How are We Living?

I just came from Wal-Mart, my least favorite place. But I came away doing some serious thinking.
A 20-something young women was face-down on the floor in the bakery area. She had evidently collapsed, and Mustang Fire and Rescue men were working with her. A deli employee held her 3-4 year old daughter. She was just shopping, and suddenly.... She was alive and they were taking her to an emergency room.
But it made me pray and think. I know I could die at any time. But do I live like I know it. If this is the last day I have to tell people about Jesus, am I doing it? If I die today, will I have made an impression with the way I lived me life?
The Bible tells us to go and tell the good news. Do we live like we have good news?
Kind of a somber post, I know, but I really need to make sure people I come in contact with know that I serve Jesus. How about you?

What if...?

Thanks to my son-in-law Jeff for this post I took from his blog.

We say we have faith, but live as if the opposite is true. But what if our lives matched our "beliefs"? How would your life look different?
What if we prayed like we really believed God was listening and would answer?
What if we read our Bibles expecting to hear a Word from God?
What if we actually believed the second coming was imminent?
What if we shared Jesus with others believing that He really can change lives?
What if our faith and trust in God's provision was bigger than our checkbook balance?
What if we started seeing ourselves as disciples and not JUST Christians?
What if we stopped trying to help our kids get to graduation day, and started discipling our families?
What if our hearts were broken for "the least of these" instead annoyed?
What if we stopped having discussions about social justice and actually got up off our butts and helped someone?
What if we honestly believed our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God?
What if we stopped trying to make the Bible match our theology and started making our theology match the Bible?
What if we loved each other enough to risk losing the relationship by lovingly pointing out sinfulness?
What if stopped slamming the door of "ministry" shut on broken, sinful people and instead, put our arms around them and helped them heal their souls so they can be effective in ministry?
What if we didn't care if people knew the #1 priority in our lives was Jesus Christ?
What if...?

Maybe if we began practicing some of these "what ifs" it would cause others to do the same. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for my daughter-in-law. It is her birthday and it makes me realize how much our family relies on her. I'm thankful she is a great helper to my pastor son, and very thankful that she is raising my grandkids the way she is. God gives us lots of blessing throughout our lives, but if our kids and grandkids serve the Lord, the other things just kind of don't matter so much. Thank you Kim. What are you thankful for today?

PS: We unanimously prefer to wear stud earrings!

Bad Girls of the Bible

Hey Girlfriends! Hope you are all ready to begin Bad Girls of the Bible tomorrow night. If you haven't got a lesson yet, come anyway. You'll enjoy the conversation and fellowship. I hope to see all of you there at 6:30 p.m.

Congratulations, Marsha!

One of our very own girlfriends, Marsha B., won the Hula Hoop competition at the Volunteer Appreciation Luau last night. Way to go Marsha, even if you had to hoop around your neck. You do us proud!

Thankful Thursday

Good morning. Today I am thankful for good doctors that make life better for people. My brother had a stint put in yesterday and he is up and around today, feeling good. In my lifetime, medical procedures have become almost miracles. God is good to let doctors realize and learn what they can do to help us. What are you thankful for?

Asking for More Trouble

Just one last post on the tongue before we end Conversation peace Wednesday night. I'm in too much trouble with my tongue all in one piece. If it were split down the middle with a zipper, I'd have twice the tongues to control. No thanks, I'll just stick with one.

The Front Fell Off

Just for fun, take a look at this senator from Australia who was interviewed on TV after a tanker dumped oil near Australia. Politicians, I guess, can be the same everywhere. A friend from Texas sent me this today.

Making It Easier!!

Found this picture today and decided it might be cheating, but possibly my "conversation peace" would be easier to achieve if I literally did hold my tongue! I know that's not what we've studied, but I struggle with "holding my tongue" sometimes. How about you? (Thanks to Joe W. for the pic I borrowed from his church's web site!)

Chocolate Temptation!

I received this recipe from an old friend today! It sounded like fun but I haven't tried it. Thought you guys might like it, too.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons cake flour(that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
(optional) a small splash of vanilla essence
1 coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well Add the egg and mix thoroughly.Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla essence, and mix again.Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!Allow to cool a little,and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!
If you try it, let me know! And if you have a good easy recipe to share, send it to me!

Roxanne needs a job

Please join me in praying for Roxanne G. She is currently unemployed and looking for work. She is her sole provider, so it is essential she finds something quickly. I told her we would join together and pray, and I was sure she'd get job offers. Don't let her down. Pray NOW!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for a new person in our Bible Study group--welcome Jennifer!
I'm also thankful for the two people who come all the time--Judy and Donna.
If you weren't there last night, you were really missed. Hope you all have a great day.

Bad Girls of the Bible

Bad Girls are the winners this time! But only in book titles. Our poll showed that a majority of us want to study Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs for our next book. So we will begin it on Wednesday, Sept. 24. We have one more lesson in Conversation Peace, then a concluding lesson where we'll go over the highlights of what we have been studying. Then we will begin looking at the bad girls of the Bible to see what we can learn about how NOT to do things. Hope you're ready!

Thankful Thursday

What are you thankful for today? I'm thankful that God promises to answer our prayers. Several things our Girlfriends have prayed about in the last few months have been answered positively. Some of you have new jobs. Some have had good doctor reports, and so on.

Thought for the Day

In Psalm 145:14, the Bible says that the Lord lifts the fallen and those who are bent under their loads. That's a very comforting and encouraging thought. How do you handle things during not-so-good situations? Do you make them worse or do you try to add a hint of joy to them? Do you follow what the Psalm says and try to encourage people who have a heavy load? That's what we're trying to do in Conversation peace. Hope you'll try it with us.

Take Time for Some Fun

What do you do for fun with your friends? I'm not one who takes enough time to stop and just have fun. I will Thursday night, though, when some of us see "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Jewel Box. Tell us what you like to do just for fun! Maybe you river raft like the photo! Maybe you scrapbook (I need to learn to do that). What is it?