Christmas is Coming

I knew that the end of the year would not be easy. I had scheduled time to have almost all of my wood floors refinished the week before Thanksgiving with the hope of celebrating Thanksgiving in my home as we have done almost every year since we moved here.

In a time management class, I learned that to estimate the amount of time it takes to complete a project, one should add half of the original estimated time to get a realistic figure. I should have doubled the amount of time for this project!!!!!

My parents were on a cruise in the Bahamas and we stayed in their home while the floors were being done. It rained the entire week which greatly lengthened the amount of time it took for the floors to dry between coats. On Sunday, when my parents returned, we could not yet move in. To top it all off, my mother in law was in the hospital before Halloween and was soon being moved to a Rehab for recovery.

My brother was due to arrive at my Mom's on Wednesday night and would stay until the following week. So, being ever so careful, we moved some of the furniture in on Tuesday but could not set up everything until after Thanksgiving. So much for Thanksgiving dinner at my house unless we all walked barefoot and sat on the floor to eat.... Not to mention the challenge of trying to cook in a kitchen that had my dining set and half of my living room set piled in.

The floors are beautiful!!!! In fact, the transformation was so stunning, it brought tears to my eyes when I first saw it. My husband decided he wanted to take the one large bedroom that was refinished for our own room. This led to a whole new project including stripping wallpaper, putting up crown rail, replacing windows, the porch door and the closet door and of course, painting. This room had been our office and needed a LOT of work to transform it into a bedroom.

Finally, several weeks later, we were able to move all of the bedroom furniture in two weeks before Christmas. Between spending as much time as I could with my brother and his family and trying to re-organize my home, I was unable to even think about Christmas.

Thank God that I managed to schedule vacation time the week before Christmas! The week is almost over already and still so much to do! If anyone finds a few extra minutes, please float them my way!!!! I sure can use them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christians by Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say.. "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say.. "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

About a year or so ago, one of my friends started a chapter of the Red Hat Society. She recruited many of the over 50 women of our church...including my Mom. For many months, they bugged me to join, but I resisted... Being only 49, I really wasn't ready to be a Red Hatter. What I didn't know was that there is a provision for someone like me... Women who are "looking forward" to celebrating their 50th birthday are able to join the group as a Pink Hatter. After attending a meeting last Christmas, I decided to go for it. On the right is one of the three pink hats that I have purchased... I think it is my favorite.

Sadly, I will no longer be able to wear my pink hats after December 11th when I turn 50. While I have never really loved the color pink...for some reason, my year as a "Pinkie" has made me come to love it!

SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..... even though my days as a "Pinkie" are numbered, and others view the Big 5-0 as being some kind of ungodly curse, I am able to celebrate each day without fear. Being in the company of some really wonderful, creative, fun and loving women who have already broken the 50 year barrier has allowed me to celebrate my milestone birthday proudly. I am confident that when I finally turn in my pink hat, I will gladly trade it in for a Red Hat. Life DOESN'T end at 50.......... It has only just begun AGAIN!!!!!!!

Now, where in the heck will I find purple clothes???? :)

Tyrese Turns 7

You just got to love this kid! Wearing a Happy Birthday hat that his cousin made especially for him, Ty Ty is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his cake. He knows that once he blows out those candles, he can start to open his presents!

You should have seen his face when he opened his Lego Star Wars II games...and to top it all off, a box of Star Wars Pez dispensers. What more could any child ever want!


Tyrese!!!!! Pawma loves you!!!!!! 

Food for Thought

1 Kings 19:1-15
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them." 3 Elijah was afraid [a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. The LORD Appears to Elijah
And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.

I get the chance to preach this week while our pastor is away on vacation. I’m almost sorry I said yes. The Gospel lesson talks about Jesus, the bread of life and how we must eat his flesh to gain everlasting life. My studies have taken me from the Holiest of Holies in the Tabernacle where the showbread sits as a sign of God’s presence, to a study of cannibalism. It has all been just a little too bizarre for me.

To top it all off, there is this Old Testament lesson. At first, I thought verses 1-15 were all included in the reading. It turns out that the verses in black…those that I was hoping to use in my sermon aren’t even included in the reading… DRATS!!!! Anyway, this is a result of my thoughts today:

Here is Elijah… SO zealous to change the hearts and minds of Aram and his evil wife Jezebel that he charges in with a flaming sword and kills every single prophet of Ba’al. Now if that doesn’t get rid of this lousy Ba’al worship crap, I don’t know what will…LOL. Instead of ridding Israel of Ba’al, these killings do nothing but cause Jezebel to dig her heels in, rejecting God and Elijah all the more. And now, Jezebel is sending out her warriors to search out and kill Elijah. Elijah’s zealous actions to rid Israel of false God’s is a failure… Ba’al still reigns in the hearts of Jezebel, the King and the people. In deep depression…not only for the failure to rid Israel of this wicked god, but maybe even in his remorse for allowing his zeal to cause needless human death….Elijah seeks refuge in a cave. It is here that Elijah learned a valuable lesson. God needed Elijah to be strong in body and spirit for what was to come. Angels tended to him, offering cakes of bread and water so that Elijah could make the journey into God’s presence on Mt Horeb. Elijah is in the cave so that he can die but God has other plans….and in that plan God reveals that even though God’s power is like that of the wind and the tumult of an earthquake, God chooses to be revealed in the work of angels and in the silence that follows the tumult.

In any case, Elijah’s zealous acts in trying to rid Israel of idolatrous worship are not the answer. And we still have not learned to listen to God in the silence and to seek God in the ordinary.

May you my friends be blessed with seeing God in the ordinary things of your life. May your spirit be nourished by God’s angels and God’s purpose for your life in Christ be revealed in the silence.

Darned Pictures

Here we go for a hundredth time! Been trying to put my picture in my profile since I started this last year. I have never had a ny success.

I get the pic in and then when I go back...it's GONE!

Let's hope this time it works!

God's Gift Gone Bad

Medical breakthroughs abound in this day and age. I have never understood why some religions have tried to stand in the way of man's creative thinking. Many medical discoveries have enhanced, and enriched our lives in ways our ancestors would never have imagined. New technology has not only allowed us to live longer lives, but allows for a greater quaility of life. My belief is that God has created us with the ability to think and to solve problems for the benefit of humanity and for God's glory.

Unfortunately for us, even our God given gifts can be corrupted. Our culture generates our natural and sinful propensity for personal greatness. Recently there have been two news stories that epitomize this dilemma of trying to get ahead at the expense of humnaity's benefit.

The first example is of the Korean doctor who lied about the number of stem cells he had available for research. Even more troubling to me is the instance of a doctor who faked data in a research project for oral cancer.

People who suffer serious illnesses depend on cutting edge research to improve the quaility of their lives. Faking research such as this can put people's lives on the line. Drug companies who develop and market drugs put so much pressure on its scientists to perform. The cost of developing new drugs skyrockets and one mistake can put a multi million dollar project into a spiral of doom causing the company and its stockholders to lose money.

The thing is, I fully understand the motivations of these doctors. In high school, I had to do a science project. I started out with the best intentions on a project that would chart the growth rate of plants when left alone to grow versus plants that were talked to every day. It really was stupid of me to choose a project such as this. Even my friends will attest to the fact that I don't give much care for the plants that I have and the only kind of plants that survive at my house are the ones that grow on their own. Two weeks after I planted the beans I was using, both sets of plants died. My project was due soon....what would I do? Get an F on the project? Of course not! I lied...I made up the whole project and in the process got a B+ on it.

To this day, I still feel the guilt of this deception. The good news is that I learned from it. Two years later, I failed miserably at another attempted project (this time making donuts). Learning my lesson, I brought my hard as a rock donuts to class to show that I had tried to complete the project, even though I had failed. Guess what...I got an A anyway... just for trying.

Perhaps our society needs to stop placing so much emphasis on the bottom line and instead begin to reward people for their honest efforts to discover things. Maybe then the temptation to take a wonderful gift from God and to use it for evil would one day be overcome.

God, Thank you for the grace you have given to us. It is the grace that forgives us of our wrong doing and at the same time turns us around and encourages us to walk in new directions..no matter how difficult they might be. AMEN