What are you known for?

So I am on my third day in the Windy City and it has definitely been a memorable trip! The weather has been gorgeous and I have enjoyed all of the sights. The city is clean and friendly and I have felt very safe while walking. This morning we took the rental car back to the airport and rode the train into the city to our hotel. We are staying at the Chicago Hilton on Michigan Avenue!

This hotel was put on the map when Harrison Ford filmed part of the Fugitive here. As soon as we checked in we went downstairs and took a tour of the Grand Ballroom-yep-that’s where the scene was shot! It is a beautiful room!

After settling in, we got our walking shoes on and proceeded down Michigan Avenue to spend the afternoon. Bill had not been down the Magnificent Mile in about 14 years so I was able to share where I had visited yesterday. We had a nice leisurely time. We spent some time in Grant Park, eating our hotdogs that we got for lunch, listening to the free music in the amphitheater behind us, and people watching. This is also the location of the famous “Bean”. So we took a few pictures.

As we continued down the street we came upon a group of cameras and a girl who appeared to be a model. I told Bill maybe she was modeling for Nordstrom, the store across the street. Who knows, maybe we will see her in an ad or on television.

We saw some famous things today that Chicago is known for…the Bean statue, the shopping strand, and the hotel we are staying and I wondered…what am I known for? If people say my name to someone else what comes to their mind? Am I known for kindness and helpfulness? Is my testimony one that is untarnished? Am I a go-getter and organized and willing to take on a project from start to finish. I hope that all of these things and more can be said of me. I want to be one that emulates Christ. I want to be known as one that cares and takes the time to listen and pray and help where I can. I want to be known as a cheerful worker and giver and God lover!

God’s Word tells us that we shall be known by our works.

I Corinthians 3:13 tells us that one day “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”

 As we live one day at a time, what are you known for? Are they godly character qualities or are they ones that you would be embarrassed about it someone actually pointed them out to you? You can change. God gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us so that He can guide us. He also gives us His Word-

Psalm 119:105-“The Word is a lamp unto my feet and I light unto my path.”

Psalm 119:11-“Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.”

My prayer is that my life and yours as well, will be ones that will be known for godly things while we are still here on earth and after we are gone.

Anticipation!

Any of you remember the song that goes with my title? It was for a ketchup-what a blast from the past!

Ever look forward to something for a long time and when it finally happens one of two things take place-it either lives up to your hopes or it lets you down. Well, I have been wanting to visit a certain cupcake place and coming to Chicago with my husband gave me that opportunity and today was the day! I hiked my way down the "Magnificent Mile" until I came to the cross streets I needed and I turned left. As I headed down the street I thought about what it was going to be like! In this instance I was not disappointed! It was soon across the street from my view and I stopped to get my first picture!

It was so cute! So, of course, I took a close up one of their "signage". The logo that they are famous for.

It's so funny, but just seeing it made me smile! If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE all things Cupcake!! I love to make them and collect them. I love to watch the cupcake shows on TV and I do enjoy eating them.

So, I crossed the street and proceeded to make my way inside the store!

The owner and founder is Candace Nelson. She is a judge on the Cupcake Wars and the original store is in Beverly Hills. Within the last couple of years they opened one in Chicago!

You walk in and the cupcake flavors of the day are the first thing you see. YUM!

I chose a Red Velvet one and it was delicious! Everyone in the store was very friendly. The girl I spoke with at the counter was also from Florida and I told her I was so looking forward to coming here as one of the highlights of my trip!

You know, as silly as it may sound to some of you, it was a fun trip for me. Bit in all seriousness, this should be mild to how I feel and how you should feel about the anticipation of Heaven! Do you long for it? Is it something you think of every day? It should be! It is difficult sometimes and I am speaking from experience. We get to used to our life here on earth-we are only human and it's all we've ever known. It's hard to wrap our head around what eternity will be because we haven't experienced it yet. But we can learn about it in God's Word and we can be looking forward with anticipation to the day that He will return for us.

Titus 2:13  

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;"

We can KNOW about heaven and salvation by believing in Christ as our Savior and then by being in His Word.

John 14:2-3

 "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

We don't exactly when it will happen but He has promised that it WILL happen.

I Thessalonians 5:2,4,6

 2"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

   4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

   6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."

 We just need to be ready-the anticipation will pay off and it will be better than we ever imagined-I promise!! Live one day at a time for our Savior and wait on Him! You won't be disappointed!

A Tourist just Visiting!

So today was our first full day in Chicago. We got up in our beautiful and comfortable room and readied ourselves for the day. Bill dropped me off at the Metra Station on his way in to work at Underwriters Laboratory for the day. I bought a ticket and a scone and carmel coffee and waited for the train to arrive.

I had a very enjoyable 45 minute ride into town. Arming myself with my map and 2 cameras I set off for a day of adventure. I haven't walked that much in months! I tried to stay on one side of town so that tomorrow I can go the other direction. I visited the Loop and then down to the water. I enjoyed the money museum where they gave us a bag of shredded bills. This is what a million dollars looks like-in a cube!

 I also saw a lot of beautiful architecture. I visited a museum and two different parks. I decided that while in Chicago enjoy the local cuisine so I had a hot dog Chicago style-dill pickle, mustard, tomato, relish, and salt-I was delightfully surprised! It was good!

I did get a little disoriented and had to ask directions---2 times---(I'm not ashamed to admit it!) But then I realized I had my map turned upside down. I had the hang of it by the time I headed back to the train station to meet Bill by our hotel. The whole time I was out and about though a thought ran through my mind. I am just a visitor-this is not my home-it has a lot of great things to see and do but I am only here a short time and then we will pack up and head for home. Sound familiar? 

This should be how we are all living while here on earth! We are only visiting. This is not our home. Makes me want to break out in song- "This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue..."

2 Corinthians 5:6  

"Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:" This shows us while we are on earth we are not "at home" with God-God has us here on earth for the time-we need to share the gospel one day at a time with those around us so that we can all be together once we are taken from earth to be with the Lord. There's nothing wrong with enjoying all the things around us that God has given us but we need to remember they are only temporary. Don't get bogged down by them. Be ready to go when God comes!

My Ticket

I am in the airport on my way to meet my husband in Chicago! He has to go there for work and I'm going along for a vacation! If you know me at all you know that I am organized, follow all the rules, and like to plan ahead. So, I arrived at the airport 1 hour and 45 minutes before my flight. I don't have any bags to check in since Bill took it with him so it was just me and my purse and computer (and my kindle, jewelry, umbrella, sweater, maps, cameras, and my glasses-all the necessities!) I breezed through security and made my way to my gate...to find out that my flight is delayed due to weather somewhere else! So, I went back out and got some dinner and drank a coffee and read some and now I am back at my gate (after going through security again) just sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting because we will be delayed for 2 hours! This is difficult for me because it is not going according to plan-I will have 15 minutes to catch my connection if all goes as planned. But there isn't anything I can do about it so I have to let it go and just enjoy the ride. I can let it bother me and take the joy out of the trip or just relax and let it be a learning experience. With God there aren't any mistakes so there is some reason I have to sit in a "holding pattern". (Must be I need some help in the patience department.)

 But I digress from what I really wanted to talk about and that is my ticket.

I had to have a ticket to take this trip. My ticket is what got me through security and my ticket will get me on my flight and to my destination. If I didn't have it I would be stuck on the outside looking in.

Isn't that how it is with Heaven? If you don't have a "ticket" you won't be allowed in. So, you might be saying what kind of ticket do I need to get in to Heaven? 

John 14:6

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father, but by me."  

Christ told us how in His Word.

All you have to do is accept Christ as your personal Savior-admit you are a sinner, ask for forgiveness of your sins and acknowledge Christ-asking Him to be your Savior-that's it! And, unlike the price of my airline ticket-this "ticket" to Heaven is free! Christ has already paid the admission price by dying on the cross for our sins and being our substitute! How simple and yet how wonderful! I'm so thankful that there is a way for me to be able to spend eternity with my Savior! I have my ticket and I'm ready to go-whenever He comes and announces the departure time with the "Trump of God"! I won't even need an airplane to meet Him in the clouds!

I Thessalonians 4:16-17

 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

   Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." AMEN!

Copycat, Copycat

Tonight we hosted the youth group F.E.A.S.T. night-

Fellowship, Eating, Activity, Singing, & Testimony time!

After eating they have a time for games and one of tonight's game was Copycat.

It was so funny! They stand in a circle and there is someone in the middle who was out of the room while an instigator is picked. The person in the middle has to figure out who is starting the motion. They have so much fun doing silly things while the person in the middle is spinning around trying to figure out who is starting it!

They all scramble to imitate each other secretly so that the one in the middle can't figure it out. It reminded me how different we should be from this as Christians. 

We need to imitate Christ. But the difference is that it shouldn't be a secret.

Hebrews 13:7 

"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith."

It really does need to be like a copycat in all the positive sense of the word. 

3 John 1:11 

"Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good."

We need to be in God's Word-our life manual-to know how Christ lived and how He wants us to live.

He gives us guidelines and principles to follow. He lived on the earth for a little over 30 years to show us how we should live. We need to be witnessing to those who we come in contact with so that others may know Christ and accept Him as their personal Savior and imitate Christ as well. We cannot be perfect as long as we live on earth in our human bodies one day at a time where sin is present but we should strive to obtain it.

Philippians 3:12

     "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own."

Kids normally don't like it when others copy them, but in this case-It's a great thing! Copy Christ!

Trust me...

Tonight we had some friends over for dinner and we had a lot of fun eating and talking. The younger kids went swimming and it was cute watching them have fun in the water. It was interesting to watch from the time they got in and how they reacted to the water. They weren't sure how deep the water was until someone showed them and explained that they could stand and it didn't go over their heads. At the beginning, the youngest one stepped into the middle where it was too deep and went under and was scared until Mom came and comforted him and stayed with him until he felt sure of himself. It was trust. They trusted the adults to tell them whether or not it was safe. This is how we are with God. We get saved and we are now His kids. We start to learn about Him and lean on Him and learn to trust Him. He promises to lead and guide us- Proverbs 3:5-6:

  "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

   In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

I have learned to trust Him enough now in my Christian walk to know that He only wants the best for me and won't leave me on my own as long as I follow Him. He will always be there with me and I can rest in the fact that He has gone through it before me-

1 Corinthians 10:13:

   "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

 I can TRUST Him as I live one day at a time. He won't steer me wrong-EVER! It is so reassuring to know that I have someone will never let me down. 

There is a song that I learned when I was a child and yet it is still appropriate and I still sing it as an adult:

"Trust and Obey, for there's no other way-to be happy in Jesus-but to trust and obey."

A Merry Heart

Do you know what all of these pictures have in common?! These are happy, smiling faces! 

It is important to have joy one day at a time! Be aware that I have said JOY and not happiness. Happiness is due to your circumstances or other people but joy comes in spite of those things and is given to us by God. It's great to be able to laugh and we as Christians have the most reasons to be joyful and be able to laugh. We know the "end of the movie" so to speak-if you are saved then you know that after all of "this" here on earth we will be residing forever in heaven where there will be no more tears or sadness. 

There are times when you don't feel like laughing-you may be going through a valley, but I do believe that God intended for us to have joy. It comes from the inside and will show on our countenance.

Proverbs 15:13 

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance"

Proverbs 17:22  

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Laughter and Joy are good medicines. They can help you feel better.

Laughter and smiling are contagious. People want to be around others that help them feel light-hearted and happy. Are you that type of person? You can be-with the Lord's help.

Nehemiah 8:10  

Then he said unto them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions unto those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto our LORD; neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." 

 Take the joy that God has given to us and let it show in our face and in your life-how you act and react and interact with those around you.

Smile, Laugh, and Sing- I have the joy, joy, joy, joy-down in my heart TODAY!