I had a fantastic time this past weekend at the annual Clergy Spouses Retreat at Lake Texoma.  The Prothro Center is fabulous!  Our speaker on Saturday was the Reverend Cammy Gaston.  We all thoroughly enjoyed her and the message she brought to us.  I wanted to share with you part of an exercise she had us do.  Her message came from 1Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

Reverend Gaston gave us each a piece of paper with this verse printed, but left blank spots where we had to insert our own names into each blank, then we had to read them aloud to a partner.  So it goes like this…

_________ is patient, ______is kind.  ______is not jealous ______is not boastful ______is not proud ______is not rude.  ______does not demand her/his own way.  ______ is not irritable. ______keeps no record of being wronged. ______does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  ______never gives up, ______never loses faith, ______is always hopeful and ______endures through every circumstance.

My first thought when asked to do this exercise was that I couldn’t pen my name in the blanks because it didn’t feel honest to do so and secondly, when asked to read it to my partner, well, it hurt deep inside. We each had to do some soul searching.  I encourage you to do this exercise and you might even consider keeping it handy to look at often as I have been doing since my return home.

As we strive to grow to become Christ like in our actions, thoughts, in our lives in general, I do believe our greatest stumbling block would be that of loving as Christ did love.  Love is the single greatest expression of Christ, the mark of a true follower of Jesus; love “binds us all together in perfect harmony” (Col 3:14) Love is the principal ethical manifestation of Christian faith, the primary fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and one of the most important motivations for ministry.  The most important thing for believers to value and seek is to become a faithfully loving person.

It is not in my nature to be hateful; I don’t carry grudges, or wish any wrong upon a person.  I am a very forgiving person, knowing that I need forgiveness also.  I generally find that relationships are easy for me, I like people, they like me.  That makes love easy, so to speak.  But don’t you know it, that there will be that one person that comes around every so often and is determined to make love hard.  It is then that I find myself clinging mightily to Christ.  Not such a bad thing, huh?  Maybe we need those nemeses in our lives to make us stronger, to force us to cling more mightily to the cloaks of the Lord.

It’s all about choices, isn’t it?  We can choose to be patient, choose to be kind, choose not to be jealous, choose not to be boastful, choose not to be proud, choose not to be rude, choose not to demand our own way, choose not to be irritable, choose not to keep record of being wronged, choose not to rejoice about injustice, choose to never give up, never lose faith, always remain hopeful and choose to endure through every circumstance.

I pray for “attitudes of choice”.  May we cling mightily to His cloak, gathering comfort from His love, from our fellowship together in His Spirit.  May our hearts be tender and compassionate, working together with one mind and purpose.  May we not be selfish, be humble and look for the interests of another.  May we have the same attitude as Christ Jesus had.

“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.  Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. “ (Phil.2:6-11)

Amen.

Tomorrow is a grande and exciting day for our families.  Our 5th grandgirl will make her debut!  God is so great and we are a very blessed people.  The abundance of creation, of God’s gifts, of love, truly overwhelmes me.  Stay tuned for pictures!

It’s the Lenten season now, ushered in last week with Ash Wednesday.  We had a worship service where we were given the opportunity to examine the self, rid the self of sin, and if chosen you could write something in particular on a piece of paper to be burned in the service.  It is a common practice and one we have done for several years.  This one, however, was a bit different; much more heated so to speak. Read the rest of this entry

By looking at the Christ we have our best opportunity to understand life, love, tragedy, and redemption.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
- Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest human minds at unlocking the mysteries of creation understood the power and beauty of that which is beyond our grasp of understanding.  Maybe it was the beauty of it that kept him thinking and dreaming about the unknown and the keys that unlock the doors of understanding, one at a time.

God is the greatest of all mysteries.  This is why faith is so difficult to understand for those without its comfort.  They cannot own it, or create it with their rules;  it is Grace and this is one blessing we cannot control or enforce.  It must be
accepted then set free to bless all others.  The minute we tie it down, it is dead, ceases to exist within the borders of our laws.  If we deny others are worthy then we have killed it within our breast.  For Grace comes from the very breath of God, and as Jesus said “we cannot tell which way it will blow.”  Nor is it for us to decide.  Thank God, otherwise we would all be damned by someone!

Seriously, thank God and enjoy the mysterious Grace given to us by our Lord, the Christ.

RD

The other day I was inside my granddaughters school waiting for the bell to ring, and I noticed a small poster from an organization called Acts of Kindness, with its purpose being to promote random acts of kindness.  Next to the poster was a very large chalk board where the children wrote about their random acts.  I love this idea!

As I read through some of the articles on the website I realized the entire site was geared for educators and students with ideas for teachers to promote kindness.  There are many resources available.

An article on the site spoke about the health benefits of kindness, both physical and mental.

“Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders serious and minor, psychological and physical.

A rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, after performing a kind act is often referred to as a “helper’s high,” involving physical sensations and the release of the body’s natural painkillers, the endorphins. This initial rush is then followed by a longer-lasting period of improved emotional well-being.”

I recommend taking a few minutes to read the article.

I live in a small town where random acts of kindness still occur.  Just yesterday a friend stopped by just to give me some company.  (i’m presently healing from surgery)  It was 20 minutes out of her day and made us both feel good.  It’s not unusual to get a phone call ‘just because’, or a plate of cookies, even a chocolate pie!  Last year a lady brought by a handful of children’s movies thinking it might be of some help to us as we found ourselves with grandchildren for an extended period of time.  And just 2 weeks ago a friend came by with a beautiful gift that still brings me so much joy.  She took the time to find and purchase a small pillow, then sewed 2 different pillow cases for it so when one got dirty i simply had to take off the other.

I wonder if we are born with kindness or is it something to be attained and maybe learned?

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control.

Colossians 3:12  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

2 Peter 1:3-9   ³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

After reading these scriptures I tend to want to believe that kindness is something to be attained and learned and given.

To be kind is to love.  To be kind is a quality; it is a fruit of the Spirit and something we are to clothe ourselves in.  So it takes effort, thought, desire to be so.  And it is something God has, is divine in nature and He is willing to give to us.

You’ve probably heard the story of the man who got out of bed in the morning, something happened to cause him to be angry and he carried that anger through out the day, spewing it upon each person he encountered who then did the same and so the anger affected many people, even ones he didn’t know.  So then all we have to do is replace the anger with kindness.

I think it is easier to spread  anger than it is to spread kindness.  Kindness takes thought and effort.

I’m going to pray for kindness; Godly kindness that involves love, affection, sacrifice.  And as I do I will thank God for the kindest act of all, giving His Son so that I may too know loving kindness.

Seems I have a bit of catching up to do.  First…Happy New Year!  We ended our year at a worship service.  Rick started the tradition about 3 years ago.  It’s fantastic!  I prepare myself throughout the day by reflecting on the past year, my accomplishments, my failures.  I think about what I could do differently or if I should.  I spend a bit of time praying and by the time of the service I trust in God to direct me.  And He never fails to show me the paths He has layed for me.

It has been my prayer for several years that God would help me to love others deeply.  I’ve discovered there are many steps to experience in attaining that height and depth of love.

The first year I knew I had to rid myself of some anger that had been festering for a couple years.  I wasn’t successful in that year.  It would get worse before I was able to finally release it.  It has only been in this past year that I was able to do that.  Now that it is behind me, I can go forward.

The second year I realized I needed to learn to listen to others, to discover the beauty of that person and that their faults weren’t that much different from my own. That a persons actions usually came from some personal turmoil not unlike my own.  It was amazing to go through that year with that thought and purpose. It opened my eyes to see people in a different light.

This year, with the greatest desire of my heart being to love others deeply, I beleive I can move forward with confidence, with a greater understanding of man and with faith that God is the One that will help me.  I know I must take the time to listen, to hear, to act.  And patience!  When you ask God to help you with something, you better know He is going to do it right.  It isn’t an overnight thing with God, but a lifetime of experience and trust.

Enough of that!  To update you on my arm, the bruising is gone, although there remains a hint of a shadow.  Interesting.  I had my 6 week check up this week.  All is well.  I will say that the elbow is extremely tender still and is the source of some pain.  The doctor assures me the nerve is now waking up and so it is normal.  I am scheduled to have my other arm done on February 3.  UUGGHH!

As I am sitting outside in the beautiful 68 degree weather, my battery is running low.  Again, Happy New Year.  Oh, a good friend of mine pegged this saying today…”All will be fine in 2009!”

God Bless

Tracie

We complain about the cross we bare but don’t realize
it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we can’t.

Whatever your cross, whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine, after the rain….
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall;
But God’s always ready, to answer your call….
He knows every heartache, sees every tear,
a word from His lips, can calm every fear…
Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish, dawn’s early light…
The Savior is waiting, somewhere above,
to give you His grace, and send you His love…

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

I hope all had a great Thanksgiving holiday!  The Davisduo enjoyed time with family and friends, delicious food and made memories.  We certainly are a very blessed people!  I think of my most cherished blessings each time I can hold a grandchild, look into their eyes, whisper in their ear.  What is it about grandchildren?  I don’t get to see my Kens(no.3) very often but there is something about the connection, the bond of grandmotherly love, that makes time irrelevant.  The moment I see her/she see’s me I feel the love in her heart, see it in her eyes.  She is so very beautiful.  It is no different with each one of the other girls.  Rhilyn is the sweetest little toot!  She has this wonderful head of curls and scrunches her nose when she smiles.  She is just learning to talk.  Soon we will have grandchild number 5!  We are all hoping for a boy.  Ahh yes!  So many blessings!

Speaking of blessings, today was my first Sunday back since my surgery.  We had our Church Christmas dinner with Santa Claus.  For us Methodists, today is the beginning of Advent.  It is the season of the church year that we prepare our hearts and minds for Christ’s coming.  It is a time of waiting, listening, of stilling ourselves in preparation for the greatest of all events.  Each Sunday the sermon, the whole service, is set around that.  We have an advent wreath which consists of 5 candles.  Each week a candle is lit by chosen families of the congregation.  Families use that particular Sunday to make sure their entire family is in attendance and dressed up for the scripture reading and the lighting.  The candles represent Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and then on the Christmas eve service, the Christ candle is lit.  It is our tradition that the pastors family lights the first candle, the light of hope.

So now, the season of hope has begun.  As I sit here pondering that thought, I am reminded of a dead man’s family in what must be utter grief and confusion.  That a man was trampled to his death by people caught up in a moment of despicable and inhumane acts of greed speaks volumns to the degrading condition of the human race.

Every day, turn on the news, open the paper, crime is rampid.  Violence of every kind is reported.  Tragedy in people’s lives is a common occurrence whether from accident, disease, crime, greed, hate, selfishness, neglect.  These are the events, the attitudes that rob us of so much of life’s beauty.  From the bliss of the garden to the shame of deceit we have always been dependent upon the grace of our Lord and Savior.  It is only He who can rescue us from those moments of hell on earth.  It is only He who can give us hope.  He is the provider of our many blessings; He is the provider of our hope in a world of chaos.  It is He who provides the very one thing we can hold on to.  Do you know this to be true in your life?

Since my last post the bruise got worse, and now it is better.  I’m still typing with one hand, still have my arm wrapped to where it isn’t bendable; but no need for pain medicine now.  Tomorrow I get this big bandage off!  It has crossed my mind that I may wish to have it put back on!  Oh well, progress is being made.

It is the Monday before Thanksgiving and Kristin has convinced me why it is necessary to begin decorating for Christmas before we’ve even had Thanksgiving.  Normally I would not allow it, but this year our schedules don’t allow another time; so the decorating has begun!

It’s all about remembering and being thankful for the memories.  I fear that in being rushed and impatient with the natural progression of time, we will forget to remember, we will allow impatience to rob us of life’s gifts.  Many will say the ability just to remember is a gift.  I like to close my eyes and try to remember back as far as I can.  There is usually something in my childhood years I can recall. No matter how faint it may be, I know the incident to be a gift.  Even in, and possibly most of all, the times I required parental correction, we’re some of the greatest gifts given because they are some of the most useful in my life’s time.  It is no different in the times since when life was most difficult.  Those are the times that either make you or break you.  When one can allow them to become gifts of strength, of faith, of wisdom and character, then one has unwrapped the gift to benefit from it’s greatest rewards.

Yesterday was our 17th anniversary.  Together we thought about our lives and the paths they had taken.  We agree we have led simple, yet extraordinary lives.  Extraordinary in the abundance of love given, the opportunities given with the greatest one being that of knowing Christ.  It is the greatest gift a parent can pass on to their child.  It is because of the knowledge of Christ’s love that we have been able to use the difficult times of marriage and use them in a positive manner.

Rick and I have been given the gift of an awesome relationship, the gift of children, grandchildren and I could go on and on.  But the greatest of all these is love.

Please take time to remember and be thankful this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

God Bless,

Tracie

I remember well the time when I had no hope.  It was a time of great misery for me.  A time when the trials of pain consumed my every thought.  Pain had become the controlling presence of my life.  But it was at that time of my deepest despair that God reached out to me.  With His mighty arm He pulled me into His grip of grace, enveloping me with a love that only He can provide.  He breathed into my very soul the light of hope.  It was then that I began my search for an answer as to why I should have any hope at all.  It was in His word that I found my answers.  Through His divine leading, by the power of His Holy Spirit, I found this verse…

“So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

The truth and power of this one verse gave me the hope I had been lacking.  It was His strength that lifted me and led me on to discover that my hope lied not in self, but in the promises of a new life. 

As I grew in my understanding of the Biblical story, I began to realize that from the very beginning of creation God has constantly been in action to instill and fulfill hope for mankind.  He does that now through the various journeys we travel in our lives.  Journeys that grow faith, events that keep hope alive.

Christ’s journey involved much sacrifice, temptation, some disappointment and much pain.  But His faith was unbreakable for His faith bore the Spirit of God.  His hope was that found not only in His eternal life but in the newness of His people.  He came so that we might all die to self and rise again in a new life.  A life filled with hope, peace, joy and love.

Hope, very simply put, is in Jesus Christ.  And that hope is alive today and available to all for the asking. 

If you don’t yet know Jesus Christ to be your Savior, your hope for new life, pray this prayer now asking Him to fill your soul with His Spirit.

Abba Father, I praise your very name, for it is Holy.  I praise you Father, for You are my Creator, my Savior, my Lord.  I love you.

Father, I am a sinner.  I have sinned in many ways and on many occasions.  I repent of these sins and ask that You would make me aware of every sin in my life.  Help me to overcome them, Father.

Father, I believe that you are the Creator of all, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and in the power of Your Holy Spirit.  I believe that Jesus walked on this earth, that he was crucified for the forgiveness of my sins, that he died, was buried and then rose and now reigns with you.

I want to live for You Father.  Bless me now with your great love and grant me this request to live my life in glory for You.

I pray this prayer in Jesus Christ most Holy name,

Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer with all sincerity, you must now take the next step.  Seek out His will for your life.  Seek out others who can help you to grow in faith, to grow in love for Christ.  There is so much more to learn, so much more beauty to discover in your new life.  You must turn to His Word.

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5

God Bless,
Tracie