Lessons On My Journey

Today our church was invited to a "Ladies Tea"
It was at a church about an hour north of my church.
Which makes it two hours from my home.



It is a sweet little church called Living Word.

My husband was so sweet to drive my Aunt and I up to the church.
He was going hiking at a nearby park while we enjoyed our tea.

They had the tables set so beautifully.
Each one a different color china.
Ours was set in pink which thrilled my heart.

 

We had delicious scones, cranberry & chocolate chip.

And a ton of different teas . . . green tea, pomegranate,

spearmint, orange, you name it.

 

We had a gift auction which was fun.

Oh I loved this blanket. I didn't win ; (

 

We had worship with a wonderful couple.

Greg & Rebecka Sparks.  WOW powerful

 

 

I got this photo from their website.

 

I loved them. Rebecka was just so cool!

I loved her style . . . she had on the coolest boots hah

Her voice was awesome and you could see the

joy of the Lord all over her.

 

Then we had sandwiches.  Oh my!

I had a delicious chicken salad with cranberries.

 

While we had dessert Rebecka gave a devotional.

Dessert was a ton of different cookies, brownies,

fruit dipped in chocolate. . . oh delightful

 

The devotional was on:

 

Mark 8:22-26

 

²² They came to Bethesda, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.      ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into^[a] the village.”

She showed us how Jesus tried not once but twice
 to heal this blind man.
She said if it is okay for Jesus to try again we certainly can.
She said, try again, try again and keep trying it is okay.
Don't ever give up.
Don't give up on your parents, husband, children,
neighbors, coworkers
Don't give up on trying to lose weight, stop a habit, change
Jesus tried again --  so can we !

She said the "process" is just as valuable as the outcome.
It is all about our journey.

She gave us 4 wonderful points on these verses

1) Identify the broken  -
      Jesus saw this blind man and was moved to help
2) Step away from the crowd -
        no fanfare - Jesus took the man outside the village
3) Be willing to take a chance and think outside the box
     . - Jesus spit on this man.
    If it takes something out of your comfort zone to obey God do it.
4) Keep trying - Jesus didn't walk away after
          the first time, he simply tried again.

She gave us these wonderful verses to hang on to

Philippians 4:13

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

 

Psalm 118:14
The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.

 

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

 

Psalm 33:22

Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
for our hope is in you alone.

Rebecka spoke about trusting God and not freaking
out when things happen in our lives.
She read us a text message that she received just
that morning from her 20 year old son.
"Mom, how much does a mirror cost for your jeep?"
HAH  

Well, it really made me think about myself.
I knew God was speaking directly to me.
It just reconfirms what I am learning from
Lysa's book Unglued.



Well, the event was over and my
Aunt and I go outside to see if my
hubby is back and he is in the parking lot
waiting for us with our newly "smashed" up car !
Oh yes . . . while we were enjoying ourselves
my poor hubby was involved in a 3 car accident.
Thankfully no one was hurt.
Seems a lady made a left turn right in front of an
oncoming van with a husband, wife and
children inside.  He could not avoid her and
his car hit hers, turned over her SUV
and the impact pushed his car into
my husband's car who was sitting
at a stop sign. 

Now, here we go. Do I come unglued?
Do I forget what I just learned and was
signing about.  I can hear the voices in
my head.  We still owe 3 years on this car!

Well, thankful I did not ! yeah
I was just so thankful no one was hurt.
I know the car can get repaired.
It still runs fine and it is the drivers
side door smashed in.

 

So now I have a fresh opportunity to "practice" what
I am learning.  Dealing with police, car insurance
and repairmen - I know will just be a blast ! hah


Nehemiah 8:10
The joy of the Lord is my strength!