Monday, March 20, 2017

MASTERING DISTRACTIONS!

There is an old Pennsylvania Dutch proverb that says, The hurrier I go the behinder, I get!  Do you ever feel that way? That you can't seem to get anything done but you're still exhausted at the end of the day? You are not alone!

This is common among busy people. We start a project over here, get interrupted,  go to another, and before you know it you're late for work, church, picking up the kids, and then rushing off to an appointment you just can't miss!   Bottom line:  Nothing you wanted to do got done at the end of the day!

There are many culprits in our chronically busy life styles. They suck up our time, wreak havoc on our body, and yield very little results!  But the one that has cropped up in my life lately with a vengeance is DISTRACTIONS!!  Chalk it up to old age if you will, but I've been seeing the symptoms in people of every age!  The difference in my case is,  I'm determined to do something about it!  I just believed the Lord had a remedy for all of this nonsense and you know where I found it?  Right in His word!  Let me drop a bit of God Knowledge on you this morning if you're feeling FRUSTRATED with DISTRACTIONS:


  • Take your Super Woman Cape Off!  You can't Help Everyone! Beware of over committing to projects, responsibilities, that take you away from the things God really wants you to do!  This is particularly hard if the things we're asked to do are helpful, and meet a real need.  Moses, in Exodus 18:17-18 was told by Jethro, this very thing in the Voice paraphrase translation: What you are doing is not good for you18 The responsibility is just too much. You are going to wear yourself out. Not only that, you’re going to wear out the people too. You can’t do it all by yourself. 
  • Keep the Main thing the Main thing! Look for God's Will in the matter first! The Lord is more interested in us Being With Him, than our notion of Doing Things For Him! Jesus told Martha, in Luke 10:42 as she was stressing over Mary's lack of concern for kitchen duty: There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her."   Our distractions are sometimes nothing but more busy work to keep our minds occupied and our hearts far away from more important things! 
  • Surrender Attempts to Control Every Situation! Know and Accept Human Limitations! Ministering to the needs of others is a God-Size job and we can not do it alone. (John 15:5a) As women we often forget that because nurturing and serving is in our DNA. We become worried and concerned and will often Take on More rather than Trust God More!  The Apostles had to learn a similar lesson in Acts when they were forced to surrender the needs of the widows to God and Spirit filled servants. Acts 6:3-4 -  3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” They learned to master their distractions and frustrations by sharing the load with others.
Summary:

In everything we do we must ask ourselves these questions:  Why am I doing this?  Who gets the glory? Am I using this as a substitute for spending real quality time with the Lord? You may be like me frustrated with everything that didn't get done, but have you considered....God may be using these very things to get us back where He wants us to be ON OUR KNEES?


UNTIL NEXT TIME...

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Sunday, March 12, 2017

Tea And Symphony!!

What a weekend I've had dear readers!  I spent a glorious couple of hours with beautiful sisters enjoying a little tea and a symphony!  If this sounds a bit archaic and too old school for your taste...hold that thought until the end of this post!

Generations of women at my church recreated an age-old bonding ritual of sisterhood, in what I believe combined both tradition and contemporary. The traditional part was the ambiance of low lighting, classical music, elegant styling, and a variety of teas, sandwiches and pastries served right at your table.  

The contemporary part was that no hats or gloves were required (ladies dressed in their best black and white); and tea time started at eleven a.m. rather than the formal two or three o'clock afternoon setting (we're busy women with lots of responsibilities). One particular joyous sight for me was that the older generation of women were served by younger women, many who had their own daughters and nieces beside them,  teaching them how to serve! Now that's a flash from my past!

The program was a bit different as well.  While one usually think of gifted musicians displaying their honed skills, our symphony was composed of only five women,  it was A Symphony of Sisters.   Each in a different season of their life: a college freshman; an aged widow; a working mom with five children; a caregiver wife to an ailing husband, and a busy mother in ministry raising three boys and a teenage daughter.  Their instruments were their voices, testimonials of God's goodness and grace in their lives and I tell you, they were in rare form!  It was truly inspiring.

So what did we learn about true sisterhood as we sipped our tea?

1.  Sisters are Still a force to be reckoned with!  We are Strong, We are Survivors, and with God's help, can get through anything!

2.  The Differences in our ages is not a Liability but an Asset. Younger women are fearless but sometimes reckless, they are forging new paths for themselves.  Older women need to trust them more to do the right thing, but be there for them when they get off track!

3. Women can indeed work well together. Love, Respect and the Appreciation for each other's gifts and talents were quite evident at this tea. We need to stop believing the negative rhetoric that younger women won't listen to wisdom and older women don't have anything useful to say!

As demonstrated at this particular tea: Our Lives are Like a Symphony...Everyone has a key part to play....Don't let hitting one sour note keep you from playing your part..we need you!


UNTIL NEXT TIME...

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Wednesday, March 1, 2017

A Simple LACK of Respect!!

I praise You becauseI am fearfully
and wonderfully made...(Ps. 139:14)
In a recent post, I mentioned how inspiring the movie, Hidden Figures, was to me and thousands of women nationwide! There are so many untold or scarcely mentioned women who have made astounding contributions to our world and if not for a few diligent journalists, the general public would never know them!

I was reminded the other day of yet another one, Henrietta Lacks!  Oprah Winfrey will portray her in an upcoming HBO biopic, airing in April!  Let me give you a heads up!  This is a MUST SEE movie!  It is based on a book by Rebecca Skloot, entitled, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, published in 2010.

I first became aware of Henrietta four years ago when I traveled with my granddaughter to NCAT (North Carolina A&T) for a college tour. A student adviser gave her a copy.  Thought she ought to read it since she planned to study biomedical engineering.  I read the entire book on our nine-hour trip back home!  I literally could not put it down!

Henrietta Lacks was a ordinary black woman living in Baltimore who got sick and was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1950.  She died a year later at the age of 31.  John Hopkins, a world famous research hospital upon examining her cancerous tissue after her death was intrigued. Performing innumerable tests on her tissue they found like the Psalmist, that she was fearfully and wonderfully made  (Ps. 139:14).  They had never seen cell structures as unique as hers! 

These cells became known as HeLa (HE for Henrietta and LA for Lacks).  The studies and experiments done using these cells revolutionized medical research and was shared globally to scientists in many fields of medicine. They were critical to the production of the Salk  Polio Vaccine.  Polio was a horrific disease at the time. Thus, hundreds of medical patents have been established improving human life and the cells are still being used today! Sounds Great doesn't It? There's only one problem..They never told Henrietta's family they were doing it!!! 

(Read more about this amazing woman at: http://www.biography.com/people/henrietta-lacks-21366671#synopsis


So what message can we derive from this woman's story?  What can we tell our daughters and granddaughters?  Let's start with this:

1.  Every Woman's Body Has Value!  You are a precious jewel in the eyes of God even to the very cells that comprise your innermost being!  Your worth is immeasurable and therefore the price you put on it should be of such a high standard that you' will not defile it, contaminate it with strange flesh and should certainly not be used as a play thing for someone unwilling to pay God's price for it... a committed covenant relationship called marriage (I Corin. 6:19; Song of Songs  3:5) 


2.  Every Woman's Body Has Beauty!  Stop allowing people who don't KNOW you, DEFINE you! Your specific body type, skin color, and  hair texture is what makes you UNIQUELY YOU!  (Henrietta's body, although ravished by disease retains a measure of beauty today because it is providing for others a better quality of life.)   No one but the Lord has the right to ascribe a standard of beauty to you and He's already assured you that it is the inward beauty that counts not the outward (I Peter 3: 4; I Sam. 16:7) Most of what is called beautiful and alluring is based on profitability and popularity!

3.  Every Woman's Body Deserves Respect! Does it surprise you that the general lack of respect and the objectification of women's bodies seems to be growing? Pornography and rape on campus is on the rise. Politicians think nothing of talking about grabbing women by their vaginas and equating our emotional wiring to menstrual bleeding!  I can't imagine what this is doing to the minds of our little boys and girls growing up in this environment.  This is not of God!  Our bodies are a living sacrifice (His altar) acceptable and pleasing to God! (Rom. 12:1-2) It should be treated and honored with that same kind of  respect! Let's start demanding that others do so!

So there you have it!  The month of March is traditionally Women's History Month let's take a cue from those who Inspire and Aspire, then Conspire with one another to be all we can be in the Lord!


UNTIL NEXT TIME...

If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR  scroll to the bottom of my blog page at  http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com  click on the  no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.