Triangles and Other Things~

Today I had the privilege of going to Orchestra Hall with my 6th grade daughter we went to hear a concert based on "sleigh bell" masterpieces. In the adventure of our day I learned a few things along the way.
1) Girls who are 10, 11 and 12 years old DO NOT need makeup on their beautiful faces, some of the lovely girls I saw at school looked WAY too old beyond their years~Maybe we could encourage our daughters to see the BEAUTY that God has created and hold off on the "paint" til waaaay later in life :D
2) Triangles MAKE the orchestra come alive! I'm not joking...I played percussion for 12 years and sometimes we would fight over who got to play the triangle because that puppy rings over EVERYTHING and you feel like you are being called home for rest, comfort and food...or something like that!
3) As I watched the Conductor I could not help but think of God~I watched people with such a passion for their particular instrument, playing it with love and care and zest-but the Conductor saw the big picture and had a passion for all of the instruments blended together...he saw the big picture of what the piece was supposed to sound like-bringing the music to LIFE...How like our CREATOR to orchestrate HIS creation-blending every person and their unique gift mix for HIS GLORY without a doubt the most BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE of all.
Random thoughts I know...but that's how I'm rolling tonight :o)

Being Grateful

Count your blessings name them one by one~

Happy Thanksgiving!

Willow Link

Meant to put the link in- :D

Simplicity BEYOND the Complexity

I often long for just the basics of life...no glitz, no glamour-just give me the Word! I had the opportunity to be reminded this week that God is at work using willing hearts and simple items to share His Redeeming Love. The Power and Life Changing Grace of Jesus does not need a script, lights, sound or pizazz...it just needs to be shared! If you have never seen the clipboard ministry check out this past Sunday from Willowbrook...pretty cool!

Why oh why do we here in America make things more complex than need be?

if only-LIFE-what if

It seems that there are moments I am living my life between "if only" and "what if". I believe it is time to stop living in the tween and bust out in the full! I am fully aware that growing pains do not stop just because we are adults, in fact, spiritually speaking, the hardest growing pains take shape in the here and now. I confess I have spent to many minutes wondering "what if I had what my neighbors have" or "if only I could be on the road with my music"...how many precious brain cells and moments have washed away in that frame of mind?

More and more I want my life to be about JESUS-not about me-that no matter how I'm feeling or what my circumstance I find my contentment in HIM! This life is fleeting and flying faster than my mind can grasp and I am ready to open the door and wave goodbye to "what if" and "if only"...Bye Bye Now!

To Lead or...

I love being a Worship Pastor, I feel grateful, humbled, privileged and sometimes unqualified...This weekend was one of those moments...I looked at my husband and said "how do you lead in difficult moments...cancer, financial loss, job loss, longing to have children...you name it...we (the land of the living) are walking through it, and I don't want to stand and sing songs that seem cliche or to stand up in front and say I have answers that I don't...sometimes it is hard to lead...

...so take last night, I was reading in Exodus (2nd book in the Bible) where God asked Moses to go tell Pharaoh to "Let my people go"...well, Moses felt very unqualified, but God told him He would be with him and would be at work (Wendy Paraphrase)...so after many attempts at telling Pharaoh to release God's people and after many NO's...Moses felt discouraged and felt like an unqualified leader...the Israelites were scared and the future was unknown AND YET God said...Trust Me and See what I will do...

Indeed God is the unchanging One in this process called life...He knows each of our tomorrows...He tell us "not to worry" and to "Fear Not"...admittedly hard to do in our own human strength...Our very help comes from the LORD...so we can lift our heads with confidence and start to see that He is LEADING, He KNOWS and He SEES...

I copied this from the blog of a Worship Pastor and thought I would share it here...pretty powerful stuff

In Scripture, God never gives us the command to praise him without giving us reasons to do so. In Psalm 150 we’re told to praise God for his mighty deeds and his excellent greatness. We see the same thing in Psalm 103, where David tells us to bless the Lord and then gives us multiple reasons why. Here’s what he says:
Psa. 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

So...my random thoughts...if you are still reading this :D
Let's lift our eyes to the One who is SAVIOR the One who has REDEEMED us from the pit...the One who has shown COMPASSION to His children and to the One who's MERCIES are NEW EVERY MORNING~

Say it ain't "so" or "sew"

Did you hear the news? Scrabble has decided to change it's rules for a less literate culture. Now, I am not a skilled scrabble player, my husband LOVES the game...but I could not believe my ears when I heard them talking about these new rules. The report said that many will not allow these new rules in play, but the game wants to reach the new generation, to be hip...now I may be an old fuddy duddy...but it got me to thinking...

What if our faith did the same thing? Is this what Churches are doing in our day? Changing with the tide...Pastors who are not shepherds but rather "CEO's" of the "new generation" way of Church. Places of worship that ride the next big tide of "what's hip"...forgetting that our Savior does not change, His grace does not change, His Holiness does not change...He tells us that He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)! Ahhh, now that is refreshing Truth...

Now, back to my game of Scrabble...with the original rules :0)