God's Promises

"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made."

Psalm 145:13

I've already shared with you a little bit about the ladies retreat from this past weekend, but I wanted to share one more post about "Promises of God".

During each retreat four different ladies speak to the group (actually this time one session was a mother-daughter team, so there were five).  Two ladies do longer lessons and two do shorter devotionals.  It is always so interesting and inspiring to see how the four ladies choose to present their lesson.  Each lady is given the theme title, but then they come up with their own lesson and they don't communicate with each other about the direction they are going in their lesson.  Each lady has their own style of teaching, just like each of the ladies in the audience have a different style of listening and learning.  I'm always amazed at how God works and uses each of the speakers as a vessel to pour out His Word to all of us in a different way.

This year one of the speakers talked about something not-so-good in her life - an illness.  She talked about how God turned the illness, which she has lived with for 10 years,  into something good - revealing His promises throughout the illness.  She shared with us the following poem:

GOD HATH NOT PROMISED

God hath not promised

skies always blue,

Flower-strewn pathways

all our lives through.

God hath not promised

sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow,

peace without pain.

But God hath promised

strength for the day,

Rest for the labor,

Light for the way

Grace for the trials

Help from above,

Unfailing sympathy,

Undying love.

Written by Annie J. Flint

God promises to be with His children (Christians - called according to HIS purpose...see verse below).  Not that everything is good or is what we might want, but that He will be with us, even through the bad.  He promises that He will work it out for the good, even though we may not completely understand.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,  to them that are the called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28 

Thank you, God, for always keeping your promises!

WHAT NOT TO WEAR

My mom is responsible for putting up new bulletin boards from time to time at the church building where she and my dad worship. This past Sunday my husband was preaching there (filling in for their regular minister), so I made sure to take my camera along so that I could take a picture of the bulletin board.  I thought it would make a great post to share with you.

The title is "WHAT NOT TO WEAR" and then lists several items that are not becoming for a Christian to wear.  Let's look at each of these traits.

PRIDE:  These six things the LORD hates, Yea, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look...Proverbs 6:16-17

ANGER: We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Proverbs 29:22

SELFISHNESS: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Romans 15:1

WHINING: Do all things without murmurings and disputings. Philippians 2:14

BAD ATTITUDE: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

If we have any of these items in our Christian wardrobe, we need to get rid of them quickly!

Wise Lessons Learned

On this Gratituesday, I am grateful for wise lessons learned....

Last week in our Wednesday night Bible study, the teacher told a story about a lesson he had learned several years ago.  At that time the teacher was a young father.  His son played little league.   He was upset about the little league field and began to complain to his dad about another young father who was working on the field.  He didn't think this other father was doing to the field what needed to be done.  He didn't care for the way the other father was taking care of the field at all, really.  The teacher said that his dad said something really wise to him...something that really changed his life.  He said, "Well, at least he is doing something!".  In other words, this teacher's father pointed out to him that he himself wasn't doing anything to help with the field.  He was only complaining about what was being done.  From that day on this teacher said he always looked for ways to actively help and not just sit back and complain while others did the work.

I've thought a lot about this story since last Wednesday.  How many times do I complain (either in my head or out loud) about the way something is being done?  And, if I do complain, what am I doing to help the situation?  Unfortunately, many times when we complain, we are just complaining about something that we aren't willing to help change.  It's easy to complain.  It's much harder to get involved and try to make things better.

I've actually experienced this first hand many times throughout my volunteer work.  Each year I organize the town/school carnival.  Sometimes there are complaints about how the carnival is run, how the booths are set up, or something else.  I would say that every year there is a complaint of some sort - some BIG and some small.  But, most of the time, the ones who are doing the complaining are the ones who aren't willing to help organize the event at all.  It's the same thing with the fair parade, which I also have organized many times.  Last year I had lots of "advice" about how it should be done or why something should not be done.  Finally, after tolerating a lot of "input" (that's a nice way of saying it!), I suggested (very nicely) that the person giving all of the advice, should take over the parade the next year.  Would it surprise you if I told you I never got any more advice after that?  Funny how that works, isn't it????

So, let's ask ourselves two questions:
1.  If I have a complaint about something (anything), what am I doing to help the situation?
2.  Is there something I could do to make it better?  If so, am I willing to work to make it better?

We all have our "pet projects"...certain things that are important to us.  Sometimes we expect others to feel the same about our projects and we want them to be involved and help us. But, are we willing to help others with their "pet projects"? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.  We must realize that sometimes we are going to be disappointed because we're going to be alone.  There may be no one willing to help.  It's at those times, we must evaluate our motives of WHY we are doing what we are doing.  Is it to glorify God or to receive praise from others?  If we are honest with ourselves, we should only be doing what we are doing to honor and glorify God.  If we get help from others - fine.  If not, that's okay, too, because as my husband said in a sermon yesterday, "We are living our life for an audience of one!".  Only one.  And that ONE is God.

I have one more question for you:  If everyone in the world was just like you, what would get done?  What would be left un-done?  Think about the wise answer the father gave his son in the story above.  "At least he is doing something."  What are you doing?

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

To see what others are grateful for, visit Heavenly Homemakers.

Craft Time at the Ladies' Retreat - Dishcloth Britches

At the annual QMCC Ladies Retreat I mentioned yesterday, different ladies sign up to do different things for the next year's retreat.  One group of ladies signed up to provide a craft for the retreat.  They provided the supplies and showed us how to make "Dishrag Britches".  It was lots of fun for everyone!

Even though I really like to do crafts and do them quite ofen, I've never showed one on my blog before.  I don't know why!  So, I thought you all might enjoy this one and decided to share it with you today.  The little note attached to the britches fit the theme of the retreat as well:  "Promises of God".

Each lady was given a snack-sized ziplock bag with the following items:  poem (with the straight pin at the top)and two pieces of yarn (crochet yarn, I think), each piece about 24 inches long.  We were also given big needles.  I don't know what size they were, but large enough for the two pieces of yarn to go through.  Also, we were given a small piece of tape for the ends of the yarn to make it smaller and more pointed to go through the eye of the needle.  When threading the needle, pull the yarn pieces all the way until there is only about three inches left.  (So the one side would be 21 inches of yarn and the other side would be 3 inches.)

Fold dishcloths in half and lay down on a table, unfolded sides touching. On the second row of the red stripe or approximately 1/3 of the way down on the dishcloths,  insert the needle from the front side of one dishcloth, going to the back through the second layer, then over to the other dishcloth, come up from the back - sewing the two pieces together.  Pull the yarn until the loose side is about 3 inches long.  Cut the yarn on the other side to about 3 inches.  Tie a bow.

Repeat these steps on the very middle of the two dishcloths, which happened to be on the next stripe on these cloths.  Only make two of these bows before moving to the top edge.

At the top, begin on one side and stitch wide (about one inch) stiches (only going through ONE thickness) all the way around to the other side, ending at the center of the other dishcloth. Pull the strings to gather the top, which makes the "waist" of the britches.  Cut the longer yarn again to

about 3 inches and tie a bow.

Now do the same thing as was done on the top, except do each "leg" of the dishcloth britches seperately.  I began at the middle of each dishcloth instead of the inside edge because I wanted the bow in the middle of the leg.

Pin the poem on the britches.

Here's the poem.  It does have one typo where it has YOUHAVE.  Should be YOU HAVE.  It was so neat that the ladies who provided this craft wrote a special note mentioning God's promises to go along with the retreat theme.

Here are two of the ladies showing their finished dishcloth britches.  Don't they look cute?

If the directions don't make sense, let me know!  Sewing isn't my thing at all :).  I tried to be specific, but something it may be confusing.  Anyway, this craft would make a neat homemade gift.

Ladies' Retreat 2009

This weekend was the 30th Annual Quartz Mountain Christian Camp (QMCC) which is near Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. The theme was "Promises of God". I want to share with you a little bit about the retreat.  One Christian sister travels over an hour away each year to make a bulletin board with the retreat theme. Isn't that a great way to serve others by using her God-given talent?

I ordered t-shirts for the retreat this year.The lady at the store asked me what color of shirts I wanted.  I couldn't decide, so she said, "How about using several different colors?"  "Perfect, I said!" The ladies really liked the shirts and enjoyed getting to choose a favorite color.

The tables were simply decorated usuing one color of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple) per table. A wrapped flower bouquet was placed in the center of each table.

The program carried out the theme and the theme scripture was carried out in several ways: The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. Psalm 145:13

Small favors were placed at each place setting.  The treats were small swirl lollipops, with a scripture sticker on the back. The lollipops can be purchased at Oriental Trading.

I will share more about the special ladies retreat in the next few days, but if you want to try one of the recipes from the retreat (Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramel-Pecan Sauce), go to "Life's a Bowl of Cherries". The recipes are posted for you to enjoy.