living up to promises...

Too often, we vote for someone politically because of the promises they make during their campaign. They promise so many things: increased wages, decreased taxes, more health care, less of this, more of that. It is with great hope that we elect them, we cast our ONE vote their way. Many times, however, once they are in office, things are not always as they seem. They have lied, they let us down, they do the exact opposite...am I right?

I will not name any affiliate or office held...just add your state or city, put in a name and believe me, you have been let down many times.
Why bother to vote, right?

Or perhaps you were sold a product that did not live up to its promises. That shirt shrunk in the wash. That toothpaste made you ill. That makeup left blemishes on your face. That car was recalled because it just doesn't work. And on it goes.

There is One who will never let you down. What He says, goes. What He promises WILL happen! God has always been and will always be there for us...a guiding presence who has our best interests at heart. This is not to say that if the weatherman promised sunshine and it just rained on your parade, that God is bad...no He is not! Because it was a human who gave the prediction. We can pray for that sunshine, but even if it does rain, instead of blaming God...ask who needed the rain more....farmers, gardeners.....? And if it did just rain on your parade....take heart...there IS a rainbow somewhere! Did you think to look for it?

I have been in some pretty yukky storms...both in my personal life as well as meteorlogically. I remember one such storm, my daughter was just one month old. It was a late September storm that rattled the shingles and tore trees from their spot in the ground. We had no basement that was safe to take shelter in, as our basement was not only  leaking copius amounts of water, but it had huge glass windows on the south side. So we huddled in the middle of the house right next to a small closet... and I prayed. Oh how I prayed! I held my baby tight and as I heard the wind all around, I was confident that, like the disciples in Jesus's day, we were safe. The next morning, I saw two trees that came to within inches of falling on the house. Two massive ash trees. Instead, they fell in odd twists AWAY from the house- as if Someone had either pushed them away or else placed them there, out of reach of the structure. A small tornado had come through, but thanks be to God...we survived. There have been many storms also that had  nothing to do with tornadoes but everything to do with circumstances...being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or with the wrong people...or just telling God to leave, that I no longer needed Him. It was then that I found the deepest trouble. When one has sent God away, one realizes REAL quick that the road is lonely and a scary place to be.

Instead of turning aside from God when things don't seem to go the way you'd like, turn TO God instead! Give Him thanksgiving, as if you already have everything you need!!! When you give someone a present, don't you appreciate a "thank you?" I know that I DO! God is the same way....all He has is YOURS! But like anyone...He would appreciate a little thanksgiving....and it doesn't have to be only when miracles happen! A simple, "thank you God, for having preserved me through the night....and thank you for this day. Thank you for my husband/wife/best friend...for my children...for the food I have and my home...for my friends...for EVERYTHING!"

Today, be thankful for God...who always lives up to His Word. Give thanks also for the many little miracles around you...keeping your eyes open for the moments that will simply steal your breath away! It's Springtime here for me in Minnesota...I live one mile from the Mississippi River, the main flyway for bird migration. Believe me...when I see those snow geese and trumpeter swans returning..and the sounds they make...it sets my heart to mush. And I give thanks to God for being allowed to see even a small portion of that!