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 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 Sue Forde | May 7, 2019 | encouragement, General, strength
Have you ever been in a quandry about what step to take in your life? To stay in school or to leave? To look for a different job because you think your employer’s not treating you right? To continue in a relationship, whether it’s with a “friend” or a “romance?” To stay at your present location or move somewhere else?
Here are some steps that have worked for me – and perhaps they will for you, too!
A T-Sheet.
This is something my mother taught me years ago. I don’t always do it, but when I do, it sure helps to clarify what I should do. Take a piece of paper (yes, an old-fashioned piece of paper), and draw a big “T”. On one side of the “T”, write “pros”; on the other “cons”. Now, write down one of the directions forward you are considering.
Pros and cons of staying in a particular job was always a big one for me, to help determine whether I should stay or seek employment elsewhere, and that’s the example I will use here.
Start asking and answering questions of yourself, in writing.
Do I like the work? Am I being paid fairly for the job I am doing? Is my employer living up to the agreement they made with me? Is there an area for growth? Am I learning? Am I making a living wage? (One that covers my current lifestyle, without my going into debt.) Any other issues – like personality clashes, etc.?
If most of these are positive answers, but there are areas that need improvement, like not being paid enough to make a living, what are some solutions if I decide I like the job and would like to stay as my preferred answer? This is where communication with the boss comes in – and is probably the toughest area in life.
Once a decision about the direction is made, then the action part kicks in.
Fear plays a big factor here. The question is – how to approach your boss for an increase in pay? How to talk to management about meeting agreements made? The biggie for me was overcoming the fear to talk to the boss about matters that affected me. There were several times over the course of my career when my boss had promised me a bonus for meeting a certain expectation, or covering the cost of my car expenses when I had to go call on potential clients or run other errands for the company, and failed to do it.
Before taking the next step, I made sure I had another alternative for work. Most often, I had already been approached by a competitor to move to their business. On occasion, I had made a business plan and arranged a loan to start my own business.
So here’s what I did: I made an outline of what I wanted to say. Then I made an appointment to see the boss. I said a prayer for God’s wisdom, guidance, direction and will. Then – and this was probably the most difficult part – I took a deep breath, forgot about everything, and just DID IT. I just walked in, sat down, and started telling the boss my dilemma, in a nice but determined way.
Once that was done, I felt a sense of relief. The results came – sometimes as I hoped, and sometimes not. There were times when the boss said they couldn’t meet my expectations, for a variety of reasons. Other times, they did, in order to keep me, acknowledged as a valuable employee who brought income into their business.
Through the years, whichever way it worked out – whether I stayed, or whether I moved to another company – or whether I did indeed start my own business, I learned from the experience and grew in self-esteem and the ability to communicate better and more easily.
Today, I use this program quite effectively for the decisions I make. And, the “just doing it” comes almost without thinking it anymore.
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.
by Sue Forde | Feb 11, 2019 | encouragement, joy, peace
by Sue Forde
February 11, 2019
We’ve been getting quite a lot of snow in our western Washington area recently – to the point where many have been “snowed in” for a few days. The snow causes the earth to take a rest. And when it begins to melt, it nourishes the earth with water into the aquifer.
It’s only natural that after some time passes, we would start to get antsy – want to get out and get things done, at our usual day-to-day pace. But perhaps we should take a lesson from God’s nature – when a blanket of snow falls on the earth, it’s a “time-out”. Everything lies still and peaceful – and it’s beautiful! That white layer of snow, untouched by anything or anyone, is something to behold. We look out the window – or go outside for a short period of time – and enjoy it.
Our lives should be like that. In today’s world, we rush here and there, with so many things “to do”, that we often overlook the sheer beauty of nature, and we get no real rest. God has set the seasons for us – and with it, a lesson. Take time out of our busy day to “think on these things” – the greatness of our loving Father, all that He provides for us each day, hour, minute and second. Relax and don’t worry, as “everything” is in God’s hands – and YOU most of all! He holds us each in the palm of His loving hand – and knows exactly what are needs are – and meets them according to His power and riches.
Worry is a tool of our enemy. Stress, also, comes from that evil one who wanders the earth seeking whom he will destroy. It’s sometimes difficult to pull our thoughts away from worry and stress. We need to “make” time to just relax, read God’s word and His promises to us, and be filled with joy. And, like the time of snow, we will become renewed and fresh – and ready to go again.
by Sue Forde | Jan 21, 2019 | encouragement, Observations
When I was a little girl, we used to go outside and play with the neighbor kids – games like Hide and Seek and Kick the Can. We lived in a small town, and all the kids close by knew one another, and looked forward to the play time. As we got a little older, we’d roller skate down the street, and ride our bikes all over town. We weren’t afraid that someone would try to kidnap us, and our lives were innocent. Life was simple. Boys were boys, and girls were girls. We went to church every Sunday. I had a mom and a dad.
God was removed from the schools in 1963. I was a sophomore in high school, and we still followed the moral practices of the society our parents had grown up in.
As I got a little older, society began to change. It seemed like a subtle change, little by little, and folks were busy with their lives, so didn’t really notice it as it was happening.
Music was one example. It went through a transition from the innocent songs and big bands of the 40s to Elvis and the Beatles in the 60s, then heavy metal and hard rock in the 70s and 80s. At the same time, drugs came on the scene. We were taught in school to stay away from drugs, as they would destroy our lives. Meanwhile, the popular bands openly used them, and those who placed those bands and entertainers on a high level, followed suit. Today, we see the results of that growing problem, with so many lives affected by the drugs they depend upon – and the loss of lives.
The welfare state came into existence, taking the initiative away the necessity of having a two-parent family, and the “State” took a parenting role. The interest in God, family and church gave way to a more hedonistic society, where women became independent and getting ahead at work became more important than raising a family. Kids became “latch-key” with babysitters instead of moms. Of course, there were exceptions – there are always exceptions, thank God – but society as a whole was in flux, moving in a direction that saw increasing violence and crime, less or even no respect for the elders, and a sexual revolution that ignored the admonitions of God and the Bible.
Boys and girls began to dress alike. There was a move toward “unisex”. Over time, boys were no longer “boys”, but could define themselves as “girls” or a myriad of other things. Abortion became a norm in 1964, too, after the Supreme Court upheld Roe V Wade. As a result, the population began to drop. Society was changing, and not in a good way.
Innocence died, as the public schools began to teach “sex education” at a very early age when kids should be playing with toys and be ignorant of such things.
I’ve been on the planet for a while, and I’ve seen these changes happening – and many more – with my own eyes. Has this been happening as a natural progression, or has it been orchestrated by some force?
The light-heartedness of days past is gone. It seems that everyone with whom I visit is depressed about the direction our society has taken and can’t see any way to reverse the trend. Sometimes I feel that way, too – when I look around and see what’s happening across our nation and the world.
When these feelings come, I remember what it used to be like, and am grateful that I got to live in that time. I share those times and the reason we were innocent and more carefree then with anyone who will listen, especially younger folks.
There are others who have been through these changes and understand what I know to be true. Our nation was founded on principles based in God’s Word, and we have gone away from those principles. If we are ever to experience the joy that I and others of my generation did, we will need to get back onto the right path. First and foremost, we need God back in our lives and our communities – and to reinstitute those principles. That happens when individuals get involved in their communities – whether it’s politics or community organizations – to bring those ideals back into the spotlight and act upon them. It happens when men and women marry and raise a family together in a church that emphasizes those biblical principles.
So, a word of encouragement: when it feels like nothing is going right, and the everyone in the world is against you, offer up a prayer to the God of Creation to give you strength, wisdom and the ability to take some kind of action to bring about a societal change that will return joy and innocence.
