Black Dirt for Sale

I am writing this in a little hotel in the middle of a small town in Illinois. We are 14 hours drive away from home sweet home…Rochester. We are here for a wedding. The town we are staying in is an unusual one. I’m looking out the window at an ice cream shop called “Dairy dream” and a sign in front of it that says “Black dirt for sale”. Nothing to do with ice cream…they mean, real black dirt. I see corn and cows as far as my eyes can look. There is a bar next to the hotel, the only one in town by the way (hotel,that is). They didn't bother to even name the bar. A sign says "Bud Light" to advertise the beer. There are flies everywhere...outside and in every building. They land on my legs and arms constantly. None of the locals seem to even notice. Flies crawling all over them and they dont even try and shoo them away. Strange little town it is!

We ate lunch at a little place. I watched people come in and out. I won’t go into detail but each person seemed a bit stranger than the last. Finally I saw two nice looking older ladies walk in and sit down. They seemed normal! They got their food and prayed together, out loud, before they ate. They said together “in Jesus name, Amen”. I smiled and felt like I had something in common with them. One of them took a bite of her food and swallowed. She went on to say that her food tastes like…..blankety -blank-blank-blank. She cussed up a storm. She didn’t just swear once. On and on she went. I was embarrassed just to be hearing her!

As I said, we are here for a wedding. We went to the church for the rehearsal. The church is an extremely conservative one. There is a group of college students here who attend an extremely conservative, Christian college in the area. These boys had on shirts that said things like “Redeemed by HIS blood” and “Born again”. I was standing in the same room as they were and I overheard them talking to one another. I wasn’t sure I was hearing right. They, all of them, were swearing like seasoned sailors. They were using words that sickened my stomach! They kept swearing and laughing….and no one acted as if anything was amiss. These are the same kids who boast about going soulwinning every single Saturday in the inner city of Chicago. The same who would never use CD accompaniments for special music. And the same who wear clothes that they think look like Christian clothes….suits and ties for them and skirts-only for their girlfriends. They certainly have, what they think is, the Christian “look” down. But when they opened their mouths what came out betrayed what was in their hearts.

I think this is exactly what James meant when he said JAMES 2: 10-11 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet and bitter water.

So….as I write this my heart is a bit heavy. If I feel this way how much is the heart of God the Father sickened? I wonder how many Christians are just playing a game; Just living a life style that they know far too well? I wonder if they really, really know the God behind the religion and the rules? The greatest blessing in this lifetime is the fact that we can KNOW God. The greatest confusion for me is that HE would even desire to know us! Dirty, rotten sinners that we are!

I believe that God allowed me to see these things today. To be more resolved in what I know to be true. We, those who call him Father, are to be different. Set apart. We have a job to do and that job is to glorify our Father….to show The Unseen God to this world in which we live.
Just like this little strange town is not my home and I am very much out of place……so it is with this world in which I live. I’m just passing through! I belong elsewhere! May I represent my Father with excellence and sincerity!!

Back to those young men wearing their "witnessing shirts". They seemed to be offering Christ and were literal "walking tracts" to this world! But when they opened their mouth all they really had for sale was yucky, old, black dirt! Nothing but black dirt for sale!

Matt bought me a kitten

Matt bought me a birthday present. This kitten cant possibly be evil...he is too beautiful!! I need a name. Any suggestions??

Thanks to my blogging sisters!!

I thanked the Lord for you today….all of you!! I have known many of you for years. But by reading your blogs, I see sides to you that make me appreciate you more than ever. I love being ministered to and blessed by your spiritual thoughts (they amaze me!) & seeing what God is doing in each of your lives (it inspires me!). I love learning more about your roles as women, wives and/or moms. I love reading your sweet family stories. I love seeing how creative and talented you are. But what I love most is….that you girls are so incredibly funny!!! You make me laugh! After long, intense days in the counseling office, I sit down with each of you via the Internet and you lighten my heart… because you make me laugh! Usually I am such a serious person and I have known for a while that I need to laugh more. I just wasn’t exactly sure how to accomplish that. And today, as I thought of you, I realized that you are an answer to my prayer. Thanks my beautiful sisters….for making me smile, easing my burdens and refreshing my spirit!

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you….Phil 1:3

When was the last time.....?

This post was a poem I wrote a while ago and I thought about it while I was writing my last blog about change. Thought Id pull it out and publish it here!

I look at him now,
amazed how he's grown,
there were so many "firsts",
time seems to have flown


From his first word and first tooth,
to his first step and first smile,
I remember them well,
though it's been quite a while


But when, I might ask, was the last tuck into bed?,
the last nursery rhyme said?
when was the last time I gave him a bath and rocked
him to sleep,
or kissed his sweet baby feet?


When was the last time he cried out for me,
to soothe away fears
and wipe away tears,
to pick him up and make things alright,
when was the last teddy bear snuggled at night?

I don't know when these moments became the last,
that they were suddenly the past,
....it happened too fast!

I wrote this after watching my grown up boys...it was one of those moments when I took note of how fast time flies. I remembered many of their firsts in life. I wrote a lot of them down on paper. But, the lasts...well, I guess I didnt realize that is what they were!

Abounding with Thanksgiving

Posted On: 06/25/2007
Colossians 2:7...abounding therein with thanksgiving.

I have typed this twice and somehow lost the contents both times on this sweet little computer. So…I will try once more before being convinced that I am, for some reason, not suppose to post this on my "blog" (who EVER came up with that word??) ! Three times you’re out, right?

I have been asking the Lord to give me clearer sight. Not physical…but spiritual. I know that I think so much like a...fallen human being…in spite of reading the Word and seeking to live out what I read and learn. I want to see how HE sees things….and so I have begged God for more insight on living out my Christianity. I believe that I will be changed if only I can see, even slightly, through His eyes.

This morning I went grocery shopping. As I walked through the parking lot of my favorite grocery store, I was thinking how hot it was….about 90 degrees already….and how I would ask the cashier to bag the grocery bags really full so that I could take fewer trips from the car to my kitchen when I got home. The sun was beating so brightly that I nearly ran into the two women walking in front of me. One said loudly to the other "I hate grocery shopping more than anything. I try not to go more than once every other week but it seems like I am always here." Her friend replied "I hate it too. It’s on the top of my things-I-hate-most-to-do list"! I smiled and their voices slowly disappeared as we entered the air-conditioned store.
I walked into the produce department and grabbed a few plastics bags for my purchases. As I looked at the plums, I had never noticed before that there were five different choices…all plums, but different kinds. Same with the peaches! I looked around and took notice of every kind of fruit under the sun....fresh fruit from all over the entire world. Some I couldn’t even pronounce and had no idea how they tasted. But they were right there at my fingertips.
It got me thinking about a conversation I just had with a friend who went to India last month on a missions trip. He said that the children he worked with in the orphanage had white rice three times a day every day of the week. Once a month a little piece of chicken was added to their serving. That’s it….rice…white rice... every day of the week for every single meal. Wow….what would the people in India think if they walked into my American grocery store?
That brought my thoughts to what my husband told me after his missions trip to Africa. The people there walked two miles each way, twice a day, with containers on their heads just to retrieve their essential water. They got the water from a polluted river! Just as I was finishing that thought I entered the beverage aisle of the store. There were bottles of every shape, size and color filled with different types of water. There was seltzer water, purified water, fruit water, vitamin water, carbonated water, carbonated water with every kind of essence imaginable, and on and on went my choices.
I began to think about the children of Israel. Sometimes those poor people get a pretty bad rap. They are known as the "Complainers of Scripture" (my description!) We say "Those spoiled brats. They were given everything they needed….God dropped mannah from heaven just for them and NO, that wasn’t enough! They wanted more water and they wanted fresh meat. Nothin’ but complainers, those ungrateful Children of God! Wasn’t enough for them that God took them out of bondage, separated the Red Sea and took care of their every need. They were SOO ungrateful!" I began thinking that I will apologize to them for my critical thoughts when I see them one day in eternity.
Because as I looked around in my huge grocery store this morning, I realized how very, very blessed I am. I live in a blessed country and God has given me so much. Much more than just the basic essential things of life. He redeemed me and sacrificed so much to free me and He meets my every need (sounds a bit like those Israelites, (wink)??)
It was right about then that the Holy Spirit put an immeasurable amount of thanksgiving, along with a song, in my heart and I wanted to sing it out loud, really loud. (If my boys are reading this they are probably hoping I didnt sing out loud in the middle of Wegmans!) Instead, I sang it loudly within: "Ive got a river of life flowing out of me. Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. Opens prison doors, sets the captives free. I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me. Spring up O Well (which was happening to me right then and there) within my soul. Spring up O Well, and make me whole. Spring up O Well, and give to me, that life abundantly" I can’t tell you in words what happened inside of my soul. I was just abundantly thankful. Thankful for everything. I am over and overly blessed!
I didn’t ask the cashier to fill the bags full! They were already full and so was my thankful heart. Full of praise and thankgiving to a loving God who is too good to me…. He is beyond-my-imagination good. I walked out to my car and the lady who was putting her groceries in her car next to mine said "Hello" and continued, "Did you know you have your shirt on inside out?" Normally I would have been a little embarrassed. But not today! I just laughed and said "Wow, I sure do!" When I got home I made several trips back and forth from my car to the kitchen. But I did not complain. Not one single bit. I was completely happy and thankful. Thankful that I had the strength and health to carry my heavy bags of abundant blessing. God is so good.
I believe that He answered my prayer this morning! What a good Father He is…to allow me to see, if only just a little, how He sees things! And because I have seen through His eyes...I have been changed. Changed from within!!

Psalms 147:7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.
(The whole chapter 147 is amazing!!!)