Comfort Zone or Zone of Complacency

Fuss and nonsense started coming at me yesterday, into the night and all today. I wondered for a moment, only a moment,why. Then I reminded myself that there is no good reason, or rather that there is only one, the enemy of our joy, our peace our being in Christ was doing the dirty on me again. I have been experiencing ongoing challenges over the last 4 years. With encouragement and active intervention I had established a deadline to make a direct turnaround in my position and circumstances. But, on reflection,I was becoming complacent; settling into a situation that needed unsettling. I was beginning to be comfortable in a bad place. Developing a thick skin and accepting LESS THAN.

Did you know that one can become complacent about negativity; that one's comfort zone is not necessarily a comfortable place but a convenient one? I have known for a long time that change is imperative for myself and my children. I always decide to effect the process but ... but then the pressure eases a little. I tell myself, "Don't rush, wait and see. Maybe this is a sign that things will get better from here on out". And sure, the atmosphere is peaceful for a season. But as always,it is only for a while.

There are no changes really, just a pause. I get caught out again. As the waves of hurt and disappointment fill up my heart and mind, I chide myself again, promise myself again, kick and scream again, cry and pray again, moan and whisper to myself about change again. Yet, still the only change I really make is to accommodate the new bruises, find a way to live with the additional wounds, plan and promise that the time will come when God will bring about that change, when I will make that transition. In truth,I have become comfortable with misery, with passive aggression, with veiled rejection, with hidden scorn, with emotional manipulation, with busy isolation, with gilded imprisonment. I have established a comfort zone in enemy territory. God needs me to do something,to listen,to act. I am not so sure what action to take, the best road to walk. The heart wants ...

It is told that when the eagle is ready for its young to fly, it works at making the nest very uncomfortable. Eventually there comes a day when it will actually push the little one out of the nest. The mother waits to catch it before it plummets to its death, swooping in at the last moment. The process is repeated until the young learns to fly. I think that the stirring up of my "comfort zone" has been the preparatory steps by my Heavenly Father to actually propel me out of the nest of (dis)comfort ! In some moments, I am scared, I am sad, hurt even. But God is my Father and although I don't yet understand, I know that this is for my benefit. If that mother eagle, how much more my Heavenly Father will catch me if I fail to fly, to soar as is my inheritance.

Joseph, Son of Israel, could not have saved his family if he had not suffered through enslavement and imprisonment in Egypt. I am not saying I am like Joseph. It's just that on a smaller scale, my situation, my circumstances and the process I am undergoing will work blessings in my life and the life of others, just as it did in the life of Joseph and his family. I am persuaded that God would not make me go through all this stuff for no good reason at all. Weeping may endure for a while but joy comes in the morning. I believe. I am passing through the dawn of my deliverance; morning is just behind the next disappearing star. Hallelujah, Amen!!

Noah Is Back!

Noah is working perfectly again! The new ignition cylinder 'thingey' has been fitted, covers replaced and we are rolling again! I don't have to be extra cautious, extra conscious of every little move, every action that I take because I am driving another car that does not belong to me. My car has come back to me working nicely. You see Noah is the name of my car! I always give my car a name and usually the names are female names. All except for my present car, Noah. I waited for over one year after arriving in the USA to get a car. I had no freedom to come and go as I pleased. There is no public transport available where I am living. So when I got my car I was overjoyed. Freedom of movement;I was no longer a slave to the kindness of others in getting around town. I did not immediately think of naming my car. It just happened one day. The name Noah came out and no other name seemed as suited,so I settled with Noah.

Why Noah I wondered. From the Bible Noah reminds me of the Ark;the fauna,flora and fowl species of the earth's rescue,the deluge and the saving of the human family - Noah's family. But why did my spirit associate my car with Father Noah? As a man, Noah found favor in the eyes of God and was given the commission to preach God's law,love and justice to a corrupt society of people as well as to build the vessel that would protect and preserve many of earth's present lifeforms. The Ark was the physical manifestation, a type/symbol of Christ,that secured the future of humankind by keeping the race alive. Noah's obedience is the reason we are physically here today. Jesus' obedience is the reason that we have a chance of eternal life and a relationship with God now.

In the Hebrew the name Noah means comfort,rest,quiet. I don't know about you but in more ways than one, Noah reminds me of the Saviour. I always find comfort,rest and quiet in the presence of the Lord,in His words,in His promises,in His love,in Him. Whatever I need to maintain my peace, my rest, my comfort,He provides. Without a car I had no freedom, no peace of mind. The Lord provided my car and to me that was another symbol of His love for me, His care for my well being. God had shown Himself merciful to me again. He had manifested His interest in everything that disturbs or concerns me.

Maybe, there is some other deep,profound reason that I felt inspired to name an inanimate object, my car, Noah. I am not ruling it out. But I do know,every time I say Noah,I think of the everlasting covenant of which I am a beneficiary; the covenant that promises that God will never leave nor forsake me, that I am His own daughter ...the LadyZaidie

Chocolate Cake on G-Day !!

This is me, enjoying my slice of chocolate cake to celebrate G-Day!!

Proud Parents On G-Day!

G-Day arrived. A grand time was had by all from the beginning to the end of the day. We whooped and hollered scandalously loud when his name was announced. I cried and laughed. I did a little jig. I kept breaking out into song "We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, Trusting in His holy Word, He's never failed me yet". I warned my friend Jeanie, "Don't be surprised if I ask you to hold "my mule"!! I got so much to praise God for; so many blessings that He has showered on me and on my children. The challenges were many and the outcome seemed so uncertain but God never failed to get us through. My son Christy graduated High School on Saturday,May 23rd. Hallelujah to the Most High God!

After the event, the food at the restaurant tasted particularly good. The company especially pleasant and cheerful. The young lady that attended our party celebrated with us. The laughter that rang out was a symphony of heaven's delight. My heart was so filled with gratitude, there was not room enough to hold it in. And so the refrain kept bubbling over in a slow quiet undertone that accompanied the pleasantries of the meal, and the happiness that permeated the environment. It felt only right that I started out with dessert. Of course that meant chocolate cake! I am truly blessed, highly favored and sweetly flavored also!! G-Day for my son is my slice of chocolate cake from My Heavenly Father ... no joke!!

Gentlemen & Angels

My car is RESTING. It stopped working yesterday afternoon. I went to Burlington's to buy Zac a pair of trousers; he has stretched up and his suit trouser is about 3-4 inches too short, the child grew a couple inches overnight! So,I walked out of the store, got into the car, put the key in the ignition and it would not start. Again and again nothing. I was a long way from home, for me. Plus,I had no cell phone to call anyone for help. I had prayed before I left home,I had praised God all the way to the store. It was one of those mornings when the Holy Spirit just fills one with joy and the praise just goes up! So when the car failed to start and I found my self stranded,I realized that I was at peace; calm and unworried, certain of My heavenly Father's care, protection and provision.

After sitting for a few minutes,a car pulled up next to me. I felt led to ask this young gentleman who had his young son with him, if by any chance he knew about cars. He did not but got on his phone, called his friend, a mechanic as it happens and told him my situation. He reported back that his friend would be with us in about 20 minutes. I was delighted at my Father's intervention.

The mechanic was unable to get the car started, the services of a locksmith was probably needed. The first gentleman of mercy allowed me to call my neighbor, another lovely gentleman who together with his grandchildren just home from school came and picked me up. My car was left to 'rest' in the car park overnight. It's there today and will be there tonight. Arrangements are in progress to sort out the ignition cylinder tomorrow morning so that I can be mobile again.

The kindness of three gentlemen,three angels made what could have been a trying, stressful situation a pleasant experience, in truth a blessing. My first angel was Edward. As we got talking, it became clear right at the beginning of the conversation that he was a committed,dedicated child of God. He wanted only to be a minister of the gospel,full time,every day and every night,for all of his life. At present he is undergoing divine processing;being prepared,tested,tried and equipped for the divine purpose for which he was appointed before he was even conceived.

We shared testimonies,the Word,the Love revealed in our lives. I even got to enjoy his son, a great hug and kiss from Nathaniel. My second helper,the mechanic Ken was another man of God. He and I again had the opportunity to share a testimony of how God opens the windows of heaven when we are faithful in tithing,obeying all His laws by His grace. And Finally,my neighbour Mr. Charles. He has been a such a good neighbour and friend. The Good Samaritan would be so proud of him. He is always helping, supporting,kind and thoughtful to my family. I got home safely, soundly on time for the boys after school.

I am so thankful that the Lord keeps watch over me. I am so blessed that He prepares the solution in advance of any situation that challenges me. I love the fact that there are brothers and sisters in the Lord that we may not have met but who live the Love and who allow themselves to be His hands in this world. Yesterday I met two of my brothers that I had not met before. The meeting was not a coincidence. It was a meeting by Divine assignment. Truly we must remember always to be a living testimony. Sometimes we encounter and have the chance to entertain angels unawares. Sometimes,without realizing it at first,we are blessed by them. Sometimes angels are angels, and sometimes,our fellow man or woman is the angel. The Bible tells us that one sure sign of discipleship of Jesus the Christ is the love that we have and share with each other. Yesterday experienced that love from my brothers and from My Father.

Yesterday my car decided to rest. As a result,yesterday,I was blessed by three angels.

LadyZaidie

Reaching for a Definition

This is the second consecutive Sunday that I have found myself in Church. This has not happened in a few years, as I am usually in Church on Saturdays. I must say I really enjoyed being together with worshipers in the Church forum for the past two weekends but especially today. We were in Church for my son, Christy's Baccalaureate. I am sure that almost everyone knows what this means. Poor me, I did not! So I had to reach for my dictionary real quick. I figured out why we were going to the Church; to give thanks to God and ask His blessings on the MLK HS graduates ... but what was the exact meaning of baccalaureate, I wondered. Well, I found out that it is the sermon to graduates or the church service held for graduates. Well OK. I had always associated this word with university/college and a bachelor's degree and now thanks to my son's journey, my knowledge continues to grow.

As I sat in the Church, I was privileged, as well as happy, and sad, to be at Christy's baccalaureate at the Ray of Hope Church. I consider myself PRIVILEGED because God blessed me with a son who has reached this point in his life, this age, graduating from High School - a big deal. Also as a young black male child, especially here in the USA, he is part of the improving, encouraging statistics for our community. I am HAPPY to see how excited he is and to know how much he has overcome to be in this place and position right now. But I am a little SAD because he is growing up too quickly! He is ready to go off to college! My Baby!! He just smiles patiently, indulgently when I call him baby!!

As I sat in the house of God today,I thought about His Son and I thanked Him for Jesus the Christ. I reminded myself how PRIVILEGED I am that God gave His only begotten Son to live, to minister, to die, to rise, to intercede, to redeem me, so that I might have life eternal, be a child of the Most High again; reborn into His family again. Then I thought how very HAPPY I am because despite all the challenges of life, the Lord has never failed me yet, He has always been by my side and tho' I fall, by His grace "still I rise" up again! And yes, I am SAD, so very SAD, that despite all this, there are times when I still disappoint my Lord. After all He has done for me I succumb to the tempter and crucify my Saviour again by turning away from His teachings, heading off under my own steam, failing to follow Him always, all the time, wherever He leads.

Nevertheless, there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus and I am in Christ Jesus, by His grace! I am so glad that the Lord promises us that if we sin we have an Intercessor, Jesus Himself, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He pleads for us, He pleads His blood and His righteousness if and when we turn back to Him. He never goes away from us, only by our sin do we separate ourselves from Him. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I just LOVE HIM so!! The great thing is He loves me even more than I can ever imagine. When I think I am so mature and independent, He smiles patiently and indulgently and He calls me His own! The joys of Parenthood.

Love & Blessings. LadyZaidie

LIsten Always

Today is Friday and it is a really beautiful sunshine day. I am so happy to be alive, here, today. Speaking of today, I kept my appointment, on time and minus the uneasiness I was feeling yesterday. Yesterday, I woke up and started my day on the premise that it was Friday, so I did all my usual Friday things. Eventually in the afternoon, I got dressed, got in my car and set out to keep my appointment at 3:00pm, just up the road. However, from the time I started dressing, I was feeling real uneasy. Something was disturbing my peace. I just could not figure out what or why. So I prayed and ask the Lord to take care of whatever it was that was unsettling me. I got to my place of appointment and the gate was locked! There was no one there. 'That's not nice', I thought to myself. They could have let me know that there was a change. I waited for a while ... perhaps they were running late in opening the gate! No, still no one turned up after what I considered a reasonable time. I left. OK. Maybe I'll call and find out what happened, I decided.

I noticed that as I drove home I was settled and at peace again. No concerns, no discomfort. I sang along to my gospel music. When I got home, I had a drink and then picked the phone up to call. That was when it hit me. It was Thursday, not Friday! (LOL) I had been mistaken all day. The people at my place of appointment were not rude. They had not overlooked my appointment. I got the days mixed up. AND that is what my spirit and the Holy Spirit was trying to bring to my attention! That was the feeling for my unease. BUT I was not listening. I was so busy, so caught up in what I was doing, about to do. I was so happy that I got a chance to be of service to my local community; I was feeling so blessed that I was not in continuous dialogue with My Heavenly Father.

I was carrying on a monologue for a while! I was not Listening! Imagine what would have happened if Abraham had not continued a dialogue after he was told to offer his son as a sacrifice. Imagine. Isaac would have been dead. The consequences would have been more than that of course but for now, let's stop at this first and immediate effect of inattention to, or recognition of, the promptings of the Spirit of God. But Abraham spoke and then kept his ears open to anything further that God had to say to him. And God did say something else ... What He said gave Abraham back his son and promised the human family God's own Son as the Substitute Sacrifice for our sins!

I learned a valuable lesson alright; I must listen more that I speak. Prayer is a two way communication. I have tended to treat it as me talking to God most of the time. The truth is He wants to talk to me just as much as I want to talk to Him. Yes, He does communicate through the Bible, His servants, my brethren, nature and a myriad of ways. And He also does it directly to my spirit.

So today, Friday, I repeated the process. But this time as I prayed I kept alert to what my spirit was communicating to me. With peace and joy I kept my appointment. The gate was open, the people were there and I did my bit. As I left for the journey home, I thanked God for my 'senior moment' and His way of turning a mistake into a message.

Still, I think it's time I start putting up post-it notes with dates and times of appointments and activities and remember to look at them! The first one I will post will say "Write Blog Today"!!!! Love, Blessings & A Good Memory!! LadyZaidie

More Turtle Sense

OK, more about another of the characteristics of my esteemed visitor of the wild, the Box Turtle that reminds me why I am His, God's Lady ...

The other characteristic that I want to bring to your attention is the homing instinct that the turtle has. It causes the turtle to return to their place of birth, even if they have been moved. It does not matter the distance involved,if they get the chance they will start out on the journey back to their original home, the place they were born. I think this is awesome. The Creator made them with that homing instinct. They always, long for home. Now, many of us live away from the places or even the countries of our birth. And for all of us, home is that special place that we often look back at with love and longing and sometimes regret; regret of one kind or another. We miss what it represents or we miss what it should have represented. I have always felt somewhat saddened listening to some of our parents who had spent decades away from their birthplace – their home – but were always hoping, planning, saving, building, shopping and postponing life today for that future time when they will return home and have a dream-life.

Many of course don’t make it and some of those who do, find that it is not the stuff of their dream. Time has marched on without them and they feel and get treated as outsiders,even by their own relatives sometimes. For quite a few it might even turn into a nightmare.

In truth, home is where the heart is and what the heart wants it pursues. But sometimes we can fail to realize or accept that the heart is wrong. That is the tragedy of being ruled by emotions. We need guidance and direction from a higher plane, A Higher Source. We need to seek the things which are above and get our direction from our All-Knowing Heavenly Father. As we mature, we need to accept that this world, as is, is NOT our Home. We belong to God Who created us for Paradise! This world, this earth ceased to be Paradise when mankind sinned and the prince of darkness became it’s ruler by default.

Spiritually, we ALL have a homing device that longs for Paradise,for Home. The Home that God prepared for us in Eden,in His Presence is the place that our soul,our spirit longs for. Eden is the place of man’s beginning; God’s Presence is our true home!! We all search,instinctively,for the way home and as a result there are hundreds, thousands of religions, beliefs, doctrines, theories, philosophies, isms and schisms that we follow searching for direction and our place of belonging.

But by ourselves, we are unable to get back to a no-sin situation or live in holiness again without God’s loving intervention. Enter Jesus the Christ center stage; a Love Gift from God, an Open Door back to righteousness, communion and our Paradise Home! Because of the love-bond between Son and Father, Jesus shared the depth and breadth of the love that His Father has for us. This bounteous and infinite love took Him to the Cross of Shame to purchase our liberty. It is agape love, God-love that took the Christ all the way to the grave and God-love that raised Him up in triumph on resurrection morning!

So, whatever we might come up with is pointless. There is only one way home … Jesus is the Only Way – He is the Light and He is Truth. He is the Way back to God, our Creator Father’s Presence. Man was created from love, by love and offered salvation through that same love. This is the mystery of Love;it is eternal,it can never die, it gives life,it is Life, it is God! The power and the authority given to The Christ on His Ascension by the Father,flows from the same love that Jesus had for the Father and therefore for us. We are “so loved” by God that “He gave His only Begotten Son” for our restoration to His Presence and to the privileged position within His Kingdom that He appointed and apportioned to us from the genesis of the earth.

Our homing instinct is tuned in to Paradise and that lies by Way of Jesus the Christ, back to our Father. Wherever we may be,however far away we have moved,like the prodigal son,like the Box Turtle,we need to head Home to our Father.

By the way, 5 minutes later,when I went back outdoors to see the turtle,he had gone, completely disappeared! I checked the yard, it’s quite a big yard and a good distance back to the creek, yet he was nowhere to be found. Was he the racing turtle, after all, the winner of the race …?! Well, one thing is absolutely sure, like the winning turtle of the story, we can all be WINNERS in finding our Way Home, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am so glad that turtle came to visit me. It brought such a blessing to me and I hope the blessing is contagious! Always His and yours ... LadyZaidie

The Visitor

This is a picture of the Turtle that came to visit with me today!!

Isn't it lovely!!!

A Turtle Visited Me Today

OK, so you might see the title and wonder what on earth is going on. Well as it says, a turtle came to visit me at home today! It was around 11:30, warm, sunny and perfect outside. My husband was out someplace. When he got home, he noticed a turtle sitting in the grass at the side of the house, by the garage. I was not sure what to expect, I thought he must be joking or mistaken. He was not. There in the grass was a turtle, resting. Well my first thought was, where did it come from but as we have a creek at the far end of the yard, I reasoned it must have crawled up from that direction. Either that or there was another race going on and there was a hare somewhere around also! There was no harm in being certain, so I looked around. There was no hare in sight, so this was not that race - the one where the slow turtle won against that speedy hare!!

I got the camera and recorded the event for my sons. Zac in particular will be sorry to miss this visit. I am not too, too sorry. He would probably want to keep the turtle and I would have had to say no. Pictures would have to suffice. So I snapped away. While I was taking the pictures and enjoying the presence of the turtle, I got to thinking about this most unusual visitor that my Heavenly Father had created and now had sent across my path. Apart from the simple joy of seeing this creature up close and personal for the first time in my life and the sheer delight I was receiving from its visit, were there some life lessons, some divine wisdom for me?

I got back indoors and started to see if I could find out anything about my guest. My photos seems to match the pictures and descriptions of the Eastern Box Turtle and there are a few characteristics of this particular creature that I find impressive and instructive. For example they are long-lived, an average 30 years or longer, they are slow to mature and they are one of the slowest reproducing species in the world. These are interesting enough really but there are a few that I want to comment on in a bit more detail as the Spirit leads.

Firstly, box turtles take 7 years for their shells to mature. When the shell matures they can be shut completely to exclude predators. Now I like that very much. Apart from the number one, the number seven is used most often in the Word of God. And seven is the number that represents Completion, Divine Perfection.

The Book of Revelation uses this number throughout. For example we see SEVEN churches, SEVEN Spirits, SEVEN stars, SEVEN seals, SEVEN trumpets, SEVEN vials, SEVEN personages, SEVEN dooms, and SEVEN new things. Everything in life revolves around this number. In Revelation alone, it is used 54 times. So it seems that the whole of creation, from beginning to end, Genesis to Revelation is founded upon the number SEVEN. It stands for the SEVENTH day of the Creation Week recorded in Genesis and speaks of the Millennial Rest Day in the Book of Revelation.

In our walk with the Lord Jesus, we must live, move and have our being in Him, in order to be perfect even as He is Perfect. Our perfection and completeness is bound up in the God of the number seven which denotes Spiritual Perfection. The box turtle's shell is capable of shutting out predators and it is only when we are hid in God, through Christ Jesus that we too can shut out the attacks of the enemy and overcome sin. It is perfection that our Lord tells us to strive for, to 'Be', if we would be like Him. Sin, sickness and shame has no success against the perfection of divinity. The turtle surely came as a heavenly messenger to me today - I will tell you about the other characteristic that has really inspired me today, in my next blog later on ...

Love & Blessings

Mother's Day

Well, yesterday was a a real eye-opener for a couple of reasons. First, I discovered that my youngest son Zac is very determined to achieve whatever he sets his mind to, especially when he is battling the odds. He went through hoops to get a present for me, a very beautiful gift and a card and successfully enlisted the help and generosity of some adults, including a total stranger. No, he was never at risk! It just makes me so grateful to be a mother, his mother! The qualities he has displayed in order to show his love to me are just wonderful. I truly appreciate him and look forward to being his mom forever.

The second thing that impacted me was how important little things can be to me. There is a saying that 'the devil is in the details'. I know there is some truth to this but I am absolutely certain that God is in the details of my life and all things pertaining to it. I had an emergency situation that required immediate attention. However, it was beyond my capabilities to resolve and there wasn't anyone that I could turn to, so I do what I always do, I turned to God in prayer. My petition needed to be fast-tracked, Lord, I said. I can't wait for an answer tomorrow or next week... but you know that Lord, I said. And so on and so forth. I left it with Him and went about my day.

Just a short while later, He sent me the answer, the solution to my problem from across the Atlantic Ocean, no less. Before I had prayed, my Lord had already answered my prayer. Now, don't get me wrong, He has come through for me often times before but somehow, we have a tendency to forget, I forget. I was reminded, again that even in what might appear to be unimportant situations in my life, God is faithful, loving, caring, merciful and attentive to the details of what concerns us and our well being. I just so appreciate Him.

The thing that links these two scenarios above is love. The love of my son and the love of the Son of God. I am grateful for both. From my son I kind of expect love, after all he is my son. I am pleased, proud even of the lengths he pursued in order to show his love for me on this Mother's Day. I am even more overwhelmed when I consider the height, depth and breadth of the Saviour's love for me. The big picture in which He dies for my sins is so awesome. But after that, to find He is so concerned about the very little details of my life, every moment of every day makes me so humble, so grateful. The events of Zac's pursuit furnished further details of His intervention. He blessed my son for loving me and my Lord continues to bless me with His love gift every day. I am so loved, I can't contain it ... it must flow out and so I must do everything possible to love my human family as much as My Loving God loves me. I love you all. For Real.

Beginner's Blog

I am going to be blogging a lot 'cos I hold a lot inside and I feel like I want to feel how it feels to share more of what fills my heart and mind ... not because it is necessarily important what I think or feel but because I need to make room for more ... for new ... for wiser thoughts and feelings to come in. Someone, maybe just one person may find some thought worth something so ... here goes my journey into another forum of communication. I pray that as always, He - The Divine Lord - Whose Lady I am - is well pleased with this effort.

Blessings & Love

His Lady - LadyZaidie