No Power? No Problem!

 

Last night, the power went out around 9:37 p.m. I was already asleep. But, I woke up since my CPAP wasn’t working. I wasn’t too concerned about it until I read the email that said that the estimated time of power being back on is 11:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Then, I came to my senses. 

I grew up tent camping. I was a Girl Scout for a gazillion years. I lived in a remote area of Africa. I can live 48+ hours without electricity. No problem. The electricity went out all the time in Ghana. The only difference is that in Ghana, it was a lot warmer than 22°F. 

I didn’t sleep well. I tossed and turned a lot during the night. I got up around 3:00 a.m. and read for a while. I went back to bed until it got light outside. It was 47°F in my apartment. Brrr! I wanted to stay under the blankets but I didn’t. I found batteries for my radio and tuned in to the local radio station, WHEO. A good part of the county was affected by the outage. I had a Coke Zero instead of coffee while I waited to find out what was happening with work. Everything was closed today because of no power.  So, I got dressed and went to my desk and basked in the sunshine. It was glorious! Then, I drove to Meadows of Dan for lunch and to mosey around. I even bought a cold coffee for tomorrow, just in case. 

As I sit in my apartment, I am grateful that I have protection from the elements. I have plenty of warm clothes and blankets. I have food and drink that can be consumed cold. I can go into my car to warm up if absolutely necessary. I have books to read and cards to make. (And, there’s always housework to do.) I don’t NEED anything. God has been good to me. He has blessed me in amazing ways. So, during this power challenge, I choose to praise Him and to make the best of it. 

No power? No problem!

Abundant Blessings

It’s kinda strange. When someone in the US greets me and I respond, I respond totally different than when I lived in Ghana. The same goes with holiday greetings. When I wished a friend in Ghana a merry Christmas and a happy new year, I added, “May God abundantly bless you in the coming year.”

Then, I got to thinking., these days when I think of blessings, my thoughts go to the small, seemingly insignificant stuff. My Ghanaian friends look at God’s abundant blessings as monetary or material things. And, I can’t really find too much fault in that. These people had nothing. It was a blessing that they had food to eat. Many didn’t have clean water to drink. The women worked from dawn to dusk and later. Most chores were on their shoulders. So, to ask for God’s blessing might mean food for the day or medicine for a sick child. 

What I always had trouble with was when an “evangelist” came to preach, preaching a gospel of “If you give this much to the ministry, then I will pray for God to bless you abundantly so that you’ll never have a need again.” I know people who gave their hard earned money to such ministers only to realize later it was a sham. Abundant blessings…where were they?  In their situation, it was hard to see the blessings.

Sometimes it is hard for me to see the blessings, especially when life gets tough. Abundant blessings…there’s so many of them…life, breath, sight, hearing, hot and cold running water, heat on a cold day, food in the refrigerator and cupboards, Bibles in my heart language, coffee, a comfortable bed to sleep on, Christian music, a variety of gospel-preaching churches close to home, plenty of clothes in my closet, electricity, the ability to come and go as I please, family, friends, the saving grace of Jesus Christ. And the list goes on, and I thank God for these abundant blessings.

May God bless you abundantly this year.

 

Some New Year’s Day Thoughts

 

 

In the times I kept up with my blog, I frequently posted Wesley’s Covenant Prayer on New Year’s Day. I’m going to do this again, but a bit differently. I hope you will be challenged by this, or at least that you will give it some thought.

Many churches pray this Covenant Prayer on the first Sunday of the new year. I love that tradition. I often wonder, do I, or do others really pray this prayer or do they just say the words, not giving them another thought? I’m going to add my thoughts today.

I am no longer my own, but Thine.

When I made a decision to follow Christ, I gave him my whole life, so I thought. Sometimes it’s really hard to do. Did I ever wonder what that meant? Not at that time I didn’t. Did you?

Put me to what Thou wilt, rank me with whom Thou wilt.

Many times in life I was the “low man on the totem pole.” And other times, I was held in high regard. And, of course, there’s always that middle ground. How did I handle each situation? Did I handle my position with grace? Did others see Christ in me? I didn’t really like the times I was in the spotlight, it’s nice to be acknowledged once in a while, but living as if I were in a goldfish bowl wasn’t my cup of tea. It was challenging at times.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

I would guess that we would all like to “do” instead of suffer. We like to be useful. But, are we willing to do menial tasks? What are we willing to do for the sake of the gospel? Work with AIDS patients? Work where no others would willingly work? Are we/am I willing to do what it takes? There was a time that I would have said, “yes!” loud and strong. I like to think I would react the same way now but my voice isn’t as loud or as strong anymore.

Let me be employed for Thee, or laid aside for Thee.

No matter where a person works, they can be the hands of Jesus. They can show His love to everyone that they interact with each and every day. Do others see that in me or do they see my impatience? When I was unemployed, were my actions those of Christ? Did I still have His joy in my heart?

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

Can you live without all the comforts of home that you now enjoy? Can you live without electricity? Or without clean drinking water? Without air conditioning in the summer? Without a washer and dryer? Most of the world lives just like that. When I returned from Ghana, I was so grateful for hot and cold running water. When a storm knocks out the electricity, so what? It’s not the end of the world. I have learned not to stress about it. I live a simple lifestyle. In years past, things were different, although I never did have an extravagant life. My friends in Ghana think I do. But, here in the US, no, I don’t. Things are a lot different here than in the villages of the Lawra District of Ghana. I have learned to be content no matter where I live.

I freely and heartily yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal.

This is easier to do if you know in your heart of hearts that God can use you, your belongings, your cash, for a bigger purpose than what you can see with your own two eyes. Again, using Ghana as an example, I didn’t have to think twice about getting rid of 98% of my worldly possessions. God had a plan for my life in another part of the world. I had no idea how long I would be gone. And, why just let stuff sit in storage somewhere for years. Do I regret not keeping more? Sometimes I think it would have been nice to have a certain item or piece of furniture. But, again, what would I do with it? Where would I put it? In the end, I know that I did the right thing.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine and I am Thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in Heaven. Amen.

Lord, I give you my all today, my heart, my mind, my strength (or lack there of,) my will, my possessions, my life. It’s all yours, Lord. Amen.

Have a blessed year!