"I Am the Wretch"

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

The all too familiar lyrics of a hymn so dear to our hearts, was penned by a man named John Newton. Though many stories circulate about the origin of the song, it is best to say that it was written sometime during the 1770s. If you have never read the story of Newton, I would highly suggest it to anyone. Many find it hard to believe that Newton, the author of such a beautiful song as Amazing Grace, could have ever been a slave trader. When I first heard this claim I was appalled as I couldn't believe that was true. But I suppose that is where the notion of this Amazing Grace comes in. It doesn't really matter who we are or what we've done, we are all recipients of God's Amazing Grace.

Let's think about this word 'wretch' and what it really means to be such a person. The Oxford American Dictionary defines wretch as "an unfortunate or unhappy person." The OAD Thesaurus uses the following words as alternatives for wretch: "poor creature, poor soul, poor thing, poor unfortunate, poor devil, scoundrel, villain, ruffian, rogue, criminal, miscreant, good for nothing, lowlife, rat, creep, heel, scumbag" and much more.

Wow. What a truck full of nasty things to label someone and to think the writer of this song gave himself this label. How many of us could humble ourselves to the point where we could say, "I Am the Wretch?" That would mean of course, that you would be saying that you are the unfortunate, the miscreant, the good for nothing, the lowlife, etc. It's not really a comfortable thing to do, this self reflection, is it?

I don't think we can be so negative as to see ourselves always in such a devalued light as that of a wretch. However, if we look hard enough and maybe in some cases not hard at all, we can think of times in our lives when we were indeed the wretch in all forms of the term. I can think of some pretty dark places I have been, some pretty lowlife things I have done and some pretty ugly times of unhappiness. But it was indeed in those times that I came face to face with God's grace. God could have left me there. But He didn't. I could still be that same lost, confused and eternally angry girl who hated the world, everyone in it and myself. But I'm no longer her. I carry her scars, her battle wounds and they remind me of where I've been. They remind me that I was in a very horrible place and doing things, like Newton, that were despicable. But it wasn't too horrible a place for God. He came to me, met me where I was at, cleaned my wounds and loved me with the most beautiful grace I will ever know.

Have you been there? Have you been that wretch and were you saved? If you're still there, know this, God is with you. All you have to do is welcome Him in. If you have been rescued from that dark place and have been touched by that Amazing Grace that you know you didn't deserve, than you know you have a bigger commission on your life. That kind of grace isn't meant to be silenced. Wear it on your chest. Proudly give testimony to the fires you've walked through and stretch out your hand to those who are still in need of help. Help them to let God in.

This is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior...of our Amazing Grace in the flesh. Remember that you are the wretch that little baby came for. So is the person next to you, the family member you've hurt, the friend you've forgotten, the stranger you ignore, the co-worker you gossip about. So is the spouse you adore, the children you love, the friends you cherish, the poor you feed. Your grace melts into the grace of others and becomes a family of wretches all saved.

Take time today to thank God for reaching you when no one else could. Take time to remember where you've been. Think about where you're at and where you're going. Do a word study in your Bible's index and read all the scriptures that correlate with the term 'grace'.

Live out the Amazing Grace you've been given.

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Romans 11:6
And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

1 Corinthians 1:3
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Revelation 1:5
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

"Christianity Is Not a Religion"

Christianity is not a religion. Religion is humans trying to work their way to God. Christianity is God coming to men and women through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

There are many things about this shirt that stood out to me. The first was the comparison between Christianity and Religion. I have often felt that we, all people, have really messed up the concept of what God designed for us by placing parameters, rules and other exclusive facets to God's love.

What is so beautiful about our God and what this slogan is referring to in the last sentence, is that God meets us where we are. He comes to us, in our darkest places. He comes to us when we are asking Him to leave us alone. And, He doesn't force himself upon us, He simply stands in the door way, always with us, but waiting for us to welcome Him in.

This isn't a God who draws lines in the sand to determine who is worthy and who is not. In this Holy Kingdom of God, there are no "throwaway people." All are included in God's grace and love irregardless of their: gender, race, age, ethnicity, class, education, physical ability or disability, mental capacity, self-confidence, social status and/or various forms of addictions.

In John 8:1-11, we see this all encompassing and redeeming love of Christ.

"Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. all the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."" (NRSV)

God's love is far more in-depth and reaching than any of us can comprehend. One of the most prominent and consistent themes of the Bible is that of love. Of loving God, loving self, loving neighbor, loving the 'least of these'...and so on. God doesn't say, love those who you feel comfortable loving or who you feel deserve it. If God loves all of His children, don't you think we have the obligation to at least try?

So often, this ideology of Religion places wedges between people and God in unloving ways that God never intended. People so wrongly use religion as a weapon and wield select scriptures at people to try and prove points or cause hurt when more often than not, they do not truly understand the context behind the scripture they are so irresponsibly flinging. Have you done that? Have you used scripture against someone? Now ask yourself if you think that's why God gave those words...to be used as weapons? I regret to say that I have done just that. Though the scripture I used may not have been wrong, inappropriate or misquoted, it was the way in which I used the scripture as a weapon of religion that I find fault with. I have come to learn that we can't expect others to learn to love God if we use God in ways to hurt. The two simply don't go together.

Often times, we consume ourselves with the business of religion. We fill our lack of true understanding and comprehension with sometimes unnecessary man-made laws that cause more harm than good. In the world of religion, we have so many different spiritual traditions and beliefs and foundations, denominations, rituals, ceremonies...the list is endless. And though all of these things are important because they are our human intellectual attempt of getting closer to God in various different spiritual ways, we error in our thinking when we replace the true message of Christ with our rules.

To me, it doesn't make sense to be exclusive of people and then to do it in the name of Jesus. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, to love the least of these, that the 'greatest of these is love'...how does love equal violence, bigotry, sexism, phobias, culture clicks, throwaway people? I don't know all the answers nor will I ever claim to be close, but what I do know is the love that God showed for all of us through the gift of His son which we celebrate during this season and then the ultimate gift of Christ's death. A love that deep, that intense, that all encompassing, cannot possibly be exclusive can it? Or did I read the scripture John 3:16 wrong when it says that "God so loved the WORLD?" World - that seems pretty inclusive to me.

So at the end of the day, I believe religion gives us structure, boundaries, guidelines, rules, ideology...but I don't believe that religion should ever come before God and that means whatever my pre-conceived denominational or otherwise stereotypes may be, they always take a back seat to God's word. And this, this is where you have to be of your own sound mind and spirituality. I'm not saying what you believe is wrong or what your pastor or priest tells you is wrong. What I am saying, is take time for self-reflection and spiritual discovery. Don't just take what someone tells you as factual. Seek out the truth in Christ by devoting your life to a committed and constant dialogue with God.

The only true way is through Christ and each person is going to get there differently, but that doesn't make any one person worse or better than the other. The way I see it, Jesus has big enough arms to welcome us all in, hug us all, love us all, forgive us all. Jesus did just that when he opened his arms on the cross for us all...the WORLD. He loved us that much. It's time we start loving him back by loving others in the same way.

New Coffee Talk Series

As we usher in a new month, I thought I would start a new series on Christian t-shirt slogans and how to fit Jesus inside the season. Each t-shirt selected comes from ChristianBook.com, a site a highly recommend. This series will begin December 1st and run through December 23rd.

If you have other t-shirts slogan suggestions, be sure to let me know. Keep checking back for the newest post and be sure to leave your comments and thoughts.

Top Ten Totally Tubular Thanksgiving Thoughts

With Thanksgiving just a few days away now and anxiety prescriptions being filled across the country, I thought it appropriate to take a few moments to mentally prepare ourselves for the real football game - holidays with the crazy people we have to call family.

In that spirit, the following is my Top Ten Totally Tubular Thanksgiving Thoughts:
**Warning: Do not mix with alcohol, great aunt Mildred's Friday leftover surprise or dad's football game. It's the holidays my friends...proceed with caution.

1. family. No matter how hairy things get this week while enjoying the presence of family you may spend the rest of the year trying to avoid, remember that they are your family and that they are trying to survive the holiday as much as you are. Who knows, they might think you're the crazy one! Irregardless, do as grandma taught you and mind your manners. Be respectful, gracious and grateful.

2. food. Look, I'm a woman. I was told in-utero that I needed to go on a diet and watch what I eat, so I get the struggle with these food based holidays. The bottom line is control. The holidays are not a time to just watch your mouth verbally, but otherwise. Know when enough is enough and know when to allow yourself that extra piece of pie. It matters not what you eat on one day, its what you do the rest of the year. The following is some information on emotional eating from MSNBC.com. I found it very interesting and maybe it will pop into your head during the stressful holidays. I will definitely be referring to these. I hope you find them helpful. For the full article, click here: ARTICLE

1. What are the favorite mood foods? During emotional eating, we crave “comfort” foods that are often high-calorie, sweet, salty, or fatty. Women are more likely to reach for sugary foods, such as chocolate, candy and cookies, while men tend to crave pizza, pasta, steak, or casseroles. For women, the top three comfort foods are ice cream (74 percent), chocolate (69 percent), and cookies (66 percent). For men, they’re ice cream (77 percent), soup (73 percent), and pizza or pasta (72 percent).
2. Six strategies to overcome emotional eating:

• Learn to recognize your hunger. Before you automatically pop something into your mouth rate your hunger on a scale of one to five; one being ravenous and five being full. Make every effort to avoid eating when you’re a four or a five
• Find alternatives to eating. Make a personal list of activities you can do instead of eating. Perhaps go for a walk, call a friend, listen to music, take a hot shower, or a bath, exercise, clean your house, polish your nails, surf the Internet, schedule outstanding appointments, watch something on TiVo, clean your purse, organize your closet, look through a photo album, etc.
• Keep a food journal. Logging your food will help to identify your toughest time frames. It will also make you accountable. So perhaps you’ll be less apt to reach for unnecessary food.
• Practice three-food interference. Make the commitment to first eat three specific healthy foods (for instance, an apple, a handful of baby carrots and a yogurt), before starting on comfort foods. If after that, you still want to continue with your comfort foods, give yourself permission. However, most of the time, the three foods are enough to stop you from moving on.
• Exercise regularly. Daily exercise relieves stress and puts you in a positive mindset, which gives you greater strength to pass on the unhealthy fare.
• Get enough sleep. Research shows that sleep deprivation can increase hunger by decreasing leptin levels, the appetite regulating hormone that signals fullness. Furthermore, with adequate sleep, you'll be less tired and have more resolve to fight off the urge to grab foods for comfort.

For more information on healthy eating, visit Joy Bauer’s Web site at www.joybauernutrition.com

© 2008 MSNBC Interactive

3. fun. It's so hard sometimes to have fun when you're completely out of your comfort zone and the holidays are a great example. You're only allowed to be bored and miserable if you choose to be. You can have a great time, even if others don't want to, and still remain respectful to those around you. See if anyone wants to play cards, board games, a rousing game of football in the backyard, go to a movie, go bowling...and the list goes on. Use your imagination and don't allow party poopers to ruin your holiday. If all else fails, find a nearby coffee shop, plug in the computer, buy yourself a well deserved cup of Joe and blog about it.

4. friends. So uncle Billy's jokes aren't exactly funny the 12th time you've heard them in the same day. Remember, your friends are probably doing the same thing you are. Give them a call. Wish them and their family a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy a few moments of real conversation. It doesn't matter where you are, your friends and support are just a phone call away.

5. fellowship. I know I've been talking a bit about the challenges of spending the holidays with those who make us want to get DNA testing, but not all of them are fodder for your next weeks session with the therapist. The holidays are about spending time with the ones you love and the ones who are not so easy to love but deserve your love anyway. Make sure your head is in the game and you have the right attitude. Make memories the best you can and truly savor every moment with the ones you love. Life is too short to do otherwise. And do yourself and others a favor...turn that cell phone off. The world can wait. You NEED that time...take it and do something for yourself...say THANKS for something. Plus, you'll be at work before you know it and if you're anything like a dear girlfriend of mine, you'll spend the next month crying from crazy overtime (SJ). Sometimes the bad jokes and leftovers can be worth it. It's all a matter of perspective.

6. charity. Charity brings clarity. If you're having a hard time finding something to be thankful for, get out and so some good for someone else. It's amazing how healing it can be to love someone else. Go to the local food bank, shelter or soup kitchen and volunteer some time. It won't take long for you to find something to be thankful for.

7. thanksgiving. Give thanks. And when you're done doing that, say thank you again. Don't just think of the holiday as a miserable time with those who don't really mesh with your personality so well. People can be cruel, challenging and difficult to communicate with, but that doesn't mean you have to let them invade on your opportunity for self-reflection and awareness. Take in the sights, the sounds, the smells, the touches...let your senses be overwhelmed and realize that God is present not just at your table, but in your life. Your alive. Be blessed by that and then go from there. And...if someone has something hurtful or snippy to say, just grin and say thank you. They won't know what to do with themselves.

8. shopping. There is always shopping. But if you're wanting to stick with your new found attitude of gratitude, you may want to stay at home. I find that shopping on Black Friday makes me a very ugly woman. The weirdo's come out to shop on that day and hit your children with their shopping bags, push your grandmother and you always wind up loosing your husband somewhere. I say this because I made the mistake of being a weirdo that went shopping on the day of Thanksgiving and I will NEVER do that again. It's like the running of the bulls. Who needs Spain? Just thank the Lord for online shopping or simply thank the Lord that you're not waiting three hours for a parking space and chasing your sucker covered toddler around Santa's workshop. Makes me dizzy just thinking about. Second thought, for your safety, I urge everyone to stay at home.

9. christmas. The turkey is beginning to digest and you are now given my humble permission to get to work on celebrating the Christmas season. Go get those lights out and turn them on. Rock out to some Christmas music. Make cookies, popcorn balls and plans. This is the most wonderful time of the year. Reach in deep, grab your inner seven year old, clean him/her off and have fun. Allow yourself to look forward to something with zeal and splendor. Happy Holidays!

10. happy holidays. It doesn't mean miserable Prozac coated holidays. Happy, ya'll! Happy! Do what you can to make it enjoyable. If you have an attitude of gratitude and spend your time being thankful, you won't have any time left to complain. Enjoy your family - even the crazy ones. Laugh. Love. Live. And if you're traveling, please be safe.


God Bless you all this Thanksgiving and always! Now...go Gobble till ya Wobble!!!

Visit the Prayer Wall

Assault by a Deadly Glue Gun

I'm a scrapbooker. I absolutely love it when I can find the time to sit down and dig into it. Aside from scrapbooking, I'm craft stunted. Though I sometimes wish I were, I'm not the mom who can make a craft out of anything and make it so well people want to buy it at the church bizarre. No, I'm the lady who scares children because her stick figures are so, well, unsticky.

The Advent Festival for our church is tonight and I was put in charge. A daunting task, but I love a challenge. So, like any crazy fool would do, I offered my services. Little did I know when I said "sure" that the event would involve a glue gun.

Any time there is a glue gun involved, paramedics must be standing by. In fact, the whole idea of a glue gun gives me heart palpitations. Me and the glue gun, well, we have a sorted past. It wasn't pretty and it didn't end well. I loved that glue gun. We did everything together. We put mugs back in one piece, attached wallpaper (don't ask), married pennies to the bottom of Hershey kisses (not a good idea once I realized the blazing hot glue would melt the chocolate), we ran through fields singing and swirling among daises. It was love and we knew it.

Then, one day, glue gun turned on me. I didn't know what was coming and I wasn't prepared for the betrayal. All these years of love and the glue gun lost it...really. It malfunctioned, as most relationships tend to do from time to time, and I, I was the victim. I thought it was meant to be, me and the glue gun. I was excited to plug it in, sit down beside it with over 500 Popsicle sticks and prepare to make star ornaments for the church children.

With gun in hand, we glued like a mad person at Wal-Mart on the day after Thanksgiving. Madness I say. We were making one ornament after another. Things were beautiful. But then, then the glue just kept coming out. I couldn't stop it. It was like molten lava. And I, like the beautiful moron I was, put my hand out to catch the glue. Look, I did say I was a moron. I don't know what I was thinking, but the results were tragic. Well, extremely painful none the less.

Ever had glue gun induced burns and blisters? Like I said, I was assaulted by my glue gun and it was so painful that I think this gun should come not just with warning labels, which I guess it does but one would have to read them or just have common sense. But, it should also come with like a "gluers safety course" before one can go to the local Hobby Lobby and purchase a license to use it. I would also not be opposed to background checks prior to the purchase of a glue gun. In the wrong hands, this little bugger could wipe out and obliterate moron mommas everywhere. We must protect ourselves from this vile tool of craft violence.

Wish me luck with the Advent Festival tonight. I'm hoping it all goes off well. We are making Advent Calendars, decorating the Popsicle ornaments I slaved over and much more. I can't wait to put my head against the pillow tonight and have this all behind me...successfully of course, sans the injuries. ;-) Happy Sunday!

I KNOW my Redeemer Lives!!!

There is something I have to share with you. It is one of the most loving, inclusive and awe-inspiring things I have ever seen. Grab your tissues...you're going to need them. This, my friends, is what LOVE is. This is Christ's LOVE in action. This is the length a great father will go for his child. This is the length our Father has gone for us. May you be blessed by this and share it with others so that they too can see with their own eyes what LOVE really means.

TEAM HOYT
Visit www.teamhoyt.com for more information and photos. The brief synopsis/lead below is from their website and written by David Tereshchuk.



Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

Now watch the video:

Of Twilight and Tweens

About a month ago I stumbled into my hair salon. I was weak and vulnerable all due to some excessive root visibility and I was in desperate need of a coloring. I wasn't strong enough to know what was happening or to even stop it. She may have even anticipated and planned for my arrival. It was a simple day that morphed into the beginning of a very intoxicating relationship. It was the catalyst of long nights, early mornings and an overstock of recorded television shows just beckoning for my attention. I didn't see it coming and I was so paralyzed by bad hair that I was unable to resist it. It - was a book. I thick, black, 500 page, stylist recommended book.

You see, I went in for color and came out with much more. While my color was setting, I pulled an academic book from my handbag and began to read. My stylist had this book that she couldn't put down and she asked if it would be okay if she were rude and read while waiting. I told her it was perfectly fine. No sense in straining ourselves in small talk when we were both deeply rooted in our texts. As we reconvened for the styling, she began to tell me about her book. She asked if I had ever heard of the Twilight series and I told her no. I now know how odd that must have seemed because apparently I was the only person on planet earth (vast exaggeration) who hadn't. More over, I was probably one of very few people who hadn't read all four books that make up the series by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn).

She said it was a book about vampires and teen romance. STOP! Stop right there...I don't do vampires. It's not my thing. I prefer to be able to sleep at night and I have learned that you don't feed the beast that is my over active imagination unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences and when it comes to things to horrify me in the night...I was not prepared. She kept talking and I had kinda tuned her out after the "v" word. I mean really, me, a Jane Austin type of reader, waste my precious personal time which I rarely get any of anyway on a book on teenagers and vampires. NOT!

Then something happened, she started raving even more. And this woman is well, not someone I would pick out as a vampire fan. I mean she's a mom of two little ones, owner of her own hair salon and always has her head in more mainstream romancie type of books. She tells me not to shoot it down. "Give it a try," she says. "Trust me," she continues, "you're going to love this." I'm horrified a bit as this woman has been doing my hair for over three years and she thinks I, of all people, will enjoy, not to mention, read, this book. Well, just to be polite, I ask her what the name of the book is and who the author is before I leave. I sweetly smile and wish her the best and I'm outta there.

The next thing I know I'm buying Twilight, the first book of the four. I make a covenant with myself that if things gets hairy and heads start spinning I'm putting it down and selling it on Ebay. Nice idea, but I couldn't put the stupid thing down. It possessed me. Let me just tell you...ADDICTED. I can't tell you exactly what drew me in the most: the great writing, the modern day Romeo and Julietish storyline, the image I had of vampires being totally wiped away or the suspense. It didn't matter, I'm hooked.

Then, oh dear Lord then...there is the movie. My sister-in-law is a huge fan of the darker side of books. I love murder mystery and suspense (my inner CSI and Law and Order girl must be entertained), but she takes it to another level and loves the spooky stuff too. So, I knew she was going to love these books. That and she's probably the only other person I know my age that reads as much as I do. Let me just tell you how much I cherish the fact that she reads.

Anyway, our husbands took us out on a date night last night. We had amazing German food and then went to the movies to see this book of ours come to life. I must tell you how many laughs we got at ourselves as I think we were the oldest people there by FAR. Teenagers and tweenagers were peppered everywhere and with that the loud, obnoxious screaming for this hunky vampire was inescapable. We felt like teenagers again. Here we were like giant dorks watching a teenager movie on a Friday night. SWEET! We are so cool.

Who cares!?!?!?! The movie was great. I mean, it wasn't the book, but it was great. It wasn't horror, gore, head spinning stuff which was fabulous for me because I just can't stomach it. But, it was a darker love story. It's a love story. Period. One forbidden love. Two star crossed lovers...who by the way, DON'T have sex. Yeah...a book about teen love that doesn't promote sex. Now, I'm only 60 pages into the 700 page book two, but so far...just the good old fashion kissing.

So, as this story of a brooding teenage vampire addictively draws me in, I will keep you updated. But I will tell you, this is good and I can see why it's not just a hit amongst the teen crowd. A lot of adults are reading these...apparently they just aren't brave enough to take on the movie scene. Here's a suggestion if you want to see the movie...um...rent it, or wait awhile. Late Friday night movies come with lots of screaming teenage girls Leonardo DiCaprio and Titanic style. Seriously...it should come with a tranquilizer.

Holiday Traditions from Turkey to Santa

For the next couple of weeks, Internet Devotions is hosting a holiday extravaganza of sorts where every Thursday there will be a new Holiday topic to write about and share. I've decided to take part in this as I love, love, love the holidays and it just sounds like fun. So, here goes.

Since Thanksgiving has not come and gone as of it yet, and we all know how I feel about celebrating Christmas early, I'm going to focus first on Thanksgiving. Our traditions for turkey day seem to vary a bit and have been ever evolving since the birth of Hambone. My husband and I have family in four main locations across the U.S.: Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee. Of course, we do our best to make our rounds, but a kiddo and a tight budget make travel a little, well, challenging. Never mind our hectic work and school schedules. Needless to say, we never really know where we will be for Thanksgiving until just about a week or two before hand.

Thanksgiving for us, like most Americans, is a day full of "F" words: family, food and football. We sleep in, watch the Macy's Parade (a big favorite of mine - I'm a marching band junkie), eat lunch, watch football and sleep. Aaaah. Then, OMG, then after nap time, WAAHOOO the Christmas lights are turned on, the Christmas music turned on and the "most wonderful time of the year" begins. During the noon meal, however, there is something that my parents started a couple years back that I have come to love for very special reasons. You see, we sit down to eat together, all hold hands to pray and then we go around the table and each person shares what they are thankful for. It's a beautiful thing hearing other's thanking God for their blessings. It warms your heart, really. Then we sing Johnny Appleseed and dig in.

Christmas is a whole different bag of goodies. Because we are usually out of state for the Turkey day, I like to hang my Christmas lights and do all my Christmas decorating the weekend before we leave. Let me take a moment to say something here. Though I may decorate and hang lights, I do NOT turn them on for more than a few moments but to check that they are working. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people hang their lights before Thanksgiving and then turn them on. Would you believe I have a number of neighbors who have put up their lights on their house already and are TURNING THEM ON!!! This is just annoying. If you do this, I still love you, but stop. It makes complete sense to put them up before the bad weather. But turning them on? Let me also say that if Santa is still on your roof in February and you are still lighting him up, I hope teenagers get him in the night. Well, maybe not. I don't promote violence or destroying other people's property...but...your plastic Santa needs not be showing his face in February. Wow that's annoying!

Christmas is a time of many, many traditions. We watch Christmas movies all month long, listen to so much Christmas music that we're turning it off before Christmas because it wearing us down, bake sweet treats. We attend our church's Advent Festival, go to the mall to visit Santa, lay under the Christmas tree and look up at the lights. One of my favorites is loading up the car with friends, family and fabulous Christmas music and heading out to the "spendy" part of town with some Starbucks Peppermint Mocha and touring the Christmas lights on the big houses. This takes a couple hours and is sooooo much fun! This is my tradition and I love it.

For years we've made homemade popcorn balls with my grandma and they are decorated in multi-colored candy coating. I love that too. I also enjoy writing my Christmas letter and getting the cards sent out the day before Thanksgiving so people get them right afterwards. I love getting Christmas cards early from people because then I can set them out and enjoy them all month long.

There are of course Christmas parties to attend for work and friends/family. On Christmas Eve is when my family does their big celebration. Usually we attend the Christmas Eve service at church, then head to the house for our annual spread of chili and Oyster stew. Then the kiddos spread out the gifts to all the family members. We all sit down in a circle then and go from youngest to oldest opening one gift at a time. This takes hours, but is a lot of fun and involves lots of laughter, pictures, conversations and memories. Also, when someone gets a toy, we all play with it. It's just a rare opportunity to sit down and 'play' together. Santa comes in the night and in the morning we run out to see what Santa brought. The little ones have gifts on the fireplace from the Big Guy. The rest of us have tiny stocking gifts. Then, we sit around like the night before, but open little stocking gifts from oldest to youngest.

One of my recently new traditions is with my brother where we share gag gifts. I get him a real gift, but I also get him something super funny too. A couple of years ago I was in a sportsman's store and by the check-out I saw a container with a monkey on it. It was called "Anti-Monkey Butt Powder". I about died laughing in the store and I knew I had to get that for him. It's for several uses but my brother has a motorcycle and this is supposed to be used to avoid chaffing from sitting on the bike for so long. Anyway...great gift. Then another year I got him "Crack Spackle" from Duluth Trading Company. It's a Spackle like bucket that has a long (in length) t-shirt to help cover up "plumber's crack"...if you catch my drift. Another priceless gift. I have a couple of ideas for this year and I just can't wait. I get more of a kick out of this tradition than my brother for sure and probably anybody else for that matter, but I get a great laugh out if.

Well...these are my holiday traditions in a nutshell. I hope you share yours. Shalom to all of you!

Uber Amazing Blog!

Oh happy day!!!! I just got a blog award from a bloggie friend and awesome blogger, Francois. Thank you, thank you, Francois. I'm honored and totally thrilled! So, in the spirit of giving awards, I have 5 blogs I'd like to further award as Uber Amazing!

1. Francois - for sure, even though he already has one.
2. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
3. beloved Mama
4. Diary of a Domestic Goddess
5. Learning Life's Lessons
6. Learning at His Feet

I love all of my readers and the blogs I follow, so please check them out.

What to Wear for the Holidays

A must read post...from Words to Go.
Title: What to Wear for the Holidays
http://wordsunwired.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-to-wear-for-holidays.html

As for me, I've been slammed with seminary work the last couple of days. I will get back to all of your comments and a new post soon. Keep checking back...I have one in the works.

Blue Box Blues Meets Mommas New Friend

I have a new obsession!

Hubs, Hambone and I went to the house of some church friends of ours on Friday night for dinner. The Mrs. had made a dessert from her recently received Kraft Foods magazine. It was delicious. Let me just show you a picture.

White Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake Bars - In other words, Holy Lord these are Heavenly Bars.

Mrs. showed me the magazine and I was hooked. She said I could go to www.kraftfoods.com and sign up for free and they will send me a magazine five times a year. So, I went online and did just that. Then I realized that by signing up I got a free online recipe box. Now when I find a recipe I like, I can just click 'save to my recipe box' and there it will stay.

I'm thrilled about this and have spent way too much time dorking around the site picking out all kinds of recipes. I'm in love...really...its sad. Go forth, dear friends, and check it out. And PLEASE...if you know of any other awesome sites like these...do share!!!!

www.kraftfoods.com

PS. If you click on the magazine cover at the top, it will take you directly to the online version of the Kraft Magazine I was looking at while at my friends house. You're going to love this.

The Old Wooden Cross and Me

The moment you've all been waiting for. The results are in and after a week of major stressing out, too much coffee (is there such thing as too much coffee?) and mild to moderate levels of no sleep, my mission has been completed. As of yesterday at noon, I had officially given my first sermon and...it went incredibly well.

I enjoy being the writer, you know? The invisible face behind the words. I love to write, it's the getting in front of a room of people that stirs my anxiety levels to the moon. I could be asked to do something as simple as say a prayer in front of people and my heart will start to race, my hands shake...seriously folks, attack of the nerves.

But yesterday, yesterday was different. Yesterday was a day that the Lord had made and God sure made a good one for me. So many things happened to come together to make yesterday simply divine.

For the past week I've had an old song in my head. One that was sung at my grandfather's funeral. In fact, it was one of his favorites and has been priceless to me since I lost him. I can't hear it or sing it or think about it without feeling like he's right there with me. So...this song has been in my head this week as I was writing my sermon on Being of a Thankful Heart. Gee...I wonder if I talked about thankfulness since that seems to be my kick these days...I sure did.

I prayed and prayed and focused my attention on God and let him fill me with peace and harmony of mind and spirit. I wasn't nervous yesterday. To be honest, I don't know when the anxiety thing started. I've always had a bit of it, yet I've been able to do a lot of stage work acting and it's never bothered me much. But the last couple of years I've just been mad with anxiety and I can't seem to get it under wraps. Yesterday though...it was completely gone. Not even a glimmer of it existed. I just stepped out in authority, welcomed by the love and grace of those who were there to listen to me speak and I delivered my first sermon. Then, once the sermon had completed, the gentleman in charge of music started playing a song that I thought, no, that I KNOW came from God and possibly my grandpa too.

You see, I sent the music man, as I'll call him here, the scriptures and the sermon title. I didn't give him any music suggestions just told him to go with what he was lead to sing. That was all. Nothing more, not even a hint of what I was thinking. I really wanted to see what would come with the music. So would you imagine my complete and utter surprise when I heard him start to sing The Old Wooden Cross? How could he have known? I didn't tell anyone, not a soul, not even my hubs. Not one person. I didn't mention to anyone even that I had been listening to that song when writing the sermon.

At that moment, I knew a completely different level of peace. I felt a warmth in my heart and around my shoulders. You see, my audience yesterday was made up of beautiful Alzheimer's patients. Men and women who love the Lord, sing his praises in old hymns. My grandfather died with Alzheimer's. Ever since, I've devoted time to helping the Alzheimer's Association find a cure. He died in 1999 and for the past 9 years I've done the memory walk and raised money, volunteered to help family care givers and visit and play cards with Alzheimer's patients. They have a special place in my heart. And yesterday, it all came full circle. From the people I preached to, to the song delivered. What a beautiful, perfect day and oh how I love that Old Wooden Cross.

Mucho, Mucho THANKS!

All this talk about being thankful, the season of thanksgiving and having a spirit of thankfulness has really made me think that I should say, well, you know, uh-ehm...THANK YOU!

I am so grateful for every single person who stumbles across my blog and stops for a moment or two just to read something that little ol' me wrote. I am thankful for those of you who take time out of your busy days to leave a comment and even better, come back the next day to read and leave a comment.

I am also incredibly thankful to those of you who have chosen to follow my blog. That is no little thing you've done, and I'm truly honored. Now when I sit down to write, I write with you in mind. Of course, I'm going to write whatever is on my mind, but I like to think that what I write is 'right' for my awesome readers.

Yesterday, I talked about Kung Fu Panda. In the very beginning of the movie, Po the Panda says something HIL-arious! He's talking about his 'awesome-ness' and says, 'there is no charge for awesomeness...or attractiveness.'

Well...I'm so glad that my readers don't charge me for their awesomeness.

Thanks again to all of you. You like, so totally rock! By the way, if you're new to Coffee, God and Me, take a look at my followers and the blogs I follow. These are some great writers and people with great thoughts and words. I wouldn't have chosen them as my bloggie-friends if they weren't.

Not Just A Bunch of Kung Fu-ey

Kung Fu Panda

Last night, my little family went to the grocery store to grab up some grubbage when my little Hambone decided that he must have the "Pana" movie. Well, he behaved incredibly well during the hideously boring task of grocery shopping, so mommy gave in. We had seen it together when it came out in the theatre, but, well, you know, movies are always different the second go around.

The first time you see a movie you see whats on the surface. The second time you start to get the 'real' message being portrayed. The third time, you start to find all of the movie production "fu-paws." (Sorry, I had to).

Once we got home and put everything away, we ate dinner and then watched "Pana" together. And this time, I mean I REALLY watched it. There is a scene between the two masters where the wise turtle tells his counter part something very profound. He tells his counter part that his mind is like the water. When it's agitated, it becomes hard to see. But when there is peace, one can see clearly.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this since. Before I met my husband and son at the store, I had some church work I was attending to. Something happened there that really set me off. I mean, I was angry, disappointed, frustrated, hurt...did I mention angry. And then the fact that I was angry made me angrier because I know I'm not supposed to be angry but I can't help but be angry so now my anger is going into warp speed and frankly, it's one big angry mess. So then, when I sit down and watch this 'childrens' movie, I get this message about peace.

Look, its not that I don't want peace, I love peace...look for it every day. It's just that the situation was raw and, well, I'm human. I didn't act out on the anger I was just trying to work through it and this jolly ol' Pana movie made it make sense. God really does work in mysterious ways and certainly meets you right where your at...even in a Pana movie.

The lesson I got from this is that sometimes life takes us by surprise and not always in a good way. It's when the winds of chaos start to blow that the waters of our minds get agitated and when agitated, no one can see clearly. I'm not the only one who has had this problem. I seem to recall a situation between a certain guy named Jesus, a boat with some 'dudes' in it and a stormy sea. When the waters became agitated, the men cried out for Jesus's help and there was that little thing Jesus said. Oh yeah, "ye of little faith."

When I let my mind get agitated, I need to reach for Jesus in hopes of peace. My faith must be in that it will all be okay. I will not sink, even, as in the song below, the flood starts rising. I need to come before God with a spirit of peace, and a mind of calm waters. When I let the anger and agitation go so I can see clearly in peace, I will find my answers. They are always there. God is always there. My savior is always there. It's what I do with my free will, my mind, my waters, that's paramount.

Amazing what one can learn from a little Pana movie.

Washed by the Water

I recently stumbled upon this song on another blog. I had never heard of it before or the group. Ever since, I have been addicted to this song. There are so many things here I can connect with, but there is one powerful lyric that strikes a cord right where my heart is. So often, we are hurt by 'friendly fire'...meaning, the ones we love often cause the most damage. That seems to certainly be the case as I have found things. But realizing that you are washed by the water, the blood of Christ, makes all things new. And that, as the song says, even when the flood starts rising. We need to gain perspective and where we're at and make sure that even when things hurt, even when we're struggling to keep our head above water in a flood we didn't create, that we have our eyes on God. We need to make sure that the things we do are what God would want and not be irrationally responsive with knee jerk reactions when we move to panic mode. Trust, have faith and believe in the power of the blood that has washed you clean.



Lyrics of Washed by the Water by Needtobreathe.

Daddy was a preacher
She was his wife
Just tryin to make the world a little better
You know, shine a light
People started talking
Trying to hear their own voice
Those people tried to accuse my father
Said he made the wrong choice
Though it might be painful
You know that time will always tell
Those people have long since gone
My father never failed

Even when the rain falls
Even when the flood starts rising
Even when the storm comes
I am washed by the water

Even if the Earth crumbles under my feet
Even if the ones I love turn around and crucify me
I won’t never ever let you down
I won’t fall
I won’t fall
I won’t fall as long as you’re around me

Even when the rain falls
Even when the flood starts rising
Even when the storm comes
I am washed by the water

Do You See What I See?

How do you know when you see God that it's actually God and not a figment of your imagination? I look forward to your answers.

Of the Least of These

Photo by Derek Langley

"Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'"
- Matthew 25.34 - 40, NRSV

It's very important to me that we understand the words that Christ gave us. Christ is telling us to help the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, the imprisoned, the orphan, the widow, the sick, the homeless; and in doing so, we are being an offering for Christ. For he tells us that whatever we do to and for these people, we do to and for him. Those are powerful words. Let's use this as a time for brief meditation and reflection.

Close your eyes and picture yourself sitting with Jesus. In a park, at a coffee shop...where ever you are or need him to meet you. It's just you and him. No words. No judgment. No world to separate you. Look up at him. Look in his eyes. Can you see yourself in his eyes? Can you see how much he loves you? Can you see the pain he endured to set you free? Can you see the tears he cried for you? Look deep within those tears and look for yourself within the pain to see what pain you have relieved. Do you see the faces of those you have touched? Those you've helped? Who were the least of these that you loved like you love Jesus?

This isn't an easy exercise to do. It often reveals that even in our own hearts, we know we are lacking. Life gets so busy, so hectic and then it gets away from us. Before we know it, our lives are passing us by as we desperately cling to the things of this world that don't matter rather than the least of these. We put our prayer life aside, our fellowship aside by sleeping in on Sunday mornings. We excuse ourselves, sometimes not politely, from service and mission work. We turn on our tunnel vision and move right past those around us who need us. We look ahead at the stoplight when a homeless child is right next to the car asking for money...we pretend they are not there. We don't stop to help the mother in the store whose arms are full and whose toddler is throwing things out of the cart. We don't open doors for people. We don't give up our seat for the elderly person who struggles to stand. We don't tithe like we are asked. And to think...these are just a few of the least of the things Jesus asked us to do. Where would we be if Jesus had turned on his tunnel vision and pretended that we weren't there?

Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me. Powerful words. So, if I ignore that man on the corner...I ignore Jesus. If I focus on me and not the girl in Ghana who needs fresh water, I'm not focusing on Jesus. See where I'm going? It starts to hurt when you take time to be self reflective and think on the areas you're weakest. How could I, a good and faithful Christian, be so cruel to Jesus? How is this true? It's painful and uncomfortable, but Jesus said it anyway. He knew we would become complacent. He knew we would forget. And more over, what really moves me here, is that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, but love our neighbors as we love Christ. God created us all inherently good. We were not created evil...evil just snuck in. That goes for teenagers, politicians, co-workers, spouses, family, friends, pastors...you name it. We are all broken, but all loved by the same God no matter what we do.

So, how are we doing? If you were to grade yourself on your performance, what would you get? It's a tough one for me too because I'm impossibly flawed. But I know that God loves me because why else would Jesus have died for me? Thus, its important that we die to ourselves, our selfishness, our complacency so that we may live.

Today and everyday, remember the least of these and remember that one day, a man died so that you, one of the least of these, could be saved. Pay it forward.

Hark the Harold Statistics Sing...

In the spirit of the Advent Conspiracy (see below), I have a few stats to give you as things to think about.

- Americans spend $17 Billion a year on MAKEUP
- Another $15 Billion is s pent in America on PERFUME
*** We spend $32 Billion dollars a year to be pretty and smell good. Hmmm.

1970 vs. 2000
1. In 1970, 20% of people felt a second car was important. By 2000, 59% felt it was important.
2. In 1970, 3% of people thought it was important to have a second TV. 2000 - 45%.
3. In 1970, 2% of people thought it was important to have more than 1 phone. 2000 - 78%.
4. In 1970, 11% of people thought car AC was important. 2000 - 65%.
5. In 1970, 8% felt dishwasher's were important. 2000 - 44%.

In today's world, our needs seem to be based not on actual need, but by what our neighbor has. We NEED what our neighbor has. Something my pastor said today was "we sell what nobody needs and need what nobody sells."

And think about this. This made so much sense to me when I let it set in. Each year we look at our Christmas trees and we see what's under the tree. Our families can look under our trees and tell from what's under it if we had a good year or a bad year. Christmas has, in a way, become about how much we made during the year. If we earned a lot of money this year and there are lots of presents under the tree, then it's a good year and a good Christmas. If we lost a job or suffered an illness and very few if any presents reside under our tree, then its a bad year and a bad Christmas. We base our years and our Christmas's on how much money we've earned and then we do it in Christ's name.

We don't really need what's under there, do we? What we need cannot be found under the Christmas tree. What we need can be found in the meaning of Christmas. What we need is found in the savior who came to us on this night so that we could be set free. Jesus was not born so we could live as slaves; in bondage to mounting debt. Jesus died for us so that we could be free. This isn't going to be a season for more, more, more. It's going to be a season for so much more!

Spend Less money and gain so much more. Find the meaning of Christmas in you. Start a new tradition in your family. Make Christmas about something besides what is under the tree. Remember, even Jesus only got three presents at Christmas. Give PRESENCE, not presents. If you ask, I bet those on your list would much rather have time with you than money from you.

The Advent Conspiracy