In Christ

 In Christ-I was puttering away on my computer on morning when the phrase
"In Christ" popped into my mind. Born-again Christians are very familiar
with this term, of course, but, for everybody else, it is, basically, the
privileges of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The list of
privileges is lengthy indeed so I have just selected a few to comment on.

In Christ, I am a child of God. I have been a Christian for a lot years but
it still blows my mind that the Almighty God, Creator of the whole universe,
is my Dad. And not only that. Because Jesus is the Son of God, that makes
Him my brother. WOW!

In Christ, I am an imitator of Jesus or, as the Bible says, as He is so are
we. That means, if He is loving, so am. If He is merciful and compassionate,
so am. If He is good and kind, so am I. And so on and so on. I don't
always act like Jesus but the potential is in me.

In Christ, I truly blessed. I am blessed to have been chosen to be part of
God's family. I admit that, at times, I feel anything but blessed. But, once
my emotions have settled down enough to start thinking straight again, I
realize I am truly blessed. I always think that one of the biggest blessings
in my life is simply knowing that I am not going to hell.

In Christ, I have peace. After all the turmoil and depression of the
preceding months, that peace that came over me when I first become a
Christian was wonderful. Over long years of living with extremely difficult
circumstances, it has become more difficult to maintain the peace I had when
I first became a Christian. It can be done, though. When I don't give into
negative emotions.

In Christ, I am protected. It is comforting to know that, because I am a
child of God, nothing can really hurt me. Even though different trials and
hardships come to all Christians, nothing is going to take us out until God
decides it is time. I know that it is not my time to go so God has His
shield of protection around me. For me, personally, I believe that, by
having he in Long-term Care, He is protecting me from a lot of things I
would have to face if I were "out in the world".

In Christ, I am strong. Obviously, not physically. I feel pretty weak and
seem to be getting weaker. However, after so many years of going through
what I am going through, I have become strong, both mentally and
spiritually. I have had to. It is either get strong, with God's strength and
not my own, or pack it in!

In Christ, l can cast all my cares on the Lord. Meaning I can tell Him my
worries and then forget about them, knowing that He will take care of them.
Maybe not the way I want but the way that is best for me. Years ago, God
told me that there are a lot of "fishermen" Christians. They cast these
cares on Him and, then, reel them back in. I know that I am one of those at
times!

In Christ, I have my needs met. But God is the one who decides if it is
really a need or not. I often catch myself telling God that I need something
but, when I really think about it, I realize that it is more like something
I want. I like to think of it this way. If something is a real need, I will
have it for sure. But, sometimes, God will give me things I don't really
need just because He is so good. As long as it won't harm me in any way.

These are just a few of the good things we have when we are "in Christ".
There are many more. I read them every day as a reminder. I especially need
this reminder on "off" days when everything seems bleak and hopeless. 

My family

My Family-I have been rereading my blogs and the thought that struck me is
how
often I repeat the same things. But, then, my life doesn't have much
variety. I told the Lord that I wanted to write about something different.
The thought crossed my mind to write about my family. I am not sure where it
came from, Holy Spirit, most likely. This blog is a product of that thought.

First, I will share a bit of family history. At least, what I know. My
father's family has been traced to Sweden a couple of hundred or so years
ago. They emigrated to the US, Idaho, I think. After that they came to
Canada. My father was born while they were still in the US but I am not too
sure how old he was they came to Canada. The name they went by was Holmsted
but, apparently, it had been changed from a Swedish name that nobody could
pronounce. That is my father. My mother's family is German but, so I hear,
they had emigrated to Russia before coming to North America.
They first settled in the US, one of the Dakotas, before coming to Canada. I
think my mother was born after coming to Canada but I am not sure. All this
family history I got from relations so., if it is not accurate, I am not to
blame.

I don't remember either of grandfathers at all as they passed away before I
was born. My father's mother passed away when I was around 6 so I don't
remember much about her. I just vaguely remember a tallish lady with lovely
white hair. I do remember that, just before she died she got gangrene in her
leg and
it had to be amputated. The grandparent I remember best was my mother's
mother. I remember us visiting with her quite often, even after we had moved
to Medicine Hat. She lived in Redcliff, which is a mere couple of miles from
Medicine Hat. I can't really pinpoint a date when she passed away but, as it
was before I came to Cold Lake, I was probably in my teens.

My parents were Wayne and Irene Holmsted. The only part of my family's
history that I hadn't heard is how my parents met. Dad was quite a bit older
than Mom so I grew up with a father who looked more like my grandfather.
Because he passed away when I was 16, my memories of him are a little fuzzy.
While we lived in country, I don't recall seeing that much of him. Part of
that was because he was always busy rounding up cattle, mending fences,
bailing hay or whatever. But I was also pretty little back then so I
probably just don't remember. Once we moved to Medicine Hat, he didn't work.
I guess we were living off the money from selling the place in the country.
Except for a couple of summers when he helped an uncle near Brooks. My dad
was not strict but he was no pushover either. He gave me my last spanking
when I was 15. How embarassing is that! I badmouthed him so he spun me
around and swatted my behind. I was a lot more careful with my words after
that.

My mother, I thought, was a bit more of a pushover. That was probably mostly
because I was the youngest and they usually get away with more. Plus, once
Dad died and my sisters left home, there was just her and me. I was already
married and living in Cold Lake with one kid and another one on the way when she
passed away. I have always wondered if she was a Christian or not. I know
that she had been to Bible school before she was married and there were
always Bibles in our house. And, yet, we didn't live like Christians in our
day-to-day life.

I have 3 older sisters, none of which I have seen in years. The oldest,
Marge, is 7 years older than me. Because of the age difference, we were
never close. She was the "black sheep" of the family and never seemed to fit
in with anybody. As far as I know, she still lives in Medicine Hat but I
haven't heard from her in a few years.

Gladys is 4 years older than me. When I was a kid, she was often helping
Dad. She now lives in BC with her husband of almost 50 years (she got
married at 19). They are still active and do a lot of camping and quading.
We exchange cards at Christmas and e-mails on birthdays.

Verna is 2 years older than me. We always were, and still are, close. Living
in the country, there was nobody else to play with so we played with each
other. We were too small to help with a lot of the chores that my 2 older
sisters had to. Even when we moved Medicine Hat, we spent a lot of time
together. She now lives in Claresholm, AB. We stay in touch regularly by
letter.

To me, one of the saddest things is that I don't really know my own
children. They were so young when I had the stroke, not even 5 and 3. Now
Donovan is almost 37 and Heidi is almost 35. When they were still living at
home, their father made sure that they spent time with me. But, now that
they are on their own and don't live here any longer, I seldom see them.
Donovan lives in Edmonton and, I believe, works for some department of the
city of Edmonton, doing graphic design on a computer. He is also a DJ so he
is a busy guy. Heidi lives in Leduc with her little boy. I believe she works
in Nisku, though I am not too sure what she does. She did apprentice as a
pipefitter but I am not sure that is she is doing.

One last person I must mention is Fin, my dear little grandson. He will 5 in
January. Because he lives in Leduc, I seldom see him in person. That is one
of the rare times that I am thankful for technology. At least, I can watch
him via Skype.

So that is my family. Definitely material for prayer as I am pretty sure I
am the only one who is a Christian. 

The "P" Factors

The "P" Factors In My Life-This blog is the product of another sleepless
night. This time because of sore hands. I wear splints on my hands at night
but, at times, they are a bit tight and cause some discomfort. The nurses
come in around 2:30 to reposition me so I knew that I could get them taken
off
then. While I waited, I figured I might as well think about what to write
about in my next blog rather than focusing on the discomfort.

P #1 is praise. I always think that praise would be easier if I could sing
and raise my hands to God like most other people. Still, I know that my form
of praising means just as much to God. The main thing is that I don't allow
my physical limitations to prevent me from praising and worshiping God. I
praise the Lord for two main reasons. First, I praise Him because He is
worthy of it. 24/7. Just thinking that I am not going to hell because of Him
is enough to make me start praising. Secondly, praising is an antidote for
depression. When I feel down and discouraged, if I MAKE myself start to
praise the Lord, the heaviness soon lifts. It is hard to be depressed and praise
at the same time. Times when I am feeling fine, praise is a preventative measure
that holds depression at bay.

P #2 is promise. The way to know what God has promised is to read the Bible
over and over until the promises show up in your life. I spend quite a bit
of time everyday simply reading the Bible. I have read it many times but
every time I read it, I see something that I never saw before. To be honest,
I love the Bible! I sometimes read it, especially Psalms, when I am feeling
a little down. It isn't long until I feel a whole lot better. Because I am
looking to God for healing, I have gotten to know the healing promises well
but there are many, many other promises in the Bible.

P #3 is prayer. Prayer is a big part of my life. Of course, there is the
prayer that we have at church. And I set aside a time to pray to God after I
have been tucked into bed but before I fall asleep. That is when I thank God
for good things that have happened that day and also when I specifically
pray for other people. However, I know that prayer is simply communication
with God so my favorite time of prayer is all day, every day, when I talk to
Jesus in my mind. Because I spend so much time alone with no human to talk
to, it is comforting to know that I can communicate with Jesus anytime I
want.

P #4 is purpose. So often, I feel like my life is just going round and round
and getting nowhere. But I know that God has a purpose for my life that I
don't
understand. The one purpose that I do understand is that He wants me
physically healed in this life.  But, the how, the when and what I will be
doing after I am healed is, at present, a total mystery. Of course, I know
that my ultimate aim is to go to heaven but that won't be until God has
fulfilled whatever purpose He has for me here on earth.

P #5 is peace. I do have have peace. At least, some of the time. There is a
quiet, peaceful atmosphere in my room with Christian music playing all the
time and, when I have my mind on God and not on the rotten things going on
all
around me, at times I feel downright mellow. Unfortunately, it usually
doesn't take much to disturb that peace. The least little frustration and my
fragile peace is gone. Being as my life is full of frustrations, my
peace usually doesn't last too long at a time.

P # 6 is pursue. If you pursue something, you follow after it. The
implication seems to be that it isn't just going to happen or come to you.
You have to go after it. The Bible says to pursue peace. So, when I lose my
peace, I have to go after it as it isn't going to come back on its own. I do
this by CHOOSING to focus on God and not on what has me so frustrated.

P # 7 is patience. God gave me the promise of healing 30 years ago and I
still haven't seen it. Obviously, I have had no choice but to develop
patience. I have learned that fretting is not going to speed God up. It just
makes my now even more miserable. But, living in Long-term Care requires
patience as well. With 30 residents and minimal staff, somebody is always
going to wait for something. Everyday is an opportunity to practice
patience.

P # 8 is perseverance. I have to just keep on keeping on, no matter how I
feel. I have never seriously thought of giving up for two reasons. First, I
don't see how my life would be any better if I did give up. I wouldn't even
have the hope that I now have. The second reason is that I want to see what
God has for me in the future. I admit, though, there are times that I have
to literally tell myself that I won't give up. I won't, I won't!

P # 9 is plodding. Even though my salvation was quite dramatic and I have
had a few dramatic experiences along the way, the majority of my life is
spent plodding through long day after long day, doing what I know to do,
Bible reading, prayer, church attendence, etc., and leaving the rest up to
God. My emotions, of course, go up and down but they have nothing to do with it. 

Fruit of the Spirit

Fruit Of The Spirit-The Bible gives several qualities, fruit of the Spirit,
that Christians are to reflect in their lives as we endeavor to become more
and more like Jesus. When I first felt to write about these, I thought that
I could just list them and explain how they are expressed in my present
life. But after looking at them more closely, I realized that I can't do
that because I don't even know if my life reflects them. A few maybe but not
every one of them. So, I decided just to list them and and to write about
each one whatever comes out.

The first quality mentioned is love. My understanding of love,as it is used
here, is not a gushy, mushy sentimental feeling. Rather, it is an act. Jesus
dying on the cross for people would be the ultimate example of love. People
show love to each other, not just by what they say, but also by what they
do. Because I have a limited amount of contact with other people, I have no
idea how much love other people see in me.

The second quality that others should see in Christians is joy. When I first
become a Christian, I was bubbling over with joy. That joy lasted for a
number of years but, eventually, all the negative circumstances that I I
face everyday started to wear me down and now my periods of overt joy are
significantly less. I tell myself that joy is a fruit of the Spirit and I
have the Holy Spirit so joy must be in me somewhere. I just wish it would
bubble over like it used to.

The next one is peace. I know I do have peace when my mind is on the things
of God like it is supposed to be. Unfortunately though, it is not the
consistent peace that Jesus had. Some days, I just feel agitated for no
apparent reason and it is a struggle to get my peace. But I guess periods
of peace are better than no peace at all.

The quality that I can most relate to is longsuffering or patience in the
face of hardship. I suspect, though, that this is a quality that I have had
no choice but to develop. I can fret all I want but it won't change
anything. In fact, it just makes me feel worse so I may as well patiently
wait on God's timing.

The next quality is gentleness or, in some translations of the Bible,
kindness. I don't really know what to say about this one. Except I am
thinking that this is a quality that others see, or don't see in us. For me,
personally, because I don't speak or have much interaction with other
people, it is probably difficult for others to see if it is exhibited in my
life.

Another one is goodness. The state of being good. Another definition I read
is moral excellence. I can't help thinking that it is pretty hard for me to
be very bad when I can't do anything or go places that I shouldn't be going.
I am sure that is one way that God is protecting me.

One quality that I know I do have is faith or faithfulness. Also defined as
loyalty or fidelity. It is simple. If I didn't have faith, I would never
have lasted this long. It is my faith in God that keeps me going when my
emotions are screaming that it is too hard and to give up.

There is the quality of meekness or humility. Again, I think that this is
something others see in you and not you in yourself. I question just how
meek, or humble, a person is if that person goes around telling others how
meek he/she is.

The final quality of a Christian should show is self-control or
self-restraint. This would be being able to do, or not do, something,
without always having to be told. Christians should pray, read the Bible, go
to church, etc., without always needing to be prompted. Conversely, they
should be able to stay away from bars or immoral shows, either on tv or in
the theatre, without needing someone to tell them. Personally, my emotions
quite often get out of control and I need self-control to get them back in
line with God without help from someone else.

There you have it. The fruit of the Spirit or qualities that a Christian
should exhibit in his/her life. I honestly didn't intend to talk about
myself so much but that is what came out.