LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

Grandmother & Papa Camp 2010 doesn't officially begin until Monday June 14th... but we get the first installment of campers tomorrow night and the other 2 Saturday morning.  All of you bloggers out there please pray for traveling safety as we do the grandkid shuffle. Then of course pray for us as we attempt to have one glorious week learning God's Top Ten aka the Ten Commandments.  But most of all pray that we will build memories that age & time will not erase.  Stay tuned!! If time and stamina will allow I will be sharing as the week progresses!!

When Leaders Fail

Today I want to talk to you a little about the lesson I had to teach on Sunday.  It was taken from I Samuel 2-3.  This is the story of  the priest Eli and his 2 wicked sons and the boy Samuel that delivers God's message of judgment on them.  The moral of this story is: Parents correct your children when they are young or God just might have to take you and them out!! Not a pleasant lesson indeed.  We look around today and see many leaders that are failing.  Financial, political, and yes, even religious leaders are failing God and this nation.  But do you realize that you too are leading somebody!!. None of us are exempt from that role.  Moms those children are watching and listening.  Dads those children and wife are watching and listening.  God gave Eli many chances to do the hard thing and discipline his boys, but he turned a blind eye and a deaf ear.  God finally had to raise up a young boy to deliver a message of judgment to this servant of God. The verse that was so convicting to me was I Samuel 2:23: "Why do you do such things"? Now this was a question that Eli asked his boys.  We have all asked our children this question.  You know the answer we always get is :  "I don't know"!  Well, the Holy Spirit asked me this week: Has God ever asked you this question?  He has!! Why do you do some of the things that you know is not on my approval list?  Why do you procrastinate in doing those hard things that you do not want to do?  Why Lanita, do you do such things?  You can fill in the blank for your life.  But just as the case with Eli and his sons, it is not sufficient to just ask the question.  You must determine to DO those things that are pleasing to Him and will make a difference in your family's life.  We must be the leaders that God has called us to be.  The risk is too great and the consequences too severe to not do those things that make a difference now and for all eternity.  We do not want to be leaders that fail.  It was Israel's downfall and I fear America's too.  But it all starts in the home with the family. Next week is : When Religion Fails. Can't wait to see how God is going to direct my thoughts in that area.  Be the leader God wants you to be and your legacy will last.

Memorial Day & Grandmother & Papa Camp

Our Pastor encouraged us on Sunday to be sure and remember those who gave their lives for our country along with whatever else we were going to do on this Memorial Day holiday.  As I was going through some old pictures and other stuff in my "craft room", I came across some old pictures of "Papa Glen" as he was serving our country.  I stopped and prayed a prayer of gratitude not only for his service, but for the fact that he was sitting downstairs in his recliner and that I was not in some cemetery placing flowers on his grave.  Many wives did that today. Help us all that are free, to remember why.  On a lighter note:  I did make great headway in getting ready for the yearly event known as Grandmother Camp. I put together the music and the main craft. So, heh, bring'em on...Then I stopped to check the ole blog and saw that my family and friends are supporting me as usual. Thank you.  Now I will ask you to pray that Papa & I will have the stamina to make the week.  Especially Papa, because you see the week before camp he has Vacation Bible School with a room full of 3&4 year olds at church.. Wow!! What a guy... Our 4 "grands" will come with all parts fully engaged and their will be precious little down time.  Let the games begin. I can't wait.  Praise the Lord I will have another week of vacation left to rest up before going back to work. Whew!!

Grandmother & Papa Camp 2010

One of the best things that we are doing to lengthen our legacy is Grandmother Camp.  We started this four years ago and it is a time when all 4 grandchildren come to Grandmother & Papa's for a week of fun and learning about God and His Kingdom.  I took the idea from a great Christian minister Esther Burroughs.  We always have a camp theme so that we have a learning base during the week.  Year one was "Down by the Creekbank" and we learned about God's world through the old Dottie Rambo kids musical of the same name. Year two was I-Hymns and they all got  I-Pods and we learned old classic Baptist Hymns; you know the ones we hardly ever sing anymore.  Year three was "Facebooks" and we learned the books of the Bible through the faces of the men who wrote them.  This fourth year is "God's Top Ten" and we are going to learn the Ten Commandments. Because regardless of what is or is not politically correct, they are still God's Law and very relevant for all ages today. It is a very intense week for the grandparents because we are 60-something and the youngest grandchild is 3, but it is such a blessing to watch these 4 children who rarely get to see each other come together right where they left off and have a wonderful time together. I pray that we will have the bodily stamina to continue this tradition as long as they will come. I do realize that the time will come when they will not want to come, but hopefully that is a few years away.  So young mothers encourage your children's grandparents to start a time of baby sitting made meaningful by throwing in a little Bible learning.  Even if they do go to their church's Vacation Bible School, that's is still precious little time in God's Word .  One more week would certainly be great.  It is not all Bible stuff though.  We go to the zoo, we go to friends gardens and pick peas, we go to the movies and we play games and crafts. Oh, the crafts are the best.  My oldest daughter Penny asked 6-year old Jordan what her favorite time at grandmother Camp was and she said.  "Craft-time in Grandmother's craft room".  I have a large room upstairs that used to be a sewing room and now it has become the craft room.  We have a 4x8 table to work on and plenty of space to do just about whatever. Penny then asked Jordan why that was her favorite time and she said: "Because that's where we learn about Jesus."  Well, friends that's why we do it.  That will take me at least 5 or 6 more years!! Make memories today with your children and then one day they will make memories for your grandchildren.  
I close out this post with the verse of Scripture that is my Biblical guide for this special week of our lives.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7:  "Hear, Oh Israel! The Lord is our God, the LORD alone.  And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all you soul, and all your strength.  And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today.  Repeat them again and again to your children.  Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.    
 TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!
   

The Legend Behind Lanita's Legacy

It is really a short story, not a legend.  My daughter Penny Franklin-Living Above Ministries-seems to think that I have something to offer women out there in blog land.  And I do have a heart for young women who seem to think they are not going to make it for one reason or another.  I also have a burdened heart for the Christian family who I fear will not make it without a return to the Word of God and a lot of encouragement from those of us with grey hair and sagging chins. Those of us who have been through many waters and  more that a few fires.  When my mother went to be with the Lord at age 62 (my age now) I realized that I was in process of my legacy for my girls (now women). I am a Sunday School teacher of women older than I am. I love to read and have built quite a library over the years and I thought that was my legacy. But I am beginning to realize that those books are just the material side. The real legacy is all that God's Holy Spirit has taught me and stored inside this often fragile heart of mine. That is what wants to reach out and let you see that even a Much-Afraid pilgrim can make it to the high places with Him as our guide.  We all just need a little grace and glory as we experience sorrow and suffering in this training ground below. Whatever legacy we want to leave behind, we must remember we're making it now.  I want mine to be loving and learning our Lord. Join me on this journey .