I'm leaving town tomorrow and heading to Columbus, Ohio, to spend the weekend with the wonderful women at the Genoa Baptist Church!

As I pull together my last-minute preparations, my heart keeps drifting to all of you, my friends, who gather here from time to time to spend a few minutes hopefully drawing just a little closer to God.  I think of all of you as a group, and I think of you as individuals:

You who are waiting for packages in Romania.

You who are entering the holidays in a season of deep grief just like I am.

You who are striving to live for Him in the midst of busy schedules.

You who are dealing with HUGE issues in your personal lives (marriage situations, parenting trials, financial concerns, aging parents, health issues, and so much more).

I just want you to know this:

I will pray for you while I am gone.  I will not wait "until Monday."

I will have my phone with me if a crisis worsens.  You do not have to wait "until Monday."

I will be asking God to walk right beside you in every step of your nights and days......all of those moments "until Monday" and then beyond.

I'm thankful that God has made the world a little smaller through the use of technology, but in this "smallness" that we sometimes feel, I pray that we we don't forget the HUGENESS of our Creator, Sustainer, Comforter, Friend, Provider, Father, and Omnipotent King.

Oh, and for my Sunday school sisters...I will be back in town for Sunday!  I just won't be online "until Monday."  :)

Praying and loving you all,

JOHN 10:9-11

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

I received a call this morning from a friend of mine who directs our area Relay for Life organization.  She wondered if I could talk tomorrow night at a regional meeting for about 10 minutes on the topic, "Cancer Can't Take the Holidays."

I decided to jot down a few notes here before I left for our Nick Nook Delivery day, and I'm hoping that any of you who have walked the road of cancer either personally or with a family member might take a minute to share something about what the holidays mean to you and any memory you might have an extra-special Thanksgiving or Christmas.

The verse above popped into my head, because I think that any time we get into a situation where we feel "robbed" of something (joy, life, friends, family, a job...), we can trace our pain right back to the "thief."  He comes to steal.

Jesus came so that "we could have life to the full!"

That means that even in my deep grief throughout this holiday season, I have to look to Jesus to fill me back up with all that I am missing.

He promises to do that!

The devil may try to destroy our lives, but he can't!

He hasn't destroyed our family members who have been taken Home..he has only allowed them to enter the Presence of God earlier than us.

He hasn't destroyed our lives as we may be facing chemo or radiation..he has given us the opportunity to share God's love with nurses and doctors...and he's given our churches and communities and friends and family an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

See, God has a way of taking every one of the devil's oh-so-evil schemes and turning it around for His glory.........

So, yes, our holidays are going to be tough.  I'm not going to lie.

But I want to look straight at the devil and say, "You can't take away our holiday."

Don't allow him to take yours away either!

Jesus stands waiting to offer LIFE!  ABUNDANT LIFE!

That's the offer I don't want to miss.  Nick would expect nothing less from me as he cheers me on in the great cloud of witnesses!!!

I had to literally "lift" myself out of the world of Facebook today for a season..

For the holiday season..and maybe even longer!!

Not that in and of itself I think Facebook is a bad thing, it's just that overall it's not a "good" thing for me right now.

I find myself logging on and then before I know it an hour has passed...

an hour of checking in on friends-many of whom I run into around town...

or making trivial little comments here and there on friends' posts that may or may not even be read.....

or hearing what friends from 20 years ago are having for dinner or doing for the weekend.......

and then trying to think of something to say for  my "status" that fits who I am and attempts to sound somewhat more exciting than "helping Olivia with her homework" while holding to my Christian values in a way that hopefully encourages my "online friends" to feel a little closer to God.

Shew!

By the time I do all of this, I am worn out! 

And truthfully, I'm not sure how much closer I feel to anyone.

So, I've made a little pact with myself.

NO MORE FACEBOOK for me until at least January.

I want to have coffee with friends.  I want to take walks with friends.

I want to catch up with old friends on the phone (without even texting), so I can hear voices with laughter and tears.

I want to bake cookies with my kids and play board games.

So, I'll blog once a day unless time just does not permit..

And then I'll live.

I'll live without feeling the pressure to share that I'm living which is what I started to feel as soon as I logged on to Facebook and saw that my status still said what I had been doing three days ago!!!!  :)

I admire people who can juggle it all, but I am fessin' up,

"I'm not one of those people who can."

Thanks for loving me within the safety of my blog.

Trying to put down "Just One More Thing"

Mom repainted my gnomes and placed them under one of my trees before leaving last weekend!  I just love them!

But, I had to laugh when I got home a few days ago and found that "Mr. Music-Playing Gnome" had fallen over on his back!

Sometimes, we just have to rest, don't we?????

Even if we're a gnome! I feel a little like this gnome tonight.........

Still praising Him...just needing some time to simply look up!

Sleep well, my blogging friends!

Looking Up and Resting in Him,

I just received an email from a brain tumor support group I belong to online.

The subject was "Ependymomas and Chuck Norris" with a link to watch a video.

I couldn't believe it when I discovered that it was the story about Nick and Chuck Norris (click on Chuck's name to go to the story and video)!!

The video is just a small clip of what they made for Nick as a gift.  Nick was able to watch it a month before he passed away several times!!!  We played it in his funeral!

Chuck's book has been released with a story about Nick in it!  He even shares Nick's favorite Scripture..JOSHUA 1:9!!

I am amazed at how God works!

Thankful to be Nick's Mom (eternally!),

"We had hoped  he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel."

Luke 24:21

Can you imagine saying these words to Jesus Himself??

That's what happened to Cleopas and his friend as they sadly walked to Emmaus one day feeling as if their Savior wasn't really who had claimed to be.  Suddenly, they were joined by none other than the resurrected Messiah but they did not know who he was.

When Jesus joined them and asked what they were "discussing so intently," they thought he must be the only person in Jerusalem who hadn't heard the news of the last few days.

Thankfully, Jesus was able to share the truth with them, and I'd say their lives were never, ever the same.

Can you imagine hearing their testimony in a church service?

Do you have a testimony?

Have you ever been at a place in your life where what you "hoped" would happen didn't and then somehow Jesus walked along side you through a friend or a song or a sermon or a Scripture and suddenly your eyes were opened to the truth????

I hope so!

If not, I'm praying that very thing for you this week!

Have a wonderful week!

I'm speaking at a retreat this weekend and one aspect of the theme is "inspiring one another."

This has really had me thinking about people from the Bible who inspire me!

I'd love to know WHO inspires you from the Scriptures and WHY?

And do you think any of them set out to "inspire" or did it just happen because of their choice to live for God?

Always inspired by your comments....