Light of the World Award

On June 3, 2018June 2, 2018 By LindaIn Awards and Games2 Comments

I was delightfully surprised to be nominated for the Light of the World Award again, this lotw-award-200 time by the awesome dancer, photographer, and writer BibleBloggerGirl of Teen, Meet God. Her love for God at such a young age is an inspiration to me! This award was created by Joe from Lighthouse Devotions. I like this award because its name is all about what I’m trying to do with my blogs – shine a little light into the world. To be nominated twice is the highest compliment I could receive! Thank you so much, Shae!

Here are the rules:

Save and add the award image on your blog. (Here is the link for the award post with image and rules of award.)
Create a page/post to mention the award nomination and thank the person/blog that nominated you. Make sure you provide a link to their site.
Give credit to the creator of the award (Lighthouse Devotions) and provide a link to the site as well. (http://www.Lighthousedevotions.blog)
List the rules.
Answer the next four questions on the same post:
1. What three words would you use to describe your blog?
2. In what way(s) can a Christian shine for Christ?
3. What bible verse (quote it) talks about being a light in a dark and lost world?
4. What Christian song do you know that has the word “light” in it? Provide a link if available.
Nominate 7 or more people/blogs to receive the award. Briefly explain why you think they should receive it and provide a link to their sites.
Contact them and let them know that you nominated them.
Provide them with a link to the Rules page.
Say a prayer thanking God for His light and ask that He continue to shine it through you and your blog.
Keep shining the light of Christ wherever you go and in whatever you do!

My new answers:

God-focused, variety, encouraging
by walking the talk – by really believing what we say we believe, and being open about that belief
Genesis 1:3

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Lights Shine Bright by TobyMac (feat Hollyn)

My nominees:

I have nominated many amazing bloggers for this and another award, and most have not accepted them. I know of a few reasons, but most I can only guess. The last thing I want to do is bother anyone by nominating them when they’d prefer not to be involved. So, instead of trying to guess who’d appreciate being nominated, I’m going to do this a different way. If you’d like to be nominated, or know someone who would love to receive this award, leave me a comment. I will choose seven who, as the award says, shine Jesus’ light in a dark world and list them here. 🙂

Bella, part 5 – Yellow and Blue Theory

On June 2, 2018June 1, 2018 By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables15 Comments

Bella woke up the next morning with one thought on her mind. She WAS going to get some answers. She didn’t know how. And she didn’t know when. But she would get them.

All through work that day, thoughts of Pastor Toby danced through her mind. Who exactly was he? And why did he love her even though he didn’t know her? Or did he? Maybe he did know her from somewhere. If so, she couldn’t figure out where.

After work, knowing it was too late in the day to visit the church, she got back online to do more research.

“Who is Pastor Toby?” she typed. She knew from the earlier research she had done that there would be many opinions, so she was prepared with a notebook and pen to take notes. Maybe she would see a pattern or theme that would give her a better picture of who he was.

As she scrolled through the search results, clicking on one site after another, she made a list.

An hour later, she stopped to stretch. Looking at her list, she shook her head. This is crazy, she thought. There’s no rhyme or reason for what people think about him. She decided to take a break and headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

When she had finished eating, she found herself wishing she had some of Pastor Toby’s peach cobbler for desert. She wondered if he would consider selling her one if she asked the next time she went over there. One of many questions I’ll ask, she thought, as she headed back to her computer.

She decided she was too tired to keep searching. Besides, it really wasn’t helping much. Instead, she picked up her notebook and pen and went into her bedroom. She put on her PJ’s, brushed her teeth, and climbed into bed. Leaning back against the headboard, she studied the list she had made. There had to be some way to make sense of it.

As she read through the list, she noticed that some of the items contradicted what she already knew about him, while others matched her own observations. She decided to group them into three groups.

True

Not True

Unknown

True: teaches about God, church leader, mysterious, loves everyone (at least she knew he loved her), kind, brings life to things around him (like his backyard), unique, lived at the church forever (that’s what Jude had said), likes to feed the hungry (fed her that amazing peach cobbler), likes to talk

Not True: stays to himself, won’t let others near him, only interested in his son (he sure was interested in her)

Unknown: can make people see what’s not there, commands strict obedience, out of touch with life around him, sacrifices to help others, selfish, hoards the money given to the church, secretive, built the church and yard with his own hands, supernatural, can do things no one else can do, nice on the outside but dangerous on the inside, reclusive, gets involved in everything whether it’s his business or not

She put her pen and notebook on the side table. That’s enough for now, she thought sleepily. I’ll look at it again tomorrow.

The next day, she couldn’t wait to get home after work. She stopped only long enough to pick up some fast food. All throughout that day, a thought had slowly formed in her mind that she wanted to check out, and she didn’t want anything to get in the way.

She dropped her keys and purse on the entrance table, set the fast food on the kitchen table, then went to get her notebook and some highlighters from her bedroom. Settling IMG_20180601_222435544 down at the table, she chewed on her burger as she read through her lists and highlighted everything positive with her yellow highlighter. Then she highlighted all the negative things with her blue highlighter.

She had been right! Everything she knew about Pastor Toby was yellow. While everything she knew was not true about him was blue. The ‘Unknown’ list was a mixture of blue and yellow.

OK, she thought. If everything I’ve seen and heard and experienced with him is positive, then maybe all the positive ‘Unknowns’ are also true. And if all the ‘Not True’s about him were negative, then maybe the negative ‘Unknowns’ are lies too. Maybe they were written by people who didn’t really know him.

With this realization came mixed emotions. On one hand she was excited and eager to spend more time with him, to get to know him better. Some of those positive unknowns were pretty amazing. But on the other hand, she was afraid to test out her theory. What if she was wrong? What if he was only showing her the positive until he won her over, then she’d find out how dangerous he was when she could no longer get away.

The rest of the week dragged by slowly as she struggled with those two opposing thoughts, each clamoring for her attention and juggling to gain top billing. Finally Friday night arrived. As she got ready for bed, she thought, “Tomorrow is the day. For good or for bad, I’m going back. This time, not only will I get some answers, but I’m going to look specifically for anything negative. If I find it, I’ll know that some of those other negative ‘Unknowns’ are probably true. Then I’ll know I can’t trust him and I’ll leave. No matter how good that peach cobbler is.”

Links to previous parts of this story:

I’m Not Hurt, Not Really, part 1

I’m Not Hurt, Not Really, part 2

Bella, part 1- Heart VS Brain

Bella, part 2 – Distractions

Bella, part 3 – Overcoming Detours

Bella, part 4 – Questions

Squeezing God Out

On June 1, 2018May 31, 2018 By LindaIn Journal Entry, short stories2 Comments

She was busy. Amazingly, she was even busier now than she had been before she retired. And she was tired.

Something has to go, she finally thought. But what? Everything she did served a purpose and much of it actually helped other people.

She decided to make a list. Only, being as creative as she was, she did so through a drawing. She began by writing God in the center because, she thought, He is the center of my life. Then she wrote out all the things that kept her busy around God. As she drew, more things came to mind and she added those until they all began squeezing together and ended up squeezing God right out of the center.

“Is that what I’m doing in my life?” she asked herself. “All the things I’m involved in is squeezing God right out of my life? No wonder I’m so tired. I’m trying to do all this in my own power. It’s time to prioritize! And get rid of things, though good, are not what God has called me to do!”

So she began eliminating one thing at a time. It wasn’t easy, nor is she finished. But God is back where He belongs. And that’s what counts.

Waiting On God

On May 31, 2018May 30, 2018 By LindaIn short stories10 Comments

It seems like she was always waiting on God. Waiting for promises to be kept. Waiting for healing and restoration. Waiting for direction.

As many times over the years as she’d had to wait, she should have been good at it by now. And as many times over the years the waiting had been rewarded, she should have been at peace with it by now.

But still she struggled when faced with another wait. Like the one today.

She was thinking about it as she drove into her driveway. Wishing she didn’t have to wait, and feeling frustrated that she did.

Then she saw her dogs in the front window. They were sitting up on the sofa, looking out the window and waiting on her return. They were not frustrated. They were not angry. They were not depressed. They were just sitting and waiting, confident that she would return.

That’s how I going to wait, she thought. I will be like a dog in the window, watching expectantly no matter how long it takes!

Giants

On May 30, 2018May 29, 2018 By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables8 Comments

Everybody has giants in their lives. Things that threaten their safety. Things that stand in their way. Things that wreck their peace. Things that are usually terrifying and dangerous and huge.

She was no different. She had never seen her giant but she had heard it crashing through her life. Following her wherever she went. She could tell it was huge by the vibrations it made as it walked. And she was terrified of what could happen if it ever caught up to her.

She asked the LORD to get rid of her giant. But all He said was “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” (Is 41:10)

She knew she was going to have to deal with her giant one day. But she kept pushing that day away. Maybe if she just ignored it, it would go away all by itself. Maybe God would get tired of waiting for her to deal with it and He would take care of it Himself. Maybe someone else would come along who would get rid if it for her.

But no. No one can get rid of someone else’s giant. She was just going to have to deal with this one herself.

So she read the LORD’s words over and over until they took root in her heart. Then she stood her ground and faced her giant.

Instead of the ugly, terrifying, monster she was expecting, her giant was blue and fuzzy and cute. No where near as bad as she feared. Even so, a giant is a giant and didn’t belong in her life, so with the LORD’s help, she soon ran that giant off.

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Amazing, she thought! Here I was, so scared of what could be, and allowing that fear to mess with my life. And all along it wasn’t even close to what I thought it would be!

Isn’t that the case with many of our giants?

Don’t Get Too Close to the Fence

On May 28, 2018May 28, 2018 By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables, short stories2 Comments

“Where are you going, Kevin?” she asked, holding on to his leash and trying not to be pulled by his strong legs. “You need to come back here.”

But Kevin had seen something that caught his attention and he was determined to investigate it.

“Stop, Kevin! Don’t get too close to that fence! It will hurt you!”

But whether he didn’t hear or didn’t understand, he ignored the warning and continued running towards the object of his interest, which happened to be on the other side of the fence.

“Kevin! Stop! You’re too close! Come back!” she yelled, trying desperately to pull back on the leash. But he was too determined and did his best to keep going.

He saw the fence, but he had seen fences before. No big threat. He could get past that. But as soon as his nose touched it, he found out different. This fence was NOT like the others. This one bit!

Terrified, he took off, his broken leash dangling behind him, across the large yard and up the long driveway as if he was never going to stop running. He had to get as far away from that fence as he could.

“Kevin, come back!” she called out. “You’re heading for the street!”

But this time terror prevented him from hearing anything. When he got to the top of the driveway, before turning to run down the street, he paused. Did he hear something? Yes, he could hear her voice calling him. Coming from a long way away, it was soft, but somehow loud enough to break through his terror.

He watched her a few minutes as she continued to call to him.

“Come on, boy. It’s OK. Come back to me.” she called gently, crouching down in an inviting position.

Not sure, he just stood there. He still didn’t understand what had happened. How did a fence hurt that bad? And why was it there in the first place? All he wanted to do was check out something on the other side.

But what he did understand was that this girl loved him and could protect him. And he loved her. So he ran to her as fast as he could and hid behind her. And there, he was determined to stay.

adorable blur breed close up — Photo by Lum3n.com on Pexels.com

Not Now

On May 28, 2018 By LindaIn short stories2 Comments

When she planned to leave town to visit some family members for a few days, she thought she had thought of everything she needed to bring.

clothes and other personal items

sewing business orders that needed to be finished

medicine

her smallest dog who doesn’t do so well without her

dog food, dog stroller, dog medicine, dog food

lap top

journal and calendar

sketch pad, color pencils

phone charger (which she had forgotten on her last trip)

and a few other things

She got to where she was going and settled in. Everything seemed great – until she sat down to write her new blog.

Opening Word on her laptop, she ignored the ‘enter key’ pop up like she always did (it did say it wasn’t necessary to register) and opened a new page. Only it wouldn’t open. She tried opening a previous page and planned to write the new blog at the bottom it. It opened, but it was locked and she wasn’t able to add anything. She tried opening a saved blog from her flash drive. Again it opened, but in a locked condition.

She hit the ‘help’ button to find out how to unlock a locked page.Trial? So she was using a trial version of Word all this time? And now the trial period was over?

Not now! She wasn’t at home to find that CD case with the key number. It would be days before she would be going home.

Besides, this was an old 2007 version of Word, and it probably wouldn’t work even if she found the key.

Fine, she thought. I’ll just write the blog directly on the web page. Which worked fine until she tried to upload a photo of her sketch to accompany her story. In order to edit her photo before uploading it to the web page, she needed photo manager, which was connected to Word, which she could no longer access.

“NOT NOW!” she wanted to scream. Not while I’m days away from going home! I can’t do a blog without Word!

Frustrated, she did the only thing she could do – go to bed and deal with the problem the next day.

And as she slept, God sang over her, bringing her peace.

The next morning, she got up to do her blog. No Word? No problem. She could find a way around it.

And she did.

Amazing the difference a little sleep and a little singing can do!

Sidewalks and Life

On May 26, 2018May 26, 2018 By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables5 Comments

As she walked, she thought…

“My life is like these sidewalks.

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Sometimes my path is straight and clear.

Sometimes it’s not.

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Sometimes it suddenly changes directions.

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Sometimes my life gets derailed for a season.

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Sometimes my life can be messy.

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Sometimes the way is rough.

Sometimes there are times of darkness as well as light.

Sometimes things try to keep me from moving on.

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Sometimes I find amazing treasures along the way.

But all times, just like the borders of a sidewalk, the boundaries God has placed in my life keep me safe.”

And her heart was filled with peace as she finished her walk.

The Museum – The Reveal

On May 25, 2018 By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables, short stories2 Comments

Spoiler alert: If you want to try guessing the meaning behind my symbolic short story The Museum for yourself, please go there now before you continue reading.

Still here? Then here we go.

The museum represents Christianity. Each wall symbolizes a different denomination. The paintings featured on each wall represents a central focus of that denomination based on my observations when visiting different denominations over the years.

The first wall is Catholicism with their main focus on the Eucharist.

The second wall is Baptist with their main focus on the Bible.

The third wall is Assembly of God and Pentecostal with their enthusiastic worship services. The different languages spoken by the people gathered there represents their belief in tongues.

The fourth wall is the Seventh Day Adventist with their focus on following the laws, especially the Sabbath.

The fifth wall is nondenominational churches – the swirls representing the freedom from traditional denominational boundaries.

The groups of people in front of each painting are the ones that have been drawn to that particular denomination based on likes, dislikes, needs, as well as other factors. Just like people have different personalities, denominations also have different personalities. And when people find the one that fits them the best, the one that meets their needs the best, they stay there.

The people still walking around the room are Christians who are still searching for their church home, and non-Christians exploring Christianity.

How close was your guess?

I know some people won’t agree with me, but I believe, for the most part, that having different denominations is a good thing. I think it’s quite possible that God may be behind the formation of many of the denominations that exist today. There are reasons why I believe this, but I won’t get into that now.

I’m aware that having different denominations is confusing to non-Christians. But I believe that’s because of how we Christians have handled it. If we really respected each other, and didn’t try to steal each other’s members – but instead worked together to point non-Christians to Jesus, then helped them find their right fit regardless of whether it’s in our own denomination or not, I think we would be amazed at the result.

Just saying.

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The Worm

On May 25, 2018May 24, 2018 By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

As she walked down the sidewalk one warm sunny afternoon, she noticed a worm. Most of the time the worms by that time of day were dead and shriveled up. But, amazingly, this worm wasn’t. It was still alive and heading away from the nearby edged lawn. But she knew that if it continued on its path, it wouldn’t make it to the other side. Between the hot sidewalk and the hungry birds, it didn’t stand a chance.

So, having compassion for it even though it was just a worm, she carefully nudged it with IMG_20180524_204952323 her foot towards the cooler damp dirt under the grass only inches away. It should have been easy. It was only a few inches and she was way stronger than the worm. But as she touched it, it went crazy. Twisting and turning wildly, it probably thought it was in danger and tried to protect itself. However, instead of the wild movements taking it closer to the dirt, it ended up right back where it started. She nudged it again, and again it wiggled wildly and landed back where it started. This is taking longer than it should, she thought. If only it would just let itself be nudged, it would already be safe in the dirt.

She considered her choices.

Quit scaring the little guy and let it take its chances on the sidewalk.

Or ignore its wiggling and use more force until it gets to the dirt.

Making her choice, she positioned her foot and scooted the crazy wiggling jerking worm all the way to the dirt. As soon as it touched the dirt, she removed her foot and watched it calm down.

There, she thought. You may not understand why you were being forced like this, but it was for your own good. Now you’re safe and can go on about your business.

As she continued her walk, a thought crossed her mind. How many times has she reacted like the worm when God nudged her into a different direction?

Too many.

“God, next time You nudge me, remind me of that little worm. I don’t want to fight You or make it take longer than it needs to be. Help me to trust that You know best.”

Because He does.