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Rain of Tears

2/28/2017

Rain cascades down the window
Heavy dark clouds fill the sky
A deluge of tears runs down my face
It's far too soon to say good-bye

There are no words to comfort
A parent's heart that is broken
Condolences murmured now
Would only be a token

A mind brimming with questions
A heart filled with yearning
What you were seeking, what you were so desperate to find
It all came to naught as your world stopped turning

A golden haired child
Your parent's joy and delight
As your coming filled up their world
Oh, how I remember that night

You were and are loved
Your smile and laughter a treasure
I hope you had even an inkling
That their love for you was without measure

Whatever was lacking, whatever the pain
To those who loved you, you never were flawed
You were adored and precious,
A most glorious child of God

As I sit and ponder your short time with us
Your life a beautiful gift
And while it feels like you were torn from our arms
In heaven there is no such rift

In those moments that seemed so final
I pray His arms you felt
The God who formed you, made you
And in His love you dwelt

And though you left us early
Our love for you is strong
And our hope is to one day see you
In this I know I'm not wrong

For He loves you and holds you now
His lovely golden haired child
Alive again and free
In His presence running joyously and wild

Carefree and exuberant
No pain, no doubt, no sorrow
And yes, as we trust His grace
We will see you some tomorrow

So know that we hold fast
We cling to His truth
We will again be reunited
His Son, Jesus is our proof

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Never a bridesmaid, always the bride

2/21/2017

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Ah, that beautiful moment when the music commences and the bride begins her walk down the aisle. All the planning and preparation culminating in this one precious moment. Honestly, no matter if the bride by the world's standards is a knockout 10 or just the girl next door, on this day, her wedding day she is the most radiant woman in the room, all eyes are on her. Oh, to be chosen as his one and only. To be cherished and adored. To be handpicked as his bride.
I think back to the day I married my husband Jim. We got married under the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, our parents, one of my friends and his brother and the Justice of the Peace the only ones in attendance. It was a perfect April day and the setting was beautiful. As my dad walked me down the grassy hill, my eyes were only on Jim and his eyes were on me. It didn't matter that I was wearing a dress from Sears that cost under $40, that we didn't have expensive flowers and an elaborate reception planned, all that mattered was that I was his bride. That he had called me his own.
To be the one chosen is an amazing feeling. To be wanted and not just sitting on the sidelines. To be the one treasured and not just a part of the crowd. To be the honored bride and not just a bridesmaid. You've heard the expression "always a bridesmaid, never a bride". Do you know where it originated? It was first mentioned in a song written in the 1920's which said, "Why am I always the bridesmaid, never the blushing bride. Ding, Dong, wedding bells only ring for other gals, but one fine day please let it be soon I shall wake up in the morning on my own honeymoon." Here was the single gal lamenting not being the bride. But why wasn't she a bride? If you look further, Listerine (yes, the mouthwash company!) started an ad campaign in 1925 about a sad young woman. “Edna’s case was a really pathetic one. Like every woman, her primary ambition was to marry. Most of the girls of her set were married — or about to be. Yet no one possessed more grace or charm or loveliness than she. And as her birthdays crept towards that tragic thirty-mark, marriage seemed farther from her life than ever. She was often a bridesmaid but never a bride.” All of her loneliness could be attributed to one thing...bad breath! She was never chosen to be a bride, all because of her bad breath, all because of some fault in her.
You think of marriage, you think of love and all of the mysterious things that work together to bring two people together as one. It truly is a mystery. There is another mystery, the mystery of God and His love for us. The mystery of His allowing His son to die for us. The mystery of His life and death and resurrection all so that we could be united with Him. The mystery alluded to in Ephesians 5:32, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." In Ephesians 5 Paul is talking about husbands and wives and how they are to treat each other. And as he speaks to the husbands he says this, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (verses 25-27). He is speaking of husbands loving their wives and equates the church as that wife or bride and Jesus as the husband or bridegroom. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul speaking to the church at Corinth says this, "For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband--Christ" (NIV).
What is amazing to me in reading the scripture above about Christ loving the church, is that it says 'that He might sanctify and cleanse it it, that He might presents it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle or any such thing'. He does the work to make the bride beautiful. The one who is to become His bride may have 'bad breathe' as the girl in the Listerine ad did, but He is the one to take care of that. He is the one who makes us fit to be His bride. There is no bad breath too horrendous, no blemish too ghastly, no feature so appalling that He turns His head and refuses us. There is no sin in us so awful, no blot in our past so gruesome, no secret so shocking that He becomes a runaway bridegroom. He committed to our betrothal when He carried that cross. Instead of a wedding ring, He donned a crown of thorns. Instead of a tuxedo, He adorned Himself with nails. He did all of that because He chose us. As it says in Ephesians 1:4, "Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love" (The MSG). And no matter our faults, no matter our shortcomings, no matter our deficiencies, it is His love that changes us, that makes us whole and holy.
I remember years ago, after Jim and I had been through a lot in our marriage, separated and then brought back together and healed by God, we were part of a marriage ministry. There was one couple there who had so many issues it was hard to know where to start. He was not a kind man, he was inattentive and quick to speak with harsh words. She appeared frumpy and downtrodden. We did one on one counseling with them and there were group meetings. At one of the group meetings, in front of probably twenty other couples, he said that she was basically so homely that he would have to put a blindfold on to have relations with her. You could have heard a pin drop and the pain she felt was almost a palpable thing. We continued counseling them and at one of the group meetings some time later they walked in and, oh my goodness, how different they looked. She had a peace and contentment about her, a smile that lit up the room. He was beaming with pride. We asked them what had happened, what had brought about that transformation. He said that the Lord had worked in his heart, and he felt compelled to buy her a new dress, a beautiful red dress. He took that dress home and told her to put in on and then took her out on a date. The ramifications of that one decision put into motion changes that they never could have imagined. His showing love for her changed her. His arraying her in finery showed her who she truly was, a lovely woman, a treasured wife.
And just so, Jesus has arrayed us, as it says in Isaiah 61:10, "For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels", (NASB). He has not only chosen me, but He has arrayed me, He has gifted me, He has accorded me everything I need to become that bride. I don't need a wedding planner, I don't need to scour through hundreds of bridal magazines or taste wedding cakes. He has done all the work for me. He has made all of the preparations. All that is required of me is to say, "I do".

All scripture unless otherwise noted is KJV.
Information on the quote "always a bridesmaid, never the bride" from snopes.com

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February 07th, 2017

2/7/2017

1 Comment

Go Team!!

Patriots and Falcons; that was one heck of a game. Regardless of who you were rooting for (go Falcons!) it sure kept you on the edge of your seat. Two teams that each had their strengths, and who also both showed their weaknesses. Football is a game of planning, precision, a little bit of luck and a whole lot of heart. Watching them play, you could see that it required all of their focus, dedication, devotion and great vision to get where they were. We would do well to emulate those qualities.
First we had the Falcons who all season long had a great defense record. Being able to defend against the other team making yards and touchdowns. They had great vision and could swoop in and take out passing plays. It is all about teamwork and communication. In nature falcons are incredible birds of prey. They are fast and agile and have very acute eyesight. They can see their prey from far off, turn on a dime and race in at speeds up to 200 miles per hour and catch their quarry. We as Christians can learn a lot from both the players and the birds. We live in a world filled with turmoil and chaos. It is often a dog eat dog, everyone out for themselves culture. People are left on the sidelines and often become victims of the enemy's aggressive offenses. Our purpose as children of God is to glorify our King, to promote the kingdom of God, to share His love with a lost and dying world and to take back what the enemy has stolen. More than anything else, the enemy desires to destroy all those made in the image of God. His sole purpose is to take us out of the game, either by benching us or by injuring us so badly we can't stay in the game. Personally I have been a victim of both of those tactics. I have had times where because of circumstances I have become distracted and ineffectual and I had put myself on the bench and just sat there watching the game being played. Sometimes it has been due to fatigue, life just wearing me down. When I have not kept my eye on the Lord, when my vision wasn't sharp. Other times I have been so grievously hurt by other people, very often other Christians that I have been taken off the roster all together, lying there bloodied and bruised. But in all of those instances it was the help and support of my team who brought me back into the huddle. God fearing, hope inspiring, faith filled believers who took the time to see a few plays down the field and realized that I had worth and value. That I was more than my injuries, more than my mistakes and more than just a number. They had the God-given vision to see who He had made me to be and they had the speed and strength to snatch me out of the enemy's clutches. We need to be stealthy and agile and quick to come to the defense of our teammates. We need to be on the lookout for those players who may be a bit weaker or a bit slower and come alongside of them and keep them in the game. We need to build them up, rather than tear them down. We are after all on the same team and we all follow the same great Coach.
And how about those Patriots? All year long a great offensive game, yards and touchdowns being racked up. But what in the world happened in that first half? I sat there watching, certain that the Falcons were going to get that Super Bowl win. It seemed that Tom Brady got pretty rattled, but he came back from halftime a different quarterback. I can only imagine the talking to that they received in the locker room during that break. Here they were, the supposed greatest team, the greatest QB playing like a bunch of rookies. It was almost embarrassing. But they came back on that field, forgetting what lay behind and reaching forward to what lay ahead, pressing on toward the goal for the prize (Philippians 3:13-14, NASB). They showed the true characteristics of a Patriot. A patriot is a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion. That is what the Patriots showed in that second half. They showed their devotion to their team, to their coach. We as Christians do not have our allegiance to mere man made ideas or geographical masses. We are not of this world, our citizenship is in heaven, and our allegiance and devotion is to God. And just as the Patriots showed their devotion to their coach and their team, we are to do the same. We have a great God who gave His all for us. It is often spoken of, players giving their blood, sweat and tears for the team. God literally through His Son, Jesus gave all of that and more. He gave His only Son; to be persecuted, to be beaten and whipped, to be mocked and disparaged, to be hung on a cross to die a horrendous death. And He did that why? He did that so that we would be given access to become members of the greatest team ever devised. Can you even begin to fathom that? I remember as a youngster, I was overweight, clumsy and oh so awkward. I was never picked first to play on a team. More often than not I was one of the last ones chosen. I remember the pain, humiliation and shame of that to this day. All I wanted was to be wanted. To be part of a team. And now I have that and so much more. He chose me first. He chose me despite my seeming lack of talent and skill. He chose me and then He equipped me. He wanted me, Gail for His team. He wanted overweight and clumsy and oh so awkward Gail. And then He gave me all that I needed to become a valued and valuable part of His team. He gave me a Saviour who provided the way. He gave me the Holy Spirit who filled me and outfitted me in the team colors and provided all that I need to be a successful team player. And He gave me fellow teammates to come alongside of me and help to keep my mind focused on the game.
So, Falcons or Patriots, who did you root for? For me, I have decided to be both a falcon and a patriot. I want to be on the team that is deft and agile with acute sight, on the defense, taking back what the enemy has stolen. I also want to be on that team that has great zeal and passion for its home team, and desires to bring others onto the field, who will boldly go into the enemy's territory. After all it says in John 4:35, "Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields, see, they are white for harvest, (AMP). And in Luke 10:2 Jesus said, "He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field," (NIV). Now, let's get out onto that field.

Patriot definition from dictionary.com
Falcon definition from wikipedia

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Rain of Tears

Never a bridesmaid, always the bride

February 07th, 2017

Go Team!!

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