My Thanksgiving Top 10 List

Thinking about Thanksgiving and being thankful. I have so many things to be thankful for - little things, big things. Some things I'm thankful for are a good night's sleep, soft sheets, a beautiful sunrise, purple flowers and more, but here are . . .

the top ten things I'm thankful for

#10
Two home "disasters" that God used for good. Because of the apartment flood of '07, we were able to get new furniture. Because of the townhouse flood of '08, we were able to re-floor/carpet/tile and paint our townhouse. We now have a comfortable, beautiful home.

#9
My job. As frustrating as my work can be sometimes, I'm so thankful for the smart, creative people I have the pleasure of working with. And in this economic season, I'm so thankful to have a career in Internet marketing that is actually on an upswing.

#8
eMail, Facebook, Twitter and other online social networking tools. I've made so many new friends and reconnected with so many old friends through Facebook and Twitter. It's been wonderful.

The new friends I've made this year. Thanks for being part of my life.

The old friends I've reconnected with. Some of you have helped me through some really hard times the past couple of years, some of you have just been fun to laugh with again. A couple have been both. :-) All of you, I'm glad you're back.

#7
My health. I'm in much better health today than I was two years ago - physically and mentally. Good checkups this year are definitely a blessing when I hear about so many that struggle with physical challenges, sickness and disease.

#6
My bestest, best friends. I am fortunate to have a posse of "ya-yas" that I know I can count on. You've taken me to the emergency room, hugged me when I was crying, listened to my insanity, drank way too much wine with me, laughed until we cried, shared meals with me, shared my joys and my sorrows, loved my kid and at least one of you has always been available when I needed to talk. You have been a manifestation of God's grace in my life. You know who you are! I love you.

#5
My church and church family. I am so blessed to be part of a great church family. I get to sing with the worship team, do theater, laugh, fight, love and share life with this wonderful group of folks. I love dearly the group of folks that I do worship with each week.

#4
My brothers and their families. I have amazing big brothers and they both married wonderful women that I am proud to call sisters. No matter how old I get, my big brothers are still my big brothers - I love them so much. I love my nephews and nieces and only wish we could all be together more often.

#3
My parents. Mom and Dad have been my biggest fans and my most stalwart supporters throughout my life. I'm blessed to live close to them.

#2
That I was blessed with an absolutely amazing daughter. Smart, funny, thoughtful and beautiful. We are the real life Lorelai and Rory (mom and daughter from the TV show "Gilmore Girls") and life in our house is a ton of fun and full of love.

and the number one thing I'm thankful for?

#1
Jesus Christ. Having a relationship with the world's only perfect man is what keeps me sane. His love and grace sustains me.

Happy Thanksgiving.
Keep an attitude of thanks no matter what is happening in your life and you absolutely open yourself up for God to work miracles - I believe that completely.

Control is crazy.

Don's sermon at PICC brought this chick to her knees before the Most High God. That was the topic of the sermon, El Elyon - Most High God. (aside - PICC's updated website has Messages on Demand so if you're interested you can listen to the sermon here.)

So - during the sermon, I took some major body blows.

• Punch 1 - My greatest struggle is not being in control. ouch
• Punch 2 - Do I trust in God Most High, or am I going to do what I thing is best and convenient for me? oouuff
• KO punch - Every time I try to control my life, I am making myself "most high god." She's down for the count folks.

The worst part is, I've fought this fight before, yet here I am again dancing around the same ring. So, where does this need to try and control things come from? Pretty basically, fear. For me, fear of what the future holds for me. The fear masks itself as impatience sometimes - but when you get right down to it . . . and call it what it is . . . it's fear that God really isn't going to act on His promises for my life.

So - how to respond to fear? Not with trying to manipulate or control to make things work out MY way, but with understanding what God says about it.

2 Timothy 1:7 says (my paraphrase) God doesn't give me a spirit of fear; but a spirit of power, love and a clear mind.

The clear mind is an important cue - when I find myself going all "crazy girl" about things - I need to step back and realize where that's coming from, 'cause it 'sho 'nuff ain't coming from God's spirit!

It's coming out of a frightened little girl inside me, who isn't listening to her Abba Father.

It's been awhile - and another flood

Yep. Another inside the house flood. God works in some mysterious ways His wonders to perform. I came home from work on September 2 to find water spraying at high pressure out of my hot water heater's expansion tank. I don't know how long it had been going - but the result was having to replace all the carpet downstairs and the linoleum in the downstairs bathroom. Also living with blowers and dehumidifiers for a week and a half - and without hot water for almost a month. (Well, I've been single and celibate for almost 3 years now, maybe I needed the cold showers!) :-) Tonight, I'm sitting in my living room that is freshly painted - but the floor is only plywood and the toilet from the downstairs bathroom is still sitting out here next to the couch - very convenient!

The first miracle in all this? The downstairs of our house is getting completely upgraded with the insurance settlement. Tile, hardwood floors and new carpet; also freshly painted walls. It's going to be awesome.

God is great - Jevovah Jireh - God our provider.

The other major blessing in all this? I am learning, and Elizabeth is learning, to really TRUST.

God is Sovereign.

Really, really. (If you've seen Shrek 2000 times like me, you got that)

God has our best in His heart. I am a child of the King. Elizabeth has seen me trusting God through some of the most difficult times a family can go through. When she walked into "Flood, Part Deux" she found me, drenched, standing in the living room, saying over and over "all things work together for good, all things work together for good, all things work together for good. . . " Water was still spraying everywhere - we were trying to find someone to come cut the water off (neither of us had the physical strength or Lineman's plyers to do it) and I was kind of freaking out - but I was claiming, out loud, that God was going to use this for our good. And He has. Over the past years, I've gotten to a state of total dependence - it has NOT been an easy place to get to, but I have to say I'm glad I'm here.

Oh yeah, and another way God used this seeming "mess" - a friend and brother in Christ that needed construction work is taking care of all our repairs/redos. Another friend of ours said to me last Sunday, "I'd been praying for _____ to get some work, but I didn't mean it to be at your expense!"

I just say "Thanks be to God for your glorious grace"

. . . and my new wood floors. :-)

I gotta have more cowbell

One of the funniest Saturday Night Live skits ever is the Will Ferrell, Christopher Walken spoof of VH1's Behind the Music featuring Blue Oyster Cult. I read a post the other day from Copyblogger titled "The Secret to Captivating Content? More Cowbell!"


What I loved about the post was that it went a totally different direction than I thought from the title. Here's a short excerpt to explain.

Someone came up with the idea for this sketch simply because they paid closer attention to (Don’t Fear) The Reaper than most everyone else. It’s the same with copy… the copywriter who digs deeper into product research and the mindset of the prospect often finds the gem that others don’t see, which leads to a killer promotion.

My first thought was that the post would be about maximizing the cowbell - the attention grabbing noise. But it wasn't, it was totally about someone who paid closer attention to (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, heard the cowbell and saw the potential for a hilarious bit. Now, I'm not posting this on the wrong blog, I promise, I'm going somewhere with this.

The secret to a captivating faith is the same thing. More cowbell.

To me "more cowbell" means -

Not just skimming the Bible, but really reading, paying close attention and seeing something meant just for me.

Paying attention to people, to relationships, digging deeper into those I love and finding the hidden things to maximize in them. And also doing that for myself.

Jesus is the master of finding more cowbell in people. He saw the potential in Peter immediately.

And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter ). Matthew 1:42

David Hasselhoff doesn't get it

The first sentence in Rick Warren's book Purpose Driven Life is

"It's not about you."

This is not a concept some folks get.

Yesterday, I stumbled upon David Hasselhoff's new website and absolutely laughed until I cried. He has created a social network so that people can connect over their connection to him. (below is a direct quote from the site)

I realized that while two people from two entirely different countries and backgrounds may seem to have nothing in common, the only thing they might have in common is me... So I decided to start a network where people from across the world might come together and get a conversation started over me.

Yeah - ridiculous right? I almost signed up just to see what kind of people are going there, but then decided that would be 5 minutes of my life I could never get back.

While I really appreciated the hearty laugh yesterday, I think this narcissism is very sad. Tragically sad. And goes far far beyond "The Hoff". Probably the majority of our society is completely wrapped up in themselves.

Also, as of this morning, "HoffSpace" has over 11,000 members.

Let's get a conversation started over Jesus instead? 'k?


By the way - the first seven chapters of Purpose Driven Life are available as a free online download.

What dreams may come . . .

I'm realizing every day that my dreams are so much smaller than what God has planned for me. I get caught up in my own little boxes and there is no way I can see the big picture.

But I do trust that there is a big picture

and I trust the One that does see it

and He knows my name, my desires, my wants and needs

My job is to hang on, take the next right step and keep giving glory to God.


"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-31

Transitions and passages

Dropped my teenager off for a week at Furman Summer Scholars yesterday. It was weird, but good weird.

Furman University is where I went to college ::cough cough:: 25 years ago. Felt like passing the torch to walk with her into the front door of Judson Hall - a door I walked through so many times - settle her into a room and then drive away.

I pray I've equipped her well to deal with whatever comes her way. I'm glad she has this week to "test-drive" Furman and make sure that's where she wants to apply. And I'm particularly thankful for text messaging and Twitter - I've already had three updates today about what she's doing. My parents didn't have that luxury!

Happy Birthday America

This morning we had our church's annual patriotic Sunday service. One of the things we do that chokes me up every year is that we sing a medley of the armed forces anthems. When we sing each one, the men and women in the congregation who served in that branch stand up. There is always huge applause for each group. It was great to be up singing and see my dad stand when we sang "Anchor's Aweigh" but the one who really choked me up was the three old marines who presented the colors during the Marine Hymn. They all served in WWII. After we finished singing we all said the Pledge of Allegiance together and the oldest marine had to lift and hold his salute by supporting his right arm with his left - but he stood there ramrod straight and held that salute through the Pledge and through the National Anthem.

Even though there are many who malign our country, and we are by no means perfect - we are free and I thank God for that freedom. I thank God for men and women who have served, are serving and will serve in defense of our nation. I thank God that in His great mercy and grace I am American, a South Carolinian and most of all a saved believer in Jesus Christ - because all the freedom in the world wouldn't mean a thing if my spirit were still in bondage.

In John chapter 8, vs 34 - 36 Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Thanks be to God - I am free - free indeed.

special prayers and thanks for my best friend's husband and the 2BDE 101st Airborne, Ft. Campbell, KY currently serving in Iraq - I was thinking of you when I was singing the Caisson Song this morning.

Fourth of July - Pawleys Style

I love small town America and I love the Pawleys Island Fourth of July Parade.


A trailer with bales of hay, red, white and blue bunting, and kids - pretty perfect.


Every parade needs a "Lady Liberty" - I love ours this year.

Sick

I'm sick - I hate being sick. I know if I were a true spiritual giant I'd spend my sick time seeking God, but I mostly spend it feeling pouty about being sick.

Glad to know I'm in good company. All through the Bible you find people whining to God. "Why am I sick. . . why am I barren. . . why am I poor. . . why did this happen to me?"

David is my favorite whiner, because he doesn't get stuck in it - he moves on through. As evidenced by the many Psalms that start out in despair and end up in praise.

About 20 years ago I truly had the worst telephone call of my life (so far) and I walked away from that phone - walked out into a pasture (I was working at Lost Valley Ranch at the time) and yelled at God. I mean yelled, screamed, cried - or to use a Southern colloquialism - hollered. And I came away from that encounter with God feeling closer to Him than I ever had. It was weird.

So, I'm laying here feeling sorry for myself and saying "thank you God" that I have a sinus infection - and that's all. :-)

Here's one of my favorite rants by David

Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
"He trusts in the Lord; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.
From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him-- may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it.

Promises, promises

Since my subtitle is "musings over God's promises for my life" I decided to hit the online concordance for all the times I can find the word "promise" and see how those scriptures resonate with me right now. Here's today's edition

Psalms 119:116 NIV
Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.

Do not let my hopes be dashed. Oh please Lord - that's my prayer. I have so many hopes. Big ones - hopes for my daughter's future, hopes for my future, hopes for my career, hopes for a ministry. And little ones - hopes that I get over this cold quickly (cough, sneeze), hopes that I'll have a voice tomorrow for church, hopes that our family get-together this week will be fun. (Dad's for McCain, big brother is for Obama - hopes we don't get in a political discussion!)

So here's the thing, my God cares about all my hopes and dreams and He does sustain me. That is exactly the reason I've been memorizing and praying God's promises - they sustain me. They sustain me so that I can live.

Amen

Temptation and deliverance

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

OK - let me be honest. There are times when I don't really want to stand up against temptation, I'm not really looking for a way out, but God is faithful.

Yes - God is faithful, even when I'm not so much. Now I'm not saying that God is going to be my "fireman" for repeated, stupid, foolishness. But I have found that my prayers for deliverance and strength are sometimes answered when I'm not actually praying them. And perhaps those answers are also to the repeated prayers of my parents, my grandparents (now in heaven), and others who love me. Because - I am delivered - God provides a way out - even when I'm not looking for it at the moment.

And for that, I am truly thankful.

Cardboard Testimonies

A friend sent me a link to this video today. Powerful.
From Hillside Christian Church in Amarillo, TX.



What's your cardboard testimony?

Good clean fun

Made me laugh out loud

Please pray for Steven Curtis Chapman's family

They have been hit by a terrible tragedy.

The Tenneesean

Courage

I have to make a telephone call later this morning and it's one that requires me to have guts to do it. So, I came to the Bible this morning looking for promises of courage.

Found this one:

Hebrews 3:6 "But Christ, the faithful Son was in charge of the entire household. And we are God's household, if we keep up our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ."

and I looked up "courage" in the dictionary.

Here's the definition:

:mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty
Merriman Webster online

I know I've heard it before but, this morning it seems new again. I was just beating myself up over feeling afraid, but God doesn't ask me to deny my feelings. Thank goodness the Heavenly Father isn't dysfunctional that way! God wants me to acknowledge how I feel and then persevere.

Courage is the strength to venture, persevere and withstand. The really cool thing is - God supplies the strength too. Acts 1:8 "But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere. . "

The footnote to that verse in the New Living Translation of the Bible says this "Power from the Holy Spirit is not limited to strength beyond the ordinary. That power also involves courage, boldness, confidence, insight ability and authority."

So God, I'm fearful about this call, but I will venture, persevere and withstand. I will act in faith.

And then, once it's over, I'll get on with my day in thankfulness!

Baptism

When I first started attending Pawleys Island Baptist Church over 20 years ago, any baptisms were done in the creek/salt marsh behind Pawleys Island, because that was our only option. The church was tiny and we only had about 50 members.

Now that we've grown (check the link for Pawleys Island Community Church on the right) we still do our baptisms in the creek - and I'm so glad we do. It's a testimony to all the people at the beach and a true public profession of faith.

Here are a couple more pictures from yesterday - 13 people - men, women, children - publicly professed their faith in Jesus Christ.





Yesterday was beautiful. We've been out there sometimes in nasty weather, but except for a little wind sandblasting us, it was great. Wonderful to be celebrating faith in the midst of God's amazing natural glory.

Glorious

I love the David Crowder Band. Seem's like their music has been the soundtrack for my life this past year. Right now I'm listening to "Everything Glorious"

You make everything glorious
you make everything glorious
you make everything glorious
and I am yours, what does that make me?

In my past, I so needed to get that in my head, and thanks be to God, it's getting there. If I don't think I'm worth anything, then I'm not going to feel like I can do anything for God and I'm not going to take care of myself like God's glorious masterpiece.

That's what Paul calls us in Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago."

That's a promise - I'm a masterpiece. Man, just typing it and tears jumped in my eyes. Little old me . . . broken me, divorced me, single mom me, feeling inadequate at work me, struggling with bills me, haven't washed my hair today yet me . . (oops that didn't need to go in). . . I am God's masterpiece.

You know, I think if I can make sure that my daughter gets that concept into her head and heart - that she is God's masterpiece - I will have done well as a mom. If I can help my friends to know that - I've done well as a friend.

Knowing that God thinks I'm a masterpiece sure does make me feel loved.

The truth about my future

"The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word, I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in Joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where briers grew, myrtles will sprout up. This miracle will bring great honor to the Lord's name; it will be an everlasting sign of his power and love." Isaiah 55:10 - 13

This passage is the deposit agreement that goes along with the image of the holy ATM from yesterday. I love this promise God says through Isaiah, "I send [my word] out, and it always produces fruit." Over the past several years I've learned that when I don't know how to pray, it's always a good choice to pray God's promises back to Him. That's where the peace comes from, that's where the assurance is that I'm praying in His will.

Over the past 2 1/2 years I've gone through a separation, difficult divorce, 4 moves, a flood in our apartment, the sudden illness and death of a close friend, helping my mother recover after a traumatic injury, loneliness, major work stress and raising a teenager. I will stand on this truth - if I didn't have a real relationship with Jesus - I'd be crazy now. Bug-eyed insane. And the main thing that has kept me focused and positive, is praying God's promises.

Even when I don't know why, when, how - I cling to scripture like a drowning person clings to a life preserver thrown their way. And ". . . it always produces fruit."

Here's one I repeat over and over in my head . . .

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

This week, my daughter and I celebrate our first anniversary in our new, happy, home.

The truth about worry

I really like the New Living translation of Philippians 4:6-7

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I've read this portion over and over in my life. Memorized it in a different translation but got something new today when I read it again. It's not just as easy as "don't worry, just pray about it."

It's praying in faith. Praying and saying thank you for what is already done.

I found a quote from Catherine Marshall that explains it well - even though I had to think back to what a "check" is :-)

With God, there is only the infinite NOW. Therefore, by faith we must grasp the fact that all the blessings we shall ever need are already deposited in the Treasury of Heaven.

Money in any checking account will stay right there until the owner cashes a check in the present. Even so, we shall received God's blessing only as we claim them one by one in the present. Faith in the future tense is hope - not faith. (emphasis mine) A sure sign that our hope has passed into faith is when we stop begging God and begin thanking Him for the answer to our prayer.

Practically how to do this? I'm memorizing the promises of God in the Bible and every time the worry gets hold of me again, I'm taking one to my ATM of prayer and making a withdrawal, being thankful that the answer is there, the need is met, even if I can't see it yet.