How do I use the Power in Words

Words can have an amazing shelf life.

Like nitro, they have explosive potential to do great harm or great good.  They may judge or simply grant forgiveness.

Ah, but when a relationship builds, words are the brick and mortar that build the foundation.

I just watched a movie about duets, two voices, a flowing melody with harmony to cradle it, illustrating the relationships taking place.  It brought to mind so many conversation with runaways, homeless and street kids.

Souls used to the tinny sounds of lies, comments that lead to crashes and sometimes sirens.  So used to the biting and cutting remark, the snap judgment, that the soft sound of grace and acceptance takes practice to hear.

These lessons I gleaned from street souls seeking a trustworthy word, an honesty they had yet to find.

Christ did not reach out in silence, but in word and action.  Jesus described himself as the “word of life,” speaking with love. We need to ask ourselves:   Do I know Him this way?  Have I committed His loving words to heart?

Am I able to use His words with love and respect to a sinner, rather than in judgment?  Why is it difficult to love  others as myself, like Christ asked me?  How did He reflect love through words?

Not in Part but the Whole

For Valentine's Day

I Corinthians 13: 4-13 (NLT)

Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless.  But love will last forever!   Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!  But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.  When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child.  But when I grew up, I put away childish things.  Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.  Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

This last Month’s Infamous “Coffee House” Facebook Quotes

If you “Friend Request” me on Facebook and your profile picture is a car, 
I will assume you are a  transformer.

Watched a drunk guy accuse an RTD driver for stealing a bottle of non existent booze, 
Is this typical for a Wednesday?

Anyone who stops their car in the middle of the crosswalk 
obviously has never had to walk in one!

wow! im glad i dont look like that anymore. lol. 
 (after I shared a picture of him at Coffee House, taken 8 years ago.)

It is encouraging and inspiring to recall our lives all those years ago
 and see what we have made of ourselves despite it all! :o)

Last quote from the Prodigal fb page I started:

I love bein able to talk to someone with no bias or judgment involved… Thanks V.  Other then that… I still have  thinking to do… So bye fb

**My aim is not to build a social network online, where things are shallow.  Instead, I use it as a way to pray and tempt them off (into the real world) to have real relationships where the Holy Spirit can move and they can see real faith in action.

Presents to Presence

Presents and food were always the first thing that leapt into my mind when someone mentioned Christmas to me as a child.  So began my plotting and drooling.

Getting older means now I’m thinking about the presents to plan for and shop for and wrap, not to mention groceries and lots of cooking! Whew!

I still glean many joys from these things, yet, with age came a better   understanding of what the real gifts are that I should honor & praise.

First to honor the food of God’s word.  Not just on holidays, but for every    devotion, bible study and sermon each week.  I know I could never recall them all. Just as I will never remember every meal I’ve ever eaten.  Yet if I hadn’t eaten every day?

God’s word is even more essential to our faith than the food we eat to live!

Next is to praise the dearest thing of all to me which is God’s presence, (not presents, but you know what I mean) in my life, everyday!

And because I know He is with me, my attitude and presence can be a loving gift to others, too!  =)

Here I am, Lord

Arthur came to our door for his usual bag of food from our food bank. In exchange, he washes the windows of ROP. He is tall with long uncut hair & beard. Weather beaten and aged, it doesn’t seem all that surprising when you discover him talking to himself.

Rather than hold a sign that reads WILL WORK FOR FOOD, Arthur has created hand made tools and poles he uses to wash windows. Businesses offer him cash for services which he survives on and shares with others.

Arthur calls me by a different name every time he comes. He knows I’ll visit awhile after I bring his food.
It’s hard to follow the conversation when he talks of swimming at restaurants and deserts in people’s ears.
I can’t change Arthur or fix him, only accept him as a child of God. Yet, I have something to learn from Arthur for I can feel Christ with us every time I just sit and listen.

Fuming to Counting Blessings

There has been more than one snow this last month that left my car covered.  Road conditions no one liked, and my appointments for work didn’t just cancel just because I didn’t want to drive.

I admit, I don’t have the greatest attitude for others sometimes, when I’m driving; so I’ve learned to pray.  This last month, it kind of went like this...

I hate scraping the car ~ Well at least I have a car

I have a garage to, but we’re using it for sorting through our household projects, and Christmas. Guess we’re blessed.

I hate driving in the snow ~ at least you’re not freezing at the bus stop. Think of all those people you’re seeing that don’t have a choice.

I have a warm home and food on my table, kids and a husband that love me.  We may not have a lot, but we have all that matters.

Thank you again, Jesus, for putting things in perspective.  Now, which station is it that has nonstop Christmas songs on the radio?  =)

"What are you most thankful for?" she asked.

You mean beyond the funnies, cordless power drills, silly puns, super glue?   

No seriously, I guess it would be my parent’s example.

I was estranged from my parents for many years, something they didn't want.  It took years and obvious evidence of their trying before I believed they really wanted to close the breach.  It was never easy.

We all had to work hard at not letting the past rob the future, letting go of old hurts, and harsh communications, to build new memories and good experiences shared once more.  Because of the time and work we put in, our bonds are strong and I can safely say I count them as my closest friends.

So, if I must pick one thing I'm grateful for, it would be my parent’s ability to fight the odds, admit mistakes, and change with the need to strive for something beyond measure; and their patience in passing that skill along to me.  It has made me a better person and steadied all my relationships since.

Oooo, and I’m grateful for hot cocoa.  =)