CHOOSE: TO CELBRATE LONGEVITY

Longevity. Our life span is not something we can choose.
"God has appointed the number of our days. He has determined the length of our lives." (Job 14:5)

In the last few weeks I have been to 3 funerals for folks younger than I. Many tried to make the funerals a celebration of life. I understand that but it also made me realize, as Daddy used to say, "I thank the good Lord for every day He gives me." Well said, Daddy. Celebrate life one day at a time.

Celebrate life. Celebrate the years. Use the longevity you are given as a time of service.
As folks retire they are rewarded honors for years (longevity) of service.
Today we honored a lady on her "almost 101st birthday." I don't think I've ever known anyone who has celebrated a birthday with triple digits. She is a woman blessed with "multiplied days and increased years." (Proverbs 9:11)

Almeda Burns will be one hundred and one years old on Thanksgiving day----so we celebrated early.
We ate and ate some more. Two desserts, no less. We sang. She blew out her "1" candle. Others at Town Village stopped by to greet her. But....her favorite part was being able to share memories with others from the King's Daughters and Sons, a Christian service organization.
Several were the daughters of her friends, "now all gone," as she said.

Eavesdropping on all those stories, I realized that she was worthy of the honor of longevity of service. Years of service, "In HIs Name."

CHOOSE: THE CORRECT FOCUS

Need a new outlook or a fresh focus?

Sometimes we just need to look up---

Whether in a chapel........

.....in a hallway at a storytelling festival...

......or on the road.

Other times we need to look down and absorb the words.

It's crucial to choose the correct focus because our "mind feasts on what it focuses on." (?)

Such thinking can make or break one's identity so a correct focus is key.(Proverbs 23:7)

CHOOSE: STORYTELLING!

Storytelling. An oral tradition that binds families together with shared memories.

Donald Davis is the master of such a tradition. He leaves his audiences "limp from laughter and with a lump in their throats" reports the New York Times.

Our kids and now our grands have grown up with his tales. Caleb (11) was privy to hearing him in person last year in Texas. This past weekend Owen (10) attended a storytelling festival at Balmoral Presbyterian in Memphis. 

A few years ago, hubby and I shared his Grand Canyon CD with family on our Westward Ho trip. We laughed "all the way to the bottom of the canyon" with him.

Davis says, " Storytelling is not what I do for a living---it is how I do all that I do while I am living."

I first met Donald Davis at the Methodist camp at Lake Junaluska, NC as a 17 year old. He worked in the bookstore and I was a camper. As a librarian, many years later, I heard him at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN.

As a Methodist minister, Davis understands the importance of passing on stories, both Biblical and personal to the next generation. (Joel 1:3 & Psalm 78:4) We should all do the same.

That's why hubby and I both choose storytelling and the importance of passing on that oral tradition.

CHOOSE: COMMUNITY

Recent sermons from ABC and FEC have emphasized the importance of loving God and loving our neighbors. (Mark 12:30-31)

Neighbors in the pew next to you. Neighbors across the street. Neighbors across the ocean. 

Getting to know others builds community.  Trust is built. Diversity is celebrated. Relationships are solidified in both the good times and the bad. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)

Support is given whether in a hospice room or at a baby shower ---at least that's the way my weekend was spent.

Celebrations can be shared even when one is past childbearing age, whether it's parents of their "first" new born down the street ....

.....or the big reveal across town at the gym----a girl is on the way to join 3 brothers.

Wherever you are, get to know the ones God puts in your path and celebrate where they are in life and also be there to mourn with them when life ends. 

CHOOSE: LESS FRET, MORE FAITH

Less Fret, More Faith is the 1st chapter in Max Lucado's new book, anxious for nothing FINDING CALM in a CHAOTIC WORLD based on Philippians 4:4-6.

Sometimes I feel like a could write these anti-anxiety books my self. I just don't always live it.

I certainly know about fretting and remind myself often, "Fret not, Dots!"

I've memorized the Philippians passage but..........I couldn't resist the implication of "are you anxious about being anxious" and other revealing phrases in the intro, which seemed to describe me. 

...a low grade fear. A edginess, a dread.....not so much a storm as the certainty that one is coming.....so you don't sleep well. (p. 3)

Hm-m-m-m! 

Other gems included: 

• Anxiety is a meteor shower of "what ifs." (I'm already working on changing the "what if" fears in my life to "even if" faith.)
• Anxiety and fear are cousins but NOT twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines it. (emphasis mine)
• The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional.

I pulled out these pithy grabbers to give an overview but these are not mere platitudes---there's much good info when you read them within the text. 

I choose to continue to read this book---maybe I will be able to "turn a page in this book that will help me turn over a new leaf in my life."

Will I be able to quench the anxiety with unquenchable faith? I'll let you know.

CHOOSE: TO INTERCEDE

Choose to learn from Scripture as you seek to pray for others.

John 17 is called by many as the "High Priestly Prayer." According to Justin Taylor, Desiring God, (10/2/07) this chapter on Jesus' prayer has "only about 650 words, takes only 3 minutes thirty seconds to read aloud but will take an eternity for use to fully understand it."

I, certainly do not fully understand it, but my aim is to learn what God has for me to glean at this season of my life. Reading the scripture in my Ryrie Study Bible gave insight and a few gems.

My goal is to learn from Jesus' intercession for us to aid me in interceding for others.

#1 for me is the Lord Jesus referring to believers as a gift from the Father to Him. Five times this "giving" is repeated. (vs. 2, 6, 6, 9, 24) 

#2 is that Christ is praying for those (believers) given to Him. 

That's enough for me to dwell on for a while. I, as a believer, am a gift from Father God to His Son Jesus, and Jesus prays for me. That's huge to share with others who need encouraging and to pray that  they too live out that truth, as One of His.

Now, I have been offered a "loan" of a book by a local pastor and I look forward to his insights on John 17 as well as other prayers of Jesus as well. 

CHOOSE: VESPERS

Vespers. Vespers around a campfire.

A church camp routine, a least at Camp Loucon in Leitchfield, KY.

Prayers and singing. 

Think, Kum Ba Yah (Come By Here) in the 60's.

For me, knowing God became experiential during vespers at that camp, not just cognitive knowledge. 

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

Not just a mountain top or lakeside experience but one that has stayed with me for all these years.

I have not forgotten the experience but somehow the word, "vespers" has been lying dormant in the dim recesses of my mind. I am grateful to have recalled it recently and now choose to introduce it to my "grands" when they come for Thanksgiving. 

Maybe we will even sing "Kum Ba Yah" around our fire pit.

CHOOSE: TO RELAX

Winnie the Pooh. Who doesn't know that silly old bear, created by A.A.Milne.

For anyone who has ever visited Ashdown Forest (aka "100 aker wood") in East Grinstead, Sussex, UK,  or thrown sticks over Pooh Sticks bridge, it will be a  cinematographic walk down memory lane. 

I still remember 4 grown ladies dropping our sticks in the water and then running to the other side to see whose stick would float by first.

Whether you've been there or not anyone who has ever read Winnie the Pooh to a child needs to see the biopic, "Goodby Christopher Robin." Now showing at the Ridgeway Malco. You know, the one with the big comfy seats and food to order.

The Ridgeway movie theatre appeals to seniors because even the trailers for upcoming movies are tame.
Here's a peek. Wonder,  An all time favorite book of mine that is all about kindness opens November 17. The Man Who Invented Christmas, biopic of Charles Dickens Nov. 22.

What a great way to spend a chilly/drizzly afternoon than at the movie with another book lover.

CHOOSE: THY FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING

Fountains can offer quiet tranquil places---places which evoke tranquility even in the midst of hubbub. Water can do that or me----reminding me to relax and be still, that God might speak.

Ask the One who is the source of the Living Water, to teach you that His words might come alive in your life, in spite of all the distractions and chaos. As the psalmist says in Psalm 42:2, "My soul thirsts for God. for the living God." (NIV)

In the Message version of Psalm 42:2, I read words that spoke to my thirsty heart. 

I want to drink God, deep draughts of God. I'm thirsty for God alive. I wonder, 'Will I ever make it--arrive and drink in God's presence?' When can I go and meet with God.

How blessed one is to have God's Word at her fingertips.

"The word of God is alive and active." As Stephen reminded the Sanhedrin, Moses received living words to passion." (Acts 7:38) We need to remember these words as well. 

Words that can be a fount of blessing when we share with others.

CHOOSE: TO DIG FOR GEMS

Avid readers sometimes forget to deeply enjoy a book a long the way and tend to scan over long descriptive narratives. Often, they seem to be just fillers but sometimes one needs to remember to search for the treasures. I found such a treasure as I finished reading To Be Where You Are this week. 

For one thing, I found the title reference mid-stream and then as I was finishing up, I found a gem. 

Author, Jan Karon, uses Father Tim, her protagonist (a retired Episcopal priest) to pass along wisdom to his adopted son, who has wisely decided to take a little time off work to be with family just as Father Tim has done with "his" Cynthia.

So glad I chose to read deeply and not skip over this gem.

Karon says it well---sometimes we need to let go of all the cares and concerns which tie us down to time consuming routines which bind us to work rather than others. A light heart, that comes from trusting God and giving thanks, allows one to "regroup"  and gather in for herself and in turn pour out to others.