CLINK!

CLINK, Clink, clink, clink, clink.

This was the sound of my Sunday. It is actually a sound I look forward to, and I don’t know if anyone else even notices it. The sound has been a favorite of mine since childhood, but it has changed through the years. It is the sound of the unity, obedience, and holiness of a church. Listen with me……

As a child, I attended a small church. My memories of childhood are all church memories. Spending time with other families at church, summer church activities, children’s choir and youth group were all wonderful memories for me. I don’t know if the sound meant much to me before the age of twelve. But at the age of twelve, the way I saw things changed. I could participate in the unity of the church. The sound was loud then. CLINK, CLINK, CLINK.

After we married, my husband and I attended a different church. I went many years without hearing the sound at this church. We were part of a very large church. And in obedience to the Lord’s command, the sound was heard there, too. But due to logistical issues, it was not heard often.

We are members of a different church now. The sound changed at this church, and I will explain it later. It is a Clink, clink, c l i n k . Our pastor says you can see the heart of the church through the baptisms, but you can see the holiness of the church through the observance of the Lord’s supper. We hear this sound at every observance.

This sound. You may think me odd to like it. It is the sound after communion is over. It is the sound of the communion cups being set down in the pews.

As a child, the communion cups were made of glass and hand washed by the deacons. This made a loud sound when the glass and the wood connected. The communion cups of modern times are plastic. They make a quieter sound.

What does this sound mean to me?

It means the unity of the body of believers, obeying the Lord’s command to “Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19
It means remembering the body and the blood, that the penalty has been paid. “It is finished.” John 19:30
It means looking for His return. “…you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” 1 Cor 11:26
It means living the joyful life He came to give us all. “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10

What does it mean for you?

It's in the water!!

This is an odd blog subject, but everything with me is. Just fair warning.

Our city has an aquatics and fitness center that we are members of. It is like the YMCA. The outdoor waterpark is the "hottest place to stay cool" in town, their wording, not mine! Due to some "diaper malfunctions" they have had to put new guidelines in place. I don't blame them at all. As a money paying member, it is annoying to drive from the country to find the pool closed for super chlorination. They want to avoid closing. So, if your child is not potty trained, they must wear the swim diaper and rubber pants. If your child has a "diaper malfunction" and the pool must close, you will be fined $150. They are trying to make a point, and I get it. My youngest is FINALLY potty trained, but I am scared of an accident and the $150 fine, so he is still wearing the rubber pants. As my friend pointed out, if it is going to happen it would be my kid that does it, and that is so true!

Yesterday, I took the boys to the waterpark for a couple of hours. We went by ourselves, with apologies to my friend and her children for not calling, and planned to stay for just a couple of hours. The boys had a great time. My oldest loves the big water slides and is busy perfecting his handstands. My youngest is beginning to love the water and the kiddie slides. So time went by quickly. The boys wanted snow cones, and being a good mother I let them ingest lots of sugar and red dye #40. As we are preparing to leave, the dreaded announcement came..."PLEASE CLEAR THE POOL, PLEASE CLEAR THE POOL!" I offered to pass out flyers to the parents, because evidently someone believes their potty trained two-year-old will never have a accident and wouldn't spring for the $1 rubber pants.

We got in the car and my oldest asked why people can't follow the rules and why do they have to close the pool, "Can't the lifeguards just use the net??" OK--YUCK! I explained the contamination issue. It does not take much in the water to make it unsafe to swim in, especially with young children drinking the pool water. YUCK AGAIN!

As we were driving home, the LORD explains it to me, too. "How much sin is okay?" Just a little won't hurt. Or will it. Just watching a little bit of sin on TV won't hurt me. I will be fine. It is always a very slippery slope. Sin just slides us into more sin, until it is what we are used to. "But we have to live in the world." Please read Hebrews 11, this world is not our home, we are meant to feel out of place. "God will use it what I do to show people His Truth! I need to fit in with them to show them Christians are fun!" Paul addresses this very issue in Romans chapter 3. Read the chapter. See if you don't hear the same arguments today.

We have a sin problem. God has given us the rules and we are blessed by obeying them (see blog title). If you think just a little won't hurt, then I have a pool full of drinking water for you.

Hot enough for ya??

I can’t believe the heat here today. As always in the South, it is not the heat as much as the humidity. I believe it is 95 degrees outside right now, which is hot enough to me, but it is really sticky and “muggy.” This was not even a good day to take the kids to the pool. We went to the AIR CONDITIONED movie theater, and it was FREE with $1 popcorn and drinks. Now, you can’t beat that, cool, no frizzy hair and movie theater popcorn!

This heat and lack of rain got me to thinking, and you never know where my brain will take me! It is usually an odd tie-in to a Biblical reference. But God made me this way; I decided to work with it, and not against it, hence the blog! The journey ended in the book of Joel.

The prophet Joel was writing at the time of a locust plague and a severe drought in Judah. It was so bad that sacrifices could not be made at the temple. Read in the first chapter of how Joel sees all this as judgment for Judah. God had cut off the means for them to uphold the covenant. Unless the devastation was reversed, Judah would cease to exist. The book is full of the judgment, call to repentance, God’s love for his people and His faithfulness to the covenant.

Waste and desolation, heat and drought, what a way to uplift and encourage!! As always, God always gives us hope. What I see in the book of Joel is the sovereignty of God. If you keep with me and keep reading this blog, you will see that I love that we serve a BIG GOD! He is at work in everything in our lives, even waste, desolation, heat and drought. Our challenge is to live obediently through these things and give glory to God in how He works. (Notice I said CHALLENGE!)

The hope of Joel comes in Joel 2:25, He restores the years that the locusts have eaten. In our times of waste and desolation, heat and drought, He is still working to complete His plan. I know this is true in my own life. And I know it to be true for others. This brings me to a wonderful memory in the cool of the year.

I have a friend in Tennessee. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with her around Christmas this past year, when I had the privilege of speaking for her MOPS group. We spent the night drinking coffee (I LOVE COFFEE!) and discussing how great our God is and how much we love His Word. We talked of each of the books of the Bible and what they mean to us. Joel is her story. Eighteen years ago the locusts came and she had her time of waste and desolation. But the story of her life is that God restores. He is using her and her story for His glory. That He would do that for her brings her to tears….and me too, because He will do it for us all.

Here I am...............

I am venturing into the blog world. It took me a lot longer to get here than the rest of the world. It took me forever to find a title I liked, most of them had been taken. So, why this title: "Blessings in all sizes." I am glad all two of you asked.

I began writing these long emails to the ladies in our Ladies Ministry at church. They are usually about everyday things and lessons that God is teaching me through them. I may post one or two of these here. I think the famous/infamous one was when a cat was stuck in our heating duct. I would send one out every week or two. It became necessary to control myself, as to not overload these wonderful friends with something every day. Friends suggested that I write more, a devotional or book. I thought that the blog world was the safest for me.

The email I sent were basically telling of the blessings that God was giving me through the everyday events in my life. The scripture reference in my blog title is just a portion of the section. If you have stayed with me this long, take a look at the whole section, Deuteronomy 28: 1-14, the blessings we receive through our obedience to the LORD.

I hope you will enjoy reading and that you begin to notice, in your life, the ways the LORD has given you Blessings in all sizes.