"We each leave our mark on the world every moment of every day through the choices we make and the actions we take."R - Rhode Island - The Breakers/cliff walk
Happy Thanksgiving!! Praying your day is filled w/ food, fun & fellowship w/ family & friends - & that your mind is so full of all that you've been blessed w/ that it pours out of your heart & mouth in the form of GIVING THANKS :)
Found this over at tipnut.com ( just happened upon it but it looks like a great little site to poke around at):
My Kitchen Prayer
God bless my little kitchen,
I love its every nook,
And bless me as I do my work,
Wash pots and pans and cook.
And may the meals that I prepare
Be seasoned from above
With Thy great blessings and Thy grace,
But most of all Thy love.
As we partake of earthly food,
The table before us spread,
We’ll not forget to thank Thee, Lord,
Who gives us daily bread.
So bless my little kitchen, God,
And those who enter in,
May they find naught but Joy and Peace,
And Happiness therein.
Author Unknown
Our church is focusing on worship this month & last night I shared a lesson "For the Kids" & tho' t to post a slightly edited version here...
& asked Strike if she had any ideas b/c often I share something we’ve learned together - & she suggested butterflies too. Then I remembered I should focus this talk on worship - & figured I should probably go in a different direction.
The Greek word for “transformed” is MetamorphoĊ - to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure. From it we get metamorphosis & we tend to think of caterpillars & butterflies! So I sensed that three times the Holy Spirit nudged me to talk about butterflies… so butterflies it is….
I bro't some butterflies tonight. W/ the understanding that God has revealed Himself to us both in His Word & creation, I’ve learned to try to figure out what God might have been wanting us to better understand when he created certain things – & I really think we can better understand God – what He’s like & what He wants us to be like – by studying butterflies.
| I have a story. You may have heard it. It may seem I’m getting off track but stay w/ me & I’ll try to tie it all together at the end. As the story goes…A man found a chrysalis. One day a small opening appeared. He watched the butterfly for hours as it struggled to force its body through it before it seemed it could go no further. Finally the man decided to help – so - he cut the chrysalis to allow the butterfly to emerge easily, which it did. And the man continued to watch. He expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge & expand to support the body, which would contract in time, but neither happened - & in fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body & shriveled wings - & never was able to fly. |
The transformation caterpillars undergo while in the chrysalis is amazing. When they come out they’re so very different from how they used to be.
Christians kinda metamorph too. When we confess & repent of our sin & accept Jesus as our Savior, we’re instantly changed from eternally dying to eternally living & that’s no doubt an amazing transformation! And - once we’re saved, we should then become more like Christ - which can be a long - & at times, a difficult process.
Think about this - when the man tried to help by cutting the chrysallis, he did free the butterfly - technically - but it was crippled for the rest of its life – which was likely cut shorter than it was intended to be - & most, if not all, the butterfly’s time from then on was likely spent focused on itself - out of necessity - as it struggled just to survive - b/c God’s way had not been followed.
According to God’s perfect plan, the butterfly had to go through that struggle - to the end - in order to become & do all that God intended - & to beautifully display His splendor as it enjoyed true freedom, the way God intended.
Taking it a step further
We can offer our bodies as sacrifices, holy & pleasing to God by praying w/ someone,singing praises, sharing the Gospel, giving money or food to the needy, helping someone help themselves, or doing work for one who is unable to do it. These all involve using our bodies & some sort of sacrifice - but - did you ever consider some of these things to be worship?
It’s true - worship often involves sacrifice – but often it involves sacrificing what God has generously blessed us w/ to begin w/. When, in obedience, we use anything He’s given us - our talents, abilities, energy, money, time, etc., to serve others in His name & w/ a grateful heart, that’s worship! And often we’re blessed in return in ways that are so satisfying - much like when the butterfly, in time, becomes what it was meant to be & does what God created it to do for the flowers, & in turn the flowers feed the butterfly. They enjoy a special relationship & both elegantly display God’s splendor b/c this is their way of life – which I think is what this kind of worship is meant to be … not just something we do on Sundays - but rather as a way of life – much like dieting or exercising are sacrifices people make that need to be consistent in order to enjoy the full benefit.
And - just as the butterfly must struggle first - to be & do all that God intended - sometimes God allows us to endure certain things to help us become more like Him & so to prepare us to be & do what he has planned for us. When a person has been thru’ something really difficult, sometimes they just want to put it behind them & try to forget it ever happened, but when they use what God taught them thru’ it all, they’re able to help certain people that many others might have no idea how to help. By doing that in Jesus’ name &/or for His sake, that’s worship too!
Butterflies are a rare sight this time of year – so I’m giving you each a pretend one – to place wherever you’ll see it - m/b on your Christmas tree for a while. I hope it will serve as a reminder of how beautifully butterflies illustrate Romans 12:1-2
Genesis
Sometimes I wonder.- if I’m one of the few hs'ers who does not profess hs'ing to be the single best option across the board - & what public school would be like if I committed as much time & energy as I do hs'ing, to serving God by serving there.
A Black History Day HS Presentation based on The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles - that we prepared & shared a while back - reminded me of how powerful a childlike faith can be.
In 1960, little Ruby (6 yrs old) was the only black child ordered to integrate
I gather Ruby’s parents were her own personal prayer warriors. Tho' I can hardly imagine daily sending our own child into such adversity, w/ the advantage of hindsight, I admire Ruby’s parents & the legacy her family left us. Their motives & actions seem more Christ-like in many ways than mine.
Tho' our reasons for hs'ing are generally well intentioned, as are our reasons for allowing our older daughter to attend public high school (which actually seems to require more faith on our part), both decisions are tainted w/ splashes of other not so good reasons - & so, I wonder ...if the more pure our motives are - &/or the more faith that's required in our choices - no matter what option(s) we choose to educate our children - the more likely God will be to honor our good intentions - & the less likely I'll be to wrestle w/ our decisions in that regard(?).
Attempting to leave a legacy of God-fearing faith --- & not simply one of fear.
Redistribution of wealth
Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign the read "Vote
Obama, I need the money." I laughed.
Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I
laughed--just imagine the coincidence.
When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him
that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood
there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his
tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The
server angrily stormed from my sight.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server
inside as I have decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was
very grateful.
At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized
the homeless guy was certainly grateful for the money he did not earn, and
the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he worked for and
rightly deserved.
I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept
rather than in practical application.
Dear Governor Palin,
