The Missing Puzzle Peace

     I enjoy putting puzzles together with my grandmother Irene Hudgins. My grandmother would have a card table set up and have her 1000 piece puzzle ready to go. No TV. No music. Just peace and quiet. Sitting on West Texas Farm 5 minutes away from a town of 1,000 and 15 minutes away from a small city of 30,000 there was not much to do for someone young.
     My grandmother and I spent time together. Talking, laughing and playing, Enjoying the time of playing games and putting those puzzles together. Sometimes we would go into town for garage sales to see what we can find. It was funny because I would be embarrassed at the hair curlers she still had in her hair, but she didn’t care. Now I look back at how she created wonderful moments and memories for me.
     We would find 1,000 piece puzzle with a picture of a barn in the middle of the field. Buy it for 50 cents at the garage sale and then race home to put it together. It would take us about two to three hours to finish that puzzle. Sometimes, we would miss that one piece of the puzzle. Then did we truly have peace over the missing piece?
     How often do we run around in our lives trying to get what we need and want? Proud of our accomplishments, may be discouraged of what we didn’t accomplish. There is a radio to keep us company, a cell phone to help us stay in touch, a television to occupy our time and computers to help do our homework or even write this blog. We are tired all the time. We do not get much sleep. We feast on things, which are fast food. There is something missing.
     There is something that is missing and it is called the missing puzzle peace. Peace is missing out of our lives. We run here and there, and we get bent out of sorts when the line doesn’t move fast enough. Someone cuts us off on the freeway. We become frustrated because we cannot stay focused on our work or unable to finish it.
     We have to find that missing puzzle peace in order for us to function the way God has intended for us. We get sick, depressed, lack of sleep, overweight, and many other things because we do not take time out to slow down and enjoy the moment. Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you (Job 22:21).
     A heart at peace gives life to the body (Proverbs 14:30). Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be trouble and do not be afraid (John 14:26-28). The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6). Therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification (Romans 14:19). For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness (Galatians 5:22) and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).
     Finally, meditate on God (Psalms 119:15). Understand his words and meditate on his wonders (Psalms 119:27). Take it to Christ when you are wearied and burdened because He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Sometimes we have to push things that distract us aside, go up to a quiet place, meditate and pray (Matthew 14:23). Doing this has helped me to be able to do as Mother Teresa had said, “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

God's Immeasurable Free Token (G.I.F.T)

Black gold! Texas Tea pours into the water of the gulf. The residual effects are solidifying along the coast. The environment, wildlife, and people lives are forever tainted in blackness. One mistake is costly. Billions and Trillions of dollars and my mind can’t fathom that much money.

     One mistake can be costly not only to ourselves, but those around us. Black sticky goo it’s hard to get off by yourself. No matter how you ask for forgiveness the mess is still in that other persons thoughts because of the residual left behind. Grab some motor oil for your lawn mower or car and put some on your fingers. Can you feel the goo even after you wash off with water?
    
     Our lives are like ovens. Sin is baked into our lives, and it is difficult to remove all sin. There has to be a constant cleaning of that oven. Cleaning is a burden in itself. If it is left neglected then things become dirty. Who likes to clean? Maybe the ones who are paid to get clean?

     I lived in Japan on base. I recall looking out my second story bedroom and looking across the way at a house that had 10 huge dump trucks carrying trash. The military personnel had to wear protective clothing and masks to clean that place. Have you ever seen a hoarder’s house? A hoarder is one that collects things and doesn’t want to get rid of anything. What happens if the house was 3 feet deep in trash? Rodents, cockroaches, flies, maggots, and spiders crawling around and the stench will gag you. Would you want to have dinner with them?

     How do we get the residual effects of this black sticky oven baked mess out of our lives? King David said it best, “Create in me a clean heart.” David was deep in depression. Depression causes you to be sick because of the immune system being down. Christ is like an oven cleaner. It is God’s gift to us. What is a gift? God’s Immeasurable Free Token (Steven Hudgins Quote).

     Would you like to receive a free G.I.F.T? Want to know how to get out of that depressed state? Wash that black Texas Tea off your heart? Want to be free? It has to be through Christ (1 Peter 3:21, going into the water not to wash off the oil and dirt from your flesh, but to cleanse you from the oven baked sin from your soul). Read the other blog called, “A Life Without Stones”. If you are willing and wanting to be free then email me. Learn how to receive that G.I.F.T today. Remember we can’t do it alone in our oil spill and there is only One who can help in the clean up stages. It doesn’t take months or years. The cleansing effect is immediate.

10 Things I Have Learned:

Top Ten Things I have learned in my life:

1. Faith is a step in darkness that brightens my life. Everyone has the same amount of faith; however everyone invests in it differently.

2. Two ears are better to listen with than a tongue that plugs them. Words are like nails to the soul. You can take them back, but the hurt (holes) is still there.

3. A Christian must be without stones in order to help others. Digging a grave is holding onto grievances that buries my true being. A gift of forgiveness is the best present to open for myself to live today.

4. Raising a child the way God designed them and not the blueprint I drew for them.

5. Open minds are healthy minds and a coin has two sides like someone’s story. Looking through a prism presents different ways of looking at things. Never burn a bridge because you may have to cross back over it.

6. “Letting go” will reap more than you can if you kept it. (Relationships)

7. Love is a choice not an emotion. God is love. God never changes. Love never changes. Feelings change. Therefore, love is a choice and not a feeling or emotion.

8. Quiet reflection feeds my soul and provides a peace that passes my understanding.

9. Happiness is a hidden treasure only to be found inside of me. Attitude can control me unless I learn to control it.

10. I can only please one human person: me. I can only please one being: Him.

     This is merely the hem of things I have learned in my life. I have found my life is like wine. It ages in time. It comes out intoxicating in learning about life. There is a spiritual journey I am still walking. One important aspect to my learning is my acknowledgement of one who leads me. My confidence and trust in Him must always develop.

     Someone told me my faith is like a mountain. Sometimes, I feel my faith is a mountain, and sometimes I don’t. It seems my faith is a mountain when it goes my way. My faith is not a mountain when I fear I can’t have my way. This is what keeps me humble in knowing I have to depend on Him to get me where He wants. His ways are better than mine.

     Being laid off from work is never easy. The daunting task of searching for other places to earn a living seems like a river of mud. It always stuck, slipping, and not getting anywhere. There were three job offers that came my way sometime ago:

1. Working as a mental health technician. (Something I want to do as a counselor)

2. Working as a recruiter for a college.

3. Taking a temp job with no promise of being permanent.

     I find it interesting when I doubted of getting a job because of the economy. I stressed and it dawned on me that it feels unnatural to be in the darkness of my life. I prayed it's in your hands. I will take the temp job.

     I could have taken the first job and done things my way, and what I wanted. I could have taken the second job and been easily set financially, but my family would have suffered. Both jobs were good, but it was dependent upon my doing and not His.
    
     I took the temp job as a testing of His will. Three months later I was hired on permanently. I am not able to go into details, but can let you know it is better than the first two and it is similar to a job working at Google and able to practice my Christianity. I don’t have a boss that micro manages me. I am able to relax. If I chose the other because it was something permanent I would have not received such a reward from Him.
    
     The most important thing I have learned. I must rely on Him and not on my own understanding. When I step out in faith and trust Him, then I am able to do more through Him than I could if I did it alone.

     I hope this is something I can pay it forward to you as you read this. I pray it inspires you to know the power of Him who calls us. My life is at peace even when I have storms that rain. Instead of being afraid, I capture the rain, and see the rainbow of His promise. He takes care of me.