Casting

A Piece of Chocolate: Casting Week 26! For those of you who have journeyed with me these past 26 weeks I say a very profound YAHOO! Congratulations, you have endured 6 whole months of my crazy stories and hopefully, Spirit led devotions and I salute you! I also want to shout out to my newest hot chocolates from Apples Of Gold who hail from Park Valley Christian Church…welcome! Growing up the first ten years of my life in the Pacific Northwest, I was quickly taught the skill of fishing. I was 4 or so and in the back yard of my grandparent’s home, was an in-ground pool. I remember my grandpa bringing out the nicest green fishing pole. He taught me how to put on the bait, cast the line, and bring it back in. Sometime later, my grandparents actually took us fishing and I caught my very first fish…of course I let it go. The definition of casting is to “throw”. Lately, I’ve been carrying some burdens and the Lord put the scripture I Peter 5:7 on my heart. It says “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”. Another version says “Cast all your cares upon him for he careth for you”. I wish that I could say that I’m an expert at casting all of my daily cares to the Father, but the truth is sometimes all I want to do is cast that person off a steep and rocky cliff. Not to mention that it’s far more fun to visualize. Am I being too honest? With as imperfect as we all are, I find it surprising that we all aren’t great at “casting”. Why is that? Here are a couple of my theories that are solely based off of my own thoughts. Number 1: some women don’t cast their cares because they think it’s more honorable to be the martyr. But actually, that idea is self-centered . See it gives some people the opportunity to say “poor me, but I’ll make it through”. The emphasis is on themselves, not on the God who knows that in their own weakness His strength is made perfect. My second idea is that some women are too proud to admit that they need someone else’s help. “I am a wife. I am a mother. I am the president of the “Sketches For the Blind Foundation”, I can keep a spotless home while teaching my toddler Latin” Are you kidding?! That kind of haughty and proud behavior will only resist God. I Peter 5:5 “In the same way, you younger men”, and I’m sure it goes for women too, “you must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for God opposes the proud but favors the humble” I love how God says that because he knows that humble people accept help! Someone who is proud wouldn’t be able to admit that he/she even has a problem. You and I both know that everyone has problems. As I continue to grow in the Lord with you I pray that we would become better “casters”. And, as my mom put it earlier this evening, “cast your cares into Jesus’ loving arms” and not off a cliff. Amen. Girls, you mean a great deal to me…everyone of you. I have a great burden for you and all of the troubling situations that some of you are in. Be of good cheer, you are never alone. I want to reiterate that. You are never, ever, alone. There is nothing that our King and Father cannot overcome. Cast your cares upon him for he cares for you. And, He loves you like no other person could ever fathom. You are that special to him. Ladies, I want you to read I Peter 5. The whole chapter is just 14 verses. That is your homework. In His Grace, Dede