Why couldn't Jesus have changed water into Margaritas?

Hello,

So here's a little confession of mine. I don't really like Wine. I can drink it every now and then. It's gotta be really sweet and fruity. I do like a good Sangria. Occasionally people will serve a wine that I like, but very rarely do I ever have a second glass.

I have discovered that I do enjoy a sparkling wine. Maybe it's a texture thing. Maybe it's because it's a 'fun' wine.  I do like champagne.

It's almost embarrassing when I go out to dinner and people ask if I want a glass. In truth, I would hardly even know what to order. I can't very well ask if they have the $4.97 sparkling wine that I like from Wal-Mart.

Last month we went to a Winery for a Happy Hour. It was a lovely place. I enjoyed my time there, but I had no idea what to order. I would have been happy with an iced tea. Honestly, wine is wasted on me. And I'm okay with that.

I did enjoy a Moscato that Ms. Carol had for me the last time I was there. I got a bottle and I drank it. It took me a long time to finish it. I tried another bottle a couple of weeks ago. I liked the label. It had Flip-Flop in the name. Yeah, it was Horrible. I threw in some peaches to give it flavor, and that didn't help. I had one glass and threw it out.

Over the years people have given me bottles of wine as a gift. What they should do is give me a cork screw and a topper. Until recently I didn't own either. I still don't own a cork screw. My sparkling wine isn't a cork bottle. 

Now give me a good grape juice and I literally get excited. When given the choice at communion I always choose grape juice over wine. I do love me a good grape juice.

In college I was a Eucharistic Minister at church. I would practically beg to give out the communion wafers over the wine. Hardly anyone drinks the wine and the Eucharistic Minister has to finish what was in the chalice. Maybe it was just drinking too many horrible glasses of wine that turned me off. I'm pretty sure that was it.

I read the Bible daily. I read about wine all of the time. Why couldn't Jesus have changed water into Margaritas?

*****

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 

-John 2: 1-11

It's easy to be Positive with God in your Corner

Hello,

Are you a positive or a negative person? Do you prefer to be around positive or negative people? I don't know too many people that would say they want to be around negative people. But, I do know people that are so negative that they don't want to be around positive people.

I am a positive person. I know a lot of negative people. It's hard to be around them. Negativity breeds negativity.

I have been around those people my whole life. The people that seem to need complain and be negative in order to be happy. It's like they need to or they will stop breathing.  It's very hard to be around someone like that. It's infectious. I will be in a good mood and then after 5 minutes with this person I am complaining too. I don't like that at all.

I've had to tell some people that literally "if you don't have something nice to say, we can't be friends anymore." It wasn't magic or anything, but it has made some people take a step back and re-evaluate themselves. In other cases, I've literally excused myself and either left the room or left the building. It's just not something I want to be around.  If I can't successfully change the subject to something more positive then that's what I have to do.

I try to be positive all of the time. Sometimes it is contagious and before I know it I have helped someone turn their day around. Sometimes it has no affect on someone else.

Now this isn't to say that I am a peppy happy go lucky girl all of the time. I just simply chose not to say negative things about others or to others. I'm not perfect. I do occasionally, and I always feel bad about it.

Social Media can be very good for this and it can be very bad. I have a hard time when people post Rants every day. Part of me feels bad that maybe they need a place to vent. Everyone needs to vent, but a public airing of dirty laundry might not be the best outlet for it.

I am very active on Social Media and I've gotten my fair share of negative comments. My rule: don't respond. It'll upset me, but it's not worth an argument that clearly won't resolve anything.

Very happily I was invited to join an event on Facebook: 30 Days Happy.  The goal is to post something every day that makes you happy. I like doing it and I like seeing what everyone else writes about.

So how am I able to stay so positive all of the time?  It's easy. I talk to God all of the time. When something bad happens I talk to Him before I go and poison someone else's day with negativity. God talks back and calms me down. He always gets me through it. And that's what I focus on. It's easy to be Positive when you've got God in your corner.

*****

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

-Philippians 4:8

Fitting Life in around Church, not the other way around

Hello,

There once was a little girl who went to church. She did like going every week, but she was a clock watcher. She would pay attention, but would constantly be watching the clock. She knew the order of the mass by heart. She knew when it was half over without looking at the clock. 

 

In retrospect, just because she was going to church every week and loved God, doesn't mean that she was truly paying attention. The reality is that very often she was mentally making a list of things that needed to be done that week. 

 

Clearly she wasn't getting everything from Church that she should have.  

 

She also planned which mass she went to around her plans for the day. Early plans meant going Saturday night. No plans meant sleeping in and going at noon. Either way, she fit in church around her schedule. 

 

That girl has since made her Faith her focus. She makes Sunday her Rest Day. If plans come up she fits them around Church.  That is number one. 

I run races. I very rarely sign up for Sunday races. If I can still get to Church after then I will do it. I have gone to church still wearing my race bib. But, for the most part I don't sign up for any race on Sundays. If it's a travel weekend I will sit in traffic over getting on the road and missing church.

 

I should also mention that I have slight OCD. I am a clock watcher most of the time. These days when I'm in church I never ever look at the clock. I'm never thinking about what I have to do this week. I am not making shopping lists in my head. The services I have been attending for over a year are always over an hour. I don't look at the time until I am in my car. It's a nice and freeing feeling.

In my Bible Study we discussed the role of the shepherd and the sheep. The sheep know the shepherd by his voice. This girl hears the voice now when she worships. It's wonderful.

*****

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

-John 10: 14-15

Going Green for God

Hello,

Something that really gets me mad is when I see garbage in the water or at the side of the road. There is no reason for it. None whatsoever. People are ignorant.

I have always been a recycler, but I will be honest. In the beginning it was because we got money for our cans.  As an adult my priorities for that have changed. I want to be responsible about it. Sometimes it feels like such a losing battle. What difference will one person make when I look around and see so much disregard? And then I realize how much worse it would be if I didn't care.

I am just one person. I recycle so much weekly. I have always felt that it was the right thing to do, but the more I read the Bible the more I am fueled by another thought. It's about respecting God. He gave us this planet. To trash it is so disrepectful. It should be Earth Day every day.

When I am walking through the park and I see someone else's garbage I will pick it up. If I have something to throw out I will hold on to it for miles until I see a garbage can. Many of you know that I run in a lot of races. Can I tell you how much I stress at the water stops? You take a dixie cup of water and throw it on the ground. Now there are people right there to pick it up. We aren't expected to throw it out, but I can't do it. I can't not throw it in the trash can. It's just so disrespectful to God.

I'm a little surprised that there aren't more churches participating in River Clean ups or driving recycling programs. And I do cringe a little when I pull up to a Church parking lot that is full of gas guzzlers.

People are so careful to be respectful "under God's roof", but then tend for forget about this beautiful Home that He has created just for us.

*****

They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

-Isaiah 11:9 

Missing a more Traditional Service

Hello,

Sometimes I get very torn. I very much like the style of the services that I have been attending, but there are times when I really miss a more traditional service. It's not all of the time. But, I really feel it around Christmas.

Last year I spent most of December visiting family on the weekends. And so I was going to the Lutheran churches that I had been for years at each place. There is something about a more traditional service at Christmas time that speaks to me. I love the decorations and the Christmas hymns.

Full disclosure here is that I am a Hallmark Christmas movie addict. I LOVE watching them. And right now it's Christmas in July on the Hallmark Channel. I have been watching a lot of Christmas movies this week. First of all, I love them. Second of all, they make me feel like it's a little cooler outside than it really is.

Last night we were watching one that we DVR'd (I told you this is serious business) and there were several scenes in a small church at Christmas time. There was a little pang in my heart. It made me want to go back to some of my old churches. I'm not sure when I will be able to do that, but I am happy that the small church I go to at my dad's has their own channel on Youtube. Every now and then I will watch a service. I did that a lot over Christmas.

That church is at the beach and the majority of it's members are well we'll just say older than me. They offer the services online for those who are unable to attend. It's not the same as being there, but for now I can get my traditional fix...in a not so traditional way ironically.

When I move back to Charlotte I am still unsure of what I will do. I think for now I will go back to my old church and take a weekend every month to check out another. I'll definitely be there for Christmas and Easter. That's for sure :-)

Have a Blessed Night.

*****

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
- Colossians 3:16

Rock out for the Lord

Hello,

What comes to mind when I say "Christian Rock"? For many, it's not a positive response. Many people don't consider it Rock music. And many people don't consider it true Christian music. Christian Rock has certainly changed over the years. It's not quite the Gospel music you think of when you hear "Christian Music."

Long ago a friend gave me a cd of some songs that he liked. I loved it. Jars of Clay and Third Day were my first loves. Eventually I started looking for more. Jeremy Camp. Mercy Me. Chris Tomlin. Love them.

The Lutheran Church that I attended for 6 years began a Praise band. Every other week this band would play more contemporary music. I loved it. LOVED it. When I moved an hour away it took me a while to leave the church for a bunch of reasons, but the Praise Band was a big factor.

Luckily the church I started going to had a full band every week. I was in heaven. They were singing songs that I had on my ipod. And a bunch of new ones. I would regularly keep a list of the songs we sang and run home to download them.

Now I love all types of music. I am a big Country Fan which has some Christian songs. I like Rock. I like Hip Hop. I listen to it all. But, I am finding that more often then not, if I am not listening to my running playlist, I am listening to my Christian playlist. It calms me. It makes me happy.

I still listen to my other music, but sometimes I cringe now at the lyrics. It amazes me that people frown upon Christian Rock's messages of love and grace and yet songs about money, sex, and demoralizing women are chart toppers.

One of my favorite stations on Sirius is 63. It's the Message. I love the music and often put it on when it's time for bed. It calms me and helps me relax for sleep. I will even tell you that one of my radio presets in my car is for a Christian station.


For a few months I have been attending my Aunt's Church. I love it there. I love the Pastor, but I LOVE the band. It's like attending a Concert for God every week. There are 7-8 songs every week with us standing and and worshipping God.

It's just such a wonderful feeling. Music brings me joy. God brings me joy. It's only natural that combined it is simply a wonderful experience.  When you go to a concert you get lost in the music. The loud beats take over your body. It is a physical experience. It's that plus infinity every Sunday. It's a physical and spiritual experience.

I'll share with you some of my favorites. Check them out on Youtube:

10,000 Reasons - Matt Redman
Walk with Me - Jesus Culture
Come to the Cross - An Epic No Less
I Am - Crowder
Forever Reign - Hillsong
I Believe - Third Day
Mighty To Save - Laura Story
Trading my Sorrows - Jeremy Camp
Revive Me - Jeremy Camp
Give me Jesus - Jeremy Camp
Flood - Jars of Clay
Indescribable - Chris Tomlin
Amazing Love - Chris Tomlin

*****

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
-Psalm 95: 1-2