I came across this excerpt of an article by Adrian Rogers and thought I'd share it:
"Do you have difficulty with bitterness, selfishness, self-pity, negativism, or pride? An attitude of gratitude can change those things and literally transform your life.
"There are four levels of living. People in the lowest level constantly complain. These folks are always griping and complaining. Rather than being humbly grateful, they're grumbly hateful.
"The second level is just a tad higher. These are not people who are constantly complaining, they just never give thanks for anything. They take things for granted.
The third level is that person who thanks God for the obvious blessings, when things are going good and everything is fine.
"But the forth level, the highest level, is those who give thanks always for all things. This is the attitude that will change your life."
I want to have the 4th and highest level of gratitude, how 'bout you?
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
When Jesus Looks
This poem was read tonight at our VLB Service and it was such a blessing to me. It spoke to my heart and made me desire a deeper walk with the Lord. Holly Talley is our VLB leader and she does such an awesome job with her services. She talked tonight about "the apple of His eye" and brought out that if you look deep into someones eyes you can actually see your own reflection, except when there's not enough light and there are shadows. When there are shadows in our spiritual life the Lord is unable to see His own reflection when He looks into our eyes. It was a very stirring analogy.
When Jesus looks upon my life
What picture does He see?
Does He see His own reflection,
Or does He just see me?
Does He see His likeness,
The product of His hand;
And does He see a Christian
Willing to take a stand?
What about the other folks
I meet along the way;
Do I show them Jesus,
To brighten up their day?
When someone looks into my eyes
Can they truly see
That calm and gentle peace of God
That dwells inside of me?
When I reach out and shake a hand
Is He right there in my grip?
Can they feel the strength from God
That steadies if we slip?
When folks are in my presence,
Do they know His Spirit's there?
Can they see that He's the One
Who leads me everywhere?
When other people think of me,
What is on their mind?
Do they think of Jesus Christ
So gentle and kind?
I try to be like Jesus
Every single day;
Spreading love and kindness
All along my way.
And someday when I'm face to face
With the Lord who set me free,
Will He see His own reflection,
Or will He just see me?
When Jesus looks upon my life
What picture does He see?
Does He see His own reflection,
Or does He just see me?
Does He see His likeness,
The product of His hand;
And does He see a Christian
Willing to take a stand?
What about the other folks
I meet along the way;
Do I show them Jesus,
To brighten up their day?
When someone looks into my eyes
Can they truly see
That calm and gentle peace of God
That dwells inside of me?
When I reach out and shake a hand
Is He right there in my grip?
Can they feel the strength from God
That steadies if we slip?
When folks are in my presence,
Do they know His Spirit's there?
Can they see that He's the One
Who leads me everywhere?
When other people think of me,
What is on their mind?
Do they think of Jesus Christ
So gentle and kind?
I try to be like Jesus
Every single day;
Spreading love and kindness
All along my way.
And someday when I'm face to face
With the Lord who set me free,
Will He see His own reflection,
Or will He just see me?
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
Here's wishing everyone a safe and blessed Thanksgiving Day. Each one of us have so many blessings to thank God for. No matter our circumstances we all have been blessed with the opportunity to be saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost, thanks to the shed blood of Jesus Christ. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving" (Col. 4:2).
Friday, November 16, 2007
Ladies' Retreats
I was privileged to attend 2 Ladies' Retreats this month. The first one was in TN and was such a blessing! The theme was "The Beauty of Holiness." All of the classes and messages were inspiring and urged us to look inside for the true beauty of holiness. It's entirely possible to LOOK holy on the outside and not be holy on the inside, but if there's true holiness on the inside, the outside will reflect that truth. I try to examine myself each and every day as I meet with the Lord and pray Psalm 51:10 and Psalm 139:23,24. Each and every day I pray these scriptures. I always try to add in Psalm 141:3, for my protection and the protection of others. ;-) Anyway, back to Ladies' Retreat. The second Retreat was in Colorado. It's been 4 years since I've been able to attend a CO Retreat and I was SO HAPPY to be able to be back with familiar faces and surroundings. Although the Retreat was held at a new campground nobody had ever been to before, the Rocky Mountains were familiar and the Big Horn Sheep Canyon was certainly familiar. It brought tears to my eyes to be back "home." Home . . . I've had a lot of homes (I'm not talking about houses so much as "areas" where I've lived). I get nostalgic when I go to visit ANY of my former homes, and central Colorado is certainly no exception. I was especially blessed to be able to get together with some of my friends from Howard, CO where we lived for 9 years. There was a group of ladies I got together with once a week to just fellowship, have refreshments and sew together. It was called the "Knitting Club," but I don't know how to knit (yet) and most of the other women didn't actually knit either. We worked on whatever hand sewing we wanted to--quilting, cross-stitch, crochet, even mending. This group had been getting together for over 20 years. I was honored and privileged to be included in the group and we had a lot of sweet fellowship together. These ladies were from various different religious affiliations and I tried to be a witness of true Christianity and a spokesman for The Church of God. We had a special love for one another. It was so sweet that 8 of these ladies took time out of their schedules to meet together for about 4 hours on Friday afternoon before the CO Retreat which was held about 25 miles from Howard. One of the ladies drove me to the campground after our fellowship. As was the custom whenever we met for refreshments, they asked me to pray over the meal. I eked out a prayer through my tears of gratefulness for the Lord allowing me another session with these friends. God was so good to allow me that special time. --Hmmmm. I got sidetracked from the CO Retreat, didn't I? Sorry. The theme of this Retreat was "Rest in the Lord." It was SUCH a restful weekend! I really enjoyed getting to be a TAP Leader (Talk And Pray group). It's been a long time since I've had a TAP group. I had fun preparing for it and I thoroughly enjoyed our 3 sessions together. Sister Bishop was the Guest Speaker for both Retreats and she's ALWAYS such a blessing! I love her so much and thank God for providing me such a wonderful friend during this critical time of my life. God put the two of us together as she, too, is facing a critical time in her life. It's like God has groomed us for years and been saving this special relationship to bless us both with right now at this time. God is SOOOO GOOD! My daughter (in-law) was the Director and she did a marvelous job of preparing and directing the Retreat. It was fantastic to get to be with ALL of our kids and grandkids the day after Retreat. We enjoyed a day of fun, fellowship and laughter at Jon and Em's house in Denver. Again, God was SOOO GOOD to allow us that time and opportunity. And then God protected us on our way back home to Cleveland and spared us from a tornado that crossed the Interstate just minutes before we would have been through that area. There was a semi truck and some other vehicles that were damaged, but God spared us any damage or injury. Thanks be to God.
That's the end of the Fall Retreat season. There are more to come in the Spring and I've already been invited to 2. I LOVE Ladies' Retreats! I'm hoping I can make it to both of them.
Meanwhile, I give thanks and praise to God for His marvelous love, mercy and faithfulness. I know I'm not worthy of all He's done for me, but I'm SOOOOO grateful and I want to live my life surrendered to Him and His perfect will, whatever that would be. I could never praise and thank God enough for all His blessings He's poured out on me.
That's the end of the Fall Retreat season. There are more to come in the Spring and I've already been invited to 2. I LOVE Ladies' Retreats! I'm hoping I can make it to both of them.
Meanwhile, I give thanks and praise to God for His marvelous love, mercy and faithfulness. I know I'm not worthy of all He's done for me, but I'm SOOOOO grateful and I want to live my life surrendered to Him and His perfect will, whatever that would be. I could never praise and thank God enough for all His blessings He's poured out on me.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Mommy Encouragement
This poem was in one of my Christian Woman magazines and I thought it would be an encouragement to the mommies of small children out there. Both of my girls are better mommies to their little ones than I was. I'm so thankful for that. I wish somebody had encouraged me to involve my little ones more. Maybe they did and I didn't listen. I know my husband often tried to get me to let the children do more chores when they were little, but I was too much of a perfectionist and too impatient. I was BAD! I wish I could have made myself chill out and RELAX and let the kids be more hands-on. If I had it to do over again . . .
Building Bridges
by Darlene Miller
As I was washing dishes, oh! my hands were moving fast,
And still upon occasion a dish came flying past.
For there beside me, to my left, a little lad of three
Was standing on a kitchen chair, so gladly "helping" me!
He filled my sink much faster than my hands could get things clean.
A child with more ambition I don't think I've ever seen!
And on my right...another chair...another lad of three
(A twin to brother on the left, most folks can plainly see).
He too was helping joyfully, a smile upon his face,
While for each cup or bowl he rinsed, somehow he found a place.
They looked a bit haphazard, all those dishes left to dry,
And it seemed inefficient when observed by well-trained eye.
Two little boys were soaking wet when we at last were through,
I could have done a better job all by myself, it's true.
Yet I feel so rewarded, though my dishes may not shine,
For we were building bridges from their little hearts to mine!
Building Bridges
by Darlene Miller
As I was washing dishes, oh! my hands were moving fast,
And still upon occasion a dish came flying past.
For there beside me, to my left, a little lad of three
Was standing on a kitchen chair, so gladly "helping" me!
He filled my sink much faster than my hands could get things clean.
A child with more ambition I don't think I've ever seen!
And on my right...another chair...another lad of three
(A twin to brother on the left, most folks can plainly see).
He too was helping joyfully, a smile upon his face,
While for each cup or bowl he rinsed, somehow he found a place.
They looked a bit haphazard, all those dishes left to dry,
And it seemed inefficient when observed by well-trained eye.
Two little boys were soaking wet when we at last were through,
I could have done a better job all by myself, it's true.
Yet I feel so rewarded, though my dishes may not shine,
For we were building bridges from their little hearts to mine!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
We've Topped 1,000!
I told myself I’d post a new entry when my profile views topped 1000. Well, it’s time! I can hardly believe there have been 1000+ views in the time my blog has been up. What’s it been? A little over a year? Whatever the case, it’s certainly time for an update.
We’re all settled in our new home in Cleveland. It’s been a really HOT summer. We’ve had a lot less rain than normal, so we hear. And I would believe it, judging by the water level in the pond out front. But the past 3 or 4 weeks we’ve got some good rains. The past couple of days we’ve had some serious rain/thunder storms. I’ve had to close down the computer and quit working on the WMB Cookbook every afternoon this week. Ah, yes, the WMB Cookbook. Boy, has that turned into a chore! I don’t know if it’s been all that much work or if I’m just taking it hard. I do know that it’s taking a lot more time than I originally anticipated. But the Assembly is fast approaching and I’ve got to rush to get it done so we can have it available for purchase. Sister Bishop is counting on me. –Which brings me to the next subject, the General Assembly. There’s much anticipation for this upcoming event. As Brother Smith and I have traveled to State Conventions and Camps we’re detecting a lot of excitement over this year’s Assembly. Everywhere we go the people are looking forward to it and already sending up lots of prayers for God’s will to be done. That’s all that any of us desire—God’s will. We are often assured that folks are remembering to pray that God will give Brother Smith a heart after God’s heart. We appreciate the prayers so much! The harder the devil fights, the more grace God gives to withstand the darts. We’re determined to keep the armor of God in tact—our loins girt about with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, wearing gospel-of-peace shoes, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit and above all, the shield of faith. This past year has been quite a journey of faith. When I think about what all was happening in our lives a year ago today—the horrible fear that accompanied the possibility of our lives being completely torn to pieces and the uncertainty of our future—and I see how the Lord has delivered us from the raging threats and terrorism, I’m overwhelmed with gratefulness for the Lord’s protecting hand. We determined to trust in the Lord to be our Deliverer, our Attorney, our Defense and our Legal Counsel and He didn’t let us down. We’ve had daily counseling sessions with the Lord throughout the year and He’s never led us wrong. If we listen to Him, He guides us safely along the path. There have been repeated attacks from the enemy along the way but the armor of God has protected us. We’ve surrendered our will to the Lord over and over again and given Him our hurts to heal, and asked Him to see that no root of bitterness is left inside our hearts where only He can see. We pray for those who despise us and wish us harm and ask the Lord to deliver them. God has been SOOOO faithful! We know we’re not worthy to fill the position we’re in and don’t understand why we’re here, but one thing’s for sure—the Lord completely convinced me on Sunday of last year’s Assembly that this is God’s will. Nobody can convince me otherwise. I may not understand it, nobody else may understand it, but I KNOW this is God’s will and He performed miracles in order to cause it to happen. Since I KNOW this is God’s will for our lives, I’m endeavoring to cheerfully bloom where I’m planted. We didn’t get here by mistake. God put a lot of work into this, and I want to give my very best effort back to Him. I want to daily surrender my will, my pride, my passion, my wants and desires, my ALL to Him and to serve The Church of God. Here am I, Lord, use me.
We’re all settled in our new home in Cleveland. It’s been a really HOT summer. We’ve had a lot less rain than normal, so we hear. And I would believe it, judging by the water level in the pond out front. But the past 3 or 4 weeks we’ve got some good rains. The past couple of days we’ve had some serious rain/thunder storms. I’ve had to close down the computer and quit working on the WMB Cookbook every afternoon this week. Ah, yes, the WMB Cookbook. Boy, has that turned into a chore! I don’t know if it’s been all that much work or if I’m just taking it hard. I do know that it’s taking a lot more time than I originally anticipated. But the Assembly is fast approaching and I’ve got to rush to get it done so we can have it available for purchase. Sister Bishop is counting on me. –Which brings me to the next subject, the General Assembly. There’s much anticipation for this upcoming event. As Brother Smith and I have traveled to State Conventions and Camps we’re detecting a lot of excitement over this year’s Assembly. Everywhere we go the people are looking forward to it and already sending up lots of prayers for God’s will to be done. That’s all that any of us desire—God’s will. We are often assured that folks are remembering to pray that God will give Brother Smith a heart after God’s heart. We appreciate the prayers so much! The harder the devil fights, the more grace God gives to withstand the darts. We’re determined to keep the armor of God in tact—our loins girt about with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, wearing gospel-of-peace shoes, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit and above all, the shield of faith. This past year has been quite a journey of faith. When I think about what all was happening in our lives a year ago today—the horrible fear that accompanied the possibility of our lives being completely torn to pieces and the uncertainty of our future—and I see how the Lord has delivered us from the raging threats and terrorism, I’m overwhelmed with gratefulness for the Lord’s protecting hand. We determined to trust in the Lord to be our Deliverer, our Attorney, our Defense and our Legal Counsel and He didn’t let us down. We’ve had daily counseling sessions with the Lord throughout the year and He’s never led us wrong. If we listen to Him, He guides us safely along the path. There have been repeated attacks from the enemy along the way but the armor of God has protected us. We’ve surrendered our will to the Lord over and over again and given Him our hurts to heal, and asked Him to see that no root of bitterness is left inside our hearts where only He can see. We pray for those who despise us and wish us harm and ask the Lord to deliver them. God has been SOOOO faithful! We know we’re not worthy to fill the position we’re in and don’t understand why we’re here, but one thing’s for sure—the Lord completely convinced me on Sunday of last year’s Assembly that this is God’s will. Nobody can convince me otherwise. I may not understand it, nobody else may understand it, but I KNOW this is God’s will and He performed miracles in order to cause it to happen. Since I KNOW this is God’s will for our lives, I’m endeavoring to cheerfully bloom where I’m planted. We didn’t get here by mistake. God put a lot of work into this, and I want to give my very best effort back to Him. I want to daily surrender my will, my pride, my passion, my wants and desires, my ALL to Him and to serve The Church of God. Here am I, Lord, use me.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
854 views!
I can hardly believe it! 854 profile views on my blog. It's probably the same 4 or 5 people looking around, seeing if I've posted anything new or not. The answer most often is, NOT!
It's late April now. We're all moved in our new house in Cleveland. All the boxes are unpacked. I haven't done any painting or wallpapering yet. From the looks of our upcoming schedule I won't be doing much, if any, of that until either late summer or fall. Maybe winter?
God has been SO GOOD to us and we're humbly grateful for His hand of protection and provision. I've been so blessed to have attended 5 Ladies' Retreats since the Assembly. Each one was wonderful and I was enriched by attending. Sister Bishop and I have become quite a team and has been with me at each Retreat. She's got a great sense of humor and we always laugh a LOT, all the while enjoying the wonderful blessings of the Lord. How great is that? Meanwhile, my husband has traveled to Mexico twice for Conventions, as well as to Honduras and Argentina to teach in the BTI-sponsored LPD classes. He brought back lots of great pictures and testimonies of the moving of the Holy Ghost during the classes and services. That man of mine who HATES to fly has done quite a lot of it this year. :)
Once again I want to thank those of you who are praying for us and for The Church of God. I've never been more thankful for the precious Word of God than I have in the past year. It truly has been the LIVING WORD and my faithful Guide. Just today I was checking out all the scriptures in the Bible that have the word "trust" in them. What a blessing it was! In closing I'll leave you with the very center verse of the whole Bible. If we really lived our life with this firmly implanted in our hearts and minds we'd save ourselves a lot of heartache and sorrow: "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man" (Psa. 118:8).
It's late April now. We're all moved in our new house in Cleveland. All the boxes are unpacked. I haven't done any painting or wallpapering yet. From the looks of our upcoming schedule I won't be doing much, if any, of that until either late summer or fall. Maybe winter?
God has been SO GOOD to us and we're humbly grateful for His hand of protection and provision. I've been so blessed to have attended 5 Ladies' Retreats since the Assembly. Each one was wonderful and I was enriched by attending. Sister Bishop and I have become quite a team and has been with me at each Retreat. She's got a great sense of humor and we always laugh a LOT, all the while enjoying the wonderful blessings of the Lord. How great is that? Meanwhile, my husband has traveled to Mexico twice for Conventions, as well as to Honduras and Argentina to teach in the BTI-sponsored LPD classes. He brought back lots of great pictures and testimonies of the moving of the Holy Ghost during the classes and services. That man of mine who HATES to fly has done quite a lot of it this year. :)
Once again I want to thank those of you who are praying for us and for The Church of God. I've never been more thankful for the precious Word of God than I have in the past year. It truly has been the LIVING WORD and my faithful Guide. Just today I was checking out all the scriptures in the Bible that have the word "trust" in them. What a blessing it was! In closing I'll leave you with the very center verse of the whole Bible. If we really lived our life with this firmly implanted in our hearts and minds we'd save ourselves a lot of heartache and sorrow: "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man" (Psa. 118:8).
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Update
According to the number of views to my profile, there's been a lot of lookie-loo's visiting here. I know some are genuinely concerned about me, others are just curious and some are looking for ammunition. Whatever the case, for the sake of those who are concerned and praying for our welfare I'll give a quick update.
First of all, I send sincere thanks and gratitude to those of you out there who have been and continue to pray for my husband, me and our family. Without giving any credit to the enemy and his agents for the attacks they've waged against us, I give ALL CREDIT, praise, glory and honor to the Lord in heaven who has defended us and delivered us from evil. God has been so faithful and we continue to trust Him to be our Physician, Lawyer, Deliverer and King. It's my desire to be faithful till my dying day; indeed, till my very last breath.
We've sold our home in Virginia and have moved all of our belongings to the new place in Cleveland. At the time of this writing the furniture has been in Cleveland for 2 weeks, during which we have been away from home about half that time. Yet I have been able to get about 4 rooms completed and more than half of the boxes emptied. The house has got some great Hide-and-Seek places for the grandkids and we look forward to their visits as soon as possible. There's a pond in front of the house that Brother Smith caught something out of last week. I don't know what kind of fish it was. Being a westerner, I only know what it was not--a trout. I look forward to getting all unpacked and preparing for lots of houseguests. I'm already getting booked up for BTI and the Assembly. :-) I suppose that's the thing I will probably enjoy the most living in Cleveland--the opportunity to share hospitality with Church of God folks. As soon as I get the house in shape we have a list of people we want to have over for dinner to thank them for all their support and assistance during these past 8 months of upheaval in our lives. Right now it's such a relief to have the Virginia house finished and sold, and to have our travel trailer parked outside our Tennessee house. I don't feel so scattered now.
I'm so grateful to the Lord for what He's doing in TCOG and the sweet spirit that has moved in this last year. I've seen more love and compassion the past several months than I ever have in my lifetime of being in the Church. There's a growing desire amongst our people to surrender more and more to the Lord; to put aside self and our wants and desires and to please God whatever the cost. It will be worth it all someday soon. AMEN!
P.S. - Thanks, Danny, for your prayers. Turtle Lake seems like a few lifetimes ago!
First of all, I send sincere thanks and gratitude to those of you out there who have been and continue to pray for my husband, me and our family. Without giving any credit to the enemy and his agents for the attacks they've waged against us, I give ALL CREDIT, praise, glory and honor to the Lord in heaven who has defended us and delivered us from evil. God has been so faithful and we continue to trust Him to be our Physician, Lawyer, Deliverer and King. It's my desire to be faithful till my dying day; indeed, till my very last breath.
We've sold our home in Virginia and have moved all of our belongings to the new place in Cleveland. At the time of this writing the furniture has been in Cleveland for 2 weeks, during which we have been away from home about half that time. Yet I have been able to get about 4 rooms completed and more than half of the boxes emptied. The house has got some great Hide-and-Seek places for the grandkids and we look forward to their visits as soon as possible. There's a pond in front of the house that Brother Smith caught something out of last week. I don't know what kind of fish it was. Being a westerner, I only know what it was not--a trout. I look forward to getting all unpacked and preparing for lots of houseguests. I'm already getting booked up for BTI and the Assembly. :-) I suppose that's the thing I will probably enjoy the most living in Cleveland--the opportunity to share hospitality with Church of God folks. As soon as I get the house in shape we have a list of people we want to have over for dinner to thank them for all their support and assistance during these past 8 months of upheaval in our lives. Right now it's such a relief to have the Virginia house finished and sold, and to have our travel trailer parked outside our Tennessee house. I don't feel so scattered now.
I'm so grateful to the Lord for what He's doing in TCOG and the sweet spirit that has moved in this last year. I've seen more love and compassion the past several months than I ever have in my lifetime of being in the Church. There's a growing desire amongst our people to surrender more and more to the Lord; to put aside self and our wants and desires and to please God whatever the cost. It will be worth it all someday soon. AMEN!
P.S. - Thanks, Danny, for your prayers. Turtle Lake seems like a few lifetimes ago!
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