Rest Your Body

There are times when I do not feel well. I am sure with the cold and flu season among us that this is a common feeling. However, there are times when I do not feel well and I can immediately figure out my symptoms and there are other times when I am not sure what the problem could be. 

Recently, I had one of those clueless days. All I knew was that I felt bad, but not bad enough to go to a hospital or even articulate the problem.

I should have taken this as a clue, but remember, I was being clueless. Anyway, after spending some couch time, I figured out that my nasal passages were causing me some issues. So, I sat up and begin to think about the best remedy. And, suddenly it came to me. 

Can I spell it Aretha Franklin style?....R. E. S. T.  I know, Aretha spelled out respect, but I need some rest. If I stretch just a little, I could correlate respecting my body to providing it with some much needed rest. 

Recently I traveled nearly 11,000 miles and then I also logged even more miles traveling around for the holidays. I did all of this traveling in the latter part of December, and the month is not finished just yet. Time for some R. E. S. T. 

And funny enough, I will rest when I don’t feel quite right. So, that’s the self-prescribed order for now and then if I still don’t feel quite like myself, I’ll make a move to get a doctor’s appointment. Let’s pray that that does not have to take place.

I say all of this to say - don’t wait until you don’t feel well to respect your body enough to give it the required rest it needs. If you will give it rest, it will give you the performance you desire. Many of you need to join me on my R. E. S. T. journey. I pray that you will.

Christmas Day Terrorist Attempt

Well, it would seem that some people had the wrong focus on Christmas Day. There was an attempted terrorist attack in Detroit. CNN reports that a Nigerian traveling to the US, with reported links to terrorist groups, set off an explosive device onboard a Northwest flight headed to Detroit. The terrorist's plan was foiled - the device did not work as planned and the terrorist was sieged by an attentive passenger.

Thank God for the quick-thinking passenger and the others that assisted. It reminds me of the familiar 911 slogan of "Let's Roll." I don't know why terrorist think it's perfectly acceptable to murder innocent people. In the name of who? what? Doesn't make sense to me. And to try to do this on Christmas Day makes it seem even more evil.

But thank God, evil did not prevail today. Evil did not have the last say on the day we celebrate the Lord's birthday. Instead, this terrorist is in custody. I would hope and pray that this terrorist would begin to know the impact of humanity that they tried to make in comparison to the impact that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to make and MADE. There is a vast difference between the two - much like the vast difference between love and hate. I hope you will join me in prayer.

Keep the Right Focus at Christmas

It's Christmas Eve. What's on your mind? Are you thinking about the wonder of Christmas and the sacrifice of God in sending His Son, Jesus to us? Or, are you thinking about the gifts that need to be purchased and wrapped, food that needs to be cooked and trips that need to be completed?

Our mindset on this eve, gives us a good indication of how we will experience tomorrow. Before you misread this, I am not bashing gift-giving. In fact, I will be giving a few gifts myself. And, I will thank God for the privilege of having enough to share. But more importantly, I am taking this opportunity to remind everyone that stops by the blog that it is essential to have the right focus. On Christmas Day, we celebrate the "birth" of our Savior; the Lord Jesus. Therefore, we should make sure that we honor Him. It's His "Birthday."

Everything may not be as you would prefer it to be, particularly with the recession and all the fallout associated with it. Or you may be away from home and not able to travel to be with family. Do not let these external things steal your focus from the most important thing - honoring the Lord on His birthday. If you will keep your focus on Him, everything else will fade into the background.

Keep the right focus and have a Merry Christmas!   

A Miracle at the River

Miracles still happen. I was visiting my good friend when she directed me to this video on You Tube. A young lady, whose baby had been shaken by the babysitter, brought this baby to church. Watch the video and be blessed!

Even in the Silence

There used to be a television show that came on where the phrase “I wrote a song about it, wanna hear it, here it go…” It was very popular.

Do you remember it? I think it was called In Living Color. J-Lo used to be a fly girl (dancer). Anyway, lest I digress further, I am making a point.


The “songs” – better yet, jingles, were hilarious and were the subject of many a “water-cooler” and “lunch table” discussion the next day. As I’ve spent the last week traveling, I could imagine several jingles in my mind whether it be from the TWO times that TWO flight attendants spilled beverages on me, to the TWO sets of families traveling with 2-3 small, antsy, wanna-be-starting-something children, each, all around me, to the coughing and hacking and the joys of recycled air for 10 hours – oh the list could go on and on. And, I would write and sing you a song – except that I lost my voice somewhere over the Atlantic.


As a result, I spent yesterday in silence for the most-part. Just trying to let my body get back on this time zone and let my vocal chords recover. I was supposed to belt out a birthday tune for my mom, but let’s just say that frogs could have done better. My voice had left the building. It’s different spending your day in silence when that’s not your planned approach for the day.


But, I did remember something yesterday that benefitted me greatly. I can still pray in silence. I may need my vocal chords to communicate with others but I don’t need them to communicate with God. How great it that?!!


In the silence of the moments that ticked by yesterday, I thanked God for bringing me over 10,000+ miles within the week. Amazing. I thanked Him for delivering me from country to country, and state to state. I thanked Him for the relative ease with which I was able to navigate during my journey. You cannot convince me otherwise, God is good – even in the silence. I sang on the inside - even though nothing was heard on the outside. I praised Him for His goodness.


Today, my voice is coming back. I can be heard at a whisper. That’s pretty good. I thank God for that. I could really write a song about how good God is – and maybe one day, God-willing, I’ll take up the same vain as the psalmist and write a jingle that will endure.