Today was truly a day of fellowshipping with the saints. How I LOVE Sundays. I love the refreshment that it brings. God is awesome, He knew what he was doing when He gave us a day of rest. We had a wonderful sermon this morning. It was on the return of Christ. I wonder where he stands on the whole Rapture/Tribulation thing. I wish our Mennonite preachers would preach on it. But there are so many varying opinions out there and I know they are afraid of causing conflicts so they seem to just totally avoid talk of it. But it is in the Bible and God put it there because obviously He wanted us to study it. I wish they would at least present the different ideas and then let us figure out what we want to believe. But, that's just my opinion. Thank God for folks who are firm on what they believe and can teach others. I am obliged to the one who taught me, a pastor from Calvary Chapel. I am not ashamed or afraid to talk about it to those who want to know and are not out for the arguement. I do have some friends who are strict believers on the church going through tribulation and they always argue with me so I learned to be silent and let it ride. God never meant for us to argue about it. It is not a salvation issue so it's okay to disagree on it. Anyway, that was a long bunny trail! We heard about the Lord's imminent return from 2Peter and it made me think of the song, "If Jesus Came to your house, what would you do?" I love that song. I love how my whole life is permeated with music. I wonder how many songs I think about in a day's time! It seems like so many things or circumstances or stuff people say remind me of a song. If you never heard the song, you really need to hear that one!
So, that fellowship was great, but only the begining. I had a lunch invitation and I went to Rhonda and Steve and stayed til 3pm. We had some good talks and we sang a little. She had all the Sunday china laid out and even cloth napkins. It was beautiful. They are such an inspiring couple, I love em to death!
Then, I came home and rested for an hour and put my food in the oven and it was a mad house for the next 2 hours. I got all my food made in time though. Then, some more of my favorite people came for dinner. Todd and Merci and their boys came and we had a very lovely time. It was short but sweet. We had a good time talking and then we had a good worship time. Todd played the piano and Merci the guitar and I sang, as that is the only instrument that I can operate very well!!!!!! The boys are such gentlemen. I don't think I behaved that good when I was their age. I hated going to other people's houses who didn't have kids my age to play with. I would whine and snivel and complain up a storm. But these boys were just so grown-up and made the best of it. I hope if I ever have children that I can instill such manners in them too. You know, I really have grown to dislike how time literally flies when I don't want it to. It is a huge pet peeve of mine. How dare it do that to me??? How I would replay this delicious day over and over if I could. And, in a few weeks I will be going to Israel, and I know time will fly when I'm there as well. Sigh, I guess I'll have to pick that bone with God! I guess I had better hike my lazy self off to bed because Monday will be here before I.......oh, shoot, it's here already? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's Day
Well, well, well, am I not a bad girl?! I cannot believe it's been this long since I posted last. Where did all that time go? Will someone kindly recapture it for me? Oh, well, such is life!
I hope everyone else had as good of a day as I did yesterday! I had the best Valentine's Day I've had in years. This year the youth group didn't even do anything special like we usually do. And, here Valentine's Day fell on a weekend and we still didn't do anything as a group! I think the whole problem was that everyone is too stinking lazy to plan something. Oh, well, that's how it goes. I had more fun than when we did plan something. I had to work. But because it's President's Day weekend, we were busy like bees at the store! Sometimes it was almost like the good old days when I almost had to pull a ticket just to skip out and use the toilet!!!! The boss was there almost all day, and that did not even dampen my good day. He was in an extraordinary good mood and almost everything was peaches and cream. I say almost everything because he gets frustrated when things aren't priced and there was a discrepancy on a price, the sign for a Nativity piece said a different price than what the box was marked. The price had gone up for the new year but the sign had not been reprinted. She was buying two pieces and the one had to come from the display. I told her the one that is out and marked with the lower price, I can give it for that price but the second one from out of storage woudl have to be sold at the new price. She grumbled a little but finally shut up and went on her merry way. It was merry for me when she left, hopefully merry for her as well!
Then a good friend stopped in to pick up a desk she'd ordered. I knew she was coming but I did not know she would bring me a Valentine's Day gift. I was so surprised! She gave me a beautiful rose in a vase filled with hershey kisses and a very soft cute huggeable bear with his arms around the vase and he was also holding a heart that says "Love". She gave some other candy and a beautiful card. That really made my day.
Then when I got home and was getting ready to have friends over, the doorbell went. No one comes to this house without warning, because we have no peepie hole in our door. We don't know who comes til we have the door opened and it's too late! Plus we don't encourage drop in's because we are in comfy clothes when we are home and do not want to offend anyone. So it was with trepidition that I went to the door. Away with the trepidition at once! It was my close friend Rhonda with a beautiful single stem rose for me and some Valentine's cake and a beautiful card! Ooooh, I'm beginning to think I might be loved!!!!!! I have never gotten stuff like this before! Wow, God bless these thoughtful friends of mine!
So that was great, and then 3 of my friends came for the evening. We started off with Papa John's pizza. Any day with Papa John's pizza is a good day!!! We had soda and chocolate brownies and candy and chips and salsa. Everyone knows you don't count calories on Valentine's Day! Nor do you think about clogged arteries or anything else for that matter! You just eat and be careful not to overeat and pray that God will guard your heart from heart failure and forgive you for eating junk food! Yummy! We watched two movies: Snowball Express and I am Sam. The latter was especially touching. It was about a mentally challenged man who had a babygirl and raised her til she was six. Then the authorities tried to take her away because his mental capacity was that of a 7 year old. He went through some heart rending things and court appts. til he finally got her back. I had to grab the tissues. My friends left around 12:30 and then it was off to bed for me. After, that is, I checked my email!
How did the computer become the boss in this house???? I mean, since there is no man here, I thought I wear the pants!!!!!!! Hmmmm! Seems to me like the computer has picked up a pair of pants, and they're not from Goodwill either!!!!!!! Sigh! The dumb thing has a hold on me. I mean sometimes I am kicking and screaming and trying to get out the door and it just pulls me back and makes me open it up and waste my time away. Like right now I was supposed to be getting ready for the youth supper (a half hour ago!)and here I am at the silly computer instead! Oh, my goodness, speaking of time......aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! There's not much left before we leave and I'm still in my nightie!!!!! HELP!!!! Adios!!!!!
I hope everyone else had as good of a day as I did yesterday! I had the best Valentine's Day I've had in years. This year the youth group didn't even do anything special like we usually do. And, here Valentine's Day fell on a weekend and we still didn't do anything as a group! I think the whole problem was that everyone is too stinking lazy to plan something. Oh, well, that's how it goes. I had more fun than when we did plan something. I had to work. But because it's President's Day weekend, we were busy like bees at the store! Sometimes it was almost like the good old days when I almost had to pull a ticket just to skip out and use the toilet!!!! The boss was there almost all day, and that did not even dampen my good day. He was in an extraordinary good mood and almost everything was peaches and cream. I say almost everything because he gets frustrated when things aren't priced and there was a discrepancy on a price, the sign for a Nativity piece said a different price than what the box was marked. The price had gone up for the new year but the sign had not been reprinted. She was buying two pieces and the one had to come from the display. I told her the one that is out and marked with the lower price, I can give it for that price but the second one from out of storage woudl have to be sold at the new price. She grumbled a little but finally shut up and went on her merry way. It was merry for me when she left, hopefully merry for her as well!
Then a good friend stopped in to pick up a desk she'd ordered. I knew she was coming but I did not know she would bring me a Valentine's Day gift. I was so surprised! She gave me a beautiful rose in a vase filled with hershey kisses and a very soft cute huggeable bear with his arms around the vase and he was also holding a heart that says "Love". She gave some other candy and a beautiful card. That really made my day.
Then when I got home and was getting ready to have friends over, the doorbell went. No one comes to this house without warning, because we have no peepie hole in our door. We don't know who comes til we have the door opened and it's too late! Plus we don't encourage drop in's because we are in comfy clothes when we are home and do not want to offend anyone. So it was with trepidition that I went to the door. Away with the trepidition at once! It was my close friend Rhonda with a beautiful single stem rose for me and some Valentine's cake and a beautiful card! Ooooh, I'm beginning to think I might be loved!!!!!! I have never gotten stuff like this before! Wow, God bless these thoughtful friends of mine!
So that was great, and then 3 of my friends came for the evening. We started off with Papa John's pizza. Any day with Papa John's pizza is a good day!!! We had soda and chocolate brownies and candy and chips and salsa. Everyone knows you don't count calories on Valentine's Day! Nor do you think about clogged arteries or anything else for that matter! You just eat and be careful not to overeat and pray that God will guard your heart from heart failure and forgive you for eating junk food! Yummy! We watched two movies: Snowball Express and I am Sam. The latter was especially touching. It was about a mentally challenged man who had a babygirl and raised her til she was six. Then the authorities tried to take her away because his mental capacity was that of a 7 year old. He went through some heart rending things and court appts. til he finally got her back. I had to grab the tissues. My friends left around 12:30 and then it was off to bed for me. After, that is, I checked my email!
How did the computer become the boss in this house???? I mean, since there is no man here, I thought I wear the pants!!!!!!! Hmmmm! Seems to me like the computer has picked up a pair of pants, and they're not from Goodwill either!!!!!!! Sigh! The dumb thing has a hold on me. I mean sometimes I am kicking and screaming and trying to get out the door and it just pulls me back and makes me open it up and waste my time away. Like right now I was supposed to be getting ready for the youth supper (a half hour ago!)and here I am at the silly computer instead! Oh, my goodness, speaking of time......aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! There's not much left before we leave and I'm still in my nightie!!!!! HELP!!!! Adios!!!!!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
It is Ever Right to Lie?
The more I read Romans, the more I fall in love with it! Right now I am agreeing with Paul when he says he does the things he does not want to do and that which he wants to do, he does not do! It is frustrating. ARGH! Why does the flesh go East when the mind and heart know it's time to go West??? Is there no way to rise above these temptations and wars while we are yet in this mortal body? Sigh! I'm afraid not! I guess we'll always be tempted with foolishness until the day God Himself comes and makes His kingdom here for good.
Anyway, I want to know if it is ever right to lie. And, no, I am not looking for an excuse to tell a lie! LOL! I have a reason for wondering......Most people would say that it is not ever right to lie. The Word states in no uncertain terms: "all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone!" (Trust me, I know that verse because when I told lies at home, I had to find that verse and read it to Mom!) But now let me ask the question a little bit differently. Is it ever okay to lie if it's for an unselfish reason, to protect someone, or for the cause of Christ? It's easy to say "no". But hear me out. Over the time that Moses was a baby, the midwives were told to kill all the boy babies. Boys kept popping up here and there and when the midwives were questioned about it, they said that the Hebrew women were hearty and had their babies before they got there. That was an outright lie! Now we know that God in his almighty power did not need that lie to make things work out. However, they were never reprimanded for that lie, and the Word even says that God blessed them, and gave them families! Wow!
Also, when Rahab hid the "spies" in the flax of her house, she lied to the man that came to the door, telling him that they were not there and pointing to the way she "saw" them go. She was never rebuked for that lie. She was saved, as well as her family, and not only that, she is in the lineage of Jesus! Wow again!
Over the time the Jews were being killed, over Corrie Ten Boom's time, do you think that the people who hid the Jews always told the truth? I sure don't see how they could have, considering how many Jews were kept safe.
The persecuted church today, the whole world over, do you think they always tell the truth to the authorities? I have heard stories of how if they are stopped on the way to house church, they say they are going to read a letter. Technically, the Bible is a letter, but things like that and more........... can lying be blessed wen it's for something like that?
Abraham lied on two different occasions when he said that Sarah was his sister instead of his wife. From what I remember, he was never rebuked by God for that.
Anyway, so is ever for any reason, okay to lie? If it is okay to lie for a good cause, how can we sinful creatures discern when it's okay, and when it's not okay? Is it even possible that we could limit the lies to the true definition of a "good cause"?
I don't know what to think, but I sure would love to hear some other folks ideas on that subject!
Anyway, I want to know if it is ever right to lie. And, no, I am not looking for an excuse to tell a lie! LOL! I have a reason for wondering......Most people would say that it is not ever right to lie. The Word states in no uncertain terms: "all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone!" (Trust me, I know that verse because when I told lies at home, I had to find that verse and read it to Mom!) But now let me ask the question a little bit differently. Is it ever okay to lie if it's for an unselfish reason, to protect someone, or for the cause of Christ? It's easy to say "no". But hear me out. Over the time that Moses was a baby, the midwives were told to kill all the boy babies. Boys kept popping up here and there and when the midwives were questioned about it, they said that the Hebrew women were hearty and had their babies before they got there. That was an outright lie! Now we know that God in his almighty power did not need that lie to make things work out. However, they were never reprimanded for that lie, and the Word even says that God blessed them, and gave them families! Wow!
Also, when Rahab hid the "spies" in the flax of her house, she lied to the man that came to the door, telling him that they were not there and pointing to the way she "saw" them go. She was never rebuked for that lie. She was saved, as well as her family, and not only that, she is in the lineage of Jesus! Wow again!
Over the time the Jews were being killed, over Corrie Ten Boom's time, do you think that the people who hid the Jews always told the truth? I sure don't see how they could have, considering how many Jews were kept safe.
The persecuted church today, the whole world over, do you think they always tell the truth to the authorities? I have heard stories of how if they are stopped on the way to house church, they say they are going to read a letter. Technically, the Bible is a letter, but things like that and more........... can lying be blessed wen it's for something like that?
Abraham lied on two different occasions when he said that Sarah was his sister instead of his wife. From what I remember, he was never rebuked by God for that.
Anyway, so is ever for any reason, okay to lie? If it is okay to lie for a good cause, how can we sinful creatures discern when it's okay, and when it's not okay? Is it even possible that we could limit the lies to the true definition of a "good cause"?
I don't know what to think, but I sure would love to hear some other folks ideas on that subject!
Friends
I am thinking about friends today. I am so grateful to God that He gave us relationships with others. Where would I be without relationships? I'm talking about relationships with fellow Believers. We all need eachother to keep us in line. How boring life would be without good friends, how lonely. It proves to me that God is a relationship oriented God. He wants a relationship with each one of us. Even my birds desire relationships. When I clean their cage, they try to come out and be with me. It reminds me everytime that that is how God is, always seeking a deeper relationship with me, always trying to get my attention.
I wish answers would drop out of the sky sometimes. You know, God wants us to know and do His will, right? Well, I wish sometimes that some things would just be in black and white! How I dislike going through periods of not knowing what choices I should make. However, I get the feeling that God does that purposely just to make us cry out to Him. Sure makes me pray harder and longer and more frequently! It definitely makes me rely on Him more. Makes me seek His face. I do love how He uses other godly people in our lives to nudge us in the right direction. Mentors are such blessings! I love people who have been through alot themselves and can talk from experience. It's awesome to know that Jesus was tempted in all things too, so we can know He understands from experience as well, not just because He is God. Sometimes I used to wish I had been through more, like what do I have to offer the girls at the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center? I have been raised in a godly home, I have 2 parents, not just 1, I have grown up with church, I've never been into drugs, evil music, and many of the other things they face. But, now that I am older I am thankful that I did not have experience with all that. I might not be able to reach them through experience in those areas, but I can reach them in other ways. I believe in divine appointments, and I know that every girl I meet in there, it was ordained of God and somehow by His grace, I will be able to touch them for His kingdom, even when I can't figure out how I could possibly have left an impression.
Sometimes I feel as though I have gone through a dry season this last maybe 3 months. I mean for the witnessing part. I am currently praying that God renews that passion and connection and burden for lost souls. I know that right now I do not have the passion I previously had. I think, well, I pretty much know that it is a result of my own current struggles, my focus has been taken off witnessing and centered on some of the things I am facing right now. Not to mention, a certain guy has done an ugly job of distracting me.......but I am determined to refocus and to recapture that passion. I don't forsee some of these other struggles passing very quickly, but maybe God will still give me back my passion anyway and not make me wait til I have pulled through!
Okay, enough of my spontaneous babble! Time to go to work!
I wish answers would drop out of the sky sometimes. You know, God wants us to know and do His will, right? Well, I wish sometimes that some things would just be in black and white! How I dislike going through periods of not knowing what choices I should make. However, I get the feeling that God does that purposely just to make us cry out to Him. Sure makes me pray harder and longer and more frequently! It definitely makes me rely on Him more. Makes me seek His face. I do love how He uses other godly people in our lives to nudge us in the right direction. Mentors are such blessings! I love people who have been through alot themselves and can talk from experience. It's awesome to know that Jesus was tempted in all things too, so we can know He understands from experience as well, not just because He is God. Sometimes I used to wish I had been through more, like what do I have to offer the girls at the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center? I have been raised in a godly home, I have 2 parents, not just 1, I have grown up with church, I've never been into drugs, evil music, and many of the other things they face. But, now that I am older I am thankful that I did not have experience with all that. I might not be able to reach them through experience in those areas, but I can reach them in other ways. I believe in divine appointments, and I know that every girl I meet in there, it was ordained of God and somehow by His grace, I will be able to touch them for His kingdom, even when I can't figure out how I could possibly have left an impression.
Sometimes I feel as though I have gone through a dry season this last maybe 3 months. I mean for the witnessing part. I am currently praying that God renews that passion and connection and burden for lost souls. I know that right now I do not have the passion I previously had. I think, well, I pretty much know that it is a result of my own current struggles, my focus has been taken off witnessing and centered on some of the things I am facing right now. Not to mention, a certain guy has done an ugly job of distracting me.......but I am determined to refocus and to recapture that passion. I don't forsee some of these other struggles passing very quickly, but maybe God will still give me back my passion anyway and not make me wait til I have pulled through!
Okay, enough of my spontaneous babble! Time to go to work!
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