christianity – Living, Loving, Laughing….

I am filled up and overflowing.

I am abundantly supplied with love, support, and all the hugs I can hold.

I am blessed with family near and far; blood, step, blended and befriended.

I adore you all. I am so very thankful for you.

I read an email earlier this week and it reverberated in my soul. It was written by evangelist Greg Laurie. Some of you know, it was his radio show I listened to that turned my life from one of abuse, hurt, despair, and pain addiction to one of hope, joy, and blessings. The Bible came alive when I heard him speak about it and for the first time in my life, I truly understood what the Cross meant. So to Greg, thank-you and I am sharing your email on a day I am most thankful for.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
— Psalm 107:1

It seems as though merchants really don’t know what to do with Thanksgiving. They market Halloween and Christmas and make a lot of money off these holidays. But they don’t really know what to do with Thanksgiving, which is really very spiritual in its origins. It was designated by President George Washington in 1789 as a national day for giving thanks to God.

In the midst of all our feasting, it is very easy to forget about the one we are celebrating. Sometimes we even forget to give thanks altogether. You might be thinking, Well, I don’t have a lot to give thanks for. Maybe you are having financial troubles or health problems. Maybe there is conflict in your family. But we need to put things into perspective. As someone wrote,

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won’t survive the week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world. If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8 percent of the world’s wealthy.

There is a lot to give thanks for. And the primary reason we were put on this earth as human beings is to glorify God and to give Him thanks.

I am so thankful to God and all he has done in my life. For his grace and his love.

I am rich. I am rich in more ways than I can ever explain to you.

A great treasure this year is Sue getting a hospital day pass to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family. That’s right. Mother-in-law gets to leave a hospital room for the first time in two months to be with her family. We are rich.

I have three beautiful and fun daughters that I cherish more than anything in the world.

I am rich.

I have an amazing husband who is kind, generous, loving and good to the very soul of his being. He is my “perfect” match. The man I wrote a list about. A fantasy list of characteristics which couldn’t possible be in one mate, but there he was. Rich beyond measure.

So…from our family to yours, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Be Rich.

Be Blessed.

Be Generous.

Be Loved.

And most of all…………. have fun!

Ha!

A few years ago when I was single and having – oh so much fun – in conversation with, shall we say, a person very direct about their beliefs. He was a devout youth minister who expressed his ways in a very upfront manner. No secular music. No mark on your record. No sin whatsoever – you get the idea.

He was a nice enough guy, it was interesting to hear his views, as long as he knew I had some of my own (ahem). I think that was against his *rules*, but I digress.

In one of our last phone conversations the question came up, what was my favorite Christian movie? My answer, with no hesitation at all, SIGNS with Mel Gibson. He said, “Excuse me? Do you mean The Passion of the Christ directed by Mel Gibson?”

A little unsure of why he wouldn’t think SIGNS one of the greatest Christian movies of all time, I answered, “Um, no, I mean SIGNS with the aliens in it.”

Long pause.

In an effort to ~~give me a chance to change my answer~~ confirm what my favorite CHRISTIAN movie is, he says again, “SIGNS, the syfy movie?”

Aha, now he is getting it, err no, he sounded a little disgusted by this answer. Yep, I definitely hear the sneer. Imagine all the dating, romance, soul mate dreams come hurling from the sky (like an alien ship- ha) crash burning to the ground in a fiery pillar of smoke and blue flames. Phoooosh!

Oh well. I’ve given worse answers than that, I am not perfect and you know what? I stand by it. To me it’s a Christian movie, whether it has aliens in it or not. I am not ashamed to say I am a HUGE syfy fan. It passed down from my step dad when we would watch Star Trek together. I love it. I love the imagination. I love the other-worldly-ness. Does that make me a bad Christian? I don’t think so. Wasn’t Mary supernaturally impregnated? Aren’t Angels supernatural beings? Didn’t Jesus supernaturally rise from the dead? Is syfy really such a bad thing to believe in? Can’t we all just get along?

SIGNS is my favorite Christian movie because it is a movie about faith. Faith being tested. Faith picking a side. Determining what you DO or DO NOT believe.

Do you believe in SIGNS?

Let me give you a quote from the movie, this is Mel Gibson speaking who plays a former pastor. He has turned from his faith after a tragic loss in his life. He does not believe in God anymore. Alien ships have shown up and his family is questioning what will happen to them. He gives them this answer to decide for themselves what they believe, and to decide for themselves, what will comfort them.

People break down into two groups. When they experience something lucky, group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance. I’m sure the people in group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation is a fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they’re on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there’s a whole lot of people in group number one. When they see those fourteen lights, they’re looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever’s going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?

Do you react to the scary things in life with fear? Or hope? Is it luck? Or more than coincidence?

I’ll tell you this, the last month has been very scary for me. I’ve had cold feet – from marrying the greatest guy in the world – I know, WHAAATTTT? I believe it’s psychological. I had an abusive spouse that I freed myself from. My safe haven is my current home, and now to give that up for my new husband in October…..well…..It feels like I am giving up my new-found freedom. My “safe” place.

And then what? Am I back in crazyville? Oh heck no! Not doing that. Nuh-huh. So, I get anxious and teary – more than a few times. Maybe, even a little nit-picky about my new mate. A little harsh. I am scared. Literally frozen. My heart thumping out of my chest to even consider writing the 30 day notice to my duplex and moving my things. Taking this giant leap of faith felt more like a free fall or being a rabbit about to dart away down the rabbit hole, just missing the steel trap door closing on it’s cute powder puff tail. But I AM free, either way, either house. I am still free. Not only am I free, but Jason would never treat me badly. I know this, so what’s the deal, right? Maybe I wasn’t looking at the signs.

Here is what I see looking around.

Despite my turmoil at the time, I celebrated our second anniversary meet date and wrote a blog post about how we met. The how we met post. That post became one of the most viewed – ever.

Then at work, I win the drawing for a round trip Continental ticket to anywhere they fly in the US48, Canada, or Mexico and guess what? It includes a companion pass with it. Honeymoon tickets anyone? This happens on the tail end of financial difficulties from my past (ex #2) that cut the wedding budget to bupkis. Better than that, I discovered I have a plethora of hotel points through Radisson. I have never collected points of any value, but this year I did. Over 200,000 and that puts me right at a free hotel room stay – four to five nights long. TOTALLY FREE.

Finally, couples are supposed to be complimentary right? I was diagnosed with a hyperthyroidism in December. I have to take medicine to make my thyroid stop producing. Jason texts me a few days ago. He now has a thyroid problem too. He has hypOthyroidism which means – his thyroid doesn’t work. Mine overworks; his doesn’t work. If only we could be each other donors.

After this week of signs, my feet warmed right up. I know exactly where I am, and what I am doing. I have nothing to fear. And do you know what else? I see miracles.

SIGNS, I believe them. I believe there are no coincidences and I believe we are in a supernatural world.