Modern Day Job (not "job" but Job- from the Bible)

Recently, that age old question, "why do good things happen to bad people" has been haunting me.  You see, I have always believed that it is man's own sin that causes the majority of our problems and that God does not will bad things to happen to us. Having said that, I have also always subscribed to the notion from the Bible that God can use anything for good if we will just let Him. Meaning that, if we let go and realize that yes, the situation is bad, but God is greater than any negatives we face, some good will come to us.  And while I still believe that good can come out of anything, I am really wondering why God let's some of us be Jobs.



If you don't read the Bible or aren't a fan of the Old Testament, you might not know the story of Job.  You see, Job (pronounced "Jobe") was the most righteous man in the land.  This pleased God but made the Devil mad.  So the Devil goes and talks to God and says that no man could possibly be that righteous and that Job is good only because he is blessed- no bad has befallen him.  God has such belief in Job's faithfulness that he agrees to let the Devil try his hand at breaking Job.  His only stipulation is that the Devil cannot physically hurt Job. In the course of this experiment, Job loses EVERYTHING- land, livestock, sons, riches!  Job loses all that he counted as gain.

Now, this is where the story really gets interesting.  You would think that Job would get mad at God, turn his back, and head the other way.  Not Job!  Job continues to be righteous and faithful.  God lets the Devil have his way with Job again, and still Job remains upright.  Even his friends, who pose some good reasons for Job to be angry, cannot sway Job away from God.  In the end, God blesses Job and blesses him with TWICE as much as he started with!

To me, this is a great story of perseverance, triumph and a great and mature faith.  This is a story of God's great belief in man.  But lately, I've been wondering WHY God let the Devil go after Job in the first place.  I understand that God knew Job's strength of faith, but WHY PUT THE MAN THROUGH ALL OF THAT?  What was the good in this for Job?  Why would God allow his suffering?  Was it to prove a point to the Devil?  Was it so Job could be a role model?  Was it so Job would have more appreciation for the things he had?  I'm not really sure.

I believe that today, maybe more than ever, the Devil walks among us.  He takes many different forms and uses many of our weaknesses to drive us to sin.  But in the end, we CHOOSE that sin.  So, I guess the real question then is, why doesn't God intervene in these situations?  And why are some peoples problems SOOO much larger than others?

In the last few years, I have dealt with the loss of a marriage.  I have watched friends deal with the loss of loved ones, marriages, families, children and jobs.  All of these are things that brought  myself and my friends to our knees.  And  yet, most of us have managed to get up again.  But what about those who don't?  What about those who are left with NOTHING that resembles their former life? 

Here is my conclusion....I believe that sometimes, we make large mistakes in our lives.  And over time, that one mistake snowballs into many  more mistakes.  And sometimes, maybe, we end up with things that really shouldn't be ours.  In order to get back on track, and walk righteously with God, maybe we have to lose those things which do not serve to bring out the best in us or were gotten from less than stellar ways. Now, I am not saying that the loss of a parent, child or loved one happens because of our personal sin.  But I do believer that God uses those losses to open our eyes to ceratin things in our life.

 Sometimes one thing in our life is so good, but we can't see that having that thing actually brings more pain because of all the harmful things attached to it.  I think the hard part, though, is actually being able to SEE that holding onto those things would hold us back from real personal growth. I know that was certainly the case with  me and my marriage.  My children were attached to my marriage, therefore,  my  marriage must be a good thing for me.  My children are wonderful for me, but as it turned out, the marriage that came with it was damaging to my soul in some ways. I had to let go of my marriage even though it was not what I originally wanted and it was so painful. I lost something that I had really wanted, but I would never have been able to grow into the person I am if I had stayed. So, maybe, just maybe, like me,  we have to be brought to our knees in order to rise up and be the person we are destined to be! Only God has the REAL answers, but that thought sounds really good to me!

Lessons Learned

Yesterday I turned 39.  For some people, that number might seem scary, but not for me.  You see, I entered my 30s thinking they would be the BEST decade of my life!  Now, I know life is what you make of it, but my 30s have not treated me as well as I had imagined.  I did, however, receive the two most wonderful gifts of my life in my 30s- Keifer and Hope! So my 30s have had a couple of redeeming qualities, but for the most part, I will not be sad to see them go.  You see, someone close to me keeps reminding me that I have ACTUALLY already had my 39th year and am starting my 40th.  Well, bring it on 40!  I'm not scared of you.  But as I inch  my way to the big 4-0, I want to take a minute and look back at some of the lessons I've learned from the 3rd decade of my life.....

 



1.  Don't be fooled by wolves in sheeps' clothing.  Putting your trust and faith in the wrong person or thing can have dire consequences.

2.  Take you blessings as they come and be thankful.  Sometimes the best blessings come in the midst of the worst tragedies. 

3.  Only you can know when it is time to let go of something.  Trust your gut!

4.  Love comes in all different forms.

5.  Cultivate patience.  No one catches the big fish by casting their line 100 times in a row.

6.  Life will have greater heartaches than you ever imagined.  You WILL survive!

7.  Not everything is ordained by God.  Our messy, sinful selves create most of our problems and situations that become problems.  But no matter what we do, God will show up.  He might not give us the solution we want, but He's still there.

8.  If it's important, say it.  You might not hear what you want to hear, but at least you live without the regret of never having said it.

9.  Love your children with the biggest love you have.  You never know what tomorrow holds.

10.  Second chances are sometimes the best gifts we get!

Sometimes it's Just the Simple Things

If you don't live in the Lowcountry, you missed out on a beautiful spring day this past Saturday.  The Fam packed up a picnic and set off to enjoy a day in nature.  We went to The Angel Oak and hunted white squirrels, out to Beachwalker Park for a picnic, back behind the gates at Kiawah to fish and then ended the day by watching the sun go down on the beach.  It was one of the best days I have spent in a very long time, and I can't wait to do it again.

While we were doing all these things, though, I realized something about my children....they are demanding, impatient little pains in the behind! Now, this does not in any way mean that I don't love them, or love them any less than I did, but I got a chance to see them in a different light, and I was not pleased with everything I saw.


For one thing, I realized my children are VERY used to getting their own way.  K Man pitched a fit and pouted when I wouldn't sit at the picnic table he picked- it was by a very large hole that was roped off.  When I told Hope she couldn't have another soda, she sneaked one and proceeded to open it.  They ultimately thought this was funny but I did not.

Thing Number 2 that I realized is that my children have very little PATIENCE.  We got to our fishing spot, set up "camp" and hunkered down to wait on the fish.  Now, I know that for a lot of us, the fun in fishing is found simply in casting the line.  But if you really want to catch a fish, you have to cast, then wait patiently as the fish decide whether or not they are going to be kind to you on that particular day.  Keifer's line had not been in the water two minutes when he wanted to reel it back in and cast it into another spot.  It was explained to him that he would not catch a fish that way.  He settled in on a rock, but still continued to ask every two minutes about reeling in and recasting.  And don't even get me started on Hope.  She brought her baby and her InnoTab and had no interest in fishing.  She was tuned in electronically and could have cared less about anything but that tablet and getting snacks from the cooler.  So much for enjoying nature!

Diligent work was done to play games and tell stories to pass the time.  We even had the privilege of getting to watch a  mother Osprey teach her babies how to fly.  It was AMAZING, but my children were not that impressed by it.  Which leads me to my next point....my children do not have a lot of awe or respect for nature.  Maybe they are a little young, but I want them to be blown away by the beauty and wonder of nature and animals.

Finally, I came to the realization that when my children are even the slightest bit tired, their manners go right out the window and they act like they are entitled to whatever it is they want.  Mama was NOT happy with this at all! I was embarrassed and actually, a little pissed at them.

All in all, though, it was a great day of enjoying good company and building relationships.  I have smiled more over memories of this past Saturday than I have over major events in my life.  It was just that good of a day.  Now, wait a minute, you might be thinking.  Didn't you  just tell us all about the things your kids did that annoyed you?  Well, yes I did.  But you see, the good of the day completely outweighed the bad.  I was, however, able to see my children from a different perspective.  I have spent much of the past several years giving in to them because I have felt guilty that they don't have their father in their house or even in their town.  What I realized on Saturday is that it is time to let go and let my children grow up.  It is time to use a firmer hand with them.  It is time to make sure I am molding and shaping the people they are becoming.  It is time to know when to discipline, when to reteach and when to let something go.  It's time I stand up and claim my place as their mother and not their "guilty mother".  I want them to be as much of a joy and blessing to others as they are to me.

So, just like with fishing, I'm going to cast my line, find my spot in the sand, and patiently lure- um, I mean guide- my children the right way.  Sometimes it might take some bait to get them there, but as long as they latch on to the right things, they will be keepers for sure!