Morning Thoughts

Happy Friday. Another week draws quickly to completion. And I am tired! I’ve worked so hard and long everyday this week that this morning, my body is bruised and sore and I’m starting out tired. More than once I’ve picked up (or tried to pick up) a box that was too heavy or a piece of furniture and just lost my balance. That kind of thing never used to happen to me. When I was in my 20s and 30s or even 40s, moving was at most a 2-day affair. But now, it’s been almost a week and I still have boxes and blank walls!  It’s time for me to face the fact that I am in an older body. My tent is starting to show some wear and tear and there are things I simply cannot do any longer. It saddens me, but cartwheels are no longer in my repertoire. And neither is staying up late every night, eating whatever I want, running fast, the splits, and the list goes on. And the things I can do take longer and that makes me a little crazy. But it’s what happens with age.  “Then, when our dying bodies have been

Happy Wednesday! I hope you’re having a good week. One of the things I splurged on in my new house was continuous hot water. When that machine went on the wall, I got pretty giddy thinking about it. Yesterday while I was unpacking in my kitchen I kept hearing this beeping noise. I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from until I went into the garage and then it was evident. I opened the utility doors and the little box on the wall was flashing “29” and beeping very angrily at me. So I did what anyone in my situation would do. I turned it off and called for help!  A very nice guy came and it took him about 5 minutes to figure it out and fix it. And Just like that, hot water again. That hot water didn’t have to sit in a tank to get hot. As soon as he turned the unit back on, my water was hot. It was instantly hot.  I want to be like that when I’m in a situation that calls for me to talk about Jesus. I don’t want to have to sit in a tank and warm up to the idea—I don’t want to have to

Good Monday morning to you. I hope you had a great weekend and found time to appreciate the wonderful blessings of the Father of Light. I had to buy a new bed frame and I wanted one of those that would raise the head up. I kept looking at them but they were expensive, even on line. Then, I found one on Facebook that I could afford but I needed Oscar to take the truck and trailer to get it. The trailer was dirty, so my friend Millie and I swept it off while Oscar grabbed the truck keys. We all jumped in and headed off to pick up my bargain purchase. A few blocks away, Oscar said “Where are we going?” And I started looking for my phone and when I couldn’t find it, Millie remembered I’d left it on the truck bumper. We turned around to look for it but we’re all pretty sure it was going to be a mess after the trailer ran over it or another car hit it, but we prayed for that phone! And alas, about 6 blocks back, there it was, right on the road, with a couple of missed calls. Blessings of G

It’s the weekend and have I got a full schedule! It’s furniture moving day with the boys and we are going to try to finish it all up. The last few days I have been so tired at night, I just fall into bed and I’m sure tonight will be no different. But of all the things going and all the things planned, I don’t want to forget that it’s time to prepare my heart for corporate worship. The time when we come together with other believers to worship our God and King.  So, what ever you have planned, don’t get so wrapped up in it that you forget to plan preparation time. Time you can spend alone with God, getting your heart ready before you walk into a service will make such a difference in how the worship effects you. If you are ready when you enter into a service, you find yourself worshipping with your whole heart, and not just go through the motions.  As Jesus said to the woman at the well,  “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit

Happy Friday! Well, I am in my new house. Not moved exactly, but I’m here with the necessities! (Corn chips, tea, crackers, and Cheerios). To be very honest with you though, before I went yesterday to sign all my papers, I had a little melt-down—maybe a full on come-apart. I know it may sound silly, but it was a big step for me to take on my own. I’ve just never done anything like this with only me—one signature where there were blanks for two. So as I’m in full “oh poor me” and “I don’t think I can do this” mode, I glanced in the mirror and saw my face. It looked awful and it stopped me for a second. It was then that I heard that still small voice say “Good grief girl! Get your hair fixed and get your make up on! You’re going to be late. And...you’re gonna be fine. I’m with you.” So, I did, I was and He was.  Sometimes, I think we expect the Spirit of God to come to us like we imagine He did with Moses—Big and loud. But for almost all of us, the Spirit is going to be speaking directl

It is Thursday, the 23rd. A day I’ve had marked In my calendar for a few months and have been excited to see coming. Barring complications, I’m going be a home owner in just a little while. I am just pretty giddy at the thought of having a house that belongs to me. A place to park my car and my clothes and my dishes. A place where I can entertain and watch football and sleep or stay up late. A place to be quiet or play my music loud.  Through this building process, I’ve been in that house several times a week, starting with the footings. It has been quite the process and I’m sure the builders have just about had their fill of “Ms Pam” and are more ready for this project to be completed than I am. There has been some amazing things going on over the past few months but I’ve pointed out a few things to fix, which is to be expected in a house and all its systems (and with me hanging over the workers shoulders). I have no doubt they will all get fixed (and then some) because I have a good

It’s Wednesday and who is my neighbor? Georgia is always reminding me that I am going to have to learn how to live in a neighborhood all over again. Part of the learning process is being nice to the neighbors and I need to smile and wave every time I see someone out and about.  And I’m giving it my best shot. But my mind gets caught up in thoughts and I’m not always so good. And sometimes I wonder, “Just because I’m driving through a neighborhood, does that make everyone my neighbor?” Then I remember the words of Jesus and, actually, yeah it does make them my neighbor. Pretty much if I encounter someone, whether at work, at Walmart, while traveling, or even in my neighborhood, they’re my neighbor.  “He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he

Happy Tuesday to you! Well, it’s just 2 days away from my move-in day and I’m getting a little giddy. There are still several things to finish, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be on it and get them done.  I heard a story the other day about a boy entering college who had been looking for a part time job for the last two months. He was getting really frustrated because he wasn’t getting any call backs when his mother realized he’d not been writing down his email address correctly—he’d left out a number. He said “I haven’t been putting down that 99.” He had no idea that leaving out the numbers would make any difference. So as he’d been taking applications everywhere, they had incorrect information as to how to contact him.  I kept thinking about giving out information about ourselves and the many ways we do that. For example in just the way we go through life in the ways we talk and interact with people, we share all sorts of information with them. If we are kind and considerate, or negative

Good Monday morning! I hope you had a great weekend and took the time to enjoy worship with fellow believers. I was reading through Ecclesiastes chapter seven and was once again struck by the wisdom packed into one small chapter.  I thought maybe a great way to start off a new week would be to make note of a few of these.  “A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time...Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool...Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride...Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God...Remember that nothing is certain in this life. I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people ...I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work...But I did find this: God create

It’s the weekend and everyone seems to have an agenda for what to do as the summer quickly fades away. I’ve got to do some driving today after I do some laundry! All the plans. But as Solomon says “We make our plans, but it’s the Lord who determines our steps.“ The apostle Paul was forever planning and his plans were always being changed—sometimes by him but mostly by circumstance. Yet, God has the perfect plan laid out for Paul.  “You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say “Yes” when they really mean “No”? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which mean

Happy Friday y’all. Well Tracy and I are in Shreveport today. We came yesterday because she had some business to attend to and being 32 weeks along, she needed a companion. We have had a great time together and I was thinking how little time we often get one-on-one with important people in our lives unless we are intentional about making it happen. Spending time with just that special one is a really important factor in building a relationship with them.  Likewise, spending time alone with just our Father is vital if we want to have a close relationship with Him. We have to find a time everyday when we can be still before the Lord, dig into His word, and just meditate on it in the presence of Jehovah God Almighty. Not just the time we spend in prayer presenting our list of petitions (and that’s important too) but time to let God speak to us. Be still and know that HE IS GOD.  Jesus said, ““Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.””

Happy Thursday to you. I hope the week is going well for you. Last night I got to see Keith Urban up close and personal in concert. I’ve always been a fan of his - I know a couple of stories about him that connect him to friends of mine in SW Missouri. I understand from them he is a really good guy. Besides that, he can without doubt tear up a guitar and sing like crazy.  But one song in particular he sang was a little haunting.  The place that I know where they all know me I gotta get back now to the ones who love me Wrap myself around you, never let you go There's nothin' in the world that feels like....Coming home Coming home. As he sang about that all I could think of was does he really know what a true homegoing is? Will he ever feel that calm assurance that we rest in to know there is hope beyond the grave and we know we’ll be coming home, where nothing in this world feels like that for sure.  “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home ye

It’s Wednesday already! The middle of the week and sometimes it seems like it’s still a long way to the end. Every day between now and my moving day is full of stuff and I was trying to make time for one more thing yesterday. Do you ever seem to be so busy that you can’t find time for the important things yet, it seems like it will be a very long time before you get a break? Any relief? Last week a friend sent me one of Rick Warren’s devotions on refueling and it reminded me of when Tal was newly commissioned, he was stationed at Warrensburg where most of the B2 bombers are kept. They are very expensive and highly guarded airplanes. The pilots who fly them spend most of their training time on the simulators rather than the real planes themselves. Tal had a friend who was a pilot and was able to get us and Larry and Jamie back to fly a simulator. It was a pretty amazing experience! One of the things we tried to do in our simulation was to refuel the plane mid flight. It was very hard

Happy Tuesday to you. Have you got big plans for the day? I am going to get some of my things in order...and maybe take my little ones to see a movie before school begins tomorrow. I’m 9 days away from move-in day and I have collected quite a few things here in my room. It’s rather full to say the least. Casey looked around on Saturday and said “Mom, you have a lot to move just from here.” Sometimes when you live in the middle of a “mess” you don’t notice it. And especially if it happens ever so gradually by adding one or two things at a time. So today, I’m going to try to get it organized better and ready for moving next week.  As I looked around my cluttered temporary quarters, I thought about how my mind gets cluttered just like this room has. I woke up really early yesterday with all sorts of thoughts running through my head—like 100 ping pong balls bouncing all around. Clutter.  “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable,

Happy Monday to you! I hope you had a great weekend and you were able to worship the Lord our God in spirit and in truth. I had a couple of take-sways from the sermon I heard yesterday. In John 10 where Jesus tells us that He is the good shepherd and his sheep know his voice and they won’t listen to the voice of a stranger, because they don’t recognize that voice. The sheep only follow the shepherd they know.  My first take is that you just don’t find a pack of wild sheep. I’d never thought of that before! You may find wild horses, wild dogs, wild hogs, you might even find wild cats. But you’ll never find a group of wild sheep. They just can’t survive on their own. I’ve read they are lucky to survive overnight on their own in most places. They can’t make it without a shepherd and Jesus calls us sheep, meaning we need a shepherd. We simply can’t survive on our own.  Secondly, most of us don’t want a shepherd, we want a consultant. We want someone who will listen to us, offer their opini

It’s the weekend and for the children in southwest Missouri, the last one of summer! School begins next week and this past few days have been a flurry of getting getting classrooms ready, buying school clothes (instead of vacation clothes), buying school supplies, and all the other assorted things that go along with back-to-school.  As a child, I was always so excited to get back to school—sometimes it even happened on my birthday! I loved school. The excitement, my new zipper bag with my new pencils and fresh paper. It was great. I wanna go with the kids and just take in the smells and hear their excited giggles. Learning. It is exciting and we should never stop. We are created to be curious creatures and to learn all of our lives.  Not only should we seek God and His word every day, but we need to be asking “Father what do you want me to learn today?” What new truth can I gather from you? His mercies are new every morning, and so are His words. You may have read a passage a dozen tim

It’s Friday. I hope you’ve had a productive week or at least a fun one! Over the last couple of days, my sister and I have been tasked with finding things. We have been all over asking questions and talking with lots of people hunting. Sometimes, we have been successful. Sometimes not. When we were, we were excited and added it to our list and we high-fived each other! That’s how it is when you are on the hunt—you look and look until you find.  That is exactly how scripture describes the Master seeking for us. We are lost and helpless out on our own, but the Master drops everything to look until he finds us. And then, when he does, He carries us back home on His shoulders and the angels rejoice with Him—when we, the wandering, lost sheep are finally found.  ““Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing,

Happy Thursday. I have hand therapy three time a week for my finger and...I love my hand therapist. She is a physical therapist with a hand specialty. She is a cute 30-something that is an exercise buff with the cutest smile and a bouncy personality. She pulls and bends and shoots electricity into my finger and hurts me something fierce but she’s so sweet while she doing it, I just let her. She brags on my pain tolerance and I just grin and let her turn up the current. She’s so uplifting. I’m sure if she was a grump, I’d say “No, that hurts and I can’t do that much!”  Life has thrown Shannon some curve balls, but like those red and white bobbers, she pops back up with a smile. She is strong and resilient, with a great outlook.  “As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light...Then my enemies will

Happy Wednesday and as John says writing to Gaius, “Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” 3 John‬ ‭1:2‬ ‭NLT‬ Yesterday my sister and I visited my mothers (our mom and my mother-in-law). Both of them suffer from dementia (my mom asked me yesterday if I was her brother). But what we noticed was they were both in remarkably good spirits. They smiled often and laughed quite a bit. One thing my mother-in-law said was “I won’t be here much longer, I’m going to disappear. But that’s ok because I know where I’m going.” Even though she doesn’t process very well anymore and forgets most things, she hasn’t forgotten that her sure foundation, her confidence is in Christ and Christ alone to take care of her through this last leg of her journey.  “So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great c

Good Tuesday morning Warren. If you haven’t heard yet, we have a new baby coming in our family. Tal and Tracy are having a little boy and we are starting to get things in order for the arrival of our newest Hudson. Yesterday, we were looking at shower arrangements (Sept 1st at my house) and all the fal-da-ra that goes with an event like this.  It has make me think once again about families and how Christ is the foundation for strong family units. As the head of his household, my son has decided that his family will serve the Lord. So this baby will be brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Joshua took this same stand many years ago when he was speaking with the Children of Israel.  “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” The people replied, “We would

Good Monday to you! How was the weekend? I hope you had a great time of worship with fellow believers yesterday wherever you may have been.  Yesterday, I was in the midst of a wonderful corporate worship service with a great teaching sermon. But I think the one thing that touched my soul was this song. From the very start, it painted a picture for me.All of us who have lived through hard times, tragedies, and/or real suffering that has left deep wounds and battle scars, we can sing out loud these lyrics together.  Standing on this mountain top Looking just how far we’ve come  Knowing that for every step You were with us Kneeling on this battle ground Seeing just how much you’ve done Knowing every victory  Was your power in us Scars and struggles on the way But with joy our hearts can say Never once did we ever walk alone Never once did you leave us on our own You are faithful, God you are faithful You are faithful, God you are faithful.  We didn’t go through any of our mess alone. Neve

It’s the weekend and time to return to the real world for me. Tonight I’ll board a plane for Springfield and leave the sun, the sand and the surf behind me. Alas, as my 3rd grade teacher Mrs Baker used to say “all good things must come to an end”. But Mrs. Baker was only speaking of this world and its limitations. She wasn’t speaking of our heavenly home where all is good and nothing ever ends. And, I don’t know about yours, but my mansion will be waterfront!  I’m starting to count down the days to my move-in day in my new house when I will finally have a home again. While I’ve been gone, they have poured the driveway and sidewalks! It’s looking so pretty. But as great as the new place will be, I know I won’t really be home until I leave this world for good. When I finally take that last breath and head for heaven, then, I will really and truly be going home and I’ll never no never have to move again! (Praise God!) “And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illumin

Today is Friday and my vacation week is just about to come to a close. How has your week been? Yesterday after the storm, we were beach combing and came upon a log covered in barnacles. We were trying to decide how long it had been floating aimlessly in the ocean and where on earth it could have possibly come from. The truth is it could have come from almost anywhere in the world. Casey was recounting a story about a shipping container lost at sea and the contents showed up months later on several different continents.  Without direction, without a plan, without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can end up like that log covered in the scars of life from not making good decisions, where we have just been washed to and fro with the storms, bounced along by the waves until at some point we just end up stuck in the sand. The truth is, we by our own volition, do not have the wherewithal to direct our lives with the purpose for which we were created. We not only need a Savior, we also need

It’s Thursday and it’s a rainy morning in western Florida. The surf was sure high yesterday bringing in lots of creatures and shells. Gracie and Georgia had decided to save the shells with perfect little round holes in them and string them together for some sort of project when they get home. So for the past couple of days, the rest of us have started spotting those perfect little holed shells for them.   When I was walking the beach yesterday, I bent down to pick one up. I kept staring at that hole and wondering “What made it? and “Why is it so perfectly round?” and “Why is it just the exact size of all the others?” It just seemed so random yet so perfectly planned. Then I thought about the hole in all of us—again, so perfectly planned. It the exact same shape and size in all of us. It’s just how we were made. Everyone of us. We’re all made with that God-shaped hole in us. And either we allow God to fill it and be everything He can be to us or we keep Him out of our lives and we stay

Happy Wednesday. I hope you week is going well. Yesterday was Cooper’s tenth birthday and we celebrated it up big-time. His favorite food of the moment is subway with extra onions, so that was what we had, with a birthday cake, balloons, and a piñata. It was quite the seaside extravaganza.  I was thinking on the way back to my room last night how much he means to all of us and how his life effects our family. This tiny little baby born half way around the world ten years ago (who loves the spicy Italian sub) has transformed and enriched all of our lives. If little Cooper has done that for our family, how much more has the Son of God done for the world?  He came into this world and transformed it; He enriched all whose lives He has touched; He saved from sin those who have called Him Lord; and He means everything to those of us who call Him Master, Savior, Jesus. He is the ultimate changer—of lives, of families, of communities...the world has never been the same since He came.  “But to