HURRICANES

Well, Bonnie is making noise so I thought I would speak to you about hurricanes for a moment.  Through them I have learned that

       Perspective is Positively Paramount!!

I live in deep East Texas so I did not think I would ever know that much about this part of God's weather.                                                  
                                                                   Hurricane IKE

literally threw a tree into my bederoom and

                                                

Hurricane RITA 

was not that nice either.

It took us 9 months to recover from IKE and the only good we got out of RITA was after my daughter & two children fled Houston to my house and suffered through the worst hurricane they had ever experienced; we had a few- tree- falling- days bonding with them.

So my only history before these is that we would watch the track of a hurricane on TV and if it was tracking toward Florida or New Orleans we would sigh a sigh of relief and feel safe.
                                                            
                                     BUT I DO NOT FEEL THAT WAY ANYMORE!


 Why, you ask?  Perspective, remember? That same daughter and her precious ministry family have moved....  You guessed it!! :)                      
                                                              

 !!! NEW ORLEANS!!!

So no longer do we look to see if it's tracking to East Tx, but to New Orleans. So, what's your point you ask?    Just this. Whether your hurricane is a physical weather event or just the storms of L-I-F-E  

sickness,
               job loss
                            financial woes,
                                                    relationship wrecks,
                                                                                    depression,
                                                                                                      your weight, whatever---

Put them all in the right Perspective.  IKE has passed and I got a beautiful library out of that wrecked room, RITA has passed and a dangerous tree that I had wanted removed is gone.  BONNIE will pass too.  So will all the other "hurricanes" of our lives, but if we don't keep the right perspective we will miss the blessing from these sorrows.

There is also another life lesson.  Don't think just because you & yours are safe that there are not people in a pending storm.  God's Word tells us in Philippians 2:4: "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.".  Pray for one another..Encourage one another.  We have no idea what is lurking out in the sea of this world gone crazy, but we can all help one another if we keep the right perspective.

The first time we went to New Orleans to see our daughter one of the first things she showed me was her hurricane preparedness box. You know water, batteries canned goods, etc. Well, LIFE hurricane riders know to have a hurricane preparedness box too.  This is what it must contain:

At least one Bible,
                              several prayer warriors,
                                                                at least one trust applicator,
                                                                                                          and oh yeah,

  ONE VERY BIG GOD!! 

       (however my God will not fit in a Box)

Love all ya'll in the eye of the storm where ever you are and whatever it's name is.

Power of Prayer

Just want to remind all of you out there that there is :                             


POWER
               
          in                            
                       PRAYER
                   
My Sunday School lesson was on this very subject and it was taken from I Samuel 22-23. Awesome words on how David prayed and God answered!  Period!  Done Deal!  Not always what he wanted to hear; but clear, specific, and no doubts it was from the LORD God.


Yea, yea, Grandmother we know this.   But don't forget to do it!   I knew I was going to have a rough week at work last week, so I rallied a prayer group to pray. I asked my Sunday School class of 8-10 ladies ( all over 65) and my 2 daughters.   

                                                                      Well, sure enough it was as rough as we anticipated; but around Wednesday everybody, even me, said:  "Why is everything going so much smoother than we thought?"  I just grinned :)  


                                                           Because well... I didn't want to speak too soon and embarrass the Lord.  LOL!  Silly me. The Lord can take care of Himself thank you very much.  You guessed it.  The rest of the week was great as well and I eventually told all my co-workers my battle strategy for the week.  


My point:  DON'T FORGET TO PRAY. I know some of you think, yea, I've tried that before and there's a cold silent wall..  Don't quit!!  You might not understand now, but God hears.  Some days it's like it was in I Samuel 22-23.  You ask-- He answers. Many ask: Why pray?? 


Because my sweet sisters it works, He commanded us to and there is :


POWER
              in
                 PRAYER

SEND THE LIGHT

We had a commissioning service tonight at church for several groups, young & old that are going on mission trips this summer.  

The countries are Eucador Japan, China, and Egypt.  

A small church from a small town in Texas sending out that many to spread the gospel!! Wow!! The ages ranged from 16-58.  Some have been on mission before, but for some, it is the first time.  

One person in particular that is the reason for my post is Carla.  I first met Carla when she was in the 7th grade and I was her Sunday School teacher.  She has had some rough roads in her life one of which was that her mother was murdered when Carla was just a teenager. She grew up,married and has grown children now.   She plays the keyboard in our church orchestra and has been very faithful.  Now tonight to see her giving her vacation to go on a mission trip just really inspires me. 

It is also very encouraging that as you get older you do not just quit.  

This is a very brave endeavor for a 50 something.  

The other thing that inspires me is that I have lived long enough to see those children that I have taught and watched grow up continue to give their lives for the eternal.  Now I know that she is not going to Egypt because of anything that I did in her life; but to have the blessing of getting to see this is just more than this  grandmother can believe the Lord would let me do!!   

 How great is our God!! I ask you to pray with me for these and all of those around the world that are giving of themselves to spread the gospel.  

This reminds me of one of my favorite verses : 

Deut.6:7 "You shall teach them(God's Word) diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up." 

That just about covers it. We are to teach the next generation God's ways or guess what?? There will not be a next generation of God followers.  

Let us be busy about that so that there will always be a Godly legacy.. 

Legacy Lines from One Year Bible

Ok, with a blog entitled Lanita'sLegacy I cannot let my readings in the OneYearBible this week pass by without a "legacy" comment.  II Kings 18-22 are so rich in legacy-leaving-lines.  II Kings 18:19-20: "This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?" This was asked by a pagan king to king Hezekiah.  What are we truly trusting in?  Is it really the Lord our God or--or-- what we can "finagle" (good East Tx word) or orchestrate on our own?? I fear we better get that settled because there are some trying days ahead.  But the verse I really want to hone in on is II Kings 20:6.  Hezekiah has become deathly ill, like just being diagnosed with terminal cancer.  Hezekiah prays for God to heal him & then sends Isaiah to tell him: I heard your prayer & and have  seen your tears." (oh, wow, that right there will preach & that's not even my point)!!! God, through Isaiah says in v.6: (I will add 15 years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. ..)  Now whether you are young, old, or in between; ill or healthy as a horse (another good East Tx term) ; what would you do with a guaranteed extra 15 years to your life??  If you read the "rest of the story" (loved that Paul Harvey)  which is found in II Kings 6:7-21, Hezekiah did not do so well with his allotment.. check out v.19 "Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "This message you have given me from the LORD is good." But the king was thinking, "At least there will be peace & security during my lifetime."  Here God had told the king through Isaiah about the Jews being carried into exile..but his comment reflects only thoughts about himself.. Are we concerned only that there is peace & security for us & ours??  Oh, how God wants us to be concerned about what we are doing with our years that will make a difference for eternity.  My response to this message to me from the Holy Spirit in my usual Daily Bible Reading is: "Woe is me for I am undone"! (Isaiah 6:3) God help us all.!!  But...take heart!! Today is the day the Lord has made, we still have opportunities to leave a legacy.  Make some memories today that will make a difference forever.