Get Your Ducks in a Row

My daughter told me she is first working on her spiritual relationship with a man now in dating. After having a marriage relationship where I prayed with a partner and read the word, attended a church together and had the same spiritual values, it makes me think of that scripture, (Now therefore, we do not know a person by the body, and if we have known The Messiah in the body, from now on we do not even know him so. 2 Cor. 5:16)

The two night dreams I've had about my deceased mother, I never saw her face or recognized her physically, it was her essence/presence I recognized in my dream.

Are Your Ducks in a Row?

There are certain events that happen in the universe as far as the planets line up certain times in their orbit. I look at life the same way. Are the events in my life lining up to where they should be? Is my life lining up with the word of God? Do I have some spiritual friends who are going to take me into the promise land? Do I have some balcony friends that are visionaries or are all my friends in the basement? Are there enough Joshua and Calebs in my life that say, "we can defeat the giants and take the promise land." All things are possible.

I've never been to a chiropractor, but I hear that when you get your back in adjustment it is nice. When I met my husband he had his ducks in a row as far as he said, "I'm happy with my job, I've been divorced for a year, ready to move on." He did not have his finances totally together as far as he was considering selling a house or keeping it in Greenfield that his ex-wife and he owned. He was still paying an agreed alimony support to his ex for one more year, so he told me he could not afford for us to get married and buy a home with too many bedrooms. He knew his daughter may come live with us as far as him getting full custody like his son.

There are times to look at our lives and see where we are at spiritually and see if we have our "ducks in a row." I know when I lost my husband, he was rather fried worrying about losing his job and I was burnt out from working full time, raising six children and going to college. I was still doing things for church and others, but I did not have the spiritual support at church or what I needed. At the time there was a "sifting" going on my church as far as some people were getting divorced, some people left the church and there were some deaths.

"To get one's ducks in a row essentially means to ensure all of the small details or elements are accounted for and in their proper positions before embarking on a new project. A defense attorney, for example, may spend much of his or her time making sure all of the evidence and witnesses are presented in a precise, effective order. A salesman may get all of his or her "ducks in a row" by rehearsing his sales presentation beforehand. When a person is fully prepared for any eventuality and has every element in place, he or she can indeed be said to have his or her ducks in a row."

I look at my life now and I'm very happy with where the ducks are in my life as far as I lost the main duck who lead our family, and I have had to take over some of the leadership, but I've kept most of the ducks together in my family. My husband, when we would go to amusement parks, always had to up in the front leading the pack of children. There were times we lost a teen child once at King's Island and once at MGM studios so you learn with six children, you have to contingency plans for them and their friends to meet you. There are many times I realize that I don't always make the perfect will of God in my life, I may be in God’s "contingency plan."

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans12:2

That happened recently when I had a dream where the dream said, "Don't take you boat it has a mechanical problem take your SUV and the wave runners." That was before I went on vacation to Michigan. I woke up and said, "I rebuke you devil, I'm taking my boat I just put $4K in fixing that SUV. Problem was it was God's warning like Joseph was warned in a dream to take Jesus to Egypt.

One hour from my destination a man on a motorcycle pulled next to my SUV on the interstate and said my SUV was smoking. I pulled over to a gas station and my transmission was leaking. There happened to be a full service repair shop at that exit. The transmission blew a seal and it was discovered that the garage who did my transmission service here in Indy the machine put too much transmission fluid in. It was a lot of hassle in going the extra distance back and forth to get my SUV fixed (took an extra week and an extra trip) and I got the repair shop to reimburse me $800.

I'm trying to get better at "hearing the voice of God." I know Mary believed the angels report that she was going to conceive, but Gideon and John the Baptist father did not believe. Thomas had to see and feel Jesus to believe that he had risen from the dead.

I like that song, "What a friend we have in Jesus, and what a privilege to take everything to him in prayer. Oh what needless pain with suffer, oh what needless grief we bare."

I got free from the pain of loss in putting that pain on Jesus on the cross. But I find in dealing with depression of the loss, it's finding those spiritual friends that support me in a time of crisis. I look at it like Star Wars when Han Solo says to Luke Skywalker, "Now let's blow this thing and go home." Maybe I will have two Death Stars to blow up and then it will be time to go home and be with Jesus.

I am very happy with how God has blessed me with some friends to go boating and have fun, now I am looking for some friends that are in the balcony. Recently, I spoke to a man who lost his wife through online dating and the whole conversation I felt like I had to "tone down" my Christianity and practically make excuses for being a Christian. After a couple of hours, I am glad it did not go any further, because I don't want to apologize for my faith.