Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Be of love....
"Be of love a little more careful than of anything." --e.e. cummings
Great words this morning from "In God's Care":
Life's assignment is to live unselfishly, lovingly, and cooperatively with God's will. This assignment is quite manageable -- even simple. It's often only a matter of expressing the love we feel to the people who cross our path each day. Our own burdens will lighten every time we show kindness to another person. Our conflicts mysteriously begin to dissipate when we switch from a fearful, negative outlook to a loving, trusting one.
Love is God's gift. When we offer love freely and honestly to someone else, we give a gift not only to that person by showing unconditional love, but also to God by doing God's will. We also give a gift to ourselves in that each expression of love heightens our own awareness of being loved.
To love and be loved. I think that's the reason we are here.
Have a great week friends!!
Great words this morning from "In God's Care":
Life's assignment is to live unselfishly, lovingly, and cooperatively with God's will. This assignment is quite manageable -- even simple. It's often only a matter of expressing the love we feel to the people who cross our path each day. Our own burdens will lighten every time we show kindness to another person. Our conflicts mysteriously begin to dissipate when we switch from a fearful, negative outlook to a loving, trusting one.
Love is God's gift. When we offer love freely and honestly to someone else, we give a gift not only to that person by showing unconditional love, but also to God by doing God's will. We also give a gift to ourselves in that each expression of love heightens our own awareness of being loved.
To love and be loved. I think that's the reason we are here.
Have a great week friends!!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Saturday morning scriptures and stuff.... "Success vs. Significance"
We all want to be successful, right? I must admit that I spent much of my 20's and 30's consumed with thoughts of being "successful". I even put off doing some things that I knew should be priorities, thinking to myself that I would get to those things after I reached a particular goal or achieved a certain amount of success. The bad thing is that those priorities got lost in the shuffle because some of those goals never got reached. Uh-oh.
A friend of mine recently told me that at some point in your life, you shift your thinking from wanting to be successful, to wanting to be significant. That was one of those eye-opening "Oh Yes!" moments for me. Significance!! That's what I'm really searching for... but how do I get there??
It's a healthy human attribute to want our life to count for something. We want to be significant. We want to matter. -- I don't know about you, but when I think of "significant" people, I usually think of names like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein. I then start to think, "Well, they were special individuals who had great gifts that I do not have, so there's no way I can make a difference in this world like they did." Well, maybe I won't make a difference the way THEY did, but that doesn't mean I can't make a difference in my OWN way.
Do you think Thomas Edison thought to himself, "Hmmm... I really want to be "significant". What can I do to leave a legacy behind that will show that what I did left a lasting impression on mankind?? Hey, I know!! I'll invent a lightbulb! THAT should do it!"
Do you think Mother Teresa woke up one day and said, "Well now, I really want to be "significant". What can I do to make sure people remember me and all the good I did for years and years to come? Hey, I know!! I'll become a nun and devote my life to mission work and charities! THAT should do it!"
No, something tells me those scenarios didn't happen. They weren't on a search for "significance". They were just doing what they were born to do. Using the gifts God gave them. I'll bet they just looked at each day as an opportunity to use those gifts and make the most of them. A little bit at a time.
"We must not ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." - Marian Wright Edelman
My women's bible study group is in the middle of reading Angie Smith's new book "What Women Fear". This week we discussed Chapter 7 which is the "Fear of Not being Signficant". I learned two really important lessons in that chapter.
1. You can't let the approval or recognition of other people be our barometer of whether or not we matter, because those other people are flawed the same way you are and they can't objectively evaluate who you are.
2. You can't compare yourself to other people (ie Mother Teresa). Comparing leads to competition. That will either lead you to be puffed up in your victory or deflated by your failure.
Angie also writes, "The desire to be significant is God-given and, I believe, intended to make us long for the ways He chooses to use us."
USE us? You mean, being significant is about being USED? Ah-ha! I may be a little slow, but I think I'm starting to get it now. How can I REALLY feel significant? Follow in Jesus' footsteps. Be a servant. USE your gifts to serve others.
Luke 22 says:
25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
Serve. Sacrifice. Love
I want to write those three words on my bathroom mirror so every morning I'll remember those are the three ways to be significant. When I do those things, I know I am mirroring what our savior Jesus did to be significant. And you can't help but touch others in significant ways when you do them.
No matter what we do, we are always significant to the One who matters --God. He made each one of us deliberately and with unique gifts. We are all precious to Him and carrying THAT truth is what gives me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and serve. It doesn't matter what the world thinks of me. HE loves me. And that's all that really matters.
Have a great week my friends!!
A friend of mine recently told me that at some point in your life, you shift your thinking from wanting to be successful, to wanting to be significant. That was one of those eye-opening "Oh Yes!" moments for me. Significance!! That's what I'm really searching for... but how do I get there??
It's a healthy human attribute to want our life to count for something. We want to be significant. We want to matter. -- I don't know about you, but when I think of "significant" people, I usually think of names like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein. I then start to think, "Well, they were special individuals who had great gifts that I do not have, so there's no way I can make a difference in this world like they did." Well, maybe I won't make a difference the way THEY did, but that doesn't mean I can't make a difference in my OWN way.
Do you think Thomas Edison thought to himself, "Hmmm... I really want to be "significant". What can I do to leave a legacy behind that will show that what I did left a lasting impression on mankind?? Hey, I know!! I'll invent a lightbulb! THAT should do it!"
Do you think Mother Teresa woke up one day and said, "Well now, I really want to be "significant". What can I do to make sure people remember me and all the good I did for years and years to come? Hey, I know!! I'll become a nun and devote my life to mission work and charities! THAT should do it!"
No, something tells me those scenarios didn't happen. They weren't on a search for "significance". They were just doing what they were born to do. Using the gifts God gave them. I'll bet they just looked at each day as an opportunity to use those gifts and make the most of them. A little bit at a time.
"We must not ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." - Marian Wright Edelman
My women's bible study group is in the middle of reading Angie Smith's new book "What Women Fear". This week we discussed Chapter 7 which is the "Fear of Not being Signficant". I learned two really important lessons in that chapter.
1. You can't let the approval or recognition of other people be our barometer of whether or not we matter, because those other people are flawed the same way you are and they can't objectively evaluate who you are.
2. You can't compare yourself to other people (ie Mother Teresa). Comparing leads to competition. That will either lead you to be puffed up in your victory or deflated by your failure.
Angie also writes, "The desire to be significant is God-given and, I believe, intended to make us long for the ways He chooses to use us."
USE us? You mean, being significant is about being USED? Ah-ha! I may be a little slow, but I think I'm starting to get it now. How can I REALLY feel significant? Follow in Jesus' footsteps. Be a servant. USE your gifts to serve others.
Luke 22 says:
Serve. Sacrifice. Love
I want to write those three words on my bathroom mirror so every morning I'll remember those are the three ways to be significant. When I do those things, I know I am mirroring what our savior Jesus did to be significant. And you can't help but touch others in significant ways when you do them.
No matter what we do, we are always significant to the One who matters --God. He made each one of us deliberately and with unique gifts. We are all precious to Him and carrying THAT truth is what gives me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and serve. It doesn't matter what the world thinks of me. HE loves me. And that's all that really matters.
Have a great week my friends!!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Saturday Morning Scriptures and Stuff...."Humility"
Hey guys and gals.... I missed writing my Saturday morning blog last week because I was in GA with my good friends James Casto and Carole Ford performing at Chukkar Farms AND getting the honor of helping with the worship music at Roswell United Methodist Church. That was one of the highlights of my week!My buddies, Ellen and Monica, drove down to GA with me (oh, and Sunny too!) and the fall foliage was SO beautiful. Truly stunning going over Monteagle Mountain.
Anyway, it's good to be home and back to my regular Sat morning routine. Read a great daily devotion last week about Humility.
"Humility is a strange thing. The minute you think you've got it, you've lost it.
Understanding, deep within our soul, that God is in charge of our life removes our fear and anxiety. Quietly, then, we receive the gift of humility.
The realization that we are only responsible for our own actions lifts a great burden from our shoulders. We know humility each time we agree to let God take charge of the rest. The burden of all outcomes is rightly God's.
Humility teaches us that we will know just what we need to know at the moment we need it -- now and in the future. These moments that are claiming our attention now are all we need be concerned with. God will offer us every message we need in the quiet of our soul when the time is right. We can be at ease.
Today I will humbly accept my responsibilities in life and be glad that God will take care of the rest."
Because I struggle with self-confidence on a daily basis, I thought I had humility in the bag. But after reading this, I realized that I still have a long way to go on that. Why? Well because....
1. I still want to carry the burden of all outcomes. (silly me)
2. I want God to clue me in on His plans ahead of time. "C'mon God, we partners, right? I don't want to be on a 'need to know' basis! Give me the road map of the future NOW so I know what's coming around the corner!" -- Sigh. I guess I DO need to work on some humility.
I will say that I've been making a strong effort this week to adjust my thinking and TRULY turn some things over to God that have been in my tight grasp for awhile now. It certainly has made my heart a little lighter to know that I gave those things away and I truly don't have to carry them around anymore.
How about you guys? Have you been desperately holding on to something that you were hesitant to turn over to God because you were afraid that He might not handle it the way YOU wanted it to be handled? It ain't easy sometimes, that's for sure. Just try loosening your grip this week on ONE thing that you've been desperately holding on to. Watch and see how much lighter your burden feels. God's got it. He does. And what I've found is that usually His plans for ANY situation are SOOOO much cooler than the ones I had!
Ya'll have a great weekend!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
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