Not One Is Missing

• As I began to think about my 50th wedding anniversary And our vow renewal, I knew I wanted to include my whole family in my tribute to my sweet Larry and our years together, because, of course, they have played a huge part in our fifty years  of marriage.  TYhe theme of my talk was “When did I start to love you?”  I started at our first meeting and first date and proceeded to our wedding along with good and bad things that came into our lives.  The bad of course drew us closer to our Heavenly Father and the good, well, that also turned us to our Lord with praise.  Of course, kids and grandkids were a part of the good things that happened in our lives!  I had a portion that went all through my grandkids one by one and special things about each of them.  I carefully included each one and their special story.  I had it prepared to read and practiced many times but as I read for some reason I missed our grandson Caleb.  Larry had dubbed Caleb , Catfish Caleb because when we were fishing, Caleb caught a yellow bellied catfish but threw the pole down and ran up the hill!  Every time Larry would tell the story he laughed as he relived that time.  But somehow I lost my place and missed our sweet Catfish!  I apologized over and over and the family teased him. 
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“You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:2-3, 13-14, 16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I thought of all the people our Lord 
has under his care and he never misses one of them.  He even keeps track of the stars and the Bible said he never loses any of them. 

“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As you enjoy all the lights everywhere you look this Christmas, think about the stars God knows and calls by name and remember you are so much more important than even the stars in the sky.  He did not die for the stars but gave his life for us!

And don’t forget “Not one is missing”!

The Lamb Is The Light!

Today is the first day of Advent.  The word advent means coming of something and in this case, means the coming of Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Christ. In many churches, the theme will be Hope!  And there are many scripture verses that refer to hope.  I like Isaiah 40 verses 28-31

²⁸ Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

Romans 15:4 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

As I read the last verse from Romans it made me remember a time when I met a hopeless woman.  In order to pick up some extra money for the family, I would sometimes pick up odd jobs.  One year a paper route came open around our neighborhood.  I would walk it every morning at 4:00 am so that those folks sleeping in the house could have their newspaper as soon as they awakened.  Believe it or not, I enjoyed the solitude of that time of the morning.  I would use it to pray for my family and even pray for each family asleep in those houses as I wrapped their paper tightly and put it in their mailbox.

I loved it when it snowed and it seemed like I was the only one awake to see it.  I probably was!  My footprints were the first to stir the beautiful display as it stretched out before me on those winter mornings.

It was around Christmas and one by one each house would display their decorations.  Back in those days we still collected for the paper door to door and those who were asleep when I came to their houses were now awake and full of Christmas greetings.  As I knocked on each door, I was usually asked in to get out of the cold and there stood the beautiful lights and shiny ornaments that lit up the room.  This was a happy time for even the "paper girl".

One house on my route was always dark and the lady would peek out of a crack in the door to pay me.  One day I wished her a Merry Christmas and enquired about her plans for Christmas day.  This poor lady began to tell me about her lack of a celebratory spirit.  She had no reason to celebrate according to her.  Her husband had passed away, she had no children and there seemed to be a profound sadness in her voice.  It was not only her house but her soul.  She had no hope!  For the rest of the season as I passed the lonely dark house, I prayed for this one who did not know the reason we celebrate this time of the year.  She did not know Jesus the hope giver.  The babe in the manger would grow to be a man and die for us so we could have hope.  I can't help but think if this dear one could have met him a great light would have shined into her lonely dark world.

A dear friend lost his father a few days ago but they though saddened, were celebrating his home going. Unlike the dear lady on my route, this man had abundant hope!  The bible says there is no need for light in heaven because Jesus is the light.  

And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city and the Lamb is its light.  Revelation 21:23

That kind of light cannot be bought on the Christmas aisle at Walmart!

The Lamb is the Light!  Hallelujah!

I Hate Tinsel!

We just celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary so I have been inundated with memories from the past sometimes making me somewhat sad because of times gone by.  Since the celebration is over I still continue to remember things from those first years of marriage.  One of them is our first Christmas tree.  It was, of course, a fresh tree bought from a lot.  We went out and bought all new ornaments and lights for the tiny tree.  I remember bringing home to our little apartment boxes of red apples for bulbs, garland and twinkling lights of all colors.  Although I hate it, we bought silver tinsel and strew it about until you could barely see the ornaments.

For years I drug these ornaments out at Christmastime but the years took a toll on them.  The red came off of the apples, the garland was in pieces and the lights had to be replaced several times.  But then the tinsel covered up the chips, brokenness, and darkness.

Sometimes we feel like these pitiful decorations.  Once we were brand new in our faith after we had accepted Christ into our hearts, but then life began to tear away our "bright and shiny"!  Our life changed as trouble came our way, our health deteriorated, or relationships changed.  But then there was lots of tinsel to cover our disappointments.  There were church services, Christian friends, and bible studies, but inside there was something missing, a longing for new life.  Why had the paint chipped away?  Why had the beautiful twinkling lights gone black?  Why are we left with only the tinsel?

 We as busy believers have forgotten our first love!

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.  Consider how far you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.  Revelations 2:3-4

So in this busy season, if you feel you have somehow lost your first love, turn your life around and seek your first love this Christmas.  Don't hide behind the tinsel!

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.  Jeremiah 29:13 NLT

Let us cast off every distraction so that we can run free and unhindered in pursuit of Christ.

There is still hope in the manger!
There is still hope in the cross!
Seek him while he may be found!

I still hate tinsel!

Pain, Pillowcases And My Praisin' Arm

Pain, Pillowcases And My Praisin' Arm

Because Michelle, my friend, and Physical Therapist, is on the Praise Team at church with me, I felt free to tease her and tell her I needed my "Praisin' Arm" to work again.  I hold my microphone in my right hand and raise my left arm to praise our Lord as lyrics of a song bless my heart.  As we both laughed she said, "No problem"!  After a painful rotator cuff surgery, I had lost much of my range of motion.  In fact, my "praisin' arm" barely made it past my waist.
Most of the time I went four times a week and sweet Michelle heard nearly every story of my 71 years on earth.  She suffered through the planning of my 50th Wedding Anniversary and turned away when she stretched my arm so far I thought it would break and ignored my grimaces and groans because she knew that's what it would take to get well.  Every week she would measure my progress with her funny looking ruler and would report progress most times.  I shared my thoughts on the devotional I had read that morning, my prayer list and my grateful heart for all the Lord has done for me.  I loved it when she did the same in those early hours before the place was filled with patients.  I loved hearing stories of her little girls and shared our child-rearing ideas.  Mine from the 1970s and her currently were not all that different.

The pain was ever-present especially at first but she persisted.  I think of how the Lord sometimes lets us experience pain in our lives.  He stretches us to the limit to make us stronger and eventually well.  Oh, how he must have to turn away as we grimace and groan under the load that we carry.  After being "stretched out" I would get a warm pad on my arm that soothed those sore muscles.  Many times when I feel that I have been stretched to my limit the Lord soothes me with his presence and gives me encouragement through his word.

One of the exercises  I did was with a pillowcase over my arms.  I would go up the wall as far as I could with the pillowcase helping it to slide more easily.  Sometimes as we plead for instant answers to our prayers, he tells that His grace is sufficient for us.  Though we struggle the "Pillowcase of His grace helps us glide more easily through life with His constant, unfailing love.  Eventually my "Praisin' arm" begin to respond as me and my pillowcase reached higher and higher.  I teased Michelle endlessly that I was going to take my pillowcase to church so I could raise my arm farther into the air.

Finally, my "Praisin' arm" could go far into the air as if reaching for heaven itself.  As if the hand of God reached down to grab it as I praised Him.  As we go through life, we would do well to use our pain to grow, hang on to His grace as we are stretched and raise our "Praisin' arm" high and often.  Thanks, Michelle!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble!

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble
Here I am not even two weeks out from the most wonderful time, when my kids and grandkids came home from all over the country just to help us celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  Yet, I found myself mechanically putting ornaments on my fifth tree and complaining!  I complained that it wasn't like when the kids were all little and we would make an evening of it.  Larry would make a a pot of fudge, not the modern kind, but the recipe that used to be on the back of the Hershey cocoa can.  We would play Christmas carols and a few times I even taught the kids how to string popcorn and cranberries for the garland.  They would put their ornaments and green and red garland that they made from construction paper on the tree and we would celebrate each homemade treasure.  It didn't matter where they landed, if they were perfectly placed or color coordinated.  After it was finished we turned off the lights to admire our work and there were times we even went outside to see how it looked as the multicolored lights shined brightly out of the frontroom picture window.  The fresh smell of the tree made the whole room inviting.  Hmmmm!  That was a pleasant trip down memory lane but then there was my murmuring!  My complaining!  My grumbling!  Tears of loss of a time gone by.  The lights still sparkled but not in this girls soul!  This mood pretty much continued all day as it matched the gloomy November day we were having.

This morning I got into my study of the Psalms and figured that I could find something that would cheer me up.  Oh, how You, oh Lord must tire of our constant whys and whines!  Sure enough in Psalm 10:14 I found it!  But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand.  There!  That's me afflicted!  Really, Jeanie!  You just testified to anyone who listened that You have been with us all fifty years of our marriage and now you complain because things aren't like they used to be when you were young.
Then my bible directed me to another scripture that hit too close to home.  I turned quickly to Philippians 2:14-16 that says "Do EVERYTHING without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault...  Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.

Hallelujah, Lord!  You, again, had me pegged and brought councel to my heart!  I have nothing to complain, murmur or argue about, you have given me everything I need.  Then the Lord led me to turn on our 12ft tree and as the lights flashed on I saw the blessing the Lord wanted me to see.  It was ornaments placed willie nillie, ribbon slung across the bottom of the tree with no apparent purpose and a few broken ornaments that we used anyway!  It was the handywork of a new generation of tree decorators!  It was the beauty that my grandkids created while they were here.  Each little hand had placed shiny bits of love all over our Christmas tree.  Oh how generous you are to us, God, even when we grumble!  I love you, Lord!  Thank you, Jenna, Evie, Kellan and Harper Jean!

Kiss Your Arm

I don’t know about you but every morning when I wake up I kiss my left arm!  Don’t be alarmed even though I have been on some heavy pain meds I am not now.  I had surgery done on my left shoulder over a week ago and though the pain was much more than I thought it would be, it has been terrible not having the use of my left arm.  My right arm is dominate but oh my how I miss the use of my left hand.  God knew what he was doing when he gave us two hands!  Just think of the things you do with your left.  I use my left hand to fluff my hair while my right hand dries it.  And dressing myself is a nightmare.  My left hand holds my toothpaste while my right brushes my teeth.  My left arm just automatically raises for a quick hug.  

The Bible talks a lot about the right hand of God.  Like in Psalms 89:13

“Powerful is your arm! Strong is your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭89:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It is the symbol of God’s mighty works , it is the symbol of victory over God’s enemies and many more references throughout his word.  

I found his strength, as I always do, in his righteous right hand.  

But what about our left hand?  The Bible doesn’t speak often of the left hand.  I found the left hand in the help of my sweet husband who help me with everything from putting ice on my shoulder constantly to giving me medicine when it was time and then listening to my drug induced ramblings.  I found strength in my family’s love.  I found strength in my left hand as I thought of my church family.  Their prayers and concern for me.  I felt strength this morning as my sisters and brothers greeted me in the love of the Lord.  Their greeting completed me as my left hand completes me.  I can’t wait until I can raise both my hands to praise my Lord!  But just like I can’t be complete without the powerful right hand of our Father I need the left hand of love extended to me by my loved ones and my church family.  

Well, maybe I don’t kiss my left arm every morning but I certainly appreciate my left arm as God intended it to come along side my right one to do what God wants us to do!  

Love the beautiful righteous, right hand of God but appreciate the loving left hand that comes along to help us!

Twine and Burlap

Twine and Burlap?

This is the year that Larry and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  Since that will be coming up in November, I have been looking at everything "golden anniversary".  Everything from table centerpieces to clever invitations.  I have listened to beautiful music that I want to be sung at our vow renewal and visited sites that give "sample" vows to be recited at the big occasion.  All this has been fun for me but as I watched videos on how to make things for the reception, I begin to stress because I am not the least bit talented in crafts.  The handiwork of those who make these videos are amazing.  They take things that are nothing (Dollar Tree finds) and make them into something beautiful.  

I thought of my non-craftiness as I read this scripture from Ephesians this morning.  Although I have trouble with a glue gun and lack creativity when it comes to making something beautiful out of twine and burlap I am still God's handiwork!  And He has created me in Christ Jesus to do good works.  Not only has He created me to do good works but the bible says He prepared these in advance for me to do.  Isn't that so wonderful!

 Ephesians 2:10 New International Version (NIV)

10 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are talking about the creator who brought everything into being taking time to prepare, in advance, good works for me to do.

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament[a] shows [b]His handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

Psalm 102:25 New International Version (NIV)

In the beginning, you laid the foundations of the earth,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Just by my experiences in crafting, I don't think the Lord created me for that but what work does He have for me to do?  May I always strive to find out and obey as He leads me.  Lord, I love it that you have been thinking about me since before I was even born.

But really!  What am I supposed to make with twine and burlap?