marisanicely

Just The Right Amount

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 07:31:14 GMT

Just The Right Amount

It was the awkward couple of days before Christmas Break, when the changed schedules create a bit of free time between passing periods and students choose a classroom to just hang out. I was at my desk with much to grade, seeking peace with soft-instrumental praise music playing, when this lovely girl comes into my room shouting, “Mrs. Weston, I am coming to hang out with you!” I looked at her and became captivated by the huge smile on her face and the contagious joy with which she began telling me all about her Christmas baking.

In front of me I had this very elegant-well-spoken-brilliant-7th grade-beauty from India, who is incredibly talented, giving me details on how to use just the right amount of salt to obtain just the right amount of rising in bake-goods.

I couldn’t help my mind shifting from bake-goods to people when I heard a heavenly whisper echoing, “just the right amount of salt to obtain just the right amount of rising.” The whispering continued by reminding me, "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?”

If it’s not just the right amount, whatever I choose to season with salt, is either going to be tasteless or disgusting and will definitely have to be thrown away! In the same way, if I don’t pour just the right amount of “GOD-Seasoning” on the people around me, my witness becomes weak and overlooked or repulsive and maybe disregarded. So how do I know what just the right amount is? I believe it is loving God's way:

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love…

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best, Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.”

This kind of love, of course, is not something I can possibly give to others out of my own power nor natural tendency. I have learned... and still learning that this is not my own love to give, but rather God's love! It is the supernatural-UN-failing-UN-conditional love of Jesus, which I can not possibly give out, unless I long for it, pursue it, experience it, respond to it, and overflow with it!

Matthew 5:13
1 Corinthians 13:1-7
John 15

What Is Your Name?

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 07:29:10 GMT

What Is Your Name?

This summer while my friend was traveling I got to stay at her beautiful place. I enjoyed my time relaxing, catching up with friends, and watching her dogs Maggie and Murphy. Murphy has recently been adopted and is now a new addition to the family. I got to meet adorable-magnetic-personality-Murphy for the first time and learned many lessons from him, but one thing really stuck with me. When my friend came back from her trip, I noticed she repeatedly would say to him; “What’s your name little boy?... Murphy!... Murphy Brown is your name!” She changed his name when she adopted him and constantly reminds him that he, indeed, is now Murphy! Murphy Brown! I love watching Murphy’s eyes light up, as well as his cheerful confidence and sense of gratitude, every time my friend reminds him of who he is!

Just like Murphy, we must learn that our Heavenly Father has given us the name, Priceless-Masterpiece-Un-like-NO-other. Truly knowing who we are, will help us respond to the challenges we encounter in our daily living with a healthy attitude. Regardless of our background, our past or present circumstances, we need to understand and embrace our uniqueness! The fact that we are un-like-no-other means we don’t need to compare ourselves to anyone else because we are custom-built. Each and every part of who we are, how we look, and the way we do things, has a purpose and a function that was designed just for us for a reason. Murphy displays a great example of contentment, confidence, and gratitude of whom he has been adopted to be… free to be himself, be loved, and excited to respond and carry his name well!

What is your name?!... Your name is Priceless-Masterpiece-Un-like-NO-other! Priceless-Masterpiece-Un-like-NO-other IS YOUR NAME! Be a great YOU! The AMAZING you that Your Maker has skillfully designed you to be!

Ephesians 2:10

1Peter 2:10

Psalm 139:13-16

Can You Hear Me Now?!

Mon, 03 Sep 2018 07:18:12 GMT

Can You Hear Me Now?!

My Hound and I spend great amounts of quality time walking and hiking, and he of course, has a habit of getting distracted and wondering off. Most often, I find myself constantly saying; “Stick with me, stay the path, this way, Rock!… Nooo!… this way buddy!” In a split second, if that leash is not on, he could be tracking a scent and getting lost somewhere far away in the mountains and surviving the wild for 24 hours (true story).

Reality is, the Hound and I are very much alike, since I can also get very easily distracted. My thoughts, the words I speak, my moods, attitudes, behaviors and habits, are all connected and will most definitely influence the way I think. Needless to say, this could very well keep me wondering off from God’s best.

God’s Word tells me; “My sheep hear my voice” and it is truly crucial to hear His voice above all other voices. The voice of my Maker, my Good Father, my Friend, my Counselor, the Lifter of my head, the One Who holds my every moment in His hand, My Lord and King!

He also tells me that wherever my mind goes I follow. Therefore, reading and allowing His Word to penetrate deep within my soul will position my heart to fall in love with the way He thinks. My thinking must be put under construction by asking the Holy Spirit, my Helper, to bring awareness to what I’m thinking about so I can learn how to align each and every one of my thoughts with His.

Allowing Jesus lordship over my mind, being creative, prepared and faithful by choosing to think His thoughts, changes everything, but must importantly transforms my way of living!

John 10:27

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Romans 12

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

A Beautiful Exchange

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 07:23:46 GMT

A Beautiful Exchange

A Beautiful Exchange…

If you REALLY knew me, I am not an aerobics kind of girl, nor very successful at keeping plants alive...

During water aerobics, my friend who was in line behind me, noticed my rhythm was a bit off. At one point, she decided to grab my arms and move them with the right rhythm saying; “I’m just helping her… she’s obviously never been a cheerleader.” With much dignity, I responded; “I am a cheerleader of the HEART!”

After the workout, I decided to go to the store and get some plants to plant in my yard. As I was driving home looking forward to my planting, I called my other friend to share the exciting news with her. Knowing well that I have never planted in my life, and furthermore KILLED every plant I’ve ever owned, she said; “Let’s face it, you only grow people!”

My very real and present needs to stay fit and healthy, as well as having a soothing-outdoor-atmosphere where I can focus on my writing and also invite friends, have driven me to step out of my comfort zone! Reaching out and believing for results I have yet not seen, whether I’m good at it or not, whether I feel like it or not, and whether it seems impossible or not, I press onward to the blessings that God will bring forth from it!

Many times, I’ve been criticized for taking God’s Word to my core, clinging to it and depending on it with my whole being. But my soul knows well that through my 53-year life journey, I have experienced great pain, hardships, disappointments, loss and illness. Therefore, soaking myself in God’s presence, eating the right foods, working out, being mindful in creating an atmosphere of peace, and pursuing fellowship with relationships that will challenge and sharpen my faith, are simply my “non-negotiables!” I cannot afford to let my guard down, because when I do, things become out of order and then suffer the consequences.

The struggle is huge and very real, but the Great One Who lives in me is bigger! I may fall and experience some things in the process, but He has never left me there and He never will! He uses everything that I go through to make me stronger and more like Him.

For me, personally, striving for wholeness and well-being means partnering with my Creator. I have a very passionate personality and don’t really know how to give just a part of me, so like the bleeding woman in Mark 5, I tend to approach Jesus expecting Him to add His SUPER to my natural. He has always traded me beauty for ashes, given me new mercies every morning, strength, peace and joy that surpass all understanding in the midst of chaos.

Bottom line, wholeness and wellness is taking responsibility in a process of seeking His beautiful exchange, one day at a time, intimately and desperately, (body, mind, and soul and spirit)… and sharing it!

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, Love your neighbor as yourself"
“Do this and you will live!”
Luke 10:25-28

“Haha! … Do It Again, Do It Again!”

Sat, 24 Feb 2018 07:26:03 GMT

“Haha! … Do It Again, Do It Again!”

When my son was in pre-school, he was obsessed with the ABC book by Dr. Seuss. We would read it every night with the anticipation and excitement to do the U page again and again and again! It went something like this…

Me: U, what begins with U?

Dillon: giggle… giggle…

Me: Uncle Ubb’s umbrella

Dillon: giggle giggle…

Me: and his… underwear, too!

Dillon: Haha! Do it again, do it again!!

I feel the same way when I read Psalm 126. Life seems like a dream and too good to be true. I laugh and I sing and God’s blessings over my life are very obvious to all looking in. Then, the complete opposite happens when God seems distant and silent, so I fall on my knees and say; “Please God! Do It Again!” It’s in that place of desperate brokenness when my soul always hears His whisper echoing back; “Do It Again!... Meet me in our Secret Place, cling to My Word, sing to me, love and forgive like you’ve never been hurt before. Do It Again! Do It Again!! Do it happy, do it sad, do it afraid, and do it even when It hurts like hell!"

This is definitely not an easy thing to do when you are heavy burdened and your soul is weary, but faith is the assurance of the things that I cannot see, and as I do it again and again, pressing on, and believing, He meets me there! And as I do it again, He lifts my countenance. Before I know it, I feel like a child playing this tag-game with my Heavenly Father, where my confidence grows stronger and my heart learns to trust deeper! Haha! Do it again, do it again!!

"It seemed like a dream, too good to be true,
when God returned Zion’s exiles.
We laughed, we sang,
we couldn’t believe our good fortune.
We were the talk of the nations—
“God was wonderful to them!”
God was wonderful to us;
we are one happy people.

And now, God, do it again—
bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
So those who planted their crops in despair
will shout hurrahs at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing."

Go And Do The Same!

Sat, 24 Feb 2018 07:21:52 GMT

Go And Do The Same!

Have you noticed what you have not noticed? Or when you noticed you really didn’t notice?!

There is a tree, which I had never noticed before, happens to be in my neighborhood, where I’ve passed by daily, for a couple of years now, when I walk my Hound. I was very puzzled by the fact that I’ve never noticed this tree! Not only that I love trees and they’re my favorite, but I also live in “The City Of The Trees And PhDs”... because I love trees! How could I have missed it? After being totally captivated by the beauty of its thorns and flowers and taking my time looking at it, I was immediately reminded of Jesus telling this story…

There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.'

“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

Could it be that there is someone in my world, whom I have been so busy going about my own stuff, I have not noticed?…or maybe noticed, but neglected to reach out to? Most times we live our days like it’s all about us and allow different distractions as well as situations of life to block our focus and sense of clarity. May we not forget that the very essence of our existence is to be 'all in' with our Maker! The result?... we gain confidence in Whose we are! The result?... we learn to love ourselves in a healthy-way! The result?... A Longing for making someone else’s life better!... “Go And Do The Same!”

Moving Forward

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 07:33:10 GMT

Moving Forward

I was listening to Pandora and noticed that no matter how much I liked the song I’d just heard, it was not possible to go back to it. However, it would allow me to skip and move forward to the next song…

This triggered a memory of a couple of years ago when I faced a crucial crossroad in my life due to major loss. I had moved away to the city for healing and restoration and was doing great, when God decided to take me back to the place where I had experienced all my pain. Needless to say, I struggled with fear and wrestled with God about going back to that place. On my farewell dinner with family and friends, when emotions were rising and tears were rolling down my face, someone I love dearly gave me a big hug and whispered in my ear, “You’re not moving back, you are moving forward.”

Could it be that sometimes God brings me back to where my pain took place, not to torture me and have me live in the past, but to simply face and overcome my fears? Could it be that He wants me to notice that the real story is not in what is happening to me, but rather what is happening through me? Could it be that I don’t have to like or understand the reason for my circumstances to trust, praise and celebrate Him for the results? Could it be that He wants to show me that what I went through is only proof of the promise, power, and ever-present-help of an Almighty-Heavenly-Father?!

Whatever the reason, reflecting on past painful experiences should only be done with purpose and very careful focus on moving forward... Moving forward with gratitude for what I have learned from this, how I can grow from this, and where I can serve from this.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Isaiah 55:8-9
Philippians 1:12-20