It Only Takes A SPARK to Get A FIRE Going!

A while ago God spoke to me to disciple 2 women. He asked me to pour into them what He had been teaching me about Him these past several months.

The first day we met I had nothing prepared! I’d been asking God what He wanted me to do this first day.

“Nothing….. “

Then the night before the meeting when I was beginning to panic, I asked Him again, what am I to prepare for tomorrow? He said, “Ask them what they think I see when I look at them.”

Okay…..??

I had them write down their answers and they shared their answers. God took over the group. We had a fantastic time discussing what God sees when He looks at us and why.

From the beginning God just wouldn’t let me let go of the question. I would ponder it and wonder why I have this obsession. Although I didn’t know why, I asked more people to answer God’s question.

He told me to send out an email to all my Christian friends asking them to answer the question anonymously.

I started receiving answers and I thought. “This would make an interesting article.” The more I read the answers, the more God showed me that my preconceived notion of why He was having me ask this question was wrong!

Many answers I could tell were given after the person gave much thought to the question. I was amazed at what the people were saying!

God spoke to me again. This time He said, “This is not going to be an article it is going to be a book!”

HUH?? A book, written by me????

YUP, A book, written by you!

OK, how am I to put all this together into a book? SILENCE……..

Uh, Lord, I want to get writing.

What do you want me to do and how???

Um. . . . WHEN??

More silence.

I felt He wanted me to post this question on some Christian groups I discovered on Facebook.

I found and started writing and blogging on thoughts.com and asked the question there also.

Okay, Lord, I’m waiting for more direction……… please????

Then one day, when I had about given up, God gave me the next step.

Do I have to?? I’m the kind that likes to write from my heart, just let it flow. God told me to study scripture and quote it to back up what my heart was saying. I’m not one that enjoys research.

Yes, I’m really enjoying it now!

So the question for 2 ladies, and I thought would be an article for a blog is now becoming a book. . . . .written by me.

God you are so awesome!

I’ve found a publisher and hope I’m correct in targeting having the manuscript ready in March. That’s what came into my head one day.

We’ll see, you know how God is . . . . one just never knows the full picture until you have finished the project. But what an exciting journey it is!

Oh, you're probably wondering about the title of this.
The Spark is the idea from God
The Fire is the result of the Spark. In this case a BOOK!!

Update: I now have 100 or so answers to the question. If you are a Christian and would like to send your answers to this question please send them to ljc747@yahoo.com. All answers will be published anonymously so please be honest and open about your answer. I anticiapte cut off date of January 31, 2010 for submission of answers to question for book. That's not as far off as it seems!

Unmet Expectations and Disappointments

WHY! I worked so hard to have this happen!
This has been a week of disappointments and unmet expectations. The two seem to go hand in hand. “You can’t have one without the other”. For you younger folks, the part in quotation marks is from a song from the 40’s.

This was a get together of a group of about 10 friends that hadn’t seen each other in a few years. I started asking them if they wanted to get together in October several weeks ago. I got a list of dates available and after some preliminary research I picked one that I felt had a good chance of working for all of them.

Communication……I thought with email it would be so easy for everyone to hit reply, say a few words and we’d all be up to speed. That expectation bit the dust. Only 1 person kept in touch. She agreed to have the group meet at her place. But my expectation of the rest was unmet. Two days before the occasion and still no commitments from some of the people and a retracted commitment from 2 others I canceled the event.

Disappointment…..Life is too hectic I guess. I finally heard from people when I canceled the event. Why didn’t they care enough to answer my frantic email’s asking if they were coming?

Anger….I’ve been made aware of the fact I have anger issues. Yes, disappointments and unmet expectations do open the door to the emotion of anger. So, what does one do about anger?

Realize it is a destructive emotion and try not to allow it to fester inside you? Put you mind on other things? Guess what, it hurts when people let you down by not meeting your expectations. I can hear, “Suck it up and get on with your life”…being said by people. True, on the scale of life it is not that important. So I’m putting it in perspective and getting on with my life.

True, it is not that important in the scheme of life.Forgive and forget…..I can forgive them….and when I think I have forgotten anger rears its ugly head and reminds me of many issues I’ve forgiven but cannot get to the forgotten stage.

Like a pack rat husband. That in all honesty I love dearly. BUT, oh no! There’s that BUT word. I hate that word. People say: yes, BUT. Which means they aren’t really saying yes. Yes, I love my husband, BUT some of his behaviors cause me anger.

Can anyone else identify with that? I know, I know, just about everyone that is married can say that about their spouse. I say I love you but (that word again) I don’t like (fill in the blank) about you.

Suck it up honey, it goes with the package. Remember “for better or worse?” You got it.

Rambling….yes, I’m rambling. You see, I write about God a lot and now I’m complaining!

Murmuring they call it in the Old Testament. Yes, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt God chose this man to be my husband. And God did a fantastic job, except for these few flaws. If the truth were known I brought a lot more flaws to this marriage than my husband did. Yet we both love each other almost unconditionally. LOL ( I love lol, maybe it should be gol – giggle out loud

Love is a decision. I choose to love this man. He chooses to love me. We each realize the other is not perfect.

Perfect….I really don’t think I could handle being married to a perfect person. Think about it.

Now, better at not doing those things that irritate me would be nice. BUT (oh no, that word again) PERFECT??? If he were perfect then all I’d have to complain about is my own imperfect qualities! SCREAM

Petrified….now that was a really scary thought. Excuse me, I have to go run and tell my husband I love him……if I can find him in all his clutter!

Oh, before I go. Friends, you know who you are, that didn’t meet my expectations. I forgive you and I love you. Let’s try again to get together after the holidays.

Oh, and before I forget, someone else does the planning this time…….