Going Higher

Going Higher
Reflections by the Sea ©    Betsy Ore Glass
June 27, 2013

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:9 NIVI shall never forget the day I went up in a hot air balloon. It was magical, serene and quiet. Yes, quiet! I thought we would hear the gusts and roar of the strong winds that were moving us along but we did not. And to my surprise, the birds don’t fly that high either. So it was as though we could hear a pin drop. It felt like we were climbing towards heaven going higher and higher. We could see cars driving along the highways below, many homes, shopping centers, lots of landscape and the ocean. But it was as though the mute button was on. To be high up could be a lonely place I realized, but also a place of great peace.  What does it mean to go higher? The Lord said His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. But He picks us up and lovingly encourages us to take steps toward purity and righteousness if we are willing. Everyday some of us step up on ladders, drive across tall bridges, visits monuments and climb to the top of sand dunes. But to walk in God’s ways, to go higher is to spiritually live as close to Him as we can. To be in a constant relationship with Him. That’s how we can be taught by making time to listen and learn. Emotionally to go higher means to not get caught up in strife and to deflect negativity that comes at us by living above all the arguments, disagreements and colliding opinions in our everyday life. Physically to go higher means to possess divine wisdom to know when to speak and when not to speak. In other words, to pick and choose ones’ battles and certainly not get involved in conflicts that don’t involve us. If we find ourselves getting caught up or side- tracked in the unimportant minutiae of life, wallowing in judgment of others, we will sink in negativity and we will attract more of it to us like a magnet. We have to be willing to go higher in our thoughts and attitudes so that our emotions don’t pull us back down. God calls us to go higher with Him. Like a hot air balloon, it is a great mental picture of where we should hope to be…high up where the air is clear, quiet and peaceful.

Summer

Summer
Reflections by the Sea ©   Betsy Glass
June 20, 2013

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIVThe summer season is here! This week, the calendar changed from spring to summer but it feels like summer has been here much longer!! The hot, lazy days of summer brings all kinds of memories to mind like the excitement surrounding the last day of school, summer babysitting jobs to make money, watermelon eating contests, and family picnics at church softball games. And things like Sunday ice cream socials using the old homemade ice cream machine and tree-picked peaches, the smell of fresh-cut grass, the sweet fragrance of a summer rain, homemade lemonade and packaged Kool-aid. Best of all were those great memories of swinging on a porch swing and going barefooted til September. A great season for great times! I have come to realize that whatever season I am in I seem to love it the most! We go through seasons in life and it seems once we get used to something, the season changes and we must adapt and reshape our thinking, and perhaps our life to accommodate the adjustments. Summer is the season when many families pack up and move to another town for a better opportunity. Kids are packing for college; kids are coming home from college. Summer weddings in June are plentiful. So many life changing moments and events seems to happen during this time of year. How do we handle the changes in the seasons in our lives? How do we teach our children how to adapt? Do they see us frantic and resistant to change as we try to maneuver our way through life? Hopefully, we know from our Christian walk that God has already supplied us with the graces to deal with anything that comes to us or happens to us. His mercy and grace gives us the enthusiasm to accept things we cannot change, the peace to move forward, the joy for a new adventure and overall contentment for where we are. So much of our joy is tied to our contentment. God does not make mistakes. He has placed us in every season of our life. We can look back, not with regret, but with gratefulness. We can look forward, not with fear, but with confidence that we have all we need. There is no reason why we couldn’t prosper in whatever season we find ourselves. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. –Psalm 1:3 NIV As empty nesters, my husband and I had an adjustment to make and it coincided with a move to another state over 2000 miles away. I did have regrets and sadness, but now know it was wasted time. If we can accept willingly where we are and do our best to be obedient to God, we can expect to see good things revealed in our future. So much energy can be lost through deferred contentment such as thinking, “I will be happy when I can move back home”, or “I will be happy when this happens or that happens”. We can have joy and contentment now. Saint Francis of Assisi once said, “A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” I met a 99 year old woman the other day that was upright, walking on her own and we shared a bench together for a brief visit. I asked her what did she attribute her long life to and she said long ago she chose to be happy. That was what I needed to hear that day. Was that just a coincidence? No. Was it another divine appointment? Yes, I believe it was. Another reminder that how we approach life can have a profound effect on us regardless of the season we are in. Happy Summer!

Father's Day

Father's Day
Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Ore Glass
June 13, 2013

If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.-Psalm 37:23-24 NIV Father’s Day came about in the early 1900’s when a young girl listening to a Mother’s Day sermon wanted to also honor her father. In 1924, it became a national idea and President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea. It was President Lyndon Johnson that established the 3rd Sunday in June as Father’s Day in 1966 and President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972. We all have a father and we count ourselves grateful if we had a godly father that brought us up to know our Heavenly Father. Especially this time of year we each may reflect and reminisce a bit on how our father helped to shape the life that we enjoy today. We also want to honor and remember the many wonderful men that have been mentors to us and shown fatherly wisdom and guidance when we needed it. And never to be forgotten are the mothers that have stood in for the father for whatever reason to keep the family going. We offer thanks today for the fathers that we celebrate in person, in our hearts or in our memories. Most of all, if there is anyone of us that is lacking a fathers’ love, our Heavenly Father can shower us with His Love in rich abundance and fill all the empty spaces to overflowing. There is no greater gift that a father can give, but of himself. Inheritance, riches and possessions don’t measure up in the end. Remembered are those precious times, when father and child sat side by side, and talked of everyday things, the future and of God

June

  June
Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Ore Glass
June 06, 2013

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest”. –Exodus 33:14 NIVThe month of June has come quickly this year. It’s been a favorite month of many for a lot of reasons. The children love it because it signals the end of school and the beginning of summer. Families pack up for vacations that they have saved all year for. Neighbors gather together for fireworks and a backyard hot dog. Picnics, grilling out and paper plates become the norm. Watermelons are sliced and shared outdoors. A good time has been had by the younger set evidenced by kool-aid stains on t-shirts in colors of cherry, orange and lime. Band-aids cover the scraped knees from bicycle mishaps. Fathers labor over their lawns in a battle against the weeds and Moms brace for whatever the summer brings knowing she must be adaptable. Summer becomes a chance to enjoy family, slack up a little and enjoy the tastes and joys of it all. But in all of our busyness, I think God would have us not forget Him. A small child was asked what did he pray for that day and he replied, “nothing, I didn’t need anything”. We seem to have a tendency to only go to God with our requests when we are in crisis or have a real need. When things are going great for us, He can be easily pushed aside. As summer begins, we should invite God to be present in all we do, plan and enjoy. God is more important than ever as we pray protection over our loved ones that are on the go this summer season.