Living in the Peace Zone: worship

Showing posts with label worship. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

It's a Singer, Tension-Free Day!

Today, August 12th, 1951, the Singer Sewing Machine was patented. Issac Singer, a mechanic, cabinet maker and actor, devised a sewing machine that used a shuttle moving in a straight path to sew. His patented design was made of cast iron, with a placed spool of thread on an adjustable arm and used a friction pad to control thread tension. Singer used his abilities to exhibit and sell his machine.

I’m sure this bit of trivia doesn’t alter your day, but it did mine. It reminded me of the phone call from my sis-in-law, Karen, last week, telling me that she bought Mom (who will be 98 in October) a small Singer sewing machine (pictured here). It seems Mom was wanting to do a little sewing – taking up some pajamas that were too long and a top that was too big. Mom had no problem with threading the machine and sewing the stitches. When Mom moved from her home to live with Karen and George, she gave her Singer-in-a-cabinet to her granddaughter. Who knew that she’d want to sew again? I love it so much that Mom is still so clear-minded and just won’t quit.

I have a portable Singer machine that I keep handy for quick sewing projects. When I started making face masks recently, I noticed the “tension” was off – the top stitch was way too loose. I mentioned above that Issac Singer added the friction pad to control thread tension. I simply rethreaded it and the tension was perfect. I started thinking about the friction and tension that we have been dealing with – not just over the coronavirus, but for years now, with politics and disagreements. Our country needs something to control all the friction and tension.

Another word for friction and tension is stress. People are really stressed out and for good reasons if we simply focused on the doom, gloom and despair. But I found a stress reliever in my friction pad that I land on daily. You see, God, our great innovator, knew that we would encounter plenty of reasons to “lose it” – to get our "threads" all tangled up, bunched up and even slow down the progress. What does He do to help us “control the tension”? As Christians, how should we handle stress, because we all know that anything that distracts us from our relationship with God are the things that derail our relationship with Him. Here are some of His built-in ways that I've come to rely on for tension-free living:

✝️ Worship: Focusing on THE ONE Who helps us control our “thread” tension. Worshipping He Who is always worthy of all our praise, brings peace and calm and balances us out.

🙏 Pray: Praying through stress keeps us focusing on the Lord. It re-routes our primary attention from earthly issues to our Heavenly Father's promises.

🙋‍♀️ Ask for help: That’s what friends are for – it may be time to ask for help from our family or friends. Even a simple prayer request over a text message keeps us plugged in to people who care about us.

👥 Seek Community: The Body of Christ is meant to strengthen each other when we’re weak, help us in times of need, support us during difficulties, and celebrates God’s faithfulness with us.

📜 Read & Memorize Scripture: This is my life-saver! God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and pathway and the provider of every answer we need to life's stressors. Meditating on the truth of Scripture surely brings light and life to us.

The more we practice the presence of Jesus through intentional thoughts on Him and His peace, helps us to recalibrate for tension-free living -- remembering all the while that we serve a mighty, all-powerful God Who reigns over all our lives and promises to work all things for the good of those who love Him.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Because I Can – Because We Can

It was cold enough for gloves and warm jacket, but I went for an early morning long walk, with earbuds in my ears and praise and worship music kicked up in high gear. I was flailing my arms and high-stepping it. Why would I do that? Because I can.

I was listening to the song “Where the Spirit of the Lord is” and I couldn’t help myself. His Spirit lives in me. Wherever I am, He is. Why wouldn’t I get myself moving and dancing and going outdoors and celebrating life? Quite frankly, outdoors seems to be the closest place to be near Him. After all, everywhere we look – the skies, the trees, the birds, the sun – AND people walking by -- He is there – and I think to myself what a wonderful world!

Why wouldn’t I dance? What wouldn’t I walk or run or jog? Why wouldn’t I stretch out my arms to the heavens in praise and worship to my Lord? Why wouldn’t I – when there are others on ventilators and they can’t, who are confined in bed and they can’t, who are isolated in a prison cell and they can’t, who are in a third world country and they are too afraid leave their shelter, so they can’t.

Because YOU can. We have seen you. You’re the ones holding up signs and balloons out of car windows, honking your car horn to celebrate someone’s birthday – apart, but together in spirit! We have seen you. You are the one who stands on your porch or balcony and you sing or play an instrument to brighten the world. You are the family that gets all together outside an elderly parent’s nursing home window to cheer them up. We have seen you. You are the devoted followers of Christ who are not missing a beat of your time to worship and praise Him in online services from home. We have seen you. You are the ones collecting food for the those who lost their jobs and they need help. We have seen you. You are the ever-faithful medical, emergency, and essential services warriors that have been relentless in life better for us. We have seen you.

And, what you see here is a most precious gift from a dear friend who is so multi-talented and uses her gifts to bless others. Because she can. She’s not one that likes to be on stage or to be the grandiose out-loud-pray-er – but, oh, the blessing she is to many. Because she can. On Tuesday, with her son as her chauffeur and her dogs as her body guards – she brought me this lovely encouragement. She blessed me so much. She handcrafted and painted half of the heart with these words:
“2020 started strong and tall. Who’d have thought that we’d end up with social distancing for all?
For now, my heart is hurting and broken right in two,
So, here’s a piece for me and here’s a piece for you.
But when this crazy time is through,
And we won’t have to be apart,
We’ll get together, have some fun
And mend this broken heart.”

Precious brothers and sisters-in-Christ – get out and do something that you can do, explore and do more for each other AND lift your praises to God – BECAUSE YOU CAN!

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

The Marks of a True Worshipper

The Marks of a True Worshipper
What prompts a young man to love God so much that he relentlessly serves Him and hangs out in His House? These two photos are of my grandson, Payton Wallace: the first one, at age 15, and the second (now age 18) was Sunday when he was praying for a businessman at church. The back of his shirt explains it: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6.

Payton has a true heart of worship. He is an extraordinary young man who could care less what someone thinks about his extravagant love for God. He would rather hang out at the church with his fellow musicians and crew members (the guys that set up the stage, props, and tear down) than anything else. When I hear about all the negatives in this world, I only wish that more focus would be placed on kids like this who are making a difference in their generation.

So what's the big deal about this kind of praising and worshipping God -- people of all ages raising their hands while singing songs of praise? Among the reasons are to show surrender, submission, humility, dependence on God, adoration, to give their all to God. I love the parallel of the universal act of someone surrendering by putting their arms and hands in the air. Another visual is a child reaching up for his father to carry him. Both examples apply to us as we raise our hands in surrender and ask for our Father to carry us..

The Bible says that God looks at the heart us. (1 Samuel 16:7). I honestly don't think He cares if we are standing in place, arms at our side, or raising our hands and can't stand still. He doesn't care if we are worshipping with hymns or choruses. But, He DOES care if we are TRULY worshipping Him. In defense of raising hands in worship, there are many places in the Bible that speak of it: Nehemiah 8:6, Psalm 28:2, Psalm 134:2, Psalm 63:3-4, Psalm 88:9, Luke 24:50, and more.

God looks at OUR heart in worship, and most importantly, is that He has our hearts -- surrendered and tender toward the ONE Who gave His all for us. We will NEVER experience all that God has for us until we are able to TOTALLY surrender and love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, just as Jesus said in Mark 12:30 -- "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." True worship flows from our total love and devotion to God. We will never fully know our Lord until we are able to be a true worshipper that is not just for an hour, one day a week on Sunday. True worship is a lifestyle. Dear Lord, please help us show in our words and actions, our desire to love You and worship You with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Here We Are to WORSHIP

Here I Am to Worship

My word of the day is: WORSHIP -- the feeling or expression of reverence, adoration, exaltation, honor for God (the dictionary says for a diety, but in my case – the only ONE who deserves WORSHIP is our ONE TRUE GOD).

This morning my Christmas season is officially over as I return home from caring for my two youngest grandsons in Austin while their Mom and Dad have been celebrating their annual “anniversary honeymoon” trip that takes place after Christmas each year. I’ve savored these precious times with my boys, but now it’s back to God and me in my everyday of life.

I can’t resist – just one more post about those very wise, Wise Men. Last Sunday was the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord when they arrived at the Holy Family's home to WORSHIP the child-king. The final scriptures of the magi’s visit give us our basis for WORSHIP – my word for today. After they had WORSHIPPED the newborn King, “Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.” Matthew 2:12.

That verse has two great points: One, they had been WORSHIPPING the child-king and out of that intimacy, God spoke to them and revealed dangers up ahead. After all, King Herod’s plans were to kill all the little boys because he suspected one of them would take his throne. God looked out for the magi because they gave their best in WORSHIP to His Son.

What about us? When we go into that secret place with God and we honor Him by our WORSHIP, aren’t we being wise children, men and women of the Most High? God is no respecter of persons. Why wouldn’t He give us wisdom for our future and the dangers that could lie up ahead and why wouldn’t He instruct us to go another way instead of the way we had planned if our way proved to be dangerous, off course or even the longest route. Just think about the Hebrews wandering around in the desert for 40 years and in reality, it was only an 11-day trip (Dueteronomy 1:2) – had they stopped to spend more time WORSHIPPING than complaining?

The second point in Matthew 2:12 is the Wise Men did go a different way. What about the plans we make for ourselves – those goals, resolutions and plans? Proverbs 16:9 says “A man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” When we live a faith-filled life of trusting and WORSHIPING God, we can count on His wisdom and direction.

Psalm 37:23 says “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and He delights in his way.” If the Wise Men had a dream that sent them another direction, we can be confident that if our plans are altered, it will be for our good and in our best interest to take that different path. Just maybe our plans are not God’s plans, and if we are willing to be tweaked, then like the Wise Men, we, too, will be wise enough to listen and walk in the steps He lays out for us. Imagine the pitfalls, detours, side roads and other off track places God could keep us from, as we surrender to follow Him.

Like the Wise Men, may we WORSHIP our King of all Kings, and then listen for His voice. After all He knows shortcuts and secret passageways to get us to where we need to go -- safe and sound. After all, Father KNOWS best!

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Worship = Blessings

I can’t resist – one more post about the Wise Men. Last Sunday (the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord), Father Brian O’Brien who is the President of Bishop Kelly High School in Tulsa, gave a most beautiful explanation of the magi’s visit to the Holy Family. What stood out to me the most was his take on the final line of the scriptures of that story. After they had worshipped the newborn King, “Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.” Matthew 2:12.

That verse has two connotations. One, they had been worshipping the newborn King and out of that intimacy, God spoke to them and revealed dangers up ahead. After all, King Herod’s plans were to kill all the little boys because he suspected one of them would take his throne. God looked out for the magi because they gave their best in worship to His Son. What about us? How about when we go into that secret place with God and we honor Him by our worship, aren’t we being wise children of the Most High? God is no respecter of persons. Why wouldn’t He give us wisdom for our future and the dangers that could lie up ahead and why wouldn’t He instruct us to go another way instead of the way we had planned?

The 2nd connotation is the Wise Men did go a different way. What about us and the plans we made for ourselves – those goals, resolutions and plans? Proverbs 16:9 says “A man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” When we live a faith-filled life of trusting God, we can expect His wisdom and direction.

Psalm 37:23 says “ The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and He delights in his way.” If the Wise Men had a dream that sent them another direction, we can be confident that if our plans are altered, it will be for our good and in our best interest to take that different path. Just maybe our plans are not God’s plans, and if we are willing to be tweaked, then like the Wise Men, we, too, will be wise enough to listen and walk in the steps He lays out for us. Imagine the pitfalls, detours, side roads and other off track places God could keep us from, as we surrender to follow Him.

Like the Wise Men, may we worship our King of all Kings, and then listen for His voice. After all He knows short cuts and secret passageways to get us to where we need to go -- safe and sound. After all, Father KNOWS best!

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Celebrating Epiphany -- The Wise Men Showed Up to Worship

Epiphany, or the 12th day of Christmas, falls on January 6th (but celebrating on the closest Sunday -- today, the 8th) and it marks the official end to the wonderful season of Christmas. That’s why so many of us wait until after this day to take down our Christmas decorations. Epiphany means manifestation of God in His Son as human in Jesus Christ. It marks a visit to the baby Jesus by the Three Kings, or Wise Men.

Most manger scenes include those three wise men, but, in reality, the wise men didn't even actually appear until about two years after Christmas. Tradition has led us to assume many things about these men that the Bible doesn't tell us. For one, they're referred to as “kings,” which is probably not accurate. To call them wise is probably fair, as the mostly likely possibility is that these men were astrologers and the Bible doesn't give the number of men. All we know for sure is that they brought three gifts on their long journey from the East.

These men had seen a very unusual star that signaled to them the birth of divine royalty. So, like captains charting a course by the stars in the middle of the vast ocean, these men set off to “follow” the star. Their journey brought them to Judea. And assuming that the star indicated a birth in the house of the ruler, they went first to King Herod's home.“Where is the King of the Jews?” they asked Herod. That question was the beginning of Jesus’ troubles. Herod didn’t like the question, because he WAS the King of the Jews, and the fact that it was being asked by some foreigners who had journeyed from a distant country was even more troubling to the king. The thought that there was a rival to his throne was terribly disturbing for him.

So we get the sense that a plan began to form in Herod’s head. But first, he needed to know where this newborn King of the Jews was. Herod sent the men out to find the baby, then to report back where he was. So the men go, continuing to follow the star that had led them there to Judea. And sure enough, it led them right to the doorsteps of the home of Mary, Joseph and their child Jesus.
Reader’s Digest once posed the question “What if God had called 3 Wise Women instead of 3 Wise Men? If 3 women.....

1. They would have asked for directions to the stable instead of going to King Herod.
2. They would have arrived on time and helped deliver the baby.
3. They would have cleaned the stable and brought practical food for the family to eat – like a casserole.
4. And there would have been peace on earth!”
LOL!

Back to this intriguing story. Matthew 2:11 says that immediately upon entering the house, the wise men knew they were in the presence of the most wonderful king to ever been born. They fell to their knees to honor and worship Him, and they offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Not such practical gifts, like a casserole or diapers for a year, but most definitely...valuable gifts. A gold brick in today’s time is worth about $485,000 and in that day it would have probably been even more valuable. Those gifts probably sustained the Holy Family for many years to come. Now that's what I call "a baby shower"!

Those wise men brought gifts to Jesus, but Jesus gave them, and us, back so much more -- an even greater gift. He came here to this earth ON PURPOSE. He became one of us so that He could GIVE to us the gift of a “PAID IN FULL” bill. He gave us the gift of forgiveness and a pardon from ever having to pay for the mistakes we make. He gave His ALL!

All we have to do is receive and take the gift. And once we do, we won't be able to help ourselves -- we will want to give back to Him in worship with everything we are and everything we have. We honor and worship Him. When we experience His love, like the Wise Men, we MUST give and we MUST worship Him, not because we’re required or have to, but because we want to honor, adore and worship our KING of all KINGS!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Making Room for Him

These photo inspirations are from the beautiful Advent by Candlelight at St. Benedict's Church in Broken Arrow where I was so honored to speak at last night. Slowing down from our busy schedules and activities, to purposefully STOP the hustle and bustle to "nest" in God's presence most certainly gives us the perspective of what this Advent season is really all about.

Obviously, candles and their glowing lights are abundant at an Advent by Candlelight. Each table hostess adorns HER table with her own china and place settings, as well as the focal point of the table -- her specially designed centerpiece and trimmings. You can see the intricacy of the details with the sole purpose of pointing us to He Who is the reason for this beautiful season. And, if the tables aren't enough to take our breath away, the hostess serves lovely desserts and provides little gifts for her table guests. While we're treated like royalty, it really is all about our KING, but since we're His daughters.....of course we get the ROYAL treatment.

Sunday began the Advent season which refers to the four weeks before Christmas when we celebrate Christ's arrival to planet earth.
The word "advent" means a coming or arrival, especially of something or someone extremely important. It's when we reflect on God's promises and prophecies to His people. And, it's a time of preparing our hearts in anticipation of the special day when we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior. While enjoying the festivities -- sleigh bells, carols, chestnuts roasting, reindeer movies, parties, visits to see Santa, baking Christmas goodies, gift giving --pondering ADVENT, keeps us remembering that there is such greater reasons for this glorious season. It's about a better day, a better life, it's about HOPE.

My message to the ladies revolved around the Nativity scene. If we look closely at a Nativity scene, we'd see far more than the angels, shepherds, wise man. the animals, the manger, Joseph, Mary and the baby. We'd see and realize that the Nativity scene is an explosion of worship. The angels are worshipping from above, the wise men, with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrhh are bending low to worship, the shepherds are worshipping.

Advent is about worshipping He who is worthy of all worship and praise. Before His crown, there was a cross and before the cross was a manger and before the manger was a seed. He who left heaven's glory to come to earth was planted in Mary's womb as a seed. He came to you and me to prove His unfathomable and indescribable love to say "I understand you". A baby crying because his diapers are wet -- Jesus says "I understand. I was once a baby." The young child who is restless in church -- Jesus says, "I understand. I, too, knew what it was like to listen to my rabbi in Nazareth to go on and on." The teenager -- nobody understands teenagers -- but Jesus says, "I understand. I was a teenager." The young person who is faced daily with temptation and sin. Jesus says, "I understand. I was tempted in all points as you have been, yet I did not sin." The one who feels rejected, unloved, lied about -- Jesus says, "I understand. I was rejected and despised by men. And what could we possibly do to show our gratitude? We, too, can be worshippers of THE ONE, who is altogether worthy of our greatest praise and worship. Joy to the world. The Lord is come. Let EVERY HEART PREPARE HIM ROOM....and heaven and nature sing....and you and I sing.

I pray that we become true worshippers during this Advent season and beyond -- that we come to realize that HE UNDERSTANDS us because He became one of us.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

What Symbols Do You Hold Dear?

When I was twelve, my boyfriend (who eventually became my husband) and I went on our first official (chaperoned) date. On my 13th birthday, he bought this pictured gold bracelet and charm for me with his savings. I still have that bracelet and charm. It has always been a SYMBOL of when we met and had our first date and the sweet love we shared for so many years.

We are surrounded by signs and symbols in everyday life. We make decisions based on them -- traffic signs, for example. How about that coin on the sidewalk that reminds us “In God We Trust”?

There is no symbol more dear to Christians than the cross of Christ. At one time, crosses represented only torture until death. Now, the cross is a symbol of Jesus' conquering death and His resurrection.

Do I worship my bracelet or do I worship the cross I wear? Oh, no! My bracelet AND my cross are sweet reminders. Another symbol that we see is the Ichthys which is the Greek word for fish. Early Christians made an acrostic of it which means “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” The fish has plenty of references in the Bible, (for example, Jesus fed the 5,000 with 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread and Jesus told His disciples to be Fishers of Men).

In the early church, the fish didn’t attract too much attention or suspicion (unlike the cross) so it was a perfect secret symbol for persecuted believers. When threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, Christians used the fish mark in meeting places to distinguish friends from foes. According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian would draw one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company and safe to admit they were Christians. Now you know the back story to the fish symbol we see used so often today. Thank God we are free to express our faith, unlike those in countries and places today, where they still must resort to secret signs & symbols.

My friend’s home front door has always appealed to me because the first time I saw it, I saw the Ichthys – the fish sign in it. Some would see it as a unique and beautiful front door, which it is. I loved that door and how ironic that now I’m staying at that friend’s home.

When my friend asked that I oversee the painting of that door while she’s away (it faces West so the stain had faded from the sun beating upon it), I was delighted that I was able to call my good friend John Krzych to do the job. It was like me, symbolically, drawing the arc in the sand and John completed it. That door will be symbolic to me in another way now – it will remind me of a good friend who is a professional, thorough and excellent painter. BTW – if you need a good painter in the Tulsa area, call John!

What symbols are reminders to you of significant events, precious memories and even keep you in closer touch with God? Do you wear a wedding band? Does it represent the the sacred marriage covenant you made before God with your spouse? Is your Bible just a book of stories on your coffee table, or are you reminded of God’s Word to His people that is a road map to success and victorious living if we apply its principles?

Symbols – reminders. What symbols do you hold near and dear to YOUR heart?

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Seed Time and Harvest

#TBT This is the Master's Four Quartet in the early 70s. Check out those "matching" dresses on the girls and the matching suits, ties and shirts on the guys. And how about that trendy "bee hive" that I wore. Those curls you put on top of your head were the "in thing" back then, and today I look at that photo and think "What was I thinking?" LOL!

That's my husband, Ron on the right, his sister, Karen, great friend - Jim Haake, and ME! Oh what a time we had. How well I remember the long hours of rehearsals, Karen and I being two silly girls that found so many reasons to laugh hysterically and my sweet husband trying so desperately to be patient with us, while guiding, directing, orchestrating the music, playing the piano and creating songs of praise that sincerely blessed the many churches, youth conferences and events around the country. The four of us travelled in a Winnebago with our two little kids. I really think those experiences of meeting so many people on the road contributed to their outgoing personalities today.

Though we never hit the "big time" like so many gospel quartets did back then, I wouldn't take for those years when we got to share our lives and hearts, sharing the "Good News" in music.

Our repertoire included songs by Bill Gaither, Andrae Crouch and Dottie Rambo -- music that continues to touch so many today. Those old songs aren't sung much anymore as more contemporary music is heard and sung today and is most certainly impacting this generation, but it's still so sweet to reminisce and remember those 4-part harmony songs that had great lyrics and we got to live our own faith journey in song.

We planted a lot of seeds back in those days. And, I like to think that just perhaps....we were cultivating the soil for those seeds that are producing such a great harvest as I see a new generation of Christian young people turned on to God, living for Him and giving all they've got in authentic praise and worship to Him. Seed Time.....and Harvest!

Friday, December 26, 2014

They Gave....Then Bowed Down and Worshipped Him

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him."

The Magi (Wise Men) worshipped -- and brought very costly gifts to the newborn King. The gifts were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Not such practical gifts, but most definitely...valuable gifts.

A gold brick in today’s time is worth about $485,000. In the time of Christ, it would have probably been even more valuable. The spices (frankincense and myrrh) were also very valuable, and costly. Those gifts probably sustained the Holy Family for many years to come.

Love gives. "For God SO LOVED the world that He GAVE His only Son...." John 3:16. That's what God does. He gives. When we love, we give. We just can't help ourselves. He demonstrated His love. We demonstrate our love.

Oh, how I loved GIVING to my children and, especially, my grandchildren, this Christmas. Watching their faces light up with anticipation of what was inside that wrapping, was my delight. And seeing their sweet beaming faces as I opened my gifts from them.

And, isn't that joyful nature of giving and receiving straight from God's heart? A group of wise men once travelled far and long (two years) to give young Jesus some gifts.
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But Jesus gave them, and us, back so much more -- an even greater gift. He came here to this earth ON PURPOSE -- to give to us the gift of a clean slate before God. He gave us the gift of forgiveness and a pardon from ever having to pay for the mistakes we make.

All we have to do is receive and take the gift. And once we do, we won't be able to help ourselves -- we will want to give back to Him in worship with everything we are and everything we have. We honor Him and worship Him. When we experience His love, like the Maji,we MUST give and we MUST worship Him.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Wedding Memories Passed On

Awww -- more memories made last night! Payton and Lexi had never seen their Mom & Dad's Wedding Video. It was such a special celebration as Larry & Staci showed it to them. I'm so thrilled I could be a part of this treasured time. On the video (after they were married), Staci & Larry went to a recording studio and taped their purity story. Their "look" in 1997 made Alexia & Payton laugh so hard. That's the first photo here. Alexia with her usual style of quick comic relief, named her mom "Hair Girl" and her dad, "Suspenders Boy" -- LOL!

The next part of the video is the actual wedding. Of course, watching the wedding that began with beautiful worship music and singing, gave us such a sweet time of thanksgiving. Seeing precious people, like Larry's Mom, his grandparents, my Ron and his Dad, my Mom, sister and brother in law, and Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty in the video, are all, now Larry & Staci's cheerleaders from heaven's grandstands, brought tears to our eyes.

So many memories and miracles that occurred on that day -- February 7, 1997 -- winter wonderland on the inside, and snowing outside in Tulsa, OK. As they kissed at the end and walked out to Steven Curtis Chapman singing, "Great Adventure", Alexia exclaimed, "When I get married, I want to drive off in my Shelby Cobra with cans flopping behind us and a sign that said, 'Just Married' -- ended our celebration with joy and laughter once again. #SuchIsLifeWithLexi

Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Donkey -- Jesus' Limo

Happy Palm Sunday! Today, we celebrate our Lord's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem where He was welcomed by crowds praising and worshipping Him and laying down palm leaves to honor Him. The palms, the "hosanas", the worship and praise is typically our focus today.

But, I'd like to add some focus to the donkey -- he was Jesus' special "ride" into Jerusalem. That little donkey did what he could do. His greatest calling in life was to answer the invitation of the Master when He called, “I have need of him!” He was a “limo” for the King. He was only a donkey, but he did what he could do!

Isn’t that the way our “love” service should be for Him. When He says, “I have need of you”, our greatest response should be, “Here I am Lord, send me! I will do what I can do!” So I'll start with what I can do today -- praising, worshipping and declaring "Hosanna in the Highest -- all praise, honor and glory be to You, Lord Jesus Christ!"

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