Shelia Gaines

I was taking a picture on my phone and a message popped up that read,  “For a clearer picture, clean your lens.”  And me being who I am, I stored that jewel of a thought away for an opportunity to share it here with my readers.  The holiday weekend may seem like an odd time to pull it but stick with me.

After our Thanksgiving meal, my granddaughter was excited to help me decorate the tree for Christmas.  I opened the box, assembled the tree and showed her how to prepare the branches for the decorations.  She didn’t even complete one full branch before she asked, “Should we take a break?”   

She is only six years old, and her interest was in “decorating” the tree.  Not assembling it, not opening all the leaves on all the branches so it could hold the decorations.  She didn’t consider the time factor involved.  She just wanted to get to the decorating.  She is still too young to understand the bigger picture.  Decorating for holidays doesn’t just involve placing the ornaments on the tree or arranging décor.   That’s the easy part.  Someone must be responsible for all the minor details that must be taken care of to get you to that part. Items must be purchased, spaces must be cleared, sometimes furniture has to be rearranged.  Though an actual holiday only last for a day, planning and preparation for it can take many days, weeks, or even longer.

All this reminds me of the frustration we often feel when we get excited about life events and special occasions only to realize that the process of getting to the desired outcome can be overwhelming. However, if we are blessed with end results that justify the time and effort we put into it, then we truly have something to be thankful for. Especially when we have people that we can rely on for help.  That was why my granddaughter was not concerned about whether “we” would be able to get the tree up.  She knew I was there to help. I had to laugh at her not necessarily flawed logic once the decorating began.  I lovingly asked if she really needed to put so many of the ornaments in one place and reminder her that we didn’t have to use them all.  She simply replied, “We can use them all if we want to, Nana, It’s OUR tree.” 

 What a great reminder that God’s love surpassed even Nana love.  That’s why we can sit by and patiently or impatiently wait for God to prepare our hearts and minds for what the future holds.  We can rest assured that he will lovingly allow us the grace to pester him, make mistakes, crowd our lives with too many decorations (distractions).  And even when he has to say, “no, that’s enough”, he still loves us.  Kirk Franklin reminds us in one of his songs that just because there are times when God is silent, it doesn’t mean that he is still.  Sometimes he is preparing the future for us, while simultaneously preparing us for our future. He knows the plans he has for us. Remember Jerimiah 29:11.   

Just in case you are still wondering what this has to do with a clearer lens, let’s go back to the tree and wrap this up. My granddaughter and I were looking at the tree through different lenses.  While I saw that the garlands are less than symmetrical. There is not a single ornament on the back of the tree. One strand of lights is green, and the other strand is white.  But my granddaughter’s lens is clear.  When she looks at the tree, she only sees one thing, “It’s the most beautiful tree ever and I love it!” 

Why not cleanse your lens today?  Look with a fresh perspective.   Whether your life tree is front cover, home décor magazine worthy or looks more like something decorated by Charlie Brown, it’s YOUR tree, show it the love it deserves.  If this is your first holiday season without someone you love, find peace and joy in sharing what you have left with those who are still here with you.  If you are no longer the apple of someone’s eye, remember God still loves you as his own. Even if you are in a season where you can’t change your circumstances, at least change your perspective.  Clean your lens. Follow the suggestion in Lena Byrd Miles’ song lyrics  and “see yourself like you’re looking through God’s eyes.” Make grateful, thankful, blessed more than just a holiday hashtag. Make it a lifestyle.  It’s YOUR  life. Live it. Love it.

Be Blessed

Challenging Thought for Today:   Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7 (NIV)

“Did you get a blessing?” The receptionist in the Intensive Care Unit Family Waiting Room asked this as she held up a small basket filled with tiny strips of folded paper. I smiled politely, reached for one and took it back to my seat to read. My husband was upstairs having open heart surgery, a triple bypass. Family and friends would come to the hospital later, but in those moments during and immediately following the surgery, I felt very alone. Until I read my blessing. “Focus on God’s presence in the present.” Seven simple, yet powerful words leapt off that paper straight into my heart.  They not only encouraged me during that difficult time but also still blesses and sustains me all these years later.

Amazingly, in the midst of that medical situation with my husband, God allowed me to show his presence to someone facing an even more dire crisis. I saw her a few days later sitting alone at one of the corner tables in the waiting room, weeping openly. “Are you alright?” I asked. It was a rhetorical question but I asked anyway. I knew she wasn’t. I asked to open the door to offer a prayer and share a blessing; she welcomed both.

I was encouraged further as I studied bible notes on the challenging thought for today verse from the Psalms. They are another reminder that God is always with us in all situations, no matter what the present or future brings. In addition to the triple bypass surgery, that two-week “present” season brought gall bladder surgery and a stroke for my husband. For the woman in the waiting room, it brought lung cancer realities for hers. My presence in the waiting room with her allowed us to share an “alone” moment together. God’s presence allowed us to share his peace. It didn’t change our circumstances, but it certainly changed our focus and we both felt less alone.

Friends, there may be circumstances in your “present” that are threating to take your focus off of His presence. Don’t let them. David reminds us in Psalm 23:4 that in times of danger, difficulty, or even death, we don’t have to be afraid because God is yet with us. Many times over the last few years, I have thought of the words of that little blessing and remembered that Psalm 138 both asks and answers the question, “Where shall I go from your presence?” There is nowhere life can take us that the grace of God can’t reach us. Seven blessed words are a permanent part of my life now. Why not make them a part of yours?

Focus on His presence in your present.

Be Blessed,

Shelia

My current devotion from the First Five app of Proverbs 31 Ministries reminded me of this post I created some time back. I hope you enjoy this repost and that it blesses you.

Challenging Thought for Today:  Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.  Job 38:3 (NIV)

King James Version
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

No matter which version you read, the results are the same.  In the book of Job, after almost 40 chapters of silence during Job’s suffering, God speaks. And, the first thing he says is “brace yourself like a man.”  I have read that story more than once, but this verse hit me hard last week.

When I was young I used to hear older people say all the time that you can read the same bible verses over and over and get something new every time.  I don’t know what I got from today’s challenge verse or the entire book of Job for that matter, all of the other times I read it, but I know that last week, I stopped and said, “Wait, did God just tell Job to Man Up?”   Of course, I realize that translation is from the SG (Shelia Gaines) version.  But, that’s basically what he was saying.

He didn’t say.  “Job, don’t worry about it.  One day your name will be synonymous with patience.  Books will be written about you and sermons will be preached about your contribution to the topics of suffering and sovereignty.   Besides, none of this was your fault anyway.  I allowed it to happen.  I knew you could handle it and that you would eventually see my glory.”

Nope.  God did not mention any of that, although all of it was true.  He simply reminded Job that as the sovereign God, he is still in control.  His grace is still sufficient.  Earlier on in his suffering, Job questioned the justice of God in taking him through such a trial. In the end, he repented of that error in judgement and humbly re-submitted himself to the will of God.  Occasionally as I face my most intense challenges in life, I will compare them to the suffering of Job and that of Christ.  Yep, you guessed it.  They pale in comparison.

However, I don’t mean to imply that our struggles aren’t serious or that our pain isn’t real, just that we are not alone in the struggle.  Notice I didn’t say “every time” I face a challenge, I compare it to the suffering of Job, just occasionally.  Besides, if I got it right every time, there would be no room for growth, right?

Seriously speaking, however, we have probably all been guilty of making permanent mountains out of the temporary molehills in our lives.  As my pastor often alludes to, there is a big difference between having a bad day and having a season of struggle.

The story of Job’s struggle is much too long and complex for one blog post, but suffice it to say that he didn’t just have a bad day.  Without warning, he lost everything, his wealth, his children, his health, and his good standing within the community. Everything.  He had a bad season.  But, God!

Job held to integrity and he didn’t lose his faith.

Did you ever wonder why we weren’t told how long Job had to suffer?  Maybe because the fortitude of Job during the suffering is more important than the length of time he had to endure it.

Are you in a season of struggle?  Perhaps you just came out of one.  Maybe you see one looming ahead of you.  Why not broaden your perspective and read the book of Job again or for the first time?  And when you feel like giving up, reflect on Job’s struggle and maybe, just maybe, instead of giving up, you’ll have the strength to Man up!

Last week I shared a Facebook post with the quote “No matter how long you have traveled in the wrong direction, you can always turn around. ” I was recently reminded that I need to do just that in a couple of areas. So, I wanted to re-submit my first blog post as a gentle reminder to us all that if we acknowledge God in everything, he will indeed direct our path and keep us on that elusive “straight and narrow.”

I hope you enjoy the post and re-consider what direction you are moving in….

Challenging Thought for Today:    Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21

“Just because you don’t know where you are doesn’t mean that I don’t.”

This was my husband’s not so subtle reference to my non-existent sense of direction when I inquired about the final destination of one our weekly dinner outings after church.

The profoundness of that statement made me think about our response to God as we travel this road often referred to as our spiritual journey and how often we “get lost” along the way.

“Directionally-challenged” is a “kind” phrase for someone who does not have a good sense of direction or gets lost easily and often.   I know from experience that the hardest thing about being directionally challenged is the fact that you don’t have to be in an unfamiliar place to get lost and you often go in the same wrong direction each time.

It’s easy for someone who has a good sense of direction to become irritated with someone who is directionally challenged. In the natural sense, it is easy to look at someone else’s struggle and say, “why are they having such difficulty with that?”  We think of simple solutions and just move on.  Yet, in our own spiritual walk, we are not able to see simple changes that need to be made.   We would rather wander around aimlessly in our own understanding instead of turning to God and asking him how to get where we are going.  I have certainly been guilty of looking at someone who seems to make the same mistake repeatedly and wonder why it’s so hard for them to see they are on the wrong path.  Yet in my own spiritual walk, I have wandered aimlessly along a path of my own choosing instead of turning to God and asking him which way to go.

On the Sunday afternoon in question here,  I was unfamiliar with the area my husband was driving through and it looked as if he was not going to find what he was looking for.  So, I naturally wondered if he was lost.  Likewise, when we don’t trust the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can allow this same type of fear to interfere with the journey.

If we focus on how many turns we’ve already taken, how many other “restaurants” we pass on the way to where we are going, we can miss valuable lessons that can be learned from the trip.   Especially when God takes us into areas we are unfamiliar with, challenging us to move out of our comfort zone.  We look around and see people we don’t normally associate with, rocky paths we feel  ill-equipped to travel, and roads that have previously been closed to us, it’s looks like we are lost.  But, we aren’t.

Memorize our thought for today and accept that God knows where he’s taking you.  Heaven’s GPS location is already locked in and we can start from anywhere.

My tagline for this blog is “finding my way: living my purpose”  because I know the best way to be assured that I am moving in the right direction is to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, the ultimate GPS, consistently listening for that guiding voice to speak to me  through his word, his people and my life and  say “this is the way, walk in it”.

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  I solicit your prayers as I move in this new direction following the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Follow me as I follow Christ.

Be Blessed.

Shelia

I don’t choose a word every year.  In fact, this may be the first time I’ve chosen one at all.  But, as I heard and read stories of people’s decision for 2023, the word “progress” resonated in my spirit.  

One definition of progress is forward or onward movement towards a destination.  One of my progressive goals is movement toward consistent blog posting.  Last year, it was January 11^th before I got my first post up.  This year I am already 5 days later than that and yet to have published a post for January.  Not exactly the forward progress I envisioned.  Y’all pray for me. 

Lest you think I’m building up to the perfect pity party, stay with me.  I’m not.  I am a member of an online writing group.  I was inspired this past week when I read one writer’s confession of already having a writing meltdown this year after starting out strong with goals in hand.  She reminded us that “we can’t pour from an empty cup and there is no better way to fill our pen than to spend time with the One we inspire most to write about.”

To me, this says whenever we feel stalled in our progress for whatever reason, we need only turn to the one whose strength we profess.  Remember Ecclesiastes 9:11. The race is not given to the swift or the strong but to the one who endures to the end.  There will be times when we move quickly towards our destination and other times when progression will come not quite as fast.  However, as long as we can keep moving, we can keep progressing. 

I don’t know if today will find you reflecting on last year’s accomplished or unaccomplished goals, wondering if you will reach this year’s goals or too afraid of failure to even set a goal. But, wherever you are, my message to you is the simple encouragement to keep moving.  No matter how you think you have fared these first 16 days, as of this writing, right now, you still have 349 days of progression left.

While you won’t get it right every time, you can be sustained each day with the words of Lamentations 3:22-23a.  Because of the Lord’s great loved, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning. That means you get another chance every day. Today is always the first day of the rest of your life. 

Keep Living.  Keep moving.  

Be Blessed,

Shelia

When my daughter was in middle school, she fell from a slide on a playground and injured her shoulder. Thankfully, she didn’t break anything, but she did have to wear a sling on her arm for a while. That was to prevent further injury or damage as it healed.  However, she got so used to holding her arm close to her body in that protective position, that she kept doing it even after the sling came off.  My mother noticed this and reminded her that there was no longer a need to hold her arm in that position since the sling had already served its purpose. 

My daughter didn’t think she could straighten her arm out without pain. She was right. It did hurt a little at first but each successive time she stretched her arm and used it, the less painful it became.   

Thinking about that made me wonder how often we take on a protective position that slows the healing process after we have been hurt.  Instead of turning to the Lord for strength, we hold onto the memory of the brokenness trying in our own strength to avoid any more pain.  But what we really need to do is stretch our faith and place our trust in God carrying us through the pain.  Instead of nursing the pain, we need to trust the process.  The healing process.

We may not even realize that we are taking the easy route of stay in a position of protecting ourselves from pain instead of preparing for healing.  Matthew 5:24-33 tells the story of the woman with the issue of blood who pressed her way to Jesus through a crowd because she believed that if she could just touch the hem of his garment she would be healed.  The thing that amazes me in this story is his response to her touch.  He said, “your faith has healed you”.  She acted on her faith.  She still had to press her way to Jesus through the crowd.  But she persevered and was healed.  Likewise, our faith must be exercised.  Just like a wounded limb on our body needs physical exercise to heal and regain strength.

I don’t know where you find yourself today in the healing process.  You may have been hurt by a loved one, blindsided by a terminal illness or financial disaster or wounded in the house of a friend.  But you don’t have to stay there.  I encourage you to get up and move and allow for a complete healing from the inside out.

Don’t let fear of the initial pain of recovery rob you of a more mature relationship with the Lord.  Don’t walk around unhealed dealing with the daily pain of life’s scar tissue.  God is still in the healing business and it’s not too late for the healing to begin.  Let Go and Let God!

Be Blessed,

Shelia

Light and color.  That was the immediate difference I saw in my vision after I had cataract surgery on last year.  I learned that colors appear brighter after your surgery because you are looking through a new, clear lens.  A cataract is usually yellow- or brown-tinted, causing your vision to become cloudy and muting the look of colors.  I had become so used to the view I saw through my cataracts that the difference in clarity through the new lens was almost overwhelming.  In a good way. Thinking about that reminds me of the lyrics to the old song Satisfied with Jesus:

I looked at my hands and my hands looked new.  I looked at my feet and they did too. And, ever since that wonderful day my soul’s been satisfied.

To me, that song speaks of the new look of things once you start looking at things through a Jesus perspective, a different lens, so to speak.

In 2 Kings 6:17 when Elisha’s servants became afraid of the enemy’s army.  Elisha prayed that God would “open their eyes”.  He was petitioning God to give the men spiritual insight to see the protection all around them. God allowed them to look (spiritually) into the heavenly realm and rest in the assurance it provided.  They were able to see it clearly when they looked through the lenses that faith in God provides.

Remember, it’s the prescription in the lenses of glasses that improves or corrects your vision.   But once you take off the glasses, your vision is still the same, so you will always have to wear the glasses to see better.  The beautiful thing about the cataract surgery is that the results are usually permanent.  In fact, many people will not need glasses to correct their vision following the procedure.  Some people, including myself, will still need them for reading.  But the overall vision improves almost immediately and remains corrected. 

I wanted to share this with you today and to ask a few questions.  What do you need to view differently these days? Have you taken off your spiritual glasses or do you just need to ask God to “open your eyes”? 

Today is a good day to start seeing things from a different perspective. God’s perspective instead of your own.  You might be surprised to discover how much clearer your vision will become.   

Meditate on that and…

Be Blessed,

Shelia

The first song I listened to on the first day of the year was Tamela Mann’s, He did it for me.  It was just what I needed to hear.  It’s easy to look back over a year filled with pandemic highs and lows, relationship hurts and disappointments, as well as personal and family health challenges and focus on what God didn’t do. He didn’t heal that relative on this side of heaven.  He didn’t let the detectives find out what really happened in the case. He didn’t let this cancer diagnosis rest on someone else, he didn’t come through in ways I would have chosen.  Sometimes doing what’s best for us, we thing God is doing anything at all. But, if we look close enough, we realize that each and every “didn’t” has a “did”. He did allow me to make it through another year giving me more time here on earth to complete his will. He did sustain the family members who were there with our loved one until the end. He did use something totally unexpected to reach us with news of a lost loved one when nothing else had worked. He did let me live with cancer instead of dying from it. He helped me remember that his ways are higher than my ways and he knows what’s best for me.  He literally gave me new vision through cataract surgery. That gave me a new outlook and perspective on life which I will share in another post.

The first of the year is a natural time for reflection.  And that’s okay.  Just don’t let what you were not able to get done last year keep you from setting and reaching new goals for this year.  Today, I just wanted to take a few minutes and remind you that if you are alive and well or even if you are alive and things aren’t going so well, you are still alive.  Focus on what God did do for you in 2021 and embrace the possibilities that await you when he does what he will do in 2022.

Have a wonderful, prosperous New Year. 

Be Blessed,

Shelia

Challenging Thought for Today:    Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21

“Directionally-challenged” is a kind phrase for someone who does not have a good sense of direction or gets lost easily and often.  My husband has always had a good sense of direction and I’m pretty sure my picture is right next to the phrase “directionally challenged” in the dictionary.  I don’t even have to be in an unfamiliar place to get lost and often go in the same wrong direction each time. As the saying goes, “the struggle is real.”

One Sunday afternoon, my husband was driving through an area that I was unfamiliar with and it seemed as if he was not going to find the restaurant he was looking for.  So, I naturally wondered if he was lost.  His response was “just because you don’t know where you are doesn’t mean that I don’t.” The profoundness of that statement made me ponder our response to God as we travel this road often referred to as our spiritual journey.  I thought about our attempt to justify ourselves when we get lost along the way. When we don’t trust the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can allow fear and uneasiness to interfere with our journey.   

And, if we are not careful, we can unintentionally judge people and their challenges. I know I have certainly been guilty of looking at someone who seems to make the same mistake repeatedly and wonder why it’s so hard for them to see they are on the wrong path.  Yet in my own spiritual walk, I have also been guilty of wandering aimlessly along a path of my own choosing instead of turning to God and asking him which way to go.

If we focus on how many turns we’ve already taken, how many other “restaurants” we pass on the way to where we are going, we can miss valuable lessons that can be learned from the trip.   Especially when God takes us into areas we are unfamiliar with, challenging us to move out of our comfort zone.  When we look around and see people we don’t normally associate with, rocky paths we feel ill-equipped to travel, or roads that have previously been closed to us, it’s easy to feel lost.  But, we aren’t.

Memorize our thought for today and accept that God knows where he’s taking you.  Remember, that just because you don’t always know exactly where you are in the journey doesn’t mean that he doesn’t.  Heaven’s GPS location is already locked in and we can start from anywhere.

Just as the GPS in your car or on your phone will keep re-directing if you make a wrong turn, God’s GPS will continually let you know “this is the way, walk in it”.

Be Blessed.

Shelia

(When your feet stick to the floor)

a.      Everyday
b.      Once a week
c.      When your feet stick to the floor

Those were the three choices to answer the question.  The question was “how often do you mop the kitchen floor?”  It was a survey designed to reveal your housekeeping style.  I won’t tell you what my answer was or why I was interested in this survey. But I think this is a perfect Friday Fun Challenge.  A wonderful opportunity to consider how well you are doing maintaining your spiritual house.

Social media is full of thoughtful memes and inspirational messages that prompt us to be better people, live fuller lives and treat everybody right.  So much so, that I think sometimes we forget that the blueprint for a successful, well-lived life was available to us long before Mark Zuckerberg was born, or the first tweet was ever twittered. 

Within the 66 books of the Bible, you will find answers to all of life’s questions without having to consult Alexa or Google.  But don’t take my word for it.  Read Romans 11:33. You want to know how to treat your fellow man?  Read Luke 6:31. Like a little drama?  Check out the book of Ruth.   You get the picture.  A daily diet that includes the word will keep that spiritual house of yours in order (Joshua 24:15).  

If we only read the bible when our spiritual feet stick to the floor (when things are not going well, and we can no longer ignore the problem) then we end up with a very messy Christian “house”.  In order to keep a well-maintained temple, we must keep our heart set apart, making sure we are always prepared as 1 Peter 3:15 admonishes us to be.  This means getting and keeping our house (our spiritual temple) in order.  We have all heard people say, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”  This statement is not in the bible as some believe, although the command in I Corinthians 14:40 to let everything be done decent and in order, may be close.

But, let’s get back to your Friday Fun Challenge:  Take a closer look at the next Facebook meme you come across that really speaks to you.  Before you share it, consider how often you are reading the word of God for yourself.  Read 2 Timothy 2:15 and intentionally locate a scripture that shows how well that meme does or does not line up with the word of God.  I know I could let you know what 2 Timothy 2:15 says, but I want you to read it for yourself.  Along with all the other scriptures mentioned in this post. Time for a little weekend housekeeping.

Be Blessed,

Shelia