A Year of Blessing - February 8, 2010

It snowed again today. But unlike the past couple of snow storms that stayed around for a week or more, this was a true Oklahoma snow storm: Snow in the morning...gone in the afternoon! The schools were a little skiddish about this storm, though, and believed the meteorologist when he said it was going to be another big one. They let school out early, so Zach got to play in the snow!!

I just love his total abandon to having fun while it lasted. Unlike his old grandmother who stayed inside where it was warm, he welcomed the cold and each and every snowflake with a dance of joy!

The blessing of a child's perspective!!!

Romans 8:14-16 (The Message)

So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

A Year of Blessing - February 7, 2010

Super Bowl Sunday!!! I look forward to it every year! Not because I am a football fan. I'm not. I don't follow any team nor do I want to. But every year our small group gets together to have Super Bowl Sunday as a day to be together in fellowship. There is always good food, lots of laughs, and yes a few fans that shush us during the game, but most of us wait for the commercials to stop talking.

I always choose a team to root for, though. It is always the one with the prettiest uniforms. And this year it was the Saints. They won and I cheered! Like I had followed them all season long. But the thing I enjoyed the most was the people I got to be with. I love each and every one of them. And I DO follow what they are doing, with an interest that most fans reserve for their favorite team! I truly love God's family!!!

Matthew 5:8, 9 (The Message)

You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

A Year of Blessing - February 6, 2010

Disclaimer right up front: I did NOT take this picture. Tracy Kouns did because my camera was on the fritz tonight! But he did allow me to use his for a few (two) pictures so I will count this one as one I COULD have taken if my camera had worked!

Now for the blessing. Our worship team tries to get together for a night of fellowship and fun at least twice a year. Dear Brenda (the person holding the phone) does an excellent job of coordinating them, and they are always worth attending. That would be blessing enough...but that isn't where this post is going.

The person on the phone is Carrie Strickland, wife of Legrand. She is preparing to leave to meet Legrand in San Antonio not knowing how that will go. All of the uncertainties of Grand's life, and her life, are piling up. The how's, why's, should's, and can's are questions that will be hitting her for a long long time. She must be strong. She knows that. But the strength she chooses to tap into is not her own. It is God. And through singing His praise, and listening to us, long distance, as we lift her to God on notes of song, she praises Him for her very uncertain future. And He gives her His strength to go on. What a privelege and great blessing to be a sister to this precious lady.

Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

A Year of Blessing - February 5, 2010

It has been 8 months today since my back surgery. I'm still not able to lift great weights, but I AM able to mop the floor! I got the kitchen mopped yesterday, and the dining room today! And although that may not sound big to a lot of people, it is HUGE for me.

Thank you father for making the most menial task seem like a great blessing!

Blessings are all in the perspective.

Ephesians 1:3-8 (New Living Translation)

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

A Year of Blessing - February 4, 2010

After yesterday's post, I found it hard to even look for a blessing. But after prayer, I bow in submission and realize, once again, that I am not the one in control. If I profess to live IN Christ, then I MUST depend on the peace that God offers all His children. That peace comes with a fierce loving Father that is very much aware of the goings on of this world.

So I turned the eyes of my heart toward finding a blessing. Wow. Just wow. There is new growth sprouting in the middle of Winter with snow still lingering on the ground. Do I dare believe God put it there just for me? Do I dare not to believe!! I DO believe and praise the Father of renewal and hope!

Psalm 51:8-12 (New International Version)

Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

A Year of Blessing - February 3, 2010

A friend of ours was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan yesterday. He clings to life as his family and friends back home cry out to God for his healing. He was the only one left alive of his team...the other families are grieving their loss as we hope. And the war goes on.

As I drove to the store, picked up a few items, got our mail, and filled a prescription, it all struck me as somehow very special. I didn't have to look over my shoulder in fear nor see guns slung over the backs of soldiers. I am unfamiliar with the daily sound of gunfire. My home is secure, safe, warm, comfortable. I will drive tonight in a car with a heater and not see any signs of war along the way. I will worship and pray with others that could all state the same thing.

We are blessed in America because of people like LeGrand. 'Thank you' is not enough for all you have kept me from knowing.

Psalm 144:1-3 (New Living Translation)

A psalm of David.
Praise the Lord, who is my rock.
He trains my hands for war
and gives my fingers skill for battle.
He is my loving ally and my fortress,
my tower of safety, my rescuer.
He is my shield, and I take refuge in him.
He makes the nations submit to me.
O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them,
mere mortals that you should think about them?

A Year of Blessing - February 2, 2010

The snow is melting!

Goodbye, sweet snow! Parting is such sweet......PLEASURE!!!!!

Job 37:5-7 (New International Version)

God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.

He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,'
and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'

So that all men he has made may know his work,
he stops every man from his labor.

A Year of Blessing - February 1, 2010

The icicles on our house are HUGE! I have never seen them so long, that I remember. The sun is out though and the icicles glisten and drip and fall with crashes that are equally HUGE! So short is their time!

And isn't that the way it is with us? We spend years developing our plan, career, life, and suddenly we realize the grey is glistening in our hair, and our steps are beginning to falter. The days seem too short and the years even shorter. But with the passing of time, there is a richness and a beauty that I am only beginning to catch a glimpse of...the beauty of relaxing into our Lord, totally, becoming more and more unhindered by this life here on earth. I find myself doing things that really matter, and weeding out those that really don't. My view, unlike my eyesight, becomes clearer and more defined. And my thoughts go often before the throne of God, seeking His face...and not so much His hand. And as life is melting as quickly as the icicles, I find the joy that can only come from being in Jesus. And it is enough.

Galatians 3:26-29 (New International Version)

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.