Bitter-Sweet Day

Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't like the way the text looks on this post, but it is too late to mess with it. :-)

For those of you that know me, you know that I am NOT an early riser. Paul was up between 5 and 5:30 so he could go hunting. The kids were awake before 6. I'm sure none of that surprises you, but It may surprise you to know how I started my morning. Before I got out of bed I read Psalm 107. I wanted to read some verses about giving thanks. I got out of bed a little after 6 and by 6:50 I was showered, dressed and even had make-up on. I decided instead of laying in bed blaming Paul for waking the kids up, and making myself start out grumpy, I was going to be “rejoice always”.

I was in the kitchen before 7 and started mixing up pancakes. We had pancakes, oatmeal and sausage. After all, this was a special day....Levi was turning 3 today!

While I was getting breakfast ready I found out that my Grandma was not doing well and all the kids had been called. We have known this was coming, but it was still hard to get the news. Then all day I kept waiting for “the call”.

We went ahead and started school and were actually having a good morning. The kids were working good (maybe one a little slower than I would have liked, but that's for another time). We were getting a lot done.

Paul and his dad came in from hunting around 10 because it was raining and windy. They figured the deer weren't moving anyway. His dad decided the weather wasn't going to get any better and they wouldn't be going back out so he left. He was right...about a half hour later it turned into snow and it accumulated pretty quick and stayed windy. We worked on school until lunch. After lunch we finished up some school with Michael and he even chose to do more...Science.

Paul told me he would make supper and I could relax until supper time. About that time my mom sent me a text saying they had just left the nursing home and that Grandma was still hanging on, but her breathing was shallow and pulse was slow. A little bit later we got “the call”. From the timing I'm guessing she died just after my parents left.

So, it has been a bitter-sweet day. It was sweet knowing my baby was turning 3 today, but hard to get the news that my Grandma had left this Earth. Some family members have posted some pictures on Facebook this evening of Grandma. Some were of her and Grandpa from when they were younger. It is hard knowing I will never see her again here, but it is wonderful knowing she is seeing Jesus face to face tonight and is with Grandpa again. Grandma Hirtzel was the last of my grandparents. I am so thankful I had a long time with all of my grandparents. And I am thankful that they all knew Jesus as their personal Savior and I know I will see them once again.

As one uncle on Facebook posted “I thank God for every remembrance of you” Phil. 1:3

Give Thanks

I saw someone post on Facebook that today was November 1^st so it starts the “Thankful Month”. During the month of November a lot of people try to share something they are thankful for every day. I have been reading things lately that have encouraged me to be conscious of things that God has given me and give thanks for them. According to Biblegateway.com there are 52 places where the phrase “give thanks” is used (NKJV). The first reference listed is I Thessalonians 5:18.....IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS...

It doesn't say to give thanks when we want to or only when things are going good for us. It says to give thanks IN EVERYTHING. In every situation we should give thanks. Just as when we say wedding vows we say “in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer...” we should give thanks in good times and bad, whether we're sick or healthy, and whether we're rich or poor.

The verse doesn't stop there either. It doesn't just tell us what we are supposed to do. It also tells us why we are to do it...FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS FOR YOU. We are not to give thanks just because it's something someone says we should do or because Thanksgiving is coming up...we are to give thanks because it is a command. We are commanded to give thanks in everything we are doing and in any situation we are in.

Now, I know this is easier said than done. You are talking to the pro of only giving thanks when it is convenient or when things are going good. Why should I give thanks when the kids are disobeying, being crabby or are sick? Why should I give thanks when my husband isn't helping me in the way I think he should or isn't home when I think he should be? Why should I give thanks when I don't feel like it, when I'm having a bad day, or I don't feel good? Why? Because God said I need to!

Some of you may be sick right now or have a loved one going through a sickness and you are wondering when it is going to get better. Some of you may be in the “poorer” state right now and you may be wondering where the money is going to come from to pay the bills this month. Some you may be just be having some bad days and you're wondering how to make them better. GIVE THANKS! Give thanks to God for the things you have, for the time you have been on this earth, for the housing and clothes and food you have. No matter how hard things seem I think we can all find at least one thing to be thankful for each day. And not just during November, the “Thankful Month”, but all year long.  

Helping a friend in need

Recently some friends of ours (a fellow pastor and wife) were sharing with us that because of some financial changes and other things that SSI was saying that they had been "overpaid" for medical expenses for their son. SSI was expecting them to pay back $11,000!!! Immediately I started wondering how Paul and I could help. How could we come up with $11,000 to help our friends out. A comment was made that if 1,000 people donated $10 it would be close. Well, I couldn't let that thought go.....so when I was able to talk to my friend again I mentioned that I would love to set up a fundraiser web site for them if they needed it done. At the time they were still trying to appeal the decision so we waited to find out what happened. After trying many times and at different levels the appeals were not going in their favor. So, I got the privilege of setting up a fundraiser web site. I tried to research to make sure we used the best one and then asked them to put it in writing exactly what had been going on (so I wouldn't get the information messed up). I received the information and some pictures yesterday in  my e-mail so today I was able to get the fundraiser started. It went online this afternoon around 3:30 and tonight when I looked at it there was already $475!!! God is so good and I know He will provide through all of our friends and maybe even some strangers. If you are interested in giving....even just $10.....please click on the button on the right....Hathcock Fundraiser. And thank you for your prayers, consideration and donations! 

Lessons from mowing

If you read my article a while ago you will remember that I learned from mowing that I can't do things on my own. Well, yesterday I was mowing again and realized there are lots of lessons to learn from mowing. First, the neighbor can finish mowing his whole yard before I'm done with the back yard. In my defense, he does have a smaller yard and was using a rider while I was using a push mower. Second, when you have a dog that you don't clean up after, you need to watch out for the fresh “bombs”! Third, dogs (at least ours) are very trusting (or dumb). She would lay down in the yard a couple feet away from the mower. Fourth, my mowing pattern is sporadic, but organized. And the last thing I learned yesterday is I don't mow straight! I also don't cut straight with scissors and probably don't drive straight! Well, with the crooked mowing it got me to thinking about the paths mentioned in the Bible. I was first thinking about the crooked and straight paths that are talked about in the book of Proverbs. But, then I thought more about the narrow path that is talked about in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” As I was mowing I was thinking about how my path was a little curvy. It wasn't real bad, but it wasn't straight. I thought about how my path of life hasn't always been straight and I haven't always chosen to go down the narrow path. I chose to follow Christ at the age of 8, but there have been times when my life hasnt' shown that. I am not perfect (I know that shocks many of you!). I have been redeemed by the One who is perfect, but He still gives me the freedom to make choices. I don't always make the right one. When you read these verses in Matthew it tells us that the broad bath leads to destruction. It goes on to say to watch out for the false prophets that “dress in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves”. These are the people that will lead us down those broad paths and to destruction.

Now as I go down the narrow path I realize my path isn't always completely 

straight. Like my mowing (cutting with scissors or driving) there are a few curves to my path. I can go days making right choices all day long, but then there are days that I let a bad attitude, wrong thoughts, or other sins into my life. That's when my path curves...I get off track just a little. Those are the times I have to turn to God and ask for forgiveness so that I can get back on the straight and narrow path. 

View of Sin

     I love when I sit down to look something up in the Scripture of how many places God points it out to me. It's like going on a reading journey! But, it does make it hard to just write one page of thoughts. I started out looking up the Scriptures my husband listed for the daily devotion today...Matthew 24:45-51 and Titus 2:11-14. Both passages were talking about how we should be living as we wait for Christ's return. So, then that got me to thinking about conversations we have had lately about sin and how we view sin. Then I start looking at the Scriptures that are listed in the notes in my Bible for those passages and then think of passages I know and look those up and then one thing leads to another and I have all these thoughts going.

     One verse that I have liked since Paul and I were dating is I Corinthians 6:9-11... “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” I started looking at the context of these verses and then ended up going back to I Corinthians 5. As I was reading through chapter 5 and looking at the notes in my Bible I noticed that verse 11 notes said that “Eating together is a key part of fellowship and closeness with others. The Corinthians were not to have fellowship with those who claimed to be Christians but whose lives were dominated by sin.” Later in the notes for 6:9 it says “Tragically, Christians sometimes deceive themselves into thinking that God does not require them to live righteously.” So, Paul then makes a list of people that will not inherit the kingdom of God because they are not living righteously. Paul is talking to Christians here who should be living righteously, but instead they are living like the world. But, Paul tells us “such were some of you”. I love that phrase because it is really saying “and such were you, Pauletta”. BUT, you have been WASHED (spiritually cleansed), SANCTIFIED (set apart as God's people), and JUSTIFIED (declared righteous by God because of Christ's work on the cross)!! All of these things are in past tense. They have already been done! Paul pointed this verse out to me when we were dating to remind me that even though during a season of my life I had chosen not to live righteously that God had done these things for me. I have the choice to live righteously for Him or to live as the world would live.

     I have heard before “When you go _______________ or do _________________ (you fill in the blank), you need to pretend Jesus is right there with you in person. Would that be somewhere or something He would want to be involved in?” As a Christian God is with me at all times so I need to think about what I'm doing and where I'm going and if it would bring glory to Him.

     I Peter 1:13-19 says “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” We are to live our lives holy because our God is holy.

     I pray that if you are reading this and you have not accepted the free gift of salvation that God has offered us through His Son, then I hope you will do that today. If you are not living righteously I pray you will make the decision today to make things right with God and choose to live in a way that will glorify God. I also pray that if you know someone that is not living in a righteous way that you will pray for them. When they are ready I pray they will come to you to keep them accountable and help them along their way.

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

I Corinthians 6:20

Love is.....

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely; does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” I Corinthians 13:4-7

It seems like God is trying to really teach me something lately. Almost everything I read or hear has something to do with love and what it really is. This last Saturday in our LIFT meeting we talked about what love is and focused on I Corinthians 13 so I was thinking about it even more. I was just talking with a great friend a few days ago and expressing how I have felt like I have had the wrong attitude toward some people, including even family, because of the talents they possess. I have sometimes felt like they were just “showing off”, but I realized that I am the one that has had the wrong attitude. If I really loved them I would be happy for the talents God has given them. In our lesson on Saturday it talked about envy and jealousy. “Jealousy seems to be two-layered. The first layer is superficial. It says, “I want what you have.” The second layer is deep-rooted jealousy that says, “I wish you didn't have it.”” (Key Truths for Women, RBP) I realized what I am feeling toward people when they shared their talents is envy. I am not truly loving them. I should be happy for them and excited that God is using them in that way, not jealous because I don't have that talent.

I Corinthians 13:6 also tells us that love does not delight in evil (iniquity). James 3:16 tells us that being envious is evil. “God's love is saddened when it hears of defeats and tragedies in other people's lives. It is easy to be glad at other people's problems, especially if they make us look better. Christians ought not allow themselves to rejoice in the pitfalls of others”. (KT4W, RBP) Why does it seem so easy to talk about the failures and faults of other believers, but it is harder for us to talk about what they are doing for God, the way they are growing in Him, or using their talents to be a great witness for Him? The Bible tells us that God is love and if someone does not love then they do not know God. If we know God then we will show love to others because His love will be in us. (I John 4:7-8) We should be rejoicing when other believers are walking in the Truth. (3 John 4) “How much of our conversation would be silenced if we never talked about others' failures, faults, or sins?” (KT4W, RBP) Wouldn't it be great to know that others were talking about our accomplishments in Christ rather than our failures? Let's ask God to help us talk about others' accomplishments in Christ rather than their failures. 

ON MY OWN

Paul started mowing the yard in the late afternoon. He was able to mow the front yard, both sides and about a quarter of the back yard before supper was ready. After supper he looked at me and said “do you want to mow the rest of the yard or give the kids their baths?” I first said neither because I wanted to finish a sewing project I had started. But, I told him I would mow the yard. I used to love to do it for my dad and I miss being able to do it. So, I got my tennis shoes on and went out to finish the back yard. Not long after I started I was wondering why I had chosen to mow rather than do baths! I didn't remember it being that hard last year when I did it. I almost gave up after doing about a quarter of the yard and was going to go finish baths so Paul could finish the yard. I instead told myself I could do it, I just wasn't used to it. So, I kept going. I also realized I got the part of the yard that has the “forest”, bushes and stand alone trees, which means a lot of trimming and not just a straight line. But, I kept going. Finally, I was a little more than half-way done and I decided I needed to stop to go get a drink of water. If I didn't I wasn't going to be able to finish the rest of the yard. Oh, and by the way, I was using a push mower...just so you don't think I can't handle riding around the yard. And it is one that you have to hold the bar on the top of the handle down or the mower won't run.

Anyway, I went in and got a drink. As I got back out to the mower, I realized there was a bar on the bottom of the handle also and it all the sudden dawns on me THIS MOWER IS A SELF-PROPELLED MOWER! Wow! When I pulled that bar up the mower really went and it was much easier! If it hadn't been for that I don't think I could have finished mowing the yard. I was just getting too worn out and it was getting hard on my legs, back, arms, neck...ok my whole body!

As I finished up the yard I was thinking about how many times I try to do things on my own. I try to parent my kids without seeking God's wisdom. I want to fix other people's problems without asking God if I should be helping or just listening. I forget to ask for help when I just need some strength to make it through the day. I try to love others on my own without asking for God to show His love through me. I might think to ask for help once my ways have failed, but wouldn't it be so much easier if I would just ask from the start? How bout you? Have you been trying to “push the mower” without the self-propel bar? “Pull that bar” up and ask God to help you!

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6)