Mirror Talk

Do you ever talk to yourself in the mirror? I know some people do. I rarely vocalize what I am thinking when I look in the mirror but my mind is talking.

This morning as I was getting dressed I had some thoughts about what we think we look like and how we think others think we look.  Did that make sense? I was also thinking about how people love.

For some people it is really easy to love and be loved. Others may find it easy to love but do not handle people loving them. Then we have those that find it hard to love and be loved. I do not pretend to be an expert on any of this. But here are some of my thoughts.

I have to love myself before I can love others or be loved by others. How can I love myself? I am reminded of 1 John 4:10-11 "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." I can love myself because He loved me first.

Some people are hiding from love. They want to be a part of a group or a church but they put themselves in places where they're not really seen so it's hard to get to them to love them. In some cases it is not intentional but for others it is. They do not want to be touchable or reachable.

They may feel that they are not worthy of love. They may feel they are not beautiful. For some strange reason we always associate beauty with being loved.  Why? Is that what we are saying to ourselves when we look in the mirror? I'm not pretty or handsome enough to be loved .

As I was listening to K-Love this morning they were talking about being beautiful. People were calling in to share how they had been made to feel beautiful even when they felt they were not physically beautiful. One caller's story really stayed with me. Without going into a lot of detail, she said that God told her this: "You are beautiful! You take my breath away!"

Isn't that precious? Now the next time you are having your mirror talk remember that and hear God telling you: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY!

I love that: YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY!

Loving Well

I am so excited! I just had the most wonderful fellowship with a group of women last night as we came together to do a study on Loving Well. It is one of Beth Moore's that she used on a retreat weekend. We are going to do a four week study with it. I thought it would be a great beginning for a new year.

We laughed as we were introduced to four types of people that we have in our life and we are called to love them. The joke may be on us because whether we realize it or not for some people we may fall into one of those categories of people who are hard to love. It is going to be interesting as these personalities develop and we learn how to "love well".

It has spoken to me already. So I am off to do my journaling for the day - it is quiet here as Charlie has Grand Jury Duty today and it is very wet and cold outside. Lots of folks got snow in north Georgia ~ we were only blessed with rain and cold here in south Georgia. So I am going to curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and spend some time with my Father as He helps me to discover where I am with my loving.

Until ~ I will leave you with part of the scripture we are concentrating on: 

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I John 4:10

My Challenge for the New Year

I guess I could call this my resolution for the New Year but as I have indicated I have not had a whole lot of confidence in my resolutions. With that I am challenging myself to memorize one verse per month so that at the end of the year I will have 12 verses that I will be able to readily draw from.

For some of you that may not seem like a lot of verses to memorize but at this stage of my life remembering where I put my reading glasses is a challenge! I am a strong believer in having the word in your heart and better yet your mind so that you can call it forth not only for myself but for someone else who might need it. I was reading Beth Moore's blog on her December 26 post where she is challenging women to memorize two scriptures a month. I hear so many women tell me their desire to memorize scripture but find it diffcult to do so.

I accepted this challenge with my own version - I will memorize 1 verse per month. I have a set of note cards that I am using. I am trying my very best to recite it or write it as often as possible each and every day. So if you see it on my blog or Facebook often - know that I have not become senile - but it is my way of memorizing His word. I know He will honor that and use it to His Glory.

Happy New Year

So it is the first day of a new year and the beginning of a new decade! Oh my goodness. That is hard to believe. Do you remember how scared we were when the year 2000 rolled around? We were so concerned about whether or not our computers would continue to function or if the entire world of technology would crash. But here we are ten years later and more engrossed in technology than ever.

I love new beginnings. I love the start of a new day. I use to love the first day of school of a new year because I had new notebooks for school that were fresh and clean - no mistakes in them. I had new pencils, new book bag, new shoes and new clothes to start the school year. It was so exciting!

I still try to look at each new year that way - a new beginning. But even more precious is each day that I am given - a new beginning -a chance to do some positive things, to make a difference in someone's life.

May the New Year be kind to you and yours and may you grow in wisdom and strength. As I am thinking of this past year and all that has occurred, I am ever so thankful for the blessings I received in the good and the bad times. I am thankful for the things I have learned and treasuring memories.

I don't want to make the mistake of trying to make so many resolutions that I can't keep up with them or in my case can't remember them :-) and then feel like a failure because I was not able to accomplish them. I want to be able to do a few things well.

I have shared with some that this past week on K-Love listeners were encouraged to find one word that they would concentrate on instead of making resolutions. His word was "presence". He was going to focus on the presence of God each day in his life. I have chosen to focus on the word "hope". I want to remember each and every day that there is hope for me, there is hope for us all because without hope we would be lost.

Here are some scriptures that encourage me:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

Is Christmas Over?

We spent a couple of days with our daughter and her family the day after Christmas. They have two children and it is always interesting to see the world through the eyes of a child.

Anna is four and Rebekah is four months old. Needless to say Rebekah didn't have a clue as to what was going on this year but Anna was enjoying all aspects of the season. She had learned Christmas songs and the children at the church they attend had sung some of those songs one Sunday. She helped bake cookies and a birthday cake for Jesus. She got to see Santa Claus and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Her list seemed to change each time you would ask her what she wanted. She was even able to experience some snow flurries which are rare at Christmas time in the south.

Then there comes the time that we begin to clean up and put away the Christmas decorations for another year. We helped them take down their tree. Anna said "I don't like what you are doing. Is Christmas over?"

That question really spoke to me. It does seem that we act differently during this particular time of the year. We try to be nicer. We spend more money than we should to make other people happy. I think most adults are glad that Christmas is over because we go at it with all the wrong reasons and expectations. But through the eyes of a child it is exciting, it is fun. My answer to Anna's question was that it didn't have to be over. The tree may not be up any longer but the excitement of Jesus's birth would always be in our hearts and we should try to think about that.

Now I know that answer was way over her head but I needed to be reminded of it myself.

So I will ask you: Is Christmas over?

Cheese Straws and Daddy

I love cheese straws and I love my Daddy and I love my Daddy even more when he makes cheese straws.

We all have special things that we like to do or we have special things that we are good at. My daddy has lots of things that he does well but right up there near the very top of the list is his cheese straws. There are two times of the year that he makes these - if there is a beach trip scheduled, we can count on daddy to bring cheese straws for one of our snacks AND it is his call to fame at Christmas. Most people are busy making sweet stuff but Daddy does his cheese straws and they are well worth the wait.

On my last visit with him he had made some - and no we were not about to go to the beach and no it wasn't time to start baking for Christmas. It was a pleasant surprise. He always talks about what an ordeal it is to get everything together and mix them up and cook them. I really have never been with him during the procedure, I just enjoy the fruit of his labor.

As I got ready to leave I asked him for his recipe and borrowed one of his Super Shooter Electric Food Guns to use. Now, to the point of my story. Today I decided I would make cheese straws. No big deal, right? Well, I am here to tell you that I have decided that my Daddy is being way to generous with his cheese straws. They are a precious commodity.  After squishing all the cheese together and adding the other ingredients and then trying to figure out how to use the Super Shooter Electric Food Gun I was worn out before they ever got in the oven.

Now my master taster, that would be Charlie, said they were good. And in the end all the work was worth the result. But I called my Daddy and told him that I totally understood now why it is a big deal to make cheese straws and that I had much more appreciation for them when I eat them now. And I know that he must really love us to make them. Thank you Daddy!

My Cheese Straws :-)

Be It Unto Me

We recently attended a cantata performed by the combined choirs of Adel UMC and Hahira UMC. It was an absolutely beautiful offering of praise to our Father. We get so caught up in the busyness of the season that we forgive to sit back and soak in exactly what transpired so many years ago.

There were two songs that really spoke to me. One of them was "Be It Unto Me". It comes from Luke 1:38. Let me share the verses preceding this statement: I am sharing from the King James version (sometimes you just have to go back to the original translation for it to penetrate).

35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.  36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37For with God nothing shall be impossible. 38And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

"Be it unto me" - it just poured all over me. What an attitude of servanthood, submission, love, respect, honor to the Holy of Holies!

She did question. You know she had to be scared. What would people say? How would they treat her? What would Joseph say?  But ultimately her response was "Be it unto me"  - other translations: "May your word be fulfilled" (NIV); "Let it be with me just as you say" (The Message)

Complete surrender and obedience. What a challenge!

I am reminded of these words today ~  "Be it unto me" - what would you have me do today Father for you?