What's for Dinner?

In my previous post entitled "Transitions" I had thought a few times to mention this stage of transition that I am going through as well, but when I sat down to finish posting it stayed raveled inside my brain.
Another transition you should go through as a Christian in your walk with God is graduating from milk to meat. For years and years, I felt that although I had been on this journey a long time I just didn't feel like I was maturing much past the simple milk passages of Scripture. With much earnest prayer, I stepped out and asked God to help me start delving into the meat of the His Word and applying deeper principles to my life. With this intent in mind, I found that He directed me in my devotions to passages that had to be meditated upon and chewed over. Instead of reading a whole chapter, I would often find myself pondering over just a few thoughts in each chapter. Those thoughts have stuck with me, and God has used them in my daily life.
On that note let me give you an illustration. We had steak for Father's Day, when steak is cooked right, it melts in your mouth and is easy to chew. When steak is the wrong cut or not prepared correctly you end up chewing and chewing and ultimately have to choke it down or spit it out. God's Word is digestible for whatever stage you are in, but when you find that you can enjoy the steak of the Word then you know you are starting to grow into that next level where God wants you to journey with Him.
Milk, it does a body, good... but.... Where's the beef???

Transitions

This blog has been around for a few years, and although I only know of a few people that read it periodically, it has helped to know that in some way, somehow our spiritual journey may still be a help and blessing to anyone that needs it.

I was going to write this post this morning, but thought I would wait to see what transpired at the funeral today and to see what more came to mind after that. I have a feeling that I need to write this post a little bit at a time until I know it says what God wants it to say.

My thoughts are so raveled together that I feel almost unraveled. What?? Can you tell I have so much on my mind that I just don't know where or how to begin?

This half of the year has been filled with weddings and graduations. Each event is a transition into another phase of life's journey. Another thing that happens with life is also death. This week a precious saint of God went home after a 6 month battle with stage 4 cancer. As I was getting ready for the service yesterday and thinking that she was spending Father's Day for the first time in Heaven with her Heavenly father and her earthly father I thought of the phrase - she just transitioned. It was an easy passing from one reality into the next. As our Pastor brought forth the sermon highlighting her burden for the lost and her bright testimony, he too brought out the term "transition".
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It is now exactly a week later after I started this post. I found that I just could not process all that was going through my mind and all that was happening in our family life and work at the same time. I shelved this post until I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, how did I manage to accomplish that feat? Well, Ted and I went off to the mountains for a couple of days to rest and relax. That first night as we sat on our hotel balcony looking over the rippling brook, I felt the first essence of peace come over me. The Lord and I communed many times together overlooking that creek, and He helped me transition through yet another death and the ongoing issue with Momma Birt.
God has graciously and abundantly answered prayer about Momma Birt and she is doing so much better.
Praise the Lord, Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Two scenarios run through my mind about the recent funerals, one of them the granddaughter was inconsolable.. I wanted to hug her close and tell her that her grandmother was in Heaven by her testimony and that she too could go there too through salvation. The second scenario was my own niece at the funeral of Mrs. Marla last week, she could not tear herself away from watching them close the casket. She was so upset, with her quiet sobs tearing her apart. She may be young, but she clearly remembers them taking Momma away in the casket too, and I know that brought back so many memories of that time. This time, I was able to hug this child close and reassure her that we would all see each other again in Heaven as Abby had accepted the Lord as her Savior. She only knows that when that casket closes, she never sees that person again on earth. I held her tight as the church service began, and she cried herself to sleep.
Our faith grows as we grow in the Lord. It takes the faith of a child to accept salvation, but our faith needs to grow so that we can face life and death as it happens. Thank God for His living AND dying grace!
Yesterday, I received news that a wonderful preacher has also just passed away, he was so close and precious to our church and my heart missed him. His funeral will be later this week. He is with his Lord and Savior and those precious saints who have already gone HOME throughout the ages.
All of this is the very picture of what transition means.

While checking over some mechanics of this blog, I looked over the comments through the years.... this blog has transitioned as well. It has highlighted our ups and downs or in essence our mountains and valleys. I do not know how much longer we will be here on this earth, so let me urge you again, Please meet me at Jesus' feet!

Summer!

What fragile beings we can be especially in extreme conditions. I am sitting here with the a/c blowing under my desk as I type, not even daring to open the door to the blast of heat that permeates the outside of my cocoon.
I have been thinking of starting another post, and kept thinking I would wait a few more days, but the whimsy to babble on became more then I could bear.

The last 2 weekends were supposed to be wedding filled... in our family's case they became work filled.
Life seems to be more about work then about life lately and I miss the days of whimsy. Most of the days that I have a low work load or a day off I usually spend it resting or trying to get housework done. Today, I decided that I was going to cook and plan a meal. It feels like forever since I have planned and executed a menu!
So, I took some leftover ham gravy and doctored it with more milk and some gravy master and heated it through, heated up some frozen meatballs and then added them to the gravy. They are simmering together in my crockpot now in my first attempt at Swedish meatballs! I am really excited that I was able to create such a yummy dish so simply... they will go well tonight with mashed potatos, corn, biscuits, and a bit of stovetop stuffing. Then, for dessert, I can't decide if I am going to make decadent chocolate cake, or double chocolate chunk cookies??

On another sidetrack, while I was musing and messing in the kitchen the phone rang.... it was my friend Joann who just left last week to be a missionary in Moldova. She was homesick and wanted to have a long conversation, but the connection was so bad on her end, all she got to hear was my voice and a few questions. Pray for Joann as she adjusts to the ministry and the minutiae(is this even a word?)of living in a foreign country.

I do have a hidden agenda in this blog post, I need to write a letter to my kudzu nephew at boot camp and since most of what I blog about is what I would send him I thought I would cheat and just print out these posts and mail it to him. Jordan, I know it's such a cheap multi tasking shortcut, I hope you don't mind. I hope all my readers will continue to pray for Jordan that he will be safe in all this heat... reminds me of the phrase, if you think it's hot now.... then stay out of hell!

Let me do the birthday greetings for June- Happy Birthday to my nephew, Andrew (somewhere in California), Happy Birthday to My other dad, Ronn and also his amazing wife- Gayle, Happy A-day to my Princess- Cheyenne, Happy Birthday to Ted's brother Jon, Happy Birthday to Carmelita, and then Happy Birthday to my Kudzu Brother-in-love, Mark.

Happy Anniversary to Tim and Jen this month too! Uhm, it might be possible that I forgot someone in there... when you have a family that rambles around the country like kudzu it's often easy to forget a leaf or bramble somewhere!

Also please pray for Mrs. Birt, she adopted Ted as her own especially after Momma died, and after a horrific break to her leg she is in the care of a nursing home that is not giving the best of care to it's residents. Pray she will stay safe and be able to heal!

Well, got my urge to ramble out of my system, the laundry is going, the boys are hither and yon and my hubby hopefully is staying cool in the midst of this heat and overwhelming work stress.

Jordan, my thoughts and prayers for you as you persevere and finish your next leg of life's journey!

Happy Father's Day to all my Dads!!!! and to my SuperMan husband- I love you Ted!!!