Thoughts on live with a purpose

It's the week of Thanksgiving here. My supervisor has us do a devotional in staff meeting the week that we're on call and this week is my week. When thinking about what to say, the verse in 1 Thessalonians 3 kept coming to my mind "in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". I read a few verses ahead of that one and found these little nuggets of truth:

"Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. But we request of you, brethern, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethern, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone...Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

In these few verses, I believe we get a "to do" list of sorts for our daily lives.

• Encourage one another
• appreciate those who labor
• esteem your authority in love
• live in peace
• admonish the unruly
• encourage the fainthearted
• help the weak
• be patient 
• rejoice
• pray
• give thanks

Years ago, a man wrote a book about living a life of purpose. Many people have written such books I would imagine. How simple it is though, to look at these 7 verses of scripture to see God's will and purpose for my life!! It's so simply profound, it's scary (not scary scary, but you know, scary). So this week, as we're remembering to be thankful, let's remember to be these other characteristics as well.

Love, Mrs. M.

Thoughts on Easter

I think Easter may be one of my favorite holidays. Christmas gets a lot of hype, all the holiday parties and music I think contribute to this. But Easter is so beautiful. The idea that Sunday comes, and everything is new. It's spring, so the grass is (hopefully) green, trees are (hopefully) blooming, and the weather is (usually) nice...not to hot, not to cold. This year, with my sister having a little one, we had an Easter egg hunt for the first time in years at my Grandma's. It was so sweet watching Claire tottle around the yard picking up one egg after another. It was so sweet the way she'd pick it up, and promptly hand it over to my sister, her mother.

Now, of course I know my niece hunting eggs is not what Easter is all about. But I do think that perhaps there is some symbolism in the way society has commercialized Easter. You see, as humans, we are constantly hunting for eggs to fill us. Hunting for shiny eggs, bright eggs, big eggs...well, you get the idea. And Easter is a time for us to refocus and see that the ultimate egg is all of these things in one... It's Christ. It's the one who we sing about and celebrate at Christmas, we mourn and remember on Good Friday and we rejoice and revel in on Easter Sunday.  Yes the Blood it is my Victory!! 

My husband and I were talking on Friday about why the cross is the emblem of Christianity that has been through the ages.  I mean, the Blood IS my victory, and I'm sooo thankful for the blood of Jesus. But the story DOESN'T END THERE!! It's not just the blood that's my victory. What about the rest of the story? What about the empty tomb? The stone that was rolled away? The RISEN SAVIOR? That empty tomb, I believe, is also my Victory. On Sunday morning in church, we sang a hymn that I had never heard before, but it has quickly become a favorite of mine!

Thank you Savior for dying, for rising, and for living again!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!!

Love, Mrs. M.

Thoughts on Valentine's Day

So, I know it's like 2 days late, but here is my thoughts on this day.  I honestly LOVE it! (pun intended) Who wouldn't enjoy a day where you celebrate your special connections with others? I think that if you are a person who "doesn't believe in" or "agree with" or "thinks it's a day made up by candy makers and jewelers" then I wonder, do you celebrate Mother's Day/Father's Day? How about Easter or Christmas? What about any other holiday?

The argument that I hear most often from a person who doesn't observe Valentine's day is that you shouldn't need to have a "special" day to show your significant other how much you care about them. Well, couldn't the same be said about all holidays? Shouldn't we Celebrate our Lord's birth and mourn His death daily? Shouldn't I love on my parents the other 364 days a year? Well of course the answer to these questions is "Yes, I should". But do I? No, not always. That's why it's so important that once a year, we take the time to show all these people just how much they mean to us and just how appreciative we are of all they've done for us over the years. That's what Valentine's day is to me. It's a day for my husband to show me in an extra special way how much I mean to him. That's why the photo he gave me meant so much. He knows that passage in scripture is my mantra some days. As I put in my original post, I believe we are to LIVE the love Paul speaks about in Corinthians. My personal favorite is the beginning of Vs. 8 "Love never fails". I once heard it said "This means love never flunks out". I loved the imagery of this statement. Now, my husband could have used that quote "Love never fails" because he knew it was my favorite. However, he chose to use the statement that meant the most to him "Love endures all things". To some this may seem like it's the same saying just with different words, but I know God is very intentional about the use of words in scripture, so I believe Paul is talking about two different instances. In our marriage, I know it means two different things. "Love never fails" means that if I love you, I never leave or even threaten to leave. "Love endures all things" means, no matter what we go through: times of prosperity or times of poverty, times of joy or times of strife, we endure it.

The online Webster dictionary had this definition of "endure": To remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding." What a beautiful picture of how my husband loves me! I truly believe this is the best Valentines Day present he's given me to date. I can't wait to see what next year has in store!!

Love, Mrs. M.

PS- Just to brag on him a little bit, I also got a dozen BEAUTIFUL white roses, a box of chocolates, and he made dinner for me Monday night. Nothing fancy, just tostadas, but to me, it was better then Craftwood Inn!!