Submission in Marriage - The Missing Link to Happiness

Most people hate the word "submission," and whenever they hear it, they begin to get on the defensive. As we continue our study into developing a submissive spirit, some men might get excited by this and perk up. This is NOT the biblical application that some husbands are apt to toss in their wives face. Trust me I had such a man in my ex-husband. So what does the Bible really say about submission?

Ephesians 5:22 ~ "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord."

If a man is going to memorize any Bible scripture, this is the one he loves the most and will have no trouble with remembering it. The wife will be the one who points out that he should love her, as Christ loves the church. That is absolutely true, but we need to look at what "submit" means by Bible standards and that is found in Ephesians 5:21

Ephesians 5:21 ~ "submitting to one another in the fear of the God."

Men and women are to have the same submissive heart to God in the fear of God. The first prerequisite is does your husband fear God? If you husband fears God, he will have a submissive spirit of God. He will be a man whom you will love being led by or submitted to. In fact the word "submission" will never come up in your relationship. He will be an awesome example of Jesus. You will want to do anything for him. You will have the most amazing relationship. You want to know why? Because you know he loves you. He would die for you and you know it!

It's not about forcing another to submit. That's not what the Bible's saying by any means. Submission in marriage is the missing link to happiness. If you want a happy marriage, it starts this way...The man is the example. The husband is always the pattern of practice. Let the husband submit to Christ in the fear of the Lord. Let the husband create a Christ-like spirit in that home. That woman will happily submit. There is no mandate of a woman submitting to a wicked man!

For a woman to sacrifice her faith, for her "ungodly, Christian husband," to entertain things that are a direct violation of Scripture because he told her to submit, that is completely wrong. In a Christian relationship, the fear of God, is to reign supreme. The awe and reverence to God, and that should first be exhibited in the husband who is the witness as a Christian leader in the home. That is where it starts. Tragically today, we hear, "Well the wife out to submit, I am the head of the house!" I doubt you are. We know that the word Islam means to submit. The difference is when the LORD asks to you submit, it's in a personal and loving relationship with God.

Remember as we continue this study on the three things we need to survive as believers in the last days is first, developing a thankful heart. Israel had failed to do that as we have been reading in Judges 10. When you begin to become unthankful, you begin to gripe and complain. You moan about everything and anything. Nothing is right. Everything is wrong. I can't take it anymore! That is the kind of age we are living in now. Everyone is pointing a finger at everyone else. When you don't  have a thankful heart, a cynical heart will develop in its place.

Developing a submissive spirit.

Judges 10:10-16 ~ "And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals ( or allah today)!" So that Lord said to the children of Israel, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines? (Yes). Also the Sidonians and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you' and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand? (Yes). Yet you have forsaken Me and have served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress." And the children of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray." So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel."

God goes down a list with the children of Israel showing them just how faithful He has been with them. They submitted to their worship system instead. He told them to go to their room. As they were marching off complaining, we see the tender heart of God. This is not the picture of the fire and brimstone God of the Old Testament God most people fear and think of when they think of God. When you are disobedient, you get called out. The children of Israel were bent on disobedience with God. God spanks those He loves. He knows discipline is necessary, but it always picks us up. He never crushes us or drives us away in doing so. The moment you remember God and turn around in repentance, He looks down on the misery of your heart and welcomes you back with loving arms. This is your first step to developing a submissive spirit, to acknowledge God. What a simple thing to do. Yet when pride is involved, it becomes a challenge to do so. We punish God when people hurt us. Don't turn your back on God.

The second thing that is required to develop a submissive spirit is that you need to love God. The children of Israel had taken their eyes off of God. When you love someone, you look at them. You watch them. We can see the love of God in His Word, especially in the New Testament. When you spend time with God in His Word, you begin to fall in love with Him. Humble your heart in front of Him. Read His love letter to you.

The final step in developing a submissive spirit is to surrender to God. We can't surrender to Him if we fail to understand His love for us. We can't surrender to Him unless we acknowledge Him. Life begins when we surrender to Him.

A.W. Tozar once said, "As Christians we no longer tell lies, we just sing them."

Think about it. When you sing your praise and worship songs at church, these are prayers to God. Do you really mean the words you are singing?

This is the key to those who want a successful relationship in any area of their lives from marriage to their work. You will never see a couple in love use the word "submit" in their relationship. Every woman looks for a man who will love them, lead them, is faithful to them. That's not truly possible unless a man loves the Lord to the fullest. If you want to find a true man, look for one who is in love with Jesus. The same applies to men, if you want a true woman, look for one who has a heart for Jesus. Look for those who fear the Lord with all their heart.

Contentment or Containment?

Is it possible to be content living in this sin-filled world?

As a believer in Christ how do you find contentment? Through attending church, praying, spending time in the Word, hanging out with believers, or on your face in reverence to God?

I woke up this morning with these two words on my plate and seeking God's wisdom for what He wanted to share with you through this blog message today. I found that every study I opened today dealt with these two things and I hope you'll find something here to help you get through your day today.

When I think of contentment, I think of being happy with what you have. Not wanting anything else necessarily but just trusting in God to provide anything else you need.

Too often I think people are too busy spinning their wheels trying to find that level of contentment. Where they can sit back satisfied by what they have. Yet the one thing I've come to understand in this world, is that no matter how much we try to fast forward to the end or attempt to reach that next level of finally being satisfied, we'll undoubtedly want something else.

Think about it.

If I asked you to fill in the box, I'd be content if.....(this is where you insert what you think would make you content).

Money?

The ultimate dream job? Being your own boss? Setting your own hours?

Financial freedom?

The perfect husband? Wife? or Kids? Maybe all of the above?

The only way we can truly be content is something that must be learned through experience. You have to go through many storms, trials and stuff this world throws your way before you can ever reach that point.

It's interesting that the world content means contain internally, being self sufficient. Not in that you are sufficient that you have everything you need, but that you are sufficient in Jesus Christ. In His work. In His Spirit.

We have to trust that God will provide. He will provide. He may not always provide the things WE want, and He doesn't always do things our way. If you remember back to the story of Joseph and his brothers, we think of that initially as a pretty bad story for Joseph. Favored son out of 12, he gets a little too full of himself sharing his dreams to his brothers, gets a beautiful coat of rainbow colors and pretty soon, his brothers decide to get rid of Joseph. At first they want to kill him, but finally realize that tossing him in a well and leaving him to be sold into slavery is better than having blood on their hands. But when you get through the story you can see the Hand of God in every instance where thing went from bad to worse for Joseph and in the end God truly provided for him. Did it happen the way Joseph wanted? I would wager a guess and say with most certainty it didn't. But in the end, I can say God did provide for Joseph.

God's hand is ruling over all things in your life. No matter what the circumstances look like right now. We have such amazing promises from God to rely on and that never fail.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (NIV).

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (NIV).

We need to trust in the power of God.

God has given you blessings to glorify Him through helping others, not hoarding what you have been giving. It's time to show love to those in need by helping people out. I love what I read in one of my devotions this morning.

"In his book, Why Revival Tarries, the late preacher Leonard Ravenhill wrote of the prayerlessness of many churches. "We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere." 

The world has no internal resources when crisis comes. They reach out to what they can see around them. Self help or self medication as a means to cope. But when you look at how a tree grows, its source of strength doesn't come from the things around it, the things you can see, but by the root system, the things you can't see. It's what feeds it, waters it, and enables it to hold up to fierce storms around it.

We need to remember where our strength and contentment comes from, from what people can't see. It's through our faith in Jesus Christ. He is our vine and we are the branches. Just like a tree, we need to reach out to help this hurting world that is finding itself more in darkness as the end draws near. Let us reach out to them and love and draw them to Christ. Only in Him will we find strength, refreshment and ultimately contentment.

Remember there are no accidents only appointments from God. So who is He sending to you?

Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."

Something To Smile About

I came across this the other day as I was preparing with my husband for his recent trip to Maryland. It made me smile and thought I would save it with you. I hope you enjoy it. If you have troubles viewing it, double click and view directly from YouTube. Have a beautiful Sunday! I've got a surprise coming tomorrow you won't want to miss.

X Marks the Spot

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." - Matthew 6:19

I had the great pleasure of reading an exceptional book yesterday that got me thinking about today's topic of treasure and the subsequent scriptures pertaining to "treasure".

The book was called The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman and goes to tell the story of a marriage that is literally falling apart for the sake of keeping up appearances. In the end as the wife prepares to leave her husband, he confides in her that he is dying of cancer.

In life, we are all pursuing a better life for ourselves, one better than our parents had before us and one that we hope our children will make better for themselves. Yet in the search for that "something better" we lose heart. What we seek in this life and in this world often come back empty, like sand falling between the cracks of our hands or trying to keep water in your palm.

No matter how grand our efforts we are rarely ever satisfied. Does it dawn on us that the life Jesus prepared for us wasn't supposed to be about striving after good deeds or works. That alone will never get us into our heavenly home, just the gift of grace from God does that. Nothing we do, will provide lasting happiness. No amount of money, homes, vacations, married spouses, children, or volunteering.

No the only happiness can come from believing in God, and walking in His ways, listening to His word, and abiding in His laws as best as we can. So while people will spend their lives searching for treasure, Jesus is the only treasure in which "X" marks the True Treasure and lasting happiness.

Don't believe me, wondering if it can all be real, try to Bible for 30 days. Read the book of John and keep going from there until you reach the end of your 30 days. In that time, I pray that any of you that take this journey for real treasure will not be disappointed and God will reveal Himself to you and you will never be the same. Welcome to the treasure hunt!

Having the Life You've Always Wanted

Miserable?

Fed Up?

Depressed?

Spiritually Dry?

Do you want to be happy again, I mean really happy. The kind that is overflowing and so contagious that just being around people like that produces more happiness?

There are 2 keys to having that kind of life. The life of love, patience, joy, contentment, gratitude and a thankful serving heart. Sound good?

Here's how to have that life.

The word life is found in the Bible 733 times but only 25 times with a capital "L" which refers to the life God has promised to all of us. You can have peace and joy everyday.

You can bear fruit every day.

You can help others everyday and not feel taken advantage of or resentful.

Matthew 10:37 - 39 - "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."(NIV).

What God is saying is that He wants to be FIRST in our life.

We need to be "always straightening our priorities" in our life every day and asking where does God come in our lives. Ask yourself, "Is God first in my life today?"

Just because you go to church doesn't make you a Christian, just like sitting in a garage, doesn't make us a car.

Keys are what is required to open a door. You can have one of two lifes. The higher one or the lower one.

The lower one is filled with our self centeredness, selfishness, frustration, anger, resentment, ran by our emotions and focused on our needs.

We need to PUT GOD FIRST! That is the first key.

We need to find time to fellowship with God every single day. Don't be too busy for God. You won't have a real life unless God comes first.

Do you realize that this is the very first of the ten commandments.

YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.

So what comes first in your life? Work? Sports? Family? Spouse? Ladder of Success?

You can be as close to God as long as YOUR willing to commit the time to HIM.

No one else can spoon feed your Godly life to you. YOU have to be the one to do it. It will impact your life.

Matthew 22:37 - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment."

Do you realize that the first four of the ten commandments have to do with our relationship with God?

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or the earth below. You shall not bow down and worship them.

3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

In order to have something we want in the world, we are willing to put God aside. We'll get to God later. Tomorrow?

If you want it bad enough, to have this Life you've always wanted, you can do it. Only the devil will try and distract you.

Don't just live your life sneaking into heaven.

Your life should make others hungry and thirsty for God. It's not what you do in that time, it's giving that time to God that will make the difference.

You need to fight for the things you want.

Key # 2. LOVE Your Neighbor As Yourself.

That means love yourself in there as well, but be not in love with yourself. Respect yourself. Take care of yourself, but don't be the center of your life.

Do somethings you enjoy otherwise you will be bitter and resentful.

When you attend church services on Sunday, it's for practice for how you will live the rest of the week. You're there to hear what you're suppose to do for the rest of the week.

Our world needs more love. God's love heals.

Be consistent in showing that love. Love never fails.

We are becoming more and more spiritually fat. We often wonder why we sit in services or conferences at church and nothing really ministers to us. So we blame the minister or the church for not feeding us and might even change churches. However what the real problem is, is that we are taking it all in, but not letting any of it out. There is no more room inside us for anything else God wants to show us.

When are we going to take what we've learned and begin doing it?

We are so afraid of what we'd have to give up instead of just doing it. Bless people. Encourage them. This alone could be the very reason that at times in our life we find ourselves spiritually dry. People need love, encouragement and mostly patience.

1 John 3:14 - "We know that we have passed from death to Life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death." (NIV)

Ask yourself another question every day besides where does God fall in your life today. The next question should be, " What have I done to help someone else today?"

Stop trying to make yourself happy and instead try to make someone else happy. Try the keys and see if your life doesn't change into the Life, you've always wanted today and for the rest of your life.

Good and Perfect Gifts

James explained, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).

Some are deceived into thinking that the temporary gratification of sin is a "good and perfect gift." The pleasures of adultery are undeniable. Revenge can bring quick and cheap gratification. Crushing another's feelings by cruel words and gossip can bring a warped kind of pleasure.

But these are not gifts from above. They are not "good and perfect gifts." They are tainted, tarnished, and temporary.

Then there are those blessings that don't immediately appear to be blessings. James has already pointed out how trials can bring blessings such as faith and perseverance and spiritual maturity (James 1:3-4).

The gift of loneliness makes us seek the fellowship of God.

The gift of failture makes us more understanding of those who fail.

The gift of erring gives us the ability to forgive those who err against us.

The gift of sorrow makes us better qualified to sympathize with those who grieve.

Not every gift looks like one. Don't be deceived. Trust the Father, who is not capricious, who does not lash out because He's "having a bad day." He doesn't; and even heartache may be a gift of love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Recipe for Happiness

Happiness is something we create in our mind,
It's not something you search for and so seldom find -
It's just waking up and beginning the day,
By counting blessings and kneeling to pray -
It's giving up thoughts that breed discontent,
And accepting what comes as "heaven sent" -
It's giving up wish for things we have not,
And making the best of whatever we've got -
It's knowing that the future is secure for us,
And pursuing our tasks without fret or fuss -
For it's by completing what God gives us to do,
That we find contentment and happiness, too!

"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Phillippians 4:11

Don't Worry. Be HAPPY!

Here we go again!

Another business trip is looming on the ever- nearing horizon.

Steve is being sent out again, last minute with no preparation to head to all places, Las Vegas, for a few weeks to complete a project.

I am struggling with finding the smallest bit of happiness with this bombshell after it was dropped on me last night.

Immediately my mood changed, not for the worse, but more melancholy.

Like the air was just let out of my balloon that I had just had blown up. Not popped thankfully, but like, the spitting sound that it makes when you let go of it, just after you got it blown up.

Then you watch it scatter all over the air and then land in a flop on the floor.

Yup, that’s me.

The balloon flopped on the floor.

God has been preparing me, often times in the harshest of ways for this time once again.

Call me co-dependent, but I honestly love having my husband home at the end of the workday.

I could live with a trip through the weekend, I am still OK. Missing him terribly but still OK.

Then God expanded that thinking for me. He stretched it out for two weeks.

Yikes, I often questioned God’s ability to know just how much I could take without popping. Exploding all over the first person who became my pin. Miraculously I dealt with it.

It wasn’t so hard and I loved the feeling of him coming home. Wait God isn’t finished yet.

Then Steve came home for 4 days only to leave again for three more weeks. Get out the padded cell, Mom’s going in!!!

Yet, I came out of it alive. I got phone calls daily and I think we as a family made it through a tough war, scarred but still intact. Time away changes things. You have to deal with all the little things alone.

You don’t have that extra pair of hands to help you when you need it.

You have to regroup and deal without dad. Everyone does. Until he comes home.

God eventually stretched this out to a full 5 weeks before we saw that it was straining our marriage a little too much and church counseling was necessary. Mostly because I couldn’t deal with the fact of talking to friends only to hear the same old excuses, “be happy your hubby is working when so many aren’t” “It’s just a few days away, others have done it.”, “at least it will pay your bills and you’ll still have a home?”

What we needed was our pastor to tell us that the sacrifices we were making for our marriage were too great.

It doesn’t really help. The excuses, part.

I already know all those things, it just doesn’t make it any easier to watch my hubby leave, and we aren’t sure exactly when he will be headed home.

So we prayed a lot! Daily, nightly, two or three times, or whenever we had a low moment. God answered and kept him home for a little bit.

Now we are at the crossroads again.

Just when things are starting to seem like a family again, we stand at the door and knock.

At this point, I believe I am pounding on the door, pleading and begging for God to tell us, what to do? Does my husband continue with this job and we trust God to know when enough is enough for our family? Or do we try and find something else that will pay the bills and still keep us together as a family?

I feel that we are to wait at this point. Wait for God to open that door for us, or to close it entirely.

So until that time, we wait.

I learn to deal with things.

I try hard to imitate the Proverbs 31 woman, and be all that I can be to him while he is home.

I lift him up in prayer and ask for God’s hand in dealing with this.

I trust.

I trust God knows what He is doing.

I trust that God will work this out for us.

I trust that all the temptations that may face him in Las Vegas, he will overcome thanks to God.

I pray that God will remove him from that situation as soon as he can, but for now I believe in God.

I believe in what is written, "that all things work for the good of those that love the Lord". I hold onto to that and trust God.

What else can I do? I believe it is enough for now.

A Gift From God

I had to add this extra blog in as a super surprise and at the majesty of just how God can bless your life at the lowest of hours! I got a blog award from Sitka on All God's Creatures! This truly made my day and it's so hard to get passed up by all the little things in life, but this one was just like getting an academy award.

Two rules accompany this award:
1. Confess 5 things you are addicted to
2. Pass the award on to 5 deserving bloggers

Task one: 5 Things That I Am Addicted To:

1. Grey's Anatomy. Never miss an episode if I can help it. Yes, I am one of those people filled with the hope that Meredith and Derek will finally get married and live happily ever after.
2. Chocolate. Perferably the darker and sweeter the better. Plus I heard it's good for your heart too! I especially love See's Dark Chocolate Bordeauxs.
3. My Hubby. I was loving him far before he ever fell for me. He helped me through one of the most difficult times of my life, and now loves me in spite of my many shortcomings, too many to list here.
4. My kids. Yes, they can get on my nerves sometimes, but I would never trade a day without them. They help mold me into the mom I am today.
5. God. He is not only the period at the end of each sentence in my book on my life, but the author, publisher, editor, and creator! Some may wonder why I placed Him last instead of first, and the truth is, He is always first in my life but He is also my last. He completes who I am and even though I leave Him sometimes, He never abandons me. He is always there for me.

Task Two - The blog award is being passed to:

1. Caitlyn at Dear Craisin . She is my daughter and its her first blog, I think it's amazing that she is writing from a teenager's point of view. My goal for her was to continue to write as a journal and be able to look back at both the high and low points of her life and see the amazing ways God has blessed her. A mom couldn't be more proud.

2. Samm at Samm's Inspirations. Again another teenager that I know quite well that has used her blog to help her through a difficult time in her life. She is working on advancing her photography career as well as her spiritual walk in a home where her parents are hard on her. Keeping the faith!

3. Michelle at Scribbit. She has the most amazing blog and has inspired me to follow suit. I can only hope at some point to live up to her blog. She is a mom who lives in Alaska and I find myself living through her eyes what life is like in Alaska. She gives great advice to bloggers and I look forward to reading her post everyday!

4. Layla at the The Lettered Cottage. She is super amazing designer and the ideas and pictures she shares has given me some hope that some of my ideas might not be so far off. She will even do a consultation for you via her site and email for a fee. So if you have that hard to decorate room or like me, have tried in vane to find the right paint color for the room, she is the answer.

5. Rachel at Made With Love and Glue. Again she is amazing with creative, low cost ideas that will not only inspire you to join in but will give you the faith to step out on your own as well and try some simple things. Love this site.

Thanks again to my wonderful friends for all your wonderful blogs and amazing ideas.

Gratitude Journal 2009

Have you ever compiled a list of some of the things you are grateful for? I used a suggestion that Oprah came up with some time last year. It's called a "gratitude journal". It's basically a pretty fabric colored book I got from Barnes and Noble filled with lined paper. It is pictured above.

What I did for a large part last year, was every night before I went to bed, I would write in it three things I was grateful for that happened that day. It helped me to focus on some of the smallest things I was taking for granted each day. It was also a great way to look back at some things from last year.

Here are some examples of the things I wrote in my journal: 1. Seeing Kailee throw a sticky ball and it sticks where she throws it. 2. Lemon shrimp. 3. Listening to Kailee scream when she laughs.

I started to include things that I could look back and smile about too. Things that may not have happened that day, but that I could remember and have that warm and fuzzy feeling all over. Like these, the smell of a rainy day when everything is all wet, the way a cold wind feels blowing across your face and through your hair, or watching people try to jump the waves in the ocean and hearing them laugh!

As you can tell I have included so many things in my journal. I want to continue that tradition through this year since it takes the focus off the negative and returns things back to the positive. Trust me, if you search for them, you can always find at least three things, sometimes more. Sometimes, it's the beautiful pastel colors of pink, blue and green in a sunset or the way something smells like apple pie, that takes you back to that fall, cold morning where you and your family went to pick apples while crunching through the fallen leaves on the ground.

It is meant to bring you back to a happy place at the end of a long winded day. Imagine what life would be like if we remained focused on those moments and not the ones that seem to devastate our days, how something so small can blow up into something so large. I think it's time to change and remember the little things. Sometimes it's the little things that matter most.

Chasing Rainbows

Ever heard yourself mutter the all too familiar phrase, "I'll be happy when...(you fill in the blank)" I could have filled it from the time when I was a child and simply wanted to be older. Older so I could stay up later or older so I didn't have to check in with my parents all the time....older so I can drive a car myself and go where I want to go. Then it became, if I found love, true love like a fairy tale, then if only all these problems in my marriage would go away, perhaps if I just had a child, we could be happy, then it was if only the pain of the divorce would go away and I could be happy with being single. That soon changed to if only I could be married to someone real this time, someone who can love me, despite all my shortcomings and really be my soulmate....funny thing is that we can continue this vicious cycle and before long, we have a whole lot of time behind us and only a few years left in front of us and still we haven't found happiness.

This is probably the reason parents see fit whenever possible to offer sound advice to our teens and their friends or anyone for that matter that will listen. We don't want them to waste time chasing rainbows and instead treasure the time right there in front of them and stop worrying about things that will never change. We want to share our life experiences with them. I know I do that with my daughters and all their friends. I want to leave a lasting legacy and sometime in their futures, I want them to remember some piece of advice that they will recall came from me. It usually sounds like, "I sound like my mom!"

Years later I can still hear my mother's voice, see her warm smile and realize how often people really loved her. Her customers always used to tell me how lucky I should be and I never really accepted that until I was older and now have kids of my own.

I challenge you in the next upcoming week to review your life and see if you haven't been chasing some rainbows in your life and see if there aren't some changes you would like to make before it's too late. Perhaps it's finally time to dedicate your life to God and see what amazing things He has just waiting for you! Especially in these economic times of uncertainity, God is the only thing that is certain and never changing. Won't you give Him a try? What are you waiting for?