Christmas light repair

My Pappaw was famous for trying to repair damaged strands of Christmas lights. We were dreaming of hanging ornaments and he was fixated on the defective ONE bulb. Brazos had turned out to be THAT member of my family. We have a beautiful tree with a not so
beautiful section of lights that are not working. Braz has had us all running around here trying to locate replacement bulbs to make it work. Blaise just wants to hang the pretty stuff. Bosque just wants to be left alone to watch Rattlesnake Republic. Banner, being 13 Sunday, is just over it!!

I read a verse in James this morning about lights that caught my eye. James 1:17 says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows."

I needed this verse. My mind had been on gifts of a whole different kind: the gifts on my shopping list. There is ONE true gift that will last forever! His name is Jesus. His gift of life, salvation, and hope here on earth is FREE! That is Christmas. I get it! Now, Lord, help us with these lights.

Old Dodge pick-ups in heaven?

Brazos again for this short note. He just turned 11, loves George Jones, Tom T. Hall, and his Dad's old pick-ups. The green Dodge is a 1990 model. Braz has big plans to drive it to high school. He said this week that he will never sell his Dad's old trucks. He even went so far as to say that HIS kids better not sell them! He wants the trucks to be here forever. "Can I take them to heaven, Mom?" he asked me yesterday.

I had to break it to him that he can't take anything to heaven. Then I changed my anything to...there is one thing we CAN take with us to heaven I believe: the people we have told about Jesus. We can take them.

When we share the love of Jesus with others and they too invite Him into their hearts, we are in a way taking them with us to heaven. Our relationships with people are the only thing that really will outlast this earth.

John 15:16 says "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last."

Share something with someone today that will last! A smile, a word of encouragement, a verse, an invitation to a CHRISTmas celebration, an apology, a second chance, a bit of your time to show you care. Show someone Jesus today. Be Jesus today to someone! That is guaranteed to last!

Oh, and if God is making a room in heaven right now for my son, I believe it will be full of old pick-ups; however, the trucks will MEET Brazos there. He will not take them with him!

a ride in the dark

With the time change in full swing, we are finding a need to use the flashlights more and venture out in the dark to get our daily chores done.  Jr. High sports sometimes make us out a little later at night.  That was true last night.  It was totally dark when we got in; however, we had to take the trash to the dumpster down the road.  I loaded up my two big kids. I would NEVER do it on my own. I am a total wimp about that.  We got on the Ranger, turned on the big spotlight, and started out on our adventure. 

Our first stop was the chicken coop.  It needed to be closed.  I used the flashlight and found myself shining it out into the woods to see what could be out there in the distance, forgetting that there could be something right in front of me on the ground.  I reminded myself to keep my focus on what could be right in front of me and not out in the woods lurking.  One step at a time! 

By the dumpster, I had to grab my flashlight again.  I shined it out by the road and even watched a truck out there to see what it might be up to.  I forgot again that there could be snakes, coons, skunks, loads to creepy crawly things right there by my feet.  AGAIN...a need to focus on only what was near me.  Brazos, being the son that he is, placed a fake snake by the dumpster when I was not looking.  We will not go into details about how I reacted when I saw it.  I was a WRECK!

There is a remedy in the Bible for this type of worry, fear, and thinking about what is next instead of what is right in front of us.  The Message says "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."  Matthew 6:34 in the NIV says the same in different wording.  "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I was visiting with a friend who is dealing with a huge battle!  Both of her parents have cancer.  She said that she only lives one day at a time.  She does not think about next week, next month, or what will happen next.  She is so wise!  She is focusing on what is NOW and today, not allowing herself to go into what is next, what may be.  The worry that could creep into her life would drive her crazy if she did not focus on ONLY the here and now.

Focus on what is right in front of you, leaving the future in the future, not allowing any worry to creep in this week and enjoy Thanksgiving! 

Better with make-up

I was washing my face a few mornings ago side by side with Bosque as he brushed his teeth. We visited as we proceeded through our morning routine. He looked at me real seriously as I dried off my face and said "Grown ups look better with make-up.". I glanced up at myself and totally agreed with my sweet and honest 8 year old son. I'm all for natural with some things in life and am a pretty low maintenance woman, but I sure must agree with him that I look better with make-up. He spoke the truth!

Reminds me of another kind of truth: the Word of God. We can search high and low for good advice, counsel with friends, add more apps on our phones to aide us in this walk, but we will never find any other source of truth that will compare to the Word of God.

Many think that looking at the Bible as a source of truth will make their lives boring, add a list of rules to live by, or even condemn them to the point of guilt. The Word is not like that at all! With the truth, there is freedom, joy and a dose of real direction that we all need to keep us going! The truth brings life!

Hebrews 4:12 tells us "The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.".

Tuck me in

I had a surprise request from my 12 year old daughter last night... Especially because she is taller than me, stronger than me and perhaps more sure of herself than me as well! She was in bed and ask me if I would tuck in her feet like used to do.

My hands were full, a hot tea, a water, and a book. I asked her if her sister could do it because I was carrying a full load. She quickly replied with a NO and informed me that I was the best "tucker-iner" or some word like that.

How could I resist? I made a deposit in my room of all that I was carrying and made my way back to her. No way could I have turned her down or even made her wait! Her request was granted and granted with joy.

If you are a parent, you have a real, concrete way to understand your relationship with Jesus Christ. He parents and feels like we do, when we do it right! He loves us, wants what is best for us, and even though it hurts Him, He will discipline us when necessary to get our attention and to get us back in the right track! Good parenting, huh? He also loves to bless us and can even tuck us in, make us feel safe when needed, and can pick us up literally when we fall, clean us up, and help us stand up straight again.

Matthew 7:11 touches on this truth. It says "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give a good gift to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who love him?".

Do your part today. Nurture your most important relationship. Salvation is great, but we can't stop there. Just like we crave to know our children more, walk with them, talk with them, bless them, your Father desires that with you!

Help me

I looked out of my dirty back glass this morning of my car and read a note. It said "Help me." I started laughing as usual about the normal amount of chaos that I live with in my life and then I asked who was the author of my note. I also expressed a certain amount of concern because what if someone read the note and thought we really needed help.

Brazos told me he was the guilty party. I asked him when he did it. He told me that it was dark and cold last night and he was trying to get the to-go boxes in the car by himself, we were not helping him, it was hard, so he wrote that he needed help!

How clever! When we are in need of help, we should let it be known! We should cry out to Jesus, a friend, a teacher, someone...anyone!

Help comes and the Lord gets involved the minute we pray, the second we ask! Psalms 34:17 says "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them. He delivers them from all of their troubles."

From Jesus Calling

The kid's version of Jesus calling said something that was just perfect to me. "When you are facing a tough time, think about these 3 things: your relationship with Me, My promises in the Bible, and past experiences of making it through hard times."

I love the 1,2,3 idea of it, a nice a simple formula for hard times. I mean hard times like a diagnosis, a job loss, a seemingly lost child, or even just a few days where the bill gets lost, the boss criticizes, or the dog tears up the new flowers. Difficult times in life can be massive or when life just seems to be a mess because of a hundred little things bugging you.

For any and every situation, the above 3 items will work! Your relationship with the LORD, His Word, and the times HE has stood by you in the past will get you on the road to recovery.

When I look at my past and all the Lord has brought me through, I am amazed! He is faithful and He has been so good to me. This old picture of my kids takes me back and reminds me that Jesus is real and my relationship with Him is real!

This picture was taken right before I was diagnosed with cancer. A quick glance back at how little my babies were at that difficult time makes me KNOW that God can get me through anything else that may come my way. HE is worthy of praise!

Too tired

Brazos is a fabulous speller. He can out spell me any day. I am helping him with a challenging science packet and he just got confused on b or d. Which was which had him stumped! I remember in first grade that he had the same issue. He mastered the b/d issue by writing the word bed. The b and d in the word "bed" served as his markers and kept him on the right track.

I would not expect this problem to come back in the 5th grade. He was tested for only a few seconds, then his brain kicked back in, and he was back in action writing away.

Why the temporary loss of brain power? My sweetie is tired! We all are more susceptible to memory lapses, brain farts, confusion, and even fits when we are tired.

Maybe we all do too much? Maybe we let our kids do too much? Maybe keeping up with the family next door, and not just for money, but also for bragging rights about how good our kids perform, play, or even how wonderful their grades are, wears us all out if we are really honest!

Has my family figured this out? No! But, I will say that I enjoy a day in the backyard as much as a I do a day earning a trophy. Maybe I am odd...I feel like I have lived many years of my life on a "merry go round" and from time to time, I give myself and my family the right to jump off and just be home!

When I am overwhelmed again and the pace picks up too much, I remind myself that I could need more rest, less activity and less coffee!

Why have the sales on energy drinks skyrocketed? Are we really happy doing more and working more so we can do more that costs more?

Pull everyone out, do nothing, stay home to garden, knit our own sweaters for winter, and chop wood for fireplace? I think not, but we should allow ourselves the right to say no to too much, stay in, and remember how to be a family. The activities, hustle and bustle of life will go on forever, but my time here with my family all at home will not go on forever.

"Be still and know that I am God" from Psalms 46:10 is the key. If I am so busy that I can never get still and know God, then how will my family and loved ones see God in me? I've got to be more than just a tired, stressed out, hurried parent! God can help me be more and you too!

Grass Stains & 5 minutes

The morning after Halloween I asked my son why he had grass stains on his new khaki pants.  It was hard for him to answer my question because me asking it made him start laughing uncontrollably.  When he finally could spit out the answer, he told me that the grass stains happened when he fell down in the yard because he was laughing so hard.  Wow, I thought...what a GREAT thing.  To laugh so hard, to be so happy, so full of joy, so totally cracked up that you fall down.  That is what I crave. Most adults probably do if we are honest since life for the average grown up can be pretty serious and stressful. 

My mind went to JOY and my old favorite verse in Psalms 16:11.  It says "You have made known to me the path of life.  You will fill me with joy in your presence."  When I discovered this verse back in the 90s, it was life-changing for me.  I wanted joy.  I needed JOY and I found out how to get it in this verse.  Joy would come to me when I made time in my day to get in His presence.  Not a mystery, just a daily practice and habit that I would need to keep if I was going to have anything in my life that resembled JOY.

I have to admit that as I approach my 40s, I seem to be tired more.  My snooze is my BFF and I press it more and more.  I have had years when I was involved in pretty in-depth Bible Studies and I got up really early to read, write, and study.  The past few months I have been in the presence of the Lord daily, but really only for 5 minutes or so.  I get my coffee, go back to my bed, make it up, and then sit on my side with my cozy blanket and read one of my devotional books.  That is my 5 minutes.  That is how I begin my day and without it, I FAIL and there is no JOY!  I have to have that time with the Lord.  I am sure that my energy will come back and my time may be more, but let me tell you that I can testify that the 5 minutes is life changing.

I recommend Jesus Calling by Sarah Young or Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  There are so many good devotional books out.  Combine that with a Psalms read out loud and a prayer, and you are ready to go!  More would be better, serious study is needed at times, but this simple 5 minutes at the beginning of the day will change your life. It is the way to have JOY.  Maybe not falling down in the grass laughter, but JOY!  Try it...don't wait til next year, try it tomorrow. 

The little note on conflict

Found the hand written note on how to deal with conflict that I previously had mentioned. It was originally taught by Dr. Charles Stanley. The notes were taken by Demar Hill. This will help you at home, work, school, church, on your teams, and in your circles!
1. Ask Holy Spirit for discernment and understanding.
2. Maintain a quiet spirit. (it's powerful)
3. Make no attempt to defend yourself.
4. Ask Holy Spirit to seal your lips. Psalms 141:3
5. View conflict as coming from God.
Then you can become protected and teachable before God.
6. Ask Holy Spirit if and where you are at fault.
Humility wins!