Thankful Thursday 11/20

I am joining the Thankful Thursday meme from Truth4theJourney. I am supposed to list 5 things I am thankful for today, remembering even the smallest things.

1. My Cooking Co-op. Today is my day to cook, so I sometimes don't feel very thankful on Thursday as I make dinner for 20 people (4 families). But when my delicious meals are delivered to me every Monday, Tuesday and Friday, I am very thankful.

2. Coffee. Never has such a small thing brought such great joy to a person. Just mentioning it makes me smile. It's not the coffee, it the essence...a hot cup of coffee with a good friend and great conversation. Coffee Anyone?

3. Blog Friends. I have met so many wonderful, encouraging people on the blog! People who don't hesitate to pray for me and bless my soul. I would have never believed it.

4. My Chiropractor. Crunch, crunch. No more back pain or head aches. What is there not to be thankful about there?

5. Maid Service. Okay, it's true, every other Thursday I have cleaning people. I am SO thankful for that. It started when I had a high pressure, long houred job over 10 years ago...but I never cancelled them once I started being a stay at home mom. So I admit it, I'm spoiled. And since it's Thursday, I better go pick up the clutter so they can clean! (Yes, you really do have to clean up before the maid comes.)

So quick as that, five small things I'm thankful for today. If you want to play along, you can list them in the comments section, or do your own post and just let me know...and be sure and stop by the host Truth4theJourney and let her know too!

Be Ready for the Frost

Awhile back I posted a series called "Grow Where You Are Planted." I know you wouldn't want to go back here to read the post I'm referring to, so here is the Reader's Digest version.

I had some pink impatiens growing along my walk...but in the middle of the pink ones was one clump of white ones. It reminded me that God calls me to be different from the world. As a Christian I should be clothes in white and stand apart from the rest. People should be able to see something different in me. I need to be mindful not to fall in with "the crowd," but stand for Christ.

Well, we've had a little end times here on Chatty Kelly's walk way. The frost caused the plants to die. But look, while the pink flowers are gone, the white ones remained.

At the end times, God will have each of us stand in accountability of what we've believed and what we've done. At the Revelation the dead will be judged. The book of life will be opened and "The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.... If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelations 20:13, 15)

Spring and summer last for awhile, but the day of frost will come. Are you ready?

Matthew 24:42-44 -- Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Saturday and The Three Legged Race

Saturday was my first non-home church speaking engagement. (Not gig, right Edie?). I was covered in prayer by my friends and bloggy friends alike. I was so peaceful! I still had the nervous edge that makes one achieve, but while I kept waiting for that nervous sick feeling I usually get, I never got it! I expected it but I was filled with peace.

The group was small, about 15 ladies. My talk was well received and the pastor's wife said after the lunch that she talked to many of the ladies and they were touched in different ways by different parts of my talk. I too was blessed, as I felt this time of preparation I had taken each step with God. I felt in communion with him during my preparation and talk.

Saturday night I attended my Christian Writers group annual dinner. I had a chance to share briefly about my publishing journey to the group of probably 40 or so folks and had everyone laughing with my false expectations of what the publishing world held. (Hint: They don't respond the next day to your emails.) It was fun. I had also entered the devotion writing contest. We had been told to send them to the co-director of the group, and I had assumed she'd be judging them. The prize was $20.

I won the contest! However, it was judged by the Editor of the Spirit Led Writer, and in addition to the $20, my devotion will also appear in the magazine. Another published piece! I was thrilled, needless to say. It was a great day. I'm so happy to share it with you all. And now today's devotional thoughts....

I've been thinking a lot about my relationship with the Lord lately. I've decided I want to be in a three-legged race with God. Really. Think about a three legged race.

I do not want to be able to take a step without God stepping with me. I want to stay arm and arm with him in each step I take. And if I stumble, I want God beside me holding me up. I want to run every step with God.

With God at my side, it isn't about whether I win or lose. It's how I play the game...of life. As I cross the "finish line" with God by my side, no matter what "place" I come, I'll still be a winner.

2 Timothy 4:7 -- I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Jeremiah 13:11 -- For as a belt is bound around a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor.

2 Chronicles 15:10 -- Then they bound themselves in a covenant to seek God, the God of their fathers, wholeheartedly, holding nothing back. (The Message)

Through The Storm - Book Winner

The winner is (**Drum Roll please**) Melanie of BellaMella. Congrats!

I wish I could send everyone the book, but alas the drawing was random.

Melanie - I'll be mailing the book out one day next week. I hope you enjoy it.
Everyone go visit Melanie and tell her congrats and welcome her to our blog community. She is a newer blogger, but becoming a fast friend, and a wonderful encourager (not to mention a sister coffee-addict. Yup - she fits right in here!)

Through the Storm - Book Review & Give Away

Through the Storm is a book by Lynne Spears with Lorilee Cracker. I was intrigued to read the book because it was published through a Christian publishing house (Thomas Nelson) and co-written by a Christian author I've read before (Lorilee Cracker.)

The back cover of the book seems to lead the reader to believe it's about Lynne's daughter, Britney Spears. It says "We all want our children to succeed. What happens when they do? Britney wanted to sing every since she was a little girl." The subtitle even says "A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World." If you're looking for a book about Britney this isn't it.

It is truly a book about Lynne Spears and her walk through life. Unfortunately it tries to take on too much of her life, jumping here and there in a haphazard fashion which I found to be somewhat confusing.

The sad thing is, this could have been two good books. One book could have been about her meeting & marrying Jamie Spears, raising their children and all the ins and outs of their life. That would have been an interesting book. The other book could have been about her love for his sister, Sandra, and Sandra's death at the age of 59.

By combining both topics into one book it seemed to try and squeeze to much in there. And the chapter called "Friendships," while a nice tribute to her friends would have been better served in the acknowledgements section than in the actual book.

Lynne does sum up her faith in the chapter "A Mother's Heart." The best part of the book says "I wish I would have gone deeper with my children in terms of building up their faith We always went to church and vacation bible school...but I see now that they could have benefited greatly by drawing closer to God through daily Bible reading and devotional reading. They said their prayers every night, but in retrospect, I should have helped them understand the power of prayer for every situation life throws at us."

Those sentences are something every Christian should read and learn from. We don't want to make those same mistakes in raising our own children, but want them to have a living vibrant faith, not just a tradition with no depth. If even one person reads those words, and changes their direction with their kids, than I say the book was worth being written.

Overall, I'd give the book 5 out of 10 stars. It wasn't horrible, but it was simply average.

***Because I received this book for free for the purposes of reviewing it, I'd love to give it away. If you'd like to win the book, leave me a comment saying so, and I'll randomly draw a winner and mail you the book free of cost. (Winner must provide their mailing address). Comments received through noon Saturday will be eligible. I'll draw and announce Sunday).

If you don't want to win the book, you can still leave me a comment, just say "but I don't want to win the book."

Feet

I love this picture. My four year old was playing with my camera and inadvertently snapped this photo of her precious little toes. I could kiss her sweet feet all day. They are tiny, cute, fat and flat, simply precious. I also love baby feet. There is something about those tiny little feet that pull my heart strings.

I do not like adult feet. Quite the opposite. Imagine feet in Jesus' day. With dirt roads, and just sandals, they had to be dirty, dusty, calloused and stinky. Ewww. All travel was by foot, so it was considered proper etiquette and hospitality to offer water to guests to wash their feet. If one was wealthy they'd even have their servants wash the guests' feet.

When Jesus visited a Pharisees home, a "sinful woman" visited him there. She wept, washing his feet with her tears, perfume, and wiping them with her hair. Jesus said "this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet." She knew Jesus represented salvation from her sins. Jesus confirmed this when he said "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7)

It is easy to think of falling at the feet of a Savior in heaven in white robes; clean, holy and righteous. However, this woman had the faith to fall at the feet of her Savior in his human form. In Todd Agnew's Song "My Jesus" that I blogged about here, he sings about the modern day church: "Jesus would never be accepted in my church, the blood and dirt on his feet might stain the carpet."

May we all have the faith of the "sinful woman," not to proud to kiss the feet of her Savior, regardless of the circumstance.

John 13:1 -- [ Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet ] It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

James 4:10 -- Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6 -- Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to all veterans, but especially my husband.

United States Military Academy Graduate
Vietnam Veteran
Bronze Star Recipient
Insignia of the Signal Corps - Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces
(awarded by Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces for his work with their army)

Duty, Honor, Country - Hero