A Lesson in Humility

I have found that often the lessons we learn are the ones we least expect to learn.

It's like we're speeding down the highway and we get stopped for speeding...only to find that the bridge was out ahead. Sometimes we are just headed for trouble and the LORD in His kindness, stops us. Oh, thank You God!

We are in the midst of one of those lessons--caught completely off guard. The neatest thing about it is this...I'm so very glad. That is when you know the lesson took effect. When you are thanking God for the hard thing, because around the corner was a harder thing.

So that is where we are. We began our "speeding" trip about 6 months ago. We spent money like nobody's business. We counted on things, good things, reasonable things...and those things were a broken bridge.

So when it hit at the end of the summer, I wondered, "How did this happen? Why did this happen? What will we do?" All are very good questions. And the LORD revealed many answers. It was like the removing of scales from our eyes. We were humbled.

But humbleness and humility do not necessitate humiliation. So I share this story with you today. The LORD is the lifter of our heads. We can walk with dignity and yet say, "We are a stone's throw from losing our home." The LORD does not rub our noses in it. He has held us. He has helped us...and sent others to help us. It has been hard. But, oh, it has been so very, very good.

We are counting the cost, now. We are looking at things, as if they are all new. I will share more of what God is teaching us on Monday. But I want you to know that even when life is hard and circumstances are hard...God is not looking to squash you. He is looking out for you in every sense of the expression. His eye is on the sparrow...not just a good song, but a message to you this day...He is watching over your needs, too. Trust your entire weight, your frame and cares, to Him. He is faithful, friends. He is good. Now rest...in the LORD's lap.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Been There, Learned That

Several years ago I graduated from college and began working my husband through grad school. After a little over two years, my Chris graduated and we both felt the LORD's leading to move back to our hometown in East Texas.
We were not encouraged by anyone to move home. The economy was not so great. The job market was dim. But we spent two nights working on 81 resumes, which we sent to the area. (Here's a picture from that time...we were at the corvette museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.)

Within 16 days, my Chris had two job interviews and two job offers. The company, where he would work for nine years, was Libbey Glass. They were not hiring. But they hired Chris. Coincidence? No, not at all. Blessing and favor, indeed. The LORD made a way for Chris to do exactly what He called him to do.

We also found a little log cabin to rent...on a blueberry farm with a stocked catfish pond. The cabin was 1700 square feet. Our bedroom was 7 feet by 15 feet and our bed just fit the width of it. It was a cozy cottage.

After a while, I started hearing folks say, "Holly, you should get a job. You have great skills. Don't just sit at home and waste them."

Well, Chris and I talked about it. We both had felt that we wanted to start a family and did not want to increase our income to a higher level. It would set us up for needing the higher income, we just knew it. We felt I should stay home and wait until we were expecting (We wouldn't have Noah for two more years.)

But folks continued to press. So I took a job. It was two weeks of being terribly miserable! There were issues in the office. One older lady felt intimidated by me and my computer skills, so she refused to teach me their system. So I sat there...and read. I told the boss what was happening...and she insisted that I was needed. I just needed the lady to teach me their program. She wouldn't. So I sat some more. Finally, I gave my resignation saying that they did not need me and that I was not worth their pay. These were dear folks and loved me. They hated to see me quit, but I think too that they understood the office politics. So they were kind to me.

So I stayed home--and learned a very good lesson. The lesson is this: Don't come up with your calling--even with pressure from outside sources. God has something for each of us to do and a time for it. We do not need to go and be what we are not called to be. Just be who you are!

Now I'm not saying that sometimes we are not to exert effort for what we're called to do. Work takes effort! I am saying that sometimes our efforts are wasted over things others expect from us. Be faithful to the LORD. Don't live to please others. It will become a futile calling.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

An Answer

The staff at Life Today had Beth sit down in a chair. Over the intercom came a voice saying, "Beth..." She said, "Yes?" He said, "I've heard you have been talking about me."

Then Life Today's very own, who is also an Elvis impersonator came out and sang to her, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me." She laughed and laughed and was totally surprised.

He works for Life Today and Beth told someone, she thought he was stuck in a different time...only to find out that he had another job. It was fun, I tell ya!

Patty email me with your address...you win! Thanks for playing the game with me...I will do another one sometime before Christmas!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Final Chapter with a Thorn

Well, we have had a lot of fun guessing! So far, no one has guessed right, save Kathleen who confessed she had read it in another place. Of course, Christie and Bev were there with me, so they know, too. Please don't guess if you were there, someone told you or you read it somewhere else.

Here is my fun question: Who was Beth's visitor at the Life Today taping, known the world round? Would you like to guess? The first two winner(s) will receive Joanne Heim's book Living Simply: Choosing Less in a World of More. I will close the contest on October 24 at 1 pm.

I offer two hints: My boss in Little Rock once played football with him. My boss grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.

OK, so now I will share the last of five sessions with Beth Moore for the taping of Life Today--Wednesday's with Beth. It will air I believe in the next three months or so. I promise to share when I know. Again these words are Beth's paraphrased by me--anything I add will be in parenthesis.

Open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 12:7. Paul shares about his thorn in the flesh. "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."

1) Like Paul, we also have the capacity to receive great revelations of the LORD.

Matthew 13:11-12
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

When the LORD entrusts, we want to take and receive it in abundance.

Perceiving--It is not the mere act of seeing, but to partake of or experience a revelation of something or be in the presence of something and then receive it. Here we find that there are demonstrations, which otherwise, we might not have seen of God's love for us.

Understanding--To understand is to put together, like collecting the pieces of a puzzle and piece them together.

A hard heart won't understand this, for it has become calloused...but our pain is not for nothing. Even our pain is a piece of the puzzle and makes it all come together.

Luke 24:25 says, "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures."

Ephesians 1:17 says, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better"

God can cause us to understand the pieces of our puzzles and open our minds to see it. (An "Aha" moment!)

2) We also are entrusted with thorns in our flesh.

We would rather have these thorns because of the great revelations God has given us to keep our feet on the sod of earth, than to have them because of self-elevation to guard against pride.

Ezekiel 28:17 says, "Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. " (I would read the entire chapter to see it in context. But it speaks of Satan, who was an angel of God and got a source of pride from his beauty.)

These thorns become a persistent problem and bring a lot of pain. But they keep on driving us to our knees in desperation. Our thorns keep us from being spiritually sloppy and settling for mediocrity. Our thorns are the best friends we've got, the guardians of our souls, because they keep us from being conceited.

Why thorns? Here she speaks of conceit as being "huper" and "airo," which is like our egos being lifted up....to assail--to sail away, our egos are like a balloon. So the thorn is to pop our inflated egos. Once they are popped, are we going to patch them again?

Our pride vs. humbleness...Jeremiah 45:5a says, "Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not."

For us to be able to handle our great revelation, something must come and make us face our weakness.

3) God's grace is also sufficient for us.

We know this from sustained daily dependence on Him. Here His power and grace are coupled. If I am full of self, then I deflate His power at work in me.

Don't let your thorn become an excuse for defeat! For relationship (with God) happens when I rely on God to overcome (addictions, etc...).

2 Corinthians 12: 9 says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Christ's power rests on me. Here the word "rests" is tabernacle or tent. Just like the Spirit of God resting on the tabernacle in the Old Testament, today He comes and sets up His tent in me...He covers me.

With Christ's power in me, the believer, I become a greater instrument of power (than I ever would have been full of myself).

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

The Deepest Wounds: Let Them Be Done

Ok, today is an emotional one, so I hope I can convey the Truth of the message which Beth brought. Imagine that we are all gathered around the Thanksgiving Day table...and instead of your Mom's best potato dish and pie, Beth is serving up some life-giving words that really satisfy! I ask that before you read today, that you pray for God to bring this message to your heart today.

Now again, I want to remind you that these are Beth's words in my paraphrase, and I will comment in parenthesis.

(First of all, I ask you to pray for one of the attendee's daughters. Her name is Mattie, and she is 9 years old. She has cancer. Pray for healing for this young girl. If you look closely on the Life Today taping, you will see Beth wearing Mattie's bracelet on one arm. I think the world of her heart for young 'uns. I have been asked when these would air...I really don't know, but I believe by January. I promise to post when I know for sure!)

We need to learn to forgive in the deepest wounds in our lives. No one has to think about when they were devastated. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Sometimes it would seem that we could say, "No, this one is too much." And yet we need to grace them. (Beth shares Laurie's story of her son, who was murdered. Watch Life Today--Wednesday's with Beth to hear more of this story.) Does God want us to forgive something like that??

Bitterness is like taking poison and expecting someone else to die from it. Bitterness becomes poison in my soul.

Proverbs 14:10 says, "Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy."

We are a complex people with a COMPLEX God!

Matthew 6:9-15 says, "This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

How do we find RELIEF and RELEASE in forgiveness?

1) Forgiveness is FOR us.

Unforgiveness is an automatic stronghold, an exalted thought process, for us. Unforgiveness sets us up for temptation. For God does not allow us to be abandoned to temptation. Read it in context...it's about forgiveness and unforgiveness.

Matthew 18:2-6

"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.' "

(Every day part of Beth's testimony and her ministry is birthed from childhood abuse. It hurts me even to write that...but from that abuse comes a mighty warrior through Jesus Christ!)

The evil one wants to grip us in unforgiveness. Our bitterness and unforgiveness will not only affect us, but others, as well.

2 Corinthians 2:10-11

"If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes."

Satan wants to outwit us. He has a scheme--to exploit or take advantage of us.

(Read Matthew 18:21-35). This is the parable of the unmerciful servant. Go ahead and give forgiveness to the one who needs it. It doesn't make it OK. God just wants us to be free. Forgiveness is what sets us free, Beloved! Trust God to do the forgiving through you...and He will do it.

2) Forgiveness isn't an emotion--it is a decision.

We need to "will" to cooperate with the process. Matthew 6:14-15 again says, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Here forgive is the word "aphieme," which means to send forth. Push it on Him! Send it away from ourselves to our God--have a destination in mind.

If they have done it to me, then they have done it to Christ.

Pray for mercy and healing.

3) We are never more like Christ than when we forgive.

We were meant to live supernatural lives. Make a decision to cooperate with a miracle.

I send it forth. I do NOT want it back.

I agree and reaffirm this until one day, I walk on from it.

Let it be done. (Here is a story, which I will not write here. It is indeed too precious a thing. You must hear Beth tell it. Like me, you may sob. The point will be this: Sometimes we need to let go of our big wounds and let God heal us. We need this to be free, friends. And Oh, I want it all. I want to live free...forgive often...with my face up to the LORD lit with the light only His face can give. That is what I want.)

OK~ I have a little game (only participate if you were not at the Life Today taping and no one told you--hee hee) continued from yesterday:

Who was Beth's visitor at the Life Today taping, known the world round? Would you like to guess? The first two winner(s) will receive Joanne Heim's book Living Simply: Choosing Less in a World of More. I will close the contest on October 24 at noon.

I offer one hint: My boss in Little Rock once played football with him.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Double Coat of Non-Stick--Grace

Before I begin, I wanted to share the pictures from yesterday and this morning....snow! Also, thank you for your prayers for Ezra. They are updating the Caring Bridge page as they can, so just click on this link. Also a couple of weeks ago, I asked you to pray for Mason. He went home to be with the LORD on October 16th. Please lift up his family in prayer: Eddie, Becky and Jazzy. The next three days will be the services...so please pray for these dear folks.

Today, I want to share one of the segments that most impacted me. All were so very good. But this and the next ones are the place where God really spoke to my heart. "Listen, Holly."

Again, these are Beth's words in paraphrase and mine are in parenthesis:

Let's talk about offenses. Open your Bibles to Ephesians 4:31. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

Today we're going to talk about forgiveness as a lifestyle...living-forgiving.

Say it, "Living Forgiving." Whether the offenses are small or big, we need to learn forgiveness as a lifestyle.

In Matthew 18:21-22 the Bible says, "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.' "

So how many times do we forgive an offense? The ancient rabbis would pray 3 times a day...morning, noon and evening.

No one can handle keeping score. Go to the sea of forgiveness and just drown in it.

Some people can get to you, if you know them. How much access into my life have I given them? So from them, there are lots of times when there is an inferred offense. What did that just mean? Or sometimes, they can be simply, flat rude. The WSTBY's: Who says that but you? So there are some folks out there hurt or offended who have not spoken to one another in YEARS!

Like velcro rollers on a robe (again, only Beth can tell this funny story! Watch Life Today--Wednesday's with Beth), we wear an offense that sticks all over us.

So shake it off! Just say, "That's not gonna stick." We get so easily offended sometimes, so very sensitive, it's like a green bean hurt (Again this story is really good. I will try and tell this one. Jackson (Curt and Amanda's 20 month old son, Keith and Beth's Grandson) has been practising with his little fork...eating his green beans. He did fine until he could not get one to stay on his fork, so he just cried over it. So green bean hurt is where we get offended over a little green bean that won't stay on the fork.).

We may act like Proverbs 18:19, "An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel." But Proverbs 19:11 says, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense."

In marriage for instance...you will have opportunities to be offended. You are empowered, however, to not let it stick. I get not to! I am not in the mood to be offended today. So I overlook the offense and move beyond it.

(This next part to me really was such an "Aha!" moment for me.) Some people who always struggle with open conflicts, who go to war first, are motivated by it. They love a good fight and get energy from it. Always wanting to debate and be quarrelsome, they struggle with a war that battles within them--so as to be distracted from the war that battles inside. Those who struggle with a war of the soul bear witness by the fact that they are most at war in our environment. They want something from us, but don't get it.

James 4:1-2 says, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God."

The fact is we cannot be their savior. We need to look past this behavior and into what is driving it. When they offend us, we must learn to shake it off and pray for them--that they can shake it off, too.

How do we overlook their offense? Ephesians 4:32 must be active in us: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

We need to be keeping on forgiving. The word forgiving here is "charizomai" meaning grace. So be kind and grace others, as Christ has graced and graces me.

God favors us, so we should grace others. We need to have a storehouse of grace. Can you grace someone 77 times a day? I think that will be enough.

So how do we go about LIVING-FORGIVING?

1) Practise a very active confession life with God.

We need not only to confess, but to tarry long enough for conviction to fall upon us. Take stock of where we are--sins of omission--and ask God for cleansing.

As 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Luke 6:41-42 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Don't be a hypocrite or pretender--wake up to your own stuff. The more aware I am of mine, the less I am aware of others'. We need to go regularly enough to God to be regularly aware that we have sin and practise an active confession life. God knows us completely (Psalm 139) and will show us any offensive ways in us, anxious hearts, hurried, overwhelmed and anxious spirits. Be willing to say: Test me God, please!

2) We need to actively accept God's grace towards us.

Are we plank heavy? Do we focus so much on our own sin that we don't receive the grace God gives?

Ask forgiveness and receive it! Feel it. Say it--I have been graced. Put on that double coat of non-stick grace on our person...for God dearly loves us (Of course, I wrote God dearly loves Holly. You write your name.). We need to actively receive and acknowledge and assimilate His grace towards us.

We have the grace to grace. You can tell how people feel about themselves by how they treat you. So put on the double coat of non-stick grace. Grace to grace (which I wrote--Grace to grace, Holly...add your name).

OK~ I have a little game (only participate if you were not at the Life Today taping and no one told you--hee hee):

Who was Beth's visitor at the Life Today taping, known the world round? Would you like to guess? The first two winner(s) will receive Joanne Heim's book Living Simply: Choosing Less in a World of More. I will close the contest on October 24 at noon.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Urgent Prayer Need

Please go to this site: Ezra and pray for this little guy. I know God hears, and I pray that a miracle will happen.

Will you pray for Ezra? If so, please let them know you are praying on their guestbook. Or you can comment or email me, and I will pass them on to John and Melodee. THANK YOU!

This is a prayer from Diane (a mighty prayer warrior at LPM)--will you please pray this prayer with us?

"I will forward for prayer and Lord, in the mighty healing NAME of Jesus, PLEASE heal little Ezra!!! We believe You are able and pray it be within Your will O God. Please restore his little body to health. Please Lord!!

Let him grow up to be a mighty man of God like his father. Be GLORIFIED Lord and show Yourself to this community of doctors and patients. Let this healing be obvious to all and bring You many who would trust You for themselves.
In Jesus' Name I pray~"

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Praise in the Battle

We begin session two now...it has treasures! I dearly love some treasures!

You might move your chair back a bit now...for there is going to be some loud volume, and I daresay, you'll be on the edge of your seats.

So again, I remind you that these are Beth's words in paraphrase, and if I add anything, it will be in parenthesis. My prayer is that every work God has in this message will come with power into your life...for this is a message for everyone.

What do I do, when I don't have a clue with what to do??

Open your Bible to 2 Chronicles 20:2, 5-12, 15, 19 (I would read the entire chapter, so you have the context.)

Jehoshaphat is warned that the attack is coming. So like a lawyer before the judge, he goes before the LORD and reminds God of what He (the LORD) has done. He says, "You have performed miracles for us." Like a lawyer, he states the precedent and says to the LORD: Do it again!

Jehoshaphat has no clue what to do, so he asks for Divine participation.

The Lord replies through Jahaziel saying, "Do not be afraid or discouraged. Face it! Plant your feet and hold your face up for the battle is the LORD's."

So Jehoshaphat bows face down, as some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites begin to praise with very loud voices.

The next morning as they head into the Desert of Tekoa, Jehoshaphat says to them, "Have faith--believe in the LORD your God!" As they praised, the LORD set up ambushes against their enemies and they were defeated. The plunder took three days to collect, for there was so much. They praised in the Valley of Beracah, which is the valley of praise.

We can use praise like a weapon in warfare...praise our way out of defeat. But we need to change what, how and when we say it.

The Power of Praise

1) We've got to change what we're saying.

Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, he brought his complaint before Him and pulled together his support.

We need to cease rehearsing our complaint and start praising! We are going to most believe what we most rehearse. So we need to change what we're saying...or we will reaffirm our defeat to people.

Remember, the battle is the LORD's, not mine. What am I rehearsing?

Psalm 3:1-4 says, "O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, 'God will not deliver him.' Selah But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah"

You can find every emotion in the Psalms, so feel free to express yourself to God.

Selah means stop and pause and consider. At first David began to rehearse his defeat, but then he began to remind himself of the Lord. He began to rehearse his praise. (Here I wrote, "Rehearse your praise, Holly.")

Isaiah 61:3 says that the LORD wants to give us a garment of praise, instead of a spirit of despair. So trade your sorrow, open your mouth and speak it. Get intentional in your praise.

2) We need to change how we're saying it.

2 Chronicles 20:19 says they praised with very loud voices. (Here I wrote: Turn the music up, Holly!) We need to give our praise some volume...and say it like we mean it, emphatically!

(Here Beth shares young Kendall's story, so please watch when Life Today comes on in a few months, on the internet and on television.)

Basically she shares that without distraction, we need to belt it (our praise) out!

Psalm 8:2 says, "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger."

From the weakest of instruments, those who know the least, God calls all of us to praise. And why do we praise? Because of God's enemies--to silence them.

Here the word silence is also, "sabbath." So when I speak praises, other mouths have to shut...be silent...take a sabbath. We need to force the enemy to take a sabbath!

We are the apple of God's eye. Anyone not praising God has to shut his mouth, take a sabbath...like his tongue is stuck to the roof of his mouth. Amen.

What would I say to praise Him??? I should rehearse what I know...open my mouth and say those things. Surrender to a life of praise (of course, I added Holly here...you add your name). When it's praise, that is making a threat that God makes good--psychological warfare on the enemy. AND our hearts hear what our mouths say.

3) We need to change when we say it.

2 Chronicles 2:21 says as they went out they praised. Praise was the first thing they did. Their weapon was their praise. In this way, the battle will be His (the LORD's). So we need to praise into the victory.

Don't wait until we see it. WHEN we realize that we are in battle, then we make our declaration of war. 2 Chronicles 20:22 says, "as they began to sing..." From the very first word, the LORD sets out ambushes for the enemy. He will defeat the enemy. And we will be left with much plunder! It will be so profuse that it will take days to gather.

So in the Valley of Beracah, the valley of praise, we will pick up the plunder. We need to rehearse the greatness of our God....and He will bless me (and you).

That is all for this week, friends. I will type the rest next week. We have a holiday tomorrow, and I need to take one with my kids and rest and play and praise! I have posted a picture from Bev...her camera was on night...so we are rather ethereal!

Next week, I have a wonderful surprise! Beth had a very special guest, known the world round, come to visit. I have pictures, and you won't want to miss them. But especially, you won't want to miss the last three lessons.

Enjoy a weekend filled with praise...and rest!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Story to Tell

Pull up your little bear Sunday School chairs for Beth Moore has come to teach some lessons from His Word. Come sit in a circle. Pull your chairs up closer for you won't want to miss a single one!

I will try to break it up between the sessions, for it is quite full...very full of good life-giving Words....Wonderful Words of Life.

Anticipation was thick in the air outside the Life Outreach International building, as we waited outside the doors in line (and let me say the air was quite thick with humidity compared to this dry high altitude air). We then were allowed to come in a bit at a time. We came into a foyer that led to the stage area. It was a full set, which surprised me, for I really thought it looked so much like a living room on TV with an audience in the front of it. But no, the audience was all around it. The ones in charge of filming have done a wonderful job creating this place for viewers.

We began with worship--just us with the most wonderful women named Jeanne Rogers and another beautiful lady singing No Sweeter Name by Kari Jobe and many others. I was so glad, for it was just right to enter into His Presence with worship and thanksgiving...nothing like it in the world!

Beth came in and asked if we had any questions. I really don't remember exactly all of them. One was about what kind of Bible she uses: The Key Word Study Bible. My question, which I didn't get to ask, was this: What motivates you to do this again every day? And you know what? She answered it without me asking. I'll fill you in on the answer a little later.

So we began the taping of session one--soon to be on Life Today...so watch it for yourself! All of this material bears repeating. Your senses need to take it all in to learn it just for you. I'm just sharing what I learned for me, which I HOPE will bless you, too! So I pray that as a courier of these words from Beth that I bring it to you with the same power of God to accomplish every good thing He wants to in your life.

By the way, all of the following are Beth's words in paraphrase, not mine...the only part I bring will be in parenthesis.

Open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5:13-15 and 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.

Christ's love compels us...so we speak it. God is the God of all comfort...in all our troubles, as Paul the writer knew so well. Paul needed Christ so much!

We are all driven by one thing or another. What drives us? We are a country that suffers from severe aglophobia, fear of pain or discomfort.

When comfort becomes our motivation, we are going to miss God's calling. Are you scared of being hurt, suffering, looking foolish? Are you finding comfort in things other than God?

What if our comfort was of no account whatsoever? (Here is the answer to my question from earlier)

Christs love compels us. (I read this as, "Christ's love compels, Holly.")

The first loss of comfort occurred in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were led out of the garden into thorns and thistles, their relationship together and with God was no longer comfortable and work became toilsome.

Since that time, we have experienced a drive for comfort. We would settle for mediocrity. It creates boredom and we have an attachment to comfort.

What is at stake? What will happen if we let the drive for comfort control us?

1) We will live in a rut of relational disasters.

Genesis 5:28-29 says, "When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, 'He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.' " He named his son Noah after the thing he wanted, comfort.

We have an authentic need for comfort! God's comfort poured out through vessels to bring comfort. (Here I think of Rebekah bringing comfort to Isaac after his mom Sarah died. That is comfort sent from God's hand to Isaac through Rebekah. See Genesis 24:67.)

God's mercies are new every morning, ours aren't. Lamentations 1:2 says, "Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is none to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies."

Our friends may comfort us, people may comfort us, but they won't/ can't stay there for us. It gets messy. It's a train wreck ready to happen. Our search for comfort in a person is called co-dependency...and our comforter becomes our savior. That just won't do.

In the throes of our grief, God alone can minister. (Here she told a story about Melissa's surgery in high school and an encounter in the waiting room...you'll have to watch to hear it. Only Beth can tell her story here.)

2) We will sign up for a life of addiction.

The substance will control the behavior and bring comfort. We are comfort addicts. Are we going to get comfort unto death?

Our obsession for comfort will bring about a repeat cycle, which works only by feeding it. (And here I thought, each time we will need more and more to satisfy.)

False comfort will produce in us guilt. Divine comfort will produce grace.

The moment we begin using, we stop coping. (Did you get that? Read it again. Using what? Anything that brings comfort, a substance that is addictive for instance.) We go around again and again with this...

Divine comfort empowers us to cope--a tenacity to cope.

3) Comfort as our god VS the God of all comfort

We become motivated by seeking comfort as our god and our guilt causes us to stay in the trap.

We will miss the greatest adventures of our calling, if we continue to be motivated by comfort.

Go. Don't risk your calling. Our calling is way outside our comfort zone! (Here Beth tells her story of going to Angola this year. Don't miss it when it comes out in the next few months! Again, I cannot tell her story. But her point was this: If she had chosen what was comfortable, she would have missed the comfort of Christ! Just in case, I would say that the definition of the word calling is this from the Merriam-Webster dictionary: a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence.)

Risk feeling the pain, the discomfort. Be reminded of how fragile we are! We could not be vulnerable unless the love of Christ compels us. There is so much at stake! (Again an answer to my question.)

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

And Now for Something Completely Different...

Hee hee...I couldn't resist! I promise to continue our story this evening.

Now, an interruption...and a request.

Our second child, Kylie, is turning 8 at the end of this month, October 28th. I am planning to give her a party with just girls. We don't have much money to spend, but I want to make it special.

So I'm planning a tea party at noontime with little tiny foods to eat. I will be searching for recipes for tiny delicacies that are inexpensive. Do you have any to share? I sure would love to make something special and stay within our budget (which is small).

How much time should the party last? What usually seems a good time to you?

Also, I want to decorate for the tea party and make it festive. Again, I need to spend little to nothing. Do you have any ideas?

For a gift, we are going to buy her a charm bracelet and two charms. Here, too, I'd love to hear your ideas for what these charms should be. And if you know an inexpensive place to find them, preferably sterling silver, I love to hear it!

Oh, and one more thing...what would be a nice token to send home with the girls? I have a few ideas for this, but maybe you have some more!

Thanks...I shall write more soon in the evening. :)

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Turn the Page

4:15 am came awfully early. I awoke with excitement and could not even drink my coffee, which is rare for me. My Chris sent me off with a hug and a kiss, as I got in the car to drive to the airport.

I had received a Texas-sized offer back in mid-June from my good friend Beverly, who at the time I did not know at all. Now she is a wonderful friend brought by God into my life for such a time as this. Unlike the book of Esther, I cannot read the ending...so I really do not know where "this time" is all leading to...I just feel the trees passing by quicker and quicker. There is some speed building up, some momentum. It's a journey...so wherever God leads us, we will follow.

So Bev had emailed an offer to come October 12th and 13th to a taping of Life Today--Wednesdays with Beth. I was thrilled and astounded! You see Chris and I have watched Life Today for many years. We have supported their missions to provide clean water and homes for the needy and enjoyed partnering with them in prayer, as well. So when Beth began her teachings on Wednesdays, we were thrilled! For we both had studied under Beth and grown much in our walk with Christ because of her. So we watched--even on the internet! You can watch, too. Every teaching is available for free. They have interviewed many intriguing people such as Bill O' Reilly, Tim Conway, Dr. Phil, Kirk Cameron and Zig Ziglar to name a few. Perhaps you would feel the leading to give, as well. It will bless you, I know, as it has us.

So driving on that dark morning to an airport I had never seen, I could feel the anticipation of the weekend upon me. I also felt a bit unsure, not of the flight, for I DO love to fly! However, it had been 9 years since I have flown anywhere. Uncertainties lie ahead.

I followed the map quest directions as far as they took me, and when I drove up to the airport, I felt somewhat disoriented. Colorado Springs airport is not very large, at all. But even so I looked at the vast expanse of parking in the dimly lit area, and I wondered where to go.

Someone had mentioned long term parking, so I found a sign and headed that way. I unloaded my bags and began a fairly long walk. After I walked enough to huff a bit, a bus stopped and asked if I wanted to get on. I didn't know, did I want to get on? So I did and asked if she was taking me up to the terminal, still a good distance away. She laughed and said, "Yes."

Even with the light outside, I still felt in the dark about all the things I was approaching. I checked in my bags, showed my ID and nearly everything in my wallet fell over the counter and behind the woman to the floor. She had jokingly asked earlier if I had come to "push her buttons" for I had no idea how to do the touch screen thing. So I was in the line for first class, which wasn't me. I did do the online boarding pass, so she smiled and said, "Well now, that's good." Redeemed! Then I dumped my stuff on her floor. Yikes! So Yes, I had come to push her buttons. Bless her sweet heart.

Then I proceeded to the very long line for security check. I asked if I was in the right place. I was. Well thank God! As I stood for a bit, the woman from the check in came to me with a bit of a teacher-look on her face....stern, but not really mad, maybe even amused. She brought my Texas A&M mini-diploma card for former students--I'm sure the whole situation has an Aggie joke in there somewhere! Bless my heart, too.

I came to the sign that said remove jacket, shoes, metal objects, etc. I began to put everything in the containers and remembered my sleeveless top under my jacket...of course the bra straps on both sides had fallen down the sides of my arms. Face red, I walked through and was glad that there wasn't any more searching for them to do. HalleluYah!

On the plane, I finally rested my heart and began to snap some photos to share. I hope they capture what I saw for you! It was like a magical wonderland and I expected a pegasus to fly through them at any point. Then they looked like hands lifted up in praise, and I thought, "Yes, all creation indeed points to its Creator."

We landed in 1 hour and 20 minutes, which was wonderful considering we have taken the same trip back and forth 3 times this year, and it takes about 13 hours to drive. Ahhh!

My good friend of 20 years, Christie, met me with a smile. How nice it was to feel a welcome after my insecure flight! We got my luggage and proceeded to the Cracker Barrel for some yummy breakfast, which by now I was so very hungry for.

A little back story: After Bev had given me the invitation back in June, I got my plane ticket and was very excited. Early July,our family went to Destin for vacation, and Christie's family was there, too. So we met one evening at a go-cart place and visited, while our kids and husbands rode. I told her about my offer. Christie said, "Wow! I'd love to do that. Tell me if you get extra tickets." I told her that Bev said they were free, but hard to come by. You had to wait on a list. The next week at home, Bev emailed, "I have an extra ticket, do you know anyone here who would like it?" Well yes, as a matter of fact, I did!

So God orchestrated our weekend. And the wonder of it is that we all made it to the right place 3 1/2 months later.

Tomorrow, the Friday night taping at Life Today, Starbucks, Hyatt Regency at the Reunion downtown and Tex-Mex all the way baby!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

The Pages of a Book

First, I begin with much thanks and praise for your prayers. We are on the mend. My head is still weary and wants to hang down, but I could not rest until I began to share the journey of the past four days.

Last Thursday, Meredith and I were invited to Joanne's home for lunch and some crafts. So I looked forward to the visit, the new-found friendships, and the craft-time to finish some things I began.

So Meredith (pictured to the left with Joanne's pumpkin that she grew in her own backyard!) and I found some child care and headed north to Joanne's home. We drove very near the home, when I realized I forgot the exact road. So I called and Joanne's husband Toben answered. I smiled when he said turn on the street where the tree is turning colors for fall. What a great beginning!

We drove up and were greeted in the driveway with a hug from Joanne, and we walked into a storybook tale. Oh yes, we did!

Our visit was so full of laughter (some bent over laughter, too! which I love!) and stories and enjoyment of one another. In the background, worship music that made my knees weak played. We got to meet Toben and see and hear some of their interaction, which I always love to see--people who love and understand one another deeply in marriage. So much joy!

Joanne is a bright light, which never is snuffed out. She loves life and lives it to the full in a simple and yet rich way. She sat down and began to craft with her knitting. So Meredith and I began to do the same, as if to say, oh this is how you do it! So we sat and crafted and visited for a good while. I found my heart beating fast, for I have always wanted to sit and while away the hour with friends and a craft--just like they used to do in the days of old. Oh, I have a romantic heart, yes I do. So when I read about such things, I think, "I wish I could do that." And Joanne invited us to the answer: "why not?" It was pure joy for me to live that one out. It won't be the only time either. (Pictured are me, Meredith and Joanne with Daisy the dog in the backdrop of their beautiful backyard)

We came to the table overlooking Joanne's beautiful decorated-by-God-for-autumn backyard. I wanted to stay right there and put up my tent. It was a wonderful and restful retreat. Joanne had created a royal lunch for us of chicken salad and croissants. She quoted Anne of Green Gables' friend Diana Berry in saying how nice it would be to be rich and eat chicken salad and live in fine houses. To which Anne replied that we are rich for we have our friendship and imagination. So we feasted on richness and fatness at Joanne's. It was such a high and wonderful time.

We shared wonderful and scrumptious food--and best of all, we shared ourselves and our stories. It cannot get any better than that my friends!

As if the day could not be any more of a gift, Joanne gifted us with a beautiful basket of goodies...& books. I had already bought and read Joanne's book Living Simply (You must get it and read it. It will give you much inspiration and add such richness to your life, too!), so Joanne shared that with Meredith. Then I received a book called True-Faced, which I believe is such a powerful book in being who you are with others. It's a book about freedom in your life and relationships. Who doesn't need that? It is a must read for those of you who long to be freed up to do what God is dreaming for you to do!

May I say that besides all that I have written, the very best part of the day was the love and care for detail that Joanne put into the day? She planned for us and prepared and thought about us...which made the time all the more special. Meredith and I came away as blessed and deeply loved friends with Joanne. I tell you my heart is still so full from that feeling of being made special...just like Jesus does....just like He would do.

Indeed Joanne is a well-balanced Mary and Martha! She prepares and serves, and yet knows the importance of sitting at the feet of Jesus.

So we shall do this again. And I encourage you to find some friends to invite over and plan for...to treat and pamper...to spend time doing something together beyond what you normally do. If you cannot think of someone to invite, do what Joanne did and invite people you don't know very well. For a stranger may be just the one to bring into your life and add richness and friendship! I think that looks a lot like Jesus, too!

Matthew 22:8-10

Then he said to his servants, "The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find." So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Be sure that when you are invited to the wedding that you are dressed appropriately (Matthew 22:1-14). How is that, you ask? Clothe yourself in Christ. He ALONE is enough.

Come dressed and ready! For this is a story-book tale that is real.
And someday, we shall see Him and know Him, even as we are fully seen and known.

Tomorrow, I will tell about Friday, when I flew to Dallas/ Ft. Worth for a Texas-sized offer from Bev.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Wow...Mmmm....Wow!

This will be so very short and sweet. I must tell you, though, I am in the throes of sickness here at the Smith home. Everyone is sick...with a stomach bug. I have had some problems, but not so very bad. So I cannot say all that I am dying to share! But I will...very soon.

It began last Thursday, this wonderful and fabulous weekend journey...a journey that inspired and challenged and filled me so that my heart is brimming and my mind is trying to wrap itself around the whole of it. So I will share all about my adventures with Joanne, Meredith, Christie, Bev, Beth and a new friend Debbie. It was a really wild ride!

May I just end with two things? Soak up life friends...get into the fullness of it. Life with the Lord Jesus is the most exciting and fulfilling journey. I encourage you to get unstuck and walk, Friends. I pray you will! The second thing is Ashley...pray for our little friend. Pray for her family. Pray for her strength and healing.

I will write the beginning of the journey tomorrow...for now I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you and make His Face shine upon you and give you peace.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

How Could I Keep from Sharing This??

"From the Rising of the Sun to the Place where it Sets The NAME of the LORD is to Be PRAISED!" Psalm 113:3

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets."

Psalm 50:1

"so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:6

"From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along." Isaiah 59:19

"My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty." Malachi 1:11

"because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven..." Luke 1:78

Perfect Adoration by Holly Smith May 7, 2002

Perfect Adoration
we bring to You, Abba.
Eyes shining
with trust in You, LORD.
Arms outstretched
to reach for our Father
Blessed assurance
knowing Love's strong cord.

Perfect adoration
for our Savior who heals.
Binding affliction
wounded ones seek--
Peace's Prince
touches His treasures.
Blessed Salvation
for all who are weak.

Perfect adoration
a Bride who awaits.
Considering Beauty
of the King of Grace.
Waiting patiently
to behold her True Light.
Blessed Union
when joined face to face!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Bit of a Trifle

Before I begin, go immediately to the next post and stop by "Ezra" and pray for him and his family. things are critical right now. Or click here. Pray like mad, friends. They really need your help...to stand with this 21 month old boy in prayer. Then go immediately to Ashley's page and pray for her. Both are in need of some gap-standers today. Will you pray?

So as I said on Monday, this will be a lean week in blogging, so in the meantime, I am going to list some posts you might enjoy and have not read...and share a dessert that is chocolaty-good.

When I come back on Monday, I feel like we need to spend some time talking about the Bible and politics. 'Tis the season to be thinking about the 2008 Presidential Elections, friends...are we gonna get involved and step up? For the fact is a generation of folks, who do care about such "trifles" are beginning to pass the torch. What will we do with it?

Here are a few old posts that may be just the thing you need to be encouraged today!

* Sacrifice of Praise

* Turning it Up

* In the Streams of Consciousness

* Thick in Him

* On the Shelf

* Impact

Chocolate Brownie Trifle by Nancy Rheay

1 box chocolate fudge brownie mix (no icing)

1 box chocolate fudge pudding

1 container Cool Whip (whipped topping)

1 bag Heath bars, crushed (I almost wrote crunched :)

Make brownies according to package.

Cool and cut into squares.

Make pudding according to package right before putting it together.

Thaw Cool Whip, if frozen.

Open bag of Heath bars.

Layer in a Trifle Dish:

Half of brownies

Half of pudding

Half of Whipped topping

Half of Heath bars

Then again layer the same.

Keep in refrigerator for 8 hours. Amaze and delight your friends :)

I am serving this tomorrow at our lunch bunch for week four of A Woman's Heart God's Dwelling Place by Beth Moore...wish Beth could drop in for a taste! But alas, tomorrow they are filming Esther, so I know she would be thankful for your prayers--I bet she even likes them more than a TRIFLE :) -- Chocolate, though it may be.

I added pictures of Sydney a year ago and today...amazing how a year has changed her!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Consider...

In our day in and day out lives, we have many things that may make us worry or be concerned or stressed about...but on the scale of it all, I don't think there is anything more distressing than a loved one, who is very sick.

It's a helpless feeling--something we cannot fix or change, but would give anything to make it better. So our heart is stretched to its limit.

One of the few burden-lifters is knowing that others care and are praying to the LORD, asking for His intercession and healing. Prayer does indeed change things!

This is how I began blogging at all...it began with some comments or prayers over people I had never met (and may never meet until Heaven). Somehow it started the road for me to go beyond leaving a comment..and begin to share things that may help encourage others on the road they are on.

About two years ago, I had read a prayer request on the Living Proof website for prayer for a man named Ed Horn. I began to pray...more than that, I got involved in the lives of these dear ones, who looked to the Lord Jesus for strength every day.

I watched their story unfold and found that more than anything, I was encouraged by their faith! Isn't that something? Now here they are in need of prayer for healing, and out of their little, they gave much...because of Christ. They indeed were a display of the glory of the LORD! The LORD has taken Ed home, and I have continued to pray for his wife and children. Even today, I love to see how God has carried them further on down the road. Indeed, God is writing a love story over their lives...and I love that about the heart of our God! This family is still a display of Jesus...they ever will be, I know.

Then I read a request for a baby named Micah, then Mason, Jacob, and Donovan. I prayed for these daily...still pray for Mason and the families of the others, whose children went to be with God.

It is just something I want to do...because my heart cares for their families. Way before any of these, my roommate in college's son was diagnosed with leukemia. And Chad beat it! By the grace of God and the prayers of many and the great love and courage of this family, Chad is now in remission. Their family now helps to raise funds for the cure. My roommate, Lisa, even began running marathons. Her courage and strength amaze and astound me!

I say all this to ask you to engage in the lives of four people who need your prayers for healing:

Heather

Ashley

Mason

Ezra

Will you join with me and so many others in lifting these up to the LORD, Jehovah Rapha, their Healer? Even as I write this, Mason's mom, Becky, has just asked for fervent prayers.

Perhaps you may find others on Caring Bridge or another site to pray for...there are so many needs. In the light of these needs, perhaps you will find yourself encouraged and blessed and your needs may become as nothing in comparison.

Thanks for hearing my heart!

"For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that HE is ABLE to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." 2 Timothy 1:12b

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

We are ALL About Traditions

First of all, you must know that our family is hokey, silly, dramatic and weird. Second, we are Aggies.

That being said, which truly explains much of why we act the way we do, we have a very long list of traditions. So on Friday night, almost every Friday, you will find our family gathered together for Family Night aka Pizza Pajama Night.

We put on our pajamas and eat pizza (variety: Pizza Hut pepperoni stuffed crust, frozen four cheese Di Giorno, Papa Murphey's all meat pizza or homemade sausage and mushroom entirely from scratch).

Often we make a snack or dessert, like chocolate chip cookies, together. Of course, we have a spoonful of dough...I know, I know. But, it is tradition! So we take risks. I have also recently made popcorn balls and this week, caramel apples.

Then we either play Candy Land, Rummikub, Aggieopoly, Life and Uno Attack OR we work a puzzle OR we watch a favorite movie (like Elf or Cars or Star Wars) OR we read a book together (Right now, The Chronicles of Narnia series).

It is a fun night. Usually there is a lot of laughter. Sometimes there are tears...for a game not won, a wrestling match gone wrong or just because (remember, we have four children and one Daddy-child).

But family night is what it is. And we like it that way. I think we have built some wonderful memories simply in the midst of quantity time. A wise man once said that quality time comes in the midst of quantity time. And we heed Mr. Farrar's advice.

Finally, I must share with you this week's beautiful Family Night sunset. We ran out to capture it...for the Lord takes part in our family night....and we don't want to miss Him!

Note:

This will be a lean week with blogging.

I have a Texas-sized offer coming up for which I must prepare!

I promise to fill in all the details by the middle of the month.

But it's a good 'un, as my Texan husband likes to say!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Art Abandoned

Do you ever sense a theme going on in the background of your life? A certain struggle...a similar scene--all pointing to a problem that has not been uprooted.

I have...and it has to do with finishing something I have begun. For instance there is my cross-stitch drawer. It is filled with unfinished work. Things I had hoped to complete for someone--good intentions of mine that never saw the light of attainment.

It is a struggle of mine...for I ENVISION the finished product. I see it in its glory on display. I purchase the materials, sort through them and get started. Many days may pass with my faithful work applied. And then one day, it gets set aside. It gathers dust. It gets moved out of the way before company comes. Finally it is lost.

Until one day, I pick it back up again and begin again. The cycle may ensue once again. It may even be relegated to my "craft drawer." With the drawer closed, I feel no guilt to my unfinished task. For I do not have to open it again. I do not have to think about it.

Then there are our paintings. Chris and I worked on these together in the time before we had children (7 years worth). Chris did the mountains, and I worked on the house. Again, unfinished.

Then there are our cross-stitched Santa ornaments. And in the same line are the broken, but fixable ornaments.

Oh and then there is our closet...we moved here two years ago and there are three boxes that have not been sorted through. And the garage also has a few boxes unopened.

And how could I leave out the exercise equipment? One piece collects dust and serves as a literal stumbling block each night if I have to get up in the dark. Ouch! Another piece I began again this week....also dusty. So I pedaled and sneezed my way through!

Best Intentions. Goals! Aims, aspirations, objectives, designs and targets. None attained.

Why is it that we set up these goals and miss the mark every time? Where do we begin?

I'll tell you, we begin by getting the rest of our priorities straight. We begin by asking the Master Organizer how to finish...for the strength and the will to do it. And He will help us. He knows how to go about the finishing of those things...He is indeed a God of ORDER. Ask Him to order your life and the things you begin. Ask Him for a plan.

For these are qualities that our Mighty God possesses...Qualities that He uses THROUGH us, if we are willing. Some of those things may be like one tree in our back yard that has YET to turn color for the fall--a WORK in progress. But a finished task or project will come...and with it? Some feelings of happiness and the good kind of pride. I think God has instilled in us a need to accomplish. It may be just a quality, where we look an awful lot like our Daddy!

Philippians 1:6

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Genesis 2:2

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

John 4:34

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

2 Corinthians 8:11

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

James 1:4

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

So persevere, my friends...ask God to inspire you to finish every good work that He has planned for your lives. He most certainly will!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

FALL into My Backyard

Today the Aspens are changing color right before my very eyes! The wind is blowing through them and they sound like a mix of wadding up a plastic bag and crash cymbals continually being hit by a drummer. The Drummer's name? God.

He is mightily showing off in our neighborhood with Autumn colors and sounds!

I like to add a few smells to make my house a fall-ish home. For instance, here is my favorite fall candle. It's Yankee Candle's Cranberry Chutney. Chris and I have a story about this. We loved our first candle so much, we went back the next year. They were discontinued. Since Chris and I were heading down to Baton Rouge, where the home store is located, I decided to go in and complain. So I did. I said, "It's our favorite. The other cranberry smell is too sweet!" The next year? Our candle was re-introduced. I'm sure others complained, too...because it's just a wonderful scent. Although we are certain the smell is slightly different, even with the same name, we DO still love it!

Also, I love to make all sorts of soup. If you have a favorite soup recipe...please share it and I will love you and pray for you FOREVER! You think I'm kidding? No...I love me some good soup and I pray for the person who gave it to me each time.

I have a favorite from my friend's mother. It is tasty and wonderful. Over the years, I have even added a few things to it. So here it is:

Mom's Homemade Soup

(Mrs. Lamb)

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain, if necessary.

Then add:

1 can Ranch style beans (15 oz.)

1 can cream style corn (15 oz)

1-2 cans mixed vegetables (15 oz)--Here, I use a package of 16 oz frozen mixed veggies.

1 large can whole tomatoes (28 oz)--blended and pureed

Add 28 ounces of water

(Here I also add 2 bay leaves and about 8 pearl onions.)

Stir, cover and simmer on low for 1 hour. Keep the lid on! So very Yummy!

Then, another scent I like in my home is Snickerdoodle cookies. The cinnamon is just so wonderful!! I buy it from Penzey's. If you have not discovered Penzey's Spices, you must go here now! See if there is a store near you. I order spices every October and keep the extra in my freezer, so when I refill the jars, the spices are still fresh. Spices should not be kept near heat. They lose their "goodness."

Snickerdoodles

3/4 cup margarine

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

4 cups flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 t. cream of tarter

2 T sugar

1 1/2 t. China cassia cinnamon

Pam cooking spray

Beat margarine until fluffy and add 1 1/2 cups of sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Slowly add flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tarter. Cover and chill about 1 hour.

Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll into mixture of 2 T sugar and 1 1/2 t China cassia cinnamon.Place 2" apart on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes. Cool and ENJOY!

By the way, there is a wonderful company that carries Snickerdoodle coffee. It is astoundingly wonderful with these cookies!

Now what does your home smell of? Any soup recipes that you want to share??

I decided to look up "autumn" in Bible Gateway. Look and see, most of the verses had to do with autumn rains!

Joel 2:23

Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

A Trump-Like Faith

Trump, you say? Donald Trump? He has faith? Well...yes and no.

I must begin by saying I was a business major in the late '80's and early '90's. During this time, Trump went through rather a high and low in his business dealings--from Trump tower to bankruptcy. Even so, every single business major wanted to be "street smart" and tenacious like Trump...they also wanted to be rich--very, very rich.

I was among them. On my dorm room wall at University of Texas, I had three posters that said why I was there. First, I had a Garfield poster, where Garfield is in the midst of everything that stood for wealth in this world. And the poster read, "The one who dies with the most toys wins." The other two posters were variations of the same...fine houses in fine and wonderful places with a 5 car garage filled with every kind of luxury car you can imagine. The title to these two? Justification for Higher Education.

Now that very well may shock you. But you must know that since I could talk and walk, I was drilled with these words: Holly what kind of man are you going to marry? I would reply: A rich man. Then my mom and aunt would say: What does a rich man have? I would finish with: Lots of dollars. Are you even more shocked?

But in the growing up years, I had determined that I myself would be the one making "lots of dollars." I was on that track...

management with a pre-law major. I was going to be a great debater.

Then Christ...
Then Christ came...
Then Christ came and changed my desires!

Every single thing I had been laying aside as valuable was no longer valuable to me. Everything...that once was great had become small. Everything...that was small had become great. It was the exchange...the traded life. I began to walk in it.

Chris and I were poor, ramen-noodle-eating college students, as young marrieds. And we were (and still are!) abundantly happy.

Now that is not to say that being a lawyer is a bad thing. We need good lawyers. And I might have been one of them...might still someday. Nor is it a bad thing to have an abundance of wealth.

Consider Solomon, who was the wealthiest man who had ever lived. He said, riches are meaningless. He said that to search for wealth is meaningless. Here is what Solomon said DID have meaning--this is from the wisest man who ever lived--Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Alright now let's go back to Donald Trump. He is successful, has an abundance of wealth, is an unrelenting foe and does not give up. If you asked him about the bankruptcy, I assure you he would frame it as part of his success. For Trump is the type who does not give an inch. He has wealth and fame and notoriety. He has faith in himself. To that faith, he does not waiver. For it has been the secret to his success--a man determined to win.

I don't want Trump's kind of winning and success. But I DO want to have unrelenting faith...not in myself, but in the living Christ. He has a 100% success-rate. He is a sure investment for my faith.

Does that mean I will get what I want? No, it doesn't. But as I align my wants with His, then I will indeed get every single desire of my heart...for it will be His desires for my heart to have.

"Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

I want to be determined about following Christ. I want to be tenacious. I want to win Christ. How? Well the Bible makes it quite plain:

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Philippians 1:21

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

Philippians 3:7-9

It doesn't make sense by the world's standards of winning and losing, but it is the ONLY thing that will matter when all is said and done....gaining Christ...found in Him...abiding in the Shadow...resting in His shelter...knowing that He is VICTOR.

Here is a passage before I close from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. This is the HOW of determined following, listen to faithful Reepicheep the mouse's words:

My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan's country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise and Peepiceek will be head of the talking mice in Narnia.

Like the sailor who replies under his breath in reply to Reepicheep, we must say, I'm not going to be outdone by a mouse.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23

Can we just determine to LOVE Jesus like that...

facing the east, faithfully enduring the journey and holding out His light to any and all who would follow?

Some day the SON will rise...every one will KNOW Him as He is...and we shall find that INDEED He is worth our full-hearted tenacious faith. JESUS is WORTH it! Now let us follow...

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Not Like THEM, Am I?

I don't know about you, but I didn't grow up on Bible stories. I knew fairy tales and nursery rhymes, though.

So as I grew up and began to hang around Christians more and more, I found that often I didn't understand what they were talking about. I didn't know the stories in the Bible. I read the Psalms some, because they were "poetical." Other than that I was happy knowing about Jack Sprat, Old King Cole and The Princess and the Pea. I still claim to be that princess, when my Chris puts his arm under my pillow...alas, the princess is not comfortable.

By the time Chris and I married, I had picked up a few more stories from the Bible. But I determined that I needed to read it through. So since I was 20, I have read the Bible through at least 20 times...no kidding. I'm not boasting either. I just wanted you to understand where I'm coming from.

So as I read about Adam and Eve, I thought, "Humph, I'd never have taken the apple." Or as I read about the Israelites, once again being stubborn and grumbling and disobedient, I thought, "Not me. Nope, I wouldn't be that way." Many times through, I have thought that.

But them I had a rude awakening...a blessed, rude awakening. As I have come closer to the Lord, I have had my eyes open to my sinfulness. I have been prideful in thinking I wouldn't disobey. I have being insincere in thinking I was a good girl...blind really.

So as the Lord has shown me more of myself, I have been repulsed by my own idolatrous, grumbling, lying, and disobedient heart. It wasn't to cause me pain or harm, but to really be honest about them and take them to the cross in humility and repentance.

And let me tell you, cleansing feels good. Truth sets free. Love covers over all my sin. Ahhh...now that is beyond the best stress-reducing day at the spa...even with a book and chocolate that promises not to add a pound!

So lately, we have had a situation come to our attention. And I have to admit, I felt like quite the Israelite grumbler! I really felt like I needed to be heard by the Lord...I wanted Him to know that I wanted it the other way.

The situation is this...God took us on a journey from one place to another. We truly felt like Abraham or the Israelites in the desert (I wrote dessert at first, the chocolate has caused me to stumble--hee hee!--but I digress). We were going to an unknown land...a land God was leading us to...for a reason. Now I love Colorado! I love our home and family and friends. But I found out that the home we moved from (which is now destroyed) was not used the way they said it would be. In fact, the buyers of our home, who had a lignite lease on it...hardly dug for said lignite. And for a few days, I mourned. I felt like they had made a mistake in buying our home. I also felt the dreams of that home heavily upon my form. I thought, "Why? Why Lord did you move us?"

As I turned these thoughts over, I clearly heard the Lord say in my spirit, "Because I said so." And then (God speaks often to me in pictures that I see in my mind's eye) I saw the Israelites grumbling in the desert over the manna, saying how much better they had it in Egypt--even though they were slaves. I also saw me.

So I immediately laid aside my grumbling. I repented of my dissatisfaction and disobedience. What the Lord did was and is GOOD. He is God and I am not. I tell you what...since I have laid it aside, I have been abundantly blessed! And I know that I know that I know that is was for our good and our freedom that we have come to this place. Why do we fight it?

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 3:5

Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you. "

Genesis 50:20

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

It's not about us. It is about Him. And as we go on our way, we must be so very careful to go where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. He wants us to know Him. He wants us to show Him. And really and truly, He is looking out for the BEST for us.

Oh...HOW....He... LOVES....YOU and ME!

Praising God...Open Skies...Everything breathing, praising God! (Open Skies by David Crowder Band)

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Just Taking It

A few weeks back, my Chris and Noah, who is 9, went up Mt. Herman to practise with Chris' new paint ball gun. They had signed up with a group at church to go yesterday, and Chris felt like he needed to see if Noah was old enough to handle the shots. Even with protective gear, those paint balls can really hurt.

So here is the scenario Chris described to me when they got home: Chris, with all his gear on and about 30 yards away said, "OK Noah now shoot right here in the middle of my chest." So Noah shoots and hits Chris in the hand and the leg. Chris said loudly, "OW! OOOWWW!" Noah, being the kind-hearted fellow that he is said, "Oh, I'm so sorry Dad!" "That's OK, son," Chris said, "Let's try this again. Shoot for my chest this time." So Noah shoots and it is an automatic and shoots twice at Chris' hand and leg again...to which Chris said, "OW! OOWW!" Noah again said, "Sorry Dad!"

At this point they decided to shoot at a rock instead of Chris.

So Chris comes home and tells me this story...I am rolling with laughter, being the kind-hearted wife that I am. Chris adds that Noah will not be going paint ball shooting, yet. He said, of course, no one will be just standing there like I did today. I laughed again.

Laughter is good medicine. I rather have a sense of humor that sometimes laughs at the wrong time and at the wrong thing.

One time, I found that I was deathly allergic to red wasps. I had been stung and my hand and arm began to swell up. I broke out in hives. As my Dad drove like a major player in NASCAR, I laughed my head off. My Dad? He did not think it was funny. So he yelled. And I laughed some more.

I think it's a defense mechanism. It's like this...either we can laugh or we can cry. So I just laugh.

Do you have scenarios like this one: There is a place you are going and you JUST KNOW that you are about to be like my Chris. You're going to just stand there and take it from someone. You KNOW that there is something you should do. But instead you just get HIT over and over and say, "OW!" Then you leave feeling bruised.

I've been thinking about this. Why is it that sometimes we just think we need to just stand there and take pot shots? Do we have some mixed up thoughts in our head that say: This is HOW a Christian acts? I think we do. I think somehow, that instead of dealing with situations and people, we become like the ostrich in the old FogHorn LegHorn cartoons. If we just stick our heads in the sand...the trouble will most certainly pass. Yes, it does.

Then, it comes back around again. And the cycle becomes the breaking of our spirit.

So I ask you...how do we break the cycle? Are we to play the martyr, when Christ has not asked us to? Is there something that we just need to go ahead and say? For instance...why are you so angry? Or how about this...sounds like you have had a lot of hard times. Or we could just say...I don't think you mean to make me feel like this. But when you say this to me, I feel...

Can we just stop taking it, stop hiding from it, and deal with it? Will we stop the cycle?

For I find that sometimes, these bruises that I wear are not how Jesus would have done it. I think that in love He would have corrected the person, in love he would have not assented, and in love He would point to the real issue. He would in essence break the cycle that is breaking them.

I have heard Beth Moore say once, "Hurt people, hurt people." I understand that. I have said it myself...bent over in great anguish over a situation where time and time again I have taken it, I have laughed at the wrong time or I have simply put my head in the sand.

Here is what the Bible says about how I should respond, Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
(Colossians 4:5-6)

When I think about this verse and look at in context, I should do these things: Pray for wisdom, Watch for opportunities, Talk with them in grace, Give a Right answer AND Give it to them straight.

Salt is for flavor--to bring out the flavor in something. It isn't bland and there CAN be too much. So a salty word? Well, I think it is not a shrinking word. It is a truthful word that benefits another. So I can shoot straight with someone. I can stand in the midst of their fire upon me...and I can be unharmed by it. It is all in the approach. I can speak a salty word and not go into overkill about the situation. It can even be a short word...like Stop. That's enough. You have taken this issue too far.

Who's hitting you? And what do you do about it? Would you like it to change? Please know, friends, that Jesus is here all the time to HELP us. He knows our situations, our needs. And He really does care about them...He cares about us. Rest in that fact...and get free.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Friday Fun!

OK, I'm not feeling so hot right now...well, actually I am hot and achy--so, a nap is in order. This means I won't get done 75% of the things I need to get done right now...including writing a post.
So instead, I found some pictures to share! I hope that is OK...
This verse has really been stuck in my head, perhaps it will get stuck in yours as well:

Hebrews 10:35-36

So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward.

For you need endurance in order to do God's will and so receive what is promised."

Endurance...Mmmm...I could use some of that! I think I need a nap now.

Have a wonderful weekend...may it bring rest and joy to you and yours!!

UPDATE: I am feeling so much better now...thank you for your prayers!! My doctor had me go off my thyroid medication for the Graves' disease this week, so I can do labs on Wednesday of next week. So I have been shaky-handed and tired. But I think that with some sleep, I should be fully recovered tomorrow. Blessings on you all...may your Sabbath be all about praising His Name! He is our Jehovah-Rapha, our Healer...so very much to praise Him for!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Set Up

In college, I played co-ed volleyball. I was not very good, but voted the most improved player by the end of the season. So that's something at least!

My job was to be the setter. I was to hit the ball up with my hands just so and my teammates would then spike it over. It was a fun time; however, I was not competitive at all to the chagrin of some of my more competitive Campus Crusade teammates. They wanted me to be fully engaged and play like it mattered. I must confess, I played for the fun of it and the exercise, but never to win. And the bruises...I really didn't like getting bruises. I was, well, a wimp.

Life can be that way. We can play it to win or for fun. And the definition of winning is different based on who you ask. Sometimes, we want to not be engaged, because of the bruises we will get. Then sometimes, we engage and fail miserably. But sometimes? Sometimes, we engage and meet our goal. It's all about our attitude.

What are you setting yourself up for? Are you deciding beforehand to be mad about something...that hasn't even happened, yet? Have you decided that you are going, but you will not enjoy yourself? What is it that you are choosing to believe in advance? For that, my friends, will tell you a little about the outcome.

Now you might guess that our team was not the championship team. Just looking at me and my attitude, you might guess that I really messed up a good bit. Also, you might have noticed that I was the most improved player, because I told you that. That may tell you the truth of the matter: She stank at it, but got a little better; and because we are a Christian team, we have to put up with her. Hee Hee! Really, they liked me. But I wasn't da bomb on the court, ya know?

So what is winning in this life? Here are a few of my beliefs about winning:

Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

So to win in this thing called life, we have to choose to lay aside our sin (deal with it), focus on Jesus (our goal), endure (keep on going, even if there might be bruises) and choose an attitude that will win. What kind of attitude is that?

I believe that when we are faced with a situation and an opinion about it....before we even engage in that situation, we need to decide first that we are going to have a positive attitude. If we decide in advance to be angry, we we most likely will come out of it angry. If we decide in advance that we will not finish, well then we most likely won't. But, if we decide in advance to do everything it takes to have a winning attitude, we will. And I must tell you, that in the scope of faith, winning will be much different than the world's point of view.

For one, Jesus tells us we must be a servant. We come into our situation and engage others, as a servant would. We are not there to trample down the others on our way to the top. We are there to be the last...deferential.

The best part about it all is that God is in control of it. May I say it again? God is in control. So what we believe might happen always, always has an element of surprise. For God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). He is able to set up and depose kings, afterall (Daniel 2:21).

Whatever your circumstance may be today, your insurmountable obstacle... Press on, friend. Look to Him. ASK Him for help. Endure. And as my sister Beth so eloquently said yesterday, Do not throw away your confidence. Do the work. We are in this thing to win it. Are you in?

Bruises will most certainly come. I want to be the most improved player when it's all said and done, but above all, I am in to win...no bars held....eyes on the Prize. I want to play like I mean it. Jesus is worth it.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)

Uh-OH!

Let me begin by saying that not only am I sometimes clumsy without gracefulness, but at times can be dreadfully messy, especially when wearing white. If my clothing says, Dry Clean Only, then you can safely say that there will be a spill upon it.
I think it is mainly because of my lack of watchfulness. But also, I am just not very careful. It must be a genetically passed-down trait. (All photos were taken last night by my Chris. I used the blurry one, so you could see the color of the sky, when I took my walk last night.)

Back in the spring, we travelled to Estes Park and drove around Rocky Mountain National Park on our way home. We went to Idaho Springs, home of Beau Jo's Pizza. The kids love to go there. With arcade games, crayons, pictures to color, pizza and a soft drink, life really couldn't be better for a child.

Monday rolled around and I began to catch up on the laundry. Within a couple of hours, I began to fold the clothes and had that "Uh-OH!" moment. There is blue, red, yellow and green on the entire DRIED load of clothes. So I washed them again and again and again...eight times with Shout and a host of other "tried" ways to get crayon out of clothing--to little avail.

I was bummed, for some of MY clothes were ruined. I was mad that my child put her crayons from the trip in her pocket. I was mad that I didn't check the pocket and I just felt like I needed a second chance to do it right.

I eventually cooled down and laughed about it, but the images of that day have stuck with me...for I have an old tape that plays in my head from my teen years. I have ruined more expensive clothing than I'd like to say, because I have been heedless. So my Mom's old speech will periodically play in my head: Read the tag. Why did you use hot? It says cold. Why did you dry it? It says lay flat to dry. Why did you wash it in the washer? It says hand wash only.

So I have worn the tag in my mind that I can be careless and not read directions. I can be heedless and mess things up. I tend to hurry when I should be right about my approach.

Another thing about me is that I really like to wear linen, which is usually Dry Clean Only. It feels good. It looks good. So in the spring, if there is a linen outfit to be found at Coldwater Creek, I will be watching for a way to buy it. And I like white linen...but then again, I always have the talk with myself...you will spill on it. Deep down, I want to get the white linen. There's just something about white linen in the spring...

In the Bible, linen is often used with the word FINE. It's a royal material. The angels are seen wearing it. The curtains of the tabernacle of God are made of it. Strips of it were used to wrap Jesus' body. When Peter and John came to the tomb, linen strips were there...and my Jesus was not! He had risen from the grave. Here is what the Bible says about us and linen.

Revelation 19:7-8
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

From my reading of this and my understanding of the fabric...linen will show whether it is stained or bright and clean. I looked up the care of linen, and here is what it said: Washing is recommended because the more linen is washed, the softer, more absorbent and more luminous it becomes.

So let's take this one on home. We come to God stained, wrinkled and blemished. He doesn't give us "the speech." He washes us and make us whiter than snow. Our sin, like filthy rags, is removed as far as the east is from the west. We are clean, because it wasn't for nothing that my Jesus had to die. As His child, I feel good. I look good. The more I am cleaned, again and again, may I just say that INDEED I become 1) softer towards others, 2) I absorb their sinfulness toward me and do not hold it against them...I am forgiving and 3) I am luminous to others.

I tell you what, I like to be around someone like linen made bright and clean by the Lord! For I need grace...and grace-givers. I need His washing and often.

As far as the old tape of "the speech" goes, I have done what a wise teacher has taught me. I have recorded God's Word over the old tape. This is what God's word says about my faults.

Jude 1:24-25
To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes." Psalm 18:24 (The Message)