Morning

I went to bed at three thirty in the morning. I found a site that contains free movie scripts so I read a couple of them just to get a feel of what a real script looks like. My scripts don't look so bad compared to these.

There are some abbreviations on the real scripts and some lingos I don't get but I could always google those and find out what they mean.

It took a while for me to fall asleep after reading. For some reason, last night every sound that I heard in the apartment caused me to jump. I found the humming of the air conditioner quite reassuring because I knew it probably drowned out some of the creepy sounds I didn't hear but knew were there. I try to relax and think of a comforting verse.

For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Ahh Good Old Timothy 1:7

Hubby woke up at seven-thirty this morning. I knew this because my groggy self looked at the alarm clock by the bed. He tells me to go back to sleep. I close my eyes because I am still very sleepy. I begin calculating in my head, How many hours of sleep have I had, so far? Four hours. Not enough.

Then I hear the spare change being removed by Hubby from the pockets of the pants he wore to church yesterday, the last pair he wore that were hanging pathetically over the chair in my bedroom, causing weird monster shapes just last night, four hours ago. I dont have to open my eyes to know exactly what he is doing. But I pray he does it quickly so I could go back to sleep. He opens the third draw of a very small chest consisting of three drawers. The first contains nickels, the second, dimes and the third quarters. By the sound of the coin hitting the drawer and joining the other coins I can tell which drawer he opened and which coin he placed in what drawer. He doesn't make an effort to do this quietly and he is taking way too much time doing it. I close my eyes tighter and scream at him angrily (in my head, of course) "Put the darn coins in and go to work already!" I open my eyes and face him with a look of unbelief. "What!?"

"Shhhh, go back to sleep." He whispers.

I still have some sleep left. So I turn quickly and angrily and bury my head in my pillows and cover my head with the comforter. This feels so good and I begin to drift off, when I feel the comforter slowly uncovering my head and Hubby bends down to kiss me goodbye. I force a "How sweet" smile when I secretly want to kill him.

"Take it easy today and....

Is he talking to me now!!!!! Go away!!!! Go to Work!!!!! I want to sleep!!!!!

"Relax Debbie, this is not good or positive. Your attitude stinks right now."

I try to relax. It's not Hubby's fault that I am such a light sleeper.

He leaves. I hear the bedroom door close and then he is gone.

Great, now I have to go to the bathroom . I debate whether it could wait and I could manage to fall back to sleep with a full bladder or should I walk to the bathroom with my eyes closed, so I don't lose the bit of sleep I have left and rely on my memory to guide me to the bathroom. I decide on the latter. During my walk to the bathroom, I hear something I open my eyes and through the open door of the bathroom I could see Hubby removing the trash from the kitchen trash can and replacing the bag. I shut the bathroom door.

Mission Accomplished.

I am no longer sleepy.

I return to bed and try to summon sleep. I hear the front door lock. I get in my "comfy, comforter and place it over the head with my face buried in pillows" position.

Nothing. Maybe if I turn the air conditioner off. I get up and turn it off and return to the position. I can't. Frustrated I lie on my back and stare at the light fixture on the ceiling. "Darn!"

Blissful sleep is all gone.

Now my head is buzzing with all these ideas. Writing ideas, perhaps brought on by reading last night.

I sit upright and grab my laptop which sits waiting on the third (top of three) hatboxes by my bed. I use these hatboxes for storage and they're pretty enough to be by my bed.

I turn the laptop on. Then I hit programs, then Micros*ft Word. A new blank document pops up. I stare at it, then I stare at the cursor as it blinks. I close the window and get out of programs. I click on Intern*t Explor*r, then click favorites and then click Reflections of A Pastor's Wife. It opens to the Bl*gger's sign in page. I sign in and write the first thing I can think of which happens to be what you are reading now. Something I audaciously believe will be of great interest to you and now that I have wasted your time I will reread the post. Then I'll hit publish and then I will compulsively View Blog to see if it's there. When I see it, I will sign out, close the window, close all the other open windows. Click on start, then click on Turn off computer then I will click hibernate. My computer will take approximtely eighteen seconds to go dark. I know this because I count everything. Very OCD. When it is off I close my laptop and feel the familiar click as the lid closes, Then I'll brush my teeth and make myself a cup of coffee. By midday I will miss Hubby, because it will be too quiet in here.

Morning

Thank You is Not Enough

"Thank you" is such a small phrase to show gratitude to a God so wonderful, A God who sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for all of us, for me.

I did not reside in Orphan Annie's "cell block" in the orphanage but boy did I have a hard knock life. I have experienced things that some of you could never even imagine and have lived through it all.

Why?

Because God has never left my side and His faitfulness is awesome.

I reflect a lot. I suppose it's because I am a writer but in my reflections, I laugh, I get angry, I cry but most of all I rejoice.

What have I triumphed through with God's help?

So many things. So many horrors. But only for God to always be glorified at the end.

I have been attacked on more than one occassion.

I have had a gun pointed to my head, twice.

I have been on deaths door a few times.

I have seen abuse in my family as a child and have experienced it first hand from a self proclaimed atheistic father, young and overwhelmed with family and responsibilities.

I have experienced death in my family, loved ones who have surely gone to be with the Lord and others that I pray, repented before dying.

I wear the scars of major surgeries that have practically cut me in half.

I have lost dear friends.

I have lost possessions of things that were precious to me.

And yet...I can not cease Thanking God, daily for my life.

I have been attacked but I have been rescued and lived to tell the story another day and to console others who have gone through the same experieince and tell them "I know what you are going through." without being hypocritical or insensitive.

I have had a gun pointed to my head and have had the shooter run away,cry or fall on thier knees and ask for forgiveness.

I have had a knife pointed to my neck, the tip burying in, only to have the assailant flee for no apparent reason (that he knows of)

I have returned from experiencing God glorious wonders in a Holy Spirit packed service just to get beaten by my father as soon as I walked through my front door at home, just because I attended church.

I have been told I will die by my doctors and here I am typing these words to you.

Those who do not know God would probably think I should be resentful, bitter or angry but I can't be.

Don't be mistaken there are times when the "Why me?" person comes out but then there is that ever consoling, loving hand that reassures me that I was never alone and will never be alone and through the good times and the bad, through the celebrations and the grief, He will be there for me always.

Thank You Father for my life, spiritually,physically and emotionally.

Thank you for the friends you have given me near and far.

Thank you for giving me an appreciation to embrace the differences in my friends and to celebrate the diversity of your people.

Thank you for friends of all different shapes, sizes, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds.

Thank you for my husband, my precious loving husband, we grew together in you and have lived God centered our entire married life.

Thank you for my dear, dear children from birth to womanhood. They have grown so much. Thank you for letting me witness their enormous stages of development, thier successes, thier triumphs.

Thank you for allowing me to witness thier first steps,words, phrases and praises to You.

Thank you for allowing me to hold thier tiny, fragile and beautiful bodies in my hands and for giving me the privilege to see them walk down the wedding aisle, preach a sermon, become productive citizens in society and making thier mark as Christians.

Thank you for the laughter.

Thank you for my sense of humor.

Thank you for the humor in my family and friends.

Thank you for my appreciation of music and literature.

Thank you for my voice.

Thank you for my words.

Thank you for those who teach me about You.

Thank you for the abiltiy to understand Your word.

Thank you for the Holy Spirit who You have sent to guide us.

Thank You for Your Son, the greatest gift of all.

My Thank you list can go on forever but as you can see it is much longer than my prior list.

This doesn't mean that I will not suffer, it only means that I have hope and peace and strength through those few times of suffering.

Thank you is such a small phrase for the ultimate gift given to me, my salvation through Jesus Christ, the son of God.

Count it all Joy as long as your will is being done, Father.

God is good......All The Time!

How many times have you heard this "chant" being said from the altar of your church, "God is good!! All the time!!! (and) All the time ...(of course the entire...well at least most of the congregation who is awake will reply)God is good!!!!

I have come up with a phrase or at least I think I have, someone else as clever as I am could have thought up the same phrase...anyway the phrase is " automatic praising" I hear and see it so often in church and quite honestly it is a pet peeve of mine to observe people rummaging through their purses, looking through their wallets, biting their nails or picking their nose very non chalantly when suddenly the person in the altar request a praise, they respond with such a lack of enthusiasm. Seriously...why bother? Argghh!

It irks me so, because praise is something so wonderful. It should be offered to our God in honesty, love and sincerity.

Psalm 66 " 1 Shout with joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! 3 Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name."

God is so wonderful, so much so that praise should spew out of our mouth with ease just because of who He is. If we were to think about all the good things He has done for us, and the fact that He sent His Son to die for our sins, praise shouldn't be a problem.

A very funny friend of mine whose humor bordered inappropriateness, LOL...Well, she would get as irked as I would with automatic praisers and everytime someone would repeat the "God is good all the time" prompt., she would tell me that they might as well respond to the prompt with "Ham and Cheese" so it would sound like "God is good, Ham and cheese."

Offensive? Yes! Just as offensive as wording praise insincerely. Just as offensive as not wanting to praise Him. Some say that praise is difficult for them because they don't have the eloquent praise "lingo "as others do, and it often reminds me of a song I heard years ago and it was one of my favorites..

"Even the praise comes from You

Every prayer that I raise comes from You

Fill my mouth with words of worship

And I'll give them back to You'

Cause Lord they're not my own

They come from You alone

Even the Praise, every feeling and phrase

Even the Praise comes from You"

There are so many levels to your personal life with Christ and one of those levels is to get to a point of spiritual maturity where you realize the greatness of God and believe me the praise will flow out of your mouth with such beautiful fluidity. Praise Him for who He is! Praise Him for what He has done! Praise Him for His love and Kindness and for His mercy and grace! But praise Him with an honest heart, a heart willing and hungry to praise! God Bless You!!!

My Church Life Through The Years

My earliest memory of church attendance is Sunday school. I remember sleeping over my grandmother’s house on Saturday night so that I could attend church on Sunday morning.

My parents were not Christian so my grandmother was the sole spiritual guide in the family. Being dropped off at Sunday school was an emotional mixture of feelings for me. I had severe separation anxiety and did not want my grandmother to leave my side but once I saw the friendly face of my Sunday school teacher I was fine.

Class consisted of a short prayer along with an offering collection; this is where I would drop my sweaty quarter into an envelope held by whoever had the privilege to collect offering. For some of us the collection of offering was our first church job. As for my offering, I held tightly to that quarter because I didn’t want to lose God’s money. My grandma was emphatic about my responsibility to give God that quarter and in doing so, instilled in me a great respect for being obedient to God.

Offering would be followed by a colorful Bible story. This would be followed by a wrap up of the lesson with an art project. I remember coloring paper doll Jesus’, along with Paul, Adam and Eve many times over and placing them in story sequence with the help of my teacher on a felt board where Jesus miraculously stayed adhered. Then my S.S. teacher would give us all a lollipop as she sent us off to our guardians. This is when my devotion to prayer began as I prayed that I would not get the green lollipop.

Being a teenager isn’t easy for any teen ever in the history of the world. Is this an overdramatic statement? Maybe. But for most teens not understated at all. In my opinion, teens have it hard. Teenagers are in the midst of morphing into young adults and there are plenty of growing pains.

I can honestly say... attending church and having Christ in my life alleviated much of the necessary growth pain. We have to grow, and it is difficult. There is no getting by the need to grow physically, emotionally and spiritually and the journey to maturity can be quite daunting, but I can honestly say being an active member in the youth society of church, distracted me from the hardships of being a teen and growing into adulthood. That is not to say that my teen years were easy, but I had the comfort and the accessability to Christ that made it so much more tolerable.

I remember all night youth vigils when we actually stayed... all night, until morning. We would bring our pillows and blankets, but we would stay awake so as not to miss anything. This was a great time in my life I was witness to miracles,deliverances and prophecies.

There were the youth trips to Great Adventure, campaigns, conventions and other activities that kept us involved and off the streets, so to speak. There were the birthday celebrations, Christmas parties, sneaking off to the church kitchen during service because our hunger pangs kept us from paying attention to the preaching; at least that is what we used as an excuse. You have to be pretty prayed up to resist the smell of home cooking wafting through the vents and into the temple. Estebania's pastelillos and Acapurrias were very tempting.

After the Friday night youth service, the youth would get together at Charlie’s’ pizzeria, until Charlie would kick us out. We were pretty rowdy Pentecostals, but keep in mind we were also teens and still growing.

As an adult, church life, attending and participating ,was a great part of my Christian walk. It was very edifying and needed. As a young mother,wife and a student, church activities had not waned but instead grew as I longed to share my church life with my daughters and set an example of the importance of fellowship. I taught Missionettes, Sunday school and performed solos for the Lord. My husband and I were youth pastors and accepted any other activity that we were called to do, dragging our three girls along.

My church life has not ended, it continues, as a second generation of our family has joined the church life. Church life is just a part of out spiritual walk but an immensly important one. Fellowship is key to any Christian’s life, as we are all part of Gods family, and it should be a priority to get together at our Fathers house.

It is of the greatest importance to hear what He wants to say to us as a whole and this is where it differs from our individual walk with Christ.

We are the church and we need to be united so that we can be in one accord and therefore have the capacity to hear what God is trying to tell His church, His children, as we gather together to worship, adore, honor and serve Him.

Imagine your family, your father, your mother and sisters and brothers united by blood. Imagine gathering together, every member of your family and honoring your parents and serving each other, while learning together about life from your father and spiritual leader of the home. Allowing him to guide you and teach you about life. What a great concept.

Take that very concept and apply it to your church family. It is the same, without Church life, There is no Christian family to be a part of .

Our church family includes brothers and sisters united by the blood of Christ, gathering together, each and every single member, honoring God and serving each other. The church family learns from the Heavenly Father and allows His guidance to lead our paths; His will has to take precedence over all.

My physical church life will end when I have passed away from this earth or when the church is taken up to Heaven via rapture and then together we are with our Heavenly Father eternally.

Then my church life through the years will come to its true realization.

Be Blessed

Ways To Reduce Stress

Never borrow from the future.

If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.

1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many. )

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19 Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape or CD while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you Jesus '

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33 Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36 . Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.'If God is for us, who can be against us?'(Romans 8:31)

Today

I will drink in the joy of the Lord.

Laugh out Loud.

Seize the silly.

Laugh at Yourself.

Tickle me funny.

Lighten up.

Hunt for humor.

Cheer the weary.

Be the jester.

Let God fill your heart with laughter

A merry heart does good, like medicine.

Proverbs 17:122 NKJV

From "Special blessings For You Today"By Karla Dornacher