Browsed by
Tag: Pastor

Reasons to Celebrate

Reasons to Celebrate

Comments 0 Comment

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

Do You See What I See?

Do You See What I See?

Comments 0 Comment

Ya’ll…I have to be transparent. I really want to speak from my heart this week. I have received so much revelation over the last couple of weeks. Our God is so purposeful in everything that He does. What He allows–He will definitely use. 

It’s crazy how God can take something as ordinary as washing dishes, or sweeping the floor to give you a life-changing message. I was cleaning and listening to this pastor online when God spoke through him, and He broke it down to me so clearly that I couldn’t help but see it. The online pastor said in part…”Look around you…everything you see on the outside is what you are feeling on the inside. That grief you are feeling is manifesting itself in your environment.” Now, what he said was not so earth shattering. It’s at the time that he said it. I had just finished saying that I needed to get my house in order (literally), and it was like God said…do you see it?

I looked around my home and I saw for the first time in a long time how disorganized my life was becoming. How I have been letting things go. I clean because I have to clean. Otherwise, the dust bunnies would take me over. The things that I have fixed are the things I have to fix. And although I am comfortable in my home, I do not always feel peaceful here. This pastor also said to stay current by doing things as simple as washing your face, cleaning your home, cleaning your car, and even for women– organizing your purse. He said that doing these things will help us stay present in the here and now.

OMG! That may not mean much to most of you, but to me it spoke volumes.

Look, the last couple of years have been so hard that just getting up every morning was all I could handle. But I know that the things he said were spot on. The Bible even speaks of the things we carry. One verse says that we should guard our hearts, because out of it flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). Whatever you meditate on will come out. If you are sad…sadness will come out. If you are happy…happiness will come out, and if you are grieving…your grief will come out.

The good thing is that God doesn’t leave us in our mess. Everything that has happened over the last couple of years is behind us, and a new day is here. God is in the blessing business, and I want everything that He wants for me. We have the opportunity to begin again, and I do not want to blow it by allowing grief to dictate how I am living. What about you? What is in your heart that you can let go of, turn over to God, or learn to be at peace with?

Today, let’s begin the process of letting it go…for real this time.

Until next time…

Be blessed