What was the best memory I had of last year? You know the memory
fades as you grow older; but as I reflect back these were some of my best
memories or most memorable.
The Feminar is always a highlight of my year;
even though I stress over the details of getting there and wanting everyone to
get something out of the trip other than material things, it remains a
highlight. Simply because in the end it is a Spirit-filled, Word-drenched,
life-transforming, God’s-will-be-done weekend leaving me delirious and
desperate to know, love and serve Him more by living a life that is filled with
love, not criticism and judgment. A life lived with forgiveness, not hatred and
bitterness. A life lived with compassion, not mean and uncaring. A life lived
with giving to others, not self-centeredness. And more than anything my desire
is a life lived in freedom, not confined to a prison of guilt, shame, judgment.
My annual trek to the Feminar is coming up soon and I am praying that we will
be open to what God has to say to each of us; and more importantly we will act
on it. That we will use this short weekend together to build relationships,
laugh, cry and share biblical encouragement with each other…oh and shop.
Darryl and I got to help a fellow Oklahoman,
Richard, log hours for his Habitat for Humanity home. I was fortunate enough to
make it to his house dedication. Through this process, I learned that I am not
that great at hammering nails; but I can pick up trash, lay sod, carry lumber,
raise walls and of course cheer on all those hard workers that can nail a nail
straight. Even through the hours we spend working God reminded me His love for
me again through nails (His death), trash (my past), sod (His foundation),
lumber (Jesus was a worker), walls (don’t build them) and cheering (rejoice
with those that rejoice).
May 20th, I would not categorize as a “best” memory, as many lives were lost, but still a very vivid memory worth noting. There was MUCH heartache in our community, but through all we saw our community join forces to help one another heal and rebuild. I am so grateful that I was able to take a week of vacation time to help out some good friends. As we cleaned and tried to salvage their personal items, we laughed…and we laughed some more…it is true what the bible says about laughter being good medicine. We ate so much pizza that we thought we would never eat pizza again; but seriously if it weren’t for all the local restaurants we would have withered away; well maybe not entirely true, but they were a huge blessing that allowed us to keep working. I must note when the Chick-Fil-A people, instead of the Pizza Hut people, came walking down the street there was MUCH rejoicing! May 20th also brought us some awesome neighbors, as a high school friend and his wife moved next door; prayers answered for good neighbors! If you ever had neighbors that would make you want to move, you will understand why we were praying for good neighbors! Let’s just say God told State Farm to send them our way, like a good neighbor…
Our week in Fort Morgan, Alabama…the beach! The beach house was a dream. Family time swimming, playing in the sand, visiting the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, puzzles, movies, shopping, running away from sharks, watching the Blue Angels fly over the ocean, antique shopping, chasing crabs, lightening show on the beach, visiting Duck Dynasty Headquarters, eating at Lambert’s Home of the Throwed Rolls, Casting Crowns & Francesca Battistelli concert at the Warf, pictures and living history at Fort Morgan. I love the beach, white sand, emerald green water, the unending view of water, the smell of saltwater, the sound of crashing waves, no agendas, add family to that mix and life is perfect, at least for a week and then it is back to concrete, buildings, highways, smog, traffic, and oh yeah…war torn Moore. I had secretly hoped and believed that while we were gone that we would come back and our town would have been put back together. I had not prepared myself mentally for what was up the road, but as we rolled in and the unending destruction littered our view, my heart grew heavy again.
As I reviewed my calendar from last year, there were a lot of great times at all kinds of events, but I think my BEST memory from last year was April Fool’s Day. No kidding.
April Fool’s Day 2013 I received an email from the Admiral that I had been reassigned to a new position effective immediately. I had hoped that it was an April Fool’s joke, but there is no joking up here. We are all business, we are the federal government. I know for most of you (the entire 11 people that read my blog) that probably made you laugh or roll your eyes; but it is true, we work hard and fun is not often found here. So I knew it was not an April Fool’s joke, it was soon to be my new reality. For the short version, and if you are ever interested in the whole story how God orchestrated this life changing event over a two year period in my life, let’s meet over coffee. Here is the final outcome…I learned that God who is steadfast in His love for me, made me completely weak by sending me to the Land of Lack….lack of ability…lack of confidence…lack of skill…lack…lack…lack…and provided me something I needed much more and that was to put my reliance back on Him and not me, He was asking me to stretch. It is like my Big God, who graciously takes me through a difficult passage to show me He is brilliant, glorious, all powerful, able, in control, that He loves me with a steadfast love and while things will change around me, He remains the same…yesterday, today, and forever…I just have to stretch and remember when I am weak, He is strong. What are your memories from last year? Which was your BEST memory from last year? Leave me a message on Facebook, email or text me or post here on this blog.
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