A Day in the Life of a Fool

 A Day in the Life of a Fool

by Sherri Stewart

Remember that verse in I Corinthians 1: 27 where God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise? I am so glad God chose me as one of His little fools.

  

It was colder than most January days in Calgary, Alberta—so cold that I was reluctant to drive my old Volvo too far from home, but I hated to miss the first day of the new semester. After dropping my son off at the babysitter’s, I decided it would be safer to take the subway, something I had never done before. A small voice inside reminded me that whenever I do something for the first time, I make mistakes, but I told myself that taking a subway wasn’t rocket science, was it?

I bought my ticket, but knew I would have to transfer downtown to another train that would take me to the university. I wasn’t sure how to do that, but surely someone would help.

When I arrived downtown, I jumped off the train and was waiting for the corresponding one to arrive when a thought struck me. I had left a pot of potpourri simmering on the stove. Great. Why hadn’t I thought to turn the stove off? It had been two hours, and soon the water would evaporate, the pot would catch on fire, and we’d lose everything. I thought of my poor dog as I dug a quarter out of my purse to call a neighbor with a key to my house when I realized my purse was missing. (this was before cell phones). I’d left my purse on the train. No car, no keys, one quarter.

I prayed for God’s help.

Taking a deep breath, I called my next-door neighbor who wasn’t home, but my husband was in town, which was rare since he worked for a hockey team that was always on the road. Bobby was gracious as always and didn’t reprimand me for being an idiot.

While I waited for him to pick me up, I stopped the conductor of an arriving train and told him about my purse. He said he would alert the other drivers to be on the lookout.

As Bobby and I raced toward our house, I scanned the sky for rising smoke in the northeast. Bobby reminded me that we would have to cancel our credit cards and get a locksmith to unlock my car since we didn’t have an extra key.

No smoke billowed out of the house, but I didn’t wait for the car to slow down before I jumped out, opened the garage door, and ran into the kitchen. The red light on the stove was still on, the burner under the small pot was red hot, but the potpourri floating inside the pot wasn’t simmering. I dipped my finger in the brown liquid. It was ice cold. ICE COLD.

The same God who parted the Red Sea and made the sun stand still made the liquid on a red-hot burner ice cold.

But that’s not all. A few hours after I cancelled my credit cards, I received a call from the transit company. They found my purse in a plastic bag. Someone had taken the cash, but left everything else—my passport and visa, my checkbook, credit cards, keys, and driver’s license. I called the bank to see if they would disregard my request to cancel my cards but knew it was a lost cause. The woman at the bank said that the system had gone down after I called so my credit cards were still good.

I made a lot of mistakes on that cold January day, but God didn’t reprimand me. I was doing enough of that myself. He made simmering water cold and made the bank’s system stand still for a few hours for me. Instead of being the worst day of my life, God gave me a story to tell.

About the Book:

By Sherri Stewart

Call Me Jane

Her feet are wet from walking on water. Why is she still wearing her shoes? That was her first question when the fugue cleared. But she has more pressing questions, such as —who is she, where does she live, and how did she end up on Peachtree Street on a cold November night wearing nothing but a nightgown?

With Officer Kyle Rossi’s help, Jane, as she prefers to be called, begins the journey to discover her identity. But the more she learns about the real Aubrey Sutherland, the more she realizes she can’t trust anyone, especially those closest to her, but Jane also learns that a concussion might be the best thing that ever happened to her.

https://www.amazon.com/Call-Me-Jane-Sherri-Stewart-ebook/dp/B0784YSC58/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512335648&sr=8-1&keywords=Call+Me+Jane

About Sherri: 

Newly retired from teaching, Sherri Stewart is transitioning into full-time writing and editing, but she makes time for her other love—spending time with her family, especially with her 89-year-old mother. She also enjoys travelling to locations to research her books. Israel is her next destination, a trip she has looked forward to for years. Sherri lives with her husband, Bobby, with whom she is celebrating her fortieth wedding anniversary. Son Joshua works at Disney and keeps her laughing. She hones her craft through organizations such as Word Weavers International, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Christian Pen.

Social Media Contacts

 www.stewartwriting.com.

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/sherristewart/

Email: sherristewart2@yahoo.com

Website: www.stewartwriting.com/blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherristewartauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/machere

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/758893.Sherri_Stewart/blog

Books by Sherri Stewart

Come Out of Hiding

Romance on the Run

A Well-Founded Fear of Death

Stranded with Pearls

Get Your Kiss on Route 66

Très Chic

Inn Danger

Last Chance Island

The Good Little Nurse

And God Still Loves Me ♥ Patti J. Smith ♥ Book Spotlight

And God Still Loves Me

A Journey From The Dark Abyss of Sin To God's Mercy

by Patti J. Smith

The term, “I’ve been to hell and back,” describes me to a tee and the hell was mostly self-inflicted. Even though I came from a loving, supportive and Christian family, I always felt like an outsider and “less than.”  That all changed when I discovered alcohol.  As a well-known A.A. speaker once said, “I was a duck until I took a drink, then turned into an eagle.”  Alcohol took away my moral compass and everything I learned growing up disappeared into the deep recesses of my mind.  My hedonistic lifestyle was one of perceived indestructibility generating carelessness and vulnerability.

And God Still Loves Me is my story.  A story of a lost soul who shunned God.  Of a journey of self-will that led to a life of excess with total disregard towards reputation, safety, or how it affected loved ones.  It is a story of hope, healing, and accepting that no matter the transgression, God is merciful and His love unconditional.

Patti J. Smith is a multi-genre author, penning Christian devotionals, light romance, and suspense.  She serves as Regional Coordinator for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign and leads Rachel's Hope After-Abortion Healing Retreats in Oceanside, CA. She has shared her testimony at a variety of venues including the March for Life in Washington, D.C. and Walk for Life in San Francisco as well as being a guest on EWTN, Immaculate Heart Radio, and Radio Maria. She also appears in two documentaries, “The Sidewalk Chronicles” and “Hush.” 

Patti and her husband, Michael, live in Vista, CA and have four beautiful granddaughters. Along with her pro-life ministry and writing, she enjoys blogging, reading and proudly admits to being a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan and Fantasy Football fanatic. 

Patti’s Social Media

Website:  www.rachelshopehealingministry.com

Blog:  www.gridirongranny@live.com

Author’s Page:   http://amazon.com/author/pattijsmith 
Twitter:   https://twitter.com/gridirongranny5
Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/giridirongranny

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed

a Devotional post by Heather Davis

"And Jacob said, 'O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.'"
Genesis 32:9-10 [ESV]

Reading through the Old Testament as a new Christian, I remember being overwhelmed by sheer frequency of slaughter documented in its pages. I knew then that God is good and that His purposes are just, but in those early years I really struggled with the annihilation of peoples and nations that are recounted in the Book.

In more recent years, God has brought me to an even more acute understanding of my sin and His sovereignty than ever before — and that’s saying quite a lot. I can see, quite painfully, how sin still taints my choices, my thoughts, even my understanding of God’s will and my service to Him.  

Perhaps because of this or for some other reason, now when I read through the Old Testament it isn’t the wrath of God that is overwhelming; it is His mercy.

As I consider the ancient accounts of deceit and trickery, of faithlessness and arrogance, of unabashed defiance against the Creator, of murder, rape, and incest, I find myself wondering why He would choose to have mercy on any nation or on any single person at all. To be honest, it astonishes me that He did not simply scrap the whole business of humanity entirely and move on.

Reading of the spiritual failures and successes of the forefathers of the faith, I see echoes of my own, wandering heart. I, too, have been pompous and full of pride. At one time in my life, I openly defied the very One who breathed life into me, refusing to believe He even existed.  The life I had before I met my Savior was one of immorality that frankly disgusts me now.

If I were my own Creator, I do not think I could have mustered any mercy for one who offered so little to love as I did.

And yet, He did have mercy on me. Though, like Jacob, I did not acknowledge Him in my early years; though, like Abraham, I sometimes act in faith and sometimes in fear; though I try to “help” Him accomplish His promises as Abraham and Sarah did; though I have wrestled with Him until I have nothing left but to cling to Him, He had had mercy and spared me the wrath I deserve. More wondrous yet, He also repaid all my unbelief and stubbornness with grace, bringing me to know His Son, Jesus, whose obedience and sacrifice has paid in full the tremendous debt of my sin and offered me eternal life.

In His grace, as with Joseph, all the pain and hardship I have suffered, God has used for His good purposes. Because of this, I know that present and future suffering will be used for His glory just the same. This sure knowledge gives me comfort and hope when afflictions loom.

Oh, how I love my Lord and His word! I delight in my days with Him –communing in prayer and by reading His word and meditating on it –simply because I am overwhelmed by His steadfast love and faithfulness!

Gracious God, I praise You today that Your steadfast love never ceases and Your mercies truly never come to an end. Thank You for having mercy on me, and guide me into living a life that reflects Your glory to those around me, amen. 

Hidden from His Goodness

Hidden from His Goodness

a Devotion, by Lynne Tagawa

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.—Ps 100:5

Maybe you know someone whose child was born with a severe heart defect. Or a girlfriend whose marriage is in tatters. Maybe that someone is you. Has the goodness of God dimmed before your eyes? Or have you decided that God is, in fact, a liar?

I don’t think it’s good enough to make the observation that most children are born healthy. It’s not good enough to say that while your marriage may be shattered, at least you have your health. Or your 401(k).

In fact, I never really cared for the hymn, “Count Your Blessings.” It’s true that we should be thankful. That’s actually a command of God. But the idea of counting your blessings as a means of cheering yourself up sounds like positive thinking philosophy, not Christianity. We give thanks to a worthy God because of Who He is and what He has done. Thanksgiving is an act of worship, not a self-help strategy.

Millennia ago, a man named Job did everything right. He managed his property well. He raised his kids properly—and prayed for them all the time, which was especially necessary now that they were grown and out of the house. He worshiped God, and in the book of Job chapter one we find that God considered Job to be “righteous.”

Then God allows Satan to take it all away—we would say that tragedy strikes. Job’s sons and daughters are killed. His goods are stolen. Some weird sort of disease afflicts him, his wife loses any trust in God, and his so-called friends heap blame on him, telling him that it’s all because he sinned somehow.

Job is crushed. He wishes he could die. But instead of cursing God (his wife’s advice) he simply complains.  It’s as if he’s in a pitch-black room—but there’s a crack of light showing under a door, and he faces it. Clumsily, he turns to the only one Who has answers. Sandwiched in between his groaning we catch amazing glimpses of faith:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God . . .Job 19:25-26

We all know the end of the story. After learning some huge lessons about the sovereignty of His Creator and his own unworthiness, Job is restored. But we still might come away with the question: is the God Who did this to Job really good?

Perhaps we confuse our own idea of what is “good” with the biblical definition. To us, we have “good” days and “bad” days. We define them by how well things go for us. It’s a totally self-centered definition.

Here’s God’s definition, found in Exodus 33:19, as the Lord speaks to Moses:

Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

In this passage we see the Lord revealing Himself in a special way to Moses. He speaks of His “goodness”—but the passage seems to focus on the majesty and sovereignty of God. How is this related?

In many passages of Scripture speaking of the goodness of God, we find his mercy mentioned. They are intimately connected. But what is mercy? Something deserved? No, of course not. Job learned that. After seeing the glory of God, he describes himself as “vile.” He realizes afresh that it’s all of mercy—and grace.

Moses was actually hidden in a cleft of a rock while God’s “goodness” passed before him, for his own protection. A full exposure would have killed him. Wow.

When “bad” things happen, it’s okay to feel bad, like Job. The fact that others suffered before us doesn’t mean we are to be stoic about it. They felt it. Christ felt it. But it’s also a time for worship. Even if all you can do is groan to God.

Lynne Tagawa is an educator, author, and editor. The author of Sam Houston’s Republic, she lives in Texas with her husband.

Website: Line Upon Line www.lynne.tagawa.com

Blog: http://gracetrails.blogspot.com