Stand strong, be patient and NEVER give up!

This is part 2 of my “lessons on faith”.  This section is something that I believe is for a different set of people who have been believing for something for a very long time and feel like God isn’t listening or doesn’t care.

When I was 10 my parents divorced.  I am not really sure when exactly my dad stopped going to church, but I do know that since I was 10 I believed that someday he would come back.  As I became an adult I would invite him to come to church with us and on a few occasions he did.  I always knew that my dad loved God, but was sorting through stuff in his head and in his own way.  My dad always said to me “Just be patient with me and don’t give up on me.”  And so I waited.  I prayed constantly that God would set up the perfect moment in time that I would ask him to come to church, he would come, he would love it and would start being consistent in church.  I stood in faith for 24 years; for 24 years I was patient with him and never once gave up.  I knew God was working it all out and when the time was right my dad would come.  I really don’t know how I knew except that I had a great peace about it; I never even thought that there was a chance that he wouldn’t come.  In August of 2010 we started going to a new church.  Our family became involved very quickly and loved what God used us to do in this church (and we still do).  One  Sunday night we were going to have a Worship Night and I felt very strongly inside that I was suppose to invite my dad; he had come to special nights at other churches with us so surely he would come to this.  Sure enough, he came.  I felt bad because I had invited him and unexpectedly was on stage and so I wasn’t able to sit with him.  At the end of the night I asked him what he thought and he really enjoyed it.  Later in the week we had some conversations; I began to see doors for more in depth conversations begin to open…conversations that I had never had with my dad.  I invited him back to church, honestly expecting that he wouldn’t come; he came!  Everything else from there is really a blur because he has consistently come every Sunday and Wednesday ever since.  Then I really felt like I was suppose to talk to him about playing the bass guitar.  This is something I know he enjoys and I know he does well, but wasn’t too sure about how he would feel about playing in church.  I really don’t remember everything that happened because God moved quickly; what I do remember is the first Sunday that my dad came to rehearsal before church.  I was on stage rehearsing and looked back and saw my dad working hard to learn our music (so not the style he is use to).  I really struggled to not break down and cry.  You see, I believed God that my dad would someday be back in church, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would actually be doing praise and worship with him at church.  On a weekly basis I look out in the crowd and I see my dad standing out there; he may not know the songs, he may not raise his hands, but he is there and he is learning the music to play with the band.  God so far exceeded my expectations, but I had to stand firm in my faith that God would bring him back to church.  Yes, even 24 years!

Someone is reading this right now and you have been believing for something for a long time.  You feel like your prayer will never be answered or like God has either forgotten you or just doesn’t care.  I want to encourage you to continue to stand strong!  God does truly care about you, He cares about your prayer and He truly cares about the desires of your heart.  You may not get an answer tomorrow…you may not get one for 24 years, but one thing I do know for sure is that you WILL get an answer.  So, I encourage you…stand strong in your faith, be patient and don’t ever give up!

God has the BEST plan!

For a few weeks I have felt strongly that what I am about to say is meant for multiple people; if you are one of those people, please feel free to let me know either through “comment” here or through my email!  This blog is only one part of what is on my heart.  Please look at part 2 as well!

Many of you have heard the story of our daughter’s illness that struck her in 2004.  You would also know the story of how we have been believing for 6 ½ years now for her healing.  We have had countless people ask us why isn’t she healed if we have asked God for her to be.  We have had people ask us why she isn’t being supernaturally healed.  To all of these people I haven’t really known what to say except the pat answer we give everyone, “We believe that she will be totally healed, whether through the miraculous or through the knowledge that God has given the doctors.”  And I can truthfully say that I STILL believe this to be the truth.  After events this past week and revelation that I have had over the past several weeks I believe that the process of her healing has begun.

In March of 2010, we were told that the doctors believed that Felicity had Lupus.  We put on our strong faces with our crumbling insides and moved on with trying to figure out what we could do to help our daughter live the best possible life with this horrible disease.  In August we went to see a Rheumatologist who gave us great news…it wasn’t Lupus!  At the same time this was devastating because it meant we were back to square one with finding a diagnosis.  The doctor told me that Felicity had all of the symptoms of Lupus but none of the patterns of the disease.  I thought, “Yeah, yeah.  Get on with it and give me yet another false diagnosis.”  The doctor then asked me if we had ever taken Felicity off of Gluten; well, no…I didn’t even know what the heck that was.  The doctor proceeded to tell me that she believed Felicity had Celiac Disease and that her intestines had become so sick that she was actually malnourished and that is why she was loosing weight, loosing hair and had such a weak immune system.  Ok, I could buy that story.  She told me to take her off of all Gluten for a couple of weeks and if Felicity started to improve then that is what it was and there would be no need to return!  After doing some research I discovered that it would take 3-6 weeks to see improvement and 6-12 months before she was totally back to “normal”, but that with Celiac she would never be able to have Gluten.  So, we began the process and I prayed that IF this was what she had that God would allow the healing times to go significantly faster.  After just 2 weeks on the diet, Felicity gained a pound and her hair completely stopped falling out!  Yay, we had hit the jackpot!  Over the last 5 months we have totally changed our diet, we have educated ourselves and others and have seen an amazing improvement in Felicity’s overall health.  In fact, she had broken her thumb and it actually healed in ways that the doc hadn’t seen before but were the best possible scenarios!  This week Felicity began complaining of a sinus cold and by Tuesday morning she was in tears with such terrible ear pain in her left ear.  She was begging to go to the ER and not to wait to see the regular doctor.  We later found out she had a major ear infection and was given antibiotics.  Now, most people would see this as a terrible setback, but I see it as a huge reason to rejoice!  No, I am not at all glad that my child is sick; but I rejoice in a way that only a mother in my exact position could understand.  You see, by this time of the winter we have usually already been to the ER countless times and she has been admitted 1-3 times for sickness; this ear infection is the FIRST sickness this entire winter!  THAT is reason to rejoice!  This shows us that her body isn’t waiting the 6-12 months to totally build itself back up, but instead it has taken 5 months!  Is she totally healed?  In the natural, no, she isn’t totally healed; in the SUPERnatural she is totally healed.  Better than that…I totally believe that she will be Celiac free someday, maybe not on Earth, but for sure in Heaven!

So, what does this have to do with you?!  I believe that there is someone out there that has been believing for a healing miracle.  You have told God exactly what you are looking for and laid out your guidelines to God of what YOU expect to see in this healing.  You have researched the illness and you know it almost better than the doctors do; you know exactly what to expect.  But stop for just a minute and think with me…what if YOUR idea of healing isn’t at all what GOD’S is?!  I mean, I totally believe that Felicity could wake up tomorrow and eat whatever she wants…Gluten included; I believe my God can do that.  BUT, what if that isn’t how GOD chooses to heal her?!  What if HIS version of the story goes that she has Celiac until she is in Heaven?!  Either scenario could happen, but am I ready to listen if the answer I get is “not yet”?!  I know what my answer is and I totally believe that GOD is the one with the plan and HE knows what He is doing far better than I ever could.  What about you?!  Are you sitting there and waiting for God to answer your prayer the way YOU want Him to or are you trusting that GOD has the plan book and knows far better than you ever could what is best?!  I want more than anything for Felicity to be whole and healed, but until that day comes…I MUST show her how to live as if she is whole and healed even in her sickness.  After all, when that day of healing comes for her…I want her to walk into it gracefully!  We always have taught her that she may be diagnosed with a disease; but that disease does not control her destiny…it is merely a stepping stone to get to the destiny God has already laid out before her.  She just has to reach out for it and not live like she has a disease!  Does this take a lot of faith?!  HUGE faith!  But if God can raise Jesus from the dead, I am quite confident that He knows what He is doing!  Do I live naively?!  To most people I sure do; I don’t call it being naïve though, I call it having faith that my God has the rule book and HE knows what He is doing!  The Word gives so many scripture on this, but I will leave you with this one:

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.”

Don't Steal My Blessing!

For years now, when someone is in need my husband and I gladly do whatever we can to help the person.  We have always felt that we are commanded in the Word to be a blessing to those around us.  On occasion, a person would say that they couldn’t ask for help and we would tell them that it was our joy to help them or we would tell them to not steal our blessing.  “Steal our blessing”?!  Yes, that is exactly what I said.  We are firm believers that we are blessed to be a blessing.  Do we do good just so we can be blessed?!  Absolutely not.  However, we have discovered that often times, when we are trying to bless others, we are the ones that end up being blessed.  Haven’t you heard the stories where people go on mission trips to bless others and come back saying that they were blessed far more than what they feel they blessed others?!  Often it is so very hard to accept the help or even ask for help because of this little (ok, BIG) thing called pride.  I mean, who really wants to admit they need help or have a lack in their lives?!  Well, recently I was reminded of this in a major way.  Dale’s company was forced to change insurance companies at the start of 2011.  As we got into January, it was very apparent that this transition was not easy and not going to go as smooth as it should.  Two weeks into January we had no insurance cards, no numbers, nothing; Felicity had appointments and needed medications and without insurance we were going to have to pay cash for it all (some of her meds were quite costly).  So, naturally we did what we knew to do, we went to our church family and asked for prayer that the cards would come quickly.  A couple of days later I got a call from a dear friend at church, she said that she and her husband would like to help us by paying for the meds that Felicity needed.  Pride jumped in and spoke and said that it was ok, we should get our ID numbers soon and it would all be good.  God, obviously, knew I was allowing pride to speak and He continued to press on this couple’s hearts to help us.  So, a few days later I got a Facebook message asking how much Felicity’s meds were.  Again, pride spoke up and I told her that we should have the ID numbers in a day or two and if we didn’t have it by Friday I would let her know.  I then went on about my day and suddenly I was convicted.  God brought to mind how I would always tell people “Don’t steal my blessing” when I tried to help someone and they allowed pride to speak for them.  After the “ouch” of conviction left me I immediately wrote this friend and told her I would call the pharmacy and find out how much the meds were.  Several minutes later I sent her a message with what meds Felicity absolutely needed with their cost and then one that was a possible need.  Literally 5 minutes after I sent her that message, Dale text me with our new ID numbers.  I had to laugh and almost cry.  I began to wonder if I had allowed pride to block us receiving the ID numbers we so desperately needed.  Then I had to stop and ask for forgiveness for allowing pride to speak on my behalf and for not allowing a family that was so dear to us to bless us.  I had allowed pride to almost steal their blessing and in turn steal mine.  WOW! 

How often do we allow pride to step in and speak on our behalf?!  I know that I do it far more than I realize.  In fact, I almost did it again this week when I needed help; fortunately, I was reminded of the blessings that come to not only the blessing giver, but to the blessing receiver and so I swallowed my pride and asked for help.  Here is the bottom line, there are so many people out there so willing to help if we will just shut pride up and speak from our heart!  I know that I am having to learn to not allow pride speak for me, but rather allow my heart to speak so that others can be blessed and in turn I can too.  Is that selfish?!  Not at all; what is selfish is allowing pride to speak and in turn robbing someone of the opportunity to be a blessing and then in turn robbing God of getting a blessing to you!  See, I focused on what I thought the solution was...getting the insurance numbers…reality was, the solution was allowing God to get a blessing in my hands through allowing another family to be a blessing! 

So, to the family who I almost robbed…I am sorry and I know that we are so very blessed to have you in our lives!  To the rest of you…Don’t allow pride to speak on your behalf…it is a blessing robber!

A friend's advice...

Have you ever had a situation where you asked a few very trusted friends for their advice and opinions?  Did you totally agree with what they said?  Did you choose your actions based on their opinions?  Did you feel like you had to act based on their opinions because you had asked their advice and felt obligated to use their advice?  You don’t have to, you know?!

Recently there was a situation that I was going through; I was unsure of what steps I needed to take or even wanted to take.  My head was a clouded mess and I just couldn’t figure out which way was up anymore.  I talked to a couple of very trusted friends and they both gave me their opinions on how I should handle the situation; some of the things they said were the same and some things were vastly different.  So then, I had to wade through which information I needed to hold onto and which information I should shove out the door.  Both of these individuals are Godly women who I know that I can trust to give me solid, Biblically based advice; I know that they both hear from God and would never intentionally lead me off track.  However, some of the advice from one of those friends didn’t set really well inside of me; it made me feel like I would be a hypocrite and not be true to who God created me, personally, to be.  At first, I felt like I had to go with each friend’s advice because, after all, I was the one who asked for it; then I got convicted that I didn’t have to listen to either friend’s advice if I didn’t want to.  What I needed to do was to sort through the advice and the stuff in my brain, in my Word and in my heart and listen to what God was trying to speak to me through all the information.  After I did that, I realized that there were things that both friends told me that were exactly what I needed to hear, but both friends also gave advice that I didn’t need to listen to; I was able to use parts of what each one said!

Often when we ask for someone’s advice or opinion we feel like we have to do exactly what that person said or else we just wasted their time.  After all, if someone asked me what I thought and I took time to “guide” someone, I would want them to listen to my advice and do what I said.  Unfortunately, that isn’t what God wants us to do!  God puts people in our lives that can teach us lessons, show us a different perspective or view and even show us things in the Word that maybe we never saw before.  BUT, He also gave us a brain and a heart to use and ears to ultimately listen to what GOD is telling us to do. 

So, I took the bits and pieces from each friend and took what God was saying to me and formed them all into a plan that I believe God will be proud of.  If I don’t use all the information or advice that each friend gave, will one of them be offended?!  Perhaps, but that isn’t something that needs to rest on my shoulders.  What I have to know in my heart is that I am doing what GOD wants me to do and if the other people are truly the Godly friends that I believe they are, then they will understand that decision.

What I learned through this is that I had to give myself permission to choose what advice I would follow; I had to give myself permission to not do something just because I believe the person giving advice is one of the Godliest people I know.  I had to give myself permission to trust that God speaks to me too and I can act out according to what God says, even if it means I ignore every piece of advice from my friends. If I am wrong in my decision, God will deal with me; it isn’t the friends place to deal with me!  So, here I sit, moving ahead with the plan that I believe God has in store for this situation.  I am happier than I believe I would have been had I heeded all of the advice from my friends.  They are still amazing friends and incredibly Godly women who give amazing advice, but I had to give myself permission to believe that they don’t necessarily have all the answers and ultimately I have to do listen to the best advice…God’s!  Trust that God speaks to you too and that He will guide you the right direction; it may mean that you listen to advice from others, but ultimately, you have to do what God is leading you to do!

I'm a Job kinda gal!

This week I had the privilege of sitting with some very dear friends as their son had surgery.  I woke up very early and met them at the hospital and stayed until the entire family left.  And yes, I said “privilege”!  You might ask why and all I can say is “It’s just what I do”.  See, I am a firm believer that God does not bring bad to anyone, but He uses the bad that the enemy brings so that we can minister to others and use the bad things in our lives for His Kingdom! 

Over six years ago our daughter became very ill; she was in the hospital for a month straight and has been in and out of the hospital ever since.  We have battled minor to very serious illness with her and been “through the wringer” when it comes to her health and I am a firm believer that the enemy tried and continues to try to wipe our daughter out.  He knows that God has amazing Kingdom purpose for her and the enemy doesn’t want that to happen.  I am also a firm believer that the enemy will try to use bad things to take our focus off of God and that we have a choice to either allow the enemy’s plan to work or to use what he intended for bad to show others the love of Christ; our family chooses the latter!

It would be so very easy for me to sit down, quit and blame God for all that we have endured and believe me, the thought has entered my mind many times.  However, I have come to a realization that doing this wouldn’t change the circumstance and it wouldn’t make my daughter well; it would merely drag me into a depression with my daughter soon to follow.  Reality is, I CAN do something to change the circumstances because I can choose to not let the struggles we have had be in vain; that is exactly what our family chooses to do!  When there is an opportunity to be a part of research studies we leave that decision to our daughter and every time she asks us “Will this help another child to not have to go through what I have gone through?”  Every single time, if our answer is yes, she very boldly and selflessly says “Then I want to do it.”  We have been given the incredible task and assignment from God to use our experiences to help those around us and we do not ever want someone to have to go through things that can be prevented by our experience and we don’t ever want someone to go through things alone when we have been there and know exactly how they feel. 

The point I am trying to make is:  through everything we go through in our lives we have a choice to either use it to drag us down and take our focus off of God or we can use it to serve others and God!  I can never change that my daughter got sick, I can never change that she struggles regularly with her health; what I CAN change is how I react to these circumstances.  I can either wallow in the sadness that the enemy intended or can rise above it and use it for Kingdom purpose.  I have had the honor to speak to many people about things like the importance of blood and organ donation.  I have been able to pray with so many people, encourage many and help other parents make tough decisions about treatment for their own children.  I consider it such an honor to have gone through what we have.  That doesn’t mean I like it and certainly doesn’t mean I enjoy having a child that struggles in her health.  What I do like is the fact that, like Job, God knew we could handle it; He knew that we could fight the battle for ourselves and for others and come out winners on the other side!  He had faith in us to use this for His Kingdom so who am I to loose faith in Him?!

I don’t know what you are facing in your life, but what I do know is that you have a choice to allow it to define you for the bad that the enemy intended it for OR use it for Kingdom purpose.  YOU get to make that choice!  You can sit and wallow in the sadness and the thought that it just isn’t fair, because you are right, it isn’t fair; you can also choose to rise above it, see that it isn’t fair and choose to do whatever you can to make it not be in vain!  My prayer for you today is that you choose the latter! 

Words of Faith!

Our church is reading the book “Its Your Time” by Joel Osteen.  It is a great book and one I am finding very hard to put down.  Today, while I was reading I was convicted about the words I speak.  I fully believe that the power of life and death is in the tongue and fight regularly to speak life into situations and often fail.

I had to laugh in a “ouch” sort of way today when I realized that I talk a lot about believing for healing for my daughter and that the health issues she is currently facing are healed by the stripes on Jesus’ back…we are merely waiting to see it in the physical.  I easily say that I know she is healed and whole and that I believe that with every ounce of who I am.  So, why then do I struggle to speak like that over every other situation in my life?!  I struggle to speak that over our finances, over my husband’s job, over my personal health, over my business and the list goes on.  WHY?!  Why am I able to speak faith over a situation that medically looks untouchable, but struggle to speak it over things that are very touchable?

 I am sure by now you are waiting for me to answer that…keep waiting because I honestly don’t have the answer. The great thing is…I don’t have to!  All I have to do is work to change that!  How?!  Well, I am going to start with a very tangible thing that was actually placed on my heart yesterday; I am going to purchase little wooden plaques that I can paint and put words of faith on.  I will then tie these with little ribbons and hang them on the pillars at the entrance of my house on either side of the stairs.  These plaques will declare what our house stands in faith for…so that everyone who enters can see.  I don’t want people to look at these and feel sorry for us or be sympathetic to our needs, but instead, when they read them they can stand in faith with us!  That in turn will continue to stir up our faith for these breakthroughs!  I totally believe that in 2011 we will see such amazing things happen in our family and in my business because we chose to speak faith into these situations.  Will I fall at some point and speak negative?!  I am not so dumb to think that I won’t be challenged; shoot, walking upstairs to write this I was already challenged with this from one phone call of news that could be perceived as bad.  I KNOW I will be challenged, but I also know that falling is not bad…choosing to stay fallen is!

What are you believing God for?  What are needs you are struggling with having faith for?  Don’t keep them to yourself; don’t share them with everyone.  Do share them with people that you know will stand in faith with you and build you up as you believe for the miraculous in your personal life, your family and the lives around you!

I begin now…Please stand in faith with us:

1.  My husband will find a job so much better than the one he has and one that he will love!

2.  Felicity to be completely whole and healed with no medications!

3.  My back to be whole and healed and repaired to the way God created it!

4.  My business to prosper and grow!

5.  Our debt to be paid off!

What can I stand in faith with you for?

MY ONE WORD: FriendshipS

Before we begin, I know some of you reading notice that the "s" at the end of the word "friendships" is capitalized; there is a reason for that so please bear with me!

Usually by now I have chosen my one word for the year and am well on my way to working that out in my life; for some reason, this year was different and I really struggled to come up with my one word.  Yesterday, in church, our pastor talked about our one word or our vision for ourselves in 2011.  I began to pray even more for God to reveal to me what my one word should be.  Then the word came, I thought is was "friendship", then in my spirit it was made very clear to me that this word was to be plural, "friendships".  As I spent yesterday allowing this word to sink in so much was revealed to me and placed on my heart and I feel that it is something that someone out there really needs to hear...if I needed this then I know someone else does too!

For much of my life I have felt like it was great to have many friends, but that I needed to have that one friend who was my "bestie", "bff", or whatever you want to call it.  Over the past few weeks I have been struggling with this concept and through chatting with some dear ladies in my life I realized that my thought process was a little messed up.  As one dear friend put it, "When you have one best friend you put a lot of pressure and expectation on them.  Then you feel like they aren't living up and they feel pressured to live up to your expectations."  OUCH!  That really hurt, but man was she so very right.  I have so many great women that God has placed in my life; they each have something great and unique to offer me.  Unfortunately, I was spending so much time wrapping myself in just one relationship where I had expectations and this friend had expectations and neither one of us were ever going to be able to live up to what the other one expected...we had set ourselves up for a failed relationship.  In spending all of my time with this one person, I have now realized, I never gave all of the other amazing women in my life a chance to pour into me, for me to pour into them and build a relationship.  Without even trying I was able to name off 7 women that I wanted desperately to have relationship with, I knew would be great in my life, but never took time to build the relationship because I was so busy trying to form just one special "bff" type of relationship.  I have realized that I was really cheating myself out of some amazing relationships.  Is it wrong to have a "bestie"?!  I don't think so, but if we are going to have one, we need to make sure that the expectations are very clearly laid out and then...be prepared for letdown because your bestie will NOT be perfect.  (I still have one friend who will always be my best friend, but we are very clear about our relationship and she is more a sister than anything.)  There are some amazing women in my life that I know love me dearly and have my back, but I never even gave them a chance.  So, my one word and goal for 2011:  To build relationships with these women that God has already placed in my life and then open the door for Him to bring more amazing women through!  Reality is, by allowing my circles to grow I am in turn growing and learning how to love others!  Does this mean I will never have a "bestie"?!  Truth be told...I already had the greatest "bestie", I was just too blinded by the human version that I never considered that the ONLY "bestie" I needed has been there all along...GOD!  In striving to build the "perfect" best friend scenario, I have completely down graded my God relationship, cheated my family out of time, and put expectations on myself and the relationship that didn't need to be there and set us all up for failure.  I can only speak for myself; I know that, for me, I created a worst case scenario for me and it has broken me and made me question everything and everyone in my life.  Does this make the friendship or person bad?!  Not at all; it just means that we both had unspoken expectations rather than spoken ones and we ended up with both of us feeling let down, in fact, I still love this person very much!  Friendships take time to build, they take love and nurturing, they require both parties putting into and taking out of equally.  Friendships will have heartache, they will require some sacrifice, but true God-friendships will not require more than what you are capable of (not what you think you are but what God knows you are capable of) and will pick you up and dust you off when you fall and will be a cheerleader on the sidelines!  However, in a friendship, remember also that YOU have to be the same for them!  Friendships cannot be one-sided; if they are, they don't work!  Just like my relationship with God; He gives to me, talks to me, loves on me and cheers me on...I have to talk to Him, love on Him and so on!  No relationship can be one-sided without failure!

So, in 2011 my one word: FRIENDSHIPS!  My resolution: To take time building relationships with at least the 7 women God has placed on my heart and continue to add to that number as God places women in my life!  So, to my dear sister/friend: Heather, I love you dearly and know that God placed us in each other's lives for a reason.  To the 7 ladies: I promise to work hard on getting to know you and build relationships with you that are not one-sided, that have attainable expectations because the only expectation is that we are there for each other, and to be your cheerleader!  To the women God has yet to place in my life: I promise that I will enlarge my circle to include you and be everything that I listed above! 

Here's to FriendshipS in 2011!

What kind of friend are you?!

Have you ever had relationships where you pour your heart and soul into them only to find out later that the friendship wasn't all that you thought it was?!  As most of my friends know, when you are my friend I almost eat, sleep and breathe you!  I will do anything for my friends, often at the cost of my family or myself (something I am working on).  I will sacrifice time, money and often my health if it means bettering or helping my friends.  Unfortunately, there are people out there that enjoy the taking in a relationship and not so much of the giving.  I have had many instances like this over the years.  It is heart breaking to say the least.  Then there are those friends where you can see that they are on a path of distruction and you can see it, you want to help them, you say something, and they just don't listen.  Then when it ends badly for them they look at you as if to say "why didn't you tell me?". 
Today I was thinking on such relationships and those that I have had that have fit both of these categories.  I prayed for those friends today (some from so long ago I barely remember what actually happened).  Then something was revealed to me about these relationships...this is exactly what we, as humans, do to God on a regular basis.  Think about it...we run to God, most often, when we have a problem and need Him to fix it; God warns us about impending danger in our lives and we ignore the warnings and then when it ends badly we blame God.  When I started to think about this I was really convicted...I do this alot too and I know that many of you reading this can admit that you are the same way.  Our pastor at church always says "can you say 'ouch' or 'oh me'?"...that's exactly how I felt today.  OUCH! 
What wisdom can we all take from this?!  First of all, to make a point of talking to God all the time, not just when we need something.  Second, when God warns us of impending danger we need to listen and if we choose not to, don't blame Him when it ends badly.  Third, we need to all sit and think about what kind of friends we are.  Are we true blue friends or just friends that are takers and never givers?!  Relationships MUST go both directions or they just don't work...human relationships or God/human ones.  Honestly, if we aren't the true blue type of friends, we really aren't friends at all...we are merely aquaintences.