Lately, perhaps the past few months even, God has been asking me this question, \u201cWhere is your focus?\u201d I have pondered that question a lot, and in so many situations that I have found myself.<\/p>\n
Is it about the fact that I have so much excess weight on my body that I can\u2019t seem to lose no matter what? Or is it on the fact that I have a body that functions well in spite of the extra weight?<\/p>\n
Is it on the fact that my job is extremely stressful and almost more than I can handle at times? Or is it on the fact that I have a really good job that pays well and has good benefits?<\/p>\n
Is it on the fact that I really miss my friends in Maryland sometimes and long for those friendships? Or is it on the fact that they are still my friends after almost 24 years of knowing them?<\/p>\n
Is it on the fact that I long to be in a Messianic congregation where I can experience all the atmosphere and music and congregational life that I love so much? Or is it on the fact that God allowed me to be a part of that fellowship, so I would be able to be at home in any fellowship, because I know what covenant really means?<\/p>\n
I am by natural tendency negative. \u00a0I see the glass half empty \u2013 I see the problem first before I see the solution. But God wants me to see the glass half full and wonder at the possibilities in the solution to every problem.<\/p>\n
Life is filled with so many choices every day. Do we choose to be positive, life-affirming, looking for the possibilities, or do we choose death and all that goes with it? I am working on choosing life and seeing that glass full.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s really all about where we choose to put our focus.<\/p>\n
Philippians 4:8 \u00a0Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Photo<\/a> by chase_elliott<\/a> <\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lately, perhaps the past few months even, God has been asking me this question, \u201cWhere is your focus?\u201d I have pondered that question a lot, and in so many situations that I have found myself. Is it about the fact that I have so much excess weight on my body that I can\u2019t seem to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/9480023049_5984c44aaa_Focus.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s8a3GA-focus","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8211,"url":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/blessings-in-disguise\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":0},"title":"Blessings in Disguise","author":"Lea Splane","date":"August 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On a Friday evening last April, I stood up from my sofa to walk into another room. As I did, I caught my foot on a piece of furniture, and was catapulted into the air, falling and landing hard on my left shoulder. I knew as soon as it happened\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"candles","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/window-1560966_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/window-1560966_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/window-1560966_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/window-1560966_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/window-1560966_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106,"url":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/whatever-happened-to-modesty\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":1},"title":"Whatever Happened to Modesty?","author":"Lea Splane","date":"June 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As I was standing at the information booth at church on Resurrection Sunday, a young teenager (I believe she is 15) came out of the restroom with her holiday finest on - a dress that looked like it belonged in a nightclub somewhere, off one shoulder and very short! I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/14597133980_ba8996e607_Modest.jpg?fit=345%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":481,"url":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/the-last-tomatoes-of-summer\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":2},"title":"The Last Tomatoes of Summer","author":"Lea Splane","date":"December 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In late October we ate the last tomatoes of summer\u2026those final pieces of fruit that ripened just before the weather turned colder. There is something wonderful about those tomatoes, knowing we are going into another season with no harvest. The last fruit of summer seems like the sweetest and best.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/tomatoes-101845_640.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/tomatoes-101845_640.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/tomatoes-101845_640.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":552,"url":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/unto-the-least-of-these\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":3},"title":"Unto the least of these…","author":"Lea Splane","date":"January 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A few months ago the pastor of the church we are attending passed out a card to everyone attending. The card said, \"God, what are you calling me into?\" He suggested we put it up somewhere in our home where it would remind us to ask the question of God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sunset","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/freedom-2053281_640.jpg?fit=640%2C486&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/freedom-2053281_640.jpg?fit=640%2C486&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/freedom-2053281_640.jpg?fit=640%2C486&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74,"url":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/best-friends-forever\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":4},"title":"Best Friends Forever","author":"Lea Splane","date":"April 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"There is an acronym young people use today in texting called BFF (Best Friends Forever). I wonder if they really understand the meaning of best friends? Twenty-five years ago I ended up in Frederick, Maryland. I thought it was just another stop in the crazy quilt that was my life.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/4749145213_5213e5e9ca_Best-Friends-Forever.jpg?fit=500%2C375&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":510,"url":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/getting-to-the-heart-of-the-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":52,"position":5},"title":"Getting to the Heart of the Matter","author":"Lea Splane","date":"April 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"For about the past two months, I have been suffering with hives and an itchy rash on my body. I have had allergies to different medicines, chemical, etc. in the past. So I thought it was a reaction to my laundry detergent. So I stopped using it, washing all my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/14598041337_3e8de4afa0_bedbug.jpg?fit=500%2C457&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splanescorner.us\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNew International Version (NIV)<\/em><\/p>\n