has grace and mercy to offer YOU.

EVERY DAY – Jesus Christ, our Savior, is ready to bear YOUR burdens.

EVERY DAY.

1 Timothy 4:9-10

 ⁹This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance ¹⁰(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

My hope is in Jesus Christ because He succeeds where the world systems fail, He offers renewed health when sickness wants to cripple and life when death moves in too quickly, He can quiet the raging storms in life (personal and weather related), and His will is perfect where mine is not.

My hope is in Jesus Christ because He is a living God – a risen Savior – who rescues all who believe and call out to Him for help.  He is not a dead or hidden God that is hard to find or hard to reach.

My hope for you is that, even if you are already a believer, you will put your trust in Jesus Christ THIS DAY because I know He is trustworthy and is all the hope you will ever need.

How do I know?

I was there when He rescued me and He hasn’t left me yet.

May your hope be in Christ in 2010!

Facebook Test

This is a test of the new Facebook Privacy Tool.  I will be posting this blog to my Facebook wall and choosing one group of my friends that will not receive it.  Please send me feedback comments to let me know if it worked.

In case you didn't know it, you can put your Facebook friends into groups.  In this way, you can easily sort your friends list to find someone quicker, sort your news feed to read only the posts you want, and more easily select who can and can't see certain items on your profile.  From your "All Friends" page, you can create your own groups to personalize your friends list.  I love this option!

These are the groups I currently use:

Family - for those I am blessed to be related to (or have been in the past)

Church - for those who attend my church with me and are not related to me

High School - for those I went to high school with and am excited to be reconnecting with on Facebook

Marfan World - for those who mutually share this condition in their families

Friends - for those people I know who don't fit into any of the above categories

Random - for businesses or professionals that I am friends with, such as my cousin's photography business, KLOVE radio, my friend's greeting card business, and Safety Graphic Fun.

Game Friends - for those people I play games with, but don't know at all, and have restricted from seeing just about everything on my profile including my friends list and wall posts (so they won't see this at all)

So which group am I excluding from this test?  None of the above!  I created a new group that some of my family and friends will be in as well as their original group.  Yes!  Your friends can be in more than one group if you want them to be.  How cool is that?

The new group is called Children and will "house" all of my family and friends who are in 10th grade and younger.  Some of them may not appreciate being called children, but I can only give the group one name and it's for a specific purpose.  If the Facebook Privacy Tool really works, they won't be reading this anyway (unless they subscribe to my blog, in which case I will appease them with a soda and candy bar of their choice).

Why am I telling you all of this?  Because on occasion, I would like to post news articles to Facebook that I believe are very important to my adult and older teen friends.  They are related to government policies or activist group events that could affect the quality of life for the very children on my friends list.  I want their parents or people who care about them to know, but they don't need to be reading this stuff themselves.

Based on the nature of what I may post (nothing Jesus couldn't look at, I promise!), I will also be including on my Children's list any 11th or 12th grader that I'm not sure of how their parents would feel if they read some of the articles.  After I send some articles, you can notify me if you think it would be ok for them to read what I send.  You may also notify me to let me know if your 11th or 12th grader ISN'T on my list and you'd prefer they are so they DON'T get those particular posts.

If you see an article posted by me with a comment that says "Restricted", you'll know it's one that I have blocked from your children.  In fact, that's why I wrote it on this post.  Please check your children's Facebook accounts to be sure that they DID NOT receive this post.  I want to be sure the Facebook Privacy Tool works before I send out anything they don't need to see.

My prayer is that, as adults, we will be wise in what is going on around us in our world and that we can protect the innocence of our children for as long as possible regardless of what the world thinks they should be exposed to.

Again, if you have children who are on my friends list, please let me know if they did or did not receive this post.  If you don't know if your children are on my friends list, what an awesome opportunity to sit down and talk with them!  If they press for "why are you checking", they only need to know if my test to block the boring grown-up stuff worked.  :0)

God bless!

Where's Your Head At?

Just a simple question for the day.

Where's your head at?

Is it scheming ways to escape the chaos at home or the trouble on the job?

Is it cataloging a list of things that have broken recently like your washing machine, your car, or your kid's braces (for the third time)?

Is it dreaming up imaginary arguments with someone you have to confront or muddled in confusion over who to believe or what to do next with your life?

Is is sinking in sorrow over the loss of a loved one or a failed marriage?

Or is it seeking strength, gratitude, peace, direction, and comfort from the Lord?

Just a simple question for the day.

Is your head with God... or not?

Matthew 6:33

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (King James)

"Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (The Message)

Romans 12:2

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (King James)

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." (The Message)

PHOTO CREDIT: "The Thinker" by Auguste Rodin courtesy of Brian Hillegas

Killing with Kindness

Here's a great story about "killing with kindness." It's a MUST READ to make your day! I have a special fondness for it because it happens in an airport. :0)

http://budurl.com/cy7z

Where’s Your Focal Point?

The definition of “focal point” is “center of attention or interest.”

In the Lamaze method of childbirth, using a focal point is taught as a way to help the mother focus on something other than the contractions and the length of time she is laboring. Generally, it is suggested she use an object that also helps to stimulate positive feelings such as love, comfort, or joy.

When I gave birth to my third child, our son was apparently very eager to take part in his own delivery. I am positive that he continued to wriggle and kick right until I began pushing, which was very hard on my back. It gave new meaning to me of the term for the final phase before delivery: active labor.

His constant activity and the ache in my back became so overwhelming that I could not concentrate on anything else. My husband could see in my eyes that I was completely losing it. As he puts it, it looked to him as if my focal point was on the 7th floor of the hospital!

Gently, but firmly, he took hold of my face, looked directly into my eyes and said something to the effect of, “Look at me… look at me… you’re doing great… just breathe and keep looking at me.”

It took several seconds to process what he was saying to me and another several for my gaze to actually focus in on his eyes, but as soon as I was there… as soon as his eyes were my focal point… I regained as much composure as is possible while in labor and was able to concentrate on breathing, relaxing, and finally giving birth to our very healthy, over 10 pound son.

Looking into my husband’s eyes during that time of great stress was a tremendously empowering experience. He was able to impart into me what I didn’t have – courage, confidence, strength, security, love, faith… so many things! Nearly sixteen years later, I am still empowered by the memory of that one moment in time with him.

Since that day, we have made it a priority to become each others' focal point to strengthen our marriage relationship in both good times and stressful times. He imparts his strength, courage, and love to me, while I impart my love, respect, and confidence to him.

The Lord does the same thing for us. When we are coping with stressful things, He doesn’t want us in utter chaos, confusion, and worry over them, but rather a peace that brings strength to see us through those times.

The prophet Isaiah knew this when he declared to the Lord, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3)

Even Jesus Himself promised, "I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27)

Having your thoughts fixed on Jesus allows Him to impart into you His peace no matter what you’re going through. He is never surprised or caught off-guard by anything that comes your way, so His peace is ever-present, always available. All you have to do is take your focus off the 7th floor where all your problems are and make Jesus your focal point – fix your thoughts on Him!

I will leave you with this thought from Philippians chapter 4 as my prayer for you today:

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

God bless!


All scripture references in this blog entry are from the New Living Translation.

Don't Miss Out!

Here’s an interesting bit of scripture:

Isaiah 55:6 – "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near."




That implies a couple of things.

1. At some point, the Lord will no longer be found, and

2. At some point, He will not be near.

There are only two ways that those situations can happen.

1. You die, or

2. The Lord departs from you.

We’re all very well aware that death is, well… part of life. We all die at some point. No one has beaten the odds yet that I am aware of.

Dead people can’t seek things. Dead people can’t call out. Therefore, dead people can’t seek the Lord or call on Him. It’s too late!

Maybe you think you have time and you’ll be able to “catch” God just before you die. That’s like thinking you’ll be able to jump out of the car just before it careens off a cliff you never saw coming.

Proverbs 27:1 reminds us: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

The psalmist isn’t making an accusation; he’s stating a fact! You just can’t know the moment you will die and that’s a very risky gamble when your relationship with the God of the universe is at stake, don’t you think?

Now let’s say that you don’t die… because you haven’t. I can tell because you’re still reading this blog. If you haven’t died and left God, how do you know God hasn’t up and left you?

You can know this primarily because multiple times throughout Old Testament Scripture God has said he won’t and God does not contradict Himself, changing His mind willy-nilly like you and I.

In Deuteronomy 31:8, it is written, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Oh, but wait! In these Scriptures, He is speaking to those who are following Him faithfully. Whether it was the whole nation of Israel or one man on behalf of Israel, God has kept His promise to never leave or forsake them.

Jesus confirmed in the New Testament that God would still remain with faithful followers – both Jew and non-Jew alike – first by His choice to live among them as a man (Jesus Christ), then by the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-5, Acts 2:1-4), and soon by His return to gather the faithful and return with them to Heaven.

John 14:1-3 – “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

To faithfully follow Him is to obey His commands and love Him above all else. So, while it is very true that God will never leave His faithful followers, this promise does not extend to those who have never placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior because rejecting God’s Son is rejecting God.

Acts 4:10-12 ‘“…then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."’

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

So what about those who aren’t faithfully following God?

Once Christ returns for the faithful followers, it’s all over. The Age of Grace is over and Judgment happens.

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

There is no “second chance” and there will certainly be no time to change your heart once you hear the sound of the trumpet and see Christ coming down from the clouds.

Jesus even told his faithful followers that we would not know exactly when He would return.

Acts 1:6-8 – So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

But Jesus also says to all mankind, “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.” (John 6:47)

Get out your Bible today and read any one of the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John – and see for yourself where you stand with the Lord. Ask God if you are a faithful follower or not. Ask God to tell you why you even need to be. Ask God to change your heart today if you need to.

He will answer.

Don’t miss out!

Get Out Of The Mud!

Although it’s a bit early for a season change, we’ve had some warm days, and at least one sign of Spring has become evident – mud!

Every year I go through the same ritual with one or more of my kids. The frosty white snow has melted away leaving a swath of brown squishiness the entire length of our driveway, yet they never seem to notice (or care about) this. They still walk (or run) across the lawn to the van and I find myself shouting, “Get out of the mud!”

On at least one occasion, I’ve been a fraction of a second too late and the child who didn’t notice the new, soft ground condition has had to get up and go change clothes after sliding several feet and losing the battle with gravity.

As a child, I happily played with mud for hours, making pies and planting seeds in old discarded dishes and cracked flowerpots. As an adult, I can appreciate the effort it takes to clean up the mess of that play!

Even if you don’t slip and fall in it, whatever mud has collected on your shoes is deposited step-by-step everywhere you go. No matter how hard you try, you’re going to get things dirty until you clean the mud off your shoes.

Mud is also difficult to walk in. The deeper the mud is, the greater the suction that is produced which tugs at your foot as you slog through it. If it’s deep enough, you might lose a shoe to its mucky pull. If it’s very deep, you may end up stuck completely and need help getting out.

And, as previously mentioned, mud can cause you to lose your footing and fall.

Rather than deal with the messiness and potential embarrassment that mud is capable of, I choose to avoid it if possible. For many situations, there is a very clear choice: walk in the mud or don’t walk in the mud.

But sometimes we find ourselves in mud through no fault of our own and we have no choice but to walk through it in order to get out. And then there are times when we just can’t resist and we choose to walk in the mud despite the consequences.

Well, guess what? Troubles and sin are a lot like mud.

The prophet Jeremiah was not a very popular guy when he told the people of Jerusalem that the Lord said they needed to surrender to the Babylonian army rather than fight. Some of the officials took him and put him in a cistern, which was used to collect water from a spring or from rain.

Jeremiah 38:6
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

Jeremiah was in mud through no fault of his own; mud deep enough to sink in. He was in a little bit of trouble there!

Our troubles won’t necessarily involve literal mud, but we can feel like we’re sinking under a financial burden, a family problem, an employment crisis, or some other situation we have no control over.

We don’t choose to be in those situations, but everyone has to walk through some trouble in life. We can’t go around it and it won’t go away. We just have to go through it. If the trouble is too great though, we may need to call someone for help.

God is always ready to be that help.

Psalm 40 is referred to as A Praise for Deliverance. Here is what David writes:

Psalms 40:1-2
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

But, what about our problem with sin? Unfortunately, most of us continue to struggle with temptations and make bad choices regarding them. We still play in the mud, knowing very well that we’ll get dirty.

2 Peter 2:22
Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

Is God ready to help us get out of that mess too? Absolutely! As soon as we cry out to Him and let Him know we want to get out of the mud, He reaches down to lift us up. David was confident of this, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked.

Psalm 40:7-8,11-13
7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come-- it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." 11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me. 12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me.

Don’t wait another day!

If you feel like your troubles have you sinking or your sins are pulling you down into the muck, make a new choice today. Turn to the Lord, cry out to Him, and…

Get out of the mud!



UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL SCRIPTURE FOR THIS ENTRY IS FROM THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION OF THE BIBLE.

Friday the 13th

Hey, it’s one of my favorite days of the year!

I love Friday the 13th because it reminds me that I am no longer trapped in the superstitious thinking of the world.

Dictionary.com defines superstition as “a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like," or "any blindly accepted belief or notion".

For instance, you may believe you’ll have bad luck if you walk under a ladder or if a black cat crosses your path. I grew up believing that bad things happen on Friday the 13th if you weren’t careful. My belief wasn’t based on reason or knowledge; it was based on the fear of “what if?”

Today I tried to find the origin of the ominous cloud hanging over Friday the 13th and found that no one really knows how it started, although many speculate that it has to with the Crucifixion of Christ on a Friday and the fact that there were 13 seated at the Last Supper and the first one to leave, the traitor Judas Iscariot, was dead shortly afterward. (You can read about that here: http://www.snopes.com/luck/friday13.asp)

You may be surprised to hear me say, “I’m not surprised!”

If there is one thing I’ve learned since becoming a Christian, it’s that the devil takes great pleasure in perverting the things of God.

The Apostle Paul urges us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) Other Bible versions use the word ‘schemes’ for ‘wiles’.

Some of his schemes include distorting the Gospel so even men will do his dirty work.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

So it doesn’t surprise me that the devil would try to distract us from God’s love and power with silly fears of bad luck happening on Friday the 13th that may be based on some of the very events of Christ’s life that show us God’s love and power.

Satan wants us to think that a certain day and date (or rabbit’s foot, or broken mirror, or salt thrown over your shoulder) has more power than the almighty God of the universe. If we blindly accept these superstitious notions held by the world, we are allowing Satan to blind us from the truth of the Gospel and the love and power of God therein.

The good news for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ is that, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) God in us is greater than Satan and all those who follow that devil in the world!

We don’t have to be afraid of a date on the calendar because “God has not given us a spirit of fear (timidity, fearfulness, cowardice), but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7, words in parenthesis mine)

Rather, we can confidently proclaim as the psalmist did, “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Happy Friday the 13th!


UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL SCRIPUTRE USED TODAY IS FROM THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE.

Happy Birthday Darwin!

Happy 200th Birthday to Charles Darwin, father of the theory of Evolution, which, when studied objectively, causes the truth of Creation to be self-evident.

Thank you, Mr. Darwin!

http://www.pulltheplugonatheism.com/

Coming and Going

Due to some changes in the lives of some family members, I’ve recently found myself in a new job. Chauffeur. This actually isn’t a foreign job to me – I am a mom after all, but I’ve never had to perform this task with such frequency in one day for so many days.

With one son in a cast (too young to drive anyway) and my college daughter in field training for Early Childhood Education (with no vehicle of her own), I’ve had no choice but to put on the driver’s cap and buckle up.

Here’s my schedule 3-4 times a week:

7:30 am - take boys to middle/high school
8:20 am - take daughter to pre-school
11:15 am - pick up daughter from pre-school
12:20 pm - take daughter back to pre-school
2:30 pm - pick up boys from middle/high school
3:30 pm - pick up daughter from pre-school
3:50 pm - take daughter to work
5:45 pm - meet husband at daughter’s work to leave daughter a car so I don’t have to pick her up again!

Whew! That comes to a grand total of EIGHT short trips in just over ten hours, not counting my own errands. I truly thank God for my cell phone. I have to set the alarm on it after each drop-off so I won’t forget the next pick-up!

The surest way to tell if I’m coming or going is by who is in the vehicle with me. If someone is with me, I’m going to drop whoever it is off somewhere. If I’m alone, I’m probably coming home. Still, all this running around can get confusing sometimes!

But God is not confused and He always knows where to find me. I don’t have to worry about Him losing track of me or needing to set an alarm to pick me up from somewhere.

Psalms 139:7-16
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God knows exactly where I am - in my van and in my life - and I am confident that if He knows where I am, it’s because He is watching over me.

Are you feeling like your life is so chaotic (physically, spiritually or emotionally) that God can’t keep up with you? Just remember what the psalmist wrote: there is no place that God isn’t! Meet with Him today where you are, whether you're coming or going.

Where We Live

Most of us have an idea of where we want to be in life – what we want to be doing, who we want to be doing it with, etc. We have dreams and passions that want to carry us new heights. While many achieve their goals, some of us seem stuck where we are, unable to get ahead no matter what we do.

Why is this?

One reason is addressed by Paul in Philippians 3:12-14. In the New American Standard, it reads:

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul is saying that he intends to keep moving forward in his Christian walk to fully embrace the heavenward call of God. It's his ultimate goal. To reach this goal he must “press on” – keep going, stay in the game, don’t quit. He uses the words “forward” and “toward” to describe his destination – it’s still ahead of him here, as it is with all living Christians today.

Like a runner in a race, we can get tired along life’s journey and want to stop and rest. And that’s ok. Jesus told us we have to rest sometimes. But if we quit, we’re out of the race and will never reach our goal.

The “race” itself is tiring, but there is something in our lives that can make reaching our goals even more tiring, if not impossible.

Imagine this: You’re running your race. You can see the finish line and excitement wells up in you, urging you on toward the end of your run. But you’re so tired you can hardly run another step and, in fact, don’t seem to be getting any closer. You’re not sure why because you’ve trained hard for this race and you should be able to do this, but it seems so difficult now.

You look behind you and are surprised to see that your leg is tethered by a bungee cord to that of a huge elephant. No wonder you're tired! No matter how fast you run, the cord only gives enough to let you get close to the finish line, but not all the way. It is then that you realize you’ve been running in place, getting nowhere.

This is what our past can do to us. Paul knew this very well. It was Paul (then Saul) who held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death. What a shameful thing for him to have to live with! How could Paul now serve Christ effectively in ministry when he had taken part in the killing of those who believed in Christ before he did?

By “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” (v. 13)

Paul knew that if he dwelt on his past, he would be forever stuck where he was and not move forward to where God wanted him to be.

He chose to trust in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ for what he had done and move on. We also know that Paul had to trust Jesus for things that others had done to him in the past (read his ministry accounts). Paul had to forgive them and leave the situations in Jesus’ hands, allowing Jesus to provide healing for him while he continued forward in his Christian growth and ministry.

Paul not only chose to go forward rather than dwell in his past, he also chose to not try and do both!

A note in my Bible for this verse reads, “We have all done things for which we are ashamed, and we live in the tension of what we have been and what we want to be.”

Tension is the act of stretching or straining. When I read this, the following image came into my mind.


Like a big old elephant, our past weighs heavily on us, holding us back. But our goals and dreams want to lift us higher, soaring like an eagle. Living in the middle causes tension. We are attached by cords between the two, unable to follow the pull of our future due to the tug of our past.

Now, there are three things you can do.

You can keep living with the tension of holding on to your past while trying to hold onto your future and see how far you get.

Or you can experience a little physics.

An interesting thing about tension is that when an object is connected between two bungee cords and the force from one bungee cord is released, the tension is gone, and whatever is attached to the other cord will be launched in the direction of that cord’s source.

So, choice two is that you can let go of your dreams and passions and be launched back into your past, spending your life wallowing in self-pity over things you’ve done and things that were done to you, never reaching your goal.

Or, you can do as Paul did. Forget your past – let it go – and be launched headlong into your future.

If you opt for the third choice, the momentum of letting go will get you moving in the right direction, but you’ll still have to keep reaching forward.

Paul’s description isn’t one of an easy journey, just a rewarding one. There will be new things coming at you plus the temptation to grab hold of that cord to the past, but if you resist and keep pressing on, you’ll reach your goal… no matter what it is.

Dare to Poke God

My husband, Jeff, and I spent a few days last week in the hospital with our 13-year-old son, Ryan, who had reconstructive surgery done on his left foot. Per hospital policy, one parent was allowed to spend the night in the room with their child. Jeff spent the first night and I took the second.

When I arrived back at the hospital after Jeff’s night with Ryan, I asked Jeff how he’d slept. “Not well,” was his answer. Smiling, he continued, “It seemed like every time I dozed off, Ryan reached over and poked me to wake me up because he needed something.”

Later, after Jeff went back to the room we were staying in to catch a nap, I commented to Ryan, “I hear Dad didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

Apologetically, he said, “Yeah, that would be my fault. I kept waking him up.”

I looked him right in the eye and said very deliberately, “That’s okay. That’s what we’re here for.” Comforted by that fact, he soon drifted off for a nap as well.

As I sat there pondering our conversation, I couldn’t help but thank the Lord for being the kind of God we can poke whenever we need something. Anything! Any time!

Sometimes we act as though it is a great bother to ask the Lord for the things we need even when we know there is no way we can get them on our own.

But Jesus tells us this in Matthew 7:7-11:

7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Do you see that?

Ask.

Ask.

Ask!

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all record that Jesus told his disciples to ask on multiple occasions. It seems as if He didn’t get his point across to everyone though, because there is still teaching on this subject in several other books of the New Testament as well. Ephesians, James, and 1 John all implore disciples to simply ask of the Father for anything they need.

Perhaps we feel our needs aren’t important enough to bother God with them, or that we don’t deserve them even if we need them. We need to know that God doesn’t think that way! He has done everything He can to deliberately say to us, “That’s okay. That’s what I’m here for.”

Take comfort in that fact and rest in it. Dare to poke God today and ask Him for the things you need right now!

Welcoming Home My Husband

Waiting for the plane to land.
Taken from news video link found on this page:
http://www.wtvh.com/news/local/26322739.html

After a 5-hour delay, the plan finally arrives.

About an hour after he got off the plane, he was finally done
with processing and able to reunite with us.



He's amazed at how tall the boys have gotten in such a short time.



Not letting go!


Thanks from all of us to those who prayed for us during this trip!

Where's The Rest Of Romans???

If you're wondering when I'm going to get to the rest of Romans, the answer is pretty close to, "Not any time soon."

Life ~ such as it is ~ has become a bit more complicated than when I first set out on that little venture. The Bible study is still happening, but time has eluded me. I haven't even found enough hours in any given day to write out all of the randomness in my head.

So, until I am able to change my schedule or something lets up, Romans is on hold. Hopefully, I'll get to do some other writing, but time will tell.

God bless!

Praise in the Storm

Yesterday we had powerful thunderstorms sweep through our area (it was a huge band spanning several counties) that did quite a bit of damage. High winds came in fast and furious along with rain and hail in some places, but it was the wind that caused the damage.

Trailers overturned, trees uprooted and snapped in half, and power lines were knocked down all over the place. A section of our main highway was closed for most of the day because of power lines across all lanes. Several people reported seeing funnel clouds, but the weather service has not confirmed any tornadoes.

I've only heard of one death due to the storm where a logger in an adjacent county was pinned between his truck and a tree that a gust of wind knocked over. Emergency crews could not get to him quickly because of the power lines and trees down in the roads. He died at the hospital later on. Our prayers are with his family, co-workers, and friends.

Below are some pictures I took this morning, mostly for the benefit of my congregation.

* * * * * * * * * *

All of the white pieces lying on the ground used to be our church sign.

Here is one section of the sign and one of four bulbs from the corner lights.

You can see two more bulbs here... one in the foreground, facing us, and one under the end of the white beam that is lying on the ground pulled away from the bottom of the sign. See it? It's under the end that's in the cross shadow. We are assuming the fourth bulb is under the sign or blown farther away than we looked for it.

This leg snapped right at the ground line.

This leg snapped a little higher than ground line. Along this side of the sign is the metal conduit with the electric lines in it that run underground. Had we still had the lines above ground, they could have been ripped out of the wall. Actually, as I look at this picture, I'm thinking that the conduit is probably what kept the sign from being blown any farther than down! That's all it's connected to.

Work crews lining the road for tree removal and line repair.
This is the scene just north of the church.

National Grid is on the job.

Remnants of a felled tree stacked in the yard of a friend's house.

I believe this could be the tree those logs came from. It's across the street from my friend's house. You can see branches still on the ground behind the standing tree and a broken branch down behind the boat.

There is a little glare from the windshield in this one (I'm a writer, not a photographer), but you can still see the tipped poles and downed electric lines, some sections with branches still on them. This is on the same street just past and across from my friend's house.

You can find other, more amazing pictures here.

* * * * * * * * * *

This is just a small glimpse of what a lot of the town my church is in looks like, which is why they have declared a state of emergency there. They have no power, which means no traffic lights, and have many trees and power lines to repair. Rumor has it that it will be a couple of days before power is completely restored.

And yet, despite the destruction, I am hearing many stories of God's blessings and provision.

One woman in an area lost her private utility pole. Until she could replace it, they could not hook up power and she didn't know what to do. God's provision was right in her own yard! She had a junk vehicle that she was able to sell and get the money for the new pole. It is being installed today and she could have power as soon as tonight.

Praise the Lord!

A couple from our church had a large tree fall in their yard - completely missing their storage shed. They also had glass windows blown out in their garage, yet not a single pane was chipped! I can picture angels lined up inside the garage waiting to catch them and then setting them down gently on the floor for them to re-install when the husband came home from work!

Praise the Lord!

I heard a story of a Curves member in her sixties who ran home from her neighbor’s house next door to clean things off her porch so they wouldn’t blow away, only to be almost blown away herself! She is legally blind, but could hear a roaring wind coming up the street, so she wrapped her arms tightly around a nearby post. As the strong wind rushed past her house, she turned her head to see the outline of a funnel barreling down the street. Her feet were lifted off the ground, but her grip proved strong and she was fine. I already know how God has provided for her financially to exercise at Curves for strength training and I believe He also put her in place at that porch post.

Praise the Lord!

I'm looking forward to hearing more praises despite damages, too. No matter how great our losses, God still provides!

All of this reminds me of a song by Casting Crowns – Praise You In This Storm. The chorus goes like this:

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Take a listen here when you can. God bless!

I Flubbed My American Idol Audition!

Just kidding!

But it sure felt like that.

By God’s grace, Gabe – our Worship Team lead guitar player and recording genius – isn’t Simon Cowell.

At worship practice on Tuesday, we were recording vocal tracks to a song for a project we are working on. The guitars were already recorded and both the lead singer and soprano had already recorded their tracks when it was my turn, so I had the benefit of almost a full band, minus the drums, to pull me through.

I put on the headphones and got used to how loud everything was going to sound in my ears (sort of) and then started a run-through without recording. I opened my mouth to sing and that’s when it all fell apart.

For the life of me, I could not find the notes!

Grant it, this is a fairly new song for us, but it’s not one that I struggle with when we play it during worship services. For some reason, I was just not able to figure out my place in the verses even after I got the chorus going.

Patiently, Gabe replayed a verse over and over… and over for me, but after about eight or seventeen tries (I lost count), he finally decided to cut me a CD of the tracks to take home and practice with so I can try again next week.

I don’t know if it was a memory problem, a case of the jitters (standing there in front of a professional recording microphone with someone really listening to me sing), or the fact that I’d eaten before practice (I don’t have great control on a full stomach), but I just couldn’t accomplish the task.

Whatever the problem was, I know for a fact that Satan tried to use it for his own evil purposes. How do I know? Because of the lies that started rushing into my head:

“This isn’t going to work.”

“You can’t sing anyway, why bother?”

“You’re wasting everyone’s time.”

Ouch!

Today I’d like to publicly address those lies to Satan himself.

Devil, it is written: “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) This will work and be for good because I love God and am called according to His purpose to be on the worship team!

Devil, it is written: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” (Philippians 4:13) Besides, I’d rather listen to the voice of God and the many voices of my friends over your one puny voice. I don’t have to be perfect, just obedient with what I have.

Devil, it is written: “That which we have seen and heard we declare to [all], that [they] also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3 – word changes mine) Every member of the worship team has a passion to testify of Jesus Christ through the ministry of music. We are a worship team and no one’s time is wasted because the gospel of Christ “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes!” (Romans 1:16) Again… it is written!

Whew! I feel much better now.

And for the record... I popped that CD into my player on the way home from worship practice and sung it pitch perfect first time through. ;0)

Romans - Chapter 1:1-17

The first half of Romans Chapter 1 is the apostle Paul’s introduction of himself to the Christians in Rome.

Paul really knew how to write! Or he really knew how to be Spirit-led in his writing. He so clearly represents Jesus and presents the gospel in this epistle (letter) that many scholars have called Romans the greatest epistle of them all.

Right away in verse 1, we see that Paul pulls no punches and gets right to the point in just a few words. Paraphrased: “Hi, I’m Paul. I’m a bond-servant of Christ and God set me apart as an apostle to preach the gospel.” Boom!

His humble reference to himself as a “bond-servant” was in clear contrast to the Jewish religious leaders’ title of Rabbi, which means, “my master.” Both Jewish and Gentile Christians of that day would understand that Paul’s position was to serve them on Christ’s behalf rather than lord over them.

Citing his apostleship meant that Paul claimed he was not called by any man to preach the Gospel, but by Christ Himself. Luke supported this claim by recording Paul’s Damascus Road encounter three times in the book of Acts. (9:3-5; 22:6-8; 26:12-18)

(Interesting reading on apostles if you have the time: http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/BakersEvangelicalDictionary/bed.cgi)

In verses 2-4, Paul declares his knowledge of prophecy and Scripture, which influenced the Jews, and verses 5-6 affirm the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s plan. Verse 7 unites both groups under the same pronouncement of God’s love. Talk about knowing and appealing to your audience!

This is followed up by a wonderful word of encouragement for these believers (vv. 8-10) – Paul, an apostle of Christ, praises them for their faith! Remember, Paul had not yet been to Rome to see them. He’d heard about them because their faith was being “proclaimed throughout the whole world.”

I don’t know about you, but people can tell me all day long that I’m doing a good job at something and I just take it with grace, offering a sincere thank you for their praise. However, it makes a big impact on me when a leader in my life tells me I’m doing a good job at something. Suddenly, I realize that important people are noticing what I’m doing and I’m SO glad that it’s not for the wrong reasons!

Paul didn’t keep the news about their faith to himself either; he told others as he went about preaching the gospel. He was proud of them, he thanked God for them, and he prayed for them. He also prayed that he could meet these faithful believers face to face.

His desire to share with them a “spiritual gift” that would help “establish” them is found in verse 11. When a preacher ministers the gospel, God imparts gifts to those who receive the message. Whether it is hope or healing, knowledge or salvation, grace, peace, or comfort, God wants to share His gifts and Paul was eager to bring to the Roman Christians whatever the Lord would share with them through him.

He knew that a spiritual gift from the Lord would help make them even stronger and more stable in their faith, establishing more firmly in their hearts their belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul also knew that being together with them would encourage his faith as well (verse 12).

It seemed important to Paul to let the believers in Rome know that he’d been thinking about them for some time (verse 13) and, had there not been other things to prevent him, he would already have come. He looked forward to ministering there so he could “obtain fruit” among them, possibly salvation of souls, encouragement of believers, and other “fruits” that come of laboring for the harvest. While he loved his fellow Jewish-Christians, his mission was to the Gentiles.

Verse 14 distinguishes “types” of Gentiles that Paul was obligated to preach the gospel to, so that none would think themselves above the others, nor beneath the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

According to John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, either the Greeks (who were Gentiles) called all others not of their nation Barbarians, or Greeks represented the more cultivated nations of the world while Barbarians were the ruder, more uncivilized parts. Either way, Paul knew to make reference to both groups. He also was clear that he preached to both the educated (wise) and the uneducated (foolish). The gospel is for everyone.

So far, Paul has summed up his credentials, his audience, and his purpose, all of which compel him to be “eager” to preach to the Christians in Rome (verse 15). He knew that God had called him, he had a passion for those God told him to preach and minister to, and he was confident in the gospel he had to share. Paul was “good to go” as soon as he could get to Rome!

Many people today wish they could have the faith to preach (evangelize) like Paul did. What was his secret? Why was he so bold? Did God give him an extra portion of the Holy Spirit or did it have to do with the fact that Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus Road? Surely, we’d have more faith had we been knocked off our high horse and blinded for three days!

If it had anything to do with the latter, how do you explain the lack of faith in some who actually walked with Jesus and saw Him perform miracles? Throughout history, man has denied Jesus Christ even when they come face to face with Him.

I am convinced that it had to do with the fact that Paul actually listened to what Jesus told him and then had a conversation with Him. Paul developed a relationship with Jesus right from the beginning that he never let go of!

By the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul walked and talked with Jesus every day. It was this experience of a personal relationship with Christ that led Paul to boldly declare, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘but the righteous man shall live by faith.’” (Verses 16-17)

We can all have that!

Every man, woman, and child on the planet is invited to experience the power of salvation – “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21 – italics mine)

God does reveal His righteousness – “The Lord has made His salvation known and revealed His righteousness to the nations.” (Psalm 98:2)

The longer we spend time with Jesus the more we experience with Him so our faith grows. He shares more and more over time taking our faith from one level to another with each revelation of His righteousness.

Paul spent time with Jesus. It’s that simple. His faith was great because his relationship with Jesus was great. It was important to him and he worked to maintain it. Knowing Jesus so well is why he was eager to go wherever and to whomever the Lord asked him to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Oh, that I should desire to know the Lord so well, that none who cross my path should pass without a seed being planted!

Romans - Introduction

Bible study is greatly enhanced when we take time to look at the scripture’s background – the who, what, where, when, and why of the words recorded for our teaching. It places what we read into context so we avoid the errors of guesswork and injection of our own ideas.

With as great care as possible, scholars have used clues in scripture as well as other historical references to determine as closely as possible the necessary details to give us a picture of what was going on at the time each book of the Bible was written.

Not everyone agrees precisely on those details for every book, so I’m asking that you resist the temptation to nit-pick the details and look to the spirit of the purpose of the message. In other words, don’t miss out on spiritual growth because you’re hung up on a minor point!

God is not bound by time, place, or person. His word is His word no matter when it was given, where it was given, or to whom it was given. The Biblical framework presented by those who have studied the specifics of scripture is adequate to our understanding of God throughout history.

The group at my church is using material from two online studies available for free use:

• Romans with Commentary by Pastor Ron Beckham - “Especially for youth, those who are young at heart & for those who are new to the Lord”
• A Study of the Book of Romans by Carl Fitzgerald - Offered freely with appreciation of “prayerful consideration of a donation of any size to the scholarship fund of Scott Theological College in Machakos, Kenya,” which trains and sets forth pastors.

We are also making use of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible by James Strong, The Hayford Bible Handbook by Jack Hayford, Survey of the New Testament by Paul Benware, many resources at Crosswalk.com, and any other useful source that comes along.

All of these guides are merely supplements to the revelation that God gives to each student as we go through the lessons. Surprisingly, we’ve found that God has “planted the seeds” of Romans in our lives from our childhood and we all have experiences from the past or present that really bring home the message of Romans to our souls.

I say our souls because it is touching our minds through new knowledge and connections with our experiences, our wills through changed attitudes and renewed commitments, and our emotions through healing from uncertainties about our faith. We’re on an amazing road to victory in our lives and we’ve only just begun!

With that being said…

The Book of ROMANS

WHO: Written by the apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome

WHAT: A letter of introduction and presentation of the gospel dictated to and penned by Paul’s scribe, Tertius

WHERE: Paul most likely wrote this letter while in Corinth, Greece on his third missionary journey. It was sent to the churches in Rome, a city of political and economic importance with an estimated population of four million at that time.

WHEN: Written in 58 A.D.

WHY: The theme of Romans is “The Gospel is God’s power to save all that believe.”

I found an excellent Introduction to Romans by Keith Sharp for further details and encourage you to read through that.

Stay tuned for Notes on our Bible study as we go along!

Music To My Heart

Ever have a song get stuck in your head? Sometimes it’s just a part of a song or a little ditty you heard on a television commercial or something, but it plays over and over in your head and won’t leave you alone until you focus your mind elsewhere.

My kids are good at starting me off on “music in my head” sessions. I’ll hear them singing something goofy or random in passing and the next thing I know, I’m humming or singing it. I’ll catch myself and try to think of something else, but before long it’s back with a vengeance until I put something else in my brain, like another song… one I actually like! Yeah, I know you know what I’m talking about here. ;0)

I’ve found that the Lord is really good at that, too. That’s why I’m writing this morning – because I’ve got part of a song stuck in my head that the Lord woke me up with and it won’t leave me alone. Now, the songs the Lord puts in my head don’t drive me insane, but they are persistent and there are only two ways to deal with them.

The obvious way is to put something else in my brain. Getting out of bed and starting my day is generally sufficient to accomplish this, since my brain immediately fills up with all the tasks on my list for the day and how best to tackle them. It is beyond me why I ever want to do this, since that list can drive me insane quicker than my kid’s little ditties!

So I’ve found a better way and it’s quite easy to do actually because the songs from the Lord are songs of worship and praise. Simply put, I embrace them.

It is a joyful thing to wake up with a song from the Lord in your mind. The things in our minds are a reflection of what’s in our hearts. The days I wake up with His songs in my head let me know that my relationship with Him is right, that I am in love with the Lord and He is in love with me.

Of course, He is always in love with me but, if I do not love Him, my heart doesn’t always sing for joy. On those days, the thoughts in my mind are far from worship and praise. They are more like grumbling and complaining about having to wake up. How much better to wake up in love with the Lord!

Psalm 28:7 reads, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.”

I do trust in the Lord and that is why my heart sings. It is a good time in this country for Christian music, too. So many talented artists are able to share their hearts freely through amazing worship and praise songs. Praise the Lord for that.

We have no excuse for not filling our heads with songs that the Lord can place in our hearts for His glory somewhere along the line! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, look for a KLOVE radio station in your area and tune in to some amazing love songs.

Before I end, I’d like to stick my song in your head. It’s part of “I Wait For The Lord” by Jeremy Camp and you can hear this little segment if you go here.

I wait for the Lord

My soul waits
I wait for the Lord

In His word I place my trust
In his word I rest
In His word I place my trust
For I know I must wait

Allow your soul to wait on the Lord today. Your soul is your mind, will, and emotions – willingly fix your thoughts on Him. Get into Scripture and let God’s words fill your soul with a rest you can trust in. It doesn’t come if we busy ourselves with the tasks and routines of life. It comes when we wait on the Lord.

Are you singing the song in your head yet?

Embrace it!

My kids would be proud of me. :0)

“Florida Pastor Finds Jesus Image in Split Potato”

I know this story broke back in January, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to comment on. You can read the article at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324579,00.html

Why does it surprise man to see an image of Jesus in a potato? Doesn’t the Bible say He is in all creation?

Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

Could it be that men have denied this for so long that God has to point it out more obviously so they will see and believe to the saving of their souls?

If God could create the potato, why could He not appear in one? Some say that does not seem like a way God would make Himself known. I’m sure people around Baalam said the same thing when he told them that God spoke to him through his donkey. (Numbers 22) They must have thought the guy was nuts. But I bet it made a believer out of Baalam!

Balaam recognized that he was hearing the voice of the living, almighty God. It is the presence of God that makes a difference in the unusual things we see and hear.

So, what did Baalam do about this talking donkey? Did he take it home and pamper it, never using the animal for menial labor again because this beast had done the extraordinary by speaking human speech? Hopefully, not.

When we recognize the presence of God, it should cause us to worship Him, not the thing He works through.

The article said that Pastor Renee Brewster froze the part of the potato with Jesus’ image in it, but I’m pretty sure she’s not worshipping it. It’s just a cool thing to have found. I’d be impressed to find one!

Here’s another thought about the potato in case it didn’t cross your mind when you looked at the photo. There would have been nothing newsworthy had Pastor Renee cut the potato at any other angle than the one she did!

How could she possibly have known ahead of time what direction to cut the potato? Even when you consider that most people will probably cut a potato in the long direction (that’s a personal theory), had she cut it off center of where she did, the image would not have resembled Christ on the cross at all.

There is an attribute of God called 'divine providence' - divine being “of God” and providence being “forethought; providential care; to make provision for a thing.” A definition of providential is, “peculiarly fortunate or appropriate; as if by divine intervention.” Isn’t it possible that God directed her thoughts or her very hands to cut the potato exactly as it needed to be cut?

Everyone will have their own answer for this situation, but I prefer to believe that the Creator of our universe exists and that He cares so much about mankind, that He will place His image in a common potato to get our attention, letting us know He is real, and that He is able to lead us in all things - even the mundane of making potato salad - by His Divine Providence if we will only listen to His voice.