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How to be Super…I do it myself!

Hi Everyone

Life is a journey. From beginning to end…it is filled with the delights of discovery and the drudge of disasters. All of us experience good and bad during the course of our journeys. Most of my books look at the adventures of my life, in an attempt to discover the lessons…lessons that have helped me to grow. And growth…spiritual growth is the purpose of events both good and bad in our lives. God uses these times to change us…to make us into the Super people He has designed us to be!

Today I am going to continue the road to discovery of what it means to be “Super” according to God. We are told in the Bible that God created each of us for a special purpose that He designed for us before the earth was created (Eph2:10). In fact Ephesians 1 also tells us that as believers we were chosen before the creation of the world…that means chosen before we had a chance to do anything…nothing that would prove that we were worthy of being called Super. Well, that thought blows me away, since by nature I am an eager, beaver, over achiever- but apparently it is not the daily things that I do that make me Super in God’s eyes! That puts God firmly in control…not me…how humbling!

Over the next few blogs I am going to share one particular story with you…a crucial part of my journey, that really caused me to change my view of God.

This journey began with having to learn who God really is. What is your view of God? This is an important question to ask yourself because it will impact your reaction to events in your life. Do you view God as all -powerful, all- knowing, the designer, Holy and inerrant, but also all-interested in us as individuals…as Love itself? Or as your personal slave?

If your view of God is that He is in charge…He’s the boss, then when troubles come you will pray, believing that He is working out the situation for a good purpose…His purpose. (Romans 5:3-6, Romans 8:28-30))

The problems that God allows in our lives give us the opportunity to be patient, which develops strength of character. We need to learn to trust God…until our faith is strong.

Real Faith brings practical results…it brings Real Peace, because we know, really know that God is in charge of everything and is working out everything for a good purpose.

Our pathway to this type of Real Faith is our journey through life’s difficulties and trouble.

One of the pathways to this discovery for me, was having to move from Manitowaning to Massey…join me on the journey… I entitile this story,                   “I do it myself”,  because that was the way I approached this journey…I was in charge of this change…little did I know, how wrong I was!

 I do it Myself!

At the time of this story I lived on Maple Grove Farm in Manitowaning, on Manitoulin Island with my husband Bob and three children…RandiLynn-14, Joan-13, and Bill-9

It was a lovely farm, with lots of room for the kids and animals…where we had friends, and good fellowship but where there was very little work as a pharmacist. Unfortunately, I had to work…full time in order to keep the creditors away!! Over the years, Bob and I had accumulated quite a bit of debt, starting with student loans for university, then endless loans and mortgages accumulated from the necessity of moving for work 4 times following graduation! Anyway the bottom line was…we both had to work full time! But on Manitoulin…at that time, there was no full time work for me, only for Bob. We tried everything we could to make full time work out of part time positions, but they all involved lots of travel and no sure pay cheque.

So in the fall of 1996…we prayed! Prayed for work and for help with the debt, which we finally admitted was a problem! And God answered our prayer with a job offer!  It was a great offer…great wage, full time managing a store, benefits, Monday – Friday work…no nights, no weekends!  Perfect for the family! There was just one small problem…it was in Elliot Lake…200 km away!

We discussed the job with the family and prayed again, for clarity.

But this is where my problem really began…you see in my mind I felt that if God had given me this great job, then He was going to solve all the seemingly huge issues involved in taking this job and He would do it NOW! (because I wanted Him to…since I was in control)

NO ONE ELSE in the family wanted to move…but they grudgingly accepted the need for it and unhappily agreed!

I took the job!

I was elated, I was excited, I was expectant of a quick answer to my prayers…I was in for a BIG shock…because God does not work in our timing, but His!

My view of God was that He was…My personal Genie in the Lamp…I rubbed and poof…He performed!. This was the time in my life to learn a valuable lesson…that God sometimes says NO,  in answer to my prayers!

Ponder that thought, then join me next time to find out how I responded to this new revelation.  So long for now.

Lynn

 

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We were made to be “special”…is that the same as Super???

 

 

Hi Everyone;

I bet you thought that I had given up on blogging….since I haven’t written anything for over a month! No excuses will suffice, except that I didn’t seem to have the time to sit down and…think! But, that time is over and I am back at it again! So here goes…

When I last blogged in December I was pondering the topic of being Super. I mentioned that in my life every time I began to think that I was Super it lead to disaster in one form or another! So is there a problem with being Super…or just a problem with my definition of Super? That lead me to check to see if the Bible says anything about being Super and to my surprise it does….well sort of!

The Bible tells us that each of us is Special…designed by God Himself to do a job for Him…especially selected just for us! (Ephesians 2:10) Well…if that’s not Super…I don’t know what is!

The trouble is that we don’t cling close enough to God or dig enough into His Word to find out what that Special Job is. We define our sence of “special” by the world’s standard and that doesn’t usually match the standard set by God. That was Scruffy’s problem, he felt that in order to prove his worth that he had to show-off…to hop higher, fly further, protect better than anyone else around him…but that wasn’t the right way to be Superspecial.  Nellie (his mom) told this story to give an example of being Super in action…

“Scruffy lay dejectedly in his pen, all alone, afraid to face anyone. Nellie knew that he was sad, so she snuggled close. After a while she spoke, “Scruffy, don’t be so hard on yourself…we all make mistakes, but these mistakes help us to grow…they build character. Never doubt that the Maker has made you special, perhaps not to be the SuperScruff that you wanted to be, but Super enough to do the job that He put you here to do.”…”The Maker’s idea of being Super is not the same as yours, so perhaps you should rethink what it means to be Super. He says that to be Super in His kingdom you have to be the servant of all…you have to be willing sacrifice yourself for others. Your type of Super was to be a show-off just to make yourself look better than others…do you see the difference? she bleated.  Hmmm, let me think of an example….Do you remeber seeing the pond at the end of the pasture?”

“Yes…the Scruffkids and I almost fell in when we slid down the slippery bank while checking it out.”

“Well you weren’t the only curious ones! All of the piglets checked it out, too, but with their pudgy little legs they weren’t able to stop themselves from sliding into the water. And they weren’t made for swimming.”

“What happened, Mom!”

“Well, Billyboy heard them squealing and so he yelled for Papa to come quickly and then dove into the pond to rescue them. Between the two of them, they managed to pull all of the piglets safely out of the water! Nellie exclaimed. ”

Nellie goes on to tell Scruffy that Billyboy didn’t bother telling anyone about this escapade, he just carried on with his other chores, despite the fact that he was a hero.

That story introduces the topic of what makes a person special. We know that scripture tells us that each of us is special and has a special purpose…but not all are called to do the same job…to be special in the same way…some may be quiet heros, like Billyboy, others will do seemingly inconsequential tasks that make a big impact, for God.  In the next few blogs I will share some real life stories of people showing how special they are…how they were  sometimes “shaped” by adversity for a task that our Maker had designed for them….stay tuned.

See you next time

Lynn

P.S. I would love to hear your stories…How has God impacted your life…How have you been used for His purposes and tell me if I can share it with other…send me an email …plynnhalliday@gmail.com

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NEWS, NEWS, NEWS !! Blogs to be available as “audio files”

Hi Everyone;

I have had a request to make my blogs available as “audio files” for those who are sight impaired (or like me, just like listening to stories!).

Stay tuned…I will begin the process of converting  the previous blogs to an audio format and they will be posted under the category, “audio-files”. I am new at this…so please excuse any technical issues! Do help me to improve by sending me some feedback!

Thanks…I’ll be “talking” to you shortly!

Lynn

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Goodread Give-a-way

Hi Everyone

Over the month of December I participated in a Goodreads Give-a-way contest! A total of 668 people participated in this event and 8 people were chosen to receive copies of Scruffy Finds His Way or SuperScruff!

A big thank you to all of you who participated in this event and congrats to the 8 winners…I hope that you enjoy the books and will share your review with us!

I look forward to hearing from you…and from anyone who has read my books! Please consider sharing your experience with Scruffy. You can do this by sending an email or by going to the “contact” page of my website!

Thanks again

Lynn

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Super…embarrassed!

Hi Everyone

As I continue to look at the topic of being Super, I am reminded of all sorts of lessons that I have learned over the years about how “not to be super.” You know…those times in your life which you wished had never happened! Well, like it or not, those are the times that have taught me some of my most valuable lessons, which have certainly helped me as life has gone on.  Today I am going to share one of those lessons with you…to give you a smile…but also to share another thought about our topic of being “Super.”

During my younger years I went to a camp called, “Mini-Yo-We” in Port Sydney. It was a great growing time for me and eventually I became a counsellor at this camp. My specialty was campcraft…you know…outdoors stuff like orienteering, paddling, camping, fire starting, outdoor cooking…etc. I thought that I was pretty good at it. At any rate, I counselled for a few years then went off to university and other summer activities. In the last year of university, the camp called me and asked if I could come and counsel for a week, at the main outtripping camp. I had time, so I said yes!

When I arrived, I met the canoe trip director for that summer, Randi. She and I hit it off right away. She was really glad to have me there because she needed the help with the senior canoe trip…I was happy to tell her how, “super” I was at  that activitiy! (oh no…I dug that pit again).

This particular year our outtripping group consisted of two female leaders, one male leader and twelve 14 year old girls…who were all googoo-eyed about the presence of a “male” on our all girl canoe trip! (This was a new policy decision of the camp to protect our girls from strangers). At any rate it did change the tone of the trip. Gone were the bad hair days and old torn tops and shorts…in were the latest fashion in outdoor wear, makeup and stylish hair…good grief- so much for husky trippers!!  Suddenly our troup of outtrippers could no longer pick up canoes, cut firewood or start fires with “his” help! The other unexpected impact was that it became necessary to dig the john much farther away from the camp, just in case, he…should see! Quite an inconvenience and as you will see a recipe for disaster!

The first day of our canoe trip we paddled across a large lakes and set up our campsite on the point of an island. Chores were done…including digging the john way across the island…instructions on how to find it were given to all.

At last…everyone was fed, and tucked into their tents, while our male leader made a hasty retreat to his tent. Randi and I made the rounds then decided to visit the john before hitting the sack.

We headed off to find the john in the dark, with a very small flashlight. “Let me see now, you walk to this rock, then turn right, then walk to the tree and turn left, then walk to the stump and turn right. Then the john should be straight ahead, behind the next tree, is that right?” I asked her.

“Yes, there it is. Good job,” said she.

We completed our business, laughing at the absurd distance the john was from the campsite. Man, you couldn’t even hear or see the campsite from here! We turned around and retraced our steps back to…nowhere. What happened to the campsite? We laughed and turned around to go back to the john to try again. We found it and again retraced our steps, carefully checking the directions with each other as we went, and again we found—nothing!

Then the giggling started. How absurd it was that the head of camp craft (the person who teaches orienteering and out-tripping skills) and her equally qualified helper were lost at night in the bush!

Having contemplated this embarrassment, we carefully retraced our steps back to the john. Or at least we tried to, but this time we didn’t find it. Now this was beginning to look a bit serious. We shone the flashlight around in a full circle and noted that all the trees looked very much the same in the glow of our small light. After reviewing our situation and carefully and calmly weighing the options, we chose the only logical course of action—we screamed for help, then waited, fully expecting our hitherto unwanted male counsellor to come charging through the bush to our rescue. And we waited, and waited and waited, but he never arrived. In fact, there were no human sounds to be heard at all except ours. Man, we would have to get a male who was a heavy sleeper!

This was ridiculous. Two grown women, senior counsellors, responsible for this canoe trip and for the lives of twelve campers, lost, while our campers slept! How mortifying! How very “non-super.”

At last, after we had exhausted all other options, we prayed. God did not instantly teleport us back to the campsite, but He did bring to mind the fact that we were on an island and were camped on the shoreline. Bingo—that was the answer!

With a prayer on our lips and thankfulness in our hearts, we proceeded to beeline our way across the island, using the bright skies as a guide, until the shoreline was reached. Then we walked along the shoreline until the campsite was found. Exhausted, we collapsed into our tent.

A valuable lesson had been learned. Don’t rely on your own “SuperStrength or SuperWisdom.” Learn to turn to our Super God…pray first, not last.

Someone truly Super…walks by faith…not by sight!

Bye for now

Lynn

 

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a chance to win a free book

Hi Everyone;

Just in time for Christmas, I am giving away 4 copies of Scruffy Finds His Way and SuperScruff! Head to Goodreads.com and enter by December 31st for a chance to win! Click to win #giveaway, #bookgiveaway, #freebooks, #goodreads!

We will also be hosting a “blog tour”. Scruffy will appear on the following blogs…check it out!

December 1: Westveil Publishing and Fabulous and Brunette

December 8: Lisa’s Reading and Andi’s Kids Books

December 15: Our Town Book Reviews and Gina Rae Mitchell

December 29th: Sandra’s Book Club and The Reading Addict

Until next time….

Lynn

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Being Super…what does it really mean?

Hi Again, everyone!

I am continuing on my quest, today to find out what it really means to be Super.  Last post I explored one of the pitfalls of thinking that we were Super, when I described an adventure in which I lead my campers the wrong way while trying to paddle down the French River.

Well Scruffy is well on his way to learning a similar lesson…just listen to his “thoughts” at the beginning of this escapade!

“Scruffy thought that he ought to practice, but his head was all puffed up by all the attention he was getting. Clearly he was already “SuperScruff” to his adoring fans so he couldn’t let them down. Inside he had always known that he had Super powers…it was time to show his stuff so he jumped on top of nearest bale of hay, so everyone could see and hear him.”

Oh my…Scruffy  is finally accepted by all of the barnyard critters…but acceptance and friendship were not enough for him. He had to be number One…the best! In his mind he felt that he had to prove his right to be number One by showing the others all the wonderful things that made him special… Super! The problem for Scruffy was that he really didn’t have a clear view of what it meant to be Super! Do we?

One dictionary defines Super as follows:

“The adjective super comes from the Latin super-, meaning “above,” “over,” or “beyond.” Super is another way to say “the best” — you are above the rest. Super can also describe something that’s really big.”

In contrast the Bible defines Super as follows:

Matthew 20:26-27

“…whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served…”

Which type of Super really counts…I wonder?

Something to think about.

See you next time.

Lynn

 

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So…you want to be Super?

 

Hi Everyone;

Well, SuperScruff has arrived! It is available at Amazon, Chapters, Book Depository and in Espanola at Robinson’s Pharmasave and RemedyRX and I am “Super” excited about it!

Let me tell you a little bit about this newest edition of Goat Tails. Scruffy has arrived back home following his big “lost” adventure, but instead of being glad to be back…he was a little afraid. He really thought that he was in trouble again and would end up back in Pen Prison! But this adventure actually ended up making him famous….he had become a SuperStar! For once in his life other critters looked up to him and thought that he was wonderful! Well, as you can imagine this new fame felt pretty good…actually it felt GREAT and it went right to his head! And so a new journey of discovery…to find out what it means to be Super began…!

I can really identify with Scruffy in this adventure…can you? Have you ever set your sites on a goal…worked really hard…sacrificed your time, your relationships, perhaps even your finances to achieve it and then…after what seemed like an endless wait you have done it? You’ve achieved your goal and perhaps for a brief, sunny moment been at the pinacle of success..been recognized, even rewarded for your…greatness?? Ouch…none us like to appear that prideful…but deep inside we can be pretty pleased with ourselves and our achievements.

Well, I am (and I admit it) an eager, beaver over achiever…I love a challenge…love a contest…want, ernestly to be at the top of my…whatever I’m into at the moment. But this attitude has landed me in an emotional muddle many, many times in my life…probably because it totally goes against God’s design for me (and for all of us, I think). But God knows me and is intimately interested in my growth, so He allows me to dig the pit…into which I eventually fall…to teach me to walk humbly.  Let me share a story with you…!

Quite a while ago…in my early 20’s…I lead an outpost camp, at Camp Mini-Yo-We. One of the goals of this outpost camp was to teach 14-16 year old girls how to enjoy and survive wilderness canoe trips. Well, I was the leader of that camp and as such had a fair amount of experience in canoe tripping and campcraft skills. I loved it and thought I was pretty good at it.

Well on this particular year…things had been going pretty well at the camp and I had planned a difficult canoe trip for the most senior, experienced campers. I was to lead it (of course) and I had a university student with some experience as my co-leader! Can you hear the attitude behind these words…I was so puffed up it was amazing I even fit into a canoe! Anyway…the trip was planned to go down the French River South channel, was 4 days long, was a moderate white water trip and I had done it once before…so easy, peasy…right?

Wrong! I made several crucial errors at the beginning of the trip….I had not studied the maps well enough to discover that there were 3 possible exits from the lake that we began on…I let the girls practice their navigating through the myriad of islands that dotted that lake….I failed to pay attention to exactly where we were on the map, assuming that we would just paddle to the end of the lake and naturally go down the South channel…big MISTAKE!

Well…the wind blew, the waves built and we were pushed to the north side of the lake (unbeknown to me) and so when we finally came to the end of the lake…we were well North of the South channel and I spied “the channel” straight up ahead…everyone cheered as we paddled down it, until I began to realize that it looked nothing like the South channel…had cottages on it…was not a wilderness at all…so I stopped at a dock and asked the fisherman to pinpoint our location on my map (which I now had in my possession). “Right here, Miss, ” he said as he pointed to spot on the channel! Then he said, “we don’t often get canoe trips going down this channel.” “Thank you,” I mumbled, “I bet you don’t…we were just, ah…exploring,” I explained, as I shouted for the girls to turn around…(to a chorus of moans and grumbles).

We paddled out of that channel and I assured that girls that I was in command of the map so no more mistakes would happen…(there I sat all puffed up just about ready to fall into that “pride pit” that I was digging). Up ahead I finally spied the channel, everyone cheered, happy once again! After a couple of km, I ordered a rest stop to have a snack…it was getting late…but that wasn’t really the reason for the stop…the real reason was that this channel didn’t look familiar either! I pulled out the map and once again found that I was on the wrong channel! This time there was no one else to blame…I fell into my pit, figuratively speaking and had to confess! (for the outcome of that story see…”Stuck on the Rocks, Again”)

What a difficult lesson that was…but one that I really needed to learn….one which needs repeated teaching! God has been patiently teaching me over the years…thankfully He never gives up on me!

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goes before destruction,
    a haughty spirit before a fall.

I hope you enjoy the new book!

Happy Reading!

Lynn

 

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Faith displayed in living each day for Him

Hi Everyone;

I had a few thoughts this morning that I would like to share with you. As I have sat here pondering my morning devotions…the impact of faith upon life has really struck me. Faith in God, in Jesus His Son and the His purpose in and through my life has always been a central theme of my writing. Upon reflection I have looked back upon the many adventures and stories of my life and have seen the consistent thread of God woven through the whole. Each event…good and bad,  has helped me to grow in faith and character…which is why God tells us to “count it all joy.”  Well in today’s readings I have been challenged to live out my faith in my actions…”faith without works is dead” it says in James 2:17,20,26.  The faith that counts is the faith that shows in all the aspects of life…it was this thought that reminded me of a story, of a quiet unassuming man that I got to know…at least a little while we lived on our farm in Manitowaning.  Listen…to his faith in action!

Scruffy Finds His Way by

A middle-aged man sits by a stall, bending to check on the progress of the faithful beast beside him. Sounds of quiet munching overlaid by the steady hum of pumps fill the air. A peaceful scene spreads before him as he goes about his work. He stands and stretches before moving on to the next cow. His work is to manage a dairy farm; gruelling, back breaking work that draws him from bed at 5 am and puts him back there again in the early evening. As he surveys the old barn he stops to consider the path that brought him back to this century farm with its hereditary work. He sure hadn’t planned it; it was not what he thought he was called to do. But God had other ideas and although he would never feel that his work was anything special; being humble in nature, others would. Looking back you could see that his life had been used mightily for God right here on the family farm, not in some distant land.

From an early age studying the Word had been an integral part of his life and as he grew he knew that following this Word was to be his lifelong calling. At first he had dreams of far off missions to reach and teach those who had not had the same opportunities as he. With that goal in mind and a thirst in his heart, he went off to Bethel Bible College in Indiana to prepare for the work ahead. There he met his lifelong partner, who, though small in frame was a firebrand for God. Together they headed to the mission field in Jamaica. Being a quiet, humble man who sometimes stumbled over words, he felt a bit awkward in the pastoral role, but he had a heart for God and so he served. Through continued study and prayer he came to realize that not all were called to be pastors and so he resigned his position as pastor confident that God would have some other work for him to do. He returned once again to the dairy farm where he was raised and began farming as his father had before him. This truly was the real beginning of his ministry.

God always prepares us for ministry. He gifts us with the tools and expertise we need to do the job that He has prepared for us. How was this man gifted? He had many skills that equipped him to do his daily work and a common sense approach to life that appealed to the country folk around him. He had an unshakeable faith in God and thirst for learning the Word. His wife was also gifted for service, as a musician, a teacher, a homemaker and a tireless servant of all. So how did God use these gifts; what work were they brought home to do? They bloomed where they were planted and produced an abundant crop. They worked together to spread the Good News of the Gospel in their community, at church, at home and in places far off as they touched the lives of all who visited. She taught Sunday school, music, led choirs, and welcomed all new comers to their home, while serving her family that had now grown to five. He served as a Deacon and an Elder, and became an abundant source of wisdom for the church. He reached out into his community helping with all manner of causes and charities even becoming the Reeve of the small town in which they resided. He brought Jesus into the council rooms of government…to show them a better way.

These seedlings were planted by God and fertilized by His Word.