WHAT? SERIOUSLY?

"Your card has been declined", was the reply of the cashier.  "What?  Are you serious?" was my fervent reply.  Searching in my wallet for some hopeful cash supply to hand over, I was thinking "Oh great!  How did this happen?"  I'm so glad she didn't say ".....and have a nice day".

I was ticked.....thinking of how this could have happened, as I hurriedly left the store with my purchased items.  Entering the house, I told Bruce of the declined card.  He immediately rushed into action.  He kind of reminded me of the Mighty Mouse cartoon I remembered as a child where the mouse would chime out....."here I am to save the day".  Looking up our transactions on the internet, he noticed a huge amount of $4000 that we knew wasn't ours.  Calling the credit card company, we found out they had stopped our card when a $10,000 amount was applied to our card.  "We will issue you a new card, new number and security code", was his kind remark.......big sigh on our end.

I'm thinking now - maybe I won't be so eager to hand over my credit card for someone to swipe out of my view.  You never know.  My thought - I'll swipe my own credit card. Thank. You. Very. Much!

ESSENTIALS FOR CHRISTIAN GROWTH

What are the essentials for Christian growth:

1. Salvation.
2. Scripture
3. Sharing
4. Suffering
5. Stretching
6. Solitude
7. Service

We must be intentional in our spiritual growth.  The process is not automatic.  Hebrews says that mature believers have their senses trained because of practice.... "their power of discernment is trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."  (Heb. 5:12-14)

What happens when the hurricane gust-winds blow adversity into our life?  Do we topple over and get blown away by the force of the adversity or do we stand?  Do we trust the Lord through the fire of adversity?  Adversity, difficulties, hurricane moments, challenges that surprise us and take our breath away is what grows our faith.  We can fall under the weight of it or stand up and use the tools we've been given to fight and become a warrior.  How else do we become a "proven warrior" but by fighting battles.

This life is our "practice ground" so to speak.  We sometimes have "why me?" moments or just those "why?" moments.  It can be hard to see how God can actually take what's happening and use it for good.  Sometimes we even blame Him.  

I want to practice trusting God in those moments, to train my "senses" to respond in faith.  It's a journey - yes. Not always easy. Training is hard work. Readjusting how I respond can be difficult but not impossible.  I am learning and will continue to learn as long as I have breath.

Verse to Remember
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.  Hebrews 5:14