How Great is our GOD!?!

I was just thinking how good God is and how He just swoops in and takes care of everything.

A couple of summers ago my mother-in-law was run over by her tractor. She pulled her broken body, by her hands only, all the way to the front yard where "the aunts" thought they heard something and called 911. It had been almost an hour from the accident to the time she was med-flighted to the hospital where she spent many days in ICU. It was touch and go there for a while.

I will never forget how she looked in the hospital. This strong, formidable woman...laying there battered and bruised, unable to speak...a single tear streaming down her cheek. I have to admit, I couldn't stand to see her like that and was secretly thankful that I had to be on the road again soon. I remember praying like I'd never prayed before.

That December, we all gathered at her house for Christmas dinner. Our family never misses Grandma's Christmas dinner and she wasn't going to miss it either. Now, some people will say it was determination or the will to live, but I know...it was faith. It was belief in our God who is still in the healing business. Still in the rescuing business...still in the hand holding, giving divine strength...get you to the safety point... GOD!

I ask you, "How great is our God?"

Psalm 77:11-14 ~NIV "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples."

Deployment on the Horizon

A SOLDIER'S MOTHERS PLEA

Sleep evades.
Tumultuous thoughts invade.
A young son prepares for war.
And the rain begins to pour.
A mother’s heart wrestles in unrest.
Will God listen to her behest?
To keep him safe in heart, body, and soul,
Has always been her prayerful goal.

He serves our country with pride.
Oh, God, please be his guide.
Keep him close and make him aware,
You are always there.
In times of struggle and distress,
Put your hand upon him, relieve the stress.
Keep his mind sharp and give Your direction.
Surround him, Father, with Divine protection.

He is truly a gift from above,
A testimony of Your love.
Yet Eighteen years flew by so fast.
Dear God, please don’t let this hug be our last.
The tour of duty is only a year.
Still, Lord, I can’t help but shed a tear.
No longer a boy; not quite a man.
How far away is Iraq and Afghanistan?

Send him, Father, if You must.
In You I place all my trust.
In my weakness I see Your strength.
For Your love goes beyond any length.

As peace replaces fret,
Assurance that You will not forget,
Your child in a faraway land.
He is safe and secure in the palm of your hand.

From bed to knees and knees to bed,
Thank You, Lord, for calming the chaos in my head.
As night turns into dawn,
I stretch and yawn.
Emotions drain.
Still the rain…
Tumultuous thoughts evade.
Sleep invades.

SING THE NEW SONG

Psalm 8 (NIV)

1)O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens,
2) From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3) When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which YOU have set in place,
4) What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5) You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor.
6) You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:
7) All flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
8) The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea.
9) O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

PSALM 9:1,2 I WILL PRAISE YOU, O LORD, WITH ALL MY HEART; I WILL TELL OF ALL YOUR WONDERS. I WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN YOU; I WILL SING PRAISE TO YOUR NAME, O MOST HIGH.

***Just a little attitude adjustment for me this morning. I wonder how it is that we sometimes want to be in control of everything when in reality we have NO CONTROL WHAT- SO- EVER! I mean how can we be in control and be completely submissive? Is that an oxymoron? Or just being a moron? I don't know...

If we simply release the reigns of our life and give them to the Master of this life, the Master of all eternity...then we don't need control...His Spirit will control us...guide us...comfort, keep, protect, and use us...and we will like it!

My prayer today is that I will completely submit and not let fear of the unknown cause me to take up the reigns of my life. For surely when I am in control of the bit in this horses mouth...my path will be wobbly, crooked, and worthless.

Here I am Lord, I am yours and you are mine. YOU are in control. My faith is in YOU!

I Saw God Today

Stoop shouldered and milky eyed with knarred hands, a life time of hard work shows in his every movement. Life may have taken a toll on the old black man’s body but not his spirit.

Today, like many others, he picks his way through the vegetables: selecting a half dozen tender pods of okra and a small bunch of turnip greens then makes his way over to the bargain table for some “less than perfect” tomatoes, onions, and a too large sweet potato. Dinner is going to be some kind of good tonight! He is a kind, gentle soul talking to other customers as he makes his way to the cash registers.

Laughing and telling stories of her grandchildren she catches a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye as he feebly counts out change for his purchase. She looks at her cart full of choice veggies and home-made jams and jellies then sees her own twisted and swollen arthritic fingers camouflaged by diamonds and precious stones. Life surely must have been different for these two strangers.

She has seen him in the store before. It seems they always shop at the market on the same day. Quietly, tenderly she leans over the counter and tells me, “I want to pay for his purchase.”

As Pat bags his groceries she tells him not to worry…today someone else has paid the price.

This simple act of kindness has “God” written all over it! From taking care of the less fortunate to the “golden rule” and yes ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ is in the Bible…

Then I thought of the price that had been paid for me…by someone I didn’t know. That purchaser was Jesus Christ. He paid the price for the remission of my sins not with a credit card as this woman did for the old man, but with his own blood! The procurer of redemption acted on my behalf and I didn’t even know His name! I have to tell you I stopped right there and thanked Him again for reaching out and snatching me from the pit of destruction and setting my feet upon a solid foundation from which springs a life worth living. I thanked Him for the kindness of a stranger to a customer I dearly love to see enter the store.

I was reminded by a simple $5.00 transaction that God is indeed alive and well and He dwells within the hearts of His people.

Today the old man received the gift of fresh ingredients for an old fashioned southern dinner; but I received the gift of seeing my Savior use another to lift the burden of a stranger. Her gift will last a day…Jesus’ gift lasts for all eternity.

To whom will you be the hands… the feet… the purse-strings… the heart of God?

Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” NIV

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR

Here I sit in a corner booth of BJ’s Market Café. The air is thick with the smell of smoked bacon and sausage punctuated occasionally by the aroma of a passing basket of fresh-from-the-oven, homemade buttermilk biscuits, YUM! So this is the place my husband has eaten breakfast and lunch every day since he graduated college, and every summer before. The main dining area is crowded with a hodge-podge of humanity from retirees to farmers; construction workers to brokers; local law enforcement to the suspiciously ungainfull. Just now; my husband, his dad, and uncles walk past me. Jimmy sits with the men, I suspect out of respect for me as my head is buried in this laptop. They have settled just behind me at their usual round table nestled in the back by the big screen television where the Fox cable station silently displays the most recent headline news.

My niece, Dominique, has just set a steaming cup of hot coffee in front of me. It is strong and black, a deviation from my regular sweet, creamy, chocolaty “designer” coffee. Starbucks, this is not! It is the kind of place that serves up good old-fashioned home cooking featuring southern fried everything, sweet tea, heavenly home-made deserts, and strong coffee. Ahh, my toast is here.

My sister-in-law, Jeanna, has owned the diner for almost three years now. It is attached to the “farmers market” she has owned and operated since she was a senior in high school. She is truly an amazing woman and an inspiration. She was the first in my husband’s family to really take the time to get to know me. The first person outside of Jimmy who demonstrated daily what living life out loud as a Christian really meant. For that, I will be eternally grateful.

The past couple of months I have been working for the market in the green house. It is one of the reasons I have been away from bloggy land for so long. That and the death of my dell laptop’s mother board. I had forgotten how physically hard the work was but I haven’t felt more invigorated…more alive…more healthy…in a very long time.
Jeanna’s son, Michael, now manages the market where he works with his wife, Amanda and sister, Dede. Their children frequently roam the café, store and greenhouses when business is slow. I think this family part is one of the things I like the most. I travelled so much while they were growing up that I didn’t know them as adults; even though we live a stone’s throw away. ..Totally not the southern rural family tradition. In the past I met significant others during the holidays but missed graduations, birthdays, wedding s and other milestone events and now I guess I am trying to make up for lost time.

I love plant season! Surrounded by the explosion of color from the firecracker plants, the profusion of brilliance as I enter the “sun” house and welcomed by the waving arms of the Kimberly Queen ferns in the “shade” side of the greenhouse; I wonder how anyone could walk through here and not believe in God. How they are, in fact, experiencing full force the beauty of His creation. That the herbs they are buying for medicinal use, or just to live a more “organic” lifestyle are ,in fact a gift directly from above.

I love these customers just as much as the ones who stand in the aisles and talk about what God has been up to in their lives lately. I love the opportunities God provides on a day to day basis for me to share who He is and what He can and will do when a soul is laid bare and the door of the heart opened wide to receive His glorious gift of salvation. How in one step their life could be changed for all eternity.

In just a few minutes I will close up this laptop, stash it under the counter, slip into a pair of work gloves, and head next door to begin the daily routine of straightening, organizing, and arranging the various plant displays. We are having a sale this week and the customers are coming in droves. More exercise, more opportunity, more of life. This is the life God has granted me…if only for a season…plant season.

UPDATE: Plant season is over and with one person short I am working the register full time for another month.

I AM BACK!

It seems forever since my last post. I can't wait to catch up with you. I have been away from the blogosphere since March! OH MY!!! That's what happens when your old dell bites the dirt for good and you go to work in your family's greenhouse in the middle of plant season.

Needless to say, I am back. I can not wait to catch up on all the exciting things I have missed...especially, I missed you all.

New Life

Here I sit at 6:30 in the morning drinking my second cup of chocolate coffee, watching the morning news, catching up on my blog reading, and gearing up for a new day. Steeling myself to face the low 40 degree weather expected today. What happened to the 80 degrees we enjoyed yesterday? Such is Spring in Arkansas.

I've been studying Nehemiah and had planned to write a heart warming blog about how we can face adversity in the same manner...but that blog will have to wait for another time.

Yesterday, I spent my first day working at BJ's Plants and Produce. Owned by my sister-in-law and operated by her youngest son and only daughter. I loved it! Hard work, but it was fantastic being surrounded by my family. My sister-in-law runs the cafe attached to the "market" which makes lunch convenient. Best of all just a couple hundred yards away is Kyzer's and my wonderful husband. Nothing brightens my day more than to look around and see his smiling face.

I love being surrounded by all the plants and flowers! I worked there a couple of summers when Jake was a toddler and surprisingly...it's like riding a bike...all the information came rushing back. But that's not what this blog is about either...

Intent to begin their new life together in church, Tyler and Cara attended services with us Sunday morning. Tyler has been living with us since January 1st and we have had many conversations about God, the Bible, and salvation in Christ. He attended church off and on growing up but I am not sure about Cara.

Tyler gave his life to Christ! His prayer is that he can be a Godly husband and father. I know I should not be amazed but it never seems get old, does it? That feeling of joy when one accepts the Savior.

Cara and I've spent much of the past couple of days in deep conversation. I have given her my old NIV Life Application Bible...and instead of just praying with them when they have a need we have re-instituted family Bible study and prayer time which had turned to just a couples thing when Jake moved out.

As we continue to pray for this young couple, for direction for a new husband, for salvation for a new wife...as we encounter the Spirit of God on the move in our very home our hearts can not help but leap for joy in the assurance that when we knock, He opens, when we seek...He finds.

God is indeed good...He is alive...He is well...and His Spirit is on the move!

THE BLOOD

One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident.

As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry,teaching young children. It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This is when the problems began.

You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son.The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting.

As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be.

He began to speak and his statement was this: "My fiancée’s past is not what is on trial here.. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?"

The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters.

Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.

What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! End of case!!!!


"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:23

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out or your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?' You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove he speck from your brothers eye." Matthew 7:3-5 ~NIV

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Watts

Our friend, Adam, officiated the ceremony but he had the flu and made Cara and Tyler get married outside so they would be less likely to get sick. It was a bit chilly....

Tyler with his best man, Bruno....or should I say, man's best friend?

Cara and maid of honor, Princess Isabella.

Mr. and Mrs. Tyler D. Watts

Two Became Three Before They Were One

I was startled awake at one in the morning as Tyler whispered the words, "Mom I need to talk. Cara is pregnant and she says the baby is mine." The alarm was set for two, my regular prayer time, so sleepily I sat up and turned on the lamp.

Quietly listening as his emotions ran their natural course, asking all the pertinent questions and some stupid ones...silently praying... Wondering now what direction these two lives would take. They had broken up just two days before... she needy... he selfish... both loving the other more than they ever loved anyone else in their 19 years of life yet not knowing how to have a relationship.

Two teenagers desperately seeking the unconditional love they had been denied during their formative years. He sent off to foster care because his step dad was just a bit too physical with discipline. She shipped off to her grandmother's because of some inappropriate actions by her step father. Neither one chosen first over the men in their mothers lives. Both still searching for approval and acceptance by the one person who is supposed to love, guide, and protect them. Knowing full well that time may never come, reluctantly trying to accept this travesty of nature.

With no where to go and no one left to turn to once her grandmother found out "the truth" she found herself on our door step running into the arms of the only person who accepts her for who she is.

The past two weeks we have talked of life, love, consequences, and God as a plan for the future was fashioned. Tyler had gone to church for a while with his step grandmother...but had tons of excuses to not attend with us. Cara told us her mother did not believe in God and she did not allow Cara or her brother to believe either. These words stung my soul as the tears began to form, my mother's heart aching, my evangelist soul wanting to snatch her from the pit right then and there.

They will be married tomorrow in our living room with Bruno, the Chocolate Lab as best man and Princess Isabella the Chihuahua, as maid of honor. Miss Theresa and Brother Jimmy as witnesses... She in last years homecoming dress and he in a borrowed suit coat.

As they begin their lives together their first step is to attend church. So sweet were the words he said to her..."When I went to church I felt I had a hope." Ahhh...it is a beginning. They talked of ways to treat each other, things they want to do... things most of us take for granted... like eating dinner together at the dining table. They talked about the kind of husband and wife they want to be, the kind of parents their child deserves. The routine for security, church for hope and faith.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm, plans to give you a hope and a future." ~NIV

A love six months in the making... a marriage predicted for failure... a new family supposedly heading down an already broken road...

Matthew 19:26 "Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." ~NIV

As we expose them to the unconditional love of Christ, and attempt to guide them into a true relationship with each other...as we give them support and confidence in a future with God at the helm... we ask for your heart-felt prayers.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,, who have been called according to His purpose." ~NIV

Titus 2 Blog Party

I learned of this party over at Home Haven Ministry and Civilla's Cyber Cafe and since I love a good party thought I would join in. There is a link to the left and I think it would be grand if you joined us as well. There is still time left.

Here's a bit about me...

My life is pretty much an open book. While I got my first taste of blogging on MySpace I began blogging in earnest sometime last year. My blogs are typically religious or spiritual in nature, though I actually disdain both those words to describe my relationship with my Lord and Savior.

I gave birth to my first son at 17 and as you can imagine...I took the hard road to growing up. I was a battered wife, drank too much...and did any drug that was offered to me just to numb the pain of the decisions I had made and the mess my life was in. I credit my son, Richard, for giving me the strength and courage to move out and start over...sober and clean. I could never have done any of this without the support and love of my parents. I am thankful each day for their belief in me.

My husband was a Christian when we began dating and I thought going to church with him was a condition to continue dating him. My children laugh when they hear I told him I would go to the Sunday morning preaching but I was not going to be one of those "sisters" who was at the church every time the doors were opened.

I was saved at 28 and it was at that time that life began to have real meaning. I know I am where God wants me to be and I know I am who He has made me. It is because of my relationship with Him that my marriage, my career, my family have been successful.

My husband and I will be married 20 years this coming June. My oldest son, Richard, is now a youth minister and both he and his wife, Cheri and their two children, Hunter and Gage are very active in their church as well. Our youngest son, Jake, also a Christian, is active duty Army and is stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, MO.

My husband, Jimmy, led both Richard and me, to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I taught Sunday School for many years. Jimmy and I were also part of the Children's Church Ministry Team at our former church.

2009 brought with it a renewed sense of urgency for me to share the gospel with all I come into contact with. I am so thankful for my new friends in the blogosphere. I am learning much, growing more, and hope and pray I can make a difference in their lives as much as they are making in mine.