Coffee, Tea and Thee

March - Repentance

2012-03-02T11:00:00.000-06:00

We are in the season of Lent. Lent comes from the Latin word, Quaresma, meaning 'forty'. There are quite a few time periods of forty in the Bible: the duration of the flood rains for forty days and forty nights in Genesis; Moses' forty days on the mountain with God in Exodus; forty years spend in the wilderness; the forty day journey of Elijah as he fled Jezebel; Jonah's forty day preaching in Ninevah; and our Lord's forty days of temptation before He began His ministry. One other I just heard recently - forty hours Jesus spent in the tomb. It is not in the Bible but it is traditionally thought.

Many Christians celebrate Lent - the forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Celebrate may not be the right word... or maybe it is. During the season of Lent, Christians are to examine their hearts and turn to God in humility and repentance. Some give up something during Lent to mark Christ's full surrender of Himself on the cross. Others add something to their lives such as a time of fasting each week or a specific prayer and study. The goal overall is to approach the cross each year with submission, a clean heart, deeper love for Christ, and hope.

Repentance is not just asking for forgiveness. It is a deep desire of the heart to return to God and an action that accompanies the desire of the heart. Peter said, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
Jesus spoke consistently of repentance to John in Revelation. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Revelation 3: 3, 19

It is not too late to begin your celebration of Lent. I anticipate many blessings to follow.

Lorraine Christie's Workshop

2012-02-27T15:00:00.002-06:00

I told you I needed to be stretched. Well, I was. It was the hardest worshop I've ever attended; but good. Intense. Lorraine did a demo each morning for about two hours, then we took a break for lunch and came back to paint all afternoon. Her palette and style is so unique, that in itself was a stretch. My brain is tired and I have lots to process.

Here is the progression of her demo painting:
just getting started - she tones her canvas with orange
her very limited palette
getting in the background and blending it all together
boxing in a few figures and yes, she uses jet black
working on the lamp post
pulling together or 'marrying' the foreground
putting in the last figure and almost finished - isn't she incredible!
This is a previous painting of Lorraine's which Nancy and I used as our guide
Nancy's...
mine... obviously a long way to go
I will hang it in my studio and just live with it for awhile. Nancy and I both made quite a few notes of what to do to finish, along with Lorraine's suggestions. She was most kind. When we both finish, I will post a before and after.

Knock me out... Lorraine Christie

2012-02-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Lorraine Christie knocks me out. Her style, her colors, her freedom, her apparent joy. I've heard that when she is in love her paintings come alive!

I have the wonderful privilege of traveling to Atlanta to attend her 2-day oil painting workshop. The icing on the cake is that I will be spending the long weekend with my fellow artist and most fun college roommate. I am so excited!

I so need to take it all in. And more. Although I now have a painting and writing studio, I do not have a style, or a palette, or anything really I can call my own. I am putting quite a bit of stock in this workshop to push me to a new place - a place I so want to be. And need to be.

I hope Miss Lorraine is in love!

Baby Teresa

2012-02-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

Isn't she a darling!

In keeping with our ongoing blog education regarding the many companies worldwide which are supporting the underserved, Baby Teresa was named in a Top Ten web list. Baby Teresa gives you an opportunity to Buy Once, Share Twice. When you purchase a Baby Teresa onesie, the baby you purchase it for gets a gorgeous outfit and so does another baby, one you don't know, but one in need. That other baby could be anywhere in the world from an orphanage in Vietnam, a small village in Africa or a family in need in Australia. Baby Teresa allows you to feel twice as good about the one gift.

In this day and age, dollars can be scarce, but the desire to make a greater impact on the world around us is as strong as ever. Launched in September, 2009 Baby Teresa’s first charitable all-in-one baby outfit donations were completed in the founder’s home state of Tasmania to benevolent organizations assisting mother’s with newborns in need. From there, the donations have continued to Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, the Philippines, Jordan and more with Sammie and Kirsty’s goal being to clothe a baby in every country in the world!

The 100% cotton baby outfits come in either a long ($34.95) or short ($29.95) version. Although they are in Australia, postage is just $5.00 and they ship all over the world. The color combos are precious. Shop Baby Teresa!

In Times of Grief

2012-02-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

Are you always wondering what would be the really good thing to give someone who is grieving? Me too. From experience in the getting and in the giving, I have to say that a book is right at the top of my list. Why? Because there is something comforting about having a good book on your bedside table to look forward to come nightfall... or in the case of grief, whenever you find yourself inching toward the bed. Over the years I have come up with my favorites to read, re-read, and give. Thought you might like this list for yourself...

This tiny little book explains the stages of grief and every page is filled with life building facts. A must!

The classic of all classics. C. S. Lewis delves into his own grief after the death of his beloved wife, Joy.
Since this book helps me on a daily basis, along with many friends and family members, I am confident that Sarah Young's words of wisdom will deliver the balm of Gilead to the hurting.
A favorite devotional. Ken Gire is masterful at making you feel as if you are walking right beside Jesus. Also monumental leading up to Easter.

An unlikely choice, but my most favorite grief book of all. Joan Didion gives the most honest assessment of her first year of grief after the shocking death of her husband. This books makes you feel as if you are not crazy after all - someone else has felt the exact same way!

I have not actually read this book, but have given it several times. Each time I've been told that Dr. Wright has written a book that is read and re-read and brings healing and hope.

I hope these help you, sweet friends, as they have helped me.

FEED Project

2012-02-15T12:59:00.000-06:00

Doesn't everyone need a feed sack? One of my absolute favorite shopping experiences is visiting the Feed Store at the Feed Project. I have one of their burlap bags and I'm hooked. The burlap gets softer and softer with use and holds just about everything. These Feed sacks can be used as purses, totes, picnic baskets, book bags, or, if you really want to know the truth, they look good just hanging on a wall.

FEED Projects' mission is to create good products that help FEED the world. They do this through the sale of FEED bags, bears, t-shirts, and other accessories by building a set donation into the cost of each product. Thus the impact of each product, signified by a stenciled number, is understandable, tangible, and meaningful. I love it when someone stops me and asks where I got my bag, or what the number means. They take great pride in using environmentally-friendly and artisan-made materials, along with fair-labor production, in creating all FEED products.

The Feed Project believes that everyone has the right to basic human necessities, such as healthy and nutritious food. FEED is proud to help FEED the world, one bag at a time.
Shop Feed!

Roma Boots

2012-02-11T07:49:00.001-06:00

Continuing with the companies that give back, here is one with an adorable product. Roma boots. Their motto: warming the world, selling boots to the fortunate, giving boots to the less fortunate. They give rain boots to children who live in wet and rainy climates.May I say that we all need a good pair of rain boots. The south has certainly become a wet and rainy climate! Shop Roma boots!
adult boots $78 children's boots $42

Manna Meals

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

We have our very own business in Huntsville that gives back in a wonderful way! Cindy Caldwell, owner of Manna Meals, will deliver to your door (or anyone else's door) one of these delicious meals listed below! Comforting home-cooked food makes the best gift for sympathy, baby, thinking of you, hospital stay, holiday, birthday or numerous other occasions and situations. 10% of the profits go to Manna House, near and dear to many of our hearts. For Fran Fluhler's story, please read Peanut Butter Balls, one of my favorite all times posts.

Here is a note from Cindy and Fran and the Manna Meals:

Dear MannaMeal Friends,
Our heartfelt thanks for your continued support of MannaMeals and the MannaHouse for thepast two years. Literally thousands of pounds of food have been purchased over the past year(Aug. 2010 to Aug. 2011) with your contributions. And, as you may recall, in the previous year the MannaHouse was able to purchase a cargo van/ box truck and freezer as well as food items with your donations. Blessings to you, and in thanksgiving to our Lord for His many provisions,we look forward to another successful year in being able to feed the hungry of Madison County.(The MannaHouse also provides a clothing room if you have clothing -new or used-you would like to donate.)
With Gratitude,
Cindy Caldwell - MannaMeals
Fran Fluhler - MannaHouse

MannaMeals
"SOUTHERN COMFORT MEALS"
The joy of sitting around the table over a warm meal has long been a treasured tradition in the southern home. In keeping with that heritage, MANNA MEALS is now available to you when life gets too hectic to allow time to cook or you want to honor family, friends, co-workers or neighbors with a home-cooked meal.

1. CHICKEN DIVAN WITH BROCCOLI OVER RICE WITH CURRY & LEMON ZEST

2. CHICKEN DIVAN WITH BROCCOLI OVER RICE WITH WHITE WINE & PARMESAN

3. CHICKEN & DRESSING WITH GRAVY, STEAMED BROCCOLI AU GRATIN OR GREEN BEANS

4. DEEP SOUTH MEATLOAF, STEAMED BROCCOLI AU GRATIN OR GREEN BEANS

5. CHICKEN TETRAZINNI, STEAMED BROCCOLI AU GRATIN OR GREEN BEANS

6. CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP (toppings - tortilla crisps, sour cream & cheddar), CAESAR SALAD OR GREEN BEANS

ONE OF THE ABOVE CHOICES PLUS:
STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD, NANA'S YEAST ROLLS, AND ROCKY ROAD CHOCOLATE CHIP LOAF

$38

Each meal generously feeds four. Meals delivered free of charge within five miles of HSV Hospital. Entrees may be frozen or delivered ready for you to heat & serve.

Items may also be purchased separately:

DIVAN, CHICKEN & DRESSING, MEATLOAF, TETRAZINNI OR SOUP-$15.00
STEAMED BROCCOLI au gratin or KENTUCKY WONDER GREEN BEANS $7.00 STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD-$14/ROLLS-$3/ CHOCOLATE CHIP LOAF-$8.00

New Item: MARY SUSAN'S FAMOUS CHICKEN SALAD-pint/$8 or quart/$16

10% of proceeds to benefit The Manna House.
"Feeding the hungry-one day at a time."

Cindy Caldwell - 256.508.4407 - mannameals@comcast.net

Oh, magnify the LORD for He is good. Psalm 34

February - Love

2012-02-07T07:00:00.001-06:00

As January brought a flood of Hope into my heart, certainly February reminds me of Love. It is the Love month. Being my anniversary today (36 years), I would like to give a great big shout out... Happy Anniversary, Ben! You are and always have been the love of my life.

In Wednesday Bible study we are studying I John. One could say it is the Love book, written by the beloved disciple. Did you know you are deeply loved by God? Soak this in right here before Valentine's Day. Be loved and love!

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. I John 4: 16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3: 16

God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5: 8

It should give us great joy to know that it is the purpose of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to give of themselves to us to bring us true joy and happiness. It is God's nature to act that way toward those upon whom he has set his love, and he will continue to act that way toward us for all eternity. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

glassybaby

2012-02-05T18:00:00.002-06:00

I received one of these wonderful little candleholders, called glassybaby, for Christmas and fell in love with their design and light. The glass is light and airy but durable; the colors exquisite; and the light they radiate makes me smile. I want an entire collection.

Glassybaby has given back $837,000 since November 2003.
Their story is a must-read:

When the first glassybaby was created in 1998, Lee Rhodes, glassybaby creator and founder, was raising her three small children and fighting what would become a 7-year battle with a rare form of lung cancer. She had endured surgery, countless rounds of chemotherapy, and was searching for a few moments of serenity to escape the fear that encompassed her life. Inspired by the beauty of these elegant vessels, Lee filled them with tea lights and scattered them throughout her home. She found great hope and healing in their color, light and love.

Lee's 12 year old son wrote the very best description of glassybaby and presented it to her early one Christmas morning. Don't miss these precious words. Shop glassybaby!

Companies that Give Back

2012-01-30T16:46:00.007-06:00

Several of my favorite Christmas presents (presents I gave and got) were items made by companies that give back. These companies, some small, some quite large, have the philanthropic philosophy ingrained into their business models to give a portion of their profits to the truly needy.

This is becoming something of a trend - and a good one! Over the next little while let me introduce you to a few of my favorites.

Tom's shoes. Lots of colors and fabrics, mostly the same style - very comfy, affordable ($54). With every pair purchased Tom's will give one pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for one. Here's their story.
I'm not a huge shopper but I could do some damage here. And ballet slippers are coming February 1st! I am in line for a pair. Shop Tom's!

Guarding Marriages, part 2

2012-01-26T08:24:00.008-06:00

If you read the post on November 9 titled Guarding Marriages, this is the follow-up. After my two questions, 'How are you guarding your marriage?' and 'What do you believe would guard your marriage?', I got several comments on the blog, but even more emails personally to me.

I want to get back with you a few findings. Here is what you said guards a marriage... in no particular order:
1. Prayer - any kind of prayer - praying for one another, asking others to pray, and especially...
2. Praying with one another
3. Date nights
4. Going to church together - worshipping God side by side
5. Lots of communication
6. Making the marriage a mutual focus
7. Celebrating personal anniversaries, first date, the date he proposed, trips we take every year
8. And one other that may sound odd, but the more I think of it, the more truth I believe this friend speaks... getting to the root of 'your stuff'... whether with the Lord, or in counseling, or however... not his stuff, my stuff. Amen.

If this spurs you to think of other things that guard your marriage, please comment or email. Friends, we need this! Much love and prayers sent for marriages out there. Let's find ourselves in the category below.

drybar San Francisco

2012-01-23T07:00:00.003-06:00

Have you ever heard of drybar? It is a cool hair salon with nothing to offer but a wash and blow dry. Nothing = everything. Only in 12 locations nationwide (California, Arizona, NYC, & Atlanta), you make your appointment online, walk in, choose from a menu of about six styles, and get started. 35 minutes later, $35, voila!

Molly and I made a stop while in San Francisco just so we would not have to worry at all about hair while there. I'm sold. Would someone please open one here?

The schematic is grey and yellow, even the wobbly glasses. I should have known that Molly would match the decor (every stitch of clothing she owns is grey), but I laughed when I realized I did too!

Nancy Franke at Museum

2012-01-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

It's almost Gala time again and the 2012 Featured Artist is Nancy Franke from Atlanta. I love her work! I've posted a brief collage including her famous boxes and amazing colors. Her yellow lab is fantastic. I wish I were a better photographer!

Nancy also writes a good art blog, Musings on Painting. From her blog you can get to her website and see more of her work. All of her paintings, along with all the Gala art, will be on view at the Museum by mid-February. It's well worth a trip!

Settling In

2012-01-17T07:00:00.002-06:00

I have spent the day there. I have painted, had visitors, had a meeting, looked out the windows, gotten my bearings, made phone calls, run an errand and run back. I love my studio!

I finished up two paintings, signed them, and hung them on my walls!
Tuscany Table
Limoncello

My first visitors - Cathy, Megan, Molly and the little girlsIn a few weeks I will post studio hours. Stop in and see me!

Bitten by the Bug

2012-01-11T20:38:00.004-06:00

I am talking about Pinterest.

Friends have mentioned it to me, but I always steered clear because I did not want to do Facebook. I know, I know, I am the only person on the planet reluctant about Facebook. Anyway, last weekend I desperately needed a mindless, thinkless, entertaining, fun, zone out on the computer, whittle your time away activity. I was almost brain dead from all the travel and emotional stress. So I signed up for Pinterest, created some virtual bulletin boards, and started 'pinning' away. I am just learning, but now have a teensy collection of such things as yummy things to cook and fabulous paper I would have in a store, if I had a paper store, which I have always wanted.

It's fun! I'm just learning, but I'd love to know any tips you may have, who you follow... and I'd like to follow you. Let me know if you do Pinterest. Whoever thought this up was a genius!

Another Word on Hope

2012-01-08T08:20:00.006-06:00

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, spoke to me this morning.

Hope in Me, and you will be protected from depression and self-pity. Hope is like a golden cord connecting you to heaven. The more you cling to this cord, the more I bear the weight of your burdens; thus, you are lightened. Heaviness is not of My kingdom. Cling to hope, and My rays of Light will reach you through the darkness.

Do you read Jesus Calling? You can get it downloaded to your Kindle ($7.16) or an app for iphone or ipad ($9.99). It is well worth it. Start your year off with this amazing little devotional. Most importantly, read Sarah Young's Introduction.

January - Hope

2012-01-05T14:17:00.010-06:00

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15: 13

I must apologize for being so long in posting on the blog. Just before Christmas my father-in-law had a mild stroke, and on January 30th my beloved brother-in-law, John Buchanan, went from death to life after an eleven-month battle with pancreatic cancer. I know many of you were praying for him and have been praying for our family through these difficult days. Thank you so much. I have felt prayer holding me together as we have traveled to Naples and back, to Nashville and back, and soon to San Francisco and back. Please continue to pray for Lucy's comfort and Big Ben's quick improvement, healing, and return home soon.

Lucy and John in July at Sarah's Rehearsal Dinner

All of the above has landed me in January and it has been very hard to say "Happy New Year". But I have. And I have meant it. Somehow through the grace of God, hope springs up in my heart and I am grateful and humbled by what the Lord has done this past year, and has done in just the last few days. It gives me great hope for the year ahead.

I want to follow Him more closely, love Him more dearly, and be more surrendered and sold out than ever before. I want the year ahead to be all about Him and not about me. I pray the same thing for you. Happy New Year, my friends.

You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance. Psalm 65: 11 NLT

Launching Tailored for Education

2011-12-21T09:51:00.006-06:00

Hello Coffee, Tea and Thee readers!

I am not sure how I can follow up such a fabulous introduction by my amazing Fairy Godmother, but I am extremely honored to share my new venture with you today. Suzanne, my fairy godmother, has been right beside me (physically or virtually) for every important moment of my life (and some not so important fun ones as well) so it is very fitting that I am guest blogging on the same day I launch a project that is very near and dear to my heart, Tailored for Education.

After completing graduate school, lucky to have a job I love in a big city I love even more, I needed to do something to help someone other than myself. While discussing this feeling over dinner, my friend Elaine casually asked if I knew about the minimal cost ($16- $22) needed to provide a child in Tanzania with a school uniform. My mind raced the next day as I researched and learned that in a number of countries around the world children are required to wear a uniform to school and that it is one of the only things their family must pay for. I was shocked to learn such a small thing could keep a child from being able to attend school. I had certainly taken for granted the 12 years I spent putting on my plaid uniform each morning and going to school. After telling Jess, my close friend and colleague, we decided to see what we could do to fix this problem. We were about two weeks into our search for information and schools that might be in need when I read this post this post of Suzanne's. Instantly, I knew we were on the right track.

Now seven months, several IRS forms, hundreds of emails and conference calls later, here we are officially launching Tailored for Education. We are now a 5013c registered charity with a mission to provide children with uniforms in order to increase enrollment rates in schools globally. All of the uniforms we provide are made in the local country in an effort to increase jobs and vocational training. We have learned a lot, first and foremost that there are over 100 million children not enrolled in school worldwide, with a majority of the these children living in war- affected, poor countries. We have also learned that for a minimal cost we can change these statistics. We all know the impact education has had on our lives, but for a child in a poverty stricken area it might be their only hope at breaking the cycle of poverty. Studies have shown that women who receive an education are less likely to become mothers too early and more likely to prevent the transmission of HIV.

As a test run we funded our first school back in August and provided 200 children in La Vallee, Haiti with uniforms for this school year. As you can see in the picture, it was a success. Since then we have developed partnerships all over the world, working with other nonprofits to provide uniforms. At this time we have identified almost 30,000 children between Haiti, Cambodia, Rwanda, El Salvador, Congo, Lesotho and India that could benefit from Tailored for Education. Our goal is to provide at least half of these children with uniforms for the 2012 school year.

I can not tell you how excited I am about this project and the impact I know we can make on the lives of countless children. As you saw by yesterday's post the bond I have with my Fairy Godmother and her daughters is beyond wonderful and today like many other days, I have been carried by their love and support!

If you are still reading, thank you. You are all troopers! Feel free to take a look and see what we are up to. Please like us, follow us, blog about us! Anything to help us spread the word!

Suzanne, thanks for being the author of this fabulous blog which is a calm during many stormy days, thanks for inviting me to guest blog today and tell MY story and most of all thanks for loving me and being the BEST fairy godmother!

xo, Megan

Meet Megan Kelly

2011-12-20T09:31:00.007-06:00

If you know me, you have heard about my precious God-daughter, Megan! And I do mean a gift from God! It all started fourscore and twenty years ago (just kidding) when my best-college-friend married Ben's best-college-friend. During our college freshman years, what we thought were crazy college days actually were the beginning of an incredible lifelong friendship. I hardly know where I leave off and the four of us begin.

We dreamt of alot, but never did we dream our girls would grow up to be such good friends, and our college-day foursome would turn into a now-day fivesome.

Molly, Megan & Sarah at Echo Lake, about 4 years old

Molly, Sarah, Anna & Megan in Oxford a year or so ago

the five of us in July at Sarah's wedding

now this is a good friend... Mike fixing Ben's tie before he walked Sarah down the aisle...
Just when I am sure we could not possibly grow any closer, Megan tells me of her new venture that connects so closely to my heart it can only be God's work. All this to say she will be my guest blogger in the next few days telling you her story.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3: 20-21

the entire Kelly family at Thanksgiving still cheering us on!

Coffee Tea and Thee Studio

2011-12-14T18:32:00.004-06:00

Am I living in a dream? Today I moved into my studio! A gorgeous day, shirt sleeves in December, Ben's truck loaded, my car full, a rickety freight elevator, new digs! We unloaded art supplies, books, easels, my mother's old couch, chair, and shelves to my new home away from home! Just a block or so from downtown, I now have a place to paint, write, and light.

The first thing I planned to do there was pray, but I kept getting interrupted by the man putting on a new lock and doorknob. So I cleaned and polished and febreezed. Plenty of time for prayer there.

108 Woodson, 2nd floor, in a room off the back hall in the architect offices of Matheny Goldmon...

Don't you love the awesome windows... and how my easel forms a cross...

Mom's old furniture never looked so inviting and certainly never smelled so good - orange oil!

The very first thing to grace the walls - not a painting of mine, but words from Joshua.

I'm so excited! After the first of the year I will establish office hours and I promise to invite you in for a visit!

River of Life

2011-12-08T16:12:00.006-06:00

A friend of mine writes a blog titled River of Life. Her post yesterday made me want to say, Yes, sister! Finally somebody understands how I feel! And we are not supposed to feel this way at Christmastime. I hate feeling how we are 'supposed' to feel!

I have her permission to post it here, but check out her blog from time to time. She is real. And she has a way of mixing real life with a heart of praise to our God.

Wednesday, 7 December 2011
A saga followed by a litany of praise....

Last night the Christmas tree fell. I was in one of those deep sleep times that come only rarely. My heavy heart welcomed the rest. So, when I am awakened by a combination of water pouring all over the living room floor and the crash of the tree, my heart picks right back up on the sadness and feelings of despair.

I am only worried about the fragile hand painted egg ornament given to me by my bible study leader eleven years ago when Hannah was born as a baby gift. In the most delicate artistry, painted is a baby in a cradle with a beautiful array of color and the scripting from Matthew...let the little children come to me...Hannah's First Christmas 2000. It is the only ornament every year that gets its own special box and tissue paper. My prayer is that Hannah can always have her egg as a keepsake. Lawren, my 19 yr old, who has been awakened as well, finds the egg resting sweetly in a chair atop of a pile of unfolded laundry.

We have mice....and not Christmas mice...at least two of them...one that hangs out in the kitchen area and another that stays in the back of the house. It is so bad that the bedroom mouse made a nest in my son's dresser drawer and ate a hole in his Ocean City, Maryland lifeguard shirt. The critter had to pick a fave shirt:(

I pay Cooks $31 a month for pest control. That's $372 a year on a single mom's budget. I don't feel as though this fee should require I scout out mice poison from Wal-Mart and I do not care for cats. So today I will call Cooks AGAIN but I will most likely stop for pellets because I am feeling so desperate in general and need to be rid of the mice. The story about them being friends with Hannah's hamster Squirt just isn't washing anymore.

I had to work a twelve hour day yesterday after a ten hour day on Monday. I am tired.

Forgot to mention the dishwasher leaks...in a family of six that is crisis overload. We eat a lot and often. The struggle to be green sets in and I refuse to purchase paper plates but the kids are not stepping up to help wash dishes, saying, "that's not my chore". I try to talk to them about honor and consideration and they look at me like I am an alien. TODAY I FEEL LIKE AN ALIEN...A NON VISIBLE WOMAN who feels completely alone.

Oh yeah, and one of my closest friends has recently moved to Arizona...ARIZONA for goodness sake...across the country. She is the one whose shoulder I cry on over coffee, the one just one step ahead of me in parenting and grace who listens, cries too, and encourages me. AND NOW SHE IS NOT HERE.

I am sure these are issues that shepherd boy/King/man after God's own heart David never dealt with. He was too busy running from enemies, sleeping in fields, fighting his battles and leading his men.

Yet, the emotional gamut that runs through our souls as we walk through life parallel each other.

May I, like David, finish the day in praise:

Litany of Praise (based on David's Psalm 105)

How great is my God, and how I love to sing His praises.
Whereas I am often frightened when I think about my future, and confused and disturbed by the rapidly changing events about me,
My heart is secured and made glad when I remember how He has cared for me throughout the past.

When I was brought forth from my mother's womb,
God's hand was upon me.

Through parents and people who cared,
He loved me and sheltered me and set me upon His course for my life.

Through illness and accident
My God has sustained me.

Around pitfalls and precipices
He has safely led me.

When I became rebellious an struck out on my own,
He waited patiently for me to return.

When I fell on my face in weakness and failure,
He gently set me upon my feet again.

He did not always prevent me from hurting myself,
but He took me back to heal my wounds.

Even out of the broken pieces of my defeats,
He created a vessel of beauty and usefulness.

Through trials and errors, failures and successes, my God has cared for me.
From infancy to adulthood He has never let me go.

His love has led me, or followed me, through the valleys or sorrow and the highlands of joy,
Through times of want and years of abundance.

He has bridged impassable rivers and moved impossible mountains. Sometimes through me, sometimes in spite of me.
He seeks to accomplish His purpose in my life.

He has kept me through the stormy past.
He will secure and guide me through the perilous future.

I need never be afraid.
No matter how uncertain the months or years ahead of me.

How great is My God, and how I love to sing His praises!

The House that Built Me

2011-12-05T20:01:00.006-06:00

For any of you who get nostalgic at Christmas... count me in. I miss everything. I have a crazy desire to go to Nashville and just drive around. I miss Mom, Dad, aunts, uncles and cousins, jam cake with caramel icing, going caroling on Christmas Eve, and my house. My cousin was recently sharing with me her same feelings and she told me about this song. Although I've yet to listen to it without crying, it makes me feel closer to home and very grateful for the home I had.
Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
Psalm 90: 1

One Reason for This Season

2011-12-02T19:41:00.005-06:00

I am usually so behind that I never make it to send Christmas cards, but this photo at Thanksgiving certainly prompted me to send them this year! Ben and me with our precious Anna and Caroline Turner (3 and 1), and Baby Benjamin Matthews (2 months).

Funniest Comment of Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T19:14:00.004-06:00

I love Thanksgiving! Everyone in my family considers it my holiday. My sister visits every year and always brings games and prizes. This year no exception... the games were Christmas Trivia and Bible Trivia. I felt sure I would win the Bible Trivia... Not.

Okay, check yourselves. Here were our 10 questions:
1. What did Mary ride on her trip to Bethlehem?
2. How many days did it take God to make the earth?
3. What sign did God use to show he would never destroy the earth by flood again?
4. What was rolled away when the tomb was discovered empty?
5. God told Abraham he would have more children than _____ and _____.
6. What bird flew from Noah's ark to find land?
7. Who is considered the strongest man in the Bible?
8. What were the names of Adam's first two sons?
9. How many disciples were there?
10. What animal tempted Eve in the garden?
And our bonus question: Name any book in the Bible named after a woman.

Answers:
1. donkey, everyone got this one, thank goodness
2. 6, you can imagine the discussion from all the Bible scholars in the room
3. rainbow
4. stone
5. stars in the sky and grains of sand, since I was the only one to get this I thought for sure I'd win
6. ugh raven, not dove
7. Sampson
8. Cain and Abel
9. 12
10. serpent - Steph was relentless and would not take 'snake' as an answer

And here is where we all fell out... the bonus question. Of course we all cried out 'Ruth' and 'Esther'. Several of the men in our group looked completely dumbfounded, so I just happened to ask my son what book he had put down with a woman's name. He answered... Bathsheba! Are you kidding me! We all roared! I'm signing him up for Men's BSF right away!

Blog Exercise #9 and #10

2011-11-19T17:30:00.001-06:00

Join a forum and start participating. And set up alerts for your blog.

Do you think we will ever finish with the series, 31 Days to Build a Better Blog? We will. It will give me something to write about all winter.

This week I want to think about, so that means write about, Thanksgiving... things I am thankful for. And there's more I want to tell you that will have to wait... like my studio decision, Christmas gift lists, and announcing a new ministry.

Here, let's knock out two more creative ideas that support a fantastic blog.

#9 Join a forum.
Find out where your potential readers are already gathering online. When you know your blog niche and keep up with what is happening in your genre, your blog is automatically strengthened. Don't try to be all things to all people. It never works in any situation. To get a good overview of forums, read this article: How to Use Forums to Drive Hundreds of Thousands of Readers to Your Blog.

#10 Monitor what is happening in your niche.
This keeps your posts current, keeps you on the crest of any breaking news, gives you ideas for new posts and sometimes you hear what others are saying about you. Set up a variety of alerts or watchlists for your blog’s niche. A few services are: Technorati Watchlists, Twitter Alerts and Google Alerts.
Setting up alerts is fairly simple:
List keywords that are relevant to your blog.
Once you have the list, start typing them into the alert tool that you’re using to see the results.
If you’re unsure what alert tool to use, start with Google Alerts.

Going Deeper

2011-11-14T07:00:00.002-06:00

I am still getting email comments about our time spent in Hosea. I readily admit - Hosea is a powerful book and just when I think I've 'got it' someone takes me deeper.

One blog reader sent me a poem she wrote a while back. God continues to take her to Hosea 2: 14-15, and her poem is a work in progress. She so gets it. Her honesty and vulnerability have incredibly blessed me. I pass the blessing on to you.

No Longer Called a Harlot

free. free. i've been set free.
my life has been redeemed
from death to life, pain and strife,
i enter whole and new

despite my constant prostitution
the Father desired not my retribution
i thought His love would fade
instead, down His life He laid

i ran away and caused Him grief
but then turned over a new leaf
He continued loving me just the same
He even knew my name

yet once more i took on other lovers
i slept beneath another god's covers
i turned my back again
he kept being there--forgiving all my sin

i should have been condemned
i should have been killed for my sin
but i enter in and we begin again
His grace for me will never end

Guarding Marriages

2011-11-09T07:00:00.001-06:00

Over the last few weeks I have become increasingly burdened over marriages. It started with a heavy conversation, followed by another sad conversation, tears and heartbreak. As I was writing the Nourishment devotional, I included a section on guarding our bodies, the temples of God's Holy Spirit. 'Guarding' has been on my mind. Finally, through a God-led sequence of thoughts, I was led to review my 2011 prayer journal. I was shocked at how many marriages I've been praying for - including my own and those of my children.

The reason I am burdened is because I believe marriages are exposed. Sitting targets. Our unguarded flank. Think about it: we guard everything! Millions of dollars are spent on guarding things... our bank accounts, our computer files, our cars and houses and belongings, our children. I can hardly think of anything that is not guarded... except my marriage. I came to the conclusion that we are attempting to guard our family from a variety of potential future occurrences such as natural disasters, terrorism, or the collapse of America - but are leaving our marriage wide open for attack!

Here's my question... How are you guarding your marriage? Please let me know - let us all know. And if guarding your marriage is a new thought, like it is for me, well then... What do you believe would guard your marriage?

Ask your friends, co-workers, parents, couples with great marriages, couples you are praying for, and see what they say. I'm making a list of what people tell me and I am learning so much. I'll post the list later, but ladies, this is one hot topic!

All Day Nourishment

2011-11-05T08:00:00.008-05:00

My burning first question... Is there anyone who still has their envelope sealed? One friend opened hers in front of me today and I had a time of sweet thanks that the things so in the forefront two weeks ago were no longer. With me, my envelope was full of schedules and 'worries of the day'. I am sorry to admit that my 'To Do' list rules my life! Sealed away with God is where it needs to stay a lot more than I let it. Lesson #1 for me.

One of you wrote this... Haven't opened up my envelope. I can't really even remember each thing I put down. Maybe that's good! But I do know that I'm not pretending that those issues aren't there. They are. But I don't have to think about them 24/7. Especially if I will in faith believe that He can actually carry my envelope and carry my burdens at least for a little while before I "force" Him to give them back to me to carry! Ha! How foolish of me. I would much rather He be the one to carry the "envelope" for me. I'm weary of carrying it.

Isn't that so true. If we learned anything two weeks ago, it surely is that we're tired of carrying around all our own stuff!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11: 28

Next question... Where in Hosea have you camped out? Or maybe another Scripture. Where has God kept you in His Word and what have you learned?

Hosea 6:1-3 really spoke to me about being torn into many pieces but put back with His refreshing and restoring and the REWARD of forgiveness. That part of the retreat spoke to my heart that the hard work of confession was ultimately the completeness I can enjoy in Him and was/is so worth it.

Jeremiah 15:19: Serving Him with a repentant heart and He will bring fruit. Rewards of confession/repentance/forgiveness. That's truly what my heart desires to do. Confession, repentance and forgiveness. Such a fruitful cycle!

I've been pondering Hosea 12:6 for the last 2 weeks:"But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always." I'm a list person so I'm drawn to the simplicity of this verse. I love the instruction and encouragement found here. The part of this verse that I have trouble embracing is the waiting. I strive to live my life to the fullest, but I've always been waiting for something...a better job, a sign from God, a raise, a husband, a vacation, the next tragedy...waiting for both the mundane and the miraculous. I am grateful I'm aware of the Lord's presence in every area of my life, but the waiting is draining me. I guess my question for the ladies who've been on this journey longer than I have is, how do I balance contentment with waiting on the Lord?

Ladies, we are going to stop here for a bit. This is a profound question. Would you care to comment and encourage this sweet seeker?

See you in a bit... more comments and emails please!

10:00 am
Where are you, friends?

Another question for you... What sins have been revealed to you?
One of the key points in asking God to develop in us a repentant heart, is asking Him to reveal our sins to us. Here's a partial list of mine. Mind you, this is not my full list - some things are just between God and me.
self sufficiency - thinking I can handle it
hating interruptions - loving my 'list'
love of money
wanting to be well thought of
stubborness
favoritism
judging
envy and jealousy
a shallow love and
a shallow view of sin
hard heartedness

Yours?

2:00 pm

I told you I was stuck in Daniel 9. Here's a good recap of what Daniel confessed as sin:
rebellion
scorn for the prophets and God's Word
refusal to listen
disloyalty
disobedience
turning away from God
refusing to listen to His voice (Daniel mentions this several times)
refusal to seek mercy
not recognizing His truth

In Lesson 3 Digging: Weeping Over our Sin the last thing we are asked to do is pray over each of our family members and ask God to give each one a heart of repentance. Can you imagine the fruit in your family and in your life when God answers this one prayer?

I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God... Daniel 9: 20

4:00 pm

Another comment... No- I didn't open my envelope. The Lord can handle it better than I can!

And one more... LOVED the Daniel 9 passage in session three. Well, loved might be too strong since I'm weeping over my sin! Or realizing that I do NOT weep enough. I certainly have prayed for family members and their relationship with the Lord. But never have I thought I should/could be in the role of asking God to forgive, confessing THEIR sins, and asking Him to turn their hearts to repentance. If I weep over my sin, then it will be a natural overflow to weep over the sin of others--especially those that I love.

last thought for the day...

One of you wrote this... My extended family situation is in shambles. The cycle of unconfessed sin and actions are beginning to catch up with this generation. It's almost as if the sins have come from generations before us. That may sound a little farfetched but I sense that maybe there are some sins that we are experiencing the consequences of generations later. The cycle has to be broken. Possibly I am part of breaking this cycle as I stand in the gap for extended family members and ask God to have mercy of them and turn their hearts back to Him in repentance.

This is articulated so well, and I wholeheartedly agree. At times in the past, when my family has experienced an outpouring of unexpected blessing and favor, it has crossed my mind that we may be the recipients of prayers from the faithful in our family that have gone to Glory ahead of us, like my mother and Ben's grandfather. Not that they are praying now, but that God is still honoring their prayers from then. I also believe the opposite is true. Sometimes in those seasons of hard hits, we may be the recipients of generational sin. Friends, let's not just pray for our own repentant hearts; let's pray for our children, grandchildren, and generations ahead of us!

Saturday on the blog

2011-11-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

This Saturday Coffee Tea and Thee will host an all-day ongoing blog post as a wrap-up to the For It Is Time retreat at Asbury two weeks ago. Here's how it will work...

Wherever you are with the Nourishment devotional, email me a few of your comments... swm0804@bellsouth.net
Along with some of my ponderings, I will post comments by topic, and throw out a few questions of my own. You may comment straight to the blog or again, email me, and I will edit and post your comments during the day.

You do not have to sit at the computer all day. I won't either. But I will be responding to the dialog, and hopefully some of our hard work the last two weeks will give us closure, as well as focus our commitment to go the distance for repentant hearts. It is so worth it!

You may be on lesson 1 or have finished all 5. I have to admit I've gotten stuck in Daniel 9 and I'm not finished with lessons 4 and 5. But I still have plenty to share and plenty of questions I'd like to ask.

Remember it's all confidential unless you choose otherwise. Thank you for your wonderful responses and ladies, let's finish this thing!

A House of Stone

2011-10-31T07:00:00.002-05:00

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. Matthew 7: 24-25 The Message

No, this is not my new house (wish, wish)... Matthews Stone & Supply (Ben's business) is announcing a new website! Please take a look and pass along our name and site to friends and family who are building a house, planning to build a house, doing some remodeling, doing an addition, or might want to add some stone to the exterior, build an outdoor fireplace, retaining wall or entrance.

We are going into our third year in the stone business. We had no idea what to expect starting out in this economy, yet God has blessed us. Ben has done a fantastic job in knowing the product, timely delivery, and customer service. Next to THE ROCK, he is my rock and, honestly, this business fits him perfectly. Enjoy the pics here and in the gallery here.

Nourishment... instructions

2011-10-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

For those of you at the Asbury retreat last Friday night, you know what I'm talking about.

I hope you have started Nourishment. Have you ever seen anything like the speed in which our world gobbles up God's seeds? We may have a fantastic pulling-away time with God and two days later we hardly remember the gist of it. I can remember coming home from several mountaintop experiences, only to be robbed of almost every bit of it by the middle of the week following. I have learned that follow-up and accountability are essential to my growth.

If you and I just complete our exercises and never have the opportunity to talk about them, some of the depth is lost. Since we cannot meet again and have a follow-up retreat, this blog is hopefully going to provide us the forum to voice some of our struggles and our victories as we pray and work toward a repentant heart.

Here's what I'd like you to do. As you diligently and prayerfully begin Nourishment think about questions your would like to ask others, as well as personal things you would be willing to share. We need to hear from each other. I need to hear your heart and share mine. I desperately feel that my own personal prayers for a truly repentant heart will be aided by your journey to do the same.

Over the next week, email me your thoughts. My email is swm0804@bellsouth.net or listed on the blog sidebar. I will collect and group your comments and, without using any names, publish them on Saturday, November 5th. For that day only Coffee Tea and Thee will post a running dialog with comments and further questions.

Is this too much truth-telling? I hope not. I do not in any way want to interfere with your solitude or the private things that remain between you and God. But please do not let some of the lessons He teaches you go unspoken.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27: 17

Blog Exercise #8

2011-10-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

Interlink your old blog posts.

Did you think I had forgotten? Nope. I just got a little sidetracked the past few weeks.

Interlinking previously written posts in your archives builds a better blog. The main reason is that it simply provides a better experience for your blog readers. If a reader comes to your blog and finds a post that not only answers their question, but also provides further reading and suggestions on where to explore related topics, they’re more likely to go away satisfied. A satisfied reader is more likely to return (it makes your blog “sticky”) and tell their network about their experience. Secondly, search engines (SEO's) look at the links within a blog to find content to index but also to work out how to index and rank content. Links from other blogs to your blog are the ultimate way to start ranking highly in Google but internal links also count.

Here's are 2 ways how to do it:
1. In Post Links—the most natural way to add links to an old post. All it involves is making a keyword (or words) in your post into a link that points to another post on the topic of that keyword.
2. Further Reading—many blogs have a Further Reading section that appears at the bottom of each post. In most cases this is a list of related posts that are automatically generated using a plugin. While this can sometimes provide readers with relevant results, I find that adding manually chosen links for further reading can produce a more relevant experience. You can add these suggested links both at the end of the post and throughout the post itself.

3 Quick Tips on Interlinking Posts
1. Try to build this task into your daily posting schedule. It takes a little discipline to get into the rhythm of it but it can have some real benefits if you do.
2. For bloggers with large archives who can't remember every post they've ever written, one way to help you find your previous posts is to have a “related posts” plugin on your blog. These will often present you with suggestions on older posts that might be relevant.
3. Also, if you have a lot of content that you've never interlinked before, start with the most popular posts.

Bleary-eyed Bliss

2011-10-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble
into a gateway of hope. Hosea 2: 14-15 NLT

Ladies, I am laying low today. How about you? I am bleary-eyed tired - so tired if my husband asked me to buy a double-wide and move to the farm (my absolute worst nightmare), I might say yes.

Wasn't it wonderful! Worshipping, making journals, visiting, getting to know Hosea, hearing from God.

I'm praying for you today. I'm praying your thoughts will swirl a little longer, then sit and settle. I'm praying you leave your envelope sealed a little longer with God. I'm praying tomorrow or the next day you will begin Nourishment. I so need it and I need to do it alongside you.

I loved being with you. Rest! Be blessed!

For It Is Time... to prepare our hearts

2011-10-18T07:00:00.002-05:00

Just a few days and we will be at retreat. I want to tell you that the Asbury team has planned an excellent conference. No matter that it is only five hours long - they have put prayer and dedication, heart and soul, into the five hours we will spend with each other and with the Lord.

I have been asked many times what is the best way to walk into a retreat... meaning what is the best way to prepare ourselves for hearing from God. If you have read the previous blog posts, you have already prepared your eyes by skimming the 14 chapters of Hosea. You have prepared your mind by learning of the man, Hosea. These last few days are the days to prepare your heart.

Prayer prepares the heart. Pray the soil of your heart is plowed up and fertile and ready to receive God's Word. Come expectant that He will speak directly to you. Come clean.... confessed up. Come ready to hear God and obey quickly.

Don't be surprised or alarmed this week if hurdles crop up to stand in your way or even cause you to reconsider coming. Pray first! Recognize the enemy's attack. Today Jesus Calling says, If you focus on the obstacle or search for a way around it, you will probably go off course. Instead, focus on me, the Shepherd who is leading you along your life-journey. Before you know it, the "obstacle" will be behind you and you will hardly know how you passed through it.

Pray for me. Pray I also come clean, ready to speak what God wants spoken. God has filled my heart to overflowing with the story of Hosea and the parallel truths applicable to our day. I have a feeling that some of the things He wants to say will be a surprise even to me! Pray that I can walk that sometimes scary place of being on the edge of the Holy Spirit's promptings.

I can't wait to be with you. God bless your days until it is time to together seek the Lord.

For It Is Time... to prepare our minds

2011-10-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

Hello ladies! Have you been reading through Hosea? At first glance it looks pretty depressing, right? Thank goodness for chapters 2, 11, and 14!

At retreat we will not have time to study the entire book of Hosea. Our theme verse is Hosea 10:12...
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
We will camp out there and in Hosea 6: 1-3.

While we are preparing our eyes by looking over the words in Hosea, I would like for us to prepare our minds with a character sketch of the man, Hosea. Here are some facts about this incredible servant of God:
Hosea was named "the prophet of Israel's zero hour"
He was young when God called him
His ministry lasted 66 years
His ministry was during the most turbulent time of Israel's history prior to captivity
During his ministry the Northern Kingdom (Israel) was taken into exile by Assyria
Hosea was called to do some very hard things and say some very harsh words (we have seen proof of that as we have skimmed the book)
He was strong, committed, trustworthy, and patient
He suffered
He was obedient to God above all else
He had a rocky marriage
He portrayed God's love for Israel

There are several things about Hosea I simply cannot quit thinking about.

Firstly, his absolute obedience to God. God told him to marry Gomer and that Gomer would prove unfaithful. He did. She was. Two of her three children were not Hosea's. She left the home leaving her children with him and ran after other men, what the world had to offer, and a new god, Baal. At first it appears her life was going well, but after time she slipped further and further into poverty and desperation. But she did not come home.

Secondly, his absolute obedience to God when it must have been humiliating beyond measure. God told Hosea to go into the most desolate part of town where Gomer lived with her lover, meet the man, and offer the man provisions for his wife, without her knowing it. Hosea did it. The man took all that Hosea offered and they used them to worship Baal.

I want to ask you something... Do you know a man like Hosea? Was Hosea injured? Yes! Was he angry? Yes! Did he want to retaliate? Yes! But does he? No! He remains faithful to God, faithful to Gomer, and seeks to reconcile. I may know a few men like Hosea, but sadly, it is only a few. (Sidebar: Lord, please help us to raise our boys to be this faithful to YOU!)

Thirdly, God could trust Hosea with just about anything. So He trusted him to portray His Son.
More time passed. Hosea is still raising all three children and Gomer has sunk lower and lower into the pit of sin. She has become a slave. In those days one could become a slave by birth, by conquest, or by debt, and it appears debt was the culprit. Gomer was going up for auction and God told Hosea to go into the marketplace and buy her back. So he does. Slaves were sold naked and Hosea placed the highest bid, bought her, took off his robe, clothed her, took her home, and commanded her to never again live the life of prostitution. I assume she was so broken she complied. Surely later she found the deepest gratitude and love.

This takes us straight to the cross. Jesus walks into the marketplace of our lives and we are on the auction block of sin. Naked. The world is bidding like crazy for us. Jesus makes a bid and the auctioneer says, "Sold to Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, for the price of His blood!" There is no greater bid. He then clothes us with His righteousness, takes us home, and commands, "Sin no more."

Do we see ourselves as Gomer? Are we offended or grateful?

That's chapter 1-3, and we will pick up from there at retreat. It's alot to ponder isn't it? It puts the meaning into 'unfailing love'. See you precious friends next week!

(commentary from Hosea by Dr James Montgomery Boice)

A Day in Franklin

2011-10-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Gorgeous fall day. Very near home sweet home. Antique-ing in Franklin. Shopping. Finds. Quinton. Blessed by her. Graduation gifts. Birthday gifts. Finding Leiper's Fork. Ahhh the art. Eating. Stories. Jobs. Family. Past. Present. Future. Now an annual event.

Now this is a bakery!

Main Street, Franklin

cool stuff we found

she ended up getting the aqua table above and the white side tables below

labrador art

I love wire art and I want this calendar!

next stop - Leiper's Fork

Puckett's Grocery - famous for the music and everything else in town

Leiper's Creek Gallery - oh my!

Pam Padgett

Helli Luck and if you are wondering who I'd like to paint just like - Pam Padgett and Helli Luck!

Pam Padgett

Helli Luck

the most fantastic Roger Dale Brown I've ever seen!

all packed up headed home

For It Is Time... to prepare our eyes

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Ladies! Friends! I am so excited to be with you on Friday night, October 21st, at Asbury United Methodist Church. Leading up to the retreat I will be writing three brief blog posts, one each week, to help each of us prepare for what God will teach us from the book of Hosea.

In Hosea 10:12 God says, ... break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord.
Our immediate unplowed ground might just be that we are slightly unfamiliar with the book of Hosea. Many of us know the first three chapters, but not so much the rest of the book. This blog post is to urge all of us to prepare our eyes by feasting upon the words of Hosea.

For the next week skim the 14 chapters. Throughout the book God shows His heart toward Israel - and toward us. No matter how far they strayed, God's desire was to bring them back.

This week, if you need an extra reminder of God's love, camp out in Hosea 2: 14-20.
As we shake our heads and wonder why our nations and our lives are in upheaval, reflect upon Hosea 4: 6, 14 - my people are destroyed by lack of knowledge... a people without understanding will come to ruin.
Hear God's call in Hosea 6: 1 - Come, let us return to the Lord.
Read Hosea 10: 12, the theme of our conference.
And don't miss, It was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness. Hosea 11:3-4.

Wherever we are, far or near, He is calling us back!

Birthdays and Birthin's

2011-09-30T07:54:00.006-05:00

Wednesday, September 28 - to Oxford for Caroline's First Birthday!

Thursday, September 29 - to Huntsville for Benjamin's birth!
Benjamin Robert Matthews - 3:51 PM, 8 lbs 10 oz, 21 inches long!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Blog Exercise #7

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Write a link post.

Someone asked Darren Rowse (the author of this Build a Better Blog series) how readership was built at first on his blog. One of the answers he gave was that he was generously linking to other blogs. Seven years ago blogging revolved around the link. One blogger would write a post and hundreds of others would link to it with posts that built upon the initial post’s ideas in some way. The result:
* Ideas spread across the blogosphere quickly
* Relationships between bloggers grew with each link
* Everyone’s blog grew
Nowadays Facebook and Twitter have taken over the social networking role and bloggers rarely link to other blogs on their blog because they’re either doing it elsewhere or they feel they’d be helping a competitor. Me... I'm still terrified of Facebook and Twitter and would love to let you know what I read weekly.

I have found that I am not alone in the fact that my evenings are spent catching up on emails and blog posts. While Ben is watching football and hunting shows, I sit right beside him on the couch and read blogs.

First, I check in with Sweet Mondays, to snag new pictures of Anna and Caroline.
I have to see what Shay Brannon 's thoughts are, To See the Nations Worship, and also Olivia's (Shay's daughter) ongoing recap, Chronic Collegiate Senioritis.
Dedra Herod's Just a Chick has one of the best blog rolls ever titled Love These Voices and includes The Preacher's Wife, I'm Just Saying, and A Holy Experience.
Beth Moore's blog is great. She calls her readers 'siestas' because at the beginning she was writing ' dear sistas', as in 'sisters', and the internal spell check inadvertently changed it, ha!
Style Blueprint gives me my hometown Nashville fix and is a blog award winner.
Tina Adams really helps my pitiful wardrobe skills. This girl is good!
Nancy Franke's Musings on Painting inspires me.
Joel Rosenberg teaches me.
Voice of the Martyrs keeps me out of my comfort zone.
Ligonier makes me want to read and take anything RC Sproul teaches.
Urban Grace makes me want to redo my house.

Are you a blog reader too? Please send me some of your favorites!

A few more details

2011-09-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

Here are a few more details regarding the Asbury Women's Conference to be held Friday evening, October 21, 6:00 - 11:00 PM.

The conference is titled FOR IT IS TIME... to seek the Lord, based on Hosea 10:12. I will be speaking twice that evening. Both talks will be on Hosea and the seriousness of our day, our time, and the need to return to our God. Starting next week, I will post weekly on Coffee Tea and Thee to help prepare for the teachings from Hosea.

Tickets are $5.00 and you can get yours by going by the The Dwelling Place (Asbury's Bookstore in the Hope Building) or online here. You sure get a lot for you money - great worship and fellowship and we'll practically have a slumber party together. I hope to see you there!

Blog Exercise #5 and #6

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Email a blog reader. And a few must-read tips and tutorials for bloggers.

It will strengthen your blog to comment to a commenter. When you pay personal attention to a reader it significantly increases the chances of them not only returning to your blog, but also spreading the news of your blog through their network. Email them or respond to the comment ON your blog. Sending the email is great for making an impression on the individual person, but leaving a comment in your own comment section shows other readers that you’ll engage in conversation. It also helps build comment numbers, which can build social proof and show your blog is active.

One day when you need mindless information to accumulate in your brain for future reference, have fun with these blog experts.

Seth Godin's blog - How to get traffic for your blog

Skelliewag's A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images
and 25 Paths to an Insanely Popular Blog

Liz Strauss from Successful Blog 10 Reasons Readers Don't Leave Comments

Jeremy Schoemaker from ShoeMoney My Top Ten Worst Ideas to Make Money

Blog Exercise #4

2011-09-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

Analyze a top blog in your niche.

As little as 15 minutes and the questions below can help shape your own blogging strategy. Strong strategy lends to blog success.
First, select a successful blog on the same subject as yours or a related subject. Analyze, using these questions:
What topics are they covering?
What topics are they ignoring?
What voice/style do they post in?
How often are they posting?
What topics generate the most conversation?
What styles of post seem to connect with readers best?
What questions are readers asking in the Comments?
What complaints do you see readers making in the Comments?
What’s your first impression from their design?
What have they done well? What have they done poorly?
What options do they give readers to subscribe?

Two quick words of warning:
1. Maintain the Focus on Your Own Blog.A trap some bloggers fall into is spending so much time watching their “competitors” that they spend less time actually building their own blog. This analysis is useful to do every now and again, but don’t let it be at the expense of other core activities on your own blog.
2. Be Unique.Another trap some bloggers fall into is virtually replicating every aspect of another blog. While there’s a lot we can learn from others and lessons we can take from what others are doing, if you simply copy everything another
blog does you fail to differentiate yourself and potential readers have no real reason to read you instead of others.

Blog Exercise #3

2011-09-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Promote a blog post.

The Premise: If you select one of your best blog posts and promote it, your blog will take an upward bump in readership. And, some of those readers will stick around.

The Promotion: 11 Ways to Promote a Blog Post
Note: please be careful in using these techniques. Don’t use them all with every post you write. Choose your best posts and promote them selectively, in ways that are helpful to other people.
1. Pitching to Other Bloggers—ask another blogger to consider linking to your post.
2. Social Messaging-like Twitter and Facebook.
3. Social Bookmarking
4. Internal Links—rather than just promote your post on other people’s sites, think about where you can link to it from within your own site. Perhaps you’ve written on the topic before and can add a link for further reading, or maybe adding a section in your sidebar for “Latest posts” could work.
5. Newsletters
6. Other Blogs’ Comments Sections and Forums
7. Email Signatures
8. Follow-up Posts—write a new post on your blog that picks up where your last one left off. This builds momentum and if you inter-link the posts, drives more page views.
9. Advertise Your Post
10.Pitch Mainstream Media
11.Article Marketing—if you do this do not submit exactly the same article you’ve posted on your blog to article marketing sites (this can get you into trouble with Google where you could face penalties for duplicate content).

Hands down the best post I've ever written is Peanut Butter Balls in June of this year. I'm not comfortable with very many of the above suggestions, but I did create an email signature with my blog address, as well as an internal link. If you missed the post, settle in for a good read!

Mark Your Calendar

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hold on to Friday night, October 21st and more details to follow...

My List Post

2011-09-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

Gifts: Top Five Faves

I love gift giving. It is one of my love languages. Better than receiving, I like to give gifts... especially little gifts, treats and surprises, in fabulously wrapped packages. Yet, sometimes I draw a total blank, run out of ideas, run out of time (or money), or simply do not know the recipient very well. That is when I default to my trusty list of best gifts ever. Here are favorites in no particular order to give you ideas for your next occasion.

Wedding Gifts

1. Michael Aram - any piece at all; Harpeth Gallery in Nashville, The Registry in Franklin
2. An oil painting - especially for the kitchen
3. McCarty Pottery - worth a trip to The Gallery in Monteagle, Tennessee
4. Monogrammed pillowcases - Sarah got two sets, I was so envious!
5. Southern My Way by Gena Knox - my new favorite cookbook, tie a Rosti spoon or two on top

Birthday Gifts

1. Tin birthday cake carrier by Department 56; on ebay, everywhere I take mine I get compliments!
2. Tea towels - by Le Jacquard Francais; Lawren's
3. Leather jewelry roll - from Pottery Barn; find someone who does leather stamping to add a monogram
4. Lafco candles - the best! Named for rooms in the house - try Master Bedroom, Power Room or Den
5. Tervis tumbler - everyone needs one!

Baby Gifts

1. Sleep Sheep - babies love the sounds and it's cuddly
2. Bla Bla knit stuffed animals - whimsical, fun, and for lots of babies I know this is their favorite hold-onto
3. Little Giraffe blanket - the softest there is
4. Sleep sack - I've bought several and they come in three weights and 2 sizes; Helen's in Nashville
5. Judy Toles' taggies and burp pads - adorable!

Sympathy Gifts
This is where I use my list often... when I am always caught off guard and always in a hurry!

1. Apricot pound cake - I keep a yellow box cake mix and apricot nectar on hand just for this recipe
2. Books - you can't go wrong with these - Good Grief; A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis; A Year with C.C. Lewis, devotional; The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion; Moments with the Savior by Ken Gire, Recovering from Losses in Life
3. Roses - take a clay pot you already have, put in a big cube of soaked oasis, buy roses and galax leaves, cut roses short, overlap galax leaves around the edge, stick roses in side by side starting in center(use an odd number), and there you go!
4. Paper plates & napkins - always appreciated and needed
5. Handkerchief - include a verse about tears... The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces Isaiah 25:8

... and finally Things that fit in a card
Sometimes you just want to send a card with a little extra.
1. Bookmark
2. Cross - there are lots of little ones that fit in an envelope
3. Starbucks gift card - $5 treats your friend to a cup of coffee or tea on you
4. Thymes bath salts - they come in an envelope that easily fits ion an envelope
5. Gigi’s Cupcakes gift card - $3 and delicious

Blog Exercise #2

2011-09-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

Write a list post.

A what? A post with some kind of list in it.

If you would like to see how effective lists are, take a look at the Hotlist on Delicious. People are as attracted to reading lists as they are to reading bulleted points. It is a great blog style. And it sure is nice to know that I'm not the only one addicted to lists!

So, here's an example of a good list...
List posts are popular because:
1. Lists are scannable.
2. Lists keep posts succinct—there is something about a list that keeps you as a blogger from rambling.
3. Lists look neat.
4. Lists can be comprehensive.
5. Lists are persuasive.
6. Lists can add to the ease of writing.
7. Lists go viral—lists can start epidemics of ideas. For the above reasons and more, bloggers and social media aficionados seem to love sharing lists and, as a result, they spread quickly throughout the web (and beyond).
8. Lists break down the complicated.

Warning: limit your list posts. They can be incredibly powerful but readers can become frustrated with them if that is all you do.

I took the author's advice and started by writing down as many different kinds of lists that I could think of. I was surprised - they all would be pretty good topics, but one stood out above all the rest. It is a list I have been writing, adding to, and actually using for years. My list post tomorrow...

Blog Exercise #1

2011-09-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

Write an elevator pitch for your blog.

A what? “An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride.” —Wikipedia

Lesson 1 says that as a blogger I need to have thought through and crystallized in my mind what my blog is about. If I am fuzzy on what it's about, it’s unlikely that anyone else will have a clear idea either.

Well, I have been fuzzy about what it's about. Coffee Tea and Thee started in March 2010 as a place to post additional commentary to a Bible study I was writing. It grew into a hodge-podge of family events, prayer needs, inspirational stories, and a relay of information. But mostly it is written for and about our Lord. Coffee Tea and Thee... the name just came to me one day and I love it. I like to think of having a cup of coffee and conversation with Him.

Further, the blog experiment suggests keeping the elevator pitch short, clear, intriguing and energetic. Once you've got your elevator pitch you can use it elsewhere... in your tag line, on your 'about' page, in real life conversations, on business cards and in email signatures.

I finally decided that my blog is about whatever you and I would talk about, with Jesus joining us, over a good cup of coffee or tea. All the subjects of life are under His great big umbrella. Well now I have it - it's on my sidebar.

Blog Challenge Begins

2011-09-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

I am going to try it. 31 Days to Build a Better Blog began when author Darren Rowse asked on Twitter how many people were interested in a month of concentrated teaching and practical exercises on improving blogs. Over 13,000 bloggers signed up!

The idea is simple. Almost all bloggers want to improve their blogs but many never quite get around to it. That would be me. I read several blogs almost daily. I skim lots of other blogs. I recommend blogs and talk about blogs. I have entertained the idea of going to a blog conference. Yet when it comes to actually writing and being intentional about the focus of my blog, nah...

By the end of this challenge I hope to have learned and relayed to you 31 aspects of blogging and put them into practice. This challenge is designed not only to fill our heads with knowledge ABOUT blogging but also give us some concrete things to actually DO.

I am sure I will take more than 31 days, but interspersed with my main blog topics, there will be a blog building exercise. Fire up your blogs and help me with mine! Starts tomorrow...

Getting Ready for 9.11.11

2011-08-29T19:38:00.005-05:00

I've been waiting months for this!
Anne Graham Lotz and Joel Rosenberg will be simulcasting A Wake up Call for God's People on 9.11.11 at 6:00 PM CDT. Go to Anne's website, AnGeL Ministries, for all the details.

We will be able to watch the simulcast from our home computers and Anne's website has very detailed instructions, even for download dummies like me. Also I discovered that if you are a DIRECTV HD Access subscriber, you will have the opportunity to view the Simulcast LIVE on GOD TV, which is channel 365 on DIRECTV.

A Wake Up Call will consider the times in which we live, refocus on Jesus as our Hope for the future, and ask God to re-ignite such an intense longing for His return that we live the rest of our lives with no regrets. This is already speaking to my heart! Joel Rosenberg will deliver an informative opening message - a 50-minute teaching on biblical prophecy and current events that point to Jesus' return. Anne Graham Lotz will give a stirring, 50-minute challenge from Isaiah, urging the church to get ready for the return of Jesus by repenting of sin, returning to the Cross, and recommitting to the proclamation of the Gospel. Selah will lead in worship throughout the program. A DVD-based, 9-week follow-up Bible study, which supports the Simulcast message is available.

A Beautiful Bargain

2011-08-24T12:55:00.005-05:00

These are the days for great bargains and this is no exception! Next week I am traveling to Chattanooga to Northgate Gallery to pick up my grandmother's mahogany corner cupboard. It has been in two of their auctions, both right about the time the bottom fell out of things. The price was high (appraised at 5K) and it did not sell.

I am taking it to Railroad Station Antiques and have drastically lowered the price. The only reason I cannot keep it is because of the size. It simply will not fit in my house - my ceilings are not high enough. For one week only the price for the corner cupboard is $1,750; once it gets to Railraod Station the price jumps to $2,250.

Note Northgate Gallery's description below. Please send this link to anyone you know who might be interested. Thanks, friends!

American Chippendale mahogany bow front corner cupboard, c. 1840.
58 inches wide
27 inches deep
93 inches high
36 inches from corner edge to the center back

Completely authentic
Gorgeous finish and most unusual shape and design
Beautifully designed antique glass cabinet doors
Original locks on drawer and upper and lower cabinets
One felt-lined drawer and two-shelf bottom cabinet
4 scalloped gold leaf edged upper shelves

Holds everything! A stunning piece for a dining room. The corner cupboard is in two pieces; the top glass cabinet fits securely onto the bottom cabinet with an additional center foot for sturdiness.

Last Days of Summer

2011-08-18T13:23:00.002-05:00

Hey, I am preparing for fall and I have found a cool blog experiment that I am dying to try. Trouble is, I would have to write almost every day. Yikes! Don't know if I'm up to that, but just in case I take it on, what would you like me to write about? Do you like Bible studies, recipes, paintings, family events, the grandchildren, prayer requests, other ministries, inspirational stories, random stuff, pretty pictures... in general what I'm interested in? All of the above or something else entirely? I need a little feedback here, so please direct my fingers!

A Mama's Heart

2011-08-10T09:17:00.007-05:00

Okay, I just have to say it - I am carrying around a lot of mamas in my heart this week. Lots of goodbyes, lots of tears, lots of angst... whether it be off to college or off to kindergarten. Did I do enough, was there time enough, do they have faith enough, do they know enough? I am praying for you all. Empty nests as well as the first fledgling out. I'll never forget those days with each of my children - my goodness, I'll never forget those days my very own self! When I went to first grade I left my best childhood friend sitting in her driveway. When I went to college my dad cried and told me I was getting what he never had. He said if he could have his way about one thing it would be to go with me. Memories. See what I mean? Some things, lots of things, they will never forget.

Jesus is enough. He is supremely sufficient. He is holding your child and carrying them to the next step. Many mama prayers this week and next.

Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom." Luke 12: 22, 29-32 NLT

STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST.

2011-08-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

For those of you who know about my painting blog, Blessings in Brushstrokes, I am saying goodbye. Not to painting, but to a blog about painting. I have had 8-10 dedicated weekly readers, and I want to thank them for following a blog with a new post every four months or so!

I simply cannot write two blogs, and my heart is in this one. I plan to increase posts as well as broaden the scope of Coffee Tea and Thee. I will cover my painting news when I have it, right alongside Bible studies, family events, and God things that bring refreshment and restoration.

Painting news... as you might imagine, I've taken at least a six month break due to Sarah's wedding. Yet with a little time on my hands my brain has started pumping and I'm yearning for that creative voice. Today I dug in my old closet and pulled out paints, palette, a big box of photographs for ideas, and clean, white, blank canvasses. I'm back.

While searching the internet looking over some of my favorite artists and what they have been doing while I've had the lead in planning a wedding, I found this. I am such a list person. August is the month for lists - school supply lists, clothes lists, last days of summer lists, reading lists, fall trips lists and more. I can get so wound up trying to find a fresh look - something that has never been done. This reminds me there is nothing new under the sun. Just get going and give it to God!Btw... In keeping with #6 on the list, I'm looking for a tiny inexpensive studio space downtown or near. Someplace to paint, someplace to have you over for coffee, someplace to light in between things. If you know of anything please email.

One Brief Shining Moment

2011-07-31T18:01:00.005-05:00

One brief shining moment and it is over. Tomorrow we say hello to August - the month of summer's last days and school's first days. Everything starts back or almost so. I just want to say one more time that God blessed our family beyond measure on July 16. We are still talking about the fun times, memories made and happy friends and family.

Molly's Etsy Store

2011-07-26T21:19:00.006-05:00

Several of you have asked me, 'Where is Molly?' Meaning, she has been absent from her blog for over a month! Well she has moved, been Sarah's matron of honor, and started a business! Her business just launched today - Sweet Mondays Tees. The adorable hand-designed children's tees and onesies are available on her Etsy store.

She has four designs - little night owl, sweat pea, social butterfly, and digger. The colors are yummy. All tees and onesies are Rabbit Skins 100% cotton - soft and comfy and precious! The designs she drew herself and my favorite is the sweet mondays logo on the back.

I have to say I'm partial to the digger. Maybe I'm just getting excited about Baby Benjamin due in about 2 months!
Super affordable and great for births, birthdays, stocking stuffers or just little happies.

Take a look and pass along to all the young moms you know... grandmothers too!
Sweet Mondays Tees

Wedding Letdown

2011-07-19T07:00:00.001-05:00

And what a sweet letdown it is. Gentle. Kind. So like God. There is no way to describe the exhausted good full joyful overwhelming feelings of today. There is no way to thank everyone for their outpouring of love.

So I am asking God to bless them with deeds only He can do, in ways only He can know.

to the Glories for prayer on our knees in the sanctuary just days before
for Kristi delivering guest bags all over town and making everything fun
for Amanda for writing, under God's inspiration, a prayer I carried around all weekend and will share later
for Lowell and Ken exhibiting pure grace by rescheduling flights and picking up bags and driving two cars and more I don't even know about
for Bee and Ben for pushing through every obstacle and humiliation to get here and be there
for Lucy and John being here full of smiles and support
for Luke - always a dedicated uncle and mentor
for Ann, Mary Alice, Lakshmi, Lee, Kim & Rica for putting together dinner and delivering joy
for everyone who came from out of town
for Pennie, Judy and Karen - other MOB's who carried me in prayer
for the entire Matthews crew
for Steph and Rob both being here
for my cousins who mean the world to me
for Dedra who came for the sole reason to pray
for Shay who said she cried when I walked down the aisle
for Pat, Elaine and Libby, the "fearsome foursome" tennis group from 35 years ago
for Nance, still the best freshman college roommate anyone could have
for unbelievably sweet time with the awesome bridesmaids all day Saturday
for Cathy
for Megan
for more unforgettable Matthews Kelly memories that even Sarah said when she called Sunday morning that these memories were the best of all
for Alison's email and Judy's message
for Houston, Nate and Molly - incredible kids who know when and how to shift the spotlight to their sister
for Ben reaching for my hand during Sean and Sarah's vows
for The Lord calming me with His Word and His Presence

Blessings to you all!

Wedding Countdown

2011-07-07T12:54:00.005-05:00

A mother of the bride, that would be me, learns all kinds of random things while working on a wedding. I thought you might enjoy a few of my faves.

pure barre. The best workout in town. Barre none. I'm hooked. Just came to our town a few months ago and it has provided this MOB the ability to fit into her MOB dress! Read about the calorie burn and the idea behind the technique. Whew!

My favorite wedding book is this one from The Knot. I'll use it even when the wedding is over. Great flowers, color combinations, favors, little gifts, ideas.

I never even heard of fashion tape before but it has zillions of uses. It sticks to skin - so our use is holding our bride's wedding dress straps just barely off her shoulders.
And I found my most favorite summer 'find' at the Greene Street Market. It is held on Thursdays, 4:00 - 8:00 PM at the corner of Greene Street and Eustis Avenue. My long-time family friends, the Tutt's, have put their fabulous cucumber relish on the market. It's called Relish our Relish and so delicious as a side for butter beans, lady peas, in egg salad, or on turkey sandwiches. I recently made myself a cream cheese and relish sandwich on whole wheat bread - yum! I bought a case and I'm giving jars as thank you gifts for the angels in my life who have helped me in scads of sweet ways.

I even now know a lady who monograms leather. See what I mean about random.

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T10:19:00.005-05:00

In the last year, I have fallen in love with the Navy Hymn. It is especially appropriate today as we celebrate freedom and the One in whom we are truly free.

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

The original words were written as a hymn by a schoolmaster and clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev. William Whiting. Rev. Whiting (1825-1878) resided on the English coast near the sea and had once survived a furious storm in the Mediterranean. His experiences inspired him to pen the ode, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save." In the following year, 1861, the words were adapted to music by another English clergyman, the Rev. John B. Dykes (1823-1876) , who had originally written the music as "Melita" (ancient name for the Mediterranean island of Malta). Rev. Dykes' name may be recognized as that of the composer given credit for the music to many other well-known hymns, including "Holy, Holy, Holy," "Lead, Kindly Light," "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," and "Nearer, My God to Thee."

Did you know? Now you do.

2011-06-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a sense God was waking you up, clearly calling you... but you do not know when or where? Or how?
Watch this. Grabs your heart. Teaches your mind. True. Real. Reflective. Honest. Convicting. Hopeless. Hopeful. Is God calling you?

A Must Summer Read

2011-06-23T04:09:00.005-05:00

The idea of summer reading lists is ingrained from school days I guess. Summer is the time I make lists of what to read, what to do, where to go, what to eat for goodness sakes, and what not to miss before Labor Day rolls around.

The favorite read so far... Left to Tell: Rediscovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza.
In 1994 during the 100 day genocide in Rwanda which took the lives of 1,000,000 Tutsis, Immaculee was hidden in a tiny bathroom with seven other women. They were cramped and could barely move. They were silent, knowing even a cough could betray their location and their lives. They were starving: Immaculee was 115 pounds when she entered the bathroom and 65 pounds when she emerged. Her story is inspiring, her God real and compelling. Most of all, her story is of forgiveness and her legacy of faith will be found alongside Corrie Ten Boon's.
It is a quick read, yet one that will stay with you for a lifetime. One excerpt at the end of the book touched my heart:
Rwanda can be a paradise again, but it will take the love of the entire world to heal my homeland. And that's as it should be, for what happened in Rwanda happened to us all - humanity was wounded by the genocide. The love of a single heart can make a world of difference. I believe that we can heal Rwanda - and our world - by healing one heart at a time.

Secret Church

2011-06-21T07:00:00.004-05:00

I have discovered a gold mine. If you are looking for a Bible study you can do at home, on your own time, at your own pace, here it is... David Platt's Secret Church.

If you have heard that Secret Church is held twice a year - true. If you have heard that tickets (although it is free)go in 3 hours - true. If you have heard that it is held on a most inconvenient Friday night - true. And if you have heard that the teaching goes well after midnight - all true. The topics are pivotal to our faith and the body of Christ is well taught. Every resource from every Secret Church is available to us.

Secret Church Click on Resources, then Browse Secret Church Media. Each topic has 4 parts that you can either listen, watch video, print materials. Excellent teaching. Each segment is about an hour in length. I began with Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare and I have learned so much. Take a look, try a segment.

Compassion Team in Boliva

2011-06-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week four of our Wednesday Girls - Rica, Susan, Jennifer and Debbie - are in Bolivia with Compassion International. We have been following their blog and praying, praying, praying!
Tomorrow is child visit day and Compassion-sponsored children come to meet the team. Some will get to meet their sponsor. Many of the children travel for quite a distance, for some this is their first time away from home, and some will be flying. Pray for their safely, God's love to be evident, the walls of culture to quickly fall, the team to be healthy and physically strong, and for each ambassador to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit as He ministers in various ways.

This is Sebastian. How could anyone see this face and not want to be his sponsor? Well, that is exactly what happened. One photo sent to one family and he has a sponsor. the family asked if Sebastian could be packed in a suitcase and be brought to them on the return trip home. Well, no. But maybe another trip and Sebastian's sponsor will be on the team. God does so love the little children!

Peanut Butter Balls

2011-06-13T16:19:00.001-05:00

This is the dearest story of God's call on a young life and how it has come to fruition. This may be my favorite Coffee Tea and Thee post ever, so if you do not have time to read please come back to it. If you do have time to read it through, take a few minutes more at the end for a word of prayer and a word of praise to our God for a ministry such as this. I received permission to tell this story with my most ardent promise that I would give only God, and none other, full Glory. Soli Deo Gloria.

Once upon a time there was an 11 year-old girl named Fran. She lived in our city, in an affluent neighborhood, went to a good school and a large church. At this early age God began to tender her heart toward those who were hungry. She desired to go into the government housing projects to take food to people. And she wanted to teach Bible stories. She shared this desire with her mother who surprisingly agreed to take her. I'm not sure if this was surprising for Fran's mother, but it certainly would have been for mine. The next Tuesday they loaded up the family car with peanut butter balls, Kool Aid and Bible study materials, and headed to streets unknown. Fran says these were the days when every mother in the south was making peanut butter balls, and every kids had their favorite flavor of Kool Aid. Ah, Iremember those days. On their first visit they slowly drove into the projects, stopped the car and got out. It was only when they pulled out the peanut butter balls that a few kids came around to check them out. The next Tuesday afternoon they attracted a few more, and within a month Fran and her mom had over 20 children leaving the tv and their after-school kickball games, to get a peanut butter ball, a cup of Kool Aid and Fran's Bible lesson. The crowd grew to even higher numbers. You are getting this, right? She was 11.

Fran's mother continued to drive her, and foot the bill for peanut butter balls and Kool Aid, until she was 16. And on Tuesday afternoons no less! Not on a weekend when it might have been more convenient, but on a Tuesday when she had to rush home and get dinner for five children, get their homework and to bed! Fran says she never grumbled or complained. She was raising her children for His service! A true servant of the Lord. I write this to encourage those of you I watch who are doing the same thing. Keep listening to your kids and serving their need to work for God, and keep doling out the money to underwrite their kingdom work. Bless all of you! Then Fran got a license and a car, took over her ministry and drove herself. In her her own words, she says that she was quite proud of her Bible lessons and abilities to keep a crowd coming!

This continued until she went to college. After college she moved away and it was a long time - like 10 years - before she moved back. Okay, hang with me here... One day she was driving an unfamiliar route in an unfamiliar area. Remember she had been gone quite a while. She needed a few groceries and pulled up to some kind of market in a not-so-good area of town. As she was checking out, a young man, African American, kept looking at her oddly. He asked her, "Aren't you Miss Fran?" She said yes, he told her who he was, and she remembered him. He had come to her Bible studies years earlier in the projects. If you know Fran, you would know that she whooped and hollered and gave him a big slap on the back. Made him feel loved and happy and welcome and important.

She must have made him feel all of that because he opened up to her in a few short minutes. He said, "Miss Fran, you know all those Saturdays when you came to teach us Bible stories? I didn't really come for your stories. I came for your peanut butter balls. I would eat one of your peanut butter balls on Tuesday and I would sneak two more and hide them in my pocket. We had very little food. On Wednesday nights we ate at the church. From Wednesday until Sunday when we ate at my grandmother's, I would ration out my two peanut butter ball and be able to make it until I could get back to you on Tuesday. Miss Fran, you kept me from starving."

Are you sobbing yet? I can't tell, write or hear this story without bawling. That very day God grew Manna House. Fran is still feeding people, still whooping and hollering and still making everyone feel loved. She works with churches and businesses and hundreds of volunteers. She asks God to fill the need and then waits to see what will show up. One time someone needed Pepto Bismol for an upset stomach. Reluctantly Fran said Pepto Bismol wasn't really food. Two days later God sent one lone bottle of Pepto Bismol in the middle of a pallet of food. Fran says things like that happen all the time.

Manna House does more than serve food. Manna House serves love. The concrete floors and few rooms are God's workspace. It is holy ground. I know this has been an extra long post, but go here to to read more about it, to volunteer, to take your kids.

Wedding Season

2011-06-08T08:24:00.008-05:00

... there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord. They will sing,

‘Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
for the Lord is good.
His faithful love endures forever!’

For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the Lord. Jeremiah 33: 10-11

Excuse me while I digress from my usual topics, but we have a wedding in the family! These days the wedding is my topic.

Sarah and Sean kicked off the wedding season last weekend and I thought you might enjoy some photos of family and friends. This is such a happy joyous time for our family. We already are hearing the happy voices of bride and bridegroom. Our thankfulness to God is overflowing! To see the full post and all the pictures go to Molly's blog, Sweet Mondays, on my sidebar.

A Deeper Look at Isaiah 6

2011-05-28T08:29:00.004-05:00

Ever since I heard Jerry Bridges speak a few weeks ago, I have been trying to decide which tidbit I should share. The one golden nugget of many! He spoke on Isaiah 6 which has to be my most beloved passage in the Bible. In the two sessions I attended, Friday night and Saturday morning, I gained more depth from Isaiah than I thought possible! I should have remembered what I used to teach: You can't outlearn God's Word. We never learn it all, understand it completely, or get to its depth. God's Word is beyond measure.

Jerry Bridges taught us that the first thing Isaiah saw was the Holiness of God. It was evident in the Lord's majesty depicted by His train, the worship of the seraphim, and the calling out of His Holiness (this three-fold repetition is only seen two places in the Bible - here in Is 6 and in Rev 4).

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

After Isaiah sees the Lord's supreme Holiness, he then immediately realizes his awful sinfulness. Isaiah calls himself 'unclean'. Bridges says that the word Isaiah uses for 'unclean' is the same word the lepers called out as they approached other people. Unclean, unclean meant "stay away, I am diseased. I am harmful to you. I am full of rotting flesh". Isaiah basically calls himself a leper.

It is when Isaiah sees himself a sinner that God sends the gospel. The gospel delivered in a live coal from the altar, touching him, declaring atonement from sin and removal of guilt.

However profound as these points are, this is not the point that bowled me over. Mr. Bridges went on to ask this question: What is the importance of WHEN Isaiah said "Here am I. Send me!"?
Think about it...

Here's the sequence. Isaiah first sees the Holiness of Almighty God. Isaiah then sees himself as full of the rotting flesh of sin. Isaiah is given the gospel. It is then Isaiah says to God, "Use me."

If Isaiah had responded as he took in the sight of Majestic God, what might his response have been? Remember Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration? Bless his heart (and ours) - he wanted to build three little huts and keep everybody right there in the middle of the experience.

And what if Isaiah had responded after he saw the true picture of his own sin? He might not have responded at all!

It is after he receives the gospel, that he responds! In his sin, Isaiah realizes he is completely unqualified for God's service. But after he is given the gospel, he is then qualified. The gospel qualifies him and motivates him! It is against the backdrop of our sin that the gospel shines so brightly (Bridges).

Jerry Bridges went on to say that Paul had pretty much the same experience. Ponder this... Paul said 'yes' to God after he saw the blinding holiness of God, his own awful sin, and was personally given the gospel by the Lord Jesus. See what I mean about a deeper look at Isaiah 6?

It is the gospel that motivates us love and serve God.

"God's story in my life"

2011-05-25T10:01:00.012-05:00

When I met Ben, the first thing I said to him was, "I can't wait to hear your story!" He humbly replied, "I do not have a story. My story is God's story in my life".

Ben Mwangi was born in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya in abject poverty. They had nothing. Living in a 10x10 shack on a dollar or two per day, Ben said that in his earliest life he did not know that he lived in such poverty. But when school started it became apparent. He could not attend school, even though it was public school and free. Free still meant you had to buy school books and shoes and uniforms. Such luxuries were not even a slight possibility. He remembers the realization that there was an "us" and a "them". The "them" had shoes and shirts and went to school. The pervasive feeling was that there was no way out and no hope.

Ben said very quickly the devil, the one who "steals, kills and destroys", stepped in, tempting to relieve the helplessness by stealing. Stealing from "them" provided goods to sell and bought shirts and shoes. Gangs were formed. All he knew in the slums was trash.

One day Ben remembers his mother taking him by the hand to a church - a church that would later be called the Compassion Church. It was the first and only time his mother was in a church. She left him there. I don't know for how long, but he was a little boy standing against a wall with a group of children having his picture taken. Several months later Ben heard he had a sponsor from Austin, Texas and life began to change.

He was educated. He came to know Jesus personally. His family benefited. He graduated from primary school, high school and entered University studying physics. Compassion International invested in him. They saw leadership potential and he entered the Leadership Development Program. It is said that Compassion's LDP has the reputation of securing an automatic job and the job would be one rare, something unheard of, something that would make a difference.

Compassion International's byline is "releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name." They are in their 58th year and in 26 countries. Ben challenged us to hear the Lord call to be the voice of the voiceless. Quite fitting for our Bible study girls... all year long through The Truth Project, Amos, and Radical, we've been listening to the Lord calling to us. We have a summer to process and ponder the Lord's words. We begin in September a radical year: radical study, radical prayer, radical giving and radical going.

Ben used this verse to describe God's story in his life:
... 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,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61: 3

Glory in a can of paint

2011-05-14T16:14:00.004-05:00

The clean up continues. Ben snapped this picture in a neighborhood nearby completely ravaged. Yet, in the midst of heartbreak and loss, many people have found their voice of gratitude to God in a can of spray paint. Houses have their house numbers spray painted on them for insurance identification, but many have messages written right on whatever shell has been left, giving glory to God. God was and is fully present. Please continue to pray. Please continue to serve.

Graduation Glory

2011-05-11T17:31:00.000-05:00

Graduation: Summa cum Laude, Bachelor of Science in Art Education, Middle Tennessee State University
My precious niece. My brother. Graduation of a different kind. My cup runneth over. Thank you, Lord.

Jerry Bridges Weekend

2011-05-08T20:04:00.003-05:00

I have been waiting for this weekend for months! This is the weekend Jerry Bridges will be in our town speaking at Christ Presbyterian Church in Hampton Cove.

The church meets at the Hampton Cove Middle School, 261B Old Highway 431, Hampton Cove, AL 35763, 256-533-4044.

Jerry's messages will be titled, The Foundation of Holiness from Isaiah 6:1-8. His speaking schedule is:
Friday, May 13, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Saturday, May 14, 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Sunday, May 15, at 9:15 AM and 10:30 AM

Please plan to attend and invite sometone to attend with you!

Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria

2011-05-05T13:53:00.005-05:00

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28: 19-20

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1: 8

The words Jesus left us with after his resurrection but before his ascension.

We know we are to go and take the gospel. In Acts he tells us 'how' to go... he gives us a game plan. A how-to. Actually, this design in reaching out to others constitutes a life plan. Jerusalem first, then spread out to Judea. Then a little further to Samaria, then to the ends of the earth.

In light of our last week, this helps me. Jesus' plan put legs to my desire to help others. My Jerusalem is my immediate and extended family. My Judea is my faith family, Bible Study girls, dear friends and friends of theirs, neighbors and neighborhoods nearby. My Samaria is Tuscaloosa and Phil Campbell and Birmingham and Mississippi and beyond. For such a time as this...

Sometimes taking the gospel means taking food and clothing and gas and generators and cash. Yesterday in Bible Study we made several lists of needs. And we made several game plans for the next few weeks. One list, shared here, helped me so much to hear God's call for immediate service. I hope it helps you.

Here are places to serve and what's needed right now:
Manna House needs volunteers.
First Baptist is still taking volunteers.
Monrovia Community Center is organizing volunteers.
There is a great need for blood. Blood drives are being organized all over and always at the Red Cross Headquarters.
Families need hot meals.
$25 gift cards are most welcome from Kroger, WalMart, Home Depot and Lowe's. $25 gas cards are a huge help. You can drop cash cards at any of the above places or to Commissioner Dale Strong on Highway 53.
Carpentry skills are highly sought.
Generators.
Clean clothes are desperately needed - some people are wearing generously donated clothes and have to discard them because they have no means of cleaning. Make a call requesting Tide's "Loads of Love" to come to our area.

Go, in His Name and serve.

Power!

2011-04-30T21:17:00.006-05:00

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and concern for me, my family, our area, our city and our state. For your text messages, calls, emails, relayed messages, and offers of hot showers and the luxury of power. We are okay, grateful, humbled and blessed.
~ ~ ~
I spent Wednesday morning in the church basement with a handful of Bible Study girls. Knowing nothing except school was to get out early and the worst was still to come, we prayed for what we all would face later in the day. I left there in total peace. It has been a testimony to me what pre-prayer can do. Through wave upon wave of storm (we had hail three times), I continued to think back on those earlier prayers and the peace that passes all understanding never left me. After the last storm was over, we knew we had been spared... and grim reality the next morning proved us right. Our area was one of the hardest hit.

The next morning I woke up at 5:30. It should have been pitch black dark but there was a eerie light that got my attention. Looking out the window I saw a law enforcement vehicle in my driveway with blue lights blinking warning. I threw on sweats and rain boots over my pajamas and walked outside to investigate. Trees had fallen, lines were down, and utility poles were hovering dangerously close to falling. The deputy told me that we were expecting a power loss for 5-7 days. Now they are saying it is more like 10.

Here's what I'm thinking...
I hardly know how to live without power. Electric power. I forgot my home phones have to be plugeed in to their chargers. I have been shocked at what I've missed most - first, my hairdryer, then coffee maker and vacuum cleaner. I never thought I'd be so grateful for a generator, but I forgot they run on gas. I never thought loss of power could result in a dusk-to-dawn curfew. I never thought I'd be so grateful for my Kindle and battery operated book light.

And here's what else I'm thinking...
God's power just trumped man's. He showed us how powerful His power is and how flimsy is ours. And this...

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3: 20-21

I have God's power at work within me and I rarely give it a thought. I am frustrated over frizzy hair, but not grieved over the dormant, rarely-if-ever tapped power of God residing within me. I've got it all backwards. You? I want to hear your 'power' stories. Bless you all and please continue to pray for those with devastating losses.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6: 10

Francis Chan

2011-04-26T06:00:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago in Bible Study we were shown this video clip as an illustration and we are all still talking about it. I am passing it on - not that it depicts you, but at the moment it is me to a tee.

Here you go... Francis Chan at his best!

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T06:00:00.003-05:00

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. Mark 16: 1-8

Still afraid, still confused, they did go tell the disciples who were in hiding, mourning and weeping. The message must have been repeated exactly because it is believed that Mark wrote his gospel as dictated by Peter. Peter remembered this sentence, "Go, tell his disciples and Peter". I would have too. The Contemporary English Translation says, "Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you."

How many times after a death have we wished for one more time together, one more phone call, just one more minute to clear up last words that were not at all what we wanted to say. Can you imagine how Peter must have been feeling? The guilt, the anguish, the shame. And now Jesus singles him out; He especially wanted to see Peter. I believe Peter couldn't get to Galilee fast enough.

He's alive! Time for second chances, time for more conversations, time to ask questions, time to worship Him. Especially Peter... and especially you and especially me. In the face of all our sins, our guilt and shame, He singles us out and especially wants to meet with us. To forgive us, turn us around, clear up the confusion, love us, lead us. He's alive!

Holy Week: Saturday

2011-04-23T06:00:00.002-05:00

Peter, John, James, Lazarus, Mary, Martha, Mary Magdelene, Simon the Leper, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Pilate's wife... what was everybody doing? What was everybody thinking?

If there ever was a day of confusion this had to be it. I do not believe we can understand confusion like this. What were the disciples thinking? They couldn't think. They were in shock. Their brains would not work. They were living in hiding, trying to figure out what to do. Jesus was dead. Judas was dead. What just happened?

They were living in pure shock and quaking fear. They were expecting at any moment soldiers would beat down the doors and they would be next. They were grieved beyond measure. They were exhausted. At some point, each one probably had a complete breakdown whether private or public. Heaving, gut-wrenching sobs poured out from love and blame and conviction and love and shame and denial and love.

Were they remembering his words? No, they weren't remembering anything at all. Were they hopeful for his return? No, it never entered their minds. All hope was gone.

Complete confusion, lack of hope, no plan, and utter sorrow.

Holy Week: Friday

2011-04-22T06:00:00.003-05:00

Ecce Homo, BEHOLD THE MAN
Antonio Ciseri, 1871
Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Florence

All night long Jesus had been before Annas, Caiphas, the Sanhedrin. In the early morning he was brought for his third trial before Pilate.

“Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him." John 18: 35-38

If anyone ever asks you why Jesus came, now you know the answer. If anyone ever asks you what truth is, now you know. Truth is a Person. Jesus Christ, the Truth of God.

Pilate was dogged by the Jews and swayed by the crowd. Interestingly enough, he was warned by his wife, who by the way, is depicted in the right foreground of Ciseri's painting. She had come into the Praetorium to see if her husband heeded her warning and been fair to the just man.
While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. Matt 27: 19-20
She is beginning to slowly withdraw, leaning on her servant for support, knowing that the scene in front of her was all wrong. An innocent man beaten and tortured, wrongly sentenced to die.

But it was not all wrong. It was all Right. All His Righteousness for all my filthy rags. The Truth of God.

Holy Week: Thursday

2011-04-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

Maundy Thursday. Passover. All day a day of preparation. House secured - it is believed they met at Mark's parents house. Table set - wine, vinegar, bitter herbs. Feast prepared. The Jewish day began at sundown. Joining together around 6:00pm. Disciples only. The Twelve with the Master.

Did they sigh with relief? They had made it to Passover. No arrests. No one hurt. They sang Psalm 113 and 114.

They argued. He washed their feet. Their smelly, dusty, calloused, men-sized feet. They were uncomfortable and resisted. They had no idea what else he was going to do for them. This day is also called the Thursday of Mysteries.

He instituted the Lord's Supper. And gave new commandments. The word 'Maundy', derived from the Latin word 'mandatum', means "commandment" and refers to the commands Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper: to love with humility by serving one another, and to remember his sacrifice.

They left between 9:00 and 10:30pm and he told them they would all fall away. But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same. Matt 26: 35

Jesus took Peter, John and James with him to Gethsemane. He told them he was sorrowful to the point of death. He went a little further to pray and they fell asleep. Anguish. Drops of blood. He was facing the horror of crucifixion, but even more than that, taking the cup of God's wrath. The full cup. Drinking it to the dregs. Becoming sin.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. II Cor. 5: 21

Couldn't you keep watch for one hour? One of Jesus' penetrating questions. To us. Can't we pray for one hour? Can't we sacrifice sleep for one hour? Can't we give one hour of service? Can't we go outside our comfort zone for one hour? One hour. That is all he asked of them that night. Can we find one hour today?

Off in the distance torches could be seen. They were coming to arrest him. It was about midnight.

Holy Week: Wednesday

2011-04-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

The silent day. The gospels are quiet. No known facts. It is speculated Jesus spent the day near Bethany with close friends - a quiet day of rest and prayer.

Did he sleep late? Did he go back to the Mount of Olives and gaze at Jerusalem one last time? Where did he have dinner that night? What were his last conversations with Mary, Martha and Lazarus? Was this the day he sent a few disciples off to begin making preparaions for Passover? Was this the day Judas snuck away to meet with members of the Sanhedrin? Who did Jesus hug today or heal today? Who did he kiss today? Did he cry today?

Today I'm fasting from words and having a quieted heart day. Not that I won't have conversations, but I'm going to think about my words and not be so full of nothingness. I'm going to pray more and prepare myself for the coming days.

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. Isaiah 30: 15

I do not want to be the one to whom Jesus says, 'you would have none of it'. I want every bit of what He chooses to give me today.

Holy Week: Tuesday

2011-04-19T06:00:00.004-05:00

Tuesday - a hard day. This was the last day of Jesus public ministry and his last day in the temple. He arrived early in Jerusalem and did not return to Bethany until late at night. This was the day Jesus voiced his hardest teachings. I wonder if, to buffer Tuesday, it is one of the reasons Jesus needed a good night at Bethany. I am camped out today in the seriousness, the authority, the weight, the conviction, of Jesus' words.

Surely he must have been tired of explaining his authority. Tuesday the chief priests met him walking into the temple, throwing questions at him to trap him in his words. They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?” Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!” Mark 11: 27-29

Surely he must have been tired of speaking in parables. Tuesday was the day he told three most serious parables - the parable of the two sons, the parable of the tenants, and the parable of the wedding banquet. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” Matthew 21: 35-41

Surely he must have been tired of battling worldly authority. Tuesday was the day Jesus delivered one of his most quoted verses of our day. "Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. Matthew 22: 17-22

On the way home from Jerusalem, Jesus stopped at the Mount of Olives and, overlooking the Temple, he gave the Olivet Discourse - explaining about the soon coming destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem due to rejection of the Messiah (Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, Luke 21). Full of the Holy Spirit, The Word spoke last words. Some at the Temple, but most to his disciples. He knew what he needed to say, what needed to be emphasized, what points he needed to drive home. Careful and measured, every word was foundational, pivotal, piercing.

Holy Week: Monday

2011-04-17T14:03:00.007-05:00

I love to visualize every single day during Holy Week. Where did Jesus stay? Who did he talk to? What gave him comfort? What was on the mind of the Holy One? What did he deem important during his last earthly hours? This Holy Week, each day, walk with me through a portion of his day.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12: 1-2

Jesus and his disciples had traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem. They traveled through Jericho where Jesus met with Zaccheus. On Friday, one week prior to his crucifixion, Jesus came to Bethany, a small town 2 miles from Jerusalem. It is believed he stayed the weekend through Wednesday night in the home of dear friends, Lazarus, and his sisters, Martha and Mary. This family supported him financially, but more importantly, they made their home his whenever he was in the area. He loved them; they loved him.

On Monday Jesus left Bethany and walked to Jerusalem. On the way he cursed a fig tree that bore no fruit, only leaves. He found the moneychangers had set up their tables again in the temple. He overturned their tables and threw them out. On his return to Bethany his followers noticed the fig tree had completely withered.

He came back to Bethany to be in the company of close friends. This is my thought for the day. Close friends... Lazarus, Martha and Mary. We know this family fairly well. And we know our own Lazarus', Marthas' and Marys'. Friends who share our faith. Friends we cry with. Friends who are God given. Friends who carry us before and after our darkest days. The friend whose home is home away from home, and lets you drag in at any time of day, in any condition. The friend who feeds you, nourishes you, and puts you back on the road the next morning. Close friends of Bethany. I love thinking of each one. One of the dearest, simplest, most profound comforts of God for His Son during his last week.

Radical

2011-04-02T20:27:00.002-05:00

My weekly Bible Study group, whom I affectionately call The Wednesday Girls, are ending our year with the study of David Platt's Radical. This has been some kind of year for us. In the fall we watched and discussed The Truth Project; in the winter we launched into the study of Amos. God has called us, collectively and individually, to a new way of thinking. Less about us and more about Him. And if our boats had not been rocked hard enough, David Platt has us in the spiritual high seas. We are discussing the hardest biblical passages and contemplating decisions that a year ago would have been foreign to our minds and hearts. I cannot wait to find out where God is taking us... and I mean globally.

Here is a clip. I know David Platt looks like a teenager (I hear he is 31), but his wisdom is well beyond his years. I believe God has solidly planted him for such a time as this.

I highly recommend the book and the study. Be prepared...God may have something radical to say to you.

One more...

Jerry Bridges in Town!

2011-03-24T06:57:00.003-05:00

For all of you who followed the Coffee Tea and Thee Summer Book Club online when we read Jerry Bridges' Respectable Sins, do I have great news for you! Jerry Bridges will be in our town speaking the weekend of May 13-15. Mark it down!

Here's what I know so far:

* The host is Christ Presbyterian Church, meeting in Hampton Cove Middle School http://www.christpreshamptoncove.org

* Jerry will be speaking Friday night around 7 pm, Saturday 9-11 am, and twice Sunday - 9:15 am & again at 10:30 am for church. As I find out exact times, I will post them.

* His topic ( and I know all you BSF'ers studying Isaiah will be thrilled!):
The Foundation of Holiness from Isa. 6:1-8.
Messages will cover: God- His Holiness; Guilt- the seriousness of sin; The Gospel- the remedy for sin (II Cor. 5:21); and Gratitude- motivation of the Gospel (Lu. 7).

I'm pumped! Needless to say, this man, his inspired writings and the Holy Spirit's conviction changed my heart for the Gospel. Stay tuned and I'll see you there!

Lent: Sowing Ephesians

2011-03-06T20:19:00.006-06:00

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. Hosea 10: 12

I want to share with you something I learned at last weekend's women's retreat and something I am starting this Wednesday as Lent begins. I love Lent. I love going underground in my heart and walking through a season of penitence to prepare for the glory of Easter. You may want to try this same precious exercise.

At retreat the above verse was our theme. While we discussed sowing righteousness, we talked about planting a garden in the field of our minds. It can be any kind of garden - vegetable, flower, English, wildflower, and in my mind's eye, my garden resembles the one from The Secret Garden, my favorite childhood classic.

Our garden becomes a Seeking Garden, the place we meet with God. We spend time there everyday. All Master Gardeners go into the garden almost every single day to survey and make plans, pull a few weeds or just walk around. Or work. Or sit. So, in our Seeking Gardens, we also plan, clean out, prepare the soil and begin to plant. And here's the cool part - we plant the book of Ephesians. We plant 5 seeds each day - which means 5 verses a day. The way it works out is that we make our way through the entire book of Ephesians during the 40 days of Lent. Sowing Ephesians. I love it!

I've got my garden all mapped out. I've thrown out some rubbish that littered up my landscape and taken a good hard look at the condition of my soil. I'm planning to plant my 5 seeds each day and pray and meditate over God's Word and sow it deep. I'm not naive enough to think this will be an easy task. Gardening is back breaking. I know I've got some rocks that need moving and some unplowed hard ground. I know there will be be days where I'll pull weeds and days where I'll get a cup of coffee and just sit with God. My heart is ready. I'm anticipating reaping His unfailing love.

Anne Graham Lotz's Prayer for Egyptian Believers

2011-02-19T19:40:00.002-06:00

Anne Graham Lotz, internationally renowned Bible teacher and daughter of Billy Graham — and a speaker at the 2011 Epicenter Conference — has written an excellent column on “Prayer for Egyptian Believers".

Along with the rest of the Body of Christ worldwide, my attention has been riveted on the events unfolding in Egypt. My spirit resonates with the heart-felt cry for freedom of hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated in the streets. I have cried with them, danced with them, sung with them, and rejoiced with them as they have celebrated the unprecedented collapse of an oppressive regime. And I have prayed for them, that God in Heaven would keep His promise stated through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah: When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, He will send them a Savior and Defender, and He will rescue them. So the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord…They will turn to the Lord, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them. How I pray that the Egyptian people will turn to God! And how I pray for the return of Jesus Christ to this earth, to rule in true righteousness and justice for all …especially the oppressed.

As a Christian, I am not only praying for the Egyptian people in general, but I am praying for the followers of Jesus Christ in particular who are living in a nation during a time of upheaval and uncertainty. I am deeply convinced that what Egyptians are looking for is ultimately found in a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, I am praying for Christians who have the Answer to speak up and speak out.

When Christians in the first century were arrested, warned to no longer speak of Jesus, and persecuted for their faith, this was their prayer in Acts 4:29: Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness.

My prayer for the Christians in Egypt as well as the United States, is for us to boldly speak up and speak out the name of Jesus! I pray that the followers of Jesus would seize the opportunity to tell people that God loves them, that their lives have eternal significance, that He has a unique plan and purpose for their lives that includes real hope for the future, that He has given them Jesus as The Way to come, not into a religion or a denomination or an organization, but into a personal, love relationship with Himself that is permanent. Please tell them, that they can know that this life is not all there is. The best is yet to come. Because Jesus is preparing a heavenly Home where they will live with Him forever.

One of the early churches was located in what is now Izmir, Turkey. The people were as poor then as those living in the garbage city outside of Cairo now. Yet they boldly proclaimed the Good News. As a result, one of their leaders was put to death, and others were severely persecuted. Jesus singled them out for worldwide commendation when He wrote a letter preserved in the book of Revelation. He encouraged them in this way: Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days (suffering is temporary, even if it lasts a lifetime). Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

The Crown of Life, as I understand, is the Medal of Honor for believers. It is the highest award God gives, reserved for those who do not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. One day, those who suffer for the sake of the Gospel here, will be honored there! On that day, all of us will join in the chorus that rocks the Universe, Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain (Jesus understands persecution firsthand), to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! On that day, regardless of what you have suffered, it will be worth it, because He is worth it. Lord Jesus, give us the courage of our convictions to exalt Your name until we see You face to face.

Pray for Egypt's Great Awakening

2011-02-12T15:58:00.005-06:00

I knew after the events of yesterday, Joel Rosenberg would have quite a bit to say worth hearing. You may read all of it for yourself here, Joel Rosenberg, but let me give you a quick synopsis:

Joel Rosenberg will be on Fox News Sunday at 12:20 pm central time, to discuss the fall of Mubarak.
There are estimated 2.5 million followers of Jesus Christ in Egypt today.
They are facing harassment and persecution.
Our job as believers around the world at this moment of turmoil, change and uncertainty is to stand with our brothers and sisters in Egypt, encourage them, pray for them, provide whatever training or resources they need, and provide some funding if possible to help them proclaim the gospel, make disciples, train new pastors, plant new churches, care for the poor and needy, and minister to the people in many other ways.
Read about the famous "garbage" church. Reading this makes me want to go there, makes me want to worship there!
Mr. Rosenberg ends with this - We know through Isaiah 19 that the future of Egypt is going to get far worse in the last days before the return of Christ. We also know that eventually Egypt will experience a great national awakening.

Pull away sometime in the next few days to pray for believers in Egypt. The timing is crucial for our prayers - regimes are changing before our very eyes. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The Greatest Threat Facing the World Today

2011-02-09T21:03:00.007-06:00

My favorite place these days to put two and two together - biblical prophecy and current news - is Joel Rosenberg's blog, http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/.

Posted February 9, 2011

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an important address to a policy conference in Jerusalem on Monday of some 400 European lawmakers and dignitaries, organized by the European Friends of Israel.

Excerpts from PM Netanyahu’s address:

“Our commitment, our goal is the maintenance and the expansion of peace. But as we think about the dramatic events that are taking place in Egypt, let’s not lose sight of an even greater earthquake, greater than everything that I described, that could rock our region and rock the world and rock each of your countries and Europe if Iran were to develop nuclear weapons.

“Here’s what Iran is doing today. It’s in Afghanistan; it’s in Iraq; it’s in the Yemen; it’s pretty much taken over Lebanon; it’s taken over Gaza; it’s in the Horn of Africa; it’s even sending its tentacles to the Western Hemisphere, penetrating Latin America. This is what Iran is doing today without nuclear weapons. Imagine what they will do tomorrow with nuclear weapons. Iran already has missiles that reach well beyond Israel. They’re not developing these long-range missiles for us; they can reach us. They’re developing it for you, to reach you. With each passing day, those missiles bring more of Europe into range. And I have some bad news for you: Jose Maria, you’re in the caliphate. They talk about a new caliphate. There’s anyone here from Romania? Borderline. Sweden? You’re out of it for now. They say they can’t possibly mean this, it cannot be that in the 21st century people speak of caliphates, of new-found empires, of an ideology that is suited not for the 21st century but for the 9th century. I urge you not to underestimate this threat to our common civilization. It’s hard for people to understand, especially for Westerners. It’s hard for them to understand fanaticism – especially if sometimes it wears a suit and a tie, or a suit without a tie. It’s very hard to understand that. But it’s there.

“You ask yourself, for example, what was the Taliban thinking when they enabled the dispatch of al-Qaida to bomb New York and Washington. What were they thinking? Were they thinking that the United States would not send an army to bring down their regime? Could they have been that crazy, or that stupid? They weren’t stupid. They were totally irrational.

“Today there’s a competition between the militant Sunnis and the militant Shiites. The militant Shiites have a state. That state is developing nuclear weapons, with unbridled ambitions for power and dominance. They see the United States as the great Satan, we’re the little Satan, and you’re somewhere in between. You’re a middle-sized Satan. That’s how they view us. And there’s no room in the world, in their world, for us and for our societies.

“I believe that the greatest threat facing the world today is the possibility that a militant Islamic regime will meet up with nuclear weapons, or that nuclear weapons will meet up with a militant Islamic regime. The first is called Iran, the second is called Pakistan. Given the events that are unfolding in our region, there are other possibilities as well. This cannot be allowed to happen.

“The good news is that nothing is inevitable. We have the power to protect our common civilization, to roll back the forces of radicalism and to advance a secure peace. One of the keys to defeating this fanaticism is to be able to distinguish friends from enemies. In this battle between the 21st century and the 9th century, between freedom and despotism, between progress and primitivism, Europe and Israel stand squarely on the same side…..”

Jerusalem, Anyone?

2011-01-17T09:01:00.005-06:00

Joel Rosenberg, author of Epicenter, is hosting an Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem, May 15-16, 2011. If I could be anywhere in the world on those two days, I'd be there. Five days after the Epicenter Conference wedding bells will be ringing in our family, so I will stay put on this side of the sea. Check out the line-up of speakers! I thought if anyone was in going to be in the area this would be something not to miss.

http://www.epicenterconference.com/page.asp

Like me, if you have to miss, the Conference is available on DVD.

2011-01-06T11:33:00.006-06:00

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3: 20-21

This is just settling in... I've told my husband and my two daughters, but I still need to tell it just to take it in. Guess who will be the first group to do the Crossings study? I should say, guess where Crossings is going to be studied? Afghanistan! Am I floored? Yes. Did I think the first group to study Crossings would be the church down the street? Yes. Did I even think Crossings would ever be studied? Hmmmm, not sure, hopeful. Did I ever dream that a group of girls in the military in Afghanistan would even hear of the study much less desire to do it? Never. Have I put two and two together that God has had me studying the Middle East and Afghanistan the past few months and that is where He is sending Crossings? Barely.

I am on a high over it and I am on my knees over it. Here's how it happened... a girl in the fall Crossings class has a daughter who is a physical therapist in the army in Afghanistan (no names until I have permission to use them). The daughter leads a small Bible study with a brigade psychologist and a West Point grad in Intel. The mom mentioned to the daughter that the study might be extremely pertinent since Joshua is such a wonderful military leader and strong spiritual mentor. They decided to give it a go and the lesson notes, leaders guide and DVD's are on their way to Afghanistan.
Never in a million years would I have imagined this! I hope that we can hear from them, pray for them and I can retell their amazing stories from the field.

Soli Deo Gloria!

A Glance Back and a Huge Look Forward

2010-12-30T18:34:00.005-06:00

You crown the year with Your goodness,
and Your paths drip with abundance
They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
and the little hills rejoice on every side.

Psalm 65:11-12

From Thanksgiving through Christmas we have had the most wonderful holidays. My cup runneth over! Here are some pics from Thanksgiving afternoon at Nate's, to Christmas weekend at Molly's, to Christmas Day in Naples...

2011 is going to be a big year for the Matthews clan.Ben and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary in February...

Nate and Courtney marry May 21...

and Sarah and Sean marry July 16!

Love is in the air!
Now when it comes to love; And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. . and; Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 JOHN 4:21 1 PETER 4:8-9

The most blessed New Year to you all!

Merry Christmas, Dear Bloggers

2010-12-22T16:42:00.005-06:00

I think that every Christmas the Lord puts one or two new thoughts in my head and I ponder on them all through the season. This year I am thinking about God breaking through the darkness. From Malachi to Matthew there had been 400 years of silence, 400 years of darkness. No Word from God, no prophet speaking forth for the Lord. The world was waiting for a very long time for renewal, rebirth, redemption - for HIM. And finally at the most unusual time, in the most unexpected way, God brought His Light into the world.

He still does. I was just speaking with a dear friend who says her world looks dark. She said the last four years feel like 400. I am reminded of the ones on my prayer list who are dying, paralyzed, low on hope, rejected, grieving, hurting, unsettled and lost. Sometimes our lives feel so dark and our hopes are so low. Yet, our God reigns! Just at the most unusual time in a way only orchestrated by Him, God breaks into our little lives with Hope and Grace and Love and Glory!

He still is in the business of breaking through the darkness. Look for it. Expect it. Watch for it. I pray this gentle, tender, childlike unfolding of His plan in your life. Merry Christmas!

God is Light; In Him there is no darkness at all.

I John 1: 5

Here It Is

2010-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

It is with fear and trembling, excitement and held breath that I send you the link to my website. It is finally ready. And I am ready - I think. Ready to let go of my baby and let someone else teach it, lead it, explain it... without me holding its hand. It really is like sending my child off to college!

The website launches Crossings: Life Lessons from the Book of Joshua , a seven-week Bible study. It has taken a year of writing, teaching, revising and taping to finish and is near and dear to my heart. Joshua has become almost a personal friend – certainly a mentor.

The website also focuses on two weekend retreats: Prayer Boot Camp and Crossings, the weekend version. In February I will offer a free online video workshop titled Uncover and Discover, expounding dynamic teaching tools to use in Sunday school classes, small group Bible studies, or even in workplace presentations.

My blog, Coffee Tea and Thee, is accessible through the website, so bookmark my website and visit often.

Lastly, but far from the least, I want to give a shout-out and Glory Hallelujah! for my webkeeper, Elizabeth Jones. She has become as near and dear to me as Joshua and I have relied on her prayers, expertise, wisdom and wit to keep me on track.

Soli Deo Gloria, it was all for Him.

www.suzannewmatthews.com

To the East and Far East

2010-11-28T17:08:00.005-06:00

If you have been reading the blog posts since mid-October, you know that God has been leading me to become more factually aware regarding the Middle East. I've touched on the ten largest (by population) countries in the Middle East and their current rulers. I then added the same infomation on Russia. According to prophecies in Ezekiel, a large country to the north plays a significant role in end times. Remember we are viewing the Middle East, specifically Israel, as the epicenter of the world.

This post finishes our foundation. I thought we had the major players down pat, but I keep being pushed to include the same information on Afghanistan and China. Review the six past posts, even print them out, and be well acquainted with a world map - which, by the way, is an excellent gift.

AFGHANISTAN
29 million
The government is an Islamic Republic. The President is Hamid Karzai; two Vice-Presidents are Mohammed Fahim and Karim Khalili.

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
1 billion 331 million
Hu Jintao is the President of China. Wen Jiabao is the Premier of the State Council. There are three vice-premiers: Wu Yi, Zeng Peiyan and Hui Liangyu. The People's Congress re-elected Hu Jintao as president of China on March 15 2008, giving him a new five year term at the helm of the world's most populous nation.

Connect the Dots

2010-11-11T12:40:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I recieved in the mail Anne Graham Lotz's Fall newsletter. I cannot believe how it confirmed what I am learning and how God is leading. An excerpt from her cover article says...

And daily I face, along with so many of you, the burden of knowing what time it is in human history. The oppression of seeing our nation officially in rebellion against God, unable to connect the dots of the environmental disasters, terrorist threats, brutal crimes, political scandals, corporate corruption and economic recession, to the removal of His hand of blessing, is a heavy weight on my spirit.

'Connect the dots' screamed off the page to me as I had written those exact same words in my prayer journal recently and re-written them on my October 18 blog post titled Wake Up With Me. Here's what I wrote...

I know very little about the Middle East. And I have been led to know more about the Middle East. In fact, a few weeks ago, I felt God was prompting me to do three things:
* Wake up, open my eyes – connect the dots between news and biblical prophecy…
* Get informed – read, know the present, know the past, know the map, know the leaders…
* Get prepared – listen and be ready to obey where God puts me and what He asks of me…

We must all wake up! As events unfold on the national and international horizon, we must put two and two together and seek God for answers. He is speaking. He is speaking quite a bit through studies of the Major and Minor Prophets. Anne Lotz goes on to say that God has led her to saturate herself in His Word, in particular the Minor Prophets!

I pray, fervently pray, that He has not totally removed His hand of blessing.

To read Anne Graham Lotz's article in its entirety, here you go... http://www.annegrahamlotz.com/news/2010/11/2/fall-2010/

Awaiting the City of God by R.C. Sproul

2010-11-04T15:44:00.002-05:00

October 17, 2010

Evangelical Christians love America. Some see in her the last hope of creating a Christian nation. But it is not a Christian nation. It is pagan to the core. It is in danger of becoming, if it is not already, the new “Evil Empire.” The Mayflower Compact is a museum piece, a relic of a forgotten era. “In God We Trust” is now a lie.

Yes, we must always work for social reform. Yes, we must be “profane’ in Martin Luther’s sense of going out of the temple and into the world. We do not despise the country of our birth. But in what do we invest our hope? The state is not God. The nation is not the Promised Land. The president is not our King. The Congress is not our Savior. Our welfare can never be found in the city of man. The federal government is not sovereign. We live—in every age and in every generation—by the rivers of Babylon. We need to understand that clearly. We must learn how to sing the Lord’s song in a strange and foreign land.

America will fall. The United States will inevitably disintegrate. The Stars and Stripes will bleed. The White House will turn to rubble. That is certain. We stand like Augustine before the sea. We pray that God will spare our nation. If He chooses not to, we ask for the grace to accept its demise. In either case, we look to Him who is our King and to heaven, which is our home. We await the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, whose builder and maker is God.

Coram Deo: Are you looking to your King and to your eternal destiny, despite the circumstances around you? Keep your focus on the heavenly Jerusalem, whose builder and maker is God.
1 Corinthians 15:50: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.”
John 3:5: “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’”
2 Peter 1:11: “An entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

To the North

2010-11-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

Joel Rosenberg in his book, Epicenter, calls the Middle East the epicenter of future biblical events. The book expounds Rosenberg's views from Ezekiel's prophecies.
"Therefore, son of man, prophesy! Tell Gog, 'A Message from God, the Master: When my people Israel are established securely, will you make your move? Will you come down out of the far north, you and that mob of armies, charging out on your horses like a tidal wave across the land, and invade my people Israel, covering the country like a cloud? When the time's ripe, I'll unleash you against my land in such a way that the nations will recognize me, realize that through you, Gog, in full view of the nations, I am putting my holiness on display. Ezekiel 38: 14-16

RUSSIA
The population of Russia is 141,927,297 as of 1 January 2010.[2][3] The population hit a historic peak at 148,689,000 in 1991, just before the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Dmitri Anatolyevich Medvedev (elected May, 2, 2008) is the President of Russia in 2010.

Formerly Vladimir Putin's Chief of Presidential Staff, Medvedev was also the Chairman of Gazprom's board of directors, a post he had held for the second time since the year 2000. Medvedev's candidacy was backed by then President Vladimir Putin.

On 10 December 2007, he was informally endorsed as a candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections by the largest Russian political party, United Russia and several pro-presidential parties, and officially endorsed by United Russia on 17 December 2007. A technocrat and political appointee, Medvedev had never held elective office before 2008.

Some would argue Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is still the leader of Russia because he is still controlling things from behind the scenes. Despite his popularity, he was prohibited from running for a third term as President.

The Players

2010-10-24T20:43:00.005-05:00

I thought it would be helpful to know the top ten Middle Eastern countries by population and their presidents.

EGYPT
79 million
The fourth and current President of Egypt is Hosni Mubarak. His first term began on 14 October 1981, and as of September 2005 is serving his fifth term in office. There is no constitutional limit upon the number of terms that any one individual can serve as President.

IRAN
75 million
The current President of Iran is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since the Iranian presidential election, 2005. He was reelected after the disputed Iranian presidential election, 2009.

TURKEY
72 million
The office of the President of Turkey was established with the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923. Current office-holder is the 11th president, Abdullah Gül since August 28, 2007.

IRAQ
31 million
The current Prime Minister of Iraq is Nouri al-Maliki, who holds most of the executive authority and appoints the Council of Ministers, which acts as a cabinet and/or government. The current Presidency Council, a transitional replacement for the President of Iraq who serves largely as a figurehead with few powers, is composed of Jalal Talabani, Tariq al-Hashimi, and Adel Abdul Mehdi.

SAUDI ARABIA
27 million
Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, born August 1, 1924 is the current King of Saudi Arabia, and head of the House of Saud. He succeeded to the throne and assumed the title of King upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd, on August 1, 2005.

YEMEN
24 million
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh, born March 21, 1946, is the first and current President of Republic of Yemen. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) from 1978 until 1990, when he assumed office of president of Republic of Yemen (North & South Yemen). He is the longest-serving president of Yemen, ruling for more than 32 years and counting.

SYRIA
22 million
Syria's current president is Bashar al-Assad, who won a referendum on extending his presidency for second term, garnering 97.62 percent of votes in 2007 and is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who held office from 1970 until his death in 2000.

ISRAEL
7 million
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel (the title of President of Israel is an honorary position). The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem. The current prime minister is Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, the ninth person to hold the position.

JORDAN
6 million
Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, born 30 January 1962, is the current King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He ascended the throne on 7 February 1999 after the death of his father King Hussein. King Abdullah is a member of the Hashemite family. Abdullah has been married to Queen Rania of Jordan since 1993 and his mother is Princess Muna al-Hussein. Queen Noor of Jordan, born 23 August 1951, is the last wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was queen consort of Jordan between 1978 and 1999. Since her husband's death in 1999, she has been queen dowager of Jordan. American by birth, and of Syrian, British, and Swedish descent, she acquired Jordanian citizenship and renounced her American citizenship at the time of her marriage. She is the current president of the United World Colleges movement and an advocate of the anti-nuclear weapons proliferation campaign, Global Zero.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
4 million
The current President is Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Nahyan became president on 3 November 2004, following the death of his father, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

History in the Making

2010-10-20T19:11:00.002-05:00

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – To lively African drumbeats and against the lighted backdrop of the trademark African red sunrise, over 4,000 Christian leaders from over 190 nations gathered at the Cape Town International Convention Center to open the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization Sunday.

Cape Town 2010: Highlights from the Opening CelebrationIt was the first time in over 20 years that the Lausanne Movement, a global network of evangelical leaders who work together for world evangelization, held a global conference. The third Lausanne Congress, also known as Cape Town 2010, is described as the most diverse Christian gathering – in terms of ethnicity, denomination, profession, and gender – in the 2,000 year history of Christianity.

Congress participants represent 198 nations, nearly every stream of Christianity, a diverse age range (40 percent of participants are from 20 to 40 years old), and diverse professions (1,200 participants are pastors, 1,200 are scholars and in the academic field, and 1,200 are from the medical, business, and media fields).

“We have come to dream. In those days, the Prophet Joel said when I pour out my Spirit on all people your sons and daughters will prophesize. Your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions,” said Doug Birdsall, executive chair of The Lausanne Movement, Sunday evening.

“[A]s we see the grand narrative of redemptive history, we believe that the future is as bright as the promises of God,” he said. “We will reflect this week on the mission of Lausanne – the call to the whole church to take the whole Gospel to the whole world.”

The significance of the Lausanne conferences lays in its founding in 1974. Lausanne I was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, and led by American evangelist Billy Graham. More than 2,700 evangelical leaders from 150 countries gathered for that historic conference that resulted in The Lausanne Covenant – a document defining the theological ground works for collaborative world evangelization. It also provided a framework for unity and serves as the statement of faith for hundreds of Christian organizations worldwide.

Also during Lausanne I, missiologist Ralph D. Winter shifted mission thinking when he gave a presentation about unreached people groups. Winter said the completion of the Great Commission should not be based on national boundaries but on unreached people groups.

More than a decade later, Lausanne II took place in Manila, Philippines. That Congress produced the Manila Manifesto that reaffirmed and expanded upon The Lausanne Covenant and the call to “Proclaim Christ Until He Comes.” The 1989 gathering brought together 3,600 leaders from 190 nations.

On Sunday evening, Birdsall read letters written by Billy Graham and John Stott, key leaders of Lausanne I, to attendees of Lausanne III.

Graham, 92, said he would pray daily for the conference in Cape Town and said the task of Lausanne III is to analyze changes in the world in the 21st century and see how God is calling Christians in this generation.

“[R]emember some things won’t change,” said Birdsall, reading Graham’s letter. The love of God, the good news, and Christ’s commandments do not change, said Graham in his written message.

The respected evangelical leader said he will be praying that God will increase the burden on the hearts of participants for the lost world and that they would rededicate themselves to the commitment to the lost world. He also told attendees to keep their eyes on Jesus Christ every day.

Meanwhile, English Christian leader and Anglican clergyman John Stott, 89, in his letter said he rejoices that the conference is being held in Africa where God is pouring out His blessing. Stott, who was a key figure in drafting The Lausanne Covenant, said he is praying daily for the conference.

“If God is still speaking to the Church as we enter the third millennium, if He has something to say to us, what is it He wants to say,” said Birdsall. “Speak Lord, your servants are listening.”

“Grant us a fresh vision of yourself for your Church.”

Lausanne III will address a wide range of issues facing the Church in the 21st century, including worldviews hostile to Christianity, the threat of terrorism, HIV/AIDS, and the prosperity gospel. The conference will conclude on Oct. 24.

Wake Up with Me!

2010-10-18T18:16:00.004-05:00

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but I thought I’d let you know what the Lord has put on my heart.

I know very little about the Middle East. And I have been led to know more about the Middle East. In fact, a few weeks ago, I felt God was prompting me to do three things:
* Wake up, open my eyes – connect the dots between news and biblical prophecy…
* Get informed – read, know the present, know the past, know the map, know the leaders…
* Get prepared – listen and be ready to obey where God puts me and what He asks of me…

It began with recently reading through Isaiah in my read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year. I’ve read Isaiah upteen times, but this time I saw scriptures I’d never seen before, and ones I had seen I now read in a different light. Followed by Jeremiah, I’m seeing judgment everywhere. If any of the unfulfilled prophecies of judgment were to happen in my lifetime, I can tell you for sure that I am woefully unprepared.

Lying awake one night God began to bring things to mind – current happenings – that seem to confirm to me that He is leading others in the same way.

* BSF- BSF has not added another study since Romans. Is it any coincidence that the study that began worldwide this fall is the Book of Isaiah?
* David Jeremiah – Dr. David Jeremiah’s new book, The Coming Economic Armageddon, uncovers the Bible's prophetic clues to the world's shocking financial future--prophecies that just might indicate that we are living in the final days of Earth's history.
* Anne Graham Lotz & Joel Rosenberg – will join together on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 to do a worldwide simulcast, Wake up Call for the Church. Full details on my September 25 blogpost…
* The Lausanne Movement – Christian leaders are meeting this week in Cape Town, South Africa to address biblical evangelism in a drastically changed world. They have not met since 1989. * Studies of Revelation – It used to be you could not find a study of Revelation, now they are everywhere. Beth Moore has one and Kathy Phillips, from Houston, Texas and founder of Prepare for Life, just completed a 22-lesson study entitled "Revelation, the Unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ".

I’m sure you have other happenings to add to my list. Join me in waking up! More on this as I ask God to remove the scales from my eyes and the muffs from my ears to see and understand more fully what He is up to.

So Dear to Me

2010-10-11T19:20:00.005-05:00

We loved you so much
that we were delighted to share with you
not only the gospel of God
but our lives as well,
because you had become so dear to us.

I Thessalonians 2: 8 NIV

I love this verse! I love it because it is what really happens when I teach a class. It happened to me a year ago when I began leading the Wednesday girls, and it has happened this fall with the Southwood Thursday girls. You simply become dear to me. I don't know any other way to say it.

God does it. He has a special way of knitting hearts together who study His Word together. I've talked to other bible teachers and they say the same thing. It seems impossible that you can love ladies who you do not even know, but it is true. I can look out into the audience and here's what I see - beauty, vulnerability, realness, eagerness to know and hear God, dedication and appreciation. And it simply catches my heart. I can't wait to get back this week - I've missed you so much.

Wednesday girls - We are approaching our half way mark in The Truth Project. I know it is overwhelming at times, but oh, so worth it. I wish I were in your shoes, studying Truth in my thirties. I love you all.

Thursday girls - I understand that the Stones of Remembrance exercise brought you closer together as groups and closer to God. I'll never forget the first time I sketched out my lifeline. I was bowled over at the amount of in-depth Bible study God put in my path during my thirties, all in preparation for some dark days in my forties. I would never have seen it so clearly had it not been for placing and labeling those memorial stones on a scrap piece of paper.

I can hardly wait for this Wednesday and Thursday - to be back with all of you. I love you with a heart only God could have given to me.

Take another look at I Thessalonians from The Message...
We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were.

We were never patronizing, never condescending,

but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children.

We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message,

we wanted to give you our hearts.

And we did.

Afternoon in Oxford

2010-10-03T10:28:00.006-05:00

Nothing compares to visiting grandbabies, but when there is a spare hour, I have the treat of Oxford's Square waiting for me just five minutes away. My tour guide, Paula, gave me an overview of the art, shopping and eating before driving to nearby Taylor Grocery for unbelievable fried catfish. Thank you, Paula!

Views of the Square...

Our tour began with William Faulkner's home... a great place for future picnics and maybe one day, plein air art...

Southside Gallery, to see what's interesting in the art world... and to see more on Oxford's art, go to my art blog, Blessings in Brushstrokes...

the landmark of all landmarks, Square Books...

Mississippi Madness, lots of Peters Pottery...

a clock in the new store, Stash...

great pajama's at AC's...

and Off Square Books was preparing for a booksigning, an every Thursday night event...

then, a quick 15 minute drive to Taylor...

Everyone says come back for Christmas... no problem, I'll be back before then. The sweetest family in the world lives here!