I've Been Tagged

As much as I hate doing these things, if Jonathan can do it so can I.  It's been awhile but I'm finally getting around to listing my 7 favorite things.  Obviously, I'm obsessed with my children and nanchildren, so I won't include them on my list.  So here goes:

1.  My Jesus!!  I love Him so much and I continue to fall more in love with Him every day.  

2.  I love women's bible study!  I love my Sunday School class and church but there's just something special about women's bible study.

3.  I love Hawaii!  This is one of my favorite places this side of heaven.  I love the sun, the beaches, the colors. the beautiful flowers, the beautiful fish, and the culture.

4.  I love mountains - the Great Smokey Mountains in particular.

5.  I love to travel - any mode of travel.  I like driving alone to visit my family as well as regular vacation trips.  I love visiting new places and sightseeing.   

6.  I love walking with my girls.  They are so caring, kind, and helpful and we are such great support for each other.

7.  I love volunteering.  I love to help others and I can't wait to finish school so I'll have more time to volunteer at our church and the church's Community Center.

So, it's done.  I'm sure there are others but I'm not very good at things like this so this will have to do.  Besides, I don't think anybody reads my blog anyway. (-:

Is Pride Always Sin?

Is pride always sin?  I struggle with that thought.  You see, I have the most amazing children and nanchildren!!!  They total 6 (including my 3 "in-love" ones) and 5 (soon to be 7) respectively, and I am incredibly proud of all of them!  I keep thinking, "surely this can't be sinful pride, I don't take the credit for them - except maybe for carrying and giving birth to 3 of them."  The people they have, and are, becoming is completely by God's grace, anything messed up in them I'll take credit for, however.  They all love Jesus and try to be obedient to Him - thank You, Father.  I don't think I could bear the thought of not spending eternity with any of them, it's hard enough not seeing and talking to them daily.  I love them all so very much and I pray that they know that. I would do anything for any of them, including giving up body parts if needed. (-:  I finally decided to check out the back of my Bible to see if I could find any references to let me off the hook and guess what?  I think I did.  Check out Romans 15:17 in the New Living Translation.  Paul writes, "So it is right for me to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God."  Stick with me here.  The commentary at the bottom says, "Paul was enthusiastic about what God had done through him."  This is the good part, so pay attention, "Being proud of God's work is not a sin - it is worship."  I figure that they are God's work through me, 3 of them directly through me.  It continues, "If you are not sure whether your pride is selfish or not, ask yourself this question: 'Am I just as proud of what God is doing through other people as of what He is doing through me?' "  And guess what I answered myself?  YES!  YES!  YES!  I am very proud of what our Father is and has been doing through my children and nanchildren!!  So you see - pride is NOT always sin!!  So now I can PROUDLY say, "I am EXTREMELY proud of my children and nanchildren!!!  Thank You Jesus for these precious people in my life and Your permission to be proud of them!!!  I love You so much!!  And I love them, too!

Stay safe in His Loving arms   

"Sticks and Stones"

  This is the title of the sermon our pastor, Marty, delivered last Sunday.  It keeps running through my mind so I feel compelled to write on it.  The Scripture he based the message on is James 3:2-12 and begins, "We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way." Then 7 & 8 say, "People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue.  It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison."(NLT)  AMEN!  He goes on to say that words are 3 things (I love sermon note sheets):  #1 - Words are Powerful.  (Prov. 18:21 & 10:19); #2 - Words are Dangerous.  (James 3:3 & 3:5-6).  Words are dangerous because: - We are inconsistent people.  (James 3:9), and - We are all different.  And, #3 - Words are Memorable.  (Prov. 12:18 & 16:24).  Why do people (we) say the things they do?  And why do we believe them?  In "Pretty Woman", Julia Roberts' character is telling Richard Gere's character about how she grew up, always being told what was wrong with her and how worthless she was and she said, "Why is it that the bad is always easier to believe?"  THIS IS SO TRUE!!!  We (I) can receive many compliments and just blow them off but when someone says one mean, hateful, hurtful thing we remember it word for word forever.  It's too easy to say hurtful things, we can do it unintentionally.  I remember saying something to my son that I meant to be encouraging but it wasn't received as encouragement, it hurt him.  If my sweet daughter-in-love hadn't had the courage to tell me, it might have destroyed our relationship!  My children are my life, I would never intentionally say anything to hurt any of them - but it still happened.  Words have so much impact and once they are said they can't be taken back.  We can fall to our knees and tearfully and heartfully beg forgiveness, and even receive that forgiveness, but those words have still been said and will probably be remembered.  I think this message had so much impact on me because I have been hurt so often by words and it's hard to let go of them.  I try so very hard not to do the same to others, I pray that I succeed at least most of the time.  Kindness is a legacy I would hope to pass on to my precious children and nanchildren - I love them ALL so very much!!  And I hope that they will remember me as the Mom and Nana who loved and cherished them and said sweet, encouraging words over them - this is my prayer.  

Stay safe within His loving arms! 

One Hit Wonder

We had a substitute in Sunday School yesterday and I thought, "ok, this will be a boring, overdone lesson that I've heard a thousand times before."  Boy was I wrong!  The LORD kicked me in the pants and gave me 'a fresh Word', as Beth Moore would say.  Michael taught on Luke 16:19-31, which is Jesus' parable about the Rich Man and the Beggar, Lazarus.  He began by saying that we all have our heroes that we look up to and want to be like and in the Christian world we may say that "he/she is a great man/woman of God" or "he/she is blessed of God".  In our culture today the "blessed of God" are those who are successful or prosperous in their career &/or financially or they seem to have the perfect life or family.  But, he said, sometimes the "blessed of God" don't look like it from the outside looking in - this is what this parable teaches.  The parable is about Lazarus, the beggar, who was laid at the Rich Man's door daily longing for scraps from his table.  He was diseased and covered with sores that the dogs licked.  They both died - the Rich Man went to the place of the dead and Lazarus was carried by the angels to be with Abraham.  The Rich Man, in torment, saw Lazarus with Abraham and asked Abraham to have pity and send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue because he was in anguish in the flames.  Abraham explained why this wasn't possible (verses 25-26) so the Rich Man asked him to send Lazarus to his warn his brothers so they wouldn't also end up in that place of torment.  Of course, that wasn't happening either (verses 27-31).  Michael said the main point of the parable is often missed - it is NOT to tell us what heaven and hell is like.  He pointed out that the Rich Man is never named and a person's name is very important, on the other hand, "Lazarus" means "God helps".  This parable has 3 principals: 1) Being rich and healthy does not mean you are in God's favor.  2) Being poor and sick does not mean you are NOT in God's favor.  3) God may or may not heal the righteous.  He said that Christians get sick and die, they have financial problems and other problems but they/we are still "Blessed of God"!!  Hallelujah!!!  God sees the whole picture that we are not able to see when we are in the middle of something, He is in control and He's knows best!!  How awesome to be reminded that even we are not feeling very blessed when we are going through difficult times, we are still the "Blessed of God".  THANK YOU JESUS!!!  OH HOW I LOVE YOU!!!      

3 DOWN, 32 TO GO

  I just finished 2 incredible Intercession classes.  One was Adoption Issues & Answers and I learned so much.  I discovered that there is a huge need for adoptive parents right here in the United States, that there are birth mothers looking for "forever families" to love their babies.  The feelings I had about birth mothers from the experience my children had with Jaxon's have now changed - it seems that the majority of birth mothers are not like her.  I learned about foster parents and how difficult it is for children in DHS foster care.  I just want to take them all in and love on them.  I need to do something to help these children when I graduate.  The other class was Children and Grief and was full of information about helping children with the losses in their lives.  Whether it's from the death of a loved one or from divorce, children still grieve and need help dealing with their grief.  It shouldn't hurt to be a child but too often it does. The LORD has blessed me with an incredible family and has filled me with so much love that I need to lavish it on someone.  I am continually amazed at my Father's goodness and mercy and I want to share it with His littlest lambs.  I love my children and nanchildren so much that sometimes I think I will explode from it.  It doesn't matter whether or not I've given birth to them or if they've married into my family or been adopted into my family.  I LOVE THEM!!  And I know that the LORD has given me this love for them.  Thank you, Jesus, for these precious children and nanchildren!!!  Help me to know what You want me to do with all this love inside me.  I LOVE YOU!!!