Trials Put Into Perspective

Yesterday, my family attended a church that is located near our home. It is a Foursquare Church as is the church that we are part of in San Bernardino. I so love these two churches. We usually drive approximately 70 miles round trip every Sunday to  attend services where we are part of our church's worship team and family. My husband and I love to worship and be in the presence of our king. The reason that we needed to attend service elsewhere this week is because our vehicles are having problems. One is in the shop for repair, a second one is old and has some battery issues. That leaves one running car with three drivers right now. So we attended church near home.

When we attended service, it was a given that we would worship our King no matter the circumstance. He is so worthy. While we were worshiping, a family came in and sat in front of us. This was a young family who had a beautiful baby boy. He was obviously handicapped (Down's Syndrome). This family worshiped the King of Kings and Lord of Lords with all of their hearts. The Daddy was holding the baby while he was worshiping. Somehow our little car problems were not so bad. It touched my heart to see them worship God together.

I though about the challenges that this family must face each day. The child was made by the hand of God, no matter what. At one point, the Daddy and Mom set him down on the seat, so that we were behind him with is parent standing in front of him. We all were raising our hands and singing to the Lord. The baby just kept looking up at me and I couldn't help but feel a connection in the Spirit. A couple of times, he raised his little hands to the Lord (as he was watching all of us do). I don't know what might have been going on in his mind, but I believe he was touched by the Spirit of the Living God.

Each of us has challenges in life. If we will put them in proper perspective, we know that they are all very temporary. Life is short Friends. What is important is that we live for God, follow Him, and love with the love of Yeshua (Jesus).

Posts in Passing

I have seen some of the blogs that people write, and I wonder. They seem so deep. Do people really like to read them? I try to keep mine super short just because people live such busy lives. Rushing here and there, eating fast food, no time to even digest what they are eating. We live in such a rushed society, so I guess I am trying to cater to those who live those kinds of lives. It is not necessarily good, but even so, I hope my posts serve as a reminder that the Creator of the universe is always there. Please give me some feedback if you like my posts.

Sukkot Concert

I had a wonderful night tonight with two beautiful women, Arlene and Gina, and one beautiful girl, Alona. Since I was not able to go camping for Sukkot, at least we were able to drive up the mountain to camp and see a concert tonight. Lev Shelo was at the camp where Shiloh Messianic congregation was camping. I even ran into my friends, Scott and Adri and their family up there.

Sukkot is the "Feast of Tabernacles." It is all about Yah sending his son Yeshua to tabernacle with us on this earth and to be our salvation. We are truly a blessed people. Sukkot is an eight day feast where the children of Israel dwelt in booths. It is believed by some that this was actually the time of Yeshua's birth. Nowadays, people camp in either tents or rv's, but it is a time of celebration and spending time getting to know your brothers and sisters in the Lord.

One thing comes to mind here - Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. There we were (all from different backgrounds) praising the Lord on the mountaintop. It doesn't get any better than that friends. This is a time to practice getting into his presence as that is what we will be doing for eternity!

Hobbies

I went to Hobby Lobby with my daughter this evening. Thumbs up to any store that is not afraid to play Christian music. I found it very refreshing to just browse through the posters and listen. After a very long day at work, it was just what the doctor ordered. We bought some yarn for one of the projects I am working on right now. Crocheting is one of my hobbies, until I get burnt out on it or my hands hurt too bad. I also make soap and soy candles. Everyone should have a hobby. That's what my dad used to tell me. When you get old, you will have something to do. I have seen what happens to some who get up there in years and have nothing that they enjoy doing. Oh, they watch tv, but that seems so very boring. So much better to find something that you are passionate about while you are younger and have it to fall back on later (when you are bored to death). Enough on my soapbox tonight. Have a blessed evening!

A Peek Into My Work Day as a School Secretary

Some days are just so complicated and difficult. Working in the front office of a public school these days can be very challenging. They actually expect you to get a great deal of work accomplished in a day. How I ask? At any given moment in the work day, there are multiple interruptions. You have the parents walking up to the counter with questions, questions, questions. And I am supposed to have the answers. LOL. Then there are the students with boo boos. It starts as soon as they get to school in the morning. They need bandaids or ice packs. Hurts that happen at home all of a sudden become important when they get to school. In they march to get just a little bit of attention. Maybe that's it. The parents are too busy or exhausted to give them just a little bit of tender loving care, so they come to the school office to get it.

Throughout the work day, people come and go. All of them have needs and we try to help them. Students with discipline problems are sent regularly to the office because they are unable to function in the classroom and need to be isolated. Parent volunteers sign in/out in the front office. When they come in, you don't want to appear rude, so you make sure to greet them. All the while, the work on your desk is not getting completed. And then there are the phone calls. On the average, the phone probably rings at least every 4-5 minutes. And each phone call lasts about 2 minutes. We are not only secretaries and attendance verifiers, but on more than one occasion during the work day, we become counselors. Phone calls come in and someone needs help on the other end of the phone with a situation involving their child. Sometimes we can give them insight regarding their situation and actually help and sometimes they just need someone to listen. At any rate, we are there for them. At times we are "friends of the friendless." For goodness sake, there are only so many hours a day to get my work completed. The day is getting away from me already.

Now on to my pile of work - there are supplies to order, purchase requisitions to create, payroll to report, suspensions, expulsions, discipline referrals, enrolling students, requesting student records, creating facilities requests, ordering catering for meetings, student attendance, writing tardy slips for tardy students, calling classrooms to give messages to children regarding how they are to go home after school or to let them know that their parent brought their homework, glasses, or musical instrument; creating notifications for air conditioners that are broken, numerous work orders throughout the day. At any rate, this list goes on and on. But how do we get the job done? By the grace of God. He is the source of our strength each and every minute of the day. Even on the hard days, he is there to help us make it through. And because we like each other. In my office, I have the privilege of working with some wonderful friends. I am ever so grateful for them. Thanks Lisa, Fontaine, and Marchetta. We are a great team! Wouldn't know what to do without you all!

Body of Messiah Must Function as One Body

So while I was on Facebook yesterday, there was one person who was questioning her friends regarding a pastor's ministry. This pastor is from the Hebraic Roots background and according to her she was questioning whether he was possible turning to Christian Roots. In other words, she felt that his message was too Christian. So, I posted that some of us who are Christian are happy that we are able to learn from this pastor. He has helped us so much to understand the Hebrew roots of Christianity. If you learn some of this, it puts Christianity into a whole different light.

Then the comments and attacks started by those who don't like the pastor. Even attacking me for the positive comments that I made. I just hid the comment where he told me, "Stephanie, pull your head out of your...." How rude. So today, as I was in a quiet time, I realized that we are all part of the body of Messiah. Sometimes in the human body, there are things that get out of whack. The Lord brought it to my attention that when the white and red blood cells are out of kilter, certain kinds of cancers grow. In the same way, the body of Messiah should not be so out of balance as to hurt other individuals who are part also. My ministry may not be your ministry, but we should at least build up and not tear down.

I pray that the body of Messiah will wake up and see the harm that is caused by this kind of hatred. I am almost positive that the persons who stir up this kind of strife must have been hurt in a church or congregation or by leadership. As it is said "hurting people hurt people." The person who posted the original post at least had enough wisdom to remove the whole post. I don't think she intended for it to go the way that it did. She is actually friends with the pastor she was referring to.

God's Feasts -- Should We Celebrate Them?

It is the end of another long week. It is also the Sabbath and a special one at that. This evening at sundown was the start of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). If you look at the Bible with clarity, the feasts that we now call the Jewish Feasts were originally God's Feasts. The only reason that they are called the Jewish Feasts is because the Jewish people have been the only ones to keep them. I am reading a book on my nook from Barnes and Noble called "Feasts of Faith - Finding Jesus in the Jewish Feasts." I am really looking forward to reading all about them. Over the past couple of years, it has been revealed to me by God's Spirit that these feasts are for us to celebrate also.

Yeshua (Jesus) celebrated all of the feasts. If we can learn about the feasts, and then study the life of Yeshua, I believe that we will get a better understanding of the days when he walked on this earth. He perfectly atoned for our sins, believers. And yet on Yom Kippur the sins that so easily beset us are read aloud and repentance should come. Even though we are followers of Yeshua, we still sin. It may seem legalistic or traditional to engage in the feasts, but there seems to be a richness that we just haven't been able to grasp here. I pray that the God who ordained these feasts will teach us more about his character through our observance of them. They are His feasts.

Prayer for a Family

Just thinking about how unfair it seems in this life. Working in a school, you see so many people. There are good people and some very questionable people. But when you see some of the good ones that you meet along the way go through so many trials, it hurts your heart. Today was not a good day for a family in our school community. I received a call from a teacher friend who shared with me that one of the parents of our children at school (the father) was killed in an auto accident this morning while one his way to work. The wife of this daddy is one of the kindest, sweetest people that you could ever meet. They have two young sons. One is four and the other is 7 or 8. This is so sad. I pray that the God of all comfort will be with them through this terrible time.

Automobile Maintenance/Spiritual Discipline

This morning a thought came to me. This thought has come to me before, but I thought it was worth noting. A person's spiritual life can sometimes be compared to how people care for their vehicles. Oh, my car is messy most of the time, but the care I am referring to is about what's under the hood. You are either going to maintain your car on a regular basis, or you will end up paying for repairs because of neglect. Simple enough!

In much the same way, our spiritual lives need to be maintained regularly. If we pay attention to such things as Bible study, prayer, worship, and fellowship, we are spiritually well fed. However, on the other hand, if we do not apply disciplines in the spiritual realm, we may be headed for a break down. I have 175,000 miles on my car which we purchased in 2008. It costs money to do the preventive things to care for it. Regular oil changes, tire rotation, transmission flush, fuel injector cleanings all add up. But without them, we may have already had the expense of purchasing a new engine. So it's kind of like the "pay as your go" plan or else the cost will hit you all at once.

So, I pray that this ministers to you today, and you will heed the voice of the Ruach (Holy Spirit). Pay attention to your spiritual life, my friends. Your faith will grow as you apply the disciplines to your life. The Father is speaking to me even as I am writing this, as I need to do better in these areas also.

My New Blog

I started this new blog because some of my posts on my other blog were more on a personal level. I would like to keep Spiritual Food for Hungry Hearts as my SOAP (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) blog. So this one will be for sharing my personal journey and thoughts. I pray that my life will be used to help others here on this earth. Our life experiences make us who we are. Each one of us starts out in life with a blank page. Daily, the Father is writing His Story on the page. Some places we walk through are happy places, some are hard places. The places we walk through, and how we handle the situations we are given, build God's character inside of us.

As believers in Yeshua, we can trust the Father every step of this walk. He will have his way. It is my job to trust him.

Pondering Today's Mother

We really live in a stress-filled society. Life is so very hectic. Running here and there. Working so hard that you can hardly breathe. Somehow I don't think this is the way it was meant to be. Women were really sold a bad bill of goods. Instead of staying home and taking care of our children, someone thought it a better idea to go to work to make more money. This way you can pay someone else to basically raise your children. But Yahweh gave those children to you - not to the caregiver that you pay so well.

Who suffers for this whole turn-around society? We all do. First of all, our children suffer. When I was a child, I was secure knowing that routines were daily. You went to school, then you had a snack when you got home. Homework was next. Practicing the piano for 1/2 hour daily was next on the list. Then there were chores to do. Last of all, there was play. Everyone worked together to keep the household up and running. But there was a Mom there to make sure that everything ran as smoothly as possible. This is not the way in today's world and we wonder why we have so many children who can't focus in school. Dah!

Then the mothers suffer also. They are burning the candle at both ends. We are trying to work a 40 hour week outside the home, and still keep up with chores in the home. Add a commute to the mix of an hour and a half daily. Who cooks dinner? Who makes sure the kids homework is completed?

But I must not dwell on the things that I cannot change.  I must focus on God and the many good things he has given to me. Life is hectic, but I am His child. He gives me rest one day out of seven. He fills my heart with his wonderful love. He has blessed me with an amazing husband and eight beautiful children. He has blessed me with 13 awesome grandchildren. And He gives me strength to make it through the trials of this life. What more could I ask for?