MEMORIES

I do not know who to give credit to for this collage.
 It was taken from Photobucket

This old post I read this morning brought back other memories.Sharing with you again. Perhaps it will bring memories that you might want to share.


11/26/2013
Thanksgiving will soon be upon us. Walking this morning in our mobile home park, I met young people on bicycles. An unusual sight in our retirement village. And  as I walked, I began to remember Thanksgiving’s past. My mind became a collage of memories much like the collection we often create with our photos on our computers. Memory overlapping memory.      

 My Aunt Opal , who lived with us, and I sitting around the kitchen table breaking up old bread for stuffing as my mother prepared the feast of the day. And then the memory of twin cousins coming later to entertain us with the double trouble antics of two little boys. That blends into the reflection of my own kitchen as my daughter and I work together to set the table and get ready for our aunts and uncles. I can see my children so clearly as they stomp in from the cold and snow to warm themselves with snacks and perhaps a pinch of pie dough or a slice of turkey. My memory collage is overshadowed by my more recent memories of our adult children and our young grandchildren running in and out the back door of our farm home. I can hear their grandpa shouting, “Shut that door.” as they run to the cookie jar or the toy box. Our daughter and her family arriving in a flurry of coats and shouts and hugs of greetings. The sweet smell of children and turkey blending in my mind  bring a lump to my throat, but a prayer of thanks to my heart. And as recent as last night I remember our  four year old great-granddaughter (via Facetime on our cell phone) proudly show us her sister of four months  and then dash to plug in the Christmas tree they have just decorated so that we might see the lights.

But over all my collage I see the love of God  framing all my memories.

Our God has blessed my life and my family in so many ways. Some I remember and others I don’t, but always He has been there to protect us, guide us, and most of all love us.  And for all of that I thank Him this Thanksgiving season.

PATIENCE/PERSEVERANCE?

     I often think of patience as a kindly virtue of moms and little old ladies. Reading tonight, I have discovered that patience in the bible is often translated as perseverance.

     A new, but welcome thought for me because perseverance sounds much stronger as a word than patience. People who persevere are fighters not meek, waiting little people with no fight to them. Those who have the endurance  to run the race, fight the fight, finish the course...these are those who persevere...in my gut level feeling patience is not always a virtue even though I have been taught differently by my“persevering, patient” mother.

    " Persevering, patient" now becomes redundant if what I have learned in my reading has any validity. I think I would like to be known as a woman who persevered maybe even more than a woman who was patient. Of course it is all just a "play with words" idea,and I do so like to play with words. Patience or perseverance...,either way it is a fruit of the spirit that I need to cultivate more each day. Galatians 5:22

So how do you feel about this thought?  Do you view patience as perseverance?

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Today is Monday and as usual on Monday, I begin to think about what I want to accomplish this week. I pray each morning before I get out of bed that God will give me opportunities to serve; however, even when He does, I don't always recognize them. I wrote this devotion one morning after we had been to church. I have returned to it many times as a reminder to myself to do God' s work when He offers it. I may not get a second opportunity to serve that person. My prayer for all who read this is that you would seize the opportunity to serve the first time you meet it and not pass it by for another time.


Read Matthew 25:34-40 “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 1:4 NIV)
     On our way to church this morning we turn the corner , and  I notice her surrounded by what appears to be all her worldly possessions. The gentle Florida breeze ruffles her gray hair and she moves her wheelchair to the edge of the sidewalk as a pedestrian passes. “Oh my, how sad!” I murmur as we drive on to our regular place of worship. I sing; I pray. I participate in the Communion and read God’s word. But her face intrudes into my personal worship. I resolve that on the way home, we will stop and offer her some comfort and help.
      We drive our same path home. She is gone. My opportunity to do something is gone. I have been so busy “playing Christian” that I have bypassed someone who needed love—God’s love. Jesus’ said “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me” (Matt: 25:40) I had not “done” anything for the “least” of God’s children. “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”(James 1:4) Today I had sinned again.
PRAYER: O Lord forgive me. Help me to practice the true religion of giving love and aid to those less fortunate than I. Amen
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY When God creates an opportunity we must act. It may not return.




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STRESS FRACTURE

Recently doctors diagnosed my foot pain as stress fracture.

For those who are not familiar with the term (and I wasn’t) they described it as two small bones in my foot much like two wires that continue to move back and forth until they break because of the stress placed upon them. Each time after this diagnosis I wore an ugly black boot until these bones healed. Each doctor was too kind to mention “old” bones. J

I am walking for exercise again, but today I began with a mile.  Not my usual three miles, but it is a beginning and I will continue with that for a week or two, evaluate my body’s response and move on to more distance.  Perhaps I will soon be back to my normal distance.

As I didn’t recognize my fracture until it began to be painful, we sometimes don’t recognize how our mental and spiritual well-being is stressing until we break. We skip our Bible reading and morning devotion because we have a committee meeting at the church. Our designated Prayer time is lost as it is time to drive the children to Youth group. We want to spend more personal time with God but we have so many things we need to accomplish in each day.
None of this is detrimental for us, but it can be unfavorable to our spiritual life which then affects our physical and mental well-being. When we fall apart and so many of us do, it is then we need to put on the “black boot” to slow down and ease the stress of our lives.

I write this morning as one who has been there. Take time to be holy (defined as set apart).  Stress can be controlled. God tells us “Be still and know”.  I will continue to walk, but perhaps my body is telling me to slow down as God may also be telling me to slow down.

 

Do you have stress fractures?  Physically?  Mentally?  Spiritually?

SHE SAID WHAT???

As I walked this morning my mind is filled

 with so many different thoughts.

I have been going back over a conversation that I was a part of recently.  And yes, I was a part of it, not an innocent by stander, but a part of the group. And in retrospect,I have decided to be more careful about my participation in such conversations.  Was it harmful?  I don't think so, but was it necessary?  Probably not.

How do you feel about gossip?  Harmless?  Destructive? Not a problem? The subject is on my heart this morning. Society gives it many labels-chit-chat, rumor, conversation, prayer-wait Prayer?  Really? How could prayer be destructive?

As His people, we need to examine our hearts as we make prayer requests. God knows the details of the situation. Vivid description of the problem as the request is made is not usually necessary. An explicit detail made public does little for a marital or family situation. Just like the game we played as children, the words change as they are passed from one person to the next. A simple request for prayer is sufficient.  The key here being the word “simple.”  

Elaborate prayer requests can be gossip in disguise… can you be trusted? The author of Proverbs tells his reader that a gossip betrays a confidence. (Proverbs 11:13, 20:19,) Betraying a friend’s confidence by labeling it a prayer request becomes gossip. Our public prayer requests need to be clear and simple. God will understand.
My prayer today is that I might not betray my friends or my God. Won't you join me?
Clella