Lads to Leaders

I can’t help but absolutely love this.

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter weekend. We had a wonderful time at Lads to Leaders in Nashville, TN. If you have never heard of Lads to Leaders, you can read about it here. It is a training tool for our younguns’ coming up in the church. I cannot tell you how encouraged and excited it makes me to see so many young people working for the Lord! It makes me feel good. Like a warm biscuit on a Sunday morning good. (In the great words of Kelly Clarkson.)

Our amazing group of youth at Lads to Leaders

I was so honored to get to judge a group of 9th grade girls doing speech. I just sat there in awe of their sweet hearts and love for the Lord. As I listened to them, I said a little prayer, just thanking Jesus for letting me be right there in that moment. It really blessed my heart. And after my week at work, I sure needed my heart blessed!

One of the girls, that spoke, said something that really got me to thinking. She was talking about how the Lord cares about us. How He looks beyond our imperfections and short comings. It especially got my attention when she said,

“Does God really care about my Bs?”

Bless it.

I believe this precious young lady hit the nail on the head. I believe the Lord cares for us in ways we sometimes don’t consider.

Do you think the Lord cares about my dishes that need washing? Or my clothes that need folded? Or my closet that needs cleaned out? Or when I eat candy in bed? Or my hair that needs the gray covered? Or my pants that beg me to eat a salad? I believe the Lord cares about me just like I am. He knows I have faults. But he loves me anyway.

I Peter 5:6-7

⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

The Lord cares about you. Whether you are a hot mess or forget to take the clothes out of the washer for three days straight. Whether you can’t stay on a diet for love nor money or eat Easter candy for breakfast. Whether or not you hit your steps on your Fitbit or hit the snooze on your alarm too many times. The Lord loves you.

Romans 8:31

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

And in the words of my sweet baby grandgirl:

“We are on God’s team.”

4 years old and she knows Who’s taking care of us.

So, so, blessed by this sweet friend!

I hope you all have blessed week. Spring is springing and the pollen has made itself at home, apparently. I don’t necessarily like that guy. On the brighter side Miss Neenee is playing softball and we are just enjoying the fire out of it. She has quite the bunt this year. #softballgoals Until next time I should be going because I should be washing clothes.

Please be in prayer for my daughter & her little family. My son-in-law has deployed & we miss him so much!

photo credit-Facebook

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.