TEA-lightfully clear----or NOT!

TEA-lightfully clear----Certainly that blog entry was NOT clear.

I can see clearly now---thanks to some help from blog readers with younger eyes. Clean NOT clear is what they read.
How right they were----Tea-Rightfully "clean" is what was written on the bottle of "refreshing shampoo from tea tree essence."

But God.....showed me a whole new idea for TEA-lightfully clean! 
Seeing truth in God's word is predicated by a clean heart. It's the only way to clearly see the truth from His word. And it's God who gives that clean heart. (Psalm 51:10) which renews a right spirit allowing clarity of seeing and hearing from Him.

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7)
TEA-lightfully clean heart leads to TEA-lightfully clear truth. 
Clean and clear---a spiritual duo.  

TEA-lightfully clear

God's Word is truth. (John 17:17) God-breathed. (2 Timothy 3:16) Yet, to many, parts of scripture are unclear. Direction needed. Crystal clear direction. Clarity in God's word

Isn't that what we all want? A cup of clari-TEA as we read God's word---to know His truth?

To know what God is really saying, especially to each of us personally?

Last week at BSF, Cathy, our teaching leader, gave insight into this conundrum.

All scripture is equally true....BUT not all scripture is equally clear. 

A TEA-lightful quote for me to remind me of truth that I do understand and to trust the Lord in the parts which I don't.

LOVE SONGS

Love songs----an entire night of love songs, what a gift!! (Will unwrap this gift later.)

Actually this treat began as a wrapped gift under the tree. Opening the gift was just the beginning, albeit a good one.

Hubby gave me "flex" tickets to the Memphis Symphony "Pops" concerts. Last night we used them for Love me Tender: The Great Elvis™Love Songs.

A real date night* which began with dinner at eighty3 (in Madison Hotel)

including my fave dessert, crème brûlée---with fresh whipped cream, no less......

.....and continued with good seats, (orchestra section on the aisle) and a great Elvis program which the symphony and Terry Mike Jeffery showcased skillfully. Elvis songs that most "seniors" in attendance remembered well---thus a smiling audience. The overture included hymns "How Great Thou Art" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The final encore song was one of my favorites, "Can't Help Falling in Love."

Elvis may have left the building but his music remains and we enjoyed every lingering bit of it-----in fact, I'm still smiling as I type up this "gift" of love, songs included for free!

*This date night was a great diversion as it became my focus. Most years (since 2009) on this date, I have focused on how many years it has been since the first time I heard the word biopsy, as it related to me----with the diagnosis, additional biopsies and ensuing treatments, surgeries etc. I still remember that day and the dread that the word "cancer" brought to my heart---long before experiencing the blessing it would truly become.

Come and Go

Come ye. Go ye. 

Come ye unto me. (Matthew 11:28) Go ye into all the nations. (Matthew 28:19)

All who have come unto Him are called to "go" whether it's across the yard to neighbors or across the globe to foreign soil. "Go" and share the love of Christ.

"G0-ers"-- long-termer stands with a short-timer!

Stateside---short term if you move a lot or long term if you remain in your neighborhood. International---short term if you go across the waters for weeks or months---long term if you reside there indefinitely, a year or more. 

Coming and going, as God directs.

W.A.I.T.

Prayer is two way! 

We cry-out, petition, plead, etc. God listens.

God speaks....but do we listen? Have we forgotten it is a conversation? Have we forgotten how to "take turns" in our prayer life.

For many prayer is "one-way". We talk and then we talk some more. (James 1:19)

We shoot those arrows in the air and then go about our way, not reading His word or staying still long enough to hear His answer. (Psalm 46:10)

In this morning's prayer time, Carolyn W. shared a great acronym, W.A.I.T. to keep us mindful of the wisdom of controlling our words. 

  W--Why

  A---am

I----I

         T---Talking

Practice listening more, with both God and others, might be a good resolution for most folks. Wait your turn to talk....but remember to listen as you wait.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY---NOAH JOSHUA

Happy 12th Birthday to Noah---actor, athlete, artist, author, musician, brother extraordinaire!

Where have the years gone! Love & Birthday Prayers!

Simmering, Sizzling, Steeping....and......

Black-eyed peas simmering with ham hock on the back burner, Uncle Bummy's sizzling in the black iron skillet, and tea steeping in a favorite mug----it must be New Year's morning. No protein shakes or grapefruit at the table, just lots of grease to go with Gigi biscuits rising in the oven.

And.....sitting. Sitting with food in lap watching the Rose parade (a bucket list destination) followed by lots of football. (Not playing, just sitting and watching.)

Not healthy but tradition all the same! A New Year's Day rule! Pork rules, that is.

Happy New Year 2016!

NEW BEGINNINGS

....welcome 2016! The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Or is it???

It seems that I'm always in the midst of a struggle as old years transition to the new ones. This year is no exception. Except....that I'm making NO resolutions.

My hubby and daughter, on the other hand,----along with a friend, a doc and a wise counselor are resolving to "help me" cut back. Maybe it's a reflection of the inner disarray that becomes "outer" when I let down my guard around them.

For a Christian, all new beginnings, in new years or new seasons, start at the cross and continue with obedience to His word.
For me, I want a renewed emphasis in my life on worship. My study in Revelation has been an impetus for that. Loving God and serving others are an overflow of worship..... so, how do I pare down? Relationships take time----time with the Lord and time with others. What a conundrum!
So far, the only fresh start I have made is to begin with a "new" Bible and a new journal. (Thanks, Nancy)

For a journaling junkie, these are essential tools. Maybe the new "journaling" Bible will help me see anew. See truth from Him rather than relying on years of "scribbled notes" (tho marginalia sounds better) in my old Bible. Maybe the new journal will help me keep up with sermon notes and improve my memory and "scattered thinking. "

Yet, the quandary remains---how can there be a "new beginning" when the old ways are so familiar!

REFLECTIONS

REFLECTIONS! A time for reflecting is pretty common this time of year.

News commentators have already started looking back---almost ad nauseam in the "celebrity" realm.

Certainly as one reflects, there is a fine line between discernment and self-absorption.

For me, discernment can only come with an open Bible in my lap. 

Of course, also for me, it doesn't hurt to have a cup of tea (and maybe even a donut) to help me "stay in the Word" for more than a few minutes. Meditation takes perseverance, especially when encouragement and hope are desperately needed.

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

Thanks be to God---who gives patience and encouragement (Romans 15:5) as we make our way in life....learning from one year, even the mistakes, and taking those life lessons from Him, into the next year.

"So long," 2015.......

I.D.

I.D. is the abbreviation for identity or a form of identification shown to prove one's identity. All of that involves outward identification. Just one look at my photo ID on my passport, accompanied by my Visa, allowed me to enter Turkey in November as a tourist. But....I was much more than that as I carried with me my educational background, my family love, my hopes and the testimony of my faith.

There was no way the airport security personnel could look into my "core."
I "looked" the part of a tourist---not a terrorist. Had security "looked within" my suitcase they might have questioned its "tourist's vacation" contents---tea cups, kiddie books, glue, cooking chips, Bible Study guides and dish towels. Recently, in our own country we have seen how outward appearance often belies inner beliefs or intentions.

To those who know me this picture offers many outward clues to my identity---

As a Christian, I can appear at church on any given Sunday outwardly looking much the same---happy, energetic, spiritual, "together." But somedays my outward appearance contradicts my inner disarray. Inner turmoil can be brewing yet smiles and conversation keep coming. That's okay because there is a time and place to deal with difficulties--- tho church steps on a busy Sunday morning might not be the best choice, at least not for me.

Inner disarray---how blessed to have a Lord who understands and friends in the faith who faithfully pray and offer wise counsel.

Then, one's true I.D. can show forth inwardly and outwardly---beloved child of God, the identity that counts. (Galatians 3:26, I Thessalonians 1:4)