THANKSgiving

Geography may physically separate people but a loved one and a friend is a "in your heart relationship" and there are no miles in a heart.

There are so many people who will be gathering their families or friends, reaching out to the homeless, or giving their time to serve others in need this Thanksgiving holiday season. Whatever your tradition may be it is one of those wonderful stop times in life that we take time to reflect upon the goodness of the Lord.  Oh it does get a little bogged down with the hurry, hurry, hurry, fix, fix, fix, gobble, gobble, gobble.  And there are those families that really act like a bunch of Turkeys by using the special day to squabble. But if we don’t stop and give thanks for the gabillion joys God bestows upon us then our hearts will grow cold and hard and our lives will be overcome with darkness.

It is possible that for every person who has a plan to celebrate and give thanks there are the same number of people who are alone and hurting. There are those that just feel empty though they are surrounded by people who care for them. Sometimes it is difficult to know what you are thankful for when you have no job, or you’re hungry, or tired, or sick or have no place safe to live.

Psalm 118 verse 24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." God wants us to count our blessings, count them one by one.  You can start small.  How about giving thanks for: a baby laughing, puppies at play, autumn leaves crunching underfoot, red tennis shoes, the smell of oranges, or sipping hot chocolate.  Perhaps you are thankful for being able to see your own breath on a crisp winter morn, winning a double dog dare, or someone looking right into your eyes and smiling at you. Maybe thankfulness grows when you see a spectacular sunset or majestic purple mountains or hear birds singing. It is an endless I’m thankful for list: Fireworks bursting in air, a horse running free, S’mores, white socks, finding an Easter egg in your raincoat pocket.  Freckles, snowflakes, family baseball games, ice cold watermelon on a steamy hot day.  Hot air balloons, swinging and touching the sky, fireflies, and a willow tree by the lake, Christmas lights, chocolate! Hope,     kittens, popcorn, stained glass windows, the sound of the ocean waves, dancing at a wedding!  Red cheeks, a winning team, chicken noodle soup, a field of yellow daffodils. I can’t stop … His word tells me "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)  There is so much to be thankful for all around us…. God even made laughing hyenas – how fun is that? A scavenger with a warning sound! That is how much the Lord God loves you and me and here’s the best: "God so loved the world" (the families of the earth), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:16–18, italics mine).

A pearl to string: You can’t be far away from those you love when you hold them in your heart; there are no miles in a heart.

Happy heart giving thanks – Happy Thanksgiving

                                                                           Lyndi

God Is!

God is Lord Almighty,
Omnipotent King, Lion of Judah,
Rock of Ages, Prince of Peace,
King of Kings, Lord of Lords,
Provider, Protector, Paternal,
Leader, Ruling Lord and
Reigning King of all the universe.

He is Father, He is Helper,
He is Guardian, and He is God.
He is the First and the Last, the beginning and the end,
He is the Keeper of Creation and Creator of all He keeps;
The Architect of the universe and manager of all times.

He always was, He always is, and always will be...
unmoved, unchanged, undefeated, and never undone.

He was bruised and brought healing.
He was pierced and eased pain.
He was persecuted and brought freedom.
He was dead and brought life.
He is risen and brings power.
He reigns and brings peace.

He is Light, Love, Longevity and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God
He is Holy, Righteous, Mighty, Powerful and Pure.
His ways are right, His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and His mind is on Me !

He is my Savior,
He is my Guide,
He is my Peace,
He is my Joy,
He is my Comfort.
He is my Lord and He rules my life.

I serve Him because He is God and is worthy to be served.
His bond is love,
His burden is light,
and His goal for me is abundant life.

He will never leave me, never forsake me,
never mislead me, never forget me, never overlook me,
and never cancel my appointment in His appointment book !

When I fall, He lifts me up.
When I fail, He forgives.
When I am weak, He is strong.
When I am lost, He is the way.
When I am afraid, He is my courage.
When I stumble, He steadies me.
When I am hurt, He heals me.
When I am broken, He mends me.
When I am blind, He leads me.
When I am hungry, He feeds me.
When I face trials, He is with me.
When I face persecution, He shields me.
When I face problems, He is the answer
When I face loss, He provides for me.
When I face death, HE carries me Home !

He is everything for everybody, everywhere,
every time, and every way.

He is God, He is faithful and true,
I am His and He is mine.

God is in control, I am on his side,
and that means all is well with my soul.

Everyday is a blessing for...... GOD IS !

Always Available

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red plastic shovel. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox. The lad dug round the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was huge.)

When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn't roll it up and over the little wall. Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox.

The little boy grunted, struggled, pushed, shoved -- but his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration.

All this time the boy's father watched from his living room window as the drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox. It was the boy's father. Gently but firmly he said, "Son, why didn't you use all the strength that you had available?"

Defeated, the boy sobbed back, "But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!"

"No, son," corrected the father kindly. "You didn't use all the strength you had. You didn't ask me."  With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.

A pearl to string: Do you have "rocks" in your life that you need help with? Are you discovering that you don't have what it takes to lift them? There is One who is always available to us and willing to give us the strength we need. When we are broken in spirit and our strength is spent, we can turn to our Savior, Jesus. Does this mean we will never cry again, hurt again, be in pain, struggle or suffer? No.... it means we have a Savior to see us through the trials of life while we are in earth skin.  "...Ahhh, listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock your soul but know the bubbling brook would lose its song if you removed the rocks.” 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" 
Philippians 4:13

Know you are loved and lean on Jesus.

His Word will shed light where you need it.

In Sonshine,

                Lyndi

Mary's Lamb

Think carefully about what you are reading.

Mary! had a little Lamb,
His fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school each day,
T'wasn't even in the rule.
It made the children laugh and play,
To have a Lamb at school.

And then the rules all changed one day,
Illegal it became;
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His Name!

Every day got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard gun shots and tears.

What must we do to stop the crime,
That's in our schools today?
Let's let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray!

Oh Lamb of God..... Have Mercy on us!

Keep the Fire Burning

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, suddenly stopped coming to church. After a few weeks, the Pastor decided to visit. The Pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.

Guessing the reason for his Pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs.

After some minutes, the Pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and lifeless.

The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave, he slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the Pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

A pearl to string: Oh my goodness that story brought tears to my eyes.  I don't want to see anybody out there on their own flickering then turning cold and lifeless.  We all need that flame of love to light our way.  If you are lonely and blue go join others and help somebody.... love one another.... care for each other.  One of the sweetest ministries' our church does is drawing in the homeless to serve the community around them. Their countenance just beams.... yes! A thousand times yes!  Each person on earth is in God's plan for His love. And we can give that love  to one another.

We live in a world today which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen.  "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  ~ Matthew 5:16

Spread His love and keep your fire burning

You are loved,

               Lyndi

A MEMORY SUBLIME for Ike Ditzenberger

Dreams energize your endeavors but memories hug your soul.

I love people stories that reveal the love that dwells in the hearts of man kind. This is a story about two teams and one special young man. Friday night lights reached a whole new level on September 24, 2010 when Ike Ditzenberger scored his team's only touch down and danced in the end zone as time expired in the game.

Nice you say but that happens all across the nation every Friday night in the Fall. Not quite this way. Ike is an unusual young man.  He grew up watching his older brothers play football and oh how he idolized them.  Imitating them daily and dreaming of becoming just like them and being the star on a college football team.

Today Ike is a 17 year old junior at Snohomish High School in Seattle who has Down Syndrome. His 5-foot-6, 160-pound frame isn’t that of an athlete, and he doesn’t have the motor skills to compete in a game where he could easily get hurt. But Ike has a dream. He is blessed with a supportive family and classmates. Football Coach Mark Perry invited Ike to come to practices  and hang with the team. He even designed a touchdown run especially for Ike that ends every varsity practice called the Ike Special.

Playing an undefeated Lake Stevens High the Snohomish team was behind  35-0 as the end of the fourth quarter drew near. With 10 seconds left on the clock, Coach Perry heard the “We want Ike!” chant from the stands, and called the Ike Special. Wearing No. 57, Ike booked it for 51 yards, scoring a sweet six points in the final seconds of the game. His teammates swarmed around and joined him in a touchdown dance as both teams and fans went wild.

An emotional crowd witnessed the best of what football teaches: character, sportsmanship, team spirit, self-confidence and a memory sublime for everyone present.

Distraction Temptation

Cheerleading uniforms at one Connecticut high school are under protest for being too revealing, but it's not the school, parents or fans that are complaining.

Give me an N

Give me an O

Cheerleaders Protest Against Revealing Uniforms

Last October 6th (2010) it was cheerleader modesty in the headlines: The cheerleaders at Central High School in Bridgeport are protesting their own uniforms, saying they are too skimpy. Fed up, they even took their case before the Board of Education to request new uniforms.

How refreshing!

Walk across any Junior high, High School or College campus today and you won't believe how young girls dress. We are bombarded with scantily-clad females young and old at every turn: TV, Time Square, magazines, movies, sporting events, commercial advertizing.....it's everywhere, as far as the eyes can see. If a guy doesn't get around much his own computer provides the darkness of pornography right there in the secret hour in his home. Talk about temptation for impure thoughts. How are men suppose to fight off these images when they are inundated daily?

A pearl to string: Women we are NOT the whole problem that is for sure but we can help.  God's Word tells us in first Timothy 2:9 that women should wear “respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.” The word respectable here means: orderly, decent, not causing distraction or temptation.   Nancy DeMoss contrasted the world's view with God's heart in one of her devotionals:

The world says: “Beauty is mostly on the outside.”

God's heart: "Beauty is internal and spiritual.”

The world says: “Your body is your identity.”

God's heart: “Your body is a temple—it houses your soul.”

The world says: “Your body belongs to you and no other.”

God's heart: “God made you. Your body belongs to Him.”

The world says: "If you’ve got it, flaunt it!”

God's heart: “Show humility and modesty.”

The world says: “Don’t cover it up. You’ve got to draw attention to yourself.”

God's heart: “Draw attention to the spirit and heart.”

Did you ever think the choices you make in clothing reflects your heart?  Wow, I don't think I ever did either.  Modesty doesn’t begin with our clothing it starts in the heart. I know I don't want my appearance to reflect the world's philosophy or to be a distraction or cause temptation. I always want to reflect God's heart in word, deed and now I add dress. Of course I fall short many times but that's the direction I want to grow and it's my prayer.

In His heart

You are treasured and loved,

                                       Lyndi

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  ~ Psalm 37:4