In a heartbeat!

As many of you know, I married my high school sweetie over 28 years ago. (if you are trying to do the math ... yes I was just a mere young miss when that happened!) I will never forget one of the most memorable things that my husband said early in our marriage.

We had gone to a revival at a church (not our home church). I don't remember what the evangelist preached about that night, but I do remember the evangelist coming off of the platform and coming down to where we sat. He came straight over to my husband and asked him this: "Would you die for her?" and he pointed straight at me. It almost seemed like everything in the room got still, because I swear you could hear a pin drop at that moment.

"In a heartbeat!" - so said my husband of just a few short months.

Thank goodness over the past 28 years he has not had to demonstrate this deep affection for me in this particular way. But just knowing that my husband loves me so much that he would take a bullet for me, he would jump in front of a speeding car for me, and he would go to the ends of the earth for me is such a soothing feeling. What a hero my husband is to me!

Some people long for what I have. They long for a husband that is devoted. They long for someone to love them so unconditionally. They long to have an assurance that someone really does care. It's nice to have a hero like my husband, but in reality my #1 hero is Jesus Christ.

He has already died for me. He took my pain and my anguish. And He took yours too. If He had to do it all over again, I am confident that He would do it again in a heartbeat. All because He loves us so much.

Isaiah 43:4 "I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you." [The Message]

Do you long for a love that is true and lasting?

God has already given His life and now He waits for our hearts ... let Him be your hero today!

THANKFUL THURSDAY ... being second fiddle

When my son played in band in jr. high, I remember him talking about "which" chair he had moved to in the trumpet section. The goal was to become first chair, unfortunetly he never made it that far. In an orchestra, the first-chair position is the most prominent and most high-profile place to be. This position usually means that this person is leading the rest by playing the main melody. While there are other trumpets in the horn section, they are not as honored as the lead trumpest.

Nobody likes to be "second fiddle" to anybody. It goes all the way back to grade school for some of us. We want to be on the winning team. We want to be picked first. We do not want to be left behind or worse yet left out.

However, in the spiritual world being "second fiddle" means that we are doing exactly what God has called us to do ... and that is to put others first. When we focus on someone else's achievements (or hardships like I posted about yesterday) while we stay back in the shadows, this may seem like second fiddle, but in God's eyes you have just taken first chair. He is keeping account and your selfless acts and unconditional love will be rewarded.

"Do not look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too." PHILIPPIANS 2:4

So today, be thankful that you are second fiddle ... your recognition will come from the Father!

TT is hosted by LYNN today, stop by to see more grateful hearts today.

Next week you can find Thankful Thursday over at Iris's, see my sidebar for the upcoming schedule for TT hosts. HAPPY TT!

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD ... having a meaningful life

As I get older, I often look back and reflect on the strides and the accomplishments that I can see. Some are good but so many fall short of what I had intended for my life. When it is all said and done, I want to reach the end of my life and be able to say, "it's been meaningful".

Many people think that to have a meaningful life it is all about keeping life ... but in reality it is quite the opposite. Meaningful living is "giving your life away". That is what Jesus did and it is exactly what He taught us to do.

LUKE 9:23,24 "Then He said to them all: If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (24) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it."

In this self centered, "grab all you can get" world - this message probably is not very well received. But if we look at this teaching that Jesus was giving, it may be what we need to obtain the most meaningful life possible.

SELF GIVING
Putting others before ourselves. Here is a new concept. If we looked around, what we would see is alot of people trying to "fullfill" their needs and usually at the expense of another. If a person is "unfullfilled" in their marriage and someone else comes along that seems to meet a need, they feel obligated to make sure their needs are met. This only comes with a huge cost. It will cost them everything.

What Jesus is asking us to do is be self-giving. This is different than the self fullfillment I just spoke of. Self giving is not done out of a feeling of unworthiness, selfishness or obligation, it is based on love and commitment modeled after the kind that Christ has.

Putting others before ourselves will make our life more meaningful. We will find meaning because life now has a purpose and in each of us God has given a purpose.

All of us have from time to time have regrets for decisions that we have made. Last week in YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I asked the following question: "What have you denied yourself pleasure of being a part of?" The top 3 answers were:

1. 28% of those polled said that they denied themselves of contributing to a cause in their communtiy.
2. Another 28% of those voting said that they wish they had become involved in ministry at their church.
3. 14% voted and said that they denied themselves of going on a missions trip.

What I noticed about this week's poll is that all of the top list of things we have denied ourselves with has something to do with giving of ourselves to other people. There is so much joy, fullfillment and meaning in giving to others as Jesus has taught us. Read this story:

"There is an old chinese tale of a woman whose only son died. When she asked the local holy man to bring her son back to life, he responded, "fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life." So the woman began to search for such a place, the first place she came upon was a mansion. But they told her "You have certainly come to the wrong place" and they began to describe to her all of the sorrow that they had endured. After hearing their story, the woman said to herself, "who is better to help these poor unfortunate people than I?" So she stayed awhile to comfort these people before she moved on. But wherever she turned, she just found more people filled with sadness and misfortune. Soon she became so focused on helping other people that she forgot all about her original quest to seek the mustard seed that was to help her in her sorrow. It wasn't the mustard seed at all that she needed, but it was helping others that drove the sorrow out of her life."

Pick up the cross daily ... and have meaning in your life!
 Someone is dependent upon it.

A PIECE OF MY HEART...Becoming a BIG girl!

We live in a world that teaches us such things as:

"The early bird gets the worm."

"No pain No gain."

"There is no such thing as a free lunch."

"You get what you pay for."

It seems that we buy into the the theory that people get what they deserve. But how many times do we endure hardships and trials and find ourselves saying, "I do NOT deserve this!" We all believe that we have a right to fairness and when we don't get it - we feel violated.

When difficulties come my way, I often find myself saying:

"This is not fair"

"I don't deserve this."

"I work too hard for this to happen."

"Why is this happening to me?"

(whine ~ whine ~ whine)

Deep down what I am really doing is being a little girl that wants to live in a perfect little world where everything is perfectly fair!

Would I really want to live in such a world?

 After all, living in such a perfect place would  mean there is no room for grace (receiving what I don't deserve). And there would be no room for mercy either (being spared from the punishment that I deserve).

Realizing that I won't always get what I deserve and most importantly I won't deserve some things that I get will move me into a more mature thinking of what "fairness" is all about. Fairness is not what I seek from God. Giving me fairness (what I really deserve) would mean that my sins would not already be paid for.

Psalm 51:1 "Have mercy on me, O God, because of Your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins."

Is life fair all of the time? no

Is God just and merciful? always

Today, I started out as a little girl hoping for a perfect world but I am praying that tomorrow I can mature and move on to becoming a big girl! Because of His unfailing love ... I know I can do it!

 And that is a piece of my heart today!

Lighten your load

I have a favorite pair of dress shoes that I love to wear with dress slacks. They are tight on my feet though and after a few hours of striding around in them, I am ready to take them off.

Getting rid of things that bind us...

I am reminded of the times that I have traveled with my husband and we have had bags overpacked. It takes two of us to drag all of the luggage thru the airport, but many times the bags are so heavy and awkward that I cannot carry my load. Almost always, my husband has to pick up the slack for me and not only carry his but mine as well.

Isn't this the perfect picture of what Jesus does for us? Look at Matthew 11:27, 28:

If you continue on in Matthew chapter 11, the verse reads "Take my yoke upon you, for My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

A yoke? Now that is something that we don't hear about much. In study, I learned that a yoke is actually a bar of wood that attaches to farm animals so they could carry their load. Being a carpenter, I would imagine that Jesus knew exactly what a carpenter had to do to adjust the yoke that was made for the oxen. I am sure that the farmer would bring their oxen to the carpenter, who then would measure the shoulders so a properly fit yoke could be made. Each yoke would fit just right.

Perhaps this is what Jesus is saying in this passage in Matthew. That His hope, His love, His mercy fits just right! He has promised that He would not put more on us than we can handle and when we trust in His yoke ... He will lead us into rest and not misery.

I need His yoke today...how about you?

LWG - Mr. Postman

“Wait a minute, wait a minute … Mr. Postman!”

I am showing my age alittle bit with quoting that oldie of a song. But if you recall that song, it was a love song about someone waiting for a love letter from their sweetie. But the postman comes by and doesn’t deliver the letter as expected.

You know the kind of love letter that I am talking about. The kind that you keep in an old shoe box and the envelopes are covered with xoxo and as you pull out the parched paper with the words of your sweeties soul, you can still smell the fragrance of the hand that wrote it.

If you have such a shoe box full of love letters, most likely the paper is worn thin and the words are almost unrecognizable because of the times you have read those heartfelt words over and over again. Each time, no matter how many times you have read the words, they touch your heart and warm your soul.

Such letters are almost a rarity these days because we live in a society of technology. Today we use the computer to send e-cards to express our love or we send out a quick “I love you” on our facebook pages. You know technology is great but when it comes to receiving a love letter, I personally would like to receive one that I could hold in my hand and gaze upon over and over again.

We don’t have to wait on the postman like the song says ~ Each of us has such a love letter … the Bible is God’s love letter to the world. It is a personal message to each of us. Even though we share the same love letter and the message is the same, God’s intimate relationship is unique for each one that reads it.

I wonder how worn and tattered the pages of your love letter have become? Do you read the words of love with the same passion as you did the first time you read it?

“You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.” – Isaiah 43:4

God’s love letter to us should be cherished and read over and over and over again. When is the last time that you picked up your love letter and read it?

This is a devotion that I have shared today over at the LACED WITH GRACE site. I am honored to share devo's with a team of great writers over there and you will be blessed by them five days a week (monday-friday). CLICK HERE to find out more about this great ministry!

THANKFUL THURSDAY ... horseshoes

One of my favorite things about having cookouts with family and friends would have to be the activities that go on out in the backyard. Our backyard is set up to initiate family fun! We have a firepit in the middle of the yard and off to one corner is a tetherball. Oh the games, the fun and the laughter that have been had around that pole! One of the newest things that we have added to our "fun" backyard is the game of horseshoes.

Now, the first thing that you will notice about horseshoes is when you pick one of the horseshoes up, it feels quite weighty. But my favorite part is when you throw it, hearing that "clank" sound. (that is if you get it close enough to the pole). Often times when I play horseshoes, I do not hear the "clank" sound often enough, and what happens real quick is that I get frustrated as my throw attempts get further and further from the target.

Isn't that just like life sometimes? If the horseshoe represented our cares and the pole represented Christ, how frustrating it would be if throwing our "weighty" cares out did not get close to Christ. With alittle bit of concentration and alot of motivation, with each throw - we would not miss the mark!

If we could just imagine ourselves casting one of our problems on the Lord with each toss ... imagine how much better we would feel by the end of the game! I think hitting the mark, or casting our burdens on the Lord is all in the release. Sometimes it may feel more like a boomerang than a horseshoe, but the key to the game is all in the release.

Have you released your burdens upon Him today? I am thankful today for the promises that God gives us ...it causes us to cast off what we don't need so we can hold onto what we do need!

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you." - Psalm 55:22

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7

"In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." - Psalm 94:19

What are you thankful for today? Lynn is hosting THANKFUL THURSDAY this week, stop by and join your grateful heart with ours! Find more thanks HERE!

You can also find a devotion that I have written for AT THE WELL today. It is entitled, "GROWING OLD TOGETHER". I would love for you to stop by and read it. CLICK here to find this devotion.