WORDS OF WISDOM

Real "wordsmiths" have a way of saying the most with the fewest words.

My dear friend and MAC cancer mentor, Michèle Phoenix, has once again done just that.

MY ONE WORD

Here I go again. Simplify. Focus.

Pare to one word for meditation if that helps.

Just like last year, I thought in January that I knew my one word for 2017. 

I had thought it would be one of two words. Trust or Joy. I was not even close.

Once again, I've spent the month of January focusing on what I thought would be my one word. 

Now here I am the first day of February re-"considering."

I'll keep you posted.

WORDS OF TRUTH FOR WEDNESDAY

God feeds.....even the birds.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?(Matthew 6:26)

At our house, especially during our recent snowy days, hubby helped this process.Think, hands and feet of Jesus. 

Today, my thought is, "Who does God use to help feed the truly hungry in "my" town?" If that's my thought then I need to more frequently replenish the little free pantry or donate to the Food Bank at various times of the year, other than just the holidays.
Grateful for this Isaiah 58:10 (NLT) needed reminder.  

FOOD FOR THOUGHT TO STEEP THIS FRIDAY

Feeling punky on this Friday and heading to the doctor, I'm borrowing words of wisdom from my favorite preacher! Certainly words of wisdom for this hot tea aficionado and the preacher's mom.

DON'T BOB IT.....LET IT STEEP!

DON'T BOB IT...LET IT STEEP! My mom's hot tea wisdom warned me that much is missed by rushing tea before its time.  Steeping is the only way to a cup of tea you will savor! Bobbing may get you a fast cup of a hot beverage, but a flavor-rich cup of tea comes only with patience and proper steeping!  The aim in steeping is to infuse the boiled water with tea, transforming it into rich flavor notes that permeate the entire cup. What's true of British breakfast beverages is also true when it comes to following Jesus and our appetite and approach to His Word. This past Sunday in our message Fool Proof, we encountered Scriptural Warnings against the Ways and Walk of Fools.  When it comes to God's Word, a Fool LACKS APPETITE [Prov. 1:7 fools despise wisdom and instruction] and LACKS ACTION with what he hears.  Jesus in Matthew 7 warns, Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.  It's almost as if Jesus is saying a Fool only allows God's Word to BOB in and out, but he does NOT LET IT STEEP in his mind and step into action with it.  That foolish approach leaves us chasing down fool's errands and headed for catastrophic ruin. WITH GOD'S WORD...ARE YOU BOBBING OR LETTING IT STEEP IN YOU? How will you develop an appetite for God's Word and how will you move beyond Bobbing to His Word Steeping in you this year?  It won't happen quickly and it won't happen by accident. To help us set our course to walk wisely in 2018, we have put together a churchwide reading plan and several Steeping Opportunities below for you to steep in God's Word with others. May God grow us as a people with a growing distaste for bobbing & a growing taste for lingering in His Word and living it out everyday. Let Christ and His Word Steep in you, so the aroma of Christ will be fragrant in your life and so others may taste and see that the Lord is good! Steeping with you, Buddy Liles Lead Pastor

FOOD FOR THOUGHT FRIDAY

Some folks might not consider chocolate a "food."

But....on a recent Monday's rain spitting, dreary morning when my thoughts were in a downward spiral, chocolate was the choice. Chocolate with a message. (And all of this was AFTER I had a quiet time.)

After the 3rd chocolate I glanced down at the message. "Quote your dad." Hm-m-m-m, that was a thought to ponder. It became a spiritual one.

As far back as I can remember, Daddy said, "I thank the good Lord for every day He gives me!

It was a come-uppance I needed.

Thanks Daddy, my earthly father,  for the memory.

Thanks Lord, my heavenly Father, for giving me another day. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

THROWBACK THURSDAY #2 2018

...A 2nd blog entry just for me---as Lucy reads Llama Llama Red Pajama Feb. 2013, age almost 15 months. It's my way of preserving these precious moments since I don't "do" FB or have an automatic time line.
What a difference 4 years 9 months QUICKLY makes in a child's linguistic ability.

Listening, even to the whispers, one can tell she understands story line changes. Mama, baby, run, are all words she repeats. The first time I heard her read this before the recording, her voice inflection on "run" indicated she understood that sense of urgency. which the author intended.
It's more than just baby talk.

I smiled the entire 55 seconds I heard her "read" it (again) on this cold housebound Thursday.

THROW BACK THURSDAY #3

...another entry just for me---a grandmother with an affinity for books. Most former children's librarians never lose their love for sharing books. Watching a granddaughter follow in your footsteps, warms the heart.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT FRIDAY

My first "morsel" of thought this morning came in the form of a memory.

Making "Snow Cream" with the kids. Scooping off just the pristine tops of the flakes...

and stirring them in our "melty" ice cream, because I rarely had cream or whole milk on hand.

SNOW DAYS! For both kids and teachers those 2 words are music to their ears.

Why? 

Maybe it's God's way of slowing us all down. 

Snow from Heaven. (Isaiah 55:10)

A way of hemming us in with his "silent" beauty....

away from busyness. (Ecclesiastes 3:11a & Psalm 46:10)

A time for family.

A time to look out the kitchen window.

A shelter of sorts.

A time to focus on Him and His hand in all of creation!(Genesis 8:22)

Yummy "food for thought Friday" as I sprinkle just a tad of snow on top of my Amaretto Cherry Cordial ice cream.

INTERCESSORY INTROSPECTION

Nine years ago today----tho it's not Thursday, it is a throwback.
A throwback to the first time I ever heard the word biopsy as it related to me.

But God....now as then, used today's My Utmost for This Highest "Intercessory Introspection," to minister to me.
According to Chambers, the psalmist implies in Psalm 139, many of God's attributes. "God of the early mornings, God of the late at nights, God of the mountain peaks and God of the seas."

Omniscient. Omnipotent. Omnipresent.
"But God goes even beyond that---with further horizons, deeper darkness, higher peaks and greater depths." My last nine years have been a testament to that. Through all the ups and downs, and unexpected bumps in the road, God has been there,

As Chambers states, "Thou who art the God of all of these, be my God." was and still is the prayer of my heart.

Now, as I look back I see the Lord's answer to my request. His omniscience hemmed me in---behind and before, He laid His hand upon me. (Psalm 139:5) Before my diagnosis, throughout my cancer journey and even nine years, later,  His full knowledge of all of me, guides and protects me.

Still His Son is intercessor on behalf of all believers. A deep personal truth worth introspection.

MORE SHEDDING

These days all anyone seems to want to shed is weight. But some things bear more weight on our lives than body pounds.

In Anne Morrow Lindberg's Gift from the Sea , a book I regularly read at the beginning of each new year, the author talks of "shedding." I'm sure I've read the term multiple times, but this year it jumped off the page and right into my psyche!

Gems for shedding from pages 30-35: (Lindberg words in quotes, Paraphrase, mine)
At the beach (or in "retreat' one learns the art of shedding; how much one can get along without.
"...how little one can get along with---not how much." Clothes first---not much needed. What a relief!! (Relief is one of my favorite experiential nouns. DAL)

After the physical shedding of "extra" clothes, shedding of vanity seems a natural occurrence. A shedding of pride ensues.

I will ask into my shell only those friends with whom I can be completely honest. I find I am shedding hypocrisy in human relationships. What a rest that will be! The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask. (Lindberg, p. 32)

May these "sheddings" bring a sincere simplicity of life that offers serenity in 2018---for all of us.