at the foot of heaven.

Tags

cancer, Christianity, darkness vs. light, DC Talk, face of jesus, faith, hope, How the Lights Gets In, Jesus is the Light, Kristian Anderson, Light of the World, relying on Jesus

Do you know Kristian Anderson? Yeah, probably not. I don’t know him either. But this man.. he is a true man of God. You see, Kristian was diagnosed with cancer (in his bowl and liver) on October 6, 2009 at the age of 34. Unfortunately, Kristian went to heaven on the 2nd of January, 2012 around 8am. He fought for two long years and in that time became such a witness of Christ to all those around him. His wife, Rachel, said his passing was truly peaceful and that he had a tear in his eye as he left. She said she has no doubt that he was looking into the face of Jesus. You can read all about his journey on his blog – how the light gets in.

But.. I wanted to share one of his posts with you.. titled At the foot of Heaven.

sloppy seconds.

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careers, faith, faithfulness, finding happiness, fulfillment, God, God is always there, God is enough, God provides, happiness, Hebrews 13:5, hope, jobs, jobs don't provide happiness, postaday2011, postaweek2011, prayer, priorities, sloppy seconds

Since when did I start thinking of God as sloppy seconds? Probably since society started drilling in my head that a powerful career, a perfect family, designer accessories and the latest and greatest technology were the keys to happiness.

A dear friend and I talked this morning about happiness and how we let certain things overshadow what really provide true happiness. If we don’t feel like God is fulfilling our needs and desires, we start searching for something more. We start focusing on earning more money or developing a new relationship or increasing our power within our careers. It’s easy to do. And when those things fall short of bringing us happiness, we get so incredibly frustrated. Our dissatisfaction with our circumstances start to take precedence over the important things in life and we end up missing out on all the things the truly make us happy. Every time we focus on something else, we in turn start focusing less on God. We start telling God that He is not enough.. that He is not enough to make us happy or to fill our love tanks. We start making God our sloppy seconds.

a life of hypocrisy.

Tags

Christian lifestyle, Christian living, Christianity, Ephesians, Ephesians 4:17-32, faith, forgiveness, God, God's calling for our lives, gossip, hope, hypocrisy, hypocrites, hypocritical friends, love, morals, postaday2011, postaweek2011, values

In my devotion this morning, I read these words from Ephesians…

Ephesians 4:17-32 says, “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Those who have been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

I had a friend in high school who was one of my close Christian friends. As we went off to college, our friendship slowly dissipated.

i find you when i fall apart.

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blaming God, cancer, chemo, Christian music, Christianity, death, faith, Fall Apart, falling apart, finding God, God, hope, Josh Wilson, pain, postaday2011, storms of life, strength

Twizzler is currently at the Veterinary Emergency Center. Since her last chemo treatment on June 16th, she has slowly taken a downward spiral. Her lymph nodes have greatly enlarged, she’s been nauseous and has had difficulty breathing. Things aren’t looking good, but hopefully I’ll hear some kind of good news today when I pick her up…

I can’t help but think about losing her. I try not to; I try to focus on the time we do have with her, but it’s so hard. My heart aches continually and every time I leave the house, I can’t help but think that it might be the last time I see her. I’m normally a pretty optimistic person, but with her.. I’m anything but. She brings so much joy to my life that it’s hard to imagine life without her.

And as I sit here and think about the journey we’ve had thus far, I am constantly reminded how much my faith has grown throughout the treatment process.

turn our mourning into dancing.

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anger, bitterness, Casting Crowns, celebration, Christianity, death, faith, God, hope, hope in the Lord, hopelessness, Jesus, joy, overcoming anger, pain, postaday2011, praise, Praise You with a Dance, Psalms 30, Romans 8:28, thanksgiving, trust

A lot of crappy things have been going on in the lives of some of my friends.. like majorly crappy things. A friend, who I went to elementary school with in Ohio, just lost her dad. A friend from high school lost her mom as well. She was fine one day, had an allergic reaction, went into anaphylactic shock and then she was gone. Another close friend of mine just found out her mom has cancer. The list could go on and on… and I’m sure you know of someone who is facing similar pain, if not yourself.

Life can be the pits sometimes. We all experience various life battles throughout our time here on earth. But unfortunately many people think that Christians live this awesome, glorious life without any problems or tragedies. Well, news flash… we don’t. We still have tragedies; it’s just that when they happen we have someone to turn to in order to help us overcome. We have hope in the Lord for a better tomorrow, for a greater plan. But, even though God helps us get through times of trial and tribulation, the pain is still the same. Pain still exists and the hurt is just as deep. However, when we put our trust in God and in His plan, He will help us turn our mourning into dancing.

why am i discouraged?

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Bible, encouragement, faith, God, hope, Jesus, peace, postaday2011, Psalms, reassurance, scripture

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!” ~ Psalms 42:1

This verse really hit home for me today. And because of the power this verse holds, I felt the need to share it with each of you. All too often, we wallow in our sorrows and throw pity parties for ourselves. When we focus so much on the troubles of life, we tend to lose sight of the many blessings we’ve been given. But no matter our earthly circumstances, we must remember the hope our God brings. Instead of concentrating on the negatives, let’s remain optimistic as we still have so much celebrate. And instead of losing hope and becoming discouraged, look for the peace and reassurance that our Lord offers. He may not wipe your situation away, but He’ll surely wipe away your tears. Put your faith in God and you can get through anything.

my hope is in you.

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anorexia, appearances, battles, character, faith, God, hope, housing market, Jesus, perseverance, postaday2011, selling a house, storms of life, teenagers, troubles, trust in Jesus, weight issues

Life is full of battles and all too often, we try and go at it alone. Instead of turning to the One we know will give us the strength to persevere, we cover the battles of life up with quick fixes. Instead of dieting the correct way.. the way of living a healthy lifestyle and slowly working towards your goal weight.. we want quick fixes. Young girls stop eating hoping to wake up one day as the skinny girl she longs to be. Boys use steroids as an ‘overnight’ cure for their desire to be fit and muscular. When prepping a house to sell, homeowners go to great lengths to make it look pretty. And many times its done via the quick fix route. Instead of fixing the rotting wood, people paint over it. Instead of replacing the carpet where a child spilled paint, they cover it with furniture. We all want to look good from the outside, no matter the cost. We all desire the quick fixes of life.

But.. when are we going to start tackling the inside? When are we going to take the time to get to the root of the problem and truly resolve the issue at hand? When is this change in outlook going to be reversed?

For many people, it unfortunately won’t ever be. They’ll constantly spend their days being a people pleaser and prepping themselves to look good on the outside, not allowing others to see what lies within. People cover up anger and depression with fake smiles and half-hearted laughs. People dismiss the storms raging in their life in order to be perceived as the family we all so long to be in the American dream. Marriages are often destroyed because couples are too vain and prideful to communicate with one another or to seek help. As a troubling society, we concern ourselves way too much with the end result rather than the journey. We become easily frustrated when processes don’t work or take too long. We give up and move on to another quick fix. Oh, how we are so impatient.

what are you investing in?

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cancer, chemotherapy, church, energy, faith, finances, future, giving, giving to God, God, God provides, hope, investing, love, postaday2011, sacrifices, serving, time, tithing

Where do you spend most of your time? Most of your energy? Most of your money? Because I’m currently working two jobs, I probably spend most of my time working. And I think we can all agree that most of our energy is spent getting things done. I’m not sure my list of ‘to-dos’ will ever be finished. And money. Well, for the past five or six months most of our money has been spent on Twizzler’s chemotherapy.

Of all those things I just listed, the only thing that seems worthwhile in the long run is our daughter’s cancer treatment. (Yes, until the day I die, I will forever call my dogs my children.) And if it was up to me, I wouldn’t spend almost nine hours a day working… sometimes fourteen hours if I work both jobs, like today. There are so many other things I would rather spend my time doing. And my energy.. well, I do love the satisfaction that comes with completing a task, but in the grand scheme of things.. none of it really matters.

My time, money and energy aren’t really being invested properly. Yesterday, I talked about how work cannot be the source of our happiness, which you can read about here. And today is somewhat of a follow-up. When we spend our time and money doing things that aren’t worthwhile, why are we even doing them in the first place? So, take a minute and think about your life. What are you investing your time, money and energy in? Are they worthwhile investments?

If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that we all have some mixed up priorities. God is the manager of all things here on earth. He is the manager of our time and our money. Technically, all of it is on loan to us from God. He gives us enough to live a comfortable lifestyle along with giving back to Him and His kingdom. So, if God promises to provide for our needs, why do we always seem to push the envelope and want more than necessary?

When you look at your time.. how much of it do you spend serving others? When was the last time you volunteered? As Christopher and I were filing our tax returns, we reviewed our volunteer hours and compared them to the previous year. YIKES! Our volunteering went down drastically this past year. And we can give as many excuses we want of how we were busy getting married, buying a house, moving, etc. But, if we were really honest with ourselves.. we had the time and chose to invest it in other places. Are you living a life similar to ours? Always busy or perfectly content doing nothing, but still never finding the time to be a disciple of Christ?

is there ever time to breathe?

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blessing, calling, economy, faith, future, God, gratefulness, gratitude, hope, job, job loss, life, love, postaday2011, suffering, thankfulness

I’ve basically had all of ten minutes to breathe today. And while I’m grateful the day went by quickly, it would have been nice to have a moment or two to just sit down and breathe. But, no such luck. Have you ever had a day like that before? Who am I kidding? I’m sure you have. We all have those crazy, hectic days where you just wonder when it’s all going to end, but it never seems to. Well, today, I had one of those days. One of those hair pulling out kind of days. But no matter the stress and anxiety, more than anything, it just makes me extremely grateful.

Grateful? Yes. Grateful. I am extremely grateful to have a job. I am grateful to be employed in the city of my choice, that of which is extremely close to my family (as in a half marathon would get me to my parent’s house). And I’m grateful to be employed making pretty decent money giving me the ability to pay for chemotherapy for our sweet ‘daughter’ and still have extra cash left over to pay the bills. I’m so very grateful. Grateful that I am pursuing a career that is exactly what I went to school for (thanks Waynesburg University.. err.. thanks Mom and Dad for paying for my education). And grateful that at the end of the day, I simply have a job. I am so grateful, especially in this devastating economy. And because crazy days like today just ensure the necessity of my job and that when I come in tomorrow, my stuff will still be in my desk.

don’t give up hope.

Tags

baseball, faith, Flying Squirrels, future, God, hope, Jesus, job loss, jobs, marketing, postaday2011, prayer, struggle, Third Day, uncertainty

Quite a few people I know are facing unknown futures.. whether it’s due to a chapter closing in their life like a job loss or just the dissatisfaction with their current situation. People all around me are having to make some difficult decisions that have major impact on their futures. And unfortunately, those types of situations occur quite frequently in this economy.

I lost my job in April of 2010, after working at a marketing and strategy development company for almost two years. I was the last one in.. so therefore, I was also the first one out. Christopher and I had just purchased our first home that February, a home we knew was a little out of our budget, but would be worth it to have the room to build a family in. So, let’s just say that when I found out I was being let go.. my heart sank. I seriously thought we were going to lose the house. My mind was racing thinking of all the items we could sell just to make ends meet. And I thought about all the odd jobs we could do for some extra cash. I even thought about lending out Twizzler to single men to take to parks in order to attract women. Yes, she is that cute. (Okay.. so maybe I didn’t really contemplate that, but still.. ) Obviously, I started thinking the absolute worst. I pictured the bank coming to our door step the very next day with an eviction notice. For the record, yes, I do blow everything out of proportion without thinking things through. But thankfully, my husband is quite the opposite.. and he is also quite the optimist.

Well, Christopher was right. We stayed positive and God followed through. I was able to pick up quite a few hours at the restaurant I had worked at right after college and Christopher picked up a second job. He worked as a vendor manager for the local minor league baseball team, the Flying Squirrels. (And no, I didn’t make up that team name…) For some reason I had this sense of peace throughout those four months I was unemployed. I’m not really sure why, as I was no where near as strong in my faith as I am today. But I do know and even knew then that God had a plan for us and was going to provide for our family. I’m sure I owe a lot of that to all those around me that prayed ten times more than I did for my own family, especially my mother. What a blessing it is to be surrounded by such strong women and men of faith!