And the Gift Goes On...

(Matthew 25: 14-27)

It would not have surprised my parents that God led me into a speaking ministry because I have been “speaking” forever! Now, I don’t mean talking…all of us do that…I mean standing in front of a group of people, orating-- using proper gestures and vocal inflections. It started in kindergarten. I dramatically recited The Shoemaker and the Elves which I had memorized while sitting in the corner; a clever discipline that kept me from doing my second favorite thing-- bossing the other kids around! This obsession with speaking didn’t end at school! The kids in my neighborhood would sometimes get together to play kickball or ride bikes, but on other days, I would gather them at my house, seat them in neatly-rowed chairs ,and “teach” them complete with tests, report cards, and blackboard! It was amazing that they stayed, but I was much taller and had an incredible “teacher-face!”


When I entered high school, a wonderful teacher-- Joy Montgomery—introduced me to the world of interpretive reading and drama! Whoa! Nellie hold the door, I had found my true purpose in life! I was going to become a Broadway star! To fulfill this dream, I majored in speech and drama but included English so I could actually get a job. (You know, just in case the whole Broadway thing fell through.) As life would have it, the whole Broadway thing fell through (!) and the closest I got was living on Broadway Street in Yazoo City, Mississippi. It was in Yazoo City I was placed, legitimately this time, in front of a classroom to teach…or as I like to say, “Speak with the power of the grade book!”


Our church offers a spiritual gifts test so each member can discover their God-given gifts for service. I thought, maybe I had changed since kindergarten and perhaps God wanted me to do something else! So, with sharpened number 2 pencil in hand I took the test. My gift overwhelmingly turned out to be: Teaching!!! Surprise, surprise. (My lowest gift was “mercy”…but every student I had ever taught knew that!) One thing that did surprise me was my second highest gift: encouragement. Hmm. I sat for awhile and considered if I ever use this gift! This is one gift we aren’t sure about until years later… at our funeral…and even then we don’t know! Then I thought about Miss Montgomery who was a gifted speaker but found time to encourage this would-be speaker. She, according to Matthew 25 “invested” her talent in me!


I coached some talented students this year for the Mississippi Baptist Speakers tournament; four very different students with very different speeches. All of them had winning capabilities but one…loved it…one wanted to give her speech over and over. Kind of reminded me a little of myself --eager to get in front of others and tell them what God has done… I realized one day I will be gone and whatever gift I might have will be buried with me, unless I invest it into the next generation…Maybe Jesus meant this too in His parable of the talents…yes, we must use our gifts but we also are to invest them!


What about your gift? You have one…we all do. (The Bible tells me so!) Are you using it? Are you investing it? If not it will be buried with you! Only in investing can the gift go on! It’s God’s stimulus package! He gives…we invest!!


Thank you Miss Montgomery…where ever you are! Your investment has compounded daily! I pray that it will reap 10 times over what you gave for generations to come!

Peacock or Java Blue?

“Oh, you are Java Blue! I am Peacock but I think I like Puccini, too!” was a recent conversation I over-heard while browsing a local gift shop. This is the language of “Vera Bradley” and in my small town, many people of the female gender are very bi-lingual! While having lunch with a precious college student, I noticed her car keys attached to a “pattern” I recognized. When I asked her about it she said, “I realized I would never be popular until I had a piece of Vera Bradley!” I nodded knowingly, for I also had a Vera story.


For those of you who do not know, Vera Bradley is a collection of quilted purses created in various shades and patterns and sold only in specialty gift shops. I became acquainted with them when we moved to this college town where many girls had quilted purse hanging to their hips! Wanting to be trendy but completely unaware of what “Vera” was, I found a quilted purse in the dollar store and began to “wear” it, on my hip, thinking I would then be in the “know”… but NO!!! Every eye that glared upon my “wanna-be” purse seemed to scream to the world: fraud!

Frauds are every where! “Take-off’s” abound both in the retail market and in our lives and in thinking about this particular trend, I found a life-lesson! Bear with this blonde’s musings!


There is only one Vera Bradley Company where authentic Vera purses are produced. In order to assure the real deal, one must really know the product. Only then can an imitation be recognized. Since Christianity in it truest sense is the model for faith we see many imitating many of its tenets. We hear celebrities define themselves as “spiritual”or thanking “god”. When I was a child, that meant being a Christian, but in today’s vernacular it can mean anything from worshiping your inner-self to a blade of grass! We must not take familiar terms for granted. Many are trendy by-words! They sound good…might even look good but in reality they are cheap imitations of the real thing and have no value other than noise...kind of like my dollar store purse! Authentic faith always points to a giving up of yourself and turning to One who can be trusted. It is not found any and everywhere but only at the foot of the cross.


We who are believers in Jesus Christ know the truth…but can we recognize a fraud? Some Vera imitations are so good it is difficult to tell--- unless you know the catalog! The only way to recognize God’s truth is to know the Word of God…the Bible. A lack of biblical knowledge places us in a dangerous place of accepting imposters who are, by the way, everywhere!! What they say sounds good, but believers are called upon to know if it is the Word of God! If not we should scream “fraud” with every sentence. Paul warned Timothy of this very thing. “In the last days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits.” (I Tim. 4:1) Paul then urged Timothy to hold on to the truth of God! Do you know scriptural truth or are you being fooled by excellent sounding words? Who guides you? Is it God’s Word or Oprah?


Finally, a real Vera Bradley purse is expensive and I am amazed at how many I see worn around town. The cost of being able to live eternally was paid for by the death of God’s Son… free to us! Are we as determined to “wear Him” to show the world as we are a silly purse? If we aren’t, how will they be able to distinguish authentic Christianity or a wanna-be? I want to be authentic. I want to world to know I have a Real Savior and He wants to be their Savior, too! How about you?

Are We There Yet?

I am an inter-state kind of girl! Point “A” to point “B” at 70+ miles an hour and zip-boom-bah the destination is ahead on the left! We live just a few blocks from I-20 as does our son and his family…only 6 hours and 5 turns away! They are the parents of our grandsons…interstates are great!

My husband, on the other hand, thinks inter-states are “boring” and prefers the winding back roads with twists and turns. We are different. I just want to get there…to the destination…he wants to enjoy the journey.

I thought about this tonight at Bible study. Do I transfer this to my life? Am I destination-oriented or journey-oriented? I remember as a child taking a trip to Disneyland! I was excited about getting to the Magic Kingdom but these long years later it seems I remember as much about getting there as the actual event! Each day’s travel would end early so daddy and I could swim in the hotel pool and car games like trying to find all the state’s license plates kept me from asking, “Are we there yet?” The novelty of eating breakfast in a restaurant, browsing the cheap souvenir shops or the bee stinging my foot while traveling the multi-laned Los Angeles freeway are all permanently etched in my memory and always bring smiles! Don’t get me wrong, the tea-cups in Anaheim were a blast but getting there was an adventure, in itself.

Sadly, something happened as I grew older…my fascination with just “getting there” took over. If I can just get to 18, then 21… the wedding… have children… get children grown… have grandchildren! I was always rushing to something ahead and on this inter-state kind of life, these things have all come and gone all too quickly.

Thornton Wilder must have been feeling something similar when he wrote the play, Our Town, as it examines life from both sides of the grave. In the concluding scene, one of the main characters, Emily, has died but is given a chance to “go back” for one day and “watch” her life again. The others in the cemetery, having been dead much longer, try to discourage her from doing so, but Emily is determined and chooses her 12th birthday. She observes the simple routine of life–Howie Newsome delivering milk, Constable Warren telling how he rescued a man lying in snowdrifts, Joe Crowell delivering newspapers. Then she sees her mother and father, surprisingly youthful, preparing to give her gifts. She watches herself speak with her mother, who tells her to eat her breakfast slowly. Mrs. Webb gives her a dress which she had to “send all the way to Boston” to get. Her father and Wally also have gifts, but Emily can’t go on any longer and breaks down, saying she didn’t realize how much of the little things of life–things she did not notice before–really matter. Emily returns to the cemetery and addresses Mrs. Gibbs: .......“They don’t understand, do they?” .......“No, dear. They don’t understand.”

I think I am beginning to understand. We are on this life’s journey and one day it will be finished… those of us who are believers can sing with gusto, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!” Oh, it will be and I look toward it with great anticipation but until that day…I want to get off this inter-state- living and travel some back roads-- take some unexpected turns, meet some new folks, tell them where I am going and invite them to come along. While I am still here I want to carry out Colossians 3:10 and do all in the name of the Lord Jesus! I want to live the rest of this life to His fullest and when He is ready to take me home, I want to arrive at my final destination with few regrets…and hope to hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Lesson from My Little Toe

Spring is here and the sandals are out of the closet!! Yes!! Freedom for the feet! Bright-orange polish and pumiced heels are the order of the day! You might need to know that I love flip-flops and wear them every chance I can. (My favorites are Crocs!) Branching out, though, a friend and I went to PayLess and I bought some “fancy” patent leather, heeled “flip-flops” to wear with nicer clothes. The first time I wore these “fancy flip-flops”, I was teaching Romans 12 at a women’s luncheon. Right in the middle of the lesson, I looked down only to discover that I had neglected to paint my little toe nail!!! For some reason, I felt the need to “confess” this to the whole group who in unison leaned over, trying to catch a glimpse of this bare little toe.


Now, I had a dilemma. I had to somehow turn the focus back to Romans 12 but with this glaring little toe, the task was going to be daunting. Miraculously, the next words I read were: Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we who are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others! (vs.4-5) I continued by saying, “Even the little toe is important!” and spoke about its function in balance and how when it hurts the whole body hurts. Whew! What a save, but after I got home I continued to think about what I had said. God began to reveal the many times I had forgotten the “little toes” in my life until I noticed a lack “of polish” …or of balance … when the tables hadn’t been set up for the event…when the ladies bathrooms were not clean…when the church yard had not been cut! And I can go on. These things I had just taken for granted would be done. I remembered how I felt when my kids thought clean underwear that “just appeared” in their drawers. No, somebody did these things behind the scenes even if I didn’t know who. I was convicted and resolved to keep the whole body in mind especially the parts I didn’t always see. I resolved to always make sure they were sought out and thanked for a job well done.


Some of you might think you are nothing in the kingdom because you are in the background. But you know what? God created our physical bodies with a little toe for a purpose and He has a purpose for the little toes in the Body of Christ. You are the ones with the servant’s heart. You are the ones who quietly do what God tells you without a lot of hoopla. When we read this short chapter of Romans, we find Paul admonishing the church in Rome to “not think more highly of themselves than they ought, “to honor one another,” “to not be proud” and, “to not be conceited!” Perhaps this church had forgotten all about their “little toes.” Maybe our churches have, too. Has our focus been so much on the people who are out front (the mouth!) that we have dishonored those who keep the balance? If you are a little toe and sometimes feel ignored, be of good cheer! God knows your works and His blessings are upon you…


And as for me…well, you are welcomed to look at my sandaled feet! Proudly, my little toe nail is as orange as the rest! It has a new place of importance and, dear one, so do you!!!

Picture of Perfection?

I hate having my picture taken. Something terrible happens between the snap of the camera lens and the photo that appears in the little window...somehow my face changes shape and becomes distorted! I tend to get discouraged and wonder how all the other people in my life look so great in print! My web-page is about to open and my friend Ginny and I are trying to make me look better! ( do you still believe in miracles?? ;-) ) You see the picture will be the thing people are going to use to judge what kind of speaker I will be if they invite me to their event.
Not fair but we are so outwardly concerned, aren't we? This week, however, our idea of looks and talent were challenged by Susan Boyle, the 47 year old Scottish charity worker who sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables on Britain's Got Talent. Her video has been viewed over 20 million times on YouTube. What a set of pipes! We are all astonished...why? Because she doesn't look like she could sing! Hmmm

I have thought about this from the spiritual side of things. As far as our own pictures are concerned...we want to look better than we do... I can give the excuse when people see my web-page, "Well, I just don't take good pictures. This is as good as it gets!" But do I do the same thing in real-life? Do I excuse bad-behavior by saying, "That's just the way I was raised," or "This is me and if you don't like it..." This kind of thinking will catch us in the grip of defeat when it comes to becoming more like Christ in our living. You see, the way we are now is never what we can be! If something in us doesn't "look like Christ"...it needs to change. Paul the Apostle was a great example. As Saul, he thought he was doing well...living like he thought he ought to and if the Christians didn't like it well they could just be stoned to death! (Acts 7:54-8:1) Saul thought he was doing the right thing but then he met Jesus! From that point on every part of Paul's thinking changed. God changed Saul...even changed his name to Paul. This changed man went on to spread the gospel of Christ to the Gentile world. This happened because God changed what Paul needed to change.

Outwardly many of us look great! Others admire us! Some perhaps want to be like us! But if we were truly honest, sometimes we know that our "inards" don't match our "outwards"! This realization hits when we are alone; by ourselves in the middle of the night! We don't like what we see/are and try desperately to "fix" it! A new face cream? Perhaps some surgery? New shoes? New friends? New job? New church? We try everything to make us feel/look better but what is needed is change! God brings about this change when we trust all our desires, hopes and dreams to Him. He will change our will to His and the more the change comes the more we look like His Son...Our outward might not be what the world considers beautiful...but when we open our mouths...they will be astonished.(Acts 4:13)

So, the picture is set! It won't get any better! My outward is what it is! My prayer when people meet me is, "You sure don't look like your picture!" I will secretly smile and hope what they see is Christ in me...my only hope of glory!

Delayed Obedience...

For several years now, God has been asking me to do a "certain thing" but as usual, I over-thought the concept...figuring out why I should do it but also listing the reasons why it certainly could not have been God I heard. Finally, however, I obeyed and it has been incredible. Of course, being an over-thinker, I then began to wonder what would have happened had I obeyed from the get-go. I was reminded of Lucy's conversation with Aslan in Prince Caspian. Briefly, Lucy and her siblings had returned to the world of Narnia but found themselves in a "situation." While trying to figure out a solution, in the distance Lucy saw Aslan beckoning her to come to Him. The others, not seeing Aslan, began to mock Lucy and went the opposite way with Lucy following behind. After a day's struggle, tired and right where she began, Lucy once again saw Aslan. This time she ran to Him with wild excitement. She then began to offer excuses for her disobedience... She knew the truth, however, and began to question Aslan about what would have happened had she followed immediately. Alsan answers her with these words, "To know what would have happened, child? No. Nobody is ever told that. But anyone can find out what will happen!"

I have a choice to make. I can either live in the "right now", knowing I was finally obedient and bask in His blessings, or I can regret the months I missed. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know what the right choice is!

Some of you understand exactly what I am saying. You blew it, too! Your obedience was delayed and you feel the guilt. The thing to do is obey Him now...move forward. I have learned, at least for today, that whenever I live this life the way He has asked me to, there is a great adventure ahead...no time for wondering about the "what-could-have-beens." He is ready and waiting with many, many "will be's!"