LIF from the Song of Songs

Now when the King at table sits,
My spiknard smelleth sweet,
And myrrh and camphire from my store
I pour upon His feet.
My thankful love must be displayed,
He loved and wooed a beggar maid.

Ye daughters of Jerusalem,
I'm black to look upon
As goatskin tents; but also as
The tent of Solomon.
Without, I bear the marks of sin,
But Love's adorning is within.

Despise me not that I am black,
The sun hath burned my face,
My mother's children hated me,
And drove me from my place.
In their vineyards I toiled and wept.
But mine own vineyard have not kept.

I am not fair save to the King,
Though fair my royal dress,
His kingly grace is lavished on
My need and worthlessness.
My blemishes He will not see
But loves the beauty that shall be.

Hinds Feet on High Places - Hannah Hurnard

Is there anything more beautiful?!?!
Yes, I was black without and within...made so by sin and still I bear in my body the marks of that sin...the kind with the capital S....ugly and commanding in every way...driving me to toil on its behalf...forcing me to work harder and harder in a battle I could never win.....

Then He came....
He poured out His grace on me...yes me...He pierced my heart with His love, dressed me in fine linen and invited me to His table and though I may appear the same on the outside to the casual passerby....
Nothing is the same....

A Red State of Mind

Hi all!
I'd like to introduce you to a blogging friend of mine, Ms. Nancy French. She is a southern girl like myself who grew up in Tennessee, not far from my neck of the south and spent some interesting time in the nether regions of the north such as NY and Philadelphia, as did I,... plus she is a sweet Christian as well.
A few years ago...during one of our recent Presidential elections, she found herself, an active Republican, plopped down in the city of Brotherly Blue. Much to her surprise...the majority of folks there have not only never heard of grits but they have never voted Republician either...she was shocked, appalled and goaded into action by such things as anti Bush posters at her daughter's school, the pledge of Allegiance with "under God" left out...and many other incidents that she retells to us with great hilarity in her new book, A Red State of Mind.
Her book can be pre-ordered at a discount through Amazon before the publishing date of Oct. 9th and although I haven't read it yet, I can't wait! I have read lots of Nancy's work and have found her to be honest, politically savvy, purely conservative and completely hilarious. Check her out for yourself.

Lands' End

For all you curios out there...Sears has either purchased Lands End or made some sort of merger with them and consequently you should have been able to buy some Lands End products at Sears for the last couple of years....Now they are opening a few Lands End Shops within a select number of Sears stores around the country....ours is one of them. It is conveniently located in the mall just across the street from my FT, decent paying, benefit providing yet boring job....the pay at this new PT job....well how shall I say it....it sucks...BUT...I do make the hourly plus commission...and YES, I do get a nice discount. I'm only working 15 hours a week...I go right over after my FT job with an hour inbetween to eat...it provides some exercise,(standing up for hours does count) some social interaction, a few extra dollars in my pocket....and a nice discount on some lovely things....:) I probably won't bring home a dime! lol
I have worked 2 jobs off and on for the past 4 years....it does take some getting used to and I was really tired this past weekend, but hey...it has its perks....

I for one am dying to get away to the mountians...they do not, however, look like that picture just yet. That is from last year....Right now I am researching cabins available the last week or two of October....my anniversary and the most gorgeous time of the year just happen to coincide so hopefully we will get up there to see those colors when they do arrive. It won't be exactly shabby around Atlanta either....we are already having some lovely weather though no turning leaves yet. What do you think of this one?

Its Monday again...and officially fall

Spent the weekend like this....
Sat. working at my new 2nd job here...
Sunday, rainy day... doing a few chores around the house but mostly laying on the couch watching football....
and eating out here... :)
How was yours?

Great comments to my Friday post...gotcha thinking didn't I? :)

Worship or Fellowship?

Remember the post I did last Friday for Lyrics I Feel....well its been bugging me ever since. The more I have thought about it the more convinced I am that I DO NOT believe we were made soley for worship.
Worship seems to me to be all about servanthood, and is rooted in the soul...now don't get me wrong. I do feel that we should worship our Lord...and if He has truly done a work in your life you cannot help but to worship and adore Him and it can be a very spiritual thing...However I am convinced that He is reaching out to lift us up from off the floor where we have prostrated ourselves and that His desire is to commune with us face to face. I am persuaded that we are actually made to fellowship...and fellowship is rooted in the spirit....
Our worship mentality is very old testament...where man and God were seperated by an endless gulf and God was fearful and harsh. We feel the need to fall on our faces and yes, as I said, when He has done incredible things in your life you really want to and should fall before Him in praise and worship but the cross changed everything...it didn't change the fact that He is deserving but it did change our position in the equation ...the gulf has been spanned, we have been made one with God through His Son and in such an intimate way that we can count Him our friend, our brother, the lover of our souls.
He is God, yes and it may seem weird to think of God having needs ...but in reality, this whole cross/God/ resurection thing was all about Him...He had needs...He needed to expand Himself, to have more fellowship ....so He made a plan...a way to increase Himself...it involved the slaying of His Son, the birth of His woman, the Church and it involves you and me.
He wants so badly to have fellowship, He wants to be seen and known for who He really is...just like we do...we get it from Him, you know...
Now He has called us "no longer servants but friends".... Amazingly, I was chosen before the foundations of the world to be IN Him...and through His work on the cross to be IN His body, His Church, His Bride.

Perhaps God and man are not so terribly different...both have need to be known, to be seen, to have companionship...

To my way of thinking I was not made primarily for worship ..... I was predestined for fellowship with God Himself...a much higher calling don't you think?

Stories to tell....

One of the places my hubby went on this trip was to visit a church he planted about 7-8 yrs ago in Tirana, Albania. The churches he plants are self governed with no appointed pastors or leaders. They are very hands on do-it-your self styled churches with periodic visits from him to encourage and offer practical help. He hasn't been to this particular group in a year and a half. They are very isolated, with few other Christians or godly influences around them so they offer a unique look into what first century church might have been like. My husband strives to give them Christ without damaging their own national personality, without Americanizing them, if you will, (Christianity is not synonymous with American...:)) so their perspective and understanding of Christ and His Church are very simple and pure.
It is a beautiful thing to see a group of Christians following after Christ with pure hearts while maintaining their own indigenous personality as a church. From such can come unspeakable depths and riches.
Here is a poem written recently by one of the brothers in this church, shared in the meetings of the church and now with us. It is a rough English translation but I think the message is clear.

YOUR HOME

I followed your steps on the snow

On the ices of this earth I slid

They brought me to this house

That your hand had built

There's a Fire inside this home

That fills it with warmness

It's a fire that never dies

And that fire is you Christ!

This is a home of living stones

Enfolded in embrace

Around the undying Fire

Singing unending praise

Your name was on the stones

Masterfully engraved

They held together in love

The love that only you are

A tree grew in the house

In the likeness of a vine

And its fruit is alive and free

For Christ you are that tree

There is a river running through

Overflowing living water

Pure water like crystal glow

And the river is You, I know.

A slaughtered lamb was there

At the foot of the door

With its blood, wounds are healed

Living proof of love that's Yours.

This is a house of wonders

Mind can never comprehend it

Full of eternal love

That pours from God above

Eden, The Tent and The Temple

Were this house's shadows

But now stands on living stones

Glory of Christ is this home

He's home!

I'm sure I'll have some stories to tell regarding his trip but it usually takes a few days for him to process everything and re-tell it to me.....
One thing though...he did have to undergo a very thorough security screening yesterday,....on his way OFF the plane and IN to this country....does that sound strange to anyone else?? And if you plan on international travel anytime soon...be sure to get some slip on/slip off shoes....you'll need them everywhere!

He brought me some yummy smelling stuff for fall...duty free of course...he's so sweet...:)



How bout them Jags?!?! :)

My hubby's coming home today....

Things I like doing Alone

Reading
Driving
Being in my house
Walking
Shopping for specifics
Sitting outside
Praying
Singing


Things I do Not like doing Alone

Sleeping
Eating out
Going to the movies
Wandering the mall
Traveling
Swimming
Watching the news
Yard work

LIF

Made to worship

Chris Tomlin

You and I are made to worship
You and I are called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
You and I embrace surrender
You and I choose to believe
And you and I will see
How we were meant to be

Before the day
Before the light
Before the world revolved around the sun
God on high
Stepped down into time
And wrote the story of his love for everyone

He has filled our hearts with wonder
So that we always remember
You and I were made to worship
You and I were called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
You and I embrace surrender
You and I choose to believe
And you and I will see...
How we were meant to be

All we are
And all we have
Is all a gift from God
That we will see
Throughout our life
We open up our lives
To see the majesty and glory of the king

He has filled our hearts with wonder
So that we always remember
You and I were made to worship
You and I were called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
You and I embrace surrender
You and I choose to believe
And you and I will see...
How we were meant to be

We will hear him cry out
We will hear the shout
The sound of his holy name
Then we will sing out
He's worthy of all our praise

You and I were made to worship
You and I were called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
You and I embrace surrender
You and I choose to believe
And you and I will see...
How we were meant to be

I like the line that says, "You and I are forgiven and free." We are free, not only from sin but free to live, really live! Free to love Him, free to pursue Him, free to be Christ to the world around us. Wow!

Another line that speaks to me is "all we are and all we have is a gift from God". It is amazing to me that all I have and am....even my shortcomings and failures, are gifts from God, placed in me before time began to show forth the praise of the glory of His grace and because of His incredible grace I have been chosen in Him before the foundations of the world to be holy and without blame, accepted in the beloved. Hallelujah!


Eph 1:3
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Fun weekend....not

Spent the weekend in Jax. Yes I got to see the Jadabear...yes, we got to play...a little.....mostly I spent my time there helping her mommy move....from one 2nd floor apartment to a 2nd floor apartment in a different complex.
You know what that means...upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs....
My cute little sporty car was never meant to haul furniture...and neither was I! but haul we did. 6hrs driving down on Friday, 6 hrs back on Sunday nite with lots of heavy lifting in between. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to help. She is in a much nicer place, a much safer place and Jada has her own room again (which makes her very happy) :)
I'm one tough cookie, folks ....my lovely daughter was begging for mercy long before I could consider stopping. However...yesterday and today I might add..I'm tired! Plus I have some brusies and scratches I hadn't noticed before....of course those probably came from my attacking the hedges last weekend in a marathon yard work extravaganza....but I know the scratches on my little car came from this moving weekend. Drat! At least its cool enough in GA this week to wear long sleeves so no one at work thinks I have been beaten up. :)

I did get to have a lovely dinner with my entire Florida family on Sat nite....a seafood feast straight from the Mayport docks....yummm!! Plus a short but sweet visit with my sis and her hubby. (I miss them!), an unexpected, but pleasant run in with a very old friend...and a sleepover with Jada...thank goodness she let me sleep! LOL though I did get to rock her and sing her to sleep....we sing "Jesus loves me, this I know, for my Gigi tells me so" :) Incredibly sweet to hear her sing it like that!

Spent last nite vegetating on the couch watching Prison Break and the President's speech.
Think I'll have more of the same tonight......(insert "House" instead of Prison Break)....
Yep, I'm tired!

Sept 11

Today is the day...its the 5th anniversary of a day I never want to forget. Perhaps you read my post just after the London incident last month. It was about where I was and what I was doing on that fateful day in 2001. Fox News calls it "The Day America Changed" and indeed it was. I feel for the families of all those who died that day. The victims, the heroes, the innocent bystanders....It was a dreadful time for us all....I hope their families and friends remember and honor them. It is a good an decent thing to do....
So many have died due to terrorism or herosim or on the battle field before and since that day....the thing I really want to remember is this:

There is an ideology, a fanatism, that would seek to destroy us...our nation, our way of life.... my way of life....the people I love, everything I hold dear. They do not care about individuals, they are not sentimental, they can not be touched by humanity nor reasoned with. They are driven by a greater force...a complete belief that what they are doing is right in the sight of their God...and as such, are extremely dangerous, especially to complacent Americans who can hardly, even in our wildest imaginations, relate. May we never forget and may we be ever vigilant....this enemy is not defeated and threatens us every day. This is what I want to remember today.

And now for a bit of Shakespeare

This is a lovely posting with infinite possibilities...
I soundly second the thought... "Where can He not be found?"

May you see Him, His grace, His loveliness, His love for you...everywhere you look!

Have a great weekend...I'll be playing with my Jada.....:)

A Passing Moment

I have felt nothing really since getting my hubby ready for his trip....over the past couple of weeks I have washed, ironed, shopped, packed and helped to prepare him for the journey. Inside I have felt nothing much...no excitement, no joy, no anticipation at what God will do, just a cool detachment laced with thankfulness at God's provision.
Yesterday, I cried....I don't know why.... loneliness maybe....although not really.....and I'm not hormonal...at least I don't think so....
A song came on the radio that reminded me of.....something,..of someone.....I'm not sure.....but it made me miss them....miss them all, all at once....my hubby, my kids, my Jada, my sisters, my old friends, my church family...especially you, Derb....Everyone who has passed through my life over the past few years and left a mark....It was a strange moment really.....indefinable....poignant.
I didn't feel sad....just touched.... like a shadow passing by....and then it was gone....
Back to the business of living....

Baggage arrived!! Thank You Lord! and thanks to you who prayed!

3 things Meme

It was a lovely 68 degrees here this morning....clear skies....fall is coming...yay!!

Can't usually get myself together to do the tags but thought I'd tackle this one...

3 things that scare me~
the evening news
spider webs in the dark
near misses on the highway

3 people that make me laugh~
My Hubby
My Jada
My blog buddie, Tammy who was the person who tagged me.

3 things I love~ (you said things) :)
my emeralds
my house
my purty sporty blue car

3 things I hate~
inequality or would that be injustice?
mosquitos
traffic jams

3 things I don't understand~
dishonesty
The French
how Survivor has survived so long on TV

3 things I'm doing right now~
eating lunch
drinking diet pepsi
sorting client statements

3 things I want to do someday~
hike the Applacian Trail
Buy a cabin in the mountains
Vacation in Italy

3 things I can do~
boss others :)
sing
trim hedges

3 ways to describe my personality~
confident
dependable
calm

3 things I cannot do~
eat eggs without salsa
rollerblade
speak a foreign language

3 things I think you should listen to~
Voice of God
Your spouse
Les Miserables

3 things I think you should never listen to~
Gossip
private conversations
lies

3 absolute favorite foods~
Mexican- fajitas umm umm
Italian-shrimp alfredo..yum
Seafood (fried) :)

3 things I'd like to learn~
to play piano
photography
how to stop time

3 beverages I drink regularly~
iced tea
diet Pepsi
water

3 shows I watch~
24
Prison Break
American Idol

3 bloggers I tag
Anyone who wants to jump in...feel free. :)

Do you have anything in common with me?? :)

I saw this today

$2.49.....

For the first time in ages.....the price of gasoline has fallen below $2.50 around here. Yay!!

So sad to hear the news about the Crocodile man, Steve Irwin's death. Fox News reported that although a few hundred people are injured yearly by sting rays, there has NEVER been a death reportedly caused by one.
Update 9:52am....MSNBC reports 3-17 deaths...ever by sting ray...all agree..very rare.

Reading some of this while hubby is away. Love this series!!

Thanks for all your prayers! They are much needed and appreciated! Some of his much needed luggage didn't make it all the way so you could add that to your prayers too if you think of it! Stuff in there he really needs, medically speaking.

Planning a trip to Jax to see the Jadabear next weekend!!

Its that time again....

Its time for my hubby to embark on another misson to aid small indigenous groups of believers in their growth in Christ, to help them to grow in love for Him and for one another and God willing, to see that beautiful woman, the Bride of Jesus Christ blossom forth in more locations in this earth. Due to his health and other factors, he hasn't travelled overseas much in the last couple of years and we aren't sure how he will do this time. Please pray for him, body, soul and spirit...and for the saints and sinners he will be sharing Christ with. May this be a blessed and fruitful time for all and may God get what He desires....