25 Random things about me

Rules:Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Okay, here we go!
1. I love to mow the grass, there is just something about mowing a strip of fresh green grass and looking back and seeing it compared to what hasn't been mowed.
2. I hate to dust! I think that if you can't see a marked improvement there just isn't any reason to go to the trouble, but if you wait till there is enough dust to see a marked improvement everyone thinks you are a slob.
3. My first car was a station wagon with a 454 V8 engine. It was truly wasted on me--and I'd absolutely kill to have a V8 engine today!
4. I talk to my dog like he is a human being that can understand everything I say, he does understand most of what I say--but probably gets lost when I talk about what I'm cooking for dinner, or what the neighbor did last night.5. I find myself daydreaming regularly about being famous.
6. I'm afraid of spiders, snakes, and wasps.
7. I think my grandchildren are hilarious!
8. My favorite wine is Clous du Bois.
9. I love Jesus!!
10. I prefer milk chocolate over dark chocolate.
11. I believe you only get real Mexican food at El Chico.
12. My favorite color changes with the seasons.
13. I LOVE Jack Bauer.
14. My favorite movie is Field of Dreams, because I've always dreamed I could do something that would let me talk to my dad one more time.
15. I've never smoked a cigarette, not even held one up to my lips.
16. I miss Texas more than I ever thought possible.
17. I probably love my Cadallic SRX too much!
18. I've never broken a bone.
19. I wear size 7 shoes.
20. I've just recently learned that playing is worth putting off everything else for.
21. I think exercise is highly overrated.
22. When my first grandchild was born, I vowed never to wear "grannie panties" again.
23. I'm supposed to be 25 years old, not 50.
24. I use a nettie pot to clean my sinus' every day.
25. My dream vacation would be to go to Bora Bora for at least two months, but not more than six months.

Obedience

Obedience
I’ve been studying in the book of Esther this week and have come across some interesting situations. The book of Esther begins as Queen Vashti is summoned to appear before King Xerxes to be displayed before his guests at a banquet for her beauty. He has been strutting his stuff for his friends and allies for 6 months and he calls his queen on the last day of a seven day feast. The scriptures go into great detail about the splendor of the palace and how beautifully it has been decorated for this six month long gathering on officials. Well, Queen Vashti does the unthinkable; she refuses to go to the king. The consequence of her action is the loss of her office as queen.
That is the first obedience situation we see in this book, there are more to follow. And it got me thinking about obedience and what it means. Although we don’t know all the details of this situation, it would appear that Vashti chose to be disobedient over being used as an object by her King. We choose to be obedient or to be disobedient. Either consequences or blessings will come from our decisions.
The next situation involves Esther, a young Jewish orphan who has been taken in by a cousin and raised as his own daughter. In the effort to replace Vashti, she is chosen along with many other young women to be presented to the King after 12 months of beauty treatments at the palace. These treatments include six months with oil of myrrh and six months with cosmetics, special food and seven maids to attend her every need. At the end of the year she will be sent into the king for the night and the next morning to join the harem of concubines for the rest of her life. But, once the King sees Esther, he is so taken with her that he makes her his Queen. Mordecai, the cousin who raised her as his daughter has forbidden her to reveal her nationality or family background, so Xerxes doesn’t know that his Queen is Jewish.
One of the King’s officials, Hamar, is offended by Mordecai’s behavior and as a result, hatches a plot to annialate all Jewish people. Mordecai is understandably upset and tries to enlist Esther’s help. Initially Esther refuses to help, but when Mordecai explains that God’s will shall prevail she reconsiders. He convinces her with these words:
Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? Esther 4:13
Esther’s obedience to Mordecai’s pleas stops the plot to destroy the Jewish people. I think we can all identify with her hesitation to help her people. But when Mordecai tells her that she may well be part of God’s plan to save his people she can’t refuse, even though she doesn’t understand how she will help stop Hamar’s plan. After much prayer and fasting Esther was obedient and God used her in a way she couldn’t have conceived.
Is there a situation in your life where someone is asking for your help, yet you are hesitant to get involved? We should all be encouraged by Esther’s example and step out in obedience. And who knows but that you may have been put here for such a time as this?

Advent Devotion

I know this isn't the way you are supposed to blog--but I've neglected my posts--so I'll just add a few things today that I've written over the last couple of months. This is a devotion that I wrote to go in the Advent Devotion book our church published this December.

1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

At first glance it may seem this scripture is warning us to always be ready for action, for any and all circumstances that come our way. It seems to say if we are ready and in control of ourselves we will triumph over whatever comes our way. But with further study we see a ready mind and self-control are merely a means to an end. The important concept in 1 Peter 1:13 is hope.
Hope is one of those words in our culture that is over used. Much the same as love—I love all kinds of things, from the Divinity that my Noni made every Christmas to my husband Leroy. How can one word adequately convey all these different kinds of devotion? Hope holds a similar concept.
We spent many months hoping for rain during the last year, and we hope our team will win the game this weekend. Our English word hope is derived from the Greek word “elpis” meaning a confident expectation. But, here in the context of this scripture we are looking at biblical hope, a much higher concept. Biblical hope can be defined as biblical salvation. Our biblical hope as Christians is the assurance of the forgiveness of our sin, salvation through Jesus Christ, and an eternity spent with Jesus.
Our biblical hope isn’t a simple wish or an expectation, it is an absolute certainty. Throughout the Old and New Testaments God promises a redemptive hope centered on his Son, Jesus Christ. In Genesis 3, God informs the serpent that Eve’s Seed would crush him. Romans 15, Isaiah says “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations: the Gentiles will hope in him.” Our hope is a gift from God, it enables the renewal of our minds and the self control we will need until Jesus Christ is finally revealed. We look forward, expectantly awaiting the return of our Savior.
Prayer:
Gracious Father,
You alone are worthy of our Hope. Thank you for your gift of Hope, that assurance that we are yours, we are saved for an eternity to be spent with you. Help us to share that gift with everyone around us. Help us to always be ready to give an answer to account for the hope that we possess.
In the name above all names, Jesus Christ I pray,
Amen.
Blessed Assurance
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain)

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

‘Perspective’ or ‘What I did on my summer vacation’
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Declares the Lord, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

I learned something as I was flying home from my summer vacation. As the plane took off from the Denver, Colorado airport I looked down on the landscape and marveled at the creation of God. I was struck at the flat landscape changing drastically to mountains. In my head I said to myself, I just don’t get it. Why did God choose to make creation look like this? Why, such a drastic change from flat to the mountains? We had been in Colorado all week, driving from place to place, going up into the mountains, back down into the canyon, out to the flat places but when I was at street level it didn’t occur to me how drastic the changes were. Only when I saw them from the heights of the airplane did I see the whole picture of what the creation actually looked like. And immediately I thought of my life and Community Bible Study, it hit me that I just don’t get why God has brought me here to do this service.

Let’s back up a couple of steps here and fill you in on my perspective. I only ask that you remember this is my perspective, as narrow as it may seem to you—it’s my experience. I don’t mean any offense to anyone who has a different experience—and all our experiences are different. Just bare with me, I did learn something here that might be valuable to someone; at least it is to me.

I have been involved in CBS for many years. I have worn many hats in my service at CBS and loved each and every one. And believe me, this is an honor to be here to serve Christ. I’m so appreciative of the opportunity to serve our Lord and be in relationship with women who love Him. To be able to come together and pray for this ministry, our lives and families, and our country is a great blessing. This organization is near and dear to my heart. So as my invitation into leadership unfolded in the last few months, I must admit to you that I was sort of taken aback. I didn’t understand why God wanted me in leadership, to be with the babies in the nursery. Don’t misunderstand me it’s not that I think this is an unimportant job, because I know it is very important to CBS. The nursery is an integral part of CBS. We must provide a solid children’s program for the ladies that God has called into this ministry, and we are planting seeds for the next generation of believers as well. I just didn’t get why me? I was always the one who shied away from helping with the kids. When my family gets together they still can’t believe I’m the one with four girls, and not my sister—who spent most of her young adult life babysitting, I never had a paid babysitting job—really, not once! My greatest fear after having Nikki was that the first time I held her she would cry—just like every other baby I had ever held. I was absolutely astonished when she didn’t!

But, here I am, ready willing and I think able to be in the nursery with the children.
But, I digress, this is about perspective. So as I watched out the window of the airplane and saw the mountains passing below me, as the plane turned away from the mountains toward the plain I began to understand that I didn’t have this whole picture perspective, but God does. And that’s really all that matters. As I was pondering this, clouds were beginning to pass below us and block my view of the landscape. I wondered if this too could be a lesson. Were there times when God brought things into my life that blocked my view? That he clears away when He chooses for me to see the whole landscape? Recently I’ve been somewhat depressed about my youngest daughter Stephanie going away to college. For the first time in 30 years I have not had to care for a child at home. I felt that my primary purpose of caring for children was over. Perhaps instead, God has prepared me for a new role of nurturing some of His other children here at CBS. This made me think about the sovereignty of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He had also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

I also thought about when we were at street level, I didn’t always know what was around the next curve. If there would be a gentle hill or a steep climb. Life is like that too—we never know what is coming, if we will experience a time of trial or blessing. But God is sovereign in everything—he knows what is coming for us.

Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I am so excited about this year and CBS. I’m excited about experiencing all the hills, plains and mountains God has planned for this ministry. I pray that He will reveal His plan and perspective to us all.

Halloween!

I gave a devotion for my Women's Council Leadership meeting this last Monday night. I was excited because I had seen this devotion given a few years ago at CBS. I had always wanted to give it but never had the opportunity until now.

Halloween has always held a bag of mixed emotions for me. I've always wondered just how much I should celebrate this holiday. I want to honor God in all things, and always felt like I was walking a thin line when I celebrated Halloween. I didn't want to teach my kids the wrong things, I didn't know where the bounderies were on this topic. But this word picture about the pumpkin and our realtionship with Christ somehow made me feel better about the whole thing. The apostle Paul often faced situations with people of different cultures that observed different customs and I think we can learn something from how he handled himself at those times. He didn't segregate himself away from them. he went to them and used who they were and what they were doing to talk to them about Christ. That's what this devotion does, it uses Halloween to talk to people about Christ.

Prepare Your Heart

Like it or not, Halloween is a part of our culture. Personally, I enjoy the costumes and the parties and (especially) the candy! But what can you do if you have serious reservations about taking part in Halloween? You can fight it; you can try to ignore it; or you can follow Paul's example.
In Athens, Paul was disturbed by the culture around him. (Acts 17:16). But instead of coming against it, he used things from that culture to present the gospel. (Acts 17:22-31).
Don't forget - the most important part of preparation is always prayer.

Prepare The Materials

This is an object lesson - the objects you will need are:
A pumpkin (instructions for preparing it are below)
A candle or flashlight to go inside the pumpkin
Lighter or matches if you are using a candle
A large knife (not sharp, it is for effect).
Some mud or clay dirt
A damp cloth
A cloth large enough to cover the pumpkin

Instructions - ahead of time:
Cutting carefully so that you can set it back in place, cut the top from the pumpkin.
Scoop out the seeds and inner membrane. Rinse, dry and save it. You may want to soak them in coffee or something similar to turn them dark. We will be returning them to the pumpkin.
Making sure to keep the cuttings on one side of the pumpkin only, cut a design into the pumpkin. You can use a traditional jack-o-lantern or some other design. Carving 'JESUS' into the pumpkin or carving a candle is effective. Be careful not to carry the design to the sides or back of the pumpkin as you do not want to show the cuts at the beginning of the lesson.

Put the seeds and membrane back into the pumpkin. If it is going to be over a few hours before the lesson, it would be better to put the seeds and membrane in the refrigerator until closer time.

Instructions - just before the session:

Set the pumpkin in front of you so that the carved part is toward your body. You do not want the audience to see that it has been carved.
If the seeds were refrigerated, return them to the pumpkin.
Put the top on the pumpkin matching it as good as possible so that the cut is not too obvious.
Smear a little clay or mud on the front of the pumpkin so that the audience can easily see it.
Set the other supplies (knife, light, damp cloth) where you can reach them.
Cover the pumpkin with a cloth so that it is not visible from any side when your group comes in.

Prepare Your Group

Begin with prayer.

The Lesson

Sometimes people ask what it is like being a Christian.I'd like to tell you that it is all fun and easy. But I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to tell the whole truth. And here it is. It is fun to be a Christian because I am God's child and God loves me. And it is never too hard for me because God helps me. But sometimes it is pretty hard to be a Christian.

(Lift the cloth off of the pumpkin)

I think I can use this pumpkin to help explain. We all start out like pumpkins. We're out in the garden along with all the others. God is always walking through that garden asking if any of us what to belong to Him. When we say 'yes' to God, he picks us up out of the garden.

(Use damp cloth to clean the dirt off the pumpkin.)

And he gently washes away the dirt. That feels really, really nice.

(Pick up the knife)

But there is more to be done. You see, dirt was not the only thing we brought with us from the garden.

(Pretend to cut around the top of the pumpkin)

Some of what we brought back requires surgery and that can hurt.

(Lift off the top.)

While we were out there in the garden, some things grew inside us.

(Take out a few seeds and hold them out to be seen.)

Sometimes the others were not fair to us.

(Take out more of the seeds)

We became angry and the seed of bitterness started to grow inside.

(Continue to take out seeds as you talk)

Sometimes others let us down or hurt our feelings. We began to feel sorry for ourselves. And the seeds of rejection started to grow. We try to get even with those who hurt us. The seeds of unforgiveness and violence begin to grow inside.

(Remove the last of the seeds)

Yes, all of this cleaning up hurts a bit. But if we won't let God clean all of this out, it gets infected. And then we really have problems. Christians who won't let God clean out all the junk from the pumpkin patch are really miserable. They have spiritual infections and they can spread them to others.

(Wipe the inside with the cloth)

(Pretend to make a few cuts with the knife on your side of the pumpkin)

I'm learning to hold really still and let God take care of anything that needs cleaning! Sure it hurts sometimes.

(Put the light inside the pumpkin and light it)

And sometimes I wonder what God is trying to do!

(Turn the pumpkin around for the group to see)

Then God reminds me that He has a wonderful plan for my life. He wants the beauty of Jesus to shine through me so others can see the way to Jesus. That's what we are, you know. We are not really better than those poor pumpkins who are still in the garden. We are just a whole lot better off because Jesus has taken us out of the darkness and into His wonderful light.

(Lights off)

Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill can't be hidden. Also, people do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand. Then it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine in front of others. Then they will see the good things you do. And they will praise your Father who is in heaven."*

Please pray with me. Father God, thank You for asking us to be Your children.Father, we want to be more like Jesus. We want others to see Your light shining in our lives. Help us to open our hearts to You. Take away all our bad attitudes. Give us Your light and love inside. We're asking this in Jesus' Name. Amen

*Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16 NIRV

This devotion is based on an inspirational E-Mail I received. I do not know the author of the E-Mail. You have my permission to copy anything that I have written.

Love Story

Our love story started in the summer of 1986. My parents still lived in the house where I grew up in Arlington, Texas. A new neighbor had moved into the house next door the previous fall. My parents were in their mid-sixties and enjoyed traveling. They always relied on my sister and myself to take care of things when they were on vacation. However, we started hearing how wonderful the new neighbor, ‘Leroy’, was and how he could take care of whatever needed to be done while they were away. I had not met this new neighbor and quite frankly felt that he was invading my territory. I can remember asking my sister, "Who is this guy, and he needs to understand he’s not getting put into the will!" Much to my amazement, when my young daughters were visiting my parents, they met Leroy,and they came home also singing his praises.
One hot July day, my Mom and I were sitting out back at the pool and Leroy was cutting a tree down in his front yard. He had used a ladder and climbed up into the top of this sycamore tree and was using a hand held saw to cut the smaller branches out of the tree. My Mom looked over and asked him if he would like a cold beer (being in Texas we had beer on tap), Leroy answered, "You could twist my arm to have a beer." Mom turned to me and told me to go and take Leroy a beer. Before I could get over to his house with the beer, he had dropped a branch and knocked over the ladder and was stranded up in the top of this tree. I looked up at him and said, "Just what exactly is this beer worth to you?" In the retelling of our tale, Leroy always interjects at this moment that he told me he would marry me if I helped him get down out of the tree. I don’t remember what he said actually.
That Thanksgiving I systematically invited EVERYONE we knew to come and have Thanksgiving Dinner with Leroy and I. I had never felt so much rejection in my whole life. No one would accept my invitation, and if they did they called within a couple of days and backed out! I had cooked enough food for about twenty people. We sat down and had a very nice quiet dinner just the two of us. When we finished eating Leroy excused himself, left the dining room and when he came back had his camera and a vase of yellow roses. My favorite. He wanted me to smell the roses and he was planning to snap a photo of me smelling the roses. I wasn’t in the best mood after being rejected by everyone I knew, and told him I didn’t feel like smelling the roses. About the third time he asked me to smell the roses, at this point through clenched teeth, I looked down in the center of one of the roses and saw a beautiful diamond engagement ring. He knelt down on one knee and asked if I would marry him and live out our lives together. I said YES!!! And suddenly knew why no one would come to Thanksgiving Dinner with us! We left our house and joined friends for an informal engagement party, complete with champagne. We were married the following May.
We blended together our families of one son and three daughters, Michael, Amy, Nichole, and Jennifer. Sadly, we lost our son Michael in an automobile accident that June. We have added a daughter, Stephanie. And our family has grown to include two son-in-laws, Dan and Grant, and one grandchild, Caroline, with another to arrive in May.
We joke with our friends that we have been married for 46 years. Our twenty together, Leroys previous marriage of 18 years and my previous marriage of eight years. We want to put an announcement in the newspaper when we reach 50 years!

Legacy

Webster’s defines legacy as anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.

I have received a legacy from my mother, and grandmothers and great-grandmothers.. And now, since I am a grandmother, it is time for me to think about the legacy I will leave behind.
There is a popular contemporary Christian song that expresses some of what I'm feeling as I contemplate this very important question. I would like to share some of the lyrics with you.

Legacy–Nichole Nordeman

Artist: Nichole Nordeman Song:

Legacy Album: Woven And Spun [" Woven And Spun " CD]

I don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me

And I enjoy an accolade like the rest

And you can take my picture and hang it in a gallery

Of all the Who's Who's and So-and-So's

That used to be the best at such and such

It wouldn't matter much

I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights

We all need an "Atta boy" or "Atta girl"

But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides

The temporary trappings of this world

I want to leave a legacy

How will they remember me?

Did I choose to love?

Did I point to You enough

To make a mark on things

I want to leave an offering

A child of mercy and grace

Who blessed Your name unapologetically

And leave that kind of legacy

I don't have to look too far or too long awhile

To make a lengthy list of all that I enjoy

It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile

Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy

I want to leave a legacy

How will they remember me?

Did I choose to love?

Did I point to You enough

To make a mark on things

I want to leave an offering

A child of mercy and grace

Who blessed Your name unapologetically

And leave that kind of legacy

Not well-traveled, not well-read

Not well-to-do, or well-bred

Just want to hear instead

Well done, good and faithful one

I want to leave a legacy

How will they remember me?

Did I choose to love?

Did I point to You enough

To make a mark on things

I want to leave an offering

A child of mercy and grace

Who blessed Your name unapologetically

And leave that kind of legacy

I am lucky to be in possession of some letters my grandmother’s grandmother wrote to her. They were written in 1911 to a young girl who had been born out of wedlock, and whose mother died in childbirth. Although she carried his name, Spencer, my great grandfather could not care for her. She was taken in by a family who loved and cared for her needs. My great-great grandmother kept in contact with her through these wonderful letters. I want to share a portion of one of the letters.

January 1912, Mount Calm, Hill County, Texas
Grandmothers precious Arlice, I received your letter a few minutes ago, was truly glad to hear you was all well, I am in good health except pain in my joints from rheumatism. I was so glad you got so many Christmas presents, and I was glad of your studies. Alma is no farther advanced than you and she is several years older than you are. Yesterday was the anniversary of your birth. The 14th of January . Grandmother prayed earnestly to her heavenly Father to keep you in the hollow of his hand from the world, the flesh, and Satan, they are the souls three greatest enemies. Grandmother prays the blessings of God upon they that give you shelter. May He bless them and theirs for the kindness they give you. Give your cap to some little sweet child it will fit, also all your clothing you outgrow, give them to some mother that has to work and toil to make a living for her children and God will bless you.

I know that my grandmother lived her life in service to the Lord, and dependent on the Lord. She loved me with all her heart, and I know she prayed for me.

I also have portions of my mothers journal. Here is my favorite part.

October 1995, Arlington, Texas
I went to church and felt such a wonderful presence of God. A young woman was baptized. I remember the night I was baptized. My mother told me when she was baptized she felt she was washed as white as snow and began her life all over again. I felt the same way when I was baptized and always felt and still do, God’s presence. I know he is watching over me. Thank you my Lord God. I thank you for all the wonderful blessings, but most of all for coming into my life and giving Your Son who died to wash all my sins away and the promise that someday I will be with You in heaven and all my loved ones and my beloved Dale. I am living for that glorious day Dear Lord. I pray you’ll keep me strong until that day.

Having these memories of my mother and her mother are so special to me. My mother did not live a devout Christian life. We all fall short. But one of the things my mother was great at was serving others. I remember when she came to help me after Nikki’s birth. She did everything you could imagine that I needed. And never tired at serving–she even ironed my sheets!! She taught me how to care for a newborn, and shaped my parenting skills. I was thankful for her help, but I really didn’t understand how much joy she must have received from those chores– I understand now–words cannot express the joy and fulfillment I experienced over the last couple of weeks, just doing the mundane chores around Nikki’s house.

I want that to be a part of the legacy I leave for my children and their children. A legacy of prayer, service and love.