#Snakes,ScorpionsAndStones

The bedroom was tight with furniture. A treadle sewing machine was placed between two double beds and there was a dresser and a wardrobe and a chair. My sister and I slept in one double bed and my grandmother and youngest sister slept in the other double bed. On the wall next to the mirror over the dresser was a little plaque which I read every day - "Prayer Changes Things". I remember saying to myself as a young girl, that prayer changes people.

The disciples saw that Jesus frequently got alone to pray and they became curious and asked Him how one ought to pray. That is when He gave them what we now call the Lord's Prayer, but He didn't stop there. He went on to explain more. He instructed them to even bother the provider with their requests and be persistent till the answer came. He told them to knock and keep on knocking and seek and keep on seeking and to ask and keep on asking. Prayer, evidently, requires a deep seated need in order for one to be that demanding.

But, that was not all He told them. Jesus shared that a good loving father will not give a stone when a request for a loaf of bread is presented or give a serpent when a fish is requested or a scorpion when an egg is asked for. He went to rather extreme measures depicting the answers to prayers, not benign, but even dangerous which makes me wonder why. One possibility could be why Jesus illustrated answers to our prayers with such descriptions is that sometimes what we get is not what we expected our loving Father God to give. It just might seem harmful or negative and we might jump to the conclusion that God doesn't love us or that He is incapable.

God did warn us when He said that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than ours, so we misunderstand much. His ways are always good, tho they may seem not to be so and we can see a serpent instead of a fish if we look at it naturally. It takes faith to believe in God's character and to know that He only does what is good. We have to make ourselves see with the eyes of faith and trust God's perfect goodness when it comes to getting the unexpected and wait on Him to make clear the reason for the unexpected. Prayer does change things and it does change people, too.

Keep on praying for it is not altogether about getting the answers for our needs, it is much about getting to know the God of the Bible and developing an intimate relationship with Him.

#AbsolutelyLegal

It is said, "Jesus is the reason for the season." That is true, but it is not accurate. Why is there even a season? The accurate thing to say is, "You, yes, you are the reason for the season." Jesus would not have had to be born to die if you had not needed what he came to do. You and I are the reason for the season.

We are not given much information about what the universe was like before God created this world and it's inhabitants. We are told that there were myriads of angels who worshiped God before the world was created and we are told of one specific angelic being who got the big idea that he deserved to be worshiped equally with God. Lucifer is his name and he came up with the idea to accomplish two things with one act. Lucifer knew how much God loved His creatures and he knew that God was bound to keep the law. He could break God's heart by luring the head of the human race to distrust their creator and he could ruin God's reputation by showing that God, being just, would allow the human race to suffer the consequences of disobedience. He would come out of this predicament he gave God as the winner and he would be the one being worshiped.

Of course, we failed the first test and Lucifer thought that it was over and he had proof on his side that he was worthy, but, it wasn't over. It actually was only the beginning, for God had a plan already in place. Because God so loved the humans He had created and who now were legally doomed, that He made it possible to satisfy justice by the shedding of blood, the blood of a perfect sacrifice, Jesus, and by giving the opportunity to humanity to rectify their situation by simply receiving the gift of His life. This is why you and I are the reason for the season. Every single one who sees that justice has been satisfied by Jesus and places their trust in His provision is casting a vote for God's worthiness of worship for all creation to count. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!!!

#PromisesKept

From the beginning a promise was made. The first humans had yielded to temptation and the consequences were astronomical. Their first impulse was to hide from the law giver, but to no avail, because He who is everywhere all the time knew where to find them and hold them accountable. He said a few pertinent things to the tempter and to the tempted when he confronted them. He told the woman that He would put a deep seated hostility between the tempter and the tempted, a mutual hatred would develop between humans and now their arch enemy, Satan. He then promised that her 'seed' would bruise Satan's head and Satan would bruise her seed's heel.

It took four thousand years for her 'seed' to put His foot on this earth, but the promised Messiah came in the fullness of time. God kept His promise. This chosen one left glory and appeared as a small vulnerable baby born in a barn. This chosen one would make all things right between guilty humans and the law giver. He would be led to slaughter as an innocent lamb to give up His glorious life to pay the debt of breaking the law. God's way was real in that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

It is interesting - the bruising of a head and a heel. The bruising of the heel is recoverable, but the bruising of the head can be deadly

This was only one of a great number of promises made by the promise keeper. This one has been kept, but there are other ones we still wait for the fulfillment of. This Chosen One was seriously bruised to the point of death, but it was recoverable and He resurrected on the third day to finish what He had started. He is the great promise keeper and stated, as He prepared to return to glory, that He would come back and finish off our arch enemy and would restore all things better than when new. It has been two thousand years since He stated this. To humans, it seems like a long time but to God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. God measures time differently than we second counting humans. A thousand years is nothing to God and His promise will be kept in the fullness of time. He will return.

#Romance

We had not been dating too long. We had started seeing each other in February. Our dates were few and far between because we both were in college and I worked a forty-hour week. It was summer in Tennessee and quite hot and humid. I was living in the nurses's quarters at the hospital while working there, as a medical laboratory technician, putting myself through college to become a registered technician. My room was not air conditioned and not very comfortable and he knew about it.

One hot night he decided I needed some reprieve from the heat and his family had a spare fan and he decided to bring it to me. He did not own a car and couldn't find a ride, so he walked. It must have been four or five miles from his house to the hospital and the fan must have weighed at least ten pounds. I was totally taken aback when he presented it to me. You have to know that this act really impressed me. It spoke volumes.  This was true romance to me.

This kind of romance goes on all the time. God extends Himself for us daily. He gives and gives and gives and His heart desires that we recognize His acts of loving-kindness and respond with a heart full of gratitude and appreciation. He is constantly wooing us and drawing us with cords of love.

The greatest gift ever given was that of His own son. God knew our predicament and it just wasn't discomfort. It was much more desperate that that. Our life was at stake; our eternity was at stake. He made a plan before the worlds were created because He is everywhere all the time and could see the results of choices that were going to be made and loved us so much that, at the fullness of time, His gift was presented to the world. We will be celebrating that gift on Christmas.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Does this act of love speak volumes to you?

#BeautyTips

Skin care classes were held for the Beauty Consultants doing skin care classes in order to teach them how to share good information to their clients. We learned that facial skin is different from the rest of the skin on our bodies and has special requirements. Using bar soap, just about any bar soap, has a drying effect because soap is designed to cut oil and this tenancy will deplete the natural oils that is produced by facial skin, so, it is a good idea to cleanse the face with a cleanser designed to be used on the face. Cleansing might change the Ph of the skin and toners or freshners correct that problem. After cleansing and freshning, a moisturizer will replenish what has been taken away and then on to glamour. Skin care is the most important part of beauty and a routine should be set up for morning and night. You might even need to use a mask weekly to deeply remove dead skin cells.

Glamour is that which is added to enhance the natural beauty and defines areas and uses shadows and color to give contour. A foundation will smooth and equalize the skin tone. There are natural curves to the face, but when it is all one color it appears flat and uninteresting. Adding rouge to the cheeks highlights the cheek bones and gives structure to the shape of the face. The eyebrows are a frame for the eye and the right length and contour of the frame brings attention to the eyes and eye shadow develops the curve. Of course, mascara adds depth and length to the lashes. The last bit of color on the lips balances the whole look. The end product should be appealing to the eye because the countenance will be where others look and from which the light inside shines forth.

 Your behavior is what really counts, as my daddy always said when his girls were complimented on the dresses their grandmother had sewn for them, "Pretty is as pretty does." Make-up has been around for a very long time and Peter cautioned the women of his day, two thousand years ago, "Your adornment must not be merely external, but, let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." 1 Peter 3:3 and 4

You see, a quiet spirit is one that has found the peace of God and a gentle spirit is one that shares the peace from God in her everyday life. This peace of God demonstrates itself in her being able to trust the authority of her husband and enables her to submit to that authority because that is the way God has set up the institution of marriage and asks her to trust Him through her husband. Just as Sarah submitted to Abraham, tho he was way off base, God protected her and she was not fearful. This attitude of submissiveness carries on to her children and teaches them that the authorities God has ordained should be honored and submitted to all the while trusting in the Great Almighty to correct and protect.

Our society today is a perfect picture of what wives and mothers have taught their children and it isn't pretty!

#TheLittleStory

The little shop around the corner in Leesburg, Virginia, is almost exactly like the one in the movie "The Little Shop Around The Corner", except instead of carrying leather goods, it carries books and other found things. The day was overcast and rainy and not too many shoes were walking on the cobblestone sidewalks.  The four walls of the front room fitted with shelves from ceiling to floor held  a great variety of books and this place was given to me for that day to display my book and sign any copies that buyers might want signed. A small red checkered table cloth was placed on the shelf provided for my books and next to them, a plate of Christmas cookies and a small vase with a red velvet poinsettia. All was ready for shoppers.

A young couple came in under a big umbrella and began looking around trying to decide which way to go. After a few minutes window shopping in the other rooms, they came into 'my' room and glanced over at the shelf where my books were and the cookies. I offered them a cookie and both said "thank you" as they reached for one. Then they picked up a copy of  The Treasure Is The Trip and began checking out the back cover. "I love this", said she and then I asked if she would like to get one. I had not tried to sell a book all morning when people came looking, because I had prayed many times before I arrived that the Lord would bring the right ones to want my book and, so far, no one impressed me that they were seriously interested, till now.

After she said yes, I took the book out of her hand and asked her name and wrote the date and a short sentence and signed it and gave it back to her. She then went on to tell me that they had gotten engaged in that very room a while back and she had taken a missions trip, gone for six months, and it was a test to see how committed their relationship was. Stronger than ever, they were now planning on their wedding later this month. Such a joy weld up in me as she responded with a little thrill that I had prayed for the right ones to want my book. We hugged as we said goodbye and I said "God Bless you."

There were a few more shoppers to visit and a very special couple from my former church who bought some books to give away and it kept raining. The shoppers became fewer in number and I wanted to get back home before dark, so I began packing up. It was a perfect day for my first book signing event. God is so good.