Giving Thanks

Another post out into the ether. Today I was invited to a friend's house for Thanksgiving. Thank God there were no Edgar Cayce advocates there, like last year. Halleluiah! Almost all Christians. The food was good, the conversation was enlightening and I felt very grateful to be there. I'm getting better about holidays. They don't suck as much as they used to in the early grieving days, but still a little hard to have no nuclear family in November and December--holiday months.
I try to keep my eyes on the prize of my calling in Jesus most of the time. It focuses me away from the pain and gives me a sense of doing something of value. Like tomorrow, when I go to the jail again and do a lesson on 1 John 3 and 4. That will be cool! No matter how it turns out, I love going over the Word with the ladies.

I Almost Cut My Hair

Well,not really, but that's after an old 70's song about loving yourself and being comfortable in your own skin. When my financial situation looked bleak and I took internally some sad things going on with my friends (which I should always turn over to the Lord, but don't)I was bummed yesterday. Walking always helps, so I took a walk in the beautiful day. I prayed, took some time in the Word, and asked the Lord to put me in a better mood today. Which I am. I rethought the financial thing and it will work out one way or another. About taking on sadness, I have enough of my own to take somebody else's, so I just prayed for them. That works.
Speaking of prayer, a weird thing--we are praying for Shirley Dobson because some "freedom" group is suing her for asking the President to join her in a National Day of Prayer! Has this country gone to the dogs, or what? We all need to pray and need prayer ourselves. They'll find out.

Confusion Denied

Went to jail again. 16 ladies turned out! One was a Muslim, who acted like she wasn't listening, but she was. Denise, with the power of spiritual discernment, at the end when we were going to close in prayer, said,"Who has confusion here?" Then the ladies started to tell on each other, how they were offended. Some asked for forgiveness,and when Denise prayed the closing prayer, the Spirit moved. We gave out Teacher Bibles (different helps in them) and Denise had one regular Bible left, gave it to the Muslim girl. I asked if I could hug her the girl. She took a hug.

Love was there in that rec area! The ladies are going to pray silently as a group at 8:00 each morning. The new convert was the first to get a new Bible. And I ran out of HW sheets! How cool that is!

Voting Day

Today I went and handed out fliers at the polls. You know, those sheets of paper you throw away as soon as you get into the voting place. I made some new friends and enjoyed a beautiful fall day.
It feels good to get involved with the electoral process, but it doesn't compare to the lady we led to the Lord in jail Friday. Night and day. I am so excited about seeing growth in the ladies in jail and sending them out when they are released to make new lives. I love expositing the Word of God and teaching where it really counts. I'm not a preacher, but just quietly explain the Word and they explain it to me, too. What a reward!

Praise Ye the Lord!

I decided to include a hymn/poem I wrote years ago in today's post. Here it is:

Without the Camp
Before in time, the bulls were brought
For sin,
Their blood was sprinkled where the debt
Had been.
Their bodies, burned without the camp,
Became consuming fire
To reconcile a holy God
And bring His heart's desire.

Then Jesus came, and on the cross
His blood
Was sprinkled freely, offered for
Our good,
His body, pierced without the camp,
Became our sacrifice
To reconcile a holy God
Who broke His heart for us.

Now let us go without the camp
To Him
Whose blood became a holy flame
Within.
It cleansed away all sin from us
And burned away the dross
To make us like a holy God
Who met us at the cross.
(Lev.4:21;Heb.1:13)

Just Left My Church

Just left my church. It was a hard thing to do, had to say goodbye last night to old friends and some new friends. But I had been praying for several months what to do. The Lord confirmed yesterday that "greater things than this" would be done so I'm waiting to see how He will use me in a different place. Right before Sherri died, I received that scripture, so I know greater things will happen. The Lord was so sweet to let me know that my letter to someone held a scripture that confirmed to her the plan the Lord had for her. The Holy Spirit is awesome! I got chill bumps when she told me about it.
We're all still the Body of Christ, no matter where we are physically and we'll see one another in heaven in the end. Halleluiah!

Friends

The value of friendship is often lost in the day-to-day shuffle. We run, run, run trying to get ahead, just juggle job and family, submersed in the mundane. Then we say, "I wonder what happened to so-and-so, a friend I used to have."
The thing is--you have to cultivate friendships to keep them alive. You think that your favorite person will be waiting for you after you are done with everything else, but it isn't so. When you finally get to a conversation, there is none of the dailyness you used to have. You're not up to speed on their current loves, problems, illnesses or political passions. You try to talk about what used to matter to the two of you, but the conversation falls flat.
Now there are some people so dear to you and close in spirit that you can pick up where you left off after years as if it were days, but those people are very rare.
So I remind myself, as I remind you, water your friendships with attention and they will keep blooming.
Now, excuse me, I have to go call an old friend.