Coffee with Kel

Building relationships, encouraging hope

Devotions

Good Friday

By 2 Comments

Today is Good Friday. It’s a day when we Christians recognize and remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The recognition of this day is, of course, very significant in Christian faith. It is the day that our Savior took our sins to Calvary and died with them on the cross. But, it’s more than that. Far more. I have been thinking about Good Friday a good bit lately and wanted to share my thoughts.

My first thought is that Good Friday is a significant name for this day because it truly and securely solidifies just exactly how gracious our God really is. God is the only way to bring good from evil. Only from God can use something horrible to reveal something beautiful. God is love and only from His love do good and wonderful things come. That’s His way. The ultimate revealing of this is in Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, death and then, of course, His resurrection. Jesus suffered tremendously. He was tried unfairly and sentenced cruelly without cause. He was savagely beaten, made to carry His own cross in a weakened and bloody condition and was hung to die after He had endured painful and terrible torture. As He hung, he was mocked time and time again. The guards were so callous as to gamble for His clothes. His own disciples fled. He had to endure pain of every magnitude imaginable. He did this out of complete and unfailing love. The cross brought death to Jesus and He was buried. After unthinkable acts of violence and malice, He was laid to rest in a tomb. We can’t even begin to imagine what Jesus went through, really. It had to have been the most awful occurrence any of us could imagine and more. But, God with His abundant mercy, brought good from all of that. God turned that horrid situation into the most beautiful and meaningful event the world will ever know until the Second Coming of Christ. God resurrected Jesus on the third day. He brought Jesus out of death and back into life. He gave Jesus more time with His disciples so that they would be prepared to spread the Message throughout the world. Then God brought Jesus back into His heavenly home. How beautiful is that?! Just as the torture Jesus endured was awfully indescribable, the absolute beauty of his resurrection is equally indescribable. God, in all of His magnificent grace, took the most awful event and made something miraculous and beautiful from it. That is love. That is love, goodness and grace which can only come from God. God is the giver of all things good. And, only He could take something so terrible and use it victoriously for the good. This is the most amazing gift any of us could ever receive. God poured out His grace, mercy and love at the expensive of His own Son for our salvation. All we have to do is accept it and believe it. We cannot earn it and we cannot lose it if we truly believe. Salvation is God’s ever-present gift. There are just no words to describe how completely awesome this gift is. I am humbled just thinking about it. His grace really IS amazing.

So, today, as we recognize the symbolic day of the death of our Savior, let’s also look forward with hope. Jesus endured and overcame torture and death. He did it all for us out of love, mercy and grace. There is no hope more solid than this. There is no greater fuel for the fire of faith than knowing our Savior loved each and every one of us so much that He took our every sin to the cross, buried those sins with Him and left them behind when He rose in victory over death. This is our hope and our salvation. Today is not a day to mourn. Today is a day for renewed hope and gratitude for what Jesus did and for the love He continually pours out on each of us every day.

Amen.

three_crosses

A Rainy Day in Georgia…

By 10 Comments

Check this out – it’s our current weather radar:

march26_radar

Looks like we’re in for some unpredictable, but WET, weather today. We really need the rain (always!), but hopefully it won’t get too bad as far as storms. We’ll see. It’s actually supposed to rain through Saturday, I believe. Maybe it’s time I invested in some rain boots, huh? 😉

In other news, we are set for Mariana’s surgery tomorrow. She can’t have anything to eat after midnight tonight (so, really, after bedtime at 7pm) and can have only clear liquids until 7am tomorrow. This is a child that really enjoys her breakfast, so the no-eating part really worries me. I hope she isn’t too cranky about it all. We have to arrive at the surgery center at 8:30 for her 10am procedure. Her ENT tends to run ahead of schedule, so hopefully that will be the case tomorrow. I have spoken to and emailed with a few moms whose children have had this same procedure and they all assure me that the recovery isn’t much more than it is with “just” tubes. So, we pray that is the case for Mariana. She handled her last ear tube surgery like such a champ. Maybe she’ll sail through this one too. Kids are so resilient and maybe she’ll pop back quickly. I’m just ready for it to be done and for us to be on the other side with her feeling SO much better. Prayers for our girl are very much appreciated.

I have just started receiving the Proverbs 31 Daily Devotion via email and I am loving it! I highly recommend signing up for it!!

We are finally finished with the photos I took at the wedding reception over the weekend. I really hope the family is happy with what I captured for them. I am taking them CDs with all the images I edited for them. And, Mickey graciously created a photo montage DVD which shows highlights from the day set to music. I am excited and hope they like all the photos and the DVD!

SHOUT OUT TIME! I have to give shout-outs to some friends that have told me they are reading my blog regularly. (If you post and let me know you’re a regular reader, I’ll give more shout-outs.) So, this is a big HEY and THANKS to Cheryl M, Heather W, Mary C and Renee W!

Have a great day,
Kelly

Praise the Lord!

By 2 Comments

praise

How many times do we say “Praise the Lord” and never really think THAT much about the phrase itself? I know I’m guilty of it from time to time. There’s a parking spot near the door at Target? Praise the Lord. We already got Macey signed up for summer dance camp? Praise the Lord. Mickey gets to come home early today? Praise the Lord. If I don’t say it out loud, I still think it many times a day. But, do I really praise Him? Or, am I repeating a phrase I’m used to repeating? Makes me stop and think, really. I should give pause and actually give Him the praise. God is the fount of all good things. Why am I not praising Him more? That is the question.

Today’s post is actually inspired by another Kelly who blogs over at Kelly’s Korner. (BTW, if you get a chance to check out her blog – please do. It’s a great one!) Yesterday she posted an entry called Let’s Give Him Some Praise and that really got me thinking. As Kelly mentioned, it seems like you don’t have to look far to see sadness, struggle, adversity and trials going on in people’s lives. It would be so easy sometimes to get bogged down in the negative and forget all the positives God has laid out for us. But, His perfect provision is everywhere. Even in the things we take for granted like running water, homes that are heated and cooled via climate control, food on our table, clothes to wear, etc. God’s goodness can be found in everything from the tiniest detail to the most amazing miracle we’ve ever seen or heard. So, today I am going to list some praises. By no means is this list complete, but it’s a start at least. And, it’s also a reminder to me to praise Him more. Because He deserves all our praise, really.

PRAISE: I am married to a strong Christian man who loves and values his family beyond words. Mickey is the kind of husband who makes me feel beautiful because of his love. He cherishes me and I feel that every day. He also loves our girls so much and is an amazing daddy to them.

PRAISE: We both come from loving families that are always there for us. We don’t live all that close to any given member of our family, but we know in our hearts that if we ever needed family, someone would be here as soon as they could get here.

PRAISE: We are blessed to have two beautiful, sweet, caring and incredible little girls. They are healthy, smart, strong and full of life & love.

PRAISE: We have a place to call home. Our house may not be the biggest, fanciest, best decorated or even the tidiest there ever was, but it’s home and we are grateful for that. We love our home. We feel so blessed to finally have a house that we can envision our family in for years to come.

PRAISE: Our church is home to us. It’s not just a place to go on Sunday mornings. Mickey goes there to work and enjoys it tremendously. Mariana attends preschool at our church. I volunteer. Both girls enjoy Sunday School and are already looking forward to VBS. Our church family has surrounded us with love and friendship that we value so much. It’s a blessing to be there every time we walk through the doors.

PRAISE: We have some really great friends. Some we’ve known for years, some we’ve met recently and some that we even met online. Such relationships bless our hearts and lives tremendously.

PRAISE: It’s spring and that is such a time of renewal and hope. When the weather warms up, we can get outside and enjoy. Soak up the warm rays of sunshine and have a ball. It’s a great time of year!

PRAISE:  I am extremely blessed to get to be home with our girls. It’s a dream come true for me. I am so grateful and need to always remember to be thankful.

PRAISE: I get to enjoy some of my very favorite things like warm chocolate chip cookies, morning coffee made by Mickey, an occasional pedicure, date nights with Mickey, strawberry limeades with extra strawberries from Sonic (whenever we are near one), Chic-fil-A biscuits, shopping, baking cookies for others just because I know they like them, receiving email and occasionally a card in the mailbox, listening to good music and singing along in the security of the van, read great books, have friends over to hang out with us, grill out, watch my favorite tv shows via TIVO so I can skip commercials, dream of being on the Amazing Race with Mickey, jump on the trampoline with the girls, shop, buy pretty things for the girls, catch up with friends on Facebook (now on hold ’til Easter since it’s Lent) and so much more!

PRAISE: Mariana is doing so well with potty-training. I’m telling everyone, this is a PRAISE!! We’re almost a diaper free household. That is sort of bittersweet, but mostly pretty exciting!

PRAISE: I have opportunities to practice my photography which I really enjoy. I’m super excited to have a chance to shoot a wedding reception this weekend. Then I get to shoot the wedding of some of our very good friends in May. Such a joy!

PRAISE: Macey is reading all the time and loving it! Can’t help but hope both girls will be book worms like me.

PRAISE: Several of our friends are expecting babies. We are so excited for them!

PRAISE: My friend Dana and I are going to see Kate Gosselin speak on Friday. I am SO excited about this!!

My life is so full of blessings. Our family is blessed beyond measure. PRAISE THE LORD!! There have been times when I have been guilty of not seeing these blessings and neglecting to be thankful for what I did have in the face of what I felt I didn’t have. I should be faithful enough to praise God EVERY day because every day is a blessing. Even though there will be struggles and trials in this life, the hope of my heart would be that I would be found to be faithful in the midst of it all.

Blessings,
Kelly

praise_the_lord

With God It’s Never a Coincidence…

By 8 Comments

God has really been working on me lately about reading my Bible. I’ll admit that I have slacked off on it and I have no excuse for that. He’s working on me.  It’s subtle, but I know that God is guiding me to and through His word.

Last night I read my current novel (Savannah Comes Undone) before bed. I got a few chapters read and put the book down before reaching over to my nightstand to turn off my lamp. As I reached across the nightstand, I noticed my Bible there.  I felt a nudge to pick it up and read it, but continued to reach for the lamp because, well, I was tired. The nudge won over and I picked up the Bible and began to read where I had placed the ribbon marker the last time I read it. I have a goal of reading through the New Testament, but I have admittedly not been reading as regularly as I should. So, last night my reading took me to Matthew 6:25-34 which reads as follows:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV)

That is a passage about worry.  It was a passage that my heart has desperately needed lately.  Our family has had some financial struggles over the last year and a half or so. I think it goes without saying that financial struggles are some of the hardest to face because, well, money is so essential to getting by in this life. I have been praying for a solution and have asked God for guidance, wisdom and His continued provision. All of which He has freely given, in His amazing ways. Last night’s reading was such a comfort to me because I needed that blessed assurance. I needed to once again realize that my trust needs to be fully in God’s plan. I needed to find that release. He gave it. He guided me right into His word and took me to the passage that my heart so desperately sought even without me knowing it. It’s not a coincidence that my reading last night took me to that particular section of Matthew. That was God and with God there are no coincidences.  I just feel so blessed that He, the God of all creation, gave that to me at that time last night. At a time when I could have worried myself to bits and pieces, God brought me to His word and reassured me yet again. He didn’t have to do that, but He did.  Amazing.

I think it’s so important to remember that God doesn’t always come to us in ways that move mountains. Sometimes He nudges. Sometimes He whispers. We might think we NEED Him to yell, to get in our face, to guide our feet, but His way is THE way and we have to trust in that. We have to be willing to move according to Him and not ourselves. I find that hard sometimes, I won’t even begin to say that I don’t. How many times have I reached over that Bible and turned off the light to go to sleep without reading? Too many. But, not last night. And, He blessed me for it. Praise be to God!!

If Life Were a Movie…

By 5 Comments

I don’t know exactly WHY this thought popped into my head last night, but as I was getting ready for bed I started thinking about what it would be like if my life were a movie that I could watch. At first I thought about how cool that would be.  Who wouldn’t want ot relive the great memories, right? I also know there are LOTS of good things that have happened that I have simply forgotten over the years. That would all be pretty fun to  see again. But, then it occurred to me that there are just parts of my life that I’d rather not revisit. I’d rather leave that footage on the cutting room floor to be swept away never to be thought of or seen again. Aren’t we all like that? Don’t we all have regrets along the way? I’ll confess that I certainly do. It’s human nature because we’re born sinners. Try as we might, no one gets through this life without some sources of shame. So, more than wanting to see my whole life as a movie, I think I’d rather see the highlight reel. I’d rather see the beautiful moments and relive some forgotten good times. Wouldn’t that be pretty amazing?

I hope it doesn’t sound corny to say this, but in writing this I realized that Jesus came to provide believers with a cutting room floor for the sinful times in our lives. Okay, I know. It’s a bit corny, but stick with me. It’s true, right? Because Christ came, taught, was crucified, died and rose again we have the awesome gift of losing the sins of our past, present and future. If we accept and believe. Now, that’s incredible. Because of Jesus, we have the highlight reel and the rest is forgotten in Eternity. That’s not to say it’s forgotten during our lifetimes. I don’t mean that we should dwell on mistakes of our past or that we should live under a depressing cloak of guilt. That’s not the way of Christ. He has promised us forgiveness that comes by faith and trust. So, our mistakes are washed away, but I truly believe that the lessons we can take away from them need to remain. If we don’t acknowlege and repent, then we don’t move forward. If we don’t realize our wrongdoings and work to make sure we better ourselves, we don’t really let go of the mistakes themselves. I have gotten bogged down in the sadness of my own mistakes. I keep thinking that sometimes things are just not forgiveable. But, that is not faith talk. That is not faith in action. To believe fully in Christ is to know that ALL is forgiven by His sacrifice. We cannot and should not remain in the mire of our sin, but we can take valuable life lessons from our mistakes and move forward. We can live our highlight reel every day! All we have to do is accept, confess, repent and believe. How awesome is THAT?!

1 John 8-9:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.