Pot Luck or Pot Blessings -- It's About Hospitality

I am an experienced "Pot Luck" covered-dish toter. I can't begin to tell you how many covered dishes, salads, main dishes and desserts I have made over the many years of my church-going or friends-celebrating-together life. And less I offend some of my sweet Bible-toting friends with the "luck" part of pot luck, I also refer to those amazing food-out-of-control events as "Pot Blessings". I can't think of any times when there were too much of one food item, because the cooks, I'm quite sure, are inspired from Heaven Central when they plan out their culinary treat.

Truly they are blessings because we are sharing a "family" meal together to celebrate our friendship with each other and our friendship with Jesus. I witness that every month when I attend a wonderful fellowship group in my community. This fellowship group's common language is kindness, generosity, love -- or better put, it's about Jesus. We literally break bread, chicken, and all kinds of other goodies together. You don't hear talk about politics, the economy, complaints about what's going on here or there or everywhere. You just hear positive people talking about positive things.

Christ started that fellowship when He broke bread with His disciples. Coming together to celebrate Him in us and us in Him. Some of my favorite memories involve yummy food and sharing God's love and caring like this. Scripture shows us how important it was to God for us to break bread together. Acts 2:42,46: "They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."

When we share our gifts, talents and ordinary household meals and items to bless and serve others, we aren’t just being nice. We’re being obedient to God’s Word as this verse says: “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:9-10).

Our aim should be the same for everyone. We shouldn't offer hospitality — or a home-cooked meal — to impress others. Instead, we want to refresh them. To give them a place where they can relax and unwind. To provide a setting where they can talk and question and contemplate. When we offer hospitality with gusto, without grumbling, or complaining, or fretting over our not-so-nice-anymore home or stuff, we are doing exactly what pleases God — using our gifts for His glory.

We All Need Somebody to Lean On!

This post is a follow-up to my “No Man is an Island” post from yesterday. My heart ached when I heard about Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain recently taking their lives. I didn't know them, but I remembered a precious friend, who recently took her life. Depression is real. Heartbreak is real. Loneliness is real. Desiring-to-end-the-pain is real.

C. S. Lewis noted, "Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and harder to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say my tooth is aching than to say my heart is broken."

With all of my good news, uplifting, encouraging, positive and motivational posts daily, I am still very aware that life is really hard for some of us. Sometimes it’s gut-wrenching, “I can’t go on this way” kind-of-gut-wrenching. Some of my precious friends have shared bits and pieces of their stories with me. I see the pain. I get it. I connect with it. I hear the struggle, and I want nothing more than to take them up in my arms and make it all better for them.

As I said yesterday, we need each other. We need community.
We need to get back to embracing co-dependency (I’m still working on that one, myself!). I gave scriptures for it yesterday. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and Luke 15:4). God gives His example of co-dependency. He does everything with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and likewise, they don't operate outside of Him. Three in one. We’re made in His image. So, why would we want to do life independently? It goes against the way God made us.

I have a small close-knit group of people that I trust with my life. Literally. They have lived life with me for years. They’ve shared high and low moments with me. And when life became difficult for me, they were there to encourage me by just being there with me until I found my way out. Words cannot express the depth of love I have for these people. They've seen my ugly cry. They've listened to my crazy rants. They know the depth of me and champion me to the core. (You know who you are. And I love and thank you so much.)

Oftentimes our "community" is our phones and laptops. Just let me say this to you, my FB, blog and social media community -- my faithful readers, I love you so much. You are my people. You are the breath of what I am made to do. Every “like and love” emoji and every word you type on here, every response and comment, I cherish. Deeply cherish. You are my reason for getting up at 5 am each morning to give a word to you that just might give you the breath of fresh air you need to be able to BREATHE in God's grace, love, and hope for each new day.

I know that I'm a by-God’s-design listener. If we met for coffee, I’d listen to you and capture every word you said. I’d ask questions and listen some more. After processing, I’d respond. It’s how I’m made. In many ways, this is what this FB post and blog has become for me. It’s my heart to yours. It’s what I need for me, and when I hit that POST button, it's what I sense you may need, too!

We all need community. People who understand and champion us. When we take off the masks, we find that we are all very much the same. We all have hurt. We all have stories. We all have hopes. We all have dreams. We all long to be known and connected. When we begin to see all people as "our brother, our sister and friend", we gain respect for them. And out of that comes love. Real. Authentic.Love. It is then that we begin to look a whole lot like Jesus. The resemblance is undeniable. And, out of all the lives we help to save, one just may be our own.

Life Lessons Can Be Learned From Bocce

On April 14th, I celebrated living here in Frisco for one year. I can hardly believe it’s already been a year and I’ve grown to love my community. I’m so busy with my church and ministry activities, my traveling and my children and grandchildren that I haven’t met that many people here. That’s changing as I joined yet another really enjoyable team sport, Bocce. It's a sport played between two teams with from 1 to 4 players on each team. A set of bocce balls is composed of 8 large bocce balls (4 of one color and 4 of another color) and one smaller ball called the ”pallino” (Italian word for 'cue ball'). One point is given for each bocce ball that is closer to the pallino than the opposing team’s bocce balls. While bocce can be played on lawns, we have 12 courts here at Frisco Lakes.

Throwing balls toward a target is the oldest game known to mankind. As early as 5000 B.C. the Egyptians played a form of bocce with polished rocks. From Egypt, the game made its way to Greece around 800 B.C. The Romans learned the game from the Greeks, and then introduced it throughout the empire. From the early Greek physician Hippocrates to the Italian Renaissance man Galileo, the early participants of Bocce noted that the game’s athleticism and spirit of competition rejuvenates the body. Thanks to many Italian immigrants at the turn of the century, Bocce has flourished in the U.S. -- now more than 25 million Bocce enthusiasts here. Next to Soccer and Golf, Bocce is the third most participated sport in the world and is considered the oldest known sport in world history. So, you’re welcome – now you know about Bocce.

This photo is of my league team “The Lady Rollers” and we are all about friendship, celebrating each other – win or lose (like yesterday’s game when we cheered for our opposing team when they won the match as it was the birthday of one of their players. The score was tied -- 1 game to 1 game and the 3rd game was neck and neck. The birthday girl’s team, the Bocce Angels, won. If we're going to lose, it's worth it to help make someone's birthday extra special.

I've learned some valuable lessons from the game:
1) Never give up. We’ve been down and it looked like a shoo-in for the other team to win, and lo and behold we would win because all four of our balls were the closest to the pallino and we won the game. We check each other, if at any point, we start speaking negatively about our playing, because – whiners never win, and winners who think like winners, never lose -- well sometime that do, but not because they were whiners.

2) Never say “SORRY”! I love that about the game. We’re all doing our best and if we make an inadvertent mistake, you don’t say “SORRY”. And, if you do, you'll quickly be corrected. The definition of SORRY is feeling distress, feeling upset, downcast, in a poor or pitiful state or condition and we are none of those. Yesterday, we said, “Why say “sorry” – it’s just a game and in the light of eternity, does it really matter? We hold our heads high and think "I'll do better next time!"

3) Cheer and congratulate when someone does well – even if it’s an opposing team member. I love it when I make a really good play to save the game and those gals make me feel like a rock star – rather, a bocce star.

4) Those who are the best…..mentor those of us who are still learning. And they do it with such a sense of TLC. I’m already mentoring the new gals because, after all, I’m a veteran now – having played last year and now this year.

5) No name calling or trash talk allowed. I know that’s common in many sports, but I love the genuine sportsmanship and comradery in this game. Even if we call ourselves names or trash talk ourselves because of a dumb error, others are quick to steer us the other direction.

6) Making friends – Bocce is a great social sport and it gives us a chance to make new friends or bond more closely with old ones. It doesn’t take too much motivation for us to want to play, but just in case we were in a little lazy mode, our friends motivate us to “get our game on”. And that we do.

6) And, here is the best part -- bocce has great health benefits:
-- It helps lower our blood pressure -- our bodies get rejuvenated and our heart gets strengthened
-- It improves balance -- navigating the bocce balls down a court provides helps with our balance.

As I’ve said many times before, I don’t plan on giving up until I’m taken up…..and if that day comes while I’m playing bocce, I just hope and pray my roll was the winning roll that rolls me straight on through the pearly gates! In the meantime, how about a game of BOCCE?!!

Hebrews 12:11-13 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

Being PLANTED and REPLANTED

My words of the day are:
PLANT -- sow, seed, place or fix into a specified position
REPLANT: To plant again in a new place

Seven years ago, this Peace Lily PLANT was given to our family for my husband’s memorial service. What a beautiful representation of “peace” that was given to us. And peace is what God gave us. I REPLANTED that PLANT into a larger pot, but it seems I need to go bigger as it’s been struggling some in the last couple of months. Quite frankly, it’s a miracle that plant is still alive at all, given my record of being “green thumbless”!!

Besides a plant being planted, PLANTED also means being stuck, fixed and unmovable. I've proven that is not me. I've found that REPLANTED can be a very thing. It’s over a year since my home in Tulsa sold (without me even trying to sell it). I knew God was setting me up to be REPLANTED in Texas near my children. I’ll admit there have been many times of discomfort during the process of the move – finding the exact “pot”, rather "home", to be REPLANTED into and getting use to all the changes in my life here in Frisco. In the directions for replanting and repotting a Peace Lilly, it says: “Don’t worry if the plant looks a little bedraggled for the first few days after replanting because slight wilting often occurs. Give the plant time to settle into its new home.” And, God was saying to me “Trust me and my timing. You may feel a little bedraggled, but you’ll see “I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

REPLANTING me from my familiar surroundings, my family and friends, my home and church in Tulsa was oftentimes bittersweet though the sweetest part is living closer to my children. Of vital importance was to find a church to call "home" here in Frisco. Oh I know that God is with me anywhere and everywhere, but having that “family” and “community” connection has been a mainstay since I made my debut on Planet Earth. Church has been where I met God, personally, and where I found friendship and fellowship and solace during challenging times and where I found my greatest expression of worship and praise to my God.

My search for that church “pot” to be replanted in took months because I was looking for “a feeling” of home like my wonderful home church in Tulsa – smaller where you get to know everyone and everyone knows your name. That just reminded me of the CHEERS theme song. LOL! Then it occurred to me “Select one then, dive in. Get involved. If you want friends, show yourself friendly.” I did. A 39,000+ member church. WHAT??? How can I experience “family” in a church that large. “That POT is just too big to be REPLANTED in” is what I thought.

I found and signed a contract on my home on February 21, 2017 – one year ago, I settled on my new church, St. Francis of Assisi in July – seven months ago. This post was inspired by my being a Greeter/Welcomer at my church this week when we were having a 3-day Lenten Mission. As people came in the door, many said “Hi, Donna!” and hugged me or I would recognize them and welcomed them to the service. Other greeters with me who had been part of the church for years said “Donna, you sure know a lot of people for being here such a short period of time!” When they said that, I had an “aha” moment. God’s words to me had come to pass. You see I did get involved. I became a sponsor to a young woman in our church’s discipleship program (RCIA), I became a greeter, I attended a women’s ACTS Retreat and met 80 women who will be lifelong friends to me and now I’m serving on the Spring ACTS Retreat Team. I am a Eucharistic Minister, serving communion, and attend Bible Studies. I have a church community and family that I love now.

Yesterday morning the inspiration for this post came to me and I looked up on my wall across from my bed and read the words from the Bible and penned by my daughter, “Oh Lord, bless me indeed and ENLARGE MY TERRITORY (He sure did!). Let your hand be with me and keep me from evil so I will be free from pain.” 1 Chronicles 4:10.

Yes, big changes in our lives can oftentimes be uncomfortable and downright painful, but when we realize that our times of REPLANTING and REPOTTING are the ways to stretch us to take us to the next level of maturity and growth. Maybe you’re being stretched today. Maybe your “pot” is too small to hold the expectations that God has for you and you need to be REPLANTED. Trust Him and do your part to open up to new horizons, new opportunities and new friends that God wants you to love, encourage and support.

Unplugged

Day 53 of Photo Inspirations -- UNPLUGGED!!
I just returned home from a 3-day; 3-night ACTS Retreat where I was completely unplugged from technology -- can you even imagine that I could survive without my computer, social media or my phone OR a clock or watch for that long?

Most of you know I'm ALWAYS on my phone, talking about mobile services, texting, checking emails -- it's my business.  You know I'm always on social media -- it's my mission to bring light to the world.   And, probably most importantly, is my watch -- that provides my ability to be on-time for this and that --  for when I get up, when I'm at my next meeting, when I eat, when I go to bed.   But, this weekend -- it was all about ESSENTIALS -- essentials like meeting with other women, meeting with God,  and giving devotion and 100% focus on Him.   And it was exactly what I needed.

There are no adequate words to describe the refreshing I received just from cutting lose of the chains that held me captive......and I didn't even realize it.  My heart is full to overflowing of the awe and wonder and absolute life-transformation that took place in me and the others.  Indeed, the acronym for ACTS: adoration, community, theology and service -- all became so tangibly real to me by beautiful women who welcomed us into a place of all-out abandonment from distractions for full-on pursuing of intimate time with God.

Now that I'm back home -- unpacking and getting reaquainted with business-as- usual, routines, expectations from others, dealing with life and all the stuff that life brings, I still will draw from the peaceful waters of peace, reflection, simplicity of listening to His still small voice even in the noisy chaos of this busy world.  I know I'll find Him there -- because it's not about the noise or the lack of it -- it's about Him and me -- finding a moment here and a moment there to continue whispering sweet words into each other's ears -- recognizing Him in the wind, the snow, the savory smells in the air and in a warm home, in the bustling of little children running around, in the smile and touch of a friend.  I will still find a place to BE STILL and KNOW HE IS GOD.