Journey into Forever

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was a governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great

Joy. This time of year we hear it in carols, ads, stories.It's as if the Christmas season, with presents, gatherings,and traditions will automatically produce joy in the hearts of everyone. The word can have many different meanings. People interpret it in various ways. Some think it means extreme happiness. A giddy, very active experience. When belly laughs seem to come from deep within. I don't know about you, but those experiences come few and far between for me. They also usually involve children. Not something one can enjoy constantly. Recently, that kind of free, emotional experience is even more difficult to attain. We see all of the events in our world, and if we let ourselves we can become sad, even depressed. Man's inhumanity to man is indescribable. We could talk for weeks and never come up with reasons or solutions. Because we are bombarded with the facts daily it can affect us deeply emotionally. One thing I have never experienced

I love Paul. He is a symbol of hope to anyone who thinks they are unworthy of salvation. Just think about it. Not only did he hate Christians, he did everything in his power to destroy as many as he could. He was driven by some sort of hatred for anything related to the faith. And yet God, in His infinite wisdom, pursued even him and led him to become a beacon for all of us. Anyone who feels they have gone too far in sin to ever be accepted by God can look at Paul and know that anyone, ANYONE,can come to Christ. My dad struggled with his own worthiness most of the last years of his life. Dad was raised in a horrible environment. Born to a mother of about 15, he was raised by his grandmother. Everyone spoiled and over protected him. He grew up frightened of everything. He had memories of his father sitting over him as he slept saying he was going to kill him. His home was completely immoral, with criminals, some famous, staying there occasionally. He saw and hear

Wow! I've been really busy lately. I'm working everyday, (yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be retired). I recently kept 3 of my grandchildren while my daughter and her husband went to Vegas, and was reminded ONCE AGAIN why young people have children. Then, adding the 'to do' list for Christmas kind of puts my level of activity over the top for someone my age. Yuk! That sounded terrible.....someone my age..... I'm late with this post, and part of the reason is the busyness, but there is another reason related to that busyness. Although I had two or three ideas to write about, I think they were my ideas and not God's. Since the whole purpose of this blog is to speak what He would have me to, I put it off because I was not getting clear direction on what He would have me write about. Yesterday morning when I woke up it dawned on me .....BAM.... I've been so busy I have not been in the Word as much as usual. That is a post for another time,

Some of you may want to stop reading right here. Really. Especially those of you who have had pretty 'even keel' lives. A few ups and downs along the way, but basically pretty sane. You'll know why in just a bit if you are still with me. I do some of my best time with God when I'm driving. I'm always listening to Christian music or teaching, and that's part of my story today. Later though. Anyway, it was during my drive to go to church with my daughter and her family that God gave me the subject for this post. I'm different in many ways, but one way is what happens when I get excited. Most people say their hearts "skip a beat". Not me. Mine tries to beat out of my chest. Very rapidly. Scary rapidly. My cries of "but that's too personal, I don't want to tell that story to the world" were met with silence. I know what that means. Kind of like when your mom was looking at you in silence after you had done or

Turkeys. Today in kindergarten we made BIG turkeys. We read stories about turkeys, including my favorite written in the form of "The Night Before Christmas". In this story, children visit a farm and make friends with the turkeys. When they realize the farmer is going to butcher the turkeys for Thanksgiving, they rescue them by stuffing them under their shirts and smuggling them out of the farm and into their homes. The final scene contains silhouettes of the families sitting down to dinner with their honored guests. Each table includes a turkey as a Thanksgiving guest,not the main entree. Thus, the turkeys had much to be thankful for on the holiday. The story introduces or reinforces the idea of thankfulness. In public school, this is an acceptable discussion because thankfulness is a generic term. If you don't state who the recipient of those thanks is, you're good. It's politically correct. Public school has changed a great deal since

Not been a great week. I had a TERRIFIC case of stomach flu (oxymoron, huh) which caused me to miss Women of Faith in Kansas City. I was really looking forward to that. And the uncertainty of the election and our future as a country has had me unsettled. A new thing for me, because I don't usually pay much attention to politics as a whole. But religious leaders I respect, such as Billy Graham, Dr. James Dobson, and Mike Huckabee have really gotten my attention. Unfortunately, it led me to really contemplate the possibilities in both scenarios. Some of those potential situations really scared me, and some were comforting. As human nature frequently does, I tend to gravitate toward the scary stuff. Pretty easy way to get yourself all worked up. There are many scary things in our world today. Finances, storms, wars, earthquakes,the list goes on and on. People could be terrified constantly , and rightfully so. The word "fear" is found in the

I'm sure this is going to be a rhetorical question. A no-brainer that even a young child could answer correctly. Here goes anyway...... Is anyone as sick as I am of the election? Specifically, election commercials, election phone calls, election strategy. I had enough weeks ago. And in another week plus it will be over. I'm glad it will be over, but I have to tell you I'm concerned. I don't get too wound up about non-eternal ( for lack of a better phrase) stuff anymore, so scared is not an appropriate word. But I am concerned about what the results of this election could be. So as Christians, what does that concern look like? At what level do we become political activistists? We know what Christ said about taxes, because in Matthew 22:17-21 Jesus told us to give to Ceasar ( the government) what is theirs and to God what is His. So, we don't have to speculate what to do there. As far as the rest of politics is concerned , I know that I have a

Blah.I don't know whether I am tired from being away from home so long, if I'm getting sick or what it is, but my energy level is just nil.Has been for a few days. And I have to be honest with you;I am in a real spiritual lull right now as well. I know why that is true, and I'm working on it, but so far I'm not making much progress. Being on vacation, I also took a "vacation" from the Word , thus my spiritual pit. I know better . It seems like just a few days without reading from the Bible, and my prayer life suffers too, as does my mood and everything else. And it takes a few days to get back in sync with God like I should be. In years passed, I did not understand why my prayers seemed to " bounce off the walls " of my room. Sometimes that still happens, but I understand why now. Although God loves us more than anyone else can even imagine, He is also jealous. He wants to be #1 and He's not gonna accept anything else. So, if you

     Riding in the car again.  Seems like that's all I have done in the past 3 weeks.  It isn't, just seems like it.  Last night we went to our final event at the Balloon Fiesta in Albequerque.  It was called a 'glowdeo', where the balloons stayed on the ground, but they all lit up at the same time.  Beautiful colored balloons exhibiting their amazing colors with a backdrop of magnificent mountains.  A wonderful experience. And yet, to me that experience still doesn't compare to the site of a pristine mountain stream.  No noise.  No mama's voices admonishing a child to hurry along.  No arguing couples.  No sarcastic, critical teens.  Just the sound of nature .  Serene.  Calming.  Peaceful.  Somehow man's best doesn't come close to what God creates.  We mess things up, don't we?  Sometimes with our actions, sometimes with our mouths.  The man-made beauty of the balloon  fiesta was tarnished by exactly what created the experience. Man.  And although we

        I'm sitting in a friend's family room as he and my husband watch an action movie.  It's about a guy whose daughter gets abducted and how he looks for her.  Relentlessly looks for her until, against all odds, he finds her.  Family.  We'll do anything for them.        Then, my mind wanders  to two deaths that happened recently.  Both completely unexpected.  Sudden.  Shocking .  The first wàs our neighbor, discovered dead at home.  As far as I know, there was no clue this was about to happen.  Her son as called home from a job overseas to bury her. The second, the father of two boys who mean a lot to me.  He was coaching first base for his boy's baseball team.  Just patted a boy on the back for a base hit, then gone.  As quickly as that.  No warning, no clue this was his last day.       When we hear of deaths like this, the first thing we think about is their family.  Who they left behind and what those people's lives will be like without them.  As a Chri

     As we drove down highway 60 going to Tennessee, the rain was falling gently but steadily.  It was a cool day, and seemed more like a day to sit in your jammies, drink tea, and read or watch old movies.  And even though I love jammie days, I was very glad to be heading to see my good friend and attend a retreat at the Christian camp where she lives.       Most of you who know me well might be surprised to learn that I am somewhat backward when meeting new people.  I say backward rather than shy because I literally would rather walk backward to avoid new people than talk to them.  Shoot, sometimes I even avoid talking to good friends if I am in a public place and can turn the other way.  So, at a typical event like this I like to blend in, maybe making small talk with the person sitting right by me, or maybe not.  During this event, however, I was participating in a way that would not let me simply blend in.  So I knew I would be meeting some new people.  A thought that filled me w

     I feel like celebrating today. It's a real joy for me to see so many good Christian themed movies out for a change. Last night at church I saw a wonderful movie titled "Octoberbaby".  If you have not seen it, you should.  It looks at abortion and adoption from a whole different perspective.  The child's.  As I watched, I thought about all the little girls and boys who did not survive their mother's abortion. Then my mind drifted to people I know, family members even, who were pregnancies that were unplanned and some for a while even unwanted.  Babies who might have been aborted had their mothers made that choice.  And I was sickened.  I can't imagine a world without those people in it.  What a loss it would be.       Now I know there are people who make the argument that there are so many unloved children in the world that ending abortion would just cause more children to suffer. While that may or may not be true, I believe excuses can be found for any s

     I am not really political.  I seldom discuss politics, partly because if I got into a real political discussion my ignorance would show immediately and frequently.  My daughter got all of the political genes.  She used to go to her grandparents' home next door and discuss politics with them for hours.  Apparently they had some pretty lively discussions.  It is one of many things she misses about her Papa.  Consequently, this election year is a highlight of her existence.  Not me.  I'm somewhat annoyed, bored with the ads, and ready for it to be over.       That being said, I can't downplay the importance of politics, especially for Christians.  We have a responsibility to vote for candidates who have positions in line with our beliefs.  In America, it hasn't seemed all that important before, because most candidates espoused Christian beliefs, even when their personal lives did not necessarily back up their claims.  But our country, and the world in general, are mu

     I have been retired from teaching for three full years.  After teaching for 31 years, I didn't think I would do very well at 'not working'.  I had a really hard time when my children left the nest, and I figured this would be just as difficult for me, if not more.  When my kids left, I had my job and 20+ kids to nurture in the classroom.  Retirement meant no work, no kids, nothing to do and nothing to occupy my time. Some of you know, and all of you will see, that the amount of time I spent working was so huge that I didn't see how I could fill it without my job. I was wrong about that. More on that later.      Let me explain.  When I was working, and some of you know this full well, it was very important to me to do a good job.  VERY important to me.I knew how critical the influence of a teacher was, especially when teaching very young students.  Getting them started was a huge responsibility to me.  For part of that time, I was a Christian also.  I knew enough a

     I may have said this before, but I am really affected by music ( is that the right word to use...you know like their, there, and they're?). Music can speak to me more than just about anything.  For a while I confused music with worship, which is fairly easy to do, I think.  I have that straight now, but I am still strongly pulled by a Christian song.  If you listen carefully, it's not the music. It's the words that hold such meaning.  There are some amazing poets writing Christian lyrics these days. Inspired by God as I am sure many are, each word becomes a message in itself.      I believe songs are one way God speaks to us.  I remember one specific incident when I was having a hard time with various incidents in my life.  I really wanted to talk to my friend and advisor. Couldn't get her on the phone, and was driving in Springfield feeling really sorry for myself.  At that particular moment, "Words I Would Say" by Sidewalk Prophets comes on the radio.

      I guess you know by now that I tend to read a lot.  I love to get new ideas, look in different directions, and compare others' thoughts with my own.  The book I am reading now is "rocking my world" and in my opinion could be one of the most meaningful books I've ever read.      I didn't plan to read it.  Probably wouldn't have bought it until much later when I heard about it from others.  The copy I am reading now was either given to me as I checked out from the Lifeway store, or it was offered to me so cheaply that I couldn't turn it down.  I really don't remember, but I know that God had a hand in it.  I just love it when He does stuff like that, don't you?          The title of the book is " not a fan." by Kyle  Idleman.  Idleman is  the teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisvsille, Kentucky, the fifth largest church in Amcrica.  When he was about to address an Easter crowd of around 30,000 people, he was strug

     Have you seen that commercial?  The one where the girl believes everything she hears on the Internet?  Then, when the man she is corresponding with tells her he's a French model, she completely believes it. Even when she sees him, and he's OBVIOUSLY not a model,she accepts it as truth simply because she heard it on a source she completely trusts.  Funny, huh?       I had a similar experience this weekend.  I know better, and yet I fell into this one head first.  It's a pretty easy thing to do, and something that is becoming more and more frequent as time passes.  I had asked for a new reference to use in my Bible study for Christmas.  Someone whose opinion I value had used it, and I took that as all I needed for a recommendation.   I have used it intermittently and liked it.  I even recommended it to a friend .  Well, to make a long story short, this friend and I went into a Christian bookstore to purchase the item and were told they didn't carry it.  I could tell

      Ok.  Dont have an attack because I am posting twice in the same week, but this is a good activity I wanted to share.  I am planning for an event in September, which led me to look for words that begin with the letter "u".  Knowing full well that you can google words you want to find, since at one point I did that for a scrabble game ( sorry Linda, you just beat me too much!) I tried that method.  I was very selective, choosing only words from the list that could  relate to my experience with God in some way.       As I began, I found myself thinking about how each one related to God and/ or my experience with Him.  What started out as a simple search became a time of praise and worship.  I found 48 words beginning with "u", that were wonderful descriptors of my Lord.  It became 48 statements to Him of what He means in my life.      I challenge you to spend some time, maybe over the course of a few days, and do this activity.  You can pick a random letter, th

      Well, I have to start this time with a cheer.  A statement of amazement actually.  We have all experienced some form of what I'm about to celebrate.  Those tiny moments where we KNOW, we just know that what has just happened was Divine.  An event, something someone else says,  even a song or a tv or radio program can be directly speaking to us, sent by heavenly messenger .      I say this next part certainy not as a "fishing" expedition.  As you know, I kind of put myself all out there, for anyone to see.  So, I have to tell you that writing this blog is not some sort of social experiment, or a platform to promote myself.  I don't want to be a big blogger or anything like that.  Honestly, I wouldn't be even doing this if I had a choice. But it isn't a choice.....not now, not really.  I suppose I could stop, but I have learned the hard way that not following what you are pretty confident is the will of God is like asking for a flood right after you get t

      Just got back from a few days at the lake.  It was a good time.....hot, but a good time.  Had some family birthday parties, and missed some family members who were not able to come.    REALLY hot, as you can imagine.  Thank heaven for campers with air conditioning!  My mom says we're not really camping because we aren't "roughing  it".  I say if we were roughing it I wouldn't even be there.  At 58, sorry 59, I no longer have any desire to rough it.  And if my camping is for the pampered set, so be it.  I roughed it when I was young!       We really like camping.   Sometimes we go to rugged places, and sometimes we camp in the middle of a city.  Some people don't understand our love for camping.  A friend of ours once asked why we were getting a camper.  He made the point that the money spent on the camper would buy a lot of hotel rooms.  He was right.  It sure would.  But as my husband answered, that's just not who we are.  We are campers.  Differen

Remember when we talked about all the ways God speaks to us? I never cease to be completely 'freaked out' when I sense God doing just that with me. It's a privilege beyond words. Some would say I have a vivid imagination....that I am wanting it so much I make it happen. I've heard that said before. I used to think it about others. People who give arguments like that are impossible to convince otherwise without Divine intervention. So, while they think what they will, I continue to pray they will develop a life changing relationship with God. I would love nothing better than listen to everyone's accounts of how God is speaking to them. Especially the naysayers. The ones who don't believe. The lost. Well as usual, I digress. I thought we were through talking about change. But in my personal Bible study this week I came across change again. And, after reading and thinking about that lesson, it became clear that change wasn't finished with me. O

Today is my birthday. I have one more year in this fifth decade. It has made me think a lot about the changes slowly occurring in my life due to age. Some good, some bad. Many more to come. There have been many changes around me in the past few days as well. An old friend lost her husband. A close friend is facing a serious illness with her husband. Another learned of the illness of a cousin who is more like a sister. One met new grandchildren for the first time. Some good changes, some not so good. We face changes all the time. Some are life changing, some just affect the day or even the hour we hear them. Some don't change anything at all. Living in this society at this time in history, we're somewhat used to change. We have to be. Things change all the time. Buy a new phone if you don't believe me. Within what seems like days there is a new one out that is 'smaller' (not bigger) and better and we want to change to that one eventually. I am an

      A furnace. That's what it felt like on the asphalt under the red, white, and blue tent on a parking lot in our son's town. So hot you sometimes couldn't breathe.But, remember that perfectionist husband I talked about in a previous blog?; The one that is sometimes irritating? Well, that irritating man saved our lives by rigging up a driveway sensor to allow us to be in the air-conditioned camper some of the time, waiting for a "ding" to go out in the heat and wait on a customer. Nice. I'll take the irritating for advantages like those any time!        This was the all time worst year to sell fireworks. Not only was it extremely hot,the fourth of July was on a Wednesday. Other sellers had told us we would have a low year when it was in the middle of the week. And, to make it the perfect storm, the dry conditions and extreme fire danger made everyone wary of fireworks this year.  Our suppliers even said they had never seen anything like it. Now,min

      Before we get started on what the learned people say, I just have to tell you this. I know many if not all of you have had this same experience in your lives, but I thought it was just like God to let me experience it again today when He knew I was going to be writing. I am knee deep in fireworks at our family stand in Republic. Living in such close quarters can be challenging to say the least. At home, my husband and I have given each other plenty of space since retiring, and that works pretty well. He does his thing, I do mine, then we do OURS. Up here though we're together 24-7 and besides that it is bloomin' hot! Needless to say, we are not on our best behavior. My husband is a very talented man, and can fix or make almost anything we want or need. He even maneuvered a way for us to be able to sit in the air conditioning and hear a beeper when someone walks into the tent so we can go out then,staying cool most of the time. Anyway, along with all these talents

      So who is your BFF?  Lots of times we talk about God being our closest friend, but is He? In the last blog we talked about the importance of a close relationship with God when wanting to interact with Him.  It's the only thing.  Nothing else anyone says will matter without it.  All the Christian "self-help" books in the world will gain you nothing without it.  The quality of our relationship with God is truly the bedrock for everything else.  That being said, if God does speak to His children, how is that accomplished?       Some of my favorite passages in scripture deal with God actually speaking to people in the both the Old and New Testaments.  I mean a real audible voice.  Honestly, it kind of makes me jealous.  Can you imagine?  Hearing God's voice this side of heaven?  Wow.  I don't know what I would do short of passing out. I understand why that doesn't seem to happen much now, though.  I mean, if you could hear the audible voice of God, the fait

So the question is, does God speak to us today? Can we get specific direction for our lives? Is it a waste of time to look for answers to the issues in one seemingly insignificant life? I believe the answers to those questions are a resounding yes,yes, and ABSOLUTELY NOT! In the Blackaby study mentioned earlier, the authors are clear about God's response to his children. They talk throughout the study about watching for God's invitation to join Him in His work. Their belief, and mine, is that communication with God must start with relationship first. Here's an example. Suppose you are hit with a major personal crisis. Let's say you suspect your daughter or son is experimenting with drugs. You desperately need someone to talk with. Not wanting to risk the word getting out, you decide to stop a stranger in Wal-Mart and ask that person what to do. You start explaining your problem while the startled person just looks at you. He doesn't know you.