It's hard but necessary

I have 4 more days of work and then, well, I'm unemployed.  For the past 13 years, I have held down the same job with its increasing stress level, management changes, major parent company changes, and layoffs.  I have  learned a lot (good and bad) and those things will follow me to my next stop.

However, truth be told, over the last 4 years of the 13 years, I began to grow restless.  Not sure why but a new job felt like it was in order.  I would put my resume out there, get a couple of bits, went on a interview or two, and then I would hide my resume.  I know I wasn't alone in this and I knew I needed to find out what was going on.

About 2.5 years ago, I thought I would switch it up and moved to another state. I was blessed to be able to keep my job and work remotely.  I told myself I would give it 1 year and then see if I wanted to stay or find a new job.  A year come and went and the feeling of change became more and more present.

It wasn't until after Christmas of 2015, that something that I had come across a few times before found me and fell right in my lap.  When it did, I took it under serious advisement and prayer.  That was just the beginning and then things started to happen.  I'm not there yet and honestly, I believe I'm on a detour. 

However, while I am here, I am learning to be content.  Like the Apostle Paul says, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." - Phil 4:11 (NIV)  I'm on a different kind of journey.

Over the past few days, Romans 8:28 keeps showing up in my reading.  It reads:  And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. (AMP)  

It appears that 2017 is a season of growing for me.

~O.C.

Putting the New Year in (a different) perspective

Today is New Years Eve and I'm sitting on my bed trying to coordinate an outfit for dinner in a few hours.  I can't help but think about resolutions, what God has for me, and what lies ahead for 2017. How can I, a disciple of Jesus Christ, do my part better this coming year?  

My thoughts quickly turned to an earlier revelation.  When I saw this on Facebook (see picture), I read it, then reread it, and silent exclaimed, Amen!  I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the things that I am seeking answers for but have not asked the One who is more than able.

I'm sure you can agree that there are those situations or circumstances, in our lives and in others, where asking for guidance, help, strength, etc are easy to do.  However, there are those times we won't ask Him and make the decision to carry the burden ourselves.  We have it figured or planned out, right down to the outcome.  Once our course is set, we put it into play with results, at times, less than desirable.  Even if the results were desirable, you may still be missing what God had intended for you.   

The word of God says, "You desire but do not have, so you kill.  You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.  You do not have because you do not ask God" - James 4:2 

We know we can approach Him to ask because, "In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence" - Eph 3:12 and "This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him" - 1 John 5:14 - 15

If you are so inclined to make a resolution, why not resolve to go to the Father in heaven and ask? Every desire or thought can be molded into a faith building, life changing, God praising experience by the One who created you.  It may not turn out the way you wanted, however, you can best believe it will be better than you thought.

Happy New Year!!

~O.C.

Christmas ushers in reflection and change

I'm sitting on a full plane, trying to sleep but I can't.  The sun is beaming, in through the window, on my friends face, who has the seat next to me.  To her left sits a woman with long nails, typing on her computer.  I take a moment to crane my neck around to survey the plane.  People sleeping, talking, reading, and eating.  I can only image where people are going; whether going home to after a long work week or to visiting family for Christmas.

Ahhh, Christmas.  This holiday still remains my favorite one of the year.  As a child, it was all about the presents.  I recall one year getting very upset because my father had more presents that I did.  Come to find out from my mother, the Atari was going to be mine, but she decided to give it to my dad (did I just date myself?).

Thought presents are nice, as a hard working single adult, I have found that over the years, they don't mean as much to me as they once did.  Don't get me wrong, I love to give gifts of significance  (some thing someone needs or wants) but I speaking of receiving them.  Don't get me wrong,I'm a sucker for a surprise.

I believe as we all get older, from time to time, we take stock of our lives, evaluate what is important, and make adjustments/corrections accordingly (by no means am I speaking of a glimmer of a resolution for the upcoming new year).  It seems to hit us most and the hardest around Christmas. 

I suspect it is a good thing to do so and even better when we are able to take away and do something positive from it.  So this year, I'm going to GA for Christmas.  Could you be thinking, why is this some thing positive?  

Truth be told, since 2006, I spend more time alone during the holidays than I should.  It has become somewhat of a safe haven for me.  Quite frankly, it feel autonomous and monotonous.  It's a cycle I find hard to break on any type of "comfort zone expansion" project.

So what is one to do?  What can one do?  Why would one want to do anything?  My reason can be summed up this way:  I just want to have a completely adventurous, passionate, weird life.  When I read this, it  conjures up so many images and ignites me with a passion I do not want to clench. So, I must ask,  how can one do that if they refuse to venture outside their comfort zone?  I don't believe it is possible and if you think otherwise, you will reason yourself farther way from the line that separates the mundane from the unknown. 

I am far from being where I want to be.  However, if I don't start, I won't start.  I can't compare myself or my journey with anyone's journey.  It is mine and mine alone to walk and experience what lies ahead.  I will have expressways to travel and scenic places to enjoy, and places off the beaten path to explore.  I will meet people who will pass by, some that will sit for a spell, and others who will grafted into my life. 

I'm starting this new chapter of my life and the overriding theme is this:  I'm good!

~O.C.

Truth....it's what we need

Whose eyes could use a little more light?  Or the crud washed away?  Just as when we wake up, our vision is blurred.  We can't see (or refuse to see) the truth that is in front of us.  Unlike our morning ritual of adjusting our eyes (or as I call it....eye exercises) that allow us to regain our focus, the truth that seems to elude us to live a life of our holy calling, is at times, not so easy to regain (or gain depending upon where you are in your life).  See the truth is not the feeling generated by our emotions or a  "whim" that will fluctuates with our every day circumstances.  It is the one thing that remains the same.  A solid foundation on which to stand.  A foundation that is rock solid and withstands the test of time and the wave crashing circumstances we all go through.

Oh yea!  I would love to stand on that solid foundation.  Just tell me where I can get it (the product), what the cost is, and how fast will it dry once I pour it?  The way our funny little minds have a tendency to think.  THIS foundation is available everywhere (not just on TV),  its not something YOU can purchase, and how fast it dries...well, that requires a special team of experts (these are the "gift with purchase"...if you will and the value add is immeasurable).  Please don't get me wrong.  You will need to contribute to this new foundation but realize that your part is very small considering the task at hand.

Please O.C., tell us more.....

It would be an honor and privileged.  Let's begin with where and the cost of said solid foundation.  Like I said earlier, you can literally get this anywhere; television, from friends, in the quite moments you have, on the corner, in building, etc.  Get my point?  You have already been introduced to the product.  When you may ask?  Well take a quick trip down memory lane....someone somewhere at some time has told you about Christ.  The product that can change EVERYTHING.  For some reason, at that time, you did not agree to try the product.  (Back to the present) You now find yourself seriously thinking about trying this amazing product (or you may want to gather more information...for those desiring to gather more info, I must refer you to the information booth; your local church or a Christian friend).  

You are ready to try it...so go pick it up.  There is no cost to you.  It's free.  We all LOVE free things.  So what are you waiting on?  You can only get this product by going straight to the manufacturer.  If you have the number and you are at home, call God.  If you are at the information booth, ask one of the representatives to be on the call with you.  However YOU have to do the talking.  Once you have initiated the call, tell God how you feel.  Tell Him the you know you are sinner.  Tell Him that you believe that Christ (the financial backer.  He paid for the product...given His life freely to those who accept it) came to die for your sins and how you want that death to count for you.  Confess and believe in the jaw dropping product brought to you by God himself.

...and wait...there's more.....

You are now the privileged participant of a new relationship.  In this relationship, the new foundation can begin to be built.  Like I said before, you have a "gift" that you will need to access to help not only get started but continue the building process.  Heading up the team of experts is the Holy Spirit.  He will work intimately with you.  You're access to Him is 24x7 365 (366) days a year and vice versa. He also has others that work closely with him.  So you can hear from Him directly OR through one of His many associates.  At anytime, you may contact the manufacturer directly.  You will need to purchase the instruction booklet (the bible).  It is available at the information booth or at any local Christian book store.  There are consultants and other representatives there to help you get the booklet the best fits your needs.  

Now you are on the road to building your foundation and keeping it strong to withstand many elements.  Each piece of your foundation is God's truth.  Truth in and of itself is strong but for us, we need to stand on it, believe it, immerse ourselves in it to be built up.  We can't be strong without this truth.  You will find when you learn a truth you will be tested on it.  You will have to try it and from that it becomes truth you believe in.  Thus building a stronger piece of foundation to stand on.  God's truth has already been tried, tested and approved in ALL circumstances.  There is no exception to this.  It is the thing that will remain when all else is gone.  God's truth...everlasting and eternally sound.

~O.C.

Our whole lives are about choices

What can I say?  It's all about choices.  Every single day of our lives, we make choices... consciously or unconsciously.  There is nothing we can do without this process.  Well, we could CHOOSE to not make choices.

With all the choices we have to make, there is one driving factor...our desire.  Let me state here that not all desires are bad.  There are some desires that we have that lead us to God or more healthy desire (i.e. wanting to vacation in a certain place or to do a certain job).  What I am speaking of here is the over desire that we have.  It is this desire that cause us to make the bad choices that we make...or to put off on doing what we really ought to be doing.

This over desire can is called an idol (or idolatry).  The definition of idolatry is the extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.  Some examples of this would be money, your job, your child, your husband, your car, etc.  These may be very obvious however, there are some that may not be as obvious such as time or comfort or control.   We should all know that this is sin as we are placing something above God.  We place our hopes and dreams into something that may or may not deliver.  If it does delivery, what did it cost us?

Why do we (or you) love these things so much?  What is it about them that causes us to place so much value and/or confidence in them?  What is it that they can do that God can't?  

So I ask you....what forms of idolatry do you have in your life?  EVERYONE has them.  If you can't think of one...try asking yourself, when something goes wrong, what/who do I turn to?

Today, it's just food for thought.

Here are some treasures:

Proverbs 19:21

Matthew 7:13-14

Galatians 6:7-8

2 Corinthians 5:17

Proverbs 4:5-9

~O.C.

My morning with the 2 year olds

What at morning!  I think in all my years being with the children at church, today was truly one of the best.  What made it "one of the best"?  Well, first of all, instead of having 12+ children in the room, there were only 9.  They were quiet and played really well with one another.  I'm not saying that the start of the morning wasn't rocky....it was but praise God it settled as quick as it began.  They all colored their picture of Daniel (the lesson for the month is about Daniel and the lion's den), they ate their snack, listened to the story (providing much entertaining feedback), and attentively listened to music (though hand motions to songs were mimicked intermittently, nonetheless, there is always ONE who has to have the last word).

I was in rare form today.  I was very talkative with the children.  We shared plastic fruits and vegetables together as we contemplated on what kind of food each piece of plastic represented.  We did run into a quandry as we found a lemon and another yellow piece of plastic that I believe was a grapefruit. Corrah on the other hand, was not 100% convinced it was a grapefruit (only b/c I don't believe she knew what a grapefruit was...I mean serioulsy..she's 2).  We did agree that both pieces of fruit were sour.

Snack time for the children is always busy because...well, it ends up on the floor.  Today, there would be no exception HOWEVER, I thought that I could get some help from them by asking them if they would pick up the Cheerios off the floor. At times, those guilty of "spilling" their Cheerios often will adopt the practice of the 10 minute rule....they are still game for the next 10 minutes, no matter where they land.  In this case, Gavin (who has the anxiety of being left alone in a room with others his age) was playing, talking, coloring, and yes....eating.  His chosen way to snack is pouring the Cheerios out on the table.  That's fine but shortly after Cheerios meets table, they meet the chair and the floor.  As I watched the Cheerios hit the chair and the floor, I said to Gavin, "Please don't eat the ones on the floor."  As I was speaking, his little hand was in the process of cleaning up the Cheerios on the chair.  I watched and then politely said, "Gavin, are you going  to pick up the ones on the floor?".  He looked me with his cute little face with big brown eyes, looked down at the floor, back at me, and said, "No".    I could not expect anything less than that.  With that, I laughed.  

After music and clean up, the kids play.  I sit back and watched them.  You have those that are busy building things out of blocks, using the kitchenette to create tantalizing plastic meals, the slide (most popular) has one little girl enjoying herself whilst not really caring where her other shoe may be, and yet still others just wandering around trying to find the "next fun toy".  I can't help but picture God looking at us in the same way I was looking at these children.  How he will laugh at us with sheer joy and delight.  How he may be shaking his head and chuckling at us at we are trying to learn things.  How he will continue to look over and after us while we have no care about anything other than what we are focused on at the moment.  He has all these children doing all different things and yet....He knows exactly what each of us needs.  There isn't anything we can do or think without Him knowing.  

Times like this, I get it.  He loves us!!!  

To what depths will you go?

Pastor Tony Evans tweeted this on 8/24/12:  If you are going to learn how to believe God at a deeper level - you are going to have to go through a deeper situation.  

Let that sink in for a moment...deeper level....deeper situations.  

That apparently stuck with me after I read it on 8/24/12 as I woke up early the next day with that on my mind.  In part, I believe that it resonates with what I have asked and will ask of some women for the next study we will begin.  I will and did ask it this way, what is it that you want to get out of this book?  In essence I guess I was asking, how deep do YOU want to go with God?  I can't very well just ask 3 women this questions and not pose it to myself.  

So I am asking myself...how deep do YOU want to go with God?

Well, before you walk through the mind of Diona, you may want to take a break here.  Get a snack, take a restroom break, or even log off and come back cause I gotta tell you, there a bunch of stuff floating and swimming around this mind of mine.  I'm not quite sure what to expect.  

Here I go:  I'm going to back up a bit here.  Awhile back at a women's cell group, a friend of mine did a teaching on the different type of mining and how it related to God's word.  There are surface (strip), open pit, and shaft mining.  If you aren't familiar with these terms, then let me give you some examples of each:

Surface (strip) Mining - is the practice of mining a seam of mineral by first removing a long strip of overlying soil and rock (the overburden).

Open Pit Mining - is the same definition as above but it will go a little bit deeper.  Here you can begin to see different layer of the soil which tells it's own story about what happened that year or during that time of a particular layer.  

Shaft Mining - This is the deepest mining.  It goes so far below the surface that daylight is not seen.  You've seen the hard hats with light on the front?  You would use those at this type.

I would hope that your mind is begining to see something.  Not real sure what but you know something is there. 

This is my mere opinion.  This is a brief description of how I would equate each one these to being in God's word.  Surface would be as if I am reading a book, going to church and listening, having a conversation, etc.  This at this level we have a tendency to forget what we talked about or learned.  At some point we may or may not revisit those topics discussed.  Open pit is when we go back and ask questions for clarification or a better understanding.  This is usually related to what we are going through at the moment or just general knowledge that is stored for later use (if we remember it).  Shaft mining is like clarification or better understanding but at this level, we are seeking to know more about God, how this applies to our lives, the walking out of this application, and a deeper trust in God.  

Above is my thought process for why we would want to go deeper with God (for a deeper knowledge of him).  As always, our Creator has a better way of telling us why we should.

Heb 6:1-3 (NET) - Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,2 teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.3 And this is what we intend to do, if God permits.

Heb 5:11-14 (NET) - On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing.12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food.13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant.  14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

God wants us to grow and be mature in Him and His word.  We can't do that by surface or open pit mining (in most cases).  Most of the time in these two types we are merely "hearers" of the word (Jas 1:22).  In order to be doers, we need to take the open pit approach and walk out the application that God has given us.  

No one can just jump into deep relationship with God.  It takes time.  Time for us to get to know Him and trust Him.  That road is rocky and there are many hills and valleys.  He knows that and gives us grace in our journey.

I can firmly say that I want my relationship with God to go deep.  The more I learn (skinned and bruised as I might get), my desire will want to go beyond where I will find myself after I have gone through the fire.    

What about you?