Taking The Small Things for Granted

This time of the year we get so caught up in the hustle of the season we forget about being greatful for the small things. I read this article in the paper about a lady's son who was being put to death for murdering someone. This lady probably tried to raise her son the right way. To do right from wrong, to go to church, to be respectful of others, and all the things we all teach our kids. But, as parents of older children, we know they do whatever they want when they get grown. People were shunning this lady because of what her son had done. Now, she was lossing her son. This lady needed friends she could depend on at this time.

How many of us are the same way as this lady's neighbors and old friends? Do we not speak and be friendly to others because of something that has happened to someone in their family? They probably had no control over their life and what they did. Just like I have to control over Jody's life and what he does right now.

I felt so sorry for the lady. She was so alone. Then I thought about the churches in her community. How they had lost the opportunity to be a servant of the Lord to her. To show her love. The greatest commandment. To love.

Let's not let opportunities like this pass us by. Don't take for granted someone is going to do your job. Step up to the plate and do your duty. Show an expression of love to someone who is hurting or lonely. I promise you will feel so much better. That is the meaning of Christmas.

God bless you all------------------

You just never know how and when God is going to use you. God has used me alot on my job to talk and witness to people. Customers and co-workers. It has totally amazed me. I have been favored with hours to come to church on Wednesdays and Sundays. I am now able to sleep with my husband at night instead of working. I know I have all this because I was obedient to God. You do not have to be so religious and spiritual with everyone. If someone tells you about something good happening for them, just remark how God has blessed them. Just little remarks can bring big changes in people. I just want to thank God for using me to be His servant. Just about three weeks before I got put on first shift I had told the prayer group to be praying about a job. that God had told me it was time for me to leave third shift, I had done all I was suppose to do. I did not like third, but right awayI knew God had put me there. I had a purpose. I did not like the hours, but I was happy every night I went to work, I done my job to the best of my ability, I helped others do their work, and I was a witness for God. Believe me -- those people watched me, my actions, and reactions to EVERY THING. Some questioned me when they saw my world did not rock over small, silly stuff that they let rock their world.
Be strong, take a stand. Make up your mind you are going to live for God no matter what happens, and who says what. If it does rock you, you are not going to show it, just start praying to yourself. The more you pray and read God's word the stronger you will become.
God Bless and may you have a Merry Christmas ----------------

It has been awhile since I blogged. If you know me, you know alot is going on in my life right now. I am having problems with my eyes but God is working on them and I am fine. My hours have been changed at work to first shift hours. I have applied for the job I am doing so I can stay on first shift. If it is God's will I will get the job. Doing God's will is more important to me than just working first shift. If I get first shift and it is not God's will, God will not use me like He wants to. If I am not being used by God, I will not be happy. I know some of you will not understand this. But, it is not what I want, when I want it. God has already lived my life. He alone knows what I am suppose to do and when. So if I am in His will, will I be doing what He has destined me to do. Amen.
May God richly bless you and your family this Christmas season----------------

Believe

Yes, I believe. I believe God's promises. I believe God can heal today just like He did in the Bible days. I believe God is the creator of everything. I believe in God's timing. God knows all. So His timing in things is far better than mine. I could have looked harder and probably got a another job on first shift months ago. But, God had a plan. Had I left my job, several people would not have been able to ask me to pray for them or a certain thing. I stop by Sonic's every night and buy a large cup of ice to take to work with me. This one young man there sees me alot and we talk at the drive thru. He is from Russia, and he loves the Lord. He has had trouble at work, and last night he told me he was being moved to the other store(I think on 81). I told him that was God answering prayer. And he agreed. He goes to Cornerstone. He is a young man in his 20's and just a joy to talk to. You just don't realize who you come in contact with on a regular basis, and how you can affect their life. I do believe God's plan was for me to be on thrid shift for a while to witness to some people. Now I believe God has a different direction for me to go in. And as my life goes on, God will probably move me some more. As I do His work and it is completed, he will move me somewhere else.
All you have to do is believe and trust in God. God already knows how your life is going to turn out anyway. God Bless you ...............................

You have Choices

Have you every been tempted? I think everyone has at some time or another in their life. But, we do not have to give over to those temptations. Jesus was tempted. The temptation is not the sin. When we yield over to the temptation is the sin. Someone can put a cigarette in my face and ask if I want it. As long as I say no, it is just a temptation. But if I say yes, take it and smoke it. I have just yielded to the temptation. That is the sin.
But the good part is God gives us a choice. We can take the temptation or look for the way God provided. God always gives a choice in every situation. Your choice you make determines how strong you are, where you are going, and your thinking. If you are strengthen by the Lord and His Word, if you are running toward God with a determined mindset to reach Him, and you think positive of yourself, and know you are a child of God, temptations will always be JUST temptations. If you have not been in the Word of God, not sure if you are on the right track, and you do not have a positive attitude, guess what. when temptation comes you WILL give over to it. In other words, you will fall back into the sin you thought you were stepping out of. And your sin could be drugs, alcohol, sex, food, anger, bitterness, negativity, or just a bad attitude. Your sin could be a number of things, you have to figure that out for yourself.
Sometimes, when we give over to our temptations, we go throught some rough times. God has to let you see, you have made a bad choice. And you choice has caused all this trouble. Then we start with the ifs and the buts. Don't wait til it is too late. Make good Godly choices for yourself now. Then you will have a good Godly life down the road.
God Bless you-----------------

Fall Festival

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves at the Fall Festival this year. I know it was totally different from the regular trunk-a-treat we do. I did not have alot of time this year but next year will be even better. Just wait. We will have the games we had this year and add some more to it. I had fun putting it all together. I know every kid had plenty of candy, without going out Halloween night.

I want to thank everyone who helped in any way. You made the festival a success and I thank you so much. I pray God will bless you for your time, energy, and money. Was the cake walk a blast or what? Special thanks to Kenneth for that. Everyone playing in the cake walk was smiling or laughing. I hope everyone enjoyed the cakes.

Thank you Pastor Scott and Tyra for allowing us to have this. You know how to minister to your people. We love you and back you in all you do. I truly believe your vision has been caught by your people and we run with you.

May God Bless you and keep you safe---------------

Forgiven and Faith

After reading Luke 17 the other day. I believe your level of forgiveness toward people has alot to do with your level for faith. If you want more faith, forgive who ever has done anything to you, even if they are died. If you can not forgive, which is what we are suppose to do, you can not have faith the size of a mustard seed. I was talking to the intercessory prayer group about this last night. All leaders should have more forgiveness toward others than the regular people. Because people are watching them. They need to show more forgiveness so they can have more faith.

I have noticed there are several things in the Bible that are connected like this. We just have not got a handle on it yet. But start forgiving people for little things that have bothered you and watch how your faith changes. May God Bless you and your family..........................

Understanding

If you were not at CIOC Sunday morning and at the Hobo Dinner, you were just left out. They were both so good. You just had to be there. We honored out music pastors' Sunday morning. All I am going to say is---now I know why God had me put the Bearden family and especially Kenneth on the prayer list. Thank you, God, for being so awesome. And thank you prayer team for being obedient to praying for things we don't understand at the time. I love each and every one of you.

I hope everyone enjoyed Sunday morning and Sunday night as much as I did. God bless you........

My Family

This morning I was reading Acts 2. I have read this before. But, you know how you can read something more than once and get something different from it each time. Well, I guess that is what happened to me. Verse 44 is what really rocked me this morning.

Acts 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things in common;

This is saying they shared their wealth. If someone needed something, they all pitched in to make sure that person had what they needed. They eat together, they prayed together. They knew each other not just as friends but as brothers and sisters. That is what God is calling a family.

If we don't know each other in our church this way, we are not doing what we are suppose to do. We should not feel ashamed or embarrassed about our family knowing anything about us. Our family supports us 100%. So should our church family.

I would love to see CIOC become the family that is referred to in Acts. I believe we can, with a little effort on each of us. And God will bless us for it. There is nothing that could destroy us as long as we stand firm together as a family.

Hope to see you at the hobo Dinner Sunday. God Bless each of you........................

Prayer Meeting

If you have not been coming to prayer meeting on the first Friday of every month, you have missed a real blessing. This past Friday night was wonderful. Try to rearrange your schedule so you can come next month.

I taught children's church Sunday on the Great I AM. Yes. When God said in Exodus that He ia the great I AM, He was saying to us He is what ever we need Him to be. He is my physician, He is my friend, He is my food, He is my lover, He is my Healer, He is my provider, He is my breath, He is my rock, He is my shelter, He is my strength, He is my ALL. God is my all. I have run after Him and still feel I want more. God does answer our prayers when there are things we absolutely need. I pray as I teach the children, they understand the meaning of each lesson that will be instilled into them for life. Then I know I have made a difference. Our children at CIOC has come a long way in the past year. They are learning and growing in the Lord. Please keep them in your prayers. For they are our future leaders.

Our Hobo dinner is this coming Sunday. Wow. I can't wait. It is going to be so much fun. Be sure to invite some friends.

See you Wednesday and God Bless---------------

Last night at CIOC, we had the most exquisite speaker, Mrs. Peggy Hill. She talk to us about being professional in every aspect of your life. You are to be professional in your business life, your every day life, and in your church life. Everything she said was the truth. I hope we all learned something we did not know or had thought about. I know Peggy has impacted alot of lives for the better just from her speaking to us. Mrs. Peggy Hill is a true professional in all areas of her life. You can not help but love her from the moment you meet her. She is just so genuinely sweet. Thank you Ms. Peggy. I know our church will benefit from this and will be better. And thank you Mike for supporting this lovely lady through her lifes career.
All I can say is Mike and Peggy Hill is an absolutely remarkable couple. Praise the Lord for them and their wisdom and gifts.

Last night at CIOC, we had the most exquisite speaker, Mrs. Peggy Hill. She talk to us about being professional in every aspect of your life. You are to be professional in your business life, your every day life, and in your church life. Everything she said was the truth. I hope we all learned something we did not know or had thought about. I know Peggy has impacted alot of lives for the better just from her speaking to us. Mrs. Peggy Hill is a true professional in all areas of her life. You can not help but love her from the moment you meet her. She is just so genuinely sweet. Thank you Ms. Peggy. I know our church will benefit from this and will be better. And thank you Mike for supporting this lovely lady through her lifes career.
All I can say is Mike and Peggy Hill is an absolutely remarkable couple. Praise the Lord for them and their wisdom and gifts.

What has God done for you?

I have read Pastor Scott's last blog about 4 times this week. In his blog he says about having a testimony service again, to email him about what God is doing for you. And I have really thought about it. Then, I thought what has God not done for me? God has healed me from breast tumors about two and half years ago. In June of this year, God healed me from osteoporosis. God provided a better job for my husband this year. My migraine headaches are not as bad and are farther apart than they use to be. God has used me to witness to others, especially at work. I am basically healthy, I do not take alot of medication. I take two pills a day, one for allergies and one for my thyroid. There are people at work younger than I am taking a handful of medicine every day. My parents do not take any medication. They are both still living and married to each other. That is a big blessing right there. Not many of my old school friends can say their parents are still married to each other. I still have one grandparent living, she is 88 years young. My brother is healthy, and he is 11 months younger than me. He does not even have a filling in any of his teeth. I wish I could say that. My daughter and her husband goes to church and is bring my granddaughters up in church. God placed me in the best church with the most loving and caring people. God put me under spirtual leaders who have taught me so much in the last three years.
I have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed me over and over. Sometimes we don't think of somethings as a blessing. At first, I didn't think third shift was a blessing. But when you witness to people and see changes take place in their life----it is a blessing. I still don't sleep much during the day, but I can endure this for a season.
I hope after reading this you can really think of things God has blessed you with or done for you.
Praise God for all things...........

Walking and Talking Do Not Match

I was talking to someone at work one night recently about being a christian. I asked if she believed in God and Jesus and other things Bible related. She said yes. I asked if she went to church and where. They first thing out of her mouth was "my letter is at ____________
Church." (did not want to print the name of the church) I again asked, "Well, where do you go to church?" She laughed and admitted she did not go to church. I was so surprised that out of about 35 people on third shift only 4 people go to church regularly and have a relationship with God and have made a commitment to our church to work for Him. There is about 3 that go to church every once in awhile. The rest do not go to church period. Then there are 2 that say they are christians but never go to church. First of all, I do not think God is going to give us points or credit for having a letter at a church. Second, how can you have a relationship with God if you are not going to His house and worshipping with His people on a regular basis? I can not imagine not going to church. I had such a headache Sunday, but I went to church and praised and worshiped God Almighty. I just don't think I could function with spending time with God, in His Word and in prayer. If you will notice people, their walking out life and their talking will match most of the time. If they are not born again they will not talk about God and they will not go to church. If they are christians, they will take about God and go to church and do good deeds, unselfishly. But, the ones you have to watch out for are the ones whose talk and walk do not match up. They are the most dangerous to you. They constantly try to find ways to snare you. Beware! Do not get caught in their net. They will play games with you to confuse you. Pray for protection from these people. I have noticed it is best to just quote scripture to these people and stay firmly planted in Jesus Christ.
May God bless you and keep you from harm. Let God's light shine through you for others to see.

Change Things

Are comfortable where you are? The Bible says you should not get comfortable. You will stagnate. Are you using your annointing? If not, you are not praying as you should. You should be using your annointing every Day. If your annointing is singing for example--you will sing every day. Sometimes you might just sing to yourself, but you will sing. Are you reading God's Word and praying every day? If not, you are not growing. You are not allowing God to change you and use you. When times get hard for you, can you repeat verses or just phrases from the Bible? You know, God says His word will NOT return void.

If you are not doing any of these things, I suggest you start changing things in your life to include all this. It is the ONLY way your life will change. It is the ONLY way your church will change, go to another level, and grow.

If any of you really know me, you know I am a happy person. I love to laugh. I do not dwell on the bad. I arise above all the negative and go on. When God called me, I dropped everything and I have continually run after God since. I want all I can get from Him. I want to see more of Him, I want to feel more of Him, I want all of His promises for me, and I want to be used by Him for all I can do. I have lived for God three years. I have never wanted to leave the United States. My husband would ask me about going to Ireland and different places and I always said no, I would not want to go there. But God changed me, I went to Africa two years ago. It made me really appreciate things more than I ever have.

Change things in your life and let God change you today. Set time aside to spend with God and His Word. It will give you the ability to do things you never thought you could do.

Thank you God for each person who wants a change in their life. I pray for each one to stand up bold and firm for you, Lord. Give them the strenght they need and more time in their day. Lord, bless them, give them health, wealth, and prosperity. Give each one a revelation of your Word, and let them realize their gifts and annointing to share your gospel. Seal this prayer with the Blood of Jesus Christ. Amen

Thoughts

In case you did not know, the name of my blog is Thoughts. We have hundreds of thousands of thoughts a day. Think of your thoughts as an ocean. Because of all the thoughts we have, we could fill an ocean. And we all know an ocean is big. So lets break it down a little smaller. Use an ice tea glass. Label one good thoughts and the other glass bad thoughts. For every good thought put a teaspoon of water in the glass labeled "good thoughts." For every thought that you have that is bad, evil, negative and not appropriate, put a teaspon of water in the glass labeled "bad thoughts." Actually do the test. If you are not where you can add the water, mark on paper your thoughts until you can get home and do it. Which glass got full first? This will speak volumes to you about yourself. And no one will have to actually speak to you. This will show you where your true self really lines up wth the Word of God about your tongue. I pray your good thoughts out weight your bad and if not I will be praying for you, for a change.
God Bless you...............

Acting and Thinking

Do you act the way you think? OR--Do you think the way you act? Sometimes we just act without thinking. That is when you really see what is in you.

I like to watch people and just listen to them. We had an important person from our home office at Wal-Mart visit our store. He came to talk to the employees to see what problems or grieves they had. Boy, when the employees found that out--they were in a buzz to bash a manager. I am just listening. They got around to asking me about what I was going to say. I told them I was going to see if I could get air conditioning or just a couple of ceiling fans because it was so hot in the section I work in and ask if we could get an ice machine for everybody so we could have cold drinks or water. This just floored them. I was told how I needed to speak up about how a manager was managing things. I talked to everyone a explained he was not here to hear how much we could bash a manager. By not doing that we would more than likely get things we wanted. With in reason of course. After I talked to him, he walked through my section I work and saw there was no air vents and no fans, and how hot it is. He said he knew the contractor for our store, and he would call him. Which is better than nothing, thank the Lord.

Everyone was seeing the results I got from this man so they changed their minds on what they were going to talk to him about. Anyway, the end result was he had made two pages of notes of questions people wanted answers to. He said he would see what he could do. But for everyone to remember a ship turns very slow but a sea doo can turn fast. This is a large company and things has a process and takes time. So be patient.

You all know I am on third shift. I do not like it. But I do it with the best attitude, positive words, and good actions that I can. After this happens at work, I come home and talk to God. Is this why I am still where I am? Are you still using me, Lord? I just need to move. Why is it not happening? Now? But, there is a couple more things God is going to use me for on third shift. I am being patient. It is just hard sometimes, especially when I get sio tired.

Just remember, the way you act and the way you think influence the people around you. Make sure the way you act and think coincide together. You will make a difference. God Bless you....

Hey everyone, it has been a few days since I blogged. I took some time off from several things for myself. Sometimes you just have to do that. I have read two good books lately. Of course, if you know me, it is books about learning more about God, or a knowledge book for me. I encourage everyone to read a book to help you grow in some way. How has yur prayer life coming along? Uh-oh!! Was that a questions from left field? Not if you have been praying. I done the 5/5/5 that Pastor Scott asked us to do last week. By the end of the week I had prayed for 5 people I normally do not pray for. But, I do believe because I did God will make a change in those families lives. Make a list of things or people that need prayer and start praying today. I know this may sound like a dead horse. But this horse is not dead. I know it works. I have seen the results. Have faith--the size of a mustard seed(.) today. It is not very big. Ask any kid in Children's church. They know. God Bless you...........

PRAYING

Pastor Scott challenged us all to pray for 5 neighbors, 5 minutes per day, for 5 days. I had to actually go to two doors to ask for their names. One thought it was great and thanked me for my prayers. The other neighbor chuckled and shook his head. I think he thought I was --"not normal." But that's okay. He is getting my prayers anyway.
As most of you know, we have an intercessory group that meets every week to pray for our church and the people. The second week we met, we had FIVE answered prayers from the week before. That is awesome. Through prayer God is going to change some stuff.
Maybe you are not one who prays. But if you will start today and spend just 5 minutes in prayer. Just thank God for all your blessings. Then next week, spend 10 minutes a day in prayer. I promise, you will start to see a difference in your life. Just try it. God Bless you.....

Laying It On The Line

You would know what I mean if you were at CIOC last night. Pastor Scott just plain-----laid it on the line--for us. And what he said is so true. Sometimes we look at others and see faults but we don't want to look at ourselves that close. So we let things go that is In us. Sometimes, we let things go too long. It is our attitude about things and ourself. When we alter our attitude, we alter our life. If we look at ourself as critical as we look at others we would find all the things that are wrong. That one statement has made me stop, look, and think about myself. But the more we look at ourself and correct problems the closer we get to God. And that is what we all want. To be more Godlike and to be in His perfect will.
I hope you take a moment to think about the statement above and see what needs to be altered.
I love you and God Bless.

I attended the prayer class last night. It was good. It was very interesting. As our church grows, more people have opportunities to serve for the Lord.
Most of you know I have started a prayer group that meets every week. What is so amazing is Pastor Scott confirmed stuff I have planned for our group, this past Sunday while he preached. And some of it was hit one last night in the class, so you know that has to be GOD. Amen. I thank all the ones that were able to go to the class last night. I know that as we pray daily things will start happening. And it WILL be a good and positive thing. I pray that our prays will be so effective, even our own lives will change. God tells us to pray. Pray about everything. This is a sure way to be in God's will, as long as you listen to Him and obey Him.
Have a blessed week----

We had our first church wide prayer meeting last night. It was good. Pastor Scott shared some things with us and instructed us on what he wanted us to pray for. I truly believe this is going to change our church and the people in our church.
I use to go to church and just listen. Most of the time I could not tell you what the preacher had said. But now, I am a DOER, not just a listener. And that is what is so exciting to me. I have God given power to do things I never would have dared to do. I use to Never say anything to a group of people. I would lose my voice and start shaking all over. It was awful and embarrassing. And now, look at me. I actually teach in children's Church. If I can do something and overcome, you can to. But I know God gave me the ability to do what I need to do, because I stepped out in Faith to do something for Him.
Try taking a small step in Faith and God will do great things for you. More than you can imagine. I will be praying for you. God Bless.

Shout out to God

Yes, I just want to give God a shout. I know prayer is important. I know God answers pray. God is answering prays today. He may not answer them when we want or how we want, but He answers them for your good. that is one if the reasons we have to have patience. God knows all.
He knows how and when to answer our prayers. I just want to thank all the dedication to the ones who have decided to intercede in prayer for others and for situations. When you truly stand in the gap for others you feel their hurt and pain. Therefore, you can truly rejoice when prayer is answered.
I urge you to start spending time in prayer with God. It will change your life, your world, and your situations. Now, the first time you prayer, or even the first few times, it may not change anything immediately. But God will change things for you, for the best.
If anyone has a prayer request they want us to pray over, let me know. God Bless You and your family.

Living in the Peace God Provides

If you go to church at CIOC, you have heard Pastor Scott talk about not letting the things that just happen in your life, rock your world. Believe me, this is so true. I was talking to a very close friend of my the other night and she made a statement that really made me think. She said she had never seen me so peaceful, and that my church had really been helpful for me. She said I was always smiling and would just go on liking nothing was going on but now there was just a peace that radiated from me now. That spoke to me. At that moment I realized I was depending on God regardless of my world. I thanked the Lord at that moment. God will use someone you least expect to confirm things for you. Anyway, we talked for awhile. As much as I have talked about Pastor Scott and Pastor Tyra, I think she knows them without having met them. But that goes for about everyone at my work place too. This is a friend who does not go to church, believes in God, and is a caatholic. We talked about praying. And before we hung up she said she would pray about something. Hey, I have been knowing her for 14 years and that is the first time I have heard that.
So, what people see and hear from you WILL influence them. Now you decide if your influence will be positive or negative. God Bless.

First Intercessory Prayer Meeting

We had our first intercessory prayer meeting last night. It was several that did not show up for different reasons but it was a good two hours. We set the meetings for each week through September. We are having several meetings at homes. This is going to be SO EXCITING. I can wait to see the changes that will take place because of prayer. If you have a prayer request, just email or phone it in to someone, and it will be prayered over every day by several people. And you know what that means. The Bible says, "Where one or two agree in my name, I will do." So if we are all agreeing the same thing Jesus will answer the prayer.

I have always known that I would one day have to answer for all I did and said. Well, guess what! I also have to answer for what I did not say and did not do. Some christians seem to think they can come to church, say a prayer occasionally, smile and hug a neck or two, and they are okay with God. Sorry. It don't work that way. If you pass up an opportunity to witness to someone about Jesus and that person is a lost soul. You WILL have to answer for that. I really believe that on the final day, true christians will be trying to answer why they DID NOT DO or why they DID NOT SAY ANYTHING. I do not want to be one of those. I want boldness about me, so I can speak up without any fear, and so I can do for others without fear. There has been a couple of times I was hesitate to say anything but I did anyway. After I did I felt such a relief. And I would wonder why I felt a relief. I truly believe if I had not spoke up and witnessed the Holy Spirit inside of my would have grieved. That is why I felt a relief. I submitted to the Hly Spirit and done what Jesus would have done. It really felt good and I did not care who heard me or seen me. I was doing a work for the Lord who is ruler over my life.

My prayer for everyone is to be the person God has called you to be. Submitt to the Holy Spirt in you. Have boldness to do God's work without fear. Be a better person, christian, spouse, child, parent, student, or whatever. Remember, you are never alone. God is with you always. And if you got God with you, WHO can be against you? God Bless---

Be Who You Were Created To BE

God created us in His own image. God also created us very unique. Each one of us is very different from anyone else on earth. So why do some people always wish they were someone else? This hit me today as I was doing something. You just hear people say "I wish I was like him/her." If you were that person, you would have that person's life. Yes, you would have the good times, money, and friends. But, you would also have the bad times, hardships, and other things we don't see. I have read the story about Gloria Vanderbilt. I think she had a very lonely life as a small child. Sure she was born into wealth. But, money does not make you happy. After she was grown, married, had children, she still had money. But money did not keep her from losing one of her sons. What a heartache. I had rather have just what I got right now, than to lose one of my children. I was born to parents who were not rich as far as money but we had alot of happiness. I would not trade that for nothing. I can remember my parents, and my brother and I sitting on mama and daddy's bed playing a game. The funniest game we made up was each had to take a turn whistling a tune and we had to guess what is was. My dad was the only one who could whistling really good. My brother and I were like 9 and 10 yrs. old. So of course our whistling was not understandable. But it was fun.
The way I grew up made me into the person I am today. I understand hard times, appreciate the good times, and enjoy the happy times. I can be satisfied with simple things. Don't let what you see from the outside influence you so thinking everything is so great. The very things you can not see is what really has made the person. And most of the time it is the hard times, and the pains they have had to endure that has molded the person.
Be yourself and be happy. If you are not happy find out why and start doing something positive to be happy. God created you and God Does NOT make mistakes. God Bless.

We had clean-up day at the church this morning. Five people cleaned and then we had a prayer session afterwards. It was so relaxing. (not the cleaning part, but the prayer part) I hope several of our members are praying about our intercessor prayer group that is fixing to start. If you would like to be included come join us. Prayer can be so powerful and effective. And I want it to be this way in our personal lives as well as in the church. Our faith is what carries us when others and other things fail us. People are not going to do what we want them to do, I don't care how hard we pray, talk or whatever. People are funny creatures.

They make crazy decisions, then whine when things go wrong. I don't want that for my life. I want to make Godly decisions, and praise God for the outcome. Because what ever the outcome, I am trusting it will be God's will and not mine. Start thanking God for answered pray, the healing, the job, or whatever you need and let Him do all the work and the worry. That is why He is God, He is so much greater than we are, and knows all. We don't need to worry about anything. Because God is in controll. God BlessYou.

Hello everyone. Didn't we have a great service Wednesday night? Sunday had to be good. I do not have the CD yet, but we got some good workers for KICK. I am just so EXCITED about the prayer group starting back up and the monthly prayer meetings. Hope to have some other excited people show up Friday, Aug. llth, at 7:30 p.m. This has been a busy week for me, alot going on. At least the kids are back in school. Have and safe and happy weekend.

Outreach Or Witnessing?

I guess most all of you know how much I love to do outreach. I have really missed it. But I have not been able to find anyone who wants to do outreach- - - but ME. But that's okay, god will just use me in another way til I can do outreach.
Everybody at work knows me. They know I am a christian and I believe 100% in prayer. We were in the breakroom last night and a lady started asking me questions. she said she was raised in church but there was some things that she had heard lately that she had never heard before. Everyone told her she was asking the right person. First, she was asking about missing your blessing by not asking for more. She had gone to a church Sunday morning and the Pastor was talking about it, but she did not understand. I gave her the Bible verse, and explained whatever I can ask for, think of, or imagine, God can do exceedingly more than that. She was asking about getting a whipping for God. There was several things she was asking about. Oh, one of her questions was, Is there some people who keep asking for forgiveness that are not forgiven. Of course we all know, as christians we sin, but if we keep deliberately sinning god will not keep forgiving. At some point we have to know we can not keep doing wrong and expect forgiveness. To make it simple, my earthly parents would let me make a mistake and not say Too much. But if I kept making the same mistake- - - you better believe I was going to be feeling something other than a few soft words.
We had a great talk and several admitted they learned something they did not know. So, was that outreach or witnessing? I say it was a little of both.
As I walked back to my department I could not help but smile and say Thank You, Lord. I thank God I have a Pastor who has actually taught me something and not just said some words in the pulpit. There is a big difference. I am also thankful that God has put something inside of me to want to know Him more.
When was the last time someone asked you questions about the Bible or God? Is it because your life that people see is not reflecting God? Always remember, if you proclaim to be a christian, ask yourself before you do or say something, Is God being reflected in this? If not, do not do it or say it. God Bless you and your family.

KICK - - - We when to the Greenville Zoo this morning. We had so much fun. The kids were very well behaved. I am so proud of them. I think the adults that chaperoned had as much fun too. Just ask Larry Martin about the bear. Ask big Daddy about the monkeys. Getting the kids together outside of church has been good for them. They are getting to know one another. Not just recognizing a face with a name. But really getting to know each other. It has been fun for me to watch them too. Just think in four years we will lose three or four of these kids to the teenagers. That is not long. And we still have alot we want to teach them. And a short time to do it in. Four years equals 208 Sundays. That is less than a year. That is why it is so important to be involved in your child's life. Teach them and guide them in the correct ways so they do not depart from it. They may waiver but will come back. Help us in teaching your children basic things they need to know. This will make them stronger christians down the road. See you tomorrow.

Prayer Meeting-----I sent out an email about having prayer meeting on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. We have had a good response to that email. I have about 13 people that wants to come. I think that it great. Can you imagine, a group praying for our church, our services, our people, and a presence of God to show up. That can change a service and change a city. I can remember when we done prayer meetings before and a few showed up how things changed. God hears us when we praise Him, then he wants to do for us, so whatever we ask God can give more than we can imagine. God answers prayer in Wal-Mart on third shift. Been there, seen it. Thank you to all who are willing to give of yourself and time to pray. We need this badly. Not just individual but for the church as a whole. I believe God is going to do something great through our time spent in His presence. I pray God's fulness in each person's life so strong that it will effect the lives of people we see just in passing. That we all lock arms in unity to press forward in the Lord to do His will in all we do. I can hardly wait. God Bless you.

Is it Fair, Right, or Wrong?

Have you ever seen a boss pick out one person and pick on them constantly? The boss will hound this one person til they actually break down and cry. Find something wrong with everything they do or say? This has happened at work more than once lately. I see this and wonder why? The person they are picking on is not mean. They come to work and do their job. The majority of the rest of the workers have noticed what is going on. Everyone trys to help this person, just so the supervisor will leave them alone. A couple of individuals have made comments to the big boss about the situation, but nothing has changed. This person come to me crying last night and asked me if I would pray for her for strength to go through this. Of course I did. But, do you say nothing and keep watching this take place every night? Does a large group need to go to the big boss? How can someone be so cruel to someone else in front of people? Any suggestion? I would love to hear them. I have prayed about this. It is disturbing to the rest of the employees. One person said, "Who will be the next person that is picked on." I know the Bible says we will be persecuted but this seems to go past the normal. I would literally break down if I had to work under conditions has that EVERY NIGHT. Please pray about this situation with me and email any suggestions. God Bless.

LIVE AND LEARN

Have you every wondered why God is letting certain things happen in your life? Boy, I have. When you pray you ask God "why." I do. We, as christians, expect our road of life to go so smooth, like this ____________________________________________________. When actually it is like ___- - - /~~~~\<^>//\\~~~~~~______/ / / <>~`',_-----^-_????.
BUT what we fail to understand is God is taking us down a road to use us for someone else's benefit. Things that happened in my life years ago, I am using to help someone right now go through it. I am basically not a whiner. My parents did not allow that as I was growing up. So I have always tried to find the good in everything. When things were at their worst for me no one ever knew it. Now, we can be happy in our situation or we can whine. Which one do you think God is going to show up in the most? Where you can find happiness. God was there to form and make us and He will be there during our bad times as well as the good. I don't like going through stuff. But, if going through something makes me a better person by changing me to be more Christlike and teaches me something I am willing. God knows already what I am going to do five years from now and how I am going to react to it. Because He knows my future He leads me down certain paths so that my life will effect others and hopefully draw them to the Lord. Look for the good and the happiness in all your situations. When you do God will be there to help and guide you. God loves you and He would NOT lead you wrong. God Bless You.

This morning I taught a lesson on the Fruits of the Spirit in children's Church. It was good. I gave the kids something to think about. I gave them examples of each fruit and used a light stick to demostrate the fruits in our lives. As I was talking to them, I explained that every Fruit of the Spirit is shown in our lives through every thing we do, say, act, feel toward another person. We can show love, kindness, goodness, gentleness, peace, happiness, and faith at some point in our lives. And self-control. But the self-control covers such big areas- - - it is a hard one to show and develope. Even as adults, sometimes don't we talk more than we listen- - - Self-control. Don't we eat more of the wrong foods- - - Self-control. I could keep on and on , but, you get the idea. Each child got to pick one of the Fruits to work on this week and report back next week. I can not wait. It will be exciting. When you have to teach something like this it makes you look at yourself more closely to see where you need to make changes. I know I sure did. And I saw one or maybe two things I need to work on.(ha, ha). Truth be known I can work on all nine in my life. The Pastor is going to be teaching on this in August I think. Now the children will know a little more about what he is talking about on Wednesday nights. Please pray for our children in our church and the teachers. If the Lord does not come soon, these children will be our leaders soon. Pastor Tyra and I are really working on planting something in each child that will stay with them for life. Thank you for the opportunity to teach your children. It has been a delight and a pleasure. You just don't know. Love you all.

Praise and worship Sunday was wonderful. Just wanted to let everyone know that, especially anyone that was not there. You just missed IT.
I am so excited about this coming Sunday. I am teaching in children's church about the Fruits of the Spirit. It will not be boring. This is something the children need to know and examine their selves to see where they stand. As we all do.
I want to send out a BIG congratulations to Noah McAbee for being the first to say all the books in the old testament in order. Great job Noah, I am so proud of you. Now, I wonder who is going to be the first to know all the books in the new testament? To all the others in children's church, it is not too late to learn the old ones. Get busy, most of you know about half of them already.

It is so amazing to me how kids grasp things. I help teach in children's church and the Sunday's when I think it really did not go as well as I thought before hand, I hear how some of the kids really took in what I had to say. It gives you this warm happy felling inside to know that you have positively and effectively touch a child's life in such a way. It may mean a big change in that one child's life forever. I thank God for the opportunity in teaching the young people. I have been helping in Children's Church almost a year now, and have seen such a big difference in the lives of the children. Each week is so exciting to me just to see how they are going to react to what we have planned for them. I have prayed for creativity and ideas but the most simple things I have done - - they have remembered so vividly. Please encourage your children. Ask them questions about whaat they learned and done in Children's Church. You might just be amazed yourself and even get a laugh. I do and I love every minute of it. God Bless you and your families.

I just want to let everyone know just how much CIOC means to me. It does not matter what happens, my church family will be there to support, encourage, and push me. I am so thankful for all the people in CIOC. Members as well as visitors. We can lock arms and love on each other, help each other, lift each other up, pray, cry, and laugh with each other. You just can not get that at just any church you go to. And to top it off- - - - our pastors do all of it with us too. Our pastors are involved in our lives. We are important to them. They love and care very much about each and every one in their church. Some people may not like that. But as for me. I love it. If my pastor did not love me and care about me, they would not care what happened in my life, or what I was doing. That would make me feel as if I might be in the wrong church. The Bible says love is the greatest gift. And LOVE is at CIOC. Looking forward to Sunday. See you there.

Hey everyone. It has been a few days since I blogged. I have been doing some reading on first fruits. We all know that is when you give to God the first part of all you have or get. What about the first part of you day. With your lips you give your first fruits of your day. You can praise him for a good nights rest, and for being able to see, hear, speak, walk, smell, and being alive. Just to name a few things. I don't know about anybody else, but I have alot to praise God for. Sometimes when we thank and praise God for the things we Don't see, God moves things so we can see those very things. This has happened for me more than once. And it can happen for you. Never give up - - - keep on keeping on. God bless.

MAN!!!!! If you were not in CIOC Sunday morning you MISSED the best service to honor our military. The church was packed, it was decorated, had men in uniforms, and had a movie. It was GREEEEAT. Thanks to Creative Ministries for putting that together. You all done a wonderful job. We have got some kind of talent in our house of God.
Tomorrow is Independence Day. Let's remember what it really stands for and not just fireworks and partying. We have our freedom as we know it because of the duty some young men gave their lives for.
I met a couple from Ukraine last night at work. She was not felling well, and I helped them get her in the car. But, I got to talk with her a bit. They have lived in the U.S. for 10 yrs. now. She said they have alot more freedom here. Keep that in mind. What if we had to live like others in another country? We would be more thankful for the freedom we have.
Have a safe 4th.

I am so excited about tomorrow. We are honoring the VETS in our church. It will be exciting just to see the 5 King brothers together under one roof. Now days, it is so hard to get families together unless it is for a funeral or something. We are going to have a lot of visitors in church tomorrow. So, put on your red, white, and blue and come celebrate with us. Don't forget--your worship can and will impact someone's life---and Someone WILL be watching YOU.
Have a happy and safe July 4th. God bless you all.

I guess about all of you know I work at Wal-Mart on the third shift. You would not believe some of the things that happen during the night, while you are sleeping. I was amazed to see parents in the store during school time, with their children at 1 am til about 3 am. Mine had a bed time and it was not varied by much. What are these parents thinking? I would guess those kids are not on the honor roll. I don't even want to get on that road. Anyway, back to the people at Wally World. I had no idea until working here that many people stole stuff. Small kids to past retirement age will steal. An elderly couple was in there, she had a bottle of Maalox in her hand with her pocketbook open. Her husband (or man friend) ask her if she was going to get it. She saw me and said not right now, somebody is watching me. They both looked to be in their 70's. The biggest items in the pharmacy area for stealing are: 1. condoms 2. pregnancy test. Go figure. Who in their right mind would steal either of them? I would have to say---if you have to steal one or both--chances are you are going to get or be pregnant. I want to make a sign and hang it over the area of these products:

Do not steal!!!!! The Anderson Health Dept. will give you all the condoms you want
for free. And in case of a problem, pregnancy test are given free and are kept confident.
Thank you for your support.

But, it is not that they can not pay for what they want. I think it is to show off and see what they can get by with. I wasn't allowed to even touch anything in a store. I thought mama was mean. Thank God mama was mean, at least I never stole.
Then, you have the kids that come in and they are so polite. They say excuse me, ma'am, thank you, and they behave. They are the ones you know their mama is probably like mine was. If you touch something and you was not suppose to - - - she would slap you in the store with people looking.

Some nights are more active than others. Some of the workers laugh and say it must have something to do with the moon. If you are older, you know what I mean.

I just want to thank all the parents who are rising up children to know right from wrong. It is so important. Have a good day and God bless.

Do you sometimes do something just because of the people you hang with? Or you think it is cool? I quite smoking almost 3 yrs. ago. The other night at work one of the girls who has "said" she was trying to quite, bummed a cigarette from someone else. She saw me and she laughed. She told me she was trying to stop so she had not bought any. That was when I told her I understood, I smoked for about 30 yrs. That caught her attention quick. She come running to me and ask how did you stop. So I got to tell her. I had prayed and ask God to take the taste away from me and He did. (Thank you, Lord). I told her I did not want a stick to controll my life any longer. Especially, since it was going to do harm to my body and in the long run make me sick. And that my body had to be clean from trash so I could do the Lord's work. I have noticed she is still smoking but at least I had the opportunity to witness to her. Who knows ---- you plant a seed and water it and it will grow. I am not giving up on her. I am just going to pray for her. And smile and speak to her every time I see her. Because one day she might want to come talk to me some more. God Bless.

Standing Up for Jesus

Standing Up for Jesus. That was the title of my lesson in children's church yesterday. It was not an easy lesson for the kids on comprehend. We done a bowling game with a child's game, using the pins and the ball was a can of crushed pineapple. I did not tell them how you win. So they played as anyone would, you get a point for every pin you knock down. But the team with the lowest score was the winner. See, you don't always get rewarded for doing the right thing. Then, the can was banged, dented, and scratched. It hurt the can to be used for something it was not designed to be used for. BUT, when you break the seal on the can, the pineapple was still good.

If you get persecuted for Jesus, it hurts the outer shell. But, when that shell cracks it iswhat is on the inside of us that will flow out. And it will still be good, pure, and sweet. It will be the Jesus we have put on the inside of us, flowing out to witness to others. Amen.

Time

Does time seem to move too fast for you? It does me sometimes. My parents came down to see us Thursday morning and they left this morning. It seemed time just flew by. Then I started thinking on the years. My parents are 70 years old. To me they just do not seem old. I know it is because I am getting older. But when I was younger (6-10 yrs) I never remember thinkg my grandparents were old. Now days kids think everybody just about it is OLD. Don't let all the preconcieved ideas now days get to you. We are not OLD. We are getting better and getting more wisdom. That is right. The Bible tells us if we live a godly life and ask for His wisdom and knowledge we will receive it. I do just that. So I know I can give my children sound advice and not foolish advice.
Since time is passing so quickly for us, let's live like this is our last day. How do you want to be remembered? As a nice person. Or someone who lived life to the fullest and was someone who impacted a single life so strong they made a Godly change, who was always happy, and so excited to be with others, who went out of their way to help someone else. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
If everyone lived like it was your last day--WOW--just think how different life would be. Not just for you but for everyone around you.

Things We were Told when We were Young.

Do you remember some of the stuff your parents told you to do or not to do? Stand up straight, don't drag your feet, chew with your mouth closed, keep your fingers out of your mouth, don't flop down on the furniture, do not pick your nose, the kitchen is the only room you can eat in tio name some off the top of my head. We were told these things so much, we gradually just started doing them or not doing them and it just came like second nature. It is amazing how things stick with you. I noticed someone in public eating with their mouth open and my first thought was--Didn't their parents teach them anything. Then I thought, evidently they didn't.
I am reading the Bible through again. As I have been reading, I have noticed some things I have read before, which I remember(believe it or not, I do remember a little bit) and I have changed or I do things differently because of it. I am excited about this. As time goes on and I read the Bible again and again, how much more I will change. And this change is for the good. It is not a bad change. It will make you more conscious of how you talk, live, your actions, your reactions, and your effectiveness to the unbelieving world we live in.
I encourage everyone to start reading your Bible through. You do not have to be in a rush to have the whole Bible read by a deadline. Just start reading. It will make a difference in your life. When your life changes, you will see a change in people and things around you. I certainly have. Partner up with someone that way you can ask each other questions--make it fun. God Bless each of you.

You Missed IT

If you were not in CIOC's service yesterday for Father's Day. AllI can say is you just missed IT. We had the up-rising CMT award winner singing, and a drama from Hollywood's newest actors and actress. You just cannot get that in just any church. I noticed alot of people were affected by the whole service too. Which is the greatest blessing of all. I just want to Thank all the ones who participated in the service. A lot of hard work was put into this. We have the best group of people at our church. Oh, and the drama was written by 2 famous authors who have also written some songs. See, we got some kind of TALENT in our church. But, what else do you expect from CIOC> Love you all.

Father's Day

Sunday is Father's Day. I am so excited about what CIOC is going to be doing that day. If you don't have a church home, come and join us for the service. It will be great. To all the father's out there, I salute you for being the "Man of God" you were designed to be. Taking care of a family, making sure the bills are paid, being husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, big-brother, and whatever your profession is. That is a tall job. Alot to live up to. But you have done it, and done it well. I want to honor Tony for all he has done. He has also been electrician, plumber, cook(he cooks pretty good too, by the way), and house-cleaner. We both work so he has always tried to help around the house too. I really appreciate all he has done over the years. His help has made things easier for me. Tony says he has me spoiled. (Who ME?)
I just want to wish all dad's a Happy Father's Day with special honors to my daddy, Tony, and Pastor Scott King, my pastor.

What People Tell You

Do you believe everything people tell you? I hope not. I don't. Believe me. I really DON'T. I had a yearly check up last week. Because of some past problems, the Dr. ordered a test. Well, I prayed about and forgot it. The call came in this morning, the test came back fine, but the Dr. don't understand. I do. I understand just fine. God has taken care of the situation. See, I refused to believe what the Dr. originally believed to be wrong. I did not talk about it alot, I did not dwell on it. I let God handle it. If my God can heal me from one thing, He can heal me from something else. I want you to believe on the positive and not the negative the next someone tells you something. If you speak the positive and turn it over to God, you will be amazed at the relief you will feel. Be positive at all times. Look for the positive in every situation and in everyone you meet. As you do this, it will become a habit. Then, things will start to change in your life.

Cancer

I did not think anyone was really reading my blog. I have just been writing(typing) as things come to me. I was surprised to see comments. Thank you. It is an encouragement.

I have been in contact with a lot of people over the last few years come into my life that has had cancer or they know someone with cancer. My grandfather died about 5 yrs. ago from cancer. Papa died in November. The following spring my cousin, Mark, died from cancer. Mark and my brother, Sidney, were the only boys on that side of the family. Sidney stayed with Mark some while he was sick, and he took it sorta hard. Then, my mother's sister had breast cancer. She had to have a mastactomy, chemo and radiation treatment. The next year my grandma had to have a mastactomy. Two years ago I got the news my mammogram had to be re-done. The first one tumors showed up. I prayed. I mean I prayed. When I went back, the nurse said she had both doctors look at the x-rays and nothing was there. Since, there has been several others that I have prayed for because of cancer. A couple of weeks ago I found out my brother has skin cancer.
Cancer is a dark disease that will destroy a life. It actually eats away at a living thing. That is not from God. God has to allow it in your life. I believe God allows things in our lives to change us. To mold us into what He wants for us or otherwise we would not submit to God. Because of what some have had to go thru they are now able to help others that are going through the same thing they went through.
Don't let things like fear and depression turn into a cancer in your life.
Speak positive things in your life today for the future. I spoke like that over myself before I had the second mammogram. I do not accept sickness and disease in my body. I am healthy. I break all generational curses now in the name of Jesus.
The Bible says we can do more and see more miracles than in the days of Jesus because we have been given the power. I have the power in my tongue and in my hands to heal. Not to bring death into my life or the lives around me.
If you would like for me to pray for you leave me a message. May God richly bless you and the lives of the people you come in contact with, for that is your witnessing.

Do you have regrets?

I think we all have regrets about things we have done or said, or maybe an action to a certain situation. I know I have. It is okay to have regrets, But do not let those regrets get you trapped into a depressed state. What is in the past, is in the past. Let it go. The past is a learning tool for the future. It is okay to remember but not to dwell. I thought I had really let go of the past until a certain situation came up. Then, I found out I had not let it all go. I still had somethings bottled up inside of me. It is okay to take a moment and cry about the past, as long as you are praying and crying to God to release you from the past. God gave us all a past. But He also gave us all a future. As long as we are looking and living toward the future we are moving forward. If not, you are stagnant. You see, stagnant waters do not move in any direction. It is still and gets a nasty film on top of it. Then it will start to have a bad odor. Fish can not live in stagnant waters. As humans, you will become the same way. So take a moment, and pray for god to release you from the regrets you are holding onto. Move forward into the future with a learning experience you can help someone else with. I did and I feel so much better. And I know you will too.

Pastor Appreciation

Tomorrow we will be honoring our pastor, Pastors Scott and Tyra King. Anyone who knows them know they are an absolute delight to be around. So of course we are going to honor them. They are our spiritual mother and father and our spiritual leaders. I have the honor of praying for them on a daily basis. We have a surprise for them tomorrow I know they are going to enjoy. I hope and pray everyone shows up to honor them. Our pastors have done so much for the people in our church. They have given time, money, thoughts, prayers, and themselves to help all of us. There is no way to repay them for all they have done. So come, join us tomorrow and have some fun with our church family in honoring our Pastors. See you Sunday.

Our Tongue

As you all know Pastor Scott has preached about the power our tongue has. Either good or bad. Well, if you have been doing the Life Journal, you have been reading in Proverbs. Proverbs talks ALOT about your lips(mouth). If you think about what you read and what you say(or have said), it will make you thank again. There are alot of other references in the Bible about what you say. And I have learned, if something is mentioned more than once in the Bible it is important. So I really believe it is VERY IMPORTANT that we be very careful in what we say to others and what we say to ourselves. We are not to be negative in any way. We are not to participate in gossip. Uh, oh. Did I hit a nerve? I hope so. We are to build our spouses up, speak well of ALL our leaders(regardless where they are: home, work, school, church). If everyone committed to speaking well of our leaders, what a difference it would make. It would starting changing things in homes, at work, in school, and in churches. WOW!! And be positive can be contagious. Your children would start speaking well of you. That would be a change. Because teenagers just hate to think good of their parents.
Positive speaking leads to a positive lifestyle. And that is exactly what I want. I can recall a few weeks ago Tony and I were talking and I said I could not do something. He told me not to say that. I could if I really wanted to. Tony told me not to be negative. It is so good to have a man of God in my home to correct and help me when I need it.
I pray for a Holy Ghost guard over my mouth. I do not want to say anything I should not say. I want to build the people up that is around me. Be positive in all situations. (Sometimes you might have to search for the positive.) And I pray you will make the same decision to. God Bless you all.

Why Do We Do Ministries?

Sometimes people ask us why we do the ministries we do. What do you tell them? Most people would say, "well, I don't know, but that is what our church just does." After reading the Bible and praying this came to me the other day. Jesus saves and heals. We as humans have nothing to do with that. We are just a vessel God uses to reach out to others. Our ministries are to help free people from bondage. As we love on them, talk to them, help them, etc., they become freer from their bondage. Now at the time I got this, I did not understand why or what it was all about. But last night at work, it was revealed to me. The very person I have prayed with and for, is being released from a bondage that has had her so tyied up she could not enjoy anything much in life. What an awful way to live. I have always enjoyed life. I love laughing even at small and simple things. Laughter is good for you. This person just never laughed. She said she did not see humor in things most people laugh about. She is so serious. I have been working on her for months. Well, last night she laughed and talked and said she felt better than she had in a long while. Bitterness and negativity will not rule her life any longer. Thank the Lord for answering prayers.
Never think what you do is not important. It is, regardless of the job. Just a smile can change a person's day or life. That is a responsibility that we should take serious. Make a commitment to yourself to always be cheerful and positive and it will rub off on the people that comes in contact with you.

What you think

It is amazing to me how people think. I was talking to my supervisor the other night and she was telling me sometimes she thinks she is not worthy of this or that. She likes to help and please others, but does not see these things for herself. Well, I started talking to her about that. I explained what the Bible says about loving yourself as your neighbor. We all know you can not love your neighbor unless you do love yourself. That is a command from our Lord. God does want us to have things. He does want his children to be happy. God does not want us to worship anything other than Him, and He does not want us focusing on other things so strong we leave Him out of our lives. As humans, that is what happens alot of the time. If a man gets a new truck or a special vehicle. He is so wrapped up in it---he is talking to his friends, showing it off, washing it all the time(so it will shine), looking it over. You guys know what I am talking about. At that point, he has put God aside. That car/truck is his only focus. With that example, maybe that is why God does not allow all of us to have our every desire. He already knows what we will do. Put God first in you life. then little by little God will allow you more and more. he starts giving you a little bit at a time. It is the same way we do our children. We don't give them the whole cake at once. We give them a small slice to see if they are going to eat all of that piece first. When they do, we give them a little more as they get older, because we know they can handle it. God is raising children too. He is the one who came up with this plan. We didn't. We thought our parents, or grand-parents came up with these ideas. Wrong. Our Great Heavenly Father is the creator of all. He was raising children before our great-great-great grandparents came along. Read the Bible and see how God raised great honorable children. That is our example. But do not let satan tell you, you are not worthy of anything good. Receive God's blessings and favor over your life today. I am, because God created me and I am worthy of all God has in store for me. I want to walk in His blessings and favor. And I will praise and honor Him all of my days.

Planning your Day

Do you plan your day out? Or do you just go through your day haphazardly--come what may? I usually plan out what I am going to do or I will lose alot of time. Now there are times things happen to your day that is totally unexpected. But then, you can deal with it betterif you have planned. It is like making out a list before you go to the store. If you make a list and stick to it you will spend less money and less time in the store. I have been noticing more and more people coming in WalMart with list. The men are real big on the list because is saves them money. One man told his wife not to stop and look at something cause it was not on the list. I thought it was funny at that time. But after pondering over this, it made sense. If you go to the grocery store without a list you will look at more items and get more than if you stuck to getting what is on your list. I don't know about everyone, but I want to stick to my list and save money and time. As you list the things to do for today--put God first, and you will have time for everything on your list. Give God the first part of your day----it is along the lines of giving first fruits. When you do that, God will bless the rest of your day. Now I am not saying nothing bad will never happen to you. Like Friday, I discovered the carpet soaked at the end of the hallway. The hot water heater had to be replaced. Hey, not good timing. But, it has lasted for 10 years. I just thank God it did not happen in December.
I hope you decide to plan your day and put Our Lord first. I promise you, you will start seeing a difference in your days. God Bless------

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I sincerely hope you have a blessed day. Relax and take it easy it is your day. You know, not every country has a celebration for Mother's and Father's Day. So, let's all take a moment to be thankful for our mother's. Don't take everything she does for granted. Being a mother is a full time job in itself. Mother's don't get a vacation. When the kids are sick during the middle of the night, guess what, mom is up too. Then she has to find a baby sitter for the sick child and still go to work, and work all day. Mother's can endure a pain no man can possibly endure. I thank the Lord for my mother and all she done for me. I had new clothes to wear because my mom sewed. She made about all my clothes when I was little. I still remember the dress I wore my first day of school. It was pink and white dotted swiss. Mama, I love you.
To my daughter, Martha, thank you for raising 2 beautiful girls that call me MEMA. My daughter is a lovely young lady. I pray my granddaughters will always stay in church and become a loving mother like mine.
And to my Pastor, Pastor Tyra, I would like to honor for being the spiritual mother she is. I have grown in the Lord because of her guidance and council. I just want her to know I love and appreciate her very much.
And thank the Lord my grandma is still living. I use to stay with her alot when I was small and mama was sick or at work.
It would be so awesome for God to use me like He did some of the great women of God I have read about in the Bible. God provided for Ruth and He will provide for me.
GOD Bless All Mother's.

Going to Another Level

Are you going to another level in christ? Or, are you in the same place you were a year ago? Five years ago? As for me, I am going to another level. There has been a change in the atmosphere at CIOC the last 3 or 4 weeks. All because of prayer. Getting in God's presence before service makes a difference in the service. And sometimes you just have to praise and worship enough for you and the person beside you (if they are not praising and worshipping). When you do that you will notice that person will start. Can you grasp this? We have between 12 and 20 people who start praying for the service, before service. Now, if everyone started praying for the service, before the service, God would show up and show out for sure. Only when you start praising and worshipping God yourself, you go to another level. Some of us in the church have been going through some stuff lately. But, we keep on keeping on with our praise and worship. The devil knows he is defeated. But he is going to keep right on trying to interfere with our time with the Lord. When you think things are at their worst---verbally tell God---I love You, God. You are my Alpha and Omega, my beginning and my end, and everything in between. You are my provider and look to you only. I thank you God, for all the blessings and favor you a placed over my life. I love you. thank you, Lord, for all that I have and most of all, I thank you for what I do not have. (See, I do not have any broken bones, I do not have a disease that is not cureable, I do not have to live in fear of being shot for saying the name of Jesus). So I am sure you have things in your life to be thankful for.
When you speak out with boldness to God, without fear and not being ashamed, God loves it. You will go to another level. You can not help not to.
I know I am going to continue to do this. I have done this for a while now. And I can really tell a difference in my life. Will you make a commitment to start each day with prayer and pray before each service, for the service? Try it for one month at least and let me know how things have changed for you. God Bless.

Our Witness

Do we let our life be our witness? Or do we witness to others just when we feel like it? Two or three times rcently someone has told me they thought I never had any problems because I am always smiling and talking with people. But, to be perfectly honest, I have problems just like everyone else. I have been hurtting so bad the last two months in my lower back and hips, I have actually cried(I know you can not believe it). Tony did not even know that until Saturday. I have prayed for myself and the pain would ease off for a day or so then start back really bad again. This has been the cycle for awhile. I keep thanking God that I do not feel pain when I move. This Will go away. I will keep believing my God is My Great Physician. Anyway, are you letting a pain, illness, or everyday fustrations get to you so bad that you are hindering your witness for the Lord? I know some people who just lose it over little things that happen. I can not help but wonder, what are they going to do when major things go wrong? I just look for the good in situations. It is better than looking for the bad. If you will start looking for the good in all your situations, your outlook on everything else will change. This may not be easy at first. Ask God to give the strenghth so look for all good points in everything in your life. You may have to put some effect into this at first, but as you do it will be something you do from now on. I collect a couple of things, and when Tony was out of work, I told him I was going to sell them. He did not want me to. I explained it was just material things and material things is not imiportant anymore. As long as we have a roof, food, clothes, the things we really need---that is important. All material things are luxuries we can live without. I have prayed for God to use me in anyway He desires. I surrender all to him. I want His light to shime through me so people can see God in me and want what I have. I think maybe, God has used me to be positive and finding the good in people and situations to effect others around me.
Now don't get me wrong. I am not perfect. I find fault, and I am negative sometime. I try to catch it -- Quick. Because is not of God.
But just take a moment and ponder what is going on in your life that you could be more positive and find the good in. It may just change your life forever.

Hello, this is my first time to blog. I am excited. I have been reading other blogs which have encouraged me to blog.

We, CIOC, has started reading the Bible through in a year using the Life Journal to write our notes in. This has made reading the Bible so easy. If you have not tried it, I encourage everyone to get this journal and start today. My husband, Tony. is doing this too. It is fun to read a couple of chapters, sit and ponder what you have just read and let it soak in to see what you get out of it. See, what makes this so exciting, everyone's journal will be different. Everyone gets something different from reading the same thing. I was trying to help Tony get started and what I got as my title from a certain scripture was totally different from Tony's title.
But that is okay. We are two different people.

I hope everyone is reading your Bible every day. If not start today. If you have a hard time understanding it, get a Message Bible. It is written like a story. Start out by just reading one chapter a day. And build up from that. If you have accepted the Lord as your Savior, you need God's word inside you. That is what makes you strong. If you do not know God's promises to you, you do not know what to expect. I personally want to know what God has promised me,
what He warns me about, what He expects me to do, and what God is going to do for me. See, I have found out I am SOMEBODY. I am an heir to the Heavenly Father. I CAN speak life to myself. I CAN heal myself. We need to know these things. I truly believe, If I do not receive the power God wants me to have, I lose out on some of my annointing God wants me to have. So, let's start getting the Word of God in us today, so we can be more powerful christians tommorrow.