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Month: April 2024

Reasons to Celebrate

Reasons to Celebrate

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We celebrated my pastor for giving 33 years in service to our church today. Everyone in the room could feel the excitement. 

He invited a guest preacher to speak, and you could tell that he had a lot of respect for this man of God. Past preachers, musicians, family, and friends all came to help him celebrate. Even our ministry partners from George, South Africa were there. It was a joyous occasion.  

It made me think about my life, and the things that I sometimes celebrate. 

My husband, and I made it a point to do something to acknowledge our anniversary every year. Sometimes, it was dinner with friends. Mostly though, it was just the two of us being grateful for one more year. I also made my birthday my own personal holiday every year. I take off from work, and do whatever I want for the whole day (I really look forward to it every year). 

But short of waking up every morning, that is pretty much it. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t take that for granted, I just think there should be more to life than just waking up, right?

As I contemplated celebrations, those things seemed to pale in comparison to celebrating 33 years in ministry. Then I realized what I was doing. Why was I comparing my life to someone else’s? Why did I think that what my pastor had done was so much better than anything I had done?

God had to remind me what Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” He helped me see that life itself is reason enough to celebrate. Every day is reason enough to celebrate. Every breath is reason enough to celebrate. And waking up is a big deal, and it should be celebrated. 

So, I learned my lesson. From now on, I won’t look at others as my benchmark for reasons to celebrate. I will keep my eyes fixed firmly on the Lord, Jesus Christ who gives me life. He is the real reason any of us have to celebrate anyway.

Until next time…

Be blessed

The Things That Make Memories

The Things That Make Memories

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Today was a good day. I believe my pastor could have definitely been a comedian if he hadn’t been called to ministry. I love the way he can find humor in ordinary things. 

He likes reminiscing about what it was like growing up. I love it too, because the stories he tells are so relatable.

I remember sharing onion pickles, Chico sticks, and candy straws with my friends. I remember playing dodge ball, hot butter beans hula hoops, and jacks until the lights came on. I remember my parents taking us to the park at Easter for our annual Easter egg hunt, and actually losing half of the eggs they hid. 

I love hearing those stories. I love that they make me laugh until my stomach hurt. And that every time he tells those stories…it feels like home.

The older I get the more I appreciate my childhood. The friendships, the neighborhood, and even the school I went to. It makes me feel for the children today. The ones that don’t know what it’s like to be free. That don’t know what it’s like to play outside all day, or to get in trouble for eating grapes from the neighbor’s tree. To come home to the smell of dinner cooking, or to homemade cakes, and apple pies. 

I pray for a world that learns to enjoy that again. To know what it’s like to enjoy the small things we sometimes overlook. 

Things like taking time to feel the sunshine on a warm summer’s day, or to catch snowflakes on your tongue in winter, or to lie on the grass looking up at the stars at night. Things that don’t cost anything, but mean everything.

The things that make memories.

Until next time…

Be blessed

Go Ahead And Take A Nap

Go Ahead And Take A Nap

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I came home with the intention of getting some reading done today. The next thing I know…I was waking up. How in the world did that happen??? I just sat down for a few minutes. 

Ughhhhh…getting old is no joke! I always say that it is not for the faint of heart.

Let me tell you, at first I was a little concerned. I mean, I never took naps. I didn’t need them. I could stay up all night, go to work, come home and do it all over again. Of course, I was twentysomething then. That, in itself explains a lot…lol. I could do a lot then that I can’t do now.

The thing is…I don’t think I would change anything. I don’t want to go back in time, and do it all again. I love the age that I am. I worked hard to get here. 

Maybe I could use a little fine tuning. Be a little kinder to myself. Go to sleep on time, eat a better diet, drink more water, eat less junk food, and stop stressing about stuff. 

Come to think of it, that’s good advice for any age.

God gives us the opportunity to self-correct. He really is the God of second chances. He loves us so much, and always wants the best for us. He wants us to live our best lives. Of course, that means different things to different people, 

To me, it means living a life that is totally sold out to Him. Knowing that there is no material thing that can give me what He can.Things like peace, joy, love, faith, hope…all come from living a life that is based on pleasing Him, and I always want to please Him.

Our bodies are not meant to last forever, but our souls are. And that’s the most important part, right? Prayerfully, we will all get to be super heroes (that’s what I call seniors) one day. I love knowing that no matter what age we are, when we give our lives to the Lord, Jesus Christ, we never die…we just get eternal life with Him. Thank You, Lord!

So, maybe our bodies don’t cooperate the way they used to. That’s ok. Just keep trusting God, enjoying the journey, and taking a good nap every now and then.

Until next time…

Be blessed

Measure of Faith

Measure of Faith

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Ok. So, today I want to talk about faith just a little bit. I think most of us have some level of faith. Even if it’s only the size of a mustard seed, right? I mean, the Bible says that “if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can tell the mountain to move from here to there, and it will.” (Matthew 17:20) 

Does that mean the actual mountain will move? Probably not. But it does mean that when we put our faith in God’s hands, great and seemingly impossible things can happen.

I wanted to post about faith today because I needed to talk it through for myself. To understand that even my doubt means maybe it’s possible. I needed to know that God will supernaturally multiply my faith when I give it to Him. 

The problem with many of us is that we believe having faith means we never have doubts about what God is doing. That definitely is not the case. God had to show the people in the Bible what they were capable of. That’s the same thing He does with us.

God will sometimes allow us to be in situations that test our faith, because He needs us to know that what is impossible with man is possible in Him. 

Our faith has to be tested. We won’t know what real faith looks like until we put it in the hands of the Master. He takes our little scrawny faith, and makes it something so powerful that it can move mountains. 

But that can only happen when we surrender it to Him. And because we put our faith in Him, He puts His Holy Ghost power in us. How amazing is that?

Until next time…

Be blessed