Distractions Abound

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" Luke 10:40 NIV

Some of you may be thinking I've heard that verse before. Why is it when someone's distracted this the verse that comes up? Maybe because when looking through the Bible this is the only one with the word distracted in it.

Distracted is exactly what I've been. Yesterday I sat down to write my blog and I became distracted with other thoughts. I couldn't figure out which way I was supposed to go, so I put the computer aside thinking I would come back to work on it later. Later never happened because of distractions.

The entire summer break became a distraction with all the obstacles that came my way. I'm not quite sure how many fights I broke up or how many times we were late leaving on a field trip because I would get distracted while trying to prepare our lunch and things we needed to bring. One big distraction came when my husband was hospitalized. Funny how life has a way of distracting you from what you desire to do.

Ideally my summer should have been filled with time to finish my fourth book and time to work on editing the second one, so I could possibly publish it this fall. Usually, I have extra time during the kids rest time to work on things like that. I also had plans to work on some of the extra cleaning that needs to be done, but none of those things happened.

Even as I sit here trying to write this blog, I'm distracted. Distracted by the little ones I care for, distracted by the pest control company, distracted by the peaches I put on the stove and completely forgot about because of the distraction of getting the laundry done.

Distractions are a part of life. We even have an extra distraction when our phones go off because of someone texting us, a Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, or email update. Funny how sometimes we think we need to drop everything just to respond.

Maybe the reason this verse is the only one that talks about distraction is because the answer to our distractions is in the following verse. "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are distracted about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her."

Choosing the better...to sit at the Lord's feet and listen to what He is teaching. So maybe it's time I get off of here and chill on my couch and devour the words the Lord has so graciously given to me.

Just Because You Say It's True

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Psalm 119:160 NIV

Saturday I had the chance to hear different inspiring messages. One phrase that stuck with me was "Just because it's true for you, it doesn't make it true."

Right now we are living in times whenever someone thinks something is true, he/she then tries to push this truth on to others. If you don't get this truth right with certain groups they quickly make you out to look like a fool and demand you make an apology. Sometimes this truth isn't true at all, but it sounds good so then everyone is told to buy into it.

So how do we determine what is true. Do we trust our news media? Do we trust our family? Do we trust our friends? There are so many "truths" floating around where do we go?

For me I've found the only way to find out if something is true is to look to the source of all truth. Some may not like the source, in fact some may say "That was written by a lot of different authors and it was written so long ago that it doesn't pertain to today." It's true the source in which I go was written by different people and was written a long time ago, but I believe each author was God inspired.

As I have journeyed through this adventure called writing, I understand how each author could be God inspired. At times I sit down and think I'm going to write about one thing and by the time I've finished the message I've written has turned into something completely different than I thought. Most every time before I write I ask God to lead me into the message He wants, and you know what he does. So I am pretty certain that each author of the source I go to was led by God to write what He wanted them to.

Sure the source I go to was written a long time ago and some of the stories are a bit confusing to understand. I struggle through the names and who beget who. Still I am usually inspired by something I find in this source. To my amazement on several occasion I have been led to the same verse several times throughout the day. Every once in awhile I have been asked to share a certain verse with others and sometimes this particular verse is exactly what they needed to hear.

Some may say that God didn't mean it that way, He really meant it this way. If He only was around today, He would be alright with it. Not so, God is around today and He still means what He said. He doesn't change.

Sometimes when the source doesn't give me the message I need. God will point me to His truth in other ways through prayer, songs, and messages from others.

So even if a certain truth is right for you, I will check with the most reliable resource the Bible and God. If after consulting Him then maybe your truth will be true, but maybe it won't be. My truth comes from the LORD and I stand with Him.