COUNTDOWN...

...TILL GAME DAY. Eight...8.....4+4.....ocho! And Steve, my Steve will be one of 105,000 on game day in the Horseshoe! GO BUCKS!

The last Sunday....

....for this....THE LAST TIE! Kinda like "The Last Supper" but not as serious... Like eating the last slice of chocolate cake.... Like sitting thru the movie until the last roll of the credits....Like paying the last payment on your mortgage ( does anyone know what that is like?) ....Like waiting in line at The Cheesecake Factory....Like the first snow of the season....Like, oh well, maybe you get it by now!

This past Sunday was the last time Steve had to wear a tie to Worship...so we choose his Veggie Tale tie!! Fun and colorful, like going out with a BANG! Steve has always said that IF you have to wear ties then make them fun! He has tons of fun ones.

We move this Friday/Saturday to Columbus, Ohio. Grace Point Community Church has a non-formal fashion attire for worship ...which is so what Christ would prefer. "Just come as you are"....with a willing heart who desires to worship & praise the God of Creation.

1 Samuel 16:7 states...But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

I hope you are not held to worship w/a criteria of do's and don'ts, whether it be clothes or songs or raising of the hands, suits or hats, organ music or drums. God clearly states in His word what is important and what is not. IF clothing was important, then where does that put all those 3rd world countries..like Uganda? How much room do we leave for God to work out His perfect will in so many lives when WE put pressure on folks to act a certain way or wear certain clothes.

I just taught my 4th graders last Sunday on the scripture that tells us to NOT WORRY about what you may wear or eat. So if we believe that the scripture is truth then why do we make such a big deal out of what we wear to worship?? God said that worry can not add even one more hour to your life, so why worry?

This new ministry endeavor God has placed before us is exciting but humbling. Challenges @ GPCC (positive growing ones) will come but those challenges only bring us closer to Him & closer to one another. I don't ever want to stop growing and I don't ever want to get back into that "comfort zone"again. That way I have to depend more on God than on my own abilities. He is good all the time!
Joy~

The Uganda Childrens Choir...

Margaret, Julie,Brenda....Sharon and Me!

..visited our church in Albany last night. OMGoodness, my heart so worshipped with theirs. Our spirits were one in the Lord. Shana and the girls came down to worship w/us and we were all in agreement that God was invited into our family's hearts.

I wrote down some of the songs which gave way to worship...although these words do not do the night justice. You really had to be there! These children are all orphans. And when a love offering was giving my heart and Steve's were on the same page as the Lords! So was Shana and Jill's.

Songs were sung both in their native language and english. They danced thru every song! At one point AudreyAnn thought they were saying "Lorahbeth." After a video presentation of how they lived before the orphanage took them in, they sang:
"When I come into His presence I humble myself and I begin to worship Him. Remembering Him and every victory He's done, I humble myself and worship Him."

"I am yours, grow me up to be like you." and "My hope is in the Lord forever"

The staff was invited to get on stage w/them and just give hugs! I got so many more than I had time to give...one girl hugged me so hard and long-twice, my heart was blessed to running over!

Urgent...please go to...

.....the right side of this blog....click on Mike Madaris & rock n roll....the read his journal entry dated Thursday, August 14, 2008...

What an encouraging message to all of us living in the future. Hear what he is saying and IF you answers bother you...re-think your definition of LIVING!

Really good news and a laugh...

First of all the really good news is....ta-dah! After a endoscopy was done in July and meeting my doctor yesterday. I have the following: 2" Hiatial Hernia, terrible reflux and Barretts Esophagus. Now the first 2 are treatable-sigh! But the Barretts, although treatable is basically pre-cancerous cells...BUT (another sigh and praise) I have what is known as metaplasia esophagus...which means pre-pre cancerous cells. Further knowledge tells me that if you are to be diagnosed w/B.E. then you want it to be metaplasia!!!! (another long sigh and cheer toward heaven)

So I have given up drinking...cokes that is! (3 wks now)...watching my acid intake w/foods and takes Prilsec which is an acid pump blocker, twice daily. I do have to option of surgery to take care of the H.hernia but that will be discussed at a later date w/Steve. Right now I am thankful for the peace God has given me over hearing the inital news of Barretts 2 wks ago and trusting Him to call the shots! I am going to protect myself like it all depends on me BUT PRAY b/c it all depends on GOD! AMEN.

Now R U ready for a laugh???? At Walmart today, I found the perfect gift bag for our granddaughters 5th birthday gift...Ariel from The Little Mermaid! Then I found the perfect card for her. Don't you just love those music cards? Well, I saw Ariel and opened up the card...not realizing that it was a music card...and completely scared me and the lady I was standing beside!!! We both laughed our fool heads off!

And for a minute the laughter helped me forget that in exactally 10 days we will say goodbye to 3 granddaughters, 2 daughters and 2 sons! I wonder what that laughter made the lady I scared in WalMart forget??? Joy~

Time in a bottle...

....the first thing that I 'd like to do...is to save everyday like a treasure and then again I would spend them w/you...Jim Crocce
That is what I told a friend today...well not these exact words and no I did not sing it to her....but I said "In this life God has given Steve & I to live out, there has been so many people that I miss so much. That if I could I would buy a huge house so everyone who has touched my life would be w/me forever. " There are those who have always encouraged me in my faith walk and there are those who ministered to me thru service. Some have been the best friend I really needed at that moment in time, they must of been an angel sent from heaven to mend my wounds.
On a dusty mid July. Country summer evening a weepin willow shard its lullaby and shared it’s secrets. But now and then I find myself thinking of the days. When we were walkin in the Alabama rain....Trisha Yearwood
It was mid July when we received a call from a church in Ohio. They had searched thru many resumes and picked Steve as their first choice to fly up for a weekend interview. Ohio really tickled Steve's ears....Lewis Center is a unincorporated city outside of Columbus. The church is 8 yrs old and has over 500 in attendance. They are fresh, eager to grow, eager to reach into their communities and make it a point to tell you that it is not about them but rather about the God of Creation. Abba Father! We went up on a Friday and voluntarily participated in their last night of VBS. The kids were amazing, they were so comfortable being around us. Their theme for VBS was Cars....and Friday night they advertised that car clubs could bring their cars to the church for others to see. Steve & I got to sit in a Lotus....OMGoodness! And I sat in a Lamborgini (spell) WOW! I love cars so natural I was googooing over them all.
He’s brought me here where things are clear and trials turned to gold He shared w/me his victory He won in days of old. O Lord forgve the times , I tried to read your mind. Cause you said if I be still, then I would hear your voice....Keith Green
After our visit w/these believers, we got quiet, we prayed for God to direct them in the decision they needed to make. When the phone call came, we then knew that our "trials were turning to gold" Of course turning trials to gold only happens when we see Jesus face to face, laying our crowns of gold at His feet. Wherever you are planted, you must choose to grow, will yourself to dig deep roots so you can receive the richest soil for best nurishment. Steve & I have grown here in Georgia. We have searched God for answers. And we finally realized that although we felt God calling us here 10 months ago, Steve is not the right fit that this church in Georgia wants. ('want' being the operative word)
Am I ready to lay down my life for a breathern and to take of up my cross.
Have I surrendered to the will of God, or am I still the boss?.....Bob Dylan
Before July, the question remained for a few months, did we miss God's calling to come to Georgia in the first place? The answer, after much prayer, is no! We were ready to do what was needed to work, serve and pray w/believers who want to make a difference. We are called as believers to step aside and allow God to take control! So in essence that is what we did in this situtation...we are allowing God to be the boss. Leaving our family here in Georgia will be hard but God said that in order to serve Him, we must forsake family for the cause. Our family is a close knit group of 9. (for the time being~smiling as I type) We are positive that our lives will stay connected, our love, support and enjoyment for each other will continue to be strong!
So all this said.....I guess I could end this journal entry with a final song lyric....
On the road again. Going places that I’ve never been. Seeing things that I make never see again. I can’t wait to get on the road again.....Willie Nelson

Joy for your day~

Thankful for the searching and knowing.....

.....Psalm 139:1-16 ...O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

I always check in every night on our friends daughter who just became a widow w/3 young children. Stephanie is amazing. Her faith has been tested for months now and God has been her strength. The testimony that she has lived should encourage all of us to live the same daily. God knew what was ordained for her and her children and HE knows what is ordained for each of us. He is awesome!

The above verses was what she heard at Wednesday night Bible study...and I felt like bringing them over to my blog as well. I need to be reminded of God's amazing power, love and wisdom. He perceives my thoughts, He knows all my ways! I cannot flee from His spirit. He guides me and holds me in His right hand. My mind boggles from the words on the page.

Flipping thru the TV tonight, Biography Channel was telling the story of Janis Joplin. Her friend told of the time when she gave the reason why she did heroin..."I find alittle bit of peace." It is so sad that she was never introduced to the "real peace" of Christ.

Would she be welcomed into our churches today? If she walked in as the Janis of the 60's, would she be accepted and loved? Would someone take time from a program to introduce her to the God of Psalm 139? Although Janis is dead, who reminds you of her? A lady in our church at The Bridge in Spring Hill, TN was alot like her.... a homeless prostitute/drug addict....she met some people from our church who loved her right where she was...she was hungry for that kind of love...and now she has a dream to work w/homeless and nothing will stop her and God on this mission.

We may have never 'been there done that' like Lois or Janis BUT we have 'btdt' with Christ...so now we must go and do! Joy for your Friday!