The Existence of God

I went away for a few days. Not alone-I was with my husband and we went up to the lake in Central NY State. For the first time his father and step-mother will not be driving to Florida for the winter, they will fly; so we went there to say our winter goodbyes. You see, my father-in-law is 90 years old. And healthy, but he is 90. But, we were also there for another reason. You see, my husband was raised Jewish, and he still celebrates the holidays with his family. I go and I celebrate but in a different way. As I sit in the temple, I hear the words of the Hebrew people. The language of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hear the prayers that are recited and sung and I think that these are the words and prayers that our Lord recited and prayed. The prayers begin with thankfulness, to penitence, to mourning, to celebration, to forgivness. And as each section begins my father-in-law would explain something to me and say: "Read the English, and you will understand". So I read, commentaries, translations, and the ah-ha moment that I would like to share:
Isaiah 43:12 says You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.
The commentary is as follows: God exists; but unless we acknowledge this, and unless our belief in God's existence has some influence on our life and character, then for us God does not exist...God exists when we recognize God's sovereignty! The sages of the Midrash had their own way of teaching this idea that, in a sense, God depends on us just as we depend on God. When you are MY witness, I am God; but when you are not my witness, I am, as it were, not God.
How sad it must make God when we do not do his will. When we do not testify to his existence and accepting Him and His Son into our lives we are denying him and admitting that HE is not the the ruler of our lives, it is as if we are denying his existence.
I pray for each of you to open your hearts on the days you question and are hard; I pray for each of you to look into the heavens and say yes God, yes Jesus, I will live my life as you have asked.

Thank You

I feel all the prayers but don't stop please. I am praying for each of too. I am thanking God for not leaving me alone and I have some dear friends to help hold me up with God. I will get through this. Co-dependancy is a nasty thing. It takes over a life and you lose all your worth unless that one person validates everything when you want it validated.
I am headed to the lake for a few days. I will be back Tuesday night. Have a wonderful weekend . I love you all.

Discovery

I've been gone awhile-not from home mind you. Gone from myself. I need time to be angry. I need time to process the past two weeks. And here is what I have discovered.

1. When in trouble, ask God and your friends. God is going to pick you up. Your friends cry and pray with you. Thank you each and everyone.

2. We each age. Some faster than others. We want to hold on to our childhood. We want to hold on to our parents. There comes a time to take care of ourselves.

3. We can't make other people happy all the time. We can't change their situation. We can't change the circumstances. They have to make their own decisions about making their life full or take their own life.

4. It is OK to grieve.

5 It is OK to be happy and content with yourself.

6. There are situations in our life we can't take back. From the time that an injustice, pain, words, or an action it becomes a part of our life.

7. Say I love you more often. There will be a time in our life when it will be too late.

I am back now....and will be back with "My Will Be Done"

I've missed you. Happy Weekend.

My Will Be Done - Part 2

....fast forward to Christmas Eve 1993. We had been transferred to New Jersey 5 weeks ago from Vermont. We had just found a Methodist Church that we felt at home with and attended services that special special night. On the way home, my daughter and I were discussing the birth of Jesus. Out of no where she announced "I don't believe in Jesus anymore. I don't believe in Christmas. I don't believe in Santa. I don't think I believe in anything". I am sure you can understand what I felt and how my heart fell. I asked her why and she responded that she had been praying for a week and had written Santa for only one thing and she didn't get it. I asked what it was and she wouldn't tell me but after much cajoling she said "Snow."
Snow! Now what? It was 45 degrees and clear clear skies. It wasn't going to snow. I knew what I answered would be very important. So, I explained that sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers the way we want and I am sure that he has a reason. Maybe it was to believe no matter what. She became very quiet. We arrived home and she shot upstairs crying and slamming the door to her bedroom. I started the soup and looked out the window and prayed: "God, help me say the right words to this lost child. She is miserable living here. She has lost her friends, all she knows, and her faith. When I open my mouth, let them come from you." (Now go get a tissue)
I looked out the window and it was snowing! Snow! At 45 degrees and clear skies. I called her down and made her close her eyes as I led her into the back yard. I held her head up to the skies, told her to stick out her tongue and open her eyes. And, as we stood in the backyard crying, I looked at the yards next door and there was nothing there. Not on either side, not across the street. "Thank you Lord. Thank you for this miracle to give my child. Thank you thank you thank you!" And as I prayed the snow stopped. We went in and within 5 minutes the snow was gone, the stars were out. Sometimes our prayers are answered.
That night faith was lost, faith was found.
Be still and know that I am God.