tenac you said...
"I just don't know why I'm this way?"
I heard a sermon once. We are to have what is called "a light touch."
Meaning we can let go of anything we own because we hold on to it lightly.
I would say you have a "light touch."
I read a book over the weekend. First book in a long time as I've been busy.
Remember I don't have cable t.v. and I buy used books and choose them by the publishers. This one was from Harvest House.
By Annie Chapman (edited by me)
I recall her (grandmother) telling me about a very poor family that lived in her Appalachian region of West Virginia. Every family was poor in this hardworking community, but some were poorer than others. Although there was little or no money, the families were decent people who were caught in situations beyond their control. Unemployment was high, the Depression had hit, and it was devastating. Many of the sons had left their home to fight in the Big War. Of those who survived, some came back to fight poverty and destitution.
My Grandma Eckard was a sweet, generous woman, and her giving started at home. My mother recalled the morning that Grandma had only one egg to feed her family of eight. She made her "poor man's gravy," which was a white flour concoction made with water. Then she happily announced to the family that everyone could have some egg because she had mixed it into the gravy.
Miss Omie, as my sweet Grandma Eckward was known, was.....an excellent midwife, nurse, and undertaker. What ever needed to be done, she was there to help.
One day Miss Omie was called to one of the poorest families in the area. Mrs. Wilson was sick, and it was feared she was dying. As Miss Omie entered the house, she said she could literally smell death in the air. The house was filled with hungry, dirty, neglected children. The family was so destitute that the kids had what appeared to be the mange. There were large sections of their heads where hair could not grow either from the filth or malnutrition, or both. Miss Omie observed a hard crust of moldy bread sitting by the bedside of the dying mother. One of the children walked over to the nightstand, picked up the crust of bread, gnawed it, and then put it back. The scene was both heartbreaking and totally unacceptable.
Miss Omie returned to her home and told her husband, my grandfather Clarence, the situation...
Grandpa Clarence promptly harnessed up the horses to the buckboard wagon and began going from house to house. My mother went along with him. Everyone gave, even from their own poverty. Families went into their root cellars and gave items such as vegetables, dried fruits, and canned meat. They went to their smokehouses and gave food reserved for their own tables to help these starving neighbors.
My mother remembered going with her dad to the one house where they believed they would receive the most help. The family that resided there had the nicest house in the community. They were the most educated, and they always seemed to have plenty to eat. When the need was explained to them, they reluctantly went into their attic and brought down some old purses for the starving family.
As Grandpa and my mother drove away, they were a little surprised at the offering of this well-to-do family. Then the thought occurred to Mom, "Perhaps there is money in the purses." Eagerly, she opened each one and as she did, she discovered it was empty. What were they thinking? My mother facetiously said, "Well, now the starving family can put all their money in the purses." The emptiness of the gift was overwhelming.
My mother has since gone home to be with the Lord, but the lesson of the "empty purses" remains. We come into the world starving to death, filthy with sin and despair. Ephesians 2:1,2,4-6 says:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience....But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.
We are ravaged with anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness. When we go to places like the self-help books and the encounter groups, all they can offer us is "empty purses." Regardless of their good intentions, the world has little---if any--assistance to offer in our quest to manage anger. (Or I'll add whatever) Only God can help us "rule over" our spirits. And the best news is, He thinks we're able!
O.K. all that stuff that you could care less about is "empty purses" to you...and guess what...You're fortunate. I have "a light touch" as well. Many, many people aren't like us. They have to ask God to help them "rule over" their spirits when it comes to holding on to stuff too tight.
Stuff brings people pleasure for only a short time. Then they get more. Where I live people have so much junk in their garages they have to park their cars out side. lol
AI
