What's In Your Attitude?

Well as you can see by my last post it has been a long time since I have been on here. It's not that I haven't wanted to but so much has been running through my head I just had problems sorting them all out.

First: I want to say that I have a BIG GOD! He has shown me in so many ways just how big he is.

Second: Our church has been doing a series of messages focusing on "Fields of dreams". The series is a baseball theme with every speaker getting to show off their favorite team. The messages were all different. Lori talked about sitting on the bench, Gayle spoke about how everyone has a different position to play, and Keith spoke about different times during the season.

I was asked to be the final speaker for the series. My sermon was on Attitude. I actually started off writing on a different subject but over the past six months God started dealing with me about my attitude. It Stank! There were so many days that I had a stinky attitude and it affected everything I did and everyone around me. God showed me through His word how our attitude should be.

Philippians 2:5 (New International Version)
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus"

Wow, that says it all! My attitude wasn't like His and I needed to change it.

So here are the main highlights of my sermon:

Bad Attitudes

Eve - Arrogant

The Spies sent to check out the promised land - Defeatist

Moses - Hostile and Rebellious

Good Attitudes

Joseph - Forgiving and Kind

Esther - Bold, Confident, and Humble

Ruth - Faithful

This is one of my favorite scriptures and I used this last night...

Philippians 2:2-4 (The Message)

1-4 If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

We have the hope that people need. The hope that Christ offers and we need to share that hope without sharing our bad attitudes.

So, What's in your attitude?

50 Things I'm Grateful For

At Thanksgiving Pastor Mark was talking about being grateful. Of course that's what we usually do at Thanksgiving. When I got home from church I sat at my computer and started making a list of what I was grateful for. It has taken a while to compile this list. Keep in mind that it is in no particular order. Well, except #1.

1. Jesus - He died for me
2. Salvation - So that I might live
3. Holy Spirit - He comforts me
4. Peace - I can have it thru Christ
5. God’s Word - I love to study it
6. My parents - Manuel and Pearl, I miss them 
7. My siblings - Jim, Sharon, Sondra, Wanda and David - They put up with me
8. My sons Nicholas & Tyler - The BEST children EVER!
9. Ashley - My wonderful daughter-in-law (She puts up with my son)
10. My church - I love to worship there
11. My friends - They are the greatest and I love them all
12. Coffee - It wakes me up in the morning
13. Tea - My comfort drink
14. God’s hand - It keeps me
15. God’s saving grace - It's available to everyone
16. Mercy - I'm so glad God extends mercy
17. Computers - They help me do homework
18. Internet - It keeps me in touch with family and friends
19. Extended family - I love getting to know people I didn't know I was related to
20. Tennessee - My favorite place to be
21. Yoshi and kitty - aaah my kitty's (I am not a crazy cat lady)
22. The great country I live in - enough said
23. Democracy - Thankful that we have it
24. My forefathers - Wow, thankful that they wanted religious freedom and fought for it
25. Mawmaw and pawpaw - My grandparents - I miss them
26. Aunt Peggy and Ralph - I visit them in Phoenix every year
27. Aunt Imogene - She lives in Arkansas now so I don't get to visit her like I used to
28. Road maps - I can go anywhere with my road maps, yea
29. Cell phones - Nice to have when I travel
30. My job - I'm glad to have one
31. My cozy blanket - AHHH, I forgot it in Phoenix  - I'm having withdrawals
32. Christmas - My favorite holiday
33. Easter - Celebrating Christ's Triumph
34. Sunday - When I worship at church and then rest
35. Chocolate - Yum, especially dark chocolate, my favorite
36. Books to read - My favorite thing to do
37. Music - I love to listen and to play
38. Bananas – my favorites fruit
39. Purses – to carry all my stuff (I have too many)
40. A cute hanky - My mom always carried one and so do I
41. Reading glasses - Greatest invention ever
42. The Military - They protect our borders and ensure our liberty - Thank you Brent
43. Law Enforcement - The keep us safe at home - Thank you Randy and Mark
44. Missionaries - They go places I can't and probably wouldn't
45. The beach - A place I can go to relax
46. My car - It's reliable and takes me places (like to the beach)
47. Guitars - My sons love to play them and I love to hear them play
48. Photographs - I can have the people I love with me wherever I go
49. Tea Pots - I love to see all the different styles and patterns
50. Blogs - I just got hooked on blogs - Thanks Gayle

So my friends have posted this on theirs blogs so I thought I would give it a try. 

25 things about me that you may or may not know...

1.   I have 2 wonderful sons and 1 daughter-in-law

2.   I attend the best church in the world - Celebration Church of the Northwest

3.   I am blessed to have the best friends

4.   Tea is my favorite drink, period.

5.   Beans, fried potatoes with onions and corn bread is my favorite food

6.   I am a part-time student at Oral Roberts University

7.   I am the 7th child of 7 children - I'm the baby

8.   My natural hair color is brown but I'm always changing it

9.   Reading is a passion - The Bible, tea books, novels

10.  I want to be a writer but don't know if I have the talent

11. I played clarinet and violin in school and took piano lessons

12. I am the Christian Education Director at my church

13. Every year on President's weekend I visit my Aunt Peggy in Phoenix

14. My goal is have finish my bachelors and then get a master's degree

15. I would really love to own a tea shop

16. I wish I had more time to bake - I love to bake desserts

17. My sister Wanda is an awesome - she is making me homemade bisquits 

18. I have 2 toes that are webbed together - family trait

19. I was born in Casa Grande, Arizona

20. Tennessee is where I would love to live

21. Blogs have become an obsession - Thanks Gayle

22. I love teaching

23. I hope to redesign my backyard into an English Garden this year

24. Can't stand curry

25. I hope to go to New Zealand and Australia with my cousin Annie this year

Well this has been a lot harder than I thought. Hope I haven't bored you too much.

Have a blessed day!

Frame of Mind

What has your "frame of mind" been lately?

Worry, fear, anger, sorrow, regret, helplessness? So many things have happened in the last year, even the last few weeks, to cause just about everyone to focus on one of those feelings at one time or another.

Our frame of mind is important. What we focus on has a huge impact on our reality. Huh? That's right, what we focus on has an impact on our reality.

Matthew 15:17-19 (The Message Bible) says, "Don't you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That's what pollutes."

So how does something get in our heart? Well, it's what we focus on. What are we reading, listening to, watching on tv, speaking to our families? Is it life or death?

Proverbs 18:21 (The Message Bible) says, "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit-you choose."

Several years ago I had to give up watching certain TV shows before I went to bed. You see I don't go fall to sleep very fast. It takes me a looong time. Hours sometimes. So I am usually trying to clear my mind so that I can relax. Unfortunately my mind is thinking about the last thing I have just watched or read. If that is Law & Order or CSI then I am focusing on rapes, murder, and death. Not a good thing to be thinking before I move into dreamland. When I realized this I stopped watching those shows and instead started focusing on good things. Reading my Bible or another good book, thinking about my boys, my family, my friends, my church and Jesus.

The Bible says in Phillipians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

Think about that a minute. Whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, honorable, just, worthy of praise. Have we been focusing on those things lately. I know I haven't much but I intend to change my thought process. We need to change our focus. When we change our focus our hearts will change, and when our hearts change then we will give forth words of life and not death.

Think on Life not Death. Speak words of encouragement. Keep your Hearts pure. Think Jesus.

What are you investing in?

So today is Monday and it's a holiday. I have the day off from work. Well at least from my paying job. I have been working on my homework assignment almost all day. I took a break a couple of times to eat. The class that I am working on is "Introduction to Christian Education." Months ago I read a passage in one of the books that really spoke to me. It was talking about Christians studying the Bible. At the time I started this book I was participating in a Bible study in my home. I really loved it but alas the time came to move on. Since then my studying of the Bible has not been as regular as it was. I have been doing my best to practice "first fruits" and give Jesus the first part of my day by reading my Bible in the morning. Some mornings get the better of me though. This brings me to the textbook. Here is the paragraph I read:

"If Christians are studying the Bible in church, Sunday School, and in home Bible studies, why aren't they valuing it enough to integrate it into their lives? The answer is that pastors and leaders are doing the Bible study, not the average Christian. The average Christian is passively receiving someone else's Bible study. Since the Christian is sitting and listening, what he or she is investing in is sitting and listening!"     

OUCH

That speaks volumes! I think back to all the years that I was the one sitting and listening but not doing the studying. The years that I was a stay at home mom but never picked up my Bible on a regular basis. Oh, I raised my sons to love Jesus. We sang all the songs, did the "Father Abraham" motions, went to church and Sunday School regularly. I always carried my Bible with me. But how many times did my young sons ever really see me sit and study the Bible. They saw me study school books (yeah, I've been going to school forever), they saw me read novels of all kinds, craft books, cook books, magazines. You name it and I was reading it (okay not the bad stuff).

 

Oh, how I wished they had seen me studying the Bible more. I wished that we had sat down together every day and had Bible time together. I just didn't think of it. My sons know how much I love the Lord and His Word. They see me read my Bible and study. They've been in my home during my Bible studies with my friends. There is no doubt in their minds, but I think there is some in mine. I don't know how much they read or how much they love God's Word. It's not that they don't love God or read His Word but how much? Are they sitting and listening or doing?

I can't answer that question but I can tell you this one thing. That when my sons finally bless me with grandchildren they will see grandma reading her Bible and we will be sitting together having Bible time. Yes I will still be singing "Jesus love me" and doing the motions to "Father Abraham" but I am going to make sure that my grandchildren grow up with a love of God's Word and a thirst to know it intimately.

So, what are you investing in?

Random Thoughts...

Random thoughts...

• It's a beautiful day out today...75 degrees is the forecast
• I need to take a long walk in the sunshine
• That research paper isn't writing itself
• The lyrics to "Giants Do Die" has been stuck in my head for 2 weeks
• God is a Great Big God and can take care of any of my problems
• Coldstone ice cream sounds really good
• I'm glad I have Monday off, Yea
• I have the best friends in the world
• My sister is funny and I love her 
• I want to go to the coast and sit on the beach

Got to go

My journey to good health begins

My friend Gayle has been a real inspiration to me when it comes to Eating Clean. You can check out her blog below. It's called "Blessed to be a Blessing." She has been faithfuling eating clean and exercising and lost so much weight and looks and feels great. This is what I aspire to do.

What is eating clean you might ask? It's eating food in it's most natural form. No processed foods. No preservatives. I Have just finished reading the book and have sort of started eating clean but I am not quite there yet. I have rid the house of most processed foods but there are still some chocolates hanging out tempting us. Well their about to be taken to the office and shared with those not watching their waistlines.

For those of you who see me on a regular basis you know that I have been suffering from problems with my back. I saw a specialist at UCLA Spine Center on Monday. I had prayed that I would not have to have surgery and the first thing the doctor said to me when he walked in the room was "Well you have a couple of bum discs, but you won't need surgery." Praise God. Basically the only treatment is to lose weight and take physical therapy to learn to do specific exercises and stretching techniques.

So now my journey begins...