Just a little bump

no I don't have a pimple, no I am not pregnant, no I don't have bumpy hair.

Today, I accidently bumped the Lexus in front of me while in the Sonic drive-thru line. I wasn't applying enough pressure to my brakes apparently and I was looking down into my wallet to see how much cash I had and "bonk". I was so embarrassed. So I step out of my car and so does she. I say, "I'm so sorry. Do you think it did anything to your car?" She walks over to look and rubs a slight scratch. Looks up at me with a smile and says, "Don't worry about it."

"Thank you ma'am!" I was so overjoyed! I mean it wasn't a big bump but nonetheless a bump. A bump that could've really irritated the irritable person that day. A bump that could've gotten me in a big fix. But no... grace appeared in the form of the Lexus driver today. I felt like it was God's special deliverary for me to remind me of His abundant grace. It was sweet. It was comforting. I felt His love once again in the form of a "don't worry about it" from a complete stranger. Thank you Father for allowing Your goodness to flow out of Lexus lady.

Patience is a V.I.R.T.U.E

Waiting drives me crazy. Waiting in lines, waiting on the phone, waiting for dinner to be ready as a kid, waiting for Christmas, waiting to see the dentist. We are by nature, impatient people. We want it now... and it better be hot and fresh! I seem to have the blessed gift of picking the slowest moving line everywhere I go. It doesn't matter if it "looks" the shortest, it ends up being the pokey-est! This especially happens at the bank. Everyone's usually in a hurry when they go through the drive-thru at the bank. It never fails that my line stays happily put while the other 2 or 3 lines keep-a-chuggin'. God is teaching me an all important lesson in patience that I will never be perfect at this side of eternity. Nonetheless, He seems to want to stretch me in this area of patience....thanks a heap Lord. :) (I'm hoping that's because children will be in the near future...and when I say near, I mean a year or 2 years....gah!

But this lesson in patience is not so much about me as it is about the One who lives in me. It's true that I want people to see the unfading beauty of a gentle, quiet and patient spirit but none of those things are part of who I am as a human.

It's VBS week. I am a crew leader, which means I have a group of 4-5 kids who I lead to each learning station. One little boy in particular has demonstrated that he has the same patience defect as I. He is anxious, anxious, anxious to get to the next place! And why shouldn't he be? VBS is stinkin' awesome! So much to see and learn! God is with us! FEAR NOT! anyways....

These precious children that I have been entrusted with this week for 3 hours a night, are looking at me for leadership. They are watching to see if I am happy, if I am focused, if I am respectful and if I am PATIENT. Well.....I'm trying. lol I feel I have caught a glimpse of what it takes to be a parent. I mean, you are watched like a hawk 24/7 by little eyes who are soaking in every moment and move you choose. Pressure! whoa!

When I got home last night after being at the church for approximately 12 hours straight, I got a shower, kissed my husband (who was busy studying), and climbed in bed with a book. The Lord drew me to the ever encouraging 14th chapter of John where Jesus is with His beloved disciples the night before His crucifixion. He tells them that He is the only way to the Father and a confused, Philip says, "Lord show us the Father and that will be enough for us". Jesus reassures them that the Father lives in Him and He in the Father and that they will have a Counselor who will remind them of these things whenever they doubt. They are still confused, and another disciple asks why He has shown Himself to them but will not show Himself to the world. And then He tells them the most wonderful thing! He says that if anyone loves Him and obeys His Father's commands, they will come make their home within that person and give them peace. At the end of the chapter, Jesus says this of the task before him,

" 'The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded me. "Come now, let us leave.' "

There's Jesus.... aware of the pain that awaits Him the next day; aware of the humiliation and abuse people will throw at Him; aware of the spiteful looks and unrepentant hearts He will pass. He has already seen through His providence what will happen and He obediently declares it so to His disciples. I can only imagine the weaping that happened among those faithful men that night as they pictured their Lord suffering for THEIR sin. The depth of the love they must have felt for this God made man who willingly laid down His perfect life for their stained ones. And knowing the pain that would befell Him, Jesus declares His obedience to His Father. "The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded me."

An indulgent, self-saturated world desperately needs to see that we, Christians, will do what is right and pleasing to our Lord, no matter what the punishment from the world. I applied this to my choice to show patience during this week at VBS...a far, far cry from what Christ did for me on the cross, but still an act of obedience to my Father.

I will choose obedience. I will choose patience. I will choose kindness. Because He did that for me, and I am so not worth it.

A story from Buddy

"I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent." 1 Choricles 29:17

This weekend my grandparents have been in town and DR & I have really enjoyed spending time with them. We ate dinner tonight at Newk's Cafe which is a delightful sandwich, pizza, soup, salad, wrap place. MMM yummy.

Anyways, you're probably wondering why the verse at the top?....Buddy (my grandfather, that's what we call him) told us a story of when he was 6 years old. He and his younger brother lived across the street from a wealthy family who had apple trees in their front yard. Him and his brother used to collect the apples that would fall on the outside of the fenced-in-yard and take them home to eat. Well, one day not many apples were falling and little Buddy and brother of Buddy were hungry... so they decided to climb the fence and pluck some apples down themselves. They gathered them up in a basket and shuffled home. Their mother had a sixth sense apparently (as most mothers do) and she knew they were up to something. She asked where they got all the apples and they told her from across the street. She said she wasn't going to whip them (as she often did when they were in trouble). Instead she told them to take them back and apologize for stealing them. Little Buddy and brother of Buddy walked, heads hung low, over to the neighbors house and knocked on the door. A tall man, with white hair came to the door and said, "You're the Stuart boys. Whatcha want?" Little, timid Buddy showed him the apples and apologized for taking them. The tall, white-haired man said, "Wait here a minute." In fear, little Buddy and brother of Buddy stood, wondering their fate. A minute later the tall, white-haired man came back with a bushel of apples and said, "Because of your honesty please take these home to your family."

Buddy said, from that day on it reminded him that honesty always brings blessings. It's the same with God. If we stay in the place of obedience, we are sure to reap a harvest of blessings! Who knows what your blessing could be? Once in a while I have a few "apples to return" but the choice made to return them always brings joy.

My mentor Jody always says, "Obedience is the safest place to be." How true.

There isn't one song on this album that doesn't bring me into the throneroom on my knees singing and worshipping my sweet Savior. Amazing c.d. by Christy Nockels of Watermark. You won't want to miss out on the last song, "By our love". Wow. Buy it now for $7.99 on iTunes. You won't regret it.

Be Thankful. Get Joy.

....That's just how it works. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. My heart is not always abundantly filled with thankful thoughts but my words sure do reflect what my heart feels. I never wanted to admit that I could control how much joy I have in my life but God tells me in His word that in Him is fullness of joy and I can choose to receive it by dwelling on Him and all He has blessed me with. I can easily find 1,000 things to complain about because I'm a woman and that's what I tend to do, complain...nag....and think "if only______... the laundry was done I'd be able to enjoy my evening." But this is a clever way the enemy tries to steal away joy. And I'm not talking about the BIG joys like watching our child take a first step or hearing your spouse say "I love you". Joy can be found scattered in between the BIG instances. Like.... when you find the toothpaste cap put back on when you assumed it was probably left off.... or when the hand towels are straightened a little or when you break a nail on your left hand and it causes you to look down and gaze at your beautiful ring that symbolizes how much you are loved by your husband.

Thankfulness produces joy. The more thankful thoughts I think during the day, the more joy I feel in my soul and in my bones. The more I want to love D.R. The happier I feel about my house, my job, my friends.

Psalm 31:10 says "My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak."

But... Proverbs 14:30a says "A heart at peace gives life to the body" The Bible is far more literal than we think. My bones can actually rot quicker if I am groaning and complaining about my life. Yikes.

Anyways, this was just on my heart. Cultivate an attitude of thanks and see how much more you smile during the day. It's really unbelievable.

I was delayed coming into West Palm last weekend to visit my family and I initially was really upset and frustrated with the ticket counter lady (as if it was her fault the plane hadn't landed yet). LOL I acted like a 2 year old for about 30 minutes and then when I was finally up in the air and landing in my beloved hometown I watched the beautiful lights of the city from above and was just overwhelmed with thankfulness to be able to come visit for a weekend. My heart turned glad and I got really excited to be there! It would've been easy to feel upset and justified for being 3 & half hours later than expected but choosing to delight in the good made me even more excited to see my family. PLUS, God was sweet to give me a first-class seat in the flight from ATL to West Palm. It was pretty fun to be that comfortable in an airplane, not gonna lie! I'm wishing I had taken advantage of the free drink service...aw well.

He's Great

I'm declaring today "Brag on your husband day" ( I know, like I can declare any day a special day and expect ppl to participate) Mine has been especially awesome lately and it bears sharing with my blog world. He's been on a 3 week break from PA school and has spent almost every day working on something in the house. The dishwasher, the 1/2 bathroom toilet, prepping the upstairs bathroom with primer, getting the gross bugs out of our house that come around this time of years (serious these bugs are the size of golf balls) , taking care of Champ, doing laundry!!!! <--- that one deserves much praise b/c he hates to do laundry and has done it anyways, making me meals and just being wonderful. Thanks D.R. And thank you God for a man who loves his wife enough to show it through acts of service. whoo-hoo. I got me a good one! lol

prosperity "gospel" is no gospel at all: Gal 1:6-10

John Piper & the health, wealth, prosperity 'gospel'

This has gotten me so fired up lately. I haven't had the God-given opportunity to talk to someone who has a wrong perception about God and His favor but if I do, I may just play this video. Piper says it well.

God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.

Not when I am most satisfied in my circumstances. Not when all the appliances in my house are working correctly and my car runs well and I'm feeling healthy. He's most glorified when I find my joy from who He is. He is strength when I'm losing in a struggle. He is beauty when I feel unattractive. He is safety through my obedience. He is constant when life keeps changing. He is provider when I think I'm on my last penny. He is comforter when I doubt that I'm loved. He is my hands when I give the homeless some food. He is my feet when I follow my husband's lead. He is my protector when I get in situations that can harm me. He is counselor when I feel like quitting.

There isn't one good thing about my heart apart from Christ living inside of it. I'm really quick to attribute success to myself. I let a few people cut in front of me on the way home yesterday and for a second I gave myself a big pat on the back like and thought, "good job Danelle." God probably laughed up there. But that was HIM giving me the patience to not get home 5 seconds earlier than I would have. He put a stillness & compassion in my heart for those few people waiting to turn into oncoming traffic and allowed me to be His vessel of kindness. Praise God that He wants to use me! Me- a lowly, self-absorbed woman.

Holy Spirit man. He did it. Lord knows I wanted to get home and see D.R. and champ.

I'm thankful that Christ reminds us in the little situations that He is still important. He can still receive glory from something as small as letting people cut in front of you in traffic.

It's about Him. It's never been about my happiness. It's about His holiness being lived out in me.

PLEASE! Don't believe the 'preachers' (a.k.a. "Life coaches") that tell you that God wants you to be happy. That's simply a 1/2 truth. God wants you to be holy and find fullness of joy in Him! As Christians we should despise this false teaching and feel a strong hatred (not for the person) but for the misrepresentation of the Word of God. Our God is a jealous God. He will have no others gods before him. gods come in the form of possessions; material and emotional. We can praise God for our health because it's true; He is the giver of life but if we value our health more than the health-giver, our health becomes an idol. Material possessions are obvious: cars, phones, homes, clothes, jewelry, even our spouse can be a "trophy" which we parade around to make us look good.

James 1:17 says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

Give Him all the praise and thanks for what you own but know that He can give and take away and He would still be worthy of praise and thanks.

Out of a thankful heart comes joy. Count your blessings and give God the thanks.