What Kind of Book Are You Writing?

by Mary Southerland

"I will be careful how I act and will not sin by what I say. I will be careful what I say around wicked people. I became very angry inside, and as I thought about it, my anger burned. So, I spoke" (Psalm 39:1, 3 NCV).

A young lady named Sally relates an experience she had in a Seminary class taught by Dr. Smith, a teacher who was well known for his elaborate object lessons. One particular day, Sally walked into the classroom and instantly knew they were going to have a lot of fun. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table was a large stack of darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of a person they disliked or someone who had made them angry and he would allow them to throw darts at the person's picture.

Sally's girlfriend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother who was a constant irritation. Sally drew a picture of a former friend who had betrayed her. As Sally remembered the pain and hurt of that broken friendship, she put a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. When her picture was completed, Sally sat back and gazed at her work, pleased with the overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts. Laughter and shouts of success rang out as each dart found its target. Some of the students threw the darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally was looking forward to her turn but was disappointed when Dr. Smith called time and asked the students to return to their seats.

As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn't have a chance to throw any darts at her target, Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covering His face.

Dr. Smith quietly said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40, KJV). No other words were necessary. The tear-filled eyes of each student focused only on the picture of Christ. 

Words are like seeds. What we plant will grow. The words we speak are powerful and will either build up or destroy. Words can diffuse anger and turn tragedy into triumph. The right word, spoken at the right time and in the right way can bring peace in the midst of confusion. God gives us "spiritual radar" so we can assess a situation and speak the right word for that circumstance, but how often do we speak before we check the radar?

·         A judge utters a few words and a guilty man is taken to death row.

·         A friend speaks a word of encouragement and a desperate heart finds hope.

·         A mother lashes out with angry words and the light in her child's eyes is gone.

·         A wife offers a word of forgiveness and a marriage is saved.

·         A gossip makes a phone call and a reputation is destroyed.

·         A teenager says "no" and changes the course of her life.

Father, I need Your help. I want the words I speak to encourage and build up the people in my life. Forgive me for the hurtful words I have spoken. Teach me how to speak the right words in each situation and how to think before I speak. And Lord, help me keep my mouth shut when I need to! In Jesus' name, Amen.

12 Reasons I Stopped Attending Sports Events

Thought it might be interesting to take some of the most common excuses for not going to church and use them to stop attending sporting events and here’s what you get:

1. Every time I went, they asked me for money.

2. The people I had to sit by didn't seem very friendly.

3. The seats were too hard and not comfortable at all.

4. The coach never came to call on me.

5. The referee made a decision with which I could not agree.

6. I was sitting with some hypocrites -- they came only to see what others were wearing.

7. Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home.

8. The band played some numbers that I had never heard before.

9. The games are scheduled when I want to do other things.

10. My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up.

11. Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches anyhow.

12. I don't want to take my children, because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.

Hmmmm....Are our expectations a bit whacky? PEOPLE get a grip! If you are going to church to get something you will NEVER be satisfied. If you attend church to give something to your community you will be blessed beyond measure. The world loves, measures and rewards by performance according to their individual truth. God rewards for transitive giving.  He gave you a gift and when you use it to bless His people God responds with His loving abundance.

I love singing the words to the Prayer of St. Francis: "For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life".

Oh this beautiful paradoxical Christian life.

A pearl to string: St. Francis echoes the words of Jesus, "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8).  We only get what we give. Whether it's money, love, friendship, kindness, or even anger - it's in giving that we receive. What we give to this world we live in is important. If we give love, we get love. If we give hate, we get hate. It's a law, like gravity, that we can resist, but we cannot break.

R. G. LeTourneau, a Christian businessman, once said, "I shovel out and God shovels in - but God's shovel is always bigger."  It's true... God's got a bigger everything.  As my Coach Wonderful always says: "you can't out give God".

Love out my friends

                         Lyndi

Yellow Zebra

It use to be you were a daring sort if you colored outside the lines in life. I don't see so many daring types out in worldville anymore. I run into the sort that change content to serve their needs.  People seem to be making up religion as they go along. That is so strange to me. It sure makes  Proverbs 19 verse 3 jump off the page of my Bible: "People ruin their lives by their own foolishness  and then are angry at the Lord". What's up with that? Hey we all sin, we all fall short of the glory of God. We also equally have the choice to stay there and wallow or turn towards our Lord and away from our sin.

If we dwell on the lie that says,

“God doesn’t love me,”  it’ll lead us into bondage.

Satan watches for those vessels that sail without convoy. 

-- George Swinnock

The truth is that God does love you. Paul tells us how much in Romans 5:6  “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.... God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Same Scripture verse via The Message. "Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him". Romans 5:6-8 (The Message)

A pearl to string:  You have probably discovered that you simply cannot trust your emotions because they are unreliable, misleading and will constantly betray you.  A family member can verbally blast you and rage consumes your spirit.  Your career is in decline and depression slithers into your heart.  Caught in the comparison trap, you find yourself avoiding those who have bigger, more influential jobs.  Anger is a constant companion, finances are tight and rest is a distant memory.  A sense of bone-deep weariness saturates your soul as your own heart ridicules the sincerity with which you serve.  "You might as well give up.  It's no use.  Just quit!" the enemy taunts. 

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." Proverbs 25:28 (NIV)

Negative emotions can take hold of and destroy a life void of emotional control.  Control puts emotions in their God-shaped place, discarding negative emotions as the spiritual leeches they are while safeguarding and reinforcing positive emotions.

Emotions are a gift from God.  While emotions themselves are not sin, the place we give them can be.  Since God created us with the capacity for strong emotions, we can rest assured that He will equip and empower His plan for managing them.

So many times we attempt to engage in a spiritual fight using natural weapons. That just won't work. Remember, God's Word is your weapon against the tactics of the enemy.

Stay in His Word and

Know you are loved,

Lyndi

SIN OUT

    

       "The chains of sin are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken".  Tom Drout

      

   Do you ever think about sin?  I don't like the word sin nor do I like to sin! I do not think it's very ladylike. It's not very ladylike to sweat either so I use the term 'glow' when referring to the glisten of a workout session.  I suppose we use the word 'mistake' for the same reason. Sin just punches but mistake is a more palatable description.  What happens when we respond to sin sometimes? We decide to give into temptation, and we get a little check in our spirit. We ignore that check thinking that we will still be fine. Sooner or later though, just like the ground rising up to meet me, our sin reaches up hard with its consequences and there is no avoiding them any more. It's too late to turn back.  Sin always finds it’s root in our own selfish desires and self-gratification.

      

    We generally do not plan to go out and sin... at least not at first. We get tempted  - then we think about it a while. "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."  (James 1:13-15)

      

   Even if we manage to "get away" with sin, and believe that "no one knows", our sins will come back to bite us.  "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs." (Matthew 10:26-27)

Sin will take you farther than you want to go,

Cost you more than you want to pay,

And keep you longer than you want to stay. ...

Not only does sin have consequences, but also each time we sin, we reinforce a pattern that becomes harder and harder to break. If we persist in sin with the thought that one day we will get right with God, we should remind ourselves that God may still be there to forgive and restore but we may not be.

A pearl to string:  Always have an emergency plan. First, run from the temptation. Second, when we fall, we need to return quickly to the grace and mercy of our loving Father, seeking His forgiveness. A fall into sin will not cause us to lose salvation, but it can damage our relationship with Father and have earthly consequences which haunt us the rest of our lives.  In other words, flee from temptation. But if you fall, rush back in the waiting arms of your Abba Father.

Stay safe in His Word,

                                Lyndi

Your Emotional Realm

Scary subject matter isn't it?  I've long  danced to the tune "why inject facts into this situation, that will just mess up a good emotional outburst".  Ever noticed how women can go from A to Z and men go from A to B.....what is up with that?  Coach Wonderful doesn't like me getting historical either. Good grief I only have two reaction it's either historical or hysterical. It is what it is or is it?

If any of us have been on planet earth more than three minutes then we have developed habit patterns in our emotional realm from the way we responded to the world around us. Some people burst into tears at any moment over anything and others almost never cry. Some are happy – happy – happy all the time and others never really “feel” happy. Some stay in an undercurrent of rage and, at the drop of a hat, can fly into anger and rage, which often seems shockingly ridiculous over something simple going wrong. In each of those cases, people have developed that habit pattern of reacting in their emotional realm to the things which have come their way in life.

One of the most powerful and sweetest gifts we have as Believers is the ability to forgive and how it affects our lives. Walking with an awareness that Jesus is living in me, empowers me to have my memories of my life up to this point, WITHOUT THE EMOTIONAL PAIN CONNECTED WITH THOSE MEMORIES. That would not be possible without forgiveness.

A pearl to string: People who live in emotional extremes have never learned how to control their emotions but instead let their emotions control them. I love how the Message states in Romans 12:15, we are to "Laugh with our friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down".  The only way I can do that is to allow myself to feel happiness and sadness with people when they are experiencing it. If I am continually all wrapped up in myself, and the way I feel, I can’t do that. Our emotions have been given to us by God because we are human beings. They are in our soul and help to make us who we are. It is good to have them. We can learn to control them instead of them controlling us.

Galatians 5:16 in the Amplified Bible says: “But I say walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).”

Leaning on Him,

                      Lyndi

Cushion of the Sea

New submarines undergo submersion testing to ascertain their depth ratings and their ability to operate underwater through a myriad of trials. After conducting such tests for many hours underwater and upon returning to the harbor, the captain was asked, "How did the terrible storm last night affect you?"  The officer looked at the Harbor Master  in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn't even know there was one!"  The sub had been so far beneath the surface that it had reached the area known to sailors as "the cushion of the sea."  Although the ocean may be whipped into huge waves by high winds, the waters below are never stirred.

Being a Christian doesn't deliver us from the trials and troubles of life. We live in a broken world where it rains on the just as well as the unjust.  However, our faith in Christ gives us an anchor in the storm and a hiding place in the shadow of his wings. The mind is protected against the distracting waves of worry if  it is resting completely in the good providence of God.  There, sheltered by His grace and encouraged by His Holy Spirit, the believer can find the perfect tranquility that only Christ can provide.  "And the peace of God, which transcends all our powers of thought, will be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7) (Weymouth).

A pearl to string: The peace of God is an eternal calm like the "cushion of the sea." It lies so deep in our hearts that no circumstance or difficulty can reach it. We can go within and access that place at any time, and in doing so in the midst of difficult circumstances, we draw those around us into the presence of our God whose everlasting arms are beneath all of our stormy seas in life. Psalm 62:1 says, "My soul finds rest in God alone."  

In His presence there is 'undisturbable' calm,

                                                                   Lyndi

<:))))><

As David the Psalmist prayed, "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this violent storm is past."  Psalm 57:1-2

Hurt?

Were you hurt in 2010? Or did you carry hurt into 2010? Still got it? Doesn’t that hurt feel heavy?  Do not underestimate the insidious, destructive effect that unresolved hurt and anger can have on every aspect of your life.  It’s like poison that swallows you.  It doesn’t do anything good to your face either.  Hurt shows no matter how big that smile might be.

Everyone has been wronged, offended, and sinned against at some point in life. How are we to respond when such offenses occur? Reading in The Word of God we learn that we are to forgive. Of course that can be easier said than done. (My personal little prayer, “Lord, please forgive them while I grow to it”) Ephesians 4:32 declares, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Similarly, Colossians 3:13 proclaims, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Is it possible to truly forgive all transgressions?

How do you forgive someone who physically abused you when you were a child?

How do you forgive someone who raped you or a family member?

How do you forgive someone who spread vicious and humiliating lies about you?

How do you forgive parents who put their own needs and egos way ahead of your basic emotional needs as a child?

How do you forgive a parent who left you when you were young?

How do you forgive someone who has sucked the joy out of your life through his or her negative, hypocritical, phony, lazy, selfish, and ill-tempered behavior over 20 years of marriage?

How do you forgive attacks on your children?

How do you forgive the unforgivable?

Maybe, sometimes, the hurt is so bad that the quality of your health and life will suffer for the rest of your life because you will always harbor some anger for the people who hurt you.

“When you haven't forgiven those who've hurt you, you turn your back against your future. When you do forgive, you start walking forward”.  Tyler Perry

String a pearl: Why do we forgive? Because we have been forgiven! It was revelation for me years ago in the midst of a tumultuous struggle when God made a clear impression on my heart. Jesus not only died for my sins but for those who have sinned against me.

Wait a minute! Stop the music!  It doesn’t get any bigger than that.  Jesus died for that person that sinned against me! There’s nothing more I can do but forgive.

Forgiveness is the perfume that the trampled flower

Casts back upon the foot that crushed it

God makes everything but unbreakable hearts. 

Let Him be the fragrance of Your love 

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Psalms 51:10

Happy New Year

                   Lyndi

A Lasting Legacy

Arthur Gordon tells the story of when he was about 13 and his brother 10, their dad promised to take them to the circus. While the family was eating lunch the phone rang --some urgent business that required their dad's attention downtown--and they braced themselves for disappointment. They were hanging their heads when they  heard him say, "No, I won't be able to come down. It's going to have to wait."

As soon as their dad came back to the table their mother smiled, "The circus keeps coming back, you know."

"I know," he said, "but childhood doesn't."

After forty years Gordon remember that moment. And he knew from the sudden glow of warmth that no kindness is ever really wasted or completely lost. Because the only thing you take with you to heaven is your family.

A pearl to string: That's a rich little story with lots of pearls to string.  The first one that stands out is a dad's wisdom in keeping a promise to his children.  Never make a promise unless death (Mt. 5:33-37^ESV)  is the only thing that prevents you from keeping that promise. There are so many people hurting in this life as a result of many broken promises. Too often it started with a dad breaking a promise to the child's mother. Kept promises light hope's way.

The second pearl I see is the mother honoring her husband. Parents need to be one in God's sight (Mal 2:15) and in their children's view too. To be united same page negotiation should be done out of ear shot of the children. Parents with differing points of view spell disaster for their children's future.  

I was really taken with the last line of that story. "all you take with you to heaven is your family".  Oh my goodness - I never thought of it that way..... ever.... but it's true isn't it.  The one thing you can take to heaven is your family.  Not at the same time of course.

The father to the children shall make known thy truth. (Isa. 38:19b) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (Jn. 3:16)

God gave us a Lasting Legacy

Jumping for JOY

                   Lyndi

Happy New Year

The Seasons of Life
http://www.openmyeyeslord.net/theseasonsoflife.htm

Malachi 2:15

You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God's wise plan, when you married, the two of you became one person in His sight.

Happy 48th Wedding Anniversary Coach Wonderful

As you can see it turns out good but we did have a little trouble getting to "ONE" in His sight. We started off with "I got my eye on you". But after the wedding day that quickly turned into "don't tell me what to do".  The years of the power struggle were and I for and I. Then life got busy with children and work and we spent many more hours apart than together.  We both misread the 'no time for' or 'lack of conflict' for a good marriage.  I have to laugh - how many people does that happen to?  Naive, not schooled in relationships, just doing the best we could to do good to each other. I took my helpmate role quite seriously and I set out to take care of everyone in this family. Of course I gleaned my wisdom from my own family experience.  It never occurred to me that my husband's wisdom from his family experience would be so contrary to my view. Yikes that caused serious trouble through the years and bad names formed in my brain towards my husband.  That's not healthy. We were both church people but neither of us had ever known to ask Christ into our lives as Savior and Lord. Through the Holy Spirit it becomes a living relationship with our Creator. 

Now you are probably thinking ok now that they have the Lord they are fixed.  Not exactly.  We seem to have a recurring pattern: we've got our eye on you Lord, not real comfortable being told what to do, an I for an I struggle, Bible studies, Christian family camps, church and community service kept us busy.  We both misread that full and busy life for being a good Christian family.  We were changing, we were growing but we were also missing something much needed.

A pearl to string: Receiving the Holy Spirit and being filled by the Holy Spirit are not functionally identical. All Believers receive the Holy Spirit at salvation but you don't get filled just one time and ride that out for the remainder of your life. In Ephesians 5:18 the Greek word for 'filled' is a verb (present passive imperative) that, based upon the tense, speaks of a continual process of filling.  In other words, the filling of the Holy Spirit involves a continual process in the Believer after salvation.  When you are full of the Holy Spirit, you are led by the Holy Spirit. When you are led by the Holy Spirit, people see the attributes of Jesus Christ flowing out from you, the "fruit of the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-23)

And that my precious friends is beautiful

it's what we aim at and pray for in our walk with the Lord and in our marriage 

Immersed in His love

                               Lyndi

Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday Jesus

Mary Did You Know?

For those who may be grieving we stop to say a Christmas prayer:

We celebrate this time of year because our Lord was born;
But let us not forget that there are others who may mourn.

In times of sorrow, times of strife, it's sometimes hard to smile,
So, Holy Spirit, please come in and tarry for awhile.

Touch those who may be suffering; touch every wounded heart,
Touch all those burdened souls when they feel distant, set apart.

Remove the pain, and fill their hearts with happiness and mirth,
And let them all rejoice now in The Savior's holy birth.  Amen and amen

Mary Did You Know?

Somewhere in my forties the Christmas carols that I had been singing all my life sunk deeper into my soul.  It was as if the lyrics suddenly had profound meaning that I had never experienced before.  My heart and mind seemed to unite on the wonder of Christmas, the inexplicable joy of my Saviors birth.  “Mary Did You Know?” is a Christmas song written in the 90’s that causes me to meditate on the circumstance of Jesus birth every time I hear it.

The times were most difficult back then.  The people of Nazareth had a strong Jewish faith. Mary and many ordinary people of the land, were increasingly aware that they were powerless themselves, but God, the all powerful, could raise up the lowly. Their faith was of the deepest kind:

"The Lord hears the cry of the poor.  Blessed be the Lord.  The Lord our God, the Lord alone!  Therefore you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength."

(Deut. 6:4-5)

Mary's faith was strong. Yet, in fervently religious Nazareth with its high moral standards, she hardly stood out at all, even in the eyes of those who knew her best. Besides, as a young woman living in a society where men counted most, she would be little noticed except as a mother and a wife.

When she was 14 or so, Mary's parents made plans for her to be married, as was customary in those days. They chose Joseph of Nazareth, a carpenter, for her husband. The engagement took place and Mary returned home to wait about a year before she would go to live with her husband as his wife. But then, something happened.............

Mary was chosen by God to bring forth the Savior of the world.  An astounding series of events and responses took place for the miracle of all miracles.  What grips my heart as a mother is imagining Mary holding her baby – what went through her mind?  Next time you hold a baby imagine you are Mary, you have just gone through extraordinary unexplainable events but now your baby is in your arms.  This is finally a normal experience looking at her baby something Mary shared with millions of moms. Mary lovingly and tenderly kisses her precious baby boy – she kissed the face of God.  Doesn’t that just take your breath away?  Focus in on that – she kissed the face of God.  Mary held her child in her arms, the child she delivered would deliver her.  Awe-inspiring reality – did she know? Could she sense it? Did Mary feel it?  She kissed the face of God.  Moses couldn’t even look at the face of God but Mary kissed the face of God.  Oh Mary, that sleeping child you held so long ago is the Great, I am and you kissed the face of God. In my mind I want to go to the manger, I want to sit beside Mary, I want to hold her baby, I want to kiss the face of God.

A pearl to string: Present day wise men worship the Child of Bethlehem who was born to be the Man of Calvary.

Following that Christmas star -

May His presence light your way.

                               Lyndi

A 2010 Christmas Song

Here’s the story behind the song: While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four-year-old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "Where's the line to see Jesus"?
My sister mentioned this to my dad, who immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus.
My dad then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios. It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus... with goose bumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville... still no response.
Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins Greg and Robbie decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CD's, iTunes, anything... we had nothin'.
After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring... this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs... the real deal..... and here we are today. Getting iTunes set up, a web site put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together... remembering the true meaning of Christmas.
Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults cannot understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him. We are most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share our music with you. Merry Christmas everyone.

Becky Kelley - Where's the Line to See Jesus

Heaven Knew

Amazing testimony
The George Street Video

It’s Christmas Time

Let’s Sing with Michael Bublé:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t_forzHXzE

I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love
Even more then I usually do
And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you

I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents under the tree
Christmas Eve will find me    
Where the love light beams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

(I'll Be Home For Christmas - Kim Gannon, Walter Kent (c) 1943)

As a young teen girl celebrating my Christmas’ in the California sunshine each year I had to use my gift of imagination to turn my world into a winter wonderland.  I just had to touch and gaze upon the red & green decorations throughout our home over and over again. I loved our Christmas tree and all the lights twinkling – so beautiful, so happy.  The aroma of fresh baked cookies, cakes and the Christmas roast just made my senses dance with joy. I loved going to church, singing Christmas carols and listening to the story of the birth of Jesus.  But every time I would hear the song:  I’ll Be Home for Christmas, on the radio my eyes would fill with tears. My heart would feel like someone was standing on it and I’d break into these big sobs. A deep sadness would come over me. I was home so I can’t recall what troubled me so – perhaps just the thought of loved ones being separated from one another. The saddest separation of all has been living in a society that has created

a secular holiday. The stark change has literally sucked the joy out of Christmas and booted Jesus out.  How did giving turn into getting? And how did get to’s turn into have to’s? How did deck the halls with boughs of holly turn into the best, biggest most outrageously expensive decorations? It has all created stress beyond measure. People are angry and frustrated and tired. STOP! Dial the activity down and the spirituality up and find that celebration of Jesus birth again.

A pearl to string: Love brought Jesus to us and love is what peoples all over the world are lonely for. Let’s bring love back to Christmas. Let’s decide to slow down, give warm smiles and a helping hand or hold a door for someone.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. (James 3:5) Can you imagine what a small amount of love from your heart would do when you reach out and bless someone else?

Let’s bring Jesus home for Christmas as He tells us "Make your home in me, as I make mine in you" (John 15:4). Home is where the heart is.

Merry Christmas

Happy HolyDay Season

Pass the love on,

                          Lyndi

A Christmas To Remember

This is a first-person account from a mother about her family as they ate dinner on Christmas Day in a small restaurant many miles from their home. Nancy, the mother, relates:

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi there." He pounded his fat baby hands on the high-chair tray. His eyes were wide with excitement and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin. He wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man with a tattered rag of a coat; dirty, greasy and worn. His pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. "Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster," the man said to Erik.

My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?" Erik continued to laugh and answer, ""Hi, hi there." Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby.

Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya know patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo."

Nobody thought he old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. "Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to side-step him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's pick-me-up, position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man's.

Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love relationship. Erik in an act of total trust, love and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain and hard labor - gently, so gently cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back.

No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment, and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby." Somehow I managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, "God bless you ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift."

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive me." I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes.

I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking --"Are you willing to share your son for a moment?", when He shared His son for all eternity.

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, "To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children."


Author Unknown

Busy Angels

This was written by a Metro Denver hospice physician.

I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5:00, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die. I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. The engine wouldn't even turn over.

Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the quickie mart building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay. When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with three kids in the back (one in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95. I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying “I don’t want my kids to see me crying!”

So we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, “And you were praying?” That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, “He heard you, and He sent me.”

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the next door McDonald’s and bought two big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little. She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City. Her boyfriend left two months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn’t have money to pay rent Jan. 1, and finally, in desperation, had called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about five years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there. I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, “So, are you like an angel or something?” This definitely made me cry. I said, “Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.”

It was so incredible to be a part of someone else’s miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I’ll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won’t find anything wrong.

Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings… Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

Acts of Martha

Christmas Christmas

Oh it’s that time of year where the Martha work crescendo is about to culminate at the feet of Jesus.  Move over Mary.  Christmas is a beautiful Holy day and it is jointly celebrated with a holiday for families by the same name but we don’t call it Christmas Christmas.  Even Christians can get a little confused.  The hustle bustle of the holiday part of Christmas is a love story gone slightly askew.  We get all bunched up trying to create a beautiful place to celebrate making sure there are gifts for all, and scrumptious food prepared for family and friends.  There are parties to attend and cards to send to wish far away loved ones well.  There are cookies to bake, lights to string, trees to trim, popcorn to pop, mistletoe to hang, and shop, shop, shop, wrap, wrap, wrap and smile, smile, smile.  .  Our hearts want to reach out to others with food, clothing, prayer, acts of kindness, love and we want to sing, sing, sing.  The list of “to do’s” can sometimes seems endless

Years ago when fresh 6’ Christmas trees were still $14.99 at Frank’s nursery in Ann Arbor, Michigan, we set out to choose the perfect tree.  Young, though the family was, we had six very strong oppositional opinions eagerly expressing there views simultaneously.   To the outside ear it may have appeared this family was argumentative.  Ok, they were right. The lively dialog continued all the way home and until the tree was completely decorated.  We all sat back to admire the work of art.  I think God must have kicked the tree over.  We watched in horror as the Christmas tree crashed to the ground and the pretty blue and gold ornaments smashed to smithereens while the strings of cranberries and pop-corn and glittery tinsel flew all over the room. The silence expressed our disgrace.  Where did we loose Christmas?  Coach Wonderful began to read Luke chapter 2.  Listening to the Christmas story my heart grew heavy with sorrow for how I steered our family astray. God sent His Son into this world as a baby, dependent on human kind. To believe in Jesus is to take His love every where we go – for others to see His love in everything thing we do – Sometimes I get a busy momentum going and  I go sideways from the Lord.  Whenever that takes place Lord – PLEASE – kick over my tree. And Mary – move over I want to sit at Jesus feet and listen too.

A pearl to string: And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"  Luke 2:8-14

The tiny Baby in the manger is the mighty Creator of the universe

Happy Birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas

                                                                       Lyndi

Back from the Dead, Reborn Into the Light

Jeff Markin: Back from the Dead, Reborn Into the Light

Boneless Chicken

 

When traveling to far away lands the food can often be challenging.  In China for instance, chicken is frequently served "cleaver style," leaving the meat and bones chopped up together, making it difficult to eat. 

A friend traveling in China along with her fellow sojourners were all missing their typical Western fare of hamburgers and fries.  Figuring the local hotel might serve up their beloved American 'junk delicacies' they searched out the best.  One lady wanted to eat chicken without needing to spit out the bones, so she ordered "boneless chicken."

The waiter, whose English was quite good, could not imagine what the woman wanted. She was very insistent, saying, "I want boneless chicken. Chicken with no bones!"

After more confusion and more insisting, the waiter finally said he understood, wrote something down, and returned to the kitchen.

After about 15 minutes, their orders started coming out to the table. The woman anxiously awaited her boneless chicken and it was the last to arrive.  When the waiter placed her dish in front of the woman, her friends fell over laughing. It was a plate of fried eggs.

Ever notice WE DON'T ALWAYS GET WHAT WE WANT.  You make plans and then life happens as the saying goes.  I get the "poor me's" too but really when I'm all hurt and disillusioned with life I'm not living in sink with God's Word. I'm living in sink with MY thinking.  Honestly.... not a good place to be. 

A pearl to string:  Don't get disappointed when God doesn't give you what you want..... for He knows the best time for you to have it.  A long time favored Scripture verse for many of us fits so beautifully here. 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".

Share with me out of your personal life experiences of not getting what you wanted. Which Scripture verses have blessed your boneless chicken experience.

I'll place them on the blog for all to enjoy.

Keep walking in Sonshine

                                    Lyndi

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