Redemption - The Stuff of S&H Green Stamps
Today is the day of redemption - Easter 2007. This morning at church we sang a song written by Jesse Dixon called I Am Redeemed. The first verse says:

I am redeemed, bought with a price,
Jesus has changed my whole life!

If anybody asked you just who I am,
tell him: I am redeemed!

Where there was hate,
love now abides,
where there was confusion,
peace now reigns.
I'm walking with Jesus,
all because, all because
I am redeemed.

Redemption is one of those words that is not common in the English language and it is tough to truly understand its full meaning, let alone to be able to declare that you have been (or even need to be) redeemed.

I grew up in the midwest where each week when we went to the grocery store we were issued S&H Green Stamps corresponding to our purchases. It was fun to collect them and even more fun to redeem them from the catalog. Other friends of mine had mothers that faithfully clipped coupons. They too could redeem the coupons, but there were often limitations, such as expiration dates or rules and regulations surrounding what they could be used for.

Today's version of S&H Green Stamps in my world is frequent traveler points and miles. In exchange for loyalty, a travel supplier (such as an airline or a hotel) grants me points or miles and when I have amassed enough, they allow me to redeem them for goods and services.

By themselves, the stamps, coupons and miles are not valuable and can't be traded for money, just goods and services. The price that I pay for them is actually greater than money, as I pay for those goods and services with time away from my family.

The price that Jesus paid for my redemption is even greater than that. He paid a debt that He did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. There was nothing that I could do to redeem myself from my bad choices and mistakes, but the amazing thing is that I didn't have to. The price was already paid. He paid with his life and bought love and peace in the place of hate and confusion.

But remembering that today is Easter begs the reminder that He is not dead, He is alive. In fact, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 4-5 says that after His resurrection over 500 people saw Him alive!

So we serve a living, loving God. And if anybody asks you, just tell them, that I am redeemed.

Chicke Fitzgerald

INTERVIEW WITH GOD - UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
This morning on the eve of Easter, after a busy week on the road, I was thinking about how curious it is that the world can so easily dismiss the existence of a personal, living God.

It would be unusual to look at a gorgeous house and not know that somewhere there was an architect or eat a delicious dessert and wonder who the pastry chef was, or view a spectacular painting and look for the signature of the artist. Yet every day we see the wonders of God's creation, not only in nature, but in the tiny hands and sweet faces of newborn babies or in the miracle of our spouses or partners who know us and still love us! We mark time from the birth of His son and we joyously celebrate His resurrection on Easter. Yet for so many, He doesn't touch and make a difference in their lives.

My sister-in-law sent the following link to us today for a wonderful powerpoint that reminds us of God's perspective on us.

I share it with you hoping that you are touched this Easter season in a special way that gives you peace and provides you practical direction for each day.

INTERVIEW WITH GOD


Chicke Fitzgerald

Rough Seas

This week Michael and I went on a boat trip from Tampa to Marco Island. On the trip down, we had 5 hours of relatively calm seas (for a 26+ ft boat on the Gulf) and then over an hour of really awful 3-5 ft seas just past Sanibel Island as we cut over the last little bit to Marco. During that last bit as we were tossed up and down, pounding from wave to wave, I was in the passenger seat, inwardly praying for God to reach down and calm the seas.

As we were pounded, I observed Michael who struggled to keep control as the waves crashed over the front of the boat into our faces. He was able to hold on to the steering wheel which, coupled with using his legs as shock absorbers, gave him a little stability.

Watching him reminded me of people who know about God and who pray but only during hard times. Oh God, if only you will get me out of this I will never again......

While Michael was tossed about, it was not with the devastating impact that was hitting me. I had absolutely nothing to hold onto to steady the course. All I could do was hope that Regal did a good job in stress testing the hull of the boat when they built it and made a mental note to send them a note about adding a strap to the side of the passenger seat so you can hold on in rough seas.

I thought how awful it would be to not believe in a God who would get us safely to our destination. It would be just like not having anything to hold on to when the real storms of life confront us and toss us about.

Off in the distance I saw a passenger sightseeting boat, a small cruise ship. The people on board, while likely experiencing some rolling back and forth were steady in their sailing, as they were grounded in a much heavier boat that plodded on [rapidly compared to us, as it often felt like we were moving backward].

That grounding is like being firm in the arms of God, knowing that He will get you to your destination and not being tossed about, even though the same seas were confronting the bigger boat.

Psalm 36 talks about the refuge that we can find in the shadow of His wings:

5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.

7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.

9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.

I thank God for his faithfulness - on our boat trip this week, for getting us to our destination safely and for showing me how important it is not only to have something to hold onto, but to ground myself in him in such a way that I am not tossed about by the things that come against me.

Thank you for your unconditional love and for your abundance Lord.

I give today to you and sit in the shadow of your wings, eagerly awaiting what you have for me today. I am yours and I'm pressing into you Lord. Protect me from the high seas.

Breathe on me breath of God

When I was young, we attended the Presbyterian Church. There was a hymn that we sang with these words.

Breathe on me, Breath of God, 
fill me with life anew, 
that I may love what thou dost love, 
and do what thou wouldst do. 

Breathe on me, Breath of God, 
until my heart is pure, 
until with thee I will one will, 
to do and to endure. 

Breathe on me, Breath of God, 
till I am wholly thine, 
till all this earthly part of me 
glows with thy fire divine. 

Breathe on me, Breath of God, 
so shall I never die, 
but live with thee the perfect life 
of thine eternity. 

If you can look past the "dosts and wouldsts", the message is clear. I need your breath in me to make me more like you. To make me want what you want and to do what you would do. That breath is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.

The part about purity talks about endurance and I realize that the tests that I face now in my life are all a part of that process of achieving purity and that without running the entire race to the finish, I won't build up the endurance that is needed. It is a bit like a doctor putting a heart patient through a stress test to see the baseline of where the heart is for building it up and making it strong. [OK Lord, have you seen enough of the baseline? I'm weary of the stress!!!]

I like the part about glowing with His fire and that when people look at me they would see His reflection. That is my heart's desire.

Yesterday at our Tres Dias meeting for those of us serving on the upcoming weekend, I was talking with my prayer partner and she was talking about a challenging time in her life where she felt she hadn't been able to "exhale". I related to that and realized that those words perfectly described where I was as well. After the prayer time, the very next song was Michael W. Smith's "The Air that I Breathe":

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I I'm desperate for you
And I I'm I'm lost without you

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
this is my daily bread
your very word spoken to me

And I'm, I'm desperate for you
And I'm, I'm lost without you

And I'm desperate for you
And I'm, I'm lost without you.

I'm lost without you.

I'm lost without you.

I'm desperate for you.

I'm desperate for you..

I'm lost, I'm lost, I'm lost without you..
I'm lost without you

I'm desperate for you

Oh, this song showed me that as long as God is the air that I breathe, it is ok not to exhale! But if what I am breathing all day long is toxic, then not exhaling is a very bad thing.

The last few months I have been desperate for God, for His love, for His peace, but most of all for His direction.

As you read this blog today, if you have been unable to exhale due to stress or just plain being too busy to enjoy life, make sure that the air you breathe is the daily bread kind and not the toxic kind. He can and will get you through and while being desperate for God sounds like a place of weakness, I can assure you that I've never felt stronger in my faith than in this place of desperation.

Breathe on me breath of God......


Chicke Fitzgerald

Awesome God

Our vision is so limited by our experiences. Sometimes the things we are up against in our lives seem like mountains and in the face of them we feel small and even powerless.

In contrast, God's vision is unlimited. We only have to view His creation to understand how awesome He really is. He not only creates the mountains, but His Word tells us that He can also move them.

I stand in awe of the mountains that He is moving in my life. As David wrote Psalm 8, I believe he was experiencing something similar. My favorite verse is verse 4 of this Psalm.

Psalm 8

1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings ^[c]
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Today I thank God for praise and the ability to raise up above the mountains in our lives by acknowledging who He is. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we aren't here by accident. We are part of a grander plan. Show me the steps for today in that plan Lord. Create in me a clean heart and renew in me a right spirit.

Chicke Fitzgerald

Futility


Have you ever felt like everything you do is just an exercise in futility? Like all the hard work is for nothing?

Well, I am well acquainted with that feeling and so was the author of Ecclesiastes.

Here is the way he articulated it in Ecclesiastes Chapter 2:

17So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

18Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.

20Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.

21When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

Unlike the man on the top of the mountain in the cartoon, I know that everything does have a reason and that my laboring won't be in vain, although some days it feels that way.

My name is written in the Lamb's book of Life and every single day is ordered, if I will just listen to His voice. I can live in the center of His will for me and not be subject to the futility of life. His joy is my strength.

But as the writer of Ecclesiastes goes on to say, there is a time for everything. We remember it as a popular song of the 60s, but it actually comes from Ecclesiastes 3:

1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

God's promise is not that we can avoid all of the hardship of life, but that through it all, He will be there - watching our back, covering us under fire, nurturing us and healing our wounds.

Lord, may today be a time of love, one of dancing and one of harvest of my labors. Bless those that have been supporting Michael and I through these challenging times.



Chicke Fitzgerald

Hope

Romans 8:24 Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Sometimes we have been in the dark clouds for so long that we fail to remember that the sun is and always has been behind them. We hope for the brightness, even though we cannot see it, because we know it is there. We can wait with patience because we know that the darkness and dreariness can't last forever.

Today I know the sun is there. I wait to feel its warmth and to see the reflection of its brilliance on everything it touches. After weeks of stress and turmoil in my business, even though it is a new day and I can now move forward unincumbered, I feel week and need strength and wisdom.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Today I know this. I love God. I believe His word that says that all things work together for good, even though I can't see it or understand it.

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Lord, your Word is my hope. Today I need your restoration, your strength and your wisdom. Fill me, teach me. Let love be my guide and my agenda.

Chicke Fitzgerald

LOVE as an agenda

1 Corinthians 13:8 Love Never Fails

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've been going through a particularly challenging set of negotiations in my company and my husband and I have been seeking God's direction in what often felt like a desperate way.

As we asked for support and prayer from various people around us, one of them who is particularly insightful told me last week that the word that kept coming to her was LOVE and that through everything that my husband and I were going through, the words from 1st Corinthians 13, verse 8 kept going through her mind "Love Never Fails".

While I knew that the premise was totally correct, I had no idea how it could play into a business negotiation.

I kept seeking God's face and I kept asking in my prayers to be in the center of God's will. The Lord kept impressing on me that to be in the center of his will was safe, but it isn't always comfortable. So I was prepared that if the negotiations broke down, which could mean bankruptcy for our new company, that somehow God would use that for His own glory. I didn't know what that really meant or looked like, and certainly didn't want that to be the outcome, but my husband kept reminding me that the "How is God's department" and that we had to just trust that He was in control.

On Saturday at a meeting to prepare for serving on the next Tres Dias weekend in April, I felt led to share one of my favorite scriptures with two of the women on my team. It is from Psalm 139.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

The circumstances behind why I shared it with them had to do with something totally different than God was about to use it for in my life.

On Sunday morning, our pastor Dan Dunn shared, you guessed it, from Psalm 139 and talked about this passage in particular and explained that this scripture talks about the fact that before we were even born, God's personal plan for our lives was written, day by day. As Christians, we refer to this as "God's Will" for our lives.

Yesterday I shared with my kids, before the final negotiation call was scheduled with my partner, what being in God's will is all about. I told them about God's book of life for me, their mommy, that had a page for March 4, 2007 and how His ideal outcome for my day was written there. We talked about how much happier their lives are when they do what mommy and daddy ask of them and how we have an ideal way that we'd like to see each of their days unfold. I asked them to get on their knees at 1pm, precisely when I'd be on the phone with my partner and pray that mommy would see what was on today's page for me.

When I got to the office to prepare for the call, I cleaned off my desk and grabbed a couple of packets of sticky notes. I'm famous for using them to lay out various plans and things to be done in my office. One packet was lime green, a color that God reminded me is the shade that a plant takes on when there is new growth. The other was purple, the color of royalty. I was reminded that I am a child of the King of heaven and earth and that I have the right to come before His throne and ask for His wisdom.

On the green notes, I wrote the ideal outcome of the negotiations, knowing that the HOW was still God's department. Then I wrote down on the purple notes, the key words from the chapter of 1st Corinthians that Pastor Dan reminded us that he would be preaching from next week, the chapter on LOVE. I started to see how God would use LOVE as the agenda for my call. I highlight the words that I wrote on each of the purple sticky notes.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails.

The outcome of the call was better than I could have asked for or expected. I was able to share my heart's desire for restoration of the relationship and the place we got to in the business negotiation was a place where I did not feel taken advantage of. In fact, after the call, in the final agreement documents, I found myself putting in elements that my partner hadn't even asked for in the settlement. I was led by a power much much higher than myself.

In fact, the earlier part of 1st Corinthians 13 reminds us that without love, we are nothing.

God's agenda is a good one, a practical one. God's ideal for our lives involves peace and safety and if we ask Him for wisdom about what He wants us to do today, He will show us, a step at a time.

I am still desperate, but it is not being desperate wondering what is going to happen next, instead I am desperate to know Him more deeply and to be totally in tune with what is in the page for March 5, 2007 as his perfect, ideal outcome for today. Let me be in your will, wanting your outcome, not mine.

I pray that if you are facing difficult decisions in your life, that you will seek God's agenda and remember that LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Chicke Fitzgerald

Direction

Psalm 119:105 tells us that God's Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Today I press into Him for direction. I am at my office before dawn to work on the operating plan for my new business, and I begin my day by looking to Him for his strategic path for my life -- my operating plan.

As I drove to the office, the Lord spoke to me to begin my day with His Word - James 1:

2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

7For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

8being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

10and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

11For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

13Let no one say when he is tempted, " I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

14But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

15Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

17Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Thank God that HE never changes and that I can rest in his direction. In the face of what seems to be incredible opposition, HE prevails.

Lamentations 3: 21-25 says:

Therefore I have hope.
22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.

I am so greatful for His lovingkindness and compassion in my life. I cling to the promise that He is faithful and that I can have hope in Him that He will finish the work in me that he has begun.

The road before me is well lit by His words -- by His direction. Lord God, give me wisdom, generously and without reproach today. Keep my feet and my heart in the center of your will for me.

I wait for you Lord. My hope is in You alone.


Chicke Fitzgerald

Tangible Faith


Matthew 17 20:21 I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

I have a daughter that is 8 1/2 and a son that is 6 1/2. When they pray, they know that God will answer. The faith that a child is able to have is unconstrained by life experiences and disappointment and most of all, it is unconstrained by self.

Yesterday, in the midst of a particularly difficult trial in my life, one of my friends from church admonished me to "Stand back and let God be God". It occurred to me that as long as I continue to look for solutions, that I continue to get in his way.

Have you ever had a child try to help you cook? You know what you are trying to accomplish and they have their own way of thinking and doing and they just keep getting in the way and in fact, sometimes they downright mess things up, both figuratively and literally. So as a parent, you patiently wait for them to finish, you gently redo that which they messed up and you clean up the mess left behind. Sometimes you may get frustrated and just say "stand back and let the chef be the chef". You get the picture.

God IS God. He never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He has the recipe and truly, it will turn out better if we just stand back and let God be God.

He can move mountains. We only need to ask and believe that He is capable. He feeds the birds, how much more will He take care of His children.

Today I speak to the mountain in my life. And I thank God that it is in the process of being moved. I eagerly await the outcome of His plan. It is tangible and it is good.


Chicke Fitzgerald

God's promise

Genesis 9: 12-16 "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I'm putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth."


In Genesis chapters 4-10 the story begins with Adam and Eve and their children and many many generations leading up to Noah and the story of the flood. The message included in these passages is very simple. Man when left to his own devices could not please God.

In fact, over the course of the many generations leading up to Noah man continually embraced evil and moved further and further away from their Creator. Their thoughts and actions were so totally abhorent to God that He decided to "make a clean sweep" and rid the earth of his creation.

The story of the ark is well known, as is that of the dove that went out when the floods started to subside. My favorite part of this whole story is that of the rainbow and God's promise to never destroy the earth again.

Genesis 8, 20-22 recounts what happened after they got off the ark:

Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done. For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."

God's promise to us is one that we can count on. He will never destroy everything on earth again. Note that He didn't promise that we wouldn't attempt to self-destruct or to destroy the earth by our mis-use of His gifts to us.

I am thankful for God's faithfulness to me and to my family and our business. I hold on to the rainbow as a sign of His love and His faith in His creation.

While we are not expected to build altars and sacrifice burnt offerings to Him, in every circumstance we need to be grateful and thank him for his promise. Hold on to the promise of the rainbow today.


Chicke Fitzgerald

Genesis 3 - Sent out from the garden
Our church is studying Genesis this month. I've been long absent from our regular study and am anxious to get back into regular blogging, setting aside the beginning of my day (or the end as the case may be) to that which is most important to me and that which feeds me.

This passage of Genesis is a bitter one - Adam and Eve, having chosen to listen to the father of all lies, are cast out of the presence of their Creator for listening to the lies of the serpent -- the enemy.

How often do we listen to lies from all parts of our lives. The inner lies -- doubts about our abilities or lies about what others think about us or what we can accomplish, or the pressures of the world -- urging us to focus on everything temporal and nothing spiritual. We cling to what can easily be washed away versus those things that are everlasting. What are we thinking when we make that choice ????

The good news is that while we read this story of abandonment -- of Adam and Eve and their Creator, of the Creator of his creation due to their poor decisions -- we live instead in hope.

Genesis by its very meaning is a new beginning. Every day we face a new beginning for our lives -- the sun rises with that promise.

I am so thankful for the perpetual sunrise in my life. As I invariably fail [from time to time], each day brings the promise of encouragement, of acceptance and of new opportunities to be all that He created me to be. I live with His gifts and His grace. Without that, I am empty.

Today I realized that for One who is responsible for keeping the planets spinning carefully in orbit, that keeping my life and my business in tune is child's play. I am confident entrusting my future to the creator of the Universe.

My spirituality is not something to be segregated from my business life. It is who I am, to the core. My decisions are driven by my faith in my Creator. My ability to face tough decisions and tough times are because I know that there is a grand Plan and that as long as I serve Him, I can live in the absolute comfort of being in the center of His will. That is the definition of peace and I am happy to live in His favor so that I can enjoy His peace that absolutely passes all understanding.

2006 was a challenging year and 2007 looks to be a bit of an uphill battle. But I don't enter the battle alone. My God and king owns the cattle on 10,000 hills and I draw upon His resources, not my own to meet the challenges ahead. He has promised that this will be a harvest year and I am READY!!!

May those that read this blog be blessed and somehow through my words or through my life may you know Him better and find peace in your life.


Chicke Fitzgerald

Acts 2 - It is Raining the Spirit

"In the Last Days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes, I'll pour out my Spirit on those who serve me, men and women both,
and they'll prophesy.
I'll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke, the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives, the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for helpto me, God, will be saved."

Oh, some days I just want to cry out for Him to pour His spirit on me like rain. Today was one of those days. The tedious and the mundane were over-running my life.

I want to see His wonders and His miracles. There is so much need around me. My business partner's sister had surgery yesterday as she is dying of cancer. We prayed and miraculously there was no cancer in her stomach. She still needs strength to recover from the surgery, but I believe He is at work in her life. Rain on Her Lord with your healing love.

We need direction in our business. Lead us to the right partners Lord. I know that our business is not too mundane for you. It is an incredible opportunity to pour out your love and your power.

I love what Acts 2:27-28 says about how David viewed God:

I saw God before me for all time.
Nothing can shake me; he's right by my side.
I'm glad from the inside out, ecstatic;
I've pitched my tent in the land of hope.
I know you'll never dump me in Hades;
I'll never even smell the stench of death.
You've got my feet on the life-path,
with your face shining sun-joy all around.

My tent is pitched in the land of hope! My feet are on His life-path. There is no other word like "Hallelujah!".


Chicke Fitzgerald

Luke 15 - A sheep, a coin, a son

I have been woefully behind in my blogging. I am thankful that God's love for me is not measured by my faithfulness, but by His.

This chapter of the gospel (translated: Good News) of Luke is truly good news. If you do not have a relationship with God, if you do not know his unconditional, extravagant love, then He is waiting for you to be found -- for you to return to him.

The story of the sheep says that if just one sheep in a flock is lost, He will look until he finds it. He won't give up on finding you, until you are back in His tender arms.

The story of the coin talks about a woman that has lost just one of 10 coins. A coin by its very nature is generally of little value. But if you have just 10 of them, losing one is significant. At the end of this story she gets so excited about finding the lost coin that she tells all the neighbors about it!

The final story in this chapter is a familiar one - the prodigal son. Dictionary.com defines prodigal (noun) as a person who spends, or has spent, his or her money or substance with wasteful extravagance; spendthrift. Have you wasted your life? Have you wasted God's gifts or sqandered the love and trust of others. Come home. God is waiting for you to return to Him. He wants to throw a party!

God's love is constant, predictable, unconditional. He loves you. Whether you are lost or you have just wandered from Him, forgetting His goodness and mercy, COME. COME.


Chicke Fitzgerald

Proverbs 15 - 17
A pattern emerges - a Life Plan

Gentle answers, commending knowledge, healing words, accepting correction, seeking righteousness, wise words, prayer, discernment, a cheerful heart, fear of the Lord, a meal made with love, patience, understanding, listening to wise advisors, pure thoughts, hating bribery, cheerful looks, humility -- This is what Solomon says is good in Proverbs 15.

Proverbs 16 tells us that while man looks at what we do, God looks at our motives and what is in our heart. Solomon tells us to commit our plans to the Lord and he will bring success to us.

3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.

4 The LORD works out everything for his own ends—
even the wicked for a day of disaster.

5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

6 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.

7 When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD,
he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

Solomon then continues with the list of things that should be included in our life plan -- righteousness, honesty, wisdom, humility, listening to counsel and trusting the Lord, discernment, pleasant words and patience. These are things we should pursue.

The beginning of Proverbs 17 uses contrast to demonstrate what we should be doing -- comparing a sparse meal that is served with love, with a feast in a house full of strife. Solomon also reminds us that even a servant who is obedient will be better off than the son that doesn't heed what his father says and that in fact the inheritance is at risk if you disgrace your father. Verse 12 says that it is better to meet a grizzly robbed of her cubs than a fool that is hellbent on folly.

Much of chapter 17 is about how we behave in community:

5 Whoever mocks poor people insults their Creator;
gloating over misfortune is a punishable crime.

... and in business:

15 Whitewashing bad people and throwing mud on good people
are equally abhorrent to God.

Verse 17 talks about how we should behave with our friends and family.

17 Friends love through all kinds of weather,
and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.

but the "life list" is the same.....

Peace, wisdom, honoring parents and grandparents, eloquence, truth, overlooking offenses, cherishing friendship, faithfulness, being cheerful, perception, justice and mercy. These are the things that we should pursue.

Lord -- give us your Spirit so that we can easily conform to your life plan. We need you.

Chicke Fitzgerald

Proverbs 12-14 - The idea is clear - Serve God and live

Discipline, a life rooted in God, justice, sensible talking, hard work, kindness to animals, good conversation, taking good advice, being truthful and seeking truth -- these are just a few of the things that Solomon admonishes us to seek after.

The alternatives? Refusing correction, scheming, corruption, death, contempt, starvation, ruin, trouble, deceit, lies, distortion, laziness, worry, misfortune, disaster.

Whew..... when given the option, what choice would you make?

Practical wisdom. That is what Solomon provides for us. A guideline, a roadmap, a book that shows not only what to do, but the consequences of going our own way.

Personally, while I'm enjoying reading Proverbs, I am missing reading about Jesus! It had to have been a bit overwhelming in Old Testiment days to have to live up to what Solomon wrote about without the hope of the help from the Holy Spirit and the gift of mercy and grace of Jesus' life.

Their only hope was to keep company with the Godly, the wise. Proverbs 13 says:

20 Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. 21 Disaster entraps sinners, but God-loyal people get a good life.

And verse 34 in Chapter 14 says:

34 God-devotion makes a country strong; God-avoidance leaves people weak.

Today, choose whom you will serve. Devotion or avoidance. The choice is yours.

Chicke Fitzgerald

Chicke Fitzgerald

Proverbs 10-11 Signs on the Road of Life

Proverbs 10 lists all of the wise things to do and their results, as well as the foolish things and their consequences. This is like having road signs and stop signs on the road of life.

If we follow the wise path, we will reach a good destination. Without good direction, people lose their way.

Proverbs 11 begins with a discussion of the virtues of honesty and integrity.

5 Moral character makes for smooth traveling;
an evil life is a hard life.

It also talks about what is at the end of the road.

7 When the wicked die, that's it—
the story's over, end of hope.

Yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of September 11th. Many people died in the terrorist events of that day. For the wicked that were among them, there is no hope. For those that lived for the Lord, or met him in a smoky stairwell or in a wall of flames -- there is not only hope, but it is just the beginning of an eternal story.

Lord, be with those that lost friends, colleagues and family to terrorism that day. Keep us safe, guard those that we love. Thwart the path of those that would wish to bring destruction and continued terror on the US. Teach us to walk in the path of wisdom and to see the warning signs when we get off your road. Thank you that there is hope at the end of our story!

Chicke Fitzgerald
Chicke Fitzgerald

Proverbs 7-9 Discipline is at the heart of the story

Proverbs 7 covers the now familiar story of the man being seduced by the temptress. If the repetition of this theme in the first 7 chapters of this book is any indication, this must be one of the most important things that Solomon wanted to get across to men! Again, as a woman, this doesn't resonate with me, but I do need every day to look at the things that seduce me away from the path of seeking what is pure and right.

To me, it all boils down to discipline and holding on to what is right. My graphic today is supposed to represent a treadmill. It is a little tough to see in a thumbnail view of the art, but to me, a treadmill embodies discipline.

I am in Colorado on business today and when the wakeup call came at 645a, I had to decide whether to embrace discipline and get up and go to the gym or whether to sleep another half hour. Fortunately discipline won out and I worked out for 30 minutes and before my meeting, am getting my blog done (although I somehow missed that we started on September 1 with a Proverb a day, so I'm catching up here!).

In Proverbs 8 Solomon says that discipline is a good thing!

32-36 "So, my dear friends, listen carefully;
those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely;
don't squander your precious life.
Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me,
awake and ready for me each morning,
alert and responsive as I start my day's work.
When you find me, you find life, real life,
to say nothing of God's good pleasure.
But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul;
when you reject me, you're flirting with death."

Chapter 9 begins with an invitation to a magnificent banquet. Verses 5 and 6 say:

"Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on?
Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me!
I've prepared a wonderful spread—fresh-baked bread,
roast lamb, carefully selected wines.
Leave your impoverished confusion and live!
Walk up the street to a life with meaning."

I am happy to be invited to this table. I yearn for a life with meaning, even more so as each year passes. The mundane holds much less interest for me and small talk is as noise.

Verses 9-12 of Chapter 9 talk about how true wisdom is in the fear of God and that our lives will get deeper and richer if we embrace and know God.

Save your breath for the wise—they'll be wiser for it;
tell good people what you know—they'll profit from it.
Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God,
insight into life from knowing a Holy God.
It's through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens,
and the years of your life ripen.
Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life;
mock life and life will mock you.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!". I want the rich, deep life and I want wisdom to permeate all that I do and say.

Have a super Saturday.

Chicke Fitzgerald
Chicke Fitzgerald

Proverbs 6 The Six Things that God Hates

In Proverbs 6 Solomon outlines many things - laziness, hanging around with riffraff and rascals and once again adultery, but the most important in my estimation are in verses 16-19:

16-19 Here are six things God hates,
and one more that he loathes with a passion:
eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family.

Lord, may my eyes be humble, my tongue filled with your truths, may my hands do good not evil, may my heart only seek after you, may my feet do your will, may my mouth sing your praises and may I bring peace to my family. Be with them while I travel - keep them safe and keep them healthy.


Chicke Fitzgera
Chicke Fitzgerald ld

Proverbs 5 - Faithfulness in marriage

This chapter is an admonition for men to stay away from adultery. To be fair, women should as well, but Solomon knew full well that he needed to stress this to the young men first.

3-6 The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
her soft words are oh so smooth.
But it won't be long before she's gravel in your mouth,
a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
She's dancing down the primrose path to Death;
she's headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
She hasn't a clue about Real Life,
about who she is or where she's going.

For those of us that are not tempted by adultery, but who are seduced by other things in our lives, we need to remember the previous chapters of Proverbs that tell us to seek Wisdom and to surround ourselves with the counsel of the wise, lest we be tempted.

Of course my favorite part is verse 18 where he encourages men to rejoice in the wife of your youth. Well, I have to be careful here, because Michael and I didn't get married until I was 33 - hardly considered a youth!

This chapter ends by reminding us that the Lord is watching and pays attention to all of our choices. Here are verses 21-23 in the New International Version.

21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all his paths.

22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast.

23 He will die for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.

Lord, give us a thirst for wisdom in our choices and help us to be more disciplined in all that we do. Give us special appreciation for our spouses - a new love reminiscent of our youth.


Chicke Fitzgerald
Chicke Fitzgerald