Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Boundaries

We have the cutest little dog named, Buzz.
He appears to be part Sheltie and part Welsh corgie. We got him from the humane society years ago.
Most of the time, Buzz is an ideal dog.
Lately, however, Buzz has been a little naughty.
Our house is behind some apartment buildings. There is a parking lot in between. After a couple of blizzards, workers blew snow from the lot into our backyard - creating a huge snow hill over the top of our chain link fence. Once the snow hardened, our little dog realized that he could just walk right over that hill and out of the yard.
He's escaped four times.
Each time it's happened, I've tried to remain calm and pray, but I've usually ended up frantically searching the neighborhood. One night I found myself yelling out our phone number to a pizza delivery man - just in case he saw our dog.
How the poor guy was ever supposed to remember that number while delivering a pizza, I'll never know.
All that aside, the Lord has been gracious and brought our little dog back.
But the whole situation makes me think about the boundaries we cross. How often in life have I strayed out of God's protective boundary and gotten into a mess? Hopefully, I do that much less now, but I know that in the past I haven't been much different than Buzz.
God has put boundaries in place for our good. Just like there's a reason we stop at a stop light, there's a reason that God tells us not to lie, steal, have sex outside of marriage ....
When we fail to stop at that light, we risk getting hit. When we fail to do what God says, we not only risk getting terribly hurt and hurting others terribly - we hurt God. We disobey him - the one who sent his only son to die for us.
What I have found in life is that I actually have the greatest freedom when I stay inside God's boundaries. Let me provide an example. When I drive down the highway, I stay in the right lane - the one that's marked by a boundary. I certainly can cross the center line and drive all over the road, but I risk being terribly hurt.
It's by staying within the roadway's boundary that I have the greatest freedom. I can drive many miles, stop at a favorite place to eat or even visit another state.
By staying within God's boundaries I can enjoy freedom from fear, grief, guilt and multitude of other problems. Best of all, I'm obeying my heavenly father.
Lately, whenever Buzz goes out in the backyard, I watch him. When he strays too close to the fence I call him.
He has been obedient to come back to me. And when he does, he gets a little treat.
He likes that very much.
One of these days, the snow will melt and Buzz won't have that snow hill for a temptation.
But for now, I just hope he remembers where he gets the best treats.

Blessings,

Tammy

Sunday, February 7, 2010

More waiting, but that's OK

Well, Zach had his audition in Chicago for Berklee College of Music in Boston.
He seems to think that he did well, which I think is good.
Now, more waiting.
The judges said they'd send him an e-mail by the end of March to let him know if he made it into the school. If he is I'm asking for prayer for lots of scholarship money!
But as it stands, I'm at peace.
I'm praying for God's will to be done. If it's his will that Zach goes to Boston, I'm praying that he gets plugged into a good church right away and makes strong Christian friends.
If not, I'm praying that God brings a Plan B along right away.
Either way, I know that God is good.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5
I love you, Lord. Thank you for the peace that passes all understanding!

Blessings,

Tammy M.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Waiting and trusting

I sit here waiting and trusting.
My husband, Chuck, and our son, Zach, are in Chicago today. Zach had an audition with Berklee College of Music in Boston. The audition was in Chicago.
This is Zach's dream school. It's the school he wants to go to. As far as I know, he doesn't have a Plan B.
Boston is a long way from Nebraska. It's a long way from our influence, but not a long way from our prayers or God.
If Zach passes the audition, I pray he gets good scholarship money and grants. I also pray that he gets plugged into a good church and makes strong Christian friends who will be a positive influence in his life.
I'm praying that he passes that audition with flying colors and gets plenty of scholarship money. If that's not the Lord's will, then I pray that our loving Father will quickly provide that Plan B - and that it will be a wonderful plan, indeed.
So here I sit.
Waiting.
Waiting for a phone call from my husband to tell me how things went.
But I've also got my Bible open to Psalms. I've asked God to talk to me and my fingers found their way to Psalm 135, which in part says: "Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord; praise him, you servants of the Lord, you who minister in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
"Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name for that is pleasant.
"For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his possession.
"I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.
"The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth."
It's true that the Lord is in charge. He does what he wants and what he knows is best.
So here's where the trust comes in.
No matter what happens, I trust my God. I know he wants what's best for us. And I rely on his words: "I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord of hosts, plans to prosper and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you and you will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13.
In this gray twilight of uncertainty, I have to trust that my God is good. He is faithful. He knows what's best.
So I wait.
And I trust.

Blessings,

Tammy

Monday, February 1, 2010

One of those mornings

Ever have one of those mornings?
Goofy things happen. The dog gets out and you find yourself driving around hoping and praying that you'll find him.
You have some less-than-pleasant words with your son while trying to get him to help you look. He's obedient. He helps, but he isn't happy with you.
And you're not happy with yourself.
You get to work and you can't reach the people you wanted to on the phone.
Later, you think you're doing everything right in a certain situation, but find out you were supposed to be doing something different.
OK. We all have Mondays kind of like this. Not terrible. Not crushing. Not with insurmountable problems.
But they're the kind of days that make me want to run to God - to ask him for encouragement. I need him to build me up on the inside so I can face whatever is on the outside.
It's times like this that I think of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians. In chapter 3, verse 16, he writes: "I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."
Who doesn't need that?
So I pray, "Dear Lord please strengthen me. Please show me how to do what I need to do and how to do it right."
And since I'm kind of a baby, I also pray, "Lord please make it easy for me. Please just let all the pieces fall together. Please put people in my path who will help and guide me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."
I don't know about you, but I need that strengthening in my inner being.
And nobody can supply that like God, who blesses us more than we could ever imagine.
By the way, we did find the dog. He was merrily trotting back toward the house.
Guess he knows where his real home is - as do we!

Blessings,

Tammy