Worship beyond compare and being an Optimist….

What a glorious opportunity I had Sunday night as I attended church with my Pastor’s daughter that attends NLR First Assembly of God church. Their Choir and Worship Team took us straight to the throne room of God!! It was a glorious time in the LORD!

Well, today I was accused of being an eternal optimist by my dear friend, Patty. Being the optimist that I am I even took that as a compliment! (chuckle)

A little later on in the day I found this story on the web and couldn’t resist….

Optimist vs. Pessimist
A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the TV was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom and gloom pessimist.

Just to see what would happen, on the twins' birthday their father loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with horse manure.

That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly. "Why are you crying?" the father asked.

"Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken." answered the pessimist twin.

Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure. "What are you so happy about?" he asked.

To which his optimist twin replied, "There's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

Now that is what I’m talking about!

However, I am trying to find some balance in my life regarding this optimism. But, that balance usually only last about an hour or so because I believe God wants us to see the good in every situation. Granted it can take me a while to get there some times but He is Faithful and I do get there!

Whether you are in the room with the toys or you are in the room looking for the pony you can be sure of this, “our Abba is with us, don’t miss the opportunity to talk with HIM.

Continue to pray for the Venezuela retreat and the missionaries that will be attending!

Lipstick kisses...

Well, I had a ‘first’ requested of me Tuesday evening by a 1st grader. I had made a trip up the road to Jonesboro, AR to meet with some of the ladies going to Venezuela with us in October of this year. As is my custom I spend the night in the home of some very dear ministry friends Jeff and Wendy Stotts, Jeff serves on staff at Central Baptist in Jonesboro, and Wendy, his wife, is going with us on the Venezuela trip. They have three children, Wade, Will, and Melody. Please note that Melody, while the last in the litter, is by far not the least. She would for sure be considered their strong willed child! Ever noticed how sometimes these little darling’s also have this cleverness and wittiness about them that keeps you torn between bringing harm to them or just trying not to let them see you laugh at how clever and witty they are! That would be Melody.

As usual when I arrived in their home Melody made her way to me. We have had a special bond for some time. I always know that from the time I hit the door until she goes to bed I will be Velcro and she will be stuck to me. Tuesday night was no exception. However, when it became bed time she made a very interesting request, “ Ms. Vickie will I see you in the morning? “ Answer, “No honey, I will be up and gone by 5:30 a.m. and you will still be a sleep.” “Well then would you leave a lipstick kiss on my forehand in the morning before you leave?” Hmmmmmmm “Ok” I replied. So, she went to bed with that promise tucked away in her mind. When I spend the night with Jeff and Wendy I get Melody’s room and she gets to sleep with mom and dad. I suspect she does that a lot no matter if someone is using her room or not (chuckle). Ok, making plans to prepare for this event the next morning I went to Jeff and Wendy and said, “Just wanted you to know I will be coming into your room in the morning before I leave to give Melody a lipstick kiss.” When I did this I noticed that they had a blow up mattress beside their bed and Melody was in it. Good, I thought. I can slide in, give her the lipstick kiss and slide out in the morning and not bother them. Jeff and I sat up and visited a while longer and then off to bed I went. At 4:30 a.m. the alarm went off and I got up, getting ready so I can make the 2 ½ - 3 hr. drive to Morrilton. Just before I get ready to walk out the door I put on my lipstick for the task. I made sure it was on good and thick. You know the Lord wants us to do all things with excellence. Why would a lipstick kiss be any different!
So, I opened the door to Jeff and Wendy’s room and it was soooooooo dark I couldn’t see a thing. Since I knew the general area of the blow up mattress from the night before I flipped open my cell phone to get a tad of light and horror of horrors Melody was not there! Of course it only took my brain less than a blink to know that the child was on the bed with mom and dad somewhere! Sooooooooo, I walk to the end of the bed and sure enough there she is, smack dab in the middle of mom and dad in this BIG KING SIZE bed! I ask you, should an almost 54 year old women have this kind of decision to make this early in the morning: Honor the lipstick kiss and for sure wake up both parents because I WILL HAVE to climb onto the bed to reach her or slip out and call it even? Right! Of course you can’t break a lipstick promise! Sooooooooooo, I climbed up in the bed and as I am trying to find her forehead amongst the blond locks of hair, Mom and Dad both are awaken! How stupid can I feel? Pretty stupid! However, I did finally get enough hair out of her face to put a lipstick kiss on her cheek. Mom and Dad smiled as much as you can at an intruder in your bed at that time of morning and I, finally having finished the task, head home. Now the big question is was it worth it? The answer came when later on in the day Wendy called me about some details for our Venezuela trip and also informed me that Melody went to the mirror when she got up to see if I had kept my lipstick kiss promise. Not seeing the lipstick kiss on her forehand she told her mom I hadn’t given her the kiss but then Mom pointed her in the direction of her cheek and there it was.

And there you have it…all is well that ends well! The lipstick kiss is what I call real ministry!

Keep praying for our 50 missionaries that will be attending the Venezuela retreat and the team as it continues to come together.



His,
Vickie

The two C's in my life ...

As, I pen this blog this morning I am chuckling at myself. The two C’s in my life this weekend have been reminders of my journey with Breast Cancer and my journey with being technically challenged, Computers!

Over the weekend our community had its annual Relay for Life Event at our local High School Track. Many of you Survivors or Over-comers as I like to call us will know what I am talking about because many of your communities do some of the same things.

It started on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. with the opening ceremony of the Survivors and Caretakers taking the first lap around the track, then from that point on someone on our team from FBC Morrilton had to be on the track until 7:00 a. m. Saturday morning. Since, my breast cancer journey in 2006 I will have to say walking that lap stirs up more emotion in me than I can even share. It reminds me of what I went through and it reminds me of my mom (Caregiver) and others that ministered and prayed for me during the time of surgery, Chemo, and radiation. It also, brings home to me those that were taken by the killer (Cancer) and those that are fighting for their lives even as I write this blog. It is a place where you can talk with those that really understand your journey. Many of you, like myself, continue to be on medications such as Tamoxifin for your cancer treatment which brings on a whole other set of issues in the Surviving and Overcoming category. So, this ‘C’ this weekend has again been a reminder.

The second ‘C’ computer stirs up many emotions in me as well. Not good ones I might add. In fact, my words to Patty earlier this morning went something like, “ I have tried everything I know to do (regarding my wireless connection failure). I found my self mostly frustrated because I could not for the life of me get a ‘real person’ on the service repair line. It wasn’t even an option. And please tell me how I can type in their information to resolve the problem by internet when I CAN”T get on the internet!
Is it just me or how hard is that one to figure out? Hmmmm. I might still have some strong feelings going on about it all, still. Anyway, after a little over an hour of trying to figure it out on my own and sensing in me the feelings welling up to want to toss my laptop out on the front lawn (did I mention through the pane glass window). I did the rational thing and called Patty. Shared with her my mind set about the lap top and the window. She offered to come and help. However, the minute I hung up the phone my wireless connection made its appearance. I feel confident that my laptop and the phone company that handles my wireless heard me mention her name and poof it was working!

For the remainder of this day I would like to be reminded of only one ‘C’. Christ Jesus my Savior! That trumps all other ‘C’s!

Speaking of the weekend, the team that went to Costa Rica got together for food, fellowship, sharing and prayer! It was a most wonderful time in the LORD and a great opportunity to continue to see and hear the fruit of Pure Joy in the life of the team and the ladies in Costa Rica. God is soooooo FAITHFUL to HIMSELF!

Please continue to pray for our Venezuela missionaries and the Team that will be going to Venezuela. We have to lock in names and numbers by the end of this week. Pray that the team will be exactly as God desires and that every missionary that God intends to be at this retreat will be there!

Love you all much!

His,
vickie