This is my first blog in 2009.....I got a call to go to Temple on New Year's eve. My mom was very sick and now is on hospice. Not exactly what I had envisioned my new year to be. It was the first one away from Billy in 35 years and after Daddy's death in '08, I had really envisioned a better 2009. At first I was paranoid imagining that this was going to be a premonition of what was to come; however, I made a conscious choice to accept what 'is' as from the Lord and to believe that this is for my good. It was hard at first. My 'natural' inclination is doom and gloom. I tend to fall back on fear instead of forward into rest. But I am discovering that the walk of faith is all about my choices and my vision.
My choice must be to trust that God has a plan and is in control. That takes the burden off of me for trying to fix things or having to control things. It also means that I don't have to understand what is going on. That is a good thing because I am discovering the older I get the less I know. I can in no way 'predict' what is best or what an outcome will be because I don't know the future.
Which leads to vision. God sees what is ahead. He knows what is needed to mold me and make me into a vessel fit for His glory. He knows what lies ahead and He is working all things together for my good and "working" is a present tense word. It's in the right now of your life and mine. So my vision must be up. Not down in the dumps or even straight ahead into my circumstance. Up - where Christ dwells sitting at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for me.
However your 2009 may have begun - you are a child of the King. Look up and believe.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Happy New Year
Wow - another year has come and is nearly gone. It has been a year of change for the Kulwicki's. My dad went home to heaven after a very short battle with cancer and my sister and brother and I got to care for him during that time. Billy changed jobs and we moved to Rockwall. My mom fell and broke her hip and shoulder requiring surgery and many, many months in rehab. My sister and her husband are leaving their acreage in Greenville after 11 years to move to a townhouse near George Bush freeway! Some of the change has been fun and adventurous and some has been grueling and painful. Such is life.
We have no clue what 2009 will hold for us but we can be assured that it will be a mixture of good and bad, fun and sad, easy and difficult. So how do we prepare ourselves?
I think the answer is found "in Christ." In Christ we have assurance that He is in control. In Christ we have the hope (rock hard certainty) that all things are being orchestrated by Him for His purposes - and that they are good. In Christ we find our joy and rest and peace. In Christ we are being molded into His image.
In Christ.....that is where I want to be found as 2008 fades into 2009. Not just as in being saved but firmly entrenched - making my determined purpose to abide in Him - loving Him with all my heart, trusting Him with all that is in me and believing Him with a steadfastness born of a relationship that has proven His faithfulness to me.
It will take determination on my part and a resolve to look not at my circumstances but at the faithfulness and power of my Abba Father who is the King of Kings. It is my intent but I will need you to remind me when life hurls 'stuff' at me. It takes a village to raise a child but it takes a church (body of believers) to raise a believer. How about in 2009 we hold each other accountable to be found in Christ - every day, in every situation? If we do so, I believe 2009 will be our best year ever.
We have no clue what 2009 will hold for us but we can be assured that it will be a mixture of good and bad, fun and sad, easy and difficult. So how do we prepare ourselves?
I think the answer is found "in Christ." In Christ we have assurance that He is in control. In Christ we have the hope (rock hard certainty) that all things are being orchestrated by Him for His purposes - and that they are good. In Christ we find our joy and rest and peace. In Christ we are being molded into His image.
In Christ.....that is where I want to be found as 2008 fades into 2009. Not just as in being saved but firmly entrenched - making my determined purpose to abide in Him - loving Him with all my heart, trusting Him with all that is in me and believing Him with a steadfastness born of a relationship that has proven His faithfulness to me.
It will take determination on my part and a resolve to look not at my circumstances but at the faithfulness and power of my Abba Father who is the King of Kings. It is my intent but I will need you to remind me when life hurls 'stuff' at me. It takes a village to raise a child but it takes a church (body of believers) to raise a believer. How about in 2009 we hold each other accountable to be found in Christ - every day, in every situation? If we do so, I believe 2009 will be our best year ever.
Monday, December 22, 2008
What A Plan!
Colossians 1: 15-16 (THB) says "Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, Christ Himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth..."
And yet He chose to wrap Himself in human flesh and enter the womb of a young Jewish woman putting her in peril of her very life while allowing Himself to be born into enemy territory. What kind of plan is that? All that He could live as we live, walk where we walk, be tempted as we are tempted and die that we may no longer die.
What kind of God is this?
Scripture says He is love. He loved us so much that He sent us His Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is the plan in a nutshell. I know I would willingly die for my children. In a heartbeat. No matter what they do or how they act or truthfully....even how they feel about me. I'm much happier when they express their love but their response has nothing to do with my love for them. I think that is a picture of God's love for us. A tiny picture because He has no shadow or impurity in His love for us.
His plan - and never doubt - it was preplanned from before Adam, is one that requires faith. We have to believe Him. We have to believe in Him. We have to believe that we are deeply and immeasurably loved - regardless of how He shows that love for us. We are living in hard times and many of you are going through trials and you might be tempted to throw in the towel.
Look deeply into the manger this Christmas. See the little baby - born to poor parents who were probably as confused as we are - and believe that He came to make a way for you to go home and this is not it. We are aliens and strangers here and what we long for and dream of is coming.
Now we need a plan. A plan that doesn't look at bank accounts or stock options, headstones or hospitals - it is a plan that involves looking up. Up - where heaven is. Up - where our Savior sits at the right hand of the Father. Up - where everything we long for and wait for is prepared for us. Up - where Christmas begins and ends. I love you - Merry Christmas!
And yet He chose to wrap Himself in human flesh and enter the womb of a young Jewish woman putting her in peril of her very life while allowing Himself to be born into enemy territory. What kind of plan is that? All that He could live as we live, walk where we walk, be tempted as we are tempted and die that we may no longer die.
What kind of God is this?
Scripture says He is love. He loved us so much that He sent us His Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is the plan in a nutshell. I know I would willingly die for my children. In a heartbeat. No matter what they do or how they act or truthfully....even how they feel about me. I'm much happier when they express their love but their response has nothing to do with my love for them. I think that is a picture of God's love for us. A tiny picture because He has no shadow or impurity in His love for us.
His plan - and never doubt - it was preplanned from before Adam, is one that requires faith. We have to believe Him. We have to believe in Him. We have to believe that we are deeply and immeasurably loved - regardless of how He shows that love for us. We are living in hard times and many of you are going through trials and you might be tempted to throw in the towel.
Look deeply into the manger this Christmas. See the little baby - born to poor parents who were probably as confused as we are - and believe that He came to make a way for you to go home and this is not it. We are aliens and strangers here and what we long for and dream of is coming.
Now we need a plan. A plan that doesn't look at bank accounts or stock options, headstones or hospitals - it is a plan that involves looking up. Up - where heaven is. Up - where our Savior sits at the right hand of the Father. Up - where everything we long for and wait for is prepared for us. Up - where Christmas begins and ends. I love you - Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Emmanuel
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Parties, shopping, decorations, bells at the grocery store and PLANS!!! You've got to do a lot of planning this time of the year in order to do everything you want to do and get your families all visited and taken care of. I am a master planner. In fact, if I'm not careful - 'the plan' will become my emphasis. I was making my 'plans' this weekend when our son looked at me and said, "How are we going to go all that?" I had such great ideas: cinnamon buns for breakfast followed by gift exchange followed by pictures/puzzles/cookie decorating and then on to lunch, movies and a family Christmas dinner with my brother and sister and their families. I was trying to fit candy making in with my daughters-in-law when it dawned on me that I COULD make it all work but would it really be fun?
I think that is where Emmanuel becomes such a precious reality to us. The name God gave us for Jesus is "God with us." No plans. No preparation. God with us - always, wherever, whenever, whatever. You can be intentional about spending time with Him and experience His presence more fully or you can be unintentional and miss Him or be surprised by Him. For He is always with you.
Our Christmas is really no different than the first one. Everyone was busy with their plans. Caesar Augustus had plans for everyone to go to their birth city for taxation. City managers were planning to fill the city coffers with hotel and dining money. Mary and Joseph planned to check in to a local hotel and deliver their firstborn. Things didn't exactly go as planned. They don't usually for ours either. Humans seem to get in the way of the best of plans.
It's easy for us to look back at that first Christmas and stand in amazement that they missed Jesus. Yet if we're not careful, we'll do the same. But He won't miss us. That was the entire point of God becoming a man. He wanted to live with us - within us. To be with us always. It's an amazing and wonderful gift. And it is our reality. God is with us.
The originator of Christmas is also the originator of families.......man.......and plans. He isn't opposed to any of those - in fact He just wants to be right in the middle of them. That is my intent this Christmas - to center Christ smack dab in the middle of my planning! I encourage you to do the same.
I think that is where Emmanuel becomes such a precious reality to us. The name God gave us for Jesus is "God with us." No plans. No preparation. God with us - always, wherever, whenever, whatever. You can be intentional about spending time with Him and experience His presence more fully or you can be unintentional and miss Him or be surprised by Him. For He is always with you.
Our Christmas is really no different than the first one. Everyone was busy with their plans. Caesar Augustus had plans for everyone to go to their birth city for taxation. City managers were planning to fill the city coffers with hotel and dining money. Mary and Joseph planned to check in to a local hotel and deliver their firstborn. Things didn't exactly go as planned. They don't usually for ours either. Humans seem to get in the way of the best of plans.
It's easy for us to look back at that first Christmas and stand in amazement that they missed Jesus. Yet if we're not careful, we'll do the same. But He won't miss us. That was the entire point of God becoming a man. He wanted to live with us - within us. To be with us always. It's an amazing and wonderful gift. And it is our reality. God is with us.
The originator of Christmas is also the originator of families.......man.......and plans. He isn't opposed to any of those - in fact He just wants to be right in the middle of them. That is my intent this Christmas - to center Christ smack dab in the middle of my planning! I encourage you to do the same.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Christmas in a Crummy Economy
If you have somehow avoided a newspaper or television, maybe you didn't know that the USA is in a recession. But more than likely you knew it because it has somehow affected you. Recession could just as easily be summed up in one word - loss. Loss of job. Loss of retirement. Loss of savings. Loss of homes. Loss of sales. Loss, loss, loss. We Americans - the richest of all nations - have learned that the things in which we too often place our trust are nothing more than shifting sand. Of course, we Christians were supposed to already know that. At least we sing it.
When Jesus came to earth - and by the way, talk about LOSS. Paul said it best in the book of Philippians when he said that Jesus 'emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.' Jesus chose loss for our sakes. He bypassed an eternity of glorious riches for a temporary life span on earth. A life span that Ecclesiastes defines as "a mist, a vapor." It didn't change His eternal destiny but it sure changed ours.
Most of us affected by the economic turndown are focusing on the temporary - the things that are mists and vapor. Focusing on those things will take our spirits to where the economy is - in the tank! When our focus turns to the eternal riches that are ours; the inheritance that is promised to us; the infallibility of our God and His kingdom and the immutable truth that "all things work together for our good" and "nothing is impossible with God, " we are more than conquerors. We are different. We are a light in a dark world. We are confident in things unseen.
Christmas is about the incomprehensible. God became a fetus. He limited Himself to the womb of a teenager and a delivery in a stable. Seems like a sweet story unless you've ever birthed a baby. Then you know that being forced to deliver in a stable versus a birthing room surrounded by loved ones and skilled attendants might rank higher on your scale of crisis than the economy.
Immanuel - God With Us - stripping Himself of honor, glory and majesty to come to a world that had no room for Him. Maybe your losses in this recession make you feel stripped....of pride, of self, of honor. Perhaps you are in good company. Jesus did so willingly that we might know - really know - how much God loves us and longs for us. That didn't change when the economy took a nose dive. He is near to you.
Christmas in a crummy economy is forced de-materialization. I think I made that word up. It is being forced to not buy so much. Not shop so much. Not stress so much over what we can't afford and don't need anyway. And focusing on what's really important - people. I'm really sorry so many people are hurting. I'm really sorry so many people have experienced so much loss. But I'm so happy that most of the people I know are more than overcomers in Christ Jesus.
This economy is nothing to God but His concern has never been on the economy. He is concerned about His children. His heart is that we would turn from our obsessive compulsion for things that never satisfy to the rock which will never be shaken. I am praying that we discover the joy of Christmas this year above all others. Share what you have. Open your home. Give. It's the Bible's cure for loss. And discover what Jesus did - joy!
When Jesus came to earth - and by the way, talk about LOSS. Paul said it best in the book of Philippians when he said that Jesus 'emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.' Jesus chose loss for our sakes. He bypassed an eternity of glorious riches for a temporary life span on earth. A life span that Ecclesiastes defines as "a mist, a vapor." It didn't change His eternal destiny but it sure changed ours.
Most of us affected by the economic turndown are focusing on the temporary - the things that are mists and vapor. Focusing on those things will take our spirits to where the economy is - in the tank! When our focus turns to the eternal riches that are ours; the inheritance that is promised to us; the infallibility of our God and His kingdom and the immutable truth that "all things work together for our good" and "nothing is impossible with God, " we are more than conquerors. We are different. We are a light in a dark world. We are confident in things unseen.
Christmas is about the incomprehensible. God became a fetus. He limited Himself to the womb of a teenager and a delivery in a stable. Seems like a sweet story unless you've ever birthed a baby. Then you know that being forced to deliver in a stable versus a birthing room surrounded by loved ones and skilled attendants might rank higher on your scale of crisis than the economy.
Immanuel - God With Us - stripping Himself of honor, glory and majesty to come to a world that had no room for Him. Maybe your losses in this recession make you feel stripped....of pride, of self, of honor. Perhaps you are in good company. Jesus did so willingly that we might know - really know - how much God loves us and longs for us. That didn't change when the economy took a nose dive. He is near to you.
Christmas in a crummy economy is forced de-materialization. I think I made that word up. It is being forced to not buy so much. Not shop so much. Not stress so much over what we can't afford and don't need anyway. And focusing on what's really important - people. I'm really sorry so many people are hurting. I'm really sorry so many people have experienced so much loss. But I'm so happy that most of the people I know are more than overcomers in Christ Jesus.
This economy is nothing to God but His concern has never been on the economy. He is concerned about His children. His heart is that we would turn from our obsessive compulsion for things that never satisfy to the rock which will never be shaken. I am praying that we discover the joy of Christmas this year above all others. Share what you have. Open your home. Give. It's the Bible's cure for loss. And discover what Jesus did - joy!
Monday, November 24, 2008
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Today Billy and I are moving to Rockwall! We have a new job, a new house and a new town. God is breathing a new song into our hearts and we are thankful. So thankful......not just for the move and the job. We are thankful that He is faithful to bind up the brokenhearted. We are so thankful that a strand of three is not easily broken. We are so thankful to you our brothers and sisters in Christ who are our crown and glory. And we are so thankful that there are no good-byes with Christians. Our location may change but our spiritual bonds are as close and tight as ever before.Wherever you find yourself this Thanksgiving - home or traveling; with family or without - know you are deeply loved and appreciated.
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Give thanks
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Fall Daze
I took this picture while we were in Virginia and couldn't help but share it with you. We don't often get such magnificent foliage in Texas and it truly was breathtaking. Aren't you glad that God created seasons for us to enjoy? He could have made a black and white world and we would have never known the difference. He could have chosen to make perpetual summer or winter and we would have been none the wiser. But in His omnipotent creativity He gave us seasons to marvel at His artistry.
We happened to be in our nation's capitol on election day and it was interesting to see how diversified our country is. I saw few people who 'looked like' me and heard very little English spoken. At first I was annoyed. I groused about our country being un-American and then I began to realize that our country really looks like its roots. We are a melting pot. We are a place for people to come for a better life. We were always diversified. We were always a mixture of languages and cultures. I was humbled.
Just as God gave us seasons to enjoy diversity; so He gave us one another. Even as a nuclear family, we are different. Same parents; different temperaments. Same household; different experiences. If we can't emerge from one family identical, we surely can't expect a nation of multiple countries of origin to be very similar. Same goes for our churches. We are family because of Christ Jesus and the blood He spilled for us on Calvary. I guess that makes Heaven the ultimate melting pot.
In the garden on that fearsome night when Jesus prayed for our unity the disciples thought their world was falling apart. It surely looked that way. Many Americans have expressed deep fears and apprehension over the election results. But the cross was God's means to the greatest remedy for mankind since creation began. He was totally in control those dark days. He is no less in control today.
With all its flaws our world is beautiful. Stop and savor its beauty. Take in the creativity and artistry of our Creator and pause to thank Him for all He's done. Especially take joy in the diversity of His people. There is no one like you. As good or as bad as you may think that to be - take joy in the knowledge that He created you uniquely and wonderfully for His good purposes - just as He did every other human being. Whether they - or you - choose to cooperate with Him, His plans are not thwarted. Relax, sit back and enjoy the ride.
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