Another Peak at the Plan

This universal power, this force of nature, this entity many of us call God is absolutely the coolest, most amazing, and totally awesome force in the universe.

I have spent the last few weeks visualizing my business future. After all, if you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it. A key chunk of that visualization was the recognition that one of the old buildings downtown is part the destiny of my business. It is terribly run down and in need of much work, but it is 5000 sq feet and two stories of space for my Wellness Center.

The building has been for sale, but I really didn't realize it until earlier this week. Last Sunday morning, Hubby and I were feeding the critters on the farm when I decided to tell him about my feelings about the building. Imagine my surprise when he told me he had wanted to buy that building 20+ years ago to live in it. How awesome is it that we both had an interest in the building? I have been saying for quite some time that he and I are truly soul mates, yet I have been about 20 years behind him in acquiring some spiritual elements that he mastered long ago. I'm catching up.

Anyway, I decided to contact the realtor about the building. I knew we were not in a position to make another purchase of that magnitude, even though the building is a steal at $30K. I just wanted to put out there that we had a vision for the building and maybe find out what was going on with it. I had already made up my mind that God would find a way for that building to land in our laps without us having to expend a lot of money to make it happen. How wasn't clear, but I felt like that was what was/is supposed to happen.

The realtor emailed me back with the news. They are closing on the building on Friday, which I presume is today. For a split second my hopes were dashed, then as I kept reading, and re-reading, and re-re-reading, I realized what he was saying. The new owners would be glad to show us the building and they are interested in ideas about what to do with it.

Did I understand that right? They bought the building not sure of what they would do with it, and here I was with oodles of ideas for it? Could that really be right? I quickly wrote all of my ideas in an email to the realtor. He probably thinks I'm totally nuts. Maybe not. I didn't tell him all of what had been going on in my head, so maybe I'm sort of safe.

Then I called Eric, and a wave of emotion and awe came over me like a tsunami. How is this possible? It was as if my vision were coming to pass. A way is being made to realize my dream. (Did I mention that the realtor included the line about being in the dream making business in his email?) All of this had been put into motion long before I caught the vision of using that building or having someone else funding it. I was overwhelmed with love and admiration for the Master of the Universe.

Some would be tempted to enter a realm of shock and disbelief. Not me. This is one more piece of evidence I continue to need to know for certain that I am on track to fulfill God's plan for me. I am taking what many would consider a huge risk in leaving a stable and comfortable job to enter the unknown. Yet it isn't unknown for me. God continues to remind me that what appears to be shaky, unstable ground under my feet is in fact solid because he is removing everything that is unstable. He told me I would walk on water with him. I believe it.

My Oldest Superstar

My oldest had the honor of playing in the Golden Spread All Star Volleyball tournament this weekend on the South team. The cool part is that the volunteer who coached her team is a Tulia native. Here are some pictures my dad made. We're gonna make a professional vb photographer out of him yet.

Erika goes up for the kill.


And another smash.


That's what I call gettin' some air time!


Going up for the block.


The Wall of Women--Impenetrable.

What'll It Be?

There are some other blogs out there that I enjoy reading, and occasionally I find myself forced into posting a response on one. This week, I read Trey Morgan's post about being tired of hearing everyone whine about the economy. Me being me, I agreed with him and posted some comments about how watching the play by play on the news actually attracts more bad economic results whereas turning it off and realizing that we have the most powerful force in the universe on our side would improve things.

One of his other readers posted a touching story about her father losing his job and not being able to find another one. It was one of those "be careful what you say unless you are living the hell" sorts of things. She made a very valid point. It is easy for me to advocate thinking positive as the cure for all that ails us as long as my paycheck is there every month on time and in the amount I expect to receive.

Yet someone on the blog went on to talk about God needing some people to be financially poor so we could relate to and reach the lost who are poor, even suggesting that some of us are supposed to be poor because that's what God wants for our lives.

Sorry folks. I just can't go there. This is the fatalistic flaw in so many Christian beliefs. How DARE we suggest for even one second that God would decide I get to be rich, but your destiny is to reach the poor who are lost, so you have to live in poverty like they do. That would be akin to my husband saying to two of my daughters, "Here you go, Girls....here's the deed to the house, your college paid for, a new car for each of you, and an oil well (or wind turbine) just for grins." He then would turn to the other two and say, "Okay, you two ....well...gee whiz, Girls.....you just can't handle money, so I'm not going to allow you to have a dime. Besides, you have poor friends and they might feel alienated if I allow you to be wealthy."

What earthly father would treat his children with such favoritism and unfairness? We all know what we would think of such a father. "....If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11.

All my life, I have been preached to about how God only gives us what we can handle and no more. That has been stretched and applied to so many areas of our lives in such inappropriate ways. Why is Solomon any more worthy of riches than I am? Did God love him more than he loves me? Am I somehow unworthy or too stupid to handle wealth at the level that Solomon had (adjusted for inflation by today's standards, of course)?

This Father to whom many of us have abdicated all responsibility for our success is the same Father who designed the most amazing garden imaginable for two most precious beings. That amazing garden met all of their needs. Oh yeah...right....they sinned and got kicked out, so now he plays favorites with the rest of us and only the chosen ones get to be wealthy and well-fed. I'm not buying it! "...there is no favoritism with Him." Eph. 6:9

Jesus Christ may have come to be the ultimate perfect sacrifice for our sins, but he also came to deliver a message that God's chosen had somehow missed over the years. He came to tell us that we can have anything we want if only we will ask for it, then truly believe we are already in possession of it. He did not include exceptions in that message. He did not say, "....If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, your Father in heaven will give good gifts to those he thinks can handle them, but some of you have to remain poor or we can't reach the lost."

Jesus made believers out of poor people by showing them amazing things....miracles that exceeded anything they ever imagined possible. He produced thousands of dollars in food out of a couple of scrawny fish and a few biscuits. He did not walk around the crowd and offer the food to those who could handle it while withholding it from those who needed to remain hungry. All were deserving of his gift. As a matter of fact, he produced and offered 12 full baskets more than they could handle.

He was placed on a cross because he was a threat to the status quo. The wealthy were scared to death of how he was empowering the poor. The poor were afraid of having to take responsibility for their own quality of life. We, too, are doing this same thing today. Our churches teach the ask, seek, knock principles, yet the moment someone takes that concept to a level that elevates their life circumstances a little more than what the rest of us can handle, we start looking for the evil in their lives. We claim they are into New Age or Eastern religions. We suggest that they are elevating themselves to the level of God Almighty and then proceed to find ways to persecute them.

But wait. Are we not made in the image of God? Is not Christ our brother? Are there not references in the Inspired Word of God to the Son of Man? The Word? The Light of the World? That's just too New Age. How dare I.

And so I digress. My point in this spiritual rant is that I take issue with the notion that a loving, fair, just God chooses some of his children to be financially blessed and others to be destitute. How dare we assign responsibility to God for such situations. And don't even suggest that they are Satan's doing. It also has nothing to do with our parents, although parents can leave us with some pretty bizarre beliefs about money and wealth. Country of origin can certainly complicate things, yet God moved Abraham and made him filthy rich, so I'm not buying that one either.

There is only one place to assign responsibility for our personal level of financial achievement or lack thereof, and that is squarely on our own shoulders. Yes folks, it is time to quit the whining about how bad things are and begin asking, seeking, and knocking, all the while fully expecting and visualizing having it all. The Father, your Father, wants you to swim in it, sleep in it, eat from it, dance in it, and most importantly share it. God is not the one who determines whether you can handle it or not. You are! Your choices and your decisions in life have placed you exactly where you have landed, yet God is more than willing to pick you up and deliver you to a new level if you truly desire the change.

He's waiting to take your order. Is that language too strong for some of you? Okay then, he's waiting for you to ask him. He's wrapped around your little finger just like my man is wrapped around the little fingers of me and four beautiful girls. He loves you so much that he'll give you your heart's desire. What'll it be? What will you have? As for me and my house, there's no holding back. We'll take the whole enchilada with grateful hearts.