memorial pancakes

Yesterday was Memorial Day, a day of remembrance of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom in this country and I take this day to heart personally because I know that freedom is not free. I posted a special thought about this yesterday. Today's post is more about remembering a specific Memorial Day from a few years back.

In 2006 my grandmother was ending her time on this side of eternity. I was home that morning and decided to make breakfast for the family. I always enjoyed cooking but my grandmother and I would often have little run-ins about how things worked in the kitchen. Somehow she was always afraid I was going to mess something up, like melting one of the pots or pans. Silly I know, but she worked hard to have nice things so we agreed if I bought my own cookware that I could cook whatever I wanted. Yes, this was the family I grew up with :)

In any event, that Memorial Day as she and I and a friend sat down to enjoy our bacon, eggs, juice and pancakes I believe her comment was something to the effect of "Let's see what you've managed to whip up this morning girl." She was so precious, frail and weak from months of chemo and radiation. She had a hard time just walking from her room less than 10 ft away to the dining room. I can still hear the whisper puffs of her oxygen machine like it really was yesterday. She sat there making conversation with us young ladies about life and enjoying a good meal. When she was done, she looked at me and said, "You did really good, these are the best pancakes I've had, so light and fluffy."

This event is so precious to me. It was one of the last full meals (she ate about half of it) that she was able to have because 13 days later she drew her last breath. I miss her so much, especially when I'm in the kitchen "experimenting" as she used to say and I want her input. It would be nice to have her here to taste the dishes I prepare or to talk to or pray with or I would love to encourage her with some of the poems I've written recently. However, she can see it from there in heaven. Well it has now become a custom for me to enjoy pancakes on Memorial Day and take a moment to be grateful for the woman whose prayers ushered me into the Kingdom. She was a warrior servant of a different kind and for that I am eternally grateful.

memorial day

This picture may seem a bit strong but it touched me and is a reminder of what today is all about. I am grateful for today where we take time to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in protecting and defending the ideals of our nation. There are veterans in my family which means they came home but to the many who did not have this privilege, my heart goes out to them. Thank you for sharing your amazing loved ones with all the rest of us. I hope that we as Americans honor those who have given everything to protect our rights.

This being an election year and all the mud that is already being slung, in the midst of a time where we seem to separate so much, I pray that we remember that these sacrifices were to protect a great nation that should be unified not torn apart. I am proud to be an American and very grateful for those who serve to keep it so. Thank you.

i can only imagine

What if I just decided to live as a risk taker? What if I decided that in the midst of my current situation to exhibit the benefits of all the recent training I've been through. Perhaps I have met the requirement of the current level of faith and it is time to move on to the next. The thing about growth is that at times it is uncomfortable and causes life to feel a little out of balance but it is the normal course of nature for your body to make certain changes to prepare you for the next stage of life.

I was reminded tonight by a message I heard tonight that impossible is nothing for God. Christine Caine was the speaker tonight at a women's conference in Frisco, TX at the wonderful Elevate Life Church. She spoke the very words that God has been speaking to me and wanting me to remember. One reference was to Sarah and Abraham's inability within themselves to have a child. They needed God because there was NO WAY they could have a baby without God stepping in. In Hebrews it talks about Sarah judging God as faithful and thus being able to conceive the promised seed, Isaac. Then she spoke of Caleb and his resolve to believe based on the fact that he received the promise from God and he knew God to be faithful. Unlike ten of the brothers who were with him, when he returned from spying out the promised land his declaration was, "We are well able to overcome this."

My heart was so engaged as I knew, God was taking moment to speak to me, "This is for you." I had to remember Him and judge Him as faithful in my own life. As Christine was preaching her heart out (as she always does and I so love it!) my thoughts went to a post on this page, the threat, I boldly declared that I would fight fire with faith and my reference was that of Abraham and Sarah. I then also thought that in the past month in 2 other posts, I have mentioned Caleb and his faithfulness to act based on the promise he received from God. I realized in that very large auditorium that my very large God was taking a moment to make sure that I know that He sees me and that He has not forgotten me and that I am right where He wants me.

I am living in a place where right now, everything is not under control, I do not know the full plan of action steps to take to get me where I believe I am going but right now I have to remember that my God is ALWAYS faithful for He can not deny himself! My life is truly in His hands and every hope, dream and passion I have ever had is surrendered to Him. I am not in control but I know Who is. I have seen a future version of myself that I never truly believed I could be, but what if for just a moment I decided to be a risk taker and live this life as though I flat out believed the truth of His word fully? What if He had to take away everything about who I thought I was to show me who He made me to be? What if life could look like the crazy, impossible dreams I had of ministering and changing the world... the dreams that were buried in the rubbish heap of life happening. What if I could believe and conceive His incredible dreams once again? Perhaps I would be available to be used by Him to impact others right where I am and light a fire in them, that they then would in turn go and do the same and then we would see lasting, true change in our families, communities, cities, nations and our world. You know perhaps it's time to do more than just imagine.

hope, meaning and power

I've noticed that some people like to take biblical principles and teach them as "new revelations of the principles of the elemental truth of the way the world works" and not give proper credit to the Lord who is their Creator Who gave them wisdom to have their "new revelations." The principles work because they are rooted in the way God set up the world but in our hubris we humans think we're teaching the "latest concept" to the starving masses. Unfortunately because so many people do not have a foundation in the word of God, disunity in the Body of Christ and incongruent teaching on how He speaks to us in this day, it is easy to miss Him in what should be obvious.

Speaking positively over yourself and others and shaping your future by speaking where you want to go and what you would like to see are the ways in which God has always ordered creation. After all in the beginning God did say, "Let there be..." and there was AND it was good. He spoke, He set in order, creation came forth. It's not a secret, I promise ;)

In my own fight to push out of darkness, I have found the effectiveness of declaring His word over my life and others and speaking well of myself and others. This has made me have to change how I think about myself. One of the ways I implemented this was to create the wall in the picture above. I call it my Word Wall of Encouragement. Instead of repeatedly saying negative things about myself, speaking death, I have to make the daily decision to speak life. Proverbs 18:21

Below are two affirmation statements that I wrote to declare over my life that have encouraged me. I have others for my family and friends and situations in the world at large. I pray that these bless you and I encourage you to take the time to write out and speak statements of truth and faith over your life, your loved ones, the situations around you and the issues you are passionate about. You may find in doing so you start a chain reaction that leads to great change.

#1
You are looking at one of the most powerful forces in the universe: a woman who knows the Truth, her purpose and has been empowered by the acceptance of her original redeemed and restored, God-given authority by the work of Christ. Good day world I'm coming for you.

#2
Lord Jesus when I look to You, I have hope for my past, meaning in my present and power for my future!

• Hope that my past is not the sum total of who I am, will be and what I am subject to. There are no limits to what I can achieve because You have brought redemption to me.
• Meaning and definition of purpose and peace to attack the challenges that I was born anointed to correct.
• Power to go forward and take the mountain with the confidence of Caleb that the Lord has given me the victory.

labels

Why do we feel like we have to classify people and put them into some box with a label? Is it because it makes it easier to categorize, make generalizations and assumptions based on skewed perceptions? We can then make a withdrawal from our memory banks particular deposit box and have a judgement at hand for everyone without ever getting to know each person in their own light.

I am asking this series of questions because first, I want to change and not label and automatically lump anyone into some phantom category, assuming I know more about them than I do. Doing that makes it very hard to have relationships. Second, I want to break any chains of phantom limitations that I have allowed myself to be bound in because I chose to shape my worth and ability with what others have said about me.

The following are a few of the labels I have worn in my day. I've been rough and tumble more than a girlie girl so I was called a tomboy. I thoroughly enjoyed school because I love to learn, as such that made me a geek. In fifth grade I fell in love with rock music and that wasn't really what "my people" did at that time and although I knew who Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix were, many my age didn't and did not understand so I was an Oreo. In junior high I took drum lessons and girls didn't do that. I guess they hadn't heard of Sheila E. either, so now I was just weird.  I've only had two boyfriends in life and both were Caucasian. Well that means I had jungle fever.

Now these weren't directly detrimental, some are actually funny. But my peers treated me like something was wrong with me because I did not fit nicely in a box that could be easily labeled. I was often rejected and after years of this I began to think there really was something wrong with me. I unfortunately used other's perceptions as the measuring stick of who I was and what I could do. I wore the labels as though they were true descriptions of the contents that make up my composition.

I also am just a guilty as anyone else. There was a time in my life when I would lash out in anger and use my words to cut people to shreds and tear them down to a base level. I am sad to say that on more than one occasion I have left people in tears because of the labels I threw on them. This brings me back to my questions and what I see as an answer.

Labels give us a sense that we have control and can gauge what value a person has to us. In our pride we think we can determine some one's abilities and worth in life by adding a label to them. Now at first glimpse that's not what it looks like but I know for me, that is what I'll be repenting of. I want to see the bigger picture. What if we decided to be free from this in our dealings with people? How different could life be for us? Could our spheres of influence expand if we let the labels go? Could we be changed individuals ready to bring change in this world? I am foolish enough to believe we can.

Proverbs 18:21 (AMP) tells us "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]." Let's use our words to build up others and speak goodness that promotes life, not slap on some label that will limit all of us because we are not open to receive from or give to others. The opportunity for relationship dies when we choose to speak in the language of labels. Let's change our minds about this and be amazed by the radical reformation it will bring.