L is for Loving Jesus

And L is for ladies' hats.

I vaguely remember the days when a lady wore a hat and gloves and stockings and high heels to church; when a gentleman wore a suit and tie. When you went to church you dressed up. You didn't wear jeans, or flip flops. But now, we still worship God, the same God we worshipped in those days, but we seem to be more familiar with Him. We take liberties. We pat Him on the back and tell Him we'll get around to doing what He asks, but we're busy right now. I don’t think we were doing His will or worshipping Him any better then. It just looks and feels different now. OK, maybe God is thinking, "All right. Now they can listen to Me because their feet aren't aching, or they aren't worried about having to wear the same outfit they had on last week. Now they can hear Me calling to them because they're breathing easier without that tie so tight around their necks."   Maybe.

We each carry God into the church with us.  He is in us and around us, standing beside us, nudging us, leading us to do as He wills.  He isn't thinking about what we're wearing, He's thinking about what we're doing.  He isn't thinking about if we are wearing the latest creations, but if we're loving "the least of these".  He isn't worried about whether our heads are covered with lace or flowers; He's working on what's inside our heads and hearts, planting seeds of expectation and opportunity for each of us to step up and follow Him, no matter how we're dressed.

No matter how we're dressed for church, we need to love one another.  We need to see the opportunities to serve Him that Jesus puts before us and step out in faith that we are "dressed" appropriately for the job, whatever it might be.

So don't worry about what you're wearing.  Come to church on Sunday morning and take the seat next to me.  I want you to see Jesus in me.

"Let your light shine before men, so they may see your good works."  Matthew 5:16

Alphabet Catch-Up!

Back in April, I thought I could keep up with the A to Z blogging challenge, writing something that went with each letter of the alphabet on each consecutive day throughout the month.  Well, as you can tell, I fell behind.  WAY behind!  So, I am going to do a little catching up now.  So here goes...

G is for Grayson and Gram. They make such a sweet pair. Grayson loves his Great-Grandmother. They love to sit and watch tv together. Gray knows exactly which book is Gran-Gran's favorite and takes it to her to be read each and every time. Gran-Gran delights in having Gray come to visit. They are a pair, like two bookends. The beginning and the end of our family.


H is for home. Home is where the heart is. Home is where you are comfortable; where you can take your shoes off. Home is where you want to be when you are tired. Home is where everyone comes when disaster hits. Home is where you find your support in times of trouble, and your joy in times of celebration. While we may leave home, we always know where it is when it is time to return.

I is for ink; J is for journaling. It is my favorite thing to start a fresh new page in a brand new lovely blank journal, and to choose from my pink, green, peacock blue, or purple pens. I write with a different colored ink each time I go to my journal. It separates the days visually, and gives me a feeling of creativity. Lately my journaling by hand has given way to the technology of the day, and the use of 750words.com which allows me to put all of my random thoughts in one place and keeps track of my word count, the number of days I have written, and gives me a daily goal to reach. My daughters have both given me new journals recently, which has brought back the need to feel my hand moving across the cool clean page and the satisfaction of seeing the words appear where none were before. So, today’s the day to choose a color. What will it be? Hmmm…