She is Wise

The Face of Wisdom, by Ezshwan Winding

We have been doing a study of God's love of women this month. In a time when they were devalued, and thought of as "less" God, and later Jesus, continuously lifted women up in equality. Because this has been our topic of study, more and more things have been opened up to me. I noticed tonight that in Proverb 3: 14-18 Wisdom is referred to as "she". Another example of God lifting and honoring his daughters. If God did not hold women up high then He would never have allowed Solomon to give something as sought after as wisdom the title of "she". So many times I have found throughout scripture that God can take you deeper and deeper into His word, and the same verse can speak to you in a new way. When I look at versus 13-18 and think of wisdom as a "she", I can draw a parallel between wisdom as an asset and an actual woman.

13  Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,    14  for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.    15  She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.    16  Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.    17  Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.    18  She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
If a woman is a Godly woman, a woman of wisdom, then how blessed would that man be to find her? Reread the versus and consider wisdom as being his Godly Wife. If a woman is the wife that God has called her to be, then the attributes in these verses would also be present in her marriage as she in turn lifts her husband up as well. 

Just as I count myself blessed to have a wise and Godly husband, I believe that he considers himself blessed to have a wise and Godly wife!  ;)

If you want to take your mind one step deeper, consider the following verse:
19  By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations,

This one of many examples of a verse that helps women to see that God relates to all of what and who we are, even though He is a... well, a HE. Wisdom is called she, and the very next verse says that God used it to lay down the earth's foundations.

We are all failed and flawed human beings, but that does not mean that God does not have expectations. (Not to be misunderstood with earning one's own salvation, which is a gift) I believe that He asks a lot of us because He knows that when we have faith and trust in Him, we have the wisdom and the strength to follow through.


*And just in case you were wondering, yes, Proverb 31, "The Woman of Noble Character"  chapter does include wisdom also:
26  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

The Blue Bucket

In this scorching heat my kids, like most, have enjoyed playing in a backyard kiddie pool. It's a figure 8 shaped double ringed blow up pool, and you bet your sweet tan lines that I'm not too proud to hop in with them. I am after all the lifeguard and the referee, and it gets pretty hot on the sidelines. ;)

We have a Little Tykes slide set up for perfect entry (for the smaller swimmers anyway) and just before they step onto the slide, I have set up a blue bucket. This blue bucket is important. It is filled with water and the kids must step into it and rise their feet off before getting back into the pool. If not, they carry in dirt, sand, and oh so many grass clippings!

It wasn't common yesterday to hear myself, my husband, or one of the kids simply  shout out "blue bucket!" as a warning to whomever was about to muck things up. I started to notice something after awhile. My son (age 3) would randomly say, while still in the pool, "mom, I'd better go get the blue bucket" or "I need the blue bucket" Obviously, he is missing the real point of the blue bucket, and how it washed off the ick from when he is outside of the pool, but as I sat there, trying unsuccessfully to avoid being splashed in the face, I felt God bring a parallel to my mind.

In many ways, the blue bucket in our lives is repentance: Asking forgiveness and getting the "ick" out of our lives. I believe that when I asked God to forgive me for my sins, that He was (and still is by the way) big enough to take them all away, even the ones that I hadn't yet committed. However, that does not mean that I as a follower of Christ can live life full of rebellion without consequence either. I want to live a life that brings honor to God, and so when I see grass clippings in my life, I know that it is time to step in the blue bucket rather than have them floating all around me, and messing up the life that He wants for me.

How many Christians fail to keep on the Helmet of Salvation mentioned in Ephesians 6:17?  A helmet protects your head. To wear the Helmet of Salvation means to protect your mind from the World and the doubt of one's own salvation that it can cause, which ultimately leads you to doubt everything. Think back to Satan's temptation of Eve.  ¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" He made her doubt the truth. "Did God really say....." Now let's look at the when he tempted Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. Matthew 4 ³The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."and ⁶"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
   " 'He will command his angels concerning you,
      and they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' " Doubt, yet again. I have known many believers who have doubted, and will admit to even doubting at times, as a young Christian myself. That makes us like my son wanting to get out of the pool to go wash off our feet to get back in the pool. I have learned the true meaning of the Helmet of Salvation though, so I never have to live in doubt again. Yes, it's hard to imagine, and our minds can't comprehend it, but God's love does in deed stretch that far. He saves lossers, and sinners. No exceptions. The beauty in the whole thing is that our gracious God probably just smiles and shakes His head at us when we waste the time thinking, "oh my silly child" just like I did with mine. He does not expect us to walk through this life without err, but He does expect us to learn as we go, and I'm sure that He hopes that we err less along the way, because that means less heartache for us.

Oh, and one side note, I caught my daughter putting only one foot into the blue bucket at times. Don't try this. Jesus paid it all, go ahead and give it all to Him.

Telling girls how beautiful that they are, and that it's the beauty within that really counts

I wanted to post this to my site because it goes hand in hand with my last couple of blog entries. I can't wait to watch this show with my little princess :)

You can sleep in high heels, attend funerals barefoot ....or, live in the middle.

For those of you who don't remember, I fell in love with these shoes, but alas, I never found them. Bummer! ha ha

It's my prayer that God will help me to express myself well in this blog, because the thoughts behind it become rather complex and can get a bit "muddy" at times.

How many times have I seen the same old behavior from my fellow women? The behavior of going to extremes. I've done it myself, I'm sure, and most likely, so have you. My hope is that being aware and enlightened may help keep me on track to living in the middle. Hopefully I can inspire you to do the same.

There is a beautiful medium between vanity and self neglect. The key is in finding and residing in that place. It's where God wants us to be. (You can quote me on that. It may be the most profound thing that I've ever written!)

Sleeping in high heels:

This is obvious. It's vanity. Putting on make-up to go pick up the mail at the end of the driveway, being too busy shopping to pick up your mother at the airport, and flat out thinking that you are a level above the common people. The truth is that in my experience, a majority of the people that I know or have met are not "High Heel Sleepers".

Barefoot in Public:

(I have to laugh at this description, because it's probably much more likely than the first, but bear with me and see where I'm going.) Much more common in my experience, but just as dangerous is Self Neglect. Having NO CLUE what size dress or pants you wear, going gray and frizzy because you "aren't worth the trouble", and letting people walk all over you are all examples of extreme self neglect.

I think that most women are smart enough to see that living life vain isn't a healthy choice. However, I must admit that I can't say the same about the other extreme. It seems as though we somehow tell ourselves that doing without and putting ourselves last is always the right choice.... This is the muddy area that I mentioned before. Is it right to put our childrens' needs ahead of our own? Well, any mother will tell you that it is. I'm not suggesting that we neglect our children. What I am suggesting is this: Our children are watching us. They are learning from everything that we say and do. Too many women fail to see the beauty within them that God placed there. I know too many women that don't think that they are worth a new pair of shoes. We somehow believe that we are martyrs of some sort and that we are being humble and selfless, and too often this leads to self neglect. I hope you are following what I mean. Being humble and selfless are admirable traits, but sometimes they aren't the issue at hand. Sometimes the issue is loving yourself enough to buy something pretty for yourself. Sometimes the issue is just letting someone call you beautiful and accepting it. Our daughters and nieces and so many other young girls are watching us! I for one delight in seeing my 3 year old run to the mirror when she is wearing new clothes, or dressed up as a princess as she exclaims, "I look beautiful!" She isn't being vain, she is being honest. Why are we afraid of sounding vain, but not of sounding full of self pity? We vocalize about our wrinkles, our gray hair, our extra pounds and our ratty clothes. Obviously, the hope for others to relate or reassure us comes to mind. But hold on to your seats girls, I'm about to break the cycle. I'm giving you permission to say that you are beautiful...because you are!!! What?! You don't believe me? Well read your Bible then. 1Peter chapter 3 tells us about our inward beauty. I can honestly remember reading that chapter once and feeling like God was calling me beautiful. (sigh :) What about the fact that we were "fearfully and wonderfully made"? God didn't use a grab bag when He made you! Read my favorite Psalm (139) and remind yourself that He carefully designed and knit you together in your mother's womb. God is TRUTH. His word is TRUTH, and His word calls you beautiful. So be honest like my daughter.


I am an independent distributor for a wonderful jewelry company. I love my job. The company honors God and is successful because of it. One of their main objectives is: "To enrich lives". So, it isn't about the product really, it's almost a fellowship at times! I get to help women feel more beautiful, and I LOVE IT!!!!! Whether they purchase a piece from me or not, I get to laugh and smile with them. Share my love and some brownies too! ;)

During my time as a jeweler, one thing that I have found to be true is that the way that I dress ABSOLUTELY affects how I feel, and how I behave. It has really brought to light the "middle" that I try to live in. I didn't realize just how far to the "barefoot" side that I was hanging out. What if I'm on to something here? Think about it: If we neglect ourselves and dress dumpy everyday we may just end up feeling... well, dumpy. The next thing you know, you sort of think you ARE dumpy, and you don't even realize that you think it. It just becomes a part of you... And all the while, there is that niece watching how to become a woman someday.


I'm not trying to come down hard on anyone, I'm just trying to open some eyes, as mine have been. Just as I wouldn't want my children to learn to speak profanely or abuse others, I also would hate to see them grow up without a balanced scale in the self-worth department.

I absolutely love my cute shoes and pretty earrings, but I am not wearing them to bed ladies! I will walk barefooted in the mud in the backyard during playtime and then wear my adorable pointy toed heels and matching handbag to church the next day, wishing that women still dressed in lovely hats as well. Ahhh yes, I like it here in the middle. Join me, won't you!?

From "Blah" to "Blessed"

This blog entry is inspired by the story of the woman with the issue of blood, as found in the Gospels of Matthew (9:20-22), Mark (5:25-29), & Luke (8:43-48) You might want to refresh your memory by reading up before you read on.

I will admit that this blog is directed toward women, but I certainly hope that any of my male readers who check it out will be blessed also, and perhaps come out of this reading with more thought toward this story, that is probably hard for you to identify with. (But consider yourselves warned that this is a womanly topic ;)

Blah! :P That's how she must have felt. Imagine.... She had her period for twelve years. Let that sink in, in real terms ladies. Think about what it must have been like for women in the past to get thorough each month without modern conveniences. Now quadrupole that inconvenience and you have this woman's every day life FOR TWELVE YEARS. It was more than just the physical inconvenience also. Let's break it down a little:

As I already pointed out, she certainly must have felt BLAH. Cramps, bloating, headaches, and low iron. She was probably oh-so-tired all the time. She most likely had some pretty bad mood swings and terrible food cravings too. (and no chocolate anywhere!!!) Her breasts ached and felt heavy, and she had no proper bra to support them, so her back hurt too. She had no Midol, or Ibuprofen, no tampons or panty liners, no wet wipes, no shower, and no disposable tissue.

I know, when you think about it in detail, you feel even worse for her. But, there is more:

Socially, she was an outcast. According to the old law women were "Unclean" while they cycled, and had to perform a ceremonial cleansing after, each month to be considered "clean" again. While one was considered "unclean" they were forced, by law, outside of the city and a certain distance away from people all together. When they approached they had to shout out "unclean! unclean!" to inform others, so that they may be avoided. How humiliating.... While every woman went through this embarrassment once a month, she would have had to do it every day for twelve years. There would have been snickers and rumors as to what awful thing she had done to deserve this "punishment". Her friends and family would have gotten used to life without her around. They may have considered her an embarrassment and a disgrace. She could not visit them because anything she touched would also be considered unclean. She missed hugs and fellowship and meals with family. She didn't get to welcome nieces and nephews into the world or watch them grow. It would have seemed similar to as if she had simply moved away.

What about her love life? Well, scripture does not say if she was married or not, and If she was, I'm pretty sure that she would have had to live away from her husband according to law for this entire time. And let's face it ladies, even if that law weren't keeping her from him, she sure didn't feel sexy. Reread the above paragraph if you have any doubts there. So, even if she wasn't married, she probably still felt unattractive. She must have wondered if she would ever seem appealing to a man since she had probably grown to see herself as unclean and unattractive. An outcast. If marriage was something that she longed for, she must have wondered, "Will I ever become a wife?"

How about a mother? It is unclear how much the physicians in her time knew about fertility, but we know that the number of eggs that a woman is born with never increases. We also know that a woman sheds one egg with each cycle. My goodness, I wonder how young this woman was. She was within her childbearing years, but by all accounts would never become a mother herself because of her issue. To make matters worse, menopause was more quickly approaching, due to the frequency of the cycles. While the relief of that solution must have seemed welcoming, I'm sure that the thought of the infertility that would come with it brought much heartache as well.

Desperate. She was a fighter. She didn't give up. Her picture belongs on one of those billboards with the word "PERSEVERANCE" under it. She went to every doctor imaginable, no matter the price. She spent all she had, in fact. Sadly, the end result only left her suffering worse. And then one day.... He came into town.

She had, no doubt, heard about this man, rumored to be the Messiah. Scripture tells us that when she met Jesus the crowd surrounding Him was so large that He was pressed from all sides. So it is safe to say that all the buzz had been about this Miracle Man as He approached town. It would mean breaking the rules if she went to Him, but if what they were saying was true, the ends would justify the means. Perhaps she could hide in the crowd and no one would notice her because of the focus on Him. One thing is absolutely 100% clear: She was filled with faith that Jesus was the answer. At long last, she had found her answer, and nothing was going to keep her from it. He wouldn't have to make a big fuss, she could just touch His garment and it would be enough.

So, the woman took her unclean self among the people and joined the crowd. Can you imagine the scene in town? Picture the people pressing themselves into Jesus. All of them shouting out requests as He walked through the crowd. The disciples probably did their best the surround Him, but it did not keep the multitude away. The woman weaved in and out of people drawing closer and closer until she was FINALLY close enough. She touched his clothes. (Mark 5:28) Immediately she was healed. Just like that. After all she had gone though, after all she had suffered: It was all over. She was healed, and she knew it.


What happened next is astounding to me. Jesus stopped. He was busy and on His way to do more, but He stopped. He felt the power leave Him and He stopped to find the source. How many times did I read this scripture through the years and miss something magnificent?! I want to share this treasure with you. When He stopped, Jesus said, "Who touched me?". Ok friends, don't miss this... Jesus asked who, but obviously, He knew who. As I pointed out, He was being touched from all sides. When He walked through that crowd they were glued to Him like teenage girls would be to Robbert Pattinson today. Different motives maybe, but it would have been similar in appearance, nonetheless. Even the disciples were puzzled as to why was He asking who touched Him when He was being clobbered by so many. So friends, why DID Jesus do this? Why? Why draw public attention? Why separate her from the crowd? Well, this just my interpretation, but I feel pretty strongly about it. I think that that Jesus did it for her. For years she had been looked down upon, neglected, and isolated. Her worth must have seemed small to everyone, including herself....but not to Jesus. I think that another healing took place at that moment. Not a physical one this time, but a mental and spiritual one. This outcast had gotten the attention of the One that none of them could. Not only did He commend her for her faith publicly, but He addressed her by the tender and loving title of "daughter". Nowhere else in the gospels do we see this from Jesus. She was His very special girl, beautiful and worthy in His eyes. I can only imagine the respect that she had from those among her after this. It makes me smile to think of the complete difference that Jesus can make in a life in an instant.

Even as He was speaking, Jesus was pulled away to another urgent matter. Where does that leave the woman in the story? She has a new life. A second round, with better cards. Jesus could have just healed her very bad physical problem and that would have been more than enough for her, but Jesus overflowed Himself into all areas of her situation instead. He went above and beyond. She walked away....healed, more completely than she had even hoped.

I close with these thoughts for women. You are so beautiful to God. Allow His Spirit to overflow in your life and you will find that you then overflow that same Spirit in love to others. As the woman in the scripture knew, Jesus IS the answer. Don't be afraid to call Him "Abba" (Daddy) ladies. I believe that He will hold you close and call you Daughter if you let Him. :) After all, you are His very special girl.

Duck Season ALREADY??!??!

Well, that just about says it. How has my week gone? In a word: FEATHERS... It makes me feel better to think that there is a lesson to learn in everything that we experience. If I couldn't learn something from my latest "Lucy Moment" then I might just go apes...well, "ducks" anyway.
It is spring cleaning time, and I have been in full swing over the last couple of weeks. I'm proud to say that my pantry looks better than it has in years, down to the new labels that I hope help us to keep it that way. Our taxes are filed, and this took a certain amount of special care also since it was my first year as a business owner. Our spare room is now called "the Office" and this brings hope and excitement for my business this year. I now have a desk and everything that I need for Premier has a place to make things work as efficiently as possible. The kids even have desks in there so that they may also "get some work done".
Yesterday I moved on to another task: I planned on washing all of the bed clothes in the house down to the pillows and even our feather bed. I began with the feather bed because I knew that it would be the biggest chore, and that it would also take the longest to dry. What a mess. (Understatement of the year) I should have know better when I had to press twice to get the washing machine door to latch.... but I didn't. I figured that I could wash the feather bed in our machine since it is large capacity, and since it has no agitator. It was not a wise decision. Because it was so large it rubbed against a protrusion inside the washer, which you guessed it: ripped a couple of large holes in in feather bed. So, I sat on the floor in a pile of wet feathers sewing a wet feather bed for about an hour yesterday, just so that I could dry it... and then I began the lengthy task of cleaning wet feathers out of the washing machine. I planned to dry the feather bed in the dryer for a while and then drape it over our deck to air/sun dry the rest of the afternoon. I got into a fight with some carpenter bees, so that plan didn't work out. A little while later I began to smell something...hot. I am so glad that I took the feather bed out of the dryer when I did, before it caught fire! It now has large scorch marks down the side of it. Our feather bed looks like it went through some sort of harsh battle yesterday. Although I laid it in the sun it was still not dry enough to sleep on last night.
So, now lets fast forward to today. I woke up with sciatic pain. I missed my feather bed last night. We need a new mattress badly, and that soft plush layer on top is the only thing that keeps us hanging in there until we get it. So I was all too happy to get up with the sun and put that dry feather bed back on. Ahhhhh :)
Fast forward a little later. After breakfast it was time to put some towels in the dryer. Oh... my... GOSH! Where did all of those feathers come from?! Seriously!? We cleaned out the washer! :S Let me tell you, we had, in fact, NOT cleaned it out at all. If you could guess the worst possible thing to wash with feathers, it would have to be towels too. I can not begin to tell you how many feathers I actually pulled out of that washer again today! I sat there in piles and piles of feathers. Apparently, they got down into the holes in the washer and came back out and embedded themselves into the towels. After re-spinning the towels and shaking them all individually, I dried them and lent catcher got oh so many more. Meanwhile, I was still bagging up feathers from the floor and the washing machine. I began sweeping them up and no kidding, they clogged my vacuum. So, I had to take the vacuum completely apart and de-feather it as well, all the while, covered from head to toe myself. Kamran was home for lunch by this time and made us a salad for lunch. I got washed up and sat down thinking about the feathers and the lesson in it all, and just as I bowed my head for Kam to bless the food, I noticed a fluffy white feather on the top of my salad. (Yes, we laughed.) So, which lesson did I learn? Well, a few things stick out to me:

1) Warning Labels: How much trouble would we all avoid if we just followed the directions every time? (I'm a directions reader too, so this is embarrassing for me to admit.) If I would have just headed that warning "dry clean only" I would have saved myself A LOT of trouble. I didn't have the money to dry clean it, so I ignored the warning and didn't follow the directions. My mom used to say "Poor people have poor ways". I say, "Yip!" haha The truth is, we need to stop thinking that we are the exception to the rule and realize that rules are rules for a reason. The texting while driving and properly securing your children while in vehicles are the first things that pop into my mind. Come one people.... these kind of accidents are easy to prevent, and the mess you could end up in is way messier than feathers.

2) Sometimes God allows us to go through something for the outcome. I've said it a million times: God is multifaceted. In this case, He used one mess to clean up another. There is nothing you could say that would convince me that my vacuum would have been so well cleaned today, or any time soon for that matter, if it hadn't been pointed out to me. While I was picking up feathers it made perfect sense to clean the crevice where the carpet meets the wall. I went through a lot, but what a nice looking hallway and vacuum I have now. It wouldn't have been how I would have chosen to spend my morning, but then again, I wouldn't have had the positive outcome if I hadn't gone through it.

3) GRACE: If you think about it, this whole fiasco is a really beautiful picture of God's grace. I am so glad that He knows my heart and my true intentions. I didn't have evil intent, but all I did was make a mess that made a mess, that made a mess. That's all that we can do on our own, isn't it? If we try to clean up our lives without God, no matter how hard we try, we are just going to spread the mess around, and it will end up in every other part of our lives. We can not expect to ever get rid of every feather on our own, can we? We are kidding ourselves if we think that we can. Just when you think that you have cleaned yourself off, you will find a feather in your lunch. One of the most comforting and restful things about God is found in the book of Romans 5:6-8 ⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Did you get that?!?! God loves you IN YOUR SIN. He died for you, not because you were good enough, but because He loved you enough. If we love God, then we will, and are even commanded to, do good works, but do not ever let yourself believe for one second that your good works will get you one step closer to Heaven. If was HIS GRACE and by it alone, that He opened that door. I can't imagine living with the pressure of feeling that you have to first clean up your own mess before you could attain salvation. You will never be perfect, so how could you ever know for sure under those conditions? Ephesians 2:8-10 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God made me who I am. He molded me and formed me to be silly and spunky and to be able to laugh at all of the "Lucy Moments" that I manage to find my way into. I could get frustrated and cry about those feathers, but where would that get me? Let's face it: I'm going to be lucky if I'm done cleaning feathers by Christmas. They will continue to sneak up on me and find their way into my days I'm sure. Instead of crying, I will look at those little white fluffy things as a lovely picture of God's grace. "If His grace is an ocean we're all sinking". (How He Loves, John Mark McMillian) In my case, if His grace is a feather, then I can't escape it! :) Not to mention the symbolism for the better night's sleep that I will get tonight cuddled up in that feather bed. I don't even want to think about going one day without grace, it would be like sleeping on that old lumpy backache of a mattress without the feather bed. Instead, I can curl up in His grace and rest assured of my own salvation, knowing full-well that it is covered. Someone else paid that bill for me. I don't need to lose any sleep over that!

Finding wonderful when Mr. Potter shows his ugly face

*SPOILER ALERT!* IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN "It's a Wonderful Life" #1: I'm going to talk about key plot moments here, so stop reading! & #2: Go now!!! buy it, borrow it, rent it, whatever... Just watch it, for Pete's sake!!! What are you waiting for!?!

So, I was watching the news last night when they shared a local story. It was about this older woman who had lost her life savings. I was, of course expecting to hear that she was swindled by some "slick youngster", but that wasn't the case. She went to the bank and withdrew her life savings from a safety deposit box and placed those contents in an envelope...but the money was gone, without a trace, when she got home. I was dragged into this sad story hook, line, and sinker. I can tell you the exact look on my face: My head was tilted to the side slightly, my eyes were full of compassion, (and nearly tears!) and my mouth was open in a little sad pout. That is when Kamran walked in. He asked me what was wrong and I brought him up to speed as the reporter continued with the story. I said to him, "It's just like It's a Wonderful Life! All that money, and even in an envelope at the bank! How sad...". About that time the reporter finished the story by saying that the family is offering a reward for any information that could help their loved one. Then they gave her name.... It was: Mrs. Potter. Wide eyed, I double gasped. "Potter!!!! Oh my gosh!" My husband, who was obviously not as emotionally invested in the story as I was, simple erupted into laughter. He isn't cruel, anyone who knows Kam knows that. But- he wouldn't miss the opportunity to poke fun at me either. To tease me even more, he turned to the screen and pointed his finger, and said in a funny, yet grumpy voice: "What goes around comes around, Potter!" Then he laughed again, and at that point I also found myself laughing hysterically at the whole thing, then feeling bad for the real Mrs. Potter, I tried to stop, but eventually conceded to laughing again at the irony.

I was a grown woman of nearly 30 before I saw "It's a Wonderful Life". It is such a good story, with more than one very deep message. I, like many, love it for that, especially from a Christian view point, applying the same ideas to my own life. God has a plan you know, for you and your real life, just as He did fictitiously for George Bailey in the story. I have to admit though, that when the movie was over I was pretty surprised that Mr. Potter never got what he had coming to him. I felt a little unjustified in that old geezer not being brought to justice. That is when, this story went from fairy tale to real life for me.... This part of the story was 100% real life, without the Hollywood cherry on top. This happens to you, and to me. Sometimes Mr. Potter wins, and the world is none the wiser. Sometimes Mr. Potter wins, and the world just doesn't care. BUT, its ok, isn't it. Those of us who put our faith in trust in Jesus know a few things that can help us past the nasty ol' Mr. Potter moments our lives. Here are 3:

1. God says that vengeance is His in Romans 12:19. He is omnipotent and He knows the other side of your situation. He sees the big picture with every view He takes. We are to let Him take care of it. He has our back. Sometimes He lets us see the other side, but there is no promise that we ever will, so don't hold your breath waiting, like Jonah did.

2. Miserable people are usually miserable because of hurt. We probably all have a relative or community member like this. In the end, George scored way ahead of the game. He realized, more than ever before, that it really IS a wonderful life. He was surrounded by love and warm hugs. What did Mr. Potter have to keep him warm? His money?

3. We live in the world, but not of the world. In John 17:14-18 Jesus talks about this. My husband used to have a tee shirt with an ichthus (Jesus fish) in a fish bowl that said, "This world is not my home". Compared to what God has in store for us, we are limited to a novelty sized glass bowl for now. Keep your eyes on the prize: The Heavenly one. God allows us to be taken advantage of sometimes, but He will never do it Himself. Why? Because when we are stricken, we acknowledge our need for Him, and quite simply, we grow closer to Him. Besides, the treasures of this world will be gone someday, and Heavenly things last always. *And need I remind you that we will be so overwhelmed when are given those treasures in Heaven that we will all cast them at the feet of our Savior anyway.

And so, as I sit here smiling about how George Bailey's sudden misfortune brought him to more riches then he ever knew were possible, and how he finally realized that his life had immeasurable value, I say a prayer for the Mrs. Potter and her family back here in real life, and in the present day. I found an article online, and it turns out that the owner of the money was, in fact not named Mrs. Potter, but it is her daughter that is. Her mother was withdrawing the money to pay the nursing home bill of her husband after medicare benefits ran out. (Even more depressing, I know) I pray that God will bless her "exceedingly abundantly beyond all she can ask or think". Ephesians 3:20, because that is what a wonderful life is. Won't you please pray for her too?

Here is a link to the news story:
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=12193223

And for those of you who just want the added laugh of the classic SNL skit, where Mr. Potter DOES get it in the end, here's that too:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4267/saturday-night-live-its-a-wonderful-life-lost-ending