Monthly Archives: October 2016

The Beautiful Colors Of Fall

While driving this weekend, I noticed the obvious signs of fall in full force.  Although it is unseasonably warm here in Indiana, the landscape confirms it’s fall.  Even if I didn’t have a calendar or a watch, I would know it was the fall season.

Beautiful colored leaves on the trees in orange and yellow, brown and red.  Farm equipment in full force bringing in the harvest.  The sun dawns later and sets earlier.  Pumpkins and gourds decorate the porches of homes and trick or treaters skip their way from house to house gathering sweets.

Yes.  I would know it was fall even if I didn’t have a calendar.

I was thinking how this linked to our Christian lives.  Would you know it was fall if you didn’t know what date it was?  How about your life?  Would others know you were a Christian if they didn’t see you in church?

Do our lives show Christ like the trees show the changing colors to represent fall?  Does our home represent Jesus?  Does our attitude show a loving Spirit representing we are a child of Christ?

It’s easy to see that it’s fall here in Southern Indiana just by the landscape.  Let’s let the landscape of our lives be such that it’s easy for others to see we are Christians.  I pray you have a colorful and beautiful fall season as you represent the One who created it all.

 

Dollar Tree Smiles

I buy most of the items for the buckets for Bucket Buddies  Mission at the Dollar Tree.  The Dollar Tree store I shop is wonderful.  Very clean and organized; well-stocked and friendly cashiers.  Sometimes they have what I need and sometimes they don’t but overall it’s the best place to get what I need for the buckets.

Yesterday I was needing 30 packs of colored pencils.  This is an item that is hit or miss at the Dollar Tree so I said a little prayer before I went in that they would have 30 packs of colored pencils.  I spotted the brightly colored box as I headed down the school supply aisle.  “Please, Lord, please let there be 30 boxes,” I prayed because I needed them that day.

I took every single box off the shelf and there were……….29.  NO.  I need 30!  I prayed again silently, “Lord please let me find one more stray box of colored pencils.”  I looked at every shelf in that school supply area and no more.

So I continued my shopping, thankful for 29 and making plans to stop somewhere else for an additional box of colored pencils.  As I headed down the baby supply aisle, there on the right, completely out of place, were 4 boxes of colored pencils!!!  I chuckled out loud and then said “Thank you, Lord.”  I think He wanted me to continue to believe and to work for it! hahaha

Thank you, Lord that not only do you work in the big things but that you care about the little things, too…like colored pencils and creating smiles at the Dollar Tree!

The Best Part of Waking Up

Can you finish the slogan?

The best part of waking up……is Folgers® in your cup!

Maybe you dread waking up.  Alarm goes off and your mind goes a million miles a minute thinking of all that is ahead of you for the day.  Feet hit the floor and off to the races!!!  Dog needs out. Kids need breakfast.  Time to shower and get ready for work.  Body hurts.  Worries and the troubles left behind the night before start to rear their ugly heads.  The house needs cleaning.  The yard needs mowing.  The bills need to be paid.  Where will the money come from?  How is all of this going to fit into the next 24 hours?

Most people look at mornings as a negative thing.  We hear things like “I’m not a morning person”  or “here’s to another busy day” or “roll out of bed to do the same ole boring job again.”

But if we start our day with Jesus, then there is something to look forward to as morning approaches.  Start your day with prayer and Bible reading.  There are so many devotionals that can help get us started allowing us to read short stories and Bible verses.  I love reading Jesus Calling.  But there are so many options to start your day with a positive word.  Extra Hot Fudge Please is a good one, too! hahaha

Instead of dreading mornings, look forward to the start of a new day.  Grab a cup of Folgers and sit a while.  Because the best part of waking up is Jesus by your side!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

You know the song:
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

Such a fun little song reminding us of our childhood.  The visual to me is a small aluminum boat with two people singing, each with an oar, just casually rowing their boat down the stream, directing it in the path it should go.

Did you know the writer of Hebrews references this song?  (Well… sort of :))

Hebrews 2:1 says, “we must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”  I was reading this passage and had made a note in my Bible some time back – “row your boat – if you don’t keep rowing, you will drift away.”

I’m sure you’ve all been on a small row boat with no anchor.  Maybe you stopped to fish and your boat wouldn’t stay still.  It kept drifting away with the wind.  You had to pay attention to where you were because if you didn’t, before you knew it your boat had drifted far away from its original location.

That is a metaphor to describe exactly how our life can be.  If we don’t pay careful attention to the devil’s antics and be on guard at all times, we can drift away from God.  The oars that keep us rowing in the right direction are prayer, studying the Bible, gathering together for fellowship, showing love and compassion to one another and always clinging on to God for direction in all things.

I encourage you today to look at yourself as the boat, the devil as the wind that wants to drift you away from Jesus and the oars as your salvation in Christ.  It’s a tough world but when we pay careful attention to the One who’s in charge of it all, we can stay strong against the wind as we row, row, row our boat!

Happy rowing ya’ll!