Happy Moments!

Cracked Pots

Once there was a man who carried water every day from a stream to his house.
He carried it in two large pots hung on each end of a pole slung across his neck.
He called them his "wonderful pots."
One pot was perfect. It was always full of water at the end of the long walk from the stream.
The other pot was cracked. It leaked, and always arrived at the house only half full.
One day by the stream it spoke to the man.
"I am ashamed of myself," it said.
"Why?" the man asked.
"Water leaks out the crack in my side all the way back to your house," the pot said.
"Because I'm not perfect, you can't bring home two full pots of water. I'm a failure, just a cracked pot."
"You should not feel that way." the man said.
"You are not a failure. You are a wonderful pot. And, you can prove it to yourself.
"As we return to the house today, look carefully alongside the path. When we get home, tell me what you saw."
All the way home, the cracked pot paid attention to everything he saw.
At home the man asked, "What did you see?"
"Flowers," said the cracked pot. "I saw lots of flowers."
"Yes you did. Aren't they beautiful?"
"Yes," said the pot. "But, once again, half the water I was carrying leaked out. I'm sorry."
"There is no need to be sorry," said the man. "Tell me, did you notice where the flowers were growing?"
"Well, yes," he said, a little puzzled. "They were only on my side of the path, but not on the other side. Why is that?"
"For all these years," the man said, "I have planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day as we walked back from the stream..."
"Ohhhhhhhh!" the pot interrupted, shaking with excitement. "I watered the seeds through the crack in my side, and the seeds sprouted and the flowers bloomed, and..."
"Yesssss," said the man, who was as excited as the pot.
"Because you are the way you are, everyone in the village can decorate their homes with beautiful flowers.

"Each of us is a cracked pot in one way or another." he said.
"But there is still no limit to the beauty God can create through us.
"From that day on, the cracked pot knew just how wonderful it really was.

Mother's Day

I got the best Mother's Day presents, which is PRESENCE! It is true that once your children

are grown, the best thing they can do for you is be with you. We all live so close that there's that tendency to take each other for granted. My girls and I talk every day. And, grandkids spend the night often. But to have a day where we are together and visiting is very nice.

I miss my mother and Danny's mother - if you still have your mother you are a fortunate person. Ours are in heaven and we can't wait to see them again!

Mothers and children teach a lot about love. I love the quote "To have a child is to forever have your heart go walking outside your body." It is so true! I remember thinking, as Danny and I had our children young - we'll have them and they'll grow up and be on their own and we'll have our life back! haha Those babies are now adults and although they were once on our toes, they are indelibly on our heart forever.

Being a parent is the most wonderful and terrible thing you will ever do.

Mothering is not for the selfish of heart.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln

Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together. ~Pearl S. Buck

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. ~Honoré de Balzac

The formative period for building character for eternity is in the nursery. The mother is queen of that realm and sways a scepter more potent than that of kings or priests. ~Author Unknown

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving

A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother's love endures through all. ~Washington Irving

IT'S NOT ABOUT ME... Read This Book!

"It's Not About Me: Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy" is the title of one of the best books ever written. And, it is written for this generation.

We are a people who have had it our way more than any other time in history. We have more gadgets, more toys, more time, more money (yes we do) and more freedoms. Yet we are a hollow people.

Think about it. People have stuff. But they also have issues. Why? When we have all THIS, do we feel so hollow? I think Max Lucado sticks it right where it hurts on this. Read on...

Max Lucado turns the greatest lie we’ve believed on its head—the one that says, “It’s all about me”—and sets our sights on a different goal. “We were not made to live this way,” Max insists.
What would happen if we all took our place and played our parts? If we started living like “Son” reflectors rather than individual stars and suns? If every person’s priority became a divine pursuit, not a performance?

We’d see our families differently. We’d view our jobs differently. We’d treat our bodies differently. We’d respond to our problems differently. We’d find our place in the universe…finally. And we would be changed.
“The God-centered life works. And it rescues us from a life that doesn’t,” Max assures us. Here is your lifeline to a life of purpose. Grab hold and let the rescue begin!

Excerpt from It's Not About Me, copyright © 2004 Max Lucado. Published

Blame the bump on Copernicus. Until Copernicus came along in 1543, we earthlings enjoyed center stage. Fathers could place an arm around their children, point to the night sky, and proclaim, “The universe revolves around us.”Aah, the hub of the planetary wheel, the navel of the heavenly body, the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue of the cosmos. Ptolemy’s second-century finding convinced us. Stick a pin in the center of the stellar map, and you’ve found the earth. Dead center.
And, what’s more, dead still! Let the other planets vagabond through the skies. Not us. No sir.We stay put. As predictable as Christmas. No orbiting. No rotating. Some fickle planets revolve 180 degrees from one day to the next. Not ours. As budgeless as the Rock of Gibraltar. Let’s hear loud applause for the earth, the anchor of the universe.
But then came Nicolaus Copernicus with his maps, drawings, bony nose, Polish accent, and pestering questions. Oh, those questions he asked. “Ahem, can anyone tell me what causes the seasons to change?”“Why do some stars appear in the day and others at night?” “Does anyone know exactly how far ships can sail before falling off the edge of the earth?”
“Trivialities!” people scoffed. “Who has time for such problems? Smile and wave, everyone. Heaven’s homecoming queen has more pressing matters to which to attend.”

But Copernicus persisted. He tapped our collective shoulders and cleared his throat. “Forgive my proclamation, but,” and pointing a lone finger toward the sun, he announced,“behold the center of the solar system.”

The news wasn’t well received. People denied the facts for over half a century. When like-minded Galileo came along, they imprisoned him.You’d have thought he had called the king a stepchild or the pope a Baptist.The throne locked him up, and the church kicked him out. People didn’t take well to demotions back then. We still don’t.

What Copernicus did for the earth, God does for our souls. Tapping the collective shoulder of humanity, he points to the Son—his Son—and says, “Behold the center of it all.”

“God raised him [Christ] from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church” (Ephesians 1:20–22 MSG).

When God looks at the center of the universe, he doesn’t look at you. When heaven’s stagehands direct the spotlight toward the star of the show, I need no sunglasses. No light falls on me. Lesser orbs, that’s us. Appreciated. Valued. Loved dearly. But central? Essential? Pivotal? Nope. Sorry. Contrary to the Ptolemy within us, the world does not revolve around us. Our comfort is not God’s priority. If it is, something’s gone awry. If we are the marquee event,how do we explain flat-earth challenges like death, disease, slumping economies, or rumbling earthquakes? If God exists to please us, then shouldn’t we always be pleased?

If you get a chance, pick up a copy of this great book, take time to read it and let it sink in. We all need a dose of this.

Do You Ever Struggle? I Do

God speaks to my heart a lot on back of the motorcycle. (I know I know some of you are saying that's because you're nearer death, so you're closer to God!)

Anyway, Sunday afternoon was beautiful and we took a nice long ride through old familiar territory. Through Murfreesboro on to Nashville and then over to Hope.

I was thinking about my struggles. I said to the Lord "I am a struggler". We are all strugglers in one level or another. Sometimes I rest peacefully in the knowledge that the most heartfelt prayers that are closest to my heart are going to be answered and I remember Scripture and bask in the Truth. Other times, I get agitated or worried thinking, what if or why or play the blame game or feel guilty - none of which are from the Lord.

I guess He knows I need visuals to learn so this is what came to my mind.

I pictured our 7 month old grandson in his mother's arms. Sometimes he likes to push with one arm and attempt to wiggle out of her arms. He might grunt or kick his legs as well!

Although he is struggling, he never falls. His little mother holds on tight to him, even when Blake fights her like babies do!

We are like a baby in our Father's arms. We struggle but He holds on tightly to us - never letting us go no matter how hard we struggle.

In fact, the more we struggle the tighter His hold is on us!

So, fellow struggler, whatever you are struggling with right now, just know that you can rest in your Heavenly Father's arms - after all the One who holds the world in His hands is holding you as well.

And, so much more, those we keep giving to the Father who are out of our reach, whether son or daughter or other family member, they are still in His hands as well.

Isn't that wonderful?

The Message of 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."John 3:16

The verse is an alphabet of grace, a table of contents to the Christian hope, each word a safe-deposit box of jewels. read it again, slowly and aloud, and note the word that snatches your attention.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God so loved this world? Heartbreakers, hope-snatchers, and dream-dousers prowl this orb. Dictators rage. Abusers inflict. Reverends think they deserve the title.

But God loves. And he loves the world so much he gave his: Declarations? Rules? Dicta? Edicts?

No. the heart-stilling, mind-bending, deal-making-or-breaking claim of John 3:16 is this: God gave his son . . . his only son.

Not abstract ideas but a flesh-wrapped divinity.

Why? so that “whoever believes in him shall not perish.”

Want to know more? Download Chapter One of 3:16, The Numbers of Hope (PDF). from author, Max Lucado.

Family Photos!

Here is a photo of my neice Lisa and her family, husband Mark, daughters, Ashley (with Dad) and Amanda (with Mom)

And my nephew Matt and his wife, Rebecca.

These are Johnny's children and grandchildren who live in San Antonio Texas . Aren't they wonderful?

Levels of Drowning?

Recently a friend on another blog talked. This is the "meat" of her musing..."I have been thinking that it's easier for people who have lived the life fueled by hedonism to understand the grace of God so much better than those who haven't and possibly have a deeper understanding of who God is b/c of it. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret NOT having a lot of regrets, but sometimes I feel like my relationship with God hovers in the shallow water when almost every strong Christian (with a "past") I'm close to has this deep water level with God."

I am a picture person so picture this with me. Three people are drowning. One is 1 inch below the surface, one is 6 feet below the surface and one is 12 feet below the surface. If they are not resuced they will ALL DIE! However close or far they are from the surface they know without RESCUE it's hopeless. The person one inch from the surface is no less drowning than they other two.

If they are not rescued, is any one of them more dead than the other? Nope. Dead is dead regardless of the depth. Now imagine they are all rescued! Is any one of the three resuces less dramatic and miraculous? No.

Because when you realize you are in over your head it does not matter how far you are down. That's how it is with sin. Good people don't go to heaven because they are good enough or less bad. The chasm between Christ and us is just the same for everyone...

So maybe it's not about "bad sinners" versus "good guys", maybe it's how we look at the whole concept of sin. Sin is defined as "missing the mark". The mark is defined in the Bible as the 10 Commandments.

Do you really know ANYONE who has kept all 10 Commandments? Have you? Really?

Take this simple mental test: Have you ever looked at someone of the opposite sex and thought Wow wish they were mine? Took a piece of gum without asking or robbed change from your mom's table? Guess what? That makes you by your own definition a coveting thief. Oops. now you've admitted you have broken at least 2 of the commandments.

Ever told a "white lie" you know just a litte one? Uhoh, you have now broken another one of God's laws. Thou shalt not lie. Ever talk back to your mother? Honor thy father and thy mother...

So by your own admission, you have broken God's laws. And God's righteous judgement demands payment. If God's righteous law demands payment, then how are you going to pay? By being "better" or "good enough"? You already know that's not possible.

The person who "told a white lie" and the person who "slept with his friend's wife" are all in the same boat. There are not levels of sin (missing God's mark) any more than there are levels of drowned. The guy who drowned 1 inch from the surface is as drowned as the person 12 feet below.

So, back to the question of BIG sinners having deeper relationships with God, that won't hold water. What may be true is some of us think we're just a little better than others. Or to put it another way just a little less bad than others, so we coast on our goodness.

But we can't can we? My last thought on this comes from the Scriptures...Isaiah 64:6 says it best. For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God's favor, hurrying us toward destruction]. (Amplified Version)

So, fellow swimmers, regardless of how close you are to the surface or how far down in the water you are...reach for the only Life Buoy we have - Jesus Christ! And, don't forget to be thankful!!!

Having Fun at Wowaw's and Popaw's

Babies Playing

What is Real Friendship?

My daughter, Diona, has asked me to post pictures of their trip to Fayetteville in January. The photos are of "the babies". Diona and her friend since 4th grade, Heidi, have both had babies (2007). At the time these photos were taken in January Summitt was 8 months old and Blake (Diona's) was 4 months old.


Michael W. Smith said it best in this old song: "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord is the Lord of themAnd a friend will not say never, cause the welcome will not endThough it's hard to let you goIn the Father's hands I knowThat a lifetime's not too long... to live as friends."


What can I say about friends? Real ones stick with you. Demographics don't matter. Economics don't matter. Social standing doesn't matter. I feel most fortunate that I have had the pleasure of having a few good REAL friends. Thank you, Lord.

The Darlings!

GRANDKIDS

There are two absolutes in my life. Make that three. My husband loves me. God loves me. My grandkids love me. Wow, to be surrounded by such love is truly wonderous! I mean think about it. I've been married 34 years and if you got my sweet husband alone and asked him if he still loved me he'd say YES. And, if you looked into God's Word to see what He thinks about me, and ask Him if he still loves me, you'd fine an affirmative. And, then there are these three angels God gave to us in the form of Grandkids and WOW!!! Little Boy, Blake, who's barely 4 months old lays his little head on my shoulder and holds my finger as he sleeps. That's love. The two oldest (Lucas 6 and Cassidy 10) have shown me on numerous occasions just how much they love me by holding their arms out wide, wider and widest!

Jesus did that for me as well. He held His arms out on the cross and said, "I love you!" While my darling of 34 years still whispers sweet nothings into my ears, Jesus whispers sweet SOMETHINGS!

For this I am most fortunate of all women. This is where real peace comes from. Not from things. Things will perish. Things fall apart. But love lasts forever.

Everybody Believes in "God"

Ask the average American about their theistic beliefs and you get basically the same answer. "I believe in God".

They suggest at the very least there is a supreme being, a force to reckon with, an all seeing eye watching us.

It is the rare bird indeed who flaunts, "There is no God!" Most people who make this statement are in actuality saying, "I will give God no place in my life".

From movies to internet, God is discussed, implored, adored and more. People take the name in vain when hitting their thumb with hammer, "Oh GOD, that hurts!" to walling their eyes when they hear something facetious, "Oh my GOD!"

Think what you will about God, there will be a day when all humans will find out absolutely beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is in fact REAL.

Without the reality of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, a society becomes at best -self centered at worst - hedonistic. Check out the acreage that used to be the city of Sodom.

Jesus - people who readily admit a belief in God have a hard time with Jesus.

But the Bible is plain and clear, "Jesus answered,
"I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

I hope if you are reading this you really begin to think about the Truth. It really is a matter of life and death.