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Today is Friday, July 3rd, 2009; Karen's Korner #1605
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Taken from "An Invitation to PRAYER to Mothers (could be Fathers too!):
JOY
"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in
My love, just as I have kept
My Father's commandments and abide in His
love. These things I have spoken to you, that My
joy may remain in you,
and that your joy may be full."
~ John 15:10 - 11
**
Father, the joy that You give me is so wonderful. Help me to live in such a way that Your joy will remain in my heart and life every day. Fill me to overflowing that I may tell everyone of Your never-ending love and praise You for all the gifts of mercy and grace Your so generously give me. Amen.
***
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Today is Thursday, July 2nd, 2009; Karen's Korner #1604
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I have been thinking a lot about the shooting tragedy which occurred in Parkersburg a week ago last Wednesday.
For any Karen's Korner readers outside of Iowa or who may not have heard otherwise: Long-time football coach Ed Thomas, who has had one of the most successful careers in high school history and who currently has four of his former players currently playing in the NFL, was shot and killed by Mark Becker, a 24-year-old and former player.
The town of less than 2,000 residents and the state of Iowa are in shock and mourning at such a senseless tragedy. More than 2500 people attended Coach Thomas' funeral a couple of days ago.
People nationwide are 'there' for the Thomas family.
But my mind has been focused the past few days on the Becker family. What about them? I don't know much about their family. But I know the both families attend the same church. Probably live in the Parkersburg area as well.
What must mom and dad, grandparents, any siblings be thinking, feeling, and doing in light of what a son, grandson, or brother has done?
I know our family story is different but I would like to share something which has happened to us.
My sister has a son who lived with a gal for several years. They had a baby but the relationship did not survive. For a period of time my nephew and the child's mom shared custody of the baby. Then it became child support and weekend visits for Tom and his young daughter.
The arrangement continued until the daughter became a pre-teen. Tom was invited to the doctor's office where the physician announced that there was no biological way that the daughter could be his child. His rare blood type and hers made it 100% impossible for him to be her father.
After a series of court hearings and legal wranglings, Tom was rendered completely out of her young life.
Knowing the tragedy of us losing our daughter Merry, my sister told me a few weeks or months later, "When you lost Merry, you had all kinds of people around you. They were there for you and you could lean on them. You had a cemetery where you could go."
Jan continued, "I just lost my granddaughter. I don't have any of those things. Where does this grandmother go to grieve?"
The Parkersburg story and our story aren't the same.
But it is similar. Two families are grieving. One family is probably receiving more support than the other.
Let's pray for both of them......
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Today is Wednesday, July 1st, 2009; Karen's Korner #1603
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A couple of sentences from the Bible; who can beat God's words which are many times short, complete and to the point?
"For who do you know that really knows YOU,
knows your heart?
And even if they did,
is there anything they would discover in you
that you could take credit for?
Isn't everything you HAVE
and everything you ARE
sheer gifts from God?
So what's the point of all this comparing
and competing?
You already have all you need.
You already have more access to God than you can handle...
You're sitting on top of the world -
at least God's world -
and we're right there,
sitting alongside you!
~ I Corinthians 4:7 - 8
written by the Apostle Paul
**
The 'we' Paul was referring to was Apollos and himself.
What a mental picture:
You, me, our friends, relatives, Paul, Apollos...
All sitting on top of God's world.....
Regardless of our situation and circumstances!!
**
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Today is Tuesday, June 30th, 2009; Karen's Korner #1602
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Today's thought is from Max Lucado in his book titled, "In the Grip of Grace". We don't have to look very many days backward or probably many days into our future, until we hear some horrific story in the news and we think to ourselves, "How could anyone do that?"
Lucado offers a thought on the matter:
The Soul Killer
Sin is a fatal disease
Sin has sentenced us to a slow, painful death.
Sin does to life what shears do to a flower. a cut at the stem separates a flower from the source of life. Initially the flower is attractive, still colorful and strong. But watch that flower over a period of time, and the leaves will wilt and the petals will drop. No matter what you do, the flower will never live again. Surround it with water. Stick the stem in soil. Baptize it with fertilizer. Glue the flower back on the stem. Do what you wish. The flower is dead......
A dead soul has no life.
Cut off from God, the soul withers and dies. The consequence of sin is not a bad day or a bad mood but a dead soul. The sign of a dead soul is clear: poisoned lips and cursing mouths, feet that lead to violence and eyes that don't see God.
Now you know how people can be so vulgar, their souls are dead. Now you see how some religions can be so oppressive. They have no life. Now you understand how the drug peddler can sleep at night and the dictator can live with his conscience. He has none.
The finished work of sin is to kill the soul.
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Today is Monday, June 29th, 2009; Karen's Korner #1601
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We received a note from a Fertile/Forest City school classmate, Elsie Felland, one day last week.
It seems the Forest City Summit has a column titled "Summit Yesteryears" and this particular issue stated that 45 years ago on June 25, 1964 "Mr and Mrs Stanley Zirbel lost 16 out of a pen of 19 geese to foxes Saturday. A den of foxes were found on the Zirbel farm."
That would have be my mom and dad and it would have been our farm. Elsie inquired if I remembered the incident.
No, couldn't recall it.
It made me think about life then and life now.
Probably at the time, it was a 'family tragedy', causing our family trauma, distraction, concern, worry.
Today I can't even remember it!
I wonder what it might be today that is capturing your/my attention, which we won't even remember in the short or distant future.
Maybe it is one of the reasons that God tells us 'not to worry about anything', wanting us to trust Him with our today and our tomorrow. All of our tomorrows.
Chances are pretty good we couldn't handle lots of things in the past. Things on our plate today. What might be slid onto our table tomorrow.
But He knows. He cares. He can....
"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."
~ Psalms 118:24
~
Praise be to God!
~
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Today is Friday, June 26th, 2009; Karen's Korner #1600
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Wow! Another milestone in Karen's Korner history. What would be a good 'korner' for #1600?
I decided to share one more 'when Merry died' writings from more than six years ago. Stay tuned for another writing in the future......
Today is Tuesday, May 20th, 2003; Karen's Korner #57
..."when Merry died"....(part 5)
One of the feelings I had after Merry died, was that somehow I (we) were being asked to move ahead with our lives and we were leaving Merry "behind". Life has a way: it just keeps moving.
Something we are taught repeatedly in the Christian faith is that many things are backwards in our spiritual worlds from what we experience in our physical worlds: those who are first will be last; those who are last will be first; those who are weak are strong.....
And then I knew: Merry wasn't behind! She had been propelled ahead........
Whether we are Bible scholars or not, most of us have heard or read the story of Moses and his leading the oppressed people of Israel toward the Promised Land. If no place else, we watched Charleton Heston's role as Moses in "The Ten Commandments".
When the people had moved out of Egypt, they were free for the first time. But it wasn't too long before the pharoah sent troops after Moses and his people to get them to return to the land they had left. To make matters worse, the new pilgrims were situated against the Red Sea with no where to turn. They were trapped and their futures looked bleak.
That is when God opened the Red Sea and allowed the Children of Israel to escape from what appeared to be a hopeless situation. They walked through the sea bed safely on dry ground, while God held back the water. When the soldiers followed behind, they were drowned in the water. The losers became winners; and the winners became losers!
As I thought about this story, it seemed like God was showing me that this story is our story: the story of each of our lives. He is the leader. We are the children. We reach impossible situations, dead ends, death! But that isn't the end of the story. He holds back the waters of life & death and we walk through safely on dry ground. Our job is to keep moving!
And in my mind's eye, I could see Merry....I could visualize her with her short legs, running to reach the Promised Land. She was not behind, but was moving ahead....faster. And as she ran........she never looked back; no backward glances over her shoulder! She was focused on her final destination!
And the rest of us? We continue to walk.........in the same direction, with the same destination, but we are moving slower! We, too, are asked to continue our forward focus and not look back....each of our arrival dates safely on to a new shore, and a new land will vary. But we have only one goal, one journey: keep moving!!
At the same time, I would visualize this.........it seemed like God would say to me, "More people will be in heaven, because Merry lived shorter you would have liked!"
Like everything God does, I am not sure how all this is being accomplished. But this I am sure...like everything God does, He is faithful and keeps His promises..
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Today is Thursday, June 25th, 2009; Karen's Korner #1599
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I received this pass-along email from Clarissa Johnson about Billy Graham. Some of these which we pass around, turn out not to be factual; hard to tell about this one. If it isn't true, it sounds like Billy Graham:
Billy Graham is now 90 years old with Parkinson's disease.
In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte , North Carolina ,
invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in
his honor.
Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he
struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte
leaders said, 'We don 't expect a major address. Just
come and let us honor you.'
So he agreed.
After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham
stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said,
'I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who
this month has been honored by Time magazine as the
Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from
Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the
aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he
came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He
couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets.
It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it.
Then he looked in the seat beside him.
He still couldn't find it.
The conductor said, 'Dr Einstein, I know who you are.
We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket.
Don't worry about it.'
Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued
down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to
move to the next car,
he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands
and knees looking under his
seat for his ticket.
The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein,
Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are. No problem.
You don't need a ticket.
I'm sure you bought one.'
Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too, know who I am.
What I don't know is where I'm going.''
Having said that Billy Graham continued,
'See the suit I'm wearing? It's a brand new suit.
My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are telling me
I've gotten a little slovenly in
my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went
out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion.
You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which
I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want
you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing.
I want you to remember this:
I not only know who I am ... I also know where I'm going.'
**
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Today is Wednesday, June 24th, 2009; Karen's Korner #1598
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Where would we be without God's care, protection, and love?
He helps us by giving us so many things - i.e. strength, joy, hope, love.
Changes me for the better. And no one knows better than God that I need His help!
Psalms 28:6 - 9 (New International Version) says:
6 Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
8 The LORD is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.
**
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Today is Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009; Karen's Korner #1597
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A good Joel and Victoria Osteen daily email. With lots of changes swirling around us, we might need to refocus on God and what He has in store for us, regardless of our ages, our employment, our family structure/size:
His Call Remains
“For God’s gifts and His call can never be withdrawn”
(Romans 11:29, NLT).
What is the vision that you have for your future? Maybe at one time you were excited about your life—you had big goals, big dreams, but you went through some disappointments or life didn’t turn out the way you planned and now you’ve just settled where you are. But understand, God’s plan for your life didn’t go away just because you had some disappointments, setbacks, or because somebody treated you unfairly. God didn’t write you off just because you made some poor decisions. No, He knew every mistake you’d ever make; He knew every person who would wrong you, and He still called you. He still designed a perfect plan for your life. No matter what’s happened in your past, God’s plan for your good remains. He still has a bright future in store for you. If you will get your hopes back and get your vision in line with God’s Word, then the rest of your life will be the best of your life! Keep standing, keep believing, and get a vision for your future because the Lord has an amazing future in store for you!
Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me. Thank you for calling me and giving my life purpose. I choose to shake off the past; I choose to forgive those who have hurt me, and I choose to keep my eyes on You, knowing that You will complete the good work You started in my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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Today is Monday, June 22nd, 2009; Karen's Korner #1596
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A writing published in "Chicken Soup for the Soul of America", featuring the times surrounding 9/11.
It is titled "The Crumpled Blue Ribbon" (in part); it seems appropriate for Fathers' Day weekend:
"The Crumpled Blue Ribbon"
Helice Bridges
Mrs. Green, a fourth-grade teacher, was grief-stricken as she watched the news on television. As a twenty-two year teacher, she had never known such despair. But then she had another thought, she would purchase blue ribbon for the students to make "Who I am Makes a Difference" ribbons.
She told each student in her class how unique and special they each were as she placed a blue ribbon just above each one's heart.
As they left her classroom, she handed out extra blue ribbons saying, "Go home and tell your parents, brothers, sisters -- everybody -- how much you love them. Tell them today! Place a blue ribbon above their heart."
Less than a week later, a parent stormed into her classroom unannounced.
"I'm Timmy's father," he declared. "Was this year idea to do this blue ribbon project?"
"Yes," Mrs. Green answered.
"Well," the father mumbled, pulling out a crumpled blue ribbon from his pocket, "my son came home the other day and told me how much he loved me and what a good father I am. I've come here to tell you that I'm not a good father. I'm an alcoholic. But something happened to me when my son told me how much he loved me. At that moment, I decided to go to AA for the first time. I even attended church this past Sunday. You see," he said as he turned toward the door, "the world might be hurting, but I don't need to add to the pain. In fact," he said, "from now on I'm going to become the father my son thinks I am......."
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