All-American Muslim

Have you been watching this show on TLC? Wow! What an eye opener it has been for me.

The show follows five Muslim families in Dearborn MI. The families go from very conservative to not conservative at all. From women who wear the scarf to women who have tattoos and wear very revealing clothing.

This is not an action packed, drama among the cast type of show. It's normal every day life. It's been interesting learning different Muslim customs. For those who are more conservative, a person is not supposed to shake the hand of the opposite sex unless they are relatives. Instead, the person simply puts their hand over their heart. It is custom for the children to remain living at home until they are married, regardless of their age. When getting together with friends, the men and women usually split up.

This show could easily pluck out the five Muslim families and insert five Christian families ranging from very conservative to not conservative at all. Or five Jewish families, or five {insert your own religion} families.

The season finale was Sunday and I'm thinking it is not going to have a second season due to lack of interest. It's a shame too. There are so many misconceptions about Muslim people and this show gave us all an opportunity to learn about a people (and culture) that we might not otherwise know about.

If you have ON DEMAND with Comcast, you can still catch some of the episodes. If you haven't yet seen it, I highly recommend you check it out.

What season is this?

"Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la"

Turn on the TV and there are Christmas movies and commercials all over the place.

Drive around town and houses are all decorated up with lights and such.

Children are having Christmas parities at school.

Santa Clause has been making appearances at Malls and stores.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all into Santa and decorations and watching the grandkids open their gifts on Christmas morning. I only wish there was a little less emphasis on Santa and the commercialization and a little more on it being Jesus' birthday. More on the season of Advent leading up to Christmas morning.

For many people, by the time Christmas finally gets here, they are so ready for it to be over. I guess that is what happens when Christmas starts being forced on us in October!

If more attention was paid to Advent and Jesus, I don't think this would happen. The weeks of Advent are as follows:

Hope
Love
Joy
Peace

Hope for good things to come
Love for what we have
Joy at good things delivered
Peace in our hearts

How is it possible to ever get tired of this? By celebrating Advent, and not just Santa, we are filling our minds, and hearts, and lives with the goodness of Jesus...and that is way better than movies, and decorations, and presents any day!

Faith like Job

I was thinking today about Job's wife and her reaction as Job went through his own personal hell.

Job was a wealthy man with several children. His love for the Lord was great. That old stinker satan told God he could break Job. God had lots of faith in Job and let that old stinker try. Job lost his children, his servants and his livestock. He had boils festering all over his body. Life in general was not a bed of roses for Job at this point.

Job still loved God.

Enter Job's wife. She did not have the same faith as her husband. She said to him, "Why don't you just curse God and die?"

Job still loved God.

How many times have we gone through rough stuff and wonder why God is letting this happen? Did you ever think maybe God is letting that old stinker satan try his best because God has so much faith in you?

.

Definate God Moment

Have you ever experianced a moment you just know is from God? I had one of those last night and was it ever awesome! I was driving out of town, in a hurry of course, and was stuck behind a pickup going below the speed limit. As I put my hand on the turn signal, I had a vision of running into a deer...I took my hand off the turn signal and right then a deer ran out in front of the pickup!

Boy, did I ever let out a big "Thank you" to God. I then had to call my friend Alicia and tell her about my God Moment 'cause it was way too awesome to keep to myself!

Psalms 25:15-18

"I look to the Lord for help at all times, and He rescues me from danger. Turn to me, Lord, and be merciful to me, because I am lonely and weak. Relieve me of my worries and save me from all my troubles. Consider my distress and suffering and forgive all my sins."

Three Simple Rules

This summer, I picked up the book Three Simple Rules. If you don't mind, I would like to share some of this book with you.

There are three simple rules that have the power to change the world...
*Do no harm
*Do good
*Stay in love with God

~Do others look at us and see God at work in our life? Is our way of living life-giving rather than life-draining?

~When we agree that we will not harm those with whom we disagree, conversation, dialogue, and discovery of new insight become possible.

~To follow Jesus is to desire to be like him in our living and our dying. For some of us, that choice is just too frightening and too demanding; so we follow at a distance or turn away.

~To do no harm means that I will be on guard so all my actions and even my silence will not add injury to another.

~Doing good is not limited to those like me or those who like me. Doing good is directed to everyone, even those who do no fit my category of 'worthy' to receive any good that I can direct their way.

~Staying in love with God is the foundation to all of life.

~The failures of the past are to be forgotten and the new possibilities are to be embraced.

Wednesday's Word

I've been spending some time in Psalms this week. I look back over the years and wonder why I've waited so long to have an interest in this book of the Bible.

Those who know you, Lord, will trust you; you do not abandon anyone who comes to you. God remembers those who suffer; he does not forget their cry, and he punishes those who wrong them.
Psalms 9:10,12

I would also like to ask for prayer for a classmate of mine who was in a car accident this morning. Her name is Sherri.

Wednesday's Word

Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed.

Ephesians 4:29

Negative comments only discourage and tear down. Positive comments encourage and build.

Wednesday's Word

But God was with him and brought him safely through all his troubles.
Acts 7:10

VBS Week

It's that time of the year again. Time for the church to be decorated in some crazy fashion. Time for gobs of cookies appearing in the basement. Time for the towns-people to volunteer at church. Time for wiggling, giggling, excited children to fill the church up. Yes, dear friend, it's Vacation Bible School time!

I just LOVE this time of year! The looks on the children's faces as they come in. The excited chatter as they wait for the program to start. The laughing, the singing...did I mention the cookies?

We have a wonderful group of ladies that put VBS on each year. We all have our own little part we do. And you all know how it is in a small church, once you start doing something, you are there for life! I started a new part this year to go along with my regular part. My new part was decorations. My friends Alicia, Kathy and Sherri answered my anxious plea for help when it was discovered there was a decorations mix up less than a week before VBS started. I don't even know what I got anxious about, the ladies all did a wonderful job and the place looks great.

My regular part is the opening and closing. Basically it's my job to get the kids all wound up and then send them off to someone else....imagine that, ME getting kids wound up! Who'd of ever thought that to be possible?

Tonight was the first night and it seemed to go off without a hitch. Each year I do something silly in the church service on Sunday morning if they reach a goal of a certain amount of children attending...of course I always make it an attainable goal. This year I'm going to stand up in the front of the church and do the hula-hoop!

See what I mean, who would ever think I could get kids wound up??

The Tea Cup

My sermon yesterday had to do with God being the Potter and us being the clay. At the end, I read the poem, The Tea Cup. I thought maybe you would all enjoy reading it. It helps to put all the trials we go through into a bit better perspective.

The Tea Cup

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores.
They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups.
This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup.
They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke.
"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup.

There was a time when I was red and I was clay.
My master took me and rolled me and
patted me over and over and I yelled out,
"let me alone", but he only smiled, "Not yet."

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said,
"and suddenly I was spun around and around and around.
Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I screamed.
But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'

Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat.
I wondered why he wanted to burn me,
and I yelled and knocked at the door.
I could see him through the opening and
I could read his lips as He shook his head, 'Not yet.'

Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.
'There, that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over.
The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag.
'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one.
This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate.
I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried.
All the time I could see him through the
opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it.
I was ready to give up. But the door opened and
he took me out and placed me on the shelf.
One hour later he handed me a mirror and said,
'Look at yourself.And I did. I said,
'That's not me; that couldn't be me.
It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'

'I want you to remember, then,' he said,
'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted,
but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up.

I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel,
but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.
I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven,
but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked.

I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over,
but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened;
you would not have had any color in your life.
And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven,
you wouldn't survive for very long because
the hardness would not have held.
Now you are a finished product.
You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.

MORAL:

God knows what He's doing (for all of us).
He is the Potter, and we are His clay.
He will mold us and make us,
so that we may be made into a flawless piece
of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Wednesday's Word

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will make him burn with shame. Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good."
Romans 12:20-21



Mama Bear

Wednesday's Word

Your words will be used to judge you...

Matthew 12:37

Rapture...Are you ready?

I want to warn you that this is a very powerful and thought provoking video. It is less then a minute but it definately packs a punch!

The Shack

I just finished this book and it is absolutely awesome!

It is important to know that it is a book of fiction. It is not always Biblically correct, but it does not claim to be either. None the less, it will make you rethink how you see some aspects of yourself as a Christian. I shed many tears, both good and bad, during this reading. I had to put it down many times to ponder what was said. It caused me to take a hard look at myself and how I treat and judge others.

The basic idea is that a man is unable to deal with the loss of his daughter. He ends up meeting God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a way that he was able to accept them. Not the Trinity as you would expect.

I have walked away from this reading with a renewed love for the Lord. For a desire to better myself as a person.

Wednesday's Word

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Wednesday's Word

Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to His word; instead, put it into practice.

James 1:22

God's Chisel

This is 8 minutes long, but well worth it. It will change how you look at yourself in the mirror.