My husband and I spent time with friends on Saturday night at Olive Garden for a surprise birthday party for a friend and at the end of the meal, several friends said "Keep your fork" (because our friend's wife had made him a birthday cake and we had not eaten it yet). Hearing them say that reminded me of an email someone sent me a while back and I wanted to post it here.
There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things 'in order,' she contacted her Pastor to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. 'There's one more thing,' she said excitedly. 'What's that?' came the Pastor's reply. 'I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.' The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. That surprises you, doesn't it?' the young woman asked. I'm puzzled by the request,' said the Pastor. The young woman explained. 'My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!' So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork the best is yet to come.' The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that something better was coming. At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and saw the fork in her right hand. Over and over, the Pastor heard the question, 'What's with the fork?' And over and over he smiled. During his message, the Pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Friends are a very rare jewel , indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share ...being friends with someone is not an opportunity but a sweet responsibility.
So, with that being said (or typed), keep the fork, the best is yet to come.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Reflecting Back
Today, as I reflect back, I came across a word that I feel was from God. I shared it on another blog back in January of this year but would also like to share it here. So here goes...
Prepare your land
Hebrews 6:1-12
1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 2 You don't need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
7 When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God's blessing. 8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.
9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don't believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. 10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, 11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and endurance.
=================MY THOUGHTS=============
Are we going to go back to the kindergarten teaching of Christ's word or are we going to grow spiritually and move forward for a higher calling and purpose for our lives. God wants so much for our fields to have His blessings but it is our responsibility to prepare our land. How is your ground? Will it be harvested (have you sown good seeds) or will it be burned up (full of thorns and thistles because you refuse to grow up in Christ). When the rains come, I want my land to be bountiful with God's blessings and yours can be too.
I want something greater that a burnt up field so I am doing what I know to do to prepare my land for the great harvest that God is getting ready to bless us with. I encourage each of you to do the same. He wants us to inherit His promises but that doesn't mean it is handed to us without our endurance and faith. We have to do something in order for Him to give us the desires of our hearts (devote time to study His word, pray, encourage one another, SOMETHING!!!) . If we put forth an effort, it doesn't go unnoticed by God and we will inherit His promises.
============MY PRAYER====================
DEAR GOD, I COME TO YOU WITH A THANKFUL HEART AND ALSO A SAD ONE BECAUSE I HAVE NOT DONE ALL I CAN TO INHERIT YOUR PROMISES. I WANT ALL THE BLESSING YOU HAVE TO OFFER. PLEASE HELP ME TO PREPARE MY LAND FOR A BOUNTIFUL BLESSED HARVEST. HELP ALL OF US TO DO EVERYTHING WE KNOW TO DO AND GIVE US WISDOM IN WHAT WE DON'T KNOW. MY DESIRE IS THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO USE US AS VESSELS FOR YOUR PURPOSE AND WE WILL BE WILLING AND OBEDIENT VESSELS. SHOW YOUR POWER IN OUR LIVES NOT ONLY SO BELIEVERS WILL SEE BUT ALSO UNBELIEVERS WILL BE WON TO YOUR KINGDOM. FORGIVE US WHERE WE FAIL AND HELP US TO GROW SPIRITUALLY SO WE CAN REAP OUR HARVEST. I ASK ALL THIS IN JESUS' NAME...AMEN.
Prepare your land
Hebrews 6:1-12
1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 2 You don't need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
7 When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God's blessing. 8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.
9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don't believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. 10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, 11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and endurance.
=================MY THOUGHTS=============
Are we going to go back to the kindergarten teaching of Christ's word or are we going to grow spiritually and move forward for a higher calling and purpose for our lives. God wants so much for our fields to have His blessings but it is our responsibility to prepare our land. How is your ground? Will it be harvested (have you sown good seeds) or will it be burned up (full of thorns and thistles because you refuse to grow up in Christ). When the rains come, I want my land to be bountiful with God's blessings and yours can be too.
I want something greater that a burnt up field so I am doing what I know to do to prepare my land for the great harvest that God is getting ready to bless us with. I encourage each of you to do the same. He wants us to inherit His promises but that doesn't mean it is handed to us without our endurance and faith. We have to do something in order for Him to give us the desires of our hearts (devote time to study His word, pray, encourage one another, SOMETHING!!!) . If we put forth an effort, it doesn't go unnoticed by God and we will inherit His promises.
============MY PRAYER====================
DEAR GOD, I COME TO YOU WITH A THANKFUL HEART AND ALSO A SAD ONE BECAUSE I HAVE NOT DONE ALL I CAN TO INHERIT YOUR PROMISES. I WANT ALL THE BLESSING YOU HAVE TO OFFER. PLEASE HELP ME TO PREPARE MY LAND FOR A BOUNTIFUL BLESSED HARVEST. HELP ALL OF US TO DO EVERYTHING WE KNOW TO DO AND GIVE US WISDOM IN WHAT WE DON'T KNOW. MY DESIRE IS THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO USE US AS VESSELS FOR YOUR PURPOSE AND WE WILL BE WILLING AND OBEDIENT VESSELS. SHOW YOUR POWER IN OUR LIVES NOT ONLY SO BELIEVERS WILL SEE BUT ALSO UNBELIEVERS WILL BE WON TO YOUR KINGDOM. FORGIVE US WHERE WE FAIL AND HELP US TO GROW SPIRITUALLY SO WE CAN REAP OUR HARVEST. I ASK ALL THIS IN JESUS' NAME...AMEN.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Submission, What is it anyway?
Ephesians 5:21-24 says "And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22. For wives this means submit to your husbands as the Lord. 23. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything."
Submitting to another person is an often misunderstood concept. It does not mean becoming a doormat. Christ submitted His will to the Father and we honor Christ by following His example. When we submit to God, we become more willing to obey His command to submit to others. In a marriage relationship, both husband and wife are called to submit. For the wife, this means willingly following her husband's leadership in Christ. For the husband, it means putting aside his own interests in order to care for his wife.
According to the Bible, the man is the spiritual head of the family, and his wife should acknowledge his leadership. But real spiritual leadership involves loving service (a form of dying). Just as Christ served the disciples, even to the point of washing their feet, so the husband is to serve his wife.
A wise and Christ-honoring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role and a wise and Christ-honoring wife will not try to undermine her husband's leadership. Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage.
Read on in Ephesians 5:25-30. (for the sake of saving space, I won't type it here).--Look it up.
Paul devotes twice as many words to telling husbands to love their wives as to telling wives to submit to their husbands. How should a man love his wife? (1) He should be willing to sacrifice everything for her, (2) make her well being of primary importance, and (3) care for her as he cares for his own body. No wife needs to fear submitting to a man who treats her in this way.
My prayer: I strive to be a submissive wife, Lord help me to be as you have called me to be submissive to my husband and he to love me as You have love the Church. Help us to not take advantage of each other or the commands You have given us but to embrace them as the Word says. Submission is rarely a problem in couples that have a strong relationship with You. I ask that You continue to help us build our relationship with You and one another so that we can continue to be submissive toward one another. I ask this all in Jesus' name, Amen.
Submitting to another person is an often misunderstood concept. It does not mean becoming a doormat. Christ submitted His will to the Father and we honor Christ by following His example. When we submit to God, we become more willing to obey His command to submit to others. In a marriage relationship, both husband and wife are called to submit. For the wife, this means willingly following her husband's leadership in Christ. For the husband, it means putting aside his own interests in order to care for his wife.
According to the Bible, the man is the spiritual head of the family, and his wife should acknowledge his leadership. But real spiritual leadership involves loving service (a form of dying). Just as Christ served the disciples, even to the point of washing their feet, so the husband is to serve his wife.
A wise and Christ-honoring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role and a wise and Christ-honoring wife will not try to undermine her husband's leadership. Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage.
Read on in Ephesians 5:25-30. (for the sake of saving space, I won't type it here).--Look it up.
Paul devotes twice as many words to telling husbands to love their wives as to telling wives to submit to their husbands. How should a man love his wife? (1) He should be willing to sacrifice everything for her, (2) make her well being of primary importance, and (3) care for her as he cares for his own body. No wife needs to fear submitting to a man who treats her in this way.
My prayer: I strive to be a submissive wife, Lord help me to be as you have called me to be submissive to my husband and he to love me as You have love the Church. Help us to not take advantage of each other or the commands You have given us but to embrace them as the Word says. Submission is rarely a problem in couples that have a strong relationship with You. I ask that You continue to help us build our relationship with You and one another so that we can continue to be submissive toward one another. I ask this all in Jesus' name, Amen.
What happened to having respect for the dead?
About a month ago, I went to the funeral of my 82 year old uncle. Much to my surprise, I found that during the funeral percession (spelt wrong) from PEARL to the cemetary in RICHLAND, I could count on one hand (YES, I said ONE hand) how many people actually stopped and waited while we passed. It saddens me to know that we, as Americans don't have respect for the dead anymore. I always stop and wait, no matter how long, until the last car passes, when I see a Funeral coming. To me, it's just respectful, not only to the dead person but also to the family that is mourning a great loss.
So, thanks to the ones that still show their respect and shame on the ones that don't.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HAVING AND SHOWING YOUR RESPECT FOR THE DEAD??????
So, thanks to the ones that still show their respect and shame on the ones that don't.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HAVING AND SHOWING YOUR RESPECT FOR THE DEAD??????
Thursday, August 7, 2008
First day of School
Well, yesterday was the first day of school for my two oldest children and I must say even though I was busy running errands most of the day, I really missed being with them.
It seems like school starts earlier and earlier every year. I can remember not going back until after Labor Day. I just hope that its not going to turn in to a "Year round" event.
I do enjoy my children being where I can see and hear them (even if what I hear is arguing). At least I know if they are within my reach, they are safe. I do dearly miss them during the day.
It seems like school starts earlier and earlier every year. I can remember not going back until after Labor Day. I just hope that its not going to turn in to a "Year round" event.
I do enjoy my children being where I can see and hear them (even if what I hear is arguing). At least I know if they are within my reach, they are safe. I do dearly miss them during the day.
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