Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful

Dear Ones:  What an unbelievably wonderful (capable of eliciting wonder or astonishment) Thanksgiving holiday we had.  There are four of us siblings who take turns hosting Thanksgiving festivities.  This year we all went to my suster's (Becky) and her husband's (Dan) house.

It couldn't have been a better time.  We celebrated muther's 89th birthday, ate too much, laughed, cried, hugged, told stories on one another, had a therapy session to determine whether or not any of us were high maintenance (funny story), and "cussed and discussed" the Cowboys (they lost, durn 'em).

We grew closer to each other as we reveled in the love we had for one another and the memories we shared because of it.  We remembered our daddy and the heritage he left for us and thanked the Lord he was in Heaven.

Then on Monday evening, Muther, Frank and I had the privilege of having dinner with some life-long missionary friends.  I had not seen my childhood friend in 50 years and had never met his wife, but I really connected with her from the moment we introduced ourselves to each other. I had not seen his dad in about 25 years.  Frank had never met any of the family, but he had heard me talk about them and knew they were dear to me.

As long as it had been, when I saw them both, it was like yesterday, and we picked up our conversation as if it were yesterday.  We also shared memories, laughed, shared who we were today, and what was going on in our lives. We shared pictures of family, spoke of our triumphs and heartaches, and rejoiced in God's faithfulness.

They told me I looked just like my dad and had his mannerisms and sense of humor.  My thought at that moment was how much I wanted to have my heavenly Daddy's attributes as well. That is certainly what my dad wanted for himself and his family. The thought was precious to me.

I might not see our dear friends again until we meet at the feet of Jesus, but we will pray for one another, bear one another's burdens, and rejoice with one another in answered prayer (Gal. 6:2).

Do you have family and friends with whom you have that kind of bond?  It is priceless, right?

As we were driving home, I was thinking of this season of Thanksgiving.  I do try with all of my heart to have an "attitude of gratitude" no matter what is going on in my life.  I believe it is important to my spiritual maturity and happiness.

There is ALWAYS something for which we can be thankful.  The Lord commands us to be thankful in everything and every circumstance "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (I Thess. 5:18).

I began wondering why it was so important to be thankful, why so many strong statements are in the Word of God about gratitude. I believe it is a matter of obedience.  I don't believe it is possible to be depressed, unforgiving, selfish, or have any of the other attitudes and characteristics that keep us from living abundantly when we have a grateful heart.

I thought today that even if none of the things I had just written about were true in my life, I could live an abundant life because of Calvary.  Because of that sacrifice, every occurrence in my life can be a source of gratitude and thankfulness.  When I live as unto the Lord, everything that happens, whether it brings me prosperity or adversity, is equally a source of joy; because when I am grateful for it, it will make me more like the Lord Jesus.

Being thankful keeps me in a spirit of prayer, gives me the ability to love others the way I should.  I have had people in my life that were absolutely intolerable to be around until I started praying for God's blessings on their lives.  The result was blessing on my life.  As I said before, it is a matter of obedience.  Obedience and gratitude are eternally connected.

Thank you Lord Jesus for Calvary, for the power of your resurrection and its availability to me each moment of every day;  thank you for every circumstance of my life; thank you for my daddy's and mother's legacy of knowing and loving You and Your Word that right now, today, causes our family to love You and one another more.

Thank you for your Holy Spirit that bears witness with my spirit that I belong to you.

Whether I shout it, speak it in conversation, dwell on it in my heart, or whisper it in my dreams,  May my heart's cry ever be, Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Calvary.

What a wonderful Savior.  Still approaching each day with joy, Love to all, Mecca

MeccaMusing: Corners, Crevices, Cracks, and all of 'em Clean

MeccaMusing: Corners, Crevices, Cracks, and all of 'em Clean: Dear Ones:  It has been a busy week.  Do any of us ever have a week anymore that we can say is not busy?  I think there might be something ...

Corners, Crevices, Cracks, and all of 'em Clean

Dear Ones:  It has been a busy week.  Do any of us ever have a week anymore that we can say is not busy?  I think there might be something wrong with that.   I am still struggling with my sinuses.  Finally went to the Dr. and got an antibiotic.

I am some better, but as LaRue's (sweet, dear friend of mine) mother used to say, "I am just putting up a good front."  Now, I just like to say that I get a lot done for a sick girl.  Truly, I am better.

I am overjoyed today.  It is again so beautiful here in Atlanta.  The brilliant colors of red, orange, green, brown, and yellow are everywhere.  The weather is not too cold or too hot, and most special of all, my mother flew in today to spend the next two weeks with me.

We will celebrate her 89th birthday the day after Thanksgiving.  Isn't that amazing?  Her mind is so clear (has always been brilliant), her heart is strong, and she had the strength and stamina to fly from San Antonio to Atlanta.  (Frank just walked by and said, "but she can't hear worth a ****," to which she said, "What did you say?"  All three of us laughed.)

We keep a pretty clean house, but we do clean extra for company.

Everything in the house felt so much cleaner after Frank and I pulled up rugs, pulled out the refrigerator and cleaned good behind, underneath, on top (whew, you talkin' about some kind of mess). It is eye-opening and nostril-challenging to pull out the refrigerator.  There is no tellin' what you will discover.  As many ice cubes as I have kicked under there, I don't know why there wasn't an igloo in the corner.  LOL

While the house might not look any cleaner than normal to anyone else, Frank and I knew we had cleaned every corner, crevice, crack and in between.  We had such a great sense of accomplishment.  It felt good to be the right kind of stewards of what the Lord had given us.

I remember that we cleaned very thoroughly one evening.  The next morning, the sun showed through the large uncovered windows in the living room and dining room, revealing a lot of dust and crumbs we had missed.  We were actually amazed at how much we had missed.  The problem was, we were cleaning without enough light.  Things looked really good because we couldn't see everything with just the room lighting.

The bright light of the morning sun revealed every little particle of dust, every crumb, every single smudge on the front of the refrigerator or stove top or hardwood floors.  Nothing escaped its rays.

My mind and heart went immediately to this manifested truth in God's Word.  The knowledge and application of His word to my life is a "lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."  (Ps 119:105).  Unless I ask the Lord to "Search me and know my heart," (Ps 139:23) I will have crumbs, smudges and dust particles of sin left on the shelves of my soul; the kind that can come between my soul and my Savior.

His search is precise, cuts through the clutter; it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit, joints, and marrow; it judges the thoughts and intents of my heart. Hebrews 4:12.  So, when I really want to be right before the Lord, I choose the light of His Word, not a facsimile of it.

When I try to search my own heart, I tend to compare myself to others in order to determine if what I am doing is right or wrong and to justify anything I might find.  My sweet Lord Jesus clearly tells me that is not wise.  II Cor. 10:12.

The only reason I would shun His search is that I am afraid of what He will find, ashamed of my failures and bringing dishonor to Him.  What I must remember is that He already knows them; when I ask Him to reveal them to me, I will know them.  Then I have the wonderful opportunity of claiming His forgiveness.

Let me just say this.  In my walk with the Lord, when I have felt like I was doing "pretty well,"  I was not comparing myself to Him.  "Pretty well" never enters the mind of a believer who is truly walking in the presence of God. It is more akin to "humbled and undeserving, but grateful."

I wonder why I am content with the crumbs, dust, and dirt of this world, when I can have His resurrection power available to me because my heart is clean and pure before Him.

When I was thinking about the brightness of the sun, sometimes so bright, it hurts my eyes, I remembered how overwhelmed I was the first time I heard that Heaven would have no sun or moon because the glory of the Lord would outshine both of them.  Isaiah goes so far as to say that not only would the sun and moon not shine, but that the moon would be abashed and the sun ashamed to even try to shine in the presence of the glory of God.  (Is 24:3)


Oh, how thankful I am for the truth and living power of God's Word and His glory that flows from it.  The gift my mother and daddy gave me of ensuring I heard and memorized God's Word has been deep, priceless, and enduring.  It has been a drink for my soul in times of thirst, a source of peace in times of fear, a fortress when I needed courage, and always a light in times of darkness.

Now, I make it a point to really clean when the sun is shining.  It reminds me of the love of God, His power to show me my mistakes and redeem them as I walk in the light of His Word.  How about you?

I am approaching this and every day with joy.  Love and miss you all.  Mecca

MeccaMusing: To Him be Glory...both Now and Ever, Amen!

MeccaMusing: To Him be Glory...both Now and Ever, Amen!: Good Afternoon .  It is a beautiful day in Atlanta, Georgia.  It's about 65 degrees and the sun is shining (between the clouds).  I have a b...

To Him be Glory...both Now and Ever, Amen!

Good Afternoon.  It is a beautiful day in Atlanta, Georgia.  It's about 65 degrees and the sun is shining (between the clouds).  I have a bad cold or sinus infection.  Doesn't matter what I call it, the results are the same.  I attended "Bedside Baptist" this morning.  Most of you will completely identify with that phrase.

(Pause). I took a little nap after that first paragraph.  

I am looking outside my window at the most beautiful array of fall colors.  Now, there is a cloud cover with a sweet, gentle falling rain.  

Frank knows I love flowers.  I left for a conference on Tuesday.  When I returned on Friday, he had planted winter blooming plants in the front yard and all of our pots on the back porch.  (Thank you, Lord, for watering them today).

When I hugged and thanked him, he proudly ran his fingers through his beautiful, thick salt and pepper gray hair (that is a little bit longer, and I love it) and said, "it's my love language." Of course, we both laughed. I love him.  God is so good all of the time.

Are we ready for this election to be over or what? The political storm is swirling in every newspaper, on every TV channel -- Like It, Spin It, Tweet It --- in every kind of communication medium imaginable.  

As I reminded myself in an earlier blog, we have the far left, the far right, and then there is "leading from the center."  The hot buttons are Obamacare, abortion (always will be), deep deficit, too much spending, the ever-present agenda of "spreading the wealth" vs. individual responsibility, bias of the media, corruption in the government, loss of religious freedom, the 47%, vote for revenge, vote for love of country, debates -- the first, the last and the ones in between, four more days, Sandy, Benghazi - and on and on. 

It's too close to call. The brilliant pundits don't know who will win. If Romney carries Ohio, he wins; if Obama loses Florida, but carries Wisconsin, PA, and CO, he wins.  Someone might win the popular vote but lose the electoral college.  Right now it's a dead heat.  Many of us feel it is either a fresh beginning or the end of America as we know her.

There is so much rancor, discontent, accusation, and distrust.  This is just part of the chaos of this ole' world and its prince who revels in it (Eph. 2:2).  

My Heavenly Daddy reminded me this morning that He is not surprised by any of it.  The world is groaning and toiling under the weight of chaos and sin.   

Hebrews 12:1-3 talks about all the weight and the sins that so easily beset (surround or attack from all sides) us."  While I believe that verse is referring to believers, it does remind me of the commercial about COPD and how the disease makes the person feel like an elephant is sitting on her chest.  

Following that analogy, the inhabitants of this world are laboring under a giant circus tent full of elephants.

Then, the other verse that comes to mind is Isaiah 25:1, "Oh Lord, you are my God.  I will praise and exalt your name; for in perfect faithfulness, you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago."  There is great peace and rest knowing that in perfect faithfulness, my Heavenly Daddy planned my future a long time ago.

And the other verse, II Tim 1:12b "for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."  He knows what tomorrow holds, and I know Him, and He knows me by name.  How about that? 

I will vote.  You must vote; but rest assured that God is sovereign. The Word of God tells us that an omniscient God has been working behind the scenes throughout history.  

And it is my Heavenly Daddy who "executes judgement, putting down one [king or kingdom] and lifting up another (Psalm 75:7).  And I know He does all things well.

Here is what is difficult for my flesh - to pray that the one whose presidency will bring the most honor and glory to the Lord Jesus will be elected.  As I prayed that prayer, He gently reminded me that sometimes He is most glorified when saints rejoice in suffering.  He only promised grace and strength for the day, not that the day would be without sorrow.  

I have been guilty of praying for whom I wanted to win the election.  I decided that was a selfish prayer, because it might have been more for my good than His glory.  

Now I pray that He will do whatever it takes (it unsettles me just to type those words even though I say I trust Him) to make me ready to see Him face to face, to give me grace and courage to share in His suffering and be made conformable to His death (Phil 3:10).  I have no idea what that entails, but He does, and that's all that matters.  

It's not about an election or even America.  It is all about Him.  

"Now unto Him Who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy; to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen!" Jude 1:24-25

PS - The sun just broke through the clouds.  And all God's people said, "Amen and Amen."  

MeccaMusing: Catch Up and The Beauty of Fall

MeccaMusing: Catch Up and The Beauty of Fall: Dear Ones - has it really been almost a month since I have written anything?  I have just completed co-chairing a very large event for our c...

Catch Up and The Beauty of Fall

Dear Ones - has it really been almost a month since I have written anything?  I have just completed co-chairing a very large event for our company that I thoroughly enjoyed.  It took all of my waking hours, but it was a success and a lot of fun.  So, that's my excuse.

If that doesn't work, I also thought since I had been "preaching" so much, maybe I needed a sabbatical.  "Now, that right 'thar' is funny.  I don't care who you are."

How are you?  Since God is good all of the time, I hope you are reveling in that fact and giving Him rule and reign in all circumstances. I am saying that to myself as well.  I have missed sharing with you all and have found that there is something missing in my day when I don't at least write something.

I am being careful with my eating and have been walking more consistently.  I find that when I am faithful in eating healthily and exercising, I have greater success in many areas of my life.

Funny how God's faithfulness in our greatest challenges (the proverbial thorn in the flesh) increases our faith, strengthens our confidence in the Lord and truly provides a natural "upper," which those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ refer to as the "joy of the Lord."  Hmmm, reckon that's why He allowed "thorns in the flesh"?

I still love Frank and enjoy being with him, "most of the time."  Those of you who know him, know he can be a "buzzard" on occasion.  Of course, living with me is always a lark.

Let's see --- I was thinking if there were any other items I needed to report.  Oh, I know - I went to the eye doctor, and I have Glaucoma.  The good news is that it is completely controllable.  I will need to use  a prescription eye drop in my eyes every night for the rest of my life.  If I don't, I will go blind.

I watched my Mother put those drops in my Daddy's eyes every night that I was home.  So, I think of that every time I put the drops in my eye.  Sweet Memory.  Glad he doesn't need those drops anymore - hasn't for about 10 years.

The real silver lining is - are you ready? - the eye drops are the exact same substance as LATISSE - 2.5 million bottles sold (not covered by insurance) to lengthen and thicken eyelashes.  So, there ya go - I won't go blind and will grow long, thicker eyelashes paid for by insurance.  Is that a silver lining or what?  God loves me - yes He does.

Now, to something my sweet Jesus touched my heart with this morning - dedicated to my sweet husband, mother, suster, and sister-in-law who admonished me to "write."

The weather is perfect.  In fact, this is my favorite time of the year.  Yet, it is the season of death for nature.  What extraordinary beauty there is when leaves turn colors,  die, and fall from the trees - especially when the rain has been plentiful.  

When Georgia went through the awful drought about 3 years ago, when the season of death came, the leaves didn't really turn.  One day they were on the trees, the next day they weren't.  Even now, when strong winds and rains come, some huge trees will blow over, cracked at the roots from brittleness caused by the prolonged drought several years ago. 

You probably already know where I am going with this.  

I have known Jesus in a personal way since I was 6 years old - 55 years.  The older I get, the more real He is, the sweeter He is, the clearer my spiritual eyes see the way He sees events and circumstances (physical eyes have Glaucoma); this is especially true in the seasons of my life when I have faithfully drunk from the spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14).  

That initial dose at 6 years old indeed welled up to eternal life.  My heart just skipped a bit as I thought of the privilege of drinking daily from that crystal clear stream of living water that matures me spiritually, makes me more effective as an ambassador of Christ, and will be the reason for any beauty evident in the season of my physical death.

There have been times in my life when I have not come to the spring of life on a consistent basis and have experienced spiritual drought. When the winds came (and they most certainly will for everyone), I am ashamed to say the brittleness in my heart lashed out, wounded, and almost destroyed me and stole my joy.  I made it easy for the thief.

Oh, how thankful and humbled I am when I realize that crystal stream is never off limits and always satiates the brittle roots and restores health to the spirit when I choose to return and partake.  

However, here is the warning.  While God is good, loving, forgiving and healing, scars from neglecting the "Living Water," remain as a reminder of the damage done.  I might never know the damage I did to others.  

This is my personal challenge and one I want to share with each one of you - especially to those of you who are young.  If you don't already, begin now drinking daily of that crystal clear stream of His Word, strengthen your spiritual lungs through prayer, and in the final season of your life, you will be the most beautiful you have ever been.   

Those who witness it will be in awe just as I was, watching the beautiful leaves fall from the trees this morning.

It is my sincere hope and prayer that because of your faithfulness in this pursuit, you will never experience brittleness and its scars. 

In all of it, most importantly, you will honor the One Who gave all so that the stream remains pure and available.  Oh, how magnificent is He Who died for me.

I love you; I've missed you; I can't wait until we are all together, having a picnic, eating the bread of life along the banks of the river of life in the midst of the City of God.  Won't that be glorious? 

Still approaching this and every day with joy.  Mecca