I’m leading Mary Kassian’s  Knowing God by Name: A Personal Encounter and it Rocks! 

 It’s a seven week study that covers five names of God each week.  We start with the names of Deity - Yahweh, Adonai, and on. 

 When I was finally able to write, I grabbed my pencil (the cute pink one), my hi-lighter, some post-its and about four different versions of  the Bible and got to work. 

 I loved it from the first verse:

“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said,  “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14. 

 That’s so powerful. He is I AM!  Nothing else needed.  I AM WHO I AM.  Don’t need any explanations because he is all and more.  Don’t need anything beyond I AM.  It’s so beautiful and powerful it just takes my breath away.  I AM. 

And what is amazing is that we serve I AM. That is who we, as followers of Jesus Christ, serve. 

 And that is just the first verse.  There is so much just in the first pages and while the author is talented and well-versed in knowledge, it’s just so apparent that God has His hands all over this study and it’s just cram-packed full of God’s Words - and there is the power to move people and change lives. 

 After that first verse, I just went to town reading, scribbling notes in the book, highlighting like a mad woman, tagging and flagging sections and I loved every moment of it. 

 I just stepped into God’s Holy Word and had me a big ol’ party!  I went to this verse and it just resonated in my spirit and I’m still reading it and loving it.

 ”For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 57:15 ESV  (emphasis is mine)

 He inhabits eternity.  Now, just let that soak in for a minute.  He inhabits eternity.  Now hold that thought and let me share another verse with you.

 ”Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, 

Even from the everlasting to the everlasting, You are God.” Ps 90:2 (again, emphasis is mine).

Now doesn’t that just rock your socks!  Our dwelling place!  And Everlasting to Everlasting.  I just love that.   But hold on, I have one more for you.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.  Rev. 1:8

 He is!  He is the Holy, Mighty, Majestic, Magnificent, Powerful, Incredible GOD.  He is I AM.  He is all that I can write and so much more than I can even begin to imagine,  He is all that I can think and so much more than I can even dream.  He is all that I can speak and so much more than I can even begin to understand. 

He is I AM. 

 I’m just awestruck that this amazing Lord God allows me, as completely messed up and faulty as I am, to lead this study of who He is.  I’m humbled and amazed.  I ask for your prayers and I encourage you to just jump on in His word and soak it up.  Have a blast and enjoy just who He is.  He loves us and He loves us so much that He has made a way for us to know (within our limited abilities) Him.  Through the power of His Holy Spirit we can catch a glimpse of the great I AM. 

 Loving this day!

 Have a great Today! 

 Number One: You cannot use your hand for ten days.  What?  That’s silly, I’ll be using my hand much sooner than that.

 Number Two:  You need to dress the wound four times a day. What?  Seriously?  What is this, like a major operation?  Now, I need to let you know that I’ve never had stitches - ever.  Nope, not even when I had babies.  So, I have no stitches frame of reference.  And let’s hang on that archaic form of wound closure - let’s grab a needle and some thread and let’s whip this baby closed.  And my stitches do not look very pretty - this isn’t a quilter’s handiwork, looks more like something the guy who made Frankenstein would have whipped up.

 Number Three:  Take pain medications A LOT - okay, it didn’t say that, but it should.  And I did.  I don’t like pain. Not any. At all.  I figure if you give me medicine that stops the pain, then I need to take it.

 After surgery, I felt fine.  I later realized that I was still reeling from the effects of the stuff they dripped into that IV.  My hand left fine and it just had this bandage on it.  No big deal, right? WRONG.

 My hand felt fine because I couldn’t feel it.  It was numb, for about 12 hours.  When the feeling starting coming back, I didn’t feel so good.  I swallowed the pain pills and fell asleep.  And that was pretty much the next five days.  Wake, take a pain pill, sleep, repeat.

After five days, I got tired of not knowing what was happening in the world and I woke up.  My hand still hurt but not as bad, but I still couldn’t use it.  So, I quickly learned what you really need your right hand for. 

 Hairspray.  Have you ever sprayed your hair with your left hand.  I sprayed, but very little hit my hair, not that it mattered, I couldn’t fix it anyway.  Which brings me to:

 Fixing your hair.  Now, I’m not vain, but I do like my hair to NOT look like I’ve just stepped out of a hurricane force wind tunnel on a bad hair day. You can’t fix your hair with one bad hand.  I gave up and just slapped a cap on my head.

 Clicking the remote: I don’t have the clicking dexterity in my left that I do in my right.  I almost missed recording the opening of  The Bachelor. Thankfully, I was able to manage even with my disability.

 Scooping Ice Cream: I know what you’re thinking, scoop left.  Not that easy. I pinned the ice cream under my arm and tried with all that I have to scoop out just two descent scoops of Mint chocolate Chip ice cream (it has magical healing powers).  I just squished the container - which brings me to this: what happened to the sturdy ice cream containers? Why is everything so flimsy these days?  Is that a green thing? Please.  Don’t get me started. 

 There’s so much more I couldn’t do without that right hand, but it’s slowly coming back - I’m even typing and I’ve given up the pain meds.  After I just didn’t have a clue who I’d talked to all day and I wasn’t even sure where I’d been, I thought it best to bite the bullet and suffer through.  I’m making it. 

 Have a great Today!!

I planned to bring in some big name speakers, authors and a  couple of really cool live bands.  Okay, I didn’t plan to do any of that, but I did at least want to mention that I’d made it a whole year! 

Me.  The one who is still working on the kitchen remodel I started in 2006 - I don’t want to rush into anything. 

 So, it’s been a year and four days since I began the blogging thing and I have to tell you.  This is a blast.  It’s been a blessing and a bit of a challenge - like when the book was cancelled and I thought …. geez, now I have to slink over to that dang blog and tell all my Internet chickies that this book is just not happening.  Humbling.  And maybe that’s the point for me.  I need that humbling from time to time - okay, sometimes if more often than that. 

 I must say that the sweet support I’ve gotten from y’all has been great!  The words of encouragement are wonderful and were much needed in the days just after I learned about the cancelation.  I’m much better these days and excited about where the Lord is taking me.  I can’t wait to see where this road leads. 

 And I’m so blessed to be traveling it with all of you!  Y’all are just the best Internet chicks around (and guys, for those who pop in from time to time).

Have a great Today! 

Happy new year to all my Internet friends — and to those of you I know here in the real world.  I made it into 2009 with my bandaged right hand, but we’re here.  Ready to get to work. 

First, let me say that I’m NOT making any new year’s resolutions, but I’m making some life changing decisions — geez, that sounded really serious.  I am committing this year to draw closer to the Lord. I want to know Him more, love Him more and serve Him more.  I want to be the best me I can be. 

I hope that means I get another book contract for Girlfriends, God, and Grace, but that’s in His hands.  I’m just following His lead. 

So, as I jump off into 2009 — I’m clinging to Romans 15:13 -

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That’s my first verse of 2009 — I want to overflow with HOPE!  Not just any hope, but God given Hope!  The hope that will fill me with JOY!  I just love Joy in Jesus!  I want that Joy!  I want Joy and Peace that comes from Him. 

And that’s my prayer for each of you!  Joy and Peace in believing!  Jesus has got some exciting stuff for us in 2009 and I don’t want to miss out on a minute of it and I don’t want you to, either.

I’m excited to be back typing — although it’s minimal and I have to rest my hand every few minutes.  I’m glad to be rid of the pain, the surgery seems to be a success  and I can’t wait to share my whole experience with y’all — it’s been an adventure!

Have a great today!!

Of course being the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” chickie that I am, I’ve been toughing my way through it.  Not working.  I’m detriorating into a whiny pain-ridden mess.  Not a pretty sight, trust me on this one.

When I hand some tests run the technician assured me that the left arm was much worse than the right, that was until she tested the right.  “Can you button your clothes?” she asked after testing my right hand.  I get the feeling that the numbness may be blocking some of the pain — oh, heavens if it hurt any worse I might just operate myself. 

So as you read this I’m probably in surgery, coming out of a drug-induced surgery coma or laid up in my bed without the use of my right hand.

I’ll be out of commission for a couple of weeks, or until I learn to type one handed.  I’m much more concerned with fixing my hair and putting on makeup.  Thank you Lord for giving me daughters.  I don’t even want to think about what I would look like if my sweet Hubby, V, tried to apply eyeliner!  Another one of those, not a pretty sight things.

I’ll see you all soon — say a short prayer for me and a quick, painless recovery. 

Bye Internet chicks!

It’s over — all the hustle, the bustle, and the “I don’t know how we’re going to get it all done and stay sane” mania that seems to hit us all (except for those super organized chicks that I’m never hanging around with because they make me waaaay too insecure!)

Today, I thought about what it means — the day following the birth of Jesus.  It was just another day to most, but to a few it was miraculous.  As Mary watched her baby sleeping she probably wondered just what the future held, but she was trusting in God to guide her.  

 I want to live my life just like that — trusting that the God who called me to Himself will guide me.

Today, I’m asking God to grant me the wisdom to live my life just this way — trusting in Him and looking to Him for guidance and grace (because I’ll stumble along this way I’m traveling).

And Jesus spoke about this and said ‘ask anything in My name and I will do it ‘ (John 14:14) — has a little bit of that Christmas gifts “what did ya get me” feel to it, doesn’t it?  But double check that part that reads “in My name” — that’s the holy and anointed name of Jesus.  Makes you think before you start asking for “things” doesn’t it?  This is asking in His name!  That we can even make these requests is mind-boggling. 

The very next verse is an eye-opener — “If you love Me, keep  My commandments” — that will take your breath, won’t it?  If you love me…. IF — what a huge, huge word that little two letter word can be.  “If you love me”  — I can hear myself right now, “of course I love you Lord.”  Then “keep my commandments.”  It’s simple. 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

I have found a calendar / planner that I love! 

Now this may not sound like a big deal to some, but it’s huge for me.  I am a bit obsessive about my choice of calendars. 

For years I did the Franklin planner thing…. the whole priortize 1, 2. 3 and the dot for in-progress.  Well, I just stuck a 1 and a dot by everything — so that means everything is of the highest priority and in progress.    I assume writing on my list puts anything in progress — if I’m thinking about it, it’s in progress, right?   I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work.

I gave up the Frankling planner thing when I left the corporate world like a hundred years ago….I just wrote notes on the hangy calendar in the kitchen.  I didn’t have to priortize — I just did it. 

 When  my writing / speaking picked up and I started working with a non-profit, I had to go back to using a planner.  I tried not using one, but people get really peeved about missing deadlines — geez.  Anyway, back to the point….. which is planners or calendars.  Planners make me nervous, just the word is uncomfortable.  When someone says,  “let me check  my  planner”  I  almost expect some little leprachuan to pop up with a pen and a notepad and reel off a list of things to do.  

So, I’ve struggled for years trying to find the right planner.  I stuck with the little binder style for a while — but who needs two pages for one day?  Seriously, if I’m that busy I need a personal assistant, not some little binder.  I went to the two pages per week and that was pretty good — but I don’t like bulky binder. 

I went to the month at a glance calendar, because I found myself using only that part of the high-dollar binder refills.  That worked okay, but that’s not quite enough room. 

I tried Time Mine Calendars and these are really nice.  I tried the Life_time.mine and the time.mine calendars — I like them, but they weren’t perfect.  But I definitely recommend you checking these out if you love a paper calendar / planner. 

I was test-driving the two time.mine planners (and yes, I do test drive my calendars / planners — it’s a commitment of a whole year, I have to know we’ll work well together) when I stumbled across my new FAVORITE calendar (okay, planner). 

Blue Sky Imagination –  this one has it all.  Two page month spread, followed by two page per week spread and tabs for the months!  So perfect for me!  I was so jazzed that I wrote the company a thank you note. 

So,  it’s December 22nd and I finally have my 2009 planner!!  I’m so thrilled.  I was starting to think I would have to settle or possibly go to a Palm Pilot or something like that.  I love techy stuff, but not my planner.  I want it to be on paper so I can touch it and scribble all over it. 

Announcement is now complete — go back to your Christmas shopping, wrapping, and party going.  Have a wonderful today! 

And I hope that you, too, find the planner of your dreams! 

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord. 

My favorite part is the line — Word of the father, now in flesh appearing. 

I love this passage of scripture — Jesus is the LIGHT of men! All things were made through him and without Him nothing has been made.  He is Emmanuel — God with us.

That’s a lot to digest — a lot to comprehend, but the botom line is He is the light of men.  He came that we might have eternal life.  He came to make us free and to make us righteous.

Christmas, with all it’s wrapping paper, pretty bows, great buys and wonderful Christmas carols is just another day of the year — although everyone is closed on Christmas day, it’s just another day if you take the baby Jesus out of it, as so many are trying to do.  It’s not a celebration of Holiday, or a celebration of anything other than the birth of Christ.  It’s Christmas.  A celebration of the day when God came to dwell among men.

This what Christmas is to me.  You’ll probably hear great pastors and teachers speal on this very subject this week, and I’m not a theologian, but I have a good heart. I love the Lord, and I want to serve Him.

I’ll try to be one of the faithful mentioned in the song — I just want to adore my savior.  I want to adore Him, know Him and walk with Him during Christmas and throughout the year. 

Have a great one!

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17)

I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (john 10:10)

I will admit that I don’t always keep the spirit of Christmas and I get caught up in the hoopla of the season.  I shop too much, buy too many presents, and see every sort of thing I want from new furniture to funky seasonal sweaters (I restrain myself… well, sometimes).

Now I love decorations as much as the next person.  In fact, I am a lover of  color Christmas lights.  I think white lights look all pristine and orderly.  I like my Christmas decorations to be big, bright, and just this side of gaudy.  Now, I do draw the line at tacky, but I love some flashy decorations.   

I am troubled by a big yard inflatable yard ornament (what else do you call these things? Display?)   This infatable …. scene is on my route to work, so I see if every day and every day I wonder… why?

It’s an inflatable nativity scene and that just seems … well, wrong to me.  I love the idea of putting a nativity scene on display and please if you have an inflatable yard ornament don’t throw rocks at me.  Read on. 

I’m not a big fan of the inflatables, but some of them are pretty funny.  I think rudolph is fun and Santa on the Harley is hilarious, but a blow up baby Jesus?  I just don’t think so.   

 It’s especially sad when the blower is turned off and the nativity deflates and just crumples to the ground.   And when little ones play bop-it with Mary or use Baby Jesus as a soccer ball and popHim up in the air with their head, feet, whatever.  That’s just so wrong. 

And then there’s the neighborhood dog (usually mine) who barks at the blow ups and then, when the wind blows just right and the lamb seems to move, the dog leaps and tackles the lamb to the ground.  Doesn’t exactly scream Joy to the World! 

So, I want to keep the season focused on the birth of the Savior, but I have to draw the line at the inflatable nativity scenes.  Can’t we just have some wooden cut outs?  We can even outline them in lights — color lights!  We can use those flashing LED lights that make your yard look like a landing strip at the airport. 

So keep that Christmas spirit, and if you happen to have one of those inflatable nativity scenes I urge you to reconsider.  Try a big ol’ LED star over your house… but remember to register it with the FAA.  You don’t want any unschedule landings on your roof.  Now that brings me to the Santa and reindeer on the roof…. please don’t let Santa dangle from the roof by the reins.  I’ve seen more than one child traumatized by this visual.

Okay, before I get off on more yard ornaments, I wish you all a happy day.  I’m off to shop!  I’m going to rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to my savior and Lord for this season that is a celebration of the life we now have in Christ.  Joy filled life!  Abundant life.  A life in Him! 

Wal-Mart is always filled with … shall we say, colorful characters.  But this Christmas season it seems especially interesting.  I’ve tried to do the bulk of my shopping elsewhere, but there are some things I can only find at Wal-Mart.

I stopped by the other day with the thoughts “mid week, and middle of the day, less shoppers.”  Oh, I was so sadly mistaken.  My first clue should have been the overly full parking lot, but I’m the eternal optimist and thought “oh, it won’t be THAT busy.”  Busy was the least of my problems.  Here are a few of things I ran into:

Electric shopping cart riders — they were everywhere.  I had no clue the store had that many electric carts.  Let me tell you, those little carts can move.  I had to jump out of the way more than once. 

And then there the  teams.  I think there may have been some sort of contest or club initiation going on (although most of the riders were well beyond college age). The teams shopped  shopped side by side and blocked the ENTIRE aisle.  I got caught behind one of these tag team electric cart duos.  I didn’t want to appear rude to those who have a physical disability, so I just crawled along behind them thanking the Lord that I could get around so well.    Husband and wife (at least I think they were married, they certainly bickered like it) discussed every minutae detail of each purchase.  And then I watched something wondrous occur. 

And what to her wondering eyes should appear, but the bargain of the day, sadly a crowd blocked her way.  

With a twinkle in her eye, and dollar signs in her head, She leapt from her cart , raced down the aisle, vaulted over a display, and snagged her great bargain. 

A miracle? I just can’t say, but a amazing sight to behold nonetheless. A healing from the heavens or the powers of a bargain made this feeble woman walk, and even run.

Certainly, this fleet-footed shopper never intended to fake her infirmaries  and surely she was caught up in the Christmas joy that she became a miracle at the Wal-Mart.

Or she was just faking it! You choose.

Wild at Wal-Mall and that was just one couple, you should have seen the lady with the bad Lily Munster hair (and for those who don’t remember Lily Munster here’s a photo)

Now picture short, but standing straight out (not up, think out) on either side.  It looked like some strange reciever of some sort.  I did a double take, then realized and try to be all cool, like I wasn’t looking.  Come on, this lady has hand that stands 6 inches out on either side and is striped like a skunk.  I love me some big ol’ County Music star hair, but this was in a different place all together. 

There were many more like the lady who drove off in her electric cart while it was still plugged in and charging — she never noticed until the greeter chased her down.  And there was the….. oh, I could go on and on. 

I’d hoped to leave you with some great words of wisdom, but I have none today.  Just watch out for those electric cart drivers, they’re a tough bunch this time of year.