Don’t you just love it when you have SO MUCH you want to do at your computer and it goes bonkers and three attempts to get it fixed do not work! The last week of May we had some strong weather come through and the speculation is that our surge protector failed to protect! I really had not realized how much I used my computer until now when I have gone a month without it! I’m writing this at Ron’s (my wonderful husband) laptop while he is not needing it….ha!ha!….he has a port attached to his wrist which NEVER gets unplugged from the computer which is now directly linked to his brain “Borg” style. (Yes, he is a Trekkie and thinks the Borgs are the way to go - part human, part computer.)
So, here are some amazing JUNE events…
June 1st we celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary! In counseling many couples and in marriage seminars we always tell people “We have NEVER considered divorce…murder, yes, but never divorce!” There is such a deep abiding joy in faithfulness during good time and bad - you know, the “for better or for worse” part of the vows? And truly the best wine of marriage is saved for these last years of life! Thank you, Sweetheart, for these awesome 39 years together and many more to come!
June 8th I hosted a “Cookies and Punch Tea Party” in our home for several dear ladies who are sweet friends of mine. We laughed together, cried together, enjoyed the refreshments and drew rounds of “surprise gift packages” from a tray. I have learned there will never be a “just the right time” to do something. We do make time for the things we feel are important. Relationships are something I prioritize.
June 14-15th, Father’s Day weekend we had the great joy of our son, Scott Wood, being with us. He and his dad ministered for the men and boys of our church at a Saturday evening dinner. Then Scott brought a powerful sermon for our Sunday morning service. His dad said he couldn’t think of a better Father’s Day gift from a son. Our daughter couldn’t be here so she sent her Dad money for his very favorite candy - Sweet Tarts- so he was thrilled! I was really blessed because medically we were not suppose to be able to have children so these two miracles, our son and daughter, make it Father’s Day and Mother’s Day everyday for us!
June 22nd Work Days began for Step Two of our church family’s move toward our five acres of land. We will break ground late fall this year on the property. Until then we are relocating from a warehouse we rent to a great location and building we will rent beginning July 13th until the completion of Phase I of our home for Real Life Church, Olive Branch, Mississippi. I’m sure Abraham and Sarai moved their dwelling tents willingly but also in hope for the day they possessed their land!
I hope your June has been great - full of work you love, family and friends you love even more and steps that move you toward the goals you have set before you!
“Sow a thought, reap an act, sow an act, reap a habit, sow a habit, reap a lifestyle, sow a lifestyle, reap a destiny.”
This was a quote given by a speaker I heard a while ago. They didn’t remember who originally said it, but I was really impacted by it. The speaker had a theme of the power of our thoughts and words. They can limit us or press us forward toward our goals. The universal and Biblical law of sowing and reaping is described in the quote.
It was amazing as I looked at the times in my life when I had thought through a “huge” and “difficult” situation looking for answers, for divine revelation. There were small events that I seemed to breeze on through not requiring much thought at all. Part of the reason was the value system I have held to and it gives me guidance. Often I don’t have to “trouble” over something in my mind to get a clear direction.
But there have also been times in my life when I needed answers for questions large and small. They seemed to be eluding me. My mental gymnastics, vain imaginations, insecure feelings producing fearful thoughts, and scripture quotations still didn’t give me clarity or peace. It has been in those times that this quote has come to me. I have actually back-tracked through my thinking to see where my thoughts led to acts which led to habits which led to lifestyle choices which led to other choices on my way to walk in destiny.
Fulfilling purpose is another way of defining destiny. The Biblical law of sowing and reaping greatly influences us financially and that certainly affects our ability to fulfill purpose, to reach our goals, to be a person of destiny.
Thoughts, actions, habits, lifestyle choices - all seeds we sow that will result in fulfilling purpose, to be a person of destiny.
I love this time of year….azaleas blooming, filling flower beds with impatiens and perriwinkles, but my favorite thing in the spring is a gift from my husband. He plants roses for me.
In fact, Ron has planted a rose bush for me every place we have ever lived - including outside the window of my dorm room in college! Now, for those of you who have lived in the same place for many years this wouldn’t seem like a big deal, but we have moved MANY times. I have great pictures of the places and the roses. This month Ron planted them for me at our home in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We have our favorites, Mr. Lincoln, Noel Coward, Queen Elizabeth, Heritage Season, and Wild Rose.
We were married on June 1, 1969, and for the first year of our marriage he gave me a single rose on the first day of each month. He also writes beautiful poetry and I have no doubt that of the two of us he is the real romantic.
Watching the buds come on the rose bushes and then opening to their full beauty is a metaphor for our lives together. Young love, budding and blooming, growing even in thorny times, weathering “black spot” seasons then continuing to bloom and grow, multiplying blooms every season…
I am very grateful for a husband that tends my gardens - the rose garden, and the garden in my heart!
O.K., O.K., for those of you who have asked, now you get the answer:
I had the awesome privilege of working with the Staff of The ROCK of Wilmington in North Carolina. Hardworking, dedicated, passionate-for-Christ people who NEVER knew when to stop talking shop. Lunch times and break times I would try to introduce a topic unrelated to ministry or work and after a sentence or two someone would take us back into the workplace shop talk.
We had a HUGE event coming up and everyone wanted to have their area of ministry at its very best so, being stressed out, we started whining and complaining about work to one another. This spilled over into times and meals away from the office, too. I went to my office and prayed, “Lord, please give me something to get us laughing!” Well, this is what He gave me….
Sung to the tune of the Oscar Meyer Weiner song:
“Oh, I wish I had a healthy boundary,
Oh, that is what I’d truly like to see,
‘Cause if I had a healthy boundary,
Then everyone would be in love with me!”
(Hey, if it’s not spiritual enough for you complain to the Lord…He gave it to me!)
I then became the “Self-Appointed Mental Health Advocate” to the staff. Any time anyone slipped into shop talk at an inappropriate time I would sing this song. Soon, all we had to do was start to hum the tune to one another and we’d laugh and change the subject.
It is easy for me to get intense with ministry responsibilities and no one loves me when I am intense! Kingdom work is hard, intense, and fulfilling, but hey, sometimes the Lord says to us, “Go get a life! I’m God and you’re not!”
A friend of ours recounted her experience with a short term missions team going to China in 1997 to smuggle Bibles. One of the team members was a pastor. As he stood in line to go through the border crossing check point into China he began to rehearse in his mind the things he had taken care of - just in case something happened to him on the trip.
He recalled getting his financial house in order; having everything, all the paper work ready, for his wife in case he was imprisoned. Then he moved on to fretting about whether he had gotten enough insurance, would his family make it O.K. without him? Then anxiety set in as he pictured himself spending the rest of his life in a Chinese prison. He had heard the horror stories of many ministers held and tortured.
His turn came to show I.D. and be questioned by the border guards. He was passed on through without any problems. He immediately began singing in his heart and mind saying, “Hallelujah, Jesus, thank you, Father, You are so good to me! You do all things well!”
The Lord then spoke clearly to him saying, “Right song…wrong side!” He instructed the pastor that the thankful heart, the peace that passes all understanding, even great joy would have been his if he had sung his song on the side of fear and the unknown, not waiting to sing it in relief as if God might not come through.
Next Monday a dear friend of mine, Vicki, is facing major surgery. During a visit with her this weekend I could hear her working to choose the right song on the right side of this fearful and unknown medical procedure. I am confident God will honor her with peace that passes all understanding! She’s singing the right song on the right side!
My husband, Ron, and I have said for a long time that our family put the “fun” in dysfunctional! Our son, Scott, and his wife, Natasha, have given us three beautiful grandchildren…Trinity, soon to be 6, Brayden, just turned 4, and Israel, will turn 2 tomorrow! My, how time does fly! We were living in North Carolina when all these babies were born and dear friends provided me with a plane ticket to be in Arkansas for each birth! What a joy! Our daughter, Wendy Rebekah, lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and our son and his family live in Bentonville. Geography doesn’t hinder our “inside” jokes, or the pranks we like to pull on one another.
Ron’s twin brother, Don, his wife, Kay, and WonderDog, Jessy, came for a visit last week. They live in Dallas and have four adult sons. After years of living too far away to visit each other we have had the joy of having them in our home three times as they traveled to the northeast for business and ministry. Don is an apostle in the marketplace and has a powerful ministry called “Fatherpower.” Kay is a writer, editor, mighty woman of God, and brightens every conversation with witty comments. Jessy and our dog, Gracie, became great friends and it was an awesome family visit.
Both our families love to read books. As our two were growing up we read aloud from books every night. When Scott was about 12 years old Ron read us the book titled, “A Day No Pigs Would Die” by Robert Newton Peck. It is a coming of age story of a young boy and his family on a farm. His dad is also a butcher. The day the father passes away is the day no pigs died.
The young boy was always hurrying from one chore to another to get on to his adventures. Each time his dad had him repeat the chore until it was done right. He would say to him, “Son, one done good beats two done ragged!”
As Kay and I visited I was reminded of all the times we said “family phrases,” mostly quotes, to our children and now they say those same things to their families. Time and distance may seem to affect our relationships but plugging back in and making new memories together is a wonderful gift!
Dysfunctional or not, we only get to have the family we have and in everything we do with and for them “one done good beats two done ragged” every time!
Thank you, Bryan and Jennifer, for this AWESOME birthday present…my very own blog! Yesterday Bryan (Yoda) gave me (Jedi) a digital orientation, in-service training and general instructions. WOW, my brain cells got a down load and I am still very intimidated by this whole cyber-world.
A song I love has the words “from one generation to another” and it is a real delight of my life to have friends of all ages. Those that carry me on into the future are dear to my heart. As I walk a bridge between analog and digital my vocabulary won’t always be exactly right for all you Yodas but my heart sure is singing as you soar on toward things we’ve prayed and believed for you to walk in.
I LOVE reading blogs and you will see names of some of my favorites on my blogroll. Please visit these and meet some of my truly amazing friends.
Somehow the “sayings” I quote seem to give me a reputation. Not all of them have wisdom in them…some are just fun. Here’s one from a professor I had in college, Dr. V.C. Miller, and it does have wisdom…
“What you feed grows. What you starve dies. You never satisfy anything by feeding it. You merely increase its capacity.”
This is true whether we’re dealing with our thought life, food issues, or daily habits. I hope that today you will feed all your areas of creativity and vision and starve out anything that steals your joy!
Oh, and check back so you can find out the story behind The Boundaries Song, meet my wonderful husband, Ron - he’s the one I’m kissing in the photo, pick up a few quotes and share yours with me!
So, it’s Lana’s birthday.
To honor her on this amazing day, I knew it had to be an extra special surprise.
I thought and thought…
I even contemplated for quite some time…
It had to be something out of the ordinary for this extra-ordinary lady…
And then it hit me…
The best thing I could give to her is a platform for her to continue speaking into our lives from so far away…
Thus “Lana Blogs” was born. Come back often to read from the wealth of Lana’s wisdom. You’ll be glad you did.
Happy Birthday Lana!
We love you.
