I wish for you a blessed Thanksgiving holiday.
From- I should be washing clothes
photo credit: freegreatimages.com
Month: November 2014
Why I like Thanksgiving & being thankful for what you already have
I Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
As everyone knows, that does not live under a rock, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. I have always liked Thanksgiving for many reasons. Here are a few:
1. I get to see my family that I love. Especially the ones from out of town. I am turning into my Mamaw. If it’s a holiday or Sunday dinner, my loved ones are required to be at my house. And if not, I just won’t ever understand what else could be so important that you could not have your feet under my table for that time. I just love them that much.
2. Thanksgiving is leisure time. Not like that other holiday that is coming up next month. Thanksgiving is cooking & eating & visiting. You are really not required to do anything except cook, eat, & visit. That’s easy. Oh & watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade & football games. Plus, we enjoy a little Just Dance, on the Wii, at our house as well. Miss Neenee’s usual response when I play is,
“Mama quit. You are embarrassing yourself.”
3. We eat our way through the whole holiday. I begin by hosting Thanksgiving breakfast. We fill our bellies full of biscuits, Mama’s breakfast casserole, quiche, homemade Danish, bacon, sausage, & various & asundry jellies, preserves, & whatever else I can come up with. Then, once that’s over, we go for the meal with the star of the show- the smoked turkey. There’s dressing(not stuffing), cranberry sauce, beans, corn, salads, shells & cheese, casseroles, rolls, so much I can’t name it all. And desserts that will make you want to slap yo’ mama & draw back at your daddy. **On a side note, speaking of which, my Daddy has already proclaimed his Thanksgiving day plans are to eat breakfast at my house, then, go back to one of the bedrooms & sleep until we wake him up for dinner. ** I love a well thought out plan.
4. Me & my sweetie get to cook together. It just all comes full circle. We love to eat. So, cooking together makes it just that much more fun.
5. No stressing out. I have my menu made weeks in advance. I get my groceries bought up. We plan when we are cooking what. We execute our plan. If anything goes amiss, it’s ok. It’s all family. They don’t care. Not like Christmas. My hair will be falling out before Christmas Eve. Seriously. It happens every year. You don’t have to worry about presents on Thanksgiving or making sure everything is just right. I leave that for next month.
So you see, I try my best, to celebrate Thanksgiving the way it should be. Being thankful for what the Lord has so graciously blessed us with. I read an article that has suggested showing gratitude is a lot more healthier for us than not being thankful- even for the everyday things. You can read 20 Mind Blowing things about Gratitude here. I do want to mention Bro. Brad preached an excellent sermon on Sunday- pinpointing being thankful. He said he had read a story about a preacher that was always thankful. He said one of the negative Nancy’s of the congregation came in thinking there was no way the preacher would find anything to be thankful for that day. It was nasty outside. Raining, wind blowing, terrible weather. When the preacher got up to pray, he said,
“Thank you, Lord, that not all days are like this.”
What a wonderful attitude of gratitude. There is always something to be thankful for. The blanket on our bed, that keeps us warm a night. The roof over our heads. Hot water. Shoes. Our sight. Things that oftentimes we take for granted. We as a society are so funny. Because you know what the day after Thanksgiving is- Black Friday.
Sad, but true.
I am glad you stopped by to visit with me today. I so hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Like every year, I will be so happy to be surrounded by friends & family. However, will be missing my Mama, too. She loved a celebration. No matter what it was for. Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll!! Until next time I will be going because I should be washing clothes.
photo credits: someecards.com, tilhecomes.org, thanksgiving scripture
Kindness from a 5th grader & why is it Thanksgiving already?
The other morning, while my Miss Neenee was eating breakfast, she posed a question to me.
“Mama, if you have $17 how much more do you need for it to be $25?”
Seriously, I don’t need this kind of stuff that early in the morning. But, I tried. I looked around for my phone. I obviously needed to consult my calculator. My calculator doesn’t care how simple the math problems are. My calculator respects the fact I need math help. But, my phone was still plugged up, back in my bedroom. So, I had to take drastic measures. I figured it out in my head. Which really made for a bad morning & by the way, made my head hurt.
I said,
“Probably about $8. Why? Who needs $25?”
Then, she begins to explain that she didn’t think a boy, in her class at school, had enough money to go on a field trip with everyone. She said her & her bestie decided they would try to help pay for him to go. She said the money had to be turned in by tomorrow. So, today they were going to figure out how much money they had between them.
My heart melted right there over the ham sandwiches I was making. You know, 5th grade has been hard, so far. They are changing classes & have different teachers all throughout the day. The kids are getting more responsibilities. The kids are maturing. They are a bit dramatic & wearing their sassy pants for sure. I worry & want Miss Neenee to keep her head on straight. Be her own person & not get caught up with all the goings on around her. But somehow, she always comes around with her kind heart.
The apostle Paul instructed the church at Ephesus in
Ephesians 4:31-32
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (NKJV)
Miss Neenee & her friend are definitely working on having the Fruit of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (NKJV)
I just pray she can keep a pure heart. Kids will be kids. I am not a perfect parent. However, I believe the main ingredient in the recipe of raising kids is this:
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. (NKJV)
That means I have some responsibility to my kids. I have to keep my own heart clean.
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (NKJV)
Do I fail? Sure, but Jesus knows I am doing my best to remain faithful. (Revelation 2:10) That is what is important- remaining in a good standing with Jesus. My prayer is not only for my own children, but for your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or any small children close to you. For them to understand the importance of being kind & loving a great God. We are all in this together. Whether you want to admit it or not. We are responsible for helping each other. That’s what the Lord would want.
Thank you so much for stopping by today. I love it when you take time to visit. We had some snow last night. Of course, we were all in a panic. This morning, by the time we made it out the door, there was none to be seen anywhere. On another note, has anyone told you next week is Thanksgiving?? As in, not this week, but next week? My sweetie and I have already been contemplating the turkey. This year, I’m afraid we may just out do ourselves. We shall see. I hope you have a great rest of the week. As for me, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.
And don’t get me started about how I am tired of seeing Christmas trees up before Thanksgiving. I’m with the turkey on this one.
photo credits: pinterest, gadel.info,mysocalledjunkylife.blogspot.com,marionsmeeping.blogspot.com, afttimes.com
Why we have pain & suffering & yes, I’m a band wagoner
Do you ever ponder the question why? Why do we have pain & suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why are there starving people? If God is all He says He is, then why do all these terrible things exist? I think I found out.
This morning, I was listening to Matthew 26 & 27, on the way to work. The scripture was at the point where Jesus was prepping his disciples of what is fixing to happen to Him. Jesus was getting ready to suffer beyond belief. Not only was He going to be crucified on a cross for our sins, His very best friends in the world, were one by one turning their backs on Him. Judas betrayed Him. (Matt. 26:25) Peter denied Him. (Matt. 26:74)
The other disciples ran off & left Him.
Matthew 26:56 ….. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.
And now, He was being hung on a cross. Jesus begged God to rethink His plan. But, ended up praying
Matthew 26:42 ….“O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”(NKJV)
I think I’ve got problems. My problems will never match up to what Jesus had going on. I haven’t ever been treated the way Christ was. So, I start to ask myself
“Where was God?”
Why did He let this awful thing happen to His own Son? It was God’s plan to save mankind. He knew what He was doing. Why does God allow bad things happen in the world? It’s in His plan. Job said in
Job 2:10 Shall we indeed accept good from God & shall we not accept adversity?(NKJV)
We are so willing to take all the goodness God gives. However, just can’t understand when bad things come our way. God gave His only Son for our sins. He let Jesus go through some awful things. Remember that then next time you ask God, “Why me?” Why not you? He crucified His own Son for our own good. He may let some less than pleasing things happen to us, for our greater good. It’s all in His plan. He has promised He will never allow satan to tempt us over & beyond what we are able to handle. The apostle Paul wrote in
I Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
We have to trust in God to take care of us. Even in the worst times, we have to have enough faith to say, “I have some big problems, but I have a really big God that’s going to see me through it.” Always remember, God promised us a safe landing, not an easy passage. He allowed His own Son to die on a cross. I am fairly certain that turned out pretty good for me & you, huh? That was God’s plan. We just have to trust Him. He’s got this.
I hope you have had a good week. We had a wonderful time with my family in Oxford, Mississippi, this past weekend. We may or may not have had the biggest tailgating tent at the entire Ole Miss campus. Just sayin’, it was pretty fabulous. Normally, I could care less who is playing ball. But this year, yep, I’m on the band wagon! :)I love being with my family. I got home just in time to be with more of my family. This grandparent gig we have going on is the cat’s pajamas. We play all day & it’s a good thing. I always get a wonderful night’s sleep on Sunday. (Not that it has to do with all the running around those kids have me doing.) Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.
Not that ya’ll care, but this is where the tailgating fun is.
Inside the Hotty Toddy Hangout…
If I were a bettin’ woman, I bet this guy was pretty tired when he got home. He did this every time Ole Miss made a touchdown.
Lovely cousins
These sweet girls had such a good time together.
Me & my Miss Livy
Time change is for the birds & my secret sister
Ooohhh, the time change……..Really, is this change necessary? I mean, at work Monday around 2:30pm, I thought it was time for me to go home. Imagine my surprise. Since, I work until 5pm, that was definitely upsetting for me. Next time they take a vote for cancelling daylight savings time, will someone let me know? I perhaps have a strong opinion about it. Thanks ya’ll. Because time change is hard.
Isn’t it wonderful the love of the Lord never changes? It is a very constant thing for those who are His. Do you wonder sometimes if Jesus still cares? He does. He never changes. We all get discouraged. We all have struggles. It’s every day, for some of us. Not just occasionally. It is nearing the time of year that is, harder than normal, for us folks who have lost loved ones. Times come when you feel you just can’t go on. It may be the loss of a job, loss of a loved one, a divorce, or sickness, whether it be you or someone you care about. Things happen. Things that we don’t plan for. Change happens. But, I am here with some good news, the Lord is here for us. The whole time. Not just for the parts that are easy. He will be with you as long as you will let Him. He wants us all to have a home in heaven. Now, that’s a change I am happy about. I will gladly change my earthly address in exchange for a heavenly home.
David talks about his own troubling times in Psalms 30. David had a man killed, so that he could take his wife. David & his new wife had a baby & the baby died. (II Samuel 12) David was so full of grief. He called on God. He knew His love was there. Never changing.
Psalms 30: 2
Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. v. 3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. (NKJV)
The Lord obviously loved David. He was right there for him. Even though David did wrong, God came back to him, when he repented.
Psalms 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.(NKJV)
Have you ever stayed up at night & wanted relief? Didn’t things look much better in the morning? David found favor with God. God made sure he was there for David. Why? Because God’s just awesome like that. He’s a dependable. He never changes. And after the baby died, David went to worship the Lord. David was changed. He knew the same Lord that allowed bad things to happen to him, was the same Lord that blessed him. He knew God was going to take care of everything. And He did.
Thank you for stopping by to visit with me today. Did you know it’s only 3 weeks until Thanksgiving? I am so excited! I can’t wait for all of our family to be together. There is ne’er a dull moment with my bunch. There will be lots of cooking, eating, & fun times. And too, my secret sister, from the Only a Breath encouragement project, sent me a card this week. She wrote a beautiful scripture in it. Do you know where it was from? Psalms 30. I had been reading & studying that very scripture the same day I got the card. Now tell me the Lord didn’t just send me a friend! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.
photo credits: deposit photos, pinterest
Confessions of the I should be washing clothes blogger & what Ebola doesn’t care about
I have a confession to make.
I am not as awesome as you think I am.
There. Now you know. Oh, I know it seems like I have everything in the world together (Please don’t talk to my friend Jen about this. She knows me too well.) That I have the perfect life. (Refer to the last statement in parenthesis.) I am always totally put together. (Ha. Haaa. Haaaaaa.) I never let the occasion pass that I don’t always say & do the appropriate things, at the right time. I never leave anything to the last minute & am on time for everything. (Ok. I really have to stop with it now.) And you all know what a total math whiz I am. (Ok. Seriously, that’s the last one.) Whew, glad to clarify all that. Those who know me, know I have my share of flaws. As I get older, I begin to reflect on what it is all this life stuff is about. Because c’mon. I had some things I wanted to do in life. I’ve done some of them. Other things have just fallen by the wayside. That’s just reality. Most importantly, I am a put-ter off-er. I always think there’s more time to do better, change my life, or help make other’s lives better. The bad news is there’s really not more time.
The other night, at church, Bro. Brad gave a thought provoking talk about how today is the day. We can make excuses from here to yon on why we can’t do something. He said there are many that are not in a right relationship with God, that think, “I’ve got time.” Folks that say, “When I make more money, I will give more to the Lord.” Then, they are blessed with more & it seems they take up another payment on something they could not live without. Bro. Brad brought to our attention the only reason people don’t own a pet elephant is because we have never been offered a deal for zero down & make monthly payments. ( That Bro. Brad can be pretty comical.) His point was, we shouldn’t let stuff get in the way of our relationship with the Lord. We may say, “I will work more for the Lord, when I have more time.” When the kids get older, when my job slows down, when I don’t have so many other activities going on, such as kid’s soccer practice, softball games, basketball games, being a taxi to your kids. When all of that stops, I will devote more time to the work of the church. Let me tell you. Time doesn’t stop. If you don’t make a way to do things now, the time has past. And guess what? Yep, you know. You never get that back. That’s why we must figure out a way to maintain a balance.
II Corinthians 6:2
For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (NKJV)
It’s to our ultimate advantage to be faithful to the Lord. So many times I see people not attend church services because all of their other activities have them worn to a frazzle. I heard a preacher say one time, when you start missing church, you can bet it won’t be long until more & more things hinder your spiritual life. Let me tell you, sweet friend, the ol’ devil has his ways to keep us from doing the Lord’s will. Many times, it’s not one big thing that happens. It’s more of a slow leak than a big blow out. That’s why the small things matter.
I know sometimes people search for something, in life. They are looking for a purpose. I am happy to tell you, you need not look any further. Jesus is it. There are so many things out there that tries to make you believe happiness & contentment comes from this world. If I only had a new car, a better house, more money in the bank, a bigger t.v., then things would be better.
Umm, not really.
Ebola doesn’t care how much money you have in the bank. You can still be inflicted with a dreaded disease, even if you have a 72” big screen t.v. Then, what becomes important? Relationships? People who will take care of you & help you through hard times? Many times your relationship with God takes a front seat. God should be our first choice at all times. Not our last resort. The apostle Paul talks about how matters of the heart, really matter. Especially when it comes to love.
I Corinthians 13: 4-8
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
Faith, hope, & love are very important. It’s a good thing to choose to make those a part of your daily life. Don’t think you have time to make things of your heart right. The time is now.
Solomon was the wisest man & had great wealth. He had access to all the things of the world. It was unbelieveable! The Queen of Sheba was so curious of his riches & knowledge, she paid him a visit. Afterwards, she had this to say:
II Chronicles 9: 5 & 6
Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 6 However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard.(NKJV)
After all the glitz & glamor of having everything he could ever wanted, the wise Solomon gave the recipe of what our whole existence is about.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.(NKJV)
So, if Solomon is giving us the answer to the meaning of life, why don’t we take heed? It’s like we have found the answer, but we often times keep looking somewhere else for what life is all about. We must act now to make things in our life right & know we are not promised the next minute. At the end of your life, what will really matter? Whatever you have been putting off, take that step of faith. The Lord will be there to walk with you. It’s time.
I hope everyone has had a blessed week. With this past Friday being Halloween, I had my share of sweet trick or treaters! We trunk or treated at church Wednesday night. The kids had a great time. And then we had that thing called setting your clock back an hour on Saturday night. We really need to quit with the time changes. Just make it one way & leave it, is what I say. Oh well, another time no one consulted with me. Until they do, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.
photo credits: love printables, behance.net,tolavishlylove, justsaynototoxicrelationships
I should be washing clothes......... 