Connecting with Five Minute Friday’s linkup. Prompt “Extreme.”
I love Disney movies. I have fond memories of Jiminy Cricket in Pinnochio. I think the story is one of hope and wishing. This quote reminds me of the power in dreaming. The hope that is in one’s heart can come true. It doesn’t always, but it can. I dreamed of being married and being a mother one day…
That dream came true.
I so love being a mother and a wife. It is truly magical, memorable, and a space of gratitude for me continually. I know this role was destined for me by God. I know He planned out the people in this love story. He wanted my dream to come true. He listened to my heart’s desire for being a boy mom also. We have two amazing sons.
I wonder what are dreams of your heart that have come true or may come true?
Joining with the Five Minute Friday Community for “perform” this week…
We saw an amazing performance of Hamilton this past weekend. We had heard of, but we had never seen the show. It was a gift from our neighbors who couldn’t go. A last minute date day to the beautiful theatre downtown. It was magical! Truly the talent of these stage performers was incredible. They sang, they danced, and they look lit from within. They had a fire about them. This is God given. This is a gift they were sharing with us! I’m so thankful we had the opportunity to see the show that millions have watched and loved. Hamilton is a must see! Go to a live one if you’re able. Perhaps it can be a gift to someone you love?
Here’s a pic from the pre-show time that my husband and I shared with an adult beverage and gummy snacks! High class we know! It was fun!
What performance have you seen lately? Or, do YOU perform? I’d love to hear! Drop me a comment pretty please! And, have a beautiful weekend!
Our final testimony of our October retreat was from our Pastor’s wife. She shared her childhood and how VERY hard it was. She shared how her literal scars shaped the adult she became. She described her come to Jesus moment as a washing in front of Him and God the Father smiling on her at an altar call. She shared how her husband gave her a Jesus like love. A love that was unconditional despite her flaws.
God and Jesus love like that.
They love us despite of flaws. He heals are scars and accepts us just as we are. He cares about our past, present, and future days. Steph has found her calling as working with youth. Her own children and the children of the King that cross her path in churches and now at a theme park where she works. She knows that God is a part of it ALL.
“and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garmet of praise…” Isaiah 61:3
Dear God,
Bless our times with you. Give us the desire to walk down to the altars of our churches with the need for your unfailing grace. Let us feel the washing of your love and see the smile from your face when we gaze upon the cross. Thank you for always loving me. Thank you for smiling down upon me and my family. Give me a heart that seeks you day by day.
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!
Gay shared her message with us about her life in the church as a child and then the sad turn of events in her adulthood when divorce struck her family. She has had some highs and lows of life, but while she struggled she kept her faith in Him. She shared that God was always guiding her steps. Divorce, moving, career change into education, and ministries within the church have all shaped who she is. She has been involved in the Kairos Ministry with people in prisons. She shines God’s light onto these young people by the phrase: “Listen Listen, Love Love.” She has a big heart for the young men especially and offers them a retreat and mentoring. Gay is also a member of the Daughters of the King, an organization of women within the Episcopal Church who commit to daily prayer for people of our church and the greater heart of the ministry that God has for them in the church. They were the hosts of this women’s retreat! Gay’s third ministry of the church is that of Young at Heart. This is a group of the seniors of the church who gather to do monthly activities together that are fun! She had the idea, and she presented it to the priest at the time who endorsed it. It’s been a ministry of our church for years now. People love it, and people love her! She is a woman of love and light.
Her testimony got me thinking…
I would like to take more of an active role in our own youth ministry. I need to be a voice from a family with teens who wants more activities and study to be available for growing our children’s faith and future in the church body. I loved youth group in the Methodist Church growing up. It was big, and it was beautiful. I treasure the people I met there, and the mentoring that I received by church members was life changing. Mission trips, Bible study, and praise music stand out in my memory. I hope our youth ministry may develop into something our kids enjoy as well.
I want to continue leading Women’s Bible study in our home. It went really well this fall. I was so nervous no one would want to join, and it was a success with about 10 women filling the room on any given Tuesday night. We loved our time in God’s Word and listening to Jennie Allen share about Find(ing) Your People. I need to be bold in my faith and continue to offer the space for women to meet, pray, and share.
I also would like my husband and I to talk with Father Dave about Families of Resurrection to see if we could have more small group activities like camping on the church property, a progressive dinner, or Bible Study by families divided into those with similar aged children. We did a Homebuilders group in Georgia when we lived there, and it was very meaningful and developed our church friendships in new ways. The kids spent time together, and the adults as well over a meal and a Bible/book study. This is possible here in Florida too. We just have to be intentional in trying to start something like that again. Prayer time!
Gay and I had a nice chat after the women’s retreat about my possible role in Kairos Prison Ministry. I want to help. It is something I feel called to be a part of but not sure in what capacity. I am a busy working mom, but there is room to carve out time to pray for those in prison for sure. I’ll start there.
The scripture above shared “God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.” Gay had her moments that threw her down, but she did not break. She drew closer to the Potter and found healing and new purpose. She is a woman that I admire within our church, and I appreciated her sharing her story with our group this past Saturday. I will think of her often because she is now sharing her Jesus Calling daily text with me and numerous others.
What is God healing in your life?
What is He calling you to do within your church?
While you are down, do you realize that you are never broken but upheld?
Points to ponder this Friday. Cheers to the weekend readers!
Time to finish that lukewarm tea. May need to hit the microwave again! Have a wonderful weekend!
Hannah, a 20 something, told us about her life in the church. She grew up here. She was baptized, confirmed, and possibly will be married there. It is a home. It is a place of worship and praise through acting, singing, and dance. She is helping lead our youth group fellowship now. She is speaking her testimony. She is a woman of God. She is a light to all.
She shared that God’s plan for her to participate in our church included participation in many ministries. This is so very true and so cool. She also spent time on the home front in ministry to her mother, father, brother, and niece. She is a delightful young woman and saw God’s plan in looking back on a missed entrance into a university as a gift of time at home with her father who would die a few years after. She studied at the community college and was with her family during his years of medical struggles. She loved him well, and he loved her.
Our heavenly Father is so similar. He wants time with us at “home.” He wants to spend time with us. He wants us to bow at his feet. He wants us to read His Word. I was able to do a small dip into the history of the Bible this morning from my home office. I am starting to read a Chronological Bible that I purchased last month. It is thick, but it is GOOD! I’m excited to try to peer into the Bible days through the order that they occurred. The writers who wrote the text, and the patterns of God’s grace that are threaded through. A book from Our Father to us.
Hannah also shared a few “back pocket” sayings that she holds close…
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“God’s got a plan.”
“Let go and Let God.”
In her doubts of God’s plan she now looks upon the unfolding with peace. She accepts the death of her Father, and she knows Whom she serves. She is a light. She is a model of what we can be. She inspires me to pray about my own ministries within our parish. I hope that in seeking the Father, I will find my own path. I have been confirmed at this church now. I am an official Episcopalian. Along with my husband and sons we are grafted into this church. We are now to be branches from the Vine. I hope we all find a way to love others through the callings that are placed in front of us and call upon our hearts.
What is God calling you to do in your church? Or, if you don’t attend church, could you consider still falling at God’s feet to find your path? Maybe he will lead you to a church family. Find your people. Find HIM!
This past weekend we had a women’s retreat with our church. On Friday night we met for a social dinner at a member’s home. It was glorious to sit with a glass of wine, snacks, and sit on the back patio with women to laugh, listen, and love. It was so nice to get to know some of the women better and truly laugh until I cried tears of joy! I loved it.
Saturday we joined at the church for a morning of testimonies, discussion, journaling, lunch, and a communion/healing service. It was also nice, but much more serious than the prior night. I liked both. But, I needed the laughter. I needed to lift my spirits to the heavens with other women. Have you laughed out loud lately? Find your people to do so with!
Now,
Reflections on some of the testimonies that caused me to think…
Our Deacon Susie shared that 30 years was like 1,000 years in the eyes of us versus the eyes of God. Teaching was not her first choice as a youth, but teaching is what she did for years and still does as she leads our children’s sermons weekly at our church services. She taught religion and faith even in her elementary private school classroom. She entered the ministry formally later in life. Her reflections made me ponder my callings in life:
Motherhood
Speech Therapist/Teacher
Writer
Reader
Leader
Lover of Jesus
Walker
Yogi
Friend
Sister
Daughter
Survivor
God has shaped my life from child, to youth, to young adult, to middle age. Always loving me. He has always been at my right hand. “The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” Psalms 118:16
“Your right hand, LORD was majestic in power. Your right hand LORD shattered the enemy.” Exodus 15:6
“I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalms 63:8
“Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes.” Psalms 21:8
“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.” Psalms 73:23
“The LORD watches over you–the LORD is your shade at your right hand.” Psalms 121:5
I love the visual of God being at our right hand. I put puffy paint on a denim pillow with a Psalm as a high school senior and took that pillow to college with me. I don’t know what happened to the pillow, but I do hold the scripture image dear to my heart even now. What is your favorite scripture image? Please share!
“The rest of the People of Israel will set up their tents in companies, every man in his own camp under its own flag. But the Levites will set up camp around The Dwelling of The Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the community of Israel. The Levites are responsible for the security of The Dwelling of The Testimony.”
I had to Google the meaning of Testimony with a capital T in the Old Testament:
25:10-22 The ark was a chest, overlaid with gold, in which the two tables of the law were to be kept. These tables are called the testimony; God in them testified his will. This law was a testimony to the Israelites, to direct them in their duty, and would be a testimony against them, if they transgressed.
Inside the Ark, Chicago Tribune
So…Five Minutes on that word…
The Testimony was a treasure. It was well kept. Where do we keep the Bible these days? Do we treat it with respect and put it in a safe but visible place? We have several Bibles in our home. I have my two favorite ones on our coffee table presently so I can remember to read them! I have a Bible study in progress as well as doing a Hello Mornings 30 day challenge of reading Psalm 143:8 daily. It helps me to stay in the Word to see the Word and “treasure” it. The Testimony of Christ is in there as well as the original commandments from God the Father. I love reading both the Old and New Testaments. I feel like one is historical and fairy tale like…unbelievable but TRUE! And, the New Testament is the stories of Christ and His followers who share the Good News! Also seemingly unbelievable in part, but TRUE! How about you and your family? Do you have a favorite Bible; do you have one at all? I know some people read the Bible digitally on phones or through the words of blogs. I do that too. There are so many ways to find the Testimony. Join me today in viewing the Treasure!
Psalm 143:8New American Standard Bible
8 Let me hear Your faithfulness in the morning, For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.
Jennifer K Cook 