2 Timothy 3:16 “God has breathed life into all of Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right.” (NIRV)

Boy did this hit home! I think I can check each one of those examples off:

**** Teaching us what is true ****
I cannot begin to explain how much I’ve learned from the Bible in the past 2 1/2 years while coming closer to Christ. From patience to forgiveness to modesty, you’d think that since I went to Catholic school, I would know all this stuff (I’m now what they call a “recovering Catholic” and that’s a WHOLE nother blog post that frankly I’d rather not write…lol).

**** Useful for correcting our mistakes ****
Boy have I made some hefty ones! I am reminded of Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.” (NASB)

**** Useful for making our lives whole again ****
This is especially helpful after realizing the mistakes I made. Hebrews 10:17 says, “I [the Lord] will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” (NLT) This verse gives me that “whole” feeling.

**** Training us to do what is right ****
This one I seem to check over and over again. My flesh usually wants to behave a certain way - you know, the bitter-in-your-face-way. But in the end, the Holy Spirit works on my heart and wins (thank God!).
For example, I was in WalMart shopping by myself last week and heard a child crying on the other end of the aisle. She looked to be about Corinne’s size and she was with her dad, who was probably in his way early 20’s. He was not trying to calm her down, but instead was saying, “stop the crying games you f*ing little b**ch!” Next thing I knew, he was speed walking away at what seemed to be 25 miles an hour. You can imagine the enormous rock that seemed to form in my stomach from hearing such hateful words - especially since it was directed at a helpless toddler. My flesh wanted to march right over to him and smack him (okay, punch him) silly, snatch the darling little angel up, and carry her off home. Realistically, I’d probably be charged with assault & kidnapping. Furthermore, how would that show him God’s love? How would that help the little girl? It wouldn’t. I wanted to do *something* and was reminded of Proverbs 31:8 - “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.” (NLT) So, after snapping out of it (I think I even had to blink myself out of the shock), I followed him…and caught up with him in the frozen veggie aisle, where he FINALLY stopped…and where his daughter was still crying. “Excuse me?” No response. “Excuse me?” Again, no response. This time a little louder, “Excuse me?” He turned around confused and I immediately started talking. “I just wanted to say that I know what it’s like with children. I have three at home and know they can be frustrating. Sometimes I wonder how I have any hair left.” I tried to force a casual chuckle… “I wanted to know if there was anything I could do…would you mind if I gave her a lollipop? That seems to calm my kids down when they’re having a rough time.” I pulled a couple pops from my *emergency stash* in my purse. The dad just stared at me blankly…”Uh, sure.” Meanwhile, the little blondie stopped crying and slowly accepted the purple lollipop without taking her eyes away from mine. “You are just the cutest little girl and I hope this makes you a little happier.” I ended up giving him an extra one just in case she needed it later (and what I really wanted to say was, “Here’s one for you, you big jerk…perhaps it will sweeten your attitude a little…” But I didn’t.) I smiled, told him to have a good day, and returned to my shopping - about 10 aisles back. When I got in the car, I broke down. Literally…sitting in the parking lot, crying. I prayed that God would keep that little girl safe…emotionally and physically. I prayed that He would guard her heart, protect her spirit. And I prayed that God would give her dad peace.
In short, it’s hard to do the right thing. Because sometimes (if not most of the time), we are forced to get out of our comfort zone in order to do so. Princess Diana once said: “You can’t comfort the afflicted without afflicting the comfortable.”

Sunday’s Passage of the Day was Psalm 121:7-8. I’ve written them out in a few versions…which one speaks to you the best?:

The Message (MSG)
God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.

New International Version (NIV)
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
The LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

King James Version (KJV)
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

I love how God speaks to us in times of trouble to ease our worries. It’s a wonderful reminder of how protective our Father is. This is a great verse to keep close to our hearts at all times.

Today I found out that an acquaintance of mine had an unexplained miscarriage. She was about 22 weeks along - only about a month ahead of me. It was so exciting to see her each week, to compare notes, talk about pregnancy stuff, and just share this miraculous time with another mommy-to-be-again.

One might ask:
Why do bad things happen?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why does God allow them to happen?
These are all questions I would have been baffled by a few years ago. I don’t know WHY, but thankfully, on my continued walk with Christ, I have come to understand the answers.

How would one define “good” when describing a person, since we , according to Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (NIV) When comparing a person to Christ, nobody is “good.”

But even though we sin…and continue to do so over and over (for example: I again lost my patience with an elderly driver this morning…) God still loves us! Romans 8:28 says, “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) Although it may not seem like it now, God is going to bring good out of this painful time - because he loves us. John 15:13 says, ”Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (NIV)

I also believe that tough times make us stronger. Isaiah 40:31 says, ”But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.” (NLT) Like a diamond, for example. “The formation of natural diamond requires very specific conditions. Diamond formation requires exposure of carbon-bearing materials to high pressure, ranging approximately between 45 and 60 kilobars, but at a comparatively low temperature range between approximately 1652-2372 °F (900-1300 °C).” (Info courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond) Just as the diamond goes through extreme heat and pressure to become a diamond, so do we go through trials in order to become stronger and, prayerfully, closer to the image of Christ.

I’m not really fond of the catch phrase, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” First, I don’t like lemonade and second, I’m not going to rely on fruit to make me feel better. Rather, I encourage those who are facing a trial that has been brought against them, to seek God because, according to Psalm 32:8, the Lord says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” (NIV)

As I end this blog, I’m reminded of a singy song poem from my daughter’s movie series: Cherub Wings. Every time I hear it, it makes me tear up…out of such happiness that my Creator does love me…and will always be with me…wherever I am….in whatever I’m doing.

“Be close to Jesus, whatever you do.
He’ll help you out if you ask Him to.
He loves you so - He’s always near.
You are His child, the one He holds dear!”