The Recommendation Series – Yield to the Right Way

In Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ Bible study Lies Women Believe, she brings out a great truth about yielding. After discussing all the rights we claim we have or need to have today she makes this observation:

The fact is, successful relationships and healthy cultures are not built on the claiming of rights but on the yielding of rights. Even our traffic laws reflect this principle. You’ll never see a sign that says, “You have the right of way.” Instead, the signs instruct us to Yield the right of way. That is how traffic flows best; it is also how life works best.

We spend so much time placing sticks in the ground and claiming our rights to this cause or that cause or our own selfish rights that we never stop to consider yielding to the rights of others or to God. I’ve seen many relationships falter and fail because neither party was willing to give in or even consider what the other person needed.

In reality, as believers in Jesus Christ, we yielded all our rights when we became servants of the Most High. We supposedly gave up the selfish desires of our flesh and all that it contains to follow the Living Lord. But did we really?

Some may think the idea of motherhood means giving up everything you want because you have kids. So? What could be more important than raising a bunch of really great kids and loving it? If that’s God’s plan for you, then do it with all your heart. God will give you everything in abundance—including all the love you can handle, more hugs than anybody deserves, and a fulfilled heart’s desire. Where’s the selfishness in that? You’ve yielded your life’s plan to God’s perfect plan for you. There will never be a better way than that to live your life.

I’m not sure what you need to yield today but if it’s your selfish will, then get off your high horse and get down on your knees right now and turn those things over to Christ. If it’s your comfort, your wealth, your relationship with your husband or wife, or whatever it is, give it up. Yield it to God’s plan, not your selfish way. Take yourself out of the picture and see how yielding to God can give you abundant life!

The Recommendation Series – Two – Stop, Write, and Send

Note: This series is going to deal with recommendations on how to live life to the fullest.

Stop, Drop, and Roll is an action to help save your life if your clothing catches on fire. The same concept is true of stop, write and send. Let me explain.

When my husband developed a brain tumor, we started our own webpage called Care Pages. It was a website where we could write updates on how he was doing during his treatments and surgery. So many people took the time to write encouraging words to us on those pages. Throughout the three months of his treatment, during the surgery, and afterward the volume of notes and emails continued to grow. When his sudden and devastating death happened, the pages raced to over 400.

Before and after the funeral and for two months longer we kept the pages up. My family would read all the notes and be comforted. Some people wrote verses, some cried right along with us, and others sent condolences. It was the most amazing thing to see people pour their hearts out in expressions of love to our family.

During our days the Lord brings people to mind who need those same comforting, caring words, and we need to stop and send them an email or a card. I have hundreds of cards from well-wishers who wrote lovely notes to me and my family. All of my children have cards they’ve received and kept throughout the last five years. Often, I’ll just read two or three and it’s a real blessing to me. I printed out all the care pages and reread parts of them when I need some encouragement. I can’t even put them into one notebook there are so many!

Don’t tell me you don’t have time. Don’t even go there! If you have time to read this post, then you have time to stop, write and send an encouraging note or email to someone God’s put on your mind. It may be an inconvenience to you but to the recipient, it’s like two arms lifting her up and carrying her through a difficult situation. Don’t just choose any card but choose one specifically for that person. God will lead you to one. And if you send an email be sure to let her know you’re praying for her and then do it! We’re so busy in our lives that we say, “I’m praying for you,” but may never really take the time to pray.

Remember these three words: Stop, Write and Send. They may not save someone’s physical life, like stop, drop and roll, but they can produce comfort to a hurting heart! Be an encourager today!

The Recommendation Series – One – Break the Restraints!

Note: This series is going to deal with recommendations on how to live life to the fullest.

Recommendation #1

The first thing I recommend you do is this: Do something absolutely crazy. I don’t care what age you are, what your status is in life, how much money you have, what neighborhood you live in, or if your first name starts with a T or a Q, you need to cut loose once in a while. I’m not talking about doing unlawful things; I mean shaking off the stress and pressures of work and life and dancing to your heart’s melody, the one that God put there.

There were many times when my kids were growing up that I must have looked like an absolute idiot to my neighbors and friends, but I really didn’t care. The things I did to make my children happy or to have a lot of fun often included some process of making me look ridiculous to some people as an adult. So what? I’ve always believed that I need to be myself, not who the world expects me to be or how they want me to act. God created me uniquely. Very uniquely, as my children would say!

I don’t know many mothers who would put on a big, brown garbage bag, stuff it full of newspapers, paint their face brown and dance around like a California raisin for their high school senior’s graduation awards ceremony, but I did. Of course I persuaded two other friends to do it with me! Then how about the time I donned a Chucky Church Mouse costume and did the polka around the lobby of our local bank with the bank president for his birthday? Yes, I did this! I’ve dressed up as a French chef and served cow tongue and eyeball soup in a local restaurant to a friend who was celebrating 25 years of employment. And…the list goes on.

Am I crazy? Is there more than one screw loose upstairs or one brick short of a full load? No. I just know that breaking out of the mold that most people put themselves in is good for me. It makes me laugh and makes others laugh, too! Kids love it and it brings you to their eye level instead of them always looking at your knees.

Break out! Do something crazy! Go skydiving (oh, I’d love to do this!), take a balloon ride (check), get on a SeaDoo and go 70 miles per hour across the big lake (been close-65!), buy a Harley (hmmm, that could be arranged!). There is so much to see and do that gets passed by if we live within the restraints of the world. Our mighty God is so big and He’s given each of us opportunity after opportunity to be what He created us to be. Stop trying to impress the world and live it up! This life, your life, was made just for you! Life’s short, time is short—don’t short-change yourself!