Welcome to the neighborhood #2...or maybe not

Okay.  I lied.

Well, no.  It wasn't a lie, really.  I just glossed over the truth.  Like the lip gloss I wore in seventh grade, I made our neighbor situation look all shiny and lip-smacking good in my effort to overcome the invisible borders that exist from lawn to lawn.

See, I think I know what's holding us back from making friends in this semi-new neighborhood.

It's not that we don't look good.  Nope.  Got that one covered.  Our clothes are clean, hemmed, pressed, hair in place, smiles unflagging.

It's not that our lawn is uncared for.  Uh-uh.  This year we called Chem-Lawn just to make sure we're contributing to the kelly green grass that the neighborhood is known for.  My hubby breaks out in a sweat if he's a day late in mowing.

I'm not kidding about that.

No, it's not what's on the outside.  It's what happened on the inside of our house.

It's the screams that our neighbors undoubtedly heard day after day throughout this year.  This hard, hard year.

See, our oldest daughter -- our twenty-six year old -- is autistic, and this year we had a hard time getting a medication to control her anger.  She would come home from work, get off the bus, walk into the house and start demanding things.  From the moment she got home until the moment she went to bed she was irritable, and most days that irritability moved quickly into anger, loud anger, especially if we didn't do exactly what she wanted to do.  So many days she would scream at the top of her lungs and I would wonder what our neighbors were thinking, and if they were calling the police to come investigate.  Praise God we never got a knock at our door.

But during those dark days -- which have thankfully passed -- I kept thinking, What chance in the world do we have of making friends with our neighbors?  This was going to be our chance at sharing Christ in our neighborhood.

Who knows?  Maybe it's the memory of those screams that are keeping our neighbors at arm's length.  Or maybe God can work beyond those memories and forge great friendships in the future.

I hope so.

We're blessed -- Teresa

Welcome to the neighborhood #1

You know, we moved to our neighborhood a year ago, and I can't say that we know our neighbors any better than we did the day we moved in.

That's pitiful.

Oh, now I can tell you all about them, probably.  I can tell you about Charles' family gatherings next door and how his cute little grandkids dressed up on Easter and had Easter egg hunts in his backyard, and how the family laughed and ate dinner together under his tent awning a few weeks ago, and how Charles seems to be losing a little weight.  We wave and say hi to him -- he seems like a great guy -- but I have no idea if his wife lives there any more, or if his health is holding up . . . and he's just yards away!

And the kid next door on the other side -- I don't even know his name, but I saw him in his graduation gown, and I congratulated him -- does that count for anything?

And across the street, I know that Richard and Elizabeth have toddlers, and a therapist comes every single day to work with their youngest.  We wave and are very friendly . . . when we're outside.

So how do you go beyond just waving?

How do you cross that unspoken boundary between neighbors to becoming friends, like in the "old days"?  I remember my neighborhood that I grew up in being like a family!  We all knew each other, and when I grew up, all the neighbors came to my wedding shower.  Even the ones I wasn't so fond of! Grin.

I want to be that kind of neighbor.  Not the kind I am now.

Anybody out there know how to do it?  Because I sure don't -- our last neighborhood held the world record, I think:  we lived there for 13 years, and barely knew our next door neighbors.

So I'm up for any advice you can give, folks!

The question to ask

In my adult life, I've had some bumps and hurdles.  Some were little bitty bumps, some were great big mountain-looking hurdles.  Each time I've had those bumps and hurdles in my path, I've asked, "Why, God?"  And God lets me say it.  Because he's big enough to take my anger, my screaming, my yelling, my bitter tears, and my eventual remorse and confession.

But each time I get past my obstacle and on down the road, I look back at what I've been through and marvel at what God did.

Not at the trial that He allowed.

I marvel at the blessings He worked through the messiness of my life.  I wonder at the beauty that He brought from the ashes of the horrible situation.  I praise Him for the way He showed Himself loyal to me even when I was not loyal to Him.

What a loving God.

I marvel, too, that I ever asked why.  What I should have asked was, how can I know you better through this, Lord?  What will you make me through this?  Who do you want me to become?

I can ask all kinds of questions, but in hindsight,  WHY is the least important.  Because who really cares why?

Isaiah 26:4 says,"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal."


Be blessed in Him -- Teresa

The good shepherd

A friend of mine and I were talking about how Jesus is the Good Shepherd in John 10, and she told me that she wanted to know more about how shepherds actually did their work.

"I have this image," she said, "of a shepherd picking up a little lamb when the lamb can't continue walking any more."

I nodded.

"That's how it is with us.  Jesus picks us up in his arms when we can't go on and He carries us."

Yes.  That's how it is.  Sometimes more than others.

We are so blessed -- Teresa

Doer of the word?

These days I've been listening to a program called Revive Our Hearts, and today they had a guest speaker who shared her testimony.  I was particularly interested because the speaker, Andrea Trent, is a friend of my daughter and son-in-law.  Her story is riveting in that it is probably one that many women can relate to.  I'm sharing the link to it below:

To read the transcript or listen to the message:
  http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/roh/today.php


I hope you will tune in later this week, as I will, to hear the rest of her story.

Be blessed in Him -- Teresa

Happy Father's Day

What a great day this was at my house.

I happen to be married to an awesome man who has made a great dad.  Not perfect -- he'll be the first one to tell you that.  But he's a wonderful father -- his girls will confirm it.

But I realize that not everyone is so fortunate.

My own dad was a pleasure to me, but sometimes I had to work hard to understand his silences and not mistake it for criticism.  I've missed him in the sixteen years he's been gone.  Once again, not a perfect dad by any means.  But he was my dad, and I loved him.  And what an awesome grandfather he was to my girls.  One of the best I've ever seen.

I shudder when I think of an emotional, early-teenage conversation I had with Daddy where I tearfully told him that I wanted him to be like other dads, who talked to their kids' friends and were outgoing to everyone.  He told me he'd try to be more like that . . . and when I think back, he was.  But who can dissolve their own introverted nature? It breaks my heart to think that I burdened him with that request.

I guess we all have regrets as children, like we do as parents.  But I hope that this day, this Father's Day, brings happy thoughts and memories of your dad.  But like I said earlier, I know that's not the case with everyone.

If your earthly father is not someone you can recall with fondness, I urge you to think beyond that father to the one who placed you on this earth, your heavenly Father.  "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (or daughters) of God." Romans 8:14.

You are blessed -- Teresa

The blame game

I read something the other day that has stayed with me.  A little food for thought, a nugget of truth that I even wrote down so I wouldn't forget it.  Here it is:

We are not accountable for what other people do to us.


Wow.

Let that settle in for a minute.

Okay.  Here's the second part:

We are only accountable for how we respond.

Are scenarios flashing through your mind?
Here's one:

Let's say someone cuts you off very rudely on the road, causing you to swerve to avoid hitting them.

My natural reaction is to yell at them, to honk my horn, to rant and rave for the next fifteen minutes because of what they caused me to do.

But really, who does that impact?

If I yell at them and honk my horn, I could be taking a big chance on a road rage incident -- not wise.

If I yell at them and keep it inside my car, rant and rave for the next fifteen minutes, I've just ruined a good quarter hour of my life.  I've raised my blood pressure, focused on negative things -- how is that productive?  Philippians 4:8 tells us what is good to think about: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things."

Maybe you're thinking that the person got away, and that's just not right!  It doesn't seem right in our eyes, but God has something to say about that:  "Do not repay evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." (Romans 12:17-20)

It's hard to do things the way God wants us to, but in the end, He's got it handled.

You are blessed -- Teresa

The question of doctrine

I was listening to a podcast the other day and it got me to thinking.  The speaker was addressing the topic of doctrine.
 I sighed and turned away.  I might as well have rolled my eyes, because that was what I was feeling.
Then I almost laughed out loud, because it was as if the speaker came right into the room and spoke to me!  She said, "Now I know you think this is a dry topic, but listen!  Anybody who believes anything has doctrine!  Oprah has doctrine -- she had a sex show on the other day, and let me tell you about her doctrine of sex."
And actually, I don't want to tell you about it, because it was pretty perverse.  Oprah wasn't the cleanest show around.
The podcast speaker I was listening to went on to name quite a few other personalities with venues on television who are full of doctrine -- just not church doctrine.  I can name a few of my own thinking:  Jay Leno doctrine, Ellen doctrine, President Obama doctrine, Tea Party doctrine, United Nations doctrine, Tom Shoes doctrine.  They're not all bad.  They're not all good.  But they all have beliefs, and that's their doctrine.
It was a whole new way of looking at doctrine.

So, the question becomes. . . what is YOUR doctrine?  What is your belief system?  Even if you've never thought you had one, let me stop you right there -- because you do, or else you wouldn't be here.

I'll tell you what I've thought about since I heard this podcast:  I want the doctrine that I live by to reflect the one doctrine that I know to be the truth.  The only place I know where to get to truth is the Bible.

Be blessed in Him -- Teresa

School's out. . .

. . . so now there's time on my hands.

At first, I thought, "This is great!  I'm going to read all day long, sleep as late as possible, go shopping in the mornings, take a nap whenever I want, watch a movie in the middle of the day, have lunch out with friends, write . . . . " The possibilities were endless.

But today the house was a little empty feeling.  I felt aimless.  Yet I'd look at the clock as it ticked away the minutes and I'd think, use this precious time!  Read!  Do the laundry!  Do the projects you wanted to do!

It was like a race to hurry up and use the time you always wanted . . . and it's taken some adjusting.

But I think what I'm discovering as I get used to my new freedom is that there is a lot of time for my bible study.  The pleasures that are found there are countless.  The verse that talks about God's Word being alive continually rolls around in my mind . . . (Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.)  That means that the last book you read might have been awesome, but it wasn't living and active and able to penetrate your soul.

Yeah . . . so chew on that for a minute.   And see if you don't pick up your Bible and test it out, like I did.

We are blessed -- Teresa