DAYS

A few years back I purchased a t-shirt for myself at a neat general store in North Carolina.  I felt it said exactly how I feel on some days.  It needs no further explaining as everyone who reads it has experienced the feeling.  I've been "there" lately.

Here's what the t-shirt says:

Need I say more?

KINDRED SPIRITS

"I think we might be kindred spirits after all,"  said Anne of Green Gables.  I have read the book and seen the movie and every sequel.  It is absolutely one of my favorite movies ever.  I will have to admit that the first movie "Anne of Green Gables" is my favorite for sure of all the Anne with an "e" movies.    I've seen it so many times I can say a lot of the lines right on time.  And exactly word for word.

Many of you will remember my VBS experience this past summer as I wrote about it on this blog.  You can look in June 2013 under the title "VBS" and read about it.  My little class let balloons go up into the sky and one was found 136 miles away by a Christian woman who sent a note back here and encouraged me on a day when I needed something.  I wrote her a note back and said in that note, "I think we might be kindred spirits."  When she replied to me via email (I had given her my contact information), the first sentence was "You had me at the Lucy Maud Montgomery quote."  Well, for all of you who might not know, Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote the book, Anne of Green Gables.  Uh huh.

We talked back and forth via email for the months since then and got acquainted.  There are so many things in common--the first and most important being that we both worship the same Lord and Savior and he is equally precious to the both of us.  Granted, I am old enough to be her mother, but that's okay, too.  We have formed a friendship that is a blessing to me.

Last week, The Balloon Friend made plans to come to my fair town to spend the 24 hours prior to the grand opening of our newest favorite chicken restaurant and she let me know of her plans.  Now for all of you unfamiliar, this fine chicken restaurant chooses 100 people to stay in their parking lot for the 24 hours prior to their grand opening and the 100 people who succeed in their camping experience are given a prize of a year's worth of the delicious chicken meals.  Uh huh.

Well, The Balloon Friend is very experienced in this "experience".  I went to the parking lot of the new restaurant and met her.  I was sooo excited on the way there.  We had seen photos of each other and she was watching and met me as I walked up.  What a delightful person she is!   I was able to meet some of her family members there also.  We talked, got acquainted more, and just enjoyed the fellowship time.  I went to my favorite pizza place and brought pizza back and we shared lunch before I came home.  One can only eat so much chicken at a time!  We both had cameras to document the moment and I will share the photo.  Yes, I am actually IN a photo.

I heard from her when she got home the next morning that she had arrived safely and didn't experience a great deal of our southbound early morning interstate traffic.  I was glad of that.  We again talked about how the Lord had worked through both of us to bless each other.  I am thankful to Him for that blessing and to The Balloon Friend for following her heart to return that balloon in the first place.

Kindred spirits certainly involve a sweet spirit and in this case, the Lord directed His Spirit to make it so.  Yes, it was a very good day!

EGG

I love to eat eggs!  Scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, deviled eggs, colored eggs….any way you make ‘em, I like ‘em.   That is, of course, with the exception of over easy egg cooking style.  I don’t enjoy my yellow egg yolk running all over my egg white.  I like my eggs well done.  I guess I can safely say that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and mostly because it includes eggs.  Unfortunately, my love is not shared by The Son-In-Law nor The Girl.   As much as I love eggs, their dislike of them is just as strong.  But, luckily, we’re still friends. 

There are times in my life when I don’t love eggs.  Many times I have dropped an egg on my kitchen hardwood floor.   What a mess!  Have you ever tried to clean up a cracked messy runny egg from a hardwood floor?  It’s a challenge.  I have read all kinds of things of how to make this task easier and actually tried several of those methods to find that maybe pouring salt on it and then scooping it up makes it a bit easier. 

Last Sunday I was cooking the Sunday pancake breakfast for The Husband before Sunday School.  A while back I had bought a loaf of gluten free cinnamon raisin bread by mistake.  You might question that statement, especially the phrase “by mistake”.  Well, I’ll tell you as much I like eggs, I dislike cinnamon.  I don’t like to eat it, smell it, or look at it.  Ugh.   This time of year, too, the smell of cinnamon is EVERYWHERE.   Even though I dislike it, that thrifty part of me is stronger than that dislike.  I thought to myself how I could make use of the bread without waste and decided that Sunday morning French toast for me might be somewhat edible with the slight cinnamon flavor.  I tried it one Sunday and it was tolerable so until that loaf of gluten free cinnamon raisin bread in the freezer is gone, I will be having French toast on Sundays.    See, when one has a conflict all he has to do is figure out a way to make things work.  Duh.

Back to my story—I get so distracted.  In the mornings, I always have my half of my small cup of coffee, make myself a glass of iced green tea, and then prepare either breakfast or lunch for that day.  Last Sunday, I had the pancake mix ready to cook waiting for The Husband to appear in the kitchen so I decided to go ahead with my preparation for my fine Sunday breakfast.  I had drank my coffee and had my iced green tea ready.  I got out my small square dish, got the egg from the refrigerator, cracked it, threw the eggshell in the trash, picked up my nice full glass of iced green tea to take a sip and ughhhhhhh!  Guess what was there?  My egg.  In the top of my glass of iced green tea.  Beautifully sitting there with the yolk lovely and yellow with clear egg all around it.  Right there in that glass of tea.  I do love eggs but not in my nice glass of iced green tea.  That kind of turns one’s stomach to a disgusting feeling.  

The scary part is that I had no idea I had done such a deed.  I immediately poured out the egg and the ice and the tea and put the glass in the dishwasher, all the while thinking I was surely losing what mind I had left.  I couldn’t even make myself rinse the glass out and use the used glass.  It was so gross.  So I eventually got the breakfast done, eaten, and went to Sunday School. 

I thought about the experience several times this past week.  How often do I go about a task without my mind on my business?   Most of the time.  My mind is so full of all there is “to do” or at least I THINK there is to do and has very little mind relaxation.  I’m thinking that the Lord really wants us to keep our minds on His business and rest in Him.  The scriptures say in red letters meaning that Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  (Matthew ll:28)  What a wonderful promise that is to be certain!  And it’s only one of the many promises we have as children of His.

Today had many instances in it that made it, for me, “an egg in my tea” kind of day.  Those experiences teach me that when those times and days come and I think of that egg in my tea, I am reminded that even when I “mess up”, God is always there to help me start over.   With a clean glass, too. 

I am blessed.

A MILESTONE ANNIVERSARY

On this date, August 21, sixty years ago, my parents were married.  I would say that is quite an accomplishment to live with someone for 60 years.  I've heard my parents' story but feel that since it is THEIR story, I should not tell it.  I will say they have been excellent examples of hard work, patience, tolerance, and most of all, love.  I'm sure it's not been 60 years of total bliss.  Is life ever really total bliss?  I would say that life is life, often filled with hardships, disappointments, fears, and uncertainties along with the happiness and joyful times.  I think maybe one of the biggest reasons for success in my parents' married life is having the Lord ALWAYS in the center of that life.  Most likely if asked, my parents would both say it has been a life of blessings from the Lord.  Fifty of those sixty years were spent in the service of pastoring churches and was a major part of their lives.

I know that you, my blog readers, would love to see a pictorial.  Granted there were some years there where we didn't have a camera or were not as photo conscious as we are now.  It was hard to narrow them down but I picked a few of my favorites.  Many seem like just yesterday with the way time does fly by.   I hope you enjoy.

The guy is sporting some snazzy shoes.....

...and the girl a beautiful hat.

This is one of our first photos of our family of four.

Then there was a period of time where photos of the parents alone were fairly non-existent, but eventually we caught back up with the photos.

Mother held her share of Daddy's coats during baptizings....

A nice 25th wedding anniversary party was hosted by Rock Springs Ladies for them.

Here's a good one of The Parents and The Sister.  The Sister was still cute.

There were various other events meriting a couple's photo.

The color of this dress is my VERY favorite color.  Wonder if she still has the dress?  I LOVE it!

Here is "the-guy-is-wearing-a-colored-shirt" photo.

Of course, there were Easter photos with the family during the years of the big hair.

All three grandchildren will love this one for various different reasons...

This was my all time favorite grandparent/grandchildren photo for sure...was someone's birthday or Mother's Day or something fun like that.  Everybody looked pleased, happy, and pleasant.  Not that they don't in the other photos, this one just had that extra something....

Since The Husband gave me a gift of a tripod years ago, the family group shot at Christmas has become tradition.  I won't bore you with them all, just a few.

And yes, we could laugh about it and be a bit silly, if only for a minute or two....

...or at least some of us could on occasion.  Others showed talent at remaining stoic during silliness.

There was a celebration for 50 years of marriage....and photos again....

Finally, there have been more recent family photos at special occasions.

Congratulations and blessings to two wonderful parents!

AN ALASKAN ADVENTURE

Many years ago The Husband and I watched a movie on television that I never forgot.  Okay, so I forgot the name of the movie, not the plot.  It starred Kurt Russell and the idea was that he and his wife were on a trip.  Their car broke down in the desert, folks came by to help, the wife went with the folks to bring back help, and the wife disappeared.  Of course the helpers were not good people.  Most of the movie was the husband trying to find his wife.  Near the end, their car was hanging on the side of a bridge….a very high bridge.  The end result was positive for the married couple but it took a lot of nightmarish events to reach the end.  Believe me.  I never forgot that movie.  Maybe some of you have seen it, too, and never forgot.  I never want to see it again either, just in case you are wondering.

Back in 2003, The Husband, The Girl and I planned for months a trip to Alaska.  I worked with a travel agent and got our itinerary exactly like we wanted and it was a great trip for sure.  The daylight for hours and hours when it should be dark threw me off quite a bit but I eventually adjusted.  We arrived in Anchorage, rented our Avis car, spent the night, and headed towards Mt. McKinley the next day.  We drove over a hill and caught this first view of the great mountain.  It was a sight that took the breath away.

The views from the small plane we rode in later were amazing....

The red in this photos is part of the plane's wing.

Our 2003 Christmas card was this photo from the glacier.  Yes, The Husband is wearing short sleeves. What can I say?  And his hair is brown, not gray.  And I seem to have the same hairdo I have now.  And The Girl looks the same.  Good for her!

After that we headed to Denali National Park and rode on a school bus on single roads like this for several hours.

My favorite moose photo....

The next day after going north to Fairbanks and turning east headed to our cabin for the night in Paxson (the middle of nowhere in Alaska), we were driving right along and about twenty minutes from our Paxson cabin.  Traffic on that day, July 6, a Sunday was heavy as folks were obviously going from east to west traveling home after the long holiday weekend.  A block dropped off a vehicle in front of us and with traffic on the left and a huge drop off on the right, all The Husband could do was hit it.  In our Avis Camry.  He hit it hard. (Yes The Husband went back and picked it up from the side of the road.)

The car began to stop and luckily we were on a downhill so were able to coast to a pull over spot there.  Ah….we got out, smelled gas and thought of what to do.  Another vehicle pulled over and asked to help, we gave them the number of the Avis folks as well as the number of our cabin’s host, a scientific doctor of birds…uh huh…and asked them to call and report that we were there.  They were from Wasilla, Sarah Palin’s hometown—just a bit of trivia there.  They drove on, I went in the bushes to make a restroom, and we decided with the smell of gas from the car that maybe we should remove our luggage from the Avis Camry.  

So there we were—The Husband, The Girl, Me, and our luggage on the side of the busy highway of Alaska….3 hours from Fairbanks, 20 miles from the cabin in Nowhere, on the side of the road with nothing to do but wait.  So wait we did.  I’m going to say here that it’s a scary thing to be on the side of the road with no communication in a strange land just waiting for help that you know is at least three hours away.  That’s when the long daylight hours become your friend.  Another couple stopped and offered the use of their cell phone.  They were actually familiar with Georgia as they had come to Dalton to buy carpet.  From Alaska.  Go figure.  It’s a small world after all.  With their phone, standing in one particular spot for the service, we were able to determine that Avis had indeed been called by the nice Wasilla folks and were in route with a new rented car and a tow truck to get the other one.  It would be three hours so we settled in at our roadside stop with our luggage.  I was hoping there would be no bears around. 

It wasn’t but a few minutes until a four door truck pulled up with signage on the side that advertised our cabin in Nowhere.  A bearded man said to us, “The Austins I presume?”  (I kid you not.)  Well he told us that were not waiting there for three hours and that the Avis people could come to our nice cabin and get us.  The Husband got in the back door as there was no seat there.  I got beside the good fellow in the front and The Girl at the front window seat.   We were all pretty speechless by now.  The Host threw our luggage in back of the truck and we set off down the road.  He kept the one-sided conversation going and after a few miles, he slammed on his brakes and said, “Oh, I forgot to pick up that fox” and he backed up in the road, stopped, and threw a dead fox in with our luggage.  Uh huh.  Really.  We were still speechless. 

We did get to the cabin and it was exceptionally nice.  Had I not been stressed and speechless I could have really enjoyed the time.   

We went next door to the ONLY restaurant/café/gas station in Nowhere.  It, too, was a big adventure in itself but we don’t have time for that story. Use your imagination and I'm betting you'll be close to the real story.

Our family had booked a float trip with The Host for that night but had to wait on the car to arrive.  The Husband and I allowed The Girl to go along with the group.  The Husband and I waited and waited and finally the Avis guy came.  The Husband got in with him and drove back to the disabled car site so the guy could head back to Fairbanks and The Husband could bring back our new Avis car.  As the guy was an avid talker, The Husband learned that the Avis guy had been to NGCSU for past military training.  This was yet another common factor with an Alaskan as that was where The Girl was at college then.  It’s a small world after all.   As for me, when they left, I went to the cabin and locked the door.

When The Husband arrived back, he asked, “The Girl has not returned?  I’m going to look for them.”  (By then, we were VERY harried and VERY stressed.)  So off he went down the road in the Avis car to look for them.  There in Nowhere.  In the meantime, The Girl returned and bebopped in happily after her exciting tour.  Great. The Host knocked on our cabin door and asked if The Husband had not returned.  I told him The Husband had gone to look around.  I didn’t say look around for you...and The Girl...and the other guests.  Eventually The Husband returned.

We shut and locked the door of our cabin and were finally tucked in our very softest of beds.  Maybe it was truly the softest, most comfortable bed ever or maybe I was just tuckered out.   I lay there and then whispered to The Husband, “Do you remember that Kurt Russell movie where his car breaks down and his wife goes with folks for help?”  To which The Husband whispers back, “Uh huh.  I’ve been thinking of it all afternoon.”  I replied that I had also.  I told him that we were NOT leaving that cabin until we got in our Avis car the next morning and headed east.  The Husband heartily agreed!

Just in case you were wondering, our towing/repair invoice for the Avis car repair was $4700 and a few cents.  Our travel insurance paid every cent.    We paid $200 for the travel insurance.  That was the best $200 we ever spent.   Needless to say for any big trip of this nature we always get travel insurance now.  You should, too.

There’s a lot more I could tell you about this wonderful Alaska trip but this is the true adventure part of the trip.  I could make a sermon out of this story, too, but my post is so long, I’ll not this time.  You think about it and find a sermon…it’s good practice.

A FILLING

I'm thinking that most of you think from this title that I have been to the dentist.  Wrong.  I am going in a few weeks and hope the title of this lesson doesn't apply to me then.  For sure.

Unfortunately, the beginning of this post is just like usual it seems.  It always seems to hinge on the fact that I’ve been thinking lately.   And lately, a lot of thoughts come from my treadmill book.  At least I’m exercising my spiritual life AND my body.  I have to walk on the treadmill to read my treadmill book.  And just in case you are wondering, my treadmill speed has increased lately as well.  I’m walking faster than ever before.  Granted not as fast as some of you youngsters, but fast for me.  And yes, I feel very accomplished at that….helps me grow nearer to my weight loss goal for sure.  Just sayin' because I'm glad. 

Sunday night The Husband and I went to a revival where my daddy was preaching.  For his scripture reading, he read this:

Luke 12:14-21:

“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man bought forth plentifully:

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

And he said, “This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will bestow all my fruits and my goods.

And I will to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Now in my treadmill book just last week (yes I’ve been thinking of this several days), the reading was saying in a nutshell that we are often so full of ourselves that God can’t fill us, however, when we are empty, He fills us full of His good things, filling us with spiritual goodness that reflects His honor and glory.   

I was thinking about the sermon scripture and, no, I don’t intend this to be a Sunday School lesson, just a thought process.  In my own life, I get in my mind that I know what is good.  I know what will work best.  I have all the right answers.  When, in truth, I know nothing on my own.  On the other hand, with the Lord, I can know everything when He fills me with His Word, His love, and all the other things that He fills with….the list is endless.   I am often guilty of being willing to do more, but I lose focus on whether the “more” is because I think it is a good thing and not that the Lord thinks it a good thing. 

Something else the treadmill book addressed that really answered a question I had been struggling with is that often the Lord leads us in a certain direction and we follow that direction but the direction takes a turn in another direction.  That’s a lot of directions but hopefully you are following me.  The book text reminded me that God sees the BIG picture and uses everything to His honor and His glory.  I know that.  Really.  I just have to be reminded on occasion.

So the bottom line is that when I am full of myself, God really can’t use me.  But when I empty myself, God has a vessel fit for His use. 

I want to be filled with the goodness of the Lord, not with what I think is goodness of my own self.  And somehow, even though I probably have butchered this post and got you totally confused, a lot of questions have been answered for me.  Basically, I want more of HIM.

One of the scriptures I read often that applies pretty good here is this:

“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

I really like that…..

You MIGHT be a redneck.....

I am in the midst of some inspirational thinking of late but have been swiped from that train of thought by a less important thought process.  Now being from the South, the term "redneck" is quite common, especially in the part of the south where I live.  In fact I live only a small drive from the neighborhood of the chiefest of rednecks....you all know him, first name is Jeff and he hosts a smart 5th grader game show.  He and The Girl even sometimes shop at the same retail store as she has been known to be in line behind him to check out.  Granted, only once, but once is enough I would say to practically rub elbows with the chief redneck himself.  Okay, so practically rub elbows.  Their elbows didn't really touch.  Anyways, many of you have gotten your redneck education from this chief redneck  and some of you are like me....just born redneck.

The Husband and I are so redneck that we had a funny redneck experience on one of our trips west...Seattle, I think it was.  We took the tram from the airport to the rental car area to get our car.  Seattle is not as advanced in on-site car rental as some other airports, just in case you wonder.   We got our nice Rav4 and stopped at the checkout booth.  The Husband greeted the woman worker in the booth, she took his ticket, and immediately kind of bent down to hide her face.  I said to The Husband, "She's laughing at the way we talk."  Of course, that seemed a challenge to The Husband so when she raised her head and was obviously trying not to laugh, The Husband (in a VERY extreme Southern redneck accent and language) said, "Are you laughing at the way we talk?"  And the woman was so laughing at the way we talked that she couldn't even talk.  She shook her head yes.  We were good sports and took the receipt.  Before we drove away, she had found her voice and as she waved and laughed, she said to The Husband, "You sound JUST like Larry the Cable Guy."  So I learned that day that even Northwestern people like rednecks, if for no other reason than to be entertained.

I'm so close to redneck that one of my favorite redneck words is "usedtakud".   You know, I "usedtakud" run faster than I can run now.  And I "usedtakud" stay awake longer than I do now.  You know the word and so many, many more fine words in the redneck language.

I could elaborate more on the language but that's not really the point of this important post.  I thought that you, my devoted blog readers, would like to see what is now in my yard.  It's like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.  So, take a look....

Can you see what it is?  Let's go closer.

Okay, bet you're getting an idea.....a bit closer.

You're thinking, "Are these what I think they are?"  

The answer is, "Uh huh."

  

 His and Hers....You ask why?   I say, "Use your imagination."  You say, "I can't begin to imagine."  I say, "Bet you usedtakud!!"        

A KING BABY

 Being I have been without phone, internet, and television service for the past five days, I have been somewhat in the “dark” with current events and such.  Granted I did find a radio that picked up somewhat clearly this morning.  Duh.  I could have been hearing weather forecasts and news sooner but my mental concept is with the usual modes and, be as it may, they were not working and my radio listening rarely happened.  Ahhh.

When The Girl told me yesterday morning that the “Royal Baby Watch” was on, I felt interested.   I think I’m past the glamour and excitement of royalty but still have enough of the good feeling for anyone becoming parents for the first time. 

After spending an hour or two on my cell phone researching the costs and specifics of other technology providers and in spite of my royal un-excitement, I did think a bit about this new baby.  With no phone, internet, or television, what else am I to do but think? 

It’s my opinion that this future king baby will want for nothing in his life.  The attentions of nannies, housekeepers, bodyguards, parents, and other family members will never be lacking.  This future king baby will wear the stylish and best of clothing, sleep in the most extravagant nurseries and rooms, eat the finest and healthiest of foods, and have the best education his country can offer.  He will have opportunities for the best sporting instructions and be offered the best entertainment and toys that can be offered.  Yes, and even though he will be a royal king baby and child he will have unending love of his parents.  Without a doubt.

My mind began to think about a king baby born over two thousand years ago in much different circumstances.    This baby was born of parents who had nothing to speak of in the way of worldly riches.  In fact, they were the poorest of poors.  When this young mother was ready to deliver, there was not even a bed in a room in an inn for her to be comfortable.  She made her bed in a stable, probably on the hay along with the cattle and other animals there.  There was no beautiful bed in which to lay this king baby, but a trough where the animals fed. There was no fine clothing, but rough swaddling clothes.  There was no nanny there, but a Heavenly Father instead—watching over the scene with a smile, or so I would imagine.  Heads of state, various countries in the world, news reports or other forms of media did not herald his arrival.  Angels did that to the common folk—the lowly shepherds as they watched their sheep there on the mountainside.   And his parents—oh the love they had for this little baby—their son and God’s son, too. 

I can’t begin to imagine the joy that this king baby brought to those on that night.  Instead, I can KNOW the joy this king baby brings to me even today and the love He has for the WHOLE world.  Because this king baby was born, lived, died, and rose again, I have the promise of eternal life. 

Yes, the royal king baby will hopefully do great things for his country and mankind and make a difference in the world.  I encourage you, though, not to forget THE KING OF KINGS and the difference HE makes in all our lives….if we only let Him do so.

So congratulations to the “royal” family on their new addition and praise the Lord for the baby king WE worship....our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

And maybe some day the royal king baby and our king baby can meet and become the best of friends!

BIG CHURCH

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of assisting in The Girl’s 4 and 5 year olds’ Sunday School Class.  The Son-In-Law was substitute teacher in an Adult Class.  I never pass up the opportunity to join the little ones as I am forever learning so much from their young minds.

As The Girl taught the lesson about Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, I was again filled with pride and thankfulness for the blessing of The Girl.  She does have a way with those kids and teaches on a level they can believe and understand.  Face it, I can’t explain how the crossing on dry ground happened except to say, as she said, that it was miracle.  I’m so glad miracles still happen in our lives, aren’t you? 

Anyhow, after the lesson the children were given a coloring sheet that would fold and be a visual of the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground.  The conversation went on in the language of children….”Was the Red Sea red? Or should I color it blue?”  Then the conversation was…”Is there a Green Sea?  Is there a White Sea?”  And, of course, I only knew for sure there is a Black Sea.  So much for my learning geography in my school years….or should I say lack of learning geography in my school years? 

As the talk went on, the goldfish crackers were eaten, the water drank, and the coloring continued, time began to run out.  At that point, The Girl said to the children, “We need to color fast.  It’s almost time for Big Church.”  Big Church.  BIG CHURCH.  Huh, I’d never really thought of the ll:00 service like that before.

Now for all of you who are not familiar with me, in our church we have Sunday School hour and then everyone from youngest to oldest to all those in the middle meet in the sanctuary for Big Church.  Yes, we all meet together and we all sing together and we all pray together and we also listen to the preaching.  Together. 

Honestly, as I thought some this week, I liked the sound of BIG CHURCH more and more and more.  I’m betting I’ll call it that from here on out.   I thought of what BIG CHURCH really means to me.   I’ll bet you’d like to know what it REALLY means to me. 

Big Church to me means this:

Willingness to praise the Lord and follow His Spirit wherever it leads

Obedience to always do what the Word tells me

Reminding myself that God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for
         MY sins.  Even if I’d been the only one, I know He would have loved
         THAT much still.

Strength to draw from to face “real life” and all the joys and sorrows it brings

        and songs that lift my spirits high, higher, highest

Hearing the Word preached.  The Word of God is alive and well and still applies

         to me in ALL aspects of my life.  My Heavenly Father knows what I need to hear

         from that pulpit every time someone stands there.

I, me, myself….I am Thine, O Lord….draw my heart and life closer and closer    

         to thee.

Praise for the King!   Praising Him for all He has done and is planning

         to do for His children!  Praising Him that I am one of His children!

Yes, put it all together and Big Church means WORSHIP!!!  Worshipping my Lord of Lord and King of Kings!

I can’t imagine my life without that worship time. How about you?

OBEDIENCE

Obedience—“dutiful or submissive compliance”

I would imagine in all of our lives at some point or another, we have been disobedient, maybe to a parent, to the government, to what we know to be the right thing, to our God. 

Admittedly, I was not very disobedient as a child.  I was in great awe of my parents and what they expected of me.  Obedience and good behavior were expected and I knew it for sure.  I did feel the pain of  whippings just a few times (my daddy's hands were quite big) and I quite deserved them all, I know.  Punishment for disobedience was tough.  I think there were times when I would have preferred a whipping rather than a ”talking-to” from my parents. 

As a Christian, I have also been disobedient to the wooings of the Holy Spirit as He might lead my heart in a certain direction.  I have decided as I have matured in my Christian walk that following and being obedient to those calls is much preferred than being disobedient.  A whipping from the Lord is the worst kind.

My treadmill book the last few days is by Beth Moore and is called “Believing God”.  The chapter I read today talked about faith, righteousness, and even obedience.  Something she said in that chapter made me think a bit more.  She says, “Sometimes we have to exercise faith to believe that obedience to God in a difficult situation will ultimately bear fruit even though it looks as though it might immediately cause hardship.”  She goes on to say that we must believe that God can handle consequences of our obedience if someone is not going to approve.  I’ve been in a situation like that lately where I prayed and without a doubt in my heart know that I did what the Lord said.  I know that  in God’s plan, He works things the way the He knows is best.  And I’m okay with that.  Romans 8:28 assures me that ALL things work together for good...  I want to always be obedient even when it is something I don’t understand the importance or the whys of.   Many times in my obedience I have failed to see the “fruit” at all.  Other times when I have obeyed at the urging of the Lord, it has yielded immediate blessings.  

I’ll be very honest with you, there was a time in the past few years when I had to REALLY step out on faith and obey.  It was a time that made my heart fearful because of the unknown even for me and those I love, but God showed exactly what He had in mind and caused a huge blessing.  It was one of those God moments I will never forget.  When I get discouraged or troubled or have that time of not understanding the immediate “plan”, I go back to that time and am encouraged. 

I know the importance of believing IN God, but I know the even bigger importance of BELIEVING GOD.  I love Him, I trust Him, and I believe Him and THAT, my friends, gives my life joy!  He is a great Heavenly Father and I am blessed to call him mine!

Amen!