March 30, 2014 class audio - Colossians Lesson 7

Discussion of Colossians 3:18 - 4:1 (Family Matters)
Led by Bob Carroll

Moments of Joy

As followers of Christ, we are not promised anything, unless you count trouble. In this world you will have trouble. I can think of better promises and believe me I see plenty of trouble every day, but thankfully we also have moments of unexpected joy. These moments come when you are least expecting to feel joyful and from the most unlikely sources, but they will come. Just this week, my heart welled up so much I thought it would explode when I watched my two youngest recite Bible verses from memory at the Church Bible Drill Monday night, without my help at all! That should last me a long time! Also, my flowers are green and coming back from the weird snowy weather we had a few weeks back. A gardener I am not and will never be, but seeing green instead of dead frozen flowers makes me so happy!

Spending time with new Eat Pray Love friends also brought unexpected joy this week. There is nothing like hearing the faith stories of fellow believers to remind me how active God is in the lives of people. It was just what I needed after the unpleasant jolt of finding out my sweet daughter is moving across the country away from me. God knows me so well! I don't deserve His grace and kindness.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chron. 16:34

Sometimes You Mess Up

Sometimes you mess up, even when you are trying to help. This was brought home to me recently when trying to help my mom and step dad. It has become increasingly clear that they need help so I planned to make a trip to do just that. I actually like house cleaning and organizing especially compared to bill organizing and garage cleaning which my two brothers were going to do. Unfortunately, this would prove to be my undoing. I arrived a woman on a mission. I worked for two days going through every cabinet, closet, box, bag, shelf, and floor space, looking for items to donate or throw away. You can see where this is going. At the end of the second day, the house looked great, better than it had in years! My mom was grateful and happy. I was happy. All was right with the world. We celebrated by going to Whataburger!

This happiness would last until the next morning when she couldn't find where we put her cereal, her hand towels or her white bench. The calls kept coming after I returned to Atlanta until one ended with her hanging up on me in a horrible huff demanding that I replace her white bench. This was not good, not good at all. I can't ever remember my mother hanging up on me!

The only thing I could do was apologize, profusely. I decided to do this in letter form so she couldn't hang up again. All I could do now was pray and wait. How could I be so insensitive?  This was the sort of thing that brings families down, donating hand towels that incidentally belonged to my grandmother.

Well, the story has a happy ending. I received in the mail the most precious letter from my mom telling me that she could never stay mad at me, that our relationship was more important than things. In the letter she quoted the song, "Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before" that she told me she learned from my grandmother. I realized forgiveness is just about the best gift you can give or receive from another person. I do think I'll skip the organizing on my next trip and just take her to Whataburger!

February 23, 2014 class audio - Colossians Lesson 6

Discussion of Colossians 3:1 - 17 (Clean Clothes)
Led by Bill Gambrell

February 9, 2014 class audio - Colossians Lesson 4

Discussion of Colossians 2:4 - 15 (No Deception)
Led by Bob Carroll

January 26, 2014 class audio - Colossians Lesson 3

Discussion of Colossians 1:21 - 2:3 (Paul's Ministries)
Led by Holly Lundberg

Snow Angel

Along with thousands of other East Cobbers, my children and I found ourselves going nowhere fast trying to get home from school last Tuesday during the expected or unexpected, depending on your source, mini snow and ice storm. Thankful that I had arrived safely to their school to pick them up on slippery roads, we prayed as we headed for home. I knew it would be slow going and dangerous, but we were going slower than slow. We had already been in the car two hours and were nowhere near home, it was starting to get dark and more importantly, I had to go to bathroom. The time had come for action! I parked the car on a side street, we got out and started walking toward our house. Did I have a coat on because it is winter? Yes I did. Did my children have their coats on because it is winter? No they did not. Will they remember this bad decision? probably not.

Feeling very much like Maria Von Trapp as she and her family were climbing the Swiss Alps, we started walking in the snow. The kids were even dressed alike with their uniforms on! We were not singing. I did have my GPS on my phone so at least I knew where we were and how to get home. Technology is good. We had been walking about an hour or more when a good Samaritan in a pick up stopped and asked us if we needed a ride. My youngest and coldest said yes! I sized him up to be safe so we piled into his very warm truck. He took us as far as he could go without sliding down the hill himself and we walked the rest of the way home. Praise be to God who provided a snow angel to rescue us! He had provided for us before we even said our prayer.

The rest of the week went downhill from there. The kids were out of school for three days which resulted in too much time with siblings and neighbor kids. Let's just say a snow man was beheaded, causing tempers to flare and umbrellas to fly in my garage, not good. My daughter meanwhile used the time to sew a dress out of a table cloth, a little Scarlet O'Hara! That's more like it!

 I am thankful God provided a Snow Angel in a pick up truck when we needed a ride. I'm also thankful for my husband who rescued me from dealing with my son over the umbrella incident. God is good, all the time.