Morning Thoughts

Happy Good Friday to you. Did you ever wonder why it’s called “good” Friday when it’s the day that Christ was crucified? There are lots of theories. One is that it derived from God Friday. Another is that from the terrible Friday came the resurrection that the Christian faith is built upon and so it’s ultimately good. And the third is that the antiquated form of good means sacred or holy which may make the most sense actually. What ever the root of The good in Good Friday, on this day we remember the perfect sacrifice that pays the price for our salvation. Amen?  Today, we are reading the last chapter in our book of Philippians. I love that Paul no matter what shape he was in, whether in prison or staying with someone or shipwrecked or whatever calamity, he was always joyful, positive, and and had the right attitude. You just don’t read Paul when he was depressed or feeling sorry for himself or mad at the world (like I was yesterday because it was cold and I hadn’t seen the sun fo...

Happy Thursday and happy Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, our holy day that falls on Thursday before Easter to commemorate the Maundy and Last Supper of Jesus with the disciples. Some things the Bible speaks of I’d just like to see the video and this is certainly one of them. All the apostles gathered with Jesús for supper. Somehow I doubt very much that it looked anything like Davinchi’s rendering of that night.   Today, we are reading chapter 3 of Philippians. It is a powerhouse of courage and joy in the face of hard trials. The friendships and faith that shine through are so remarkable and encourage us to great heights to be the very best Christians we can possibly be.   Paul begins the chapter warning us of the “dogs” who tell us that our salvation is gained in what we do—specifically by circumcision. He tells us that our salvation is in Christ and what He did alone. He continues on to explain that no one has more “works” to their name than he does since he from birth was...

Happy Tuesday and I hope your week got off to a good start. We were able to get another load into the storage unit yesterday, so little by little, and step by step as they say, right? And that’s how we are reading through the book of Philippians this week.  If you are keeping up, today we are reading 1:22-30; 2:1-11 (the next 24 verses). In these verses, Paul bluntly talks about trying to decide if he wants to live or die. He would really rather go on to heaven and be with the Lord, but he realizes that he can’t help anyone on earth if he is in heaven, so he supposes he probably should stay here a little longer. Do you ever have such a longing? Especially when things here seem so bleak or you are really sick. I know there have been times in my life especially in the last couple of years that I thought “If I could just go to sleep tonight and wake up in heaven, how great that would be!” And then you remember those you’d be leaving behind and all the things you would be leaving undon...

Happy Monday Morning and how was your weekend? Were you able to engage in a worship time with other believers? Yesterday, a friend sent me a devotion. It spoke about taking time to read the Bible and the we often use the excuse of not having enough time to read when actually the entire book of Philippians only takes up about three columns of one page of a newspaper. So if you can read an article on the internet, or scan Facebook, or Pinterest, you have time to read the Word.  And if you are going to read the Word, then you should commit a part of it to your heart. How often do you read face book and then tell your friends about what you’ve read? Commit it, talk about it, pray it, and then when you need it, you will have it right at your fingertips to use in any situation where scripture can readily assist you.  After reading that devotion yesterday, i went to Philippians, the book of “finding joy in spite of it all.” I decided to take this week and dig into that book and I th...

It’s the weekend! How are you doing? Yesterday, I caught just a few minutes of the PBS travel guy Rick Steves when he was in Thailand at a hidden Buddhist temple, after climbing 1,252 steps to get there. While he was interviewing one of the orange robed monks, I heard the monk say how very important meditation was for everyone. He said if you follow Buddha, or you are Catholic or you follow Islam, it doesn’t really matter; what matters is that you practice meditation. It is really beneficial for you.  I just kept starting at that little bald guy grinning into the camera and I couldn’t get him off my mind. I kept thinking that that Jesús Christ left the Throne of Glory, came to earth in human form—born of a virgin, no less—taught us how to live, performed miracles, was despised and rejected, sacrificed his life, conquered death, and gave us the Comforter In the form of the Holy Spirit, not so we could sit on a mountain top and meditate, but so we could have a hope, a hope for more ...

Happy Friday and are you glad for the weekend? This weekend is an overnight escape for the Hudson women. We are headed to Kansas City to spend the night with my sister. The one thing my girls have on their agenda is for their Aunt Sharon to teach them to make Granny Newman’s chocolate pie. Pie making, especially building that perfect meringue is something that must be taught and caught. You can’t just type instructions and hope it works. I think pie-making is becoming a lost art. Not many people I know now who can build a meringue like my Grandmother, my mom or her sisters. And anyone younger than me who can? I can probably count on a couple of fingers. But my sister can. And she can because she has our Grandmother’s recipe, she was taught to do it and she has practiced it. Often. That’s how you keep an art from dying out. And that’s what God was telling the Children of Israel when he gave them the commands of His Word that day in Deuteronomy 6. Write them down, teach your kids, talk...

Happy Thursday and how has your week gone? Mine has gone pretty well. I’ve not accomplished hardly anything on the list I began the week with, but I feel like I’ve been busy!  Yesterday as I said goodbye to Braden and loaded him for boot camp, I began to re-evaluate how we pray for one another, especially how we pray for our children and our grandchildren. In Ephesians Paul speaks to the Gentile church to assure them of their position in Christ and how they should live as Christians. I love the way in chapter three how he lays out his specific prayer for them as though they are his children, because they are so new to this faith.  “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how de...

Happy Wednesday. My grandson Braden has joined the Navy and today, I’m taking him to the recruiting station to get on a bus to head for his basic training just north of Chicago. This will be a major step for him, but honestly, it just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long since he took the first big step and got on the bus to kindergarten.  What have been the major steps in your life? When I think about mine and I think about choosing to be a Christian, where to go to college, choosing my husband, having my children, where we would live...But I think more than making those initial choices were the harder choices I made as I progressed through life.  As time went on, Bob Hudson wasn’t nearly as much fun to be married to when we had kids and bills and jobs as he was when we were dating. (I know, surprise, right?) And those kids who were talking back and hateful weren’t nearly as cute as cuddly as those sweet babies I’d brought home from the hospital. And about the 8th time God w...

Happy Tuesday. How is it going for you? I hope your week is off to a good start. Have you ever had one of those string of days when you really tried to get things done, take care of business, everyone and everything on your list, and still...the mountain in front of you just seems too high to climb? I’m usually a pretty good optimist but last night when I was trying to plan out the rest of the week, I realized it just doesn’t all fit. Everything that needs to be done just doesn’t have a spot. And situations like that lend themselves for a bit of anxiety, don’t they?  You know, I always think I can do so much more than I can, in all areas of my life., but right now, i just have quite a bit that really needs doing. I’m not good at realizing I need to turn it over and let God decide what really “needs” doing. Let the anxiety go, let the Bread of Life sustain me and quit trying to find it all within my self.  When after walking with Jesus for nearly 3 years and hearing him teach ...

Good Monday Morning! Did you have a great weekend? I surely hope you had a wonderful day to worship our King in spirit and in truth. We had such a great service. The capstone of it all was our little Amelia was baptized and that surely warmed this Nina’s heart like nothing else on this earth could.  I heard someone say last week “Well, I just am what I am!” And it really struck me I suppose because I have said that exact same thing thing. That refusal to change the things about myself that I didn’t want to deal with—those things that I know I need to work on, but I have an escape clause if I just say, “well that’s just me.” But the truth of the matter is, we are all in a state of change and it’s either for the better or for the worse. While I was thinking about this very thing yesterday on the way to church, Natalie Grant’s song “Clean” came on. My favorite line is “there’s nothing too dirty, that you can’t make worthy”. Isn’t that a beautiful thought? That no matter how bad we’ve ...

Happy Weekend and aren’t you glad it’s here? Even though I’m retired, there is still something relaxing about the weekend. My move officially began yesterday and I’m already tired. Last night, I was just bone weary, bruised and dragging! As I climbed the stairs the last time, I thought of the prophet Isaiah saying “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God does not grow weary...” ““To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing...Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble...

Happy Friday! How has your week been? Have you walked this week with God? If you’ve listen to the news lately you’ve heard talk about change and authenticity and integrity. And that’s about all it seems to be is talk.  When God talks about these things they have some meaning behind them. For example, when the change of leadership occurred from David to Solomon and Solomon built his own temple, God was pretty clear to the new King.   “And GOD said to him, “I’ve listened to and received all your prayers, your ever-so-passionate prayers. I’ve sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel, make it a sure thing on a solid foundation. The same guarantee I gave David your father I’...

Happy Thursday, aka the Ides of March. I was thinking on this day how great it is to have friends and spend time with them, especially those long time friends that know us well and the trust is strong. On this day though, we are reminded that it didn’t work out so well for Caesar. Traditionally, this is the day that corresponds to the Roman calendar as the assassination of Julius Caesar. He was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate by his so called friends as a result of a conspiracy of as many as 60.  It was very sad that he couldn’t trust those closest to him. What an awful feeling that must have been for him in those last few moments, to realize his friends didn’t love him. In the book of John, Jesus gives a very clear formula that God uses to know who loves Him—those who keep His commandments.  “The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain t...

Happy Wednesday. Here it is...hump day, as they say, half way through your week. How is it going? Last Sunday in church, we were challenged to bring the Good News of the Gospel into bad news stories or situations and as we all know, there are multitudes of those everywhere we look. Have you seen a bad news story first hand in the first half of this week? A situation where you thought people or children just shouldn’t have to live like that? Those are stories where the Good news is desperately needed. This is where the church needs to step in and show the love of Jesus.  In no way are we ever demonstrating the love of Jesus more than when we love the least of those among us—those whom we look around and see are needing care and hope. You know, if we are going to love God, we are going to have to learn how to love those around us that are not so easy to love—those neighbors that may not have clean faces and sterling reputations.  “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wo...

Happy Tuesday and happy national napping day! Yes, you read that right...and for those of us who love the siesta, we embrace this day with both arms! Probably because two days after the time change, it’s catching us, don’t you think? Losing that hour is hard. How nice is it when we are a little sleepy on a sunny afternoon to be able to take a 15 minute power nap?  Last night before I went to sleep I was stressed about a few things (well, maybe a lot of things). So much so that just a couple of hours later I woke up with a headache and all of my muscles just tense. My legs were cramped and my neck was tight and I couldn’t even stretch out. I was just stressed out. I got up, took a couple of ibuprofen and walked around a little bit and started quoting a few scripture. I had to remind myself I needed to relax and just rest in the Lord. Nothing was such a big deal that we couldn’t handle this together. I’m getting ready to be homeless for a few months, but Jesus gets that...the Son of ...

Happy Monday! Did you have a good Sunday? I surely hope so. We did.  Believe it or not, I have been told I have a distinctive accent. I don’t know exactly why. My mama is from Kentucky, my dad from the Ozark Hill country and I grew up In Tulsa. So it’s quite the mix. My girls tend to sound quite a bit like me. (You’re welcome) I tried for years while I was working to sound more professional and hide my accent. I was convinced that someone who slung their words around like a country singer before country was cool could never be taken very seriously. After years of trying to keep it at bay, practicing holding it in and speaking with a little more culture, you would have thought I’d have lost my Okie/Ozark/Kentucky-speak. But alas, no. When I’d get really tired or excited and forget, it would burst forth! Finally when I turned 50, I gave it up. I decided that I am who I am and I’m just always going to sound this way.  Do you ever feel like that about anything? Something that you...

Happy Saturday to you. Have you got big plans for the weekend? Make sure you include being in church with other believers to enjoy the fellowship and the sweet, sweet spirit of corporate worship. There is simply nothing to compare this side of heaven.  This week my friend Maci sent me a YouTube link to a mock-commercial for a Rosetta Stone for Christian-ese. It was really funny because it was so true. We Christians tend to speak in our own vernacular to the point it is not understandable by people who haven’t been raised up in the church. And if we aren’t careful, we can become like the Pharisees and throw around even more of our special church-ie words. Paul warns us of thinking too highly of ourselves for this very reason.  “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies h...

Happy Friday to you. I hope you have had a good week and have made sure to have time alone with God. Even Jesus himself made sure to have time alone to pray. We know that more than once He sent His disciples away and went off on His own to seek out the Father’s will.  “Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14:22-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬ So obviously, Jesus spent not only quality time in prayer, but some quantity of it as well—Long enough for it to get dark and He was still there. Later, a bad storm with heavy winds came up and when the disciples were in trouble because of the storm, Jesus came to them walking on the water, which duh, scared them to death. Wouldn’t it scare you to be in a boat about to capsize and look up to see some guy standing on water? When Pet...

Happy Thursday and how are you doing? The winds have died down here and we are super glad about that. I stopped for gas the other day and I had to use both hands and both feet to get my car door open. It was crazy. And with those winds have come all sorts of pollens of every kind. We are all sneezing and rubbing our eyes and sniffling...oh the joys of Oklahoma life.  I know the first time I looked at pollen under a microscope and saw the spikes and hooks it had, I completely understood why it was so irritating to eyes and noses. It is wicked with all those points and spears digging in to soft tissues, but tiny enough to get into even the smallest crevice.  How many little irritants do we have that get into the nooks and crannies of our lives and then just build up? Those that are so tiny we don’t even see them but they itch and just bug us. And then another. And another to the point that they are everywhere and we are stressed. Stressed to the point we don’t sleep well and th...

Good Wednesday to you. So far has you week gone well? Yesterday, my friend LeAnn had a fairly serious surgery that was completed last night about 9:00. She was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago with “the” scary word and has had to carry that burden. Her surgery went well and she has a good prognosis but she will have to wait now on biopsy results.  All the way driving to Tulsa to be at the hospital, I kept thinking of Revelation 1:8 “...I am the God who is, the God who was, and the God who is to come.” Because He says “the God who is” first, I think we can know that the right now is the most important time for Him and for us—this very minute that we are existing in. So for my friend, her scariest time, the time her fears in the very moments right before her surgery were moments that God was present and those present moments were the most important time to her Savior and her Comforter.and then the time of the surgery, while friends and family prayed, He was there. And when she came out-He...

Good Tuesday to you. How are you this day? Spring is starting to show itself here and there a little more every day in Oklahoma and no one could be more excited about that than this gal. I’m anxiously awaiting the redbuds because then...yes then, I know it’s for real..It’s here!  I was watching my granddaughter yesterday with her dog. It’s a little fluffy thing with a smashed nose but she adores it and the feeling is mutual. When Gracie is home, they are not far apart. If she’s reading a book, he’s sitting next to her on lookout. If she’s watching TV, so is he. While I was watching her, she would talk to him just calmly, and almost continually. They simply enjoy each other’s presence.  I thought of how God wants us to enjoy His presence in very much the same way. Just be together, talking with Him all the time, about everything, and enjoying Him being close and caring for us. I kept watching that little dog scooting so close to Gracie and thinking how the Savior wants so badly...

Good Monday morning! How was your Sabbath? I hope you met with the Lord and found time to corporately worship Him with fellow believers. Yesterday as I was getting ready for church, I was listening to my playlist of praise music (as I always do to prepare for worship) but I actually “heard” some lyrics that made putting on eye makeup really difficult.  Hold it all together Everybody needs you strong But life hits you out of nowhere And barely leaves you holding on... So when you're on your knees and answers seem so far away You're not alone, stop holding on and just be held Your world's not falling apart, it's falling into place I'm on the throne, stop holding on and just be held... If your eyes are on the storm You'll wonder if I love you still But if your eyes are on the cross You'll know I always have and I always will And not a tear is wasted In time, you'll understand I'm painting beauty with the ashes...Your life is in My hands...Just be held H...

Happy Saturday y’all. I hope your week was a productive one. Mine was busy and yet I managed to have some fun. The day before yesterday I was on my deck and 24 pelicans were right in front of my house swimming in formation. Even though I see them all the time, when I saw them in this perfect configuration, it took my breath. They were simply amazing in their disposition and beauty.  It affirms for me yet again that marvelous are Thy works, they are fitted and are they made to excite wonder and admiration. The particular reference here is to His own formation; but the same remark may be made of the works of God in general. And my soul knows well, I am fully convinced of it and I am deeply impressed by it. Even if we understand nothing else about them, we can clearly see that the works of God are "wonderful” and all we need to do is look around just a bit. From the the birds to the deer to the stars to kids on the playground. Great and marvelous. Even the ants in the dirt are amazi...

Happy Friday to you! Have you got a big weekend planned? I’ve probably got more on my schedule than I’ll get done, but that generally my M.O. as my close friends and family will testify to. They will tell you my visions always exceed reality.  Last night in Bible study, one of my classmates asked a question that at first pass didn’t hit me, but the more we discussed it, the deeper it dug. Even after I got home last night, i could quite shake it. I kept rolling it around in my head. She asked “How are we supposed to know if we are in God’s will in our every day life?” And that led into a big discussion asking questions like “So if today you just want to sit on the couch with a blanket and a cup of tea and read a good book does that mean you are out of God’s will?” Or “If I just want to go shopping or fishing or —(fill in the blank)—is that ok?” And the truth of the matter is, of course it’s ok, just take God with you.  I love how the Message says this: “So here’s what I want yo...

Good Thursday morning to you! It’s a brand new month today. They sure seem to go fast in some ways, don’t they? Yesterday, I met the 24-hr-old Miss Raquel. I was excited to hold her and pray for her—to thank God for the blessing of her and ask the Almighty Father to guide her life all of her days.  I look at this new baby and I see that God’s promises are new every morning for those who love him. You know, when we are watching for God we can find Him in the everyday, the simple, and even the mundane. But every so often we are blessed and overwhelmed with something so very wonderful it simply takes our breath away and for me yesterday, it was a 9’2” beautiful baby girl. Jehovah, sometimes, you just out do yourself!  “GOD ’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with GOD (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.” ‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3:22-24‬ ‭MSG‬‬ And that t...