BLESSINGS

I know that last week was Thanksgiving, but like always, I am a day late and a dollar short. Smile. These are some of the things I am thankful for this year…and in no particular order.

I AM THANKFUL FOR….

1. Salvation. No one can take that away from me, even though many times I do not deserve it.
2. A husband that loves God, loves me and loves our children. Who cares if he starts MANY projects and finishes few? At least he is doing something. Smile. He is first a Godly man, and he has stood by my side and loved me for 39 years counting the time we dated and my children could not ask for a better dad.
3. Two children that love God. And I thank God every day for them and feel so unworthy of having such smart, good children.
4. Godly mates for my children. I appreciate our son-in-law and also our very soon to be daughter-in-law. God has chosen awesome mates for them.
5. A friendly, loving church to serve. Sometimes it takes listening to other pastors and wives for me to really appreciate what we have. Sure…we are not perfect, but then again, if our church WAS perfect, they would not want us serving there. Smile.
6. A roof over my head and food to eat. Sometimes I take things for granted and am not thankful enough. I may not live in a house that was built this year and I may not eat Prime Rib and Lobster every night…but I am well taken care of.
7. Good Health. This is another thing that we tend to take for granted until it hits home. Everywhere I look, families are being visited by cancer, diseases, etc. Everyday I am more and more thankful for my good health. I had a student last year that is still battling melanoma cancer and we have a 6th grade student this year that has just completed her months of chemo for a rare kidney cancer.
8. Friends and Family. They are the glue that keeps me together. You are the ones that love and accept me regardless of my down-falls.
9. The Tennessee Bi-Vo Ministry. We have made friends that we have grown very close to….and the Conference each year is like the BOOSTER SHOT we need to carry through. We learn so many things, cry together, laugh together and really enjoy our fellowship. And, yes, Lana always makes sure there is CHOCOLATE.
10. All of You Ladies that read this. You keep me motivated. Being a pastor’s wife can be a lonely job and reading your blogs and the comments that other pastor’s wives and ladies write makes me realize that I am not alone….as Sandi Patti said…”We’re In This Thing Together…..just Jesus and Me….and all of my “support ladies”. Thank you very much.

I have so many things to be thankful for and many times I dwell on the little picture and on “stuff” that does not matter and I forget to look at the “big picture” and see what really matters.

Thanks you, God, for all of my blessings!!! May I never get too “busy” to be thankful.

Planning

The wedding is 40 days from today. Wow….a lot of things to do between now and then….Christmas with Lots of Family, New Years, and the WEDDING.

I have discovered that being the mother-of-the-groom is different from being the mother-of-the-bride. The wedding is being held at our church so I still feel a wee bit responsible probably more than I should. As mother-of-the-bride, you have a voice, or at least you think you have a voice. As mother-of-the-groom, you know you have no voice. BUT…I will have to confess, the mother-of-the-bride and the bride are including me in many, many things that they are not obligated to do.

My daughter told me that the mother-of-the-bride has no voice either; I just thought they did. I well remember four and a half years ago, making lots of suggestions that were thrown to the side....so that should have been my clue.

The BRIDE is actually the one with all of the VOICE. It is HER DAY. It is just our jobs to see that her wishes are made true.

Four and a half years ago, I watched our daughter preparing for her BIG DAY. Early in the planning I realized that I had had “my day” and this was hers. I was use to the traditional weddings that existed thirty-two years ago. I soon discovered that there is no such thing as “traditional” anymore. Every bride adds her own personality to the planning which makes everything more unique and personal.

It is fun watching our son and daughter-in-law-to-be as they plan for THEIR DAY….and seeing their unique personalities blossom. So much careful planning….and so many details……

I have enjoyed watching our daughter and her husband mature and grow in the Lord. I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for our son and his new bride.

Isn’t it exciting to be involved in the planning of the wedding and marriage or our children? Just think how disappointed you would be if your children decided to exclude you from their "excitement" and plans.

Can you just imagine how excited God gets when we allow him to be involved in the planning and preparing for our every day activities? Let's not disappoint Him, let’s honor Him by including him in even the smallest details.....because he wants ALL of us and not "part of us".

Black Friday & Advent

Well Ladies, I imagine that many of you are braver than I am. I slept in this morning and I am still sipping some flavored coffee, sitting in p.j.'s as I type. I was not about to venture out this morning into the maze and daze of holiday shopping and bargain hunting. Don't get me wrong, I am for the deal as much as the next gal, but I am a big wimp when it comes to long lines and pushing elbows.

I am sure I could do a little research and discover how this day got tagged "Black Friday." But, honestly, when I think about black Fridays, my mind goes to how the disciples and followers of Christ must have felt on the Friday we all call "Good." That was a dark, black day indeed as our dear Savior, Son of the Living God, died the most brutal of possible deaths. We have the perspective and the luxury of knowing that Sunday was coming. They did not.

It is kinda of fitting that our Advent season begins on the Sunday following Black Friday this year. The first week of Advent begins the day after tomorrow, just as Easter Sunday follows Good Friday.

In our home, we celebrate Advent by having a family devotional around an Advent wreath on the living room table. Our oldest, Riley, dubbed the ten or so minutes spent in a brief study and praise, "Candlelight Christmas." When asked she will say that this time is one of her most favorite parts of the Christmas season.

Wally, my husband, finds a different plan to follow each year. A simple Internet search of  "Advent Devotionals" will yield an over abundance of results. He takes what he likes best from one or two and tailor fits it to our girls' ages and learning styles. This year, his main focus is from The Village Church out of TX. (http://www.thevillagechurch.net/the-village-blog/advent-at-the-village/)

I am all about taking the world's views and plans and finding God's purposes in them. Let me challenge you to use this Black Friday as an opportunity to begin to prepare your hearts for the celebration of the coming birth of our Lord.

Does your family do something special or unique to celebrate the Sundays of Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas? We are always looking for new ideas to enrich our "Candlelight Christmas." Please post your Advent traditions. It may just be the missing component to help another family keep their focus on Christ this Christmas.

Jesus in Turkey Day

"Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 

Luke 17:17-18

I think it is interesting that no one really sees Thanksgiving as a religious holiday anymore. No matter what faith a person seems to possess, no one seems to have an issue with celebrating the day. (Except maybe the turkeys!) Everyone seems to agree that we should be thankful. The question becomes this: just who is everyone thanking?

Mothers and fathers have their days. Even grandparents have a day. Our culture understands the importance of feeling and showing appreciation. But when non-Christians gather on Thursday and they say, "thanks," what is the point? 

As Christians, like the foreigner leper that was cleansed, we know Whom we are thanking. We know from where our blessings come. We desire to return and praise the One from Whom all blessings flow. 

However, our culture is a lot like the other nine. They ask for blessings, they receive blessings, they never stop to thank God for the blessings. 

You know, we always want to remind our neighbors that Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season, but isn't He the reason behind Thanksgiving too? Shouldn't more non-Christians have issue with this holiday as well? 

It may not have a man in a red suit to steal the spotlight, but Thanksgiving is a whole lot more than gathering with loved ones and eating turkey until we all fall asleep watching football. 

What are you doing to keep Christ in Thanksgiving?

Thankfulness

I can hardly believe that it is already Thanksgiving! The holidays are officially upon us. Where did the year go?! It seems like I have just gotten used to writing 2011 and now it is time to start writing 2012.

For those of you that are on Facebook, you may have noticed many of your "friends" participating in the an annual practice of posting a different thing that that they are thankful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving. I love the creativity of many of the posts. Some of my Facebook friends have really put some thought into what they are thankful for, while others started strong, but have failed to remember to continue to post as the month has progressed.

If you are like me, you have to-do list far longer than you have the hours and minutes to complete it. I prayed this morning for God to prioritize the things that really needed done and to enable me to let go of the things that don't. I realized that as I sat down to write this, that I have been so wrapped up in my lists, my goals and my plans, that I have failed to make time to reflect and be thankful.

So, first off, I am thankful for a holiday to help me to stop, reflect and truly appreciate all the blessings God has so graciously and richly lavished upon me and mine. I am sobered to think how most of the year I so quickly rush through the days and fail to stop and thank the One who gave me each one of those days. I take them for granted. I take Him for granted.

There is a saying I have seen on Facebook and Pinterest (a cool site that I have wasted more and more time on!) that goes something like this: "What if you only woke up this morning with the things that you thanked God for yesterday?" While there is nothing in the Bible that reads quite like this, it is definitely worth pondering.

So what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? This week? Today?

Feel free to write a prayer of thanksgiving to God in the comments. I think I will start us off.

Addiction

My dear, close friend just found out that her beautiful, talented, young adult daughter is dead. She was in treatment and close to the end of fighting a very long and difficult battle as a heroin addict. From all indications, she had beaten the disease. She was free. Free, that is, until her roommates found her face down in the bathtub full of water. Was it suicide? Overdose? To her parents and those who loved her….the answer to that question is futile. She is gone.

Her Godly parents are devastated. Grief stricken. Overcome. And, as my friend says, she is “living her worst nightmare”.

We have been friends since before high school. There are seven of us who have been friends since then and we get together at least once a year even though we are miles apart. They are all in Texas and I am in Indiana. My heart grieves and it is almost unbearable for me to be so far away….unable to give her a hug. Cry with her. Clean her bathrooms. You know, do the things we do.

Do you ever feel so inadequate to know what to do? What to say? How to help? After all….of the seven, I am the only pastor’s wife. I should be the “one” to know just what to do and say. Yet, I am speechless and immobile.

Do you ever feel the pressure to know what to do? Have all the answers? Just because you are the minister’s wife? As I have pondered this thought….God reminded me that of course, I don’t have to have all the answers. It is not my job to make everything “OK”. That is His job. BUT, He admonished me to remember what I said in the last post about spending time in the Word. It is important for me, yes!! But….so often when I am sitting at His feet and He is teaching me precious Truths….it is not only for me but He also will give it to me to give to someone else.

How thankful I am for His Word. I shared Psalm 94:17-19 with her this morning and I would encourage you to read it. Are you also dealing with a child who is an addict? A loved one? A friend? You? I am praying for you.

Confession

I must confess that in the last couple of weeks I have not been in the Word like I need/want to be. I have not been in the Word like God wants/needs me to be. I know it is erroneous. I hate it. I am stuck. I know what to do but I just don't do it. I do everything and anything else that "needs" to be done!

Now, don’t get me wrong…..I am IN the Word!! After all, I teach lots of Godly women each Sunday and most Wednesdays the Word. I have studied and prayed and written and labored and applied. I spoke the Truth at a retreat last weekend which required me to be IN the Word as I prepared and presented the Truth.

Here’s the problem…..I have been in the Word to teach and speak to others…..in the Word for others but not in the Word because I need to spend time with God and get nourished and fed and encouraged and strengthened and convicted and…..etc. This is a trap that I find myself in way too often….a trap the enemy sets for me like bait and I fall for it every time.

Do you ever struggle with not spending time in the Word? Not just to teach. Not just to prepare. Not to give to anyone else…but to sit at the feet of Jesus and let Him love you. Let’s all stop now and as Nike would say, “Just Do It!”

Right now I am going to go do just that…..I KNOW He has water for me. Bread. Life.

Blessings to you sisters! Eat up!