I’ve noted something though- packing up to go home is a whole lot easier than packing to leave for vacation! There are no struggles about what to pack; I simply take back with me what I brought. It’s simple!

When we pack to go to our final home, it will be the same. We take with us what we brought into this life – nothing. I Timothy 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. People that are near death due to illness or injury have a real grasp on that truth. Their lives become suddenly very simple. All the extra stuff doesn’t matter. Eternity comes into sharp view and they are not bogged down with all the extra baggage.

We could all take a lesson from that. Little things don’t matter. The little frustrations that come, the delays, the fussy child, the stress at work, the mess in the kitchen – it’s all extra baggage that we won’t worry about when we’re packing to go Home.

I trust you have secured your “ticket” to heaven. It’s only found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ – by putting your faith in the sacrifice He made for you on the cross. By trusting in Him as your Savior, then, and only then will you be ready for the final trip.

Packing for home is easy, and I’m ready to go. How about you?

Secure in Him,

This morning as I walked and collected and thought about the variety of the shells, I thought back to my Bible study yesterday about the variety of spiritual gifts given to a child of God. At the moment of salvation, each person received at least one spiritual gift. I Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. We don’t all have the same gift, there is diversity so that the church has everything it needs to prosper.

It’s easy to see some one’s gift and desire to have the same one, but that’s not God’s design. Some gifts are seen in the public eye – preaching or teaching for instance. Other gifts are used privately, such as the gift of mercy or giving. Each gift is as necessary; each as important as the other, and each given by the Spirit of God to be used for His glory in the local church.

As I looked at the shoreline I noted that there were areas where the shells were plentiful and close together. “That’s the local church, ” I thought. It’s full of active members, using their gifts and the church is thriving and alive! Then as I walked I saw some shells off to themselves. Some were broken. “That’s a member who got hurt and wandered off. Now they’re useless. They’re no longer using their gift to be a blessing to others and to serve the Lord.” It happens more than you can imagine, and the church suffers as a result.

Do you know your spiritual gift(s), and are you using it actively in the local church? If not, get out of your shell (sorry, couldn’t resist) and let the Lord use you!

Love,

There is a feature that our condo has that has been so much fun; it’s called the Lazy River. The picture above is one of the two they have here. The narrow “pool” has a current that pulls tubers around without you having to do a thing; you don’t have to paddle or row. You simply sit and it pulls while you’re just… lazy!

This week in my Bible study I’ve been studying about the faithfulness of several women in the Bible – Dorcas, Lydia, Priscilla, and Phoebe. As I studied their lives and their service to the Lord the thought that struck me was that these women didn’t do some random act that they were remembered for; they had lives of faithfulness. They were dependable. They could be counted on. It’s thought that Phoebe may have carried Paul’s letter to Rome. She would never have been given that responsibility if she’d been randomly faithful prior to this service! These women were not slackers. There were no Lazy River floaters among these women.

I had to ask myself some questions. I’ll ask you the same ones:

• Am I being faithful to serving the Lord both in my home and in my church?
• Can others count on me to fulfill a responsibility to which I’ve committed myself?
• Am I sporadic or consistent in my service?
• Am I full of good works like these women were? (We don’t serve to stay saved. Eph. 2:8,9 We serve because we are saved.)

It’s such fun to enjoy some leisure time on the Lazy River, but at the end of the week it will be time to put laziness behind me and get to following after fruitfulness. I pray that’s your heart too.

With love,

Here’s a partial picture of what she was looking for. It continued to change with each minute. It was worth waiting for; worth keeping vigilance for.

As I sat there I thought of Proverbs 8:34 – Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. Just as that lady was perched and waiting to have a view of the sun, we should have the same determination to see the Son. As we go to our quiet place and sit, Bible, notebook and pen in hand we are sitting at His gates and waiting at the posts of His door for Him to pass by. If we could but get a glimpse of His beauty it will be enough to carry us through the day. It will be a thought to ponder on, a Truth to cling to or a promise to claim.

It’s worth getting up at six just to see the beauty of the sunrise, but it’s even more worth it to rise early and see the beauty of our God! Have you seen Him today?

Waiting at His gates,

Well, Friends, you might guess from the picture above that my kitchen is not in the parsonage this week – it’s in a beautiful condo on North Myrtle Beach! Yes, we’re suffering here. 🙂 The Lord is so gracious to allow us this time away and my heart is full of gratitude for His merciful kindness to this undeserving person!

Whenever I’m at the ocean I think about the Lord’s control over creation – the waves, and me. Just as the verse above states, He is the one that calms the waves that are caused by the storm. Only He is able to do that. We can trust Him to bring the calm in our lives at the right time.

We arrived yesterday to sunny skies and gorgeous weather. We’ve walked the beach, ridden the Lazy River at our resort, swam in the warm pool, and then we had supper here in our condo. It seems our tradition to have a simple meal of tacos the first night we arrive.

One little twist with our tacos is the mango salsa I make to top the taco. The sweetness of the mango is really delicious! Here’s the simple recipe: