A Year of Blessing - March 28, 2010

Aha! Caught ya! This is the ornery culprit eating my flowers! Isn't he cute?!?!

Yeah. I think this is a love/hate relationship here.

Now what kind of blessing is this? It is one of letting go of perfectionism...and I'm just gonna let it go. So eat up me hardy! The garden will just have to grow some more flowers to keep up!

Psalm 119:96-97 (New Living Translation)

Even perfection has its limits,
but your commands have no limit.

Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.

A Year of Blessing - March 27, 2010

I think I know how Timothy must have felt in the presence of Paul. Trying to absorb every word and all the wisdom Paul was giving. Timothy must have felt exhausted and elated. He must have been a great student, though, to have received the praise Paul gave to him in the letters of I and II Timothy.

That is where I hope to be with Liz Pence. She has more wisdom in her pinkie finger than I have in...well...wherever my wisdom is stored. She comes with accolades like Paul, of the suffering she has endured. And like him, she says it is all worth it. She teaches as one being taught by God and praises Him for having a message from her mess. And, with the mercy and grace that God gives me, I hope to learn from her...as Timothy learned from Paul.

1 Timothy 12-14,18-19a (New International Version)

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.

A Year of Blessing - March 26, 2010

The Tulsa Workshop...wow what a blessing! I cannot tell you how long I have been going to it. I remember being in the bus ministry at our church in Ft. Gibson and riding the bus back and forth to Tulsa to go. That was in the early 1970's. I remember Jimmy Allen preaching. I remember Just As I Am being sung...over and over sometimes. I remember crowds going forward and spending another hour going through responses. I remember controversies that I didn't understand at the time. I remember friends and family meeting for lunch. All of what I remember is, in my mind, positive.

When we started attending Memorial Drive Church 20 years ago, the Soul Winning Workshop as it was called then, was shared by Memorial and Garnett and we were pretty much loners when it came to working it. But with any living thing, (and the Tulsa Workshop is alive with Christ's spirit) growing pains were endured, maturing happened, changes occurred, until it is what God has made it today: a place of worship, renewal, education, fellowship, growth, acceptance for who and where we are in Christ. It is where we get together to tell what God is doing, with anticipation for what He will do next.

I am privileged to be asked to volunteer my time working at many different areas in the workshop. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for that opportunity. I see God at work in the faces of the people around me. And I praise Him. Oh how beautiful the body of Christ is!

Ephesians 4:11-13 (New International Version)

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

A Year of Blessing - March 25, 2010

Photography is becoming a passion for me. And I guess this picture could represent how 'nutty' I am! God has allowed me to bless people with a snapshot of their lives, and in turn, it blesses me even more.

Some of the pictures I have are of people who have gone on live with Christ: Jimmy Sizemore, Bill Logan, Ed Hammons, Garrett Henley, General Gillespy, Linda Deckman, and those have become priceless. Jimmy and his quiet demeanor gave my daughter encouragement when Ethan was born with a cleft palate; Bill and his solid presence and warm hugs; Ed and his constant hunger for the Word of God; Garrett, gone too quickly; General, a leader in truth; Linda, giver, helper, loved kids. But I wonder if they look down at my collection as a butterfly might look at a worm. They are clothed in the glory of the Son of God now...and my photos are pictures of their tents here on earth. It's is like comparing cut diamonds to a lump of coal!

And here I thought I was going to talk about my blessing of photography, and wound up discussing the glorious saints of God. What a blessing!

1 Corinthians 15:50-52 (New International Version)

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

A Year of Blessing - March 24, 2010

My mom gave me cash for my birthday because...well...I couldn't think of a good gift she could get me. I truly am blessing! So Workshop rolled around and I realized I didn't have a solid colored shirt to wear for the Memorial praise team (for the women of the team, what to wear is second only to practicing the songs...). Pete and I looked at all of my normal discount haunts and found a few nice shirts to buy with my birthday money but the only solid color was black. The backdrop is black so that wouldn't work.

The day before we were to lead worship, the Angel of Extreme Discounts, namely Brenda, swoops in and helps me find not one but FIVE solid color beautiful shirts! She was my hero for the day!

Thank you, Brenda! You are much more than a friend, you are my spiritual sister! And my favorite!

2 Corinthians 9:8-15 (The Message)

God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

He throws caution to the winds,
giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
His right-living, right-giving ways
never run out, never wear out.

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they'll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

A Year of Blessing - March 23, 2010

Yesterday Jacob ran into the house quite distraught. "Mema! The flowers are all laying on the ground! Can you pump them up again?!?!"

The snow had melted and left the daffodills quite wilted. He was not happy when I told him they couldn't be 'pumped up', and we would have to see if new ones would bloom. I do not have a green thumb or I could have told him to wait a day and they would 'pump' themselves up...for here they are, beginning to stand on their own again as if yesterday was just a time for rest!

Thank you God for showing me the difference a day can make! I can't wait until Jake gets home!

1 Peter 1:21-25 (The Message)

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.

Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said,

The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers droop,
God's Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.

A Year of Blessing - March 22, 2010

I love new things and, being married to a computer guru, getting a new computer is like bringing home a new baby...without the nighttime feedings! I was blessed with a new laptop (notebook...whatever they are calling them now!) to help out with video and photo editing...and blogging, of course! I now have the choice of where I work and I love it! Sunshine? There I am! Comfy chair? I'm there! Outside? Yep, there too!!

Oh and my computer's name? Miss Bea, from Beatrix...Latin for 'blessing'.

Revelation 21:4-5 (New International Version)

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"

A Year of Blessing - March 21, 2010

There was a time when I didn't go to church. My mom was a Christian. My dad was not. And many times my dad's plans didn't take into account that my mom might want to go to church. And many times my mom was just too tired. I didn't know any better. It was normal for me to go, or not to go. That was just the way it was.

I always went Vacation Bible School and to Camp when I was old enough. I raised half of my own money for camp and my mom always pitched in the rest with extra for the canteen so I wouldn't starve. (Camp food was always good, but the candy and pop from the canteen was a treat!) At camp I learn that I wanted to go to heaven and be with Jesus, and was baptized not to go to hell. My dad was very angry when I got home, and I was allowed to play at my cousins for 2 hours while my mom talked with him. Later, the preacher came and talked to my daddy and he was baptized too. He was very strict from that time on and we never missed going to church, ever.

I was a teenager when I was baptized again. I was old enough to know what sin was, and that I had sinned. My mom was very happy to see me baptized. She was sad not to see the first time. My dad hugged me but said nothing.

Later, though, I found and accepted the grace and mercy God has planned for His children. The family above taught me that a life in Christ was more than not going to hell or having your sins forgiven, it was a life filled with joy, a life of wonder in Jesus, a life that God was so involved in, that every breath taken was a gift from Him to be cherished! Church is not a place we attend to stay right with God, it is a body that has been redeemed BY God. It is the body of Christ that is alive and exciting and working. It is the body that praises and gives glory to the Father that created it. It is a fellowship of love. The church is a necessary part of a victorious life being lived by a plan made before time. A plan that reaches out to a world of darkness with the light of grace, of mercy, and of Life beyond measure.

Now THAT is a blessing, my friends!

Hebrews 4:15-16 (New International Version)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.