COMPASSION IS HARD

"Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it. As busy, active, relevant ministers, we want to earn our bread by making a real contribution. This means first and foremost doing something to show that our presence makes a difference. And so we ignore our greatest gift, which is our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer. Those who can sit in silence with their fellowman, not knowing what to say but knowing that they should be there, can bring new life in a dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears in grief and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken. "

Henri Nouwen

WE'RE HOME

After spending the last few days at my mom's house celebrating Thanksgiving, we are home. It was a nice and relaxed time.

We had all the yummy traditional fare...turkey, cornbread dressing, gravies (two kinds) , mashed potatoes, sweet peas (or English peas as my mom calls them and I grew up calling them), cranberry sauce (also two kinds), broccoli casserole, string bean casserole (LOVE those french fried onions on top!), sweet potato casserole (again, two kinds...marshmallow topping and pecan praline), French bread (it's the Gulf Coast, for goodness sakes), strawberry cake, and pumpkin pie (and can you gess how many types?).

Super Dad (my Hunky Hubby) took time to read CRANBERRY THANKSGIVING ( an annual favorite for us thanks to the Five in a Row curriculum), a psalm of thanksgiving from the Bible, and lead us in prayer.

We also watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. The holiday wouldn't be complete without those big floatie balloons and Snoopy's toast, jelly beans, and PoPcOrN.

My favorite brother, Edward, and his beautiful and smart wife Stephanie joined us along with their three kids. Those kids are definitely my favorite Harvey nephews and niece. By far. No contest.

We're home now and with Thanksgiving over, it's time to officially start celebrating Christmas around Graceland. But I tell you, I think that Christmas is all the more precious because we take the time to start the season by saying "thank you" and acknowledging that all good gifts come from our loving Father. After all, at the heart of the Christmas season, it really is all about love and the greatest gift ever...Jesus.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
AS THE CHRISTMAS SEASON BEGINS

AS WE EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE THIS THANKSGIVING

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

FAR TOO MUCH OCCUPIED

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"Our business is neither to ask nor answer foolish questions, but to avoid them altogether; and if we observe the apostle’s precept (Titus3:8) to be careful to maintain good works, we shall find ourselves far too much occupied with profitable business to take much interest in unworthy, contentious, and needless strivings." Charles Spurgeon

50,000 PAIRS IN 50 DAYS

My pal Jeff Goins, of the Adventures in Missions organization and Wrecked for the Ordinary online magazine, sent me this opportunity to get involved with a really cool ministry. I thought that some of you might be interested:

Hey gang,

Here's a great way to "give thanks" during this time of year - buy a
pair of shoes for someone living in a third-world country. During this
season of buying gifts and thanksgiving, I can't think of a better way
to express gratitude to a scandalously gracious God than to bless
those who are walking around barefoot.

Here's how it works:

Go to 50000shoes.com.

A $5 donation buys two pairs of shoes. Everyone that's reading this
has $5, and everyone has 2 minutes. From start to finish, donating is
literally three clicks. No fluff. No hassle. Anyone can donate.

Spread the word.
Use the widget code on the landing page to post a link on your blog.
Email everyone you know. Join the facebook group. Ask your friends to
do the same!

Win a trip.
Besides the fact that the blogging world can literally impact 50,000
people before the end of the year, one person (and their guest) will
be chosen at random to hand-deliver the shoes they purchased on a
Soles4Souls trip to Mexico. Imagine handing someone their first pair
of shoes… ever.

Do the Math.
If 500 people influence 10 people to donate, and those people
influence 5 more, that's 50,000 pairs of shoes ($5 buys 2 pairs).

Get Started.
Sign-up at http://www.50000shoes.com/, donate your $5, and start
spreading the word.

For more on this campaign, read an article I wrote on it at:
neueministry.com/2008/11/shoes-social-media-and-justice/

Thanks,
Jeff

SMILE

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Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

Mother Teresa

YOU



What a difference you can make.

For more details, check out Tom Davis' blog: http://www.tomdavis.typepad.com/

RENOUNCED THE CONFUSED

"The Christian is a new creature, born and taught from above.and has renounced the confused, distant, uncomfortable notions he/she once formed of God.He/she sees God in Christ, reconciled, a Father, a Savior and a Friend, who has freely forgiven him/her all his/her sins and given him/her the spirit of adoption; he/she is now no longer a servant, much less a stranger, but a son/daughter; and because a son/daughter, an heir already interested in all the promises, admitted to the throne of grace, and assured expectant of eternal glory."

John Newton, Letters of John Newton, 1781

We're Thankful? By 13 Year Old "B"

Alright, my mum - aka, the person in charge of this Blog - is going to be watching 'Breakfast's at Tiffanys' tonight (starring my all-time favorite actress, AUDREY HEPBURN!!!) for me to see if it's "appropriate" or that other sort of rubbish. She's been promising to "preview" it for the past month or so, but, you know how mums NEVER do like they say they will.
So, anyhoo, she wanted me to write a Blog post for her since she just MUST have a Blog post a day or something like that. So she asked me to interview my little, hooliganish brother and sisters. Here goes:

7 Year Old LG: "Ummm, I'm thankful for Jesus. I'm thankful for mama. I'm thankful for dad, my friends, AND for my brothers and sisters, my cousins and my Grandmommy. Grandma Little Mac (Hey! Don't kick so hard, "T"!), Christmas (OK, as soon as I say, "GO" we have to start fighting. OH! No biting, and you're a Christian....). OK, that's it. (OW!)

5 Year Old Brother T: "I'm thankful for ---- OW!!! ARGH! ----Sister B, I'm thankful for (OYE! Not the privates!!) the people at the nursing home, and Indy, and Mom, and Sister B.

7 Year Old LG: "What about me?!" Says as she tackled poor "T".

5 Year Old T: "Oh yeah, LG too. -OOOOOHH! Don't tickle me!"

3 Year Old Miss M: "I'm happy for my crayons.....I'm gonna go color now." She ran away.

So yeah, they're VEEEEERY thankful for SO-OOOOOO much. *Rolls eyes*
Now, I'm going to interview my bestie, Barron, sitting next to me.

Me: "Barron, what are you thankful for?"

Barron: "Ummmmmm....?(Hehehehe) Ummmmmm, my friends. My family, that we can worship the Lord. Of course you "B" (((She actually said that, I didn't add it!))). That my Grandmother's surgery went OK."

Me: "Is that it?"

Barron: "That's-that's all I'm gonna put on there."

Now, do you want to know what MOI is thankful for? Well, even if you don't you are about to find out!

Me: "I'm thankful that pimples eventually go away!"

B!

STRIP CLUB ADVENTURES

I don't know about you, but those ladies up above don't look like the type that would be found frequenting strip clubs. But then again, looks can be deceiving.

THE FIRST TIME I WALKED INTO A STRIP CLUB

By Carole Turner, Baton Rouge

Sometimes I get to answer the question "what is midnight outreach?" I love talking about it because I think it is one of the most amazing outreaches I get to be a part of. What's even cooler is I get to do it once a month.

Midnight outreach is to strip clubs, and the streets of north Baton Rouge. We go into the strip clubs (only ladies go into the clubs, men stay outside and talk to the bouncers and give them Chocolate) and we give every lady in the club a rose. Tied onto the rose with pretty ribbon is a business card from Healing Place Church which reads "We hope this small gift brightens your day. It is a simple way to say God loves you - no strings attached. Let us know if we can help you." also on the card is the church web site address, map to the church, service times and church phone numbers.

The managers and owners of these strip clubs know what these cards say, they know we are from a church, Aliece (the leader of Midnight outreach) tells them who we are when she talks to them about coming into the clubs. They know we just want to be nice to the ladies, give them a rose and treat them like a daughter of the king, not a piece of meat. The patrons know who we are, we have on bright red shirts that say "HPC" on the front and "SERVE" on the back. We drive up in a big shuttle that has "Healing Place Church" on the side of it. So, for some supernatural reason, they let us come in and give a rose to every dancer, bar maid, and female patron there. We don't give roses to any men, even if they ask for one to give a lady, we simply tell them we can only give them to the ladies ourselves.

About twice a year the team gets to go into the dancers dressing rooms and decorate them, like at Christmas and Valentines Day. Some of these girls get no gifts on these holidays, they are alone and they love that we give them gifts and treat them with dignity especially around the holidays.

I had wanted to go on Midnight Outreach for awhile before I actually did. Dean was afraid for me to go. Then he agreed to let me go as long as Summer went with me, within a few months Dean started driving the shuttle for every midnight outreach.

The first time I walked into a strip club I knew I was doing the right thing. I knew that first night that we were doing something completely unexpected in the spirit world. I mean, where is one sure fire place the devil knows he is safe from THE love of Jesus? Here are men treating a woman like a piece of meat, getting their kicks off of looking at a mostly naked girl completely torn down in her self worth to the point that she thinks all she can do for a living is take her clothes off for money. Girls so addicted to drugs that they feel they have to strip to get the money they need? When you walk in you can literally feel the darkness separating. The LOVE of Jesus does that. It's like the Devil is confused by the angels that surround us. The bewilderment on the faces of the male patrons, The dancers who look shocked and puzzled by this free rose handed to her by a smiling, unintimidated face of love. The smile we give, the eye contact and the lack of fear, is all God reaching out to show love to someone living in hell.

After we go to the two local strip clubs we then head down to north Baton Rouge. We go to two different inner city night clubs and the Alamo Hotel to hand out roses and chocolates but here we also give out fliers for the Baton Rouge Dream Center church services. After that we hit the streets. I love the streets cuz' we get to pray with people, talk to them, give them information about the church, the ladies roses and the guys chocolate.

We have had the privilege of praying with many prostitutes, drug dealers, crack heads, gang bangers, children, homeless people and just normal lost souls out late at night. And some of them have come to church, gotten saved and attend regularly.

You can click HERE to read all of my past post about Midnight Outreach. And HERE to read about our Midnight outreach on Bourbon Street in New Orleans last February.

After only a year and a half of being a part of midnight outreach, we are becoming a constant in their lives, they are seeing that we are committed to showing them the love of Jesus, not condemn them or preach at them but love them and offer a place they can come for real hope.

I can't think of anything more fulfilling in life then knowing I am walking into hell on earth to spread the love of Jesus.

THAT is midnight outreach.

HER MEMORIES...and writings...CrAcK ME UP

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If y'all've spent much time here at Graceland, you know that Claudia Mair Burney is one of my favorite authors and a dear, dear friend. Well let me just tell you, that woman is funny! She has this incredible gift for writing books that both CrAcK me up but also make me think more about God and how He wants me to live in this world. She often makes me examine my heart where the issues of racism and prejudices (and not just the prejudices related to skin color) are concerned but is always seasoning her sometimes hard messages with generous amounts of grace and love.

If you've never read any of her books, read 'em! And if you can't lay your hands on one of her books right away, or even if you can, check out her blog. The Ragamuffin Diva is Mair's personal chronicle of life and what's she facing...the good and the bad...and sometimes the bad is brutally bad and the reflections excruciatingly honest. But through it all is Jesus. She is mad about Him. Passionate about Him. Downright radical about Him.

So go meet Mair today over at her blog. You'll find that she can take even a silly meme about memories and turn it into something special as only Mair can do. And while you're there, get warmed by the love of God that glows bright in her life and thus in her writings.

ANOTHER "WHAT I WANNA READ"


Ooooh...I had to use some MAJOR self control today and not spend money on nonessentials. I was in Kroger picking up mostly meds for my 15 year old (who is covered from head to toe with a food allergy rash) and foods that don't need refrigeration (our fridge's compressor has gone out for the third time in 6 months). As I strolled by the book section, I thought I'd do a quick look-see in case any of my author friends had books on display. It just makes me so happy when I spy one of their books just waiting to be discovered.
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ANYWAY....I spied a book by a relatively new author, Vanessa Del Fabbro . I picked up FLY AWAY HOME and just reading the back cover blurb describing this story set in South Africa made me get misty eyes. And you KNOW when just a blurb stirs up this kind of reaction, you GOTTA read the book.
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I'm just sayin'.
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So family...if you're reading this, you know what I'm hoping for under the Christmas tree.
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Oh! And did I mention that this is number 4 in a series?
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I didn't?
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Well it is.
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And I've read the first two so I guess if you're going to get me this one, you'll need to get me number 3 as well.
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I'm just sayin'....again.

LITTLE DEBBIES, HONEYSUCKLE, & OTHER RANDOM MEMORIES FROM CHILDHOOD

I had been reading a funny thread on my favorite homeschool board about the crazy names that kids will often give their pets and dolls plus the names they say they want to give their children when they grow up and become parents. It reminded me of a doll I had, her name was Honeysuckle. I thought that was such a lovely name that I decided I was going to name my little girl that when I became a mommy.

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That got me started thinking about other childhood memories...some I've shared here before, some I've not, some I'd not thought about for a long time.

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I thought it would be fun to list a few random childhood memories and turn it into a "you're tagged" meme. Even if I don't tag you personally, feel free to snag the idea. Here are my memories on this cold November morn:

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*I used to call my brother Edward by a really wonderfully kind nickname, Edwierdo.

*I was ecstatic when the lady on Romper Room "saw" me in her magic mirror and said my name.

*I was even more ecstatic and convinced he was alive when the Paul Bunyan statue said "Hello Elysa and Edward Harvey"...I really did not get the concept of sneaky parents and intercom systems.

*David Soul gave me chill bumps in the good way.

*I loved eating toast with mayo as an afternoon snack.

*The first food I learned to cook was PoPcOrN sometime around the 5th grade.

*I had a dream once that a giant sized mosquito was sucking the blood out of my brother's hand. We shared a room when we were little so when I reached across to his twin bed to slap it away, I woke up.

*I slept walked to our new piano at around age 8 and proceeded to pee pee on the bench while playing the piano. Nice.

*My dad taught me how to whistle driving me to preschool in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

*I wore high waters in elementary school...a lot.

*I was the first girl in my 4th grade at Crystal Springs Elementary School to have feathered hair.

*My two friends, Kim Howell and Kim Grace, were Charlie's Angels. I was Sabrina, the smart one.

*I was the dunce on the PTA's bicentennial float and got my picture in the big city paper sticking my tongue out at the crowd.

*My mom was the only mom I knew who was cooking Tex Mex in MISSISSIPPI in the early 70's....she also made THE best packed-lunches around. Little Debbies, personal pizzas---need I say more?

*I wrote a song about Jesus based on the Band-Aid song when I was in elementary school.

*I was so hyper and social in 1st grade, I had to use a belt to buckle myself into my desk so I wouldn't forget and just start moving around the room.

*I used to wear rainbow suspenders and a red bowtie in 7th grade.

*I called my teddy bear Ursus, the Easter Bunny the Easter Sylvilagus Floridanus, and when I ate too much, I was being a Sus. Yeah, I was a geek kid with a scientifically minded dad. I won't even get into what we said when we needed to use the bathroom.

*I was the only kid in Mississippi that I knew of who said "ciao". Did I say I was a geek?

*My Ken doll was always named Charles Patterson. I thought that was the most wonderful sounding name for Barbie's love and wanted to marry a man by that name.

*When other girls were dreaming of being a cheerleader, I was picking clothes out of catalogs for my orphans I'd care for some day in the orphan I wanted to run .

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Okay...so enough of memory lane traversing. Now I'm tagging some online pals.

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Rhonda JUST A THOUGHT

Shauna SHAUNA RUMBLING

Mair RAGAMUFFIN DIVA

Drewe Llyn PALMS OF HIS HANDS

Stephanie THINGS FALL APART

Kelly THE RIGHTEOUS BUZZ

Carole THE WARDROBE AND THE WHITE TREE

Betsie LEAPING BEAUTY

Deidra FROM DEIDRA'S HEART

Paige GOING OUT IN JOY

Stacy A MAGIC MOM AND HER MANDALAS

Leslie JOYFUL MOTHER OF 6 CHILDREN

Karen FRESH FIXINS

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Btw, if you've got some free time and need another reason to stay online (don't we all?) then go check out the blogs listed above. They're also special ladies with great blogs.

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And if you do post this meme on your blog, let me know! I'd love to read about your random childhood memories as well.

SOME SUNDAY GRACE

All of Bible theology can be summed up in two statements. First, cheer up, you're a lot worse than you think you are. And secondly, God's grace is a lot bigger than you think it is.

Steve Brown on the teaching of Jack Miller.

What we do in Belize

The Polson family is presently serving in Belize as medical missionaries. For years, James was the worship leader at our church, Restoration Church.

What we do in Belize

The Polson Family is a part of our church family. For years James served as a worship leader at Restoration Church. Now he and his family are loving God's precious ones in Belize.

SIXTEEN THINGS

Sharp & Sassy Lisa Samson (READ HER BOOKS!!!) tagged me with a note that her fab daughter Ty tagged her with. I'm supposed to list 16 things about myself that you might not know.

1. I have never liked math very much...okay, not at all. I mean, maybe if they had done math with M&M's back in my day things would have turned out differently. But basically math was just something I had to do, well, because I had to do it!

2. I sometimes find certain rules hard to follow. Probably why I'm not good at baking...it's so precise. I like casseroles and pastas cause I can fudge a bit here and there and it's totally okay.

3. I am no longer wearing sparkly blue or green or silver toe nail polish...in fact, NONE of any hue at all!

4. I love Swaziland and hope God lets me go back there! Oh. You already knew that?

5. I'm crazy about my husband. Oh. You knew that one, too?

6. I've got 7 fantabulous kids. Oh. And you also knew that fact about me, didn't you?

7. But I bet you DIDN'T know that I like to do things in multiples of 12 or do things in numbers multiply to equal 12. ;)

8. AND...I bet you didn't know that I had goldfish when I was a kid named George and Martha Washington.

9. I also had a cat named Fuzzy Ann.

10. But when I found out that Fuzzy Ann was a boy I named him Fuzzy Andy. This IS the South you know.

11. And when I was a kid I wanted to be a boy, too, because I was such a TomBoy but since I didn't know that choosing another gender was a realistic option, I at least wanted people to call me Tiger. Never stuck. Hmmmm...wonder why.

12. And did you know that 12 is my favorite number? Oh...maybe number 7 gave that away.

13. And I'm not superstitious about number 13 though I used to for years scratch the ceiling of the car whenever I went over RR tracks and I used to "knock on wood".

14. And during those same days when I used to scratch on car ceilings and knock on wood, I also used to say "Jinx" and "I'm just tricking".

15. But now that I'm so mature and sophisticated I do none of those things. But I still don't like my hands or feet to hang off the bed. Nuh-uh! No sirreee!

16. And (I start sentences a lot with "and" ) I just had to say that even though this isn't something that's probably new to any of you, I'm passionate about people and truly consider my friends one of the favorite parts and best blessings of my whole wide life! God has been SO good to me!!!

SOMETIMES THIS OLD FARM
... FEELS LIKE A LONG LOST FRIEND



Earlier this evening, hubby was listening to 70's music on Accuradio and this John Denver song came on. I can never hear his old songs without immediately thinking of my growing up years on the family farm in Crystal Springs. My dad had a copy of a John Denver greatest hits album and I spent many an hour listening to Grandma's Feather Bed, Annie's Song, and On the Road. Those were fun, relatively carefree days...days of building tree houses; eating wild huckleberries; riding my pony and horse; playing with Roxanne, Dee, Penny, Debbie and my brother Edward; swinging on the tire swing; tending to our small goat herd; and playing with my pet duck Kim.

I'm very thankful for those years.

God has blessed us with a life here at Graceland that allows my children to enjoy some of the same simple pleasures that my brother and I enjoyed over three decades ago. Though this old world has changed a lot, it's still possible to have a peaceful, rural life here in our corner of the world. And for that, I'm very, very grateful.

HOW WE FEEL

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If you asked the majority of my family how we're feeling today we'd probably answer in not so nice ways. Over half of us are sick and the ones of us that aren't sick are having to do extra work to make up for the sick ones. It's cold and overcast. It's just a dreary, blah kinda day.

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And when feeling this nasty, it's easy to excuse bad attitudes and self-centered behavior. It's easy to say, "well, I deserve to be selfish" or "I can't help feeling grumpy...I just feel so bad". But that Bible doesn't seem to give us that out. It says be filled with the Holy Spirit and it's fruit...peace, joy, kindness, self-control, etc....and not just on the days we're feeling up to it.

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Tall order for this gal and her very human family. But Jesus promised us before He faced Calvary and it's cross that the Holy Spirit would come and comfort us and empower us. He has made it very clear that there is ALWAYS a way provided for us not to give in to sin. The problem is that a lot of times, I just don't WANT to fight against the sin. I just want to be bad.

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But I know I'm not supposed to be that way. And I really do want to please my Heavenly Father most of the time.

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Miss Louise from church sent out the weekly announcements this week and at the very bottom she tacked on a quote. I thought it was pretty appropriate for my family's circumstances this week...and figured some of you might can relate to it as well.

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"Our biggest problem is that we ask ourselves far too often how we feel about things….We need to discover what God wants us to do and just do it. We don’t need to make a big deal out of all the sacrifices. " Joyce Meyers

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So....I'll just keep asking God to change this whiny, grumpy spirit while I focus in on His goodness. I'll read my Bible, listen to music centered on Him, and count on HIS spirit to feed my soul. And hopefully, it'll be Him living thru me and loving those around me despite my inadequacies....and runny, tickly nose.

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AWFUL DAY

Today could have been a truly awful day. It was raining and cold and I am suffering from major seasonal allergies and a couple of my kids were being in exceptionally grumbly, mean moods. So as said previously, it could have been a truly awful day.

Oh! And did I say that I had errands to run with about 10 stops on the agenda?

Yep, 10 stops. In the rain. And cold. While all the time having major sinus issues.

Truly awful would have been the natural outcome of the day.

But it wasn't.

Why?

Because of the point of most of the errands.

At the beginning of the week I sent out my email, posted here at my blog, and commented on facebook about the need for blankets, coats, and other cold weather clothes among many of the "least of these" in inner-city Jackson. By today I had piles of clothes and blankets gathered up and just waiting to be delivered to WE WILL GO and the WINGARD HOME ministeries.

So picked up and delivered is what happened.

Despite the cold, despite the rain, despite bad attitudes (I actually left them at home), despite feeling like cruddy, cruddy, crud...my heart was full of joy. Beneath all the yucky outside stuff was a lot of peace.

Yes, it could have been a truly no good, awful, bad, terrible kind of day...but instead it was an absolutely wonderful day.

Even if you couldn't tell by looking at my sniffling, snorting face.

God is so good.

And now I'm going to bed.

EXCEPT THROUGH CHRIST ALONE

"Our nature struggles fiercely against being saved without our works and tries to deceive us with a grand illusion of our own righteousness. So we may find ourselves attracted to a life that merely appears to be righteous. Or because we know we aren't righteous, we may be frightened by death or sin. Therefore, we must learn that we should have nothing to do with any other way of becoming righteous, except through Christ alone."

Martin Luther

FILLED WITH THANKFUL JOY

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Last night I sent out an email, commented on my facebook profile, and posted here about the dire need for warm clothes and blankets in the inner-city of Jackson. Today my inbox has been deluged with people who want to help. It reminds me of what Shane Claiborne says. It's not that American Christians don't care about the poor, it's that they don't know the poor, or in this case, don't always know what the poor need and how they can help. I'm finding it to be so true that the majority of times, when I let people know of specific needs and specific ways they can help, people overwhelmingly respond in amazing ways.

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And today I've been filled with incredible amounts of thankful joy as a result. Knowing that God is using me to love "the least of these" is such a huge blessing.

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This morning, I heard a song for the first time. HERE I AM by Down Here spoke straight to my heart so I just had to share it with y'all.

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I'm so grateful that He is using my life...that somehow my story is part of His plan.

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Sometimes your calling, comes in dream
Sometimes in comes in the Spirit's breeze,
You reach for the deepest part of me,
And call out for the things of eternity.
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But I'm a man, of dust and stains,
You move in me, so I can say,
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CHORUS:
Here I am, Lord send me,
All of my life, I make an offering,
Here I am, Lord send me,
Somehow my story, Is part of your plan,
Here I am
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When setbacks and failures, and upset plans,
Test my faith and leave me with empty hands,
Are you not the closest when it's hardest to stand?
I know that you will finish what you began.
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These broken parts you redeem,
Become the song, that I can sing
(chorus)
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Overwhelmed by the thought of my weakness,
And the fear that I'll fail you in the end,
In this mess, I'm just one of the pieces,
I can't put this together but you can.
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PLEASE HELP ME KEEP THEM WARM
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Today we were blessed to spend our Sunday afternoon in Inner-City Jackson with the Lancasters and the rest of the WE WILL GO folks. But despite loving being there, it made me sad to see how many of them were shivering in the cold due to inadequate clothing. They were there sitting out in the open air, worshipping God and listening to His word in clothes better designed for summer...but they stayed anyway.

I'm going thru our closets this week and pulling out all we can spare. After all, the Bible says if you have two cloaks and your brother has none, to give one to him. Well, like most Americans, we've got WAY more than two cloaks. But despite our plenty, it's not enough to fill all the needs.

If you can spare some gently used coats, blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, thick socks, jackets, etc. would you please let me know?

One young man I met was wearing a basketball-type tank top. We managed to find a t-shirt for him to help a little bit during the service and he said he had a light jacket at home, but it's COLD and he needs more than that. If anyone has a gently used men's coat or very thick jacket in size L or XL, would you please be willing to give it to him? Or maybe you don't have one yourself but you're willing to actually go and buy one (either new or at a consignment/thrift store)? I told him I'd have him one by Wednesday. If you can get it to me, Jim will deliver it. OR, you can take it to the Lancasters' if that's more convenient. If you want to deliver it yourself, let me know and I'll give you his name so that you can let the Lancasters know who it's for.

Also, there is a mom with 4 small children. A girl about 4, a boy about 3, a toddler girl about 2, and an infant boy. We managed to find a few warm things for them (thanks, Rhonda!) but not enough. If you have warm things in those sizes, would you let me know? And WARM maternity clothes, too. The aunt who lives with them is 5 months pregnant.

These are two specific cases of need, but there are so many others and ANY size, gender, etc. will be appreciated. Many of these people have housing but their homes are often drafty, uninsulated, or poorly heated...or they simply can't afford to heat them. Others are living in abandoned buildings (one sweet lady lives in a closet of an old building), in the cemetary, or on the streets somewhere. Blankets and sleeping bags are a literal Godsend for them.

If you don't live in my area but still would like to help with this need, there are a few options:

1. If you're someone I might see over the holidays, bag 'em up and I'll get them then.

2. If you won't be seeing me anytime soon, ship them to us. Just email me and I'll send you a shipping address.

3. If neither of these options will work for you, consider either sending a donation to WE WILL GO or find a ministry or a needy individual/family in your own community. It's sad how many there really are out there that are desperately in need of adequate clothing and bedding as we enter the cold months of the year.

Thank you so much. Jesus loves these people tremendously. Many of them feel so terribly unloved and unworthy. When they see our love in action, it helps them see in a tangible way that God does love them and cares about them. They are not forgotten. They are precious to him, precious to us. And we are assured that whatever we do for the least of these, we are doing it as though unto the Lord.

Blessings on each of you,
Elysa

P.S. For more information on WE WILL GO, check out their website: http://www.wewillgo.org/Site/Welcome.html

A THOUSAND QUESTIONS



My Swazi-bound friend Kevin Bowman posted this at his blog. It overwhelmed him when he watched it at Willow Creek and I can see why. The last section was what grabbed my heart. It's long at around 10 minutes, but well worth it.

GOD WANTS TO BE FRIENDS...WITH US?

"(Why does God) bother to speak to us? The truly staggering answer that the Bible gives to this question is that God's purpose in revelation is to make friends with us. It was to this end that he created us rational beings, bearing his image, able to think and hear and speak and love; he wanted there to be genuine personal affection and friendship, two-sided, between himself and us-a relation, not like that between a man and his dog, but like that of a father to his child, or a husband to his wife. Loving friendship between two persons has no ulterior motive; it is an end in itself. And this is God's end in revelation. He speaks to us simply to fulfill the purpose for which we were made; that is, to bring into being a relationship in which he is a friend to us, and we to him, he finding his joy in giving us gifts and we finding ours in giving him thanks".

J I Packer, God Has Spoken

THE DAY AFTER "THE DAY AFTER"

My interent pal Carole wrote this on her blog. I thought she made some very good points and gave Christians especially somethings to ponder:

Our new President is a 47 yr old bi-racial man, who was abandoned by his Africa father as a baby and raised by his white Grandmother. Amazing and Historical.

I pray his life experience, his work in the Senate and as a community organizer in the inner cities of Chicago, help him lead this country. I pray he seeks God daily, ask Jesus, "how would you have me act?" and approaches all decisions with humility and wisdom. Bless him Lord.

I'm so sad about how some Christians are acting today. Really, crazy fear talk is rampant. Will we step up and be gracious or will we take the easy road? God is telling his people to be salt, be light, be full of grace and mercy.

John McCain said it all so well. In his concession speech he praised Obama and spoke of this historic time in our history. Why is it Christian's cant see it the way McCain does? McCain, the guy that lost the race is acting way more Christ like then most Christians are today.

I understand why many are upset. Issues like Abortion and the fear of socialism caused many to feel a McCain loss would be devastating to America. But the truth is, if you don’t want more abortions then open a Women’s crisis center in the inner city, reach out to an unwed mother. You don’t like socialism giving your money to the poor, then give to a charity, or better yet start a soup kitchen, Job training program, work transportation route. Stop complaining and crying about Obama being president and get busy actually being the church.

Nationally, four out of every ten adults is a born again Christian...here in the south, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana had the highest percentages of Born again Christians, all over 50%.
Barna research study-2005

So this says that we have more then enough man power in the church to get the job done that Jesus laid out in Matthew 25. The problem is people like to be born again when it comes to morality and voting against stuff but not when it comes to acting like Jesus did in loving your enemies, feeding the hungry, etc. That's too hard, voting and complaining is easy.

So I want to encourage you with this;

Your vote is nothing compared to your life.

Walk in grace and mercy and may we all love President Obama as Christ does. May we be a true representation of the love of Jesus to our president and to the world.

Peace out!

To see Carole's original post follow this link: http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com/2008/11/day-after.html

To read her follow-up post, go here: http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com/2008/11/day-after-posting-day-after.html

INTERVIEW WITH A NEWLY TURNED 15 YEAR OLD

My, my...hard to believe that it's been 15 years since my life-long dream of becoming a mommy came true when my oldest daughter was born after hours of "trying to go natural" labor. That day ended happily for two reasons, I ended up getting an epidural and my beautiful baby girl was placed in my loving arms.

Thought I'd do a quick interview of that baby girl now turned 15.

So A, can you do a quick summary for us of what your life has been like over the last decade and a half?

You have got to be kidding me.

Okay...so maybe that's too big of an order. Hmmm...well give us a quick summary of what your life is like right now.

It's pretty good. I've got some pretty good friends. I've got a little bat on my arm [don't worry, it's just a stuffed animal]. DON'T SAY THAT MOM!

Why not?

He'll hear you.

Okay.

Anyway...anything else about your life now you want to share?

I got some really good birthday presents.

What'cha get?

BATMAN BEGINS on dvd finally! WALK THE LINE soundtrack. CAMP ROCK lipgloss that was way too strong. A JONAS BROTHER pin. Reeses Cups. M&M's. And bright blue nail polish. I'll be buying the rest of the gifts this Saturday at the Mall.

So what's been the best part of your birthday day?

Probably listening to the WALK THE LINE soundtrack two times in a row.

Any culinary highlights for the day?

I made biscuits. My little brother made pizza.

What do you look forward to doing the most over the next year?

Driving. Getting a job. Going to Africa. Making money.

How do you think you've changed the most in the last year?

It's too much to even say.

How do you think you'll change over the next year?

I have no idea.

None at all?

No, none. I didn't expect most of the things that happened this year.

BWAHAHAHA! Now, daughter B, is taking over the pc while her mum is away and SHE will do the rest of the interview. Try and stop me.

Now, let's get personal.

1. Who could you see yourself with in one year?

Batboy, my bat.

What?!! You can't hook up with a Beanie Baby! Sheesh.

Um.....I'm not planning on hooking up with anyone.

OK, 2. What do you think has changed the most about you in the past year or so?

My looks.

You're telling me! Alrighty, 3. What's the weirdest thing you are wearing right now?

A bat on my wrist and a pair of child's sunglasses without lenses....silver ones, that are pointed.

Yeah, weird.

Oh! Look who's talking?

Whatever ML. 4. What do you like the most about your new and improved fifteen year old self? Huh, huh?

I haven't even been 15 for a whole day and you sound like Lucy from Peanuts.

5. Where do you think you'll be in another 15 years?

Married to some really hot, amazing guy. Probably will already have, like, three kids. And, I'll probably be sitting in a chair.........I don't know WHY I just said that!

Okay, okay....Mom's back. Time for B & A to go watch a late night movie and me to finish this interview up and get to bed.

Happy Birthday for the last time, Punkie. I love you so very much.

STILL UNDECIDED?

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Don't know how to vote but know you need to? Check out two of my friends' blogs---great, balanced insight.

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Pilgrimage of the Heart by Jeff Goins

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The Uneducated Housewife's Guide to Politics by Coffee Bean

THE TEN CANNOTS

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My brother-in-law Michael sent this to me today. I agree with him that these are important points to consider as we face a very important election day tomorrow.



In 1916, Presbyterian William J. H. Boetcker wrote:

• You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.


• You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.


• You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.


• You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.


• You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.


• You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.


• You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.


• You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.


• You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.


• And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

I pray that we will all have wisdom and discernment as we enter the polling booths tomorrow and enjoy a freedom that was bought with a heavy price.

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WHAT ACTION AM I CALLED TO?

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"Sympathy is no substitute for action."

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David Livingstone, missionary to Africa

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WHAT I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW...

...an excellent, thought provoking, spirit stirring discussion about the church, following Jesus, and being "missional" :
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http://www.allelon.org/roxburgh/?p=28