Have you ever...

...noticed how we have a tendency to push the envelope until all the contents come flying out, fluttering around us in an untidy heap? Sometimes we get so busy, we don't listen. We try to gather up all the scattered pieces and then we continue to stuff more into the envelope! Why is that?

Last April, I was in tears because I had so much in my envelope that I didn't put there, but I was still juggling and arranging and putting in order so that I might have some time to do Gina things. You know, those things that are so satisfying and only mean something to just yourself. Then in the summer I took some classes which jammed my envelope so full that there was no way to seal it. But, the difference was, I put everything in that envelope by my choice and all by myself. It was a choice to do it and I did it.

Now, I'm coming to a point in a couple of months where I'll be finished with school and still God has not broken the egg of enlightenment over my head about what He desires me to do with the rest of my life.

I prayed and prayed that He would reveal to me what He wants me to do. In the mean time, while waiting for the Light to burst forth on my road to Damascus, I was asked to speak at an Envangelism Ministry Conference about grants and what to do to get ready to write a grant. I called it "Show Me The Money". That was in April. I made sure I got plenty of business cards and information from the folks there about their ministries and how to get in touch with them.

Then I prayed some more about what He wanted me to do. In the mean time, I went to summer school and learned about American Government, computers and American History, took my Mom to see her sisters, went on an astounding trip to OK City and experienced the deeply moving Federal Building Memorial and Bricktown paid for by grants and contributions. I prayed some more about what God wants me to do.

Then this fall, I'm taking Criminal Justice Ethics, Research Methods, Juvenile Delinquency and White Collar Crime in America. This gives me enough credits to have a Sociology degree. While studying for a test I got a phone call from a precious young woman who had started a ministry for women in central Louisiana. She needs me to write a grant, or maybe several grants, for this ministry. I met her last April at the conference. Since then I have been coaching her at what kind of information I need her to gather and how she needs to put her goals on paper so we can get this grant(s) written.

I prayed again last night for God to share His goals for my life with me. When do you think He'll answer my prayer?

Adventure of writing and critical analysis

One fascinating thing about writing is, What do people actually think about when reading a creative piece?

You can join us this week in a discussion with the author of this creative work of fiction called Ezekiel's Shadow by David Long. The critique is at J. Mark Bertrand's place here. Of course if you want to add your own comments you can do that at Faith In Fiction message board located here. The point is not to voice opinions per se, but to learn from those in the biz so to speak. Dave Long is director of acquisitions at Bethany House Publishing. Talk about getting a terrific inside look!!!

NaNoWiMo

No, it's not Mork and Mindy month. It's the National Novel Writing Month. I signed up to be reminded several months ago and voila I received an email that it is time to sign up. I became intrigued with this while I was doing some research about writing. How exhausting this is going to be. But, how rewarding it will be on the other side!

Since I don't have an agent, nor do I have a contract, what better way to light a shuck under me than to enter this contest. So, I'm asking for your prayers. I'm asking that I might know God's will beyond any doubt by this contest. Actually, it isn't a contest. It is more like an event for writers. I will...

Write like crazy for thirty days. If you write 50,000 words of fiction by
midnight, local time, November 30th, you will be added to our hallowed Winner’s
Page, and receive a handsome winner’s certificate and web icon. The adding of
your name to the Honor Roll of Winners requires that you send in a version of
your novel in text format (scrambled for security) to our site to be counted.

Some authors have gotten book deals from this event, others have fine tuned their writing skills and still others found out that writing just wasn't what they wanted to do with their life. I have so much on my plate right now and this is a scary commitment for me. We'll see what God has in store.

I invite you to do the same. If you've had a story idea rolling around in your head or if you just want to see what others are doing, the pitfalls, the crying, the screaming... what we writers go through then come join the fun. It will be a creative frenzy!

Tagged again

5 idiosyncrasies -- tag from Gayla (I can't believe how much I am like her. Except for the bags she likes and having to watch TV with a blankie, I have her idiosyncrasies, but I'll choose some different ones)

1. I can live with a little clutter until one day I can't stand it anymore and I go into hyperdrive and a cleaning frenzy.
2. I never react to chain letters. I never send them on... not even the recipe ones... If an email has a line at the bottom that says "Send to at least 5 people... blah blah blah." I never send it on and I have never been sorry or had something bad happen to me.
3. I have fought a stupid fear of roaches for years. At least now I don't go squealing through the house and jump up and down. Now I just bite my cheeks and search for something big to squish them to death. Maybe a shudder or two.
4. I must have the fan on high at night and the temp turned down. This has been really difficult since my Mom gets cold easily and I'm burning up. This is one of those things I have to pray about, otherwise I never get to sleep.
5. I must brush my teeth at night or I can't sleep. It comes from when I had braces. I was constantly brushing my teeth because I didn't want to have that gunk on my braces; it looked nasty. Therefore I haven't had a cavity in 35... oh, all right, 40 years.

Pia was so gracious to tag me...
23rd post,it was another Tag post :) The 5th line

5 years ago--I was with my husband in Hawaii and what a fabulous place to go!

I would rather do a different kind of tag...
Grab your digital camera and take pictures of
1. The top of your desk. (Do not do a clean up job just to take this picture.)
2. Your pet
3. A project you've been working on for a long time.

To be fair, here are my offerings...













My desk top which I did not clean up before taking this pic.

Our cat Scooter. Not a very elegant name for such a pretty cat. My Dad named him and he was really Dad's cat before he died. I call him Scooter Booter and there is no reason for that name.

My quilt top which will be finished

around 2020 at the rate I'm going.

A Case of Dog Food

There is a very enlightened and fun pastor of North Monroe Baptist Church who has a morning devotional on channel 11 every weekday morning. I make a point of being there to see how Bill Dye looks at the world and life with the Christian worldview. He, so very often, gives me a chuckle or an insight that is a gold nugget I carry around all day. This morning was a special delight that I can't pass the chance to share.

The one this morning went like this:

Pastor Bill's dog took a dislike to dry dog food. Just wouldn't eat it. So he got the idea to buy some nice, juicy canned dog food. As soon as that food hit her bowl, she dived into and when he came close to the bowl, she got this mean look in her eye and actually snarled at sweet Pastor Bill, like she was saying, "Don't you dare come near my food. Don't you dare try to take it away from me!"

Why would he take it away? He went to the store and bought the food, opened the can, dumped the food in. Bill Dye doesn't eat dog food. Dog food does not sustain Bill Dye. Bill Dye takes care of and loves his dog and when he went to all that trouble would never, ever take it back.

Pastor Bill said that God shone a light on that moment. God said, "Bill, it's all dog food to Me."

I have never contemplated that thought before. It is all dog food to God. He created us, His good and most excellent, fragile creation. He created the world and all that is in the universe. He provided all the ingredients for us to survive in abundant living with not only delicious, juicy food, but also the universe around us filled with amazing discoveries to exercise our brains. Once the home was created, Man sinned. Then, God sent His Son to pay the bride price so sin would no longer make us slaves... the Law would have no claim on us... death has no sting. God showers on those that love Him all manner of blessings from basic needs to deep desires and those blessings spill over onto those that have no regard for Him.

Knowing that He is the Great I AM, the King of the Universe, we still grab onto all our stuff with a death grip and snarl at God when He draws near.

Bill Dye quoted Corrie Ten Boom: Don't hold on to your things with such a tight grip that it hurts when God has to pry your fingers loose. (loose paraphrase)

We so often lose sight of the bald fact, it's all dog food to God.

The Wane of Etiquette

I have found the most delicious book on etiquette written by Sarah Anne Foster in 1869 or somewhere thereabouts. It is public domain and an ebook which can be found by clicking on the post title.

Never smack the lips when eating.

Never take a long, deep breath after you finish eating, as if the exercise had fatigued you.

Never make noises in your mouth or throat.

Never suck your teeth, or pass your tongue round the outside ofyour gums.

Never, even with cheese, put your knife into your mouth.

Never pick your teeth, or put your finger into your mouth. If you find you have a fish-bone in your mouth, cover your lipswith a napkin to remove it. It is better to be very careful to remove all bones before putting fish into your mouth. On no account spit the bones out upon your plate.

Never take the bones of fowl or birds up in your fingers to gnaw or suck them. Remove the meat with your knife, and convey it to your mouth with your fork, never being too eager to clean off every particle of flesh.

Wipe your finger tips, if soiled, upon the table napkin, never upon your tongue or the table-cloth. An elegant eater will never have occasion to think of his fingers.
Never use the table-cloth to wipe your mouth, you might as well use it in place of your pocket handkerchief.

Never remark upon what is placed before you, either in praise ordispraise of it.

Neither drink nor speak when you have anything in your mouth.

When you are helped, begin to eat, without regard to those who have already, or have not yet, been helped.

Never watch the dishes as they are uncovered, nor make any exclamation when you see their contents. Under no circumstances tuck your napkin, bib-fashion, into yourshirt collar. Unfold it partially and put it in your lap, coveringyour knees. A lady may slip a corner under her belt if there is danger of its slipping upon her dress, but a gentleman must be awkward indeed if he lets his napkin fall upon the floor.

No gentleman will ever settle himself in his chair, pushing back his cuffs, as if for a "set-to," at the table.

If you make any general remark, do not look up at the waiters to see what effect it has upon them. If they are well-trained they will not move a muscle at hearing the most laughable story, nor will they give any sign whatever that they have not closed their ears like deaf adders to all that has been going on. In any case, however, you must refrain from noticing them. If you want anything, take the occasion of a waiter being near to you, to ask for it in an undertone. To shout out "Waiter!" or order one about, as if you were in a restaurant, is a certain markof ill-breeding. Unless the party is a very small one, general conversation is impossible. In such a case, you must converse with those on eitherside of you, not confining your remarks exclusively to one.

As I have been reading this most enlightened etiquette book, I have noticed such a drastic and, sorry to say, great chasm between the mid-nineteenth century and today. Not just in years, but in everything that is genteel and courteous. I read these dos and don'ts and I can remember my mother teaching some of them to me, like a gentleman should always remove his hat in church. When I grew up, gentlemen did not wear hats. They were call caps and baseball was always said in front of it. Baseball cap. I remember gentlemen opening doors for me and greatly watching their language when I was in the room. Now, I see all kinds of foul things on the internet and within my hearing if I'm not careful about what movie I'm watching. It makes me want to cry out, "Oh, Jesus, come quickly!" Then the faces of people I love flash in my memory. People I know do not have Jesus in their hearts and I say, "Wait, Lord Jesus, get them; gather them like a hen gathers her chicks. Continue just a little longer until they finally get it." So I will bear the crassness of today, just so the lost will have a bit more time to come home.

Point ... Counterpoint

Just so no one thinks I'm really prejudice, I'm posting something my friend and brother in Christ, Stan, sent me.

Hey, Giggles! (yes, he really calls me that)
I read your blog today. Lots of
fun. Of course, being one of those "city folk" that you so malign, I felt I
needed to respond. Being a friend, I thought I'd do it privately, lest it be
misunderstood and cause hard feelings. So I simply took your list and turned it
around. (Thus, this is best read against your list.) Enjoy! (All in fun.)
In
an effort to help Southern folk understand the city, the following list should
be handed to each person as they enter the civilization known as L.A.
(Los
Angeles to those confused Louisianans):

1. The gas stations are SELF-serve. We know you're used to Gomer pumpin' your gas and checkin' your oil, but it's time you did it yourself.
2. It's called pavement. We know you're used to gravel and dirt roads, but these are designed for speeds greater than 40 MPH, so move it or lose it.
3. Wash the car from time to time. "Dirt" is not considered a status symbol here.
4. Just because we're not typically people that shoot wild animals doesn't make us tree huggers.
5. Go ahead and bring your shotgun hung in your back window. We call it a "fly swatter" compared to the Uzi's, AK's and who knows what else the bangers are carrying around.
6. Wash your clothes! You look like a dirt clod.
7. We will use our cell phones whenever we please. Get over it. It's considered rude to shoosh people just because you don't like their phone usage.
8. Yes, there is a wide variety of choices available. We won't force you to eat meat if you prefer not to. On the other hand, there is no shortage of food, whatever you might like.
9. Tea -- yeah, we have tea. You can have it hot, cold, sweetened, unsweetened, flavored, even green. Why would we want to limit you to one, limited preference?
10. Don't look too closely, and you can avoid whatever might offend you.
11. Yeah, you have a quarter of a million dollar combine that you use for two weeks a year. We prefer "labor saving devices" that we can use often without spending large sums and still have time for a workout at the gym.
(such as???)
12. Understand, traffic is not easy in the city. Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means go real fast. If we're in the intersection before it's red, it's legal. Just be ready for it.
13. We have too much going on all at once to even begin to tell you what we will be doing on Saturday. But it's a fair bet there's boys' sports, the daughter's dance class, and soccer practice in there somewhere. Don't be surprised.
14. We don't do "slower than molasses in January" well.
15. Greens -- yeah, we have greens. We putt on them. (We figured it would be good for you to know, so as not to get wacked with a putter while you're trying to eat.)
16. Yeah, we eat fish, beef, chicken, sushi, caviar, and who knows what else. Live a little.
(we do... and we know better than to ask "What's in the gumbo?")
17. They are cows. That's what they smell like. We prefer to keep them as far from civilization as possible, but we apologize for the oversized dairies. Don't like it? We're pretty sure the road you came in on goes both ways.
18. Grit is part of sandpaper. You can buy your grits in most supermarkets, but don't expect them to be like home.
19. The "Opener" refers to the first home game of the local sports team. Please leave that shotgun in the back. It's not the beginning of duck season.
20. So every person doesn't wave? Yeah, you try to wave to the typically 100,000 drivers on the road every day and see how long you hold up. Give it a rest.
21. Yeah, we have golf courses. The term "water hazard" isn't serious -- leave the shotgun in the truck.
22. That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving with a loaded weapon in the window --her name is "Ma'am," no matter how much she resembles a Hollywood starlet.
23. We have gangs. You drive that pickup into the wrong part of town, and that shotgun in the window will simply make you a target. Don't go there.
24. Yeah, you think we're liberal, American-hating city folk. Don't make that mistake. We love America as much as you do. We just happen to think that open-mindedness and diversity aren't bad things.
(Is that why California is called the Granola State?)

Southerner by the Grace of God

In an effort to help outsiders understand the Southerner's mind, the following list should be handed to each person as they enter a Southern State. (These actually should be the rules in all states.)
1. That farm boy you see at the gas station did more work before breakfast than you do all week at the gym.
2. It's called a "gravel road." No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Lincoln Navigator. Drive it or get it out of the way!
3. The red dirt -- it's called red clay. If you like the color, don't wash your car for a couple weeks -- it'll be permanent.
4. We all started hunting and fishing when we were seven years old. Yeah, we saw that Bambi movie, too. We got over it.
5. Go ahead and bring your $600 Orvis fly rod. Don't cry to us if a flathead breaks it off at the handle. We have a name for those little13-inch trout you fish for: bait.
6. Comb your hair! You look like an idiot.
7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of mallards are making their final approach, we will shoot it. You might want to ensure it's not up to your ear at the time.
8. No, there's no "Vegetarian Special" on the menu. Order steak. Order it rare. Or, you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the two pounds of ham and turkey.
9. Tea -- yeah, we have tea. It comes in a glass over ice and it's sweet You want it hot? Set it in the sun. You want it unsweetened? Add a lot of water.
10. You bring Coke into my house, it better be brown, wet, and served over ice!
11. You have a sixty-thousand-dollar car. We're real impressed. We have a quarter of a million-dollar combine that we only use two weeks a year.
12. Let's get this straight. We have one stoplight in town. We stop when it's red. We may even stop when it's yellow.
13. We eat dinner together with our families. We pray before we eat--yeah, even breakfast. We go to church on Wednesdays and Sundays, and we go to high school football games on Friday nights. We still address our seniors with "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am," and we sometimes still take Sunday drives around town to see friends and neighbors.
14. We don't do "hurry up" well.
15. Greens -- yeah, we have greens, but you don't putt on them. You boil them with salty fatback, bacon or a smoked hog jowl.
16. Yeah, we eat catfish, bass, bream, and carp. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available down at the bait shop.
17. They are pigs. That's what they smell like. Get over it. Don't like it? Interstate 75 goes two ways. Interstate 40 goes the other two. Pick one.
18. Grits are corn. You put butter, salt, and maybe even some pepper on them. If you want to put milk and sugar on them, then you want cream of wheat -- go to Kansas. That would be I-40 West.
19. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season or dove season. Both are holidays. You can get pancakes, cane syrup, and sausage before daylight at the church on either day.
20. So every person in every pickup truck waves? Yeah, it's called being friendly. Understand the concept?
21. Yeah, we have golf courses. Don't hit in the water hazards. It spooks the fish and bothers the gators --and, if you hit it in the rough, we have these things called diamondbacks, and they're not baseball players.
22. That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot --his name is "Sir," no matter how young he is.
23. We have lots of pine trees. They have sap. It drips from them. You park your darn Navigator under them, and they'll leave a souvenir on your hood.
24. You burn an American flag in our state, you get beat up. No questions. The liberal contingent of our state legislature -- all four of them enacted a measure to stop this. There is now a $2.50 fine for beating up the flag burner.


American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God!

The Well Watered Garden

Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To lose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Ah... then. Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry and He will say, "Here I am."

If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noon day. The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In... the Mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Let me ask a few questions about Freedom...

Where is the freedom in having to find a place every 30 minutes to an hour to smoke a cigarette? Where is the freedom in restricting one's choice of restaurants due to their policy of allowing smoking or not?

Where is the freedom in spending money on drugs for an artificial high to the point that it steals from the spouse and children to the point of losing one's job, one's home, one's life just for a temporary, artificial high?

Where is the freedom in waking with a lousy head and vacant memory after a night on the town?

Where is the freedom in stealing a few moments of temporary, perceived pleasure in viewing pornographic material, temporary pleasure in someone's company that is not one's spouse... ducking into dark places and hiding the relationship?

Where is the freedom in those feelings that well up inside which are caused by sinful thoughts and deeds? Or stealing hours and hours away from the family to watch TV, or talk on the phone, or pursue internet friendships?

I have heard people scoff at me for being a slave to Christ but they do not understand what being a slave to sin actually means. Where is satisfaction from buying new shoes, new clothes, new car, new anything? That yawning hole keeps begging for more things and more stuff and more of yourself until there is nothing left to stuff down the hole and still the hunger pangs pierce the soul.

There is nothing in this world big enough or satisfying enough to quench the thirst and hunger forever. It always comes back.

Where is the freedom in pursuit of material riches if it steals time away from family? Where is the freedom in busy work at church if the time spent is given grudgingly or with grumbles and gripes?

Everything listed above are joy and peace killers. There are many more things in this world that are slave-makers because we allow them to make slaves of us and to keep us in bondage... ...Things like anger, bitterness, hatred... the list goes on and on. Nothing fills that God-sized void except the Holy Spirit.

We Christians have freedom of choice in how we handle these emotions. We can either pull them around our hearts like an unfinished homemade quilt with all the pins and needles still in it, or we can rush into our Father's arms, tell Him all our woes and ask Him to take care of it.

It took the willing sacrifice of Jesus to reconcile humans to the Living God again legally. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweated drops of blood in His anxiety but He chose to obey God's will.

Here's the wonderful thing about this kind of Freedom. When we accept Jesus as Savior -- That's the last decision we ever make on our own. We have much greater wisdom at work in us than mere human wisdom after the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts. Choosing Jesus means choosing Him as Ruler of the Heart and Mind and Body and Soul. There is great freedom in that.

This is how a Christian is known to other Christians...True Believer to other True Believers. The True Believer will desire to obey God and will be convicted by the Holy Spirit when he/she sins. Does this mean we won't have periods of rebellion and/or times of seduction into doing ungodly things? No. We most certainly will have those times because we are not perfect and we still reside in our fleshly, physical bodies.

What it means is that we will be convicted of our sin when we sin and we won't be able to sleep at night or have peace in our minds or be content. We will worry. We will fret. We will do all manner of running away from God until we recognize the sin for what it is. When we confess that sin and repent from that sin...Then God cleanses us, refreshes us, gives us peace in our hearts and minds. Our witness is restored from the shambles it was in and we are stronger in the Lord than ever before...standing strong in His grace. There is much freedom in being His slave.

You knew it was from God

Joe B over at God Even Loves Idiots Like Me has a challenge for us. I'm answering that challenge and passing it on. I would really like every one to answer this question on their own blog and just post a comment here like, "Come to my place". Joe's stories are great and since this isn't a "can you top that!!" kind of challenge, this should be lots of fun. Really!

Here is Joe's question:

So let me ask you, has anything ever happened to
you, big or small, when after it was all said and done you knew it was from God?

About 10 years ago, I spent a long weekend alone with God trying to figure out if God would allow me to leave my husband. Let's just leave it at he was a wicked man. God walked me through some Scriptures and I "heard" Him plain as day, "Gina, My daughter, enough is enough." So I left him and not too long after that, I lost my job. I got another right away but that one was really lousy and it used up all my savings. I had to find another job, one that paid me, and there weren't any good jobs to be had right then.

We had to go buy groceries and I had about $30. When we got in the car, I told my daughter we'd have to get just the necessitites this time until I found something that would support us. I told her I'd been praying that God would provide a job for me and I knew He would in His own timing.

"But, Mom," she asked, "how do you know He'll provide a job? You've been looking forever." At seventeen, emotions run high but my daughter was so even keel this question was more matter of fact rather than laced with worry.

"I just know He will. He always has in the past so I know He will this time, too. I trust His promises. See? Look over there, the sun is shining and the storm has passed. That's the way it will be now. You mark my words." The light turned green and we turned the corner onto Florida Blvd., a main traffic throughway in Baton Rouge. I gasped as I looked through the windshield and tears started streaming down my cheeks. Before us was the most gorgeous rainbow I have ever seen. It was huge against the backdrop of storm clouds moving away, more brilliant than any diamond. "There's your answer, Manda. God always remembers His promises."

"What do you mean, Mom?"

"God put that rainbow there to remind me that He is most Trustworthy. He promised that He would never destroy the earth with water again and gave the rainbow as the sign of that covenant. He promised that He would provide all our needs if we just look to Him and look at that great, brilliant rainbow! He put that there just for us to see, to remind us that He is watching us and He will provide as long as we remember to lean on Him."

In a short while, I got a job at a computer software training center and went on to break a world record for sales in a small town. It was a God thing.

Another time when I was on my teeth-grinding drive home from Arizona after my second husband decided he didn't want to be married anymore. I was devastated and I kept wanting to turn back. God kept nudging me forward. Finally, the whole western sky was a brilliant orange and I heard plain as day, "I've got your back." That night as I lay in a hard, motel bed, I was sobbing my eyes out and crying out to God, "Why?" "What is so terribly wrong with me?" I felt Him press me into the matress, covering me with His hands, and I heard, "You are acceptable to me, beloved. You need only worry about what I say." The next day, my heart was lighter but I was still angry.

Along about Albuquerque, I was enjoying the sun on the snow. I'm a Southern Magnolia and we don't see snow much. Only often enough to know what it is when we see it. So I got a thought in my head about bringing some of that snow back to sweltering Louisiana. I didn't have a thing to put it in except a plastic bag. But, I stopped anyway and right where I stopped, there was some deer tracks and a jack rabbit had hopped right over them. I scooped up those deer tracks and rabbit tracks, putting them in the bag and tossed it into the seat next to me. I grinned most of the way home after that. I brought some deer tracks home to my Daddy. What a hoot that was!

"What's this?" Dad cleared his throat as he peered through the water in the bag.

"Deer tracks and rabbit tracks," I tossed at him dragging my suitcase from the back seat.

"Whaaaa--deer tracks!"

I told him what I'd done and where I'd scooped up the snow. He started laughing then and chuckled every little while then he told Mom, "I'm bringing that to church tomorrow." She laughed and agreed.

After I got my coffee at church, I passed a clump of people peering into that bag of water and one fellow was saying, "Yeah... I think I see it. What was it again?"

It's a God thing.

Blessed are ye who weep now, for ye shall laugh Luke 6:21b

I am not feeling too creative tonight. I've got a temprature and scratchy throat. I think I'm coming down with something like a code in my node. It's windy out there and our energy source is none to reliable so I might not be posting for a couple of days if the lights go out. We're all praying for the safety of those on the road and on the coast.

How Do I Know for sure I'm in God's Will?

A long time ago and in another galaxy... Maybe not galaxy, but certainly a different lifetime I had a message board along with two other Christian friends. We called it Christian Living and the above question was raised. How can I possibly know for sure I am in God's Will?

There is something inside my soul that tells me this. When I wanted to quit my job because I was so angry at my boss for whatever reason, I cleaned off my desk piled it all on his desk, grabbed my purse and literally stomped out the door. Emotion was fueling my actions like I had never experienced before. I was right and he was wrong. I was right to quit and leave that awful place. It was in a bad part of town anyway. I hadn't gotten more than three blocks down the street before I had this gut wrenching feeling that warned me in no uncertain terms that I must turn around, eat crow and get my job back.

It was the best thing I ever did. My boss took me back and forgave me that incredible outburst. I truly didn't deserve that, but I do believe God was at work in a great way on that day.

So when someone asked that question, I thought about that day long ago and came up with a few reasons how I knew what I did was not in God's will and how I knew what I did next was in God's will. Comparing what I said and what Charles Stanley sayid in his In Touch devotional, it is amazing how close we are.

Science discoveries such as how vast the universe is and DNA, prove God's well ordered and plan for the physical world. The Bible outlines very carefully God's perfect plan for our salvation and reconciliation to Himself. We know, then that God has a plan for each of us. So how do we know we are within that plan?

Let me share what Charles Stanley says. There are a few questions we can ask ourselves:

1. Is it consistent with the Bible?
2. Is this a wise decision?
3. Can I honestly ask God to enable me to achieve this?
4. Do I have genuine peace about this?
5. Does this fit who I am as a follower of Jesus?
6. Does this fit God's overall plan for my life?
7. Will this decision honor God?

As soon as I turned my car around and headed back to the office, that gut wrenching feeling of impending doom left me immediately. Even though I had to eat humble pie, the peace I felt was a living presence. This was not the first time this kind of Holy Spirit guidance happened to me, nor was it that last...far from it.

The peace passes understanding. The turmoil in my soul was an excellent warning that I wasn't within God's will for my life or that of my family. How I acted was certainly not how Jesus would have me act. God had provided that job to help put food on the table, how could I just walk out on a blessing that God had given me and my family through me? In the few minutes it took for me to drive three blocks, God had escorted me through a thought process that made me understand how He directs my life...if I will allow Him to.

I may take these questions and add some Bible verses to them and write a study for our women's retreat. Pray with me on this.

Patriarchs by Beth Moore

A collective gasp came from everyone in the group but two. "What are you saying?"

I replied, "I do not agree with Beth Moore on day 5. The problem is the seeming contradiction between Genesis 19 and 2 Peter 2:7. Enter Peter: ...and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) ***9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment... The Bible never contradicts itself and therefore, there must be a different explanation than that Lot had steeped in the wickedness of Sodom long enough to become blind to righteous ways. Otherwise, Peter would never had said that the wickedness of Sodom tormented Lot day to day."

How can Peter have called Lot righteous? He offered his daughters to the townsmen in place of the angels under his roof. What is righteous about that?

Absolutely nothing. Some say that Lot felt safe in offering his daughters because of the homosexual debaseness of the town's men and that they wouldn't be tempted by daughters, they wanted manflesh. I'm leaning that way because of what the men of the town replied to that suggestion.

How could Lot have been righteous if he stayed in Sodom surrounded by evil?

I am living proof that a person can succomb to the evil ways of the world little by little without even realizing that I was sinking back into a depraved person. BUT, God delivered me out of my Sodom, just like He delivered Lot out of his.

I believe that God was intently watching Lot as he lived in Sodom. I believe that God had angels watching and protecting him as well. I also believe that Lot's wife (who is nameless) was so addicted to the urban wiles of Sodom that every time Lot desired to leave, she pressed him to stay. I also believe that she bought into the ways of Sodom as normal just as Lot's daughters bought into the perverted ways. Their husbands to be were not very much in love with them because when Lot told them they were leaving, they laughed at his reason and then went back to drinking.

Certainly we should never interpret Scripture from personal experience. That is totally against hermeneutics, rules of interpretation. However, we see a lot of human experience in the OT which directly relates to our human experience. From this angle I would like to make a correlation.

Even when I was stuck in Satan's web of lies and filth and disobedience, I still knew Jesus was in my heart. There were some things that were abhorant to me that no matter how much I was exposed to them, I could never condone. I would never allow my precious daughters to be tainted by something that was wicked if it was within my power to prevent. Therefore, even if Lot had become somewhat numb to the wickedness around him, I just cannot fathom he would allow sin to become normal.

In Sodom, Lot was exposed to plenty of filth, yet his garments were not soiled (as in the church of Sardis Rev 3:4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.) Therefore, we see something really interesting here.

Lot was righteous and to see what that means, we must look in Romans 4 where Abraham's belief was accounted to him as righteousness. Just as David describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works (v. 6)

So what is it that I disagree with? Beth is saying that even though Lot's family did not participate in homosexual sin, the "dividing right from wrong and healthy from unhealthy got blurred." For Lot's daughters, YES! Because of what they did to Lot. But, for Lot, no. He had kept his daughters virgins. He knew what was right and just. The only way he knew this was from God. Paul affirms this when he states that he would not have known what sin was except for the Law.

I believe that Lot recognized the angels and from Whom they came. They were Holy and stood out like a beacon from the wickedness and filth surrounding him because he baked them unleavened bread. I believe he put protection of them above and before protection of his daughters. His thought process was a bit skewed because he forgot how Big God is and tried a puny and ill thought out solution to the problem pounding at his door. I do not believe for one second that Lot thought those men outside his door would take him up on the offer. The men replied, "... he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal with you worse than with them."

So, no, I don't believe that Lot allowed the lines around sin to blur.

Otherwise, this is a most excellent study. All of Beth's studies are good and I have learned a lot. I highly recommend them to you if you haven't done one, just do it. If you can get a group of women together purchase the DVDs to view along with your study. They are most excellent.

The Mighty Hummingbird

It's a wonder that I ever get anything done. Two sides of my office are windows and I can see the side yard and the back yard, therefore I have witnessed some most amazing sites.

Yesterday I was watching the dive bomber hummingbird. Last year I took an old broom handle and drilled a hole in it then inserted a screw hook to hang a hummingbird feeder from it after I pounded it into the ground. It worked well as a winter bird feeder, too. I had lamented that we didn't have many hummingbirds at the beginning of the year even though I put out the feeders early just so the scouts could find it and bring the others. Hummingbirds, don't have scouts and they are very territorial about their food sources as it turns out.

Monsieur Hummingbird sits perched on top of the broom handle and holds a constant vigil against any encroaching hummingbird. As soon as one swings by, off he goes chasing the offender past the crepe myrtles into the oak trees. He is ready for any sneak attack, full frontal attack or the favored distract and sip ploy. He doesn't drink as often as I would suppose, after expending so much energy to protect his food. He preens his beak along the wooden side of the handle, and fluffs his feathers yet still he isn't any bigger than a tablespoonful. During Katrina he pointed his thin, little beak into the 60 mph winds and clung on to the top of that broom handle like he was superglued on. I have no idea how such a little thing could have such strength of might or will or both.

The first spectacular site I witnessed was right after my office was finished. We closed in the "hot tub" patio minus the hot tub and put in some storage cabinets and my office stuff with some shelves that my Dad had in his airport office. It was a crisp, crystal clear October day and I was looking out the windows, quite pleased at how much I could see when I looked toward Lake St. Joe and winding down from the heights was this swirling column of pelicans. I had heard that it was such a beautiful site to see the pelicans come in but I had no idea just how spectacular it is.



This pic I found on the net does not do it justice. You can barely see the swirl. About a hundred feet in the air, they start to spiral down one after the other. Fly in at a diagonal to precisely the same point as the bird before and then spiral down until the whole flock is on the water. It is like a lighthouse beacon only pelicans with their brilliant white feathers reflecting the sun. This went on for a full ten minutes. These are not small birds. Their wing span was easily 5 feet or more.

The difference in the birds is more than just the huge difference in size. The pelican flies in flocks as they swoop across the water, their wings fluttering the water's surface and their feet splashing brakes. They nest in flocks; the trees bend under their weight.

Can you just imagine how tired these birds are as they are flying in, hungry, wing sore and yet they swirl in a column for several minutes as a beacon so their brethren and sisterns and childurns can find the home rest below. How different from the hummingbird who chases off all comers with a vengence of a sore-tailed cat. I'm thinking I'd much rather be like the pelicans as they fly together, fish together and find rest together. I want to be a beacon to show others where the home rest is. It's not glamorous, but the sight from the outside is sheer beauty. Isn't that what Jesus told us? Our love for one another is His best witness to the world.

Replinished or Depleted? It's a choice.

Angela Hunt has a marvelous post on Charis Connection about Life Fillers and Life Drainers. It is astounding to me what she points out. Of course I knew this. I took a course on time management. I forgot a lot of that since it was 10 years ago, so I prayed and asked God all about it and He gave me some pointers that I wrote down. So why was Angela Hunt's article so startling?

Because life isn't about time management. [shock].
Life for Christians is all about living for Jesus and bringing Him glory. That's perfectly lovely to mouth that platitude, but come on, how many of us actually wake up every single morning with this plan in our head? Coffee is on my mind the first thing. I used to be good and wake up every morning with a prayer on my lips thanking God for all that He has given me. But this morning, I woke up as Spiritually depleted as this piggy bank.

"Why?" I can hear you ask. Because I am in a ministry that I know is not my minsitry. I know it is not my ministry because it does not give me that mental rush as I get ready for it. It doesn't give me any extra energy and I am flat out not motivated to get in the car and go. I have a sense of dread that I cannot overcome by myself. I've been in this ministry for 3 years now and I have this feeling just about every Saturday morning during the school year and I do not have a passion for this ministry like I have for Refreshment in Refuge and for teaching my ladies in Sunday School or even teaching Discipleship Training on Sunday evening. And, most especially, not like the passion I have for writing.

It's called Sonshine Kids and these are really precious kids. We've had 10 accept Jesus in 2 years. That doesn't seem like a lot, but when we consider that on a normal Saturday morning from 10AM to 12 Noon, we have about 15 - 20 kids on a regular basis, it is a lot. They love it. When I get there, I love them, and I have a really good time. For God to bless me in ministry, I must have the right attitude and right heart intent. So, I pray for that. He looks kindly on me and gives my heart a tune-up so that I can keep going.

I cannot help but wonder who's ministry I am working. Who is it that is missing out on a blessing from God that will give them zest for life, energy without stopping and a huge smile in their Spirit?

So, I pray that God will give whoever it is the boldness to come forward and volunteer in this ministry.

Paul talks about various gifts, various ministries and various expressions of power in 1 Cor 12. The various ministries are the good works that God has provided for us to do from the foundation of the world. The various gifts are the motivations that God gifted us with in order for us to gravitate to the works He has planned for each of us individually.

These gifts are what make us who we are in Christ. These gifts drive our personality and define our souls so that we may all work together to make a whole. One body, one Spirit, one Baptism formulate the unity of Jesus. This is something that I believe Christ’s church is forgetting. We are so caught up in political correctness that we forget Christ’s Correctness.

So why don't I quit Sonshine Kids and open the door for whoever is supposed to be doing this?
This ministry is what God gave my Mom after Dad died. There were several memorials given and God nudged her heart into starting a children's ministry to meet the needs of these kids that don't go to church or have a church to go to. It's a place that takes them away from some of the ugly things they live with and gives them hope that things will be better in the sweet by and by. Every time I try to quit, I just can't. I can't let my Mom down, I don't want to let the kids down. You ought to see them on Halloween. My office has these huge windows on 2 sides and I'll be studying or typing away and they stand at the window smiling and yelling, 'Hey, Miss Gina! Hey! Trick or Treeeeeeat!' I just have to laugh and hug them and give them all a treat. And sometimes they drop by just to say hello.

David Jeremiah said something so profound last Sunday that it just knocked me off my feet, thank goodness my bed was close by to sit on. It is simple. He said, "Your prayers draw you into God's plan."

Maybe it's my ministry after all and my prayers are drawing me into God's plan because this life certainly isn't about me, it's all about Him.

(My cousin sent me that picture saying that's what her bank account looked like after buying gas today.)

Wait

Wait
Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, “Child, you must wait.”
“Wait? You say, Wait!” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I relate hangs in the balance,
And YOU tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘no’ to which I shall resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe we need but to ask,
And we would receive.
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut and
Grumbled to God, “So…I’m waiting…for what??”
He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, “I could give you as sign.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want—but …you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint,
You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there;
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me when
Darkness and silence were all you could see.
You’d never experience that fullness of love
as the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.
You’d know that I give and I save…for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
You’d not know the glow of My comfort in the night;
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked of an infinite God
Who makes what you have LAST
You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that “My grace is sufficient for Thee.”
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh…the LOSS! If I lost what I’m doing in you!
So. Be silent, My Child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still,
“Wait.”

I do not know who wrote this, but 10 years ago it came into my email box and I treasured it. Every time I get impatient for God to DO something in my life He reminds me of this poem. I cannot help but add...

I lifted my eyes and put my hand into His.
and remembered the words of the psalmist 150.

O praise the Lord.
O Praise God in His holy temple,
Praise Him in the vault of heaven, the vault of His power;
Praise Him for His mighty works,
Praise Him for His immeasurable greatness.
Praise Him with fanfares on the trumpet,
Praise Him upon lute and harp;
Praise Him with tambourines and dancing,
Praise Him with flute and strings;
Praise Him with the clash of cymbals;
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
O, praise the Lord.

God loves a cheerful giver 2 Corinthians 9:7b

A comment by David on a post by Richard sparked this little study...

Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

All the widow had to buy food with was 2 mites. These small coins were worth 1/8 of a penny each. She gave to God the only money she had and Jesus watched as she gave her offering. (In the Temple there were thirteen trumpet shaped funnels that led to 13 chests which was in the Court of Women a separate place for the women to give their tithes and offerings. Each was marked for a different use.)

The term Jesus used “poor” widow was a term used to describe deep poverty.
πεντιχρός pentichros (pen-tikh-ros') Prolonged from the base of G3993; necessitous: - poor
G3993-- πένης penēs -- From a primary "peno" (to toil for daily subsistence); starving, that is, indigent: - poor.

Most likely, the woman only had the clothes on her back, the shoes on her feet and possibly a place to lay her head at night, but that is doubtful. The phrase “all the livelihood that she had,” meant that until she earned more money, this woman was penniless…destitute.

Jesus did not go running after her to give her money. He didn’t send someone to give her money. He didn’t take the money out of the treasury chest and give it back to her. Isn't that amazing? Why, if Jesus knew she had nothing and He knew her heart, didn't He give her back her money and more so she would have something to subsist on? Instead He declared she had given far more than the rich men who had placed gold upon the altar. How could this possibly be? How could Jesus be so “cruel” to not share what He had with this poor woman?

In Jesus’ ministry, people were sick and He healed them. People were hungry and He fed them. People were filled with demons and He freed them. Why didn’t He help this woman with money or food?

I heard a story once about two wealthy Christians, a lawyer and a merchant, who traveled with a group that was going around the world. As they were visiting in Korea, they saw by the side of the road, a field in which a boy was pulling a crude plow and an old man held the plow handles and guided it. The lawyer was amused and took a snapshot of the scene.

He turned to the missionary, who served as their interpreter and guide, and he said, "That's a curious picture. I suppose they are very poor."

The guide replied, "Yes, that is the family of Chi Noue. When the place of worship was being built, they were eager to give something to it, but they had no money, so they sold their only ox and gave the money to the church. This spring, they are pulling the plow themselves."

The men were silent for several moments. Then the businessman replied, "That must have been a real sacrifice."

The guide said, "They do not call it that. They thought it was fortunate that they had an ox to sell."

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

God gave the Children of Israel Manna from heaven to eat every morning while they were in the wilderness. But they had to go out every morning except the Sabbath to gather their food for the day.

God gave them shoes to wear that never wore out. But they had to walk in the wilderness for 40 years.

They were thirsty and God led them to water. But it was bitter water and they had to cut down a tree to put in it to turn it from bitter to sweet.

God provides for us abundantly however, we must participate in His blessings to us. God does not reward idleness. He gives us special skills to enable us to work and make money. Just as the birds hunt and find enough to eat for the day, God promises that our needs will be met each day. Because God gives these things to us, then we are thankful to give to Him out of His bounty to us. God created everything…and because He created it, it belongs to Him. Our tithe belongs to Him.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (paraphrased)
Sow sparingly, reap sparingly. Sow abundantly, reap abundantly. God loves a cheerful giver so give cheerfully, not grudgingly or from duty. God provides for all our needs in all things and God provides abundantly for each good work.

When the widow gave her 2 mites, Jesus knew her heart attitude. She gave cheerfully. She knew God would provide work for her so she could earn enough for her daily food. Jesus knew God would provide for her in His way. This is why He did not chase after her to give her money back. Her heart was Spiritually in the right place and therefore—even though she gave all the money she had—she missed nothing. She gave from her heart just like the Chinese family gave their ox. Because she sowed abundantly, Jesus knew she would reap abundantly.

It's that time of year again...

It is time for me to write the Bible study for our annual Refreshment in Refuge Women's January Retreat. I have written about the Proverbial Perfect Wife. I have written about The message of the cross really is "no stones".

This year, I thought God had provided the topic which was "Streams in the Desert", but our pastor chose that topic for some sermons and I don't wish to repeat. Give me a little help, if you would and tell me what topics sound good to you that go along with the theme Refreshment in Refuge.

About Haiti...

I must apologize to my friend David Miegs. I promised him that I would talk about his series and only today have I followed through. (So little time and so much to do!) He has written an excellent series of articles on a couple from Haiti and how the Lord is working in Haiti. Did you know that 201 years ago, the people of Haiti gave their children to Satan for 200 years? I didn't. Take a few minutes and read all about it here or click the title and go to the last article he wrote called The Building of Haiti Arise.