CHOOSE: LITTLE PINK PAD

Cancer Center.

Choose the little pink pad. Sounds simple enough.

But.....how do you choose the Pink Pad without also choosing anxiety, dread for the procedure without fear of the outcome?

So....how does one choose reality of a hard place moment without exacerbating the situation with negative emotions? Here's my list.

• Battle those fearful thoughts with the Sword of the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:17)
• Know that the spirit of fear is not from God. (2 Timothy 1:7)
• Remember God’s goodness in a past cancer journey or difficulty and tell others. (Psalm 145:4)
• Recall God’s omnipresent promise. (Isaiah 41:10)

Give up the “what if it’s cancer” tremors and exchange it for “even if it’s cancer,” I know God can use it for good. (Move from “what if” to “even if” thinking---a tip I learned from Carol Kent)

Choosing the little Pink Pad was something to lead me to results I had no control over so........"when I am afraid," it's wise to put my trust in the hands of the One who is truly in control. (Psalm 56:3)

CHOOSE: TO MEASURE UP

Measuring up can be hard. Many strive for perfection, especially young moms who try to do it all so they look good on FaceBook, or other social media, ""Mommy Moments!" 
If we compare, we despair. (J Hezlep) Never compare your insides with someone else's outsides. (my NASB marginalia)
When you’re tempted to use the measuring stick of comparison — be sure to measure UP by focusing upward on Christ — whose you are and who you are in HIM! (Renee Swope, Proverbs 31 Ministries)

The opposite end of the self-pity spectrum (guilt and shame for not being "good enough") is the self-promoting end. One can always rationalize their sin as not being as bad as someone else's or even worse in someways, is seeing the sin in others and not recognizing it in oneself.

One needs to let go of expectations of the world as well as their own excuses and use God's word as his/her only measuring stick.
When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12b, NIV)                  

But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you. (2 Corinthians 10:13 NASB)

Sometimes even the older ones need to look up to the younger ones---spiritual maturity knows no age.
Choose to measure up to God's BEST plan for your life, not someone elses, even your own.

CHOOSE: TO HEED THE BILLBOARD

One of questions I am often asked is how does one know God's will for them. Granted it can be hard to figure out specifics such as which college attendance, house purchase or investments.

I have even heard, "I just wish the Lord would write it in the sky so I would know exactly what His will is for me?

Well.....when traveling keep your eyes open. Relevant messages might be on a church marquee or even a billboard.

How's that for a Bible based God message. 

Don't neglect meeting together. (Hebrews 10:25)

When it's scriptural, it's a good idea to choose to heed it!

CHOOSE: TO HEAR

Nowadays there are sounds all around. Quietness is hard to come by. Background noise is even available for purchase.

With this music I might listen to the melody but not enough to hear what words are being said.
Yet, in the hymns of old, as well as the praise music of today, the lyrics are worth "hearing.

Click link Old Church Choir to listen to a "new to me" praise song.

SOL (Sing Out Loud) as you read the lyrics to ensure hearing.

Old Church Choir

Zach Williams

There's revival, and it's spreading
Like a wildfire in my heart
Sunday morning, Hallelujah
And it's lasting all week long

Can you hear it?
Can you feel it?
It's the rhythm of a gospel song
Oh, once you choose it, you can't lose it
There ain't nothing, there ain't nothing gonna steal my joy

I got an Old Church Choir singing in my soul
I got a sweet salvation and it's beautiful
I've got a heart overflowing 'cause I've been restored
There ain't nothing gonna steal my joy
No, there ain't nothing gonna steal my joy

When the valleys that I wander
Turn to mountains that I can climb
Oh, you are with me, never leave me
Oh, 'cause there ain't nothing, there ain't nothing gonna steal my joy

I got an Old Church Choir singing in my soul....

I'm glad I chose K-Love on my car radio this morning to "hear," because the music had me singing in my soul!

Sing and make music from your heart to the LORD (Ephesians 5:19)...............a great way to start a day!

CHOOSE: WISE INVESTMENTS

For me to even type those words feels like a foreign language. To invest wisely is not usually in my vocabulary because financial investing is the first thing that comes to my mind---and I couldn't tell you anything about "the Market!" Bull? Bear?
But God...these last few weeks has reminded me to take stock of the worries that are pretty bullish in my life lately. Not Wall Street stocks as I don't have any of those, but I do have that level of panic that is often reflected on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. It's time to cash in and divest myself of the fears that bring worry, which can become a growing sense of panic.
When our nation worries, the markets plunge. The Dow even fell today. (Whatever the DOW is.) When I worry, my spirit plummets.

As Chuck Swindoll  puts it,  (in my notes from, Christ at the Crossroads) I need to dump my useless panic and  worries and regain a solid share of God's peace. (Philippians 4:6)

Obviously I've been unsuccessful in disinvesting my self of worry & panic for many years now. My 2009 blog about patience listed ridiculous circumstances that would throw me into a panic. Sadly, the same things hold true today in my panic-driven life.  How slow am I?

Today, I choose wise investments. Ironically, one an appointment with a financial advisor, but the wise investments were ones I made with my time and other people. I chose to spend time in prayer, send some texts and emails to hopefully encourage family and friends and most importantly to visit with a widow friend face to face.

CHOOSE: VICTORY!

I remember well the cheer from my Hoptown High days....

Give me a "V." Give me an "I." Give me a "C." Give me a "T."
Give me an "O." Give me an "R." Give me a "Y."

What have you got???? VICTORY!!! (Well, not always.)

HHS Cheerleaders 1964

But no matter how often we led that cheer or how loud the fans joined in, history was never assured just because we knew how to spell it. But we kept hoping!
As in football, so in life. One doesn't always get the end result hoped for---you just keep hoping and trying and developing new plays or strategies.

Certainly, I have had trouble ridding myself of my worrisome thorn in the flesh. No matter how LOUDLY I cry out, sometimes there's relief/victory but more often there's not.

Both yesterday's Sunday School lesson and the sermon were based on Psalm 119---though different verses and therefore different teaching. Plus, AlwaysDistractedDotsy found a "victory lesson" in still a different Psalm 119 passage. With 176 verses, that's understandable.

In Psalm 119: 33-40, I found directions for possible victory over my malady. I even noted an alliterative title to add oomph to my memory.

"Verbs of Veracity Give Victory!"

Teach me, LORD, (choose the best teacher)

Give me (understanding, which shows me how to live)

Lead me (God knows the way.)

Incline my heart (to truth, not my selfish gain

Turn (my eyes to life God gives)

Confirm (Your word as truth in my life.)

Turn away (my reproach for your rules are good)

Revive (Give me life thorough Your righteousness)

"Verbs of Veracity that give Victory!" I choose to try for victory once again with truth from scripture leading the way. I'll keep you posted on the outcome. Win or lose, I know God has life lessons for me in the challenge.

CHOOSE: TO EMPATHIZE

In his latest book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This look on My Face?, Alan Alda calls misunderstanding the grit in the gears of daily life that "jams" our relationships. (p.4)
That's why one needs to empty oneself of that self-promoting/arcane language that causes misconceptions and often hinders our relationships with others.

We can suffer the snags of misunderstanding---in important relationships b/c we are getting so bogged down in confusing language that usurps the important aspects of communication--relating well to other people.

What are the essentials of relating well to others? According to Alda, empathy is key---a fundamental ingredient in for real communication. An important component of communicating well with others.

The intro alone with his funny dental experience when he didn't understand the tethering of his maxillary labial frenum is a worthy read in and of itself! As an author, actor and screenwriter, Alda once again shows his unassuming intelligence along with his uncanny ability to make sense of the minutiae of an esoteric language whether that of a scientist, computer engineer, researcher or medical professional. His goal is to teach those in medicine, insurance or technology to talk to the rest of us by stressing empathy.

Empathy. In acting, it's called relating. (p.5) Listening to them. Hearing them. Observing them.

In Scripture it's putting ourselves in another's place. Not being self-promoting, but considering others more significant that yourself. (Philippians 2:3) A way of looking more to another's interest than our own. (1Corinthians 10:24)

Maybe in communicating/relating with others, we all need to do the same. Empathize.

As scripture puts it, an understanding that gives one the sensitive ability to "bear one another's burdens." (Galatians 6:2)

Simply put, choose empathy.

CHOOSE: TO SEE TRUTH

How does one see truth?

Just put on your spiritual glasses and open God's word.

• The sum of Your word is truth, (Psalm 119:160)
• Now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are truth,(2 Samuel 7:28)
• Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. (John 17:17)

His word is truth. 

Choose it daily for guidance instruction.

CHOOSE: ROOT WORDS

My first introduction to "root words" was in my high school latin class. Latin etymology was the love of my teacher, "Miss Annie" Payne. A prominent family matriarch. A widow. A force to be reckoned with. An around the corner neighbor. (Small town accountability---a teacher on every block.)

"Miss Annie" was a stern teacher with a streak of encouragement that spilled over to her students. She once told my older brother, Buddy, that he was so smart that she wouldn't be surprised if he became President of the United States someday.  In this present day, I'm grateful he was smart enough to have never run for office.

All of us who made it through her class understood the importance of root words. I have certainly found that true in Bible study. She was certainly my beginning inspiration even though I didn't see much need in knowing Caesar's: Veni. Vidi. Vici. I learned of lux----light. 

Thank you, Miss Annie!

Lux et veritas. Light and truth.

God is light. (1 John 1:5) God's word is truth. (John 17:17)

For me, it is His light in me that allows His truth to shine through to others! 

That's why I choose root words as I study scripture.

Carpe diem to all my Wednesday Wordsmith's! Seize it for His sake and His glory.

CHOOSE: GOD'S SCRUTINY

Why choose God's scrutiny? He sees beyond the surface of ones' heart. (Jeremiah 17:9-10) 
God sees our inmost motives, which might even be hidden to us. To be rightly related to God, one needs to pursue holiness as both an inward and outward course.
According to September 1 entry of My Utmost for His Highest,
Holiness means; unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, and unsullied thinking with the mind---every detail of life under the scrutiny of God. (https://utmost.org/destined-to-be-holy/) 
Maintain a continual watchfulness. (MUFHH, 9/15)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;  

And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. (Psalm 139:23-24)

God's scrutiny--- the path to holiness for those who "pray and obey."
Choose it today, Dotsy!