One Little Girl and Her Palm Branch

Today is Palm Sunday.

 

One week before Easter

 ... when Jesus rode into Jerusalem

 ... the people cheered

... and waved their palm branches.

 

 Lucy's Sunday School class waved their palm branches and

paraded around the halls today at church.

They were the crowd of people who welcomed Jesus into their community. 

He was their Teacher ... their Healer ... their Leader.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Dan & I took Jacqueline and the kids out to lunch... fast food since Jacqueline and Tag needed to get on the road to head back to the military base. The young boy who took our order was gracious and understanding as we have quite a crew between the ages of 3 and 53! After we ate, Dan was getting Tag all settled into his Momma's car while Lucy & I were finishing cleaning our table and putting on her coat. Lucy had taken in her palm branch because

"I need to tell everybody that it's Palm Sunday!"

{The heart of a 6 year old}

 

 

The boy noticed it on the table and picked it up. Lucy said "oh, that's mine." I said that she had gotten it in her Sunday School class since it's Palm Sunday.  He looked confused and asked "what?" I explained to him about Jesus riding into Jerusalem 'the week before Easter' and the people cheered and waved their palm branches to Him.

The boy sheepishly said that he must have forgotten about it.  He hasn't been to church in many years. As a young teen he'd let his hair grow out to below his shoulders ... the church leaders told his parents that the boy needed to cut his hair because he didn't

 "fit into the church image." So, he left the church and never returned.

 

As Lucy and I were waiting on Dan to come back in, I began to tell this young boy ...

"I don't know of anyone that Jesus turned away."

He nodded and agreed.

I told him the name of our church and that "we meet over here at the movie theater just across the shopping center."

"Oh yeah! I know where you're talking about," he replied.

"You're more than welcome to come over any time... we're just normal people who live normal lives... and we all have a past."

 

He smiled and sighed with relief.

"Thank you. I may just do that sometime."

 

On the drive back to church ..... mmmmmm, movie theater .... to get Dan's truck, Lucy was telling her Grandad about the boy in the fast food restaurant ... that the young boy hadn't been to church for many years.  Lucy told her Grandad...

 "I can't imagine not being in church for so long! I sure hope we see him at our church -- because Jesus loves ALL people!"

 

 

Disclaimer ...

I know some people who are skeptical of others' experiences with "the church". I've heard some people simply say "well, I think people just look for an excuse to stay away from church! They're always welcomed and they just simply don't want to go to church!!"

And ... that could be true ... or not.

For whatever reason, there's people in our communities who have given up on churches.

Isn't it our responsibility to reach out to them?

To my knowledge, Jesus didn't pick and choose whom He would reach out to ...

so why should we?

 

 

 Sometimes an outstretched hand is simply

a child

with a palm branch ...

 

 

 

Thanksgiving in July

I know -- we’ve all heard of “Christmas in July”, but why ‘Thanksgiving in July’?  Today as I was driving home from having a late lunch with Granddad, I started thinking about all that I have to be thankful for.  And I was overwhelmed to say the least!  I know that I will not include everything that I am thankful for, but I just need to write this list now. So, here’s just a beginning of my ‘Thanksgiving in July’:

~~~ God is still on His Throne … With everything going on in the world today I know Who wins in the end.  And I’m so very thankful that He has a home waiting for me.

~~~ Godly children … Our daughter and son-in-law both are children of God. Over the past 5 years, we have seen them rely on God for their every need.  And even now, not knowing what lies ahead, they are allowing God to be their Guide. We told them from the beginning that their marriage was between God and them – and they have put Him at the center. Lucy is being brought up to trust in God for everything she needs. What a blessing to see their family serving God and our country!

~~~ Parents … Both of us still have our parents living.  We are very close to my parents, and having them within an hour and a half in physical distance is a blessing. There are so many young children who will never know a parent. So for us to have come this far in our lives with our parents is truly a blessing. I know that whatever may come our way, I can always count on my parents being a support for us.

~~~ Health … Granddad and I are still in very good health (despite a few little quirks). We have family and friends who are battling health issues including cancer, recovering from horrific wrecks, depressions and various other diseases and the list goes on.  Although we have no idea what we may face in the future, right now we are very healthy and praise God for this.

~~~ Career … Granddad has worked for several different companies, but his current firm takes a different approach:     family is important.  The company has grown and prospered over the past 13 years that he has been there – God is good!  I’m thankful that he followed the career path that God had laid out for him.  He could have easily taken another road, but this is where God wanted him all along.

~~~ Childhood … Yes, I am very thankful for my childhood. I’ll write more about this later, but here’s just a little synopsis:  my parents and I lived with my Granny and youngest Aunt until I started 2^nd grade.  One Aunt lived beside Granny with her family (2 girls), my Uncle lived behind Granny (2 girls), another Aunt lived just ‘around the hill’ (2 girls, 1 boy), and another Aunt lived a few miles away (1 boy, 1 girl).  (I am 8 ½ years older than my sister, so she basically grew up with one of my cousin’s son).  My Granny showed us that the most important aspect in life is relationships.  I am still very close to my family even though we live several hours away.

~~~ Church … We have been a part of different churches over the past 26 years of our marriage.  It’s always been very important to us to have a ‘home church’. Our current ministry is like no other that we have experienced. Our mission is to “reach those who have been untouched or unaffected by traditional churches, and bring them to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”         Every aspect of our ministry is met with one question “How is this reaching those who have been untouched by churches?”  God is bigger than the box we put Him in.  And He can use even the smallest aspect to reach someone within our grasp.

~~~ Prayers … It used to be that when a person asked if someone could pray for him/her, it was automatically assumed “what in the world is wrong?”  I am so past this … Every single one of us needs prayers. If it weren’t for prayers, I couldn’t make it through even one day. I appreciate it and am very thankful when someone comes up to me and says “you have been on my mind lately, and I just want you to know that I’m praying for you and your family.”  I believe that God knows what I need before I know what I need. Why wouldn’t He have His people praying for me when I don’t even know what I need? So, for those who pray for me and my family – I can just humbly say Thank You.

~~~ My husband … Okay, so I did save this for last. One of my previous blog posts tells 'the story of' Granddad and me . But I want to elaborate just a little. I have watched my husband become a child of God after we first got married.  And I’ve seen as situations, crises and events have challenged and grown my husband into the man of God he is today. He works hard for his family and never complains during the extremely busy times. He always makes time for our family no matter how hectic things get at the office. He is a God-fearing, God-loving, God-devoted man.  He uses his gifts and talents to honor and glorify God in church.  He will be the first to tell you that he never knew what 'playing music' was all about, until he started playing to the audience of One -- our Lord Jesus Christ. I simply cannot imagine going through this journey of life with anyone else but him. My husband is my best friend, and I love him dearly and have the utmost respect for him. God truly blessed me with Granddad.

Sometimes when life gets at a hectic, chaotic level, a little Thanksgiving may be just what is needed.  Paul wrote (Philippians 4:11)  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  My prayer is that when I am having a down moment, then to start thanking God for all of His blessings He has given to me. God is so very good, and I am so very blessed.  

Happy Thanksgiving in July!