America

We've had our Google page theme as a snowy mountain scene. It's beautiful but every time I look at it, I shiver--so this morning I changed it.

The morning paper's headline is about the huge stimulus (?) package the Democrats pushed through congress. No Republicans voted for it. (Guess we don't have a checks and balance Senate any more.) I made a C in Econ in college and was happy to get that. I only made that grade because the teacher averaged all the grades from all his classes. What I know about econ you could fit in a thimble and have room left over for a quart of milk. Because Pelosi was so animatedly excited about this package, even with my limited knowledge, I feel sure the package isn't going to do much for the economy except further bankrupt the U.S.A.

For that reason my new Google page theme is the American flag.

Seriously folks, I'm not sure we'll make it two years with these spendthrift Dems in control of congress before America turns into third world country.

Sound pessimistic? Sorry. I'll go on to higher things.

We are supposed to teach a small group class on the book of Jonah. I'm seeing something in that book I have never seen before. If you know the story, God told Jonah to go prophesy to Nineveh and tell them that He was going to destroy them unless they repented. (Evidently they were a ruthless, cruel people.) Well, Jonah ran the other way and ended up in a storm on a sinking ship. His crew mates threw him overboard, only because he told them to do it, and the storm immediately ceased. Knowing it was Jonah's God who started and stopped the storm, they all worshipped Him (God)the rest of their lives. Which brings me to the moral of this story. Even when we (the U.S.A.) disobey, God makes good come out of it.

If this is true then all is not lost for our country. There are enough of us around who still revere God and his sovereignty in this world. We can continue to pray and trust that God will turn all this around for His good.

Amen!

What If?

Lord, if you let me win the lottery, I promise it won't spoil me.
I read this on a bumper sticker recently.

I woke up this morning thinking about money.
Without going into details, all my life the thought that "I never have enough" is ingrained in my mind. It came from my daddy, who was raised pretty poor.
With the economy in a downturn, our retirement money is dwindling, jobs are hard to find. Some in my family need jobs.
Once upon a time we thought we could just sell our house if we needed more money, but that's out the window now, too.

God tells us not to worry about tomorrow. I know deep inside of me that He takes care of the sparrow and knows the number of hairs on my head. Still, I get into the "what ifs."

I can't imagine the amount of dollars being thrown around in the media: millions, billions, trillions. I can't imagine being paid the amounts given to atheletes, film stars, CEOs. I wonder what it would feel like to do something that someone thought so much of they'd give me a million dollars every time I did it.

It is hard to stop the "what ifs" when the news is so full of them. What I need are my own "what ifs." What if God is really who He says He is? What if God really will take care of all my needs? What if I can enter into the rest Jesus tells us we can have in Him? What if I remember that He has never failed me yet? Always answered my prayers? Always made things work out for the good for me and my family?

What if I just live today and let Him worry about tomorrow? What if, in the long run, none of my worrying matters anyway?

I think I'll go do my laundry and let God work out all the rest.

Listening to Wisdom

Funny how great minds work together. This morning I talked to God just a little and journaled that I hadn't heard from Him in awhile but it was probably because I hadn't sat still long enough to listen. Then I read my brother's blog.(http://jimmiesblogspace.blogspot.com/) He wrote about listening to his head instead of his stomach. (I've been known to do that myself.) I went to what I call my Sun Room (or Son Room) and opened my Bible. It didn't take me long to find Proverbs 1:20-33. In my Bible this is titled "The Call of Wisdom." The content spoke to me about our economy and the people who made the decisions that put our country in this precarious position. On another level I saw it more personally.

Wisdom (God) is always calling out to us. Solomon says Wisdom is calling aloud, raising her voice, crying out, speaking. You'd think if God is speaking that loudly, someone would listen. Me, for instance. This morning I listened. I heard my own body's complaint about something I've been overeating the past month. Since this is what I've been most concerned about, I'm glad I'm hearing the complaint. I'm hopeful I won't let it go in one ear and out the other. (Or in one fat cell and never out again!)

But more important than my personal foibles is how all this applies to our country, and to those of us in the country who can't do anything to turn the economy around. We are the ones (are we the complacent fools Proverbs speaks of?) who have to live through it while the "simple ones" (Proverbs's words, not mine) in authority try to get us out of the mess. The final verse in Proverbs 1 reads, "But whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure, without fear of evil."

Listening to Wisdom is where I plan to hang my hat. I hope my brother will hang his there. But even more than the two of us, I'm hopeful there's someone, or many someones, in Washington who'll hang their hats there, too.