What Are You Going To Celebrate Today?

A little over a week ago I was inspired. I put a reminder on my phone calendar that says, “What are you going to celebrate today?” I set it to repeat daily. I’m calling it Celebrate Something. I got this idea one morning thinking about my birthday approaching, and how when we're young we look forward to celebrating birthdays. Even when we're older we look forward to dinner out or special plans. I thought, ‘Why can't we celebrate something every day and make something fun out of it?’  It seemed like a capital idea! This could be a way to spark encouragement and infuse meaning into every day!

Some of the things I have chosen to celebrate include:  positive character attributes, long-distance  planning/co-planning of four parties, learning to use a zero-turn lawn mower, progress on a home improvement project, good news from a doctor, dog and cat pets feeling better without going to the vet, my last day of being fifty-something, my actual birthday of course, having home church when our church’s services were cancelled due to weather, and Hurricane Dorians’s downgrades.

Once I pick Something to Celebrate, I decide on a Celebration Action. I made a rule to avoid things that cost money or edible treats for obvious reasons. My Celebration Actions have included: scrapbooking (of course!), making plans for a future fun event, doing techy/geeky stuff that doesn’t sound like fun to most people, and allowing myself some comp time when my day runs amok. I had one food treat, (other than my birthday) which was a bacon, egg and cheese croissant!

This has all the attributes of a God thing, does it not? I am giving Him the glory for this super great idea.

Try it! There is cause for rejoicing! #RejoiceClub

PS - Ideas for celebrating in free, creative ways that do not involve eating can be found online in articles like this, "23 Ways to Treat Yo'Self Without Buying or Eating Anything" on YesAndYes.org:

http://bit.ly/2ki4gzi 

You're welcome.😁

Those Were the Days - NOT!

That's an expression we all use, "Those were the days", when we are recollecting good times from long ago. I have lots of treasured memories from my past, but I can't say it was all good on my part. Current situation:  Likely people who know me would consider my lifestyle a "straight and narrow" variety—you know, I go to church, and don't do the Don't Dos. Lots of the people who know me now have no idea about anything from my distant past. In my early days as a teen and young adult, I literally lived for the weekends when I could do what I liked best: get drunk and smoke pot/weed. I was straight on the weekdays and was either in school and working part-time or full time.  Some people who I have shared this with tell me they can't imagine me smoking cigarettes, cussing, or getting drunk/stoned. And, anyone who knows my current entertainment filters would be surprised to see what was on my TV/movie menu back then. I thought I was OK because I was a nice person-friendly, trustworthy and responsible. I was not aggressive toward others, (I "wasn't hurting anyone".) I had been brought up to believe in God and Jesus, but fell away from it in high school because I wanted a social life. It seemed like it was worth it, and I justified my choice by my loneliness without a social life. Those initial decisions to do whatever it takes to be in a tribe led to more of the same until I wasn’t sure there was a God. I rationalized that by all kinds of arguments. I cannot regret enough my decision to turn away from God and the faith my parents taught me, and have paid the price. While I was away from God I always had moments when my “heart was pricked”.  One example is I would be returning from some kind of partying or on my way to it and see a little church on the roadside with cars parked out front. It would hit me that there was another world that I had left that was still there. I would feel it – and ignore it. Of course, God did not give up on me. His Holy Spirit was at work in ways that were subtle and some not so subtle to woo me and have me where He wanted me all along, in His family with a social life of His design that was way better than the one I had sacrificed too much to gain. One of His representatives, Carolyn Lattanzi, my then-coworker was on special duty to tell me what I needed to hear. She was preachin’ it: Jesus is the Savior and Mediator, the world is on a destruction course, and His Love for us. When I argued that I was not a bad person, she quoted the scripture that “our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”, (Isaiah 64:6).  That hit hard. Next to God’s righteousness, whatever “good” I think I am is still pretty shabby. I rejected and resisted until I had to admit there was truth in what she said. Game over. I had a dream one night that Jesus was coming and I knew “how to get there”. The next day I returned to following Christ. This was in 1981. I have never looked back since. I plan to keep moving forward and glorify Jesus Christ until I die.
This is quite a condensed version, but feel free to ask me questions.
- Mary Ann Stein Raulerson

My Epiphany Experience

When I suddenly notice what has forever been before me like a towering monument of truth, I am having an Epiphany. I am happy to announce, I Am Free! I am free of compulsion to model my life after my former vision of Success. How did this happen?

I have been guilty of borrowing someone else’s playbook to fulfill my dreams, hence obstructing my own vision. A series of recent, unrelated distressing events led to my epiphany experience. My day-to-day took on some burdensome alterations and my time was eaten up by these intrusions. I went for weeks without “normal life”. I was not aware that these circumstances removed me from my misplaced ambitions and that my values were evolving—until the circumstances ended. Now I see how God truly does work all things for my good, (I am a Christian and that is a paraphrased excerpt from my favorite Bible verse, Romans 8:28), even things that for the present, seem to be ruining plans and taking me off the rails.

Lessons Learned:

·         First, do not borrow other people’s playbooks no matter how much I admire them, how successful they are or how convenient it is.

·         Query my plans, hopes dreams. Am I trying to please someone, impress, make myself more of something, make myself into something? Is my self esteem involved? There are plenty of other questions to prayerfully consider.

·         Know that even prayer doesn’t always prevent a detour on the way to the answer.  In my case I think the answer to the prayer was the detour. It reminds me of a lesson from a childhood favorite. In the film, The Wizard of Oz, Glenda the Good Witch of the North allowed Dorothy to travel to Oz to use the power she already had in the ruby slippers. Glenda knew that the treacherous detour allowed Dorothy to realize there is no place like home. Detours can yield a lot of priceless learning.

·         Do not do something just because I can.

·         Take cues from those closest and most supportive.

·         When a light-up-the-sky moment occurs, take note. A light-up-the-sky moment is one that causes a brightening in emotions, a lightening of the load, inspiration and joy. Drop what I am doing and take note immediately. Follow and track like I am on a Treasure Hunt.

Put a Wreath On The Door

So here it is January 7 and my Christmas tree is still up. I've been looking at it and thinking, and I just decided to keep it up a while longer. For years I used to keep the tree up until Epiphany, January 6. That was tradition and I think I’ll revive it. Epiphany, for anyone who may not be familiar with it is the day to commemorate the visit to the Christ Child by the wise men from the East. It's the last official calendar day for Christmas holy days.

Looking at my tree, I also hesitated to take it down because of its presence. What else can I use to fill up that space where the twinkling colorful lit grandeur of my tree was? And it is a three-dimensional scrapbook, with mementos and dated ornaments galore.

So what to do? Is there still a reason to be festive, celebrate and be merry? I sure hope so. It can’t just end with the last piece of décor being packed away. So I will FIND reasons to celebrate, some that aren’t dependent on a calendar or a season. There may be no more tree, but I will hang a wreath on my door and celebrate!

P.S. I'm leaning toward a rag wreath. I have an old wreath form, fabric scraps are easy to come by and I am sure I can find a way to add some meaning and significance to each scrap - sort of like a quilt!

Here's a link with directions on how to make a rag wreath: Rag Wreath How-To

The Resurrection Just ENDED It (Death and Lots of Stuff)

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I read my devotions today, the same book I have been using since 2014. But there is always something new to learn, I guess! The devotion talked about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem when the crowds waved palm branches and greeted him with great joy. But it went on to say, "They did not know that their joy would lie in the grave with Him for three days."

At that point I  had a “Wait, what?” moment: “their joy would lie in the grave with Him for three days…” Joy lying in the grave, that was the breakthrough concept.  My joy lies in the grave until I recognize the potency of Jesus' resurrection; until that resurrection is awakened in me, recognized and seen and felt by me. His resurrection covers it. All the death in the world—hatred, unforgiveness, coldness, sickness, hardheartedness, misery, destruction, sadness, depression, and on and on—all that is death, including death, is overcome by one action, the resurrection of Jesus. It’s over, Death. It’s over, Heaviness. It’s over, Sad Memories. It’s over, Losses-that-are-irretrievable. It’s over, Guilt. It’s over, Anxiety. It’s over, Fear. It’s over, Sickness. It’s over, Sad Outcomes. It’s over,  Circumstances-beyond-my-control. It’s over, __________________ . Join me!

It may need to be repeated and relearned again and again for me, but I know truth when I see it and feel it.

"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Corinthians 15:56-7

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Me 'n' God in Our Place

That's what I love about having God in my life. Sometimes I want to close the world door, and the world windows and realize with my spirit that it's just The Lord and me. We're writing our own story. I have a secret place with Him.

I may not be praying. I may not be having "quiet time". Other people may be in the room talking, even to me. It's really better than quiet time. Quiet time is hard to come by, as we all well know. When I was a young mom with one two or three kids, it was near impossible to get into a "prayer closet". I used to listen to preachers talk about such a thing and marvel at the prospect, feeling woefully spiritually inadequate. For goodness sake, I was fortunate to be able to go to the bathroom for a few minutes! Now my kids are grown and I have more time and freedom to seclude myself during prayer. But I lost something if that's my "God time". All the time is God time.

 This Secret Place Is is afforded to anyone who is a friend of Jesus, so if you have not, please seek him out and find that He is waiting for you there. (Psalm 91:1 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty",  and   John 15:13-15: "...greater love than this hath no one, that any one his life may lay down for his friends; ye are my friends, if ye may do whatever I command you;  no more do I call you servants, because the servant hath not known what his lord doth, and you I have called friends, because all things that I heard from my Father, I did make known to you." 

This God place fosters a full-time reverence and mindfulness for what He wants and what His wishes are; and an aversion to what He does not like. Just knowing with a peace only He can be about, that it's a place I own and God is in it; He grants me that, is purely awesome.

I Desperately Need to Remind Myself of the Source of My Joy

I didn't expect this list to be this long! The more I wrote, the more I thought, the more I realized how many things I have been guilty of relying on for joy outside of the LORD. ("In Your [the Lord's] presence is fullness of joy." Psalm 16:11) I'm writing it down with verbiage for universal application so everyone can relate. My commitment:

The source of my joy is not my health, (physical, mental, spiritual).

The source of my joy is not my age.

The source of my joy is not my income.

The source of my joy is not my family or loved ones.

The source of my joy is not my church.

The source of my joy is not my job or business.

The source of my joy is not my spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend.

The source of my joy is not my activities and hobbies.

The source of my joy is not my stuff.

The source of my joy is not my SELF.

The source of my joy is not the weather.

The source of my joy is not the season.

The source of my joy is not food.

The source of my joy is not any other consumable item.

The source of my joy is not my vacations.

The source of my joy is not my weekends/free time.

The source of my joy is not my most cherished hobby (scrapbooking for me).

The source of my joy is not my success.

The source of my joy is not my accomplishments.

The source of my joy is not any status in my life.

The source of my joy is not monetary gain/money in any form.

The source of my joy is not in other like-minded people. This includes fellowship for us Christians.

The source of my joy is not entertainment/sports.

The source of my joy is not social media.

The source of my joy is not cultural enrichment.

The source of my joy is not education.

The source of my joy is not in volunteering.

The source of my joy is not in giving.

The source of my joy is not in how I treat others with kindness and courtesy.

The source of my joy is not self-enrichment, self-improvement, or professional development.

The source of my joy is not my healthy lifestyle.

The source of my joy is not my choices.

The source of my joy is not in my accrued experience.

I think I will just close with this:

The source of my joy is not _____________________(fill in the blank with WHATEVER)