For Such A Time As This

 God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Do you like everything that is going on in your life? Are you ok with your surroundings, your world and your daily happenings? Or do you ever feel like me and really wish that you could do something to make life just a little more pleasant, a little less stressful and a lot more peaceful?

There are  days when I hear another bit of bad news and I feel sick of bad news! I can't handle one more email that details the cancer of another friend. I'm tired of hearing about chemo and sickness and mouth sores and fatigue and hair loss and loss of appetite and hospital stays and bad days. I wish the news would not be full of the election stress and corruption. The suffering around our world is incredible and it is very disheartening! The devastation caused by hurricane Matthew is just unreal! Is there anything that I can do to make a difference for anyone?

I thought about Esther the orphan girl. Her cousin begged her to plead to the king for her people who were doomed to death. I can only imagine her hesitance. She was scared, it could mean death to go to the King uninvited. She was only one voice. Could it possibly make a difference in this impossible situation? However, she prayed, God's people prayed and fasted and her people were saved! She was in the kingdom for that specific time.

 Are you in your spot for a specific reason? Do you feel forgotten or overlooked, like maybe God is not watching at the moment? Do you feel like there is so much bad news, so much evil that things are hopelessly hopeless?It is a really bad idea to dwell on the bad news and focus on the evil! Esther could have done that too. She could have locked herself inside her house and prayed and hoped it would change. She did so much more then that! She took action! She did something! It is true, I can't even begin to heal all the hurts, to feed the hungry or give shelter to the homeless. I can't save the refugees or takeaway the pain of the suffering. But I can pray and I can touch the hurting around me. Our modern technology leaves no reason for excuse to contact someone by text or phone or email etc.We can send hope to the weary in many different ways. Is your voice sending hope and giving courage or is it easier to add to the gloom? Are you doing what God meant for you to be doing in this time that you are living? Did God place you in your specific spot for a reason? You must believe that He did! You did not just happen, you were not overlooked, you have a purpose and God has a Plan!We also must believe that God is working even when He seems silent. There are many things in life that we do not understand. Unless I believe that God is Perfect and He has our best in mind, unless I believe that He sees the whole picture and is in total control, then all the hardships will seem unfair and hopeless and cruel. I have to BELIEVE and TRUST and BE ASSURED that God is in TOTAL CONTROL even when it does not make sense.

October is Jonathan's birthday month. I was in the garden that day picking all the leftover peppers and remembering his love for hot peppers. For some reason he loved to test and see how hot he could take stuff. Once he bit into a jalopeno pepper in the garden. It was pretty hot! Another time he threatened to bite into a habanero and he asked me if I thought it would be very hot. Well, I don't get a lot of pleasure from burning my mouth so of course I told him it was very hot and I also added that I would not feel sorry for him if it was terrible. He didn't try it.My friend Rosy made a super hot relish that he loved even tho his nose would run and his eyes would water. The boys used to tell him that they thought the stroke must have messed up his sense of taste. Shortly after we got married he used to buy a hot pickled mix from the grocery store. I decided to put my own concoction together  and he loved it. I have canned HOT MIX ever since. It was a mixture of cauliflower, carrots cucumbers and then some hot peppers. I used Mrs. Wages Kosher Dill pickle mix for the brine and then I canned it . We have eaten 100's of quarts of hot mix over the years.

I have many memories that come flooding back to me on quiet days. I love memories! Memories make me smile but they also make me feel sad because a memory is remembering the past. It is gone!So a day of memories can be filled with bitter sweet feelings. Sweet because the memory was special, but bitter in knowing that there will be no more. But really in all honesty, the memories are so sweet that those days are only slightly painful.

                  I NEED COURAGE AND WISDOM AND ACCEPTANCE