3 BLOGS THAT MADE ME SMILE

In the Garden http://livingongrace.blogspot.com/
Steady Rain http://debsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/
Wanna Trade? http://www.seasonsofgrace.blogspot.com/

NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT TODAY

Bye Vicki Sue! I miss you already! =(

ED HORN

I still visit Ed's website. His wife posted this past Sunday, saying that it was the one year anniversary of when he became sick. So much has changed in a year.

I never knew Ed. I don't know Kelly. But their lives continue to inspire and captivate me. Because they point me directly to Jesus.

Please pray for Ed's wife and children if you think of it.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

I was baptized as in infant in the Roman Catholic Church. At about 7 or 8, children prepare for the sacrament of communion. I remember the catechism classes that taught us what communion was and why it was important, the beautiful white dress and veil that I got to pick out to wear for the occasion. There were numerous practices, learning how our class would file in to the church, to our pews, and then up to the altar for that special moment....our First Holy Communion.

Yesterday, I was sitting at church. Much different from the stained glass windowed sanctuary of my youth. This was in a room at a house. Believers gathered together to remember the sacrifice and the rescue provided for each of us by our Rescuer, Jesus Christ. The bread and wine was served to us by our pastor. One of the believers, sitting on a couch down from me, caught my eye. She glowed as she said, "Kathy, this is my first time!" "First time?" I asked. "Yes, my first time! I wanted to wait until I had been baptized!" The joy and love for Jesus that shown from this face was incredible. I bowed my head with tears in my eyes, as I knew that this would truly be a Holy Communion.

Luke 22: 19And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

ROBERT UPDATE

I saw Robert this morning. He was leaning over a trash can as I pulled in to 7-11. He smiled when he saw me and came right over to talk. He is doing well he said. We chatted for a few minutes about the weather before I gave him some bottles and we both went on our way.

I was hoping to see Robert walking in our shoes. But he had on a different pair of sneakers that I hadn't seen before. His gait was not the shuffle I was used to seeing, but an awkward side to side gait. I did ask him how our shoes had fit. He said they had been fine, but didn't add anything else. So, I quickly changed the subject.

Nebissi, my Hindu friend, had told me that Robert had been wearing different shoes this week, so I was prepared for that. I have no clue as to why he isn't wearing our shoes. Perhaps he didn't like them. Perhaps he sold them or gave them away. Perhaps he likes them but wanted to wear something else. But one thing I am sure of...they were a love gift from our community to Robert. Freely given. And I am just as happy and excited as ever that those pair of shoes were the open door between our community and Robert.

In the past, I think I would have been disappointed that I didn't see Robert in our shoes. Today, I was just happy to see Robert! Who knows what God has planned?

CHALLENGE

"The love of God, the very nature of God, is introduced into us, and the nature of Almighty God is focused in John 3:16--'God so loved the world....'

We have to maintain our soul open to the fact of God's creative purpose, and not muddle it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to crush our intentions on one side however much it may hurt. The purpose for which the missionary is created is that he may be God's servant, one in whom God is glorified. When once we realize that through the salvation of Jesus Christ we are made perfectly fit for God, we shall understand why Jesus Christ is so ruthless in His demands. He demands absolute rectitude from His servants, because He has put in them the very nature of God.

Beware lest you forget God's purpose for your life."

-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

WAR OF THE WORLDS

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.

(And here is my bottom line, here is where my focus will be....)

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD!

Joshua 24:15

LOUDEST LOVE!

I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning because I kept running through a mental slide show of moments from Journey's first baptism celebration yesterday. Here are some of my favorites in random order:

- Seeing Joe emerging as a leader as he spoke of behalf of those being baptized.

- Watching Mike baptize the first person and having that person help baptize the next person and so on. He said to Lisa, "Now that you have been baptized, you can baptize others. Cool isn't it?" And, yes...it really was!

- Hearing the Word of God on baptism being shared in my brother and sister's backyard!

- See Angela throw her head back and joyfully shout "Yes!" when asked if she was ready and willing to commit to her baptism and to being faithful to Jesus all her life.

- Seeing two different unmarried couples getting baptized and wondering what significance this would hold for their futures.

- See Andy do these wild double back flips into the pool.

- Seeing Tracey sitting on a blanket with the little kids. I was going to go chat with her until I saw the expression of joy on her face as she interacted with them. It just seemed like a holy moment.

- Seeing the same sweet expression on Angela's grandma's face that I see on Angela's mom. Now I know where that comes from.

- Singing songs of worship accompanied only by the guitar under the open sky. Usually I only hear the lead singers and the instruments, but yesterday I heard a symphony of voices, young and old, in simplicity, united in praise.

- Fussing over Carrie, who graciously shared her precious time with us.

- Getting this great daughter hug from Melissa.

- Getting several great daughter hugs from Rachel.

- Having Josiah tell us that we couldn't talk...no girls could talk...but then deciding that if we gave him a hug...then we could.

- Seeing Joyce learn about Jet Dry.

- Celebrating with "Texas" who just fit in right from day one and feeling like we have known them forever.

- Being introduced to Lisa's parents and seeing the love in their eyes for their daughter and hers for them.

- Having Jack tell me his recipe for the greatest (non-binding) cheese dip in the world.

- EJ's jokes. Funny. All night.

- Listening as Jessica and Lindsay discussed their pregnancies.

- Laughing at a TV show at the end of the night with Danielle, Aaron, Vicki, and Rachel.

- Walking in the front door and having Angie say, "Hi Aunt Kathy!"

- Looking around the backyard and never seeing any person sitting alone even though there were lots of people who didn't know each other.

- Seeing each person baptized, as they came up out of the water with the happiest looks on their faces.

- Sitting and celebrating with "the girls" in the dining room.

I have a friend who pastors Discovery Church in Galway, Ireland. He always signs his emails...loudest love, Paul Cullen. That is the perfect expression for our celebration yesterday. In the simpleness of our gathering, God shouting, "Loudest Love My children!" and in our worship of gathering and fellowship together...us shouting back, "Loudest Love our Beloved King!"

UNMISTAKABLY, UNDENIABLY YOU

Bow down your heavens, O LORD, and come down!

Touch the mountains so that they smoke!

Psalm 144:5

Lord,

I am praying for my friend. I am asking You for a miracle...something that is unmistakably, undeniably You, and You alone! I am asking You for this thing and "may the sons of his youth be like plants full grown, and his daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may his granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may his sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in his fields; may his cattle be heavy with with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing; may there be no cry of distress in his streets!" (Psalm 144:12-14)

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!

Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

(Psalm 144:15)

Father, rain these blessings on my brother...whose God is You, the Lord Almighty. Bless his wife, his sons, and his daughters. Bless the work You have called him to. Bow down Your heavens and touch the mountains so that they smoke!

I love You dearly and reverently!

Amen

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'll check the ground before I step out!"

Said by Rachel who was meeting me at work. See my post 3/22/06 for further clarification

LOVE DEM HOLY ROLLERS!!

I was saved at a pentacostal church so I love pentacostals! Like with any church group though, there can be some strange stuff that happens. On the Imago Dei website, there is a story of a girl who went to church with her friend. It was a pentacostal church. There was an altar call and the friend wanted our girl to go down to the front with her. The friend was prayed for. The Pentacostal Prayers then turned their focus on our girl and started to pray for her to speak in tongues. She wanted to leave. They wouldn't stop until there was a manifestation. In desperation, she finally started to repeat, "Meck-a-leck-a-high, meck-a-leck-a hiney-ho". The happy Pentacostal Prayers were satisfied. Our girl however, returned to her seat sure she was going straight to hell for passing off the Secret Saying from Pee Wee Herman's Playhouse as having spoken in tongues!

I laughed so hard when I read her story. It reminded me of another story I heard years ago. One of my pastors told me about a woman who was angry with him. During the service, she started to share a "word of knowledge" which is when pentacostals state out loud, for the entire congregation, something that they are sure is directly from the heart of God to the whole group or an individual. This angry woman said, "Yeah and amen (typical "word of knowledge" starting phraseology)....Yeah and amen, I have seen Michelob written upon your walls..." Um, the pastor was sure she meant to say Ichabod. Pretty funny! I wonder what she will say when God plays that back for her in heaven.

Anyway, you just have to love dem holy rollers!!!!!!

REMEMBERING 9-11

I was surprised that there has been very little September 11th talk at work today. Television and radio coverage has been extensive. People wondering, remembering, grieving, believing. It doesn't seem that 5 years have past already.

Five years ago this morning, I was a full time mom employed part time. My friend, Sandy, called and said "Turn on your TV!" I sat riveted and watched while the whole nation tried to figure out how this one plane happened to hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I was watching live when the second plane hit. News of the Pentagon attack was reported. I switched between TV and the computer as I talked to my friend Vicki on instant messenger, discussing each new bit of information that came across the news. I can still remember the horror as I watched and then typed, "Oh Vicki, the towers have collapsed!" Hard to believe that just a couple weeks before, my daughter, husband, and I, stood with our backs against the base of Tower Two...heads bent back looking straight up the side of the tower....and then in its place stood death and devestation.

Alot has changed in all our lives since then. I am now a full time, divorced mom employed full time. My friend Sandy has moved out of Michigan and we have to work very hard to stay connected. Vicki and I still discuss everything on instant messenger, but soon we won't work at the same company. I still get a knot in my stomach when I am on my way in to work near an airport, and see a low flying jet. I am surprised when I see an older movie that shows the Twin Towers as part of the New York skyline, and even more surprised when I see a new movie that shows the skyline missing those landmarks. I am more suspicious in some ways. At the same time, I am more anxious to see the wonder in people. I try to resolve conflicts more quickly and leave nothing unsaid between myself and those that I love. I live life more slowly and deliberately now. I am more purposeful. I am more patriotic. I am more mindful of police, and firemen, and emergency personnel. I can't say I pray more, but perhaps differently.

And I realize more acutely that while time, events, history, life, and death march on....God remains the same...as consistent and mighty and glorious and wondrous and caring and powerful and kind and generous and loving and just and merciful and tender and creative and safe and supreme and commanding and rescuing as He has always been and will forever be. There is nowhere else to place my trust, my hope, and my future.

ROBERT UPDATE

You guys....I came in to work and opened an email from someone who is buying Robert a pair of boots. As soon as I opened the link I just started weeping and worshiping. Robert is going to be so blessed! You all are so incredible! I am in my office with the door closed because I am totally done in....How great and how awesome and amazing is our Jesus!!!!!

@$#%@#$^%@&$%&$

Ok, I am a bit nervous about my blog today. I am afraid that I am going to offend someone. I hope you will read it all the way through before you react.

This weekend, I got called a M*F*er. I was picking my daughter and her friend up from in front of a store and the van behind me started beeping it's horn trying to get us to move. Obviously, I couldn't move the car while the girls were getting in. And I could have quickly moved out of the way once they were safely inside. But this part of me rebelled. This wild child part of me that likes to throw down with people reared her ugly head, and there I sat....not moving an inch. Of course the van behind continued to honk. I sat. They honked. The girls squirmed and slid down in their seats. When I was good and ready I inched forward. They sped around and stopped, rolled down the window and the driver shouted, "You are rude. Why did you have to be a M*F*er?" Steely eyed, I stared her down and calmly said, "I didn't HAVE to be." I guess I could have said, "You speak the truth" because in reality I was being what she called me. A few honks of her horn were slightly annoying. My sitting and not moving on purpose, well that was totally rebellious and unloving and wrong.

One thing that hit me after this encounter though, was how her cussing at me had such little impact. Which I consider a good thing. You see, a couple years ago God really confronted me, hard, on my lack of concern for the unregenerated, the lost. Since all my friends were Christians and most of the people I worked with were Christians, I decided to get out there and mingle with non-Christians. One of the first things I did was go to a bachelorette party for a soon to be sister-in-law. All I can say is that I felt like a cloistered nun who after 20 years in the nunnery, was plopped down in the middle of a sports bar during the Superbowl. Total culture shock! I saw and heard things there that made my ears turn red. I am sure I blushed the whole time. I can't even describe how I felt, except I did ask God if He was sure I was supposed to do this missional thing.

Over the next few years, God lit a passion in me for the lost. But that meant that I had to get used to non-Christian behavior. I confess to you, my brothers and sisters, that I didn't realize that I was so incredibly judgemental about so many things. And hearing a cuss word, especially the "real bad" ones, would cause a physical reaction in me, almost like being slapped. I was so focused on stuff like swearing, that I lost sight of the person and the spiritual need. It hit me...I was Church Lady. This realization made me sorrowful and repentant.

I have a friend who, out of obedience and love for God, is working on stopping her swearing. I asked her recently if she only swore when she was angry. I asked her because I was curious about this whole swearing thing. I wondered if it was possible that God would have her to stop swearing while He would have me become more tolerant of swearing? Was I missing the boat? Was I misreading God? I know that some feel swearing is a cultural thing. Others think it is a spiritual flaw. I am not a swearer. It doesn't look right on me, just like spandex...spandex wouldn't look right on me. Yet, I know of some powerful preachers of the Word who swear. They are preaching the Gospel and are being used by God to transform lives. And so is my friend, who is trying to stop swearing.

So, to swear or not to swear...that is the question. Or is it?

OUR ROBERT

I had so many people ask me about Robert this past weekend. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from one friend letting me know that she had been looking online and had found a place that carried shoes in Robert's size. She suggested a certain style that she thought might be best. I couldn't stop smiling when I hung up the phone because I realized that Robert has a whole bunch of people praying for him, looking out for him, trying to find him shoes. And he doesn't even know it!! My 7-11 friend has gone from being some guy digging through the trash....to all of ours....Our Robert!

In his writings and music, David Crowder talks about God building a monument...His very people! To see the Body of Christ moving together in unison...informally...each responding individually to the Holy Spirit and glorifying God...is incredibly moving, powerful, and very beautiful.

This makes me hungry for our Lord, resplendent and magnificent and dazzling!

BOTTLE MAN HAS A NAME!!

Bottle Man's name is ROBERT! I saw him this morning as I pulled into a parking spot at my 7-11. Here is what happened:

K: "Wait, I have some bottles for you!"

B: "What?"

K: Jumping out of car, "I have some bottles. Let me get them."

B: Walking around to the side of my car, "Ok."

K: Pulling out bags of bottles, while trying to look at Bottle Man's shoes, "What is your name?"

B: "Robert."

K: "Robert?"

B: Noticing me looking at his shoes, "Yes, Robert. I have blisters on my feet. That's why I have trouble walking."

K: Noticing that the shoes, while not terribly old, are some kind of hard, looking plastic. "Do your shoes hurt your feet?"

B: "Yeah, I need to get some of those things you put in your shoes...those ummm...what do you call them?"

K: "Inserts? Robert, I will buy you some. What size shoe do you wear?"

B: "14 and a half. Thanks for the bottles."

K: "No problem. You have a good day now, Robert!"

I was praying for Bottle Man...Robert...on my way into work and asking God to help me find a way to learn his shoe size. Thank you, Lord!!

Here is where you all come in. The picture on my post is of men's shoes from the 1850's. They look uncomfortable, don't they? Well, Robert needs a new pair of shoes and I want to get him some that are soft and comfy and will be good to wear in the upcoming bad weather months. But, I have no idea which men's brand of shoes might fit the bill. I need your suggestions!!!