HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Psalm 100 (Amplified Bible)

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before Him with thanksgiving!

Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise!Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately bless His name!

For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.

Good Thanksgiving Morning! How are you today?? I'm hoping and praying you're doing well; know that I'm praying for you, those of you who are struggling with things right now. (Aren't we ALL, with one thing or another???)

ANYWAY. Today is a day to count our blessings - and I want to encourage you to do so every day, but there's no day like THANKSGIVING to do so. And do it out loud! Bless someone else by being blessed!

Here's a very short list of what I'm thanful for today - I can't take the time to list them all for you!! :D I WANT TO HEAR YOUR BLESSINGS! Leave me as many comments as you want; I am so blessed by you!

1. My loving husband

2. YOU!!!

3. My friends who love me

4. My parents

5. The house they provide for us

6. That I get to do what I love to help with our finances

7. Good food! :D

8. A beautiful, incredible world God created for us to enjoy!

9. An INCREDIBLE church home and family - it never ceases to amaze me!

10. Comfortable clothing :D

OK, time to get some breakfast. :D BE BLESSED, DEAR ONE!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Culled from the flock

Hello, dear ones. How are you doing?? Are you having a good fall? Are you making your list of things you're grateful for?

That's one of the things we do at Thanksgiving - but that's a totally different post. I really don't want to write this post, but it's time. :)

Maybe you've already discerned from the title what I feel God's leading me to write about today - and maybe you're one of the people who will get upset with what I have to say. But I pray you'll listen, and at least listen to what God is telling YOU, individually, before you dismiss it.

Today, I need to talk to you about being part of the body of Christ. The church.

I have SO MANY friends who have told me, "The church is full of hypocrites." "I don't need that; I can worship God just as well on my own." "I don't need to go to church. God understands."

Dear one, I need to deliver this message: much of what God wants to teach you needs to be taught in meeting with believers.

You'll notice I did NOT say "in a church"; I believe that a BUILDING cannot BE the church. WE are the church, the believers who make up any group that meets in ANY building. But I DO feel that God is telling His body to become more unified.

There are many reasons that people I know have left the church; can't find one they like, have been too hurt by others, don't have time, don't like what goes on in church, etc., etc. But, dear one, that doesn't give you a reason to not be with believers in a service ever again.

I know that you've been hurt, deeply, by people who are supposed to bear Christ's name. And I'm not saying that it will never happen again. But you know what? NO ONE is perfect. There are so many MORE reasons for meeting together than NOT that you need to find a place to be. A place to be safe, to be loved, to be encouraged, and to be held accountable.

Yes, I said accountable! :) We seem to have given up on trying to be holy anymore - not holier-than-thou, but holy. God said, "BE HOLY, as I am holy." (My emphasis there. :D) We all know we're not perfect, nor are we holy - but we seem to have stopped trying. It's true in many aspects of our lives - we can't do something completely, so we don't even attempt it. Oh, dear one, that's SO not the way God wants us to live!

We are to rejoice together - the shepherd who found his lost sheep, and the widow who found her lost coin BOTH called people together and said, "REJOICE WITH ME!" It's with the words of our testimony that we share our story of God's grace in our lives. We benefit in both the hearing AND the telling of it; if you're not meeting with anyone to rejoice with them, you're losing out on many blessings!

We are to encourage one another - being KIND and COMPASSIONATE with one another. FORGIVING one another. Oh, dear friend, I know this is hard to do when you've been hurt! I know how difficult it is to let anyone in again, when your heart has been broken, your spirit crushed, by those who were supposed to have been friends, who were trusted to be truthful and loving.

And we're to exhort each other. What does that mean? Here's the definition from dictionary.com:

to urge, advise, or caution urgently; to admonish urgently; to give urgent advice, recommendations, or warnings.

Yes, we're to help one another, IN LOVE, to show each other where a problem might be - again, IN LOVE. Our pastor said in a sermon from Ephesians that we are not going in love to someone unless our heart is breaking for them. Oh, sweet reader, I KNOW this is where some of the pain comes in. Someone may have said something like this to you:

"I'm only saying this because I love you, but...." And then proceeded to cut your heart out.

YES, we need to be advised. And sometimes advice hurts - sometimes warnings hurt. Our flesh rebels against restrictions, and it's easier to justify those desires than it is to die to them. But it's also easier to put them on the altar when you have someone to walk with you, to help you, to encourage you to LEAVE them on the altar. When we walk with each other, we can help each other. But when you walk alone, look out!

The enemy is real, dear one. He "roams", seeking "whom he may devour." THANK GOD our God is so much bigger than the enemy! But, dear one, if the enemy can cull you from the flock, can separate you from the body, he can get at you so much easier.

If you've ever watched any of the animal shows, you know what I'm talking about: lions, for instance, don't attack a whole herd of antelope. They separate one from the rest of the herd. Then, it's easy for them to take down ONE.

But I'm sure you saw this video that was going around the Web, the one with the herd of water buffalo who won back against the lions AND the crocodile. WARNING: The video is VERY difficult to watch!!! Dear ones, we're NOT powerless - and we're a much more incredible force TOGETHER. We're in a battle, and one soldier doesn't stand much of a chance.

I'm hoping to have one of my friends who is a pastor of a home group do a guest spot here, and talk a little about home groups. I am here to say: don't give up on each other. It's too important, from too many Scriptures. We grow and learn with each other.

Alone, we usually don't even try. If you're honest with yourself, you'll admit it. You might for a little while, but after a time, every day is the same - except it's a weekend, so you can sleep in and do those chores that haven't been done.

Don't give up. Don't be separated from the flock. Want Scriptures? I had a hard time narrowing down what I wanted to use, because there are so many of them. Start with the middle of Ephesians. Still want more? Email me. I can't tell you how heavily this has been weighing on me for a LONG time! God is calling us together again, dear one, as His body. He's calling us to learn to live in UNITY. To strengthen and uplift one another. To put on our armor, and STAND together.

I love you! I pray for you! I want you to know that GOD loves you, and wants you to love HIM. Read His Word. TRUST His Word. BELIEVE it - it will change your life.

Email me with any questions, or concerns, or complaints, or prayer requests. :) I'll listen!!!!!

I haven't forgotten you!

Hello, my dear friends!!!! I have neither forgotten nor abandoned you; God is working out another one of THOSE posts in my heart; I'm hoping to have time mid-week this week to get it out of there and onto my computer. :D

I just wanted to drop into your email, or into your world, and let you know that I miss you, I care for you, and I LOVE it when you email me!

Keep watching for that post - and pray for me while I'm trying to go where He's leading me! :) BE BLESSED!!!

I find it incredibly interesting that, without my trying lately, I've got two new subscribers to the Wannabe blog! :D WELCOME! My prayer is that you're blessed by what I post, WHEN I post. :D There's a LOT I want to share, but sometimes it takes a while to get things into a cohesive, comprehensive THOUGHT. :D

ANYWAY. I've been hanging onto this forward for a while. I don't do them very often, but this one REALLY touched my heart. I think it's even more poignant now that my friend lost her husband this year.

Please leave me a comment whenever you wish, or email me at pooh0612@aol.com if you'd like to share with me privately. I consider your trust a high honor, and it's a privilege to be able to take your requests to the Throne of God! :)

On to the story.....

"She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder. "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered.. "For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended me? For an airbag that saved my life, but took my child's?"

"Good afternoon, can I help you?"

Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk. "I . . . I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.

"For Thanksgiving? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories, " she continued.. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."

Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."

Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer.

"Hi, Barbara, let me get your order." She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped; there were no flowers.

"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched; was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.

"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile.

"You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said, as she gently tapped her chest.

Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with . . .. uh . . .she left with no flowers!"

"That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do today," explained the clerk. " She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had
just lost her father; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery. That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk... "For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel..."

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.

"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly.


"I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and I never questioned Him why those good things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, 'Why? Why me?!' It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn
to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about what her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked in the shop.

"Hey, Phil!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man.

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement, twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator...

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously.

"Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"

"Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced," Phil replied. "After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem, the Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us."

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"

"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life" Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too . . fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love.... Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart... The first year's arrangement is always on me."

The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."

It read:

"My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns.. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."

Hospitality

It was a bad reason to have to go home to Indiana/Ohio: one of my best friends lost her husband quite suddenly, and I went to be with her on the day of the funeral. But it was a good visit.

I stayed in Indiana at our friends' farm. They are WONDERFUL people; originally my sister's friends (her high school best friend's parents!), they've been SO much fun to get to know, and to spend time with. There were days when we could have gone to do something, but stayed on the farm! It's been fun seeing Kenn (AKA "City Boy") learn about farm life. :)

What I want to tell you about, however, is leaving the farm this last time. I was by myself; Kenn didn't get to go with me. But I know what we do before we leave, each time, so I planned the leaving part accordingly. :D They're building a new house from SCRATCH next to the rickety farmhouse; they've been working on it for years, and they're "close" to getting it ready to move into. Before we leave, we go see the progress on the house, and take a quick tour of SOME of the farm. (Mind you, this is a working farm, so to tour the whole thing would take a VERY long time!!! :) )

The garden on the farm has been producing like crazy, so our friends were SO pleased to be able to send "some" produce home with me. The photo above shows what I brought home. :D Even the pumpkin! He became a turkey, but that's another post. LOL!

We were out in the garden for 45 minutes, cleaning off the vegetables and loading them into the car. Then, it was time for goodbye hugs and waves while I pulled onto the country road, waving and smiling.

I was still smiling five minutes later. Can you IMAGINE?? I'd been there about 38 hours, but I was SOOOOOOOOO blessed by them. I was GONE much of that time, but we still had a couple of meals together, and laughed and sympathized with each other. There wasn't any "You're a guest, so act like one." I'm one of the family! I know where the towels are, I know where to put the bedding when I leave. And I get so blessed, every time I go to visit them. Not only did they bless ME, but I had the joy of seeing Kenn act like it was Christmas when he was carrying it all into the house; Mom couldn't get over how GENEROUS they'd been to us. And NOTHING tastes better than a sweet cherry tomato that someone you cherish has grown and blessed you with! :)

It's not the things they give me - or that I give them, because who goes somewhere like that without a present? :D It's the way I FEEL when I'm around them. I'm NEVER, EVER glad to be leaving them, but I always leave feeling loved and welcome to come back.

Do you *hear* what I'm trying to say? There's no doubt in my mind that I have a place there. I am always welcome. I will always be loved by them. I don't have to wonder if they're just nice to my face. I'm part of the family while I'm there.

Dear one, not only are we to feel that way in the Body of Christ, but we're to OFFER that to anyone who comes to our homes. I just can't imagine anything better than to have someone say to me, "I was still smiling five minutes after I left your house the other day!"

It's a little out of context, but not too much - Jesus said, "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." (Luke 16:9, NIV) We have started to become sooooooooo concerned with OURSELVES; we don't just "hang out" with each other, encouraging one another and sharing with each other! We HOARD what we have, as if it's going to be a security.

It's NOT. And that's not why God blesses us with worldy wealth, either - no matter how much or how little you have. It's to bless OTHERS.

Dear one, please pray for ME in this area. I want to be obedient in being a blessing, too! I want people to know I'm different, that they're LOVED, and WELCOME, and part of the family!!!! How about you?

Is this what God's saying to you?

Good morning, dear friend! How are you today?

I'm dragging my feet. Why? Because I DO NOT want to write this post! It's not a warm fuzzy today, but I think it's part of why you haven't heard much from me lately. I have a word for some of you, and it's a call to action. Kind of. :)

I've kept in touch with many of you personally, and know some of the struggles you've been going through. I know a lot of you are looking for direction from God: What should I be doing? Am I walking in His will? What should I be doing to help my family?

Dear ones, I also know that some of you are like the leaves, being tossed by every change of direction in the wind. As soon as a door opens, you think it MUST be God, and try to run through it - and then another door opens, and IT must be God.

HE WANTS YOU TO STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be STILL, and know that He is God. What does that MEAN????

"When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." John 10:4-5.

We NEED to know His voice. We need to know the difference between God's voice and a stranger's. And that means being STILL. It means being WITH Him. It means reading His Word, so you know what He SOUNDS like, what the truth of His Word says to your spirit - and how that "feels".

Dear one, how can you know His voice to follow HIM if you're not intimately involved with Him?

I want you to know that I struggle with this, too - and I don't spend nearly as much time with Him as I should. But I'm READING. I'm PRAYING. I'm trying to be STILL as much as possible, to LISTEN.

It's easy to think that every opportunity that comes your way is from God. But it's not TRUE. Everything may look PERFECT, but if you're listening, there MIGHT be a check that says WAIT.

Please, dear friend, HEAR ME. I'm not directing this at any one person. We ALL struggle - and if you're into your Bible every day, YEAH!

Still, I will say: LISTEN. Be STILL, and KNOW THAT HE IS GOD. Then, you'll be able to MOVE, and know you're following the Master's voice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He says:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."

I love you! I am praying for you! And if you want to share with me, PLEASE do so - you can leave a comment if you'd like others to pray or celebrate with you, too, or you can email me at pooh0612@aol.com.

BE BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU can make a difference!

After you read this story, you'll realize the SMALLEST act of compassion can change someone's life. I encourage you to look around for random acts of kindness YOU can do. If you see it, DO it!

It is not known who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies..' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey &Meredith and this note:


Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven.
Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by..
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.
I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.
By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love,
God