A Good Listener.

Being a good listener is something we all need to work on.  Especially me.  I am horrible at being a good listener.  God on the other hand is a great listener.  He loves to listen to His children. 

The LORD hath heard my supplication; 

the LORD will receive my prayer. 

Psalm 6:9

Listening is a skill we are not born with.  It is something that takes many years to accomplish.  It needs to be worked on and practiced.  

From the time we are born we are selfish and believe that our voice is the only one that should be heard.  Over the childhood years we learn that the world does not revolve around us.  And when we are adults we find out that we do not need to give our opinion every time we want to.  

Being a good listener is an area that God can show us how to do very well if we would listen to Him.  

 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 

Psalm 4:4

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46:10

The number one way we can learn how to be a good listener is to be still.  

BE STILL and Listen to your parents, 

BE STILL and Listen to your teachers, 

BE STILL and Listen to your Pastor, 

BE STILL and Listen to your Elders, 

BE STILL and Listen to GOD!  

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

1 Kings 19:11,12

God has a still small voice, calling to us.  He is there whispering to us, waiting for us to listen to Him.  If we do not make a point to BE STILL, we will never hear the calling of God or the warning of the Holy Spirit or our parents.  We will not be able to grow to be good student or a good worker.  We will not be able to be a good friend or a helper to someone in need.  We will not become good parents or good wives.  

God has really been working on me with this.  I am a horrible listener, but I am working on it.  I am trying to become a better listener and in doing this I will become a better friend, wife, mother, helper, disciple, witness, worker, daughter, sister, and child of the King. 

My job is not to tell you how much I know but to show how much I can learn and maybe you will want to do the same.

The War is Already Won!

 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matt 11:28-30

As I think about how hard life can be at times, especially as a teenager with pressures from everywhere coming at you all at once, I think about these verses.

As the tough times come, sometimes we don't deal with them in the right way.  We get depressed and down and we don't act the way we should or do the things we know we should.  We let our "despair" take over and we give in to it.  We eat more junk food, shut ourselves away, and step out of life.  This is easy to do.  

I remember being a teen and having times when I would let my feelings control me and consume me.  And it is still something I struggle with.  But I have learned over the years that the best way to get out of your funk, is to do the opposite of what you feel like doing.

  

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; 

but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Romans 7:18,19

 Your life is in your hands.  This verse really shows us that what we should do, we rarely ever do.  We love to think about doing good but we are more likely to be selfish and live for ourselves.  I am in control of my actions.  I can let myself be in a funk and consume my life with my pity party or I can force myself to do something and feel great after I am done.  

In Matthew 11:28-30 God tells us that if we turn to Him and take up His yoke (what He wants us to do), we will find rest because His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  When we turn to Him and do the things we know we should, He is there to take our burdens off of us.  He is there carrying our load and holding our hand while caring for us and loving us.  

So, what does God want us to do?  He wants us to love and trust in Him.  Read His word and pray.  He wants us to put others before ourselves.  When we do this, it gives us perspective.  I know that sometime I feel overwhelmed with life, but there is no way I would want to trade with anyone else.  God has given me the grace and faith to go through my life.

If you are having a hard time with life, remember, God is there for you and He wants to carry you through the tough times.  He wants His sons and daughters to be happy, content and living the abundant life with smiles on our faces. God is so good.  He loves you very much.

Living Life with NO Regrets!

I want to start by saying "HI!"  I know that it has been a while since I posted last, but it has been a very busy week and a half.  As many of you know I was in Sacramento helping a very dear person in my life.  She is 63 years old and is preparing to be with the Lord very soon.  With all that is going on in her life I started to think... I want to live life with no regrets.  

What does this mean?  I will start by telling you what I don't mean cause when people (especially young people) talk about living life with no regrets or living life to its fullest, you tend to think that you are to live the way you want to, do the things you want to do and just be selfish. This is not what I mean at all.  

I will tell you that there are plenty of things that I am not proud of and that I regret very much from my past.  Most of them where done when I was doing what I wanted to do and when I was being a selfish person.  I still make mistakes and regret them.  That is a good regret.  It helps me to see what I need to steer clear of the next time that situation comes around.  I need the Holy Spirit helping me to stay out of trouble.  

When I talk about living life with no regrets, that means that I am not going to live my life without God.  I mean that I am going to give up my selfishness so I can live for God.  I want to live my life for others.  Caring for people and showing them God's love.  

Some people may think that I shouldn't have to go and help a friend who is dying or a family that doesn't quite know how to deal with such a great loss in their lives.  But I have something to say to that, I will not live life with regrets.  I will not let people think that they have to go through hard times alone.

Most people run away from situations like this.  It is hard to deal with the loss of someone you love.  I know because my husband and I went through this same situation about 7 years ago.  We did go through it by ourselves and we chose to ignore what was going on.  We didn't know where to turn for help.  And I regret it.  I regret not being there every chance I could be.  I regret my selfish attitude.  I regret not letting others help us deal with the pain.  And I wont do it again.
 
I will walk toward the hurt and the pain so that I can be a blessing and a help to someone I love dearly.  I will be there every chance I get to visit and learn more from a woman who has such a great view on life and knows the love of God.  

She has had many regrets in her life but she has also lived life with no regrets.  She has trusted in God for her salvation and all of her needs and wants.  She has been a blessing to many and most of the time has given up her own desires and needs to fulfill the needs and wants of others.  When she enters the gates of Heaven she will see all the lives she touched with her presence, with her great attitude and her love for God. She will never regret being a great wife, mom and grandma.  She will never regret being a great friend, counselor and confidante.  She will never regret living her life for others.  She will never regret living for and loving God.  


Don't live a life full of regrets, live your life with no regrets.

Marilyn & Chet

In the beginning...

It is a new year and a new start.  As I start this year I hope to accomplish many things.  One of them is to really start this Blog for all of you wonderful teen girls.  And one of them is to follow a Bible reading schedule.  On the first day of the year we explored the creation story.  The first verse tells us that "In the beginning..." and it made me think.  

Did you know that God knew who you were, He knew your name, how long you would live, how many hairs you would have on your head, when you would accept Him or deny Him, what you would wear today, how you would act today, what you were going to do tomorrow?  

He knew it all from the start.  He knew you from the start.  Now the question is, Do you know Him?  Do you know how much He loves you, How much He does for you?  Do you know (truly know) what He did for you?  

It amazes me to know that with the many times I have ignored Him or pushed Him away or have been a reproach to His name, that He is still there, loving me and caring for me, being my cheerleader and my coach and my teammate.

Many of you feel alone at times and don't know where to turn.  I ask you now to turn to God.  He is there for you and will be there when you call on Him (and you wont have to wait because He is right there when you need Him).

There are many things that I hope to accomplish with this fresh start.  I hope that we all get to know Him as much as He knows us.