Thursday, March 12, 2015
5 Lessons from the Tortoise
This day, I dropped him off at the door of the Duke Clinic to save him steps and oxygen then I walked from the parking garage to meet him. It's quite a little hike, maybe 350 yards. I moved my car three times to get a better parking space close to the entrance. During my hike, I thought about the Tortoise from Aesop's fables. For the first time in my life, I felt overwhelmed with joy to be like the Tortoise. Five lessons the very short story gives us from the Tortoise are:
1. Maintain your God-given pace
2. Challenge yourself and others against all odds
3. Believe you can
4. Work with what you've got
5. Never, ever stop until you reach the finish line
I'm guessing Tortoise may have based his life on I Corinthians 15:58 that says "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." or in turtle words...Slow and Steady wins the race!
Pacing myself,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Are you a tortoise or the hare? Leave me a comment and tell me why...
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Can You Feel the Thrill?
What can we say? We are Southerners! There's nothing quite
like the thrill of an anticipated winter storm aka SNOW! If the forecast says
snow, snow is our main topic of conversation. We can't stop thinking about even
the possibility of the glorious white, powdery miracle that may soon blanket
our existence with pure sweet joy and a certain still serene calmness.
Everything shuts down in our small town of Georgia and I mean
e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.
Everything that is but the excitement of us humans frolicking in the snow! SNOW DAY! Do you wanna build a snowman? YES, yes we do! Want to make some snow cream? Duh, can't have snow without it. Are you riding up the mountain where there is even more, deeper snow? Not chancing a wreck, but you go ahead, have fun! Glad I bought that new plastic 30 gallon trashcan. The lid makes a wonderful sled. Two hours into snowfall on a snow day and we're already wondering if school is out tomorrow too!
"Please make sure you stomp that snow off your boots before you come in!" Wet floors are annoying. "How many times are you going to change your wet clothes?" The laundry is piling up. "Do you mind sledding down another part of the yard? Not gonna have any grass in that spot come spring!" By Day 2 of the most exhilarating thing we've seen this year, we are SO OVER IT! Ready for shorts and 80 degree weather. It was fun while it lasted.
Can you feel the thrill of the snow? Not the white precipitation that falls from the sky but the kind of cleansing power of snow described in Isaiah 1:18. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Once you catch the thrill created by the saving blood of Jesus, it is permanent, lasts forever, eternally! You don't have to wait for a snow day or even Sunday. Forgiveness never gets old. Day 2436 it's sweeter than ever! You can't find any snow deeper or whiter than that in your own soul so no danger of wrecking searching for it. Your robe of righteousness never needs washed again or changed for laundering. Warning: Salvation may create a puddle in your floors from tears of thankfulness. Trust me. The puddle is SO WORTH the mess.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
Can you feel the thrill?
Everything that is but the excitement of us humans frolicking in the snow! SNOW DAY! Do you wanna build a snowman? YES, yes we do! Want to make some snow cream? Duh, can't have snow without it. Are you riding up the mountain where there is even more, deeper snow? Not chancing a wreck, but you go ahead, have fun! Glad I bought that new plastic 30 gallon trashcan. The lid makes a wonderful sled. Two hours into snowfall on a snow day and we're already wondering if school is out tomorrow too!
THEN...
the thrill begins to wane...
"Please make sure you stomp that snow off your boots before you come in!" Wet floors are annoying. "How many times are you going to change your wet clothes?" The laundry is piling up. "Do you mind sledding down another part of the yard? Not gonna have any grass in that spot come spring!" By Day 2 of the most exhilarating thing we've seen this year, we are SO OVER IT! Ready for shorts and 80 degree weather. It was fun while it lasted.
Can you feel the thrill of the snow? Not the white precipitation that falls from the sky but the kind of cleansing power of snow described in Isaiah 1:18. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Once you catch the thrill created by the saving blood of Jesus, it is permanent, lasts forever, eternally! You don't have to wait for a snow day or even Sunday. Forgiveness never gets old. Day 2436 it's sweeter than ever! You can't find any snow deeper or whiter than that in your own soul so no danger of wrecking searching for it. Your robe of righteousness never needs washed again or changed for laundering. Warning: Salvation may create a puddle in your floors from tears of thankfulness. Trust me. The puddle is SO WORTH the mess.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
Can you feel the thrill?
Thrilled365,
Saturday, February 21, 2015
5 Steps to Move a Mountain
Look closely at the picture on the left. The view from my
front porch is magnificent! The peak of Fort Mountain set against the vastness
of a blue sky greets me each day with a fine "How do you do?" I
curtsy and nod to His Majesty thankful to see another sunrise. Today, the
mountain top was icy as I gazed out my window. "Can you move a
mountain?" The thought popped into my head and I began to ponder it.
Matthew 17:20 "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for
verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you."
I thought about Jesus' words. The movie reel in my head rewound some of the times in my life when mountains were removed. Please take a moment and replay some of your mountain-removing moments now. Still pondering the deep faith it takes to remove a mountain, I went to my window to take a picture for this article. The picture on the right above is what I saw. Hallelujah! In a matter of minutes, the mountain was gone! God showed me his undeniable power by removing that mountain from my site. I was and still am awestruck. Yes, faith can move mountains! No, nothing shall be impossible to me or you!
Do you have a mountain in your life that needs to be removed? According to scripture, use these step-by-step instructions:
I thought about Jesus' words. The movie reel in my head rewound some of the times in my life when mountains were removed. Please take a moment and replay some of your mountain-removing moments now. Still pondering the deep faith it takes to remove a mountain, I went to my window to take a picture for this article. The picture on the right above is what I saw. Hallelujah! In a matter of minutes, the mountain was gone! God showed me his undeniable power by removing that mountain from my site. I was and still am awestruck. Yes, faith can move mountains! No, nothing shall be impossible to me or you!
Do you have a mountain in your life that needs to be removed? According to scripture, use these step-by-step instructions:
- Believe
in Jesus (a tiny bit is a whole lot)
- Speak
to your mountain (like you believe it)
- Tell
your mountain where to go (it needs your direction)
- Watch
it leave (you might even hold the door open)
- Realize
God's possibilities (God through you is amazing)
NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO YOU!
With just a little faith,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
How do you handle the mountains in your life? Leave me a comment. :)))
Thursday, February 12, 2015
The Many Modes of Junk Mail
Are you the person who gets the mail at your house? Do you
get a lot of junk mail? Do you ever get tired of sorting the real mail
from the junk mail? Scammers are good these days. We get some mail that looks
total legit until I examine it further. I get the mail at our house which is usually
75% junk and only 25% real mail. Real mail, I call it, is typically
BILLS! A happy stop at the mailbox is when I can put a bill into the junk mail
pile because I've already paid it! Ah, that joyful feeling!
I wish my mailbox was the only place where junk mail existed. I find myself deleting junk emails. I screen junk calls using my caller id. My iPhone seems to distinguish junk texts with a disgusted grunt. The absolute worst junk mail I can think of is a bad sermon. Consider this. You search out a church to hear the truth. You actually receive what you could have heard from any mouth on any day without any power or authority from God. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 3:7 speaking of a bishop, "Morever he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."
How important is the mail we send out every day? VERY! Ephesians 4:29 tells us to "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." What is corrupt communication? If we are renewed in Christ Jesus, Colossians 3:8-9 instructs us what not to do, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds..." God is straightforward and easy to understand.
A friend of mine, Will Linginfelter reminds us in Sunday School that "You ARE a witness for Christ, either a good one or a bad one." Ouch! I Corinthians 15:33-34 says "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not: for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." Ouch again!
The United States Postal Service will not deliver your mail if it doesn't have the correct postage on it. Likewise, the grace of God will not deliver your message if it doesn't have his truth in it. STOP the junk mail!
I wish my mailbox was the only place where junk mail existed. I find myself deleting junk emails. I screen junk calls using my caller id. My iPhone seems to distinguish junk texts with a disgusted grunt. The absolute worst junk mail I can think of is a bad sermon. Consider this. You search out a church to hear the truth. You actually receive what you could have heard from any mouth on any day without any power or authority from God. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 3:7 speaking of a bishop, "Morever he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."
How important is the mail we send out every day? VERY! Ephesians 4:29 tells us to "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." What is corrupt communication? If we are renewed in Christ Jesus, Colossians 3:8-9 instructs us what not to do, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds..." God is straightforward and easy to understand.
A friend of mine, Will Linginfelter reminds us in Sunday School that "You ARE a witness for Christ, either a good one or a bad one." Ouch! I Corinthians 15:33-34 says "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not: for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." Ouch again!
The United States Postal Service will not deliver your mail if it doesn't have the correct postage on it. Likewise, the grace of God will not deliver your message if it doesn't have his truth in it. STOP the junk mail!
Keeping it real,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Do You Live in Neverland?
Who likes Peter Pan? Wish you could fly off to Neverland
with him? You may already be living in the land of Never and never realize it!
How many times have you been told "never"? My parents were told I would never walk and never contribute to society. I've been told I'd never be a success in business. I was told I'd never be an accountant (thank God I'm not). I've never worn high heel shoes which is never a good thing for a woman. I even created my own "never". I always told myself I'd never be married because of never having ten toes!
The people who told me "never", never knew me! They've never known my God either. Jesus is not from Neverland. He's from "Yes, I Can Land!". Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Jesus helped me walk these four toes all the way to Disneyland Paris in 2013...quite a distance for a girl who would never walk!
Jesus has never said these things to anyone. You will never be mine if you sin against me. I will never love you if you do others wrong. I will never forgive you even if you ask. You will never amount to anything. You will never get to heaven if you cuss, drink, do drugs, cheat on your spouse or dance. Jesus says in Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." That's the kind of positive "never" I'm talking about!
Don't be one of the "lost boys". Invite Jesus into your heart and be forever his. He does say if you don't accept him as Savior you'll hear "Depart from me, I never knew you."
There's one thing for sure...If you continue to listen to the negative "nevers" in your life, you'll become a person God never intended you to be.
How many times have you been told "never"? My parents were told I would never walk and never contribute to society. I've been told I'd never be a success in business. I was told I'd never be an accountant (thank God I'm not). I've never worn high heel shoes which is never a good thing for a woman. I even created my own "never". I always told myself I'd never be married because of never having ten toes!
The people who told me "never", never knew me! They've never known my God either. Jesus is not from Neverland. He's from "Yes, I Can Land!". Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Jesus helped me walk these four toes all the way to Disneyland Paris in 2013...quite a distance for a girl who would never walk!
Jesus has never said these things to anyone. You will never be mine if you sin against me. I will never love you if you do others wrong. I will never forgive you even if you ask. You will never amount to anything. You will never get to heaven if you cuss, drink, do drugs, cheat on your spouse or dance. Jesus says in Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." That's the kind of positive "never" I'm talking about!
Don't be one of the "lost boys". Invite Jesus into your heart and be forever his. He does say if you don't accept him as Savior you'll hear "Depart from me, I never knew you."
There's one thing for sure...If you continue to listen to the negative "nevers" in your life, you'll become a person God never intended you to be.
"Never is an awfully long time!" - Peter Pan
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
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