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Don’t Zone Out – Tune In!

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I just got back from a trip to town.  Things I saw have gotten me to thinking about how we all tend to “zone out.”  We’re so busy, so frantic, that when whenever we can, we find our way to check out on life.  Here’s how I’ve seen it recently:

  • People in their cars, talking on their phone while trying to make a left turn onto a very busy road.  They’re oblivious to the fact that they’re blocking both turn lanes.  Zoned out.
  • Shoppers push their cart out into the middle of the aisle without ever considering that someone might have to come to an immediate halt to keep from hitting their buggy.  It’s okay; they never see anyone else, never acknowledge that someone else is in the store. A believer misses the opportunity to serve others or to speak or encourage with a word or smile.
  • Parents are caught up in conversation or their phone, or a ballgame and miss seeing what their child is doing or what they may be up to.  The child speaks and the parents hears, but isn’t listening.
  • Christians sit in church “listening” during a service,  all the while thinking of a hundred other things during the announcements or message. Afterwards there’s no memory of what was said or of the Lord speaking to their heart.  They’re also out of the loop about what’s coming up on the church calendar.
  • Spouses don’t take time for one another to have an eyeball to eyeball conversation.  They give “air kisses” as they part in the morning or return at the end of the day.  They miss details of the other’s life because they’re zone out.

Okay, so we’ve all seen it and DONE IT! Right? I certainly have! What’s the remedy?  How about following the principle Jim Elliott is quoted in saying,

Wherever you are, be all there.  Live to the hilt any situation you believe to be the will of God!

When you’re driving, put the phone down.  Be a present driver!

When you’re at the store, keep your head and eyes up.  Be a present shopper/witness!

When you’re with your children, listen to them.  Inspect what you asked them to do.  Have a consistent, watchful eye on them. Be a present parent!

While sitting in the church service, keep your notebook out.  Write down the announcements the pertain to you!  Write down any questions you may have if you didn’t understand the details.  Take notes about what God is saying to you during the message.  Be a present church member!

Be intentional about spending time with your spouse when you see one another.  Greet him at the door.  Mark out ten minutes just to talk with him about his day and things he needs to hear. Be a present wife!

Zoning out involves thinking about one person – ME.  Tuning in involves everyone around me. Life is a greater blessing when we stay tuned in to others around us!  Let’s tune in to others and zone out to self!

Are there other scenarios in which you find yourself zoning out?

With love,

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A Peek From My Porch

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Why Do Sheep Need A Shepherd

Shepherds are called to a life of caring for sheep.

Shepherds love their sheep.

Shepherds take responsibility for the sheep.

Sheep need a shepherd, I am told because they need protection, lest they become a predator’s dinner.  They need a shepherd because they easily get lost and they need guidance to keep them on the right way. Sheep also need governing; otherwise they indulge in activities that could be self-destructive.  

I am married to a shepherd.  His title as pastor takes his responsibilities from simply attending church to shepherding the church  This is a position not of his own choosing, but one chosen by a God who equipped Him and enables him each day to carry out the responsibilities of that call.  He loves his call; he loves his sheep (the church).  He could never do anything else but shepherd – not evangelism or church planting.  You see this is where his heart is!

As the shepherds wife, I also love those sheep.  Each one is precious to me, but I also love the shepherd-husband of mine, and I occasionally see the burden of his cares bearing down on his heart, and it causes me to cry out all the more for my him.  Just this week I heard him say in prayer, “Lord, sometimes my responsibilities seem too great, but I know you will give strength.”  What were those burdens?  Too many services?  No.  Too many sermons to prepare and preach?  No.  It’s the burden of seeing many of his sheep wandering, nibbling on a little grass of the world over here.  Some choose not to stay within the protection of the fold – the church.  They are busy – family time, ball games, and company step in and replace the necessary time with the God’s flock.  It’s the burden of their “bleating” – “I might not be here for services tonight – company’s coming.”  “Little Suzie has a recital next Sunday and we hate to disappoint her.”  “The competition at school is getting my daughter in so late, she won’t be in youth group Sunday morning.”  “The family reunion falls on the Sunday this year so we won’t be here next week!”

Why would a pastor care?  Because he has a shepherd’s heart.  Remember the three reasons sheep need a shepherd?  The shepherd sees the sheep becoming the dinner of the enemy.  He knows the services, the preaching, the revival meeting, the planned activities will help protect them from the one who seeks to destroy.  It will feed them the green grass they need to grow.  It will guide them and keep them from harmful influences elsewhere.  When the sheep are wandering, going here and there, I see the eyes of the pastor/shepherd looking across the congregation for them.  I hear him calling their names as he weeps in prayer.

If you have a pastor who preaches the Word and it stings, remember that he is just echoing the Words of the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Who loves you even more!  If your pastor reaches out to you with the staff to pull you back into the fold, don’t be a stubborn sheep; yield to his leading and follow his counsel.

Thank God for your pastor today and pray for the heavy burden he bears.

Thanks for letting me give you a peek into our windows!

With love,

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Freshen Up Friday

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Making your own Spring Floral ArrangementrefreshHer

A fresh spring floral arrangement can be a beautiful addition to your home, but have you seen how expensive they are in any store? Goodness, I only want to buy some flowers – not the whole Biltmore Garden!  Seriously, even at bargain stores, a prepared arrangement is super expensive!  This is where doing a little DIY comes in really handy!

I have been looking to purchase an arrangement for our church, and could not ask the church to spend $150 (at half price) for an arrangement!  So, after weeks of endless searching for something that didn’t cost as much, I decided to make one myself.  I’ve never arranged a large, silk arrangement before, but I was desperate!

First, I found something I liked that I would try to “copy” – not completely, but it would give me a good starting point.  I found this made up at Hobby Lobby on sale for $150:  Thanks for the idea, HobLob, but I’m not buying it!

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Hobby Lobby’s lovely $150 arrangement

Next, I went through the store with this picture on my phone, and I selected the elements I needed to make something similar.  I chose:

  • A container
  • Floral foam to fit inside (You need this to hold the flowers in place)
  • Tall grasses
  • Tall “airy” type flowers
  • Large, full flowers for bottom
  • Small flowers for filler
  • Architectural detal – Moss ball
  • Spanish moss to hide the bottom of the stems

As I selected each item, I popped it into the container to give me an idea if it would be right, always using my picture as a guide.

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I came home and popped each item into the floral foam.  I chose not to use any glue so that I can pull out and add summery flowers later in the year.  I want to get my money’s worth!

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Rule of thumb is that you need something high, something low, a pop of color and a couple different textures.  Click on the picture to get a little closer look at the details.

One of the best things about this project was the final cost – It came to $72!  That was buying the items at half price.  If they’re not on sale at Hobby Lobby when you go to buy them, they probably will be the next week.

I loved having this on my dining room table, but of course, this arrangement is now sitting in the church auditorium.  Now I need to make one for myself!  It is such fun and so rewarding to know you saved so much money making it yourself!  Why not refresh your home for spring and make an arrangement for your table?  Hobby Lobby’s florals are indeed half price this week!!!!!

What  scares you about trying a project like this?  Remember, you can pull things out and rearrange if you don’t like the way it looks!

Our church is starting a week of meetings this week with Aaron Coffey and his team.  If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us!  See our website for details.

Stay refreshed,

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The Wasted Time of Unforgiveness

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It was just a little lovers quarrel between two neighbors, David and Rachel.  Then every week after that for forty-two years, he wrote her a love letter, asking her to forgive him, and every week she promptly burned the letter. Her heart was stoic and unforgiving.  Finally, he summoned the courage to knock on her door and ask her to marry him.  She said yes!  They were seventy-four years old when they finally married!

Sad story, isn’t it? To have wasted forty-two years that they might have shared loving one another instead of holding a grudge. As I read that story recently I thought about how easy it is to think you’re so right that you will not forgive.  Satan feeds us lies:

  • You could not possibly give in because by doing so, he wouldn’t learn the lesson he needs to learn.
  • Forgiving would rob you of the joy of hurting him like he hurt you.
  • Forgiving would make you a doormat.

Yes forty-two years is a long time, but do we have a right to hold a grudge for forty-two days?  How about forty-two minutes? No, forty-two seconds might be more like it.

We might all admit it’s wrong to stay angry and unforgiving, but HOW do you forgive?  How do you let go of your right to stay angry?  How do you let go when you’re sure you’re right and he’s wrong?  The biblical answer is to see yourself standing before the cross.  Are you behind your husband because you don’t need God’s forgiveness as much?  No, we must see ourselves standing side by side before a bleeding, dying Savior who forgave us though He had done NOTHING wrong.  We forgive because we are forgiven.

We forgive in God’s strength alone.  We cannot muster up enough gumption to do this in our flesh.  Our flesh believes the devil’s lies and “burns the letter.”  But when we come to the Lord, we ask Him to give us the grace to forgive.

We forgive because it makes us like our Savior. We let go of our right, as Christ did and we bear His likeness so that a watching world may see His life in us.

Recently my husband said to me something that touched my heart.  “Whenever we’re angry with one another, let’s just embrace.”  You know what happens when you do that?  The anger melts away.  Humility and vulnerability are involved and the tensions are released.

What issue stands between you and your husband?  No matter how big or small (and most times it’s the little things that get blown out of proportion that cause the most grief), there is nothing that is worth wasting forty-two minutes, hours, days or years over. Humble yourself and make it right.

Do it today.  Time for your love is passing and you’ll never get it back.

Lovingly,

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