Divine Appointments January 31, 2008

 

Both Mattie and Speedy called me this morning to tell me about divine appointments they’ve recently had.  A divine appointment is when God places you somewhere at just the right time and you KNOW was God, but anyone else might call it happenstance.  For instance, Speedy went to talk to someone today about something church related (but not youth dept related).  The woman he ended up speaking to has been looking for a church that offered a dynamic youth program so her son could become involved and use his talents to serve the Lord.  Speedy happens to be our Youth Pastor.  Fate?  Chance?  No way.  That’s divine appointment.  God had specifically planned for that lady to be the one at the front desk.  God had purposed that Speedy (not anyone else from our church) would be the one to go take care of this business today.  It was a divine appointment.

So that got me to thinking about different situations that God has placed me in….situations where I KNEW that it was a God thing…not chance.  I bet we all have moments like that we can look back on.  What’s more, there may have been numerous other instances where we had no clue that God had placed us somewhere to accomplish a purpose we were never even aware of.

Here’s one of my recent divine appointments.  My daughter, Kyra, as a friend that she hadn’t seen in several months.  This friend called out of the blue recently and asked if Kyra could spend the night with her.  I agreed on the condition that Kyra must attend our church the following morning.  So her mother called a little later for directions to the church.  We talked about the church and about the youth department that is being built.  She started getting very excited about it and kept asking questions.  She said, “this has to be God.  We’ve been looking for a church, but we want one that has programs for the kids too.  And I love teenagers and want to work with them.”  She is now teaching a high school LIFE Group and her entire wonderful family is going to our church.  A phone call….totally out of the blue….led to a family serving God.  WOW!

So tell me, what’s your story?  Leave a comment and tell me about one instance where you KNEW that God had placed you there for a reason.  Tell me about one of your surprising divine appointments.

Mom’s Overture January 30, 2008

I swear this blog is about more than jokes and funny stuff, but I just had to share one more funny with you. Rodney sent me this video and I was rolling laughing while watching it. As a mom of 6, I find that I say this stuff over and over and over again. So for all the mom’s out there….this is for you…..

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That’s Not Funny…That’s Just the Way it is

Mattie sent me this email a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to share it with you.  I’ve heard it said before that “humor is the truth taken too far.”  So now I’m wondering which is funnier…what the email says or the fact that I’m reading it and actually saying, “Well, duh.  Doesn’t everybody do that?”  But I will say that I did spend most of my life thinking that certain things in Louisiana are the same everywhere, only to discover when I moved away that we really are a culture all our own.  For instance, did you know that moss doesn’t grow on trees everywhere in the country?  It’s true!  And did you know that kids in other states don’t get out of school for Mardi Gras or the first day of squirrel season?  It may be hard to believe, but it is true! 

So here you go…..Mattie’s email.  Enjoy!  (my comments in red)

THANGS I LARNED WILE LIVIN IN LUSIANA 1. Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in LOUISIANA.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in LOUISIANA plus a couple no one’s seen before.

4. If it grows – it sticks; if it crawls – it bites.  (or in the case of red bugs, both)

5. Onced and twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy. (duh!)

7. Fire ants consider your flesh as a picnic.

8. People actually grow and eat okra. (especially in gumbo!)

9. Fixinto is one word (learned they don’t do this in other states.  crazy, i know)

10. There is no such thing as ‘lunch’. There is only dinner and then there is supper.

11. Ice tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you’re two. We do like a little tea with our sugar!  (this happens to be my 2yr old’s fave drink)

12. Backards and forwards means ‘I know everything about you.’

13. Jeet? is actually a phrase meaning ‘Did you eat?’

14. You don’t have to wear a watch because it doesn’t matter what time it is. You work until youu’re done or it’s too dark to see.

15. You don’t PUSH buttons, you MASH them.  (my mother thought this was particularly funny…..I just thought it was common sense)

YOU KNOW YOUR FROM LOUISIANA IF:

1. You measure distance in minutes.  (of course.  it’s 45 min to Natchitoches, 2hours to Shreveport, etc…..I have no clue how many miles that is….does anybody?)

2. You’ve ever had to switch from ‘heat’ to ‘A/C’ in the same day. (YESTERDAY I switched from heat to AC to heat again all in one day!)

3. You use ‘fix’ as a verb. Example: ‘I’m fixing to go to the store ‘ (found out they don’t do this other places.  weirdos.)

4. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.  (and really, what else is there?)

5. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

6. You know what a ‘DAWG’ is..

7. You carry jumper cables in your car…for your OWN car.  (I don’t see why this is funny.  I really don’t.)

8. You only own five spices: Tony’s (Chachere?), salt, pepper, Tabasco and ketchup.  (In my opinion, Tony’s is the closest thing to perfect offered on the market.  Why bother with anything else?)

9. The local papers cover national and international news on one page but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

10. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

11. You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit ‘a little warm’.  (True, but push it to 101 and I’m looking for the A/C)

12. You know all four seasons: Deer Season, Duck Season, Crawfish Season, Summer.  (I’m on the prowl now for some good crawfish.  Who’s having a crawfish boil they want to invite me to?  Anybody?  I’ll bring the corn & potatoes!)

13. You know whether another LOUISIANIAN is from, north or south as soon as they start talking (speaking).  (Turns out this kind of thing can’t be done in other states.  Shocked me!  Also, why feel the need to clarify that “talking” means “speaking.”  Doesn’t it mean that everywhere?  Seriously, doesn’t it?)

14. Going to Wal-mart is a favorite past time known as ‘goin’ Wal-martin’ or ‘off to Wally World’.  (If you read my post yesterday about celebrating by going to dinner & Wal-Mart, then you know this is absolutely true.  So sad.)

15. You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good gumbo weather.  (Well, duh.)

16. A carbonated soft drink isn’t a soda, cola or pop…it’s a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. Example: ‘What kinda coke you want?’  (I’ll never forget living in Oklahoma and offering my sister in law a drink.  She says, “I’ll take a Coke.”  I said, “Okay, what kind?  I’ve got grape, orange, Dr. Pepper…..”  She just looks at me like I’m crazy.)

17. Fried catfish is the other white meat. (You mean, it isn’t?!)

18. We don’t need no stinking driver’s ed….if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.

19. You understand these jokes and forward them to your friends from LOUISIANA
(and those who just wish they were). Not EVERYONE can be a LOUISIANIAN,
it’s an art form and a gift from God  (Amen!)

Energized! January 29, 2008

Yesterday was Rodney’s first day to work in Alexandria.  He thinks he’s going to enjoy working here so that’s good.  I’m just really excited to have him home.  Okay, yeah, saving tons of gas money is nice too.  🙂

Last night was SO COOL!  It was his first weeknight home (other than holidays) in a year and we didn’t know how to act.  To celebrate we went out to dinner and shopping at Wal-Mart.  Yeah, I think we might be rednecks.  lol

Another cool thing about him being home at night is that I have so much more energy!  Just having him here made a difference in every aspect of our life already.  The kids really loved spending time with him and I loved that I wasn’t totally, 100% responsible for them all by myself.  Already I feel more energized.  Yay!

Rodney left this morning to go out of town for some job training.  He’ll be gone for a couple of days so we’re going to be lonesome for him.  We got a little taste of what it’ll be like to have him home and now we’re without him again.  Ah well.  At least this time it’s only for a couple of days.  Rodney, if you’re reading this, we miss you and love you!!!!

Behold….

Speedy sent this verse to me this morning…..

“Behold, I am the Lord…..is anything to difficult for me?”  Jer. 32:27

What more is there to say after that?  🙂

How Cool Was That?! January 28, 2008

Wasn’t it awesome being in our new location this week?!  The building is just gorgeous!  Lots of room to move around, carpet under our feet, beautiful lighting and more.  Loved it!

This week we put the drums up on the stage.  It really limited the amount of room Bro. Keith had to move around.  So this week we will get the headphones and cords that Josh (our drummer) needs to be able to hear and we’ll move him down to the floor next Sunday.  We’ll also have a larger stage, so that should make a difference too.

We’ve got a lot of work to do this week.  Being in a new place gives us a lot more options on what to do.  We’re still actively searching for more musicians and I’m meeting with one tomorrow. 

Not a lot to say today.  Lots of work to do.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more.  🙂

Here’s the Point January 26, 2008

I wanted to share some things that have been on my heart lately.  For the last several weeks, I’ve been reminding myself that each thing I do can be used to bring glory to God.  Everything.  Remember when I talked about that before?  I won’t go into all that again, but that kind of leads up to where I’m going with this post. 

Before I go any further, let me give you a quick definition.  The simplest definition of “glory” (for the purposes of this conversation) is fame.  So to bring glory to God is to make Him famous.  Everything we do can help make His name more known to those around us. 

So the big problem that most of us face, when desiring to give glory to God, is that we are selfish and vain.  None of us likes to think we are, but isn’t that really the core issue with a lot of our problems?  On the one hand we want to bring glory to God, while on the other hand, we want to be sure we get some glory too.

Now there’s nothing wrong with being recognized for our achievements.  In fact, that’s a great thing.  When we work hard on something, it feels good to see it acknowleged.  Jesus Himself is a great encourager and often spoke about the good things that people had done.  It becomes a problem when that recognition is the PURPOSE for our doing the work in the first place.

So I guess the real “gut-check” is this….we must constantly ask ourselves if we are doing something for our own glory or for God’s.  And then we need to be honest with our answer.  That can be difficult, but it is necessary if we honestly want to serve Him.

There’s a song we sing at church called “It’s All About You.”  The lyrics say this…..”It’s all about You, Jesus.  And all this is for You, for Your glory and your fame.  It’s not about me as if You should do things my way.  You alone are God and I surrender to Your ways.”  Pretty song.  Easy to sing.  Sometimes hard to live.

When I look back on things I’ve done, I can clearly see where my purposes were selfish.  While I may have found some success, I still felt empty.  And none of it, NONE OF IT, was lasting.  It was gone in a moment.  However, the things I did with a pure heart, totally for His glory, remain to this day.  They touched lives and they made an impact (however small it may have been).  That’s because when I let go of my own selfish desires, God was able to step in and work a miracle.

Every day I remind myself that it’s not about me.  Period.  It’s about bringing glory to HIM.  If the world could get even just a taste of who He is, they would not go unmoved.  Knowing who I am does nothing for them, but knowing Him changes everything. 

The funny thing is, when I set my own selfish desires to the side, He blesses me anyway.  It’s crazy, but true!  He meets ALL my needs and even gives me almost everything I ever wanted.  I asked Him once “Lord, why is it that when I want to lift You up, I end up being the one lifted up?”  And the answer was like a ton of bricks.  “Duh!  It’s because you’re doing what you were created to do.”  Okay, maybe God doesn’t say “duh” to you, but I swear He said it to me.  🙂

So do we put our selfishness aside because we know He’s going to bless us anyway?  No.  That’s just lagniappe.  Our motives are still selfish if that’s the reason we’re doing it.  Is it always going to be easy?  Absolutely not.  There are going to be times when serving Him means sacrifice.  Sometimes it means helping in ways that nobody ever hears about.  Sometimes it means countless hours of work that goes completely unrecognized by others.  Sometimes it means giving something up that you never see again.  But if our heart’s desire to bring glory to HIM and not to ourselves, though it may be difficult….it is absolutely worth it.  He will be glorified and LIVES WILL CHANGE. 

Though the blessings on earth are deeply appreciated, the greatest reward I can imagine will be one day hearing Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”   Can you just imagine it?!  Him looking directly into your eyes and saying you’ve done well?!?!  WOW!!!!

So today, let’s sing this song…..

It’s all about You, Jesus.  And all this is for You, for Your glory and Your fame.  It’s not about me….as if You should do things my way.  You alone are God and I surrender to Your ways.

Better Now

Sorry for my rant yesterday.  I’d like to say that I’m so spiritually advanced that things like that don’t get to me anymore.  Obviously it would be a lie if I said that.  🙂

I do have something I’d like to share with y’all, but here’s a couple of things going on in my life first.  As most of you know, I don’t watch tv.  It’s not that I’m opposed to tv, its’ just that I’m not in the habit.  A wise person once told me that what we put into our heads has to come out somehow.  So when I was having bad dreams, I gave up tv.  The dreams went away and I I got out of the habit of watching tv. 

So I said all that to say this:  I don’t watch tv.  Because of that, I miss out on a lot of important information.  So if a hurricane is coming, somebody please call & let me know.  🙂  Anway, a friend just told me that we’ve got money coming from the fed. gvt.  Big money!  Woohoo!  Apparently, I’m the only person who didn’t know anything about this.  But I’m super excited because I really really need new furniture (and maybe a new van).  And y’all know how many kids I’ve got, so you know we’ll be getting a nice, fat check.  Yipee!

Also, last night was Rodney’s last night to work in Shreveport!!!!!  Starting Monday morning, he’ll be working DAYS in Alexandria!!!  Now he won’t be as exhausted from driving so much every day, I won’t be as exhausted from being the ONLY one taking care of this big family all the time and the kids will get to see their Daddy every day.  This is going to be so good for us….not only for our budget (we spend almost as much in gas as we do for our house), but we’ll get to spend real time together every single day.  I’m so looking forward to having him home!

Okay, my next post is going to be what’s been on my heart.  I really just wanted to say what’s been going on and how we’re doing.  Thanks to those who kindly called to make sure I’d calmed down yesterday.  🙂  One good thing about having a sanguine personality is that you don’t usually stay down for long.  When you’re mad, you’re really mad, but you get over it quick.  🙂

Stupid Van January 25, 2008

Well, I was planning to come on here and share some thoughts I’ve been having about worship.  Then I got aggrevated.    I just don’t feel right talking about a lifestyle of worship when I’ve got steam coming out of my ears.

See, I’ve got a van.  Of course I’ve got a van.  I have six kids.  I’d be unwise not to have a van.  So anyway, this stupid van has issues.  It started shaking while I was driving down the road.  Not good.  So this morning after my meeting, I had a new tire put on the van.  It’s still shaking.  Stupid van.

While leaving the meeting this morning, Cary pointed out that I’m leaking gasoline from the front end of the van.  One of the kids had mentioned that same thing last night.  That causes fires.  Not good.  Stupid van.

And then there’s the battery.  More specifically, the battery cables.  Sometimes they lose their connection and I have to “jiggle” them.  It’s a stupid problem to have, but it is a problem.  It’s a pesky and sometimes embarrasing problem.  Stupid van.

And now my van won’t start at all.  At this moment, I’m supposed to be picking up one of my kids from school.  Instead, my mother (God bless her!) is picking him up and I’m sitting here fuming mad.  Stupid van.

I haven’t even started in on the cd player that eats cd’s or the radio that I have to tune by pushing the tuning button over and over and over again, or the upholstery at the top that the kids pulled down, or the rear-view mirror that just fell off one day, or the back tail light that we’ve already replaced three times, or the heater that only works on defrost, or the air conditioner that doesn’t work at all.  Stupid van.

So I was gonna talk about something important and meaningful.  Instead, all I can think about is that I may have nowhere to go but really really really want to go somewhere just because I can’t.  Stupid van.

But the truth is, when it runs, I’m so grateful to have that stupid van.  It holds my whole family all at the same time.  It’s a pretty convenient place for lunch sometimes.  It holds all the stuff we keep forgetting to take out of it.  It carries us from one place to the next and back home again….when it runs.  Stupid van.

Worship Pre-fessional

Last night was our worship team practice.  Since the hotel was already booked for last night, we had to practice at my house.  This poses a unique problem.  Since we haven’t yet been able to practice in the new location, we weren’t able to try out any of the sound equipment, nor were we able to see how we would need to be arranged.  Hopefully, these things will come together easily on Sunday morning.  It’s pretty frustrating waiting until the last minute though.  Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about it this week.

Practice went well last night.  Bro. Keith (our pastor) even stopped in, visited and prayed with us.  Everybody seemed to have more energy than last week, so that was helpful.  Raymond meshed well with the team and turned out to be even more talented than I had originally thought.  He taught us a new song…written by himself….that we will be doing as special music Sunday morning.  Fun!

I’m going this morning to meet with Bro. Keith & Bro. Curtis at the convention center/hotel.  Hopefully we’ll be able to get a good idea of how to set things up Sunday.  The better prepared we are, the more smoothly things will flow before & during worship services.  After that, I’m hoping to come home and have some quiet time alone with the Lord.  That’s hard to do during the day with toddlers running around, but I’m hopeful.  If not, then I’ll have to wait until the kids are in bed tonight.

That’s about it for this morning.  Now I’ve got to run so I can get the kids taken care of before leaving.  I’ll be back on here later today.  There’s something that’s been on my mind regarding worship and I wanted to share it with y’all.  See you then.  🙂