My Church Life Through The years

My earliest memory of church attendance is Sunday school.
I remember sleeping over my grandmother’s house on Saturday night so that I could attend church on Sunday morning. My parents were not Christian so my grandmother was the sole spiritual guide in the family. Being dropped off at Sunday school was an emotional mixture of feelings for me. I had severe separation anxiety and did not want my grandmother to leave my side but once I saw the friendly face of my Sunday school teacher I was fine. Class consisted of a short prayer, offering collection; this is where I would drop my sweaty quarter into an envelope held by whoever had the privilege to collect offering. For some of us the collection of offering was our first church job.
As for my offering, I held tightly to that quarter because I didn’t want to lose God’s money. My grandma was emphatic about my responsibility to give God that quarter and in doing so, instilled in me a great respect for being obedient to God. Offering would be followed by a colorful Bible story. This would be followed by a wrap up of the lesson with an art project. I remember coloring paper doll Jesus’, Paul, Adam and Eve many times over and placing them in story sequence with the help of my teacher on a felt board where Jesus miraculously stayed adhered to. Then my S.S. teacher would give us all a lollipop as she sent us off to our guardians. This is when my devotion to prayer began as I prayed that I would not get the green lollipop.

Being a teenager isn’t easy for any teen ever in the history of the world. Is this an overdramatic statement? Maybe. But for most teens not understated at all, in my opinion. Teenagers are in the midst of morphing into young adults and there are plenty of growing pains. I can honestly say attending church and having Christ in my life alleviated much of the necessary growth pain. We have to grow and it is difficult. There is no getting by the need to grow physically, emotionally and spiritually and the journey to maturity can be quite daunting but I can honestly say being an active member in my youth distracted me form the hardships of being a teen and growing into adulthood.
I remember all night youth vigils when we actually stayed all night until morning. We would bring our pillows and blankets but we would stay awake so as not to miss anything. This was a great time in my life I was witness to miracles and prophecies and pure guidance from the Holy Spirit in my spiritual life.
There were the youth trips to Great Adventure, campaigns, conventions and other activities that kept us involved and off the streets, so to speak.
There were the birthday celebrations, Christmas parties, sneaking off to the church kitchen during service because our hunger pangs kept us from paying attention to the preaching; at least that is what we used as an excuse. You have to be pretty prayed up to resist the smell of home cooking wafting through the vents and into the temple. After the Friday night youth service, the youth would get together in Charlie’s’ pizzeria after church until Charlie would kick us out. We were pretty rowdy Pentecostals but keep in mind we were also teens and still growing.

As an adult church life was part of my Christian walk. It was very edifying and needed. As a young mother and a wife and a student, church activities had not waned but instead grew as I longed to share my church life with my daughters and set an example of the importance of fellowship. I taught Missionettes, Sunday school and performed solos for the Lord. My husband and I were youth pastors and any other activity that we were called to do we would tugging our three girls along. My church life has not ended but it has continued as a second generation of our family has joined the church life.

Church life is just a part of out spiritual walk but an important one. Fellowship is key to any Christian’s life as we are all part of Gods family and we need to get together at our Fathers house. To hear what He wants to say to us as a whole and that’s where it differs from our individual walk with Christ. We are the church and we need to be united so that we can be in one accord and therefore have the capacity to hear what God is trying to tell His church, His children as we gather together to worship, adore, honor and serve Him

Imagine your family, your father, your mother and sisters and brothers united by blood. Imagine gathering together, every member of your family and honoring your parents and serving each other as together you learn about life from your father/spiritual leader of the home. Letting him guide you and teach you about life. What a great concept.

Take that very concept and apply it to your church family. It is the same, without Church life, There is no Christian family to be a part of .Our church family includes brothers and sisters united by the blood of Christ, gathering together, each and every single member, honoring God and serving each other. The church family learns from the Heavenly Father and allows His guidance to lead our pathways; His will has to take precedence over all.

My physical church life ends when I have passed away from this earth or when the church is taken up to Heaven via rapture and then together we are with our Heavenly Father eternally. Then my church life through the years will come to its true realization.


Be Blessed

Some ways To Reduce Stress

Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.

1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many. )

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19 Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you Jesus '

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33 Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36 . Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.

'If God is for us, who can be against us?'
(Romans 8:31)

Today

I will drink in
the joy of the Lord.

Laugh out Loud.
Seize the silly.
Laugh at Yourself.
Tickle me funny.
Lighten up.
Hunt for humor.
Cheer the weary.
Be the jester.

Let God fill your heart with laughter

A merry heart does good, like medicine.
Proverbs 17:122 NKJV

From "Special blessings For You Today"
By Karla Dornacher

Body Image

Unfortunately there are many evil things in this world. Fortunately there is, I believe more good in this world as well but I have reached my limit with this nation’s obsession of how a woman should look. The worst thing of all is that most of the criticism, bashing, meanness, vanity bullying, superficial crud comes from women themselves. We are our worst enemies.
The mania of a woman’s appearance has reached an ungodly,sick and perverted level and regrettably this fixation has seeped into our homes, schools, cultures and even our churches.
When I was younger and my disease was at its peak I weighed a mere seventy pounds. My eyes bulged, my clavicle protruded, I looked like an anorexic. People would come up to me all the time and say; “You’re too skinny, eat something, put some meat on those bones.” When I got better I was told that I was getting fat too fast (a result of my disease messing up my metabolism) Then I got sick again and lost fifty pounds and the comments ran the spectrum, “You look great, you look sick, you can’t be sick, you’re still fat.” Every one of these comments were made by women.
A man has never commented on my weight, a boy has never commented on my appearance unless it was positive. I believe men don’t think about that as much as women think they do. Women, what are we doing to ourselves? What are we doing to each other? This is scary crap. What are we thinking!?
The fascination over a women’s exterior has erupted to an uncontrollable level. This is our nation’s/world’s idea of the perfect woman.

The perfect woman has perfect hair, doesn’t wear glasses, her teeth are so blindingly white that they can be used as illumination in a blackout situation. Their skin is perfectly tan, Their abs are flat, Their breast are perfectly round and perky, their hips are not too big and not too small, They are perfectly manicured, shaven and dress with as minimal amount of clothing as the law allows. Their clothes are designer fashion, their shoes are Manolo Blahnik. If their handbags are a Vuitton, they call it by its first name, “Let me get Louis” (Louis Vuitton is a designer of very expensive handbags ranging from the hundreds to thousands of dollars a bag) Coach, Jimmy Chu, Donna Karan, and Hermes should be in her vernacular and in her closet. She doesn’t eat. She never gets sick. She doesn’t sweat (There are actually injections that woman are taking to eliminate perspiration, it last for a couple of weeks and then sweat returns) they can’t age gracefully because a wrinkle is doom. They are perfectly made up with the best cosmetics and tweeze their eyebrows to perfection and if they don’t want to menstruate they can take a shot that will relieve that and they only have to deal with the inconvenience of menstruating twice a year. In my opinion this is unnatural and dangerous. They don’t have gray hair and they don’t take public transportation.

Let’s examine some of the great women in this world who have accomplished and achieved monumental feats in the political arena, entertainment, journalism and much more. These are some who don’t qualify as what the world considers beautiful and who the world considers far from being the perfect woman. Sally Ride, Hilary Clinton, Rosa Parks, Sandi Patty, Aretha Franklin, Antonia C. Novello, Golda Meir, Coretta Scott King, Kate Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates,Janis Joplin, Mama Cass.

Any woman in a Ruben painting would be considered morbidly obese and at that time they were considered beautiful.
I would have been a supermodel in the eighteenth century!

If you had to choose your own eulogy, how would you like to be remembered?
Would you pick, “She was beautiful and perfectly coordinated, her accessories were appropriate for every outfit she wore. Her face was flawless; her smile was brightly lit with perfect teeth. She could run in stilettos, not that she needed to run, that would be so not lady like. She hardly ate because eating was extremely unnecessary for her and she valued her body and looks more than anything in the world. Her reason to live and dress in the morning was to please others and she lived to look good and to avoid the criticisms of others on her appearance. She didn’t read because that took too much of her time and she didn’t paint because it was too messy. You get the point

Or would you rather people say this at your funeral; She was a woman of substance. She loved others and she was kind. She gave to her community. She had integrity. She was not superficial. She was intelligent and contributed much to this world. She was approachable. She gave to others and she never expected anything back in return.

This blog is long and I went on more than I thought I would but I’ve had it and when the next person comments on my appearance, I will make sure as delicately as I can to give them a piece of my mind because it is offensive. As a woman I will consider it my responsibility to teach other woman how to treat me and themselves and how to value a woman's heart and soul and not their outward appearance.

yay!

Just finished the first draft of my second novel! I started this one a few months ago and I am already done. I really loved the character in this story and couldn't wait to get back to her. I think that's what made it different this time. Glory to God!

Distractions

I love to hear the tires of a car break through the wet road. My window shades are not exposing any outside view because it is only eight fifty two in the morning and I have not fully risen for the day. The rythmic rubber on the wet road sound continues as a steady flow of traffic passes by my window. I dont have to see the vehicles to know which ones are driving past. The bus is the noisiest of all. I can hear the entire vehicular giant making noise with it's entire body, surprisingly, the trucks that drive through are much quieter but still sound heavier than the SUV or compact car. The rain and consistency of automobile sounds can never drown out the obnoxious steady, muffled and yet still loud enough to hear, beat of music behind the car windows of a youthful, wannabe bad a*s behind the wheel. A driver who prefers to drown out the pleasant relaxing sounds of nature for the artificial sounds coming out of his or her radio which sometimes include obscenities.
This is as confusing to me as watching a DVD in the backseat of a car. The car should be the tool that takes you out from indoors to your surroundings outside, so you can take it all in. It always amazes me how people choose to distract themselves from their everyday life. It is a constant steady stream of diversion that redirects our thoughts to the mundane or to the overwhelming circumstances we find hard to deal with in our lives. The interferances of others or ourselves help to make it easier for us not to have to confront any discomfort or heartbreaking situations that need to eventually be challenged,faced.
The teen on the bus who clearly would rather that the world around her hear her cell phone conversation about who kissed who and who wore what than to be quiet and possibly, unwillingly, display how insecure she really is. It would be difficult for that teen to sit quietly on a bus and likely expose her insecurities. Speaking on her cell phone helps when she can not don her best poker face. It is useful when she can't disguise how truly lonely, worried, scared or sad she really is. It's a distraction for the person on the cell phone and a distraction to those around her, it purposely disturbs any speculation the audience surrounding the caller may have about the teen herself and instead shifts any personal thought to a curiosity of the conversation or an annoyance of having to involuntarily be exposed to youthful gab and gossip. It is a distraction for her and a distraction for those around her.

There are so many other ways to deflect from facing our everyday lives, other than the blasting car radio and the loud cell phone conversations. As human beings we have found numerous ways in which to sway our thoughts on our responsibilities, challenges and fears. There is the internet, email, blackberries, ipods and TV, just to name a few.

The constant need to avoid, to veer off what we need to face is, I suppose, normal or rather commonplace but has this demand for distraction making us better or worse? Does the urge to ignore everyday life make us less worrisome and instead more equipped to confront our life situations?

This morning, the first thing that was on my mind after waking from a sound sleep was that I had an appointment with my cardiologist. Today I will have a Holter Monitor put on and I will be shot up with persantine(sp?). So, what is the first thing I do. I distract myself. I don't want to face yet another test, so, after waking I brush my teeth and wash my face. The thought is still there. So I'll go back to bed and read my book but after a chapter my worries return. I close the book and listen to the outside sounds and I begin to get distracted. But there is still a sliver of concern lingering in my brain. I can't have that, so I grab my laptop and write about what I hear but the subject of external noise slowly becomes writing about my thoughts on distraction which then brings me back to my worry.

The negative part of distraction is that it is temporary, sooner or later, obligated or mandatory, life is waiting to be faced. So, no matter how many tools of diversion you possess, you'll have to approach life head on, no distractions.

The only thing that should distract me from worry is handing all my cares to God, who is in control , so really, there is no need to worry and thus no need for toy distractions. Entertainment and distraction are two different things. One is enjoyment another is avoidance.

Therefore, I will fix my eyes to the Father above knowing that with Him, nothing is impossible and I will cast my burdens over to Him.

It's been a While

Well, it's a new year and a new attitude as always.
My Resolutions:
More Bible reading
More orayer
More church attendance
Ministry work
Giving charitably
Helping others

Who can I do something nice for?
This should be a question on my mind.
Less of me More of Jesus