Niece and Great Nephew

My niece Danette (who just happens to be my namesake Danette Lynn) and her two year old son, Talon, came for a visit from Denver this weekend. It was such a blessing to get to spend this one on one time with her. Danette has a special place in my heart, not just because she is my namesake but mostly because she is the only sibling's child who actually takes the time to stay in touch with me. She never forgets my birthday or anniversary and stays in touch via email, she ALWAYS sends thank you notes for anything I have given her. It was so sweet of her to come because she realized that my dad would never be ever to travel to Denver again and she wanted him to see his great grandson.

Well, this weekend she even grew more dear in my eyes because I got to see what a GREAT mother she is. She has done a great job of raising her son Talon (along with her husband Steve). Talon was one of the most well behaved two year olds I have ever been around.
And he just had adorable antics and was cute as a button. We really enjoyed our time together. Here are just a few pictures of our time together.

Meekness and Rest

I said I would blog about the other Pursuit of God chapter entitled "Meekness and Rest'. Meekness would be an area of my life that drastically needs improving. This paragraph spoke to my heart.

"In a world of men we find nothing approaching the virtues of which Jesus spoke in the opening words of the famous Sermon on the Mount. Instead of poverty of spirit we find the rankest kind of pride; instead of meekness, arrogance; instead of hunger after righteousness we hear men saying,"I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing"; instead of mercy we find cruelty; instead of purity of heart, corrupt imaginings; instead of peacemakers we find men quarrelsome and resentful; instead of rejoicing in mistreatment we find them fighting back with every weapon at their command."

"There are two things standing in contrast to each other, a burden and a rest...The burden borne by mankind is a heavy and a crushing thing. The word Jesus used means 'a load carried or toil borne to the point of exhaustion.' Rest is simply realize from that burden. It is not something we do; it is what comes to us when we cease to do. His own meekness, that is rest."

"The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort."

"The meek will not care what people think of us so long as God is pleased."

He closed with another heartfelt prayer:
"Lord, make me childlike. Deliver me from the urge to compete with another for place or prestige or position. I would be simple and artless as a little child. Deliver me from pose and pretensee. Forgive me for thinking of myself. Help me to forget myself and find my true peace in beholding Thee. That thou may answer this prayer I humble myself before Thee. Lay upon me Thy easy yoke of self-forgetfulness and through it I may find rest. Amen"

Pursuit of God

I did not get to go the the Pursuit of God discussion tonight because I have a special friend in the Holy Butterfly class and they were doing their closing program.

But in reading the two chapters we were suppose to cover tonight there were some thoughts that Tozer related that again were some "ah ha" moments for me.

In the chapter entitled "Restoring the Creator-Creature Relation" there were these thoughts:
"We are right when, and only when, we stand in a right position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we stand in any other position."
"God being who and what He is, and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relationship between us is one of full Lordship on His part and complete submission on ours."
"God was our original habitat and our hearts cannot but feel at home when they enter again that ancient and beautiful abode."

And the chapter ended with this amazing prayer:
"O God be thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth's treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be thou exalted above my comforts. Though it means the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me sink that Thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, 'Hosanna in the highest." Amen

This is getting long, so I will post about the other chapter tomorrow. I can only hope that one day I will know the Lord the way Tozer does and be able to say a prayer such as this.

Nice and Nicer

Today I was on Facebook and looked at some pictures of a girl who is a senior that was from my time at the Mesquite church. She had a picture of her senior tea and I was wowed! I did a senior tea at my house for a couple of girls and it was nice, but these tea oozed of elegance and yet fun. Look at the difference between my table and the one at this tea. Just left me feeling a little envious that I don't have those creative gifts.

Dissertations

I went to watch Jennifer Matthews graduate from the University of North Texas today. First of all I just want to praise her for completing her degree. First is not easy to be a single mom of a 3 year old, work and go to college. But she did it!

I found some of the titles of the dissertations for the PHD's to be rather interesting. Here are just a few:


An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model of Attachment Process, Conflict Resolution, and Psychological Abuse on Relationship Quality in a Community Sample of Heterosexual Couples


A Regulatory Role for N-Acylethanolamine Metabolism in Arabidipis thanlian Seeds and Seedlings

From Reactionary to Responsive: Applying the Internal Environmental Scan Protocol to Lifelong Learning Strategic Planning and Operational Model Selection

The Global Village Playground: A Qualitative Case Study of Designing an ARG as a Capstone Learning Experience.

An Exploration of the Relationship between Effectiveness of Filial Therapy Training Groups and Group Cohesion

An Examination of the Adoption of Preservation Metadata in cultural Heritage Institutions: An Exploratory Study using Diffusion of Innovations Theory

Don't you just feel smarter by reading the titles?

The Spirit and Prayer

"And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will."
--Romans 8:27
This verse popped out at me today. I think I have always focused on verse 26, where we are told the Spirit intercedes for us with groans. I don't know about you but I don't always know what to pray in every given situation. It is comforting to know that is when the Holy Spirit will help me, and intercede for me.
But what was new is seeing that the Spirit pleads in harmony with God's will. So many times I have wondered "what is God's will for my life?" So again it is something I do not need to worry about, just trust that the Spirit will do His job and will make sure my prayers line up with God's will. It is interesting that following Romans 8:27 is Romans 8:28. "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."
There are times when I am overwhelmed with the way life is going. I am so distressed that I don't even know how to pray, so I just sigh or groan. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit takes my groans and sighs and turns them to prayers to the Father. No matter what is happening, God is going to take my present circumstances and bring good out of bad. But His ultimate goal is take all that happens, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, and make me more like Jesus.
I find that comforting to know. Thank you God for taking my feeble attempts to pray and giving me the Spirit who makes them into what you would have them to be.

Faith

Last night our chapter in the Pursuit of God was entitled "The Gaze Of The Soul" and was about faith. Tozer had some comments about faith that once again were attention getting. Here are a few that I particularly liked.

"Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of focus of our own vision and getting God into focus."

"When we lift our inward eyes to Gaze upon God, we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us."

"When the habit of inwardly gazing Godward becomes fixed within us,
we shall be ushered onto a new spiritual life more in keeping with the promises of God and the mood of the New Testatment."

"Believing is directing the heart's attention to Jesus. It is lifting the mind to 'Behold the Lamb of God' (John 1:29), and never ceasing that beholding for the rest of our lives. At first it may seem difficult but it becomes easier as we look steadilyat His wondrous person, quietly without strain. Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, after each brief excursion away from Him, the attention will turn again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to it's window."

So who knew all these years when we sang "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look into His wonderful face", that we were really singing about faith and what it looks like?

Father God, may I keep my eyes turned towards you more and more and less and less on me on my circumstances.

Submit To One Another

Yeterday we went to the Highland Oaks campus in Plano for worship with my mom. Christopher Green was the speaker and he spoke about submission in their new "One Another" series. He said some good things but the one that caught my attention the most is that when we submit to one another we are really submitting to Christ.

Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

I know I knew this, but it hit me anew yesterday. Why is it that so often we forget that it doesn't matter what we do, when we do it, it is as if we were doing it to Christ Himself. Perhaps if I kept that at the forefront of my mind at all times, I would do a better job of being Christlike.

I do think that this submission thing is the reason Steve and I have such a special marriage. Interestingly, it was just about a year ago (May 19, 2008) I blogged about how opposite Steve and I are but how our marriage works because of our mutual submission (Steve definitely being better at it than I)

Putting our needs aside and putting someone else first is not natural. It is only when we realize that we are really serving our Lord when we do that, that it makes it easier, and eventually maybe we won't even have to think about it, it will just become our nature. "Oh to be like Him."

The Pursuit of God

I have been wanting to write this post since Wednesday, but just have not taken the time to do it. Steve and I are attending a discussion group on A.W. Tozer's book "The Pursuit of God:the human thirst for the divine".

There are some really deep thoughts in this book and I just thought I would post a few of the quotes that have caused me to stop and think a little.

"Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted."

"Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

"Eternity will not be long enough to learn all He is, or to praise HIm for all that He has done."

"No point is nearer to God than any other point. It is exactly as near to God from any place as it is from any other place. No one is in mere distance any further from or any nearer to God than any other person."

"God is forever speaking Himself out to His creation. God is speaking, not God spoke, but God is speaking."

"The voice of God is a friendly voice."

Lessons Learned

So today in Ladies Bible Class we finished the "I Saw The Lord" study. There were several comments in the video today that caught my attention that I thought I would share.

The lesson was about God's call on Nehemiah's life and Nehemiah's desire to rebuild the walls. He prays this prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-7, 11: "Then I said: 'O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome god, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites including myself and my father's house have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. O lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.'"

Made me wonder if I have ever had that kind of passion in a prayer?

If God is the Lord of your life you can't play it safe. We must do whatever the burden demands. Faith is like a muscle...the more your exercise it the stronger it gets. Don't look at what resources you have before you step out. Trust God will supply all my needs. God will never call me without equipping me first.

There was also this verse from I Samuel 2:35 "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind." So could God say that of me??

On a side track Henry Blackaby was talking about how he hears a lot of people complain about the condition of a church and try to explain why they are leaving to find another church and he said he will just ask those people "do you think God knew the condition of that church when He made you a part of it?" That is a soapbox of mine. Do I know other members well enough that when they leave I actually feel like one of my fingers or toes is missing? God does make us body and when someone leaves we should notice our body is not complete.

The Blessing of Children

Sunday was Senior Sunday at Richardson East where we honor the seniors by giving them a Bible. It is always accompanied by a slide show of the children growing up. They also put together a little book where the parents write their child a note of blessing. In his sermon, John mentioned how children are a gift from God. And my head said "I wonder why God did not want us to have that gift?" Today I read someone's Facebook post that said "children are such a blessing" and my mind thought "I wonder why God didn't want us to have that blessing?" When John mentioned in his sermon what was going on in 1991 when this senior class was born, I thought "that is the year we miscarried". Don't think I realized before that our child would have been a senior this next year. Steve named our baby Pat, because it was a gender neutral name.

Another mystery from God that we will not have the answers to in this lifetime. I am not sure why God thought it wasn't best that Steve and I have children, but I have to accept that it was His plan for us. A lot of people tell me that He blessed me with hundreds of children, and while it is true I have been blessed to minister to children, it doesn't take away the pain on days like Sunday when I remember that I will not have the blessing of children or grandchildren. But there is always the hope of heavenly reuinions. And there is the confidence that God is faithful to supply all my needs (in His way and in His time).

Two Weeks and Counting

Two weeks ago today I woke up with a cough. Today it was better, but still there. What was better today, is I didn't break out in a sweat. That has been happening for two weeks as well, several times a day. The doctor said it was just my bodies way of fighting off the infection, even though I wasn't running a fever. I thought that was strange. So hopefully the "no sweat" day means I am finally on the mend.

You think because of not feeling well, I would have lost a bunch of weight when I weighed in at Weight Watchers today, but...not the case. I gained .2 pounds. Just glad it wasn't more as the doctor had told me the prednisone would probably cause weight gain because of water retention.

Today's discussion at Weight Watchers was good because it was on "stinkin thinkin" and all the negative things we tell ourselves that sabotage whatever we are trying to accomplish, in my case weight loss. I am learning to just take it one day at a time and not look at how far I have to go. She ended with a quote that I thought was good "Whether you think you can or can't, you are right." Henry Ford

God Is Righteous

So for those of you who are regular readers of my blog, I apologize for a couple of weeks of minimal posting. I cannot get over this upper respiratory infection and it is just zapping all my energy from me. I haven't done much more than sleep for a week now. I went back to the doctor today and am on another antibiotic. Hopefully, it will do the trick soon.

So I don't have anything from my own thoughts to post again, but thought another article by Greg Laurie was thought provoking. I don't know that I have ever thought about God's righteousness in the way he references it. I really liked the last paragraph.

"God Is Righteous
For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.
--Psalm 11:7
Not only is God truth, not only is God holy, but the Bible also teaches that God is righteous. Holiness describes His character, while righteousness and justice describe how He deals with mankind.
In the book of Exodus, we read about Pharaoh, who hardened his heart by holding on to the children of Israel when the Lord had instructed him to release them. As the Lord sent a series of plagues to Egypt, Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, " 'I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked' " (Exodus 9:27).
Even that hard-hearted, powerful ruler came to realize that the Lord is righteous.
We know God is omnipotent, all-powerful. If He were all-powerful without being righteous, He would just be a celestial tyrant doing whatever He wanted wherever He wanted to do it. If He were righteous without being powerful He would be unable to execute justice on this earth.
But the good news is that God is all-powerful--and He is righteous. The psalmist says, "For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright" (Psalm 11:7).
He can do whatever He wants, but He does the right thing in every situation. We ought to thank Him for that!"