Life's a Garden......DIG IT!!!

Okay, this whole blog thing started with my new hobby of gardening. So, I am going to use a metaphor to go from gardening to God. God sees our life like a garden. He is the gardener.

I know with my garden, I thought about it a long time. I planned what I was going to plant and the best method to do this. I decided what kind of soil to get. I made sure its location was where it would get adequate sunlight. I wanted my creation to be useful, practical, and absolutely beautiful. I know God did this with my life. He planned who and what I would be. He put lots of thought into it. He decided who my parents should be. He decided where in the world I would be placed. He wanted the best for me and he planned for me to be very useful for His kingdom and beautiful in His eyes.

Also, with my garden, I put a lot of work into it. I put bags of compost, topsoil, and manure into the boxes. I planted seedlings and sowed seeds. I have diligently watered these plants. I check on it constantly to make sure it is thriving. It is right outside my bedroom window so that I can look at it often. God does the same with my life. He makes sure the right friends are around to support and love me. He puts sermons and books in my path so that He can sow seeds of thought into my brain. He is always near to watch over me and make sure that I am thriving.

Now, my garden has lots of pests. I know there are rabbit and deer that love to come take bites out of the beautiful broccoli leaves. There are insects that try to attack my plants. I have seen caterpillars and little flying bugs that sit around my garden, just waiting to feast on my little babies. This is just like sin and bad influence in my life. There are always enemies that will take advantage of you. They will take bites out of you if you let them. There are sin and weakness that are just sitting in the shadows waiting to attack me. The devil is the main culprit. But, he attacks in places like our marriage, finances, relationships, and any place that might eat at the core of who we are or what God intends us to be. God can help us weed out the stuff that is bad for our growth.

So, I diligently take care of my garden so that it will thrive. I water it. I fertilize it. I get rid of dead leaves that are taking away from the healthy plants. I pick bugs off of the plants and get rid of them so they can't harm my tomatoes. I spray them with mineral oil and water them with soapy water to naturally get rid of pests. God gives us all the tools and fertilizer we need in our life. He is always diligently working to help us thrive. He shows us what we need in the Bible and through sermons, bible lessons, and our Christian friends.

After lots of patience and tending, I will be harvesting many veggies and fruits. It was not an overnight process. But, when I taste the harvest, it will all be worth it. Can God say that about your life? Will there be a harvest he can enjoy? If you are allowing the Master Gardener to fertilize and tend to your life, there should be an abundant harvest that everyone around you will enjoy. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control will the be the fruit from your life.

Gardening is fun, but it can be hard work too. I hope that you work hard at cultivating a life that is pleasing to God. He wants you to have a full, abundant life. Allow Him to sow seeds in your life, fertilize the crop, remove the pests, and cultivate good things. Life's a Garden......DIG IT!!!

IN THE FIRE.....

Do you ever feel like it can't get any worse? Your life is crazy? There is so much crap happening in your life, when does it ever get better? Do you feel like someone might as well just throw you into the middle of the fire?

Well, my friends, I believe we are right in the middle of the fire. God did not promise us a perfectly comfy life with no troubles here on Earth. He said we would have turmoil, but to be joyful because He had conquered death. So, we are gonna have people mad and disappointed in us and our actions. We are going to get angry at family members. Our finances and job situation might not be ideal. We could be sick. We could just be feeling sorry for ourselves. But, you know what? We really have such a freedom in the middle of the fire. That is because of God.

Our God is stronger than any problem we could have here on Earth. In Daniel 3 there is a familiar Sunday School story. Three guys named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendnago were not scared of the fire. King Nebuchadnezzar ordered all his people to fall down and worship his God and his idol that he had created. They were told if they did not do this, then they would be thrown into the fiery furnace and surely die. These three faithful Christians refused to bow to any idols or worship any false Gods. They knew their God was more powerful and amazing than anything Nebuchadnezzar could do to them. And, when they were thrown into the fire, everyone saw 4 men dancing around inside the flames. Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed by this show of faithfulness of the men and their God that he called them back out of the fire. They were unharmed by the flames. King Nebuchadnezzar now ordered his people to worship the God of these men because he was so powerful.

Okay, if God can protect these three guys from a furnace, I am thinking he can be more powerful than the problems that I face today. No money troubles, marriage troubles, family issues, health problem could really be worse than facing death by fire. God is so faithful. These guys believed that even before their troubles began. They believed it in the middle of their trouble. God got the glory for this faithfulness in the end.

I want this to be the story of my life. I don't want anyone telling me what I have to worship. I don't want anyone saying I will not make it through the fires of this life. I know that my God is powerful and amazing. As long as I trust in Him and have faith that He can bring me through any trouble this life might bring, I know that I can survive even the worst circumstances. Even in the middle of what I would rather not endure, I am going to praise God. And, when I am have come through the troubles, I am going to give Him all the glory! I will not let anything steal my joy because I know God is always with me, especially when I am in the middle of the fire!

Getting the wind knocked out of you....

I remember the first time I got the wind knocked out of me. I was playing at our neighborhood playground. I had climbed way up on the metal, monkey bar contraption. I don't know how it happened or what made me fall, but all of a sudden, I am not liking gravity. I fall on my stomach on a lower bar, then flop into the sand on my back. Aeough! You can hear it, can't you? That moment when you hit and all the oxygen is sucked out of your lungs. It is terrifying. It feels like you might never breathe again. What do you do?

Life can be like this sometimes. We can be going along, having a grand time, then all of a sudden something happens to knock the wind out of us. We can have a wonderful time of morning devotions and prayer, then a child can get up whining and yelling about getting ready for school. There goes the wind! Can you feel it? You can have an amazing day at work or out with friends, then come home and a spouse can say a single sentence that brings on all kinds of emotions. Whew! I heard the oxygen leave the room that time!!!

Why is there always this constant battle between good God moments and bad, lonely, fear-filled moments? What makes anger and selfishness, bitterness and pride get in the way of a joyful day? I'll tell you what.....THE DEVIL! If God is our oxygen, the devil is the oxygen sucker. He can hone in on our fears and weaknesses and quickly take the wind right out of our sails. Don't let him do this!!!!

Every time that you feel the oxygen leave the room, ask yourself, "Why would I want the devil to take away all the glory from God right now?" Instead of letting him get you while you're down, ask God to bring you back a breathe of fresh air. He can and will do it!!! The devil will try everyday to knock the wind out of you. He doesn't want you to be filled up with God. We need oxygen to live. We need God to live right. Get up every morning ready to fight for air and ready to fight for the good that God can bring into your life if you are seeking him. Don't let the devil knock the wind out of you today!!!

I am the clay.....

So, today at church there was this professional potter/speaker dude. As he gave his message he also molded a pot out of clay. He had lots of good points that I thought I would share. He was kind of all over the place and its taken hours of "thinking" to really put it together in my head. But, I hope this makes sense to you, like it did to me.

WARNING: Math terms involved. You might need to draw on paper to visually comprehend!!!

First, we are meant to be more than one dimensional. We are more than a point in space. If we continue to just be on our point, in our stuff, we cannot grow in any way. If we are in line with another point (person), we create fellowship. This guy used a lot of geometry terms in his lesson. We all know that the shortest path between two points is a straight line. We have to look up at the other point and share with them, thus creating the line and the fellowship. We can also turn around on our point and share with many people. This creates a circle of our closest friends and family. Now, we are in the 2 dimensional. Yet, we were created for so much more.

This is where the clay comes into play. If you can, picture yourself as a blob of gray lifeless clay. This clay represents your life, your existence, the person you are. God is the potter. He creates us everyday to be his unique creation. He wants for us so badly to place ourselves right in the center of His will. If we, like the clay, are centered correctly we will grow, take shape, and become more beautiful everyday. If we aren't careful and we get away from the center, we are liable to fall over, be damaged, not be strong enough, and continue to just be a blob of clay.

Water is an important factor. It helps to shape the clay. Without water and the shaping hands of the potter, the clay wouldn't be anything but clay. With water, the clay starts to take the shape of something other than a blob. With Jesus and the salvation he offers us, we start to take the shape of something other than a selfish, ugly human being.

Every good pot has a hole in the center of it. This is called its heart. It is intended to be there. That is what makes it a functional pot. You can fill it up with something. Just like us humans, the pot has an empty heart, waiting to be filled with what the creator intended. Pots are created to hold things such as water, juice, or soup to be functional. Our creator left a hole in our heart that is suppose to be filled with the holy spirit.

Of course, potters use fire to help finish off their creation. The pot is put in the kiln to be fired. This makes it more durable, sturdy, dependable. It is then painted and made even more beautiful and fired again. Each time the pot is put into the fire, it comes out better, stronger, more perfect. Even after we have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, asked God to be lord of our lives, and been filled with the Holy Spirit, there is much work on Earth to do. We must be put in the fire, over and over, to become more beautiful. That is why God allows so many hard times to fall upon Christians. He wants us to go through hard times. He wants us to sweat and get through the heat of the fire. Our entire lives, He wants us to become more and more like Jesus, the only perfect creation.

Unlike the clay, we have a choice. We don't have to be a dull, gray, lifeless blob anymore. We can make sure we are centered every day in God's word. We can rejoice in our struggles and learn the lessons God is trying to teach us. We can allow this life to make us better people, to become what our creator envisioned. Or, we can walk away and try our way. Although our way might be easier initially, it is far less rewarding. None of us want to walk through the fire of life, but if we don't, we might never see that beautiful, shining, strong, wonderful creation we were meant to be. I don't know about you, but I am happy for the struggles that continue to shape me. I want God to be the potter of my life. I willingly say, "God, mold me, make me. You be the potter. I am the clay!" I intend on getting up everyday and allowing God to shape my character. I'm tired of being a boring, old gray blob. I want to be a beautiful vessel doing what it was created to do!

God's recipe......

Okay, it is no secret that I love to bake. I bake all kinds of things all the time. But, the secret is that I am not one of those OCD bakers who thinks it's a chemistry and the measurements have to be exactly right. No, I have been known to shake a little salt in my hand, call it good, and toss it in! I know, some people are appalled. I don't sift. I don't spoon flour in and measure it out exactly. Sometimes, I don't even follow the directions exactly. I like to just throw all the ingredients in, mix, pour, and go.....

Well, today I think I learned a lesson. I made a batch of Amish bread. I got the starter out and started putting in the ingredients and stirring. I made 3 wonderful loaves of cinnamon sugar bread. They smelled heavenly, but when I took them out, they were sort of flat and sunk in in the middle. I know I put in the baking soda and baking power, so what could the problem be??? Just so happens, I had another batch of starter that I wanted to make lemon poppy seed bread out of. So, I start measuring and mixing, stirring and reading over the recipe. As I poured it into my bundt pan, I read the list of ingredients one more time, just to make sure I didn't forget anything. That's when I saw it.......milk! I had not put milk in the first batch. How did I miss that? Maybe the baking soda and baking powder need the milk to create a chemical reaction to raise the bread properly.....hmmmmm.....this got me to thinking.

God gives us pretty clear cut directions in the bible. He gives us a recipe for life. Now, he doesn't expect us to be perfect and always measure every little thing, but he does expect us to get all the ingredients into the mix. So, what are the ingredients for living a good Christian life???

I think the answer is in Colossians 2:12-14. Paul tells us, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."



Ingredients:
compassion
kindness
humility
gentleness
patience
forgiveness
LOVE

Directions:
Put these on daily and show them to those around you. Do them in small or large doses, but do all of them. The more you use, the better your life will be. Don't leave anything out!!!

What if I did leave one of these out? Say I was really patient and loving, forgiving and humble. But, what if I left out kindness. I think saying harsh words and being visibly mean kind of ruins the taste of the other ingredients for the people around you. What if you had everything but forgiveness? Your life would taste bitter and be very hard to swallow. So, just like the recipe for Amish bread, if you leave out an ingredient, it isn't quite what you were looking for a taste of. Well, if you leave an ingredient out of God's recipe for a full and abundant life, then you will probably fall short of what people are searching for in a Christian and what God expects to have as a final product.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to come out of this life flat and sunk in. I want to rise up to be all that God wants from me. Keep working everyday to put all of these ingredients into your attitude, heart, and character. The reward will be something to savor!

FEELING CHALLENGED AGAIN

I was listening to the Christian radio station here this morning. They had a guest on that is an author of some book I never caught the title of......his message was very powerful and spoke volumes to me though! He was talking about men being the leader of the household. I know this. I get this. But, I have issues with this!!!!

If my husband is not doing what I think he should do with money, I tend to speak up. If my husband is not doing what I want him to do as a father, I tend to speak up. If my husband is not growing spiritually, guiding our family spiritually, or leading us spiritually, I tend to speak up.

Now, I have gotten better about this over the years. I am learning to accept my husband for who he is and view him as a child of God. However, there are still many things I'd like to give my 2 cents worth about. Just this morning I was trying to decide when a good time to talk to him about a money situation might be. Then, I clicked on the radio!

This guy said that very wise, older women will tell you that you should just back off and not say anything. Pray and have faith that God will speak to your husband and transform his thinking. Basically, shut up where your husband is concerned, just quit nagging already!!! Pray and believe that God can take care of any situation.

So, ladies, yet again I am feeling a challenge from God. I will be praying about this specific situation and not saying a word to my man. I will have faith that God will lead him to do the right thing. I am going to allow my husband to be the leader of this household in every way. This isn't gonna be easy.....PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!

starting a new phase of my L.I.F.E....

L.I.F.E. ministries.....

Living, Learning, and Loving
In
Faith
Everyday!!!

This is going to be my motto and maybe my new ministry. I am so energized by the women's retreat that happened this weekend at my house. Our topic was relationships. I spoke about how the men in our lives shape our perception of our Heavenly Father, forgiveness, love, and how God challenges us to live our life with compassion, kindness, patience, love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace for others in our life.

I am feeling challenged to bring my ministry to a new level. I don't know what this is yet. I am tired of Satan invading our families. I believe he is fighting for souls through our marriages, children, and other family relationships. I say it is time for us as Christians to take a stand and fight against this! I am tired of seeing men leaving their families without any good reason. I am tired of addiction destroying lives.

I don't know if I am suppose to be speaking at women's events, do more women's retreats, do couples retreats, etc. I am feeling like I am suppose to go back to school and get some more bible education and a Masters in Counseling to help me understand and help people live a better Christian life. Send me an email if you have any comments, constructive criticism, or other ideas at: mcooper311@gmail.com.

Don't worry. I am still contrary. I will still be growing my hair out one month and chopping it off the next. I will still be cranky one day and cheerful the next. I will still rearrange furniture just to drive Jim crazy and because I need things to change and be different.

Also, I will still be gardening. Right now my garden looks amazing. I am fighting off some kind of bugs or something that are eating the leaves of my sunflowers and spinach. The compost bin is going well. Just putting stuff out there and letting it rot......haven't gotten any red wigglers yet!

So, tell me what you think about L.I.F.E. ministries.......