by Shauna Millar | Jun 26, 2019 | encouragement, strength
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
KJV
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
KJV
Have you ever gotten to a point in your life, where nothing seems to be happening? You pray and you pray and still, nothing is breaking free? Where you really want something; to make a move, to get a new job, to have a great relationship, yet it seems like it just isn’t happening. Of course, there is always a reason; they passed you over for someone else, the place you wanted got sold before you even had a chance to look, etc.
Life is filled with obstacles and at times they may seem like they are overwhelming and impossible. We discuss the problem with family and friends. We tell them about our woes. Sometimes we even pray with them over and over about what to do in this situation and for God to work a miracle.
I want you to know that there are always three parts to every situation. Yours. Theirs. And the truth. You see your truth, isn’t necessarily the entire truth. It is skewed through our perception and filtered through our feelings. We feel that the world isn’t fair (well, it isn’t). That others are keeping us down. That God isn’t hearing our cry. That is our truth.
Our truth is the one we deal with. The one we work with. The one we share. Our perception of truth is based on our emotional state and what we feel to be true. Yet, we aren’t all knowing. We can’t see into the hearts of others and therefore we don’t know their truth.
When we rely solely on our faith to get us through and stand back to wait and see what God is going to do, we are following a truth that we feel in our hearts. Following our path. Yet, when we seek God in His temple, and we meditate on His word, we find His truth.
We know that we can say to a mountain, move and if we believe (have faith) it will happen. We don’t follow it up with the second part of that truth; Faith without works is dead.
What?
Faith, you believe it will happen, without works, you doing something to help make it happen, is dead. (It is not going to happen.)
Think about it. God is our creator. He is the maker of heaven and earth. Of the light and the dark. Of everything in between. He can do anything. God is also a father. A good father knows His children. He knows what we need. He knows that giving us everything we want when we want it is a bad thing. Our learning to rely on His guidance, learning how we are to accomplish what we set out to do is a good thing. There has to be a balance. We need to work to learn who He is in our lives. We need to actively seek Him out to discover His attributes.
Just because we ask for something and we believe we are going to get it doesn’t mean that it will happen the way we expect in the time frame we have set out.
God DOES answer our prayers. He says, “yes”. He says, “no”. And He says, “wait”.
It is often our impatience and our decisions that lead us to where we end up and away from where we should be. God may have something magnificent planned for you, but you may decide to get off that path and by doing so, delay your miracle. You take a detour.
God has given us free will to allow us to do this. We get to explore and experiment. We even get to wait for a while. We actively participate in the things that happen in our lives and how and when we are going to get there. It is not being dictated to us, we are free to choose. When we live in fear – of making a move or fear of not being an active participant and think that the mountain is going to move on its own, we run into trouble.
As fun as science fiction and fantasy are, they don’t line up with our realities. We need to work to get to where we want to be. If we don’t work or take action toward the goals we want to achieve, either we won’t achieve them, or they will be delayed.
If you want to climb a mountain, you might have to walk through the valley first. You won’t reach the top until you take a step and start to climb.
Seek God. Pray. Meditate. Then take a step in the direction you want to head and see what happens.
by Shauna Millar | May 26, 2019 | General, self control
We all have secrets. Skeletons that lay dormant in our closet. Things we never speak of or we don’t want to talk about. Things that have damaged our psyche and have scarred us. When is it okay to talk about what you have gone through? What you are going through? Recently, or not so recently depending on how much you follow the news, the spotlight has been shining on the abortion issue. More recently “celebrities” have been stepping forward to share their abortion stories.
First, I must admit, at this point, I haven’t read the stories. I don’t know if they did it because of crisis, due to sexual assault or where the pregnancy wasn’t viable for whatever reason. In other words, the baby had expired or wasn’t forming correctly and an emergency D&C had to be provided. There are situations where abortion may indeed be needed.
In so many cases, though, it is a life choice that someone is making because they made the mistake of not using birth control. Not because they were assaulted. Not because the child wasn’t viable (missing a part of their anatomy, brain dead, etc.) In the case of viability, yes, I believe the mother needs to make a choice. A decision to decide how to best proceed for themselves.
We are all made differently. Our strengths and weaknesses are different. What we can handle or we can’t handle. I admit, my own beliefs are colored by my experiences. Having a child wasn’t an option for me. I had miscarriages. Unfortunately, the system was set up against me. Health insurance covers abortion, and other preventative measures to not get pregnant. The majority of the time it does not cover fertility treatments or other methods of getting pregnant and sustaining that pregnancy. Unless you are wealthy enough to pay for the premiums that do cover this, you are out of luck. (Military insurance does cover fertility. And I know there have been cases where women have afforded fertility treatments and had multiple births – when they were on welfare.)
So, what is my argument? Part of it is based on my faith and my belief system. The other part is based on personal experience. The first time I knew I was pregnant I couldn’t prove it. What do I mean by that? The tests came back negative even though I showed all the signs of pregnancy. We didn’t say anything to anyone. We dealt with it when I miscarried, and then we went to the doctor and he said, “we can’t do anything about it or even investigate it until you have had multiple miscarriages.”
The last time I miscarried, we knew the baby had already expired in my womb. I was given the option for a D&C or to wait until nature took its course. I chose the latter as my choice is anti-abortion unless there is NO other option. I ended up in the hospital after an ambulance ride, with a morphine drip while I lived through a very painful delivery. After that, we chose not to try again. (I am blessed to have adopted a child in between these things, but that is another story for another time.)
The biggest issue I have with abortion is that too many people use it as a method of birth control. They use it for their “accidents” instead of protecting themselves to prevent it. We are one of the countries whose birth rate has been dropping dramatically. Germany is another one.
However, I digress: the real point I am trying to share here is when is our personal tragedy, our personal pain, something worth sharing and for to what end? Are we sharing these things in the hope to prevent the same situation or help other’s deal with their own burdens? Are we sharing them to manipulate others into doing what we feel is the right thing? My stand on abortion isn’t going to be the same one that others take. As a matter of fact, rather than share my pain, I would rather point out that not only are birth rates dropping, but there is a large group of women, who for whatever reason, are unable to have children. They have tried and were not able to, yet, still crave having a family.
Adoption is something that we should focus on more. I read an opinion piece of why are “Christians” against abortion when they are failing to do anything to help the children who are in the system? I might agree with this opinion except I did adopt a child out of the system. Not only did I do that, but I had to fight in order to do so. (Again, this will have to be another story for another time.) I would point out that we are focused on other countries before our own. We are focused on helping children and adopting them from these countries, rather than our own. I would point out that our focus shouldn’t be on what others are doing, but on what we are doing ourselves.
We can’t change someone else. Change has to come from within. What are you doing to help with that change? What are your motivations? Are you “helping” out of a desire to truly help? Or are you “helping” because you want to manipulate someone into changing? Into doing something that you want them to do?
You know your heart. You know your reasons. No one can read into that, except for God who sees us and knows us for who we truly are. I am not judging why people are sharing their stories. I am simply asking for us all to check our own motivations when we do things. Are we confessing for health, growth, and comfort? Or are we confessing to manipulating and control?
by Shauna Millar | May 13, 2019 | encouragement, ethics, work
How do you value your employees? How do you value yourself as an employee? or an employer? Are you paying out what you are worth or what your employees are worth? How do you determine the value of someone who does work for you?
Whether you are in the service industry, behind a counter or doing physical labor, or sitting behind a desk, your time is valuable. However, if you don’t value your employees they will go elsewhere. Even the Bible has stated a workman is worth his due. In other words, if you have an employee that you value, you need to pay them accordingly.
This is an area where we fall short. Sometimes, you do pay an employee accordingly but you miss out on the opportunity to praise them for their work. Or you praise them for their work, but you don’t show it via their pay. Finding a balance can be hard. If you are a small company or self-employed, you may think “I can’t afford to pay someone more”. Maybe you don’t even have any employees, but you aren’t treating yourself accordingly. You are working yourself too hard and not rewarding yourself by taking some downtime. You feel like you have to press forward to keep in front of the bills, etc.
The problem with this system of ‘burning your candle at both ends of the stick’ is that you will eventually burn out and not be good to anyone. Finding balance in your life by rewarding yourself for a job well done is both important and beneficial. Making time for your loved ones, for your pets, for your friends also helps you keep your stress levels down. Sure you may worry even while you are out having fun. However, it will be greatly over-shadowed and sometimes you may find yourself relaxed enough for creativity to strike giving you ideas on how to farther grow your business.
If you have grown your business to a point where you have hired others to help you, make sure that you are paying them what they are worth. If you have an employee who isn’t doing much then they shouldn’t be receiving much. However, if you have an employee who is going beyond what you are asking then you need to find ways to reward them or face the possibility that they will become disgruntled and either not do as much or find a job that does value them. Words are great. Praise is appreciated. Making sure that they know you appreciate what they are doing is important. However, if they continue to go beyond you need to look at what you are paying them and if you can give them a raise; before they ask. Which puts you both in an awkward position. Or at the very least a bonus with an “I would like to pay you more but right now we can’t afford it, as soon as we can, I plan on giving you a raise.” Or perhaps you can give a time frame that you will be able to pay them more.
If you have one employee who is doing the work of two and one employees who isn’t doing anything. Perhaps it is time to get rid of the dead weight and pay the one who is working hard more money. In our current day and age, with the cost of living going up all the time, not appreciating your employees and giving them there due is a good way to help them move one step closer to the door. Don’t be surprised, if you are under-paying someone, when they walk out and find a job somewhere else with more room for growth and fiscal soundness.
by Shauna Millar | Mar 29, 2019 | General, Observations
When does life begin? That is a debate, that for many, has been going on for decades. As a believer, if you fully believe the word of God as it is written, then you may say that life begins in the womb or at conception. However, at various times in the Word, we are told, “I knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb…” (Jer 1:5) and you were set apart.
What do you believe? How do we encourage others to share this belief? We can’t force our beliefs onto another person. You can’t force someone to change their mind. You can force the illusion of someone changing their mind. Only God knows what is in our hearts. We can’t force change on other people, we can make a change in ourselves. Knowing this, how do we stand firm in our faith and beliefs and share with others what we know to be true?
Often we come across a crisis of faith; teetering on the edge of what we believe and if it is strong enough for us to stand up for it and against what we know is wrong. Yet, so many people falter when it comes to this moment of truth. When someone falters it is not our job to stand in judgment, but to help guide them back toward the light by not only sharing the truth with them but being a beacon of light as well. There are some people who are so firm in their adverse ideals, that they will not be swayed by words, but it will be our actions that bring them to the truth.
Unfortunately, once again, our country has reached a crossroads where life is not being valued. We have become desensitized to abortions; the number of which happen during a day is outstanding. The argument becomes “a woman has a right to choose”. While this is true, a woman does have a right to choose. She also has a right to choose not to become pregnant (baring outstanding circumstances which must be recognized due to the vast number of criminal activities that take place in not only our country but our world.) However, I firmly stand against a woman’s right to choose to use abortion as a method of birth control. I stand firm against late semester abortions simply because suddenly someone changes their mind and no longer wants the child.
If you have gone so far as to carry a child to full term, then why not use another acceptable method of removing the child from your life, adoption. The number of families out there who desperately want a child and for various reason are unable to have one on their own, is outstanding. It probably comes close to the number of abortions that are happening. Adoption is not only a viable option, but it is a life-giving option. One that saves a child and helps create a family.
The number of births every year is dropping at a vast rate. Not only here in the U.S. but in other countries as well. (See Germany’s birth rate as an example.) There will be nations that will disappear simply because children aren’t being born. I realize some people may applaud this idea; since some firmly believe that the world has become overcrowded. Yet, murdering innocent children is not the way to attain this ‘goal’ that some may have. When you could give the gift of innocent life, that would be cherished by other parents, rather than destroy that same life; what has this world become when this is what people would rather do?
You have a right to choose what to do with your body. Do you have a right to choose to destroy an innocent life simply because you didn’t choose birth control? When there IS another option open to you? Again, I recognize, that in some extreme cases (such as rape) someone may choose not to keep the child. Remember, that life is appointed by God. There is a reason that things happen.
I would like to encourage you to take a stand for life. Think before you act. Pray. Seek God’s wisdom. Stand firm in your believes. Know that you are loved. Someday you will stand before your maker; are the choices you are making ones that you are willing to be held accountable for?
by Shauna Millar | Feb 19, 2019 | encouragement
How often do you tell someone you are going to do something and then don’t do it? Do you make promises and then not follow through? Do you give your word, your commitment to do something, and then break it? If what you say and what you do, don’t line up, you will find that people start to distrust what you say.
As a follower of Christ, it is doubly important for what we say and what we do to line up. We already stand in a place of judgment; we are judged by the world due to those who have said one thing and done others. These type of behaviors start to rule what people think. How often do you hear the word “Christian” followed by some unsavory comment? Or “oh, you’re a Christian…” as if it is a bad word? This has happened because of the actions of individuals who are known or very publicly doing something to disgrace the title.
When someone is called out on what they are doing, whether it be a high profile pastor or just a neighbor, often the term ‘not perfect just forgiven’ gets repeated over and over. It isn’t that we are perfect. We are not. ALL fall short. However, it is important that what at least attempt to have our words line up with our actions. We shouldn’t try to ‘see what we can get away with’.
For some people, the idea that our Creator sees our every move and knows our thoughts is enough; for others, it is like balancing on a thin blade. It is not an easy thing to do. Rather than say you are going to do something that you have no intention of doing; let your no be no and your yes be yes. Don’t give your word to do something just because you think that the other person isn’t going to like you. Or they will judge you or …
Too often we fall to what others believe and we say the things that we think they want to hear. We don’t know their minds. Sure, we might make someone upset by saying, ‘no’. Isn’t it better to be honest with your word? Rather than say yes, for something you have no intention of doing, just to agree with them and then later let them down, why not be upfront and say that you don’t want to do it? Who is your honesty hurting? The answer is no one. Honesty may hurt at the moment; you may upset someone or hurt someone with it. You have to be careful about how you say things. Once your words are out, they are like pillow feathers in the wind, you won’t get them back.
Yet it is better, to be honest, and upfront, rather than disappoint someone by agreeing for the sake of agreement and then doing something different than you said you would. Actions speak louder than words. Your words are your contract, your actions are your bond. So say what you mean and mean what you say. If we are to be a light to the world, we need to be truthful with our responses, so that our words and actions line up. It is better to say no and not do something than say yes and not do it. For by saying no, we are being truthful and our words and actions line up. By saying no and then still doing it, our words and actions are different and people learn they can’t trust what we say we will do. These type of things throw doubt and mistrust not only on our selves but when we are representing Christ and sharing His love with others. How can they believe what you say about Him if what you have said and done in the past are two different things?
Now is a good time to think about and examine yourself. To do a course correction, if needed. To pray for strength to help change your words and actions, if you, like many of us, have fallen victim to doing and saying different things.
In the end, God knows our hearts and minds, we will all answer for our actions at some point. If you had to stand before Him today, could you do so with a clear conscience? Our God is a loving and forgiving Father. Don’t be afraid to stand before Him, to ask forgiveness and work on growing in His love and His grace.
