Thank you for Heaven
Posted by Unknown , 5/6/13
My church had a women's/mothers luncheon this weekend and it was great... my sister, mom, nieces and my daughters were all there with me. My girls and I were given the opportunity to be greeters for this event and my girls could not have been more excited!! The room was decorated so nice, the food spread prepared by all the ladies that came was delish!!
Many of you that have been following me are well aware of The Passionate Mom book that I have read and have been promoting. One of the P's in the book, which is the 2nd P... is Pondering. In Nehemiah 1:4 it says "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted. I am not sure about you, but when I am at church, I take notes... let me be honest...I chew on those notes for that day and even sometimes until the next time I go to church. I hear the word... I grasp what was taught, explained and make sure I take good notes so I can go back and re-get what I got from that service. But I am not sure that I really pondered 100% of what I heard. My Pastor's wife Pastor Tina spoke at our Mothers luncheon and had us all close our eyes and just say "thank you for heaven".
"Pondering is deliberately contemplating the significance of what you perceived." - TPM .
Pastor Tina gave some examples of the reasoning behind what she asked us to do. One of those REALLY got my attention .. it was not because I could relate to the situation, but the fact of the severity of the situation... She said.... "you just ran over your child with your vehicle....every thing is crazy at work...etc.. now close your eyes and say Thank you for heaven". I began to ponder that.... it did not really click until Sunday morning.... WOW.... No matter what your circumstances are, what circumstances you might be facing, will be facing, could face....and the after math of the circumstance... there is one and only one constant in MY life that remains. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am going to Heaven. I know that my God is preparing a place for me, and no matter how crazy my life is here on earth, no matter how many changes I have to go through, no matter how minut my problem may be or how large it may be... the fact is I can say for certain Thank you for heaven!
I am a Mom and i know mom's should expect to hear and deal with their children...well being children....I had just about had enough of 2 of mine arguing... it had been going on alllllllllllll morning..."Mom.. she did this".. then the other "Mom... he did this".... "Mom she's looking at me... Mom Mom Mom Mom"... and of course... guess when this was... Sunday morning as we were all trying to get ready for church!
I ran for the best relief (well it was until today) my SHOWER... I can close the door and pray I get 15 minutes without interruption and just wash away the arguing under the relaxing hot hot hot water. Then I remembered what i heard the day before.... so in my steaming hot shower, I closed my eyes and whispered "I know this is something little, but it is stressing me.. God, I Thank you for heaven. "
An overwhelming peace came over me.... I have memorized many of memory verses, but never Pondered them much.... One of them being....Philippians 4:7.. it talks about the Peace that passes all understanding... it never really came clear till today. I think the message version of that scripture really makes it pretty clear... Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
If God can do all this just because i was stressing out over my arguing kids... just think what he can do in my other crazy aspects of my life.
I am so glad that I heed the word of God, and others who are used by God to deliver such teachings. I am typically one who tries to get in and get it done...and make sure its done correctly, but these 10 P's from The Passionate Mom.... are not ones that can be rushed through... I was getting upset and frustrated with myself because I had not mastered all 10 P's yet.... but let me tell you .. I could not be more happy for the pace I am taking these steps and all the things I am learning on the way.
Thank you for heaven, is not just a calgon take me away and then back to reality, its truly Christ displacing worries/circumstances at the center of my life.
