You are just making it up

I laughed when I read my 4 chapters of Nehemiah this morning.
You may find that surprising, considering the subject matter of that OT book.
But check out ch 6 v 8 in the NIV.....I sent him this reply: "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head."
The context is Nehemiah replying to accusations his enemies had written to him.
I laughed because the wording sounds pretty funny and I can just imagine an old man in a long robe with a flowing beard saying these words with the shake of a finger.
But then I thought more about Nehemiah's words and got the feeling that you and I could probably have those same words said to us many times in a week. Not that people actually say them out loud to us, but perhaps it's what they and God would like to say.


And we give them reason to....Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?
There's just too much to do today. I won't be able to do it all.
I can't believe they said that about me.
I'm terrified of letting my kids out of my sight...they won't be safe.
I'll never be as good as her.
The doctor will have bad news for us.
Ahhhh! Christmas with his family...it'll be chaos!
Why bother applying for that job...I won't get it.
My husband just doesn't love me, otherwise he would do/say......
They all must think I'm an idiot now...
I always worry/fail/put my foot in my mouth/go off the deep end/get sick/etc...that's just what I do.
Teach RE / Sunday School God? But I'm not good with kids.
I have nothing interesting to say.
God could never forgive me for that.
And there's no doubt 13 or 57 or 189 more thoughts we have in a week that come from a similar place.


Isn't it tragic that we give so much of our thought-life to things that a) will never happen or b) simply aren't true? We worry and we fret and we get frustrated and in reality "we are just making it up out of our head." Silly us!


How about being really conscious of what you're thinking today and asking God to help you get a good dose of reality regarding those thoughts. Pray that your thoughts would be His...life-affirming and positive....joyful and true. 

Maybe then you'll be able to laugh often, love more and live long!

Celebrate Faith

Over the past couple of weeks you may have heard me rant and rave about it being too early for Christmas. I mean come on! Decorations in the shops in October??? People dressing up their gardens and houses in early November?? Christmas carols on the radio already? As much as I love Christmas I was thinking it was all coming that bit too early this year.

Then I stopped muttering and started thinking. Hmmmm....why not start celebrating early? In fact, why not have that Christmas joy and anticipation all year??

And as a Christian, shouldn't that really be my default demeanour and MO every month of the year....not just in December?

I have read 1 and 2 Peter lately and have once again been reminded of how much I have to celebrate, thanks to God's great love and grace. 1 Peter 1 reminds us that our faith is 'of greater worth than gold.' (v 7) Considering how much gold (and plastic) will be burned this Christmas season it is astounding to think about our faith being worth more than that. It is priceless....invaluable. It is an extravagant gift from God, bought at an unimaginable price.....the gift of Jesus (God with us) to live here on earth, die for our salvation and be resurrected, showing us that death and sin have been defeated....and guaranteeing us LIFE! Now that is something to celebrate!

Two more little thoughts from that same chapter.....
'Salvation of your souls' is the goal of our faith (v 9). Again...celebrate-worthy! Without faith we cannot please God and we cannot be saved. And salvation can only be ours because Jesus came....lived....died...rose again. So as we head into this year's festive season, let's get excited about more than gift giving and receiving, time with family and holidays. Let's ask God to help us connect our faith with this celebration of His goodness to us in a deeper way. And let the joy and peace of this season refresh our faith.

Finally, v 21 reminds us that faith and hope are inseparable. HOPE...I so love that word and what it means. It is a "confident expectation." Hope is a firm assurance that God is who He says He is and will do all He has promised to do. And His promises are for our blessing......eternal life, the presence of His Spirit, a faithful friend in Jesus, love, provision, protection, salvation and so many more precious gifts (to be enjoyed year round!) As we get ever-closer to December 25th, let's live with both a growing, deepening faith and an unshakeable, exciting hope that we have been given the greatest gift of all- time...Jesus!


So today, November 29th might not be the traditional Christmas Day. But as I play my carols CD and dust off the tree and decorations and continue to on-line shop for Christmas presents, I am determined to consider this special season and the first Christmas in a new way and let it refresh my faith, build my hope and fuel my thanks to God.

Friday Friends & Faves #8

Friends....
Did you know? You are not alone in reading this blog?
I found that surprising! 

This past couple of weeks I have been HUGELY blessed to receive emails from girls all over the place who have told me how much they enjoy reading Keep It Real and how much encouragement they receive from it. That blows me away, even though it has been my prayer. I guess what it says is "Once again, God has answered my prayers." Thanks Father!

I also just wanted to let you know about the journey of some of your fellow readers...your 'Friday Friends' so to speak. Here's some of what's been happening...

• a baby growing in Mummy's belly
• lots of babies born....scales definitely tipped in the boys favour
• resignations
• new jobs
• an engagement
• divorce papers signed
• injuries
• recovery
• travel
• moving house
• children graduating
• attending new job interviews
• birthdays
• farewells
• buying land
• 'welcome home's
• funerals
• last days at work
• assignments done
• marks received
• prayers prayed...some answered 'yes', others 'no' and I guess there's a couple 'wait awhiles' too

And in between the BIG stuff, everyone's been doing all the little stuff that makes this thing called LIFE happen.


Isn't it an encouragement to know that so many people are living and loving, just like us? Hope you feel a little more connected to them today.


PS: You are more than welcome...any of you (even ones who have already done it!) to make contributions to Friday's blogs. Anything you can write...from a few sentences to an essay....is welcome. Tell us a bit of your story. What's God been doing in your life? Teaching you? What have you learned lately? Just email them to me, via my personal email or through a Facebook message. Thanks.


Faves....
This one won't be everyone's cup of tea...it's a bit too specialised for that. But a website I stumbled across in a Google search that has become invaluable to me is Chronicles of a BabyWise Mom.
Jam packed with solid advice on baby and child raising, it has been a help when I have had questions...BIG ones and little ones. It covers soooo much about child raising...as the topic list on the right side of the home page shows. Some of the topics I have read about include: E.A.S.Y., playtime, nappies, cluster feeding, schedules, sleep, baby food, wrapping, "The Happiest Baby on the Block", toys, etc.... And you don't have to be a subscriber to the Baby Wise philosophy to get some good ideas from the website. Anyway...for those of you in the baby/child years, perhaps you'd like to have a quick visit and see if it's of any use.