Cold...and New Thoughts!

I am posting a picture of our first snow here in Maryland!

I grew up in sunny California, used to 70 degree Christmas mornings, rarely wearing boots or heavy coats.  I loved the beach, flip flops, sand, long summer evenings, bar-be-qued ribs on Dad's grill, eating outside on our patio often, and riding with the windows always down, and sunshine....oh the life giving sunshine!

I think of myself as a California girl still....if only in my heart.  I married the man of  my dreams, a man who is a Baltimore man!  He grew up here, went to school here, knows all the streets and how to get somewhere using all the short cuts!  He loves the Orioles, Ravens and Maryland Terps, his alma mater.  I love them now too, because I love him.

A California girl marries an East Coast guy!  Interesting life together for sure!  I have come to love many things about Maryland. Green, green and more green! Trees, lakes, streams, deer everywhere you look. Blue skies that knock your shoes off.   And then there is snow, come winter.  It's pretty and white and very cold.  I like it when it first snows. Everything looks clean and white. I sit and watch and drink my hot tea or coffee. Nice! The next day I look and the snow is not gone!

This is the part I am learning to not complain about. It stays, and stays. It gets heavy to move, it gets dirty. It melts and re-freezes.  It makes you slip. It is hard to walk on. It is in the way when you want to park. It clogs up things. It makes traffic a pain. It's hard to stop at stoplights.Driving in it can be scary. People do it all the time. Many love it. Many wouldn't live anywhere else.

So I am learning to 'like' it too.  I am not quite 'loving' it yet, but there is hope.  I have come to realize if I constantly say "I hate winter" I will never love it.  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So.......yes, I love summer! Yes, I love sunshine.  Yet, I am learning to find 'fun' things about winter.  Warm mittens.  Hot Chocolate. Hot Latte's. Seeing my kids laugh as they fly down the sled hill.  A good book under a warm blanket as the snow flies....all true blessings!

So, I am committing to NOT say "I hate winter" anymore.  Let's hope as my words, thoughts and focus change, my heart will too!  Thank you Lord for winter and snow.

Gotta go check and see if the tea pot is whistling.....
     Thinking new thoughts, Lynette

Desire

Here is a quote from Paul Tripp about our desires.

You and I are creatures of desire. There is nothing you ever choose, do, or say that is not the product of desire. Desire not only directs your choices, it shapes your dreams. Desire forms your moments of greatest joy and darkest grief. Desire makes you envious of one person while being glad you're not another.

 Desire keeps you awake at night or puts you soundly to sleep. Desire makes you willing to get up in the morning or causes you to be frustrated at the end of the day. Desire makes you expectant and hopeful in one moment, and demanding and complaining in the next.

Desire sometimes makes you susceptible to temptation and at other times is the thing that defends you against it. Desire can lift you up to God or it can make you a willing friend of the devil. Desire can make you a celebrant or drive you to the pit of depression. 

Desire can make you the best of friends or cause you to drive people away. Desire can cause you to lovingly edit your words or make you willing let it rip with little regard for the damage your words will do. Desire will make you willing to give or cause you to hoard everything you have. Desire will cause you to submit to the King or to set yourself up as king. Desire can cause you to fight for freedom or can be the very thing that causes you to be addicted.

Desire can give you power or rob you of the power that could be yours. Desire is your biggest problem and one of God's sweetest graces. But there is one thing for sure; your life is always shaped by desire.

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So, we all need to cry out for help once more, we all need to seek God's rescue and his power, because we must all humbly admit that there is evidence in our daily living that the war of desire still rages in our hearts. 

There are times when Jesus is our priceless treasure, but there are other times when we would rather have other things than him. This means that we cannot quit seeking his help until the day when we are able to say with complete singleness of heart, "...There is nothing on earth I desire besides you."

As we 'fight the good fight' that Paul speaks of, may we continually go back to our grace giving God for all the help and power we need! He is our only hope!

January 2015

Wow! It has been many moons since I have posted on my blog. A sweet dear friend reminded me of this just this past Sunday!  I am a devoted 'journal' lover!  I journal 3 or 4 days a week most weeks, in my private journal book.  I forget that 'blogging' is a "type" of journal!

Today is a new beginning! I like new beginnings.
~ A new journal book.
~New Year
~New mornings.
~Starting a new book.
~A new baby.
~A new year.
~A new recipe.
~A new friend.
~ New job.
~New lifestyle.
~New adventure.
~New home.
~New ideas

They are 'fresh' and unwritten upon.  Opening a brand new book smells so new. A new adventure holds unexpected surprises!  We like that!  God tells us that HE gives us new mercies every day!  Think about it! Thousands of new mercies EVERY DAY!  His loving kindness is new everyday too.  How wonderful that is.  I often ask the Lord to give me eyes that see. Not dull unseeing eyes, but eyes that quickly 'see' Him and His providential care.  Ways in which I miss if I am not looking with the eyes of faith.  If God notices the sparrow and takes care of the those tiny birds, how can I not know His care for me?  When  we ask him to open our eyes, HE does!  Commit to asking him to open your eyes to His providential care for you this year! I did and I hope you will too!
                                                                                      ~Grateful Heart here, Sherry Lynette

7 Ways to Practice Imperfect Hospitality

1. Find a style that works for you.

Stick with it and know that it’s okay to use the same dishes every time you have guests into your home, or the same tablecloth, and that potluck is really easy. Learn not to compare yourself with others. Step out today and invite someone for coffee and coffecake, or for cake and ice cream, or for Taco dip and chips. A simmering pot of soup is so inviting. Just do it.

2. Don’t invite more people…

…than you are comfortable seating around your table. Don’t over-commit.

3. Cook and serve the same three recipes over and over.

Practice makes perfect!. You’ll eventually master and memorize the recipe. I used to serve Baked Ziti every time we had guests for dinner. As I built confidence, I expanded my menus. When we were first in ministry we used to have people over on Sunday Nights and serve pop-corn and cool-aid. We had a blast and so did our company.

4. Remember that when you invite people to your home, they are coming to see you.

Your guests want to meet your family and learn more about your traditions in your home and around your table. They don’t want to be impressed. We have had many 'bloopers' including serving a dish that was 'rotten'....I blushed and got over it. They came back too....because it's not about being impressed.

5. Don’t try to do it all.

Include the family in doing chores, setting the table, and setting a standard that is “good enough,” not necessarily perfect.

6. Be intentional.

Consider inviting people you want to introduce to one another, or who you want to get to know more yourself.

7. Lean into your fears.

Why do I call it imperfect hospitality? Because not every element of fellowship will ever be perfect.

Maybe your dishes won’t match perfectly, maybe a dish will end up under- or over-cooked, or maybe your smoke alarm will go off! Figure out what works for you personally when it comes to fellowship. I believe it has a lot to do with our personalities and what we can handle, so learn to stop doing the things that make you feel like a failure, and do the things that are simple and easy.

And if unexpected things happen, laugh—and your company will laugh along with you.

When it comes to hospitality, what are your strengths? Your weaknesses?

Invite someone over this week!

Sometimes hospitality requires more courage than we think we possess. Maybe you could raise your hand and say, “Yes, I could use a dose of more courage.”

I’ve often shied away from courage, because I knew that it could be disruptive to my life; that it would knock me out of my safety zone. To be honest, I really like comfort.

5 signs you’re in a “safety zone”:

1. You haven’t had people in your home for at least six months.
2. You worry too much about the appearance of your house.
3. You haven’t forged a new friendship in a year.
4. You’ve become obsessed with your family’s problems.
5. You haven’t tried a new recipe in months; your cooking is in a rut.

Sometimes we love safety so much that it stifles us. And when we’re stifled, we don’t grow beyond a certain point, which means we miss out on many of life’s blessings. Hospitality is one of those life blessings.

I’ve learned more about courage as I matured and started emulating courageous people I admired. I realized some unhealthy patterns that weren’t working in my life, and that I had some unhealthy relationships that always fostered negative conversations. I learned to be more courageous by pushing past my fears.

We are commanded to 'brotherly love'. Some have entertained 'angels unawares' by having other over for a meal, coffee or just snacks. So many of us have the idea we need to have it all together to invite others over. No, you don't and I don't. Just do it!

10 steps to courageous hospitality

1. Know that you are valuable and important to God, and made in His image.
2. Know there are others waiting to be shown concern and love away from Church.
3. Focus your will onto something meaningful (relationships!).
4. Lean into your fears; learn that things do not have to be perfect.
5. Learn that people usually don’t care about the things that bother you.
6. Learn to take a small hill. Start small and invite people into your life.
7. Make soul-friends, friends who can speak into your life as well as listen to you speak into theirs.
8. Love the unlovely. Does it really matter what your house looks like?
9. Combat materialism. You don’t need the newest or the best.
10. Fight cynicism, which can drain us of hope, creativity, and energy — all building blocks for courage.

Gaining courage will help you put fears, worries, and imperfections aside, and you’ll be able to love more deeply.

I’ve learned that courage doesn’t just come to you. It takes prayer, effort and willingness, and it often puts you at risk. A few weeks ago when we had a brand new couple into our home, we took the risk that they’d want to get to know us, to come into our home, and share an evening with us.

We knew we were interested in pursuing a friendship with them, but you just never know what another person’s reaction will be. We’re so glad they said yes. Our lives are richer now that we’ve connected with these people. They actually ended up providing encouragement to us in ways we never dreamed.

When is the last time you took a risk and invited someone new into your home?

October is here!

October has arrived! When I think of October my sister comes to mind. My sister, Robyn, is three years younger than me. She lives in California and always will. The reason I think of Robyn when October rolls around is her BIRTHDAY is October 31st. She took many many jokes about being born on that day growing up. Not by me, but usually by boys.

We are very different. She is a blue eyed blond. I am a brunette with brown eyes. She is skinny, I am pleasantly round. She is almost a loner. I am a people person. She is smart. I am a dreamer. She is a career woman. I am a domestic engineer. I bake and cook and sew. That's a 'no go' for Robyn. She is like my Mom. I am like my Dad. She has a fast hot convertible. I drive a mini van. She has one son and two step sons. I have six kids. She likes pink. I like red. She exercises everyday at the gym. I go for a walk once in awhile. She has lots of people under her with her job, she's the boss. I am married to the boss.

We are different. Yet, I love her. She knew me as a kid. She came to see me when I lived in Germany. She is my sister. We are linked...even if at times we wonder. So as I set my pumpkin out by my front door during October, I smile. I dream a little and I smile. Different is good!

Fall is here...

We all have seasons in life. Yes, spring, summer, fall and winter. If you are like me, maybe you have certain seasons you like better than others. I prefer spring and summer having grown up in the southwest, we didn't have snowy winters. We didn't have the gorgeous changes of fall either. We had green and brown, that was it. I have come to love fall and all the 'changes' and yes, I am finding things about winter that I enjoy too.

Yet, there are other kinds of 'seasons' also. I am talking about seasons of life. Life is a process. We go through many changes and seasons. How easily we enjoyed 'childhood'. I loved my dolls. I loved my friends. I loved to play 'house' with anyone who would play...even my brother. Hours spent playing house and having tea parties and making mud pies and of 'pretending'.

Then came adolescence. Something inside 'woke up' and the reality that I was no longer a child. Life was no longer about dressing my babies and finding someone to play with. Junior high was not my best school years. I did not fit in. I had to wear corrective shoes when all the other girls wore flats. In fact I remember very little of those years except for a few 'bad' memories. One very bright memory though, probably the 'BRIGHTEST' of my life, was becoming a child of God. Oh how happy I am that God saw fit to shed HIS love abroad in my heart as a 12 year old.

Seasons......of growing in the Lord too. We never stand still in our relationship with our God. We are either growing.....or wilting.

I love to garden. I see so many analogies in the world of gardening. I have two pots on my walkway by the front door. They are pretty, I think so anyway. They have to be watered 'everyday' in the summer. Everyday!!! Our house faces south and the sun beats on them. If I skip a day or forget to give them water, they wilt. They revive and are pretty once again when I pour water on them. No, they do not die, even if I miss two days. But they sure wilt .......waiting for me to give them water.

Over the summer God revealed to me that I am just like those plants. If I spend time with Jesus everyday, reading His word, praying and talking with him, I am not wilted. But when I neglect or forget to spend that time, I wilt. I do not die, but I wilt. The more days I forget to 'water' my inner life, I wilt more and more. As God pours on His life giving words to me, I revive.

I woke so many days in the summer with the first thought, I am thirsty for you God. His mercies to me. I spend much time reading and rejoicing in who he is.....I loved it, cherished those moments.

Do you ever feel 'thirsty' for hearing God's words to you?? Start with five minutes and read one Proverb for the day. Today is Sept. 26th. So read Provberbs 26. Or read Psalms 26 and add 30 to that number all the way through Psalms. (26, 56, 86 etc.) I have a Bible Reading Plan I follow for the year and I love it. I have tried many different ones through the years and right now I am using The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan. If you want a copy, leave a message and I will mail you one. (more about this later)

For the summer I did not blog. It was a season of rest from writing! I love to write and write often in my journal. (How fun starting a new one too) I felt the Lord asking me to 'let it go' for a bit. What a great summer HE gave me. So much fullness of HIS love in my heart.

So here I am towards the end of September and I begin blogging again. I am excited to see all God will do in me this fall ~ for HE is faithful! 2Thessalonians 3:3