COMING IN DECEMBER

There is a plan running around inside my head.  That is usually a dangerous sign. This plan means I will have to do a lot of research and google  overtime.  It means I will have to tie three things together.

I manage Urbana Yoke Parish’s Facebook page and website.  Website is no problem.  But, the Facebook page has a Monday Scripture and a Wednesday Pick Me Up.  Those would tie into the Friday Blog.  All this to have December about ______???_____.  (You will have to wait until December to find out.). All this to bring _______???____ to life.  Hopefully, to show this person as real.  As a person who had dreams, goals, and trials.  A person who  fulfilled God’s plan for his life.

I finished the Monday Scriptures.  Those were easy.  Then I started on Wednesday Pick Me Up.  This is usually a skit or song.  YouTube here I come.  Search came up with a lot of songs.  They were okay, but they were songs that we learned in Sunday School.   I needed something better.  I went from one song to another.  I listened to lessons about this person and that person.  I quit after two hours and still had nothing that would qualify as a Pick Me Up.  I tried again.  I read the scriptures.  I went down the list on YouTube.  

This was not working.  Maybe my plan is just a crazy idea.  Maybe.  Maybe, I needed a new perspective.  I went back to the scriptures.  What was in the scripture that applied to today?  That changed my perspective.  I went back to YouTube.  Took each of the scriptures I was using in December and, in 45 minutes, had a Pick Me Up for each Wednesday.

Two of the three tie ends are ready.  The next will be to pray over this plan.  Research.  Study.  Listen.  Write.  Five blogs on one man.  Even I do not know how this will turn out.  I have no preconceived idea.  No plan other than to make this person and his actions mean something.  To make this person real and not just words on a page.

I am excited and a bit nervous.  BUT…. I sure do enjoy a challenge.

BREAD

On my first cruise, the evening meal was served with every type of bread you could imagine.  The bread basket held delicate white rolls, hearty wheat rolls, herb rolls, and other rolls with spices I could not name.  I just knew that the bread offered was amazing!!!  My bread plate was never empty.  The moment I took my last bite, the server would add a new roll to complement my meal.  And I would waddle away from the table, full to overflowing.  Swearing I would never need to eat again.

Never eat again?  Sounded good until our seating time rolled around, the next evening.  I wanted to run to the table and begin partaking of the evening bread.  Just the memory of that bread made me smile.  I was not disappointed.  When I sat down, the server put a roll on my plate saying, “I do believe this was your favorite last night.”  Oh, a hot roll with butter!  The evening meal could begin.  The entree would change each evening, but the bread was the highlight.  An unending basket of bread held the favorites and new breads to try.  I was in heaven……

…..  until about 3:00 PM the next day.  My tummy would growl.  My mind would picture those sweet rolls.  I knew I would generously tip our server.  He had supplied my bread each evening.  Bless his heart.

BUT then, I had to get off the ship and go home to sliced bread out of a plastic wrapper.  I sure did miss that basket of bread.  I remember reading something in the Bible about bread.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

 

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:25-35

NEVER GO HUNGRY?  NEVER GO THIRSTY?  I ate bread until I was full, but full was just an illusion … a fleeting feeling.  The bread I went after every day would eventually spoil.  Is that the bread I want?  Bread that tastes amazing, but does not last?

NO!!  I want the bread that fills my soul and gives me eternal life.  I want the true bread so I am never hungry or thirsty.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Guess that bread, on the cruise, wasn’t that great after all.

MANNERS

When I absolutely cannot think of something to write, I open Etiquette,  by Emily Post.  As I look through the book, I realize I would never – that is NEVER – be invited to a formal dinner.  I do not have attire for between the hours of one and six.  Known as important day dresses.  I do not own a hat and my gloves seem to be misplaced.  I might be invited to a “frumpy party.”  What is a frumpy party?  It is a collection of badly dressed persons.  Not even the most beautiful background could in itself suggest a brilliant gathering if the majority of those present were frumps – or vulgarians! 

I could never be the hostess for a formal dinner.  Our silverware stops after the knife, spoon, fork, and dessert/salad fork.  I have no bouillon cups and saucers.  Nor fingerbowls.  If I hosted a formal dinner, society would move me to the frumpy party list the very next day.

Oh well.  At least I know a few etiquette rules. 

• I do not put my left arm around the plate while eating with the right hand. 
• I do not put liquid into my mouth if I have already taken a bite of food.
• I do not dunk food unless I am in a lunch wagon.

I might break a few of the rules.

• My elbows seem to enjoy being on the table.
• I eat a chicken leg with my fingers.
• I have been known to lean back and say, “I’m through.”
• And that pesky napkin refuses to stay on my lap.

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him,  and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”     Luke:5:27-32

Now I would fit right in the banquet Levi threw.  Bon appétit

A FEW WORDS ARE ENOUGH

I have had Grammarly on my computer since February 9, 2025, and 1,073,116 words have been analyzed. 

During one week, 10,956 words were analyzed and I was more productive than 75% of Grammarly users.  I used 940 unique words and did not agree with everywhere they wanted me to put a comma.  I am glad to know that my writing seems confident and encouraging.

1,073,116 seems like a lot of words and that does not include my iPad.  If my spoken words were added into the mix, the number would be unbelievable.  (I have been accused of rattling on like a junk car.)  Are all those words necessary?

🖨️.  🖨️.  🖨️

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here am I.  Send me!”     Isaiah 6:8

Three words:  Here am I.

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.”

 

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.  “May your word to me be fulfilled.”  Then the angel left her.     Luke 1:35-38

Five words: I am the Lord’s servant. 

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias.  The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”  “Yes, Lord,” he answered.     Acts 9:10

One word:  Yes

                                                                         - - - - - -

Here am I.  How sweet those three words must have sounded to God.  Do I trust God’s plan enough to utter those words?

I am the Lord’s servant.  So young and yet so sure.  Am I sure in my desire to be the Lord’s servant?

Yes, Lord.  Recognizing who had called him, a simple reply was given.  Would I recognize the voice calling me?

Am I ever quiet enough to even hear God calling me?  Or am I running on like a junk car?

WAKE UP AMERICA!

Don’t panic.  This is not a political post.  I turned the TV on and the announcer was saying, “Wake Up America.”  What I heard was “Wake Up, Mary.”  I wonder what I am supposed to wake up to.  What news flash am I to hear?  What needs to be pointed out?  Have I not been listening — again?  What ………..  WAIT?  PATIENT ?

WAIT:  to be ready and available or a state or attitude of watchfulness and expectancy.

PATIENT:  bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint, steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity

Oh great.  Two things I would rather avoid.  I hate to wait and I am not the most patient person.  Maybe — no maybe about it — I need to work on this.  It is scriptural.  God uses this time of waiting for HIS reasons.  BUT how do I do this?  How do I wait and be patient?

MY BODY HURTS! MANY PEOPLE ARE IN CONSTANT PAIN.  How do we wait and be patient when pain can make it hard to function? Hard to even think rationally.

What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?          Job 6:11

THE WORLD IS GOING CRAZY! WRONG IS BEING CALLED RIGHT.  How do I wait when Satan is attacking our children? Our churches.  Why doesn’t God fix this?

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.         Psalms 27:14

I WANT IT NOW! WHY SHOULD I WAIT? Our society is becoming an instant society.  If we can get the latest gadget instantly, why won’t God give me what I want now?

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.     Romans 8:25

WHAT DO I LEARN WHILE WAITING?

Now my answer might be nothing except frustration.  That is not the correct answer.  There are more than four reasons, but I found this article helpful.  Here are four good reasons we have to wait:

• Growth — we are still being shaped and molded
• Protection — often, we are stopped from making the wrong decisions
• It is a test — are we wanting what we want or what God wants
• Purify us — what needs to be refined out of us

 https://outreachmagazine.com/resources/81080-reasons-for-the-waiting.html

This is a great summary from the link below.

Waiting means submitting to his glory.  Waiting means understanding that you were given life and breath for the glory of another.  Waiting gives you opportunity to forsake the delusion of your own glory and rest in the God of awesome glory.  Only when you do that will you find what you seek, and what you were meant to have: lasting identity, meaning, purpose, and peace in Christ.  In this way waiting is much more than a burden for you to bear; it is a precious gift for you to receive with joy.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-reasons-why-god-calls-us-to-wait/

WAIT?  BE PATIENT?  I really need to “Wake Up Mary.”  I have been doing this wait thing all wrong.  I have never looked at waiting as a precious gift.  Who knew…..