Category Archives: Faith

The 19th Day of December: From the Desk of Dad

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**Warning, this post will be about my dad. So, don’t cry Mom or Big Sister! I don’t want this blog to be filled with questions of porque? with back car windows filled with pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe. So, I promise there won’t be many more sappy posts. Ok, I can’t promise there won’t be anymore sappy posts, but I can promise there won’t be any sad posts. End Warning**

Since today is December 19th, my dad’s birthday, and  I’m munching on  a delicious piece of  (unfortunately store bought) red velvet cake, I just couldn’t help but think of Dad. And decided that today would be the best day to introduce a reoccurring series on the blog. I have entitled it From the Desk of Dad, but don’t hold me to that. I have a very short attention span, so the title of this series will more than likely change.

Remember my 31 Days of Treasures series?  If you are too lazy to click the link, it was a 31 day series that ended up being a 16 day series where I jibber jabbered on about all the vintage stuff I’ve been hoarding collecting  the past few years, and it also included a few treasures of the heart. I meant to share this one during that series, but then life happened.

This is one of my most precious and favorite treasures, my fathers Bible.

The Lord called my dad home on November 30th, 2003, it was a Sunday evening, I don’t really remember the exact time he passed from this side of heaven to the other. The watch I had worn since high school had stopped, but frankly I really didn’t care what time it was, or that my favorite Tweetie Bird watch was broken.  I just knew that my father was finally in the presence of our Savior. I will never forget the sharp pain I felt that night, or the persistent ache that came afterward. That pain, was not mine alone, the rest of my family also missed him, and we still do. But as believers in Christ we can rejoice in the fact that we will see my dad again, and be able to rejoice in the presence of the Lord, just like Dad did, that fateful night in November.

  Since his passing, over the years, I’ve begun to really appreciate my father and what he did in this life. The impacts he had on those around him, the leadership he demonstrated in our family, the witness he was to this world of Christ’s love for humankind. You see,  Dad was a preacher, he was a follower of Christ first and foremost, but he felt called to full time ministry as a pastor and missionary. And so, he followed the call, he pastored churches in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, but the Lord had a place for him as a missionary to the Navajo people in New Mexico. It is New Mexico where Dad spent most of his ministry, and where my mother is still serving.

On my 30th birthday this past April, my mom blessed me with the gift of my dad’s last preaching Bible. He had gone through a few Bible’s during his time as a preacher and missionary, my sister and brother were given those Bible’s that had particular meaning to them. (We like having study Bibles, church Bibles, and if your a preacher then a preaching Bible. But don’t misunderstand, all Bibles are sacred, because they are the Word of the Lord.) The Bible that I wanted, the one that I held dear, was his last preaching Bible. The one he’d used during my childhood and adolescence.

Amongst the pages of this Bible are several of Dad’s sermon outlines, some are handwritten, some were typed on an old typewriter, others were scrawled on scrapes of paper here and there as the Lord spoke to my dad.   The Bible is a cherished possession, not only because it’s the Word of my Savior, but also because it holds much of who my dad was on this earth. These sermon outlines, do not paint the entire picture of who Dad was, but they do remind me of what Dad represented, and what I hope to represent to this world.

*Don’t cry Mom!*

I’ll be sharing bits and pieces of these sermons, the scriptures, and some anecdotes from these cherished outlines. I won’t put myself on a time line for this, as I apparently have blog ADD. But occasionally you will find, a post here and there about a favorite sermon, or one that has recently spoken to me.  I hope that you will join me on this journey through the Good Word, and I hope that the Lord will speak to you as He has for me, through these sermons preached and unpreached.

Abundant Treasures

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I am participating in a ” 31 Days of…” series for the month of October. You see a whole bunch of sweet blogger buddies have been getting together the past few years to do 31 posts in 31 days. The topic is always something they have a passion for. This year they have invited all of their readers to post 31 days of their passions. If you are interested in participating in the 31 Days of…series, or you’re just curious about what everyone else is writing about, please visit The Nester, Jen, Melissa, Sandy, Darcy, Emily, and Emily. I hope you enjoy my series on finding treasures both vintage and of the heart. Let’s hope I can overcome my inconsistent blogging habit and share those 31 posts within the next 31 days!

Here we are on the final day of what was supposed to be 31 straight days of treasures. In this series of treasures I included any treasure be it a vintage treasure, a found treasure, or a treasure of the heart. Unfortunately, with travel and illness and general laziness, I wasn’t able to touch on all of the treasures I had hoped to touch on. So, be on the look out for a random treasure filled post here and there.

I had planned on ending this very short non-31 day series with a bang. However, I’m not really sure if I have any big bang content. So instead, I’ll share those treasures that are most dear to me.

Family that is also friend.

Faith in Christ.

Assistance with everything I do.

Watchful eyes guarding my every move.

Pretty things to photograph.

My love. The man, not UTEP.

What do you treasure most?

Party Pooped

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Finally, the much awaited party post!!! Unfortunately, there aren’t too many pictures of the party itself. As mentioned here Bubba and I were much too busy hosting to snap all those artistic photos I had hoped to capture. You wouldn’t believe the last-minute running around involved in setting up for a little party. Or maybe I’m just an inexperienced hostess with poor time management skills…. Naw, that couldn’t be it!

Anywho,  the photos I plan to share with you will be a mix of  the few photos I was able to snap. But most  have come from my sweet uncle and my Bubba’s brother, who is also very sweet. They did an excellent job of capturing the “essence” of the much planned for party.

It all happened in our little casa’s back yard…

(Wish I had remembered to put my luminarias along the walk way. That would have really dressed things up out there!)

This was the scene before we laid the food out or any of the guests arrived.

All those milk glass vases came from my Goodwill and thrift store collection. I didn’t realize how many I had hoarded collected over the past few months.

I decided to go with a lemon lime theme, so everything was shades of yellow and green citrus-y goodness.

All of the tables had a grouping of my milk glass vases filled with my favorite yellow flowers.  In the background of this picture you can see that we used plastic dinnerware. For the next party, I think I will use real dinnerware if possible. It really classes things up, plus a metal fork won’t fly away in the wind like a plastic one will.  But, it was nice not having to wash a kazillion pieces of cutlery. In hindsight, those table runners really didn’t work in my breezy backyard either. Things to note for next time…if there is a next time, I had no idea how stressful this little event would be!

In the tree we hung tissue paper pom-poms in shades of yellow, green and white. Along with yellow and white lanterns that looked oh so romantic when lit up.

As the guests walked into my urban oasis, they were greeted by the Wedding Tree, one of my first Etsy finds!

Instead of going with my original plan of the thumb print tree, I decided having the guests sign their names on a leaf would be much less messy than sticking their thumbs onto an ink pad. Plus it saved everyone from worrying about getting finger prints on their pretty clothes. And I still have a sweet memento to hang on my wall and enjoy everyday.

Going with my lemon and lime theme, I found a sweet seller on Etsy to design a tree in yellow and green. Can you believe I ordered the Wedding Tree the morning before the party, and that evening the PDF file was waiting for me in my inbox?! After I was over my shock of such quick service, I planned on popping into Staples the next morning to have our tree printed. And print they did. If I ever need any type of graphics work done, I’ll be sure to contact that Etsy seller again and have it printed at Staples!

The green bowl you see  is one of Bubba’s Goodwill finds, the pen holder is a crystal vase my mother gave me for Christmas. And the verse in the frame…

Is my father’s favorite verse:

“But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 43:31

And above that, I hung an airplane from Dad’s collection. Since my father passed away several years ago, it was so very important to me to have an element of Dad incorporated into the celebration.

After everyone had signed the tree and oohed and ahhed over my flower arrangements and pom-poms (not really)  it was time to eat!

On the menu was smoked pork loin, potato salad, pasta salad, and bbq’ed beans. And for dessert, cupcakes in three flavors: chocolate, carrot, and vanilla. Along with oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip and lemon cookies. I also threw in some brownies for good measure. You can’t have a party without some cavity inducing sweets!

(If I had thought to take some shots of the food, you would find those photos here. Instead I’ll share shots of everyone enjoying the festive feast.)

All of the sides and desserts I picked up at the grocery store, but  not after visiting two different grocery stores the morning of the party. Being the scatter brained little party planner I am, I had forgotten which store I’d ordered the cupcakes from! Thankfully, the sweet ladies at the first grocery store were ever so helpful and called each Albertson’s in the area until we located the right store. That saved me so much time and frustration!

Unfortunately, that was not the only sweat inducing obstacle of the day. But I plan on dedicating an entire post to that story. Let’s just say it involved law enforcement, the fire department, and a very sleepy April.

All in all, the party was a success. Both Bubba and I enjoyed sharing our home with friends and family. Our guests enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. My fears of cops coming in and breaking up the party, or angry neighbors calling said cops to break up the party were all unfounded. Everyone enjoyed themselves, there was lots of good food, and lots of good company. That’s really what a party is all about anyways right?

Both Bubba and I are so very thankful for the guests and all those sweet people that helped out. Those that helped in the set up and those that helped us take it all down, and for those who simply graced us with their presence. I know a lot of our guests traveled from far and near and sacrificed money and time to be in attendance. Not only am I thankful for our sweet guests, I’m also thankful for local law enforcement who saved our house from being burnt down (again, that’s for another post), and for the sweet ladies at Albertson’s that saved me time that I didn’t have.

Before I sound like an actress tearfully accepting an award and thanking all those that ever “spared a square”  (thousand points to anyone who can guess which television show that’s from!), let’s share some advice.  To all of you who are planning a backyard party or any type of event at your home, if someone offers to help, take them up on it. Yes, you can do it yourself, but do you really have time? The answer is a loud and resounding NO.

Between landscaping the yard, scrubbing the kitchen, and pulling Bubba’s dirty socks out from underneath the couch I had no time. There was hardly enough time to buy the food and other party supplies, design and mail the invitations (which by the way were not mailed until 3 weeks before the party!), plan on the decor (I forgot to put lighting up, instead of the cozy romantic evening I had planned on, we ended up with a dark and spooky evening), or have an impeccably clean or at least moderately clean  home (There were parts of my home that were used to stash clutter and other I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with items while in my mad frantic rush to clean two hours before the party. I just know some of my guests saw what horrid conditions my washer and dryer live in!). Aside from those things, relax , enjoy your guests and all of your hard work! And remember, cupcakes can be tracked down, fires can be put out, but memories cannot be remade.

This is love…

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“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4

Thank you Jesus for suffering on the cross and bearing the cost of the sins that I could not pay. How blessed it is, on the third day that You rose again! Thank you for the hope and the salvation that your sacrifice brought humanity. And for forgiving me, a humble sinner who has found life in Christ. It is only through You that we can be saved, and that we can truly know what love is.


Mawage…

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“19 We love because He first loved us.”

1 John 4:19 (NIV)

 

My new husband and I in all our greasy goodness after the festivities. (Boy, I wish I’d found my powder compact before we took this picture!!) We’re so blessed, thrilled and exhausted. Who knew there would be so many preparations the week before and the week of the event. But it was so worth it to celebrate with our family, the Lord truly has blessed me with a loving family and now a beautiful and loving husband.

Give Thanks

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“1O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.”

Psalm 136:1(KJV)

Happy Thanksgiving all!! I hope your Thanksgiving is just as bountiful as ours. Remember to give thanks to those you love and to the One who is good!!



Cozy

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I have all these posts in my draft folder just waiting to be posted. However, I just can’t seem to make the time to put the finishing touches on them to share. So instead, I’ll post a pretty fall I came across, it’s currently one of my favorites. I love the colors, it looks so darn cozy.

{NY Times}

I leave you with some encouraging words from Romans 12:12

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Must we wait??

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I wanted to share some thoughts today about waiting on God, it sort ties in with my post concerning patience. It takes patience when we wait on the Lord. But sometimes, we must wait to receive patience. We wait to see what He has set before us instead of rushing ahead and losing our way.

Psalm 27:14 says:

14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

So wait on the Lord and be of good courage, you definitely need to “be of good courage” to wait.  But to be patient enough to wait? I guess what we really need is the grace and courage to wait. For me, to wait on something especially those big somethings, is a frightful thing, so to find the courage to wait and to have  grace during the waiting is almost unimaginable. But we must all remember that when we are going through those times of waiting, that God will supply that courage and grace we need to stay on His path. Sometimes, He doesn’t want us to move forward just yet, He needs us to wait and listen. That’s the ultimate in obedience to the Lord.

Trust

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21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made. . . to be sin. . . .” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the loving kindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9 , where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (seeGalatians 4:19).

Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest”

What resounding words,  Jesus was made to be sin. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the rightesousness of God in Him”. Christ didn’t die on calvary because He felt sorry for us, but out of obedience to His Father.  What an example to follow! Christ paid the ultimate price to be obedient to Him. Is it so much to ask of us to follow where the Father leads? To follow in Christ’s footsteps of obedience? It’s true, not all of us will face the sort of death and torture that Christ did in our walk with God. But to be completely and utterly obedient, means to follow Him even in those dark times when it seems there is no end to the trials. It also means to keep focused on our Lord, and not the trials and the hardships.

The first step of this walk of obedience is to accept that sacrifice that Christ suffered on that cross. Do you live your life as if someone else has paid the price for your sin? Or do you cling to traditions and superstition to get you through this life instead of the putting your faith utterly and completely into the Savior’s hands?

 

Timing

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18And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. Isaiah 30:18 KJV

Does it seem like you have been short on patience and time? And the waiting is never ending? I know that’s how I’ve felt recently. But what a joy it is to know that if we wait for Him, we will be blessed.  We must focus on the goal at hand, serving the Lord and doing what is in His will for us right now. And everything in the future will fall into place at the right moment. It’s just a matter of having the patience to wait and to not force something to happen when it’s not God’s time.