gifts

Y’all….We made it! Christmas is behind us & 2016 is before us. Looking back we had an eventful year. From a grandbaby turning 1 year old, to news of a new grandbaby, to my sweet E.A.’s journey to getting married, Miss Neenee turning 12, her playing the trumpet in the band & lots of other wonderful things . We clearly have been blessed beyond measure. And one thing is sure. Time is not slowing down for anyone.

Year end is a time of reflection. However, it is also a time for planning & looking forward to the new year & all it has to hold. This is a perfect time to take inventory of things in your life. It’s also a time to make goals & focus on making the next year the best one yet.

Today, I want us to focus on our spiritual life & doing some cleaning out & dusting off. Here are some noteworthy things to focus on this year:

Prayer-Melanie over at Southern Melle has made a 31 day scripture writing challenge on prayer. I emailed her & asked could I use her scripture challenge for all of us. And y’all, she said yes & I was clearly delighted! What an awesome way to start the year, or anytime you want to focus on prayer.
Reading your Bible– Ok, so Melanie at Southern Melle is on my radar today! She also has made a weekly Bible reading plan for 2016. I love this because I have tried to do the daily Bible reading before. Then, I would get behind, never to catch up. And I would just quit. I am super excited about this one. It will be a better fit for me.
Applying the Word to our lives– The thing that comes to mind first are 3 “let us” verses.

Hebrews 10:22-24 let us draw near with a true heart…

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope…

Let us consider one another…

Also, what about your monetary giving? (II Corinthians 9:7) I kid you not, when I say, when I am giving like I should, to the church, things just seem to go a lot better for me as a whole. I have no great explanation for that except when you obey God, you have His favor. And who doesn’t want that?

4. Finding your talents & sharing them– Do you love children? Teach a Bible class. Are you good at organizing? Be on a VBS committee. Do you like to cook? Sign up for a food team. Do you enjoy visiting with others? Start going to the nursing homes. Are you an encourager? Send cards to the sick & shut in. There are so many things at our church to be involved in. You can just about bet anything you enjoy or excel in, you will find a group of people already doing that same thing. You can do these things on your own, with your own family, as well. Just be involved & let your light shine. (Matthew 5:16)

5. Be more thankful. You just don’t know how the Lord will work in your life if you become immensely grateful. You get so much more. You become humble. You start to see that nothing is a sure thing. You begin to see how much you need the Lord. You have the reassurance you are not in this life thing on your own. You have Jesus to turn to & depend on for your every want & need. From there you will get the peace that you have no idea where or how it comes to you, it just does. (Philippians 4:7) And that’s a beautiful way to live.

6. Have faith. That sounds pretty easy. But is it? As soon as something bad happens we are questioning God like nobody’s business. Seriously though, God takes care of us in ways we don’t even know or understand. Just trust. No matter what. No questions asked. (Matthew 17:20)

Thank you for coming by & visiting with me today. Y’all just don’t know how much you bless my heart. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

**A BIG ‘ol thank you to Melanie from Southern Melle for so graciously letting me use her ideas. Go on over & visit her. She would love to have you.

photo credits: http://www.crosscards.com, http://www.southernmelle.com

Have you seen the video of Taylor Swift giving away gifts to her fans for Christmas? She has been dubbed as Taylurking. It is where she has sort of stalked some of her fans on social media. Then, learned what they like, where they work, go to school, what their kids & friends, names are, etc.,. She bought presents for these people in regards to what their interests are. The video has been circling around the internet. I saw it shared by someone on Facebook. If you missed it, you can see it here.

I watched it. My first knee jerk reaction was, “That was nice of her.” Then, I got to thinking about it. Being the first class skeptic I am , I have a few questions.

1. Who filmed this? Obviously, it was intentional. Not just some random personal videoing going on.

2. Why did this individual/individuals video it? Was it just for fun or entertainment? Then, they got the idea, “Let’s make a video for the internet so everybody can see how amazing Taylor really is?”

3. Why did Taylor feel the need to display her kindness? Albeit, this was a well thought out, good hearted, thing to do, why toot your own horn, Taylor?

4. Did Taylor feel the need to have praise for what she did?

5. Am I looking at this all wrong?

6. Why would she have not done these kind deeds & kept this as a special memory of friendships with her fans?

I saw a comment by someone on the Facebook post stating Taylor had recently been to a children’s hospital. They said she spent more than normal celebrity time with the patients & no one knew about it. Ok. What’s wrong with that?

This is what Jesus says about doing for others:

Matthew 6:1-5

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ²Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ³But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. (NKJV)

I am not a Taylor Swift hater. As a matter of fact, I like her music. I think she made a very strategic move going from Country to Rock. It was inevitable. To my knowledge, she has not publically twerked or sung songs about kissing girls & liking it. So, she has that much about her. I can let my 11 year old listen to her, without much worry. But, this video stunt is kinda like being classy. If you have to tell someone you are classy, then are you? If you have to make a video about what a big heart you have, then do you have a big heart? Someone help me get through this. Any insight is welcome.

I hope you are having a great week. Whoever is praying for rain, in northeast Mississippi, please stop. We are good. Until the sun shines again, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Me & my girl Taylor PDAin’ it up.