Life As I Seize It

Since my return to Texas from Florida, I had been thinking that I don't fit in very well over at Stonewater - the church that I had been visiting for the past two or three months. For one, I am not a couple . . . I am a single . . . which in a church geared to families kind of leaves me at loose ends.  If you are a frequent reader then you know that I am quite content with my "singleness". Secondly, the "single" groups are broken into baby-boomers and non-boomers . . . and they have defined the baby-boomers as anyone 50+.  I have to be honest with you . . . I do not see myself as a baby-boomer, nor do I act or think like one.  I may be a Presbyterian Deacon, but I am certainly no old f*rt, and although I am 52  36 there is no way I am going to admit to being 52 !  I don't care HOW much of a savings I can get through AARP or at Kohls, I am NOT going to join or admit to being eligible to receive a discount! I would rather pay the full price and call it a d...

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...

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...

I often hear people saying that worshiping nature is a form of idolatry .  Well, I have got to admit to you that I can't stop gazing up at stars at night.  I make it a point to look up to the heavens just to see the magnificence of it all.  There is something about the infinity of that inky-blue blackness and those millions of stars that remind me that it is not all about me while reaffirming the greatness of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  That's my God, too! Right now I am perched up in the hill country of Texas.  There is a magnificent lake the size of an ocean below me, and already, as the sun falls off the horizon behind the hills to my right I can see twinkling lights appearing one by one on the distant horizon around the lake.  The wind has picked up just enough, reminding me of the breath of God.  These gorgeous trees called Texas Willows and something else similar with these lovely pink blossoms are just waving about in the breeze.  Below me there is red feather ...