Category: Caregiving

Are You Abounding?

3/16/2018

Are you abounding? Jesus said He came to give us abundant life -- a life that abounds and abounds (check out John 10:10 if you don't believe me). Eugene H. Peterson translates it like this: "I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of."

Does that describe your life?

Beth Moore writes, "No matter who you are, where you've been, or what you've done, God has handpicked you to abound."

Is that your life?

Presently, it isn't mine. I've gotten weighed down with caregiver duties that have gone on for a long time and will continue far into the future. I've grown stagnant creatively. My life feels the exact opposite of abounding. It feels shriveled up, dry as old bones. It's not supposed to be this way for me or for you.

The entire John 10:10 verse says (in the NASB), "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly."

In John 10:9 Jesus says, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

I'm guessing any pasture Jesus brings us to will be lush and green and joyful. Psalm 23:2-3a says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul;"

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

Jesus never lies. He's gotta be the key to abundant life. He is abundant life. He created us to have joy in this life, not drudgery.

Are we getting bogged down with life? Are we getting distracted? Jesus says in Luke 8:14, "And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity"

The devil is the thief who steals, kills and destroys. If our abundant life has been stolen he is probably involved in the theft. He can't take our salvation away but the devil can make us ineffective if we fall for his tricks. He's clever. He's been messing with God's people since people existed. He hates God and he knows God loves us so anything God loves he hates. That means us. He hates people. He uses them, abuses them and destroys them when possible.

Don't let him have a foothold in your life. He gets them through unbelief, fear, worry, doubt, uncontrolled anger, despair. He doesn't care what it takes to get our eyes off Jesus. He just wants our eyes off Jesus.

Where to start? Start with the promise of abundant life. Remind Jesus and yourself by saying the words aloud, "Jesus, you promised me abundant life. I want that abundant life."

And then see what He says. He'll lead you to those green pastures. He'll lead you to soul renewal. He's got a way out and through. We have to seek Him though to be led that way.

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My sweet little patient

10/14/2016

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My caregiving tasks have been added to the last couple of days. Now, besides caring for Hawken I am also caring for our sweet little puppy named Maggie. She hurt herself Wednesday afternoon and has been healing since then. She can walk but isn't doing much of it. I carry her in and out of the house. I set her food (a special kind since she is a patient) right beside her in her bed and hold her water bowl as she drinks. She also has been given milk and cream and peanuts. She loves peanuts.

Look at that face.

How can I refuse her anything?

She barked once at 4 this morning. I got up. She needed her belly scratched.

At 5 I carried her out to go to the bathroom. I gave her about 15 minutes alone and then brought her back in.

Yesterday we had lovely weather and I wanted to clean up my garden so I carried her and her bed outside to get some sun.

She enjoyed that quite a bit. She loves being outdoors.

She seems to be liking this extra special treatment. This morning after I fed her and I was finally able to sit down and read my Bible, Maggie started wimpering. Shannon said to her, "What do you want Maggie?"

She immediately stopped.

After he left the room she started wimpering again and looking at me. I said, "Maggie, let me read."

And she quit. She wanted me to pet her. She wanted me to sit beside her in her little bed.

Is my sweet puppy becoming a bit spoiled?

Our older dog Zeko, our faithful companion for 10 1/2 years (he's 11+) isn't appreciating the attention Maggie is getting. In fact, I think you could say he resents it. But he's tolerating it because he knows she doesn't feel good.

God teaches me so much through my every day life -- through my kids, my pets, my garden, my caregiving. Everything is a lesson, a word from Father God. There's meaning in all we do -- eternal meaning and purpose.

It's okay to be spoiled sometimes as long as we know it is not a way of life. People who act spoiled (another word is entitled) miss life. They miss loving others and loving Jesus Christ. You can't be loving and other-centered if you have a sense of entitlement. Any "love" from someone who believes they deserve a certain things from life will feel like it comes with a price. Or that "love" will feel conditional.

I don't mind spoiling Maggie right now because I know she is hurting, but it will be very annoying if she expects it once she is healed.

Do we feel we should have certain things in life? Do we think a way of life is beneath us? Jesus didn't.

Paul addresses this perfectly in Philippians 2:3-7. He writes, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humilitiy of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but, emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."

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Cheesecake day is tomorrow

9/5/2016

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Cheesecake Day is tomorrow at our house. We love, love, love cheesecake!

Another name for Cheesecake Day is Hawken's birthday. Tomorrow he turns 17 -- pretty amazing because when he was an infant we were told there was a good chance he'd only live for two years. I guess he showed them!

We have cheesecake because years ago, when he was maybe two he was on a special diet and the only kind of cake I could figure out how to make for him with special ingredients was cheesecake. I made him a special one and then I made one for the family. It turned out we liked his better! So now, every year we celebrate his life with cheesecake (I'll give you my recipe, such that it is, at the end).
So I guess you could say we have a cheesecake tradition.

And it's an important one to us. I messaged my college daughter yesterday and wrote, "You're going to miss cheesecake." She said, "I Know!"

Have you seen the movie It's A Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart? It's been around since 1946, and it used to be played on the TV during the holidays a lot but it's kind of been replaced by Hallmark Christmas shows and the 1983 movie, A Christmas Story.

It's the story of George Bailey. George finds himself in a very impossible situation and contemplates suicide because the life insurance payment would cover the funds that were lost. Clarence the angel gives George a chance to see what life would be like if George had never been born. As we are shown George's life we see how his one ordinary life mattered a great deal. If he hadn't been born many would have been lost and miserable.

And that's what I think of when I think of tomorrow. Hawken Zachariah Hinrichs, a life that has and continues to change so many lives just because Hawk exists.

From society's point of view Hawk's life is a waste. And because of that my life is being wasted because instead of using my talents and skills to make money or make a big mark in this world, they are being used at home taking care of Hawk full-time.

Society's point of view is wrong.

God's ways are not our ways. The way He thinks isn't the way we think. Isaiah 55:8-9 says this thought better. It says, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.'"

Hawken doesn't talk to others. He doesn't reach out to others. He just lives. He enjoys food. He enjoys books. He enjoys rolling on the ground. He sometimes makes happy noises. He is often very quiet. He tells me when he needs changing by making the I-need-changing noises.

He doesn't go many places in public. He goes to church. He goes to school functions with me. So, I really can't tell you how God uses him in other people's live, but God does. He's changed people's heart using Hawk as he is. I know this because people have told me.

I guess the reason I share this is because God will do the same with your life and mine. If we know Jesus Christ, where we go He goes. His Spirit lives within us, and when we are present, the Spirit is present. I don't even think we have to do anything but be there and God will work. Of course there are times He leads us to do something specific or say something specific but often it is just being present.

God's ways are so vastly different than society's ways. Even we Believers have a hard time understanding that what we view and what we are told is important is not. We can easily get off track doing things the world's way (bigger is better, flashy programs, polished appearances) thinking that is how we get results. And we might get some that way but they won't stick if God's not in them.

If we choose to listen we'll hear God telling us to do things His way. If we choose to listen and observe we'll see that God's ways are often secret. God's ways are often silent. Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a speck of a seed, yeast; buried treasure, a merchant, a fishing net. These aren't glamorous things. These aren't objects that the world would say is a good way to get God's kingdom filled.

So, I promised you my cheesecake recipe. Before I share it I want to apologize -- I don't use a lot of measuring so it won't be very specific.

And now I am telling you a lot more specifically because my cheesecake is in the oven. So here is Jane's Incredibly Easy but very Real Cheesecake:

4 packs of cream cheese
3 x-large eggs
2 Tablespoons of flour
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
1 cup of sugar

Have cream cheese softened. Put in bowl. Add eggs. Mix until creamy. Add flour and vanilla and sugar. mix again. Taste. If sweet enough (don't want it too sweet) then you pour this into your prepared graham cracker crust (see below). I use almost an entire box of graham crackers, 1 1/2 sticks of butter and maybe 1/3 cup of sugar. Mix these (after crumbing crackers) and press into rectangular cake pan and bake for ten minutes. Cool before adding cream cheese cake mixture. Put the oven on low heat, maybe 250 and then bake until firm.

I've left the original post below but you can surely ignore it.

(What you need is 4 packs of cream cheese, 4 to 6 eggs, sugar, vanilla and maybe a bit of cornstarch or flour if you have to thicken it.

First make the crust. For this you need graham crackers, butter and sugar. Take your graham crackers and make them into crumbs. Add butter and sugar. Add enough butter to make the crumbs stick together. Add enough sugar so the crust is sweet but not too sweet. Put this in your pan and bake it for ten minutes at 350 degrees. Take it out and let it cool. I usually use a large cake pan -- the rectangle size 9 1/2 by 11? I don't know what it is. Something like that.

Okay, so back to the cake. I forgot to mention you should have taken the cream cheese out to soften for a while. Now that you have softened cream cheese put it in a bowl. Add the eggs. Mix until mixed well with no lumps. Use a mixer for this! Add maybe a half a cup of sugar and two teaspoons of vanilla. Try it. Is it sweet enough? If it is you've added enough. Pour into crust. It shouldn't be runny. It should be very thick. If it is too runny you'll have to add a bit of thickening cornstarch.

Okay, heat the oven to 250 degrees. Put the cake in. It will have to cook for a long time -- maybe check it after an hour. You'l know it is done when you can stick a knife in it and it comes out clean.)

Once done put it in refrigerator and once it is cold you can eat it plain or with lots of toppings. Yum, yum, yum.

Hawk lying on the floor with Maggie, my daughter's puppy

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God Sees

6/6/2011

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"Moreover, he (Chief artisan for the tabernacle, Bezalel) made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting." Exodus 38:8

At least the last five chapters of Exodus deal with the plans and building of the ark of the tabernacle, the place where God's presence dwelled during the time of Moses (and beyond). In these chapters God tells Moses to take contributions from those men and women whose hearts moved them to contribute to this work. The only people named in this batch of people are the serving women and their offering. Not one other person in all of Israel who gave to the temple is named, is indentified.

Their mirrors, made of bronze, were very likely their most prized possessions. They willingly gave them.

They were only serving women. They were probably overlooked by the people, by the men who went into the tent of meeting, the priests. The people probably had no idea of this contribution. But God told Moses to record it, to make note of it in His word.

Without their offering, their sacrifice Moses and Aaron as priest (and Aaron's sons) couldn't have obeyed God fully.

Änd from it (the laver mentioned above) Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and feet. When they entered the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, just as the LORD had commanded Moses." Exodus 40:31-32

God always sees what we do for Him even if others don't. God sees. Nothing we do for Him is irrelevant. Nothing we do for Him is useless.

Even tasks we do daily, if done for Him, can add to His Kingdom, to His work on this earth. Even dishes and laundry.

There are many who are the pimary caregivers for their children with disabilities or their aging parents or spouses. God sees your devotion to your charge. He sees the love you give them. Do it for Him. Even if it seems you are only touching one other life, it goes far beyond that. The hidden work is sometimes the most important.

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Are You Abounding?

My sweet little patient

Cheesecake day is tomorrow

God Sees

Who is Jane Hinrichs?

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