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Dear friends, I want to share something with you today so urgently that was given to me.  What I have to share with you is not my meditation or musing about the new year or some other small matter of life.  No.  This is the most urgent matter in heaven and earth.  This life is fleeting, and we must be ready like the virgins trimming their wicks.  God has created us not to entertain ourselves incessantly but to pray without ceasing.  May HE forgive me for turning my eyes off of eternity and onto the things of this world.  I pray now to God that as you are reading this too that He take you captive to this message that he has given me.  Time is short.

We are to endeavor toward a higher goal.  We must praise God.  The word hallelujah, as I discovered last night, is not just a word to shout when you feel good.  No.  It is a two word directive in Hebrew that literally means…PRAISE GOD.  It’s not just a casual word that we say when we are feeling full of happiness and joy.  It is a thing we should be doing night and day regardless of circumstance.  The longer that we turn our attention aside from God the more difficult it is for Him to get our attention.  We wonder why our prayers are not answered.  We wonder why we are dissatisfied.  I pray for you and for me to our God.  Oh God my God in the heavens, Jesus the messiah, we praise YOU oh God.  Cleanse our lives and reveal the thoughts and deeds that keep us separated from YOU.  Take captive our thoughts and let our lives be filled with YOUR WORD and WILL and not our own.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. -Ephesians 6:12

Do not be discouraged.  Likewise as we are not in a struggle against flesh and blood, we are enabled by God’s Holy Spirit.  You must accept this and be ready for God to give His spirit to you.  We must continue to be aware of how God sees us.  We must be immersed in the Bible and in Biblical teaching so that our minds are not swayed by the things of this world.  Satan is called the god of this world for a reason, and if he can use the things God created to pull us away from the peace of God, then it will be done.  The more we seek God, the more we will hear from God.  God does not perform on demand, though.  He gives what you need when He knows you are ready.

May the name of Jesus be praised in heaven and on earth.  He became human to experience our lives and take on our suffering so that we may experience His eternal life.  Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.  Then He went on to say that the second is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.  There are so many people out there today who are perishing and will spend eternity in hell.  For various reasons, we have become desensitized and do not fully grasp the urgency of this.  Many people that we meet through our lives will die, not knowing God’s love for them because of our timidity.  God forgive my silence.  How simple and powerful is the truth of Jesus.  He conquered death and hell for us.  God is not willing that anyone die and go to hell.  No, a loving God does not want to send people to hell.  It is we who are willing to trade eternity of peace for an eternity of unending torments.  It is we who choose to take our rewards in the here and now where moth and rust destroy rather than in heaven for eternity.  God’s Spirit grieves that people choose death over the life He gives so freely.  How pleasant and fitting it is indeed to lift our voices to praise God, that he is willing that we not perish but take on our guilt and suffering for us.  Jesus said to take His yoke for it is easy.  Today, please cast your cares upon Him.  Give God praise and honor in your life.  God’s Word does not return void.  Let us stop splitting theological hairs and get right with God before it is too late.

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. -Matthew 25:31-46

Weeping, gnashing of teeth, everlasting punishment…I can’t speak for you, but I want no part of that.  A man’s (or woman’s) ways seem right in his (or her) own eyes, but God sees and knows.  May we come clean now before it is too late.  May we be deceived no more and live in God’s holy light.  God will reveal His will to His people.  It is fact, but we must be ready to hear it.  ”He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15)

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. -Galatians 5:16

May God fill your lives to overflowing with His blessings and peace.

My five year-old son is learning to read and write and loves practicing writing his letters. However, he really loves the letter X, saying says “Criss cross, applesauce!” when he writes an X. It is his favorite letter. I was washing dishes last night and had an extremely profound revelation. Washing dishes can be very boring meditative work. Yes, the answer to why Eric loves that letter X so dearly became so suddenly and plainly obvious that I was almost embarrassed for not knowing all along! Naturally, X is the best letter of the alphabet. We put X’s on our calendar whenever we have to count down the days until Daddy comes home from his Army work! X always brings us one day closer to having Daddy. Therefore, X is now our favorite letter.

Immediately after that great thought, another beautiful idea came to me. X really is the greatest letter on earth! The Greek letter X (chi) is the first letter of Χριστός (Christ). It is written “Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Now we know that Jesus, who is the Christ (or Χριστός), was born and lived and died for our sins. He rose from the dead so that we may have everlasting life. This is not just living forever, but living for eternity in the presence of God the father. So X really does bring us closer to being with our Father, and what is there not to love about that?

May your calendars be filled with happy X’s and even happier reunions, and may your homes be filled with the love and peace of Christ.

Counting down to Christmas we now have ten days left.  I’m sure many of you are at some stage of frazzled, frustrated or just plain fizzled out.  Don’t forget during this season of business to take FIVE!

• First things first!  Make sure you prioritize your activities.  You are only one person, and we all have the same 24 hours in the day.  Don’t sacrifice sleep just so you can make one more batch of cookies.  I know you are thinking about it, but really your health is more important than an extra dozen cookies.
• Invest time in family.  It may be easy to get out of regular family routines, but now is the time to keep up with regular activities.  Most especially keep reading the Word of God.  It’s amazing how easy it is to slip out of good habits with the best of intentions.
• Visit someone who needs to be cheered up.  Being a good friend is the best gift in the world for someone who is lonely at the holidays.  If you know someone whose spouse is deployed, make sure to spend a few minutes with her even if it’s just on the phone.  If you are feeling lonely, it will be a blessing for you too!
• Eat good food.  Nourish your body.  Don’t just snack on the Christmas cookies and other festive foods available throughout the upcoming weeks.  Regular exercise wouldn’t hurt either, and a nice walk will help clear your mind, too.

Dear Friends, today I’m pondering my sweet little boy and his special needs.  We think that our little bundle of joy energy is on the autism spectrum.  He has trouble with church, restaurants and other places where he is expected to follow rules that he cannot understand.  He has an aide at school to help him stay on track, but otherwise, I’m his full time helper.  Not being at work full time (I mean getting in the car, driving to a building where I sit in a grey cube all day, get paid a few dollars after gas and daycare to stare at a computer and get verbally abused to which I reply thanks for the ‘constructive’ criticism.), I’ve got some time to reflect on what’s important in life again.  I realized God must see us in the same way.  He gave us an instruction manual – the Bible – which we don’t use correctly, and we are running around trying to figure out why things are going wrong and how to keep things together, since we don’t know the rules.  In this way, we all have special needs, then don’t we?  In order to be a better mom for my son, I decided to take a look at how God does the parenting for me.

#1) Be patient.  If I spend time in the Word every day, my errors are usually pretty apparent right away.  Thankfully God is slow to anger, says the Bible.  Staying calm with my boy helps him to stay calm too.

#2) Make the rules clear and simple.  God gave us a ten step plan to easily follow His will.  Jesus further simplified it into two main rules.  Love the Lord your God with everything you have in you, and then love your neighbor.  Easy.  Okay that’s easier said than done, but it’s straightforward, and you can’t argue with that.  Show adoration for the one who created you, and show that you care about everyone that He created.  When my son has a picture schedule or I break things down into really simple steps, one at a time, he fares a lot better.

#3) Appreciate the sweetness of just being together.  “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.   The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.“  (Psalm 19:7-10 KJV)  “I love sitting next to you.” (Eric King)

#4) Join the mutual admiration society.  God loves us (it’s in the Bible a few times).  We love Him because He first loved us, and He gave us His own son to redeem us in spite of ourselves.  It’s easy to love my son in part because of his pure, sweet innocence.  Likewise, he loves me, in spite of my imperfections.  The feelings are mutual all the way around.

#5) There are always opportunities to learn and grow.  Today, we are going to the pool to work on our swimming.  While we are there, we learn telling time:  Watch the clock to make sure we leave in time for kindergarten.  We learn social skills:  Don’t splash other people in the face, and go to the bathroom before you get in the pool.  We learn about authority:  Listen to the lifeguards when they tell you to put on your walking feet.  We learn to love our neighbors:  Show concern for someone who gets a booboo, and play with someone who doesn’t have a friend in the pool.  Honor Mom when she says to get out of the pool and get dressed.  We learn math by counting the coins to put in the vending machine to buy apple slices.  God’s blessings come for us when we follow His rules.  To follow the rules, we have to learn them first.

Don’t be so hard on yourself.  Allow yourself to grow and learn because we all have special needs.  Go ye therefore, and train up some disciples (don’t forget your children are mini disciples in the works).

Today I was thinking about what a friend Jesus is to us no matter our mood or our need.  What a friend we have in Jesus…all our sins and griefs to bear!  What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!  I was reminded of this beautiful hymn because I have two very dear family members who have cancer.  Knowing that they are suffering is a tremendous burden on our family.  Having a friend with whom you can share your troubles makes it so much easier to go through the day.

I have heard that a friend in need is a friend in deed.  Jesus then is the best friend that we have.  He lived and died and was resurrected so that we may have not just an abundant life but eternal life.  The things of this world will pass away but the word of God will stand forever.  Our failures and worries will seem more manageable only when we turn to Jesus.  He uplifts the fallen and gives us strength for the time we are given, but we must accept His love.

Sometimes military wives tend to be too self sufficient.  My friends and I say that there is Army Strong and then there is Army Wife Strong.  We don’t confide our weaknesses in others because we don’t want to bother anyone…even God!  We often need reminding that Jesus is a friend that is with us day and night in joy and sorrow.  He knows our needs before we do.

Thank you Lord that you are with us and understand our needs.

Just two weeks ago, we celebrated the start of a new year. Many people rang in the new year with resolutions of various sorts. Some people resolve to lose weight. Some people want to get a better job. Others want to improve their self esteem. However, now that the first two weeks have passed, we see that it takes effort to maintain these new habits. Maybe you resolved to read the Bible more often or go to the gym. In order for these changes to be long lasting, we need to put forth the effort. This body doesn’t always want to cooperate. Set the alarm clock a little earlier, and it may be easy to wake up on time for a while, but in order to make this routine part of your daily schedule, you must keep doing it and not fall back into old habits. So it is with seeking God. The Bible even tells us that none are seeking Him.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh God. -Romans 3:10-11

Instead of making empty resolutions, let us rather, seek God and ask for wisdom from Him. Solomon was given the opportunity to have anything he could possibly want and chose wisdom. He wrote often about it. The book of Proverbs alone extols it above all else. It is my prayer for you today that you will join me in not just making reading the Bible and spending time with God just another failed resolution, but to earnestly seek His wisdom.

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. -Matthew 26:41

The day the baby Jesus was born and placed in the manger, angels appeared to shepherds in the fields. Fear not they said to the shepherds and then began to praise God…

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. -Luke 2:14

Christmas 2010 is quickly approaching, and the topics of conversation I have heard around are, “Did you finish your shopping?” “Do you have a Christmas tree yet?” “Did you go shopping on black Friday?” These are all centered around traditions of gift giving and family celebrations, but do they really bring glory to God in the highest. I was starting to feel a little guilty for not getting a Christmas tree this year as I always do. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really don’t need a Christmas tree or decorations to celebrate Christmas. My husband said it even better. He said that God does not care if we have a Christmas tree in our house. He would prefer that we have His love for each other. Glory to God and on earth peace and good will. It is not so easy to share peace and good will in a world that is constantly in a rush and seems to be bent on squeezing the Christ out of Christmas.

Having a merry Christmas is passive. There is no work involved in it. Giving and receiving presents, enjoying the family feast and time off from work is enjoyable. However, sharing peace and good will is active. We must work do do God’s will, not the retailers’ will. Let us not forget this week to keep sharing God’s love and the peace that only He can give.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. -John 14:27

Today, I would like to share a great resource with you.  It is Faith Deployed:  Daily Encouragement for Military Wives, from our friend, Jocelyn Green.  If you have not visited Jocelyn’s web site, we have a link right here on the page for you.  This is an excellent resource for every military spouse.  As you know, wives have no ranks.  We are all in the same boat for deployment.  However, we can reach out to each other and help each other.  She has  a team of writers who are busy posting articles that are timely and edifying! I am so happy to offer a copy of this book for our listeners.  I bought it for myself when my husband first left for deployment.  She had a buy one get one offer, so I got two books and gave one to my dear friend whose husband has been deployed with mine.  We have both been blessed by reading it, and I know that you will also!

Faith Deployed is divided into eight sections.  It follows a sequence which follows along with the needs of a spouse as deployment progresses.  Beginning with “Taking Every Thought Captive:  Training Our Minds to a Biblical Perspective” and ending with “Hope of Victory:  Recognizing God’s Goodness”.  The book is written in a daily devotional style that can be read a little every day.  The author of the individual vignette is noted on each page.  For example, Jocelyn wrote one section entitled, “Asking for Help”.  On this page, she quotes, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)  There are reflection questions at the end and a suggested prayer.  It can be read straight through or topically if you have areas which you want to address first.  ”Asking for Help” was one of the first pages that I read in this book.  This book will definitely shift your faith from sometimes to full time!

This morning, during our 10 am (EST) Blog Talk Radio program, we are going to be talking with Kathy from Home Base Program out of Boston, Massachusetts.  We will be talking about post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and the effects of deployment on families.  Please keep in mind that families include those who have children and those who do not.  There are many military wives sending their soldiers off on deployment who have no children or who only have “fur babies” (aka pets).  Deployment effects these wives and pets obviously in different ways than it does children and mothers.  However, I want for us to get an idea of a wide spectrum of experiences in today’s conversation.  It is going to be an important discussion.  We need you…to participate that is!  Please e-mail any questions or comments to TaraK@frazledmwcn.com, call in to the blog talk radio line (347) 237-4281 (press 1 to talk to the host) or participate in the chat room on the Blog Talk Radio site.

I hope that you will join us at 10 am (EST) today for our discussion.  I would love to be able to share a copy of this wonderful resource with a military wife whose husband is either on deployment or is about to leave for deployment.  Every military wife should have a copy of this book in her arsenal of tools for deployment.

Today is Veterans Day or Remembrance Day depending on where you are in the world.  Today marks the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.  The first Armistice Day was proclaimed on November 11, 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson.  In 1938, Congress voted and made it an official holiday.  It was not until the 1950sthat the name was changed in the United States to Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those who served in World War I.  This was signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954.

Please take a minute and not only thank a veteran, but also pray for them or even with one if you have the chance.  May God bless those who give so much and ask for so little.

We thank You LORD for those people through the years who have made tremendous sacrifices for the freedoms of our country.  We lift up those who are serving or have served and their families as well as the families who will not see their service member this side of eternity.

While today is a special day for veterans, let us not forget to remember those who serve in our neighborhoods:  police, fire, medical responders, etc.  They also serve every day for our health and safety, and some of their numbers have also paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to the citizens of our great nation.

Thank you, Veterans!

This morning I read the following statement in the daily devotional (Our Daily Bread*) that I use:  God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan.  There are so many stories in the Bible of God using ordinary people to carry out extraordinary plans!  We never know God is going to use us in the grand scheme of life.  One word of encouragement could be all a friend needs.  That one word can translate into action.  That action could translate into belief.  The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God!  Have you shared a good word from God’s book with a friend?  Here is the one word that I am going to pass along to you today:  Thanksgiving!   No.  I do not mean turkey day, although that is a great day on the calendar.  I am talking about every day giving of thanks.  Psalm 26:7 says,

“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

Notice the difference between thankful and thanksgiving?  Giving is an action.  You can be thankful but not give thanks.  Thanksgiving is also something that you can give to others.  Most importantly, let’s remember to actively give thanks to the Lord and not just have a passive attitude of gratitude.  So today, I am writing to you, dear sisters, with a voice of thanksgiving, and I am also asking you to share a good word with someone in your life today.  We are often caught up in talking about the business of daily life but forget to mention the Word of God in our daily conversations.  May you all have a blessed and THANKFUL day full of THANKSGIVING.