CONSIDER LIGHT

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.....(Psalm 119:105).....And the way to my soul, according to Dr. David Jeremiah.

Light shines in the darkness

In Dr. Billy Graham's life, Christ's light shone brightly even at his final crusade, his funeral.

The symbolic light found it's way to rest upon the top of his casket.....

(Picture from Anne Graham Lots newsletter)

......like a BIG stamp of approval Father God bestows on His good and faithful servant.         (Matthew 25:21)

ACRONYMS

Acronyms.
You know......those abbreviations formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word.

Today's acronym is FRED. I created it as a way to save face and remind me of the positive connotation, regardless of the shape of the bottle and the assumptions of others. I don't know how the distributor, Fred Beverages, in CA came up with the name or if it has its own product acronym.

I just know that it is pocket-sized and filled with clear liquid, of the Rockland, NY alpine spring water variety.

I wasn't prepared for the glances at my "flask" as GAC patrons dubbed it. 

Vodka? It left a "sour" taste in my mouth.

So....in order to turn a negative into a positive, for me, my "bottle" acronym became ....

Fellowship

Requires 

Embracing

Divinity

Friends in the faith will get it. It's a positive for all who embrace the One who is the "Source of living water" and keeps us all connected by His death, burial and resurrection.

TEACHING TUESDAY = WOW

Right now, the only WOW I'm getting is Wifi Outta Whack!

Will try again later!

Well, 5 hrs later, the picture came through---will work on transferring rest of entry.

If you have time tonight, (3/20) I'd recommend going to novel. bookstore to hear Greg Boyles speak!
His story is one of KINDNESS!!

GOOD FAT AND BAD FAT

All physically fit folks know that there is good fat and bad fat. They ignore bad "fatty" foods.

Even dieters know about good fat but sometimes we tend to disregard it when we smell the aroma of fried foods.

Shutterstock

Here's some "fat" to chew on this Friday.

ENVY is a bad fat. Many women and men feed themselves with this sin. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

It seems to be deeply ingrained in human nature. 

ENVY eats nothing but its own heart. (German proverb)

FAT as used by Billy Graham's son, Nelson, at his father's funeral was "fat" of the good variety.

"My father was F-A-T. He was Faithful, he was Available and he was Teachable.....may we all be that way.

Consider the "fats" in your diet! 

I'm just sayin' or maybe I'm singin' to the food choir!

CONSIDER BIBLE USAGE

So much to consider! Considering "consider" verses that is.

According to online King James Bible Dictionary, the transitive verb consider is used 67 times. 

Impressive for "My One Word" for 2018.  

The first time consider is used in God's word is in Exodus (after Israelites left Egypt) and the last time is in Hebrews (after Jesus' resurrection). 

Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way, that I may know you, that I may find grace in your sight: and consider that this nation (Israel) is your people. (Exodus 33:13, KJV)

For consider Him that endured such contradiction (hostility & opposition)of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Heb. 12:3)

Those two verses alone are enough to have me change to the noun form with an er suffix and become a "considerer" of these 2 verses today.

TEACHING TUESDAY: A TOUGH LESSON

"Physician heal thyself." A common Adage. What about, "Teacher, teach thyself?" Even the tough lessons. Suffering can be a hard lesson to swallow and to teach.

Benjamin Franklin is the one noted for saying, "nothing in life is certain but death and taxes." 

I would add suffering. I assume the teachable truth here is acceptance and preparation.

Suffering is a "given."

All suffer. Overtly or hidden. 

Everyone I know has suffered in one way or another. 

Yesterday while meditating on Psalm 107: 17-22, notes from a 2017 Taylor Park sermon and a 2014 blog entry fueled my thinking on suffering. 

**Will  finish my pondering and share final thoughts after my time with Owen.

RIGHT NEIGHBORLY

Pansy Pot. A neighborly gift.
The best part is my "green thumb" neighbor's understanding of my deficiency in this area.
Master Gardener extraordinaire. She believes in "helping," not shaming, the less inclined.
So....when the temps were due to drop, I got a text that it would be okay to take them in out of the elements, even hard rains. When the deadheading was needed, I received the info on the best place for pinching. Now that's a good neighbor.
Pansies for the Patio. A right neighborly gift for sure.

Growing up in a small town, Daddy had a way of recognizing those on our block who were "right neighborly." In fact, he's the originator of the term for me. Christine and Pappy, who love me as a grand daughter, were "RIGHT NEIGHBORLY in all caps! (Galatians 5:14)
Daddy also spoke of "old" Dr. Dade being "right neighborly." I suppose sometimes it's more difficult for the elderly to be "right neighborly" when a 6 year old girl picks, without permission, their beautiful King Alfred daffodils because she wanted to give them to her mother who had always admired them. Being said little girl, I was required by Daddy to "march" right over to the Dades' home and apologize, that was more than the neighborly thing to do, it was the right thing to do. (Exodus 20:5)

Dragging my feet, literally, and pleading "right" motives was not an acceptable excuse.
I marched. (Matthew 19:19)

Dr. Dade accepted my apology and said the right thing to do would be to let him know when I needed flowers for my mother and he would help me choose the right ones from his yard. (Romans 13:8)

That was above and beyond being right neighborly!

tenDANCE---NEW WORD, NEW DANCE

Tendance is a word in and of itself. Who knew? Not I.

At least not until this morning.

 Here's what I found---

Definitions of tendance

n. - The act of attending or waiting; attendance. ²
n. - Persons in attendance; attendants.

Waiting jumped off the page and into my psyche. Visions of a "waiting room" loomed.

No one was dancing for sure as waiting is difficult even if it's God's waiting room. For us, this week has had people "waiting" with us. Prayerfully in "attendance" from coast to coast and across the "big pond, " they call and text and encourage.

Sarah Young's reminder in Jesus Always March 4 entry was so timely!!!

• Blessed are his who wait for the Lord. (Isaiah 30:18)
• Waiting patiently does not come easily but can be good for us.
• Those who obediently wait can build up equity for not-yet blessings.
• The waiting process can be beneficial. 
• Waiting keeps your "soul on tiptoes" as you look up to Me in hope! (emphasis mine)
• Acknowledge the One who is in control and rest in His goodness.

May all of us in this "adoption" waiting room put on our "dancing" shoes and allow Him to lead us in our tenDANCE that we might glorify Him as we wait!

COOKING UP LEFTOVERS

Friday's blog entry concerned "new" to me words....and phrases! They kept stewing in my mind. I cooked them up much as I'm doing our food leftovers for tonight. Trying to use them in a palpable way.

So...today as I turned the corner from West Street to Poplar Avenue, I did a double take at a "new" to me restaurant with a "new" to me offering.

RIGHTEOUS CHICKEN!*

I recognize that righteousness is a little scarce among humanity these days. Our pleasure-seeking, self-serving culture seems to have given up watching out for his fellow man. 

For me, the good I want to do tends to not be what I do. (Romans 7:15)

But a chicken? Righteous?

I have no idea what a righteous chicken is! Can you just  pick it up at the drive-thru?

If any of you blog readers have a clue, let me know. I might need to add righteous chicken to our Monday night menu. 

I've got some roasted chicken I can heat up---I just don't know the recipe for righteousness.  

Apart from God's word that is----righteousness meant for humans, not chickens!

Oddly enough, I ran into the new owners at lunch today (3/8/18) across the street at West Street Dinner. I asked what righteous chicken was and they said come in and we'll show you! I'll keep you posted once I take them up on the offer. Not sure why they were at a competitor's establishment. Maybe they ran out of righteous chicken. and were looking for an ordinary substitute.

COOKING UP NEW WORDS

There are so many new words that even the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster add new words annually. Lately most of them are concerning our digital age or are words I have never even heard before. Of course, even we elderly know "fake news," selfie (a 2013 word), baby bump and brexit.

Here are a few new ones to me......

blamestorming---the word coinage might be new & very political but it sounds like the blame game siblings play in their early years of "not me."

"ping me"---Not sure of that---does that mean text or just any digital communication whose notification involves a "ping" sound?  I can't distinguish my phone pings from hubby's phone pings.

worstest---that just sounds like bad grammar to me

Friendsgiving---I like the sound of that if one includes inviting international friends or friends w/o family to their Thanksgiving table, but if the focus is more on alcohol with friends (OED) than giving thanks, then count me out.

fitspiration---I'm too old for that word to be in my vocabulary---it describes people or photos of fit folks that are inspiring. At my age, old people who are still sane and mobile inspire me.

word salad---sounds like the way I talk when I'm talking in circles and hubby and others don't have a clue to what I'm saying. 

But God introduced a "new word"  for our family this past week via Pastor Cole, who's really good at word creation! A fitting one as we "wait," with our daughter and her family, for adoption news.

Pop Pop's Hands

Hopetimist----I like the sound of it.
Not just an optimist, or an immature cock-eyed optimist---who thinks that thinking good thoughts alone, or working hard will make all things "perfect," because that's not always true.

HOPEtimist. (emphasis mine) One who is hopeful and on their knees trusting the outcomes to the Lord. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Be strong and take heart all  you who hope in the Lord. (Psalm 31:24)
That's Bible-speak for a hopetimist!