(Just click on the title and it will take you right there.)
Please take a moment to visit my friend, Amanda's blog. She doesn't post daily but do love what she has to say!! Of course, I have known her for a dozen or so years and watched her go from a teenager to wife, to woman of God, to mother, and so much more. I am proud to be her "Moma Tees" OH, and you should hear her sing!!!!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
2 THINGS - Meme
Saw this over at Penless Writer who saw it at Home On The Range and it was new to me and looked like fun so decided to do it.
two names you go by: Theresa or Ms. Theresa, of course, but tons of kids (now adults) call me Moma Tees... however, my favorite...Granna! oh, that's three...
two parts of your heritage: French and Hillbilly... that counts right?
two things that scare you: Failing to follow God's direction and loosing my husband
two everyday essentials: My computer & coffee
two things you are wearing right now: Sweats and flip-flops
two things you want in a relationship (other than love): Integrity and loyalty
two favorite hobbies: Blogging & cooking
two things you have to do this week: House work and turn 50!
two stores you shop at: Kroger & Wal Mart
two favorite sports: BASEBALL and golf
two shows you like to watch: I hate to admit it, Survivor is my favorite. Undercover Boss is pretty good too.
two things you’d buy if money were no object: I would re-do my kitchen and buy a truck.
two wishes for 2011: My boys to do well (and continue to seek God's will) in their new lives as single men and that I could spend more time with my youngest grandson, Erick.
If you decide to participate in this Meme please let me know so I can come read yours!!!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Kari Jobe: "You Are For Me" Beautiful!
I love "it when I stumble across" a bit of music that touches my soul and leads me right into prayer... thank you Kari, thank you!
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Empty Room
The master bedroom remains empty. He is amazed at just how much relief the sight brings. A few short days ago she moved the rest of her things to a new house. Though the process began years earlier and we were either too busy or too blind to notice.
Suffering from anxiety and depression she briefly moved out this past spring thinking it would be the relief she needed. I knew then this was serious, but kept hoping and praying things would work out. Counseling and medication ensued and quickly got out of hand. She moved back in with the promise of a fresh start only to be derailed by her emotions and what-ever demons she was harboring.
There was an attempted overdose, and she was way too high on anti-anxiety drugs to think straight when it happened. The sleeping pills weren’t actually taken and I don’t know if they were ever intended to be ingested… perhaps it was just for attention… perhaps it was a desperate cry for help, for healing… I don’t know.
I do not even pretend to understand… especially when one comes face-to-face with the altar of God three times a week… when the knowledge that God is always there is so firmly planted in ones heart. How... why... does one look past that altar and to society for the answers to spiritual problems?
She lost her way... she needed to find herself. In reality she fell victim to the image the world offers women of her age and stature. Thirty and married over ten years to the same man she started looking for something more; more of what I have no idea. Maybe she wanted to feel the love she felt when they were newly married… maybe she wanted to feel special… all the while it was staring her right in the face. She was running from God and didn't even realize it!
They went to Christian marriage counseling a couple of times to get through the rough patches. Willing to do everything to make her happy he worked hard to provide a good life, helped around the house, and was involved in the boys school and sports activities. Active in church, he committed his life, his family’s lives to God…steadfastly hanging on to the hope and belief that it was going to get better, it would be all right… knowing only God could change it.
Sadly, it was not enough… change in a marriage takes two people seeking God’s will for their lives… seeking God’s healing… seeking God’s love and having the gumption to walk that road of faith. It is not a two-pronged approach with one seeking God and the other seeking society… that only ends up as a fork in the road.
Mistaking comfort for boredom and security for staleness she tried to fill the hole in her heart with things… a house full of things… a closet full of things… a garage full of things… when all along the answer was in reaching out to God. Not just the going through the motions; but the whole heartedly, grabbing hold of Him and not letting go until she had been reconciled kind of reaching out to God. Alas, the lure of the world was too strong… she thought things through instead of faithfully waiting and watching for God to restore her, restore her love, restore her marriage.
Torn between the life she had and the life of what could have been… or what could be… she set about creating a life of her own leaving a husband and two sons standing amid the broken pieces of their American dream. All I can do is shake my head and say, “Lord, Lord.”
I have to admit, I was caught unaware by the turbulence in their lives this past year. Like most, I only saw “leave it to beaver land.” I had so many things on my plate and God love him, he did not want me to worry. He knew I prayed for them and that was enough for him.
The “I love you, but I’m not in love with you, I don’t know who I am anymore…going out, staying home… moving out… moving back in” see-saw, roller coaster life he was living was undoubtedly one of the hardest things he has ever faced. His eyes rimmed with heavy, dark circles showed the tiredness.
Had I looked closer I would have seen more… the sadness, the anguish experienced by one who has done all they can and the giving up of a dream, of a love. What I thought was weariness from juggling his career, his little league duty and his service in his church was so very far from the truth!
Being burned by wasted time and unconditional love; to him, that empty room could easily be filled with sorrow, regret, and the seeds of resentment. However, new life springs forth from the ashes for he takes comfort in the knowledge that he has done all he could.
He committed family, job and self to God a long time ago and it is that same God who will still guide him and sustain him, watch over him and protect his boys. Though he may have lost a worldly love he can never lose the greatest love of all… the love of God. The architect of his life has never let him down and this phase will be no different.
Suffering from anxiety and depression she briefly moved out this past spring thinking it would be the relief she needed. I knew then this was serious, but kept hoping and praying things would work out. Counseling and medication ensued and quickly got out of hand. She moved back in with the promise of a fresh start only to be derailed by her emotions and what-ever demons she was harboring.
There was an attempted overdose, and she was way too high on anti-anxiety drugs to think straight when it happened. The sleeping pills weren’t actually taken and I don’t know if they were ever intended to be ingested… perhaps it was just for attention… perhaps it was a desperate cry for help, for healing… I don’t know.
I do not even pretend to understand… especially when one comes face-to-face with the altar of God three times a week… when the knowledge that God is always there is so firmly planted in ones heart. How... why... does one look past that altar and to society for the answers to spiritual problems?
She lost her way... she needed to find herself. In reality she fell victim to the image the world offers women of her age and stature. Thirty and married over ten years to the same man she started looking for something more; more of what I have no idea. Maybe she wanted to feel the love she felt when they were newly married… maybe she wanted to feel special… all the while it was staring her right in the face. She was running from God and didn't even realize it!
They went to Christian marriage counseling a couple of times to get through the rough patches. Willing to do everything to make her happy he worked hard to provide a good life, helped around the house, and was involved in the boys school and sports activities. Active in church, he committed his life, his family’s lives to God…steadfastly hanging on to the hope and belief that it was going to get better, it would be all right… knowing only God could change it.
Sadly, it was not enough… change in a marriage takes two people seeking God’s will for their lives… seeking God’s healing… seeking God’s love and having the gumption to walk that road of faith. It is not a two-pronged approach with one seeking God and the other seeking society… that only ends up as a fork in the road.
Mistaking comfort for boredom and security for staleness she tried to fill the hole in her heart with things… a house full of things… a closet full of things… a garage full of things… when all along the answer was in reaching out to God. Not just the going through the motions; but the whole heartedly, grabbing hold of Him and not letting go until she had been reconciled kind of reaching out to God. Alas, the lure of the world was too strong… she thought things through instead of faithfully waiting and watching for God to restore her, restore her love, restore her marriage.
Torn between the life she had and the life of what could have been… or what could be… she set about creating a life of her own leaving a husband and two sons standing amid the broken pieces of their American dream. All I can do is shake my head and say, “Lord, Lord.”
I have to admit, I was caught unaware by the turbulence in their lives this past year. Like most, I only saw “leave it to beaver land.” I had so many things on my plate and God love him, he did not want me to worry. He knew I prayed for them and that was enough for him.
The “I love you, but I’m not in love with you, I don’t know who I am anymore…going out, staying home… moving out… moving back in” see-saw, roller coaster life he was living was undoubtedly one of the hardest things he has ever faced. His eyes rimmed with heavy, dark circles showed the tiredness.
Had I looked closer I would have seen more… the sadness, the anguish experienced by one who has done all they can and the giving up of a dream, of a love. What I thought was weariness from juggling his career, his little league duty and his service in his church was so very far from the truth!
Being burned by wasted time and unconditional love; to him, that empty room could easily be filled with sorrow, regret, and the seeds of resentment. However, new life springs forth from the ashes for he takes comfort in the knowledge that he has done all he could.
He committed family, job and self to God a long time ago and it is that same God who will still guide him and sustain him, watch over him and protect his boys. Though he may have lost a worldly love he can never lose the greatest love of all… the love of God. The architect of his life has never let him down and this phase will be no different.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
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.”
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The Land of Beginning Again
Re-posted from 11-13-2008...
Lord, grant us new beginnings in 2011... may we show others YOU and that in YOU and only in YOU... that the new beginnings are worth all the past!
The Land of Beginning Again
by: Louise Fletcher
I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat by the door
And never be put on again.
I wish we could come on it all unaware
Like the hunter who finds a lost trail
And I wish that the one whom our blindness has done
The greatest injustice of all
Could be at the gates like an old friend that waits
For the comrade he’s gladdest to hail.
We would find all the things we intended to do
But forgot, and remembered too late;
Little praises unspoken, little promises broken
And all of the thousand and one
Little duties neglected that might have perfected
The day for one less fortunate.
It wouldn’t be possible not to be kind
In the Land of Beginning Again
And the ones we misjudged and the ones whom we grudged
Their moments of victory then
Would find in the grasp of our loving handclasp
More than penitent lips could explain.
For what had been hardest we’d known had been best
And what had seemed loss would be gain
For there isn’t a sting that will not take a wing
When we’ve faced it and laughed it away,
And I think that the laughter is most what we’re after
In the Land of Beginning Again.
So I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
And never be put on again.
One of my most cherished possessions was a book my mother had given me titled The Best Loved Poems of the American People. Alas, I lost the book when our house burned about ten years ago. To this day the above poem is one of my favorites. During my darkest days when I could see no way out of the mess I had made my life. I was stuck; hopeless, battered, soul-dead and weary, bitter, lost, and lonely; yet surrounded by people who called themselves "friends." This poem represented a hope, a wish. I read it so many times I could almost quote it in its entirety.
Praise God, I have found the true land of beginning again and the King of that wonderful place is Jesus! Just like that shabby old coat, I dropped my old life at the altar and walked through the door of forgiveness and restoration. Oh, I have suffered the consequences of my actions and decisions. Let’s just call them what they are, sins. But those consequences are a strong reminder of the grace of a living and loving God that gives beyond measure and loves beyond human reasoning. And while sometimes the road of life is long and winding, "up hill in the snow both ways" and the struggles are real. Life itself is no longer a struggle.
As I think back to those days when I tried to wash away the worries, heartache, and disappointments with a bottle of vodka and the 'pill of the week'…the times I contemplated death and took my own life as I picked up a pen and paper and died a thousand times with the written word. I am so thankful that someone somewhere was praying for my salvation. I can now see all those seed-planters along the way.
To now know that God has a plan for my life...that I am in His hand, that He is the great protector, the provider, and the giver of life, the lover of my soul… I am amazed and thankful that this joy I have is eternal! Though at times I will be sad, I will experience troubles...His hand is there guiding all the way. I have to stop here and just say, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. His mercies are renewed daily and I rest in His presence.
Lord, grant us new beginnings in 2011... may we show others YOU and that in YOU and only in YOU... that the new beginnings are worth all the past!
The Land of Beginning Again
by: Louise Fletcher
I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat by the door
And never be put on again.
I wish we could come on it all unaware
Like the hunter who finds a lost trail
And I wish that the one whom our blindness has done
The greatest injustice of all
Could be at the gates like an old friend that waits
For the comrade he’s gladdest to hail.
We would find all the things we intended to do
But forgot, and remembered too late;
Little praises unspoken, little promises broken
And all of the thousand and one
Little duties neglected that might have perfected
The day for one less fortunate.
It wouldn’t be possible not to be kind
In the Land of Beginning Again
And the ones we misjudged and the ones whom we grudged
Their moments of victory then
Would find in the grasp of our loving handclasp
More than penitent lips could explain.
For what had been hardest we’d known had been best
And what had seemed loss would be gain
For there isn’t a sting that will not take a wing
When we’ve faced it and laughed it away,
And I think that the laughter is most what we’re after
In the Land of Beginning Again.
So I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
And never be put on again.
One of my most cherished possessions was a book my mother had given me titled The Best Loved Poems of the American People. Alas, I lost the book when our house burned about ten years ago. To this day the above poem is one of my favorites. During my darkest days when I could see no way out of the mess I had made my life. I was stuck; hopeless, battered, soul-dead and weary, bitter, lost, and lonely; yet surrounded by people who called themselves "friends." This poem represented a hope, a wish. I read it so many times I could almost quote it in its entirety.
Praise God, I have found the true land of beginning again and the King of that wonderful place is Jesus! Just like that shabby old coat, I dropped my old life at the altar and walked through the door of forgiveness and restoration. Oh, I have suffered the consequences of my actions and decisions. Let’s just call them what they are, sins. But those consequences are a strong reminder of the grace of a living and loving God that gives beyond measure and loves beyond human reasoning. And while sometimes the road of life is long and winding, "up hill in the snow both ways" and the struggles are real. Life itself is no longer a struggle.
As I think back to those days when I tried to wash away the worries, heartache, and disappointments with a bottle of vodka and the 'pill of the week'…the times I contemplated death and took my own life as I picked up a pen and paper and died a thousand times with the written word. I am so thankful that someone somewhere was praying for my salvation. I can now see all those seed-planters along the way.
To now know that God has a plan for my life...that I am in His hand, that He is the great protector, the provider, and the giver of life, the lover of my soul… I am amazed and thankful that this joy I have is eternal! Though at times I will be sad, I will experience troubles...His hand is there guiding all the way. I have to stop here and just say, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. His mercies are renewed daily and I rest in His presence.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
“My soul followeth hard after thee.”
Psalm 63:8(a) KJV
It is the time of year when one tends to reflect upon the accomplishments and mistakes of the past year then set about making goals and resolutions to ensure the upcoming year is better than the one just experienced. I am generally one of these people. However, as 2010 slams to a close this year’s goal sheet remains a blank page of white paper…
It could be filled with the yet attained goals from years past… lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, etc. But really, what would be the point? Do these resolutions even deserve a place on a serious goal sheet if they have been there for years... untouched, unresolved, unattained … gathering dust as if pushed to the back of some long forgotten shelf?
I can barely get past the review of the last three months let alone the entire year! Each time I find solace for such a purpose I sit detached as if watching some horrible dream over and over again. Moments of disappointment, anger, shock, and sorrow replay in my mind’s eye like some relentless horror film. I sit helpless and watch all over as my children’s personal lives fall apart before my very eyes.
One daughter-in-law moves out because she just does not want to be married anymore then moves back in, only to give up on life and when that is not successful giving up on her marriage and family all together. Leaving in her wake a destruction she cannot see nor cares to see because she is only looking to satisfy self. I see a Christian son holding on tight, working harder than any man I have ever seen to be and do what is necessary to maintain and improve his marriage; praying till his knees were bruised and his hands rubbed raw, crying till all the tears finally dried up. She walked away and he gave up on a marriage he thought would last a lifetime.
I see another daughter-in-law never quite grasping the meaning of unconditional love. .. as she drives the father of her child away with bullying tactics, condescending mannerisms, and insecurity. Using a newborn baby to control a soldier fresh from war... never even pretending to seek the One True God. I see a very young Christian son, slowly shut down as the war on the home-front is harder to face than the one taking place in the desert. .. finally giving up completely on love and marriage and striking out on his own.
I see my own mistakes as I react erratically as the drama slowly unfolds… praying, crying, counseling… then succumbing to the anger… TRAGIC… a worldly reaction and BAM… a lost witness. Forgiveness from the Lord washes over me but the damage is done. That sticks and stones thing is a myth, I tell you. Words hurt much deeper and longer than any bruise, scratch or broken bone… even more so when they shoot from your own mouth, slide past the tongue, and pierce the heart of someone whom you genuinely love.
In the face of such reality…and the uncertainty brought about by the two divorces our family will experience in the upcoming year many of the goals and resolutions that once occupied my ‘New Year’s List’ seem most frivolous and without merit. Perhaps this year the list will contain merely three words:
SEEK
TRUST
OBEY
For truly, one cannot trust and obey unless they first seek HIS way.
Psalm 63:1-8 “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods, with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” NIV
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Panderers of Prosperity
These last couple of weeks leading up to Christmas have been very busy in the Kyzer Compound and now that Jake has arrived home it seems time has accelerated. The house is constantly full of friends and family. Did I mention it was hunting season? There are always extra men and boys around during hunting season… It takes almost all day just to keep the house picked up and the brood fed!
Like most, I either have the television or the radio going in the background when working around the house. I like to watch our local Christian television station VTN. I love the teachings of Beth Moore and Charles Stanley among others. It is good solid teaching and I soak it up as I cook and clean… or play on Facebook.
What I get tired of are these televangelists with their feel good, tickle the ear message of everything is ok and as long as you are a good person you will make it to heaven. My lands… can you visualize them patting the backs of the mis-lead all the way to hell?! You know the ones I am talking about… those who shall remain nameless who have a camera instead of a congregation, a fan base instead of a following, a message of materialism instead of salvation for the starving soul! Oh, oh… and what about those who tell the masses in television land to send in $20 and they will pray over a cloth (or some other object) and send it to you? They almost guarantee you…healing, money, jobs, security… all your troubles will disappear… just send them the money… UGH! It makes me just want to scream!!!
It is the preaching of prosperity that really gets my goat. I mean seriously, where exactly in the Bible does it say that God will make you rich, give you a big house, and an expensive car? Where does it say that if you pay your tithe faithfully or contribute a little more you can wear shoes and clothes that cost thousands of dollars? It is upside down, wrong side out… devoid of truth… theology. The Bible warns us to beware of materialism... how then can these people in good conscious get up there and tell the world the opposite?
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” ~NIV
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~NIV
Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”
Psalm 37:16 “Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked:” ~NIV
Read Mark 10:17-27, 31 – the young rich man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life… when Jesus tells him to sell all he has and give to the poor and follow him the man was disappointed and went away. He was unwilling to follow Jesus if it meant entering poverty…
Luke 12:15 “Then he [Jesus] said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ~NIV
In other words, he who dies with the most toys…LOSES!
Christians hope in eternal security, and God would have us give up “carnal security” to get it. The flesh wants the security of money. It wants to be in control, to be the master, to be god. So we dream of and cling to money because we do not want to be totally dependent on God. We get caught up in jobs… spending entirely too much time building a career to give our family a better life. Which on the outside looks good… but is it really? What if we spent as much time and effort to ensure our families salvation, their devotion to God… as we do in making sure they wear designer clothing and have the best and latest gadgets?
It is this hope in carnal security… the security of a good paycheck… the love of money … the master of things that make our lives convenient, good, easy… that these panderers of prosperity tap into. My word… they have lost their grip on TRUTH! They want us to think we can get rich by believing them all the while lining their own pockets with our money! This is wrong on so many levels…
Paul tells the Thessalonians in
1Thess 2:4-5 “On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask of greed – God is our witness.” ~NIV
2 Cor 2:17 “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.”
The most misused scripture by prosperity preachers seems to be...1Tim 6:3-9 “If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. “ ~NIV
Psalm 37:5 “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." ~NIV
This scripture tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord… meaning…put HIM first… love Him first… find our joy, our happiness, our success… in HIM… loving Him with our whole heart, soul, and mind… when we do this... our desires will NOT be to satisfy ourselves through money, possessions, careers, or comforts… our desires will be HIS desires!
So this CHRISTmas, I beg of you… do not fall for some over the top, too good to be true, tickle the ear message of prosperity and peace from some tv preacher whose only real interest in the gospel is to see how big of a mansion he can have here on earth. Instead, search the scriptures, seek HIS face… give your life entirely to HIM and trust him with your whole heart (and your pocketbook)… and hang on to HIM for dear life… for eternal life!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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