A LAUGH A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY

I dare you to go up to someone and tell they have cooties. They will have one of two reactions. They will either run from you or laugh because it will bring back a familiar childhood memory. Or how about the notorious mud pie. If you haven't enjoyed one of those, you have no idea what you're missing. The older I get, the more I daydream about being a kid and long to bring some of those pleasures back. Who said we ever have to completely grow up. If you will notice, most five year olds are not suffering from a nervous breakdown. They get up most days not worrying about a thing. The majority of children have a roof over their head, clothes on their back, food to eat, and parents to love them. God bless our little ones that don't. The biggest part of their agenda is what can I do to have fun today. I believe our Father wants the same for his children from 0 to 100. Along with our responsibilities, we should take time to live a little, laugh a little, and love alot. Their is a big difference between being childlike and immature. We can as adults be responsible and fun at the same time. I am truly trying to find ways to get a good belly laugh everyday. If you can't find a way, how about a nice game of twister with less then flexible friends or challenge them to a good game of hopscotch. It won't take you long to come up with some crazy ideas. I guess what I'm trying to say is let the long arms of God reach down and take your worries. The word says that we are to be childlike to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Warning: I am not responsible for any pulled muscles or broken bones when you decide to do a cartwheel into work. Thank the Lord for health insurance.

REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE

From the beginning of time, humans were created for relationships. The key to a good relationship is communication. For those of us that can remember the popular slogan, reach out and touch someone, those were the days. If you wanted to talk to someone, you picked up the phone and hoped to speak to the person on the other end. In spite of dating myself, the world used to revolve without caller id or answering machines. In those days, you only talked to one person at a time and you were never interrupted by call waiting. We took time to actually speak to one another and enjoy investing in our friends and family. You hear people saying that life has gotten alot more stressful. Has it or have we allowed things to add to our already hectic schedules? We now have computers, cell phones, pagers and sometimes I feel like a device is hooked to my ankle so I can be reached at any minute. I enjoy all of these modern conviences but I can live without them. Our children however are being raised in a no touch society. It worries me because they don't have to ever really talk to anyone because they communicate with technology. Not to mention that even in public children and adults alike are talking on the phone, texting, and trying to communicate with a human all at the same time. Myself included (oh me)! We all require quiet time and our relationships are worth investing in. I'm not saying that we shouldn't use these things but we should see how they inpact our lives. Also, let's teach our children that they will live without there cell phones attached to them. Our society needs to be loved and personally touched by us. How about if we start giving people our undivided attention and let them know that we want to invest in a relationship with them. The word says that if one falls without a friend, there is no one to pick them up. Don't let the world rob us of relating to one another the way God created us to.

GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT

This blog contains sensitive subject matter: Viewer discretion is advised. Is it just me or has the world gone completely crazy? Have you noticed that what is tolerated today would have shocked the nation a couple of centuries back? First of all, anything that I mention is not to offend or condemn anybody because we're all in this together. We are all affected by what we see and hear. But somehow we have either grown ammuned to or apathetic about our surroundings. We accept things because they happen in such a suttle way. For instance, let's discuss clothing. Have you noticed how clothes have become extremely tight and small so that our beautiful young girls can be exposed to every pervert around. Not to mention that they put cute little sayings on their behind, not that men needed any help looking there. Then our boys are going around with their pants half off and looking like a gang member whether they are or not. Then there is TV and internet. Do I need to go into detail except to say OMG!!!(translated Oh my goodness). We are bombarded by food commercials and then right behind them are Nutrisystem adds to help you look like a barbie doll. That's just a small way we are influenced to eat whatever we want but we should diet to lose all those extra pounds. No wonder our society is stressed out. At any given time our TVs can show partial nudity, homosexuality, adultry, children disrespecting their parents and blurt out some foul language. Please understand, I'm not condemning the people but the sin and immorality. We are to love each other but speak truth to one another. When God started showing me this stuff, I asked if I could send him the hate mail that I would receive. He simply said tell my people to be aware of what is going on and be part of the solution. All of the modern technology we have is wonderful as long as it is used for the proper reasons. But internet is destroying lives and taking our children by storm. Be careful little eyes what you see and be careful little ears what you hear. For the next month or so, be aware of what you are watching, reading, eating, and thinking about. If you don't like your thought life, examine what you and others around you are allowing to influence you. I guarantee you that what goes in will come out. The word says to think on things that are above. It's hard to be stressed, depressed, critical, or consumed by the world when your head is in the clouds.

KINGS KIDS

Do you love your children? Most mothers would think that was a pretty stupid question and the answer would be yes. No matter what other relationships you have, none compare to parenthood. Have you ever wondered how you could love another human being so much? Think about it for a moment. First, you carry the little critter or critters for 9 months and then go through the worst pain of your life to bring them into the world. The first years are vague because you were delirious from lack of sleep. If you weren't a multitasker before, you learn to become one overnight. Then they begin to grow and pretty soon it's off to school. Now this child you have protected is going out into the world. Here go some life lessons. Even if you homeschool, the baby you once held wants a little freedom. As time goes on, you hurt when they hurt, you cry when they cry, and you laugh when they laugh. You also stand back when you want to fix everything because some battles they have to face. But no matter what, not one time do you ever stop loving them. You try to make life as easy as possible but sometimes they have to learn the hard way and suffer the consequences of their actions. Isn't it amazing that no matter what they do or say, they can always come back to the comfort of your arms. Whether you have a relationship with your parents or maybe they have passed away, you always have a parent that loves you. God created parent/child relationships so we could feel just a portion of His love for us. The world has become a society that has portrayed good devil, bad God. Well let me assure you that God loves us and He is nothing but Good. So the next time you feel like you are alone or God can't hear you, remember how you feel about your children. You are a child of the King of Kings and His arms are open wide whenever you need to run into them. You will not find unconditional love like the love of your Father. You're the apple of His eye and His favorite!

Baggage Claim

Got baggage? Ever feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Well, some of us do. We are carrying so much around with us, I'm surprised we can walk. Think about luggage for a moment. It has many different compartments. It has the outside that can look fairly normal. Then the inside that usually has alot of space to store things. Also, there are those zipper parts where we put our personal things that we don't want to share with just anybody. We have all kinds of baggage too. We can roll it, put bags inside of others, and throw it over our shoulder with the strap. Why do you think we have all these things? Bingo! So we can carry more. Please understand that what happens in the spiritual, always happens in the natural first. Ladies, we are carrying things that we were not meant to carry. You can't see our baggage but I think it's time for us to take it to baggage claim and leave it there. Let me explain what is considered baggage: divorce, abortion, sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, abandonment, rejection, loss of a loved one, and the list goes on and on. If we could see what we were carrying, I'm sure some of us would have things strapped around our necks and tied to our ankles because our hands were full a long time ago. I even had a vision of some of us inside a trunk because we were so consumed with past hurts and memories. Guess what that means, someone or something is controlling our lives because I've never seen a trunk move itself. Why do you think you can only take one bag on an airplane, because you and 900 other people couldn't fit down the aisles with all that stuff. I simply said all that to say this: Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom. So let's cast our care on Someone who is strong enough to carry it.