Abundance

Abundance


For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:5

Remember the wonders he has done,
His miracles, and the judgments he pronounced. Psalm 105:5

I came that they might have life and might have it abundantly. John 10:10


Sarah Young, Jesus Calling: “Let thankfulness rule your heart. As you thank me for blessings in your life, a marvelous thing happens. It is as if scales fall off your eyes, enabling you to see more and more of my glorious riches…Enjoy abundant life by overflowing with praise and thankfulness.” (this is from a daily devotional book)


Abundance Retreat is the perfect name of a place for a getaway in the Texas Hill Country. What a recent treat to visit there with four friends for a weekend – wild women in Wimberley! Food and drink, games and stories, walks by the creek, rockers on the porch, laughter and tears, dreams and fears, devotions and jokes, shopping and lunching, tasting the salsas and wines. Good friends – good times! Thank you, Lord, for Cassandra, Judy, Lori and Nancy!

Returning home, my life was full with activities from sons and their wives visiting for Thanksgiving holidays. Stress of traffic, night driving and storms quickly fell away at the Joey Wilkins Foundation Dinner and Auction. Our bids “won” some treasures – a Stetson cowboy hat for Travis, an auto detailing package to clean the West Texas red dirt off Darrell’s truck and 4-day passes to the Colonial Golf tournament. The next day we wandered through the Fort Worth Stockyards and showed Chelsea the best ever elephant collection at The White Elephant Saloon. When Jonathan and Erica arrived for Thanksgiving dinner, we followed Erica’s suggestion to eat dessert first. She served us chocolate cake balls that revealed blue on first bite – their way of announcing their baby is a boy – and then sonogram pictures with labels to prove it! Abundant joy in the family!

Now we have transitioned quickly into the next holiday season, packed with lots of possible activities to pick and choose, to busy ourselves and distract ourselves from the original intent of the traditions of Christmas celebrations. In advent, like in pregnancy, we live and wait for the arrival of the baby. Our minds are full with memories and certain expectations for the season. We pressure ourselves to attend certain events, to look a certain way among friends, family and unknowns, to find the perfect gifts, to serve the best foods, to achieve the best looks for holiday décor in the home.

If the hustle/ bustle becomes too much, take time away to just sit in reverence and reflect on the true gift of God to us for the season and for the whole span of our lives. Remember the story of Jesus visiting in the home of Mary and Martha? Martha was distracted with all her busy preparations.



Luke 10:41-42 But the Lord said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken from her.”

Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening. Maybe that’s what this season should be about – moments of peace found in listening – hearing the carols, friend’s stories, scriptures and sermons, thunder and rain. What is the voice of the Holy Spirit saying to you this holiday season? The message that I am hearing is be thankful for your abundant blessings, share your abundance with those in need, slow down and let your heart rejoice in peace.

Agnostics

Dear Clint


I Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass darkly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.

Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Our friend Clint claims to be a hard agnostic; that means he believes that it is not possible to “know” that there is a God. His claims are true. God does not call us to mountain tops like Moses to give us concrete messages etched in stone. In this life, we do not get to see him face to face. But we do get to see evidence of his presence that calls us to faith. Where is this evidence? Look around you! It is in sunrises and sunsets, stars and moons, mountains and oceans, eagles and hummingbirds, Science, History, Mathematics and Literature, births and deaths. We just have to live with a sense of awareness to be able to see it.

When we do step out in faith, what happens? Our prayers are answered to give us better than our meager imaginations requested. We are connected to others – some in need of our talents, our listening ears, and a share of our abundance – and through these connected experiences we learn more of God’s grace and God’s true care for every soul. How can he do all that? Well, Archie Bunker, it’s because God is God!

My favorite personal story about God’s providence is through serving in a summertime activity called Project Read. (Sorry to keep repeating this event in my writings, but it keeps coming back to me, especially during the Thanksgiving season, calling me to gratitude.) People from my church donate children’s books and we take them to various locations in Grapevine where children who normally receive free lunch at school are fed during their school vacation days. I would visit with the children and their moms under the shade of the trees at the Grace building near their trailer park. On one of those sweltering days, one of the moms asked me if I could help her get an air conditioner for her children’s bedroom. My brain said, “How in the world am I going to do that,” while my voice and my heart said, “Yes.” Taking her written contact information to the church secretary, I was confident that some good person would find a way to help her in time. That night Darrell & I were sitting in the comfort of our Lazy boy recliners watching the big screen TV cooled by the central air that is a common expectation in most of our homes and a phone call from a friend was a welcomed interruption to our dangling conversation. He wanted to know what to do with the used window unit that we had given him a few years ago to use in his backyard shop. He had just bought a new, larger edition and wanted to return our gift. Wow, did that ever get my attention! Call it coincidence or karma; I call it God’s grace that connected me on that day to another person with a need. My gratitude for that experience is still with me. Moments like that happen more and more when you take steps to serve God by serving others. Moments like that serve to confirm your faith in the unseen and the unknowable.

Another mystical experience occurred to confirm my faith and the setting was a very unlikely place, a group meeting with a psychic which she advertises as a Circle of Light. Well, we actually sit in a circle in the pitch darkness, but I suppose the light is a metaphor for my enlightenment. During this group meeting, I had messages from loved ones who had passed on – both of my grandmothers, Uncle Mendil, and Darrell’s dad Jack. They mentioned memorable shared experiences that were in no way knowable to the lady who was the medium. My grandmother, Nana, reminded me of the time when our family was gathered in a private hospital meeting room to visit with the chaplain due to her imminent death. Her heart had stopped for several minutes during surgery but at that time she miraculously came back and was in our lives for several more years. She said if she had known what it was going to be like, she would have gone ahead and left us then. She said it was better than I could ever imagine. I believe her, so I also believe that God gives us an indescribable existence after death. I don’t “know” it because I have seen it with my eyes, but I know it.

So how does living with faith and connection to God affect your life here and now? It takes away fear and replaces it with peace and contentment. It gives you heightened awareness of beauty and blessings. It helps you see the goodness and potential in other souls you meet. It helps you see the connectedness of all creation and your own interchangeable role in the ever changing, evolving world.

We are living in a current world that has access to so much knowledge, so much information that it sometimes becomes overwhelming to sort through it all and make it match with our personal ability to reason. Why would an all-powerful God not just jump in the midst of events that seem out of control and do a grand fix? Too much war, disease, injustice! Yes, but in midst of all the craziness, there are pockets of glorious richness.

My prayer for Clint is for God to bring him to a job that will challenge his mind, give him enough money to live comfortably and give him satisfaction that he is making a significant contribution to the world; that God will bring him a soul mate to share his life experiences; that God will pour out his blessings on him to confirm his faith in what cannot be known. Yes, our bodies will turn to dirt just like the great names and the anonymous ones who have gone before us, but our spirits do continue…blessings to all on this All Saints Sunday, when we keep special remembrance for those who have passed on before us.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Malachi 3:10 “Test me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

Rangers

Top Ten/Eleven Reasons to Love Ron Washington


Today was a tough day at work. I let 5 things annoy me. Student, parent, co-worker, situation where the school phone system put all incoming calls into my room (What???), and a "friend" who sent me a message that he thinks Ron Washington is stupid. Oh, really! The nerve of that guy who spends his time finding a friend's sports passion and purposefully routing against that team! Oh, writing is such sweet therapy! Although I would never use my blog to vent about personal stories related to my job - I will use it to reply to the taunts of a misguided sports devil!



Here's why we all should lend our support to Texas Rangers manager, Ron Washington.

11.  He reminds me of a favorite Saturday Night Live skit - baseball been very good to me!

10. He did cocaine and since decided to follow a different path.

9. He’s from New Orleans, suffered & survived loss in Katrina.

8. He gives us great quotes.

7. Here’s one of his great quotes:  Whenever one of those styles is needed, I know how to use it. If I have to take it to the opposing team, I will. If the team is going well, I'll kick back and watch them play. If my offense is struggling, then I have to do something to help get them over it. You adjust to whatever the situation is.”

6. He has wisdom, but not eloquence.

5. His players love him (leadership)!

4. He’s made enough right decisions to get my home team to the World Series 2 years in a row!

3. He has a cute booty that likes to shimmy!

2. He has joie de vie – and he lets it show all over!

1. He reminds me of our dear, departed friend, Tom Armstrong!

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Matthew 7:1  Do not judge lest you be judged.

Acts 2:28  You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.

Gray Sightings

Shades of Gray


Job 12:12 Wisdom is with aged men, with long life is understanding.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comfort us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Lately every time I buy a new article of clothing it turns out to be gray. What’s up with that? A new favorite color? Well, it does provide a nice contrast to pink, red, purple and green, orange or yellow (I don’t wear yellow)! It does blend well with black or white. It does show that something has aged to a patina, like the weathered wood of a fence or a barn. It’s not an extreme, it’s not showy – but it could be a badge of experience or wisdom.

When I was a little girl, I loved to claim the grey Fiesta dinner plate at my Mamaw’s house and match it to the almost worn smooth stainless steel Mickey Mouse spoon. In my mind they were pure silver trinkets meant for the royal princess. My mother always admired grey houses with yellow trim – they must have been a sign of happy families inside. When Darrell & I bought our first house (a vintage fixer upper) we had new siding installed to cover the outside walls – grey planks with black shutters for the windows.

How do you see the world? Black and white, shades of gray or through rosy colored glasses? I think I see the gray version with slight accents of the pink…To me, the gray version means there is a lot of good and bad mixed in together. In the confines of a week we receive criticism and compliments, we experience confusion and understanding, we witness great wins and frustrating losses in our chosen sports teams, we learn of death of one personally connected within hours of celebrating impending birth at a joyful baby shower. Through it all, God is there. He is always there wanting to make our lives richer, fuller by being more aware of his love and his constant presence. He is always there nudging us to help each other survive the troubles, blessing us as we show gratitude and toast the goodness of life. He is always there to send the rain to replenish the drought starved earth. He is always there to send the babies to replenish the families and extend the generations.

I am grateful for so much! Even though I choose to love the color gray!

Jeremiah 33:11 The voice of joy, the voice of gladness…the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Lyrics

Paul McCartney lyrics - Ebony And Ivory lyrics

A Good Word

Peace


And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

My peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27

Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace, good will to men. Luke 2:14



What’s your favorite word? I think mine is PEACE. It’s not too long, not hard to pronounce, not hard to spell. It has its own simple hand gesture that spreads good will. It has its own circular symbol that transcends languages. It means that all is well. Aaaahhhhh….

When do you feel peace? I find it in a lot of places. Right now I feel it while sitting in my comfy, Lazy boy leather recliner with my feet up, computer in my lap, IPad at my elbow and Bible tucked in by my hip. My view is NFL on the big screen, family photos, art prints bought from various travels. Through the glass panes on my back door I see plants on the deck drinking up the rain, tops of crepe myrtles in the Dove Loop median barely starting to leaf turn to red and beyond that giant oaks shade the monuments of Grapevine Cemetery with actual puddles brimming by their roots.

Each Sunday morning I find peace in the sanctuary of the church. We sing the songs of praise; we hear words of scripture and words of a sermon to give us questions and meditations for the week ahead. We receive comfort and encouragement from friends’ greetings, we join in communal prayer for those names listed in the bulletin, and we become a visual, physical presence of the body of Christ. Today we reflected in the light of colors from the newly installed and dedicated stained glass panels. They are beautiful reminders of God’s call to us to join him (Jesus calling the fishermen to be his disciples) and God’s promise to take care of us (Noah and his family bringing animal pairs to the ark). I really like the dogs waiting at attention in the corner of the window and I think of Chelsea when I see the elephants.

Back in July when we were visiting at Travis and Chelsea’s house in Redstone CO, I jotted notes in my Ipad while sitting outside. Those thoughts seem to fit in this piece: Peaceful, easy feeling – go to bed at night with windows open listening to the quiet sounds of the Crystal river full with melted snow rushing over granite boulders. Daytime peace is found sitting in the hillside garden wild with flowers and dive bombing hummingbirds while dogs nuzzle under your relaxed hands begging for love pats. Thunder pulls your eyes skyward where grey clouds merge into a triangular ceiling between surrounding peaks. Don’t really want to leave this place but my other life will call me too soon.

Other places of peace: Grapevine Lake (not on Labor Day or Fourth of July), wherever a baby is sleeping, Grapevine Botanical Gardens – with its flowers, fountain, koi pond, ancient oak tree, a library, golf courses, spas, bath tub, pedicure foot soak and massage chair, art museums, the land at Throckmorton with its open fields and open sky, mountain scenes, desert scenes, wildlife spotted in the wild.

Join me in enjoying my favorite word. Find your favorite locations for peace. Go there again in person or go there again in your mind.

Awareness

What is etched on your heart?

Proverbs 15:23 How delightful is a timely word!

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you…

Until I attended the Dallas Cowboys/Washington Redskins game, I was not aware that it was Hispanic Heritage Month! Part of the event’s surrounding fanfare was former Cowboy player, Tony Casillas, serving as honorary captain, Ballet Folklorico from San Antonio performing on field in their dazzling costumes, and Los Lonely boys singing a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. Sometimes things that are important to others escape the smaller circle boundaries of our own personal day-to-day existence…

Because of friends and family who have been touched by a terrible disease, I am aware that we are now in the month of Breast Cancer Awareness. We lost our Aunt Patty years ago to this illness. We never got to meet Erica’s mom, Charlene, due to her passing from this illness during Erica’s teenage years before she came to join the Green family. Last weekend, I attended the funeral for my friend Connie’s daughter, Carolyn, who had breast cancer take her away too soon from her husband and three children. And now, the beloved associate pastor of our church has been diagnosed, had surgery to remove a tumor and is waiting for her radiation treatment to be scheduled. Dear God, please help her! I have “cussed” for her before, so here I go again – Damn It!

I am also glad to see my friends who are survivors – Diana, Janet, Judy, Pat – you are true blessings to have in my life!

So what do we do? We wear our pink. We walk the walks. We donate to the cause. Most of all we offer our love, support, prayers, visits, cards, notes, food to those who need it when they need it.

It’s a rare treat when I get a solid night’s sleep. I blame the female hormones (or lack of them) that often make me hot and sweaty and wake me in wee morning hours of darkness. I used to get very restless and annoyed, worried that I would not have enough energy to do my work the next day. Now when I wake up in the night I try to pray for someone – usually my children or other family members. Last week, my “wake in the night prayers” were for my pastor Cindy. The next day I read her journal entry on the Caring Bridge website. She wrote about having nightmares of sharks attacking her, waking her up in terror. She was able to easily interpret the dream. These are the words she used to conclude that journal entry:

In the moments after I woke up and realized it was "just a dream", I remembered this scripture, When you walk through the waters, I will be with you. (Isaiah 43:2) I let those words lull me back to sleep.

This morning I read The Message version of that same passage: When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you are in rough waters, you will not go down.

In the middle of the night, when things got dark and weird and scary, I was really glad I had a verse of scripture previously etched on my heart. It made all the difference when the sharks showed up.

GoTeach

Teach Your Children Well

Proverbs 4:1, Give attention that you may gain understanding.

Do you like to read a lot, like I do? If I do not have a good book hanging on in my life, I feel a little lost. Usually, I have a fiction selection and a non-fiction thought provoker going on at the same time – which reminds me that I need to make a trip to the library or else I will spend some dollars through the amazing maze of wireless shopping to find a new nook-book. Who were the marketing geniuses who made up that name to sound sort of like a pacifier? Ok – I just broke down & did my online Barnes & Noble shopping – instant gratification: Seven Days in Utopia, Heaven Is For Real and That Used to Be Us. Distracting myself – stop it!

Part of my regular reading is actually education journals where I try to find the latest research reports to direct me to push my students in the right direction. Lately, the research is telling that so much more than content knowledge (my Papaw called this book learnin’) indicates continued academic progress. Character traits such as self-control, social awareness and perseverance appear to be strong predictors for future success. So how do I teach that????

Well, one way to teach it is to bring it up for discussion at every opportunity. In teaching math to 7th and 8th graders, believe it or not, there are a bajillion opportunities! When I give the “warm-up – challenge” problem to start class each day I am given the chance the encourage those who have the “Sit & stare at blank paper syndrome.” Learn from your peers who are chosen to share their work and explain the solution – look at their mark outs, erasures and changes – we talk often about persistence in problem solving. Now when I am redirecting behavior, they know the purpose is to support their future success. I just use the keys words to remind them, “Michael, social awareness,” reminds him to look around and be aware that his class mates are involved in a task & he needs to follow their lead. Or it might be, “Sara, self-control.” They are smart kids – they get it!

Lately, educational research has particularly commented about how this character growth has become especially difficult for children from affluent families (whom I happen to teach). Their parents while trying to actively support them in academic success are sometimes doing the exact opposite when they try to shield them from possible failure. In his recent article in New York Times Magazine, What if the secret to success is failure? Published: September 14, 2011, Paul Tough, quotes educational researchers and writers, Levin, Randolph and Levine listing the character traits that they find most supportive of success:  zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, persistence and curiosity.

Another way to teach character besides discussion is modeling. How do we show them to interact with others? How do we show them to find contentment and “success”? All of the necessary qualities seem to come back to the fruits of the spirit that God will give to us as we continually seek Him.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.