Titus 2 Tuesday: Thayer's Lesson on Sharing the Gospel

For today's Titus 2 Tuesday, I'm featuring a lady who I really don't know. I've met her, and I recently took a short class from her at our church, and other than that and seeing her around our church, I don't really know her. But Thayer is a beautiful woman with a sweet Christian spirit I hope to radiate one day. Thayer taught a class titled Sharing Your Faith. I'm one of those who just knows that I know that I know the gospel, salvation, Jesus Christ's sacrifice of his life for me. I just know it. My parents taught me from as early as I can remember of God's amazing grace, and I just know it to be true.

So I tend to shy away from sharing my faith with others. I think it's a combination of my fear of rejection (I'm way too concerned wtih what others think of me), my tendency to shy away from confrontation, my inability to refer to scripture in a heartbeat, and honestly, my pride that prevent me from sharing the gospel when I could.

Here's what Thayer taught me that I'll never forget. First, the gospel is a message from God to his rebellious people. I'm simply a tool for sharing that message. If one rejects the message, it's not me they're rejecting. Also, I cannot always determine a time of sharing to be a loss just because the person doesn't fall to their knees and confess Jesus as their Lord in front of me. It's really all about planting the seeds into others' hearts and lives and praying God will nurture that and grow that in them in His time.

Thayer made it so simple to me. God created us for his glory; however, we're sinful people, and sin separates us from God. God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to die for us. Jesus' death is the atonement of our sins. All of our sins. By accepting Jesus into your heart and life, you are again with God, seated at His right hand! It just don't get no betta than that!

So, I thank God for Thayer and for the vessel she allowed herself to be for God. I know she taught me a valuable lesson that Sunday afternoon.

If you'd like to participate in Titus 2 Tuesday, jump on over to Shanda's site for more info! I promise you, Shanda will bless you!

Thankful Monday

So it’s not necessarily a catchy title, but it’s Monday and I’m thankful, so there you have it. I’m very thankful for a number of things today:

• Your encouragement and your support in the comments about my last post are appreciated more than you can know. I am so thankful for the insight some of you shared, for the additional scriptures you pointed me to, and the grace you all reminded me of! Tim said it best Thursday night, when I broke down over so much of it. Tim said, “B, we know the truth, and that’s all that matters!” Praise God it is!

• Our new lawnmower! The old one just kicked the bucket, so Tim spent Saturday researching online and visiting every Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sears, Sam’s in town. Thankfully we found the much desired mower (it had to have a Honda engine!?!?). It sounds like it runs like a top, but Tim cut the grass so I’ve not yet used it first-hand. Oh but I will. . . . I love cutting the grass!

• Belle finally completed her round of antibiotics. I never did post about the dogs escaping and Belle’s return home costing us $250 (or did I?). Her pink bandage has been removed, her stitches are gone, and her meds are completed! She’s back to her old self! YAY!

• The chance to watch Lawson play tee-ball Friday night. What a hoot! Imagine twenty four-year-olds all crammed in the infield of a baseball diamond. Some are throwing their glove in the air to see if they can catch it. One might decide he’s tired and lay down for a brief nap. Another little boy might decide he needs his Pop. Right. Now. (That was Lawson!) Imagine a pitiful mom realizing she’s not sure where her son is, only to find him in the wrong dugout. Dads and Moms alike are sprinkled throughout these kids encouraging them to hit the ball! catch the ball! throw it to first! and anything else imaginable. Only then have you begun to begin to imagine this fantastic, fun time!

• We also got to watch Lawson’s little sister, Bella, walk! She is sportin’ it all over the place! So cute!

• We have a new red door! Pictures to come, but it’s still under construction (Thanks, Tim!). We decided on Posh Red, and I just know it’s gonna be killer cute!!!

• A great dinner with Brian and Ellie Friday night while Jenn was working. Granted, Ellie refused to eat any of her squash from her Aunt B, but we got lots of giggles, smiles, coos and laughs! That little booger was wide eyed and bushy tailed when they left at 9! She heard she was headed to Lovie’s for a slumber party, I suppose.

*Please say a quick prayer for my friend, Jodi. She lost her Bible yesterday, and given the path she’s walked thus far in life, it was laden with notes, highlights, scripture references, and such. She’s so upset over losing it. But we’re hoping someone found it and will return it to the church’s lost and found.

*Why do people always have to enunciate intranet like this: in-TRA-net? Really? I mean why can’t we just say intranet like we say internet?

Total Forgiveness

This is likely to be a pretty deep post – at least for me. It’s coming after days of thinking and thinking, praying and praying, talking with others and researching. I’ll begin, well, at the beginning. Here’s the conversation that started it all. . .

Monday AM, The office
Coworker (we’ll call her Nancy) was not able to attend a meeting I’d scheduled with a visiting bank because she had to attend a funeral. I stopped by her office after the meeting to make sure she was okay. Here’s the basic run-down of what went down:
Me: “Hey, I am sorry you had to attend a funeral.”
Nancy: “Yes. It was [John Smith]. Do you know him? He committed suicide.”
Me: “Oh, how heartbreaking. I am so sorry to hear that.”
Nancy: “The service was really nice. Father [Joe] was really straight forward and honest.”
Sidebar – Nancy is Catholic
Nancy: “My daughter thought Father [Joe] was too harsh, but I told her that suicide is a mortal sin. We are to pray that God will show mercy on John and let him into Heaven.”

I sort of just ended the conversation and left. Honestly I wasn’t all wound up over her statements at first. Rather, it just sort of built over the course of the week. And I’m sooooo not confrontational. At all. I have a hard time voicing my disagreements anytime I do disagree with anyone about anything. But what Nancy said I just don’t agree with. I have talked to a few of you about it since then, and it’s continued to stir my heart. Add to that the emotional attachment I have of suicide, plus my firm belief that my God saves me from ALL sin, and you get one wound up B (lucky you!).

I’ve done a little research since Monday, and I have found that in the Catholic realm, mortal sin can be defined as “a sin, such as murder or blasphemy, that is so heinous it deprives the soul of sanctifying grace and causes damnation if unpardoned at the time of death.”

Yet, I am only able to find in the Bible once where Jesus identifies an unpardonable sin – blasphemy. Mark 3:28 – 29 says ““I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.” Sin is sin, and it separates us from God. His eternal gift of life through the sacrificing of His Son is what saves those of us who believe.

That’s where the beauty lies for me. My Dad was saved. He was a Christ follower, and I know that with every part of my being. And if “all the sins of men will be forgiven them”, that means my Daddy was forgiven, too.

I’ve also been pointed to James 2:10: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” That, to me, means a sin is a sin is a sin. I’m just as guilty of breaking the whole law as the next guy.

Apart from Christ, we are nothing. But Salvation is greater than all our sins. God’s grace is greater than all our sins. Knowing that my Daddy was a believer, I continue to stand firm in my belief that he is in Heaven, celebrating and worshiping like we can only imagine. All because of God’s amazing grace.

Please know I’m not out to offend anyone with my thoughts. I’m definitely stepping out of my comfort zone by posting such a deep, emotional thing. This is very near and dear to my heart for many reasons. I honestly post this for my own benefit; it's therapeutic for me to write. And I want to know I can come back to this post anytime I need to in the future. I always welcome your comments and thoughts!

Wednesday's Walk ~ Third Day Concert

It's Wednesday! Wednesday's Walk! If you want to participate, jump on over to Lynnette's blog for details.

Friday night, Jodi and I, along with our little sisters went to the Third Day concert at our church. It. Was. Incredible. Awesome. Unbelievable. Revive opened the show with incredible music, amazing worship, and got us P-U-M-P-E-D up! Here is a picture of the lead singer in the middle of the audience! During a song!

Brandon Heath came next. Crazy cool he was. Also amazing. He was so real with us, telling us how his new song, Wait and See, was basically about his life growing up. He was great!

And then, oh, then the show began! Third Day rocked that church! It was so incredible!!! I really cannot begin to explain to you the emotions that I felt while worshipping my Savior during that concert. Jodi said it best, though. When we were leaving, she said, "I worshipped God harder tonight than I think I ever have before!" How exciting is that!

Check out the light show! Those are not real stained glass windows; they're lights!




The Encore ~ All of them on stage at the same time!!

It was also an amazing time to cherish: worshipping your Savior along side your sister, your best friend, and her precious little sister. Time well spent, and time I'll never forget!

Titus 2 Tuesday: My College Roomie

Today’s Titus 2 Tuesday, and I’m participating by telling you about one of the many amazing women in my life, what I’ve learned from her, and how she encourages me.

I am one of few - in the world, perhaps – who can say that I lived with the same girl my entire college career. And that we never, not one time, had any sort of argument or disagreement. Never. She was the most amazing roomie for 4 solid years. During those years and since then, Ashlie has taught me so much about life.

From the wild days of our Freshmen Fall quarter ~ Ash, remember Opossum and his friends, our first night in Athens, and the freezing cold Auburn game where we sat on the concrete because of the fraudulent tickets and waaaaay too many people in the stadium ~ to the Bible Studies we attended, the friends we made, and the lessons we learned, it’s safe to say that 301 Church Hall and St. Andrews Apt 205 housed not only ourselves but our friendship, many laughs, our share of tears, and many memories of our college lives.

Ashlie has been one of the most influential friends I have in the area of my spiritual growth. It was Ashlie’s hand that held mine while we were seniors in high school sitting in church when a man in the audience began having a heart attack or stroke or something. The preacher stopped preaching and began praying for this little old man. Ashlie was also there when I fell apart one night during a Bible Study session our freshman year, over a very painful experience. And of course, Ash was right there with me, standing as a bridesmaid when I married Tim!

Ashlie taught me how to pray, how to rest in God, how to trust Him always, and how to seek His will for my life in everything I do. I love her dearly, and I truly thank my God for her!

100 Things About Me

A few of my blog-buddies have done this, so I thought I'd play along! Here's the listing of 100 things about me. . . .

1. I am saved by God’s grace
2. I love love love being married to my hubby!
3. I want to be a mommy one day
4. I always said I could never be a teacher like my mom, but I’m now a trainer in a bank, and I love it!
5. Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl is my most favorite song ever
6. I love google reader
7. Blog comments are my fave!
8. I love doing yard work
9. I just wish I could keep flowers blooming
10. I love chocolate anything, especially peanut butter and chocolate together
11. I am an animal lover
12. But I cannot stand birds. Birds make my skin crawl.
13. My favorite type of music is praise music
14. I wish I could sing
15. I am not good at reading comprehension
16. I am a hands on learner
17. I admire my little sister more than she will ever know
18. I tend to “borrow worry” as my momma says
19. I like tomatoes sometimes but not most of the time
20. Diet Dr Pepper is my favorite drink
21. I took my first step class a couple of weeks ago and LOVED it!
22. Aerobic classes help me have a much better work out
23. I’m convinced I have ADD
24. I am a closet competitive person
25. I quit playing softball a couple of years ago during our team’s first practice. It was also my first attempt at playing ever. And my last.
26. I love the library.
27. I love reading – anything from novels to non-fiction, self improvement to spiritual reading
28. Our dogs are like our kids.
29. I am so excited about my cousin’s family’s adoption
30. I’m a co-captain on this year’s Relay for Life team at the bank
31. I have vivid, crazy dreams
32. I am a klutz
33. I am a little messy
34. I love to cook!
35. 5 Guys has the best burger and fries to me
36. I love to burn good-smelling candles
37. I’m listening to folks in our break-room cleaning up from our cook out
38. I want a blackberry / iphone / trio or something new and snazzy
39. I have trouble throwing things away. Even if they’re broken.
40. I was the Homecoming Queen my Senior year in high school
41. I’d like to think I’m much different than I was during that senior year of high school
42. I lived with the same girl all 4 years of college and we never had the first disagreement
43. She’s still one of my dearest friends to this day
44. I cannot stand oatmeal
45. I would love to be in criminal justice, but I have no guts; I ‘m scared of my own shadow!
46. Intervention is my favorite show
47. I cannot iron as well as my husband can
48. I prefer creamy peanut butter
49. I try to pinch pennies all the time
50. I still realize that some things must be name brand (I.e., Glad trash bags, Tide, Pine Sol, Jif Peanut Butter)
51. I’m terrified of heights
52. I do not like escalators. At. All.
53. I love spending a whole day in the sun, at the beach, with the sand in your toes!
54. I love scrapbooking
55. I depend on my momma and my sister to help me decorate
56. I’m a people pleaser to the nth degree
57. Growing up, I was always the youngest in my class (I have a November birthday and my parents started me in school a year early).
58. This also meant I went to UGA as a freshman at 17 years of age.
59. I’m absolutely nuts over my 5 month old niece, Ellie
60. I was saved during an Al Holley concert at my school in November of 1989
61. I am not a salesman. At all.
62. I volunteer once a month with Sav a Life, helping at their Mommy and Me class
63. I am a big with Big Brother Big Sister
64. I went to the same school for 14 years – K4 – 12th grade
65. I love purses. But I prefer one color, leather purses. Not a big Vera fan.
66. I always own too many bags. Random bags. Overnight bags. Any of them.
67. I love Nail Envy; it’s helped me grow my nails for the first time in my life!
68. I’m going to the Third Day concert tonight with three of my fave gals!
69. I do not have the first athletic bone in my body.
70. But I do love to run and exercise
71. Cranberry apple crystal lite is my fave!
72. I love chock full o’ nuts coffee
73. I lost one of my pearl earrings for about 18 months; found it yesterday morning in the bottom of one of my purses!!! YAY!
74. I envy skinny people
75. I really envy skinny people who can eat whatever they want.
76. When I was in high school, we had a cat who was . . . um. . . promiscuous. She had kittens every time possible. Unfortunately I ran over maybe 3 or 4 of those kittens. Sad. . . .
77. I am definitely the push over “parent” with our dogs
78. I love UGA Football
79. One of my favorite smells is Ellie Grace after a bath
80. I promised Ellie last night while feeding her a bottle that she can always have ice cream for dessert at her Aunt B and Uncle Tim’s when she is old enough
81. I’m sure that all this spoiling we plan to do to Ellie will cause us to have spoiled kids one day, too. And that’s okay.
82. Oreos and milk are one of my favorite old time snacks
83. I get to love on babies every Wednesday night at church, and I love it!
84. I want to go to the Masters someday.
85. I’m not a good swimmer
86. I want to go deep sea fishing someday
87. My hair is extremely coarse and thick
88. I have things in my office that were my Daddy’s and my Granddaddy’s from their banking days, and I cherish them.
89. Christmas is my favorite time of the year
90. I knew I wanted to marry Tim on our second date
91. Steel Magnolias is my favorite movie ever
92. I am planning a great surprise for my hubby’s 30th birthday!
93. Stars are full of meaning to me and my family
94. I love riding bikes
95. I would like to be a funeral director if I wasn’t in banking
96. I am a rule follower
97. I like lamps instead of overhead lights
98. I love taking pictures
99. I pick at my split ends way too much
100. I do not wake up easily in the mornings

Thankful Thursday

Today, I’m thankful that . . .

- It’s so beautiful outside; I just wish I could work out in the beautiful sunshine today!

- Even though I get totally stressed out over the cost of running a house, we always seem to manage without undue pressure.

- I discovered the Chicken Marinara Lean Cuisine; it’s really yummy!

- We woke up laughing this morning. Tim turned off his first alarm, and he informed me while we were getting dressed for the gym that he did so b/c he was taking a test and the alarm was not supposed to go off then! It’s always funny how dreams and real life collide sometimes!

- Our dogs are home after their short venture out Wednesday night. Pictures to come. . . let’s just say Belle now has a nice pink bandage half way up her back right paw. With stitches. And antibiotics. No night on the town is worth all that. . . let’s hope the dogs agree!

- We have a weekend of Slocum fun ahead at Josh and Kelli’s engagement party in Birmingham!
Tomorrow is the Third Day Concert! Can I get a WhatWhat!?!?! I am so excited I can’t stand it!

What are you thankful for?