flourish

God, Mardi Gras, and Justin E. Wilson

It's March the 8th and down here in south Louisiana,  Mardi Gras --Fat Tuesday-- is being celebrated in full force. I mean stores are closed, schools, banks, you name it. The streets are cleared so bead throwing parades can reign. Being from SC I still don't quite "get it". But anyway, the folks down here take the celebration that began in New Orleans in 1857 seriously. Costumes are worn in the traditional colors of purple, green, and gold. And kings reign---the kings of each individual krewe ( private social clubs) lead the parades, host fancy balls and are honored in special ways. The word Rex which is Latin for king is as common down here as Gumbo. And King cakes, a pastry like cake sprinkled in the sugar colors of Mardi Gras and containing a little plastic baby Jesus hidden in the dough are served at every party, and fill every bakery window during the season, which begins on the 12th day after Christmas-Twelfth Night- and ends on Fat Tuesday, the last day of revelry before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.

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THE WORST SATURDAY THAT EVER WAS happened over 2,000 years ago for a small group of people--the followers of Jesus. The day before their leader and master whom they had built their whole life around had been executed on a Roman cross. The man who claimed to be the Messiah, the son of God, had just died a horrific death. How could that be? Was everything He had said and taught not true? They had given their heart and allegiance to Him, and now He was gone. What were they going to do? Where would they go? And was their life now in danger too? So in grief and fear and confusion they huddled together in an upper room not daring to risk being seen. And what was worse it was the Sabbath so they could not go to their beloved Lord and give him a proper burial. They would somehow have to make it through this disastrous day and wait until the morning of the next. Oh, what a day, flooded with despair and lost hope....Yet, God had a plan to turn their darkest hours into the brightest of days, for little did they know that with the dawn would come Easter! Resurrection day. The proof that sin and death had been conquered for all time.The Lord Alive! Now and for All Time!

A Debt I Could Not Pay

Have you ever been in financial debt before? I have, and I can tell you---it's misery. Bills coming every month; and you think to yourself--"I just paid this! It's due again already?" Then if you get behind, late fees start accumulating. Bill collectors start calling. Interest rates start going up. And before you know it you have an insurmountable mess on your hands. It can bring on feelings of bondage, helplessness, even despair. It can bring on sleepless nights where your brain is constantly thinking of a way out.......But here's the really sad part--you go out and buy something else, charging it on the same credit cards you are desperately struggling to pay........and you become more and more trapped, like a bird in a cage.........

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I'm Not REALLY A Perfectionist....

Ok, here's the real truth, no big deal.....but I'm not happy with my blog. The posts I have written have been written quickly and I did not take time to edit ( because I don't know how to edit on typepad, yet), so I'm posting things that aren't "fittin" for a writer, i.e., run on sentences, misspelled words (confession--I did not even know how to spell misspell, so I emailed my daughter giving her all the different examples I was trying--"mispell"," mis-spell", "miss-spell", and she emailed me back that she was pretty sure that "miss-spell" was a teacher I had in third grade! Any way, she spelled misspell out correctly for me and I haven't forgotten! ) And all of that leads me to another confession---I was an English major in college- WOW, right? ....But, back to the reason for this post, I also don't know how to use all the other wonderful tools on this blog, or how to upload pics (or is it download pics?) or how to add my "about me" page which bothers me because any of you reading who do not already know me, well, don't "know" me, except now you know I was an English major ( who only went to college for three years because my senior year I got married instead and a year later had a baby and we kept having babies--four in all, and I love them all so,  all grown and married now, so now I have EIGHT children and one grandchild and another one on the way and I wouldn't trade all of them for the biggest and best college dictionary in the world.....) SO, until I get all of this blogging learned, worked out, etc.....I am going to take a break and learn.....Please don't forget about me. I will " thank God upon all of my remembrance of you." 2 Timothy 1:3......and if "God willing and the creeks don't rise" ( now you know I"m southern too!) I'll be back soon.......Blessings, Cate

 

 

My Uncle Boyce

"Today is a day to pause and remember." "Today is a day to give thanks for all of those who gave their lives to protect  us."  "Today is a day to honor those who gave their lives to keep us free.".... All of those phrases are true, yet how  hollow those words really sound when they pertain to someone you knew and loved......

I didn't know him. But my mother did. My mother, who is now 82 years old and basically crippled and confined to her bed due to osteoporosis. But she wasn't always this way. Once she was a little girl growing up in the small town of Rutherfordton, N.C. Once she was a beautiful young girl who had long dark hair and luminous hazel eyes. Once she was a Majorette and twirled a baton for the high school band. Once she used to walk downtown to her daddy's drug store and sit at the soda fountain and order Cherry Coca Cola's with her friends............. And once she had a big brother named Boyce Pinckney Scruggs, Jr.

Boyce was three years older than she. And as far as big brothers went, "there were none better", she says. And she would know because a lot of her friends had older brothers, but none like him. He was tall, with a head full of light brown curls, and oh so handsome. I know because I've seen pictures of him. He made straight  A's in school, was an Eagle Scout, and rode her on the handles of his bike  when he needed to get her home quickly so she wouldn't be late. He had the most gorgeous smile and more friends coming and going in their house than you could count. Every one in town knew him and no one was surprised when he enlisted to fight overseas. The year was 1943. He had just turned 18.

My mother said her mother cried all the way to the train station when, as a family, they drove him to Charlotte to meet his train. The three of them, Boyce Jr., my mother, and their little sister Ann, sat in the back seat like they had as kids, while their daddy drove and their mother did her best not to cry in the front seat. She just couldn't understand why her son had enlisted and not just waited it out , to see if he would be drafted. But according to my mother he wanted to enlist so he could  be in the air force and fly B17s.  And that is what happened..... A long year later he was a 2nd Lieutenant , a pilot, and flying his own plane...." That Boyce Jr.! He's something else!" everyone in her small town said. They were all so proud!

But in April of 1944, one month before the war would end, they received the absolute worst news a family can receive. Boyce Jr. was shot down while flying his bomber in a mission over Germany. And just like that, just by hearing that one second piece of news, he was gone from them forever. Their pastor from the First Baptist Church, where her daddy was a deacon, came right away to give them comfort. He read to them from Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." My mother said her mother, who taught Sunday School and sang in the choir, didn't want to hear that verse of comfort that night, and in fact for years was not the same, until finally, years later she was able to let him go. She struggled so in dealing with  the fact that God had taken Boyce Jr., her one and only beloved son.

My mother said meal times were the hardest, for his chair sat empty at the table. His handsome smile, the sound of his voice, his teasing and jokes, his presence was no more. They left his room alone. His baseball pennants, his books and reading lamp, his Boy Scout badges, his bedspread and pillows, even the small black fan in his window all remained the same. But nothing would ever truly be the same again. Her big brother, her parents dearly cherished son, a community's hero, had given his life to keep us all free. Boyce Pinckney Scruggs, Jr. was dead. Buried in a soldiers cemetery with hundreds of other young boys and men in a country overseas. Boyce Jr. was 19.

So, it is on this Memorial Day I thank him. So young, younger in fact than any of my three sons are now. I thank him as I plan my holiday meal. I thank him that I can HAVE a holiday meal, and watch baseball, and fly the American flag. I thank him that my grown children are free. That we all, as Americans, are free...... To him, it was a cause worth giving his young life for. So, for that reason, and in his memory, I pray, "Oh, dear Lord, please don't let us stop loving and caring about America. Don't let us forget about honor and integrity, forget about the cost required to keep freedom alive and our homes safe. These are things Boyce Jr. fought for. It is things our soldiers fight for today. Let us truly stop, count the cost, and give thanks. And Father, as your child, I ask that America will humble itself, turn from it's lost ways and repent. For if we do, you promise You will once again be our God and heal our land." .....Amen

Boyce Jr. is alive and well, I am certain, living  with our Heavenly Father whom he loved and trusted. And his name lives on through my second son, Boyce.

A SAINT WEARS ARMOR

Friends, I did it again. Made another techno error!! I just wrote this new post but forget to check the box that said to put it at the top of the page, so it's below my WINGS post instead  of above it. I don't know how to move it. If you do and would like to tell me how, please do.....If not, please scroll down and read the new post, A Saint Wears Armor.........Thank you so much!!

A SAINT WEARS ARMOR

For awhile now the Lord has laid it on my heart to study and write about his protective armor found in Ephesians 6:10-18. And in response I have been arguing with Him. "Father, please, how can you ask me to do this? I am such an immature Christian. I fail you in so many ways. I don't even have a solid grasp of 'submission' and I've been married for 34 years!" Yet, His voice is calm and sure, "Keep studying and share WHAT I HAVE taught you. Share how it works for you---your own personal testimony in regard to my Word." So that is what I am going to do on this little blog of mine.....Bare with me. I am not a scholar. I am only a woman in my mid 50's who sits at His feet and desires to grow and learn and glorify Him. I love Him so, so here goes..........I have learned through the years that we are in constant warfare. The more we grow in Him the harder our enemy hits. Yet, God does not leave us as defenseless children battling the wiles of the deceiver and author of all lies unprotected.  He, like any good parent who sends their kids out into the world, dresses us. Not just in the righteous robes of Christ, but in the armor of God. And it is this that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6.

Now, unlike a lot of parents, He doesn't argue with us about what we are to wear or force His Style on us. So in essence, He doesn't dress us like a parent would a two year old. No, in Ephesians 11 He directs us to put it on. And being the perfect parent that He is, He tells us why we are to put it on....."so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes"........He is preparing us, equipping us so that we will be able to follow Him, not as naked helpless creatures, but as warriors, sons and daughters of the King. Not as foolish people, relying on our own strength. No, it His armor He tells us to put on; and with this armor every single part of our body, every single aspect of our being is covered in Him........So, lets get dressed---one piece at a time......We'll start at the beginning and today examine the belt of truth.....

I just love this piece and I love where it goes---around our middle, our gut; in fact some translations even say the belt of truth is to "gird our loins", in other words the deepest part of us. That's where God says the truth needs to be. You know, He could have labeled another part of the armor as truth, i.e., the helmet of truth or the breastplate of truth, but that's not where it works the best. Yes, we need the truth in our brain, and we need it in our heart, but when it is deep, deep within us, connected to our brain and heart, then we can say, "We know, that we know, that we know!" God's truth is wrapped around us, strengthening us, fortifying us, enabling us to follow Him. In fact, the belt was the most critical piece of ancient armor, because two of the other essential pieces could not be worn unless the belt was put on first and secured in place. The breastplate hooked on to the belt, and the sword hung from the belt. And where would an ancient warrior had been without his breastplate and sword?

I like the translation that says to" gird our loins" because that descriptive phrase creates a word picture for me. I think of todays workmen , say at Lowes, who wear a safety harness or belt around their middle to enable them to lift heavy lumber or any other heavy object without straining their back. I think of dancers who move and turn  with the most graceful of movements all because of a strong core. In fact, with out a strong core, they would not be able to bend and leap and be lifted into the air. Physically our core is critical. It needs to be strengthened and it needs to be protected. Spiritually our core needs to be protected and strengthened also. Only the truth can do that. It is the only thing that can hold us up. For how can we have faith if we don't know the truth of who God is? How can we have faith if we do not know who the "author and protector of our faith" is. Have faith people say. Have faith in who? Have faith in what? We must first accept the truth and the truth comes by hearing the word of God. Salvation comes by hearing the word of God and accepting by faith that Christ died on the cross for all of our sins. And because of that truth, now death has no power over us. God tells us to wrap that truth around us like a belt, to gird our loins with it, because all other pieces of the armor depend on the truth of God. And like the workmen at Lowes who wear their belt for protection and strength, this belt of God does the same thing for us. We are strengthened by the truth and we are protected by it. Praise God!

Putting on this belt of truth is a daily thing. Every day we need to wrap His truth around us. Every day by studying his word, communicating with Him through prayer, and having fellowship with other believers, we can grow in His truth. Through His scriptures we can learn more and more of His truth. And be set free by it......For me, putting on the armor of God, beginning with the belt of truth has turned into a Godly habit. In fact, on the days I do not do this I feel naked. I feel vulnerable and exposed to the wiles of the devil and  the lies he tells. I have to wear this belt, to be girded by it, built up in the truth by it. To wrap around me who God is and who I am in Him. So that I can walk in strength. So that I will not be easily tripped. So that I will know, that I know, that I know!!!

"Oh Father, I am a work in progress. But you are so patient with me. You love and adore me. You have forgiven me and help me to forgive others. In fact, you tell me I am the apple of your eye, and that you take delight in me! That you have plans for me, not to harm or hurt me, but to prosper me and to give me a future and a hope. You tell me you know me so intimately that you can number the hairs on my head. Yet, in that intimacy you still call me your beloved. You tell me nothing can separate me from you. Nothing! Not ever! Oh, Father, how wonderful are your truths. How tall I can stand for you because of them. No more guilt. No more shame. Just forgiveness. Wonderful, life altering forgiveness. And strength to walk in your Holy, Glorious name! Amen.....your daughter, Cate

Hope--Wings--and Prayer

Have you ever been in despair? I ask this question because I have. And I could easily be right now. On this beautiful Sabbath Day! I certainly could....Now I know we are just getting to know each other and perhaps this is not the best thing to share. But, I'm the kinda "jump right in and let's be friends" type. And I want this blog to be drenched in honesty and colored in Him......So, I'll share......Something very hurtful has happened to me. Something, that as a mother, has knocked the breath out of me. Something I could have seen coming, but didn't, or didn't want to. It's not serious like divorce, or death, or the revelation of a grown child's life cloaked in a lie. But never-the-less, it has hurt me to the core. A falling out with a grown child over certain things is like that. If, as a mother it has ever happened to you, then you will understand.........It happened over a week ago. Right at the happy moment of starting this blog. I wanted to shut down, crawl under the bed and hide in pain. In fact, I once had a childhood friend who said his mother would get so distraught at times that she would crawl into her bed, get into a fetal position and scream, "I just want to die". I can not imagine the pain that that caused my friend, nor the desperation of a mother to do such a thing, but as mothers we can sometimes wound or hurt our children in ways we never intended. We can do things that our grown children can still be hurt by or angry by, or "just don't care anymore 'by'". Assumptions can be made, opinions formed, accusations thrown. And more often than not, truths be told. And facing up to truths is not for the faint of heart. Really, only with God's help can we do it successfully. Only with God in us can we examine our heart, ask for forgiveness and forgive. And only with God in us can we choose "not to die".

 So, on this beautiful Sabbath day while still hurting, but resting in Him, I came across this quote from George Eliot, ( who actually was Mary Anne Evans using the non de plume, George Eliot), the famous Victorian writer.-------------------"Hope, folding her wings,                                                                                                             looked backwards and became regret."                           

Wow! That hit me like a loud wake up call of thunder.....That is exactly what despair does. It folds its wings and no longer flies toward God. It turns guilt inward, instead of upward. And the enemy of lies wins......

Sisters, brothers too if you are reading, HOPE is of God. It is critical while still on this earth. But hope misplaced is a danger in itself. Because what I have learned through the years is this----Yes, we want and work towards and hope for good and right relationships with the ones we love; we want and work towards and hope for good health, shelter and food and clothes on our backs -- long life, and on and on the list can go. We all have our own personal lists. But true, honest to goodness hope, is only found in the Lord and in His word. Not in somebody or some---thing. In fact, His word in Isaiah  40 says, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens."......."Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. HE WILL NOT grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."...... In fact, "those  who HOPE in the Lord will RENEW their strength."........ And, here is the PART THAT I LIKE SO MUCH which is so UNLIKE despair, .......... "They will SOAR ON WINGS LIKE EAGLES; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."............Oh yes Lord, hope in your word is the key to flight. Thank you. Thank you!  I will not be grounded, I will not shrivel up and die! I will walk in hope. Even while in adversity!.......Even in adversity!!

Have you ever been in despair? I ask this question because I have. And I could easily be right now. On this beautiful Sabbath Day! I certainly could....Now I know we are just getting to know each other and perhaps this is not the best thing to share. But, I'm the kinda "jump right in and let's be friends" type. And I want this blog to be drenched in honesty and colored in Him......So, I'll share......Something very hurtful has happened to me. Something, that as a mother, has knocked the breath out of me. Something I could have seen coming, but didn't, or didn't want to. It's not serious like divorce, or death, or the revelation of a grown child's life cloaked in a lie. But never-the-less, it has hurt me to the core. A falling out with a grown child over certain things is like that. If, as a mother it has ever happened to you, then you will understand.........It happened over a week ago. Right at the happy moment of starting this blog. I wanted to shut down, crawl under the bed and hide in pain. In fact, I once had a childhood friend who said his mother would get so distraught at times that she would crawl into her bed, get into a fetal position and scream, "I just want to die". I can not imagine the pain that that caused my friend, nor the desperation of a mother to do such a thing, but as mothers we can sometimes wound or hurt our children in ways we never intended. We can do things that our grown children can still be hurt by or angry by, or "just don't care anymore 'by'". Assumptions can be made, opinions formed, accusations thrown. And more often than not, truths be told. And facing up to truths is not for the faint of heart. Really, only with God's help can we do it successfully. Only with God in us can we examine our heart, ask for forgiveness and forgive. And only with God in us can we choose "not to die".

 So, on this beautiful Sabbath day while still hurting, but resting in Him, I came across this quote from George Eliot, ( who actually was Mary Anne Evans using the non de plume, George Eliot), the famous Victorian writer.-------------------"Hope, folding her wings,                                                                                                             looked backwards and became regret."                           

Wow! That hit me like a loud wake up call of thunder.....That is exactly what despair does. It folds its wings and no longer flies toward God. It turns guilt inward, instead of upward. And the enemy of lies wins......

Sisters, brothers too if you are reading, HOPE is of God. It is critical while still on this earth. But hope misplaced is a danger in itself. Because what I have learned through the years is this----Yes, we want and work towards and hope for good and right relationships with the ones we love; we want and work towards and hope for good health, shelter and food and clothes on our backs -- long life, and on and on the list can go. We all have our own personal lists. But true, honest to goodness hope, is only found in the Lord and in His word. Not in somebody or some---thing. In fact, His word in Isaiah  40 says, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens."......."Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. HE WILL NOT grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."...... In fact, "those  who HOPE in the Lord will RENEW their strength."........ And, here is the PART THAT I LIKE SO MUCH which is so UNLIKE despair, .......... "They will SOAR ON WINGS LIKE EAGLES; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."............Oh yes Lord, hope in your word is the key to flight. Thank you. Thank you!  I will not be grounded, I will not shrivel up and die! I will walk in hope. Even while in adversity!.......Even in adversity!!

There's already a typo in my first post. Instead of "just be given", it should have been, "just been given". OOPS!

flourish

This very first post, and this blog, like me, "is a work in progress!" ( How original is that phrase?) But THIS declaration may be original ---I'm starting this blog and I don't even know how to work it!.... I just know I want one and I have a lot to say. I feel like I'm in Kindergarten and have just be given a brand new copy of "See Spot Run", but I don't know how to read yet..... YET.... I love the idea of it and all of the words and pictures inspire me.  Back then when I was 5, I said to myself, "I'm about to start on a life learning and life changing adventure!" ( Well, not really, but you know what I mean?  You do, right? ) Well anyway, I bought a book on blogging months ago, however my daughter said to me last night, "Mom, why don't you try reading the book!" So I am! And after I read the first chapter I'll get back with you.....

Blessings to you,

Cate