Just a thought by coppi – written in 2015

A light house does not blow fog horns but it only shines.  

When I read the above I thought of our walk as Christians.  Does our life reflect the light  of Jesus.  St Mark 4:21: and he said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? And not to be set on a candlestick?  A candle beams its flickering light so we may find our way in the dark as does the Lighthouse.  As Christians we should let our light shine & walk in the light of Christ.  We need not blow fog horns but just shine & let the Holy Spirit beam through us.  Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord……i grew up in a very legalistic religion & if we did have a little light, it was totally blown out with dos & don’ts & lots of fear. 1 John 4:7: Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God….10: herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us & sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4 is filled with scriptures of love.  The pendulum swings both ways but should be in balance.  I guess my desire is not to be a fog horn but a flickering light for our Lord.

“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, ”My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers’” (Matthew 21:12-13)
Anger?  I grew up afraid to speak out about anger. I was afraid of it. As a result I shut down my feelings and emotions. Emotions if not expressed will come out in other ways. I told my husband “always tell me how you feel, and I will do the same.  Let’s communicate with honesty and discuss our issues, and not stuff them”.  I had to learn to be angry. I went  a class in Dallas, Tx entitled “ A way out”.  In that class, I learned how to express anger. The teacher put boxing gloves on me, I had to punch that bag until I could feel the anger. It was a journey for me, but well worth the effort.  Please, don’t ask me to do something, and then if a better situation comes along, you will go in that direction. Be upfront with me. I can handle that, but I cannot handle not being told what you decided to do instead and then being left in the lurch and wondering.  I guess in my golden years, I want peace and happiness.  Maybe I should buy me a log cabin by a river, buy a fishing pole with a cork, and enjoy the solitude of being alone. It’s a thought, I think I like it. 
Just a thought by coppi

“I will have to remember ‘I am here today to cross the swamp, not to fight all the alligators.’” – Rosamund and Benjamin Zander

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God is able to help you cross the swamps and fight the alligators in your life whatever they may be – heartache over the loss of someone you love, financial crisis, envy, jealousy, sickness, broken relationships, etc.  I read yesterday in Guidepost of a lady engulfed in fear, she was so crippled by it; she was afraid to do anything.  Not only her fear crippled her from enjoying life, she brought that same fear into the lives of her children. Until one day, as she was praying with her son to have a safe day, she felt something being lifted from her body. She did not know what it was until she realized it must be the fear she had been burdened with her entire life.  Later she tested some of the fears: she walked down into the cellar, she climbed a ladder, she walked to the river, etc – no fear. Now, she is able to fly, swim, etc, and allow the same freedom for her children.   Have you been praying for something in life to be lifted, and you are still hanging on for a miracle?  I have. I end with this note. “Prayer and repeating a glow from reading the Bible or a mediation that jumped off the pages into your heart may become like wings carrying us above the moods and turbulences of the days and weeks ahead”.

Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human. (Henri Nouwen)

1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

When I started writing “just a thought” years ago, I knew I had to open myself and be vulnerable if I was going to help anyone suffering the same fears, etc, I was going through. Being vulnerable is not easy, because I wanted to impress the world with perfection. But when I took a course in “A Way Out”, and I saw a room filled with people in all walks of life. Men and women.  So many different masks we were all hiding behind! The good thing was when the masks were lifted, humanity came forth, and hurts, fears, regrets, etc, came spilling out.  Just like Alcohol Anonymous, we were told “what is said in this room stays here”.   Going through this class, helped me to “find Me” and to be “Me”, the person God created – warts and all.

Just a thought by coppi

“The key to failure is trying to please everybody. The key to success is to realize you can’t please everyone and to have the courage to make changes that may initially upset some.” – Seth Godin

“A man does not grow old because he plays; he grows old because he stops playing.” – GK

My husband suffers much with back pain, arm pain, and a knee problem.  But he also knows he must keep doing or he will grow old.  He enjoys the game of golf, so he plays as often as he can.  We still manage to keep hiking in our daily life.  However, we both went through a time this year with sickness. It was a difficult time in our lives.  I realized change can happen in a instant, and I better focus on the moment and enjoy that time. The most prominent scripture regarding staying in the present is Matthew 6:34, which says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”. This verse encourages focusing on the present moment and not letting anxieties about the future consume you.   This is difficult for me to comprehend, because I have a tendency to focus on my future.  After going through a difficult time with sickness, I have begun to focus more on change.  Change can happen in second.  I believe I need to focus on the time that is before me and enjoy it.  That is what I need to do, and I will. 

Luke 24:13-35New International Version

On the Road to Emmaus

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 

Years ago when I lived Dallas, Tx, I became friendly with a lady that owned a dry cleaning facility that I frequented. I was an art major in college, and would share some of my paintings with her.  She loved my work, and bought the painting I did “On the Road to Emmaus .  She wanted to donate it to Oral Roberts University, which she did.  The story of “On the Road to Emmaus” is very meaningful to me.  The ole’ hymn “And He walks with me, and He talks with me” is a  similarity to “ On the Road to Emmaus”,  because as I walk along the fields and roadsides,  Jesus, walks and talks to me.  These are special moments that I love and enjoy in life.   Companionship can prevent loneliness and social isolation.  Having a friendship with Jesus can provide me with a sense of belonging and happiness.  My closeness with Him provides  me with love and joy, which is needed in my life.  

Just a thought by coppi

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬, ‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I committed above scripture to my understanding and memory years ago when I was leaving for a seventeen-day trip starting in San Diego, Ca.  I really didn’t want to go, but was obligated to going.  To be honest, I really do not care about traveling.  I love home.  I play golf, and we played golf from San Diego, Ca to Seattle, Wa. I quoted above scripture over and over again.  It was a light, and it shined in the dark corners of my soul.  I look back at that time, and honestly don’t know if I was happy or sad. I think I was moving along with the world.  I know that I was a person doing not being. “In Him was life, and that life was light of all mankind.”   In Ephesians, God pulls back the curtain and allows us to see that the purpose of his will was set forth in Christ to unite all things in him.  Jesus is the Word, He was with God before the beginning of time, He came to us through a Virgin, born in this world, to become our Savior, and is our redeemer.  We are saved by His love – GRACE. His light shines in darkness – let His light shine in the dark corners of my soul – it will become like a bright beam from heaven.  That’s what I desire. 

Just a thought from coppi

“Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.” Isaiah 60:20

Second chances I need in my life, and I feel as though I have been given a few.  I am very grateful I had them.

Change can happen in a flash.  I don’t want things to change. I love my old computer, tablet, phone, etc, but no, I have to keep up with the current pace and not be left out.  I must keep doing and being, to keep up.  

Change happened to me so quickly that I quiver at the thought as I write this.  One day I am so healthy, playing golf, etc.  then, sickness enveloped me.  I am totally out of life, to me, it seemed forever.  I am better today, and I am grateful to my Lord.  I just know now, I better enjoy the moment as it can change in a flash. 

Life is a gift from God.  We are not robots – we have decisions to make that determine the outcome of our lives.  Myself, I looked to Jesus for guidance on what to do. That is my choice, and that’s enough for me. 

Just a thought by coppi

Just a thought by coppi

God promises in Isaiah 42:16, “And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” 

“These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”  God is true to His promises.  He will not forsake me/you.  He will shine light on our dark places and He will turn the rough places into level ground.  He is our Shepherd- follow Him and He will guide and direct my/your steps.

December 28th is my beautiful sister’s birthday, Ruth, who is in heaven embracing Jesus, who she loved. Happy Birthday Ruth.  I love you and miss you. 

Your angelic granddaughter is doing very well in life. you would be proud.  She reminds me of Beverly who had a heart of tenderness and love.  She keeps close to me through her daily texts.  I call her my beautiful angel😇.  

Happy Birthday Ruth.  Love you and I thank you for all you did for us through your many years on earth.  You were faithful to the promise you made to Daddy ’Take care of Mamma’.   You did.

Hug all my siblings there with you. 

2023

Timothy Keller was right when he wrote this in The Meaning of Marriage: “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”

Being fully known and truly loved is what I desire – I have quoted this before when I have been asked to speak at different events. I usually start with “When two people meet there are three different people you are trying to let that person know about you 1) who you are trying to impress that person with who you are. (2)who that person thinks you are. (3) and who you really are.  Speaking before people is not one of my enjoyments as when I was a child growing up I stuttered and was very fearful of who I was.  But I told the Lord if He opened a door, which He did many times, I would face the fear and darkness and not close the door.  Not easy, but can be done with Jesus holding your hand.  If you run from the darkness of fear, it will engulf and swallow the life out of you.  I am not a fake nor do I pretend to be someone I am not;  I will take the risk of not being loved or accepted to be the person God created me to be.  It was a hard lesson to learn, still is at times, but certainly worth the effort. H