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!

CHOOSE: A WORTHY READ

Not all books are an easy read but a worthy book can be edifying even as it relays horrific hardships of a faithful woman, as a Japanese prisoner of war during WWII.
When Darlene Deibler, after cleaning her husbands feet of jungle rot followed by separation from him and other unbelievable, to me, gruesome tasks, could no longer sense His Presence she remembered that FAITH is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

So, choose a worthy read to "pop into." I just happen to choose my favorite snack, popcorn and a glass of lemonade to enhance the experience of reading of another's miraculous faith.

CHOOSE: TO GO

Some choices are easier than others, as I often say.

We chose to go to Texas in the middle of the week because retirement afforded us that "time" opportunity. 

Being there with grandchildren is so much better than FaceTime or seeing the video!

So...........it was easy to choose to go! 

But God.......gave us a special memory. Watching Nathan, "from the stands," catch his first touchdown pass ever as an Allen Eagle, was a memory for a lifetime. 

CHOOSE: TO GIVE THANKS

Even a note pad of jottings and urgencies can remind one of the importance of always giving thanks.(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Give thanks with a grateful heart.

Click here to "Read and Listen." 

Maybe enjoy the music while sipping a cuppa gra-TEA-tude & pondering Ephesians 5:19-20.

Give thanks with a grateful heartGive thanks to the Holy OneGive thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son 

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"Let the poor say, "I am richBecause of what the Lord has done for us"                                   Give Thanks. (Repeat)

A grateful heart overflows with love and is the result of choosing to "give thanks."

CHOOSE: ACCEPTANCE!

Google knows everything---I might as well accept it.
Yet, in "a big brother is watching" kind of way, it's a little creepy!

At  least my google people seemed to have dancing feet as they celebrate "birth" with me.

(Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2a )

CHOOSE: APPROPRIATE PUNCTUATION

Happy Wordsmith Wednesday!
My life, especially my "To-Do" list seems like one long run-on sentence. I need a "stop here" punctuation, aka a period---or at least a comma.

What do I do? What or whom can help? Whom do I choose?

Choose Him!

CHOOSE: REFLECTION

Reflection can be defined return of light---as production of an image by, or as if by, a mirror.

OKLAHOMA MEMORIAL DECEMBER 2010

My thoughts on reflection today are more of the "thoughtful" one. To ponder, cogitate, meditate, ruminate, think on (Philippians 4:8)---a musing of sorts in God's word.
As 2 Timothy 2:7 states, Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (NIV) Other Bible versions offer different "reflect" translations---take your pick. Think about. (NCV) Think of (Darby) Think over. (ESV) Consider.(NASB & KJV) Keep in mind. (CEV) Mark well. (Weymouth)  Understand. (DRA)

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.   (Proverbs 27:19)

May I choose to reflect the light---His light within me. May it shine brightly on my face today.(2 Corinthians 4:6)

CHOOSE: A MOMENT OF SILENCE

9/11/01

Once you realize what day it is you remember everything.

As I typed the date, I noticed the first 3 numbers, 911. How revealing to me that those three digits are our country's designated emergency number for our entire nation. Even more revealing to me,  was noticing 91101 as a joining and ending of the date. 101. At the college level, any class with a 101 designation is indicative of a beginning course. A course which lays out the foundation for a new field of study. To me, 9/11/01 was just that---an introduction to international terrorism on our own soil. An entirely new curriculum would need to be developed.

While pondering the depth of all of that, I turned on the news for a Hurricane Irma update

Our country was remembering 9/11 and  at 7:45 CST (8:45 EST) I saw everyone together observing a moment of silence. 

Many prayer positions were noted. Heads bowed. Eyes lifted. Tears streaming. Hands clasped. 

My mouth was mute but my heart was racing lifting prayers of comfort for families of victims and "healing" prayers for our country, even today---16 years later. 

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Corinthians 7:14)

Choosing a moment of silence in prayer for our nation and its people is a valuable way to begin one's day.

CHOOSE: C.A.L.M.

Stress is rampant in lives of so-o-o-o many folks.
ANXIETY in all caps is often the result! At least at our house. Even good stress can put me on edge.

Anxiety comes in all our lives. But God....says, "Be anxious for nothing..." (Philippians 4:6)

How hard is that!! Does that mean absolutely nothing? Zilch? Or does it mean not taking our anxiety/worry too far or continuing in it? The answer to that question is still on my "pondering" list.

Prior to that verse, Paul reminds us to "Rejoice in the Lord."

Is that the RX needed?

According to Max Lucado, it's a good start for calm. Rejoicing in the Lord is a way of celebrating who He is and can help "jumpstart" calm. (My words, not his)
I only heard part of Lucado's list on K-Love so I added parts of my own.

C--Celebrate the Lord. (Lucado)

A--Ask the lord in prayer (petition) for help (a paraphrase of Lucado)

L--Load that request with lots of thanksgiving (mine)

M--Meditate on other things, Philippians 4:8 gives us the list. (Lucado)

Prayer is needed to replace worry in a Christian's life, at least this Christian's life.
May I "choose to choose" C.A.L.M. to aid my way to worry-free thinking. 

Maybe a cuppa traquili-TEA to start my day followed by sereni-TEA at noon and a night cap of believabili-TEA in God's truth---The RX for calm in Philippians 4:6, is prayer. The result  = "...peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

CHOOSE: AN ACTIVE FAITH

Ephesians says, it's is by grace you are saved, through faith, not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Faith is not works but those who have faith choose to do God's work. A somewhat loose paraphrase of James 2:26.

An active faith remembers to sacrifice personal wants for needs of another.

May people of active faith leave their indelible mark on our culture/society.

Ralph Reed, author of Awakening, sums it up well, ....common people with an uncommon commitment to caring for those in need, loving those who attacked us, and displaying the love, dignity, and decency that are the hallmarks of an active faith.

I bet people who choose active faith are shod in these flip-lops.

CHOOSE: A WORTHY READ

Christian authors. Too often, folks in "literary circles" first thoughts of Christian lit are fluffy, ho-hum, even hokey. That's sad. Certainly there are Christian authors out there who's fiction is of the literary sort!! One of those being Michèle Phoenix, a writer of literature, not mass media "fluff."

Her latest book, hit shelves yesterday. Space Between Words, is a work of historical fiction---a story within a story that has a plot twist that will knock your socks off and make you keep reading well into the night and early morning!**

Life is too short to read "unworthy" literature, that's why choosing Phoenix's, "The Space Between Words" is a worthy choice for you as well as me.

6 PM---How appropriate---hubby just reminded me that today is NATIONAL READ A BOOK DAY!
Any Michèle Phoenix books would be a good choice!!

CHOOSE: HAPPY

This sign is a BIG reminder of the "choice!" Thanks to Nancy E. for sending it to me from somewhere in Nashville.

Sometimes "happy" is a choice but receiving this encouraging picture let's me know someone out there is reading my blog. Intuit way, "happy" found me.

Just after typing this I headed upstairs to put away linens and "happy" found me once more---in the form of encouragement.

My T-Cup travelin' buddies gave me this "happy" bear as I was preparing to leave for Texas (2009) for an unknown # of of cancer surgeries. It even had "my cancer" verse, Psalm 30:11,  embroidered on it. 

To this day overtime I squeeze his little foot and he sings, "Come on Get Happy,"  I smile---and puddle at the same time, as I recall their send-off filled with love, prayers, encouragement and hope!!! God so answered prayers of healing and blessing during that season of suffering. During my surgeries, they took turns coming to Texas to be my "came-giver/nurses! 
Click here to hear the tune---"Come on Get Happy"

Hello world here's a song that we're singing Come on get happy. A whole lotta lovin' is what we'll be bringing We'll make you happy. 

Travelin' along there's a song that we're singin' Come on get happy. A whole lotta lovin' is what we'll be bringin' We'll make you happy We'll make you happy .

We had a dream we'd go travelin' together And spread a little lovin', then we keep moving on Something always happens whenever we're together We get a happy feeling when we're singing a song. 

Maybe I should choose to encourage others so that "happy" can find them.

CHOOSE: FRUITFUL LABOR

Labor Day 2017

The grilling, in which I just enjoy the fruits of another's labor, will have to wait.
First things first. 

Retirees, of which I am one, have relinquished their official work days but much work can still fill their other days.....even on Labor Day when other workers are celebrating a well deserved rest.

The important thing is to Put God first. 

Following a time of praise and prayer, that's what this "mess" on the table is all about. 

I'm petitioning the Master to use this "mess" to bear fruit in the lives of others---that those who are weary in spirit might be refreshed! (2 Corinthians 7:13)

Hopefully that's a labor of love that will bear much fruit.

CHOOSE: CORRECT MULTIPLICAND

In calculation, one gets a "product" (answer ) when one chooses the multiplicand that is to be multiplied. Multiplicand x Multiplier = Product

To me, in my spiritual life, this is somewhat of a warning. Those mathematical terms might be a stretch for all the thoughts that multiply in my head but God is showing me that anxious thoughts multiplied indicate I need more of Him or I will get a quantity obtained by multiplication, which I don't want. (Psalm 94:19)

As Chuck Swindoll states in the "anxiety" chapter 3, Christ at the Crossroads, (my) problems,  "multiply" when I insert "my" solutions, try to work them out by "myself "or allow "my" own "fear" of inadequacy to creep in. The product from the multiplication of those problems is an answer I don't like. I become "afraid."

Clearly the answer for the multiplying of anxious thoughts is fear.  "Fear with inadequacy." 

Multiplying anxious thoughts becomes a deep-seeded fear much too heavy for me to carry around----so I choose thought multiplicands of love & truth, given by God. For He has not given us "fear but power, love and a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7) I'll take those "products" any day.