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The Lilly Pond |
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July
15, 2002 |
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Greetings and thanks for subscribing to TheLillyPond.com ezine! I'm Lillian Hinds and this ezine is dedicated to all mothers, daughters and the other important women in their families. Because we respect your privacy and value your subscription, we don't share your email address with anyone. If you'd like to be removed from our mailing list, please see instructions at the end of this ezine. ================================= Volume 2 Issue 16: In the Pond This Week ================================= 1. Note to My Readers: Pond Talk 2. Yet, I Will Rejoice 3. The Commercial 4. Share The Lilly Pond 5. Contact Me ================================= 1. Note to My Readers: Pond Talk ================================= Dear Lilly Ponder: I have just spent quite a bit of time reading the wonderful notes you sent in response to my last article. Actually, it was a letter letting you know what had been going on in my life. I learned several things from reading your responses. +++ Many of you work and all of you are busy. You had compassion on my busy-ness (is that a word?). As the saying goes, "Thanks! I needed that." +++ Your notes indicated that you enjoy my writing and that you have benefited from it. Nothing encourages me to write quite like knowing that someone is reading it. You also made it clear that you would wait on me and look forward to something new. That just made my heart soar! +++ So many of you offered your congratulations to my family and my daughters, but you also included prayers for me as I continued to seek God's path. It is good to know that we are all in this together. And I am grateful for your encouragement. I am not able to answer all the notes I get, but I do read each and every one. So thanks again for your love and support and feel free to send me some more notes. It's just like saying, "sic 'em" to a dog! Woof! With all my heart, Lillian ================================= 2. Yet, I will Rejoice ================================= Today we are going to stray a bit from the Mother-Daughter theme, but this is a topic that has been on my heart a great deal lately. I hope you will indulge me. During the past few years I have struggled in several areas of my life (like most of you reading this). One area that has continued to plague me is the area of finances. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have recently made a job change. One of the reasons this was such a difficult decision for me was that while the job was better, the benefits were better, and the location was near my home, the salary was significantly lower. I have always been irritated when I heard some insensitive so-and-so say, "There are more important things in life than money." I immediately knew that the person talking was not worried about having her electricity cut off. She had not been stretched to find enough change in her purse for her child's lunch money. She had not just been invited to another shower when she couldn't afford to buy a gift. She didn't know what it was like not reading the sale ads because she couldn't afford to shop at sale prices. She didn't hesitate to answer the phone since she was not afraid that it was someone reminding her that bills were past due. I knew that someone who would say something like that had no idea what was going on in other people's lives. But when you are living from hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck and wondering how you can make it all work out, it seems that there is very little that is more important than money. It is always on your mind. Over my lifetime God has often challenged me to walk by faith. In many areas of my life I have accepted that challenge and have learned to trust God. Except for money. I just couldn't bring myself to believe that God would take care of my family and me. We had been so far down for so long that I just wasn't up to any sort of "test of faith." As they say, "I didn't want to go there." And I have been very verbal about my frustration. I have complained to God in every way I could think of to try to get Him to do what I wanted. It sounds funny to say that out loud and it looks funny to write it down. "...get God to do what I wanted." But that's exactly what I was trying to do. I am grateful that that our Lord is merciful and forgiving. He continues to love us and work with us. I truly wanted what God had for me in my life. I just wanted to make sure that He sent the salary along with it. I finally realized that He was not going along with my plans. When I was offered my current job with a smaller salary, I was so confused. It seemed that this was the job for me, but how could we make it on less money? My husband and I began to pray, to work with the calculator and to figure. We weren't sure we could manage this. But it became increasingly clear that I needed to leave my job and find something else. So I began frantically looking for something else. (Meanwhile, God was patiently waiting for me to come back around.) I found nothing! This was getting exasperating. I needed to leave my job. I needed another job. And the only job I could find was truly a perfect job for me, but with less money. How could that be? Oh, I know. God wanted me to trust him. Sounds so simple. But it wasn't that easy for me. Finally, I was so spiritually exhausted that I realized there was only one place to find rest - in my Heavenly Father's arms. I told God that I would take the job, that I would continue to be faithful and that I wanted to trust Him. As father who brought his child to Jesus said in Mark 9:24 "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" In the midst of all this, our church choir sang a wonderful song taken from the book of Habakkuk. I was so intrigued by the words that I looked up the Scripture. I had to use the table of contents to find Habakkuk in my Bible. Don't be so smug; I bet you had to look for it too. (Hint: It is on page 1,043.) Habakkuk 3:17-19 - "Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, though the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls," Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the victorious God of my salvation! The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk and make spiritual progress upon my high places of trouble, suffering or responsibility!" (AMP) What a wonderful testimony from the prophet Habakkuk. Regardless of what was happening in his life, he was determined to rejoice in the Lord. Verse 18 says, "I WILL rejoice." And there was nothing obvious in his life to rejoice about. No figs, no grapes, no food, no cattle, no sheep. Nothing. But still he was going to rejoice. And not just a "don't worry, be happy" attitude. He was determined to rejoice in the Lord. And then to drive home the point, Habakkuk describes the God who is the subject of his praise. This is the Lord who is victorious, Who was giving him strength, bravery and an invincible army. This is the God who would cause him to make spiritual progress. When I read that verse, I was thrilled. I want so much to make spiritual progress in my life and have always felt that the situations in my life had to be good before that could truly happen. But this verse tells me that God will make me walk and gain progress when I am in trouble, when I am suffering or when I have taken on responsibility. You may be at a time in your life where you feel that there is nothing for you. Nothing. It may be a financial struggle, or problems in your marriage, your family, your church or your neighborhood. You may be struggling with poor health or mental illness. I challenge you to get your Bible out and find the little book of Habakkuk. Read this passage aloud and let God move it into your heart. God wants our praise no matter what is going on in our lives. I am not completely sure of the outcome of my own story. Perhaps you would prefer that I had wait to write about this until I could report a happy ending. But I decided to go ahead and give this testimony right in the middle of the story. I have taken the step of faith in accepting my new job. There is no question that I love my new position and that I can do what I need to do there. There is no question that these severely mentally challenged people are turning out to be more of a blessing to me than I am to them. And while I have yet to see it, there is really no question that God will supply my needs. But regardless of what I have or don't have, I have determined to rejoice in the God of my Salvation! My prayer for you is that you, too, will make this commitment. Rejoice in the Lord regardless of your circumstances. Give Him your praise. Roman 8:37 - "Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us." With all my heart, Lillian ================================= 3. The Commercial ================================= The big Mother's Day special is over, but "Always Wear Clean Underwear" is still a blessing to so many. I have continued to offer free shipping by Priority Mail. Just order the book from the website www.thelillypond.com and we'll rush it to you. Get your order in now. With all my heart, Lillian ================================= 4. Share The Lilly Pond ================================= If you know someone who would enjoy having The Lilly Pond ezine, please feel free to forward this issue to them. If you received this ezine from a friend and you'd like to subscribe, you can go to www.TheLillyPond.com and subscribe for free or just click here to send an email to us with "SUBSCRIBE" in the Subject line. Thanks. ================================= 5. Contact Me ================================= Your comments are welcome. Click here to email me. Thanks for reading! With all my heart, Lillian ================================= |
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