A mere 47 years
Holy Birthday Batman! 
I’m 47 today. YIKES! staring down the barrel of 50?
Seems like just a few days ago I was 35, but that was 12 years ago,
It’s been an amazing rollercoaster of a life and I just know the Lord has some amazing stuff coming up. Will it all be easy? No. I know that because life is not always easy, but God is always God and He is ALWAYS good.
I’ve been reading about the glory of the Lord and have spent some time in 2 Corinthians.. It’s an amazing topic to dwell on and it’s one that is blessing me daily.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
( 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV)
We are ALL being transformed from one degree of glory to another! This certainly makes getting older a lot easier – but this transformation doesn’t come with mere years, it comes through time with the Lord. He is the one doing the transforming, We, with our unveiled faces are being transformed.
There was a time in my Christian life that this passage meant little to me, I didn’t want to hear anything about being real before God. I was much too caught up in good works– I was too busy walking around in a veil of my own design. I was hiding from myself and, I thought, from God. I was doing all manner of good stuff for God and in His name, I just wasn’t spending any time with God. I was wearing a veil of what I thought the world wanted me to be – and I was MISERABLE.
When I stripped off that veil and looked to God for my direction I found FREEDOM~ in the Spirit of the Lord.
The glory of the Lord is transforming. The glory of the Lord changes lives. The glory of the Lord changed my life. The glory of the Lord will change your life.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
(2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV)
Today I begin my 47th year on this earth with great excitement. I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me, but I know that I’ll be transformed by His glory because His Word tells me that!
Lipstick Joy!
This is rerun of a post from Oct 2008.
I just love lipstick! There’s something so simple and so wonderful about a great tube of lipstick. Of course, there are so many lipstick options these days I get easily confused.
Recently I hit the jackpot on lipstick options – a local drugstore is closing and all the makeup is 70% off – yep, you heard right, 70% off. Immediately I started stocking up on lipsticks – all kinds of shades, types, blends.
There’s the tingling lipstick – I didn’t quite know what happened when I put this on my lips and it felt like my lips were sort of burning. Not the feeling you want on your lips or from you lipstick.
I’ve been poisoned. Some crazed person has loaded my lipstick with some kind of tingling lip poison.
While I considered whether to call 911, poison control, the number on the back of the lipstick package or drive myself to the nearest emergency room. I noticed this disclaimer on the package:
Can cause tingling sensation.
Then I realized I had some lip plumper lipstick. Sweet! Now me and Angelina Jolie look like twins. (okay, not quite twins)
I also picked up some stay put lipstick. Here’s a little tip – if the lipstick requires a separate top coat, stay away!
The stay put lipstick goes on bright, shiny and pretty. But within the first two minutes, the pretty, shiny stuff dries and you have to add a top coat to lubricate your lips or they’ll crack (like a cheap vase).
The upside of the stay put lipstick – you have to scrub the stuff off with a brillo pad. Choose your color wisely, once it goes on it’ll be there for a while.
I also bought some pretty, shiny lip gloss and it even tastes good. Nothing fancy about this stuff – just remember it may be pretty, but it doesn’t last long. Reapply a lot!
I bought just some plain ol’ lipstick in a plain ol’ tube – in fact, I got a few of those. I was in lipstick nirvana. I bought colors I thought I would like, but wasn’t sure. I bought spring colors, fall colors and winter colors – and yes, they are all different (slightly different, but different).
I looked over my lipstick / lip gloss haul – and it was quite a haul.
Lipstick and Lip Gloss –Two very different items. Sort of like joy and happiness. They look a lot alike and people mistake them for the other, but they are very different.
Joy is like lipstick – the stay put kind, the all day, long lasting, stick to your lips staining kind of lipstick. It’s not going anywhere. This fancy shine’ will wear off but the color will stay. It’s not flashy, but it works.
Now happiness – it’s more like the lip gloss. Pretty, shiny, flashy – and fleeting. Nothing like that long lasting joy.
Gal 5:22 reads – the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.
Joy is a fruit of the spirit. We can’t sign up for it.
There’s not a Joy committee.
There are no classes on making Joy in your life.
Joy doesn’t come from us.
Joy is from a life in Christ – a life fully surrendered to Christ.
This Joy – this fruit of the spirit – comes from the Lord.
In John 15: 11 Jesus said “I’ve spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”
Jesus says, My Joy. This is His Joy in us. This Joy from the Lord.
This His Joy – this is not manmade, nothing to do with works, Joy. This a Joy that comes from a life in Christ.
Joy isn’t about us – it’s about Him.
If your joy is based on what’s going on around you, then I challenge you to take a harder look. Are you mistaking happiness for joy?
Happiness is for the now, the immediate — it;s fleeting, like lip gloss. Sadness is for a time, a season, but it fades with time – some more than others.
But Joy — now that’s from the Lord.
Trust Him to show you true joy. Surrender to Him. Let your life in Him be one of great joy — like that long lasting lipstick.
What is Authentic?
I’ve tossed around the word authentic a lot lately — I want to be authentic. I want authenticity in my friendships. I want an authentic ministry.
It hit me last night…. what do I mean? What am I saying? Am I just tossing around a word that sounds good. And yes, I’ve done a lot of that in my past.
Authentic means real, true, not a fake. But truly, what does that mean?
How do I live authentic?
Does it mean I have to tell you ALL about me? Oh, for your sake, I hope not. It’s 65 parts boring and the rest you don’t want to know about.
To be authentic, I have to trust that God is God and He alone rules my heart and my life. I have to keep my eyes on Him, the author and finisher of my faith.
To be authentic, I have to live life daily in the way the Lord has laid out for me. This means I don’t manipulate situations to my benefit or enjoyment. This means that some days are just stinking HARD. It also means God has a plan for my life each and EVERY day of it.
To be authentic, I have to trust God’s plan for my life and accept the sins of my past. I have to look to God to use all things (even the yucky, icky stuff) for His great GLORY.
To be authentic, I CANNOT look to people to increase my position, my standing, my popularity — as an authentic girl I will trust God to bring the right people into my life and I will trust God’s plan for my life.
To live an authentic life, I have to grasp that God’s plan for my life is much greater than my plan and I have to walk in that plan even when it is FAR different than what I’d thought.
To live an authentic life, I will serve where God places my feet and I will rejoice in the knowledge that He is God.
I’m truly blessed to be where I am today. I’m stunned that God would allow me to minister to His girls through gIRL: Girlfriends in Real Life and through speaking. I don’t understand why He gives me this, but I accept His incredible grace and pray that all I do will glorify Him.
What you believe it means to be authentic?
The Christmas Cat or am I the Crazy Cat Lady
It’s beginning to look a little like Christmas around here…. okay, no it’s not, but I did get some fun pictures of the cat and some ribbon.
Wait, what’s happened to me? There was a time when I took cute pictures of my girls in adorable velvet dresses and big red bows in their hair. Now, I take pictures of the cat in Christmas boxes.
Have I reached a “certain” age? Never understood what ‘certain’ means, but I know I’m at an age where my daughters aren’t remotely interested in putting on velvet jumpers and big red bows and posing for pictures in front of the Christmas tree.
So I take pictures of my cat
And more pictures
Poor kitty — he looks slightly bored.
And here comes the dog… he’s curious and appears slightly depressed but that’s the way he looks most of the time. We’re considering counseling.
Kitty is now done with his role as cat model… he’s ready to move on to something more meaningful and fulfilling like mousehunter or lizard killer. He has goals.
As for me and my pictures of my cat. I don’t think it qualifies me as the crazy cat lady, after all it’s only one cat.
What are you taking pictures of this Christmas season?
Free to Be Me – GiveAway!
UPDATE — August 23, 2009
AND THE WINNER IS ….
Number 3 – KIM!
Congratulations to Kim!! Can’t wait to see you at the Free to Be Me Bloggers Retreat!
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There’s a retreat coming up in October. It’s the Free to Be Me Bloggers Retreat October 23-24, 2009– and in honor of the Free part, I’m giving away one registration! Yep — you heard me! (well, it’s a donated registration, but they’ve graciously allowed me to do that giveaway!)
I’m giving away a registration — value $100!
All you have to do is get your self to the event! The registration covers your lodging Friday night; meals Friday evening through Sat luncheon; and retreat packet! And all you have to do is COMMENT to enter!
The Free To Be Me Bloggers Retreat is NOT just for bloggers and it’s not just about blogging. It’s about taking our ordinary lives and, through Christ, becoming the extraordinary He planned us to be.
You are a masterpiece created for good works! How incredible is that! Guess what? So am I!
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10
Y’all I’m just so VERY Excited about this event! And I want EVERYONE to be there! Hear me on this girls — EVERYONE! It’s only $100 for the weekend — that’s meals and lodging AND all the retreat stuff! Y’all — that’s unheard of! Just grab a girlfriend or six and load up the vehicles and head to Sneads, Florida — and for all you Alabama girls — it’s not that far below Dothan! For all you Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi Girls — y’all know it’s not that far!
I’m just so incredibly honored to be a part of this group and cannot WAIT to be together. So, make a comment and take a chance on winning or just go ahead and sign up today and if you win you can give it to a friend.
The Giveaway will be open until August 17th — so get to commenting!
See October 23-24 in Sneads, Florida! Let’s be Free in Him!
Welcome!
Mary Snyder is a published author, freelance writer and engaging speaker. Her ability to deliver truth wrapped in humor enables Mary to connect to women on a personal level.-
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