heaven

I don’t know about y’all, but my most favorite part of summer is all the fresh fruits & vegetables. We had our little container garden on our back deck. It’s certainly, a do again. I like having the fresh cucumbers & tomatoes. And the fresh herbs have simply made our grilling out of this world. My uncle called me the other day & said,

“Do you want these purple hull peas, I just picked out of the garden?”

Why yes, I reckon I do. These are the peas that are grown in the same ground my grandparents had their garden. So, it kinda tugs at my heartstrings. These are also the same peas Miss Neenee told me about Sunday night,

“Mama, I was hungry, when we were at church. All I could think about was eating peas & cornbread, when we got home.”

I’m not saying we are properly raising our daughter, however, I just don’t know of anything else you could take away from that. Raising a proper Mississippian takes a little time and effort, and having a palate for southern cooking doesn’t hurt either. Because we LOVE to eat. And Miss Neenee does, too. Thank the Lord.

We had one of the people from Lads to Leaders come speak to us at church Sunday. If you are wondering what Lads to Leaders is, it’s the largest training tool the church has for our youth. However, I guess that’s not really right. Adults can participate, as well. But it’s mostly youth driven. Bro. Roy Johnson talked about doing all we can to keep our kids in church. He said statistics show that at a young age children make up their minds about the Lord, Bible, & church. And a lot of it has to do with who is responsible for their upbringing. I’m not talking about the parents that don’t take their kids to church. I’m talking about the parents that have the kids at church. Sometimes the ones who darken the door every service. Those kids, that decide,

”This is not for me.”

And by the time they get old enough for car keys, they are gone from the church. Or when they are finally old enough to move out, from mama & daddy’s house, that is all of their church going. Those kids, are the ones, that may have not seen mama & daddy love the church like they should have. Those are the ones, that may have always been present, but on the car ride home heard about how it was too cold in the auditorium or too hot. Or how long the preacher made the sermon, or did you see what kind of dress so & so had on? Or did you notice those kids running around, babies crying, or the BIG one- Mr. Brown that sits way up front in the church building, doesn’t speak to Mr. Smith who sits all the way in the back corner of the other side, because when he was little his grandfather & the other guy’s grandfather had a disagreement. We think. They don’t really know about what or who. But they can’t speak or look at each other, anyhow. Y’all. This really hit me hard, because I know all about this stuff. My Daddy was the preacher, when we were growing up. We heard everybody’s business. But you know what? My Daddy & Mama loved the church & taught us kids to love the church.

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up. Deuteronomy 11:19 (KJV)

That’s what I want to teach to my kids & grandkids. I want my family to go to heaven. However, I can’t expect my kids& grandkids to learn about the Lord, love the church, & want to be a part of something, that I don’t whole heartedly believe in. You have heard the old saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Believe me that doesn’t work here. I just pray the Lord will see fit to help me be a good example to my kids, grandkids, & family. I don’t ever want to be the reason to make anyone stumble. Some may believe wealth & success comes from the world, jobs, what you own. I would think you should feel the richest & happiest in the world if your family were faithful Christians. Nothing beats that.

It’s August. As in August. Summer is on the downhill stretch. And if you ask me how many of my summer goals I met, well, not many. I don’t like to point fingers, but this thing called a broke foot didn’t help the cause much. Now, don’t start gettin’ all worried. I am fine. It’s just a ridiculous inconvenience. That’s all. I hope you have had a great summer, minus the broken bones. I have to be going now, because I should be washing clothes.

photo credit-scenicreflections.com

Today, while in one of our local eating establishments, I saw a young lady I go to church with. Her mama & little brother were with her. She also had her sweet baby girl, who is almost 2 & her brand new baby boy, with her. Her baby girl was running around, trying to make as many friends as she could, with the patrons, before her mama whisked her away & back over to their table. The baby boy was taking a bottle & fretting a little.

I asked my friend, “What are ya’ll doing?” She smiles and says, “Just loafin’.”

For those of you who do not understand what she meant, maybe I can enlighten you, on one of the ways of our culture. In the South, there is a certain art to what we call “loafin’ “. When we are out & about, without any real designation to where we need to be going or what we should be doing, we are loafin’ . Some may say “loaferin’. Either way, you have no schedule, no concern whatsoever for time. Things are slow. You are unhurried. There is no need, to pay any mind, to how long it takes you to do anything. You have no agenda. No thought of what you may or may not do next. It’s an innocent way of wasting time. Some people may like to refer to it as, “chillin'”, “cruisin'”, or as my middle daughter says all the time, “just hangin’ out”. You have no regard for much of anything but right there in the moment of killing time. However, you can’t loaf or loafer all the time. That would just make you lazy.

There is one thing, though, that we should be aware of: what we are doing to guarantee us a home in heaven. Unlike “loafin”, our spiritual journey should be a work in progress. We can’t be lazy when it comes to the most important thing on our list of things to do while living, “Prepare to get to heaven”. We should be attentive each day of what work we should be doing to get to heaven. Then, take action to make sure we don’t miss out.

Jesus tells us in John 14, beginning in verse 1-3:

“Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, & if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am , there you may be also.”

I want to be where Jesus is. I know to get there, I can’t “loaf’ around. One of the things I must do is have faith, but I am told in James 2: 17 that faith without works is dead. I can’t have a dead faith!

I Corinthians 13: 13 says, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three: but the greatest of these is love.”

I must also work on having love for those around me. I must treat people as I want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). I must be meek, a peacemaker, pure in heart, merciful, & let my light shine (Matthew 5:5-16). I have to be always endeavoring to keep the commandments of the Lord.

Jesus talks about not knowing when Judgment Day will be.

Matthew 24:36 says, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

Whew! That’s a lot for an ‘ol girl , like me, to work on. My prayer is we strive to be as Godly as possible. Not letting one day slip by us when we could have served God. We just don’t know when Jesus will come back to get us. In our Christian life, we can’t be caught “loafin’.”

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. I have been so busy lately. Not only has it been summer with kids out of school & such. My oldest daughter got married! (I will fill you in on that later.) Until then, I have to go, because I should be washing clothes.

Peace doesn’t mean you won’t have problems. It means problems won’t have you.- Lecrae