Listen

I stepped outside on my porch after the first big snow of the season.  Stillness.  Silence.  Undisturbed.  It's like God lays a big blanket over the earth and says, "Now, be still.  Shhh.  Listen."

I'm no fan of winter.  I don't like being cold.  I don't like being stuck indoors.  I don't like brown grass and naked trees.  But when it snows, it's as if God is saying, "Let me cover everything ugly and make it pretty for you.  Let me cover the roads so everyone can just slow down.  Let me make it quiet so you can hear."

In 1965 a report came in front of a Senate subcommittee that said in just a few short years that the country would be able to sit back and relax because the computer age would give lead to a 20 hour work week and people would be able to enjoy the luxury of more time off, less stress and early retirement
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Well, isn't that a novelty?  Our government giving heed to a ridiculous report.

The "computer age" has brought with it, more stress, more work, greed, mothers having to leave home to go to the workplace, divorce, warped sensibilities, violence, and a removal of anything Godly from school, work, and government.  Ahhh, the perks of advancement.

I saw on tv the other day, a family that had an idea.  They thought it would be a good thing to have a family meal together, and they were on tv to show everyone how to do that.  That's what we have become.  We have become so disjointed and busy that we don't know how to sit down at a table together.
 
But did you know that when you are still, you can hear a whisper?  Did you know that when the tv and radio are off you can hear a bird chirp?  Did you know that when you yank the headphones off you can hear a fire crackling?  Did you know that when you look up from the laptop, or iPad, or stop texting that you can see the snow falling, see a butterfly dancing through the air, see a deer scamper through the field?  Did you know that when you stop all these things, you can actually think!

I was watching the snow fall and saw some cardinals in one of my trees.  They were chirping and twitching their little heads from side to side, as if to say, "well, aren't you going to give us food?"  So, I got my boots, gloves and coat on and went outside and filled all our bird feeders.  Not a big deal.  But I was able to help some of God's smallest creatures and I wouldn't have even thought of it if everything hadn't been still.  I wouldn't have heard that tiny little call for help.

It made me think of how many opportunities I have missed to help someone in need of a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or even just a smile, because I had too much noise going on...too busy in my own life...too much to do to slow down...

I can remember my mom saying it to me, them me saying it to my children when they were out of control or too noisy. "BE STILL!"  "You just need to quieten down and be still!"

Well, that's what God is telling us.  It's not a request.  It's not a suggestion.  It's a command.  Read the whole chapter of Psalms 46.  It's almost as if God has us by the shoulders, shaking us and telling us, "I am God, I will be exalted, now be still and listen!"

I guess that's what has to happen when we, as children, get too loud and stop paying attention.  We have to be still and hear what God has to say.



Psalms 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Lovin' My Cousins

Last night at church, the ladies were meeting in the prayer room, sharing our hearts and a sweet, older lady asked that we remember her family.  She said that she would love it if we would pray for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  She told us that her grandchildren and great grandchildren totaled 63.  What!  What an awesome legacy!  And I'm sure that each one of them feel so proud to call her Grandma.

I can remember a time when families were large, and the number of cousins was even larger.  What a time that was.  Meeting at Grandma's house, eating piles of food, listening to aunts and uncles talk and laugh, and the funnest of all was playing in Papa's barn.

It's sad that today many children won't have that memory.  They won't know the connection to lots of cousins who are our very best friends from the start, the chaos of running around Grandma's house, and the excitement of sleepovers, picnics, and dinners.

I've recently reconnected with some of my cousins after decades of being out of touch and nothing's changed!  Yea, we're older, a little more wrinkled, heavier, slower, but our hearts are the same, our memories are the same, our love is the same. 

I have memories of climbing trees, running through the woods and fields, having burial services for animals, putting on plays, sleeping under Grandma's quilts, giggling because our toes were crunched up under the weight, playing in the barn loft day after day, pretend church services with lots of preaching and singing, being chased by cows, and all of it was with my cousins.

A Family Christmas

There's just something about Christmas.  The birth of Jesus is celebrated in churches and homes everywhere.  Watching the plays with children wearing masks of baby sheep, cows and donkeys, hearing them singing "Silent Night" off key while their halos are sliding off their heads, is amusing and heart warming.

I think of all the Christmases that we gathered up piles of gifts and rounded up the kids, packed them all in the car and traveled through the snowy roads to my husband's parents' house, to have dinner with the family.  There were hugs, brothers and sisters talking, cousins running through the house, and Papaw standing over the stove cooking the meal.  There was always a platter of his delicious homemade peanut butter fudge sitting on the table.  Mamaw would be sitting in her recliner, smiling while each of the grandchildren would stop playing long enough to tell her some big story of toys, or games, or practically anything of importance in a child's mind

Then, there was the trip to my sister's house in Tennessee.  As soon as we'd walk in the door, the boys would be off to the bedroom to play video games, or to reek havoc throughout the house.  My sister and I would escape to the kitchen to talk and laugh hysterically at just about everything.  My husband, my brother in law, and the older boys would be reclined in the living room in chairs and all over the floor watching football games.

As I sit here, watching the snow fall outside, I will grieve a little over the people we have loved, but have lost, then I will smile over sweet memories.  And after a few minutes of reminiscing, I will get my mind in gear for the activities that will be happening in my own house.

All my children will come in,  stomping the snow from their feet, toddlers running through the house, screaming, "MIMI" or "POPPY"!!!!  There will be smells of baked cookies, food simmering on the stove, and a faint aroma of pine tree in the room. Our older grandchildren will interject into the adult conversations what they've been doing at school.  They'll tell of things going on with friends and who likes who, and who is dating who.  My  grandson will be quietly looking around at the food, ready to get the party started.  The toddlers will go straight to the toy box and pull toys out by the handfuls, they'll be giving hugs, running in and out of rooms with squeals of excitement.  The girls will all gravitate to the kitchen, while the men (or I should say, boys) will all pile on the sofas for some kind of talk about touchdowns, work, trucks, or guns.

There's nothing like it.  To think, it all began in a stable with a manger and a little baby.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Twas the Night Before Christmas in Our Church House

This is just a little poem I wrote from the original, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Clement Clark Moore.  The people in our church are so friendly, funny, and such characters!  I wrote this for our Christmas dinner this year, based on my church family.  If you knew them, you would know
that Emma screams when she's startled.  Sue is in charge of our nursery downstairs and can whip through changing diapers like nobody's business.  Rita is the pastor's wife, Sam is a quiet, humorous man, Tony is about seven feet tall,  and Mrs. Tucker is the sweetest 94 year old lady  you could ever meet.  So, welcome to my church, my church family, and my crazy mind!


Twas the night before Christmas,
the pastor preaching in the church house.
Not a creature was stirring,
until Emma screamed, "THERE'S A MOUSE!!"

The children were all nestled in the nursery with care,
Sue changing diapers, slinging them through the air.
When all of a sudden there was a commotion overhead,
She yelled, "Please be quiet!  You could wake the dead!"

Never before had there been such a clatter,
as Rita jumped the pews yelling, "What's the matter!"
Sarah was trying to escape through the window sash,
as Rebekah fainted to the floor with a booming crash!

The mouse was so tiny, so lively, so quick.
Up and down the pews ran Sam with a stick.
And then, before our eyes, what should appear?
Tony running the aisles yelling, "Let's get outta here!"

The deacons, the trustees, they made such a gang
From his perch on the organ, Preacher called them by name.
"Come Bob, come Tim, come Thomas, come all!
Get me down from here before I fall!"

As the little mouse scurried, as sly as a fox,
Mrs. Tucker captured it in a tiny red box.
She turned and smiled and straightened her shawl,
She raised the box and said, "Merry Christmas to all!"

He Saw Jesus

It's Christmas time once again, and once again we will hear the Christmas story.  No, not about the man in the red suit, but the story of the birth of our Saviour.  We hear about the baby, the shepherds, the wise men, and about Mary, but we don't hear much of Joseph, the stepfather to Jesus.  What a brave man he must have been.  What a Godly man, he showed himself to be.

He was a carpenter.  He was a  man of good standing in the community, who was espoused to a young woman named, Mary.  His name was Joseph. 

As important as it was for God to find just the right woman to be the birth mother for his son, it was just as important that he find the right man to be the stepfather to Jesus.

As was the custom at this time, marriages were arranged, so it could have been that Mary and Joseph knew, as children, that they were to be married whenever they came of age.  They may have played together as children and shyly flirted with each other as preteens.  Their love probably started to develop very early on, knowing that they would spend their lives together as husband and wife.

Joseph knew he would have to provide for his family, so he was trained to be a carpenter.  This was not an easy occupation.  There were no battery powered hand drills, no electric table saws, and no gas fueled chain saws.  It was all done by hand with very primitive tools.  They had to cut, trim, and plane each piece of wood used by hand.  In the times of Joseph, many of the roofs made for the homes were just large timbers laid from wall to wall with mud plastered in the crevices, so a carpenter would have to move and place these by hand. It was not an occupation for the weak.
 
So, as the years progressed, I'm sure Joseph's physique went through some changes and he became a strong, muscular man.  As well, his stature in the community probably increased, as he learned to accomodate people, to work with them, and to be fair in his dealings.  He took pride in his work and in his life.  It seemed everything was looking up.  Good job, good health, nice position in the town, and a sweet girl already under contract to become his wife within a few, short months.  Life was good.

Life was good, until that one, earth shattering day.  That day, when the woman of his dreams, the woman considered to be righteous and Godly, the woman that promised herself to him, came to him with a story of betrayal.  How could she! How could she embarrass him in the town!  How could she have done such a thing!  How could she be with child?

This information plagued him.  It consumed him.  As he worked, the thoughts of betrayal mocked him with each pass of the sanding stone.  As his muscles tired and sweat dripped from his face, each stroke of the hammer said, "Why?  Why?  Why?"

He could make no sense of this story of a baby concieved of God, to be birthed without Mary ever knowing a man, and then for the baby to be the Promised One, the Saviour of the world, the Christ child.

If someone was espoused, it was a binding contract, just as if they were married, so when Mary came to him with this news, he knew that the outcome of such a revelation would be excommunication for Mary, she would be shamed, ridiculed, and possibly stoned for adultery.

Joseph cared for her, in spite of the circumstances, and decided that he would not go to the authorities with this information, but would send her away privately, inconspicuously.  He would see to her safety and he would protect her reputation.  He loved her.

As he tossed and turned, trying to get some rest from all this turmoil, he finally closed his eyes in fitful sleep.  It was during this sleep that God saw his heartache and sent a messenger to Joseph.  The angel comforted him with words of truth. The angel comforted him with affirmation that what Mary had told him was the truth and that it was of God.

Joseph put all fears aside and followed God by faith.  He took Mary as his wife, and when that night of all nights finally came and he looked into the face of his stepson, he saw the face of glory, the giver of grace, the reflection of mercy.

He counted the perfect little fingers and saw the healing of all nations.  He rubbed those pudgy, baby feet and saw they would walk the road to complete sacrifice.  He saw in those tiny eyes, forgiveness
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He saw Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:  when as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
 
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:  for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:  for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying

 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

FIGHT ON!

Thanksgiving has always held such a special place in my heart.  It's a time of reflecting on how God brought a handful of people across the ocean, starving, scared, and ready to begin a new life in spite of the struggles.  Hearing how they survived with the help of the native Americans, and how they gave God thanks and glory for it al,l is always an uplifting story.

It's a time of reflecting on how much God is still blessing America, in spite of the constant warfare of people trying to bring our great nation to her knees.  It'sa time of reflecting on our own families beginnings.  The new marriages, the new children, and at this point in my life, the new grandchildren.  And in the midstof all this reminscing, giving our Heavenly Father thanks and honor for all his blessings.
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Being thankful is acknowledging that someone has bestowed upon us some sort of gift.  Did you know that God equates being unthankful as bad as being a liar?  Being selfish?  Being celf centered and a braggart?  Being a sexual deviant?  Being unholy?  Pretty serious stuff.  Read 2 Timothy chapter 3.  The next time we think, "why did God do this to me?, or why didn't God answer my prayer the way I wanted?", we had better take a step back, reevaluate ourselves, and thank God that we're breathing, that we can see, that we can walk, that our heart is beating.

I don't suppose it was easy for Paul when he was imprisoned and beaten.  I don't suppose it was easy for Mary when she was being shunned because she was a young girl, unmarried, and pregnant.  So, I guess we'll make it through when we don't get that new car we wanted, or when we didn't get the name brand purse.

It's easy to be thankful when we're on top of the world and everything is going great.  But how easy is it to bow our heads and be thankful when someone we loved just walked out on us?  How easy is to say thanks when we're in financial hardships? How easy is it to be thankful when our bodies are racked with pain? When we are going through trials and it's hard to just face another day, God still makes his love known.  We just may have to look a little harder for the things in which to be thankful.

I've been making trips to Tennessee my whole life.  It's where my birth family is.  It's where my heritage is.  However, the past seven or eight years have been quite a different experience.

Before, it was to reunite, have good times, eat meals together, and reminisce.  Later it was to help with sicknesses, surgeries, be a stronghold, and hold loved ones in death.  It's been difficult to be thankful in these circumstances.

My last trip, I saw a change in my mom.  She was more forgetful, weaker, and sadder.  When she asked me if I was leaving to go back home and I told her I was, her countenance changed.  It broke my heart....again.  So, as I left her and then took my stepdad back home and watched him as he walked to his apartment, all hunched over with age, taking slow, careful steps, I lost it....again. 

Every time I leave there, I wonder if it will be the last time I see them.

As I was travelling on down the road, brokenhearted, and telling God that I just couldn't take this....again, a song came on the radio.  I don't remember ever
hearing it before, but the words I heard were,

    * "I really hate to bother you, but Lord, I've gotta whole lot on my mind
      I know that you're real busy, but I promise I won't take much of your time
      but Lord I need a little grace, to help me make it through
      I need to feel that kind of love that only comes from you.
      If you'll just sqeeze my hand, let me feel you by my side
      You said you'd never leave me, you'd always be my guide
      but the storms of life sometimes won't let the sun shine through
      Lord, I need to feel that kind of love that only comes from you

And you know what happened?  I travelled a few more miles and I saw a sign (yep, God still sends signs).  It was one of those signs where nothing is advertised and they have a phone number on it that you can call to have a sign put up.  Well, the phone number was at the bottom along with the words "lease me", but above that in huge letters were these words, "FIGHT ON.  THE BEST IS YET TO COME."

Well, that just sent me into another fit of tears because like the song said, "if you'll just squeeze my hand and let me feel you by my side" He did!  God held my hand while I was leaving town.  He comforted me and told me it would be okay
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In spite of the heartache, God blessed.  I'm so very thankful for that.  I know that God isn't going to put up a big sign everytime we're struggling, but if we look around, we'll find the ways in which He's telling us that He's near.  It may be a song, it may be laughter of a child, or it may just be a memory, but God always shows us his love in very special ways.
 
God bless each of you and may you have a special Thanksgiving season this year.

Hebrews 13:15  By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

(song-

*Special Love by Karen Peck and New River)

My Best Friend and Me

I have so many fun memories of Halloween.  When I was a kid (in the dark ages) our parents just let us go out on our own.  It was a time of innocence. 

Parents didn't worry about perverts, drive bys, or kidnappings.  They were unheard of.  Neighbors watched out for each other.

This was my favorite night because I could go out with my friends and I didn't even have to have my older brother along to spoil the fun.  I was free!!

My best little friend and I would plan, giggle, prepare, giggle, and finally come up with our costume to be presented runway style for our moms.  Then we'd giggle some more.

One particular Halloween, we decided we were going to be a two headed monster.  We were both built like little stick figures, so we got a pair of pants and a shirt from a man that was quite hefty.  I got in one leg, she in the other and zip.  I put one arm in the shirt sleeve, she put one arm in the other and buttoned up. 

The only difficulty was that this was back when men's pant legs were pegged, which means they were very small at the bottom.  So we had two feet popped out of each pant leg that was basically a tourniquet around our ankles.  Not only did we have to get the geisha girl walk down, but we had to coordinate our tiny steps while hugging each other with one arm.  Besides wobbling down the road with our heads banging together, we did pretty good.  Shuffle....shuffle....giggle....bang. 

After staggering and giggling our way through the little community, we started down the scary part of road between her house and mine.  There were some rock cliffs along one side and it had tiny little holes or caves in the cliffs.  Her dad always enjoyed telling us that Indians were buried in those holes and that sometimes at night they would come out.

Well, for two little girls, this was cause for imagination, fear, and of course, giggles.  As we were beginning that spooky stretch of road, we heard someone behind us.  After cracking our heads together several times we were to get a glimpse of a boy behind us.  Not just any boy, but the boy that greased his hair back, wore a white t-shirt with a pack of Marlboro's rolled up in one sleeve, and a black leather jacket on over that.  Yep, he must be dangerous.  We had our own community Fonz. 


Once we were able to keep our heads from knocking together and get turned back around, we got our shuffle into double time.  We may have made sparks, I don't know, but for some reason fear with little girls brings on fits of whisper giggling.  We were whisper giggling uncontrollably and setting off sparks as we shuffled on down the road.

As he got closer and closer I'm not sure our feet were even touching the ground at this point, but he came right up behind us AND..........just walked around us. 

Well, that was pretty anticlimactic.  So, we just shuffled our way around the rest of the neighborhood, got our pillowcases full of candy, went to her house, ate our candy and spent the rest of the evening giggling and enjoying our sugar high.