It is true I was born and raised in the south. It is true southern girls are taught manners from a young age, or at least in my mama's house. My Mama thought if you breathed air, you had a responsibility to do something for someone else and, least of all, clean up after yourself. I do believe my Mama could sniff out a speck of dust I missed, better than one of my daddy's old bloodhounds could sniff out a rabbit.
We were taught to keep our rooms clean, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" she always reminded us. If pots and pans started to rattling in the kitchen we had better get in there to..."see if you can help your
Mama." Wiping the table and setting the plates and napkins out were always done by the 'help,' my sister and me. We always 'wiped' the table again after we ate and cleaned up the table. Remember, cleanliness is next to Godliness! It was a clean kitchen, Mama required it.
She required other things in life, that southern girls 'ought' to do, like writing out 'thank yous' for the birthday gifts or Christmas gifts. There was once she made my sister write a thank you for a lady complimenting her dress at church! Mama said it was awfully nice of that lady to say such sweet things, she needs to be told how kind and thoughtful she had been. Oh yes, the notes had to be handwritten, since there was not such thing as facebook or text or twitter!
The thought comes to me how special those written notes are to someone. Now that we have technology, most folks send an electronic message, if they send one at all. But the handwritten notes take time and sure mean a lot more than a mere 'smiley' on a phone.
When we went to visit relatives or friends, we always cleaned up our plates and any mess we may have made, before we left. Mama's rule was: Leave the place nicer than you found it. Make up the beds, clean the dishes or anything else that needed to be done.
Now this was hard when we visited my Aunt Ruby in Florence, AL. Aunt Ruby never had any children and her house was spotless with little knick-knacks everywhere (which we were not allowed to touch.) I remember visiting there once and she was serving Brussel sprouts. Now to a 10 year old young, southern girl, you had to have your best manners on guard at her house, no matter what food was being served. Oh how I remember quietly spitting my Brussel sprouts out in my white, cloth napkin, trying to keep them from rolling out of my lap! When we were cleaning off the table, my Aunt Ruby simply picked up my napkin, holding it in a ball. I thought surely they were going to roll everywhere! I watched in fear. She walked to her pantry, opened up the little garbage lid, shook the little sprouts out of the napkin. When she turned back to look at me, she winked and placed the napkin with the others. She never said a word to Mama. I think Aunt Ruby was also raised a southern girl, she had that special twinkle in her eye!
We all have different backgrounds, but now that we are children of the King, don't we need to act like we are the family of God? We need to do like my Mama said, "Leave this a better place, than you found it." We need to be kindhearted, gentle, meek and all those things of the spirit, as we help one another. Isn't it good to belong to someone that cares enough about us, to still guide us and love us? He does!
“By wisdom a house is built, & through understanding it is established.”
Proverbs 24:3
Blessings,
gs
Thinking about all the reasons that things are moving so fast in life, I look at all the conveniences we have. Yes, we have clothes washers and dryers, vacuum cleaners and all the other easy ways to help us in our daily lives..but what about the media side of it? We have more channels on television now than we ever will have time to watch, we have phones that are so smart we can't keep up with the technology and then we have the wonderful world of texts, blogs and facebook.
When looking at these things, we think they are all for good...to keep us in the 'know' of what is going on. They help us know where to get the best deal on a product and then tell us how to use it, even show us on Youtube! But do you realize how quickly all of this could be turned against us? What is good could immediately become evil.
I was thinking about this when God started dealing with me, putting a desire to learn more about Him. Then, from somewhere deep within, it came to me, "Why not use social media for good?" That is when I decided to do a social media bible study on the Names of God on my facebook page.
Oh yes, that has made me dig, research and really get into more than I thought was out there about God. Now I am posting a brief study on facebook, one to encourage and have others comment. It has been a delight to see the response! We can do this together from literally around the world. We do this in our own timeframe, see what God says, posting it publicly to help reach out to those that would like to be a part. Some people have work schedules, or obligations,where they can't go physically to classes, but we all can go online to read facebook!
This has been an inspiration to me to see that others are seeking to knowing God better, building a closer relationship with Him. By learning His titles and names, we learn His nature and character. We can grow to be more like Him and feel His Presence in ways we have never understood before.
In this fast pace world, it is a joy to see others speaking up on social media about God. Why not use it for good? The devil has already used it for himself, but we can spread the good news of Christ! We found we can post prayer requests and they have immediately responded with prayers to Him! What a hotline, prayer warriors coming together in one accord!
I am praising Him today for allowing me to be a part of these times, seeing the good that can come from technology. May we all keep up with the world, it is not going to slow down for us, in sharing the gospel of Christ.
If you would like to come over to my facebook page and share, encourage, and be a part of this bible study,just click here.
God Bless,
gs
This past Christmas holiday was one of the best I have experienced in a long time. We have been deployed the past few years during the holidays, but this one was full of family and friends. The holiday is over, but the experience of the peace, love and joy remains.
The taking down of the decorations is more of a job than the putting up the decorations! The anticipation is gone....but the memories remain. As I take each ornament down, I can tell you where we got each one or who gave it to us. My husband says this is a mystery to him how I remember these things, or why I would want to remember! Ha...that is a true man!
The tree gets packed away in it's box, unlike when I grew up and it was dragged out of the house to be burned out on the farm in a bonfire. Memories of my family going into our woods to chop down and old cedar tree, always way too big to go in our window, floods my mind.
The family that I grew up in, my Mother, Father and my older sister, have all moved on to their new home in Heaven. I know they don't miss me, but I sure miss them during the holidays. Daddy always made his popcorn balls and Mother made her fruitcakes. My sister tried her best to keep me out of her new make-up and her new clothes!! Sweet memories!
Now, our children and grandchildren are making new memories. This year they rotated coming to our home, much like a revolving door. Our home was full of laughter, food and family. Games were played and a huge jigsaw puzzle was put together. Even though our children did not grow up in the house we now live in, one son stated it nicely, "We always love coming here, it's home." Needless to say, that pleased us, to know our children like to come and visit!
Let's think about the place where my family is....Heaven. As I thought about this holiday season and how good it has been. I thought about the memories, old ones and new ones being made.....and heaven. What I have experienced this Christmas is very similar to what I expect Heaven to be like.....laughter, family, friends....and most of all the Presence of Jesus won't be a baby figurine in a manger.
Every time a child of ours came into our home, there was celebration, shouts of joy and precious hugs! It will be the same in Heaven! We each will probably say what our son said, "We always love coming here, it's home." Yes, we will finally be home....and we will never have to leave to go back to school or jobs. The celebration will last through eternity, all because baby Jesus came to our home and into our hearts first!
It is bittersweet to pack away the memories from years past. But Jesus promises us a future in Jeremiah 29:11 and we also know He promises us a home that He has prepared for us! John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
Let us move forward with hope and anticipation!
Have you made the decision to invite Jesus into your home and heart? You may contact me at http://on.fb.me/1tyhUGB
God Bless,
gs
