Do I know you?

Do I Know You?

Can you remember a time when something totally unexpected happened to you?

Almost exactly 4 years ago, while babysitting my grandson, we made a trip to our favorite fast food chicken restaurant.  Of course the chicken wasn't the only draw...it has an indoor playground!
After eating, we headed to the play area as promised.  Because he was only 2 years old at the time, I went inside the glassed area with him.  We hadn't been there long when three children and what looked to be a teenaged babysitter came and sat down at a table on the other side of the glass.  The youngest of the three children was the cutest red headed, freckle faced boy -- I guessed him to be about five or six years old.  Catching my eye, I returned his gaze with a smile.  He was such a cutie! 
With my attention focused on my toddling grandson, I didn't notice that the red headed boy from the other side of the glass was now sitting at my feet.  He caught my attention and asked, "Are you my nana?"  Awww!  My heart just melted.  "No honey, I'm not", I told him.  And with that, he was off to play.  Immediately thoughts started swirling through my head...

My first thought was, "Why did he think I might be his nana?"
Why didn't he KNOW I wasn't his nana?  Did I look like his nana?  Did he want a nana and thought I might look like a good one?

My second thought was, "WHY DID HE THINK I MIGHT BE HIS NANA?!"
If he thinks I might be his nana, I must LOOK old enough to be his nana!  RATS!!!
I still feel younger than the age posted on my birth certificate!
Oh well...guess I needed a frank discussion with Mister Mirror Mirror! 

In the book of John chapter 4, we read about an encounter Jesus had with a woman who had come to draw water from the area well.  Jesus had traveled through Samaria and had stopped at the well to rest.  Now traveling through Samaria was something Jewish people did not do.  Samaritans were considered half breeds to the Jews -- so when traveling, they would go around Samaria to avoid those living there.  Not Jesus.  When the woman arrived at the well, Jesus asked her for a drink.  Because she was a Samaritan and he a Jewish man, she was surprised at his request.  This leads into a discussion of living water and how HE could provide it to her.  Up to this point, the woman thinks that she is just talking to a crazy, misguided Jewish man -- that is until he starts telling her everything about her life.... that she had been through five husbands and was now living with a sixth man.  He knew her!  She knows that a Messiah is coming but she supposes him to be a prophet.  Jesus revealed to her that he was in fact -- the Messiah.  At that, she left her water jar and went back into town and told the people there about meeting the man at the well.  She asked them, "Do you think he might be the Christ?"  Well they all came to see for themselves.  Scripture says that at their begging, he stayed an additional two days.  Many believed not only because of what Jesus taught but also because of what the woman had told them. 

So to me, the best part of this is -- Jesus knew the woman and saw her value.  And better still -- He knows you and He knows me and sees value in all of us -- no matter what.  Isn't that awesome?!

Read Romans 3: 22 and 23 with me.
"God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same:  Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift.  They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ."   (New Century Version)

The woman at the well and her entire town experienced the grace of Jesus that day...and we  experience that same grace today. 

Now back to the red headed cutie who haunts my memory bank...
He needs a good nana...everyone needs a good nana.  But more importantly, we need a savior...every one needs a savior!

Love till next time,
Lanna

Wow... that hurt!

We are fearfully and wonderfully made -- aren't we? 
Did you know that drinking water -- 16 ounces or more -- before going to bed will most assuredly wake you up before the sun rises? 
With a 50 something year old bladder and that much water, who needs an alarm clock?

A couple of weeks ago, my body's alarm clock went off around 4 a.m.  Not wanting to be awake yet, I rolled out of bed and shuffled off toward the bathroom.  Cutting through the darkness of the room is a night light that shines whether there's electricity or not.  I refused to open my eyes thinking that the least bit of light would really wake me up.  I was hoping to get at least one more hour of sleep before the real alarm announced the start of another day.  Why open my eyes?
I've been walking this same path for many, many years.  I know the way.  I can do this and go back to sleep.
Urgently closing in on the doorway to the toilet -- I was unaware that the door had been closed.

WHAM!!! 

My bowed head hit the door! Instinctively my hands flew up toward my head and I slammed my hand into the knob of the closed door.  I hit my head so hard against the door that the clock on the wall fell from the nail on which it hung.  As it fell, it knocked the night light out of the socket and then hit the faucet handle on the sink below causing it to turn on at full force!  The commotion of the room made my husband jump out of the bed as if he had been hit with an electric cattle prod!

I'm awake now.

Now I realize that I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but I could have avoided the knot on my hard head and the bruise to my hand if only I had opened my eyes to the light that would have guided my way. 

So this little night time trip made me think of a few spiritual things...
     1.  Why walk in the dark if you don't have to!  We have Jesus!  He said, "I am the light of the world.  The person who follows me will never live in darkness but will have the light that gives life."
(John 8:12)
     2.  Without the Lord's light, I don't know the way.  In John 14, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  The only way to the Father is through me."  It should be the goal of every soul to seek His way, glorifying him as we walk through this life and into the next.
     3.  Even though this world can at times seem very dark and scary, the Lord's light is always there.  Light shines through the darkness -- but never can the darkness overcome the light.  "The Lord is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear?"  Psalm 27:1
     4.  Thankfully, his blood covers our daily sins as we ever strive to walk in His light.  "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin"  I John 1:7. 
Awesome, right?

Uh, one more thing... Just in case you were wondering...no, I didn't have to change my pajamas! ;)
Love till next time,
Lanna

New Year

Wow!  It's the beginning of another new year!  Can you believe it?!

As a child, it seemed like FOREVER from one Christmas to the next.  Now, at my age, time seems to pass faster and faster.  Is it just me, or does it seem like we were just putting away the remains of Christmas 2014?!  The phrases "fast as lightning" and "slow as Christmas" are becoming synonymous for me!

So did you make a New Year's resolution?  I did....the same one I made last year...and the year before that...and the year before that.  My resolution is to keep my mouth shut.  I have put my foot in my mouth more times than I care to count.  I've chewed more than enough leather to furnish shoes for everyone in the state of Texas.  Someone once said, "The Lord gave you one mouth and two ears so you can do twice as much listening!" 

Within the first week of the new year, I'd already blown my resolution...again.

Thinking about my failures and short comings make me even more thankful for our Lord's grace and mercy.  I really love what Paul has to say about grace in  Romans chapter 5 through about the 14th verse of chapter 6.  It assures us that a life in Christ gives us the gift of grace -- so that even when I mess up -- His grace is more than adequate to take care of my sin.  What an awesome, undeserved gift!

For Christmas, I received a beautiful new winter white sweater.  I loved it the moment I took it from the box.  I couldn't wait to wear it!
Grace is a gift we should wear like a badge.
In response to this wonderful gift, we can resolve each day to walk confidently in His light and in His service. 
 
So while serving our Lord, I'm gonna smile, stand tall and when appropriate...KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!

Lamentations 3:22-25
II Timothy 1:7