I bring you my shortcomings… lack of patience fear and dread that we are going to be let down by both you and a Church
I bring you my worship and praise… I wish I could I am so scatter brained..You know what will happen..You are the God of all and you know EVERYTHING before it ever happens
I bring you my prayer… I want you to know that with all of my heart I want this..More than anything else I want to serve you in this capacity..It is such torture to get little tastes of it here and there and then it never comes to be…YET I want your will too! I don’t want to be as the Israelite were when they were impatient in wanting a King…They were so close to getting one that God was going to give yet they chose Saul….those who aren’t in ministry they don’t understand what it is to have such a burden and such a calling and yet They shrug their shoulders and say it wasn’t God’s will It was meant to be…Ministry has a lot of rejection that goes with it in so many ways I know BUT yet….you lay yourself out there time after time after time…….You have to pour out your whole self you give literally everything you have until you are so completely drained…Nothing left to give..and yet you find that last little thread….
You spoke to me… sadly I wish you would speak to me on this subject and yet your voice seems non-exisatnt….Cloudiness and fog…No answers…tonight I guess we will finally know what your will will be!
I bring you my shortcomings… focused on you in all that I do!. trying to get your perspective instead of dwelling on my own ALL the time
I bring you my worship and praise… You are the God of creation..yoou know everything about everything and I know nothing about everything!
I bring you my prayer… of a great upcoming weekend serving you and giving it all again. and that it would not return void! We love serving you and we want to do it in this capacity ALL the time!
You spoke to me… in the beauty of your creation and through your word
Today as hubby and I were out doing our weekly shopping I sat in the front seat watching signs pass by….One sign grabbed my attention and made me smile!…All I saw was one word on it as we drove past in city traffic..that word was–JESUS! My immediate reaction was a smile. I am always happy to see people so brave in proclaiming their faith. But as I thought I began to wonder how many people drive past that on a daily basis and get annoyed angered and just plain offended. What is it that causes people who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior to get so put off by one simple Name–JESUS! I guess maybe if I had been saved in my twenties I would perhaps understand better but i was young when I was saved….let’s be precise I was 4. I was raised in a Christian home and my parents were not angered by the name either. So I guess when it comes right down to it I have no idea why someone driving down the street would get angry at this Jesus sign. Anger enough to file a law suit to make the people who own their own land to take it down…. That is not the case with this particular sign but pay attention to the news. It’s everywhere….What “signs” are people trying to get rid of where you live and work?
A reader of my blog and a great friend of the last 2 years has a huge praise and prayer request. Her name is Michelle and she and her family live in Mexico and are missionaries there to the deaf! Well for the past few months..maybe even longer her husband has been on dialysis he has been fighting and uphill battle for some time and now it seems as though their prayers have been answered he is getting a kidney transplant on Friday. Check out her blog by clicking here and be sure to pray for him throughout the rest of this week and especially on Friday!
It’s been a long time since I have written a post about something that drives me nuts so here it is CHRISTMAS style! Or should I say Holiday style!
Yep that’s it you guessed it. I am a full fledged Child of the King who believes that this “holiday” thing has gone way too far!
Yes I know the purpose there is also Kwanzaa and Hanukkah…then there is CHRISTMAS and New years all lumped into the space of roughly a month. For many years these holidays coincided with no trouble at all….I will admit that Hanukkah is older than the celebration of Christmas However Kwanzaa was founded in 1966..My question was what exactly is Kwanzaa? So I did a little searching and here is what it is.
DEFINITION OF KWANZAA Kwanzaa is a unique African American celebration with focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. Kwanzaa is neither political nor religious and despite some misconceptions, is not a substitute for Christmas. It is simply a time of reaffirming African-American people, their ancestors and culture. Kwanzaa, which means “first fruits of the harvest” in the African language Kiswahili, has gained tremendous acceptance. Since its founding in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa has come to be observed by more than18 million people worldwide, as reported by the New York Times. When establishing Kwanzaa in 1966, Dr. Karenga included an additional “a” to the end of the spelling to reflect the difference between the African American celebration (kwanzaa) and the Motherland spelling (kwanza).
Kwanzaa is based on the Nguzo Saba (seven guiding principles), one for each day of the observance, and is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st.
* Umoja (oo-MO-jah) Unity stresses the importance of togetherness for the family and the community, which is reflected in the African saying, “I am We,” or “I am because We are.”
* Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) Self-Determination requires that we define our common interests and make decisions that are in the best interest of our family and community.
* Ujima (oo-GEE-mah) Collective Work and Responsibility reminds us of our obligation to the past, present and future, and that we have a role to play in the community, society, and world.
* Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah) Cooperative economics emphasizes our collective economic strength and encourages us to meet common needs through mutual support.
* Nia (NEE-yah) Purpose encourages us to look within ourselves and to set personal goals that are beneficial to the community.
* Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) Creativity makes use of our creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community.
* Imani (ee-MAH-nee) Faith focuses on honoring the best of our traditions, draws upon the best in ourselves, and helps us strive for a higher level of life for humankind, by affirming our self-worth and confidence in our ability to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle.
The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash, (Hebrew: “guard” or “servant”) is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher or lower than the others. The purpose of the extra light is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud (Tracate Shabbat 21b-23a), against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah story. (The shamash is used to light the other lights.)
Hanukkah is mentioned in the deuterocanonical or apocrypha books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. 1 Maccabees states: “For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the rededication…should be observed…every year…for eight days. (1 Mac.4:56-59)” According to 2 Maccabees, “the Jews celebrated joyfully for eight days as on the feast of Booths.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah
So what exactly has created this HOLIDAY joy? Could it bee that I watched one hour of television and did not hear Christmas mentioned one time…BUT in the process I heard about HOLIDAY decorations,,,HOLIDAY gifts..HOLIDAY parties…HOLIDAY food..AND yes even a HOLIDAY tree! OR could it be that my pastor husband and I are faced with what seems like an impossible task of trying to convince our Three and a half year old that God does exist despite the fact he hasn’t seen him on TV…Santa on the other hand….does not despite the fact he is EVERYWHERE on TV!
I am ready to chuck the TV… NO not really BUT there will not be anymore Santa movies this year until Tornado is able to grasp that seeing isn’t believing.
At this point Tornado is a confused little boy. He marches around the house saying I believe in Santa but when he is asked to you believe in God he says NO but I love him>
I think that we have lost sight. Materialism and the idea of kids Needing something good to believe in has clouded our views. Christ is the only good thing we need!
For Today…
