Summing Up A Legacy

My grandmother is an amazing woman.  In my thirty years on this earth, I have learned many things from her.  I thought I'd share some of them with you today:

• Always start the day with something beautiful.  (And there is always something beautiful to find, even if you have to search it out).
• Always find the positive in every situation (I can still hear her singing, "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don't mess with Mr. InBetween")
• Be thankful for everything you're given.  It doesn't matter how much you like it, how much it cost, or what you are going to do with it; be thankful because someone thought enough of you to give it to you.
• Always give to others.  There is always something you can do to give to someone else -- pick them flowers, clear the dinner dishes, write a note, visit someone who is lonely, make a craft to share, bake cookies to leave out for your visitors, or make a quick phone call just to say "I'm thinking of you."  The best gifts aren't the ones that cost your purse; they are the ones that cost yourself.
• Family is important.  Always stand next to your husband, helping to make him all he can be.  Love your children, your grandchildren, and your great grandchildren.  Gather them together for every celebration you are able.  Take them on vacation with you.  Family matters.

• Look for joy in the little things.  Take the time to notice the detail of the black dots inside of a tiger lily, the myriad of colors on one little humming bird, the unique detail of each shell you find while walking on the beach.
• Start each day early and well.  When it's time to wake up, get up and get going; you can't redeem a wasted day.
• Set the table.  Have a centerpiece, carefully folded napkins, and make it pretty.  It's not the food that matters; it's the family sitting around it.  Make it an occasion!

• Do your best.  If you don't, it's not worth it.
• Value friends.  Make the time to pour effort into your relationships; they will last for decades if you care for them.
• Music brightens every day.  Don't be afraid to sing a song when you need to pick yourself up.
• Don't apologize for who you are; be yourself.  But be the best version of you that you can be.  Do your best, be your best, look your best, give your best.  
• Don't be idle; there is too much to enjoy in life to just sit around saying "I'm bored."  Boredom is a choice.

• Move.  Dance, walk, ride a bike.  But enjoy moving!
• Enjoy all of life's pleasures: the feeling of the sand beneath your toes as the waves pull it back out to sea, the refreshing of an ice cream cone on a hot summer evening, the refreshing taste of fresh orange juice on a summer morning, hearing the one you love pulling up the driveway, sitting together at the end of the day over drinks and hors d'oeuvres and talking about what you did.  Enjoy it all.
• And most importantly, treasure each day.  Plan it, live it, enjoy it.  You only get once chance at today.

The Background Music is Changing

You know when you're watching a movie and the suspense is building?  The music is mounting, creating a feeling of anxious anticipation and you have bated breath because you know "it" is coming, even if you don't know what "it" is. 

Well, I believe that is where we are in Christendom.  The background music has been playing a love song for millenia now.  For thousands of years God has been declaring His love for His people, wooing them to Himself, courting His reticent Bride.  But the music is changing.  Something is coming.

  

God is raising up a Bride, an army in purest WHITE, to be consecrated in such a way that we are waiting with bated breath for His voice - & He is positioning us in such a way that we will be able to hear it no matter when He calls.  He is setting us apart, calling us to a life of reckless abandon, & shattering the religious chain, tearing down the self conscious strongholds, & wrecking the prideful walls that have held us down, back, and out.

Are you hearing it in your heart?  Are you being called to set things to the side that have previously caught your attention and distracted your focus?  Are you hearing the Master's voice gently calling, yet ripe with urgency, telling you the time for compromise is over?  Are you feeling His heart beat wit a passion for the broken, the lost, the deceived?  It's time.  It's time to put on WHITE, to place a veil over your face, to turn away from other loves.  The music is changing -- and the bridal march is about to sound!