MEDITATION: A REMINDER TO BENEFIT AND BLESS OTHERS

4/29/13 Lots of food for thought from yesterday's sermon about my "vocation" in life, coupled with scripture, results in Monday Meditation. 

Vocation: I am called by God as His child, a wife, a mother and nowadays, a grandmother. Everything I do in life whether at work or play gives context to that purpose as I love God & love others.

Love God! Love others!

Truly loving God and loving others will result in both my work and play benefitting and blessing others.

BUT GOD....shows the flip side of that in the book of Ezekiel. A reminder that we can get off course, especially in times of prosperity and ease. (Conviction!!!! I'm all about ease.) Same convicting verse, or snippets thereof, in five different translations

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16: 49, NIV) 

....this... guilt....arrogance, abundant food and careless ease,... not help the poor and needy. (NASB) 

Behold, ....the iniquity, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness ...neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.(KJV) 

The sin...was this: She lived..... in the lap of luxury—proud, gluttonous, and lazy...... ignored the oppressed and the poor. They put on airs and lived obscene lives.  (The Message) 

Behold, this...guilt .... had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. (ESV)

Is this what happens when life gets too cushy (ie prosperous ease)----when there is more self-love than love of God? Does pride set in?

Does complacency begin to take "root" in our lives?

Does pleasure become our idol and our hands the personification of idleness? 

Do these traits benefit and bless others in any way? (Of course NOT!)

Simply put:

BENEFIT AND BLESS OTHERS AS YOU LOVE GOD & LOVE OTHERS!

Where do babies come from?

 9/1/12 Keeping with the Saturday “questions to consider” theme, this question is one that often gives young parents pause for thought. Not having had to answer this in many years, I wanted to share an expert’s answer with you. So listen up, even you grandparents.This gal has the answer.

Mary Flo Ridley has the best info in 28 minutes that you will ever find. I’ve heard her in person and her “Focus on the Family” program last Monday was a synopsis of some of this. She helps you share basic facts along with family values. If you don’t set the values for your family, someone else will. (TV, maybe) Don’t let the world teach your child life values. Mary Flo’s emphasis is on the beauty and boundaries of sex and she recommends doing it a little at a time. It’s a great "inoculation/prevention" technique..

IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME SO CLICK HERE. SHE WILL ANSWER THE QUESTION.

This is a link to Mr. Rogers’ “Fancy Song” which she mentioned, if interested. some of you youngsters may not even know who Mr. Rogers is. 

If you listened to Mary Flo you now know how to answer that question. She also has a Simple Truths program that she uses in public schools. Her latest book, God’s Very Good Design”, helps parents create a godly message of sex for their children. It gives the biblical references to use in “the talk” type situations. “A simple book with a simple plan that gives you simple steps to follow.”

Info on all of this can be found on Mary Flo's homepage. 

My continuing blog readers know that Mary Flo is one of the BIGGEST blessings the Lord provided for me during my cancer surgeries and struggles. She did more than house me, a virtual unknown to her---she ministered to me daily! She's the real deal. You can trust Mary Flo's answers.

"Sooner Rather Than Later"

4/6/10 Having been with my 5 young grand boys more than usual last month, I had opportunity to appreciate the parenting skills of both sets of parents. It is their desire to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord even though that does not seem to be “society’s way.”

Son, Buddy, used part of the spring break visit as an opportunity for “the talk” with his 8 year-old son. Before the world had its way in shaping Nathan’s view on sex, he wanted him to know the truth and to see this loving concern as coming from a father whom he could trust. Buddy was encouraged to have this talk “sooner rather than later” from one of Mary Flo Ridley’s, “Simple Truths” seminars through the "Just Say Yes" organization.

Mary Flo equips parents to celebrate their child's normal curiosity and teaches them how to respond confidently and factually with an answer their child can understand at his/her age.
She has spoken all over the country at schools, civic meetings, and churches. Each Friday on a recently constructed blog, she helps parents answer those “where do babies come from?” type-questions. It would behoove (my grandmother’s word) both parents and grandparents to check it out-- "sooner than you think."

She has a few personal entries as well, which I love cause she’s real!! (I have had first hand experience as a frequent guest in her home.) Mary Flo is quite the legitimate mom, cook, and writer. However, if you want to cut to the chase to get the “sex” info or submit your own question, the site is easy to navigate.

It is worth your time, sooner rather than later---for your child’s sake.