Looking back...looking forward

We are preparing for Dad and Dana's 40th anniversary.  My job today has been to pick up some things for decorating (which I love) and go through some old photos for a DVD we are having made for them.  I'm also a bit overwhelmed with trying to help Enrique get a new loan for his house.  I need this to be done so that my mom's estate can be settled.  This is where my past and my present and my future collided tonight.  As I planned for the party and I fretted over all of the paperwork I need to take care of for Enrique, I also took a couple of hours and revisited days gone by. 

The photos were a keen reminder of days and years that are no more.  A reminder of family members who have gone on to heaven...a sad reminder that they are deeply missed.  A reminder of the days when I carried my children in my arms...they no longer sit on my lap but they are even more in my thoughts and prayers as they begin lives of their own. 

It was a busy day...and a sad day as well.  Looking back at times and people that are gone forever.....and looking forward to happy events and the fulfillment of dreams and plans.  Lord help me to place my past and my future in your loving, all knowing hands.  Help me to neither forget my past nor dwell on my past.  Help me to look forward and press on toward the things you have called me to.  Amen

Be faithful to your good upbringing

Yesterday we celebrated my Papaw Burns' 93rd birthday.  It was a bittersweet day for me.  Several of his old friends came to the nursing home to cheer him and sing Happy Birthday.  But seeing those old friends made me realize how quickly life is passing for him.  My grandmother has been gone for 11 years now and in the past year Papaw's health has deteriorated tremendously.  It breaks my heart to see him living in a nursing home...the one thing he always said he never wanted to do.  After the stroke, he could no longer walk or care for himself in any way so a nursing home was the best option for him.  It's a clean place and seems safe and though he always says "I'm going home soon", we know this will most likely be the place he will take his final breath.

The party made me miss my grandma and think about my years as a youngster and the time I spent with them.  They took me to church and encouraged me to sing and play the piano.  I always felt safe with them.  My thoughts of days gone by prompted me to pick up the little New Testament Bible they gave when I was young and while thumbing through it I came across an underlined scripture. 1 Timothy 3:14 -  But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou has learned them."  This little Bible has paraphrased this portion of scripture this way "Be faithful to your good upbringing".

Lord, I am so thankful for my grandparents and my good upbringing.  I'm thankful for good parents and people that loved me.  I'm thankful for the things I was taught as a child and for the many many blessings in my life.  Help me to never forget my good upbringing. Amen

Personality

So Pastor Doug spoke last night on the resources we use to walk in the gifts that God has placed in us.  He used the word SHAPE to illustrate what he was saying.  S=spiritual gifts. H=heart. A=abilities. P=personality E=experience.  The most intriguing part of the message was his descriptions of the different personality traits.  The Lion, the Otter, the Golden Retriever and the Beaver.  On our way home, Bo and I discussed which personality traits we had and then we discussed other people's personality types.  Oh my, I am amazed at the issues I have with certain personality types.  (I shouldn't get in to that!)  Let's just say that the Lion in me rares up when I see people who have so much, run from helping others.  I also pondered the personalities of my children...so different from each other that I wonder how they could have been raised in the same home.  Yet God, in his wisdom, has chosen us to do His work, no matter what our personality type.  He has placed gifts, abilities, passion and experience in each of us so that we can accomplish His purpose for us. 

Help me Lord to flow with my gifts, to never judge another persons weakness or strength. Help me to be who YOU have called me to be. Help me to use every resource to be the best "me" I can be.

Watch your tongue

I worked all day today, which is not my favorite thing to do.  It's not that it's hard, it's not that I mind getting up, it's not that I don't like the boss or the people I work with.  I just don't like my job.  I don't like sitting at a desk all day and I especially don't like that I don't feel productive.  I want to make a difference...and pushing a pencil for a big insurance company is not my idea of making a difference.  So...after work I visited Bo's cousin, Sandy. She has suffered many health problems in her life and the only thing I did was listen to her woes and remind her that she can only do so much.  I encouraged her to leave the things she can not change to God and to watch what she says.  She kept telling me that she wouldn't be here long and that she spends too much money on medicine and that nothing they do makes her better.  I quoted her the scripture that the power of life and death were in her tongue.  I need to heed this advice also...the power of life and death....sobering thought.  Help me Lord to watch my tongue.

Compassion

Went to church this morning, as is my usual practice.  There was a guest speaker which can sometimes make you wish you had stayed home.  I don't mean that to be disrespectful, but we all know it's the truth.  Oh what a shame it would have been to have missed this speaker.  His name was Bruce Deel and he is the founder of an Atlanta inner city ministry.  His stories of his life in one of the roughest neighborhoods of Atlanta were both funny and inspiring.  As he ended his message he prayed that our hearts would be broken with what breaks the heart of God. 

It's hard to think of living a life that's mission is to serve others.  We live in such a selfish world.  Let's face it, there wouldn't be a need for much ministry if every Christian did what God has told us to do...to love one another as we love ourselves.  If every Christian made it their job to seek out the hurting and needy amoung us, I do believe that welfare and drug programs would all but cease to exist.  Jesus was moved with compassion every where he went.  Sadly, we, the church, are very rarely moved with compassion.  We have wasted the most precious gift that God has given us.....a broken heart. 

God, please help me to see hurting people the way you see them.  Help me to look at the needy and broken through your eyes.  Eyes of love and compassion.  Amen

Today's mission

Today I have decided to start a blog.  A sort of diary of things that happen to be important for the day.  I guess the biggest thing today is...the blog.  Why do I want a blog...I'm not sure.  Maybe it's because facebook lacks privacy.  I don't want lot's of peole to read this...maybe I will be the only one to read it. And that will be fine.  I don't really have good writing skills and I don't have a lot to share, so this may just be for me.  Yes...just for me.  So what's important today?  I went to the flea market today to look for an electric tart warmer for someone.  Success!  I got one for $5!  The flea market is a strange place, in my opinion.  I like it, but I don't feel like it's my kind of place...they do however have a few shops that are most assuredly my kind of places.
So..I have completed my first blog...boring and uninspiring....let's see how long this lasts. ;o)