Where Do You Turn?

Where could I go where could I go,
Seeking a refuge for my soul.
Needing a friend to help me in the end,
Where could I go to the Lord?
Where could I go to the Lord?

Songwriters: BILLY SHERRILL, GLENN SUTTON

Where do you turn? Who do you turn to?

When the world around you is falling apart.

When there are more questions than answers.

When your normal isn't normal anymore.

Where could I go but to the Lord.

When you've been hurt.

Mistreated or abused.

When you don't know where to turn.

Where could I go but to the Lord.

When you've been misled.

When you've been lied to.

When those you trusted betrayed the trust.

Where could I go but to the Lord.

When you are grieving.

When you are heartbroken.

When you are lonely. Or sad. Or discouraged.

Where could I go but to the Lord.

......nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.  (2 Chronicles 20:12 NASB, emphasis mine)

Getting Older

Yesterday was my birthday. It was an extraordinarily special day, considering all the challenges I have dealt with since my last birthday. These last nine months have given me a new appreciation for life. A new awareness that each day is a precious gift not to be taken for granted.


Birthdays bring inevitable thoughts about getting older. I can remember when, once upon a time, I thought anyone who had passed their 60th birthday was really old. Having passed that milestone several years ago, I no longer think of it in quite the same way. Because the truth is, I really don't think of myself as old. I don't feel old. At least, not on most days. Other days, well, that's a different story...

I remember reading that Jonathan Edwards, that great American preacher of days gone by, had seventy resolutions for his life, all of which he wrote while in his early twenties, and which he read every week for the rest of his life. His Resolution 52 is one we would all do well to take to heart.

"I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again. Resolved, that I will live as I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age."

Having passed another birthday, Johnathan Edwards' resolution continues to be my resolution as well, for the coming year and for however many years lie ahead:  to live as I shall wish I had done.

Grumpy, Grumpy, Grumpy

Do you ever have one of those days? You know the ones. Where nothing quite suits. Where everything is just a little off. Where your grumpy self wins out over your more pleasant self.


I'm having one of those days. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe I could blame it on the dog. Maybe it's an accumulation of things. But this is one of those days. Truth be told, I've been having one of those days for a few days now.


I have a vague memory of reading a post some time ago titled When Your Happy Gets Bumped. I really wish I could find that post! I think I need to read it again! Although I can't say I have ever described my grumpiness quite that way, I like the sound of that.  It sounds much nicer to say that my happy just got bumped that to admit that I'm a grouch!


But lately it seems that my grumpy self has shown up much too frequently. This morning as I was writing in my prayer journal, as I looked back a few pages to notice how God had answered my prayers, I found an entry that went something like this:  Lord, my irritable self has shown up again today and I need help.


I really don't like my grumpy self very much. I could probably rationalize all day about how I have earned the right to be a little grumpy. Chronic pain can do that to a person. As can the daily frustrations of stroke recovery.  But that's no excuse for making everybody around me miserable with my grumpiness.


I could blame it on the weather. I could blame it on politicians. I could say I didn't get enough sleep. I could complain for all sorts of reasons. But what's the point of that?  The pain persists. Nothing is accomplished by my grumpiness.


It's really all a matter of focus, isn't it? Focusing on problems and pain, on weather, on political correctness, only leads to more grumpiness.


So, with sincere apologies to all who have been victims of my grumpiness, I'm making a diligent, conscious, intentional effort today to refocus. To think about something else. Maybe you need to do that, too. We all have "issues" in our lives that can drag us down, that can make us a bit (or a lot!) grumpy. We all have frustrations. We all have things to deal with that are confusing or wearying or annoying. We can't wish those things away, or make them disappear just by the power of our positive thinking.


We may not be able to change circumstances. But, we can change our attitude! And that can change just by what we choose to focus our attention on.



"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."  (Philippians 4:8 ESV, emphasis mine)

Are You Ready?

This morning I came across this post that I wrote on Tuesday, November 15, 2016. I had intended to publish it the following morning, November 16. But somewhere between that Tuesday and Wednesday, I had a stroke and the post was never published, so I'm sharing it with you today.

In the original post I commented about people were not dealing well with the election results. Apparently, not much has changed since last November!


In any event, here is the post I wrote last November, just as it was written then.


We are one week past Election Day. Apparently some people are not yet ready to deal with the results, but deal we must.

We are one week away from Thanksgiving Day. Are you ready? It's almost time!

Once we put Thanksgiving Day behind us, it's on to Christmas! Are you ready? What does that mean to you?

I wrote this devotional book to help us focus our attention on what Christmas is really all about. Do you have your copy yet? This is a great gift for yourself, or for those in your life who might need a little help with their "Christmas spirit".

More information about the book can be found here**: https://www.amazon.com/Are-You-Ready-Christmas-Devotional/dp/1537111930/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479236026&sr=8-1&keywords=are+you+ready+for+christmas+susan+feaster

You can purchase the book from Amazon, using the link in the sidebar, or you can contact me directly.

In addition, because I'm feeling generous this week, I have one more copy to give away. All you need to do to be entered in this week's drawing is comment to this post about one of your favorite Christmas traditions. I'm looking forward to knowing what your favorite traditions are!

December - and Christmas! - will be here soon! Are you ready?


"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11 KJV)

Some Thoughts About Change

A lot has changed in my lifetime. A lot. And much of it has been a good thing. As an example, when my mother and I would go to Spartanburg to shop for school clothes back in the 1950s (because that was why you shopped then; shopping wasn't a recreational sport like it is now!), there were two sets of restrooms and two water fountains, one for white people and one for non-white ("colored", as they were known back then). If you have seen the movie "The Help", or if you lived through that era, then you know what I mean. It isn't that way any more. Things have changed. And that's a good thing.


I remember when we didn't have a television. We got a television when I was 4 or 5 hears old. And we had only one telephone. Gasp!!!! But back then, television was a new thing and not everybody had one. My parents didn't have color television until the 70s.

I remember life without computers and cell phones and I-pads and all these technologies we can't seem to live without now. Life was a lot simpler then. And while it is wonderful to be able to access all this information on the web, and communicate any time of day or night with anyone nearly anywhere, I'm not sure that having our lives so controlled by all this technology is entirely a good thing.


I have seen change in nearly every area of life. Music has changed. Fashion has changed. Schools have changed. Even in social media, we often find that things have changed and the way we were accustomed to doing something has changed overnight while we were sleeping. Some changes have been good, but I would submit to you that not all change is good. Sometimes it's just different.
 

My bank recently changed the on-line banking system. They announced that this would make everything "better". Instead, it is a system that is much harder to navigate and much less user friendly. Unfortunately, that seem to be the new normal.


Change just for the sake of change makes no sense to me. Call me old-fashioned. I don't mind! But I belong to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school.


Change is inevitable in life. I am not so naive as to deny that truth. I have lived long enough to know it to be so. But I don't have to always like it, do I?!


Through it all, I'm thankful that not everything changes. And as life continues to change, and not always for the better, it's this truth I'm holding on to........"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."  (Hebrews 13:8  HCSB)

My Bucket List

I'm a list maker. Always have been. I make grocery lists and to-do lists and lists of gifts to purchase. All kinds of lists. In this season of my life, lists are a necessity, since my memory is not so good since my stroke.

I remember making a list when I was in high school. These days we would call it my bucket list. Back then it was just a list of things I wanted to do or to accomplish in my life. I don't know what ever happened to that list, and I really don't remember everything that was on the list. 

There are a few items on the list that I do remember. One of the items on the list was to learn to play classical guitar. That hasn't happened. And it isn't going to, so I can scratch that off my list! There was also something on my high school list about travel. I could put a check mark by that one. We've had some amazing travels. To London, Edinburgh, York (not New York, although I've been there, too. York, England, in this case, one of my favorite cities!), Paris, Zurich, Milan, Tokyo, Sidney, Melbourne - just to name a few! Travels all over this country, as well.  And Jerusalem, one of my favorite travel memories of all time.  

A couple of summers ago I checked an item off my travel bucket list by visiting Arizona and Oklahoma, the last two states I had not yet visited. Now I have spent time in all 50 states at least once. As far as the list is concerned, when it comes to travel, I have actually far exceeded my expectations. And in a couple of weeks we will be revisiting one of the favorite places on my bucket list, as we will be heading north for another Alaskan cruise. Yes, I have far exceeded my travel dreams!

I do remember that my high school list included this phrase: to be happy, and to make someone else happy, too. That one I can definitely consider a success. I have a happy life. I am a happy person. I have a happy marriage. My life isn't perfect or without its challenges. In this journey through life, there have been potholes. A lot of potholes. Some really deep potholes. But it's a happy life. Certainly I have faced some things I never expected, but even so, there is joy in the journey!

If I were to make a bucket list in this season of life, it would be different from the list I made years ago. Sneaking up on 67 gives me a different perspective on life than I had as a teenager! I have a different list of wants and want-tos these days, for myself as well as for my sons and my grandsons.  Not too long ago I made a list of some of those desires. This is not so much a bucket list as a prayer list, one specifically directed toward my family. When I wrote this list, I divided it into two parts. The first part, the "A" list, is the most important of all desires I have for them.

This is what I'm praying for my family:

• a passionate love for God and His Word.
• an awareness of His grace.
• a personal and growing relationship with God through His Son.
• to know the life and power of God's Word.
• to love others and treat them with kindness and respect.
• to be reflections of God's glory, to glorify Him in all things.

There's a "B" list as well.  It includes things like laughter and friends, good health, a life-long romance with a spouse who loves Jesus, financial freedom.

These lists may not be a bucket list in the truest sense, but they reflect the desires of my heart, for those I love most in this life as well as for myself. As we go through life, we each may have lofty dreams and goals. We may accomplish much in the world's eyes. We may be well-educated and have a long list of degrees and accomplishments attached to our names. We may be well traveled. We may receive much of what the world has to offer.


It will mean little unless this list has become reality in our lives.

"For this reason also......we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."  (Colossians 1:9-10  NASB)