Monthly Archives: May 2011

A Quick Hello

A Red Letter Day

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It has been a red letter day!

Two beautiful daughters have arrived to the loving arms of parents who cherish them. One of those little girls bears the name Thompson — making her a great niece.  And the other, well she’s the daughter of two young people that allowed me into their lives about 7 years ago and my life has been richer since.

And, and — Larry is expected to move to the next step today– townhouse recovery!

My sister-in-law called to let me know my niece has a summer job.

And in Mobile County, Summer has officially begun!! School teachers are rejoicing!  :)
For Baldwin County I think it will be Friday afternoon.
And with that let the prayers begin for this Summer to be the greatest summer yet for our children. Let it be a Summer of fun, safety and coming to know in a deeper way that JESUS loves them. May it be a Summer of growth in confidence that He has only good plans for them.  May it be a Summer when Moms and Dads open the WORD, love it, live it and lavish it all over those young ones who don’t know what to do with themselves for three months!

And having said all that, who would share with us Summer activity plans to keep children engaged in learning and growing rather than sulking and moaning: “I’m bored!” ?

Yes, a red letter day! May red letter days continue!!

Yikes! time to get ready for choir —
‘see’ you in the morning — LORD WiLLING,
Kathie

Assurance - Promise, Christian Living, Guests, Salvation

We Got No Business

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It has been a productive Monday as I sit to write for our Tuesday time together. At this writing Larry continues to improve. The 10 days to two weeks on the liver transplant recovery floor as of today is looking like a 5 day stay instead.  The mercy and grace of God is incomprehensible but we are receiving His goodness and rejoicing.  Again thank you for your prayers and your continued ones.

My Journey gave me some good reading this morning.  May I share a portion with you?

“Some of us turn to relationships, hoping the love of another person will determine whether or not we’re lovable. Some of us turn toward careers or other types of achievement to determine who we are and whether or not we’re valuable. Some of us let our past determine our identity–what people have said about us and what the world says about us, whether we’re attractive, or successful, or valuable.  We pretty much let anything and anyone else but God define who we are.

Author Chris Tiegreen has this to say: “Our identity is not made up of the ideas we have formed over the years; it’s made up of whatever God says about us. If He says we are His children then we are, whether we feel like it or not. When He says we are precious to Him, then we are, even if we don’t consider ourselves very precious.

. . . If God says you’re His beloved child, seated with Him in heavenly places, treasured as a specimen of His redemption and glory, cleansed of all sin, and gifted for divine works, you have no business contradicting Him” (indeed, March/April 2006). “

No business contradicting Him.

May I tell you that I am LIKING that a LOT?! I want it to stick with me and make changes in me.  Perhaps you would like the same.  Just a little more from Journey and I’m finished sharing from it for today.

“Ask God to show you what’s true about yourself. Ask Him to let His opinion of you speak louder than the world, louder than your past successes and failures, and louder than what you feel. Read through the New Testament and look for how God’s Word describes the redeemed, and choose to believe what God says is true about you.”

Ephesians 2: (New American Standard Bible)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
via Ephesians 2:4-7 – Passage Lookup – New American Standard Bible – BibleGateway.com.

I visited briefly tonight with LaJuanna at her Mother’s visitation. Please pray for the Kotis/Hinton family – the funeral is tomorrow (Tuesday.) Simply put, we have been asked to pray for Susan’s family. For more details click HERE. And there are many others. I am still praying for Megan, Kerri and her family, Kathy and Joe, Elaine, Karen, Dori, and others listed at PFT web page. Click HERE to go there. 

ABBA, thank You again for this ministry, all these dear people, I pray for them to be encouraged and to come to know more assuredly who they are in You; for You to be the ONE who defines us. And we come with each of these named here and on the web page, asking for grace and mercy and help of every kind needed in JESUS Name. Amen and amen.

Blessings!
Kathie

A Quick Hello

In Pocket Again

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I hope!

I feel like I have been out of pocket for more than just a few days; but hopefully the week to come will be a bit more within the norm for me.

We are beyond thrilled to report to you that Larry’s liver transplant journey is exceeding the doctors’ best expectations.  Larry asked that we thank each of you for praying for him and he said please don’t stop.

There are five major steps.
1. making it through surgery — he did!
2. making it through SICU, usually 3 to 4 days — he did it in 1 1/2 days!
3. making it through on the ‘floor’ in liver transplant recovery, usually 10 days to two weeks — he is into day 2 and yesterday sat up in a chair for 2 and 1/2 hours. 
4. making it through ‘Townhouse’ transition, usually 4 to 6 weeks — still to come
5. making it through the rest of his life — this we are praying for him to know, embrace, and enjoy all the reasons ABBA has given him a new lease on life.

As the HOLY SPIRIT prompts, your continued prayers are needed and appreciated.

As to some other prayer needs, I received an email from LaJuanna that her mother transitioned peacefully from here to Heaven last night. The family is confident of her safe arrival in the presence of JESUS and are thanking Him for the 90 years she journeyed her; albeit, this temporary separation is hard. So please pray for them.

I have this update on Gracie House: Hey, I just wanted to give an update on Gracie House since I know many of you are praying for her.  Gracie graduated with her kindergarten class yesterday, and is doing well.  She is still receiving blood thinner shots in her stomach twice a day (given by her mom). She will see a doctor on June 6 in Mobile and in Birmingham around the end of June.  They are so appreciative of our prayers and ask that we continue to remember her and pray that the blood clots are dissolved. Thanks,Ann Kelly  Date: Thursday, May 19, 2011, 9:02 PM

If you have other praise reports and up dates, please let me know. And other prayer needs, please feel free to email me.

Allow me to remind you how very important the ‘unspoken request’ is listed at PFT.  This category of ‘unspoken’ covers requests so personal they must be kept private from public voicing, which makes it even more crucial that we remember them.

As I was beautifully reminded this morning in worship service, our world is filled with hurting people, needy people and we must get still before GOD and discern from HIM how it is that each of us individually and collectively can be the hands and feet of JESUS to these dear people.

We hope you all are enjoying your weekend, not many hours left — make the most of them.  And I will endeavor to ‘see’ you tomorrow with a word or two of encouragement. 

ABBA, thank You for another blessed day to love You, to worship You and to praise and petition You on behalf of many people. Thank You for hearing us.  Thank You for Your mercy and grace, for Your love and forgiveness, for healings, for Homecomings, for strength, for counsel, for every good and perfect gift, for every instruction and every leading to alleviate suffering in JESUS name. Thank You for my precious IDOKs and I entrust each of them to You this very afternoon for all their needs, praying they will be encouraged and will pass encouragement and comfort and help on to others. Thank You for this privilege of ministry. Amen and amen. 

MUCH thanks,
Kathie

Click HERE to visit PFT web page.

Christian Living

Too Much for Sunday

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The TEXT for this Sunday’s Bible Study class that Jerry and I are privileged to lead is Colossians 3:18 – 4:18; but the Lesson Text for discussion is 3:23-25; 4:2-13, 17 which leaves out 3:18-22 and I have a word on those verses too.

SO, y’all get to ‘listen’.  :)

Colossians 3:(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
18 Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands,  love your wives and don’t become bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so they won’t become discouraged.
via Col. 3:18-4:18 – Passage Lookup – Holman Christian Standard Bible – BibleGateway.com.

Before we wade into the deep water of verse 18 let’s look at verses 23 and 24 as I think they bear on verses 18-21.

23 Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically,  as something done for the Lord and not for men,
24 knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord—you serve the Lord Christ.
via Col. 3:18-4:18 – Passage Lookup – Holman Christian Standard Bible – BibleGateway.com.

And here are my notes as they came today.

Oh my goodness! I just read    23 Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men,  24 knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord—you serve the Lord Christ. in context with 18 through 22!

Submission to our husbands is not about THEM, not even about US but about JESUS!

And, And! it says submit ENTHUSIASTICALLY!  Not begrudgingly, not with a sour attitude, but enthusiastically.

Is that a tall order or what? That is an impossible order in the flesh. But with GOD all things are possible and Dear Ones we are without excuse with those fitting in the LORD husbands.

Moving on now.

What would cause a husband to be embittered toward his wife? Obviously, it can happen in a Christian marriage or we would not have been instructed in this verse to NOT be.

And if a Christian husband can become embittered toward his wife, can a Christian wife become embittered toward her husband? Oh, I think I know the answer to that one. Don’t you?  And do we know how to prevent this embitterment from taking hold? And if it has already begun, do we know how to overcome it? Will we?

And, obviously children are expected to read the Bible! Did you see that in verse 20? Why else would verse 20 speak directly to children? So how much do your children read the Bible? How important is it to you that your children read the Scriptures? Is it important enough that you specifically pray for your children to read and know the Word? Even reward them for reading and memorizing Passages? If not, why not?

Fathers, do not exasperate your children. It will discourage them. So what does it take to exasperate your children? Have you done it? Have you repented? Have you asked them to forgive you? If not, why not?

Th verse addresses Fathers but I suspect from personal experience that Mothers exasperate children too. So, have you repented? Have you asked them to forgive you? No? Well, are you going to?

And now I have to ask myself — just because my Babies are married and out of the Nest, am I off the hook as to this portion of Colossians? No, I don’t think I am.  Do you?

And as to praying, I am continuing to pray for you all and for our Praying for These. At this writing I am praying for Larry, he went into surgery about 5:30 tonight (Wednesday) and we so want that to go well and for Claudia and the family to be comforted as they wait. And a new baby came last night and Momma has a few problems, so I am praying for her (Kathy) too. Emory, he gained a few ounces and I am rejoicing and asking for more weight gain for him and peace for his Mom and Dad. And I’m privy to conflicts, praying for holy resolutions – for hearts to soften and surrender to the LORDSHIP of JESUS. And I am thankful for all of you who faithfully come here to share a Word with me and to pray.

ABBA, thank You. Thank You for this ministry. You are so good to me.  Thank You for each prayer warrior that stands in the gap here. And thank You that You are tending all these cares and concerns we have. Thank You for knowing our hearts and, HOLY SPIRIT, thank You for voicing our petitions especially when we don’t know how. And thank You for standing guard over Your Word and sending it forth to carry out Your Will. Comfort with Peace the people of Israel and subdue all their enemies I pray. And, America, have mercy, ABBA. In JESUS Name have mercy and grant to us repentance, revival and renewal. Amen and amen.

Click HERE to go to PFT web page.

Until + + +
Kathie