Today's sermon was on David and Goliath and how we should not let obstacles stand in our way. It was very encouraging for our small church. The guest pastor was trying to encourage us to not lose sight of what God has in store for this church, even in the middle of our pastor's sabbatical. After church we went to our daughter, Rachel's apartment. This was our first time to see it since she moved. I am so proud of her. She has established her own home and environment and reminds me so much of myself 26 plus years ago. I know that God has great things in store for her. She has a precious little kitten at her house that the vet she works for had been brought to try to save from a near death experience. They thought they were gonna have to put her to sleep, but my "RESCUE RANGER RACHEL" couldn't see it and she took it home. The cat may lose her eye, but Rachel is trying hard to save it. Rachel is so good in her field. She has a heart for all God's creatures and desires to love and care for them. We also went to lunch at the neatest restaurant. Beef O'Brady's www.beefobradys.com They are a family sports pub with flat screen tv's in all the booths that you can watch...or if you like, as we did, you can play trivia games. It was really fun and we stayed for hours absolutely in no hurry! Now I've been at home watching back to back Pretty Woman--My alltime favorite movie!! Tomorrow is Red White and Blue Day at work--so I can wear jeans and be casual.

Shout for Joy to the Lord all the earth
The words are yours
I will listen, I will shout
The words are yours
with JOY I will shout
The words are yours
not just in my house, or my church, or my neighborhood, but in ALL THE EARTH.
The words are yours.
Worship the Lord with gladness.
The words are yours
I will worship, not just come to say I've come or to make an appearance, but I will come to WORSHIP.
The words are yours
I will worship YOU, The Lord, YAWAH, Jehovah, The God of all gods, The King of Kings
The words are yours
I will worship with GLADNESS, not drudgery, routine or sadness, but Gladness of heart because YOU have made me glad!
The words are yours
Come before him with joyful songs
The words are yours.
I will come before you with happy, joyful songs that draw others into excitement and joy.
Know that the Lord is God.
The words are yours.
KNOW, be confident, don't question. Believe and trust the LORD is GOD, the only God. The God of my salvation.
The words are yours
It is He who made us and we are his.
The words are yours.
You are the creator, the maker of all. We belong. We belong to you and you belong to us.
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
The words are yours.
The Lord is my shepherd. When I begin to wander he will hook me with his rod to draw me back to his flock.
Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise.
The words are yours.
Thanksgiving is not just the last Thursday in November, but every time we enter the house of God. You are the judge, the righteous and sustaining judge. When I come into your presence I will do it with Praise, acknowledge your worth, exalt you.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
The words are yours.
I will give thanks to God, I will praise the name of all names. The name that is above all names. The name that at some point, every knee will bow down.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever.
The words are yours.
You are good. You know my heart and its desires and long to do good for me. The love you have for me is eternal, everlasting FOREVER.
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
The words are yours.
You are constantly faithful. You have been faithful to my grandparents, to my parents and you will reveal your faithfulness to my family, my children and someday my grandchildren and great grandchildren.
THE WORDS ARE YOURS
I WILL MAKE THEM MINE

Today's sermon was really exciting. It was based on Jesus' First Miracle at the Wedding in Canaan. It was interesting to hear the perspective of how Mary must've felt. She possibly was the hostess to this exciting event and felt completely responsible for seeing that all the refreshments were maintained. Imagine her surprise when she realized that the wine had run out! She felt obligated to go to extreme measures to see that this need was met. As Jesus mother, and one of the few who knew that Jesus truly was the son of God, she KNEW that he was someone who could meet this need. Finally, after 30 years of her life where she had to fight off so much ridicule, Jesus was about to validate who she was as a woman and a mother. She had lived the major part of her life carrying the stigma of having had this child, Jesus, the Christ child, out of wedlock. Imagine having to put yourself in her shoes--having a baby and not being able to be totally honest about the father of your baby or even the future that lies ahead for your family. Now, after 30 years, she can at last put her son on the pedastal that he deserves but wouldn't climb. How many times on a playground do you think Mary had to listen to "Well, my son is already a reader of the scrolls, and he is only 10, or if you could see the table that my son built and hand crafted". Don't you know that Mary so often wanted to say, "Well, top this one, MY SON is THE SON OF GOD!"....Trump, Ace, Gotcha! But no, not until now had she been given the opportunity that she felt like would be the perfect time to say "WHO'S YA DADDY!"...But Jesus responded back to her in a common greek formality of "WOMAN". There was no disrespect, just a statement of acknowledgement of who she was. "My time has not yet come", he responded, which I doubt was exactly what Mary wanted to hear. However, rather than argue or try to pursuade him to do something, or say more to him, she went straight to the servants and said "DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU." I can see her now, hearing Jesus' reply, but turning immediately over her shoulder and saying in a typical Jewish brogue, "Do whatevah he says for ya ta do!" Jesus then spoke to the servants and told them to get the cermonial vases and fill them up. The servants were obedient to Jesus which is the first step to servanthood. They got these HUGE vases that were used for the washing up of hands, feet and whatever before anyone went to the Temple and they filled them not just partially, but to the brim where the water was overflowing. These servants were excited, exuberant, the second step to servanthood. When Jesus saw the vases, he didn't tell the servants to take them to the wedding, he told them to simply scoup out some of the water and take to the head of the party. This required patience on the part of the servants to wait for the miracle to be seen..Thus, the third step to servanthood-Patience. I am sure that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing by not taking out the entire vase. Can you imagine how the party guests would feel when they saw wine being poured out of these 'cleaning vases'. Jesus knew that it would be better received if they just got a sample of what was waiting for them. And as could be expected, the party host tasted the wine and thought that the hostess had been stashing the good wine to bring out later. It was a miracle, and yet it wasn't flaunted or advertised. The only ones who knew the source of the miracle was Mary, the servants and a few of the disciples. And after seeing this miracle, the disciples put their faith in him. They finally were completely convinced that he was not just Mary's illegitimate son, but the SON OF GOD in the flesh.
Obedience
Excitement
Patience
Only in faith, fully following God will we see miracles happen.

Today was an exciting day as we were officially announced as Music Leaders at Summit Heights Baptist Church. This is such an awesome place to be even though it is extremely smaller than we ever envisioned. I believe, however, in my heart that God is going to use us there. Even though there is no compensation monetarily, we believe that God has put us there for a purpose. We have received peace and confirmation spiritually that God will use outside sources to provide for us in creative methods and outside sources. We also feel that when or if God is ready to provide for us in a different method that he will either send us to a place to do it, or else he'll provide the church with the resources to pay us. Tom even made a comment today that he believes that where he is now in our journey is in questioning has he been doing his ministry for 20 years for a paycheck or to draw people closer to the throne of God. He says this part of our journey will tell all.

Here are the lyrics for the song I spoke of earlier...
THIS MUST BE A PLACE
by Steve Amerson

Words and Music by Steve Amerson & Gary Schmidt
© 1998 Steve Amerson Music (UMI) & Cenlergy Music
(UMI)

Souls on the street
Addicted to sin
Selling themselves to survive
Not understanding the hope they could find
In a place where God’s love is alive
They doubt that they could meet
The standards necessary
And fear that they’d Find judgment rather than a sanctuary
Chorus:
This must be a place
Where a broken heart can mend
This must be a place
Where the outcast finds a friend
For we cannot lift the fallen
If our hand still holds a stone
And their sin that seems so great to us
Is no greater than our own
There must be a point where shame meets grace
And this must be the place
The neighbor next door
Keeps the house looking good
while the home is collapsing within
Pressures of life pull a family apart
And temptation’s destruction begins
They doubt the church could have
The answers necessary
And fear they’d find rejection
Rather than a sanctuary
Second Chorus:
This must be a place
Where a broken heart can mend
This must be a place
Where the outcast finds a friend
For we cannot lift the fallen
If our hand still holds a stone
And their sin that seems so great to us
Is no greater than our own
There must be a point where shame meets grace
Bridge:
And the church must be the arms of God
Reaching out to bring them
To a place where they can find His love
Regardless of their sin
Chorus:
Tag
This must be the place

Last nite we had a wonderful evening with some of our dear friends from Mauldin. They fixed a FABULOUS LOW CARB ka-bobs for us and I did a low carb Key Lime Pie--

Today was back to Summit Heights Baptist Church where we have been waiting for God to show us how he wants to use us. Jim, the Pastor is going on a 12 week Sabbatical and asked if we would be open to helping the church in some way while he was gone. We've been going for about 3 weeks --the first week I helped as pianist because the regular was sick. Last week we were just participants, but this week Tom sang an awesome song by Steve Amerson called "This must be a Place". I am including the lyrics because these lyrics truly describe this church. This church thrives on reaching the broken hearted, those who are thought by some as outcasts.. Example is the current Praise Team leader. He is HIV Positive, but is married to a precious lady. Their mission in life is to reach out to and foster HIV positive children. They have subsequently adopted three children, all of whom are black. So, needless to say, this couple has 2 strikes against them..But it is evident throughout the body that there are those who have had issues in their lives that would be a potential pitfall for the average church. Too many churches (like those we've been a part of) would cast stones and feel they weren't 'OUR TYPE'... Well, praise God that this church knows that "God's type" are just soul searching, needy believers in search of love and acceptance. Tom was approached by 3 different people today asking if we'd be interested in helping them while the pastor is away. The guy leading the music told of his passion to sing and his inadequacies to lead and felt Tom was sent there for a purpose. Another lady told us that just this past week she and some others were praying that God would send someone to the church who would start back a choir that she could sing with, rather than just have a praise team. She too said she felt we were sent from God. After I signed this morning 2 people approached me of the desire they'd had and been praying for to learn how to sign as people sang. GOD HAS BROUGHT US THERE FOR A REASON I FULLY BELIEVE! So, just like all the other events in the past year plus, we KNOW that God is guiding us in our journey to GROW US and Develop us where he wants us.
We will continue to pray for God's complete and ultimate guidance for us.

So much has happened over the course of weeks since I have written. I have moved out two children into their own aparments --YEAH RAH for the empty nest..I have also graduated both of those kids and thankfully so! The speaker at our sons graduation was so challenging. Larry Thrailkill. He is a lawyer from Brentwood Tennessee and an active member of Brentwood Baptist Church. Here are the 7 things to which he challenged the graduates:

1. Know your calling
2. Have God sized dreams
3. Expect trouble
4. Remember you'll most likely be the one to get the blame and not the the credit.
5. By your FRUITS (Galatians Fruits) they'll know you.
6. Don't forget who you are.
7. The biggest weapon Satan uses is fear and doubt. Don't be afraid!

I really enjoyed all that he had to say and obviously it made an impact to the point that I am quoting him. On the contrary, however, I couldn't tell you one thing that the speaker at our daughter's graduation said! There was a difference in the graduating classes too. My sons class had two pages of graduates, but my daughters about 15. Needless to say, hers drug on quite a bit longer!!

The other news of interest is that Tom is still praying for God to open a door for us for a full-time church. In the meantime, he was offered a full-time position with National Car rental where he has been working part-time. The manager is a good Christian man and is aware of Tom's ministry calling and desire. He has hired him to work Sun-Tues 4-11 PM (granted we are not currently accustomed to churches that have an evening service, so that schedule works). He will also be off on Wednesdays which is good to work in a church but will work on Thursday and Friday. SOooooooooooooo PRAISE GOD he has at least something that is considered full-time and makes him eligible for benefits!

More to come later!