Laurie 的个人资料LightUntoMyFeet照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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7月29日 Some great resolutions and quotes
7月28日 Are you making a difference?Recently, a friend of mine ended his email to me with, "Make a difference!" and right after that, I read the Turning Point email message of the day in which Dr. David Jeremiah asks, "How about your life? Is your Christianity touching the world for good?"
Was I really making a difference? Was my Christianity touching others?
Well, as God always does, He added more logs to the fire. Pastor's teaching on Sunday had a similar theme, and I hurriedly wrote down each verse as they applied. For example, Pastor Joe said, "We may be HERE, but we represent a different kingdom -- remember as we go out into the world they are always watching."
Pretty convicting, huh?
I love how Eugene Peterson's paraphrase "The Message" puts down 1 Peter 1:13 - 16
"So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then, you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, 'I am holy; you be holy.'"
I kind of feel like I am ready to join some HGTV crew about to remodel an old house !!
God said to us, go out an make a difference !!!! God rewards what we accomplish, not what we attempt.
I am one who likes to slip into the grooves...my cool pillow on a hot day just beckons me to nap on it! I would much rather look up recipes than do laundry. Or blog hop when the pachysandras cry, "Plant me!"
So maybe I am the old house that needs remodeling (ouch!). But you know how beautiful it is when you see a restored historical property, it shines with pride...to it's neighborhood, it makes a difference.
Are you letting your Christianity touch others? Are you making a difference?
Please feel free to share verses that echo this theme in whatever version you wish (except I draw the line at the New World Translation, thank you).
Be blessed !!
 Lollie
7月23日 jumping off of Sandra's spaceI have chosen to steal shamelessly...
Please keep in mind, what we see in this montage is NOTHING absolutely NOTHING compared to the emotional onslaught our men and women in our service see on a daily basis. I don't think we can conceive of either side, our soldiers, the victims...their eyes express much, but it is hard to read their souls...
Pray for these, citizens of Iraq, that their hearts, already tuned in to find God, find salvation through Christ
Pray for these, our soldiers there on a mission we may not understand here on earth, yet we know we are there for justice, for peace...they do something far greater than we can comprehend here in our safe living rooms with our (some) plasma TV's, our SUV', the touch of the arms of our children...How our soldiers long for that, yet they know they are called to something greater...
Are you called?
Please keep these men and women on BOTH SIDES in your prayers.
7月21日 of Trees and other thingsMy church family has a very sophisticated method of getting in touch with each member as necessary...
"Hey, I don't know Laurie's email, can YOU get in touch with her at work??"
It gets better...
"George, what are you doing pacing back and forth in front of Laurie's house?"
That really is where it starts. See, a few months ago, my church "dad" George, offered to help clean up my backyard and get a tree that was on the back roof removed. We all know a tree on one's back roof leads to destruction, and besides, I need a new back roof. Each week George would say, "I am gonna get that tree down for you" or, "I have a friend who hasn't gotten back to me yet, but he will get that tree down." Well, I didn't really think about it.
Until today. I get an email at work from my dear friend, Karen M, who relays that Sis Judy (Pastor's wife) needs to get in touch with me because George and a tree cutting and... LOL it was sooo vague and funny. So I call Sis Judy at the church...she tells me she saw George pacing back and forth in front of my house this morning ( can you say "parents who live really close" ??) so she called to him that he had an obligation to Vacation Bible School that same day...yeah, well, he tells her he is waiting for a guy to come cut down the tree that has branched out over my back roof and would she get in touch with me...
I call Sis Judy, "George is missing! He is supposed to make the football and baseball games for VBS...he doesn't understand it takes time for paint to dry..." but she delivered the message (she is an amazing woman, let me tell you - praise God for her!) I explained that the tree had been a loooooooong project, didnt know anything about today...
Called Colin...oh yeah, they had cleaned up my whole back yard -- a project i have been begging him for years to do...well, it was done today. "Yeah, George got me up, had me mowing, we found a mud wasp and killed it, yeah the back yard is clean and we are waiting for the tree guy to come... You wanna talk to George?"
George said, "Hey honey, I am waiting on the tree company to come take down your tree...they are working just around the corner, little issue with your neighbor, but I got that all straightenend out, honey, you will see. I got the kids out of the house and working all afternoon, and you will come home with a smile on your face, and that's what is most important"
After being amazed at the outpouring of love, I call back Sister Judy... "I found George..."
I came home to a yard fully mowed, cleaned up of everything, extra crabgrass pulled from everywhere, the driveway swept...like a whole crew had come by...and my kids were regaling their stories of how the tree was removed... "Madre, the guy propelled himself OVER the tree...they lifted the whole tree OVER the house!!" so many amazing stories !! "Smile on my face" was an understatement...Praise for God and gratefulness for a church family who feels so much love they treat my kids as grandchildren and love them into obedience while I am at work !! Colin, who resists my church as much as possible, and also has difficulty dealing with his own grampa, thinks George is AWESOME. See, George is real. George exudes love...Yeah, he exudes the light of Christ, only Colin doesnt see it as such, he just knows he is drawn to it ...
 Please keep in prayer my friend, Kim and her husband John...they have lost a very dear family member.
Oh yeah !! 1st weekend in August I am headed off to Gunstock, NH to attend "Soul Fest" which is a meeting of many Christian bands -- I can hardly wait !!!!! Some of my faves are gonna be there !! My daughter is going up with Kim and John and their family earlier in the week, then I am taking off from work to go up for the weekend !!! I love Christian music -- I love music, and I love listening to it with Christian lyrics...it makes all the difference for me.''
Be blessed all !!
Lollie 7月18日 Ok, so maybe "fun" wasn't the right wordJoin our exploration ---( do we like that word better ?) -- as we delve into "Battlefield of the Mind". Depending on our response, we might seek to push it out a tad bit more, but Liz and I are "chomping at the bit" to get going.
Let us know, ok ? It's such an esoteric thing to do, don't you know... 7月15日 I found the beep!!I found the beeping! Ok, no, I didn't find the beeping, my son, Cuy, found it. It was an old smoke alarm hidden amongst my cluttered kitchen. As my friend, Kim, said, "Under papers?" Yup. She knows.
No, G, I haven't gotten the CO2 installed but I do have it !! I just need to get my drill powered up (the only power tool I own, the ex took everything else, including my beloved sander...) I will not only do it, I will take a pic of it so you can see it !
So busy week which ended with a stomach bug yesterday, my work frequently has me staying til 6:30, 6:45, some nights 7PM...I missed the entire week of prayer at church but heard about a miracle that happened...gotta share...pastor from Long Island that was doing mission work in Maine, had a cerebral hemmorhage...paralyzed...couldn't talk...nada...friend of my pastor...so the week of prayer concentrated on helping this fellow pastor...and this past Wednesday he was able to talk, now he can WALK -- a prognosis that can only be attributed to God Almighty because there is no way it could have happened otherwise. And I met someone in the grocery store who said, "Why are we surprised by the power of prayer? Why are we surprised? Yet we always are." How true. Amen.
So all you praying people out there, could you please not only pray for this pastor, but also pray that our Praise Team, which is in transition now, find an awesome leader who is called to the position? We are doing the best we can, may God bless Kim who is leading us and she is doing a great job !!! But we still need a leader, someone who plays piano, that can really lead us in song worship. May God use our current situation to His glory cuz we know He rocks and wants us to enjoy ourselves during our praise and song worship -- it's a time to really CONNECT with God.
So dinner tonight? Honey Teriyaki Ribs and corn-on-the-cob. I always add a bit of sugar to the corn water so that it comes out sweet not starchy. I have had the ribs marinating for two days (would've served them Fri night except I came home, turned the AC on in my room, and slept - fitfully - for almost the entire day and following night).
Today I felt so much better, manned the Vacation Bible School booth at the local supermarket (you know they tried to kick us out, saying we didn't have permission !! But the organizer was there and listed off so many names they couldn't but help let us stay !) And also Sis Judy, Pastor's wife, went to buy supplies for VBS and was told by a guy at the local party store that the 10 Commandments "aren't allowed to be taught" and he kept after her...so she explained they most certainly are at BIBLE SCHOOL! So many are so lost out there...please pray for them.
I also bought a second huge trash barrel and some extra large "tough" bags...I swear I am throwing everything in my house out -- I used to be a big recycler, but the recycling has taken over the house !! So OUT it goes! Along with every other unnecessary thing, I have no mercy !! It's time it all goes -- it's time. There is a peace and a sense of victory...it really is time that I can shed a lot of the past, and face my future.
Ok, but here is the deal, my ex is getting married July 29th, it's a luau type wedding on a beach on the Cape...and the fiancee sends this box to my house addressed to my kids, and it has their hawaiian shirts and mesh bags inside with instructions all about the wedding. Plus, my ex drops off the words to the song my Roey is supposed to sing at the wedding. So here we have a box with instructions about the wedding, it is stamped all over "Happily Ever After" and ...the return address is in both their names with the same surname, like they are already married.
So I ask my daughter, "Has Daddy ordered the accompaniment CD? Do you know this song?" The answers were No and No. So the ex and I had a talk. Yeah, I struggled, what would Christ do? Christ would be more concerned about my daughter's performance than the wedding itself. "Do not be jealous of the wicked" but still, did I really have to teach my daughter THEIR wedding song? So when my ex and I talked this AM, I mentioned that it was difficult to ask me to teach her this song...was he going to help? And he said, "Absolutely!" I did say, "Please, understand, it will be tough for me to coach her on this song, I ask for your sensitivity in this" and he said again, "absolutely, it was never the plan to have you teach and coach her."
But Christ would have. He would have spent the time with this little girl to show her God's glory above all. It is tough to be human knowing I should be doing better than this. Ah, but then, if I was doing better, the wedding wouldn't hurt so much now, would it? And I have to keep putting myself in his fiancee's place...she is excited, this is HER day, and she loves him and is good to my kids. How do I step aside and allow this? Only through God. You know that Footprints poem...well, here is the point where I am carried...one of many, I am sure.
Well, no one out there wants me breaking into tears...so I will leave that subject alone.
Just started reading Joyce Meyers' book "Me and My Big Mouth" about watching your tongue and using it for good rather than the worldly way we tend to use it. I need that advice BIG TIME. I am hoping to start, with LadyB, a read thru "Battlefield of the Mind" by the same author. I think it speaks to all of us in one way, or one time, or another.
Ok, so tomorrow includes Church, then finally planting all our beautiful coneflowers and lantanas that we bought last week !! And I am going to attempt to make rice balls, an old italian recipe, and I have to make extra cuz Sis Judy wants some and hey, she just lives around the corner !!
So be blessed, I apologize for not being able to keep up to date this week.
Love to you all...
Lollie
 7月8日 The BeepingOk, so, in my kitchen there is a beep. It happens about every five minutes.
You may think, "Oh, smoke alarm needs a new battery!" Yeah...no...
Colin and I have tried to find this elusive "beep" for a WEEK now... I can hear it as I write...
So we have narrowed it down to the breakfast bar area...and yes, there is a carbon monoxide detector in it's original packaging sitting there...but it has no batteries...and yes, we have removed it to another room, and yet still...something beeps...
At this point, I am convinced when I had the breakfast bar put in, it must have come with a signal "Clean me!" or "I am too cluttered" But that was back in 2002, and it hasn't always been this way (yet my counter's pleading to be cleaned and uncluttered must have dated back that far). I just can't figure it out!
It's not the cordless phone needing recharging...
"BEEP" there it goes again! We have stood in the kitchen wondering what it is...trying to pinpoint the origin of the message. Ears focused on every electronic item...yet it still BEEP! escapes us...
I think I need to hire the Crocodile Hunter for this one... I will let you know how it works out.
be blessed and beepless today!
The Lollmeister... BEEP!
7月5日 Definition of a Biblical FriendshipIn my 101 I mention I have a "Biblical Friend" -- you are probably thinking, um what is that? Part of your church family? A relative?
Well, my friend, Mark (aka "Huffy" in the midget pic) and I both listened to the same sermon given by Pastor James MacDonald. When Pastor James read off a definition of a biblical friend, Mark and I both thought to ourselves, "That's Mark!" "That's Laurie!"
I really want to share with you the Biblical Friend Statement:
"I want you to know that I am committed to you. You'll never knowingly suffer at my hands. I'll never say or do anything knowingly to hurt you. I'll always, in every circumstance, seek to help you and support you. If you're down and I can lift you up, I'll do it. Anything I have that you need I'll share with you and if need be I'll give it to you. And no matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens to you, good or bad, my commitment to you will never change. There's nothing you can do about it. You don't have to respond. I love you."
Now I say "Biblical Friend" because that is how it is represented in the sermon. Again, the illustration used was that David, in hiding, was helped by Jonathan and Jonathan did as much as he could for David, but the most important thing he did was always point David back to the Lord. That is definitely Mark and myself. However, my friendship with James has that same level of commitment (although I am not sure he would want to be known as a "biblical" friend).
I am very blessed to have two very special friends who care so very much!!
Now, who in your life can you apply that definition to? 7月2日 The post on ParanoiaSome of you may have noticed that I took my previous post about domestic violence down.
See, there was such a great feeling of liberation to have my ex's condition finally have a name (although not diagnosed as such). I had described to Cuyler's counselor the 20+ years of living with a man who one moment would be totally fine and wonderful, to the next moment be living in some sort of "alternate reality" -- stating events as fact that never happened, and fully believing it, and most times these moments were terrifying. They didn't happen all the time -- they could be a year and a half to two years apart. His mom was JUST LIKE THAT.
Well, the counselor said "That's known as 'paranoia' " ...she began describing it in more detail and I was saying, "Yes! YES!" However, it is hereditary...like mother like son...and I look at my kids, and I see how troubled Cuyler is, and I worry.
It felt good to have it named. It felt good to start blogging about it, but then after a couple days I realized I had put myself more "out there" than I desire for the time being.
Suffice it to say, he recently had another episode and I was the target once again. You would think that this man who is going to be remarried July 29th would channel that behavior towards the new wife and leave the old one out of it. She has no idea what she's in for (although she claims to know the whole story...I seriously doubt that).
Nuff said.
Last night was fun, two friends from church, their kids, Roey, Cuyler, and myself went to BK's and then hit a local mini-golf/arcade called Starland. The kids had a great time! The moms could not stop laughing over our seeming inability to get the golf ball into the hole. Needless to say, I for one will not be making the professional mini-golf circuits anytime soon.
Well, gotta run, this morning is church followed by a busy afternoon.
God bless you all |
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