Red Wednesday's Widsom - Victory

You may find yourself in the midst of:
A blended family,
Sibling rivalry,
Favoritism,
Partiality,
Hatred,
Unkindness,
Jealousy,
Slavery,
Murderous schemes,
Lies,
The pit,
Suffering,
Secrecy,
Guilt,
Betrayal,
Grief,
Sorrow,
Manipulation,
Fabrications,
Imaginations,
Being sold out,
Falsely accused,
Abused,
A broken heart,
Trickery,
Selfishness,
Being Forgotten,
Famine,
Hauntings,
Dishonesty,
Pain,
Bitterness,
Testing,
Trials,
Set ups, or
Troubles,

BUT……there is VICTORY!

In the book of Genesis, chapter 37, we are introduced to Joseph who is the 17 year old son to Jacob. To many of us, this Joseph is best known for owning the coat of many colors. And as you reviewed the numerous hardships that are listed above, you may have been reminded of what you have personally experienced in one, or many of these kinds of circumstances. In Joseph’s world, he had encountered ALL of them! In just 10 short chapters, from Genesis 37 to Genesis 47, we catch a glimpse of what seems like a never ending struggle that Joseph endured over a span of some 20 years. But, there was victory in and through all of it!

Webster defines victory as the overcoming of an enemy or antagonist. And if I want to know how victory is defined from God’s perspective, I can find it in just one Scripture that is only one sentence long. It is in 1 Corinthians15:57, “How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord.” As I contemplate on these words, I am moved by their simplicity. Victory is synonymous with the Person of God, who is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only God and only Person who has defeated sin and death on my behalf, your behalf, and yes, even Joseph’s behalf! In Genesis 39:2 it says, “The Lord was with Joseph and blessed him greatly as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potipher noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.”

In my own life, I have realized that the enemy or antagonist has taken on many disguises. The attacks are not just a matter of sin’s sole existence, but they are also the result of the choices that I or others have chosen to make. In the enemy’s desire to kill, steal, or destroy me, I am so grateful for the many victories that have been, and are being celebrated. I also know that there are many victories yet to be seen. I have learned that victory is seldom quick in coming. Often times it is an on- going process that is achieved in small accomplishments and small battles. Victory rarely has a clear beginning or a finite ending, and it usually comes at a very high cost that can be emotional, financial, psychological, spiritual, physical, and relational. And because Jesus is the One who always points me in the direction of victory, I am constantly reminded of the cost that was literally at stake for Him, which was death on a cross.

In the NIV translation, victory is described like this in Psalm 60:12, “With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.” And in the Life Recovery Bible this Scripture translates as follows, “With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.”

Over the past 6 weeks, my daughter Lauren has been sharing with me how she has been consistently speaking victory into the big, and even small battles that her brother Brent has been fighting through and winning. And as a result, this word victory has really gotten a hold of my heart. Consequently, I have begun praying for my son in a new way, by applying 1 Corinthians 15:57. This is my prayer, “Lord, I have always been so thankful for the precious son You have given me, knowing that he has been Your loving son way before he was ever mine. I continuously thank You for answering our prayer when we asked that Brent would choose You as His Lord and Savior. Thank You for the forgiveness You give to all of us every moment of every day, and thank You for being the constant power source for victory in his life, and ours!”

This past Sunday I attended Lauren and Craig’s church. We sang a song that I had never heard, the words touched a cord for me and Lauren the minute we heard them. I want to share these lyrics with you as you fight through whatever challenges you may be facing:

“Kneeling on this battleground… knowing every victory was Your power in us.”

Brent's "V" for victory, knowing it's one day at a time.

Red Wednesday's Wisdom - Attitude

One of my most memorable life lessons has to do with my attitude. The classroom setting was behind the steering wheel of my car. I had looked into my rear view mirror and could see a red pick up truck speeding and cutting off every vehicle in its way. As the driver approached my back end, leaving only inches between us, I armored myself with an attitude of entitlement. In my head I was thinking, “You won’t do to me what you have done to everyone else!” My thinking then provoked me to feeling anger towards this reckless driver. And as a result, I reacted by displaying a hand signed message that required only one finger! The driver then immediately pulled up along side of me, decelerated, and stared at me with his threatening gaze. It was as if I had come face to face with one of those very frightening characters from the 1978 movie called The Deer Hunter. As he hit the pedal to the metal and cut in front of me, I got a visual that cured me of any further attitude of road entitlement or finger signaling. Racked behind his opened back widow were his secured rifles. Their barrels could have easily been aimed for me or anyone else at any time!

When I talk about attitude, I describe it as the behavior that mirrors what I am thinking and feeling. If I could replay the above scenario from 30 years ago, knowing what I know today, my thinking, feeling and behavior would be more representative of what God has taught me, rather than what the world has taught me. Through God’s Word, I have learned the importance of ALWAYS valuing an attitude of gratitude. 1Thessalonians 5:18 tells me, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” But I also have to be honest and admit that there are times when it can be a real struggle for me to have a thankful attitude in ALL things, ALL circumstances, and ALL situations.

Living with an attitude of gratitude means that I have to slow myself down so I can respond to life rather than react to it. It means that I take the time to yield to God’s will and obey what His Word tells me. When I retrieve the words that come from God’s mouth, rather than my mouth, my thinking becomes His thinking. And because my thinking has been renewed, so are my feelings, behavior, and attitude.

When I revisit the man in his truck, here is how I would hope for it to play out for me if it had happened today. I would want my thoughts, feelings, behavior, and attitude to be reflective of God’s instruction from 1Thessalonians 5:18: “Lord, as I see that truck weaving in an out of traffic, I thank you for being the Joy in my life. Thank you for giving me the eyes to see the potential danger that is behind me. And please cover all of us in your protective love and give us wisdom to avoid any kind of catastrophe.”

In this reenactment my thinking is not focused on fighting someone. The fight is replaced with an immediate turn and surrender to God, and then asking Him for everyone’s safety, including the driver’s! Instead of anger being the feeling, it is replaced with the feeling of joy. My attitude is not entitlement, it has become thankfulness.

In the mid to late 1990’s, I routinely listened to Charles Swindoll’s teaching on Christian radio. His program still runs and is called Insight for Living. “Chuck” is a pastor, author, educator, and preacher. I have always treasured his writing on attitude that I received more than 10 years ago. It has often been used in the Clutter Healing Classes. Two weeks ago I was asking the Lord to let me know if I was to include Chuck’s piece on attitude for this posting. As I was flipping through the radio stations one evening, I heard Chuck’s voice and tuned in. I could hardly believe my ears, Chuck was doing his teaching on attitude! So here it is.

Attitude

The longer I live,
the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude to me, is more important than fact.
It is more important than the past,
than education, than money, than circumstances,
than failures, than successes,
than what other people say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.
It will make or break a company…a church…a home.
The remarkable thing is that we have a choice everyday
regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We can not change our past.
We can not change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play
on the one string we have, and that is attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you.
We are in charge of our attitudes.

-Chuck Swindoll-

May you be blessed with an attitude of gratitude this Thanksgiving,
and all your days to follow.

Red Wednesday's Wisdom - Home

As I was preparing to leave my home in Cincinnati and travel to my “home” in Florida, I shared with my son Brent, that I felt lead to write about home in my next blog posting. His immediate response was, “Home is family, Mom!” His comment reflected what I had always hoped my children would learn as they were growing up: home is wherever we come together as family. But through the years, and especially through my relationship with the Lord, He has taught me that home means so much more.

The word home is not consistently found in the Bible, the words house and temple are more commonly found in its place. In my research, I discovered that the Hebrew word for home is bayit. And particularly in the Old Testament, bayit has a much broader translation to mean a house, household, dwelling place, or temple. In the New Testament the word home is more commonly derived from the Greek word oikos, which also refers to a house, dwelling, or household, but it also includes family. It can also be thought of as the body that houses the soul. This last translation reminds me of what God’s Word says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, and was given to you by God?” When I think about how encompassing the Hebrew word bayit and oikos are, I recognize how abundantly blessed I am with all the homes that God has given me: my immediate family, my extended family, my family of friends, my family of believers, my house, my church, my body, and my eternal heavenly home!!!

As I ponder on this idea of home, I am sensitive to the fact that our thoughts and feelings are not always warm and fuzzy. We can struggle with all kinds of hurts that clutter our relationships in our families, like criticism, judging, negativity, and addictions. This past Sunday when I attended Mass with my parents, I kept meditating on the verses that I heard in the gospel reading from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. These verses spoke to me about the cause of those struggles in our realtionships and why they challenge us. It really boils down to whether we are living in the light or living in the darkness. The question I always have to be asking myself is this: “Do I make the decision to follow the light of Christ or do I decide to reject His light and stay in the darkness?” 1 Thessalonians 5:11, tells me how to be that light in my home and in my family, “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing!”

Ten years ago, the following prayer was submitted to me by a class participant who was inspired to share what he had learned about "home" from my 14 week Clutter Healing Class. I hope your eyes, ears, and hearts will be blessed by this prayer.

A Prayer for Coming Home

O True and Ever –living God
I repent of all my false and empty gods
I look again into the closets of my life
my mind, my heart
to see what rules me.
Whom do I serve?
What are the possessions,
the people,
the opinions,
the events,
that control my life?

O Welcoming One
I see you standing at the door
of my heart
waiting for me
You gaze at my strange gods
with an eye of compassion.

I am ashamed to invite You
into my cluttered house
yet my heart aches
to be at home with you.

My hand is reaching for the door
I hear myself saying, Come on in
I have more room than I thought I had
Come on in, and be the only God in my life.
May this moment of homecoming last forever.

This prayer also takes me back to the promise I received years ago from the Lord, when I was praying for the salvation of ALL my family. The promise is in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with your entire household.” I can not tell you how many times I have tightly held on to the hope in those words, particularly when life has appeared so hopeless. Today I can say with thankfulness that I am witnessing that promise being fulfilled. More than anything else in the world, I want my family to be with me in the heavenly home that I am going to live in forever!

I’ll wrap up this week with a song that has always touched my heart in regards to this idea of “home.” I have always been moved by the music of Michael W. Smith, and especially the song he wrote that is called, I’ll Lead You Home. I use it in my clutter healing classes to remind us that God wants to be the One who will always lead us, and our "stuff," home. All we have to do is to ask Him into our lives! I never tire from hearing this song’s message.

Red Wednesday's Wisdom - Shade

Two weeks ago, I made a trip to beautiful Wilmington, Ohio. I saw my dear friend Jeanne, and finally got to meet her friend, Kris. Jeanne often told me that Kris was a powerful prayer warrior. So when I got the diagnosis of cancer, we made plans for all of us to meet and have Kris go to war for me in prayer. I was so blessed by our time together. I came away with a deep appreciation for how God uses each of us in similar and yet unique and different ways, especially when He wants to speak to us on a very personal and intimate level.

Kris knew very little about me until we met. She said that she preferred it that way. It kept her more objective and open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting rather than being subject to her own interpretations. What Kris received for me in her prayer time actually took place prior to our arrival. After spending some time in getting to know each other, she started out by saying, “The Lord is your shade on your right hand.” I never thought about that before. What did it mean? She went on to explain that shade came out of her devotional time from Sarah Horby’s book, At the Name of Jesus. Reference was made to the shade in Isaiah 4:4-6; “Then the Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion. And cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment. Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there. He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day and smoke and flaming fire at night, covering the glorious land. It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.”

Kris went on to say that this shade was not the shade of darkness that I have been so familiar with in my own life. No, this shade was like the color green, and to Kris it was reflective of her homeland of England where there are no trees for shading. She said it was not the shade of Cincinnati where you often experience rain, coolness and darkness, which is exactly how it looks as I write this posting! Kris wanted me to know this basic message: the shade of my past is not the shade of my today. The shade of today represents a new and fresh approach to how I am to live in the present. There was such richness in what I took away from just hearing about this one word and what it would mean to me.

When I first heard the word “shade,” I was immediately taken back to a memory. It was the spring of 2010 and I was feeling pretty drained from a chronic upper respiratory infection. I also had severe congestion and blockage of my sinuses and ears. I knew nothing about the cancer that was growing inside of me. But after teaching one of my clutter healing classes, I asked my partners, those who help me in the classes, if they would pray for me. I was hoping to gain some insight into the spiritual root of my symptoms. In our praying, I was taken to the story of my all too familiar and stubborn friend, Jonah. We were reflecting on Jonah 4. In a nutshell, Jonah, once again, wants his way over God’s way. When he can’t have what he wants he tells God to kill him! The story tells about a leafy plant that God provided for Jonah to shade him from the sun. When a worm destroyed the plant and took away the shade that exposed Jonah to the scorching sun, he got angry and wanted to die.

For a year and a half I have been so puzzled by this story and its meaning for me. There were many times in my past when God used Jonah to address my own anger and my desire to have things my way. But this time, when I thought about those issues, I could see the growth and healing that I had experienced. So there was something else that God wanted me to glean from this story, but what was it????

I have come to realize that the shade in Jonah, and now in Isaiah, is a comparison about where I have been and where I am. As is reflective in Isaiah 4:4-6, God has literally been cleaning me out. Physically, my symptoms are lessening or have completely gone away. The filth of this cancer in my bone marrow has been cleansed by the Rituxan. From a spiritual perspective, I now understand that the shade is about God’s protection of me at all times, regardless of my circumstances or how things may appear to the visible eye. And as Kris said to me, “Colleen, the Lord knows how life has burned you and scorched you by the shaded shadows of darkness, and that is your past, but now He wants you to refocus on the shade of His protection, His provision, and His shelter.”

The word shade is defined by Webster as comparative darkness, which is caused by an object cutting off rays of light. It can also be an open area that is sheltered from sunlight, or it can be a secluded place, or a spirit.

From a spiritual perspective, I now see how those symptoms from 18 months ago were reflective of the darkness that is in this world that wants to cut me off from experiencing the light of God. I now realize that the part I overlooked in Jonah was the part where Jonah wants God to kill him. That is a pretty dark place to be in and God’s light can seem very dim. Here is what I did not recognize about myself, prior to my diagnosis of cancer. There have been times in my past when I have said that I am ready to die. It wasn’t out of anger or not getting my way like Jonah, but the feeling was still being expressed. I apologized to God and said, “Please forgive me for the times when I said that I was ready to die, or when I joked and said, You can take me at any time!” I now know that I am ready to die from the spiritual perspective of knowing Jesus, and knowing I am going to be with Him when I leave this earth. But, when I made those comments, it was because I was operating from a physical and fleshly perspective, I wanted to escape any further pain or suffering, just like Jonah. I too was tired of being burned and scorched.

“The Lord is your shade on your right hand”. When studying these words I found them in Psalm 121:5 and I thought about God always being beside me, like my Body Guard. He is my power, my strength, and my shield at all times! Nothing can harm me! He is my shelter and my protection. Nothing can separate me from Him!

Here is the truth about what I have learned about myself. I am ready to die, but I still want to live. I still want to experience ALL that God still has for me. Cancer is one of those words that immediately turns our thoughts towards death when we hear it spoken. For me, when I now hear it or speak it, I want to hear and speak life! Shade has a new meaning for me. It means life and it means that I picture God at my side as my personal Body Guard!

This picture was taken by my friend Melissa as we were resting and bathing in the warm fall sun. I was so surprised when we viewed the picture she had taken. It was depicting this week’s theme about shade and a reminder to me of Psalm 121:5, “The Lord is your shade on your right hand.” I thank You, Lord, for being so visibly present in my life through Your Holy Spirit!

Red Wednesday's Wisdom - Letting Go

In my Home Touched business and ministry, we focus on getting organized and learning to let go of the “stuff” that can enslave us rather than serve us. And sometimes it means asking myself the tough question, “what do I need versus what do I want?” Please keep in mind that the “stuff” I am referring to is much more than just our material possessions, it is also mental, emotional, situational, spiritual, physical, and relational.

Letting go is a daily ongoing process for me. And the area where I have been most recently challenged with it has been in launching this blog. Truth be told, I recognize that I am in a lifelong recovery process of letting go about the worry that relates to what others might say or think about me. In fact, when I am helping others to get decluttered, which I define as the letting go process, it means that I also let go of hiding the real me, and admit to my own struggles as I help you to let go of yours. It is one thing to know that I am not perfect, but when I share and expose my imperfections with others, I am being authentic. I do this because I want to convey the message that you and I are on the same playing field and we are more alike than different. I am not better than you and you are not any better than I.

So, in working with one of my clients and friends, Dan Busken (who gave me permission to use his name), I shared my concern about the blog. I was most burdened by how the blog would communicate my performance as a writer. This was the honest and raw struggle that was brewing inside of me because I could not control the constraints that go with writing, designing, and formatting a blog. I do not have the control that I have in a Word document where I am the final writer, formatter, and designer. Consequently, all these questions were hitting me! How many mistakes will there be? Who will judge it? Who will criticize it? Did I say too much? Did I say too little? Who will like it? Who will not like it? Will I be accepted? Will I be rejected? Talk about the clutter I created from the build up and pile up of all that “stuff’’ that was going on in my head and in my heart!!! But in my spirit it was a very different scenario. All I heard was this quiet and simple response, “This blog is not about you and your performance. It is about Me and the message I want others to get through you!” That response gave me the peace I needed to launch the blog, and let go of all those concerns that wanted to bring me down.

In preparing to write this particular posting, I prayed and asked the Lord to provide me a Scripture that would affirm this theme of letting go. I also wanted to know if my concerns about blogging were to be shared as examples of my own need to let go. I no sooner made that request and a text came through from Dan. It simply said, “Galatians 1:10. Good for new bloggers like you.” I was taken by the “quickening” of God’s response and I was surprised that it was Dan who was giving me the message. This was the first time that he had ever sent me a Scripture and the reason for it. With excitement, I ran to my Bible and opened Galatians 1:10. Here is what it says, “Obviously I am not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” These words were written by the apostle Paul, and what a man to identify with. Every time I see the beautiful damask border of the blog site I am reminded of Paul, and here he is again! What God had been speaking to me in His Spirit was now matched up in His Word. I had my green light to move forward.

When I saw Dan and thanked him for the text, he said, “I apologize for the delay. I wanted to send this to you a week ago!” I responded, “It may have been your 'delay' but it was God’s perfect timing for me!”

Blogging is a new venture for me: new learning skills are yet to be developed. And as I continue to discover what I still need to let go of and what I still need to hold on to, I am thankful that my relationship with God is renewed and refreshed with every day. In letting go, it may not be what I want, but it is what I need!

I love sharing the handouts that I have received over the past 11 years. They come from people who have taken my clutter healing classes. The handouts reflect what people have taken away from the classroom and what they came back wanting to share. Here is an example of one that was written anonymously about letting go.

To “Let Go” Takes Love
To “let go” does not mean to stop caring, it means I can’t do it for someone else.
To “let go” is to not cut myself off, it is the realization that I can’t control another.
To “let go” is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To “let go” is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To “let go” is to not try to change or blame another.
To “let go” is not to care for, but to care about.
To “let go” is not to fix, but to be supportive.
To “let go” is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.
To “let go” is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to
affect their own destinies.
To “let go” is not to be protective, it is to permit another to face reality.
To “let go” is not to deny but to accept.
To “let go” is not to nag, scold, or argue, but instead, to search out my own shortcomings
and to correct them.
To “let go” is not to adjust everything to my desires but to take each day as it comes and
to cherish myself in it.
To “let go” is not to criticize and regulate everybody but to try to become what I dream I
can be.
To “let go” is not to regret the past and not worry about the future: it is to celebrate the
“now.”
To “let go” is to die to our old selves in order to live in the Other.
To “let go” is to not see life as an end but as a beginning.
To “let go” is to empty out our humanness making space for the Divine.
To “let go” is to fear less and to love more.
It is facing the unknown by trusting.

-Anonymous-

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you in letting go. He is like the wind. You can not see Him, but you can see His moving power!