More reading for the year

Here are some other books I’m juggling:

Six Steps to Excellence in Ministry by Kenneth Copeland

Cast of Characters by Max Lucado

Cross Cultural Servanthood – by Duane Elmer

Gage Tyler

Loving Life

Reading 2009

Here are a couple books I am starting out the year reading; what are you reading?

“GO!” A simple way to share your faith. By Joe Cameneti

“Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament” By Christopher J.H. Wright

The One Year Bible NIV (I actually started back in October so really continuing.

2009 Scriptures

I don’t think a year will go by where these three scriptures aren’t my focus.  Maybe because they all represent areas in which  I can improve. Instead of a New Years resolution; find some scripture to make your focus for the year.

Luke 10:27 He said “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence – and that you love your neighbor as well as you do youself.”
1Thes 5:17 Pray all the time.
Luke 6:38 Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.
Message Bible

JOY 2009

I had dinner with a few friends a couple weeks ago and presented to them an idea. Let me start by saying I am not one to journal, keep a diary or blog (that often), but something stirred on the inside of me to begin this journal on JOY.

I purchased a small journal for each of them and typed out the guidelines. I inserted the guidelines on the inside front cover for reference; here they are:

Jesus: write today some praise to our God; let Him know how much you love him.

Others: write something joyful about someone in your life. It could  be someone you just met or someone you’ve known for a lifetime.

You: write a joyful reminder of who you are in Christ. One joyful thing that you can give thanks for.

That’s it; pretty simple. Keep it simple so it does not become taxing. One or two sentences at most on each topic. I was going to insert a scripture on JOY but there are so many! I challenge you to find one you love and write it out somewhere to meditate on it.

Here’s the plan:

• Start the journal January 1st
• Find a small group that will do this together and every 30 days exchange journals. You will be blessed by what they wrote and they will enjoy reading yours.
• Write in that journal for the next 30 days and so on…
• Remember to make the entries short; just a few quick thoughts.

Whether your life is as perfect as you could have ever imagined or whether it is a struggle to find joy in anything, I believe in my heart this can be life changing. God didn’t say we would never have problems, but meditating on His grace, mercy and love will keep us filled with joy every day!

If you decide to join, send me a note letting me know. If you would like me to send you the journal we are using, send me an email with your address and I’ll send you one.

God Bless and may 2009 be filled with JOYin Christ Jesus!

Halloween

This past Halloween we decided to pass out coffee. We had plenty of candy for the 200 plus kids but I always felt the parents were left out. What a simple way to “love your neighbor” by suprising them with a free cup of coffee. It was a big hit and people were both suprised and thankful for the treat! I don’t “celebrate” the holiday of Halloween but I will treat those that do with love and kindness.

How He Loves Us

At a recent visit to Cedar Creek Church in Toledo, I was touched by this song.

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And the heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

John Mark Mcmillan

Letting Go

Well, my daughter has been away at college for about 6 weeks. I’m excited to say that she loves her classes, her professors and all of that aspect seems to be going well. But…I’m struggling. She is at school without a car so relies on friends if she needs to go somewhere and ony gets to come back home if someone can bring her along which doesn’t always work out. So, she has spent a couple weekends alone because her friends came back and she didn’t or they have other plans etc. It makes her sad and she is learning to deal with the challenges of being on her own. The problem is as bad as I want to make everything alright for her, I can’t! This is a moment in her life where she has to do some growing up. It may be painful, but she’ll be ok. It’s hard to be here and she’s 2.5 hours away! I can’t run to her, solve the problem and make it all ok. She has to make it all OK on her own. She has to rediscover that she isn’t alone, that God is with her and will help her learn to adjust being on her own. I pray for God to put great people in her path; Christian friends that won’t be fake, won’t let her down and that He will build in her life long friendships. I pray He gives her the courage to step out of her comfort zone and into His. She needs to step out of her comfort zone in order to meet people. She has to figure all this out and as much as I would like to, I can’t figure it out for her. This is probably one of the hardest moments in my life. My heart just aches because I love her so much I never want to see her hurting.

I think there are times when God watches us go thru things that He knows are hard but in the end will make us stronger. I know this is just part of growing up for my daughter and she’ll get thru it just fine. I just hope I do.

For all you mom’s sending kids off to kindergarten; that was just the basic training for moments like this! Stock up on the tissues, get unlimited minutes on your cell phone, learn how to text and IM and pray for God to get you through. I know He will, He hasn’t let me down yet!!

OH, Ron and I are going up next weekend to visit.

Family Reunion

This was the first of a Collins family reunion long over due. Approximately 95 attended this weekend and hopefully will become a tradition.

Happy Birthday to me!

This weekend I will celebrate my spiritual birthday! 8 years ago I gave my heart to Jesus. It was a day that changed my life and opened my eyes to a world I had been blinded from; I can even remember the service I was in. I even purchased the CD from that service to listen to over and over so I can keep that day in the front of my thinking. I never want to lose that excitement I felt on that day. The joy that over took me. The true forgiveness I felt for the first time for the sins I had committed. The realization that God loved me so much he sent His son to die for me! The new revelation I had about the plan and purpose God had for my life.

Take today and think about the day you truly accepted Jesus and meditate on it for a while. It will renew your spirit! If you have not made a commitment to receive Jesus, pray and ask Him into your life, to forgive your sins and totally take over your life!