So, I had a dream last night that I didn't step up when I should have...

The dream I had was in a group setting somewhere and people were scrambling around trying to accomplish something, I don't even know what, and then we are all supposed to get into a car and travel a fair distance somewhere after we accomplished whatever it was we were supposed to do.

It was chaos. Several times I felt like I should step in and just take over, but I didn't want to "ruffle any feathers", or offend someone, so I just stayed quiet and observed, trying to be as available and helpful as I could to the broken leadership that was there.

Later, someone came up to me, likely the one paying the fee for the hotel room rental and asked me what was going on and why I didn't take over. We should have completed this task by now. I mumbled some excuse about I didn't think it was my place... he was not impressed. What made him think I could do it?

I've been reading about Leadership in a book called; The New Rebellion; A Book of Days; from my great friends the Saums for my birthday last year. :)  It is a devotional really, and I never could get into those for any length of time, but this book, is awesome! I highly recommend it. I found you can get it on Amazon used for as little as $3.00, that's 3 bucks well spent! I tried to get a link for you, we'll see how that comes out... I'll be highly impressed with myself if I can get that to work. Ooh, look, I made it work! It appears they have a handbook as well, for a penny? maybe they make their money on shipping. In any case, I'll add that too, I'm sure it's good, maybe force me to actually do something about what I'm reading. :) Wow, they both made it there. The book is red, handbook, off white or whatever....




This week they happen to be discussing leadership. Yesterday was about being in the right place and the right time, but not having the ability to lead. Today was about Deborah and Barak and had she not stepped in to take over for Barak, who knows what the result would have been. He was just not confident enough to lead.

So, leadership is a balance between ability, confidence, but not overly confident so that it doesn't lead to pride getting in the way, and I believe being able to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Just last week I questioned myself, why do I want to be a leader and what is it I really want to accomplish. Is it just so I can show them all who thought wrongly or poorly of me that, see, I am called, and I can do it. Nah, I don't really care anymore what anyone thinks as long as I know I am in the centre of His will for my life. Is it for a certain amount of fame or recognition, well, not gonna lie, that is nice, but when you have a call to business/ministry leadership, potentially in many nations, with little to nothing to start out with, it is, or well it can be, a thankless job.

If the desire to be seen in that position is the only thing driving you, that drive will fade fast. It will become old. You must have a more eternal perspective driving you, or at least a desire to help others in life be successful and to get them out of the slump they are in. It is about surrendering your life to see others thrive in theirs. Is that something that propels you to move? To get up each day?

So, I don't know what my particular dream was about, other then next time I see an opportunity to rise up and lead, I don't let it pass me by and worry about stepping on others toes or being out of place. No more excuses. It must be time. We'll have to wait and see.

When you have a dream, pursue it! Don't let anything stand in your way, and I, along with Zig Ziglar, will SEE YOU AT THE TOP! :)

Be blessed!!!

and in ALL THINGS give THANKS!!

Well, I don't know what that last post was, but I'll leave it there to remember, my computer(s) suck, none of them work right, but I am thankful I have a computer that works, access to the internet (albeit from the neighbour) and the ability to research and study things that I've been meaning to do for years. And A husband that is out working right now so I can stay home in my pajamas and do the things that are important to us for me to be able to do.

I am also thankful for my husband! :)

I am thankful for our dog Noah and that Arturo agreed to get another dog just like him as a companion to him. That will be fun, and just think of all the little Noahs that might be running around here soon. Another thing to research!!

Oh, so Arturo has a job, started yesterday, that will bring consistent income, more than minimum wage and will be working steady for quite awhile! Finally! That is really something to be thankful for.

Thankful for our friends and family that have been so so faithful and supportive to us in this long drawn out season of lack! We are coming out of it!!!

Thankful for the things we had to go (grow) through because it matured us in ways we didn't even know we neeeded to mature in!
Our priorities are totally different. Especially with time and finances. We thought we were cutting back before, we didn't realize what we could really live without, stuff most people think of as needs, not just wants, but needs, we've lived without, and have survived! :)

God is good. He is faithful and just. He will bring us to the place we need to be to accomplish His will in our lives.

But, it wasn't always easy to give thanks in all things. Not gonna lie, there were times when I was so miserable, I just did not care who would benefit in the long run from what we were going through, it was just that bad. If this is it, take me out! I have to admit, I said that more than a few times. Didn't want to die, but couldn't fathom continuing on as things were.

yet, all the times I could have died, and doctors said I should have, but didn't, well, there MUST be a reason, and just endure, as Paul endured the stones. I can't imagine how he did that.

Then again, I think mental and emotional anguish is worse than physical torture. Not that I've gone thru it, or care to, but I've been thru my share of physical pain.

Maybe tho, if I didn't have such a high tolerance for pain I'd feel differently. But with as many accidents I've been in, including taking out a windshield with my forehead, pushing it right into the car, and my (awesome) chiropractor pleading with me to go off my pain meds after only a few days, life was interesting for awhile. :) I needed help just to sit up in bed each morning, crazy!

James 1 (The Message)

James 1

¹I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! Faith Under Pressure
^2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
^5-8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
^9-11When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.
¹²Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
^13-15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
^16-18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.
Be blessed and encouraged, He has GREAT things in store for you!!!!

and in ALL THINGS give

Lean into it

I could hear the wind whipping against the siding last nite, thought it was going to go flying off it was hitting it so hard! We, however, were safe inside. I felt, no matter what happened, we weren't going off with the wind as in the Wizard of Oz.
It was LOUD and I thought for sure it would do some damage, but I was content, at peace. I'm a light sleeper though, so obviously didn't sleep much! That's okay. I was able to contemplate and recognize how much at peace I truly was.
There were adverse conditions all around me, but I knew I was in the right place at the right time and I was safe. If something were to happen to me, well, that was up to God, but I just knew He would keep me safe.
One of the things I've (reluctantly) learned in this life is that you may be forced up against a wall time and time again and forced to make decisions that don't make any sense to anyone, least of all to you. None of the choices before you may even seem right, but not making a move is making a choice too and you still have to deal with the consequences with that as well.
I've finally decided, the longer I resist the "seeming" inevitable, the longer I wait to walk into my destiny. For whatever reason, God has put me on this path, I didn't choose it, He chose it for me when I chose Him because the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord.
No one else has to agree with or understand, they may some day, they may not, but you have to be true to Christ, to who Christ is in you, and to yourself, first and foremost. When you are content that you are doing that, let the chips fall where they may. Leaning on the everlasting arms.
He who began a good work in you is faithful and just to complete that work.
Lean into it, the storm, instead of trying to run away, hinder or block it. Go with the decisions that you know are right, even (and often especially) if they seem foolish, will likely have poor consequences, etc. If you are confident He is leading you in that direction, go full force!
Be blessed! :)