Life As I Seize It

Somewhere over the course of my lifetime it dawned on me that life is a journey. I am heading to a destination, drawing closer and closer every day.  Back in the '60s someone started singing about stopping and smelling the flowers along the way. I am totally loathe to admit that I remember the '60s, but I was a very sad and quiet little child who soaked in everything I heard or saw like a sponge . . . keeping it inside until just the right time.  I have a ton of useless information stashed in my brain, and some good stuff too! I can still vividly remember things from when I was a tot in my high chair . . . but I digress . . . as usual . . . Okay, stop and smell the flowers.  Good advice.  Take time to enjoy life along the journey, and realize that it is during the ordinaries of every day that many of life's most meaningful moments - our most memorable moments - the ones we talk about years later as we stand around eating potato salad at a funeral - occur during t...

I had this written back Thanksgiving and am now just getting around to posting it.  I know that the purpose of a blog is to blog and then post . . . obviously I had to amend a paragraph or two . . . I have had a lot on my mind lately . . . other than the change in latitude . . . Every day, periodically through the day I have begun unconsciously doing a spiritual check-up, and have been asking myself: When people see me, do they see Christ?  Do I reflect Him?  Am I giving the non-believer, the unsure, those seeking something more from life, a glimpse of Christ?  Over the past months I have been spending more time with the Lord and less time with the distractions of the world.  I am in the world, yet somehow I feel as though I am detached from it, especially from things that steal my inner peace and time with God.  I have an incredible hunger for more of the Word that seems insatiable. It's a thirst I cannot seem to quench. God has put it on my heart ...

Written December 12th. 2009. In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over, he is superior.  ~ Sir Francis Bacon For some time God has been interrupting my life.  When God interrupts it is usually unexpected, often unwanted, and generally poor timing . . . at least on my part. Lord, I'm kind of busy at work right now . . . Lord, I just can't take time . . . Lord, I am not the one who should be apologizing . . . and on and on I go, arguing with God.  When does arguing with God ever accomplish anything? A few months back someone in my family acted in an inappropriate, mean, and most un-Christian way towards me; I was hurt and surprised, but considering a lifetime of selfish behavior from this person I have no idea why I was caught off guard.  In retrospect, I think I was stunned because I am generally the peacemaker in my family; besides, we are orphans, all grown up and beyond past misconceptions and hurts, or so I t...

Today three boxes from "home" greeted me at my front door, two expected, one not. I dug into the smallest one first and pulled out a gift from my best friend.  She sends me "hugs"from time to time to remind that she is thinking of me.  Warm thoughts from "home" and a reminder that we will be BFFs regardless of the relationships, miles and years between us.  Every woman needs another woman to make certain that she doesn't run out and do something drastic, like getting a tattoo and a Harley or trading in the mini-van for two-seater convertible when she is a soccer mom with triplets, without first talking her down from "the roof" and suggesting that she think on it over night. Today's "hug" was a new book: she knows me well.  Going Rogue: An American Life, the story of the remarkable Sarah Palin.   Tucked inside the book was a charming card - the "lamb of God" in a ten gallon hat and cowgirl boots acknowledging my lov...

Okay, in one of my recent blog ravings, which by the way was started at 4:30 AM in the morning, God showed up and interrupted. When God interrupts . . . well, if you are a practicing Christian, you'll know what I mean. If not, well, there's no point in my explaining.  Just read on and enjoy God's joke on me . . . part 3. In the first two installments of this conversation, I was telling you about my narrow escape from the Baptists and how I found my way to Stonewater, a non-denominational church in the heart of Texas. At the first of November, I went to Stonewater's membership meeting because I wanted to understand what they, as a non-denominational church, were all about.  I had already determined that they were a biblically based church, which was my first requirement, but imagine my surprise when, during the membership "discovery" meeting, the pastor stated that they were all former Baptist ministers and the church was supported by the Southern Baptist...

Nine and a half hours to make the dinner, twenty minutes to eat it. Thanksgiving is a gastric 3,000 calories behind Americans with the only after effects the unspoken recognition that we need to take off those extra few pounds after the first of the year. Yesterday it was Thanksgiving. Today it's Black Friday. Morning has broken across the nation, and for the majority of Americans, with only 28 more shopping days to Christmas, it is the start of the Christmas yuletide season. It should be no surprise to anyone that today, of all days, heralded the announcement that a state government in this nation, the one nation under God with liberty and justice for all, is under fire from Atheists regarding traditional Christmas, i.e. Christian, symbolism. The state of Washington has caved into (the clearly minority) Atheistic demands and ruled that there will be no nativity scene inside the state capital this Christmas. So what should Christians do about the anti-Christian attacks on Chr...

In my last post, an eon ago, I mentioned that I had moved across country and was in search of a new church home so that I would feel as though I really had a home here in North Texas. What I didn't mention in that post is how God encouraged me to make the move. I know people talk about wanting a sign from God, but God was so determined for me to come out here that He was making it nigh on impossible for me not to get the message that I was to pack and GO! NOW! As I was saying in my last post, I ended up visiting my niece's Baptist church for three weeks because she asked me to attend with her. Now, the fact that she had been saved and dunked like a donut by the Baptists is especially funny to me because it reminds me that when praying to God, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it . . . but not in the way you imagined! I forgot to ask God to make any non-saved relatives Presbyterians, or Lutherans, Methodists or Episcopalians, so He dropped her down among...