It's all in how you say it....

We were at church tonight and my pastor (who is also known in our family as paw paw) was making an announcement of a new baby in our church that was born yesterday. He was reading the note that mam maw had made for him and said the baby's name and then proudly announced that he weighed 6 lb and 20 ounces. O.k., we all had that weird look on our faces like "That didn't sound right"....so after a few seconds it also registered with him that what he had said just didn't sound exactly right. What Mam Maw's notes had said was 6 lb and 20 inches!...lol.

I began thinking that I've always heard it isn't what you say but how you say it and so I thought for all of us ladies who would love to be the weight we were in high school....well....maybe we can. I would for instance say 116 and 96 ounces!...awww doesn't that sound better????!!!! Maybe it is in how you say it! :)

It may not be funny to you...but it sure tickled my funny bone thinking about it.

Some people......

Psalm 7:14-17 Behold the wicked man conceives iniquity and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He made a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the hole which he made before the trap was completed. His mischief shall fall back in return upon his own head and his violence come down with the loose dirt upon his own scalp. I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His rightness and justice, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. (Amplified version)

Ladies...this isn't for you as much as it is a reminder to me and a proclamation to the enemy that the LORD will take care of His kids. You can only do evil so long and push so far...He is JUST!! I do not have to worry about taking up for myself...my Father has it under control..He is in charge of me. He paid a great price to make me his own and he will not let anything happen to me that is not for my good. I need take no course of action other than keeping my eyes fixed on Him and my heart in an attitude of prayer.

"What we need to hear when we are disappointed is that God is still in control. We need to hear that it's not over until he says so. We need to hear that life's mishaps and tragedies are not a reason to bail out. They are simply a reason to sit tight." Max Lucado

I'm sitting tight Lord......sitting tight. :)

People Pleasers Beware!!!

Well, here I am again. About to confess to you how the Lord has once again opened my eyes to my shortcomings. I choose to be vunerable because I want someone, anyone to avoid the pitfalls that I find myself in as I walk this pilgrimage called the Christian life. You are probably thinking...this woman is a mess...I agree..but I am the Lord's mess and I'm secure in knowing He loves me and if I allow Him to..he specializes in making good things out of big messes!

Are you a people pleaser? Oh girls!...I know I am! I always have been. I wanted to please my parents when I was younger, wanted to please my friends, wanted to please my supervisors over the years....just want people to be pleased with me. I don't like...no, I HATE feeling like someone is disappointed with me. It took me many, many years to learn to say "no." At one point early in my Christian life I held 13 responsibilities in our local church...uh, yeah...13!!! Why?...I didn't want to let anyone down. I really have made great strides in that area and I pray and only do those things I think God is leading me to do in the church, but I have been hit in the face with a different creature.

The past 6 months I have completely thrown myself into pleasing an individual. I have prayed for them, loved them with my whole heart, sacrificed my time, my energy, my money and even other relationships to make sure this individual was taken care of and happy...pleased if you will. I absolutely love this person and feel that God brought them to my life for me to love them and most of all point them to Himself. But somewhere along the line I allowed the situation to become my life! I would find myself worrying all the time about this person and if I was making everyone "happy". But it hit me today as I did my devotion....All those months of trying to make people happy....I never once asked God if I was making Him happy. Wow...how could that be? How could I move God from that place of preeminence and replace Him with a mere human? I don't know. I just am confessing I did...and I did it without even realizing it. 1 John 3:22 "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." Pleasing in HIS sight...that is what matters. The order of priorities got out of whack in my life. It was Family, God, Job. Upon realizing that I couldn't help but cry..."I'm sorry Lord!" God gave me my family...but He didn't give them to me to place them before Him. He is to be preeminent in our lives.

God reminded me of this verse as well 1 Thessalonians 2:4 "But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts." How freeing! The world is trying to give me a whole list of people that I need to please but it is a lie! There is only one I have to please and that is the Lord Jesus. If I please Him, then I will please those that have their hearts right and the rest...well, that's between them and the Lord. He is much better at handling them than I. My family absolutely is THE most important thing on earth to me but I must put the giver of all perfect gifts before them. I want to love them and do for them as He instructs...not as they expect, or not as others opinions say I should. It is amazing to me how the enemy can even use good things to derail your fellowship with God. Nothing I've done over the past 6 months was bad, no, actually people have commented on how "selfless" I was...but in fact, self was getting in the way of fellowship with my Savior. I was bending over backward to please others so that "self" would feel better. But it was only for fleeting moments. However, when I put my Savior first....it is a joy and peace that cannot be described. How do I know?....I've had it today since I confessed my sin and asked Him to redirect my energies to pleasing Him and allowing Him to tell me what to do and not a thing more.

I can't help but think of the song by John Wyeth wrote in the 1700's Come thy Fount. The 3rd verse says "O to grace how great a debtor, Daily I'm constrained to be! Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee: Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." John Wyeth knew his heart was prone to wander...we'd be wise to acknowledge the same. I am so thankful for God's grace and mercy...it is new every morning. I am clean girls! I am forgiven. Perfect?....No...Never to fail again.....No. But right now I am enjoying snuggling up in the arms of my Savior and having a heart that is worshipping Him!

There is a song that we sang and worshipped to at Women of Faith this year that Mandesa sang, originally by Mary Mary. Here are a few of the words from the chorus

Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise you
I just wanna praise you
You broke the chains now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise you
I'm gonna praise you

The chains are gone...excuse me ladies...I have some dancing to do! :)

I love my hubby!

Doug and I counted and this was our 27th Christmas together...WOW! I love him so much! I sincerely don't know of a better man anywhere. I am truly blessed.

Do I Matter?

Ever had that thought? I mean, one of those days where everything you touch turns to disaster, everything that could go wrong does, and it seems you let everyone around you down, including yourself and most importantly your Lord, and that thought creeps in "The world would be better off without me, in fact, they probably wouldn't even notice." ..."I just don't matter." I would dare say most of us have thought that at one time in our life. Well, take heart dear sister! You do matter! So much in fact that God numbers the very hairs on your head! Matt. 10:30 "But even the very hairs of your head are numbered." Who else inventories follicles? We monitor other things like how much money we have in our checking account, how much gas we have in our tank, how many groceries are in the cabinets, how many pounds we've gained over the holidays ..lol...but I have never seen anyone with tiny signs adjacent to each strand of hair with a number on it. But God knows. And you may say he is just pointing out he knows everything...he is omniscient...and He is...but I really think he wants us to know that EVERYTHING about us matters to him. We matter to God Almighty! Wow! He came as a babe in a manger and grew up to go to the cross because we matter!! It is a lie of the enemy to tell you that you do not matter. It is a fear that can consume us and cause us to live defeated lives. Do not buy into it dear sister.

My husband's favorite movie is "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart. He loves to watch it every Christmas season. The whole plot of this movie is that George Bailey thinks everyone's life would be better if he had never been born...he had the feeling he had let everyone down and was buying into the lie of "I don't matter"...so an angel comes and makes it as though he were never born but let George see how everyone's life would be if that were true. Well, as you know it had a devastating effect on many lives. George saw exactly how much he mattered and wanted his life back. I know that God created everyone one of us for a purpose and with a plan for our entire life. The Word tells us that. As we go into 2010 lets remember that we DO matter and that every little deed done in the name of Christ is important. We may not have much materially, we may not have a lot of influence in the corporate world or in society, but dear friend there is a King..matter of fact the King of kings who has the very hairs of your head numbered and he says we do MATTER!!! AMEN!!

Good Friends

Proverbs 17:17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

As I sit here tonight I just can't help but have a heart overflowing with joy. God has been so good to me! I absolutely LOVE snow and we have had one of the most beautiful, perfect snows that you could imagine this weekend. It was about 6 1/2 inches deep and once packed down a little...it was the most awesome sledding you've ever done! It has been a weekend where I can forget that I'm an adult with lots of responsibilities and just enjoy jumping on a sled with my friends and family and head off down a hill screaming and laughing the whole way down. It was a weekend of looking around me and realizing I am one very blessed woman! I enjoyed the snow with my sweetheart and husband of 22 1/2 years, my 2 daughters and my two son-in-loves Ben and Travis, Mark and Renea and the hosts of our BIG HILL excitement Chris, Mary and Austin. I couldn't help but think of how so many people think having a good time is all about drinking alcohol, or going to a club and how that their friends are the one who party along with them but I beg to differ. We had about as much fun as anyone could this weekend and it was all about enjoying the blessing from the Lord. It was about knowing that our friends are definitely there in the good times....but they are also there in the bad times. Just like Proverbs says. Chris has pulled me out of a ditch, towed Hope's car to the shop, fixed my roof and not for money....no, just because he's my friend. Mary has helped me clean my house, picked up my kids, and been there when I needed someone to encourage me because I just didn't think I could go one more step. Mark and Renea have loved us, encouraged us and loved our kids like their own. True friends are God sent, and let me publicly say...I thank God for the ones He sent me..they are the BEST! Thanks guys for all the wonderful memories, I will never, never forget them!

I can only imagine......

No..I'm not talking about the song "I can only Imagine" ...I am telling you that I can only imagine what it must have been like the night Jesus was born. Luke 2:7 "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." Wow...what a night! God himself...the creator of the universe, the one who is Alpha and Omega, the one who is omnipotent chose to come to this earth and contained himself in the womb of a human...a young virgin girl named Mary so that he could be born of flesh and live a sinless life to only go to a cruel cross to give his life for you and for me...sinners...unworthy and certainly hopeless. But yet he came. His word tells us that if we don't praise him the rocks will cry out. His creation knows him...so what must the animals that night in the stable thought about him...did they recognize his sovreignty and power?....Did they know they were looking at God himself? I wonder if the wind stood perfectly still as his newborn cry filled the air. I wonder if the stars shined a little brighter...twinkled a little more? I wonder if there was a sweetness just by his presence...if maybe the young girl who was so scared and had been made fun of, talked about, not believed even by her own parents...I wonder if he brought her peace as she held her son and her Savior in her arms? I can only imagine.

The last part of that verse makes my heart sad...ache, actually. It says "there was no room for them in the Inn" I fear that today many still have no room for the one who can save them...the only one who has the power to redeem them and the only one who draws them to himself so that they can have life eternal. They still push him out because there is just no room for him in their lives. I'll accept him later in life, they say....or I can't live the Christian life and I refuse to be a hypocrite....or I don't believe the Bible....or I'm just to bad...Jesus doesn't want me. Oh dear friend, He wants you to make room for him. And just as the Inn keeper not having room for them didn't stop his coming....your rejection of him won't stop his second coming nor stop your appointment that you will have one day when it is your time to stand before him. His word tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Why not confess it now so that one day you can say it in worship as we cry "Holy, Holy, Holy!" ...around the throne......awwww...I can only imagine.

Let's keep Christ in Christmas and make the season about the real reason....Jesus!

Humbled and it Hurt!

Rom 7:15 I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.


Rom 7:16 I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good.


Rom 7:17 But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.


Rom 7:18 I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't.


Rom 7:19 When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.


Rom 7:20 But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it.


Rom 7:21 It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.


Rom 7:22 I love God's law with all my heart.


Rom 7:23 But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.


Rom 7:24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? [fn]


Rom 7:25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.


Rom 8:2 For the power [fn] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you [fn] through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.


Rom 8:3 The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.


Rom 8:4 He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us [fn] who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.


Rom 8:5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.


Rom 8:6 If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.


Rom 8:7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will.


Rom 8:8 That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.


Rom 8:9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.)


Rom 8:10 Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive [fn] because you have been made right with God.


Rom 8:11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you.


Rom 8:12 So, dear brothers and sisters, [fn] you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. NLT

This past week I was reminded of the truth of these verses. No matter how long you or I have been saved we still have our sin nature and unless we are allowing the Holy Spirit to fill and control us....it will rear its ugly head. I'm just going to be vunerable and transparent with you girls because I want to help you...I want you to be warned and realize how important it is to allow the Holy Spirit to control you and your actions.

Before I was saved at age 25 I had a horrible temper. I had a lot of rage built up in me because of some things in my childhood and unfortunately my dear, sweet husband Doug had to catch the brunt of it. I could be very volatile and definitely knew how to use my words so that they were as sharp as a butcher's knife. But after I was saved...I became that new creature and God really began molding and making this old clay to be reshaped into gentleness..instead of brassiness, compassion instead of judgement, and love instead of hate. I have been saved now for 15 years and I really thought that was an issue that was settled. I was wrong. I was reminded that unless I am allowing the Holy Spirit to control me....I will be that man that Paul is speaking of that does the things he KNOWS he should not do. I lost my temper this last week and it was ugly, hurtful and scary. It really shook me to my core that I was capable of such rage after all these years. All I knew to do was fall on my knees and ask God and the person involved to forgive me and pray that healing could begin. The guilt and shame I felt and remorse was almost overwhelming. I could almost hear the person of the Holy Spirit calling to me to let Him take charge but the flesh was feeling to good at the time....you know their is pleasure in sin for a season....but those seasons can be very short lived. I do want to say that there is good news in all this....God is a forgiving God and his mercies are new every morning. His compassions fail not. He is faith and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and he can piece situations back together that seem impossible.

Dear Sisters..I don't know what your struggles with your flesh are but I do know that they will overpower you as well if you are not allowing the person of the Holy Spirit to control you. I do know there is no peace or joy when that happens and I do know that whatever situation you are in...it will not be helped...only bring more hurt. So please, read these verses I posted, meditate on them, and pray for God to give you a heart that desires to yield to His power. The enemy is ALWAYS on the battlefield and pressing toward us. Help us stand in Christ and Christ alone!