You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2008.
I have three sisters and we are scattered about in three different states so every once in a while we get an opportunity to get together for a girl’s weekend, whew hoo!!
We meet at my sister’s home in Kingsport, TN because she is in the middle of the four of us and has a great home for us to move about and not be on top of each other except we end up that way anyway and love it!
We had three glorious days together this long weekend, no husbands, just us girls. No worries about taking care of the men just doing our own thing! Not that we mind taking care of our men but sometimes it’s just nice to let all that estrogen hang out and be girls!! Bet lots of you girls can relate!! 
When we were planning our weekend via phone and email my baby sister reminded us of something that tugged at our hearts. We were going to be doing something our mother never had a chance to do…hang out with her sisters at the age we all are now. Mom passed away when she was only 42 and we have all passed that age by several years, yep, we’re gettin’ on up there. So we decided to dedicate this weekend to our Mom. I pulled out a memory album I had put together when Mom passed away and I had one of her pictures blown up to 5×7’s for each of us and framed them. I presented them to my sisters when we all arrived on Friday night and it was a tender moment for us. We all sat around together for a long time and looked through the album and enjoyed bringing back all of our favorite memories of Mom.
We cooked our favorite family recipe and we played our favorite card game that we all used to play growing up (back before cell phones, computers, IPods, etc when families did activities together). We cried some and we laughed so much we almost wet our pants and were thankful there was a bathroom close by! We loved on each other a bunch. We stayed in our comfy clothes all day Saturday with a fire in the fireplace and hopes of promised snow that fell in all three places we live except there where it always snows before the rest of us ever get it! Go figure! We watched chic flicks, popped popcorn, stayed up late and we even went to Krispy Kreme Donut Sat. morning in our jammies and bedroom shoes for fresh donuts!
How fun to be carefree for a few days! We caught up on what’s going on with our families, we prayed together and ate a ton of food! Yummy!
We did have two daughters and a daughter’s friend with us and the younger cousin and her friend wrote a song for the older cousin that is in college (who gave up her weekend with her boyfriend to spend it with her aunts and they held a performance for us Saturday evening as we sat in our comfys (still) between chic flicks.
Sunday at church, my sister was so proud to introduce us all to her church family and the pastor’s message included spending quality time with family. Well, we were certainly 100% on that the whole weekend!
This morning was a time of cramming in every minute and savoring the last few of those minutes being together before we had to go back to our different lives and families. We may not be able to see each other every day but we left there with our hearts filled to the brim of a love that will carry us through until we can be together again!
It truly was a perfect weekend and Mom, well she would be right proud of her girls for carrying on a depth of love that she and Dad instilled in each one of us as well as our brother who had to just hear about it on the phone…after all, it was girls only!
I told my husband all I wanted for Christmas was for us to pray together on our knees. Our conflicting work schedules have limited us to this awesome ritual being daily but man oh man is it ever a special time of intimacy with our Father! There’s just something about feeling closer to Him when we’re on our knees! It kinda knocks off any little whims of pride in our attitudes to be in such a humble position as we communicate with our Savior. It makes me realize that I truly am a child of God and that He is El Shaddai, my God Almighty, that He is El Elyon, my God of the Most High that I find solace in as I am on my knees presenting my requests to Him. I find myself “pondering” over the 17th chapter of the book of John in the Bible when Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed to His El Shaddai, His heavenly Father from the depth of His heart. He prayed intently not only for His disciples but for us as well. Wow, that overwhelms me!
I’m not so sure though, that when Jesus prayed he had two dogs laying their chins on his arms and hands as He spoke to God. Not impossible I suppose but two of ours have decided they wanted in on our prayer time so they settle down with us as if they are aware of just what is really going on. :~)
My husband’s grandfather once was explaining to us insistantly how important it was to get on our knees in prayer and reverence and he exclaimed that ….”well, you just can’t fall from your knees!” The only falling I have experienced is falling into His comforting arms as I prayed to Him in despair.
I once heard Beth Moore say that Jesus loves “knee-mail”. I find the more I send up that knee-mail the more I seem to hear back from Him. “Be still and Know that I am God.”
Deborah Boitnott told us in our women’s conference that it is always a good thing to get “knee to knee” with Jesus. She’s right and I have found that you can do that anywhere!
We plan to take advantage of this humbling act of prayer for 2008 and all the years there after until the day that we are actually sitting at His feet looking into His eyes when we communicate with Him. Another one of those circumstances that I find myself pondering over in awe of what it will really be like…I can only imagine.
We have discovered that “spiritual knees” are a life changing act of intimacy, obedience, love, trust and faith.
Well, gotta run…time to get on my knees!
I met Jodi Baxter about two and half years ago. She was at a women’s conference with her friend Avis and they were put in a prayer group with 10 other women they had never met until that moment. The women were from all backgrounds and cultures and had different circumstances going on in their lives. As it turns out they kept up their prayer group and two and a half years or so later they have become family, very close sisters in Christ and even added a few new sisters. They named themselves “The Yada Yada Prayer Group” and I have had the privilege of following their lives through reading the series of novels by Neta Jackson. She, as the writer, has brought these women into my heart as well as many others. I actually found myself praying for Jodi one morning in the shower as I was getting ready for work before I realized that Jodi was a fictional character from the book. That’s just it though, fictional each of them may be but boy do they come alive in your hearts when you get involved in the books!
So many of you know exactly what I am talking about, don’t you?
Well, I sadly just finished book 7, the last of the series and did so with a box of Kleenex at my side, ooh which is now empty!
More than just reading a book series that touched me deeply, through the richness of this series and the impact it has had on my life, I have been in a prayer group that was developed from the inspiration of Neta Jackson’s books for two years now. I have to say that it has been a blessed transformation for me and my prayer partners. Just knowing that you have intimate prayer partners that you can call on and trust to accept you as you are and pray for you sincerely and loyally is huge!
I look forward to seeing what all God has planned for our lives this year as we continue to pray for one another and I also look forward to Neta Jackson’s new series…..The Yada Yada House of Hope. She promises that we may just see some of our old friends in this new series!
I highly recommend that this series of novels be on your list of books to read this year!
Thank you, Neta Jackson!!
I love words! They fascinate me. Did you ever hear growing up…
“sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”? oh but they will and they do!
I’m always wondering where a word originated and how it came about to be what it is. Words contain so much emotion and feeling, to me anyway.
So, along with my God given verse for the new year, I give myself a new word. Two years ago it was “passion” and throughout that year I delved into that word and discovered it’s many facets and I felt I gained a sense of living that brought more depth to my life by personally experiencing the passion of life around me. For example… the wind blowing in my face, not just noticing that the wind was blowing but feeling it on my face, feeling it as part of God’s creation and all that wind can do when it blows. It can softly blow hair off a girl’s face attracting the attention of a curious guy and it can also blow harsh enough to cause destruction and death. That’s the kind of passion that enveloped me, so much so that it was my word for this past year too.
Well, I have a new word for this year and I’m very excited about it! It’s funny how I get these words. I think passion caught my attention from “The Passion Of The Christ” and the impact that movie had on me.
This past year, towards the end of the year, my new word popped up and grabbed my attention so many times in so many ways that I realized it was perfect for this phase of my life’s journey.
My new word is “ponder”.
Ponder…it means to consider something deeply and thoroughly, to meditate. To weigh carefully in the mind, consider thoughtfully. To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.
That’s where I am in my walk with Jesus, considering His Word more deeply this year and to meditate on it more thoroughly. To weigh in my mind all that He has done for me and pulled me through to get me where I am today. Joyce Meyer says ” I’m not where I want to be but THANK GOD I’m not where I used to be!” A big FAT AMEN!!!
To reflect on the promise God has given me in Joel 2:25 that He will repay me for the years the locusts have eaten, the years that I did not meditate on His Word or spend time communicating with Him.
He encourages us so often through his word to do just that…..meditate, ponder His Word and know it in our hearts so in the times we live in today we will know His truth from the lies of the world.
I urge you to join me in pondering, meditating on God’s Word and we’ll watch our journey deepen spiritually.
Come on, there’s room for all of us on His journey bus!
